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The Reckless Wild Mage Party, Minimal Reloads

...isn't possible

I tried this last night to see how far i could get, it was fun but difficult

rules: play as a wild mage, min/max if you want
pick up the ring of wizardry
pick up neera
have only nahal reckless dweomer for 1st level spells (identify allowed, when resting in inns to identify items, but NHD only for the road and combat)
exhaust all 1st level spells before use other levels/scrolls/wands etc
only reload from the autosave (so usually when you enter a new map)

i got up to neira, the first assassin in nashkell and gave up. just too often a wild surge would be negative, i think only twice did a wild surge actually work in my favour. so have a go and see what you think

i might try again and do the Wild Mage thing again, but to use any spells rather than restricting myself to nahal's reckless

Comments

  • WanderonWanderon Member Posts: 1,418
    So are you limiting the party to PC & Neera only?

    I'd probably expand that to at least 2 more NPCs (thief & healer or warrior) or add a second PC of your choice so you could use a dual or multi thief/____ and keep the party to 3.
  • SionIVSionIV Member Posts: 2,689
    mjs said:

    ...isn't possible

    I tried this last night to see how far i could get, it was fun but difficult

    rules: play as a wild mage, min/max if you want
    pick up the ring of wizardry
    pick up neera
    have only nahal reckless dweomer for 1st level spells (identify allowed, when resting in inns to identify items, but NHD only for the road and combat)
    exhaust all 1st level spells before use other levels/scrolls/wands etc
    only reload from the autosave (so usually when you enter a new map)

    i got up to neira, the first assassin in nashkell and gave up. just too often a wild surge would be negative, i think only twice did a wild surge actually work in my favour. so have a go and see what you think

    i might try again and do the Wild Mage thing again, but to use any spells rather than restricting myself to nahal's reckless

    It's hard to play with because it's so luck dependant, i know that someone in the old No-reload thread on the social forum got through Baldur's gate 1 with a wild mage and no reloads, but ended up dying to a wild surge just after getting into waukeens at the start.
  • mjsmjs Member Posts: 742
    Wanderon said:

    So are you limiting the party to PC & Neera only?

    I'd probably expand that to at least 2 more NPCs (thief & healer or warrior) or add a second PC of your choice so you could use a dual or multi thief/____ and keep the party to 3.

    yep PC and Neera only.

    that's an interesting idea to add a cleric/thief. or i might add the tweak that allows dualling from wild mage to create a WM>cleric and WM>thief

    although i really think that no matter what the party if i'm using the reckless dweomer only route then i'm gonna have a bad time

    PC and Neera, without any spell restrictions could do it, with the allowance to reload from autosaves for the occasional PC-killing surges
  • WanderonWanderon Member Posts: 1,418
    The idea of using only NRD for level one spells certainly makes for an interesting game - especially early on - but the addition of a thief/healer either as one or two more party members would make the party more likely to survive the effects - even more so if it was the main PC and the WM was secondary as I think the surges kill the mage more often than others in the party.

    I have used Neera somewhat in this manner (only memorizing NRD for all level 1 spells) with a party and survived reasonably well.

    It would seem the "fun" in this game would be more about getting to experience the crazy surges over the course of the game and less about making it almost impossible to continue without constant reloading as you try to keep two low level mages alive without any other party members.
    dstoltzfusJuliusBorisov
  • mforwwmforww Member Posts: 78
    I'm not really a fan of wild mages for this reason. In my first BGEE playthrough I tended to only keep 1 NRD memorized on Neera and use it sparingly (mostly for flavor). You just seem better off knowing what you're gonna get.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    At low levels, NRD results in bad wild surges most of the time, since your level is added to the wild surge roll, and in the wild surge chart, the highers rolls are generally better.

    It might make interesting game play, but there are very disastrous wild surges for a low level party. A burst or fireball surge can kill entire party. (happened to me once, killed 4 of my party!) One time, we were fleeing from a group of strong enemies, and my NRD opened up a Gate and conjured up a dreaded Nabassu. I was like, 'Run, you fools!' and we made hasty retreat, the original enemies tackled the Nabassu and were slain horribly by the beast. I never even looked back and fled to the exit of the map.

    Petrification wild surge is the worst, it is a reload if you can't save vs spell. Held is very troublesome if you are the target and are held in the middle of a fight:you die pretty quickly. I once had a terrible 'dizzy' wild surge, but it affected Bassilus:he couldn't cast spells after that!

    But there are some very good surges as well. 'spell cast and I feel refreshed' is one of the best. 'spell cast twice' or 'no save' is brilliant too. 'area effect' is a mixed bag, can be good, or worse.
    JuliusBorisovEudaemonium
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    This sounds like a really tough challenge! Not surprised this was the outcome.
  • mjsmjs Member Posts: 742
    @lunar

    i actually got the refreshed surge two or three times in a short run from candlekeep to nashkell, unfortunately that just meant that i got more NHDs and my next one would hold or fireball me :(
  • WanderonWanderon Member Posts: 1,418
    edited March 2013
    This concept has some promise I think with a little tweaking to keep it from becoming a reload fest.

    I think I am going to add some sort of Wild Mage challenge to my current batch of campaigns but not as a solo or duo - I'm going to have to ponder a bit on what sort of personality the wild mage would have that might lead them to constant reckless use of NRD and what sort of group might travel with such a person.

    I think I may lean towards a group that consists of mutliple PCs and perhaps all 3 (or 4) of the new NPCs.

    Edit: Ok I think I have my wild mage challenge mostly figured out - I have a ranger/cleric leading the group (main PC) with an elven wild mage companion - we will take Imoen for our thief and pick up Neera ASAP - then we will add Rasaad and leave the last slot open I think for the occasional NPC quest probably starting with Minsc altho we may add Xan when we get him and keep him a while.

    The wild mages will learn all NHDs at first level and use those before using any other spells altho I will choose when they will cast and when they will use weapons and/or run if needed but not in a manner that really restricts the number of spells they cast. We will also not use any unidentified items.

    First attempt didn't make it out of candlekeep - wild surge lightning fighting the second assassin wiped them both out. LOL Now I am going to be more careful about quick saving more often!

    Got the group to FAI alive - ignored Xzar/Monty and turned down Jahs/Khalid and I think I am going to ignore Dorn for this run as well altho I may wait and turn him down after his entrance.
    Post edited by Wanderon on
  • bbearbbear Member Posts: 1,180
    Is it possible to create a "wild magic" cleric or druid or combo of multiclass wild mage/cleric in shadowkeeper? I may give that a try for some extra fun.
  • mjsmjs Member Posts: 742
    I think you can in sk
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    you should try it with 6 wild mages, one of them have to get something good yes?
  • WanderonWanderon Member Posts: 1,418
    So if you dual a wild mage to cleric do you get divine surges too?
  • mjsmjs Member Posts: 742
    Didn't check for that only checked if I could nrd a divine spell...you can't
  • TyranusTyranus Member Posts: 268
    Clearly the problem is that you're only using TWO Wild Mages, and not the SIX you potentially could.
    mjs
  • kabkab Member Posts: 75
    Considering that at low levels you have something like a 30% chance of a game ending surge from NRD I'd say that yeah, it's not really possible.

    NRD forces a Wild Surge and until you have levels and Improved Chaos Shield the table is stacked against you very heavily. You'll have to modify your rules and play with normal spells. Even then you've got something like a 1-2% chance any spell you cast is going to end your game. But that can still meet "minimal" reloads.

    I wouldn't play a Wild Mage in EE, not until 2 is out. Wild Mage as a character is much more interesting when it can be seen through ToB.
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