My NobleNick party!

[ZFR]

Wow! The Fighter(9) -> Mage is amazing. I never was a fan of mages fighting; usually keeping them at the back where they can cast offensive spells (+ summons, party buffs), but this is great. With just a mirror image + buffs from other members (I think Bless, Protection from Evil and Emotion Hope), he handled Kontik without a scratch, then helped the rest of the party kill the death nights.

I never use Mirror Image, Stoneskin or other caster-only buffs since my mages never enter combat. I only used them once when I was soloing a Kensai->Mage in BG2. It's fun to try something different.

Got Kaylessa's armor that allows me to cast spells while wearing it, so I don't have to rely on Shield and Armor Spells.

[ZFR]

And finished!

I will post some more thoughts on this game when I have more free time.

[ZFR]

So the final statistics (before the final B battle) were:

Name Class level: %XP / %kills / Most Powerful Vanquished

NobleNick Bard 22: 1% / 3% / Remorhaz
ZFR Fighter 9 / Diviner 16: 33% / 29% / Polar Bear Spirit
Aerich Fighter 7 / Cleric 20: 25% / 21% / Malavon
Dundee Slaytern Fighter 3 / Druid 19: 11% / 13% / Yxunomei
Marty4 Fighter 3 / Thief 22: 14% / 17% / Ice Golem Sentry
Azred Fighter 6 / Abjurer 17: 13% / 13% / Ice Golem Sentry

Enjoyed the game overall. Felt easier, but could be because I already played it so many times. However it was not a pushover; challenging enough at some places and the final battle with B was tough.

At no time I was inconvenienced by the dual class.
As I said before regarding the non-mellee mage Azred dualling at 6. The extra mellee proficiency is not necessary but then again it doesn't hurt either. Maybe putting it in axe is the better option since it allows using returning throwing axe (however putting two extra prof slots in axe might not be a good idea, since you're likely to find better bows/crossbows). Throwing daggers might be an option too, but returning ones are more rare.
Ironically the first time I killed final boss B was Azred using a mellee hammer (he had 3* in hammers and crossbows, and my bolts +2 were not effective). After that the game froze so I had to redo the battle again to see the ending.

I was very happy with ZFR the battle mage. Usually I use mages in battle for the back lines for damaging spells, buffs on others and summons. I therefore don't use self buffs like stoneskin and mirror image, because the mage is not supposed to be on the frontline and take damage. The first time I used this was a solo kensai->Mage in BG2, and I liked it. This time again it was a great class. Maybe I'll try it again in my other game, a multi class this time like a half-elf fighter/mage. I have a strong dislike for multis since BG1, since I felt they level up so much slower so why take an X/Y and have each class level up twice as slow when you could take 2 party members X and Y. In that game experience was scare and the XP cap quite low.

Anyway, enjoyed the game and the nostalgia that came with it. Was really good to visit the Dale yet again.
Thanks to the 5 guys who were players in my team and to all the other members of this forum. It was truly an enriching experience discussing this game back in the day.

Take care,

[ZFR]

One more thing: I so wanted my battle mage ZFR to take Vampiric Touch, since it's touch based and would give him extra hitpoints, but Azred read the scroll and I couldn't find a second one throughout the game. Shame really. IWD has too few mage scrolls.

[ElfBane]

When the game gives you lemons, then just CLUA it in.