What amount of buffs is enough?

[MrRokkomies]

As far as I know, there is no limit to how many buffs you can have on at the same time. What buffs can be active at the same time? Which ones cancel each other out and is there any benefit for running multiple similar buffs at the same time? Some excamples that come to mind are:
- Ozocubu's Armour + stone skin + Shroud of Golumbria + phase shif + condensation shield + TSO:s shield + repel missile + deflect missiles
-Swift + flight + haste + finess + berserk

This will also come down to your skills and what you can cast at reasonable power, but at least Ice and Earth is a totally feasible skill combo and that would allow for both ozcub and stone skin. Also, the first buffs migh start to run out fast when you are finished casting everything, so getting the best use out of multiple buffs might be situational.

[Zicher]

Finesse does not stack with either haste of zerk, and zerk already contains haste, so these two do not stack either.

[dck]

You can't use ozo and stoneskin at the same time. Even if you could, training both ice and earth isn't a very good idea because those skills both achieve the same thing for the most part: killing dudes with magic and getting some AC on the side.
This isn't a good way to look at defensive buffs because most are just meant to complement your defenses, not being the actual defenses.
A much better approach to how to use buffs is to look at how they affect your character and use them appropriately depending on the situation.

[tasonir]

You missed the best buff in the game: regeneration. Probably because you also made the mistake of including TSO's god ability. The buffs you actually want are:

regeneration, repel missiles, phase shift. Stoneskin isn't bad but probably only worth it if you're playing as a statue. Ozocubu's Armour is great but I tend to wear fire dragon armor most games.

[Lasty]

Stoneskin is free AC with no investment, and more free AC if you want to use earth. Stoneskin is definitely worth it.

[bcadren]

I 15 runed with a UC/boost specialist once; had

Haste, (Ozo's Armor, Blade Hands) or (Statue Form, Stoneskin), Condensation Shield, Phase Shift, Regeneration, Deflect Missiles active most battles past my 3rd rune.
Also had Necromut for a bit; but it wasn't that much better than Statue for a meleeist.

Was a GrTm of Sif.

If you want to have a lot of buffs (and not just what you spawn with in your starting book + god buffs); you're going to have to go Sif (for the free book acquirements), otherwise the odds of you finding all the spells you want before late game are rather low.That said; if you are going for boosts; some spellschools you just want to get to high enough to manage to cast the spell (Translocations for Phase Shift); others you want to keep training (more Ice always gives more SH and AC for Ozo's and Condensation Shield, regardless)...and you're going to want kill dudes first (melee or ranged weapons are best; if you are using your MP for buffs you won't have much for Summoning/Conjurations).

[mopl]

Repel and Deflect Missiles also don't stack

[damiac]

Buffs are something to grab if you already have the skill to cast it, for the most part, not really something to go after.

There are some exceptions, like haste, deflect missiles, regeneration... but notice these all at least partially use charms. It's not a good idea to train earth magic just for stoneskin, or ice magic just for ozo/condensation shield.

[headcrab0803]

i dont think you need that many buffs.

in my case i ended my 15runer DsAk with

haste,swiftness,phase shift, deflect missles and regeneration

those buffs were enough for me to ninja all the runes

[vengefulcarrot]

No amount of buffs can save you from stupid play, having said that buffs are useful, but overdoing it is a bit redundant. How much is enough? depends on how much you find and how much you perceive yourself to cast before/during battle. Honestly I dont really care to use many buffs during battle. I haste before I tackle tough fights and regen during/after to get hp back. You can add a metric tonne more buffs if you want but its not a substitute for good positioning or used to dumb down important decisions when choosing your battles.

[cerebovssquire]

That's all true, but good positioning and a lot of buffs aren't mutually exclusive. Of course getting a false sense of security because you have Haste, Phase Shift, rMsl, Regeneration, Stoneskin and what have you is bad, but that doesn't mean that casting less buffs is a good idea. And if you have these buffs it's always the right decision to cast them if you have the time and patience to do so (sadly), provided that you end up with enough MP for the actual fight.