I'm trying to build a perfect party (for me, I know everyone's will be different to suit an individual's playing style). One of my characters is a mage, and I'd like to know which specialty is best, or if a generalist mage is actually best.

In my party, I do have a bard to handle any spells that would be restricted by a specialist, if this makes a difference.

I have Heart of Winter installed, which restricts mages more than the original IWD game.

You have just started a firestorm.

The truth is that it's a matter of personal opinion, and this very question leads to long debates between different members of these forums (primarily NobleNick and Dundee Slaytern, IIRC.) However, here's my advice:

If you want to play as a specialist mage, be an Illusionist. This is the best specialist mage class. You can play an illusionist as a gnome, thus gaining the +1 Intelligence bonus, and the two schools that you are blocked from are not as important as some are. However, I should warn you that certain random items will greatly effect whether your bard can do well as a spellcaster.

<font color = lightgreen>In lower-level games like BG1, a specialist is better because you get an extra spell slot per level. In higher-level games like BG2 or IWD (especially if you have HoW/TotLM/AB) always go with a generalist--diversification is more useful than specialization. [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img] </font>

<font color = mediumspringgreen>Pegged, LOL!

Actually, Dundee and I came to somewhat of a consensus: I agreed that a Generalist is probably a better choice for single Mage parties on high HoF difficulty settings; and (IIRC) Dundee admitted that a Specialist might give more mage power for the normal game. And, yes, krunchyfrogg, having a Bard can make a big difference for some in whether or not to specialize. For me, the addition of a Bard into the mix makes this a no-brainer ---> for Normal game/expansions: Specialize!

Agreed with all the rest of the above. Illusionist is -THE- specialist school to take if HoW is installed; because it gives you all the important schools, especially Evocation, Illusion and Conjuring.

</font>--------------------<font color = mediumspringgreen>
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!
</font>

[ 10-12-2005, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

Cool, thanks guys!

BTW, my mage will be a dualclassed guy, but he is starting off as a thief and does in fact have the dexterity to dual into an illusionist. :D

I just checked something out (which makes the illusionist even better IMHO): the only 9th level spells are both conjuration/summoning spells (which the illusionist can cast). This is great, because 9th level spells are the only ones bards can not cast, so I should be able to cover every spell in the game!

I presonally favor diviners over any other specialization, as the bard can handle any summoning spells plus some special beserkers.

Transmuter is basically identical to Illusionist isn't it? My personal opinion is that generalist is best, but it does depend a lot on playing style. Illusionists and Transmuters lose out on abjuration. If you tend to play melee based parties this is a big loss, because you miss dispel magic and protection from normal missiles etc.

I like the cleric/illusionist (or transmuters) combination for this reason, the cleric side covers up some of the shortages of the mage side. But I still think that the generalist is more useful.

Coming back to this game... I'm not really sure the bonus spell on a main mage from being a specialist outweighs the opposition schools.

For instance, I went with an Illusionist, and I think missing spells like Dispel Magic, Skull Trap and the multiple Shadow Summons really hurts (my backup mage, a Bard, doesn't have too many free slots for all of these spells)!


(gratuitous bump!!!) ;)

[ 01-04-2006, 09:44 PM: Message edited by: krunchyfrogg ]

With a bard and a cleric, you should be able to cover dispel magic. Skull Trap is merely a reduced-radius, delayed-blast fireball (albeit magic damage) with no damage limit. It's a loss, but not a huge loss. Shadow Summons are easily replaced by other mage summons, a cleric's animate dead, or with druid summons, so that's no biggie.

Don't sweat it, just pick the right mix of spells for your party as a unit, not for each individual character.