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question about late-game pure or specialist mages

sivistojkosivistojko Member Posts: 30
in Archive (General Discussion)
Hello, I was wandering is there any particular benefit of playing a specialist (non-multi or dual) mage to lv40? What is the highest level that NPC can reach by the end of a single playthrough??

There are already enough NPC mages to pick from in the game so logically there would be no real reason to create one more. I was thinking that the only way to reach lv40 would be from at least 2 runs made with imported char, which would make created mage stand out from all NPC mages. I'm not sure but I'm assuming that it is not possible to import the whole party with player created char.

What are your thoughts on this?

Comments

  • NifftNifft Member Posts: 1,065
    IMHO an extra 7th, 8th and 9th level spell is a potent bonus.
  • UnknownQuantityUnknownQuantity Member Posts: 242
    Some feel an extra spell is pretty good, but I'd rather add some fighter or thief levels early in the game and dual over to pure mage. Having the ability to contribute in melee or ranged combat with more then a sling or dart can be helpful. So can the extra hp. I never liked losing out on a spell school myself. Invokers seem to have it the worst as they lose out on two spell schools. illusionist seems to have it the best from my experience.
  • MykraMykra Member Posts: 252
    sivistojko said:


    There are already enough NPC mages to pick from in the game so logically there would be no real reason to create one more.

    With the new addition last patch, they have covered every class except for Barbarian so far, so don't let the NPC's influence what you want to play. If you make a spellcaster, (s)he'll end up more powerful than any NPC spellcaster (PC Wild Mage or Sorc is the most powerful spellcaster around), same as if you make a melee fighter. Pick what you want to play and you'll be able to fill out a fine party around you with no probs.

    We'll see if they change the level cap when Throne of Bhaal is eventually released, but currently Mages can advance to level 31 in the saga. Several mods are out though that completely remove the cap so it's kind of moot as you can go higher if you want.

    Because of poor implementation, specialist mages are just stronger than basic mages because of the extra spells per day. The Wild Mage is easily the strongest mage kit as you get every Mage spell, plus a small line of Wild Mage spells, extra casts per level, and a random chance per cast to be even more powerful per cast. The Wild Surge 'penalty' really vanishes by SoA.
  • AgricolaAgricola Member Posts: 21
    The only really beneficial reasons to not take a gnome illusionist/cleric, Illusionist/fighter, Illusionist/thief is access to either necromancy or the wild mage kit. IMO the wild mage kit is the only worthwhile reason to take a specialist mage since you can get awesome effects like restoring all your spells from time to time.

    If you're talking about Bg:EE with xp cap removed I think ballpark you're looking at around 1.5 million xp total per play through if you go solo though I've never removed the cap. In ToB it's possible to hit the Xp cap in a single playthrough with a full party I think, so if you don't run a full ship and remove the xp cap then you should be good to go.
  • NifftNifft Member Posts: 1,065
    Mykra said:

    The Wild Mage is easily the strongest mage kit as you get every Mage spell, plus a small line of Wild Mage spells, extra casts per level, and a random chance per cast to be even more powerful per cast. The Wild Surge 'penalty' really vanishes by SoA.

    The first time I played a Wild Mage in SoA, it was my shortest game ever.

    I cast Find Familiar, got a wild surge, and turned to stone.

    That was also the last time I played a Wild Mage in SoA.
  • sivistojkosivistojko Member Posts: 30
    Thank you all for your replies. This is what I expected. Unfortunatelly I never played Throne of Baal so I never felt how powerfull mage is on maximum level and therefore what difference extra spells per day truly make.

    I'm expecting that in BG2: EE all expansions are going to be included.
  • AnaximanderAnaximander Member Posts: 191
    My fave' right now is gnome fighter/illusionist ... and there's a nice new female gnome armored caster avatar in bg:ee!
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  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    At the higher levels, especially when using difficult mods, you will want one thing above all else: hitpoints. That is one of the reason why "powergaming" usually involves having as many Fighters as possible in the mix, usually as the class to dual from (since bonus HP only apply at lvl 1-9).

    That also answers your specialist question somewhat; while the extra spells are certainly a nice thing to have, they are not nicer than more HP. BG2, and especially ToB, make it far too easy to rest frequently and recover your spells, diminishing the specialist bonus even further.
  • NifftNifft Member Posts: 1,065
    My second play-through of SoA+ToB was as an Elf Sorcerer, and the hitpoint thing didn't really bother me overmuch. I did NOT use any difficult mods, though.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    That would be why indeed then :P The vanilla version of the game is quite easy to beat for any class, but the mods are unforgiving to the extreme. A very rewarding experience, though, if you are willing to put in the effort.

    If not, well, as I said, you can roll pretty much anything and beat the game :)
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