Poll : Mage or fighter?(I know...) Warning: could be some spoilers, so dont blame me!

Mages all the way. I think that the game is a lot funner when you use spells instead of just hoping that you hit with a weapon. Not that fighters arn't fun, but I just like mages more.

Halscion, you can multi-class a kit as long as the first class is the kit ie bounty hunter/fighter yes, fighter/bounty-hunter no. Hence all those Kensai/Mages. As to the debate, Mages rock at the higher levels of AD&D rules and they are far more fun. Fighters are very one dimensional and require next to nothing in input from yourself. However, a mage left to the AI can wipe everyone, including your own team out. They are far more versatile and encourage creativity. Think back to the toughest encounters in the game, they all involve magic wielders. How many straight maulers pose a threat in the game?

Is this a question of how fun the class is, or how effective they are? You can't possibly say that a fighter isn't effective.

I agree they are effective at what they do, it's just that you can play them on auto-pilot, with little or no skill involved. I enjoy playing my shadowmage, as there is a sense of danger as you explore ahead of the party, attempting to find traps, stay invisible or position yourself for a back-stab before your spotted. Then, when the fun starts, switch to a mage to really kick ass and think of the best combo to decimate your opponents or save the asses of the fighters caught by emotion, confusion, hold, domination etc. I can see the bloodthirsty appeal of fighters, it's just I prefer more input and thought. Usually I leave the fighters on AI and concentrate my actions on the magic casters, only instructing the fighters on who to target next.

Yes, I know what you mean. That's why I'm both. Adds another few dimensions to the usual hack-and-slash. : )

[WOLFGIR]

Hmm, this is tricky, I prefer to play a fighter simply because I´m most used to it, either as a paladin, ranger or pure fighter and well you can find alot of nice items to be stronger, to be be to hit, but well i didn´t know about the slayer part until yesterday, so my decision wasn´t based on that. However a fighter with spell and magic protection with good swords and a bow with a dispelling arrow can make a mage life a living hell and short cause a dubblewielding fighter can amass such damages to a tiny person it hurts like yesterday, but furthermore in the DoD world there is no more important teamup than the fighter and mage cause the fighter is the physical block for the mage, so he/she can toss thosse bloody timeconsuming spells, the mage can then make the fighters job a hell of a lot easier by zapping alittle here and ther.. Hence a combination of the two is a weaker but yet a good mix. However i prefer to max out both either by dualclass alittle, the mage who started out as a fighter for HP and Thac0, the fighter who starts with some better saving throws. Well the debate is open and not easy..

I like fighters (or paladins) and I do not agree that they are "one dimensional". When you are a fighter it is your duty to see that mobs do not attack the mages in your party, who despite their supposed finger-waggling power can't take 3-4 hits. They have to get their protections up and then they can perhaps resist some, and that also only until they get hit by some Dispell/Whip/Ruby Ray/Secret Word.. And then they're cannon fodder again. As a fighter it is you who will move in, get the attention of big bad mobs and try to hold them focused on you, so that the mage behind you can start flinging the spells. You have to select and balance your attacks, and be always on guard.

I have been playing fighter or paladin types in many games for many years, including the current online games like EQ, AC etc and it always makes me wonder how, sorry, stupid mages can be. Somewhy mages always tend to think that they are so important and others are just stupipd enough to "hack and slash their way to fortune" and are incapable of doing anything else. Sorry to burst a bubble but being a fighter is in no-way easy task. Somewhy mages do notice and let others know that "Look how I killed that mob with a single spell", but they fail to notice that this 'simple' warrior was the one who actually saved his/her crimpled hide and kept mobs at bay so that he could cast that spell in the first place . Do not underestimate fighters, without them there would not be mages alive . You only have so few spells, you only can cast that fast and your spells only protect you that much. There's always some mob who resists all your spells, dispells all your protections or simply hits so hard that your spells do not matter a thing.

As for BG2, I play a warrior (berserker) and I really have no problems to deal with the spellcasters. When fight begins, my ranged attackers usually get some shots in VERY fast, which in many cases disrupts the protective spells cast by mages. Also the ranged attackers have magic weapons which in many cases go well thru the initial protections mages put up, thus disrupting their following spellcasting. My berserker has Boots of Speed also on him, with Grandmastery in longswords and 2 slots in dual wield and often he simply rockets towards the spellcaster and fight is at times over in a matter of seconds - nothing more funnier then seeing different buffs "fly" up on already dead mage. That's one helluva buffed corpse down there heh.. With paladin and Carsomyr it was somewhat sad to see those protection spells come up, only to go down again - wasted spellslots.

And finally - there's only certain amount of spells you can memorize and use. Once they are out, they are out and you can't always sleep immediately to regain them. And then that 'powerful' mage turns into medicore dart/dagger slinger, who can go down with just couple of hard hits..

Phew, too long.. Anyway, point is - do not underestimate fighters, in most cases they are only thing between you and big bad mob and they are only thing which keeps the mobs from killing you with the first hit and allowing you to show your big spells.

Mages. i've always played mages.
fighters remind me too much of "see monser, whack monster, move on"
I know, I know, a lot of tactics are involved, including luring out monsters, team formation, etc.
when you play a mage, you have a lot of tools to choose from, so the game becomes more like, "room full of trolls, they will swarm as soon as I open door, so what combination so spells can I cast to kill most of them?" thats why when I built my hacked up sorceror i grabbed a number of web and holding spells. open door out of monster sight range, cast web, use another character to initiate attack frenzy by showing herself to trolls, as soon as trolls cluster near door and get stuck in web initiate firefall (death cloud. a fogbank of nitric acid)

i think the relative frailty of the mage is appropriate to the vast offensive capabilities and logical thinking involved in using mages effectively

Personally I'm a mage/cleric so I suppose that puts me in the mage camp...

Though I did play BG1 through with a Ranger. I have to say that I much prefer rangers + paladins to straight out fighters, though I am yet to expreiment with fighter kits. I just like the substantial extra abilities you get from these, even if you aren't as good with your weapons. Looking forward to trying out the Stalker - ranger with a poor backstab. Sounds interesting non the less.

Really I would say both mages and fighters are vital to the party - I don't know where I'd be without Minsc to soak up the damage. Mages offer a huge choice of spells but are marred by limited item choice, thus limiting customisation in that way. Though I agree the nature of the Baldur's Gate games does mean that plain hitting ain't that great.

Anyway, I might try a Kensai/mage (incidently is it possible to do a barbarian/mage) though I am worried this would offer far too much and mar future replayablity. What do you reckon.

A thief used as a fighter is a most playable type of character I think. You can sneak behind your enemies and backstab them by some multiwonderstrike, detect those traps and disarm then instead of walking through, pick any lock open, shoot evil mages by distance with bow, filch all kind of stuff from stores.. It's good to be a thief!

well.. Mage can do a wizard eye and druid can cast fire elemental, and then you can search the
whole area with wizard eye and smack every bad dude pieces(literaly..)with that fire element. Hm.. a bit like launching missiles this tactit.. or bit like being a chicken
That's something that even a very good thief can't ever do..

Summary, good fighter always feels more real and fun to play than some mage wearing pyjamas!

-hobs-