help using party mages

[lost prophet]

Im having trouble figuring out the role I want my spellcasters to do ie. defensive, buffer, offensive etc and I was wondering if I could have a few suggestions from you all. I have some of my own ideas but im not exactly the most experienced player on the block. I have:

me=> fighter[7]/mage[8]=> dual katanas/ staff
Keldorn=> 2h
Minsc=> 2h(will hopefully have weilding dual hammer and flail)
Aerie=> sling and shield
Jan=> crossbow => maybe Imeon later
and eventually the TOB NPC who will be weilding 2h because by then Minsc will be weiliding the hammmer/flail.

So basically thats 3 spell casters that I have, I was thinkin that I'd use Aerie as a buffer so she'd have spells like haste,IMP. Invisblility, silence plus her cleric spells defensive harmony etc.

My biggest problem is Jan, im not sure whether to have him as my main caster and my K/M as a back up or the other way around, but there are a number of things that put each of these chioces down.

Jan
PROS.
-wont see much combat so he doesnt have to worry about getting hit while spell casting as much.
-being an illusionist he will get more spells than the normal caster would
CONS.
-cant use Necromancy spells which doesnt suit my style of game play since there is alot of spells from that school that are the basis of some of my tactics.
-still gains levels in thieving so will be a bit weaker in his maging levels.
-will eventually be replaced by imoen so all the valuble scrolls I right into his book will be wasted.

K/M
PROS.
-will only gain mage levels from now on so by end of game will have massive amounts of exp. compared to Jan
-things like spell sequencers will work wonders if used right
CONS.
-main fighter so gets hit ALOT which will make his spells fail
-as said above im not the master tactician so i wont be able to properly use him if he is my main caster( if anyone can give advice here it would be aprieciated.

what I was thiking was to have my K/M as my main and load him with sequencers and triggers and the like to deal big amounts of damage when hit/fired and also to trigger lots of defensive spells as he has no armour. And then Jan will pick up any un needed spells and just be another spellcaster so when imoen comes he wont be taking any of her good scrolls. Ive just had another thought, since i have 2 good fighters Minsc and Keldorn and by the end of TOB another one maybe my K/M will be able to step away from combat and blast of some spells and step back in without mishap.This might sound newbie but I usualy play powergamer and once I start fighting I dont change until there dead.

Please post your thoughts, advice on tactics or party changes and ill take it all in in the hopes of gaining some knowledge

YAY my biggest post yet!

[Xen]

Here we go: your K/M (I presume this is Kensai/Mage) should have Robe of Vecna becuase he needs to re-cast his protections spells in the battle. (Spells like Stoneskin, PFMW, ...)
Aerie is your main spellcaster. She is deadly on higher (TOB) levels. She can buff all the party with Chaotic Commands and other protections.
Jan is (can be) very versatile character. He is your thief, who can be protected with Stoneskin. He can be backup Mage and can also lay some pretty nasty traps.

[ 11-04-2004, 06:24 AM: Message edited by: Xen ]

[lost prophet]

i dont have the extra CD im afraid but cant you download it?

EDIT: and yes the K/M is a Kensai/Mage

[ 11-04-2004, 06:55 AM: Message edited by: lost prophet ]

[nashriel]

your kensai/mage would'nt have to worry about taking his armour off to cast spells, since he cant wear one. i would find that very convenient

[Riftmaker]

I'm just curious...

How could your K/M have enough proficiency slots to have 3 in Dual Weapon, 5 in Katana and at least 2 in Staff? The most you could have at level 7 and level 8 mage is:

3 In Dual Weapon
4 in Katana
1 In Staff.

Personally, I think you should just give Aerie the staff, or let your K/M only switch to it when absolutely necesarry.

Now, onto your spellcasting dilemma.

Main Mage: Aerie

Buffer Mage: K/M

Replace Jan with Yoshi if you're unwillling to waste spell scrolls on him and are just gonna replace him with Imoen anyway. When you get Imoen, she will more than likely become your main mage, thus letting Aerie focus more on cleric spells.

The K/M should be the buffer mage for this simple reason: If he's going to be fighting all the time, why waste the effort to pull him back from combat to cast a spell and then throw him back into combat afterwards? Simpler to just have him cast all his buffer spells before combat, and store replacements in sequencers. contingencies and triggers.

Give the Robe of Vecna to Aerie or Imoen when they get really high level mage spells...they'll make more use of it than your K/M would.