Spells for a Dwarven Mage?
Astafas
Member Posts: 448
I want to try a totally new character next time, and after some thoughts I landed on a Dwarven Assassin/Mage. I love poison and backstabs, I love mage spells and I too seldom play dwarves. Yes, I know I'll have to use EEKeeper, but that is fine.
Thorfin (later renamed Molkai) will use the Dagger of Venom and the Crossbow of Speed, at least in BG1. I also plan to really use traps for a change. But what spells would a dwarven mage prefer to learn and memorize? Give me your best guesses for BG1 and onwards! :-)
This is the portrait I made for him today. The snapshot was taken by my wife, as usual.
Thorfin (later renamed Molkai) will use the Dagger of Venom and the Crossbow of Speed, at least in BG1. I also plan to really use traps for a change. But what spells would a dwarven mage prefer to learn and memorize? Give me your best guesses for BG1 and onwards! :-)
This is the portrait I made for him today. The snapshot was taken by my wife, as usual.
Post edited by Astafas on
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Curious build though, especially since Dwarves are basicly as good at conducting arcane magic as a wood is electricity, and assassin seems to suggest this dwarf will be an outcast of sorts. So, maybe not an ultra-stereotypical dwarf I'm thinking?
For an Assassin mage, purely for flavour purposes I would try and make good use of Necromancy, disablers in general and probably enchantment. I am assuming a VERY underhanded dwarf, one relying on enemies misjudging his abilities/predilections to gain advantage.
Larloch's Minor Drain is not ideal for your first choice as you find it very easily/early iirc, but it is a very, very useful spell if you are good at timing it, as it makes a dandy spell interrupter. Casts VERY fast, and travels fast, so it is better than MM at the job. Disablers like Sleep early on will make life a breeze, followed by Horror for tougher enemies (Necromancy!), the Slow for even tougher enemies (...or so you can catch up to a Horror'd enemy), Confusion iirc will be the last great disabler, as you will only get 4th level spells I think. Glitterdust is good too, but Horror is cooler. Spook is a nice spell when you are closer to the cap, as it gets harder to resist.
Skulltrap is slightly worse IMHO in BG1 than Fireball, but more fitting for your character, so think about using it. Situationally it can be better, but its a smaller area and not that many enemies are immune to fire. At 3rd level, you also get Melf's Minute Meteors, which can be poisoned, and are a very good damage option/caster killer.
Traps are just plain brutal in BG1, so devastating vs almost everyone. The only thing will be that Dwarves have 17 dex to start with, and you are an Assassin, so unless you neglect something else you end up short of skill points. I strongly suggest you neglect stealth in BG1 with your character, as you can cast Invsibility, and likely are a poor backstabber at this point anyways. Pickpocket can be dismissed out of hand, you can use potions if you really want to rob someone. Detect Illusions is nice, but if you are invisible, you can just wait until it works. IIRC, you can get by with 80% in find traps, even less in Open Locks, and just boost with a potion when strictly necessary, IE Durlag's or Catacombs. Other than those two places though, there is very little worth stealing you won't be able to nab. Open Locks boosts quite a lot with a Potion of Master Thievery, so you might let that slide even more. You can win without it. So, if you plan out in advance your point distribution, you will be happiest.
He's still a dwarf. He's still going to kick arse. Let elven mages sit back throwing lightning and fireballs. He's going to fill himself to the brim with arcane energy and will use it to tear you a new one.
Then in BG2 he can use magic to really buff himself up into a combat monster.
But okay, seriously. I'd focus on defensive and buffing magic. He's got a crossbow for hurting people, so let him channel the power of the earth and stone through your party. Summons also make sense, once you start getting good ones. Especially the demon summons. Delve greedily and deep.
Mages have what, 1 party buff until 5th level, when they can cast Haste?? Slow is better, and fits an Assassin well.
For spells, go for earth based spells if you fancy rping a typical dwarf. Armor, shield, grease, pro from petrification, strength, knock (especially useful as you can dump open locks) slow etc all have an earth theme. Or go for the anarchist dwarf that goes for the flashy spells like color spray, aganazar's scorcher, glitterdust, fireball, haste etc.
Darts are indeed better for poison users, but I see him as a dwarf who simply likes a sturdy crossbow. :-)
For a pure assassin, I would favour darts, but for an assassin/mage, I suspect he will not regret crossbows. It is a shame he can't use the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy though, handy to take down VERY hard to hit opponents reliably.
For a character this interesting, I hope you plan to do a good write up of your play through for us to enjoy. Definately not cookie cutter, and tons of potential for really interesting character development. You don't need to go too overboard, @Blackraven has some nicely written playthroughs that you could model yours on. Very curious for the explanation of the Assassin/Mage as a dwarf, should be interesting.
As folks noted, Knock will be a very useful 2nd level spell to prepare, especially if you know which chests are worth the trouble of opening. Not all really are! But if you can skip Open Locks (Use either knock or potions as needed... Knock for isolated chests, potions for areas with several good ones), invisibility can offset your need for stealth in BG1, You don't need to max Find Traps as you only need 100 in Durlag's iirc, so getting a solid Set Traps score should be doable. Dwarves have a good bonus to both Set Traps and Remove Traps (and a small one to detect illusions), making them pretty decent at what you are trying for I think.
Oh, I almost forgot. I changed his name to Molkai upon creation!
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If Gorion was Molkai’s teacher in most worldly things during those early years in Candlekeep, the dwarf Reevor was his most important mentor when it came to being a dwarf. The lessons were many but mostly pleasant. More than a few even ended at Candlekeep Inn, with tankards of dwarven ale on the table.
In a library filled with old – and apparently tasty – books and tomes, fighting the rat population is expected of all, in particular the young and otherwise (depending on who you ask) carefree. As is often the case when you are forced to do the same thing over and over again, every day, it gets boring. But young and creative minds, unlike rodents, cannot be caged. Each day, Molkai and Imoen fought the boredom by constructing ever more advanced traps in order to catch and kill the pesky rats. It soon became a friendly competition between them, and many traps ended up more complex and intricate than functional. Eventually the two skipped the rats entirely, instead using their imaginative traps to set each other up in the most surprising – and preferably embarrassing – ways possible. To the joy of everyone else in the monastery, it was an even match.
Being a dwarf means being stubborn. And – as Reevor used to tell Molkai – “there is absolutely nothing a stubborn dwarf can’t do”. From his tone it was obvious that stubborn was amongst the very finest qualities anyone could possess, regardless of race. Thus it came to be, that at the very moment Imoen proclaimed no dwarf could master magic, Molkai decided to become a great wizard rivaling even the famous Elminster himself. It was with mixed feelings Gorion started his tutoring later that day.
When not chasing rats (or Imoen) or memorizing spells, Molkai often ran errands for the guards in the garrison. One guard in particular, the marksman Fuller, tended to always lack bolts for his trusted crossbow. In exchange for Molkai’s many visits to Winthrop in this regard, Fuller accepted to teach Molkai the fundamentals of handling the crossbow. Pleased with Molkai’s eagerness to learn, Fuller also taught him some basic moves with daggers, should an enemy get to close for successful ranged combat.
To conclude this tale, we must introduce Esteban. Esteban is Molkai’s cat familiar. None of the two is very satisfied with that arrangement. In fact, Molkai had always hated cats and very much hoped for a fairy dragon, so his reaction when receiving his familiar was… well, let’s just say that it was a less than ideal start to their relationship. However, that is not to say they wish each other ill. In fact, losing his familiar is a very painful experience for any wizard. So when Esteban hovered between life and death for the tenth time after being exposed to the rat poison down in the monastery cellars, Molkai started to look into more cat friendly, but still rat poisonous, options.
What starts with a need may eventually turn into an interest. What continues as an interest may with time flourish into passion. And sometimes, if you are not careful enough, passion may grow to obsession. Molkai had soon read every single book on herbalism, alchemy and venomous creatures available at mighty Candlekeep. He knew how to handle the rats in the cellars, as well as how to quickly incapacitate or kill far larger creatures…
Thus prepared, the dwarven assassin/mage Molkai is now ready to leave Candlekeep with his foster father. The grand adventure waits beyond the next corner.
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If you go the way of traps then I suggest invisibility to memorize for your backstabs coupled with buffs like: haste, strength, shield, blur and clerical ones from your priest. Some weapon/touch spells are also nice to use.
With dwarf I often think priest though, but without weapon limitations...
Things started out real slowly, as one would expect when it comes to mages (or assassins not specializing in stealth). But now Molkai has reach level four as a mage and level five as an assassin (40 000 XP), and we are currently at Cloakwood Mines.
There have been some really wonderful moments so far. I just love hitting a sword spider with a poisonous backstab in the dark and then running away as fast as those short dwarven legs will allow! Also, using the dagger of venom in addition to the poison weapon skill, one of the two will normally do the job. Otherwise, a quick spell is a sure way to finish the grisly task.
The party consists of Molkai, Imoen, Khalid and Jaheira, Garrick and Kivan. Kivan was changed to an archer upon joining the team, and Imoen just dualled to a mage after reaching level six as a thief (90 per cent in open locks, 95 per cent in find traps – spells and potions will have to do the rest in Durlag’s Tower). Khalid has mastery in the long sword and melees exclusively. Jaheira just switched to using her club before her sling. Both have shields and heavy armor.
To the surprise of no one, Kivan as an archer (or as long as he has a bow) is hard to beat when it comes to kills. However, I’m both surprised and pleased to say that Molkai is holding up very well. Thanks to the crossbow of speed, a dexterity of 17 (max for dwarves before any tomes) and the bracers of archery – as well as poison and spells, of course (although the later have mostly been incapacitating, so far) – Molkai has around 30 per cent of the kills so far.
As an assassin, you get fewer points to distribute amongst thief skills than would an ordinary thief. But Imoen has handled all traps and locks so far (and will do again, eventually) and Garrick takes care of identification and picking pockets. I put all Molkai’s points into set traps until reaching 80 per cent, and then started to put them into move silently (with the boots of stealth, we are now succeeding about half the time).
When it comes to party composition, I prefer having more than one healer. As Imoen just turned mage, one alternative would be to drop Garrick for Yeslick. It would without a doubt make for a stronger party, but I do (no joke) like having Garrick around, and so far we have been able to handle all challenges quite well.
The most used level one spell is sleep. The most used level two spell is invisibility (in order to backstab).
Finally, we just learned than wyverns have helmets. :-D