I wanted to know which opposition school has the least useful magic, and id be happy to hear your opinions.

The best class of mage for me would be a Conjurer, but they cant see invisible people because their opposite school is Divination, but then again some people might disagree with me.

[ 04-16-2002, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: Montravant ]

IMHO the necromancer.

They kick arse! :D [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] :D

It largely depends on who else is in your party and what is most important to you.

If you're looking for a kick-posterior mage with powerful offensive spells, pick the Conjurer.

If you're not, then pick anything else, really.

Id try Hogwarts (or whatever the hell its called) school for dumb little annoying wizard boys. j/k

another vote for necromancer [img]smile.gif[/img]

its my favorite specialist...AND its got the coolest name! cant beat that

i got a serious doubt here. well i'm a necromancer in my game.. its cool and all, but it seems to me that all specialist mages are the same in all respects except in the school of magic they cant practice. i mean a necromancer has all the kick-ass spells that a conjurer has & vice versa except that the necromancer cant use illusion & the conj cant divine.
what i mean to say is.. if you're a necromancer its not like you get some extra necromantic spells or are better at them or whatever.. you get the extra spell/level like all other specialist mages.. you only cant use illusion/phantasm.
so what you have to decide is which school you can live without. in my opinion.. if you're going to be a spec mage.. then you're likely to be a rather magic oriented guy (like me) which means you'll definitely have a secondary mage somewhere in your party. and you can let them cast your opposition school spells that you really want.
like i had jan (thief/illusionist) when i was a necromancer... perfect. (this changed when i replaced him with imoen eventually.. but she can cast illusions too if i really need them).
am i wrong somewhere.. anyone?

with a necromancer, youve got everything covered [img]smile.gif[/img]

you can't cast illusionary magic, but that's what jan is for

i didnt really explain all that well...illusion is something i don't use much, so i don't mind not being able to cast it, sooo id pick a necromancer, because not using illusion wouldn't really affect me

if you have another mage, everything is fine...but if you don't, go through the spells and find the school you use least and that should be your opposite school

[ 04-16-2002, 11:27 PM: Message edited by: Deathcow ]

The 3 specialties that a sane player would choose: Conjurer, Necromancer, Illusionist.

Of these, I'd say anything except Illusionist is a good choice, because if you're playing any kind of Mage kit at all, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that you've got Jan. So we're left with Conjurer and Necromancer, as has already been mentioned. I happen to think the Conjurer has a slightly better set of usable spells, not to mention that you can still use the Glasses of Identification, and True Sight is a Cleric (and maybe Druid, I dunno) spell as well, and is also in the Book of Infinite Spells. Also, there are no Divination spells past Level 6, so a Conjurer/Bard team could cast everything, while a Necromancer/Bard combo cannot Project Image.

Also consider the Wild Mage. If something bad happens, reload. A bit cheesy, I know, and not very roleplay, but then neither is making a main character who cannot be raised from the dead, etc.

<dl>
<dt>Solo:</dt>
<dd>Conjurer</dd>
<dt>Party:</dt>
<dd>Necromancer</dd>
</dl>

When I have a Conjurer, the only spells I miss having are Identify and True Sight.

When I am a Necromancer, I miss Mislead and Project Image( possibly the cheesiest Mage spell ever in BG2).

I still prefer Necromancers however, because of their image and roleplay value. ;) Somehow screaming to your opponents that you are a mighty Necromancer weighs more heavily than screaming that you are a mighty Conjurer. ;)

*****

Semus Ciall the Diviner: "I will... detect you to death! HAHAHAHA!"

[ 04-17-2002, 02:57 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

Definitely the Entropist(IF ToB installed) otherwise conjurer kicks.
Why the Entropist? Because they get the +1 spell pe lvl AND all the spells. And frankly, wild surges don't come up that often(but when they do its usually when you need them the least.)

I am not sure if it is like that in BG2, but in D&D 2nd edition, elves where very restricted when it came to wich specialist school they could take, so I became very familiar with the Divination specialist. The only spells you can't cast are necromancy spells. I can defenitely live without those.

Glaurung, your assessment is dead on. When choosing your specialist, you simply choose the opposition school you don't need orwant to use, and be the guy that can't use it.

i think that transemuters rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way lucifer how do u add the animations (devil)

though Conjurer and Necromancer are the most common choices, the Illusionist, Abjurer and Invoker are very good, too. Conjurers lose relatively few spells, but Necromancers lose all sorts of good stuff.

From (yet again) the role-playing perspective, try to play through the game using only the spells of your chosen school. Only Illusionists, Abjurers, and Invokers have any chance at all. The only decent Necro spells are Skull Trap and Abi Dalzim's. The ONLY spell protection removal spell in the ENTIRE game that isn't Abjuration is Ruby Ray.

I would have to say, from a normal perspective, choose either the Wildmage (ToB only) or the sorcerer. Only choose the sorcerer if you know exactly which spells do what and you know what your basic strategy will be. otherwise, you will find yourself in a bind halfway through when all your spells do nothing. My sorcerer, though very good, always had problems with pure-damage spells. you might have other strengths or weaknesses. Eventually, whatever you choose will be very good, provided you stick with it.

and Danius, you may want to attend an EPA meeting. Otherwise, you make everything look kinda nasty.

(EPA=Exclamation Pointers Anonymous)