Convince Me to play as a Mage
kansasbarbarian
Member Posts: 206
i have never played a mage character in any of the BG or IWD sagas. I usually play fighters or thieves or Fighter/thief. The mages I usually use in BGEE are Edwin, Neera, or Baeloth. But I alwys equip them with ranged weapons and the only spells I use are identify, and haste which I know isn't optimizing their abilities.
So Can someone give me a small tutorial/analysis on using a mage to their greatest potential.
So Can someone give me a small tutorial/analysis on using a mage to their greatest potential.
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2/ Find the spells which make the bad people fall down.
3/ Cast the spells!
You are right though that BG1 has little incentives for your CHARNAME to go caster. Sorcerers are very strong but you have Baeloth; Edwin is a very decent mage; Neera is a decent mage as well, if you can live with the randomness, and also a new, appealing character.
It's unlikely you will want too many mages in BG1, given how fragile and relatively weak they are.
It all changes in BG2, though. There, mages rule supreme. I rarely make parties with less than 3, and they are especially deadly in dual-class combinations (Kensai->Mage comes to mind). They quickly become nigh-invulnerable killing machines; Protection from Magic Weapons and Stoneskin alone void most enemy attacks, with Spell Immunity thrown in now and then for specific fights. With Abi-Dhalzim's Horrid Wilting, you can level entire areas, and Time Stop just makes things silly, doubly so when paired with Improved Alacrity.
Essentially, though the above-mentioned pattern remains the same: defensive-offensive-crowd control. Pick whatever you need for a given situation! If you don't like sleeping before fights to re-learn the spells you will need (for RP reasons or convenience), roll a Sorcerer.
Second, wizards don't have a boat-load of spells to start off with. Once you get the Ring of Wizardry, you have more, and when you find scrolls you have still more, but even then you aren't casting spells every single round.
Be mindful of what wands you have available. Use them to supplement your casting abilities. The same with scrolls.
If you are playing a pure class caster, you will not want your wizard to be in the front ranks. keep this in mind when choosing spells for your day. Ranged spells are "Almost" always superior to touch spells. Buffs are also useful, particularly if you can get either some time (Mage armor lasts 6 hours) or some significant boost (Haste effecting the entire party).
Next consider battlefield control. At first thru fourth levels, sleep is invaluable. This spell will incapacitate opponents in the area of effect (including your own party, so be careful) so that you can go around and attack them at significant bonuses and without them attacking back, but it won't effect anything above (I think) 4th level.
Grease and Web likewise incapacitate, but make the area difficult to move over. Be prepared with ranged weapons before casting these. Hold person/monster also incapacitate but on individuals. These can really hose up enemy combatants while you dice them or their compatriots. At higher levels Otiliks sphere also incapacitates one opponent, but it protects them from all damage. it takes practice for this to be a good plan. Also at higher levels, Chaos and confusion are great ways to disrupt your enemy.
Melf's acid arrow is a great enemy incapacitator. Cast it on an enemy wizard and they will not be able to get off long casting time spells very effectively. The continuous damage ruins their concentration. Other than that, it is an OK damage spell, but it's real power is in slowing down enemy casters.
Be aware of enemy caster hosers. Silence will destroy your caster's ability to cast spells unless you have cast vocalize. A Melf's acid arrow will hurt you as much as enemies when cast on your caster.
that should be a good start.
You'll quickly learn why mages > all
Snark aside, I agree that mages can be quite powerful, especially if you play with difficult mods. Question is though whether they are powerful enough you will want a lot of them, or whether 1, 2 mages are enough for the job.
Right now I am leaning towards a Sorceror. I will try the spells suggested above. Again thanks for the detailed replies.
I ran one for the first time recently and he turned into a solid powerhouse by the end of the game. Half his spellbook was dedicated to self-buffs such as mirror image and stoneskin which combined with multiclass XP-splitting toned down the offensive power. He was effectively unhittable later on though, and could still chuck out disabling save-or-suck spells as needed.
Greater Malison + Glitterdust + Slow + Blind will really ruin any high-level baddie's day. Perma-blindness makes them a very easy target for your dual-wielding fighter/mage.
@Kansasbarbarian, the way I always play it, my Charname Wizard is the architect. He is the guy who 'Leads' the group. Most of the rest of the party are little more than hired mercs for his protection. he acts like a general to their soldier. Now this is a tiny bit self serving, but you can modify the outlook to be more 'goodly' if you like. Basically, he is the smartest (or most charismatic for a Sorcerer) and therefore the one most reasonable to direct the tactics.
But definitely don't undersell the power of a Wizard used properly. Once you get the hang of it, you will find that almost any encounter will go a lot smoother with them around. If you are facing resistant opponents, a well placed Haste will turn your combat troops into absolute monsters. If you are facing hoards, the ability to web them can mean the difference between winning and taking no damage.
Also, your familiar (and you really MUST have a familiar) can in some cases serve as scout/spy. Just be very careful with the little critter. If he/she dies, you lose a point of CON permanently. In some cases, they can pick pockets as well.
Another thing that will happen once you focus on your wizard will be the ability to identify what disables other casters. If it hoses up your party, it will hose up your opponents. Observe what works and use it against the opponents.
One thing i would add, you may be tempted to become a specialist mage for the extra spells it affords. This can be a double edged sword. Pick the wrong school and you block key spells. I personally like Necromancers, but you lose the illusion school and wonderful things like Blur and mirror image. Until you get a real hang for what spells work for your style, i would stay away from specializing. Just my two cents.
Red a dragonlance book and think about raistlin.
Mages vary in the series from powerful to completely off the chart at higher levels. Look at the level 9-10 spells to see for yourself. A small selection feats they can perform:
Become completely invurnable to damage, magic and physical!
Double their HP and get a warrior's thac0.
Stop time.
Cast meteors...
Once You Play A Mage
You Will Never Ever Be Able To Play Any Other Class Again
You Have Been Warned
Id say that's pretty much the core approach you'd be looking for.
I'm having great fun with a Blade and a Jester in different games
A good BG EE build for someone starting as a mage is swashbuckler to level 5, then dual to a mage. It'll make for a pretty powerful combination. Level 5 is only 10k experience. Not hard to get 20k.
- Have mages cast spells that disable opponents. Disabling Area-of-Effect spells are especially effective against mobs, eg, Sleep, Glitterdust, Horror, Emotion: Hopelessness, Chaos. Spells that do nothing but dispense damage are great. But when enemies are hampered or entirely stopped from attacking you they're easy pickins'. Disable first, then dole damage.
- Have mages target the most powerful enemies (their spellcasters and tanks) with disabling spells such as Spook, Chromatic Orb, Blindness, Hold (clerics can cast this too), Slow, Confusion, Feeblemind. Priests can use Doom, Summon Insects, Rigid Thinking, Insect Plague. In other words, shut down the opponents' magical attacks.
- Have mages take control of enemies and make them attack their own comrades via Charm, Dire Charm, Domination. Once enemies are charmed, take control of them and make change their weapon to fist. When the charmed enemy is a spellcaster, use up his or her most powerful spells--against his/her own comrades, naturally.
- For a ranged approach (i.e., attacking from a distance) mages and clerics can initiate the battle by casting Grease, Entangle, or Web. Then use Stinking Cloud, Cloudkill, or Ice Storm. All the while pelt the enemy with arrows, fireballs, incendiary potions, and arrows of detonation.
All but the last of these basic strategies will serve you well both in the vanilla game and when using tactical AI mods. Except for the last one (i.e., the ranged attack with enemies outside fog of war) they don't depend on any exploits. With the exception of the last one they'll work just as well when enemies behave smarter, as with the SCS mod.Since we're talking about BG:EE the focus above is on lower level play. However, the higher the level of play, the greater your command of spellcasting should be. And to really excel in combat in BG2, although you will still use much of the above, it requires much more spell knowledge.
But to not make it too OP I think a Swashbuckler/Mage or a Blade is indeed what you'd be looking for.
Also, a char imported from BG1 will reach higher xp in ToB where it's nigh impossible to cap when playing with a 6man party.