Playing IWD without a mage

SharGuidesMyHand

What do people here think of the idea of playing IWD without a mage or sorcerer in the party, and using only a bard to fill the role of arcane spellcaster? I find that trying to cram another arcane spellcaster into a party when I already have a bard can be somewhat difficult. Imagine that the party would also likely have two divine spellcasters, probably a cleric and a druid.

Dungeonnoob

It should work just fine without a mage,it just takes longer to access lv 7,8 and 9 spells,at least lv 7 from my experience.

Kilivitz

I have just completed IWD:EE for the first time (no HoW) without a Mage or Sorcerer. Let me tell you about it.

My party consisted of a Barbarian, a pure Fighter, a Fighter/Cleric, a Totemic Druid, a Shadowdancer and a pure Bard, who was the only arcane caster, because I've read several times around here that Bards are a decent substitute for a Mage or Sorcerer.

And I guess that's accurate. But in the end I missed having a Mage because I've never got to cast any of those level 8/9 spells. And there was a whole lot of really cool items that no one in my party could use.

In fact, the Bard ended up spending most of her time singing and that was it. Having three frontliners mowing through most things (and a Druid with a bunch of offensive spells), in the end I didn't have enough incentive to use a lot of arcane spells.

My original plan was to import back this party play HoF, but I may end up "rebooting" it, replacing at least one of the characters with a Mage or Sorcerer. Or maybe a multi/dual.

I might let the Shadowdancer go. Sure the Hide in Plain Sight ability has saved the day in one or two occasions, but to be honest, I didn't make the most of her unique abilities (haven't used Shadowstep once, for example).

In fact, now I agree with everyone who says single-class Thieves are sort of a waste in IWD. Around 3/4 through the game I had already maxed out all her thief skills (mind you, Shadowdancers get only 20 instead of 30 points per level). Without HLAs or traps, there's no real incentive to have a high-level single-class Thief, unless it's a Swashbuckler. But even then you might want to crunch some numbers and check if a Fighter/Thief isn't actually better on the long run.

TL;DR: Mages are not essential in IWD and you can take a Bard instead, but it will not feel the same.

Zyzzogeton

In the original, the Bard was my main Arcane spellcaster, with the Fighter/Mage sometimes chipping in like casting Emotion: Courage while the Bard cast Emotion: Hope. Or minor luxuries like being able to cast 2 Webs at the same time instead of having the Bard cast two Webs one after the other. Most of the Fighter/Mage's spellslots were devoted to defensive spells and most of its turns were spent attacking instead of spellcasting.

jimmysdabestcop

If you aren't playing in HoF mode you can get away without an arcane spellcaster besides your bard. In HoF a lot of people like sorcerers since the way you level up is so much quicker you won't find the corresponding spells for you level at the same time

Petrol

I played 3 party without mage.
Half Orc: barbarian, zerk, kensai, fighter / thief, tempus, pure fighter (myrmidon from frosty journey mod kit)
Dwarf: dwarven defender, zerk, fighter / thief (vermin slayer, frosty journey), bounty hunter (pest controler, frosty journey), talos (Grumbar, frosty journey), pure fighter (Myrmidon)
Halfling: fighter (TunnelRat, frosty journey), fighter (corsair from scale of balance mod), swash, bounty hunter, lathander (leaftender, frosty journey) assassin (sniper, scale of balance)

As my goal was to make teams as a theme linked to the races: half orc theme = rage, dwarf theme = dragon age, halfling theme = thief. I needed the mod kit.

The clerics can replace the mages, they have glyphs, especially the one that makes electrical damage. The only thing missing is the crownd control: grease, web, cloud etc ... But they have invocation : animate dead, later air elemental.
We can easily get by without mage.

JuliusBorisov

It's absolutely fine!

A druid in IWDEE is more of a mage character in fact, she has many damaging spells. So a druid and a bard (with buff/debuff spells) can perfectly cover you if you play without a wizard.

Fardragon

SharGuidesMyHand said:

What do people here think of the idea of playing IWD without a mage or sorcerer in the party, and using only a bard to fill the role of arcane spellcaster? I find that trying to cram another arcane spellcaster into a party when I already have a bard can be somewhat difficult. Imagine that the party would also likely have two divine spellcasters, probably a cleric and a druid.

I usually don't, as it happens. Bard + Druid > Mage.

Aerich

It is absolutely viable, although you do give up some flexibility and arcane power, as the other posters have indicated. I can't say that I like playing without a mage of some description (at least a multiclass), but you will gain flexibility in other areas of party composition by doing so, while still having access to certain key spells via your bard.

Grum

I did it with an all dwarf party. I really missed the arcane magic. But it is doable!