How do I mage (solo) - "stuck" as mage after dual class

ahhyep

Doing solo Berserker -> Mage playthrough, got Berserker (13) and now am a lvl 8 mage after learning all the spells I could.

I have ring of gaxx and robe of vecna

I am in chapter 2. Already done Merkath, Nalia but still have much to do. Plan on doing most of the overworld before I travel to the asylum.

I normally play melee only, and haven't ever had to rely solely on spells so I think this will kind of be fun. I just don't know what to do. Should I just summon a bunch of stuff? How do I kill enemies? Thanks in advance!!

DreadKhan

Look for spells with a modifier to the save, such as Web or Chaos. Greater Malison helps too.

luskan

Level 8 I'd use web and melf magic missiles a lot. Spider spawn is a good summon with web until you can cast Animate Dead. Skull Trap and wands (fire and cloudkill) help when you start getting outnumbered.

Borek

I usually stock up on wands of fire (scorcher + move about so they get blapped twice is exceptional for many encounters) and Cloudkill and do the sell+buyback when they are down to 1 charge so i can get a fresh one with 50 charges. It'll let you get through most of chapter 2 with minimal resting and casting "real" spells. More than enough to unlock your 1st class and get to the point where you have the arcane and melee power to wreck the game

yhl533556

actually some scroll is infinite，you just need go out of city and come back again and again before dual。the enemy will bring scroll to you 。 with enough scroll，it would be easy。

AnonymousHero

(I should say, that I do exclusively solo no-reload with SCS, so any advice I give is explicitly not based on luck manipulation or abusing the AI (eg. Cloudkill Wands on Dragons). Of course it still applies if you are willing to reload on bad luck, but it means that what I'm about to advise on may be a lot less efficient than just doing luck manipulation. I'll note in particular that there are a few spells (usually via scroll) that can be devastating even when cast by low-level mages -- but you'll need the enemy to fail the saving throw.)

Ok, with that preamble, rather than give you specifics, I'm going to give you the general game-winning strategy for any dual-class combo, and you might want to experiment a bit around this:

1. Figure out which quests are better suited to your primary class and which are better suited to your secondary class. (Just in general terms, see below.)
   
2. For absolutely maximal flexibility in terms of weapon choice, you'll want to level your mage to L5 and no further until reaching L14. Why, well it's one above L13, which is where you want to stop your Fighter progression. (And I see you've done that! )
   
3. Preselect any proficiences, abilities, stats, etc. you'll want for the entire game. You can go to my stats-calculator at bardurarantsson.github.io/bg-stats/ to get a full run-down. (Btw, this is vanilla BG -- if there's any relevant additions for BG:EE or BG2:EE, please do raise an issue on the Issue Tracker. I have no ability to play EE, but if there are technical differences that can be explained through stats(etc.), I'm happy to incorporate them.)
   
4. With those pre-selected proficiencies (if the are in fact possible), plan out exacty where you'll place each point. The exact timing is important because mages can't place points in various swords, but *can* place up to two points(!) in Staves. So if you're betting on 5+ points in 2H-Swords, 2H-WS and Staves this is possible with a bit of forethought.
   
5. Ok, back to quests: Find a text-based(!) walkthough and map out roughly how much XP can be eked out in every single starting branch of every questline with minimal danger/effort. (The 'danger' part is most relevant for no-reload. Otherwise? If you fail, just reload.). I'm using and old copy of DSimpson's walkthrough. Whatever, works well enough and it has mostly accurate XP numbers(!).
   
6. Once you have that overall map you'll want to plan out your general strategy: For example, if you're playing Kensai (or Monk) you might not want to go all the way in the Unseeing Eye (part one) quest unless you have some protetction from level drain (or just restoration). This is usually where it gets tricky. The thing is you're playing a Berserker, so you can afford to just Berserk and avoid all the stun, level drain, etc. (and if you're not fast enough -- panic-use a ProUndead scroll.)
   
7. A sweet spot that I've found is that you can use ProUndead scroll to basically steam-roll through ~400K(?) XP in the Ruined Temple? You just need that scroll + 2xPotion of Speed and the ability to wield a +3 Two-handed sword (without penalties, so at least one point) -- one of which is easily obtainable underneath the Copper Coronet. Are you seeing where I'm going with this now? It's all very contingent, but it's possible to solo almost any character.
   

This is the general line of reasoning you'll need to apply to successfully solo. As I mentioned, I only do no-reload these days, so if you can afford to do luck manipulation, then it's obviously going to be a bit simpler, but just keep in mind that you'll want to keep plenty of old save games lest you end up in a situation where you just cannot progress.

I'll be happy answer specific questions, if I can.

(It's been a while since I've seriously attempted another no-reload solo. I mean, I have several runs going, it's just that I'm not really familiar/practicing enough outside of those characters, that I expect any of them to make it. Latest was a solo Sorcerer who got butchered by (slightly improved) Irenicus/The Slayer in Hell... which makes me sad, because I should have practiced that more and I could definitely have beat him... I just made a few bad choices at the start of the fight.)

EDIT: Oh, yes, should mention, I've successfully dual-classed a K(18)->M(19) (or was it 21?, can't recall), and the classic "witch" build of CoL(20? 21?)/Mage(xx). The CoL for stacking Boon of Lathander and Mage for IH and, well, whatever else is needed. Interminable amounts of buffing, btw. While you can script that you still have to actually wait for it in-game. That was about my limit. I also got a Monk to hell (died to a random vorpal hit by a Balor, curse them). All the "let's play" logs were lost in the great Aether when Bioware shut down their old forums . Anyway, that EDIT was just to try to establish the validity of my meta-strategy through anecdote .

AnonymousHero

yhl533556 said:

actually some scroll is infinite，you just need go out of city and come back again and again before dual。the enemy will bring scroll to you 。 with enough scroll，it would be easy。

In the old vanilla game, I believe you could buy unlimited Ruby Ray from a vendor. Pretty silly, but it did at least cost a little gold, and so was limited.

... but yes, the general idea of saving up a huge amount of scrolls to memorize/erase/re-memorize, etc. is a good meta-strategy.

EDIT: Jeeebus, just discussing the absurdity of this meta-gaming is making me want to do it again...