[Haddar - Servant of Talos]

Hi all. Haven't been here for quite awhile and noticed this nice little discussion. Having read all these posts I must say I wonder if you guys have played both classes. Now, it was a long time since I played the game, but I'll try to write a good post. Since there are so many spells, situations and circumstances I will not say "if your mage does that, my cleric will do that." "But then my mage will do this to counter your spell." You know what I'm trying to say... If we knew about this duel between a cleric and a mage, the two combatants would have to prepare so many different spells for every possible situation. Now I hear all you mages scream "But I have time stop, Lower resistance and Abi-Dalsim in my contingencies, triggers and god knows what." Well, there are ways around that to.
And no, you can't cast Insect Plague on an invisible character, but you CAN cast it on a friendly creature (for example a summoned creature) standing close to the invisible enemy, and the Insect Plague will spread to him to, even though he is invisible. But as you guys have already stated, that is a druid spell. (Unfortunately, cause it is a really mean spell. And it is better than creeping doom, since it lasts longer. It is not the damage you want with Insect Plague. It is the 100% magic failure.) Now, I haven't soloed a mage, nor a cleric, or I have soloed both. My first solo-character was Haddar, and he is/was a multiclassed evil cleric/mage. I can't say that I used the magespells more or less than the cleric spells. The mage has more firepower with more offensive, direct-hit spells, but the highlevel cleric spells are pretty offensive too and can pack a punch. The cleric spells often work in another way than the mages. They must often be used in conjunction with another spell, then these spells become just devastating. I come to think of Finger Of Death (which in fact IS a direct-hit spell. Isn't it a cleric spell AND a mage spell?)), which is just a darn good spell. "But then I have already cast Death Ward". Yeah right. How many spells can you cast in a couple of rounds? Oh..i forgot. You knew this fight was coming, so you cast Invisibility (staff of magi...ok), Protection from Evil, Armor, Infravision?,Protection from petrification, reflected Image, Shield, Blur, Mirror image, Resist Fear, Non-Detection, protection from Cold, protection from Fire, protection from Normal missiles?, Fireshield, and so forth and so forth. And how often do you run around with Death Ward memorized? I didn't even once. Ok, but only when I knew what was coming, which is kinda unfair. But you guys have already stated that. Anyway, if Finger Of Death is not offensive, then what is?
And yes, clerics only have up to level 7 spells, but in my opinion they make up for it with better lowlevel spells. At least _I_ used the "clerical" lowlevel spells more than the ones I got from the mage side. Well, who would win this battle? I honestly don't know. Luck, and skill of the player handling each character would have a high influence on the outcome. And if the players were equally matched in skill, I would say luck would determine the outcome. But if you want power, go for the multiclass cleric/mage. There you have endless possibilities, and can literally play with your enemies, testing new combos. It is veeeery slow in the lowlevels (beginning), but if you solo, you will level reasonably fast anyway.

Have a nice day all! =)