Does the wild mage get an extra spell per level vs a vanilla mage even tho they have no favored school? If not then Xan would actually have more spells (AND a Moonblade! ) ;-)
I picked up Garrick for now - its first time I have had him in a BGEE party - (last couple of modded games I played I gave him a kit) I had forgotten how underwhelming he and his song are in BG1 - he's level 4 so if I leave him with no armor he can cast 3 spells total - his song does nothing really except protect from fear - and even in Chainmail + 1 he can be two shotted by a relatively low level foe. Basicly you can leave him in the rear to snipe with a bow - and he might be able to ID some items without a spell that Xzar or Xan can't.
If he survives our coast excursion I'll probably just leave him for back-up in case I get really low on NPCs at some point.
If not then Xan would actually have more spells (AND a Moonblade! ) ;-)
I picked up Garrick for now - its first time I have had him in a BGEE party - (last couple of modded games I played I gave him a kit) I had forgotten how underwhelming he and his song are in BG1 - he's level 4 so if I leave him with no armor he can cast 3 spells total - his song does nothing really except protect from fear - and even in Chainmail + 1 he can be two shotted by a relatively low level foe. Basicly you can leave him in the rear to snipe with a bow - and he might be able to ID some items without a spell that Xzar or Xan can't.
BTW he can use wands and scrolls wearing armour and focus on self-buffs cast when you've scouted out the enemy and then replace his armour before combat begins. Or you can just have him use the Shield Amulet, which is what I do with most bards. There is also one bard-specific magic item at Ulgoth's Beard, which is quite fun
She doesn't have any more spells than Xan AFAIK and wild mages can be risky
Quite true, but Xan is an Enchanter - no Fireballs, no Chromatic Orbs, no Magic Missiles, no Cloudkill. He's certainly capable of buffing up the other party members, but Neera has the added spell slots without any restrictions at all. (Sure, there's the risk of wild surges, but if you avoid Nahal's Reckless Dweomer they really don't happen that often...)
@ Oxford_Guy - I'm being very careful about scroll use since I don't know how many mages I will need to equip with spells (with no rez) and I'm always wanting to save every wand or item charge/use for when I really need it.
(of course that means I rarely have to sell/buy back wands and items thus adding to the useless pile of gold I have at the end of the game like I'm playing Monopoly LOL)
I'm also not very big on the whole swapping armor stuff - I carry both heavy and leather armors for fighter thief or ranger types but usually decide which they will be using as we start the map as opposed to scouting out an enemy then dropping back to change armor /buff for the fight.
@ shawne - at the moment this minimal reload game still qualifies as a No Reload which makes the wild mage less attractive to me - if I end up reloading at some point that should soften my view of her usefulness tho...
I still have Xzar as well who is a fine mage and I'm not pushing the heroics at this point so he is mostly content - the issue with him is I didn't get him until level 4 and at that level he had 8 hps...
I kind of like using Xan too - one of the bonuses of the no rez game is getting to play with characters and combos you might not choose - Xan with bracers and the armor spell and mirror image can actually hold his own with his Moonblade and they even gave him a few semi-positive lines to say in BGEE...
Time to head back to the coast and go Sirine hunting...
Well Sam & Co made it thru there coast adventure with most of the Sirines taken out single handedly by Kivan the Sirine hunter sniping with arrows of biting altho they left the cave alone for now then went back and cleared the Three Tomb map including the Slimey mage and his buddies.
Feeling powerful and strong they attempted to clear the rest of the Beregost Temple map and Sammy got eaten by a vampiric wolf when I totally forgot they can hold you otherwise I would have sniped them more carefully instead of playing fools rush in. In the end Branwen and Jahira could not heal our leader as fast as a vampiric wolf, a dread wolf and two worgs that surrounded him could damage him nor could Kivan, khalid and Xan get thier attention to draw them off (nor take them down fast enough).
I made a new save from the last auto-save to continue Sams saga but it won't be as exciting knowing I can reload - maybe I'll set a limit on the number of reloads to keep it interesting or maybe I'll go spend some time with another no reload party thats in Chap 2 awaiting my return (Lian Longshot elf F/T and his not so merry band)
Then there's that new 75 point no reload no rez challenge - so many games so little time... ;-)
< He's certainly capable of buffing up the other party members, but Neera has the added spell slots without any restrictions at all. (Sure, there's the risk of wild surges, but if you avoid Nahal's Reckless Dweomer they really don't happen that often...)
But when they do happen, they can really mess up your day, *especially* in a minimal reload run...
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If not then Xan would actually have more spells (AND a Moonblade! ) ;-)
I picked up Garrick for now - its first time I have had him in a BGEE party - (last couple of modded games I played I gave him a kit) I had forgotten how underwhelming he and his song are in BG1 - he's level 4 so if I leave him with no armor he can cast 3 spells total - his song does nothing really except protect from fear - and even in Chainmail + 1 he can be two shotted by a relatively low level foe. Basicly you can leave him in the rear to snipe with a bow - and he might be able to ID some items without a spell that Xzar or Xan can't.
If he survives our coast excursion I'll probably just leave him for back-up in case I get really low on NPCs at some point.
(of course that means I rarely have to sell/buy back wands and items thus adding to the useless pile of gold I have at the end of the game like I'm playing Monopoly LOL)
I'm also not very big on the whole swapping armor stuff - I carry both heavy and leather armors for fighter thief or ranger types but usually decide which they will be using as we start the map as opposed to scouting out an enemy then dropping back to change armor /buff for the fight.
@ shawne - at the moment this minimal reload game still qualifies as a No Reload which makes the wild mage less attractive to me - if I end up reloading at some point that should soften my view of her usefulness tho...
I still have Xzar as well who is a fine mage and I'm not pushing the heroics at this point so he is mostly content - the issue with him is I didn't get him until level 4 and at that level he had 8 hps...
I kind of like using Xan too - one of the bonuses of the no rez game is getting to play with characters and combos you might not choose - Xan with bracers and the armor spell and mirror image can actually hold his own with his Moonblade and they even gave him a few semi-positive lines to say in BGEE...
Time to head back to the coast and go Sirine hunting...
Feeling powerful and strong they attempted to clear the rest of the Beregost Temple map and Sammy got eaten by a vampiric wolf when I totally forgot they can hold you otherwise I would have sniped them more carefully instead of playing fools rush in. In the end Branwen and Jahira could not heal our leader as fast as a vampiric wolf, a dread wolf and two worgs that surrounded him could damage him nor could Kivan, khalid and Xan get thier attention to draw them off (nor take them down fast enough).
I made a new save from the last auto-save to continue Sams saga but it won't be as exciting knowing I can reload - maybe I'll set a limit on the number of reloads to keep it interesting or maybe I'll go spend some time with another no reload party thats in Chap 2 awaiting my return (Lian Longshot elf F/T and his not so merry band)
Then there's that new 75 point no reload no rez challenge - so many games so little time... ;-)