What kind of wizard strongholds are there available in SoA, is it one set stronghold or are there more to choose from? I would like to ask all you experienced wizard gamers out there, what kind of spelluser(mage) is to be preferred in SoA? I would like some firepower, but not to solely rely on that.

There's only one wizard-stronghold ... the planar sphere... it is a pretty fun stronghold though, i like the quests / items you get out of it ...

As for magic-users .. the sorcerer is a whole new level of power, compared to mage's ... definetly in ToB .. but in SoA too.
If you're not willing to have such a destructive force in your group ... I'd suggest a specialist mage ... they get one xTRA spell per level .. at the cost of not being able to cast spells from the school, opposite to the school they specialized in.
If you choose the right school, this wont bother you though.

Anywayz, the sorcerer is a lot of fun .. and you dont have to rely on him if you dont want to ... do make sure you pick the right spells though .. Dundee Slaytern has some great suggestions on spell-lists for both solo_ and partysorcerers.
Just try to look for on of his posts, the links are ( usually) included with his posts.

<font color="gold">The Sorcerer is my absolute favourite spellcaster in BG2. His spell-system is much better then the regular Mages, and he is just as good with defensive and offensive spells. Try him out, you'll enjoy playing with it. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>

I prefer conjurers, myself. Who needs divination anyway? Yoshimo can detect illusions perfectly fine (100 in the Detect Illusions slot). I don't get sorcerors, so I don't play em. Too weak at first. :( anyway the planar sphere in the Slums district in Athkatla is cool. You get apprentices, and they make stuff for you. You also get a guardian golem, he is cool too.

I love the guardian golem ... he cant die, so if your fighter/mage is ever low on HP, all you have to do is pull -adjatha the drinker- out and kick your golem around :D He cant be hurt by slashing weapons anywayz, so he wont mind, and you get 1 hp back, everytime you hit him ;)

SPOILER the good thing about the mage stronghold is the apprectices. If morul (one of the apprentices) survies, he will come back and live with you in your planar sphere; making u potions. I like the golem too! i make him stand in that first room to gaurd the door to make sure no comes in :D I also use that room to the very left when u walk in as a kinda of barracks where i keep all my items. its got about 3 chests and another thing to store them in.

As for mages, personally, i love the sorcerer. you dont have to worry about memorizing spells and its great. the sorcerer seems a lot more powerful than the other mages, especially when u learn a great spell when another mage is looking for a scroll of it to learn the same one [img]smile.gif[/img] . the only problem is to make sure you dont mess us your spells. I personally only use a few of them anyway, i only need about 5 at the most to be happy [img]smile.gif[/img]

Really?I didn't know that.Thanx for the info!

Thanks alot guys. I played SoA some, but I never played with a spellcaster before and so getting into all the schools, and all that seemed a bit much. I wasn't sure which were only good on paper and which actualy would be any good in the "real world".

Really?I didn't know that.Thanx for the info!</font>[/QUOTE]yup :D the good thing is, he makes 3 diff sets of potions. most of them i sell but one set contains 2 diff potions for thieves which i like. PLUS u dont ever have to come back to the mage stronghold after u beat all the quests.. and u can keep it! unlike all the other strongholds, you can dont have to upkeep it.

yeah, Planar Sphere is the only stronghold exclusively for mages. unlesss your character is multi-classed, in which case you have a choice between that and the other respective stronghold.