How do I make the perfect mage character?

[Halloween Mage]

Hello, I'm new to the board, and I have a question. Will somebody help me make a good mage character. Each time i make one, I'm not satisfied...So if anybody could help with stats to make for my character, and which spells would be the most useful to use, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

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Purely and Simply..Evil
-Dr. Loomis-
"Halloween"

[Demoquin]

hi i am new to this so dont take my advise seriously
srart with
18 int
16 con
18 dex
14 or so wis
and as much str with the rest of the points
dont bother with Chr just use the ring in the circus area


Magic missiles are a must and maybe a few attack spells like fireball lightning and the such, armor, invisible, dispell, and whatever you want
* assuming that you dont pick a specialist*

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I am Demoquin, Agent from Hell

[Daisakute]

Hum, you'll need at first to drop your AC i suggest you Staff of the magi -2, cloak of sewers -1,ring of gaax -2 and life recovery, ring of protection +2, and bracelets of AC 3, these should drop your AC until -4 at least.

Now the spells, i usually use 3 first levels of spells in ofensive, cause they´re fast to cast and in higher levels can make considerable damage (magic missile, cromatic orb, magic arrows, fireball, etc) between 4 and 6 levels there are many spells to break enemy magic defenses (is so frustrating that you superdude warrior with 18 streng and Celestial fury missing his target time after time) , choose a variety of these spells, and between 7 and 9 levels choose spells to protect yourself and summonig spells, ah! dont forget area speels like poison cloud, they're very useful against weak but overnumbered monster, (kobolts, knolls, etc)

I hope to help you

[Halloween Mage]

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it


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Purely and Simply..Evil
-Dr. Loomis-
"Halloween"

[sunder]

Depends on what you want as a mage.

I keep to my guns that the best mage character is a dual class fighter type/mage, either a kensai/mage, beserker/mage, or fighter/mage.. human of course.
This dual class will let you have a great mage, who has the HP and fighting abilities of a fighter to back up his spells. In the long run, your mage will be alot better off than other pure mages, but will advance a bit slower and tougher at the beginning.
A 17th level pure mage in BG2 will get about 67 HP tops in the game, while a dual class 9th fighter/17th mage will have 134 HP tops (about double) plus be more skilled in weapons, and still cast the same spells as a pure mage. They can't be specialty class mages like conjurers and necromancers, but they will be extremely good.

In my opinion anyone who wants to play a human mage would be alot better off playing a fighter/mage instead of a pure mage, though for roleplaying some perfer the puremage or a sorcerer.

You should be able to get the basic stats below with no problems.

ST 18
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 18
WIS 7ish
CHAR 7ish

This will give you a great fighter template who can dual class into a mage at higher levels (9th, 12th, etc). Getting 4 18's in your stats should take no more than 5 minutes of rolling, max.

[Amergin]

ST 18
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 18
WIS 7ish
CHAR 7ish

This will give you a great fighter template who can dual class into a mage at higher levels (9th, 12th, etc). Getting 4 18's in your stats should take no more than 5 minutes of rolling, max.

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personally i wouldn't worry about strength. everything a mage could possibly use won't require more than a 10 or 12.

in the same sense, don't drop wisdom below 10. unless you want to waste space by memorizing identify or waste 100gp per item, the lore bonus you're getting from the high INT is getting negated by the low wisdom.

fyi, a gnome gets a +1 bonus to INT.

[Volourn]

Don't forget stoneskin. Every wizard wants this valuable spell.


GO DWARVES GO!

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"That didn't hurt!" - Volourn Honourblade after the red dragon breathed on him for 75% of his hp.

[Halloween Mage]

Sometimes when I'm making a mage character...I can only cast about 4 spells on each level, at maximum too...why is that? I set my intelligence to 18 and all that.

[dulouz]

the am0unt of spells you can cast per level is a function of your level of experience. the amount of spells you can memorize per level depends on intelligence.

[Jim]

Dont forget that high wisdom is important (asd well as high intelligence) as it provides a greater chance to learn and succesfuly cast each spell, bonus spells for lower levels and gives you greater lore.