Is there are spells that you can't afford not to learn?

[white_noise]

I have almost no experience with spellcasters. Right now I'm playing DEFE. Full offense. What should I take from Vehumet? He gives me all kinds of spells to learn, but I don't know which ones are good. Descriptions are vague and "power" indicator is messed up and not allows you to compare spells. I know that Mephitic Cloud rules cause I used it before, but not much besides that.
Can you, guys, maybe tell me several spells that are just too good to miss so I could keep an eye for them?..

[tabstorm]

Fire:
Bolt of Fire
Fire storm

Conjuration:
Orb of Destruction
Iskenderun's Battlesphere

Other Vehumet offerings to consider:
Poison Arrow
Poison Cloud

Non-Vehumet spells:
Apportation, Blink, Passage of Golubria, Controlled Blink, Phase Shift
Regeneration, Sublimation of Blood
Repel Missiles, Swiftness, Haste

[white_noise]

Thanks a lot.

[Jeremiah]

You might also want to think about Iron Shot and Freezing Cloud, as DE aptitudes/int and Vehumet's wizardry bonus make it very easy to branch out into other elements.

[Hurkyl]

While Freezing Cloud is great, it's really awkward to use alongside fire magic.

[nago]

Actually pretty bad because it decrease bolt of fire range.
Other good spells to consider: summon butterflies, tukima's dance, animate skeletons/dead (you can inner flame them if you don't know!), agony, ozo's armour, regen.

[Blobbo]

I've learned to just ignore Vehumet's spell gifts unless they give me something for not much opportunity cost, rather than learn them based on an objective estimation of how awesome they are.

More succinctly, I tend to adapt my spells/skilling based on available books found more than Veh's gifts.

E.g., OOD is not really a must-have if you've branched into Earth and have iron shot at decent spellpower, but it's super awesome if you haven't.

E.g.2, Freezing cloud is an awesome spell, but if you're not already an IE or have the gear to become one, getting it is probably a mistake.

E.g.,3, sometimes a spell is nice and even fits your build but the timing just isn't right, e.g., it might force you to overtrain Spellcasting, or an adjunct school to make use of it, instead of defenses or melee, causing an early splat.

etc.

[tasonir]

I'd also add fireball as a good to have fire spell. Particularly if you also get delayed fireball, which is always good to have active in case you need it. good for hitting packs of monsters who aren't all in a line and could have been bolt of fire'd instead.

[Sandman25]

I'd also add fireball as a good to have fire spell. Particularly if you also get delayed fireball, which is always good to have active in case you need it. good for hitting packs of monsters who aren't all in a line and could have been bolt of fire'd instead.

I think the list does not contain Fireball, Sticky Flame and Conjure Flame because OP has FE with the spells in starting book.

[tasonir]

Fair enough, but then I'd definitely include delayed fireball on the list. It shares spell levels with fireball, so it only costs 2 levels to learn, and having a 0 mana instant-time fireball is a significant boost.