Specialists, General mages, and Sorcerers

[Marty4]

Out of the specialist mage selection, general mages, and sorcerers, what do you all prefer, based on power, versatility, and (of course) multiclassing options?

My opinions:

1. General mages- the cream of the crop! These guys are my personal fav due to their ability to learn every mage spell in the game. Also, they are begging to be a drow with a rogue MC. Gotta love them!

2. Sorcerer- Powerful, yet second to the generic mage. They get loads of bombing power, but only get to cast 5 spells of each level. This could lead to some problems: If you like Tenser's Transformation, you may want to take it as a spell, but you don't use it enough to make that spell selection worth it. BAM! You have wasted some of your power. Like to cast eagle's splendor? If you never EVER cast magic missle, then you can make room for it. This being said, this guy could be a good support for the generic mage. They can be effectively multiclassed with a paladin or possibly can serve as an add-on to a bard (I've never tried that)

3. Specialist- Personally, I never touch them. The simple fact that they lose entire schools of magic in the intrest of an extra spell per day makes them lower on the versatility scale than a sorcerer. The only way that I'd take them is if I had two of them to balance out each other's flaws, but in that situation I'd rather go with a general mage and sorcerer. Like the general mage, they can be effectively MCed with a theif.


So, which spellcaster is your favorite?

[Bozos of Bones]

General mage? Not my kind of tea.
Specialists? Now that's what I like! Give me a necromancer any day!
Sorcerer? I like them alot, but not as much as I like the Necromancers. In a party together with a necromancer, a sorcerer can learn the prohibitet school if in dire need.

[JrKASperov]

First Specialists. I find the loss of spellschools easy to work around. I try all of them based on my roleplaying mood.

Then Sorcerers, I prefer the caster that gets to choose his spells at the time itself. Also, I tend to only use 3 spells per level anyway, so no big deal concerning the knowing of spells.

[Marty4]

Really? I guess I may be standing alone on this one. I suppose for roleplaying reasons a specialist would be desirable, but I just don't like losing all those spells.

Maybe once I take up that roleplaying party challenge, I'll take a necromancer. Wish me luck

[Bozos of Bones]

*wishes luck*
*writes letters so as to make the post seem less of a spam*

[JrKASperov]

Actually, Icewind Dale is very much playable without certain spell schools. Why is it so bad to lose that? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Marty4]

I've always disliked specialists ever since I took an invoker and found out at level 5 that they couldn't cast flame arrow. I guess they have some merit, but when I want versatility I take a general mage and when I want raw spell power I go with sorcerer.

[Lemmy]

Originally posted by Marty4: Out of the specialist mage selection, general mages, and sorcerers, what do you all prefer, based on power, versatility, and (of course) multiclassing options?

I'm a total mage-phile. My last party to finish the game (Normal mode) was composed of an Enchanter, Illusionist, Necromancer, Sorcerer, Conjurer, and an Evoker. All pureclass characters, because true mages don't multiclass; it's gauche.

The only mages I haven't managed to convince myself to get into (in any Infinity Engine game) are Transmuters, Diviners, and plain Wizards. I almost got a solo Transmuter up and running in BG1, but I lost interest in Beregost.

As for the mage schools I do like, I'm a big fan of Illusionists. Gnomes and Illusionists go hand in hand, and practically all Gnomes in Infinity Engine games are at least a bit crazy. So, I like the stereotype. "Power, versatility, and multiclassing options" don't really factor in to it. I play mages because I like them.

-Lem

[Nightowl2]

Last time I ever used a specialist mage was in IWD with the 2nd edition rules. There I took illusionist because you only lost necromancy. Then they changed that one, so I dropped specialists and went with the general mage.

One general mage and one sorcerer is a good combination. Plenty of firepower and you have all spells. It also makes it easier to choose spells for the Sorc; whatever he (or she) lacks, the mage can make up for it (eventually; finding scrolls was always annoying).

Nightowl2

[Azred]

I never use specialist mages because I like the versatility of generalists. The extra spell per level does not make up for the loss of an entire class of spells...but to each their own.