First time player, need help

[Heartofthewolf]

Okay, so as my title says I'm new to BG, and the D&D rules in general. However, from what I've seen, it seems to me that a mage can only cast a small number of spells before needing to re-memorize and rest. I am trying to play a fighter/mage, and am rather frustrated because i run out of spells way too early; i hardly ever kill a group of enemies before i run out of spells. Then i have to close to melee, and because i cant wear any armor, i get chewed up. Am i missing something? This seems like an entirely useless class.

Also, what's the deal with not being able to cast spells while wearing armor? that makes absolutely no sense to me; why would clothing interfere with arcane forces at all?

[Xandax]

You only do have a specific amount of memorized spells and a specific amount of how many you can cast per "rest" (day). Just make sure you have a high int. score as it affects it.
It is part of the balancing of mages, which make them rather weak at lower levels.

However, remember, you can always cast spells from scrolls if you have them and if you do not need to use the scroll to learn a new spell from, and wands will also be a nice help.

Once you start becoming high level, mages have access to very very powerful spells and it would be completely munchkin if there weren't restrictions on how many to cast.

Clerics have a similar restriction, with how many spells they can cast, although they do not learn spells from scrolls, but simply have a pool available from their deity that they can memorize from.

The spell restriction does make mages a more advance class to start with, but if you can survive - the damage they can unleash is very well worth it.
And because of this advanced nature, I wouldn't have rolled a multi class fighter/mage as a first character myself because it takes longer before your mage part can do much benefit.
At low level, they really do need somebody to protect them and being multi classes, you'll be "low level" longer.
I would advice you to either go pure mage when you are a newcomer to the game or select a more survivable character like a fighter or paladin. Otherwise - dying often might become too frustrating when you do not get access to the goodie spells as fast as a pure mage.

And the restriction with armor is a balancing method. A full plated clad character with access to high level powerful spells would just be insane. Being unhittable by melee due to armor (and not spells) and able to lay waste to large areas of enemies in one is just too powerful.
The lore argument used is that spell casting gesturing is hindered by armor.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

What Xandax said, but with the additional observations that
1: you'll be better off with ranged combat for a while, especially hit and run attrition style tactics.
2: Mass disabling spells (and Summoning spells when you get them) will be much better through BG1 than direct damage. Like most first-time players I chose Magic Missile for a first spell, when Sleep is so much more effective. Armor will give you an AC equivalent to chain mail, high Dexterity gives you bonuses to AC, and you can pick up bracers that give armor boosts too.

[endboss]

High dex is sooooo important in this game. It makes things so much smoother.

Grasshopper has a great first point. High dex + bow (either fighter or ranger class, and if you want to be an elf they have an added bonus) will definitely make you progress quicker.

For your fighter mage, basically make him an archer who occasionally shoots spells. High dex, high int. That should probably get you through until you can get some of the better spells. Remember to make good use of pausing the game in order to reposition yourself during fights. Leveling slower does suck though, but it's a trade-off. If you go human, you can make a fighter, level up to lvl 3 or something, than dual to a mage. Once you surpass that level you'll be a pure mage with fighter benefits (higher health, better weapon specialization). You need a good party to support you though while you do this. Mages also require more exp, if I recall correctly, to level than other classes.

[Crenshinibon]

As Xandax pointed out, wands are really important here. You will (or you should) be using them more than your actual spells. I personally like to play a bard (which is essentially a fighter/mage, with some minor thief abilities mixed into one), and the only spells that I use are those that affect me personally, such as Ghost Armor, Mirror Image or Haste. The rest of my firepower (Fireball, Aganazzar's Scorcher, Lightning, Frost Ray, Magic Missile), crowd control (Sleep, Fear, Paralysis) and extra help (Monster Summoning) comes from wands.

[kmonster]

If you want a fighter/mage multiclass with more spells take a gnome. The extra spell per casting level does make a difference.

[childofbhaal]

If you want to play a fighter with spellcasting abilities you should play a priest or a druid imo(or warrior/priest,druid/warrior).Fighter/mage will be really gimp in the entire game(as I remember you cant get tensers transformation in BG1(correct me if im wrong) which makes it good but I still find fighter/mage an absurd idea,you cant even use armor if you want to cast arcane spells).

A low level mage(pure class,dual class is twice as bad) will need to rest after every fight if you want to be a useful addition to your team(it will get better but just on high levels)...usually I just equip them with a sling so at least they have something to do and wont try to get into melee range(where they will insta die because of the low health and paper armor).Mages start to get good after you have access to level 4(but at least 3) spells.

[Crenshinibon]

Actually, a dual class fighter/mage isn't all that bad. If start as a fighter and dual to a mage at level two, you can still get all your spells. Essentially, you will have the same THACO as an end-game bard, however, you can specialize in two weapons, wear plate armor (which doesn't really matter since there's no point to - your Armor spells and rings of protection should be just as good, but more convenient), and, best of all, you get as many spell slots as a normal mage:

1 - 4
2 - 3
3 - 3
4 - 2
5 - 1

Also on the idea of a gnomish fighter/mage, not that Illusionists can't use Necromancy spells.

Wands are really easy to come by, especially early on, so you can feel free to blast away to your heart's content - that is until the charges end (which you can renew by selling the item and buying it back). During my playthrough with a bard, he never had any offensive spells equipped. Also, although Tenser's does not exist in this game, Haste actually doubles your attack speeds (whereas you'd have to wait for Improved Haste in BG2).

[childofbhaal]

Haste actually doubles your attack speeds (whereas you'd have to wait for Improved Haste in BG2).

For a high level mage THACO is useless because he should spam spells.

Haste is good but you can get "Boots of Speed 'The Paws of the Cheetah" or any mage can cast it on you if you are a fighter.

[Crenshinibon]

But Boots of Speed only increases your character's movement speed and doesn't double their attacks per round.

On the contrary, from my personal experience, against the final battle, I'd say that THAC0 is more important that spells (and you can't exactly call it spamming when you have so few spell slots). Especially for any class combination that can backstab.

[childofbhaal]

But Boots of Speed only increases your character's movement speed and doesn't double their attacks per round.

As I know it is not supposed to increase attack speed but it does(baldurdash fixes this bug).

On the contrary, from my personal experience, against the final battle, I'd say that THAC0 is more important that spells (and you can't exactly call it spamming when you have so few spell slots). Especially for any class combination that can backstab.

You should have enough spells for 2-3 fights on high level without resting(just memorize combat spells only).

[Crenshinibon]

I tried testing attack speed and see no difference (using the 3CD version with TOSC included).

Again, I don't think offensive spells are worth it when you can blast things away with your wands. It's the defensive spells that you lack. However, that wasn't the point (spoiler):

Spoiler

Sarevok has an incredibly high magic resistance and it's pointless to attack him with spells. Hurting him through physical attacks is the best route

.

[childofbhaal]

I tried testing attack speed and see no difference (using the 3CD version with TOSC included).

Imo installing TOSC changes the game version(and probably fixed this bug).

Again, I don't think offensive spells are worth it when you can blast things away with your wands. It's the defensive spells that you lack.

My wands usually dont last long.Mirror image and invisibility are good enough defenses for me.

[Crenshinibon]

Well, don't forget that you can resell wands to recharge and that aside, a lot of the wands you find have a hundred charges right away.

Wands are definitely the most powerful tool/weapon in BG. For defense, I use Invisibility (for either avoiding encounters or for backstabbing), Mirror Image and Armor (since it lets you have great AC while having the ability to cast spells). Potions cover the rest.