Is it just me, or is Mage Hand useless? Like, impressively useless.
I’m new to DnD (and DnD-like games) so I could be in the wrong here, but every time I think of something that Mage Hand should be able to do, it just doesn’t.
Want to pick up an unreachable item and carry it to me? No.
Want to loot an otherwise unreachable body? No.
Want to pickpocket someone without being caught? No. (Okay, I get that this one would be pretty broken, even in normal DnD this is sometimes disallowed)
Want to fly a few feet up and light an overhead brazier? No.
Want to do literally anything useful? No.
Want to squeeze through a small hole to see a room you’ve already looted? Sure!
I’m at the point where instead of trying to think creatively about how to use it, I just immediately write it off because it probably can’t do whatever I’m thinking of. I am genuinely surprised when I find out Mage Hand can do something, and that’s not a good thing.
The only idea I had that actually worked was using it to stealth the early phase spider section by just throwing the gem at the end backwards, then moving the hand in the opposite direction to draw aggro. That’s literally the only “useful” thing I’ve done with it, and I’ve still not found a use for the gem.
So I ask, what have you done with Mage Hand that’s actually useful?
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It can’t carry, but it can throw stuff from the ground. Came useful in one side quest.
Other than that, used it few times to pull a lever or such. Nothing terribly handy (sorry, not sorry)
Mage hand + levers in the end of Act 1 was super helpful to prevent one of my party from getting stuck, but aside from that - yeah I’m not sure about the usefulness.
As someone with minimal tabletop RPG experience (only Warhammer not D&D), I’m enjoying the crap out of BG3 but I feel I’m missing out on when to use spells and what spells should be used.
Sure there’s a spell to go to a different plane after your attack, but like… should I use the scroll on that? What if I would need it later?
Same position here. After I finished my second playthrough I started a dnd campaign with some of my friends, we’re all noobs.
I figured late into BG3 that if you need a scroll, use it. There aren’t many spells in the game, odds are it’ll drop or be sold by a merchant later. Besides, having less resources makes the game more fun.
A lot of earlier scrolls also don’t scale well, so that Melf’s Acid Arrow that needed the right moment won’t be any better than a typical action sooner than one would think. Definitely use 'em.
MH can only throw items that are on the ground.
If you drop some items on the ground from your inventory, MH can throw them without it requiring your action.
Thrown healing potions can revive/heal teammates.
Water bottles will make enemies vulnerable to lightning/frost spells/arrows.
A lit candle can be moved to stay close to anyone needing to dip.
Drop items like healing potions, bombs, etc. with one of your characters. Then use mage hand to throw it by right clicking the dropped items. It’s like having a cheap (but weak) bonus healer shaped like a floating hand
Mage hand is the kind of spell that is incredibly useful and dynamic in actual ttrpgs, and incredibly difficult to design around in a video game.
A GM is going to consider the distance and weight limits of the spell, and determine of it makes sense of not. If you stole The One Ring from Frodo, for example, the GM can pivot and make the world react to that.
The video game has to program all possible uses of the spell while also trying to keep a prewritten story on track. If you steal The One Ring from frodo, the game would have to reinvent the plot dynamically, which isn’t really possible. The end result is that they have to severely limit the uses of Mage Hand.
Because Mage Hand is so potentially chaotic, it can’t be as useful as it would seem. The same would go for the spells Fly and Invisibility. Imagine the Black Gate of Mordor. If there was a level 6 wizard, they could use fly + invisibility to get everyone safely over the wall. Now, sure, it would take a while waiting for spell slots, but this is supposed to be the most fortified pass in the entire world. Even GMs have problems with this. Suddenly every remotely secure area needs a mage on staff detecting intruders, or permanent enchantments. At that point, Fly might as well not exist.
Edit: I forgot that fly and invisibility both require concentration. Oops. Still, now you only need a level 6 mage and a level 4 mage, which is still pretty easy to pull off.
Can you concentrate on 2 spells to fly and go invisible?
You’re right, you can’t. My bad. Still, a party containing two players who can cast these spells is pretty common too.
True, still difficult to pull off, both spells have vsm components. But obstacles are put there to be overcome, and your plan is as good as any, lets give it a go 😉
I used it to
- Steal the idol of Sylvanus from the Emerald Grove without starting a fight.
- Open doors attached to levers on the other side of gates or rooms I could otherwise see into, but not enter.
- An extra bit of damage in combat; or to shove someone off a cliff from a distance.
- Grabbing objects that for whatever reason was out of reach of my character (often something on the top of a high shelf).
- Throwing things I can’t reach.
I used it a whole 2 times in my entire playthrough. Once to get a certain book from it’s trapped pressure plate by throwing it, another to help a certain dwarf from his predicament. The biggest thing that stops me from experimenting more with it is it’s limitation to once per short rest and only being present for 10 turns. I get that it’s for combat balancing purposes but it does make me just never bother summoning it. Wish they removed that limitation, gave it more utility uses and just completely disabled it’s combat abilities instead.
In actual DnD I’ve used it to pull people’s pants down twice, once to break concentration and also to start a barroom brawl.
I’ve also used it to sneak in and tie people’s shoe laces together, causing them to trip and go prone when we rushed them into combat.
Most useful cantrip ever.Spoiler about the gem >!The gem unlocks the Thaylen Necromancy book found beneath the apothecary shop in the Blighted village!<
I did all that and my Wiz read it, passed all the checks then said ‘maybe we’ll get more out of it later’ i think it’s still in my inventory or possibly it’s just gotten lost randomly like so many other things
You get more out it paired with another book in act3
