Is magic really necessary anymore?

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Playing BG2 i have always been a fan of magic especially wizards, but lately i have been getting more and more lazy and not used as much.

And i have found that it hasnt affected my playing in a bad way, most likely in a good.

I use 4 fighters(Minsc/Keldorn/Sarevok/main char) and aerie(crom faeyr for bosses) and imoen on ranged weapons/magic.

The only time i use magic is when i need healing or other protective spells right before a battle.

I hardly use breach/pierce magic because most enemys i need it on cant be targetted because of invisibility or such so i just bash him with my fighters who are using 4-6+ weapons until he drops dead using the occasional masscure or heal.

So what i am wondering is if its really that good going for magic more then just for protection/healing?

 

Magic can make the harder fights way more easier. I agree with you that it isn't really necessary. But on the other hand 4 powerfull mages don't need fighters by their sides. I always try to find a perfect balance to make the game the most fun to play and to play it to the maximum.

Pierce magic is one of the most valuable spells out there. In your case you just need a oracle or detect invisibility before you pierce you enemies. After that they will be defenseless.

 

You're probably right! Magic isn't so necessary if you are familiar with the game...but magic is cool! A world without magic is a world without fun...without joy! After all...all the links that are represented within the game are related to magic. Irenicus is a mage, Liches are mages, and all the most difficult enemies in the game use magic (including the Dragons). See? Magic rules all and everything.
By the way, I liked a lot of this topic. Congratulations!

 

I like Magic,i want Magic,i love Magic.

 

"So what i am wondering is if its really that good going for magic more then just for protection/healing?" - quote

well what you mean by 'that good'? imo magic is far more powerful in BG2 than any figher could ever be.

i dont know if its necessary to use magic xcept for healing etc as you said but for me its my sorcerer whos the key in tough fights not my fighter. even tho its usualy the figher who makes the final blow after my sorcerer is done with his stuff.

actually i think the game would be much harder without magic. harder and much less fun. magic users got so many options how to deal certain situation while fighters just do their job (hack & slash).

as someone said balanced party is a way to go i guess. you get it all. take vamipres for example. you can just chopp them into pieces or you can sunray/turn them or you can just disintegrate them

this topic actually brings another question tho.

"Are fighters really necessary anymore?"

 

Magic is the ultimate power in the D&D FR universe. I recommend reading "The Magic of Faerun" for all of those magic fans out there, even if you don't play P&P. IMO, the key to magic is understanding it, and reading that will help, even if you just play BG2 with it's limited spells. Fighters are just pawns on a wizards chess board. Look at the FR world, the magocracies are some of the most powerful countries, besides Cormyr of course (even though Azoun died). Look at Thay, even though they are very reliant on slavery, they are one of the largest concentrations of powerful beings on the continent of Faerun. All hail magic!

 

It actually depends on your playing style if magic is needed or not. Fact remains a lot of fights can be much easier when you use magic. Personally the mages in my party rarely use their spells, except for the 'boss-monsters'. Fighters could finish this game by their selves, in fact, I plan to play an all fighter game soon. Only pure fighter classes, no duals, no multiclasses, just fighers. WOOHO! :>

 

I usually only use Magic against hard baddies such as Kangaxx or Jon Irenicus. Otherwise, I just send them all to attack 1 guy as a group and move on.

 

My first time through the game when I didn't realize the strength of those anti-abjuration spells, I simply waited out all the spell protections like Prot. vs. Magical weapons or Mantle. And then I hacked through the stoneskins and that's it.

So yes, I think the game can be beaten without magic. But magic certain makes things more fun and healing much faster.

 

Magic is by no means necessary, but it is cool and gives you an image that says more than,"Me Hulk. Me Smash!!!"

 

yes magic is fun but as many states you're not dependant on it for survivial

One use i have found is when you need to kill someone within a second or less a robe of vecna combined with magic missiles/flame arrow or other fastcasting magic is good

Its probably right that magicians are better against bosses while fighters are better for lowlevel bigger fights but its not necessarily that way.

My fight against Irenicus(first one in the tree) i didnt use any real offensive magic, i summoned up creatures for him to slay while waiting for protections to wear off so i could bash him down

Anyway i've probably played my last BG2 for a long long time, played through it enough to know exactly where everything is and that pretty much takes the excitement out of the game so i will widen my horizons a bit

 

Why bother going toe to tow with that bunch of goblins when a well placed fireball will toast the lot of them?

 

there's nothing better then a spell trigger with 3 fireballs in it.... toasty warm.

shouldnt this have been in the tob forum?

 

Later on in the game, I use my mages for 2 things -- To summon what some people so elegantly refer to as "meatshields" and to pierce through spell protections. Clerics can do some good summoning, and of course the healing is nice, as are support spells like Bless, Chant and Aid. I'm sure that properly equipped I could probably make it through the game without a mage or cleric, but it wouldn't be near as much fun.

 

I have only one thing to say. When i play BGII and Icewind Dale I-II i have at least 2 spellcasters, and why? I´t makes the game more exciting to play!

 

Since you've got Sarevok, this should be about ToB right?
IMO, a magician can be more powerful in SoA then a Fighter, tho in ToB, a Fighter can be more Powerful. Just what I think..

 

yeah probably should have been in ToB but doesnt really matter, i've started playing IWD2 now and my mages are my best characters by far, my fighers are pretty much just "meatshields"

My mages in Bg2 were imoen(nalia chapter 2-3) and aerie giving them nice bows/sling and some sort of strenght enhancer they were better fighters then casters and with weapons that dont require ammo they can hit golems and bosses, i played through the game using flame arrow and skull trap as the highest lvl non defensive/summoning spell and never encountered any problems

 

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Magic is always the most important thing!

 

Boy.

Fighting Kangaxx or the dragons without magic?

I don't know how to do it. I've never tried it.

Well. Not without a killsword, anyways. Since I always load my people up with them, and they pretty much negate magic in general, there's not really any point in me saying anything about them.

Cutting back on magic is one thing. Going without is another, completely. And by magic, I mean a wizard/sorcerer/bard. Arcane magic. Not cleric or druid domain magic; it's definately possible to play without those. Your bank account will take a serious hurt, though.

Now, if you're talking about strictly the plot-advancing quests and paths, then it might very well be possible. I can't think of any plot-critical battles where you can't backoff, and wait for all the protection spells to wear off. You don't have to defeat the shadelord, or the red dragon, or get Cernd. Although, you'll spend some time building up that 15k in gold, for chapter 3. Killing slavers or something.