Half-elf mage/cleric

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He everyone,

I'm aboroad with my new notebook and all i had time for before i left was copying an image of my good old bg1 dvd...
Found out that bg1 runs smoothly on windows 7 and here i go again!

I will do a run with a neutral half elf mage/cleric. The plan is to cover most of the casting and gather a bunch of hard-hitting guys around my (HER, that is).

I found surprisingly few posts about this character class... I know, an gnome/illusionist may be better regarding overall power, but that's just not my idea for the character.

If I'll manage to take her to SoA, I'm looking forward to those cool options you get having both spell schools available, e.g. sequencers and Contingencies...

Any thoughts towards this char? bad idea? good idea?
I'll also add a party idea, maybe some comments on that will come up as well:
1, Ulmia Gilglin (Protagonist)
2, Ajantis
3, Minsc
the next spots will probably change often during the game
4, Shaar-Teel (I know they will argue...)
5, Imoen, later Coran
6, Kivan

Looking forward to your comments!
Tillix

 

You obviously want your PC to be important in your party, you don't want to add a proper mage or cleric to your party who could cast higher level spells than your character, not even a multiclass, a bard or a druid.
Therefore your party will be lacking options, but the game will be doable nevertheless.

A bad thing about cleric/mage who's supposed to be important is that you don't have a dump stat.
Dex and con will be essential for your low HP character to survive, with less than 18 str you won't be able to skyrocket to 19 reading the book and low carrying capacity is annoying, int is required for scribing scrolls, wis for bonus spells and if you dump cha it will be better to make Ajantis the leader which will make your character less important.
So it's definitely worth spending some time rolling for good stats.

 

Good points.
So far, i used cha as dump stat, trying to keep str reasonably high.
I might try to reroll for a 18 str, though, and maybe reducing con to 16, if i remember correct 17 and 18 do not help a lot for non-fighter classes.
I'd make Ajantis or whoever is high-cha-ed leader for the time of trading ;-) and such...

concerning high level mages/clerics, I thought about Edwin instead of Kivan...
I don't like Branwen, so I'd have to take Viconia, since the other clergymen are multiclass as well. She could take the place of Shar-teel.

The protagonist will be true neutral...
Let's see who will get along with who in this group.
I might have to fill up the ranks if Minsc and Boo find out about the others evilness ;-)

 

I'm not sure I agree with kmonster's 'important' assessment. I don't see anything wrong with moving your character out of the lead, especially since she won't be a tanker. As for casting, it all depends on how you build your party. In BG2 I always take Aerie as a mage/cleric as well as a dedicated mage and often a dedicated cleric/druid. Sure, the others have more spellpower in their fields than Aerie, but Aerie can float between the roles as well as the powerful combos. I see no problem with you using your character the same way.

On the other hand, if you really want to just stack the party with hard-hitters, you'll likely hurt for spellpower, but at least you'll have both divine and arcane covered. It'll be harder, but maybe more fun. You may want to think about throwing Jaheira in. In the first game her spells don't get high enough to be anything other than a fighter-suppliment, and she's good in melee on her own. It's up to you, though.

As for stats, you can get away with low CON if you're willing to take the risk. It'll mean low HP and a low saving throw, but that's the standard case for mages and many dedicated clerics or druids as PCs. It just means your character will fall back in a fight. If you're surrounding her with lots of melee-ers this may not be a good idea, as AI for archers tends to target casters. You can, however, use a shield, including large shields :wink:. DEX will be important not just for your AC, but also for accuracy with your sling (you'll be using a sling, right?). INT and WIS will be critical for your spells, so don't skimp on them. Since you aren't in the lead anyway, CHA is optional, but useful. STR, like, CHA, is optional but useful. More means more weight which you can carry, which means not only more loot for the party, but heavier gear as well. You won't be wearing plate armor or anything because of your arcane spells, but you should have a heavy shield, a helmet, and probably a mace in case anything comes too close. I'd aim for something like:

STR: 12-14
DEX: 18
CON: 12-14 (more if only caster/archer)
INT: 18
WIS: 18
CHA: anything

It may take a lot of rolls to achieve, but I've done it before.

 

Thanks for the thoughts NOG!
Cha dumping WILL take place ;-)

I surely will use slings, if i recall correct, slings did have a str bonus for damage in bg1, which makes that 19 str even more tasty...
It's going to be a tough way to the first stone skin with low hp ;-(

AS for the party, I'm more the decide-on-the-go type of player.
Only thing I'd have to decide early is to dual Imoen right away to get the spoken-of single-class (sort of) mage... OR watch Edwin and Boo arguing ;-)

 

If you dualclass Imoen dualclass her to conjurer, additional spells without disadvantage do make a difference.
Keep in mind that playing without thief is annoying, so take Montaron, he's very powerful.

If you know where to find the con raising tome you can start with 15 con, you could also start with 15 wis if you know how to get both wis raising tomes, you won't benefit from 18 wis if you can't cast level 4 spells within the XPCap and for a high level BG2 character bonus spells will be useless.

 

If you want to play all the way through BG2 and TOB, don't you need 18 wis to learn the highest level spells? Or is it 16 wis?

 

No, you don't. Even 9 wis is sufficient. Jaheira, Aerie and Anomen can cast level 7 spells in spite of their relatively low wisdom.

 

Thanks guys, i rolled again, ending with 16 in con, 3 in cha and 17 in wis. This way i don't have to hurry to the con tome. I'll keep you informed how everything is turning out ;-)

 

I solo'd Cleric/Mage through BG1/TOTSC and it was one of my best games. You might like to think about having a smaller party, just enough to have all the bases covered. And remember that a Cleric/Mage with lots of buffing and Mirror Image will do just fine up front in close combat. Sure you won't have a great THACO but there are lots of ways to be creative with a such a big spellbook.

I'm in a hotel room with nothing to do, but BG is not allowed on my work laptop so I envy you the chance to play.

 

F/M/C is even more powerful, if a bit slow. I soloed one all the way through TOB. The cleric/mage combos are massively overpowered for someone good at melee!

 

er... you mean it's overpowered to have the combos AND be good at melee?
I like small groups as well, especially with multis.
@Midget: bought a new netbook and carry it along with the work-laptop for those reasons... Feels weird sometimes when I close one and open the other at the end of a working day ;-)

 

Ah yes, 2 laptops for true multitasking!

You can have a time being creative with the spell combinations. I remember having great fun using Sanctuary plus Mirror Image, who needs to disarm traps when you can set them off next to an unsuspecting enemy. Or if you can get the bad guys to fight amongst themselves then your party need only watch from a safe distance.

I figure that Cleric/Mage plus Tank plus Thief/Archer has most of the bases covered. There is so much powerful equipment in BG1 that stats are not that important, but of course if you are looking further ahead then that makes a difference.

 

OK, I'm running around with Montaron and Ajantis, and it's fun so far. I might stick with these guys for some time.
I really found it fitting for Montys character when he answered Ajantis
"Be ye friend or foe?"
with
"Who answered foe, tin-head?""

... needless to say that he emptied the chest of that poor women while Ajantis gave her that ring back...

Gallantry is not dead ;-)

 

Yes, exactly. Imagine what you could do with something like Chain Contengiency, Spell Trigger, and clerical spells for a melee character. Instant Heal plus two defensive spells of your choice? Auto-triggered on HP=10%? Maybe Blade Barrier and Sanctuary? Improved Invisibility and Harm with a high BAB?

 

Harm with a high BAB? Come back to BG, NOG.
I personally don't like multiclass clerics in BG (tada! behold thy ranged weapon, the mighty sling. *bows*) although if you really want to continue playing it through BG2 afterwards then don't let me stop you. Pure clerics/druids have it easier because they get great spells early.

 

Bah, THAC0, BAB, whatever. It's the same thing, just a different name (and way of calculating it).

 

Ok, I ended up having Ajantis, Shar-Teel, Montaron, Kivan and... Edwin on my side.
I still play the main char like a cleric, using the mage spells only to identify and buff. She melees and slings both at the moment.
It's great fun mixing the alignments, and i have to say Montaron is fun as well (took him along for the first time). Just bought him this crossbow of speed, and now he's keeping up with kivan shooting stuff at enemies...