POLL: Need a backup Mage! who's best?

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I'd take Aerie out of that bunch. Jaheira isn't really enough of a healer to take care of all those fighters, although with your berserker/cleric you may be okay. I have never been able to use Jaheira as a combat cleric (not fighting, just buffing and healing), a role that Aerie excels in. You also may wish to keep your berserker/cleric on the front-lines, effectively negating some of his clerical usefulness.

If you want raw firepower, Aerie or Edwin are your best bet. Edwin is by far the most powerful mage at the start of ToB but depending on how many sidequests and whatnot that you perform, the avariel could probably best him by the end.

 

Hmmm, maybe I don't need a backup mage...

 

I'd suggest Aerie - you've got all the tanking you'll need, and Aerie can act as your support spellcaster with defensive/buffing spells, as a combat healer and can combine priest and wizard spells in sequencers/contingencies which makes her probably the best choice as a back-up mage. Plus, you have a good-guy party, which means she'd fit perfectly.

Nalia might be a good fit for the party as well, but I'm really only suggesting her because no-one else wants to. Okay, she's effectively a mage who can use thief weapons, but that's all the more reason to have her as your support mage. She can inflict as much high-level death as Imoen and two mages raining hell are better than one, plus you can specialise her as your defensive/buffing spellcaster and Imoen as your bombadier (or vice versa).

Haer'Dalis, as much as I enjoy using him in the party, seems a little superfluous at this point. Sorry, Scythesong - I know how damn powerful HD is, I just don't think he fits here.

Jan would be entertaining - he and Aerie would increase in mage power at the same rate, so it's just a case of what you want more - thief skills or clerical magic. Overall, Imoen has enough to get through SoA+ToB, so Jan is somewhat surplus to requirements.

 

I'm sorry Rastor, can you please explain this to me? I understand that with some defensive spells like stoneskin, and Crom Faeyr, Aerie can certainly tank. But even if you're dual wielding, Aerie can get at max two attacks per round. Jaheira on the other hand, can easily get three, and even four attacks per round depending on what weapons she chooses. As far as THAC0, hers is way better than Aerie's because she's part fighter, and Ironskins works to prevent the her from getting hit that much.

There are many people who are adverse to using clerics as tanks, but given that you use Aerie, you evidently, aren't one of these people. So I find it odd that you can tank with Aerie, but not Jaheira.

 

If I use anybody at all, I've narrowed it down the either Haer'Dalis or Jan. Nalia doesn't help me much, and Aerie's uniqueness (her being a cleric) is covered by my main protagonist.

Which of these two is more fun? Why?

 

Take Jan!
He is a very usefull nutt!!!

 

Why doesn't Nalia help you much? She is by far the best good mage in the game. She is more powerful than Jan and Aerie can ever become and is a better mage than Haer'D. Only if you want something other than a mage is Nalia of no use.

Aerie's uniqueness as a Cleric/Mage is her best asset. She is unique in that she can combine cleric and mage spells in triggers and contingencies. This is a very powerful combination of which not many enemies can resist.

This said, I would choose Haer'D. His personality is great, which is why I always take him, plus Blades are just awesome at higher levels.

 

I think you have that the wrong way round Aldeth. I think he meant that he can't use Jaheira as a cleric in combat since she is always fighting, but Aerie is more effective being used as a cleric rather than a fighter. That seems to make more sense to me.

 

Now that you mention it, I see how it can be interpreted that way. I thought he meant that he couldn't use Jaheira as a combat cleric when he said (not fighting...). I see though that he could have meant it the other way around.

 

Nalia if you want to go for heavy casting. You will, basically, have a second Imoen in terms of casting, but with a different personality.

There are many good uses for Aerie, but this one requires lots of micromanagement. You can even make a melee killer of her, but casting all the buff stuff takes ages.

Jaheira is a great frontline tank, in fact. Ironskin and you're set. She gets everything a fighter gets except she won't go farther than specialisation (**) in weapons. After level 13 in the fighter class, she gets 2 attacks per round with a weapon in which she is specialised. If she duals, she can get three. With that scimitar Belm, you can make her dual wield for four attacks per round.

I still prefer her to have a scimitar and a shield or a spear. Well, it's not like you will find many highly enchanted scimitars, but you can have a spear +6 with even more benefits, the Ixil's Spike if I get the English name right.

Imoen and Nalia, of course, should wield katanas. That's a great invention for thieves. Wield in one hand the damage potential of a two-handed sword. Bliss.