<font color="white"><u>Explanation</u>: I hope that nobody thinks that I am placing this question on the GD forum in error, as I am not sure if I want to replay the BG series or the IWD series. Let me give you my scenario, then you can council me. Maybe...your answer in BG would be different than in ToB, and I did not want to have to repost this question in three forums.

<u>History</u>: I have always played the part of a fighter or Ranger in all of the RPG games (BG & IWD). Even when I had magic users, I did not pay that much attention to the potential of their spells, and eventually, they ended up fighting with slings and such. I have never been a good magic user.

<u>Solution</u>: I want to make a character that is all mage. That way, I will have to learn what the spells actually do. I have even wondered if most of my party should not be mages/clerics of some sort, whether dualed or not.

<u>Question</u>: How do I make the choice of what type to be? I know that in BGI, you may say...(insert name A here). IN BGII, you will probably tell me to take ...(insert name B here), and in ToB, you will say that I simply must have...(insert name C here).

My question is ...what type of magic user can make it through the entire trilogy, or if you think that BG is not where I should start...which IWD character should I create and play the IWD all the way through?
And after that question...who should be his allies, in BG, BGII, and ToB?

Your answers will be as valuable to me as <font color="gold">gold</font>.

Thank you.

P.S....When you have a game, and download the patch for it, then uninstall the game once you are finished playing it...does the patch file erase?? I know that some things are left...but don't know what.
</font>

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[This message has been edited by Larry_OHF (edited 10-14-2001).]

If you were only playing BG2, you should have chosen Sorcerer, since sorcerers are FAR superior compared to the mages, but if you want to play from BG1, I sould suggest either a Cleric/Mage, a Fighter/Mage or a Mage/Thief, all of them get better THAC0 and more weapons to choose from from their non-mage class, unfortunately, Robes of the Archmagi are VERY rare and VERY expensive in BG1 and there's neither Elven Chain or Elven Plate, so you probably won't get to use it unless the enemy ambushes you are gets through your fighters, remember to choose Elf as your race so you can have 19 Dex from the beginning, otherwise a mage character is dead from the first chapter.

Invaluable NPC allies:

BG1:
Minsc, the perfect warrior, can be found in Nashkel.
Kivan a ranger, can be found west of Beregost.
Khalid and Jaheira, can be found in the Friendly Arm Inn.
Imoen, you need a thief, can be found just outside of Candlekeep.

BG2:
Minsc, for fun, is with you from the start.
Jaheira, she's useful, with you from the start.
Aerie, Cleric/Mage, one of the strongest characters in the game, even if she is a bit annoying at times, can be found in the circus tent outside of the first dungeon.
Jan, the only decent NPC thief in BG2, can be found in the Government District.

For your last NPC, I would suggest either:
Imoen, for storyline.
Anoment, Fighter/Cleric.
Keldorn, Paladin Kit.
Valygar, Stalker, Ranger Kit.
Mazzy, Halfling Fighter.
Korgan, a good fighter, he's evil though.
or
Edwin, the only pure NPC mage in ToB, he's pretty damn good too, unfortunately he's evil.

BG2: ToB
Only one new NPC here, switch one of your NPC's from BG2 for him, he's THE best fighter in the game, he has skills that even PC fighters cannot acquire, I suggest that you switch your last NPC(One from the long list at the end of my BG2 NPC suggestions.) for him, he's worth it.

And remember one thing when playing a mage, Magic Missile is THE most useful spell in the game.




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Thanks for that detailed answer!
So you are saying not to start from BGI ????
That I should start with BGII ???

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From a Experianced magicks user
Whenever you get into a fight
determen whether it is worth it to use your spells
If not, save them and let your fighters do the job
If you want to roll play a mage DO NOT take a fighter/mage
It'll make you give him katana's and use him as another tank
Sice you reach such insane levels, Cleric/Mages are a must (to bad you can;t be Druid/mage) or else choose a Sorcerer
Make sure you have a Good thief, this is vital for a mage party as he will have to explore the area and see whether magicks are needed
Make sure you have a "tank" not directly someone who can hit hard but someone who can take a beating, this can be a cleric or a fighter, it'll keep your opponents destracted from the True powers in your party

And for roll-playing aspect it is always better to continue from bg1 to bg2 but in that case you'll have to be a cleric/mage as sorcerers don;t exist in BG1


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Well, depends on how strong a magic-user you want, Sorcerers can cast more spells per day than mages will ever be able to and they don't have to find scrolls to learn spells, they learn them when they level up, also, sorcerers do not have to memorize spells, they just have a set amount of level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 spells that they can cast each level, the cons of a sorcerer is that he will not have as many different spells and that he only learns new ones when he levels up.

I'd start from scratch if I were you (even though you lose all items and spells when going to BG2), and then with either a mage (any school will do), a mage-thief or a mage-cleric. The mage-cleric is not the best choice for you, nor is a mage-fighter, because since you've always played with fighters you'll end up in the midst of combat again if your mage isn't fragile enough.

Gnome Illusionists are fun...

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Bumping for a few more replies...then I will let it drop.

In BG1, I'd have said Transmuter is THE way to go. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case in BG2. Transmuter cannot cast Spell Deflection, Globe of Invulnerability, almost all the spells that protect you. Illusionist is relatively good - cannot cast Necromantic spell. However, I'd say just do a normal Mage, or mage/cleric or mage/thief if you're going to multi-class. I also like elves in that respect, they have the advantadge of 19 dex. Mage-thief is a very useful character, IMHO - can use bows, thief skills, but can also cast spells. Of course, you have Imoen and Nalia too.

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To address IWD:

I'd play a Bard. Very powerful, magic oriented, and you won't be tempted to send your character headlong into battle.

A very wonderful role-playing experience.

The rest of the party can be flushed out with a Mage, a Druid, a Thief, and a fighter of some kind.

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I would start in BG1 if only just to get use to playing a mage, because IMHO a mage is easest to start in BG1. I would go with a mage/cleark or a mage of a pacific school for the extra spells wich can determin life and death of the mage.

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