The Tavern

For a long time I disliked FE. But lately I have been playing a ton of them. I have been leaning on Conj flame a lot. I don't seem to get how to use Inner Flame though.

I mean, the concept is clear. If a group is approaching I inner flame one and kill it. Especially if it is a mix of strong weak creatures and I follow up with fire ball.

The reality is I either forget to use it, or it isn't quite right.

It isn't than I don't understand what it is for, I just can't see scenarios as "THIS is the time!". Any advice?

I'd rather just cast fireball once more.

You cast it on one of your undead minions and then you let it walk into the enemy crowd.

Cast it on your ancestor if you follow Hep.

Another way: Set up bottlenecks and blow up crowds in the bottle. This takes a good few MP to execute, but it's lots of fun.

Get in a corridor or other spot where you can block the entry. Drop Conjure Flame in front of you so mobs will not advance.
Cast Inner Flame on a mob on the other side of your flame cloud. (Pick a weaker one you can kill fast.)
Allow multiple mobs to group around the one with Inner Flame, as much as timing allows.
Kill the one you have Inner Flame on, and watch the others burn.

Be aware a few mobs (yaks! hydrae, some uniques...) will march right into a flame cloud. Don't cast Inner Flame on those unless you have serious Fire Resistance!

I have no idea what the standard ASCII symbols are. I just made this up:

. = ignore these (I couldn't just use spaces)
ccccc = corridor tiles
Y = You (standing in corridor)
% = your flame cloud (from Conjure Flame, blocking corridor or doorway so mobs can't reach you without entering fire)
w = walls of room (where more mobs can gather while waiting to go forward)
T = targeted this mob with inner flame (for example, or you could have targeted either of the two others now standing next to it)
M = other, adjacent mobs waiting in room - all of these will be engulfed in fire if you can destroy T while Inner Flame is applied

............wwwwww
............w
............wMM
cccccccYc%TM
............wMM
............w
............wwwwww

Note: Not sure if the spacing is clear enough, but you want the crowd of mobs just inside the room and your flame cloud in the doorway (more precisely, in that wall of the room). That way, you can pick from any of the three leading mobs for Inner Flame.

-get rF+(++), cast it on dude next to you, smack dude next to you until it dies
-cast it on manufactured undead (go kiku), sticks to snakes, your ancestor, or something you've zapped with enslavement (it fails on most summons)
-cast it on a killer bee that you have forced distance between via conjure flame, then kill it to elegantly remove the entire swarm
-cast it on a d:1 monster standing next to an ogre or mean unique
-if you're feeling brave, cast it on something, set it on fire, and run away. the explosion will happen before the monster's move. (be aware that sticky flame can run out, and you don't want to kill it with the first tick or it'll blow up in your face)

it's reasonably safe to just skip inner flame if it isn't to your tastes, as it is relatively niche compared to conjure flame/sticky flame/fireball which can carry you through the game

Another use: inner flame, then sticky flame something you can kill with the residual damage (which doesn't walk faster than you), but not with the initial damage, then back away (dot is always done before monster movement) combine with otr for more fun.

Now that's new!

Honestly, I think I phrased the question wrong.

While I am excited to read all these replies about Inner Flame tricks. What I really need is a trick on how to remember to use it in the first place. I feel that IF + FireBall is more MP efficient than FP + FB with a protective splot of flaming clouds to boot. But I mostly just find myself FB + FB.

Probably play FoFE, you will have Inner Flame useful for longer time because you will have trouble bringing Fireball online (+2 Hexes, -1 Conjurations, level 3 vs level 5).

Just play more slowly. Honestly, more complicated stuff takes more time to think about, and if you take your time you will use more efficient/effective tactics. Also on the plus side, thinking more about what you are doing increases how well you are playing generally.

The only reason of existence of Inner Flame effect is that we're fun with scrolls of immolation.

Inner Flame is a cheap aoe. You cast it on something low HP, then focus it down. Or, you cast it on something in front of a pack and focus it down. It's basically a cheap aoe if there is a squishy monster or primary target that needs to be focused in a group. Also, it's a great way to deal with large groups or summons. FireRes+++ sometimes needed.

My favorite use among many: Inner Flame > Orb of Destruction. BOOM.

fr: killing an innerflamed mob with ood scatters a bunch of innerflamed chunks around and then explodes each of them on its new location

I find Inner Flame is a tool for someone without Fireball. If you are going full-tilt Fire/Conj then Inner Flame doesn't mean much. If you come from the Hexes direction, Inner Flame has more meaning. Especially with translocations that affect the enemy. It's really satisfying combining Inner Flame with Gell's Gravitas but good luck getting both spells before they become obsolete.

treat it like fcloud, but dual school level 3 ft blast damage.

Or just spectate doesnt as he learns the spell on every single combo.

I would like to add for future reference. If you are trying the Sticky Flame/Step away trick outline above by Siegurt keep in mind the large blast radius on Giant and Huge monsters. I just got caught on an exploding Elephant (survived). It actually took looking up the spell to figure out what happened, I was worried that the blast radius expanded with spell power (this would be bad).