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Bala's Axe, better known by the name of Wizard Slayer (Bala's Axe, Wizard Slayer in-game), is an axe made specially for killing casters. It has all the general statistics of a normal battle axe, but is magical and for all intents and purposes, can be considered a +1 weapon.

Description[]

Bala's Axe - Wizard Slayer: Bala was once a foul-tempered prince of a gully dwarf clan, which was enslaved by a cruel elven mage in Thesk. Though Bala managed to escape the more cowardly traits of his race he was even more filthy and obnoxious than the average gully dwarf. Sickened of his enslavement, Bala crept into the mage's lair and cracked the elf's skull open. Although rumor has it that it was the dwarf's stench that overcame the mage, it was, in fact, his enchanted axe that dispelled the elf's magical defense. It is obvious from poor craftsmanship that Bala crafted the axe. The mystery lies in where its power originates. After a lengthy career of mage-slaying, Bala died, never having revealed his secret to those who were willing to risk a lice infestation by approaching him. Some say that the axe was powered by Bala's intense hatred of wizards. The axe gives the owner the ability to dispel magic once a day.

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Gameplay[]

On a successful hit, Wizard Slayer inflicts a status effect that causes an 80% chance of casting failure unless the victim succeeds its save vs Spell with a -2 penalty. Divine and Arcane Magic are affected and it lasts for 100 seconds. As an on-hit effect it goes through Stoneskin, and it stacks with itself and other sources of casting failure like the Deafness effect.

The axe also allows instantaneous casting of Dispel Magic once per day, at the wielder's divine caster level (character level for Clerics/Druids/Shamans, character level -7 for Rangers, character level -8 for Paladins and 1 for characters that cannot cast Divine spells).

As such, in BG2EE, this charge ability can only be used effectively by Shamans, Rangers, Paladins and Cleric/Thieves with Use Any Item. Shamans in particular benefit the most, being able to eventually cast this with a level of 31 (or 32, if wearing the Circlet of Lost Souls, something that Cleric/Thieves can also benefit from).

In BGEE, Shamans are really the only class that can put this axe's dispel magic ability to good use, as everyone else who can wield this weapon will only have a divine caster level of 1. It might seem useless at first, as the class can already cast Dispel Magic normally, but: a) you might not have selected the spell for your Shaman and b) this ability is cast instantaneously, whereas the divine spell Dispel Magic has a casting time of 6. Plus, having this ability as an option leaves a level 3 slot for other spells.

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