Ugh, I'm terrible at using mages

[Darth Malignus]

Flesh to Stone
I like to Feeblemind the Ore Merchant in Waukeen's Promenade annd turn her into a statue with it after the Sir Sarles quest.

That's...... that's just not right.

[Stworca]

Open Lock skills it's worth having one or two scrolls and they're pretty common - I recall there being one or two chests that Immy couldn't open without equipment, for which Knock is a viable solution.

Well, if there would be problems one can always use the thievery potion, which boosts everything by 40. I think it also stacks with itself, but im not 100% sure.

On a related note, do you know if Shadow Door lets you escape Otiluke's Resilient Sphere?

I don;t think you can do anything while in sphere. I may check it out, but i doubt it,

I was thinking about "cover the entire world with fiery clouds and cast Sphere on yourself" but the last time i've tried... "Saved vs spell" :laugh:

And if you can move while in Otiluke's?

It's immobile.

Summon Planetar/Dark Planetar - best mage summons in the game, practically a high-level Fighter/Mage/Cleric in their own right.

I'd say that m. swords are better than Planetars. Sure they have vorpal swords, and high level spells, but their health pools are very small and their spells take very long time to cast. In vanilla BG they kick butts and ask questions later, but i prefer the never-dying swords

Mordenkainen's Sword - great summons, totally immune to physical damage so make great meat shields - mages can take them down without too much fuss though. A bit slow so haste them if you can.

There are only three ways to kill m swords. Magical damage (magic missile & horrid willing), Instant-death spells and effects (vorpal, death spell, inprisonment) and stat drain.

Summons are also very good way of depleting enemy mages spell pool. Im 99% sure that vanilla mages dont have pre-made spellbooks, but instead choose spells during fight. This means that each "Death spell" that is used to kill a single summon, is one less spell that will be thrown at you.
Each finger of death used on a spider you summon, is one less used on you.

This is especially useful for fights like Irenicus.

Never bother with summons against demi-liches. They can cast inprisonment infinitely.

Sunfire - Nice but hurts your fellow PCs. If you have a spare slot it's worth having.

It ignores magic resistance. It's much better than it seems.

Protection from Normal Weapons - useful for SoA, but I usually don't bother.

Never useful. Never. You have stoneskin and mirror image for that. Besides only the weakest enemies use non magical weapons.

Khelben's Warding Whip - good for enemy casters who cast a lot of spell protections and can last a while. Worth having on memorised when you have a few slots, but only after you have space for a Project Image or two.

Whip's main problem is that it does not affect Spell Trap, and by the time you get it, enemy mages will be using Spell Trap all the time.

Protection from Magical Weapons - great protective spell with short duration. If your mage is multiclass and can wear the Aslyferund Elven Chain s/he will be immune to all weapons for four rounds.

You'll get the same effect ig you choose the right moral options in hell. One of the rewards is normal weapon immunity.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

We're kind of hijacking the thread here, but oh well.
From what I can tell, most of the small differences of opinion we have here are that you're an expert sorc-user used to Ascension on hardcore who could likely single-handedly nuke most vanilla encounters, whereas I'm just a humble ranger-type who'll do an occasional run through a slightly modded vanilla. I'm assuming cbarchuk was talking about vanilla, since from what I've heard I can't see anyone surviving Ascension for long without a good handle on the spell system. I'm also assuming s/he likes to have a party of different character classes, and maybe even to use them all. So, going on the theory that the question was from someone who doesn't really know much about the spell system, and isn't playing Ascension on Insane, but is instead just a regular player playing a regular game...

Well, if there would be problems one can always use the thievery potion, which boosts everything by 40. I think it also stacks with itself, but im not 100% sure.

It does stack.
True, but Knock is a really commonly dropped spell by even piddly enemy mages, and I prefer to keep the Potions for pickpocketing and/or shoplifting. Given that there are all of maybe 3 chests Immy can't open on her own it's a bit academic anyway.

I'd say that m. swords are better than Planetars. Sure they have vorpal swords, and high level spells, but their health pools are very small and their spells take very long time to cast. In vanilla BG they kick butts and ask questions later, but i prefer the never-dying swords

There are only three ways to kill m swords. Magical damage (magic missile & horrid willing), Instant-death spells and effects (vorpal, death spell, inprisonment) and stat drain.

The advantage of Planetars over Mordy Swords (which are really good) IMO is that Planetars have lots of nice spells, including 3x Heal, which saves your own healers from having to use their own Heals. For major battles I quite like having both summoned, along with a Shambling Mound and Juggernaught Golem in ToB if possible, and for minor battles any summons from a Skelly Warrior or 2 up will do fine since they're largely there as extra targets.

It ignores magic resistance. It's much better than it seems.

I forgot about that - next time I do a run-through I might put 3 in a sequencer as a present for Abazigal. The trouble is it still requires your mage to get in close (less of a risk for a Projected Image or Simulacrum), and for most normal battles it's just as easy to toss in a disabling spell and let your fighters loose.

Whip's main problem is that it does not affect Spell Trap, and by the time you get it, enemy mages will be using Spell Trap all the time.

True. Happily most enemies only have one or two Spell Traps available in my (vanilla) experience, and Whip will still take down Spell Turning. It's no Pierce Shield to be sure, but it has its place.

You'll get the same effect ig you choose the right moral options in hell. One of the rewards is normal weapon immunity.

Good for the PC, less good for, say, Imoen, Aerie, or Jan. Not that many enemies use normal weapons in ToB anyway...you have to wonder just how much gold does Tethyr have if it can deck out whole armies with +2 swords and armor?

[Philos]

If someone mentioned this in a post on this thread I missed it, so sorry if this is a repeat. I am also gearing this more to someone just starting in SOA.

But one VERY useful function for a mage doesn't even involve casting spells. In the early stages of the game, I have my mage(s) carry (and use to very good effect) wands.

Wands are wonderful if for no other reason than they take only 1 segment to use, any of them. That means they are as fast as magic missles. So while the enemy mages are in the middle of casting a fireball, mine is already in route. Yes, it is not as damaging as if my mage cast it but it gets there first. Plus, there is no chance of spell failure if my mage takes damage.

Even better, IMHO, is the best wand if all, "Cloudkill". The gift that keeps on giving. In 1 segment I give them 10 rounds of pain. Being a 5th level spell effect, it bypasses both minor and major "Globes in Invulnerability" which many enemy mages in Chapter 2 (and some later) have on a Sequencer or Spell Trigger. Launch a second and the enemy mage is practically gone before they can do any harm to your party (they usually experience spell failure and/or outright die early in the battle).

When you find most wands they have between 1 to 10 uses. Seems like they have either 6 or 8 on average. I save my gold and sell the wands to a merchant (like to use Bernard in the CC as he gives a discount after Hendrak takes over) when they are down to 2 or 3 uses left. I then buy the wand back and it now has 50 uses (100 if its the wand of cold). That's a lot mayhem to reek on the enemy.