slight ToB spoilers below
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OK, here's my take on the Wild Mage kit. Most of this info is not new, but I wanted to give an overview of the class, all in one place. Please post here any other info on how to abuse a Wild Mage
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My first impressions were bad. Nahal's Reckless Dweomer (NRD) was unreliable at low character levels and normal spells tended to surge at the worst moment (5% is higher than it seems: that's 1 in 20 spells). In one of my previous posts, my lack of enthusiasm shows.
However, after sticking with my Lawful Evil Wild Mage (straight mage imported from BG1) for a while, I've radically changed my mind. Here's why:
1) I was easily able to solo the Twisted Rune at level 12, without cheese. All I did was cast Minor Spell Turning, Chaos Shield, talk to Shangalar, run back to the entrance, use a Prot. from Undead scroll, cast Incendiary Cloud (level 8 spell) twice via NRD. That killed Shangalar, Vaxall and Revanek (the fighter).
After that, I turned invisible, walked up to the female mage, cast ANOTHER inc. cloud in her general direction, ran back away, and that was it.
The point is, it wouldn´t be possible to kill Shangalar, Vaxall and the mage (the biggest threats) so quickly without Incendiary Cloud, and I would never have been able to cast it at level 12 without being a Wild Mage.
After that, I killed Shyressa the regenerating vampire with a Disintegrate via NRD. The surge result was ... no save
(that was sheer luck).
2) As levels go up, NRD becomes more reliable. Consider a level 40 Wild Mage (yes, I removed the level cap). With Improved Chaos Shield, that's a 40+25 = 65 bonus to Wild Surge rolls. That means two thirds of the time the spell will be cast with surge roll 100 - that's "spell cast normally". The other 1/3 has mostly beneficial rolls, half of which result in "spell cast normally with such and such good effect". So, for anything to go wrong, the probability is roughly half of 1/3, that 1/6 - five out of six NRDs will go well.
3) Even if NRD fails, you can IMMEDIATELY try again - no waiting for the next round. NRD works as if you had Improved Alacrity always on.
4) You can cast Chain Contingency with NRD without fear: the surge will only happen in the next spell you cast after that. That means you can cast at least SIX contingencies in one round - thats potencially a maximum of 18 spells taking place immediately.
5) The random level adjustment is irrelevant after level 25 - all level dependent spell benefits cap at lvl 20.
6) You can recover without sleeping! Casting Limited Wish (level 7 spell, and you can cast it via NRD) gives you an option to recover low level spells - including your level 1 NRDs!
So, provided your Wis is high enough to use tip #6, your spellcaster is like a Super Sorcerer with access to a Mage's spellbook, infinite spells and no wait between castings - like Irenicus against the Cowled Wizards.
What I usually do, with high enough level, is forget all normal slots, cast 4 NRDs and use the last two NRDs to recover all 6 level 1 spells. No more sleeping to change spell selection, and no worrying about which spells I should learn. My memorized spells are (at level 40, with Circlet of Netheril) usually:
Level 1:
6 NRD
Level 2:
3 Chaos Shield (when Improved Chaos shields are spent)
3 Mirror Image (always handy)
Level 3:
6 Skull Trap (use with Chain contingencies via NRD, or with Improved Alacrity and Robe of Vecna - casting time 1)
Level 4:
6 Stoneskin
Level 5:
3 Breach
3 Lower Magic Resistance
Level 6:
4 Prot. from Magical Weapons
4 Prot. from Magical Energy (to use Skull Traps)
Level 7:
3 Project Image (cheese, of course)
2 Improved Chaos Shield (for better surges)
3 Limited Wish (to recover NRDs)
Level 8:
8 Horrid Wiltings (use with Chain Contingencies via NRD)
Level 9:
5 Dragon's Breaths
1 Wish (just in case - you can also cast via NRD)
In short: the Wild Mage, used properly and after a patient wait, offers the best of a Mage (spellbook flexibility) and a Sorcerer (power and convenience).
Hope that helps somebody. Replies, anyone?
