@wissenschaft, you may have a 2/3 chance of either a "dud" or an enhancement, with only a 1/3 chance of a deadly effect.
But, you need to consider the strategic/tactical importance of the mage in a party. Nine times out of ten, that spellcast is a critical, do-or-die, either do it right or you die kind of cast. That means that there is a 2/3 chance of either a "dud" or a "deadly" effect at a critical moment, if a wild surge occurs at a critical moment, and, since there is a 1/20 chance of this horrible misfire occuring during any cast, and, you will cast spells several hundred times during the game, at least a hundred or more of which will be "critical" casts, you are guaranteed that a wild mage will cause your death at least once over the course of a game, and more likely, many, many times.
If you don't care about reloading and getting a do-over, then my logic is irrelevant.
However, I consider the whole "reload as often as you want until you get the dicerolls you want" to be an immersion-breaking, totally phony deal. If you need to reroll over and over, fine, if you're having fun, but don't try to tell me you have any skill in strategy or tactics, or that you care about immersing yourself into the game as though your life depended on it, which it would if you were really there. I know that many people don't play that way, but a lot of us have the most fun if we do play that way.
Thats fine, don't play with her. Heck, don't play with Minsc and his rage that you can't control. Also, don't buff yourself before battles because the majority you shouldn't know about until you walk into them unless you stealth scout ahead. :P
Besides, I have done challange runs enough times with this game that nothings a challenge anymore. I'd rather have a wild mage so I can laugh at the wild surges and tell funny stories about that time it backfired and I survived or dropped a cow from the sky or even gated in a demon and ran in terror.'
I don't play the BG series to prove I have elite skill. I suck at games that require skill, lol. I have the reaction time of a snail. The pause feature is my best friend. I love micromanaging every character in my party and the story I make up for each playthrough. I also play this game by myself so theres no bragging rights for me to gain. Besides, in a game this old everything that can be done has been done so theres nothing to brag about.
And I'm sorry Belgarathmth, but hardcore no-reload players like yourself are a very tiny fraction of BG players. Your dislike of Neera because you hate reloading doesn't do anything to diminish our love for the little chaos goddess (which she shall be in TOB were her special spell will finally become somewhat reliable).
I scout ahead too since I like playing Fighter/Thief or Stalkers. Though, often I reload just to make sure I get a good backstab. I just like the cinematic effect of quickly killing off the enemy mage before the enemy party even knows they are in danger. Makes me feel badass. lol
As for wild mages, the wild surges are most likely to get bad rolls at low levels which you unfortunately are stuck at in BG1. Still, I've beaten BG1 without any mage in my party and relying on wands and explosive potions only. So you can easily play BG1 with Neera never actually casting a spell besides Identify. In fact, its probably easier without a squishy low level mage to babysit.
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But, you need to consider the strategic/tactical importance of the mage in a party. Nine times out of ten, that spellcast is a critical, do-or-die, either do it right or you die kind of cast. That means that there is a 2/3 chance of either a "dud" or a "deadly" effect at a critical moment, if a wild surge occurs at a critical moment, and, since there is a 1/20 chance of this horrible misfire occuring during any cast, and, you will cast spells several hundred times during the game, at least a hundred or more of which will be "critical" casts, you are guaranteed that a wild mage will cause your death at least once over the course of a game, and more likely, many, many times.
If you don't care about reloading and getting a do-over, then my logic is irrelevant.
However, I consider the whole "reload as often as you want until you get the dicerolls you want" to be an immersion-breaking, totally phony deal. If you need to reroll over and over, fine, if you're having fun, but don't try to tell me you have any skill in strategy or tactics, or that you care about immersing yourself into the game as though your life depended on it, which it would if you were really there. I know that many people don't play that way, but a lot of us have the most fun if we do play that way.
Besides, I have done challange runs enough times with this game that nothings a challenge anymore. I'd rather have a wild mage so I can laugh at the wild surges and tell funny stories about that time it backfired and I survived or dropped a cow from the sky or even gated in a demon and ran in terror.'
I don't play the BG series to prove I have elite skill. I suck at games that require skill, lol. I have the reaction time of a snail. The pause feature is my best friend. I love micromanaging every character in my party and the story I make up for each playthrough. I also play this game by myself so theres no bragging rights for me to gain. Besides, in a game this old everything that can be done has been done so theres nothing to brag about.
And I'm sorry Belgarathmth, but hardcore no-reload players like yourself are a very tiny fraction of BG players. Your dislike of Neera because you hate reloading doesn't do anything to diminish our love for the little chaos goddess (which she shall be in TOB were her special spell will finally become somewhat reliable).
As for wild mages, the wild surges are most likely to get bad rolls at low levels which you unfortunately are stuck at in BG1. Still, I've beaten BG1 without any mage in my party and relying on wands and explosive potions only. So you can easily play BG1 with Neera never actually casting a spell besides Identify. In fact, its probably easier without a squishy low level mage to babysit.