Fighter/Mage advice for my first ToB run

Remove all ads!

The first two BG's are some of my all time favorites for some time. I got ToB a year ago when it came out for mac but never could get it to work . After getting the newest Mac OS version I tried it out again and it worked w/o problems of any sort.
This being said, I want to make my first run through a good one and so I have a few questions.
First off I've always loved the mage and never thought it made sense to come out of Gorion's tutilage without some knowledge of magic. Besides I want to play a character that is somewhat like myself (I feel stupid doing anything esle... dunno why). So on one side I can't see not being a power hungry mage. On the other I can't see not wanting to jump into the fray from time to time.... so fighter/mage seems the way to go, but I still want powerful magic.

(1) Will going F/M place serious limits on my potential as a mage? Is there any way to ensure that my magic abilities will be impressive?

(2) When (not lvl but point in the 3 games) will I get mage HLA's?

(3)As to weapons....staffs are cool, if only for Staff of the Magi, but I also have to love swords. Any recomendations as to which I should put proficiencies in... or if it is foolish to try to go with both?

(4) As to Role Playing, I'm going Neutral Evil, but evil in more of the "anything for power" sense and not so much the indiscriminately malicious sense. So burning/consuming ambition is what I'm going for. With this in mind does anyone have any suggestions for parties in any of the games. I can see myself with a good party early on at least and then maybe incoroprate more evil characters as the game progresses. Mostly I want my party to be fun (I don't want it Too strong until ToB at least) and to allow for good dialogues (not too much goofiness) and opportunites to RP with my player character.

(5) also on this topic how necessary does anyone thing it is to play the default party in BG 1 to have continuity between the 1st 2 games. I will take Imoen in BG 1 of course, but does anyone always take the default members if they are playing through to BG II?

[ December 05, 2004, 20:51: Message edited by: Beren ]

 

I take it your using a Multiclass F/M? If you are, they are the best choice IMO.

HLA's come after 3 million XP for the combined classes (so 1.5 each in the case of the MC) but IIRC the lvl 10 spells are only selectable when your character can cast lvl 9 spells... I think.


The F/M is perfect for melee combat because of all the spell buffs they can use. An example would be, casting stoneskin, prot mag weapons, fire shield, blur mirror image, imp haste, prot mag energy before battle. Combined with contingincies this makes a fight against these quite tough.

Cast Imp. alacraty, Timestop and critical strike HLA and go in with the Staff of the Magi and have 8 attacks p/r dispelling on every hit doing pretty big damage.

If you want a mage orientated char, I would say go for a dual class to limit the fighters effectivness and prevent you taking Fighter HLA's in order to focus more on the mage aspect.

 

Malovae is correct that you cannot take the lvl 10 spells until character level 18. But (to actually answer your question) when you get those HLAs in the game will depend on a few things--will you use a full group of 6? Will you diligently do every quest? Will you save Watcher's Keep for TOB, or clear it before you take on Irenicus? It is possible to get HLAs before Irenicus.

But you won't need them, especially if you play as evil--you will absolutely cut up with Blackrazor long sword. You'll want to play the character as a magically-assisted fighter, not a melee-competent mage (IMHO). You'll have plenty of proficiencies to get staff, long sword, and anything else you want (katana, scimitar, short sword are all good, obvious choices). Consider dual wielding, so that you can fulfill all your neutral evil dreams of power.

As for party, I'd just take anyone you like. But keep a tank around, because early on your f/m doesn't quite fit the bill.

 

I'd suggest taking Katanas over long swords: not only do they do better damage, but there's the Dak'kon Zerth Blade that gives you an AC bonus and also an additional spell from levels one to four. Stick that in your offhand and C.Fury (or the acid Katana, if you play with tactics) in your main hand and you'd be quite formidible in terms of weapons.
For a ranged weapon, I'd suggest taking Long Bows, but that is just a personal preference. If you are playing as an elf, you'll get a bonus if you use Long Bows (the bonus is one thaco isn't it?)

 

Yeah, its +1 for longswords and longbows for elves.

The HLA question seemed to ask at what point he would recieve the mage HLA's during the 3 games... as if they were story related.

You get them at any point once you have the correct XP. The mage HLAs come in two parts really. When you have access to them for the first time you can choose an additional lvl 6 - 8 spell with the lower lvl spell being the prerequisite for the next one. Then when the mage half of your F/M gets to level 18, you will be able to choose lvl 10 spells.

If your using a party of 6 unmodded, it will probably be at the very end of SoA or beginning of ToB (possibly in the Underdark - i can't be sure because I play with a few mods and have done for quite a while)

I won't mention any ToB weapons for obvious reasons, but in SoA there is:

Quarter Staffs - An early winner when it comes to enchantment as Staff of Rhynne is available from the start. Staff of the Magi is extremly powerful and will make life alot easier (the spell trap it has nicely gives your f/m an early lvl 9 spell.

Longswords - I tend to steer clear of these now... there is Blade of Roses +3 from Copper Corenet, Daystar +2, and Namarre +2 (sp?). Late game there is the Equaliser (pfeh) and Blackrazor +3 (good, but doesn't cut it in ToB IMO)

Katanas - A good choice on the whole, as Geoff mentioned, Dakkon's Zerth Blade is handy, and Celestial Fury is good right up until ToB.

Blunt - Flail of Ages is very good all the way through the saga so I would not discount it. There is still the old Flail of Ages and Crom Faer combo.

Those are just some of the choices. Try to work out who you will be taking along for the ride and see what wepons you would want them to use. Might make it easier

 

The most important thing to remember is that the point of m/c characters is not to excel in one area but to use their different abilities to support eachother. Rather than being a walking artillery section like Edwin, your fighter/mage will be most powerful focusing on spells to defend him/herself and to debilitate and destroy the defences of enemies so they can be hacked to pieces with impunity. Load up on mirror image, blur, stoneskin, slow, breach, true sight, contingency, death spell (wastes summons automatically; nice) and the like. If youve got spare spell slots then magic missile, fireball and other mage favourites cant hurt, but they shouldnt be your primary concern. If what you really want is essentially a buff mage, then you're going to have to wait until pretty late into TOB before you get that. In that case, you'd be best off going for a dual kensai 13/mage x or something similar.

Thats how I'd play it anyway Its your game, feel free to experiment and find your own f/m sweet spot.