soloing: mage kits

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i ended my monk solo journey for various reasons (i dont want to play a moded bg1, kicking and punching isnt that fun especially at low levels where you re usually the one getting kicked...)

so i d like to try out the mage solo, and am actually wondering if its worth taking a kit, since you get 1 more spell to cast per spell lvl which is great but on the other hand you cant learn from the opposite school

like for instance many people recommend the conjurer because they find the divination school to be quite weak, but i think some divination spells can come in handy like detect invisibility, or even the usual identify item... especially if you re playing it solo

what re your thouhts on this matter?

 

Yeah go for a kit - don't care wich. But bear in mind BG1 is quiet tough to solo with a mage - prepare to reload. But sure it's doable.

 

Go for Wild mage! (if you have TuTu, which I think you have) It will be the most unique, and thrilling challenge ever, be ready for some suprises:you cast a magic missile at the kobold, and you end up summoning a demon instead! FUN! Plus WMs have +1 spell slot per level, yet they can memorise all spell schools, and even more, their own unique spells. You will be addicted to trying to cast higher level spells via NRD.

Conjurers will have a hard time soloing as they do not have True Sight which is needed badly against smart mages, but book of infinite spells may take care of that.

Create a WM, put your proficiency to some ranged weapon (daggers are nice as you can melee them, or darts have best attack ratio.), choose your first spells, and get ready to rumble!

 

alright but say you play with a non-kitted mage through bg1+totsc, is it possible once you import your character in bg2+tob to make him a wild mage?

EDIT i just read the post above: unfortunately i cant create a wild mage since i dont want to play a moded bg1

 

I guess you might be able to choose a kit for your character once you start a new SoA game, this is the case with all other classes. I am not sure about the mage though. You can always use Shadow Keeper to change your kit, but it may be problematic as mage kits are rather...tricky.

 

but then again, i am not modding

maybe i ll take the normal mage and if i feel there s one school s spells i can do withouth, then i ll specialize

 

You can go for gnome illusionist, it has one major bonus:so much better saving throws; which is extremely crucial when you are soloing. After all, once you fail your saving throw vs a charm, dominate, hold, etc. effect, it is game over for you. A gnome with 18 CON +5 bonus to save vs spells and wands IIRC.

You will miss necromancy, but if you can live with it, go for it. Low level necro spells are crap, and you will only miss FoD and ABDHW on the long run which can be replaced byisintegrate and Incendiary Fog (cloud?)

 

nope, cant create a gnome illusionist as i usually tend to identify with the character, especially when playing solo, so it will be human thats for sure

plus i like the necro spells

in fact i d really like to know if an imported normal mage can become a wild mage

[ September 13, 2006, 17:22: Message edited by: sarevok66 ]

 

I don't think you need a specialist in BG2. The extra spell is nice, but doesn't make nearly as much of a difference as in BG1.

I think you need to look at what you miss out on for each school in order to make an informed choice.

I really think Illusionist is best, but Diviner and Enchanter should be quite doable as well.

IMHO

Abjurer misses Alteration: Time Stop! Maybe you can do without it, but it is so handy for a soloist. Stoneskin is every solos best friend. Nothing else important. It's an OK choice, but the loss of Stoneskin and Time Stop is huge.

Conjurer misses Divination. Only spell of any consequence is True Sight, but cannot be replaced by anything (unless you dual from a cleric or something). I think this is extremely hard.

Diviner misses conjuration/summoning: No summons (except Mordekainen's sword and animate dead), no power words and no wish. Wish is the biggest loss here, but may not be a huge problem. You'll be tight for spell slots in level 5 where you'll want spell immunity, breach and animate dead.

Enchanter misses evocation. A lot of good spells but the only great ones are the triggers and contingencies and Melf's Minute Meteorites. Skull Trap is better than Fireball, Dragon Breath and Comet can take the place of lots of lower level spells, I think this is quite doable.

Illusionist misses necrmacy. Abi Dhazilm's is a wonderful spell, but it's not as important for a solo as it is in a party. Skull trap is nice, but you keep everything else. (I think Finger of Death is a waste of time ) You like necro spells, but this is probably the best specialist to solo.

Invoker loses conjuration and enchantment. Take the Diviner instead. Greater Malison alone justifies that choice.

Necromacer loses illusion. Mirror Image, Mislead, Project Image, Simulacrum, Improved Invisibility. These are bread and butter for a solo. Probably doable, but quite tricky.

Transmuter loses Abjuration. As if playing without breach weren't bad enough, you also lose dispel magic, lower resistance, spell immunity, protection from magic weapons. This is definitely the worst specialty.

Think about how you would like to play a solo mage. If you don't feel like you need summons all the time go for the diviner. If you can handle not having MMM to solve most problems take the enchanter.

But really a straight mage is an easier game.

 

My friend once was trying to solo the game with a necromancer PC. (he was obsessed with those thanks to DiabloII) It was his first try, I said it was impossible.

It was fun (for me, not for him) to watch his PC die times and times against Shadow Dragon. Wingbuffetted, his lowly skeletons easily killed, cornered, ripped stoneskins, chunkified. LoL!

Though he worked really hard to reach that point, I must salute him.

Point is, soloing is very hard for a specilalist mage, I have to agree with ister. Go for Wild Mage, or pain mage, as all schools are important and useful when soloing.

 

ister > thanks a lot for this overview on the specialist issue, now i got a better insight on the whole thing. i think i did well indeed to go for a straight mage, although its very tough to start with just 1 magic missile to throw at my foes, i usually have to finishem up with my quarterstaff..

id really like to make my char a wild mage, i hope the kit is available for imported wizards

[ September 14, 2006, 19:01: Message edited by: sarevok66 ]

 

@Sarevok66: Yes, you can choose a WM as a kit if you import a vanilla mage from bg1. Get to it!

 

EDIT: ok i feel bad about it but right now my mage journey is currently at a stand by (too much a hassle at lvl 1)

right now im roaming the countryside with my lvl 3 thief and im loving evry moment of it, its as if this guy had been designed especially for soloing

but dont worry, unlike what happened with the monk, i am not quiting

[ September 14, 2006, 19:40: Message edited by: sarevok66 ]

 

Ack! Magic missle and quarterstaff? Do yourself a favor and use sleep and a sling!

 

and how do you expect him to keep a distance? that guy cant run (and he stinks at darts and slings)!!

 

Level 1 magic missile won't kill most of the things that need killing. Sleep will most of the time. Once the wolf/hobgoblin/xvart is asleep you can easily kill him with either the sling or the staff. But if one crappy xvart makes his save the sling gives you an OK shot of killing him.

Running away works fine. The enemies will eventually lag far enough for you to get in another sling shot off. A level 1 mage who melees xvarts, let alone wolves, is a level 1 mage who will soon be dead.

Problem with soloing a mage is that you need a lot of experience before you can face Tarnesh.

 

hmm actually thats not bad

gosh im so used to playing bg the hack/slash way i couldnt even figure this out

 

Sleep spells have a different effect in the BG series compared to IWD ye? When you cast it in IWD, once you attack the sleeping opponent, they wake up, although in BG they just stay down. That becomes quite handy ...

 

Playing a low level mage is very challenging, but it is well worth it in the end when they have uber levels.

You seem to be enjoying your solo with your thief. Why don't you dual-class him to mage later? (if applicable) It can be fun!

 

i cant dualclass. i like to have my char become the best in the class i chose for him

if humans could multiclass then i wouldnt mind though