High Survivability Mage

[SpacySkydiver3]

Good day,

I'm returning after quite some time to this game (& server), and I'd like to play as a mage.
I had a Sorcerer in NWN1 that had a full plate + shield and automatic still spells. Is there any similar build around?
Or any mage builds with a playstyle of summoning a creature or two to tank and shooting some AoE spells from a far..
I like to roam around alone so survivability is key

Thanks in advance.

[Mythic Revenant]

Not sure on full plate + shield builds for casters... But Thaumaturge is an awesome PrC for summons and they can certainly help with survivability.

However, pure casters are pretty gimped ATM with max HD mobs and ridiculously high saves. That said, I play a wizard as my main and the RP surrounding it is superb.

But if you're sole purpose is to PvE content solo, I'd go with a different class or do one of those cookie cutter crap gish builds (I'm bias against them )

[Tsidkenu]

Sorc/Pal in fullplate+tower with Divine Shield feat has been the classic 'untouchable' mage combo since NWN1 days and still works here. What is not as effective is blasting (if you want to blast, play a warlock!).

Keep in mind that the prerequisites for Auto Still Spell have been lowered on BGTSCC to 24 Spellcraft (down from 27), allowing it to be picked as early as level 21.

Here's some ideas for you:

Summoning:

Sorc 12 / Arcane Scholar 10/ Thaumaturge 5 / Pal 3 (For summoning/blasting, but this build is quite feat intensive due to pre-reqs for 2 PRCs. Would suit RP for a Knight of the Mystic Fire [Mystra])
Wiz 12 / Techsmith of Gond 10 / Thaumaturge 5 / Cleric [or Fighter] 3 (No paladin CHA to saves or AC synergy due to required deity alignments, but you get a Techsmith and Thauma goodies! Cleric is for heavy armour proficiencies but could be subbed with Fighter for Tower Shield proficiency for free. This build is not ideal; I offer it only as flavour and the RP fact that Baldur's Gate has a strong cult of Gond present. In terms of summoned critters, however, this and similar techsmith builds cannot be topped! You would get more mileage out of Wizard than Sorcerer with such a build, though, due to more choice in spell preparation.)

Standard 'Mage'-type builds:

Sorc 17 / Arcane Scholar 10 / Paladin 3 (Lawful Good only, can take divine shield for CHA to AC)
Sorc 17 / Arcane Scholar 10 / Black Guard 3 (Loses two feats for BG pre-reqs but allows evil version of above)

And PRC variants:

Sorc 7 / Arcane Scholar 10 / Frost Mage 10 / Paladin 3 (For spamming ice spells that bypass all immunities = OP)
Sorc 7 / Arcane Scholar 10 / Archmage 10 / Pal 3
Sorc 7 / Arcane Scholar 10 / Eldritch Knight 10 / Pal 3 (Gish-type, can melee as much as mage. Would suit RP for a Knight of the Mystic Fire [Mystra]).

What you're looking for is the degree of synergy between high CHA casting stat and Paladin/BG CHA to saves and CHA to AC (Divine Shield), in addition to their armour proficiencies.

[chad878262]

W26/SD4... VERY SURVIVABLE, enjoy.

[SpacySkydiver3]

Thank you all very much for your input.

[Wiz 12 / Techsmith of Gond 10 / Thaumaturge 5 / Cleric [or Fighter] 3[/b] (No paladin CHA to saves or AC synergy due to required deity alignments, but you get a Techsmith and Thauma goodies! Cleric is for heavy armour proficiencies but could be subbed with Fighter for Tower Shield proficiency for free. This build is not ideal; I offer it only as flavour and the RP fact that Baldur's Gate has a strong cult of Gond present. In terms of summoned critters, however, this and similar techsmith builds cannot be topped! You would get more mileage out of Wizard than Sorcerer with such a build, though, due to more choice in spell preparation.)

The summoner-mage style sounds fun.
Out of the two summoner builds you proposed this build seems stronger for PvE, is that correct?
You've mentioned that this build is not ideal - is there another summoner-mage build which you consider ideal that I can look into?

[Tsidkenu]

The only reason i said 'not ideal' is because i was attempting to concept-build according to your OP-- mage (preferably sorcerer), heavy armour, still-spell.

I made this build some time ago for techsmith which garnered even Valefort's praise:

http://nwn2db.com/build/?284416

You can make tweaks to it like omitting craft wand for another metamagic, but the essence of the build was to be an 'engineer' with unparalleled technical knack.

To build the same with heavy armour, take FTR or CLER instead of ROG, lower DEX to 9 and put up STR, take Still Spell instead of Craft Wand (and take it at lvl 9, pushing Practiced Spellcaster to lvl 18) and take 3× Auto-still in epics.

I personally prefer the rogue version!

The only other changes i would make is maxxing out diplomacy to make use of True Name summoning mechanics (those did not exist when i originally made that build), min-maxing INT to start at 18 instead of 17, and spending 1 epic feat on Epic Spell Focus: Conjuration. You can also dump rogue entirely and just go Wiz 15. This will get you 2 extra feats (one pre-epic replacing Practiced Spellcaster, and one extra epic bonus feat)

Have fun.

[electric mayhem]

From what I understand, most summoner builds are viable and fine until you hit lvl 21 and the mobs that come into "good exp range" at that point. I think then they start eating your summons? (Need some others to weigh in on that comment).

I offer this cleric information purely because of your interest mentioned into a Summoner build.
A cleric techsmith combination isn't too bad , especially if you focus your buffs on just yourself and your companion. Because at some point, there will be a nasty dispell or breach which will strip your precious buffs away. But with a decent build, you should have some spells spare to partially rebuff them and carry on.
A cleric, with correct spells and gear, is a very decent melee toon, with good endurance for many battles. I.e. very "MMO-able". Plus they can toss up long duration regen class spells to keep themselves and companions alive.

Wizards, can't.

A quirky Wizard Summoner build can be a W/TSoG/PMaster. The interesting thing about palemasters, immune to crit, probably the most powerful summons in game (vampires) (besides druid dragons) and they regen, bonus to AC.

Giving a +1 vote to Tsid line here: Sorc 7 / Arcane Scholar 10 / Frost Mage 10 / Paladin 3 (For spamming ice spells that bypass all immunities = OP)
That thing is brutal. But not much of an 'endurance' build, not overly MMO-able. Support from other players, and go in for the high burst damage to murder bosses quickly.

Another build to possibly consider, if you can extend the thought that far. Is a BardLich.
Bards, while technically not a mage, still are a caster class.
Are claimed to be an incredibly powerful class on its own.
Let alone mixing in the benefits of PaleMaster.
Consider all the Bard buffs, Inspires etc that you can cast on your own toon... plus the powerful 10th lvl Palemaster summons.... Very survivable.

[Mythic Revenant]

A quirky Wizard Summoner build can be a W/TSoG/PMaster. The interesting thing about palemasters, immune to crit, probably the most powerful summons in game (vampires) (besides druid dragons) and they regen, bonus to AC.

Giving a +1 vote to Tsid line here: Sorc 7 / Arcane Scholar 10 / Frost Mage 10 / Paladin 3 (For spamming ice spells that bypass all immunities = OP)
That thing is brutal. But not much of an 'endurance' build, not overly MMO-able. Support from other players, and go in for the high burst damage to murder bosses quickly.

Another build to possibly consider, if you can extend the thought that far. Is a BardLich.
Bards, while technically not a mage, still are a caster class.
Are claimed to be an incredibly powerful class on its own.
Let alone mixing in the benefits of PaleMaster.
Consider all the Bard buffs, Inspires etc that you can cast on your own toon... plus the powerful 10th lvl Palemaster summons.... Very survivable.

The thing to keep in mind with this is... You start summoning undead, you're going to get a bullseye painted on the back of your neck unless you're teamed up with strictly baddies, and even then some of them are wary. Food for thought.

[electric mayhem]

you're going to get a bullseye painted on the back of your neck unless you're teamed up with strictly baddies, and even then some of them are wary

Worth being aware of. But if that's your thing and interested in a bit of undeadery, don't let it scare ya off. A great portion of the server couldn't give a rat's arse (running with the generalisation trend here). Many a time I've seen folk with monster summons, celestial summons and undead summons just run through farmlands, not caring. Neither are all the camp-fire-campers. Typical responses "*looks up, tsk tsk's, and utters meh briefly*"

These days, I'd like to think folk are relatively easy going and allow people to explore RP of most lines, just to keep the spirit alive. But always be prepared to defend yourself.

[Steve]

Chiming in: I can second going the Cleric route as a summoner.

Cleric / Thaumaturge / Dragonslayer / Hierophant

At some moments you can call up 3 very capable summons at once. And, if you are lucky with getting a Dusty Tome and have Skills invested to bind it, you might gain an edge in Epic Level combat.

[Ordren]

A cleric of malar WITH animal domain thaumathurge, hierophant could do pretty well. Of course any deity with animal domain works. But less cool

[chad878262]

I found my Thaumaturge summons to do perfectly fine and I ran around with them in the Greypeaks... So long as you buff them up appropriately and have spells with which to help them when they get in to trouble they are quite survivable for a good period of time. You should of course also consider that Gate, while short duration is always there as an option when you need a quick and dirty summon. While summons in general do fall off in epics, for a Thaumaturge with epic focus in conjuration they are strong enough to hold their own for a decent period of time. It would be a bit unfair for a long duration summon to be on the same level as a Fighter 30, after all. Summons are just like any other wizard/priest spell.... If you plan well and use the right summon for the right time and give it the correct advantages (buffs) they will usually work quite well. If you just cast your favorite summon all the time and use the same buffs then in some scenarios it won't be very good. Knowledge, planning and execution are required if you are going to play any type of caster.

[K'yon Oblodra]

A trick that has helped my summons a lot was transforming myself to tank for them. If I turn into a cornugon my AC rises to 50ish and with all the defensive buffs I can tank and deal lowish/okayish damage.

Cornugon shape probably gets you in trouble in the surface but I thought I'd mention it. Also others just generally build their wizard tanky enough to tank for their summons. I sadly can't really tell you how they do it though.

[Tsidkenu]

A trick that has helped my summons a lot was transforming myself to tank for them. If I turn into a cornugon my AC rises to 50ish and with all the defensive buffs I can tank and deal lowish/okayish damage.

This is good advice. Even at lower level, using Polymorph self + summons is a good way to stay alive and not feel useless at the same time!