I also don't know, mostly they are simply being summarized: song + prayer + hope. But watch which saving throw they buff, it can be different.

Give example of the certain case, lets check it out, perhaps you will find the answer doing that.

- bard song is the ultimate - it's a luck-bonus, that stacks with everything
[luck-bonus is literally >>>> anything. My IWD party has a Skald, that just sings, because the bonus to the whole party is just insane]

- clerci/druid: enhancements or rather conjuration (bless -> chant -> prayer -> recitation and while you can cast them all at once, they override the effect with the better one)

prayer is basically bless+curse in one spell, while recitation is the big bro on steroids.
Chant is limited by the duration and I personally never use it.
Also, bless is more of a prep-spell, that you cast before battle, while prayer or recitation should be cast in battle to give the penalty to your enemies.

Bless + curse can also be targeted, while the higher version are centered around the caster.

- mage: enchantments; tbh - there are some silly spells, where you pick whatever is best. It ain't properly translated from TT. Just stick with emo:hope - which is overall better.

Emo:hope is godlike in BG2 or IWD2.

Handle higher tier-spell like an upgrade in a sense.

edit luck + conjuration + enchantment = stacks.
I think, in a way the 5E is more consolidated and way more simplified in that regard.
2.0-3.5 is a PITA!

Am kinda drunken and just wrote stuff down....feel free to ask.

Thank you, Valky!

Protection from Evil 10' radius is a good, long lasting buff to put up. At 1 turn/level at higher levels it will last for a good long time in game. Mage Hope+Courage is a good combo for specific tough battles. As mentioned Prayer+Recitation.

At lower levels, where you really do need an edge in some of these mob battles, Bless, Remove/Resist Fear and even the 1st Level Bard song will tilt the scales in your favor.

As far as I remember, Bless, Chant, and Prayer do all stack with each other. But, unless you have multiple clerics, casting these 3 spells in combat will pretty much take them out of the first 3 rounds of combat.

Emotion spells are "meh" to me. Your mages would be better suited to casting control or damaging spells on the enemy. Now, the Emotion spells might be good for a Bard to cast (and it sort of fits their aesthetic).

And, I'm doing a play through now and have a Bard. All he does is his Bardic Song during combat. Even at level 1, the +1 bonus to hit and damage is nice. Once I find some Elven Chainmail, I'll get him casting spells more. Also gives me a chance to increase his spell repertoire.

Originally posted by mike_hanna211:

As far as I remember, Bless, Chant, and Prayer do all stack with each other. But, unless you have multiple clerics, casting these 3 spells in combat will pretty much take them out of the first 3 rounds of combat.

Emotion spells are "meh" to me. Your mages would be better suited to casting control or damaging spells on the enemy. Now, the Emotion spells might be good for a Bard to cast (and it sort of fits their aesthetic).

And, I'm doing a play through now and have a Bard. All he does is his Bardic Song during combat. Even at level 1, the +1 bonus to hit and damage is nice. Once I find some Elven Chainmail, I'll get him casting spells more. Also gives me a chance to increase his spell repertoire.

I heard Chant disables your Cleric from fighting same as Bard song.
But the Prayer is a real deal. Its single cast spell, huge area, buffs your party and curses enemy.

Emotion buff spells have great duration and small casting time. They gonna be cast right after rest and will cover a couple of fights.

Bard is OP for 2 reasons:
- OP arcane spells are low level, hence Bard can cast them
- Bard only items (musical instruments) are very strong, like those that instantly summon some Barbarians or Shadows
And it is on the background of singing, being better shooter and generally more bulky character than a pure Mage.

Originally posted by ‡=Storky=‡:

Originally posted by mike_hanna211:

As far as I remember, Bless, Chant, and Prayer do all stack with each other. But, unless you have multiple clerics, casting these 3 spells in combat will pretty much take them out of the first 3 rounds of combat.

Emotion spells are "meh" to me. Your mages would be better suited to casting control or damaging spells on the enemy. Now, the Emotion spells might be good for a Bard to cast (and it sort of fits their aesthetic).

And, I'm doing a play through now and have a Bard. All he does is his Bardic Song during combat. Even at level 1, the +1 bonus to hit and damage is nice. Once I find some Elven Chainmail, I'll get him casting spells more. Also gives me a chance to increase his spell repertoire.

I heard Chant disables your Cleric from fighting same as Bard song.
But the Prayer is a real deal. Its single cast spell, huge area, buffs your party and curses enemy.

In tabletop AD&D, Chant does prevent cleric from attacking. But in IWD, it just slows their movement down to 1/2.

And yeah Prayer is a great spell. That's usually the first one cast, since it will penalize the enemy as well.

Valky mentions that the higher level cleric spell over rides the lower one.

But Prayer definitely stacks with Recitation, a 4th level cleric spell. That is in the Recitation spell description, "effects are cumulative". So you are +3 and the enemies are -3 to hit if you use those in tandem. That is a nice effect.

Originally posted by philos3:

Valky mentions that the higher level cleric spell over rides the lower one.

That's not entirely true.

I just had my cleric cast these spells in the following order (Chant last because it disables spell casting):
1. Bless (+1 THACO, +1 DAM)
2. Prayer (+1 THACO, +1 DAM, +1 SAVE)
3. Chant (+1 THACO +1 MIN DAM, +1 SAVE)

The only affect that doesn't stack is the +1 THACO. My cleric's main hand THACO is 15; after casting those 3 spells, it only went down to 14.

However, my saving throws were reduced by 2:

Poison, Paralysis, Death 9 (7)
Rod, Staff, Wand 13 (11)
Petrification, Polymorph 12 (10)
Breath Weapon 15 (13)
Spell 14 (12