Who are the top 5 mages in game?

[JupiterXOXO]

hello all, i want to know who are the top 5 npc companion mages in game, also which companions can/cannot reach mage spell book 9 really want to get that comet spell >;D

[kaffekoppen]

Well, in my opinion:

1. Edwin by a huge margin because he has a crazy number of spell slots and has good int
2. Neera because wild magic can be become very powerful when used correctly
3. Imoen: Vanilla mage with some thieving skills.
4. Nalia: Vanilla mage with worse thieving skills than Imoen (but you get to keep her the whole game at least, so she may be better if you count that)
5. Either Aerie or Jan here depending on your multiclass needs.

All of them can learn level 9 spells (but you may need to boost their int to 18+ with potions or permanent buffs to actually learn the spells). Of course you may actually finish the game before Aerie or Jan get level 9 spells, but they can if you're good at gathering XP.

The only way a mage cannot cast level 9 spells is if it's a 3-class multiclass like fighter/mage/thief.

[JupiterXOXO]

neera is actualy useful? gotta give her a shot again. how do u use wild magic properly. seems very, well "wild" and also, where can she buy more wild spells?

[happy]

neera is very usefull if you are a reload freak...or are very lucky(i don t call melting 32K of gold to ashes usefull...)
i wouldn t say usefull as you need two spells two cast one for sure
i d say fun, so in a way she deserves her second place(though imoens thieves skills make her way more usefull...but she s annoying, wait ... neera is also annoying... it s a tie)

[kaffekoppen]

Destroying your own gold is very rare but no don't pick wild mage for a no-reload playthrough (I never cared for those anyway!).

Wild mages are awesome because their shields are improved with level, meaning that when you hit very high levels, your chance of getting a good result from a surge is actually quite good, and it can be increased even further with some of the gear ingame.

Wild mages become incredibly powerful, and even without counting the surges, they still get as many spell slots as specialist mages but without losing a spell school.

[sick duck]

Edwins spell slots are overkill. Nobody will need that much magic.

1: Aeries cleric/mage synergy takes spell casting to a whole other level.

2: Imoen because she's as strong a caster as anybody and has mastered the essential rogue skills of detecting traps, disarming traps and openeing locks.

3: Jan is like imoen, but being the multiclass that he is makes him far better as a rogue, and not so good as a mage. Despite his sub-par magic abilities, he's still a great team player because of his crossbow armed with stunning amunition, his ability to trap, to backstab, to detect illusions (it's not as good as true seeing because if he's detecting illusions then he can't do anything else. Best to play jan as if he were a rogue with considerable magical talent, and take someone else as your main mage

4: edwin, because lots of spell slots.

5: nalia is like a boring imoen with less than competant thief skills. She's bad at thieving without some sort of equipment or potions boosting her talents.

[ÄmJii]

Originally posted by wheres waldo:

1: Aeries cleric/mage synergy takes spell casting to a whole other level.

This. So much.

Nothing beats tossing Cleric damage spells while wearing Robe of Vecna and having access to Sequencers.
Takes bloody ages to gain 8-9th level Mage spells, but you probably won't even miss them with all the Cleric spells around.

[kaffekoppen]

There's no doubt Aerie is great, she's probably the most versatile caster.

Originally posted by wheres waldo:

Edwins spell slots are overkill. Nobody will need that much magic.

I think you're looking at the very bottom part of the spell progression table if that's what you think. Most of the game you're gaining access to new spell levels, and you start with 1 spell per day per new spell level. Starting with a couple more makes a big difference through the vast majority of the game, and the only way you could not use more spell slots even at max level is if you're resting all the time (possibly by abusing Wish for long fights) or not using your most devastating mage spells as much as you can.

[JupiterXOXO]

speaking of the wish spell, how does one get the lvl 9 wish to work properly? every time the jinni comes out, his options all suck (they hurt the party as well as enemies). limited wish seems much better.

[sick duck]

Originally posted by kaffekoppen:

There's no doubt Aerie is great, she's probably the most versatile caster.

Originally posted by wheres waldo:

Edwins spell slots are overkill. Nobody will need that much magic.

I think you're looking at the very bottom part of the spell progression table if that's what you think. Most of the game you're gaining access to new spell levels, and you start with 1 spell per day per new spell level. Starting with a couple more makes a big difference through the vast majority of the game, and the only way you could not use more spell slots even at max level is if you're resting all the time (possibly by abusing Wish for long fights) or not using your most devastating mage spells as much as you can.

I grew up on BGII, I own the original collectors edition, and I picked up BG1 before that. I know how to play. You're looking at raw spell power, and what I was trying to say is that having a few bonus spells does not make up for the lack of versatility of a pure class character such as Edwin His three extra spell slots are nice, but there is onlly one of edwin and he can only do one thing, and cast one spell at a time. He might be peerless in arcane magic, but you could take one of the others and have them cover multiple roles by themselves. Could have Imoen as the main mage who can also act as a thief, Aerie as the secondary mage who can also heal, and these two put together are easily as capable as Edwin in spell casting, probably more so since they outnumber Edwin two to one. The other four characters could be anyone you want since all the essential support roles and magic roles are filled in by those two

[Improper Use]

Originally posted by Jupiter:

speaking of the wish spell, how does one get the lvl 9 wish to work properly? every time the jinni comes out, his options all suck (they hurt the party as well as enemies). limited wish seems much better.

drink a wisdom potion(s) you need high wisdom to get the +2 full plate (which is about the only good thing) if I recall correctly you only need 20 to get 'good' all the options

[DnD Detective]

Originally posted by Jupiter:

speaking of the wish spell, how does one get the lvl 9 wish to work properly? every time the jinni comes out, his options all suck (they hurt the party as well as enemies). limited wish seems much better.

There are basically different tiers for Wish (there isn't any official name for them I just think of them as tiers).

Tier 1 is the best you are going to get. To get this you need 18 wisdom. Even then its not a guarantee that you will always get good selections.

You are in Tier 1 if you see this after agreeing to negotiate "Fortunately, you are quick to catch on. Before long, you begin tricking the djinni's phrasings yourself, leaving it quite frustrated. You still doubt you'll get what you want, but chances are the djinni won't be able to trick you."


Tier 2 is alright. You need between 15-17 wisdom to get it.

You are in Tier 2 if you see this "You are wise enough to keep pace with the djinni, preventing the being from taking total advantage of you. Still... the contract is hard to understand, and you wonder at the end result."


Tier 3 is pretty garbage. You need between 10-14 wisdom to get this.

You are in Tier 3 if you see this "Throughout the process, the djinni continues to baffle you... and you are not even sure if your desired wish will be similar to your original premise. At best, you stall the worst of the clauses."


and Tier 4 is for characters that have less than 10 wisdom.

Finally you'll know you are in Tier 4 if you see this "Your lack of wisdom leaves you at a complete disadvantage. Throughout the writing of the contract, the djinni all but bullies you mentally into a position of watching him all but write the complex document on his own... there are few objections you can make."

I'm working it on translating it (in my Spells and Abilities Guide to BG2EE) to something a bit more readable but in the meantime you can kind of see a breakdown of what spells the different tiers cast here http://gemrb.org/iesdp/scripting/actions/bg2actions.htm (go to the very bottom of the page).

Basically Aerie is going to be the best NPC when it comes to casting this spell (though she will get it very late) and either way drinking a Potion of Insight before casting it is highly recommended (unless you already have 18 wisdom).

[kaffekoppen]

Originally posted by wheres waldo:

I grew up on BGII, I own the original collectors edition, and I picked up BG1 before that. I know how to play. You're looking at raw spell power, and what I was trying to say is that having a few bonus spells does not make up for the lack of versatility of a pure class character such as Edwin

Yeah I'll buy that. You said that nobody needs that much magic, which is the only thing I was really arguing against. It's a very good idea to consider party composition, and by the way that's one of the reasons I don't like pure thieves, but let's not go there right now.

I always bring multiple mages and so I tend to use a pure mage and a mage/something else, and as far as mages go, Edwin really is the best. I make room for a pure mage because I know how ridiculously good those last spell levels really are.

[sick duck]

Level 9 mage spells make me feel dirty. The whole level is overpowered enough that I'd not use any of them except as a last resort or else I'm at risk of making an otherwise tactical game a cakewalk.

[JupiterXOXO]

lol yea spell book 9 is overkill. also, the 2 spells u get naturally is a bomb. the dragon breath and comet, hits everything and doesn't hurt allies.

[kaffekoppen]

Exactly why any self-respecting top 5 mage should have them!

I just wish the cleric HLAs were half as good.