The only necro spell I tend to miss is ABHW. But a F/M does not tend to focus on damage spells, so it is not needed. The gnome also gets you the great shorty saving rolls.
Gnome F/I is marginally more competitive than Elf F/M for the entire duration of the trilogy, but you lose out on some neat tricks late BG2 and TOB. I think in large part you should consider what difficulty you're playing as, and if late game coolness is more fun to you than a more well rounded approach.
It's also worth considering whether you plan on playing solo or with a group. The illusionist's lack of necromancy spells isn't really an issue in a well rounded group, because you can just have someone else cast those for you.
Skull trap's probably a bigger deal than horrid wilting considering how late in the game you'd receive 8th level spells. But as Ammar says, you go F/M for mage buffs, not for magical damage, so the few spells you'll lose as a gnome barely matter whereas the extra spell slot per level can be quite helpful.
Oh boy... for me it's Fighter/Illusionist hands down with no regrets.
I mean not only you get more spells per level but shorty bonus (-5 to W/S saves) is just ridicolous. It's like walking with blur all the time but better. 90% charm resistance is neat but what is it when compared to getting your saves way below 0 and not having to worry about ANY crowd control spells landing on you.
Also under improved haste (9/10 APR) it is a damage loss to cast ADHW unless there is like 6+ enemies in range.
Just look at those beautiful unbuffed saves near end of TOB
I would tend to agree that F/I is the stronger option: - you get an extra spell at each level. - it's easier to learn illusionist spells - your illusionist spells are harder for enemies to resist (makes a significant difference to your chance of blinding enemies). - the shorty bonus makes saves considerably better
on the other side of the equation: - you miss out on necromancy spells - it's harder to learn non-illusionist spells (though pushing intelligence to 24 still gives you 100% chance) - you miss out on elvish to hit bonuses with sword and bow - you miss out on 90% immunity to sleep and charm (if you're starting in BG1 and playing solo, that's actually pretty significant and could justify a F/M strategy)
Arrow755
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I mean not only you get more spells per level but shorty bonus (-5 to W/S saves) is just ridicolous. It's like walking with blur all the time but better. 90% charm resistance is neat but what is it when compared to getting your saves way below 0 and not having to worry about ANY crowd control spells landing on you.
Also under improved haste (9/10 APR) it is a damage loss to cast ADHW unless there is like 6+ enemies in range.
Just look at those beautiful unbuffed saves near end of TOB
- you get an extra spell at each level.
- it's easier to learn illusionist spells
- your illusionist spells are harder for enemies to resist (makes a significant difference to your chance of blinding enemies).
- the shorty bonus makes saves considerably better
on the other side of the equation:
- you miss out on necromancy spells
- it's harder to learn non-illusionist spells (though pushing intelligence to 24 still gives you 100% chance)
- you miss out on elvish to hit bonuses with sword and bow
- you miss out on 90% immunity to sleep and charm (if you're starting in BG1 and playing solo, that's actually pretty significant and could justify a F/M strategy)