if arie (not sure on spelling) isn't that
good of a mage, which one would be best to use. And where can i find one?
thanx

Yes, Aerie can be vapid and annoying. I've never had edwin so i can't fill you in there. Nalia is a good generic mage who can cast anything. she had 4 lvls in thief but that only helps her hitpoints and gives her the ability to use a shortbow (useful), otherwise she's useless as thief w/o potions of master theivery. she progresses well and has the intelligence to support many spells at each level. i don't remember ever having gotten the "have memerized max # of spells for this level" shpeal with her. Jan Jansen is an illusionist which limits him in the types of spells he can cast and is mutli-classed so doesn't progress fast or far.

Edwin is a specialist mage so he gets an extra spell per level and he has 18 Int, important if you remove the cap so u can get lvl 9 spells. He's in the Docks district and u get him doing the Shadow Thieves quest vs. the Mc-whatever-their-name-is quest. The illusionist/thief dude is also fun, he has some cool items and abilities and is also a specialist mage. He's in the Govt. District in the bottom area of the park.

ps nalia is originally in the copper coronet in slums. after doing her quest, she's at d'arnise hold.

If your party is good, then recruit Nalia in the Copper Coronet, slums district. The best mage is evil, Edwin, but you only meet him if you work for Renal Bloodscalp in the Shadow thieves guildhouse, docks area. If you agree to his mission, Edwin can be found on the 2nd floor of Mae'vars rival guild house. Both can max out levels to learn all spells.

the best mage in the game is......................me of course!!

but of course you can't have that! and i advise that you'll be better off with edwin. nalia is another good choice if you want her - she already has some high level spell memorised and i admire her 80% find trap ability coz you'll need it.

Edwin simply dwarfs every other mage in the game. He gets +1 spell memorization per level thanks to his specialisation, and another +2 memorizations per level from his Edwin-only amulet. A lot of his dialogues are also priceless.
Nalia ties for 'most annoying character' with Anomen.

Also Edwin is a conjurer making his opposite school the waekest there is
You don't really nee divining and that how Edwin became more powerful than my Necromancer (you damn hell sure need illution spells but he i wanna roll play)