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Mages and certain creatures may cast Time Stop, causing the flow of time to pause for a short period.

Description[]

Time Stop

Upon casting a Time Stop spell, the wizard causes the flow of time to stop for 1 round in the area of effect. Inside the sphere, the caster is free to act for 3 rounds of apparent time. The wizard can move and act freely within the area where time is stopped, but all other creatures are frozen in their actions, for they are literally between ticks of the clock. The spell's duration is subjective to the caster. Nothing can enter the area of effect without being stopped in time also. When the spell's duration ceases, the wizard is again operating in normal time. Note that all spells cast during the Time Stop will take effect immediately after time returns to normal.

Gameplay[]

  • Casting Time Stop during an already active time stop will only reset the duration. It has no additive effect.
  • Combine Time Stop with Improved Alacrity, Robe of Vecna, and Amulet of Power which literally remove the pause between castings, allowing the wizard to machine-gun Magic Missile or other spells of choice. Haste may also be used to greatly hasten projected images for quick slot scrolls casting, though does not benefit from Improved Alacrity if used this way.
  • Physical attacks against affected creatures during time stop bypass THAC0 & Armor Class system, melee swings will automatically land on victims (but do not bypass Mirror Image, Stoneskin etc.).
  • Contingency and Chain Contingency still trigger for characters that are immobile due to Time Stop. E.g. a Contingency -> Protection From Magical Weapons on hit can protect against getting killed by physical attacks during an enemy's Time Stop.
  • Spell and effect durations continue to expire during the Time Stop, both for the caster and for those who are stopped.
  • Poison and Regeneration effects are stopped during timestop, except on the caster. But other recurring spell effects (like Melf's Acid Arrow) are still applied each round on everyone.
  • Ranged weapon projectiles will travel in air then roll-to hit the target once time starts to flow again.
  • Spell projectiles will have to wait until the time stop duration ends for the projectile to finish traveling towards the target, just like missile projectiles. Touch spells without projectiles (that includes spells that are cast on range but take effect immediately without projectiles, like the Power Word spells), and spells targeted on self, take effect instantaneously.
  • Observe carefully which spells travel fast, which are slow, which spread slowly, and which are instantaneous, and treat them accordingly to get the desired occurrence order. For example, if you cast Improved Alacrity, followed by Spell Thrust while standing close to the target, move a few yards back and cast Spellstrike to the same creature, walk further away and cast Breach & Spell Trigger:Lower Resistance x 3, then a little further away to "machine-gun" Magic Missile, you first nullify the Spell Shield protection (if any) by Spell Thrust, then Spellstrike will impact and destroy all other spell protections (if any), and finally the sequencer will reduce the Magic resistance present on the target (if any). This would render the target creature vulnerable to the onslaught of magic missiles.
Note:For best results, remove an enemy Spell Shield before going into a time stop to apply multiple spell protection removers. It is a game engine limitation, that the multiple spell projectiles striking the Spell Shield will ALL be nullified by the Spell Shield - regardless of if the caster moves back and forth a few feet/yards to stagger the projectile arrival time on the target. - verified game testing behavior.
  • Casting Shapechange beforehand and transforming into a Mind Flayer will trivialize many encounters in the game. This is mainly due to the Mind Flayer's "Devour Brain" ability on melee attacks which will drain intelligence, regardless of a foe's defenses (exception: Mantle and Protection From Magical Weapons, as well as some enemies are immune to getting their stats drained below 1), and eventually kill them instantly.
  • You may place items into companions' inventory during time stop but exchanging them is forbidden, unless you steal them.
  • Traps will not trigger during Time Stop. If you walk over a trap during Time Stop, it will go off when the Time Stop ends.
  • A few of the game's most powerful antagonists are immune to time stop[1]:
  • There is no way for the player to become immune to time stop (other than interrupting the caster before it finishes casting). Spell Immunity: Alteration doesn't work since the spell does not technically affect a target. Neither do Protection From Magic scrolls help.

Where to obtain its scroll[]

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn[]

Dropped by[]

Sold by[]

Treasure[]

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal[]

Dropped by[]

Sold by[]

The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay[]

Sold by[]

Treasure[]

See also[]

Mod content[]

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

Spell Revisions mod has changed this arcane spell, revising its description. See below:

Time Stop
Level: 9
School: Alteration
Range: Personal
Duration: 3 rounds
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: Special
Saving Throw: None

Upon casting a Time Stop spell, the wizard causes the flow of time to stop in the entire area that the caster is currently in. Outside this area the sphere simply seems to shimmer for an instant. Inside the sphere, the caster is free to act for three rounds of apparent time. The wizard can move and act freely within the area where time is stopped, but all other creatures are frozen in their actions, for they are literally between ticks of the time clock. Nothing can enter the area of effect without being stopped in time also. When the spell duration ceases, everyone is again operating in normal time. All spells cast during the Time Stop will take effect immediately after time returns to normal.

With both the Ascension and Sword Coast Stratagems mods, both forms of Abazigal are immune to Time Stop.

References

  1. (set by opcode 310)
  2. AR18MAGE.CRE
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