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Remove Magic

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A Remove Magic spell only affects the enemies of the caster.

This spell checks effects from different casters individually, meaning that effects received from a high-level caster are less likely to be dispelled than those from a low-level caster.

The target's Magic Resistance, if any, does not affect this spell. The only way to defend against this spell is Spell Immunity: Abjuration.

Mechanically, the only difference between a Remove Magic vs. the Dispel Magic (wizard) (or Dispel Magic (priest)) spells is the projectile launched to apply the spell effects: the projectile from the former only affects non-party creatures, while that from the latter affects all creatures in the area of effect.

Description[]

“ This is the combat version of Dispel Magic, it will only affect opponents. A Remove Magic dispels the magical effects upon any enemies within the area. This includes effects given from spells, potions, and certain magical items such as wands. It does not, however, affect enchanted magical items. The chance of the dispel succeeding is determined by the level of the caster and the level of the magic being dispelled. The base chance of successfully dispelling is 50%. For every level that the caster of Remove Magic is above the original caster, their chance of success increases by 5%. For every level that the caster of Remove Magic is below the original caster, their chance of success decreases by 10%. However, despite the difference in levels, there is always at least a 1% chance of success or failure. Thus, if a caster is 10 levels higher than the magic they are trying to dispel, there is only a 1% chance of failure. Similarly, if the caster is 4 levels lower than the magic they are trying to dispel, there is only a 10% chance of success. Intuitively, this is almost useless if the target is 5 or more levels higher than the caster.

Note: While this spell dispels the individual effects of Grease, Web, Stinking Cloud, and other such spells, it does not dispel the area of effect. 		”

Gameplay[]

The caster designates a point on the area map to which the spell's projectile will be directed to, using the targeting cursor.

When the spell casting is complete a sparkling green projectile travels to the designated point and then instantly applies the Dispel Magic effect to enemy (red-circled) creatures in the area of effect, which is about a 15-feet radius (30' diameter).

Enemy creatures in the area are exposed to the spell, and any dispellable effects present on each creature will be checked to determine if they are in fact dispelled, according to game's formula.

Whether or not any effects are actually dispelled is not said or presented to the player by viewing the combat log, as any creature in the area would produce a text string that reads "Dispel effects" - sometimes it is visually obvious if the spell worked, for example, observing an active Fireshield (Blue) just disappearing.

Despite the in-game spell description cited above, the minimum odds of success are not 1% but 0%. A mage can never dispel magic whose caster is 5 levels above him. The maximum odds of success, though, are indeed 99%.

The target's Magic Resistance, if any, does not affect this spell. The only way to defend against this spell is Spell Immunity: Abjuration.

Although Remove Magic is a level 3 Wizard (arcane) spell, the inner workings and coding of the spell are different than most. All the implemented internal effect codes that make the spell work and attempt to do what it says it should do, have an assigned power level of 0. This is relevant since it allows the spell to bypass certain protections against magic, such as a Lich's immunity to level 1 through 5 spells, or a Rakshasa's immunity to level 1 through 7 spells.

This is also how a Remove Magic can have a chance to dispel magic even on targets protected by a Minor Globe of Invulnerability, which normally blocks spells and effects of levels 1 through 3.

Some spells are unaffected by Dispel Magic effects completely. Examples include Spell Shield, Spell Deflection or Spell Trap.

For the caster level calculation, potions, scrolls and many item abilities use a default caster level of 10 (6 in BG1), making them very easy to dispel later in the game.

In addition to the ability to have a chance to remove any dispellable effect on an enemy creature, the Remove magic also will cure Deafness and Feeblemindedness regardless of the source and spell power level of the deafness or feeblemindedness. This occurs because the spell uses internal "Cure" effect codes.

In cases where a Remove Magic spell is cast from a dual or multi-class mage, the current mage experience level is used to determine the spell casting level. For example, a 4th level Mage dualed to a 7th level Fighter will cast this spell at level 4, not 7. The reason for this, is that the Remove Magic spell is classified as a "Wizard" spell. If a Thief with the Use Any Item ability casts this spell from a scroll, the spell will be cast at the default scroll level of 10 for BG2 and BG2EE.

Where to obtain its scroll[]

The Black Pits[]

Sold by[]

Baldur's Gate[]

Dropped by[]

Tales of the Sword Coast[]

Dropped by[]

Shadows of Amn[]

Dropped by[]

Sold by[]

Treasure[]

Throne of Bhaal[]

Sold by[]

Treasure[]

The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay[]

Sold by[]

Trivia[]

The Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset has no equivalent Wizard spell to Remove Magic. The BG video game spell version is a creation of Bioware. In the Pen and Paper game, only Dispel Magic is available for use, and there isn't a way for a caster to just target a group of enemies and not its own party with an area of effect dispelling function. This change by the game developers certainly simplified and allowed better coding outcomes for the AI, so it makes some sense for a workable video game dynamic.

Mod content[]

This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.

Spell Revisions mod has changed this arcane spell, retitling it. The terminology of the "Remove Magic" spell is now "Dispel Magic". It otherwise is very similar. Spell Revisions has other ways for the party to get rid of status effects from its own members. Dispel Magic only works against enemies. See below for description:
Dispel Magic
Level: 3
School: Abjuration
Range: Long
Duration: Instant
Casting Time: 3
Area of Effect: 20’ radius
Saving Throw: Special

Dispel Magic dispels the magical effects upon any enemies within the area of effect. This includes effects from spells, potions, and certain magical items such as wands. It does not, however, affect enchanted magical items or spell protections such as Spell Deflection. While this spell dispels the individual effects of Grease, Web, Stinking Cloud, and other such spells, it does not dispel the area of effect. Magic resistance does not affect this spell.

The chance of the dispel succeeding is determined by the level of the caster and the level of the magic being dispelled. The base chance of successfully dispelling is 50%. For every level that the caster of Remove Magic is above the level of the magic he is trying to dispel, his chance of success increases by 5%. For every level that the caster of Dispel Magic is below the level of the magic he attempts to dispel, his chance of success decreases by 10%. However, despite the difference in levels, there is always at least a 1% chance of success or failure. Thus, if a caster is 10 levels higher than the magic he is trying to dispel, there is only a 1% chance of failure. Similarly, if the caster is 4 levels lower than the magic he is trying to dispel, there is only a 10% chance of success. Intuitively, this spell is almost useless if the level of the magic attempted to dispel is 5 or more levels higher than the caster.

Spell Revisions implements the Dispel Magic Fix: This component fixes the chance to dispel magic to match the spell's description (so there is at least a marginal chance of dispelling effects of a higher-level mage) and corrects conceptual problems caused by the automatic dispelling of all magically created items. If installed, there will always be at at least a 1% chance that dispel magic will work, regardless of the opposing caster level.

Spell Revisions replaced Spell Immunity with Dispelling Screen - this protective magic spell can be applied to self and allies in an area of effect and will shield against one exposure to any Dispel Magic effect or one Breach spell - and then the screen will be consumed.

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