Best Specialist Mage in IWD?

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And why? Since the spell schools definitely vary from the BG games, which school is the best and why? I'm specifically curious about the Necromancy spells. Are there some of that school in IWD you just can't do without? I'm thinking of having a go with the following party:

Fighter (probably Dwarf)
Paladin (Human)
Ranger (Elf)
Druid (Half-Elf)
Gnomish Illusionist/Cleric
Fighter/Thief (probably Elf)

I may switch the last 2 around and do a Gnomish Illusionist/Thief and a fighter/cleric of some type, but I haven't decided yet. I'm not apposed to the idea of a single or dual class specialist wizard however. I'd just like to know if by doing so I'll be sacrificing the some of the truly juicy spells.

Thoughts please, from personal experience if possible. Thanks.

By the way, I do plan on taking this party through HoW and TotLM, with 2 item packs and the Ease-of-Use mod installed.

[ July 21, 2003, 20:04: Message edited by: Death Rabbit ]

 

I go conjurer because they can cast spells from the Divination school because everyone can have Divination magic. I think, I don't remember if it said that in the maual or not. But that is what I always used because they get bonus spells and can cast the same things as Generalist wizards if the above is true

 

That may or may not have been a bug in the original game that was fixed with a patch though. My first time through, I took a Necromancer. I could cast and memorize every spell in the game, even from my opposition school. I don't know if anyone else had this experience, but I did. I later tried a go with an Invoker and didn't get the same result (after installing the expansion and latest patch) so I assumed this was the case.

I'm curious about actual spells and tactics. If taking an Illustionist (or whomever) means I only miss out on 1 or 2 killer spells, then I don't really care. But otherwise I'll just take a general mage/something and live with the one-less spell per level.

 

I was caught out when playing IWD again, as they changed all the opposition schools.

1. Conjurer used to be the best, but now they have invocation as the opposition school (so no MM or FB).
2. Illusionist used to be good as you only lost Necromancy, but you lose Abjuration as well now.
3. Enchanter was always frowned upon as you lost invocation, but now it's on a par with conjurer.

If you want all spells then you need to choose generalist mage. However, depending on what wands you gain along the way you can choose a suitable school and supplement with wands.

Now, with the opposition schools I would be inclined to take an Elven Diviner (lose conjuration) or Elven Enchanter (lose invovation).

The enchanter would be the better option, this way you can still summon lots of cannon fodder and certain protection spells. Plus, as I always have a Bard in my party he could cast the invocation spells which woul dbe more powerful than the mages anyway. So all bases covered.

 

I´ve always played Illusionists in BG so I did the same here. Did kinda turn me down when I got HoW because of some really nice Necro spells I couldn´t write. (Death Spell for example)

Enchanter is one I dont like there was alot of spells I use that he couldn´t write.
I´ve been meaning to try out a Necromancer, but haven´t had the time yet so I cant give you any experience. Although, you did play one once if I read your post right

Cant give you the best, but even though the setback I had with the Illusionist I´d go with that. Especially if you plan on dualclassing him/her since you probably wont get to high enough levels to obtain lv 6 spells and above. Or are you planning on doing this very late?

 

@Duke Eltan: didn't you find the loss of Abjuration spells an issue? I do like Illusionist myself, I just hate the way they've done it in IWD. They seem to have tried to make it more like 3rd-Ed, even though it's 2nd-Ed.

 

No, the only spell I can recall now that I wanted to write but couldn´t was the Death Spell.

I kinda got some certain spells I tend to use at each level. So there might be some good Abjuration spells that I miss out on. But I´m to used to BG to try out new spells. Yeahyeah, call me lazy... I know I am and I feel good about it

Could you mention some useful Abjuration spells so I could see if any of them is one I use in BG?

 

Abjuration Spells:

I got the list from a BG2 spell list.
* indicates spells in BG2 that aren't in IWD, but may or may not be in HoW.
+ indicates spells in IWD and not BG2. There may be even more in HoW.

A lot of the spells can be supplemented by priests but some are very useful.

Level 1
-------
Prot. Evil

Level 2
-------
Prot. Petrification
Resist Fear

Level 3
-------
Dispel Magic
*Minor Spell Deflection
Non-Detection
*Prot. Cold
*Prot. Fire
Prot. Normal Missiles
*Remove Magic
*Spell Thrust

Level 4
-------
Minor Globe Invuln.
Remove Curse
*Secret Word

Level 5
-------
*Breach
*Lower Resistance
*Minor Spell Turning
*Prot. Acid
*Prot. Elec.
*Prot. Normal Weapons
*Spell Immunity
*Spell Shield

Level 6
-------
+Antimagic Shell
Globe of Invuln.
*Pierce Magic
*Prot. Magic Energy
*Prot. Magic Weapons
*Spell Deflection

Level 7
-------
*Khelben's Warding Whip
*Mantle
*Prot. Elements
*Spell Turning

Level 8
-------
*Improved Mantle
+Mind Blank
*Pierce Shield
*Prot. Energy

Level 9
-------
*Absolute Immunity
*Freedom
*Imprisonment
*Spell Trap
*Spellstrike

 

Thanks, the only one I use there in BG2 is Minor Globe of Invulnerability. Probably why I didn´t notice any more spells than Death Spell.

I´m not to fond of casting alot of prot spells before battles, makes the first ones I cast go awya before the last one is done. Almost anyways.
Stoneskin, Mirror Image and Minor Globe does it most of the times while my priest cast Prayer and Defensive Harmony. That´s all the patience I got.

Removing combet protections on enemies?
Bah, bash them til they´re gone works most of the times

 

@ Duke Eltan : You are probably right about the protection spells. I just found it a shock when playing as I expected both games to be more similar.

I still love Illusionists.

 

Is there an explanation anywhere why it isn´t same in both games?
It IS the same world right?

 

The only thing I noticed is that IWD was produced by a different team to BG. Although it uses the same engine, the spells and items are specific to each game and I presume the IWD team wanted their own identity on it. Also, the creators of the game have changed a lot of the class abilities and spell levels. I can only reason that they have tried to make the game more based on 3ED than 2ED, you can see this with what they've doen with the ranger and bard classes.