Spoilers
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I've soloed a Wild Mage Through SoA / ToB and :
1) They've got the same amount of spells of a specialist (+1 spell/level)
2) Whenever they cast a spell, their "casting level" varies from -5 to +5
3) They've got 5% chance to create a "Wild Surge" When casting a spell. Wild surge effects varies from Very bad to very good.
(Exemples: Caster becomes Spell's Target , No save, or some other *weird* effects (summon birds, summon berries...)
in fact, When a Wild surge happens, the game will roll a 1-100 dice, the effect will depend on the number (low numbers = bad, high Numbers = good, mostly)
4) They obtain 3 spells that are Wild Mage restricted:
- Chaos Shield (level 2)
Bonus of +15 to a Wild Surge roll whenever it happens
- Improved Chaos Shield (level 7)
Bonus of +25 to a wild Surge roll whenever it happens
- Nahal's Reckless Dweomer (level 1)
This spell lets the Wild mage choose a spell and cast it (any spell that's in his spell book)
The bad part is that a wild Surge automatically happens when he does that. Basically.
However, the caster recieves a bonus equal to his level to the Wild surge roll (1-100+level+Chaos Shield Bonus)
Since a 100+ roll means the spell casting is successful, a level 20+ wild mage has at least 45% chance to cast successfully ANY spell from his spell book (really useful...believe me)
Moreover, you can chain cast Nahal's Reckless Dweomer spells.
You don't have to wait the end of the turn to cast another N'sRD.
Now, the biggest trouble with Wild mage is the occasionnal VERY bad roll when a wild surge happens. but you can just reload if things get bad (happened to me a few times)
Basically, you get a very powerfull mage, whose biggest drawback is one of his best ability.
I hope you'll understand my post, english ain't my native language