1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

How fun is a Wild Mage?

Discussion in 'BG2: Throne of Bhaal (Classic)' started by Eyebreaker7, Oct 5, 2013.

  1. Eyebreaker7

    Eyebreaker7 Someone clean my litter box Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2008
    Messages:
    1,371
    Media:
    15
    Likes Received:
    17
    Gender:
    Male
    I know that their magic is sometimes random effects but how often?
    How fun is a Wild Mage?
     
  2. Paracelsi

    Paracelsi Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2011
    Messages:
    1,100
    Media:
    10
    Likes Received:
    104
    Gender:
    Male
    The Wild Mage can be the strongest or the weakest kit in the game. It all depends on the results you get. If you like to play safe though it plays pretty much like a regular mage plus a few positive/negative hiccups every once in a while. Mostly positives at higher levels. It gets more castings of higher level spells per day than any other mage (even beating sorcerers if you only count high level spells) thanks to Nahal's Reckless Dweomer.

    It can be incredibly fun to play but it's definitely not a good kit for people who want a safe game (which means as little reloads as possible). What makes the kit unique is the Nahal's Reckless Dweomer spell which allows you to cast any other spell in your spellbook, often with unpredictable results.
     
  3. pplr Gems: 18/31
    Latest gem: Horn Coral


    Veteran

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2008
    Messages:
    1,032
    Media:
    2
    Likes Received:
    35
    I think they are more fun than the other classes.

    The class is worth at least a cow.


    Paracelsi is right about them basically functioning like a mage. If you're worried about stability you also have the rest of your party as a back up.
     
  4. coineineagh

    coineineagh I wish for a horde to overrun my enemies Resourceful Adored Veteran

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2008
    Messages:
    1,637
    Media:
    13
    Likes Received:
    134
    Gender:
    Male
    It's a cross between a mage and a stockbroker. There's profit to be reaped, but the risk can be great. Every normal spell has a 5% chance of a wild surge, and that can be a good or bad thing. Usually bad, since the spell you were counting on was not cast. Even though it's 50-50 that the surge will be 'beneficial', it remains to be seen whether the benefit is of any practical use in your situation.

    Nahal's Reckless dweomer basically activates a wild surge. Most of the time anyway. As you can see in the surge table, rolling 100 would allow the spell to cast normally. In the case of NRD, the mage adds his own level to the dice roll. So, a level 12 mage has a 13% chance to actually cast the spell successfully. Yay.
    Reading that table, I'm sure wild mages seem like a lot of fun. But I'd reload if surges occur like "The caster's gender changes " or "All the party's gold is destroyed". I really hope that you get some kind of in-game message of the effect, otherwise it might be a nasty discovery *after* you saved. I do wonder if the surge "All doors in area of effect open." can open locks that are impossible to unlock...

    There are mod spells available for wild mages, that add things like 'chaos shield', which protect you from bad surges, by the way.
     
    Darion likes this.
  5. Darion

    Darion Resident Dissident Veteran BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2002
    Messages:
    801
    Media:
    1
    Likes Received:
    42
    Gender:
    Male
    "A cross between a mage and stockbroker."

    Wow. That's probably the most awesome way of putting it.

    But yeah, can be frustrating and awesome in so many ways.
    (I'm a regular when it comes to playing this class.)

    Casts a spell to help your buddies in a fight; Opens Gate.
    The thing that comes out of it butchers everyone.

    And if you add the Wilde Mage Additions Mod....it'll be even more awesome.
     
  6. coineineagh

    coineineagh I wish for a horde to overrun my enemies Resourceful Adored Veteran

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2008
    Messages:
    1,637
    Media:
    13
    Likes Received:
    134
    Gender:
    Male
    Give me a Magic Missile for my lvl1 spells, thank you very much. I'll pass on the Recklessness.
     
  7. Eyebreaker7

    Eyebreaker7 Someone clean my litter box Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2008
    Messages:
    1,371
    Media:
    15
    Likes Received:
    17
    Gender:
    Male
    I'm partial to Chromatic Orb myself. :cool:
     
  8. coineineagh

    coineineagh I wish for a horde to overrun my enemies Resourceful Adored Veteran

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2008
    Messages:
    1,637
    Media:
    13
    Likes Received:
    134
    Gender:
    Male
    I edited Jaheira to be a Fighter/Avenger, so I leave Chromatic Orbs in her capable hands. Still, Magic Missile shouldn't be underestimated as a reliable source of damage with no saving throw. I'm sporting overpowered mod weapons myself, so when I do resort to magic, it's usually something tough with high saving throws. 5 successful missile hits beats a lvl12 Chromatic Orb. Why? I have main character, Imoen, Edwin, and edited Viconia to simultaneously cast MM at any enemy, for 20 hits (spell resistance can seriously frustrate, though). If they were casting Orbs, it might result in 4 measly hits and 4 successful saves. But Jaheira is there to see if there's a weak saving throw to be exploited;)
     
  9. Uliarathid Gems: 1/31
    Latest gem: Turquoise


    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2014
    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    WILD SURGE: COW FTW!
     
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.