Another small advantage is that it will let you choose the Mage stronghold in BG2 which I think is more interesting than the warrior one (though it's not very realistic to become an a mage teacher at level 2)
I would disagree, @Wowo: I think that build isn't low-powered at all. The lost HP are gathered back, if not by SoA, definitely at ToB where a familiar grants 24 HP. Assuming a dual at level 3, that comes out to 6 + 2d4 + 4 + 24, average of 39, versus a fighter at level 4, assuming a standard fighter CON of 19 after tome, 15 + 2d10 + 10, average of 36. The difference only increases if you go Mage -> Thief, of course. (And is thrown back as soon as Thief gains UAI to summon a familiar himself, but... Difference between 2d4 and 2d6 is 2 HP. Not too important.)
It's funny that you say low strength until late-game, when I think that this type of dual is strongest in the early game! This is due to one thing: wands. Paralysis, summoning, Fireball/Scorcher, Fear... This is more applicable in BG1, but the mage-only wands can flat-out win encounters that rushing in with weapons won't do the trick. If you're running party, then this also saves your actual mages their aura, so they can cast from their spell book as well.
Two level 2 casts and four level 1s aren't anything to dismiss out of hand either. You won't be combat-casting them, since you'll generally want to be wearing armor, but there are still very useful level 1s and 2s that don't scale off caster level. Shield is generally nice for the additional vs Missiles AC and Magic Missile immunity, and... Blind, maybe, if you're initiating a fight against a blue-circled character. Invisibility and perhaps Blur are good level 2 slots.
Finally, there're scrolls. Stoneskin is probably one of the greatest plusses to this combo, though other stuff like a Tenser's Transformation scroll promises to wreak havoc as well.
All this said, a multiclass Fighter/Mage is still probably stronger, since it emphasizes the Mage part more and Mage > anything, pretty much. But a, say, Illusionist (3) -> Fighter is going to be at least on par with the kitted Fighter.
I agree with your assessment, @Neverused. The wands make this very strong early in the game and the HP difference is pretty negligable with the familiar factored in.
I've decided to give this a go. RP rational being that despite training as a mage seeing my father so easily slain by the armoured giant I got scared and asked Khalid to train me in arms. Discovering a love of the blade I let my mage training slip and before I knew it I was ignoring my spell book preferring to spar with Khalid and then Ajantis and Minsc. Hence an early duel at level 2.
Besides some robes, there really isn't a whole lot of good mage only items.
Any first level spell worth casting only improves by leveling up, except for identify which is easily replaced with either items or scrolls or a decent bard.
I guess it would allow you to use wands and scrolls but those are for hoarding only.
So, I would have to say, what would be the point. It would be better to at least get a couple of second or third level spells casts for invisibility, mirror image and the like.
I really have to disagree!
1- What about identify? And blindness? Burning hands just to burn down a troll? These are all useable throughout the whole saga and won't exactly depend on character level.
2-Wands and scrolls for hoarding only? Elemental wands cause massive damage in BG1, and in SoA you might want to have scrolls to support mage battles .
Mage (2) - Fighter is incredibly strong. Not for the 2 x Level 1 spells which are worthless. But simply for the ability to use every scroll in the game.
You can use scrolls in full armour so you never have to take that off. And now your fighter can use scrolls to cast Mirror Image, Stoneskin, Protection from Magical Weapons etc. That's not to mention Time Stop and other high level goodies.
Yes you are restricted by the number of scrolls available in the game but there's still plenty to do what you want.
You lose out on what? 16 HPs at most and the ability to choose an alternative race and fighter kit. But the benefits far outweight the cost. I would contend that a mage (2) / fighter 9 would annihilate even a fighter 20, simply by virtue of being able to block all the fighter's attacks with appropriate scrolls while being able to whittlw away at his HPs through weapons, scrolls and wands.
Mage (2) / Thief adds some firepower at lower levels but is redundant long term through UAI, so in the long run you're better off with a kit or as a fighter (berserker / kensai) (9) / thief.
I'm playing a Mage (2)/Berserker (7) right now (below tiefling, who I chose to treat as a Human for class purposes). He's amazingly strong, and as comparison I've played most single, dual and multi classes several times already.
With your familiar, you loose more or less no HP. A few thousands XP don't matter at all. And you get to use wands (they should be used up, don't hoard them - it's like money when you die, no good) and read scrolls.
The main reason for getting a few mage levels though, is to have more fun. And it is.
(Yes, you have to use EEKeeper to put your kit into the second class.)
I see no reason you can't use a scroll in full armor. A scroll already obviates the need for memorizing a spell, and in the IE games it also can't be disrupted, so the exact process is clearly not the same as casting a spell. It's not a stretch to say that all you have to do is read the scroll, and there's no somatic component which armor might impede.
A non-mage can use a green scroll or a Restoration scroll in full armor, since all you have to do is read it (which is why low INT characters can't use them). It seems reasonable that a mage scroll, if used to cast a spell rather than scribe one, operates in the same way.
Also--at least in vanilla--casting speed bonuses and slow effects don't affect the casting speed of a scroll.
I agree the armor restriction is a little excessive in 2E. The 3E spell failure penalties, or SR's casting speed penalties, seem more realistic. Armor restrictions do balance out IE gameplay, though.
But I always had the sense that scrolls merely had to be read to take effect. In almost every representation of using a scroll I've ever seen, whether people reading a scroll or a passage from a book in a movie (like in The Mummy) or even somebody performing a real life religious ceremony, the reader doesn't make any somatic movements. You read the scroll aloud and you're done--probably because holding the scroll takes two hands. Whatever magic was done came from the sounds and the scroll itself, not from any somatic component. And if there's no somatic component, armor restrictions shouldn't apply.
It should definitely be consistent in some way. Scrolls are only cast at level 10, the casting speed never changes, some scrolls don't have casting animations at all, they don't trigger a spell cast auto-pause, Wild Mages suffer wild surges when using scrolls, and scrolls can be used when shapeshifted, silenced, wearing armor, or under the effects of spell failure. Most of those don't fit with the idea that it's the mage who's casting the spell, but the Wild Mage thing does.
I always just asumed that scrolls work similar to wands, it's the object in itself that does the magic, the 'caster' just unleash it. Thus, I don't see an issue with casting while wearing armor.
I did this years ago, level 2 mage dual classed to fighter, and felt like I was playing a Zelda game all of a sudden. All those wands and scrolls really make a difference.
Comments
Otherwise no. Low comparative strength until late game items. Hoarding items best used by other characters. Lost HP. No racial benefits. No kit.
It's funny that you say low strength until late-game, when I think that this type of dual is strongest in the early game! This is due to one thing: wands. Paralysis, summoning, Fireball/Scorcher, Fear... This is more applicable in BG1, but the mage-only wands can flat-out win encounters that rushing in with weapons won't do the trick. If you're running party, then this also saves your actual mages their aura, so they can cast from their spell book as well.
Two level 2 casts and four level 1s aren't anything to dismiss out of hand either. You won't be combat-casting them, since you'll generally want to be wearing armor, but there are still very useful level 1s and 2s that don't scale off caster level. Shield is generally nice for the additional vs Missiles AC and Magic Missile immunity, and... Blind, maybe, if you're initiating a fight against a blue-circled character. Invisibility and perhaps Blur are good level 2 slots.
Finally, there're scrolls. Stoneskin is probably one of the greatest plusses to this combo, though other stuff like a Tenser's Transformation scroll promises to wreak havoc as well.
All this said, a multiclass Fighter/Mage is still probably stronger, since it emphasizes the Mage part more and Mage > anything, pretty much. But a, say, Illusionist (3) -> Fighter is going to be at least on par with the kitted Fighter.
1- What about identify? And blindness? Burning hands just to burn down a troll? These are all useable throughout the whole saga and won't exactly depend on character level.
2-Wands and scrolls for hoarding only? Elemental wands cause massive damage in BG1, and in SoA you might want to have scrolls to support mage battles .
You can use scrolls in full armour so you never have to take that off. And now your fighter can use scrolls to cast Mirror Image, Stoneskin, Protection from Magical Weapons etc. That's not to mention Time Stop and other high level goodies.
Yes you are restricted by the number of scrolls available in the game but there's still plenty to do what you want.
You lose out on what? 16 HPs at most and the ability to choose an alternative race and fighter kit. But the benefits far outweight the cost. I would contend that a mage (2) / fighter 9 would annihilate even a fighter 20, simply by virtue of being able to block all the fighter's attacks with appropriate scrolls while being able to whittlw away at his HPs through weapons, scrolls and wands.
Mage (2) / Thief adds some firepower at lower levels but is redundant long term through UAI, so in the long run you're better off with a kit or as a fighter (berserker / kensai) (9) / thief.
With your familiar, you loose more or less no HP. A few thousands XP don't matter at all. And you get to use wands (they should be used up, don't hoard them - it's like money when you die, no good) and read scrolls.
The main reason for getting a few mage levels though, is to have more fun. And it is.
(Yes, you have to use EEKeeper to put your kit into the second class.)
A non-mage can use a green scroll or a Restoration scroll in full armor, since all you have to do is read it (which is why low INT characters can't use them). It seems reasonable that a mage scroll, if used to cast a spell rather than scribe one, operates in the same way.
Also--at least in vanilla--casting speed bonuses and slow effects don't affect the casting speed of a scroll.
But I always had the sense that scrolls merely had to be read to take effect. In almost every representation of using a scroll I've ever seen, whether people reading a scroll or a passage from a book in a movie (like in The Mummy) or even somebody performing a real life religious ceremony, the reader doesn't make any somatic movements. You read the scroll aloud and you're done--probably because holding the scroll takes two hands. Whatever magic was done came from the sounds and the scroll itself, not from any somatic component. And if there's no somatic component, armor restrictions shouldn't apply.
It should definitely be consistent in some way. Scrolls are only cast at level 10, the casting speed never changes, some scrolls don't have casting animations at all, they don't trigger a spell cast auto-pause, Wild Mages suffer wild surges when using scrolls, and scrolls can be used when shapeshifted, silenced, wearing armor, or under the effects of spell failure. Most of those don't fit with the idea that it's the mage who's casting the spell, but the Wild Mage thing does.
We might need to know more on how wild magic works to have an opinion on this.
This is why we need the Red Mages to study Neera and give us a satisfactory answer.