Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Are you (do-me) kidding me, or you're serious right now?

Cause if you are asking me: "Hey, I have some levels of one class, can I go anywhere and kill everything consistently? FOR ONCE, TELL ME!!" and Valefort, without even knowing what the (do-me) you're playing, replies: "No, I dont think so...I mean, who're you? But no.", then I tend to want to believe it's an elaborate and successful joke.

If it's not a joke, then tell me how can you kill everything with a fighter, or whatever else. Sorry, cant be more specific. LMAO.

PS: I have had several lvl 30 wizards on BG of all kinds. They could all do pretty much everything I wanted to do. Everything they were BUILT to do. Not ALL THE SAME THINGS, though...that's kind of the point, isnt it?

I'll stick with the joke for now, and lol.

It was not a joke, I know Laitae's build and I don't think she can kill anything for a long time reliably without resorting to dominate spells.

Valefort wrote:It was not a joke, I know Laitae's build and I don't think she can kills anything for a long time reliably without resorting to dominate spells.

Ohhh! Sorry, I misunderstood. This is a thread about mages. Like...well built mages, supposedly.

Fully RP builds arent supposed to go everywhere, kill everything, solo bosses and highfive with Jesus thereafter.

/thread

Aelcar wrote:Ohhh! Sorry, I misunderstood. This is a thread about mages. Like...well built mages, supposedly.

Thanks for that. You know, just because a build isn't min-maxed, doesn't mean it isn't well built.

And absolutely no caster mages (meaning non-gish), no matter what build, can consistently kill things for an hour non-stop. You just do not have the spell slots for it. It's simply impossible.

guess it depends on the spawn rate really

and normally you dont need to... you can rest every ca 20 or so minutes

Deathgrowl wrote:

Aelcar wrote:Ohhh! Sorry, I misunderstood. This is a thread about mages. Like...well built mages, supposedly.

Thanks for that. You know, just because a build isn't min-maxed, doesn't mean it isn't well built.

Every time you say "min-maxed" associated to well built you make a mistake. Min-maxing is absolutely useless on arcanes. Min-maxing is useful when you have to fit particular feats in the build (like EDM) or add a particularly costly prestige class (WM, for instance). Talking about min-maxing with a mage is silly. NONE of my mages is min-maxed. They all did and do the job just fine.

And absolutely no caster mages (meaning non-gish), no matter what build, can consistently kill things for an hour non-stop. You just do not have the spell slots for it. It's simply impossible.

There is no place where you stay one hour without clearing it. There are extremely few builds that can go one hour without consumables CONSISTENTLY killing things. Also, the word "consistently" is relative, therefore it doesnt mean anything out of context.

My current mage can go in the Frost Keep and clear the place in less than 10 minutes, King included. It can also sip tea on his way out, still full of spells.

As for the Vault, my Wiz20/AM10 Generalist (so, not that many spells) could just buff an ele, and then consistently Sunburst/Bigby (5/6)/<insert control spell here> and then let the ele kill everything. You set the ele stationary. You group the enemies up. ONE Sunburst DC 40: end of the fight. Move on.
It's a build issue, and a learn to play issue. Mages can do everything you build them for, and then some more, and all of this without dying, ever, unless in total lag.

As I told you several times, there are few things REALLY important with a wizard: your DC, your punch (CL & attack options), your AC and HiPS. You need ONLY ONE of these to be a good wizard. Some characters have up to three of them. YOUR CHARACTER HAS NONE. How do you call that? I used the term "RP Build", and yet you find it offensive. What am I supposed to say?

You have no punch (it's given by CL and attack PrCs, mainly ASoC & FM or AM for instance. You only have ASoC, and you're not a sorc, actually you're even a Generalist, and your INT could be higher...so nevermind...), you have no DC (decent CL, zero DC PrCs like AM or BM, average INT, zero Epic Spell Focus), you have no AC (it would be fine if you had anything else...), you have no HiPS. You have detection...well, at least you can see the stuff pounding you to dust! I gave you suggestions on how to fix this, you took none. And now you rage at me?!?! Joke?

If I were to play your mage, despite the fact it has really nothing to boast mechanically, you'd be surprised of what I could do. I would quite possibly solo the Vault with a couple of scrolls, for instance, and then avoid the Dracolich because you have some 10+ wasted levels in that build (I might kill it with consumables, but why? I can just go in with a companion or two, and make sure we do it easily). Angels (it's an excellent summon), Sunbursts, Undeath to Death (yes, even with your horrid DC), ONE buffed ele for the first floor (combined with control spells, so it gets easy kills), FIRE WALLS (ONE spell, 2-4 kills extended. My Evoker utterly destroyed the Vault several times.), Greater Ruin if you have it...you name it. Wand of Silence under the Liches, Wand of Silence under the Dracolich if you are alone, but mantle first cause since your build is bad he'll kill you before that.

You want competent advice? This is competent advice. Now use it.

I've enjoyed reading this topic, some great tips on playing casters by veteran players. Here's an idea, how would one build a quality good aligned Wizard/Sorcerer? Obviously, that means that you can't qualify for Pale Master, Blood Mage, nor Shadow Adept. Let's also stay away from HiPS.

AlfarinIcebreaker wrote:I've enjoyed reading this topic, some great tips on playing casters by veteran players. Here's an idea, how would one build a quality good aligned Wizard/Sorcerer? Obviously, that means that you can't qualify for Pale Master, Blood Mage, nor Shadow Adept. Let's also stay away from HiPS.

You do not need any of those to be powerful.

Try a Sorc/ASoC/AM with Mastery of Elements and Mastery of Shaping, CL 32, ESF in the school you like (say, Evocation. Pretty flexible.), CHA 30 (34 with Splendor's up) or 29 + 3 Item. Your DCs will be rather fine all across, and you're going to be a good controller and a fairly good blaster as well.

Wiz20/AM10 with INT 32+ base will have DC 40+ for 9th circle spells, an Epic Spell to complement his ESF (+3 DC) school (for instance, you could take Greater Ruin in case you are an Evoker), and be really good overall.

These are two examples. Of course, there are many more, but these are VERY simple to build.

Thanks Aelcar. Do you think Archmage works better with Sorcerer or Wizard? Also, wouldn't Necromancy serve me better as a school to focus in? Or Illusion?

AlfarinIcebreaker wrote:Thanks Aelcar. Do you think Archmage works better with Sorcerer or Wizard? Also, wouldn't Necromancy serve me better as a school to focus in? Or Illusion?

You said you wanted a good aligned mage, so I thought to pick schools without morally dubious spells. You can be a Necromancer of course, but when you cast Avasculate, for instance, someone will always make faces . It's not like if you want to Wail an Evoker has problems: DC 37 is still playable, all in all, when it's not your specialty. Illusion as a focus is less versatile than Evocation, because many creatures are immune to mind spells, most of all many of those you normally fight (Undead, Constructs), but it's a great school:if you like it, pick it without doubts.

Archmage is extremely powerful on a Sorcerer, and quite good for a Wizard, most of all if you are expert in using the class.

Have fun

I'll test a few builds out then. Thanks again.

Once we get the spells update in you'll also find your choices expanded for the schools of magic which NWN2 neglects. So that should help good aligned mages and will increase the available diversity for characters.

Pardon my hijacking, but how evil are the Epic Spells Vampiric Feast, Epic Gate (And by extension, regular Gate), and Entropic Husk?

Which is considered the 'best' for PVP and PVM?

Scarth wrote:Pardon my hijacking, but how evil are the Epic Spells Vampiric Feast, Epic Gate (And by extension, regular Gate), and Entropic Husk?

Which is considered the 'best' for PVP and PVM?

Entropic Husk is by far the most evil one, but Vampiric Feast is by far the most most effective.

Overall the two best Epic spells, for both PvP and PvM, when it comes to damage and/or killing something/someone, are Vampiric Feast, followed closely by Greater Ruin.

mireigi wrote: Entropic Husk is by far the most evil one

False.