Do you need a mage?

Paladin

I have never played through Icewind Dale without a mage. But, I am considering rolling with this party:

Barbarian
Dwarven Defender
Archer
Fighter/Thief
Skald
Shapeshifter

I could drop the Archer for a Sorcerer, but I think it'd be neat to go magic-less. Plus, Archers are just so powerful. How important is having a spellcaster, from your experience?

Kilivitz

You'll do fine. I've had an easy time beating the game with only a vanilla Bard as an arcane caster.

semiticgoddess

IWD is very melee-heavy. Many disablers don't work due to the number of undead, and debuffers have almost no purpose due to the absence of mages with proper defenses. Area-effect spell damage is excellent, but a fighter-heavy party is excellently suited to deal with anything in IWD short of Heart of Fury mode.

solomonhume

Why drop the archer? Drop the barbarian for the fighter/illusionist

atcDave

The Skald will do fine.

Paladin

Thanks for all of the feedback! I'm debating dropping the Barbarian for the Fighter/Illusionist, as solomonhume suggested. But, it sounds like I may not even need the magic at all. It would definitely cut down on my micromanagement to pass on the arcane guy.

sarevok57

the only thing that a mage can do that a bard cant do, is cast level 7-9 spells ( unless they changed that in IWD) and because of the EE edition there is a ton more spells in IWD that mages can take advantage of, but one of my favourite spells is mass invisibility which is a level 7 spell that will give all of your team mates +4 to all saves, and give enemies a -4 to hit penalty on you, and unlike the bg series, the enemies aren't to keen on dispelling your invisibility so that spell really comes in handy, but if you think you don't need it, then you should be fine

OlvynChuru

sarevok57 said:

the only thing that a mage can do that a bard cant do, is cast level 7-9 spells ( unless they changed that in IWD) and because of the EE edition there is a ton more spells in IWD that mages can take advantage of, but one of my favourite spells is mass invisibility which is a level 7 spell that will give all of your team mates +4 to all saves, and give enemies a -4 to hit penalty on you, and unlike the bg series, the enemies aren't to keen on dispelling your invisibility so that spell really comes in handy, but if you think you don't need it, then you should be fine

Mages can cast a lot more spells per day than bards. They can also wear mage robes and rings of wizardry (the rings of wizardry in Icewind Dale are REALLY good).

semiticgoddess

Granted, bards get the Harp of Progression, which grants extra spell slots (two level 2 spells, and one level 3 and 4 spell), but they're not as absurdly powerful as the rings of wizardry in IWD, which can double (!) level 1, 2, and 5 spell slots.

SharGuidesMyHand

Sorry to hijack someone else's thread, but what do folks here think of playing IWD with only a multi-class mage (specifically, a gnomish cleric/illusionist) as the only arcane spellcaster? Imagine that the party also has two other clerics (a single and a multi-class) in addition to the cleric/illusionist.

atcDave

Arcane casting is not hugely important in IWD, at least not like it is in BG. As such, a multi-class as your only caster will probably be fine.
I would add, that IWD is so much just a long tactical exercise, running a party with very little magic, or five or six spell casters; are all just interesting challenges.

OlvynChuru

You don't NEED a mage, but they're useful and fun to play. I like how Icewind Dale's mages can get really powerful but in a different way than in Baldur's Gate 2. In Icewind Dale, mages don't necessarily put 3 Horrid Wiltings in a Chain Contingency. Instead they can cast Cone of Cold and do 30d4 + 30 damage (more than that if they're wearing Kontik's Ring of Wizardry). It always feels nice to do that much damage with a level 5 spell.

greenbeans8

The skald and shapeshifter together are equivalent to a cleric, a mage, and a ranger in terms of versatility if played as one.

greenbeans8

Pound for pound a Barbarian, a Monk, and. Fighter walk into a bar... and walk out with the bartender, a wench, and a bathroom attendant. (In good humour.) And there ain't a shower.

Dazzu

OlvynChuru said:

You don't NEED a mage, but they're useful and fun to play. I like how Icewind Dale's mages can get really powerful but in a different way than in Baldur's Gate 2. In Icewind Dale, mages don't necessarily put 3 Horrid Wiltings in a Chain Contingency. Instead they can cast Cone of Cold and do 30d4 + 30 damage (more than that if they're wearing Kontik's Ring of Wizardry). It always feels nice to do that much damage with a level 5 spell.

I wouldn't be too excited about using cold Damage in a game loaded with ICE and undead.

semiticgoddess

I'd feel pretty lame if I was the only mage in Icewind Dale who couldn't cast a cold spell. All the other invokers would laugh at me...