Things for Mages

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Usually, you get good stuff for warriors, Paladin, maybe for thieves, druids, etc, they all have a special glove or something like that, a belt, etc, but, mages? not a single glove of something or a belt, sometimes is anoying that you have to wait 8 turns for a true sight that last only one round! if you get lucky and nobody desconcetrate you! Rove of Vecna! wow! 4 less turns, ok why not 1 or 2 in a glove?
Armor? low hit points? all against them...
Maybe I'm asking too much...
Another thing, if any way to improve AI in monsters? What about more encounters with some gangs like the one you are playing? I mean: same level, HP, same amount of Heal Potions and the ability to drink them, like Drizt and friends, I think a gang like that you should encounter more often...
Please pardon my english, I live in Argentina and english is not my favourite subject...

 

-There is the Staff of the Magi (or something like that, gives a fireball/lightning spell, some resistances i think, protection from evil and permanent invisibility while equipped) for mages.

-Robe of Vecna (+4 casting speed, some armour bonus etc).

-Amulet of Power (+1 castingspeed, protection from level drain, vocalize, but it might be that pure Mages aren't able to wear this).

-Cloak of Reflection (adds to some spellprotection).

-Ioun Stone (+1 intelligence).

And a lot of other miscellaneous stuff which I can't remember right now (memorize extra spells, different resistances, etc.). Anyway, mages are definitely not set at a disadvantage due to shortage of good items.

The stuff I mentioned above grant any common mage a tremendous advantage in a battle. Immunity to leveldrain and resistance to evil come quite handy against vampires and summoned/evil enemies. Vocalize makes sure the mage will always be able to cast spells, and permanent invisibility will well enough keep normal enemies from having a slightest chance of ever even realising what's going on. +5 castingspeed will grant an obvious advantage since most powerful spells can be cast instantaneously. And that combined with Timestop and Improved Alactricity will give the mage the ability to pour out literally their entire array of most powerful destruction and spellbarrier-removal spells into the screen within the time of one turn for the enemy. Mage is the most powerful class in BG2. There's no doubt about it.

I'd say the only class that gets too boring because the lack of any items for them, is the Monk. Even for the nice abilities and incredible resistances of a high-level Monk, it's so simple and boring to play one that I've never had the patience to go too far with it.

As for the AI increase, some mods have that effect as an addon. Such as Ascension. It's primarily focused to increasing the "intelligence" of mages in battle. Making them use more powerful spells in a more powerful way, and also re-cast their protective spells as well as remove the player mage's protections. Also, the enemies in this mod tend to view Mages as their primary target, meaning you'll have to use your warriors for protection if you want to survive.

 

Helm of Brilliance is cool for a fighter/mage, as is Vhailor's Helm. Sorry, don't know their stats right off hand, so I don't know if that even helps you! But the staff comes from the Twisted Rune quest and the 2 helms can be bought in the adventurers mart by Ribald's special wares and Diedre respectively.

 

My favorite accessories for a mage are:

Ring of Wizardry, gives one extra 5th, 6th, and 7th level spell

Not sure of the name, but the ring you get from Lavok, adds some extra spells as well.

If you think AC is a problem, I think you can use a +2 Ring of Protection with the Cloak of the Sewers and a Bracers AC3. That will get you down to AC0, which unmodified is fairly decent. Add in the belt, boots and robe of your choice and those should be all the accessories that a mage really should need.

 

If you're not satisfied with all of the items mentioned above you could always download the Stuff of the Magi mod. This contains all the overpowered equipment you could ever want for a mage. Note this is overpowered, but if that's what you want....

 

Let's not forget the Circlet of Netheril -- the more spells the better, right?

 

Staff of the Magi = +2 AC, +2 to all saves, invisibility & protection from evil (while equipped), dispel magic on successful strike (no save), fireball-lightning bolt combo (3x/day); spell trap (8 hours; 1x/day) usable only by mages, including multi- and dual-classes

Amulet of Power = immune to level drain, vocalize (immune to silence spell), 5% MR, spell casting reduced by 2; unusable by pure-class fighters and thieves

Ultimately, my mage is equipped as follows:

Robe of Vecna
Staff of the Magi
Ring of Gaxx
Ring of Protection +2
Boots of Speed
Belt of Inertial Barrier
Cloak of Mirroring
Circlet of Nethril (when assembled)
Gauntlets of AC 3
Amulet of Power

Well protected? Most definitely! At this point, tha AC is below zero, the saving throws are below or very close to zero, MR is somewhere around 40%, immune to level drain and silence and pretty quick to throw spells.

Spell heavy? Not really but definitely capable of dishing out more damage than receiving. Once the HLAs are achieved, then you're talking about being spell heavy.

 

Why get Bracers of AC3 when the Robe of Vecna gives you that already?

 

It's all about accessorizing. It's what separates us from the animal kingdom.