Making the most of Ignus

[vitamin]

I just managed to get Ignus join me but I don't know what I should do with him? I mean, he's a mage and I don't have a slightest idea about magic things in this game (or any other to be honest, as I've never ever played a fantasy game). So I'd really appreciate it, if someone could give me some hints how to 'use' Ignus? What are his main advantages and drawbacks (if any?), what should I equip him with - any weapons, spells, tattoos, enchanted items in particular?

[T2Bruno]

He's evil. You want to play LG. Ditch him -- you have Dakkon (he's a good enough mage for you).

If you want to play a mage TNO you'll want to have a few conversations with Ignus to get access to his spells ... then you ditch him.

[vitamin]

Evil? Ignus character's menu says: 'Alignment: Chaotic Neutral'. BTW, does his alignment affects somehow TNO's alignment?

[Darion]

Never had Ignus....creeped me the hell out.
Might be worth trying the next time!

[vitamin]

But I wanted to have him with me since I read this:

Ignus is one crazy son-of-a-bi***, probably the craziest you'll encounter in Ps:T, still, that doesn't mean he's not useful. He's actually the most powerful mage in the game, you just have to know how to control him that's all. Most people leave Ignus behind due to his chaotic nature, well, not me! He get's a much deserved 8.5/10.

Just please guys don't tell me I must get rid of him if I want TNO to be lawful good?

[hannibal555]

He makes for some interesting story events if you keep him until the end.
Just go with the NPCs you like the most and enjoy the game.
If you start a second playthrough you may start metagaming .

[T2Bruno]

Ignus wants to see things (and people) ... buuuurrrrnnnn!!! If you let him have his way you can get more chaotic and evil. But you do control him.

You're following just one guy's rating system -- I personally don't agree with his ratings. He seems to be rating them entirely on powergaming levels although he clearly didn't know how to play a thief (Annah is the most deadly companion in the game if played right). I tend to look more at the npc's relevance in the game, how much they interact, what they add to atmosphere, and overall usefulness in a party. Morte, Dak'kon, Annah, and Falls-From-Grace are the big winners there. Vhailor and Ignus are powergamey additions but don't really add much to the game. Nordom is just fun to have around.

[vitamin]

Originally Posted by T2Bruno

Ignus wants to see things (and people) ... buuuurrrrnnnn!!! If you let him have his way you can get more chaotic and evil. But you do control him.

So please tell me how I am suppose to control him?

Originally Posted by T2Bruno

You're following just one guy's rating system -- I personally don't agree with his ratings. He seems to be rating them entirely on powergaming levels although he clearly didn't know how to play a thief (Annah is the most deadly companion in the game if played right). I tend to look more at the npc's relevance in the game, how much they interact, what they add to atmosphere, and overall usefulness in a party. Morte, Dak'kon, Annah, and Falls-From-Grace are the big winners there. Vhailor and Ignus are powergamey additions but don't really add much to the game. Nordom is just fun to have around.

It's not about rating actually, I just wanted to have a pure hardcore mage with me. And since some say he is quite powerful than why not use him? Besides, I'd like to have him, so I could learn how to play as a mage. Initially I wanted TNO to be mage but found it too complicated for me and decided to play as fighter from the beginning to the very end.


And as it comes to learning new things about being mage, could anyone tell me why I can't memorize new spells? (I rested for 8 hours in the Civic Festhall) Here's Ignus's spell book:


BTW, why he already has two exactly the same spells in there?

EDIT:
And I love the way Ignus says: "Spell has been added to my memories." It just makes my skin crawl... fantastic voice.

[Déise]

The right hand side is your spell book. These are all the spells you have learned and have available to memorise.

The left hand side is your spell slots. Each spell slot lets you cast a spell once until you rest again. You can memorise the same spell several times if you want to cast it more than once but you're stuck to the 4 slot limit. You get more slots and higher level slots automatically as you level. Click on a spell slot to blank it out if you want to replace it with something else.

Magic in D&D games is used very rarely (surprisingly) but tends to be really powerful when it is. And low level wizards are very weak compared to other characters but get much more powerful at higher levels as they get more and better spells. Right click on spells to read what they do and play around to find which ones are useful for you.

I wouldn't worry too much about your party. You'll likely have 5 companions to make your 6 man party by mid game. 1 of the others is hidden away (possibly you might find him early if you looked, I'm not an expert on the game) and the other 1 comes late. So just take everybody along as by the time you breach the 6 person limit you'll probably know if you want to get rid of someone or not. To be honest I found them all lacking in combat ability compared to the characters in the other games and combat in general isn't PST's strong point. Just take who you fancy.

[vitamin]

Thanks Déise for your explanations. Just two more things - does Ignus need some better weapon? Or maybe some kind of rod/wand/staff to increase his magical powers? And please tell me how to keep him out of troubles?

[Morgoroth]

He will mostly stay quiet and out of trouble. As long as you don't provoke him you'll be fine. His weapon can't be upgraded I'm afraid.

[Susipaisti]

Ignus is one of my favorite characters in the game. You can make the most out of him by sticking with spells and keeping him out of the reach of enemies (his Armor Class is pretty bad). Being a pure mage, his THAC0 is bad, so avoid spells that require him to make a To Hit roll: Elysium's Tears, Fiery Rain, Vampiric Touch, Fist of Iron (only works on Nameless One anyway) Chromatic Orb, Infernal Orb. Buy Couldkill from Vrischika and teach it to Ignus - he has an extra spell slot per spell level, so you get the most Cloudkills that way.

[vitamin]

Thank you all for your help. However, I don't know why but can't get Ignus to memorize Chain Lightning Storm. Could you please tell me what's wrong with it?

[T2Bruno]

What level is he? Ignus needs to be 12th level to memorize a level six spell.

[vitamin]

Oh, I see. He's only 9th now. Looks like I'll have to wait quite a long time to use this spell - what a shame.

EDIT:
BTW, what's the best place for buying some really good spells in Sigil?