fogs and mists

[Mindos]

Is obsuring mist just so much better then fog cloud or solid fog?

It looks to me that mist doesnt affect party members, while the others do. Plus, with them all giving unbreakable 20 percent concealment, why would anyone use fog cloud or solid fog when obsuring mists is so much better and at a lower level too?

http://ddowiki.com/page/Obscuring_Mist
http://ddowiki.com/page/Fog_Cloud
http://ddowiki.com/page/Solid_Fog

[lobode]

Is obsuring mist just so much better then fog cloud or solid fog?

It looks to me that mist doesnt affect party members, while the others do. Plus, with them all giving unbreakable 20 percent concealment, why would anyone use fog cloud or solid fog when obsuring mists is so much better and at a lower level too?

http://ddowiki.com/page/Obscuring_Mist
http://ddowiki.com/page/Fog_Cloud
http://ddowiki.com/page/Solid_Fog

Solid Fog slows so you can more easily round up groups in it for AOE nukeage. I never used the other 2. Back in the day it was pretty standard to round everything up and solid of/acid cloud/cloud kill/fire wall

[CSQ]

Solid Fog and Obscuring Mist are significantly better than Fog Cloud on paper. I don't know if there's some in game difference that gives an advantage to Fog Cloud (larger radius/cast range, mechanical differences in processing the various effects, etc.) but Solid Fog offers the ability to slow down mobs and Obscuring Mist only affects enemies and, unlike most concealment effects, is not mitigated by true sight making essentially stationary blur buff. Basically, Obscuring Mist is the best if you're going for team tactics and concealment, but don't care about slowing mobs. Otherwise, use Solid Fog, and never use Fog Cloud (unless there's something I missed or you're trying to keep melee allies from hitting; perhaps keeping NPCs from getting aggro?). Solid Fog has a longer duration, but that's not necessarily worth the relative weaknesses compared to Obscuring Mist.

[glmfw1]

Looks like a good reason for using Fog Cloud rather than one of the others is "because you are a Druid, and the others aren't on your spell list", but there are still scenarios where it is theoretically of use to Sor/Wiz.
Tactics-wise, I would assume Fog Cloud could be used if the party need to get from A to B and want to avoid getting hit, while not attempting to kill any enemies in the way (e.g. if going for low-kills bonuses). Not sure how it works with aggro rules, but if DDO was the real world (and magic worked there), you could plan your route across an area to a door, then cast your Fog Clouds and run for it and be through the door before the spell runs out, while the enemies don't know what's going on or where you went. There are definitely times/quests in the game where this approach would help, but that doesn't mean the game itself is set up to work this way.
Obscuring Mist would have the same visual impact, but it's centred on self, so you would be seen by the bad guys before you cast, so they would already be swinging for you.