wild mages, yay or nay?

[lukaszek]

long time ago, when you romanced everyone and everything in bg2 and thought that it cant get any better than that, inkline was brought with tob in a form of new kit - wild mage.

For me it was love at first sight but whenever I was to bring up this subject to anyone I found myself to be in minority.
People love mages in bg, they always bring up awesomeness of mage duels. Yet... they are not interested in this particular kit.

If you look at magic as a whole in bg you notice one odd thing that puts it in opposition to every other game mechanic. Its deterministic. Your spell is always cast. Sure dmg amount can vary, sometimes sr kicks in or save is made. But in the end your actions have immediate and predictable effect.
Death spell will clear trash quickly, fireball will reduce those hp bars. Most powerful and popular spells are not the ones that can fail.

Then you have wild mage. Suddenly you spells can have critical success or failure, just like warrior swinging his sword!
This kit brings to the table even more power, with your drawbacks being reduced on each lvlup(something that most are not aware of im sure).

Delterius why are you illusionist and not wild mage? Belief that magic cant be controlled or understood is the core of both wild mages and your beliefs.

 

[Bester]

I find that a party without Edwin is too boring. So I bring him along. I want Imoen in the party, cause she's the only thief in game, plus she's my sis, and she also casts. I also want to romance Aerie. If I make a mage myself, that's 4 mages.

Spoiler

Inb4 a ton of "cuck" and "retarded".

 

[TemplarGR]

Wild mages are shit

 

[Background Character]

I find that a party without Edwin is too boring. So I bring him along. I want Imoen in the party, cause she's the only thief in game, plus she's my sis, and she also casts. I also want to romance Aerie. If I make a mage myself, that's 4 mages.

Spoiler

Inb4 a ton of "cuck" and "retarded".

First time playing BG2 I also ended up with 4 mages and anyone may think that's retarded

And they would be right, that party was a fucking pain and I'm never doing anything like that again

 

[oldmanpaco]

I find that a party without Edwin is too boring. So I bring him along. I want Imoen in the party, cause she's the only thief in game, plus she's my sis, and she also casts. I also want to romance Aerie. If I make a mage myself, that's 4 mages.

Spoiler

Inb4 a ton of "cuck" and "retarded".

First time playing BG2 I also ended up with 4 mages and anyone may think that's retarded

And they would be right, that party was a fucking pain and I'm never doing anything like that again

The best BG2 parties have 4-6 mages.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Best kit in the game. Easily the most powerful class, and lots of fun. By the time you're about level 15, the drawbacks are significantly less and you can begin to use Nahal's Reckless Dweomer much more liberally. With level caps removed, or in EE, you will easily hit that level before you even leave for Spellhold. Playing Vanilla, you can "cheat" by using sequencers to stack Chaos Shields which will allow you to use wild magic with impunity. Even if you don't use such tactics, Chaos and Improved Chaos Shield are entirely adequate without stacking by Level 15. There is a really good mod for wild mages that introduces some crazy, useful, yet balanced wild magic spells (3 per level) to the mix. It's high quality, totally bug free, adds lots of fun, though I don't believe it's been updated for EEs.

The class itself, is also a hoot. Gives that no-reload challenge nd extra thrill. Many of my most memorable experiences in the game come from a bad and/or unexpected wild surge. Like Gating a Nabassu demon when I meant to cast Knock. Gender changes, petrifactions, cow bombardments, multiple effects. It's always spectacular and entertaining. The double level or cast twice effects are also glorious when they happen. Then there is the best one--the roll where you re-memorize all spells as if rested. The only truly ugly effect that seems to rear its head regularly for me is the "lose all gold" roll. For that reason, my wild mage play throughs involve hoarding gems and other high value items to only be sold when I have an imminent use for cash.

A party of 4 mages is very doable, but imbalanced in the sense that your two non-mages will get in the way. It's simple enough to layer them in elemental protections so that they won't get crushed under foot when your mages get to work. They can also be considered a convenience trade for dealing with golems at low level, economically clearing trash, or carrying loot before you get a bag of holding, lol.

Edit: Bonus: Nahal's Reckless Dweomer doesn't respect the 1 cast per round rule. So as soon as you're done casting it, you can cast it again without pause. Stack equipment that reduces casting time (I think you can get as much as -4 total) and let rip. You'll cast as if using Improved Alacrity.

Bonus 2: You can also use NRD to cast spells you have memorized, but are not yet high enough level to have spell slots for. Very risky, but as long as your casting in the direction of the enemy, it can be worth a try!

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Apostle Hand]

never played as wild mage, I usually make some kind of warrior class.

 

[Kalin]

Solo assassin best party.

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

Time Stop + 6x Reckless Dweomer -> Horrid Wilting. Ah the memories.

 

[Delterius]

Delterius why are you illusionist and not wild mage? Belief that magic cant be controlled or understood is the core of both wild mages and your beliefs.

illusionism is a state of being, not a state of character sheet

 

[thesheeep]

Wild mages are absolutely hilarious to play.
But that is mostly because the game loads so quickly.

Reloading until your wild mage does not make a mess that kills you is the only way to play.

Those messes can end up in your favor, though, and if they do... oh, boy. One of the things that can happen is that the spell is cast multiple times instead of just once.
That is already quite incredible with a fireball.
But I've never seen anything quite as fascinating as a mass-cast Summon Fiend. The screen, it was just... full of demon. And then full of lightning. It was sheer luck that my entire party survived the onslaught (protected from evil, of course, but not lightning). Glorious.

Not recommended for a first time playthrough, though...

 

[the_shadow]

I really enjoyed playing as a Wild Mage, not because you can access high level spells early, but due to the randomness of them. I like the Prismatic Spray and Sphere of Chaos spells for the same reason, having the high risk vs. high reward + unpredictability makes things far more exciting.

 

[Tigranes]

I like rolling one and using the Dweomer all the time - adds a lot of spice on your 29th playthrough. I don't see what's wrong with having it as a kit.

 

[Cael]

Best part about Wild Surge? My MC casts Cure Light Wounds and got wild surged into Fireball. Yeah. Poor Imoen didn't make it. Or Xan. He was dooooomed, alright...

 

[Beastro]

Wild Mage sounds like a fancy, PoE-like attempt at renaming Druids.

 

[Tweed]

Yay on Wild Mages both in BG2 and in P&P. Screwing people over with alternate reality rerolls is the most fun I ever had in traditional D&D.

 

[TemplarGR]

why? according to poll you didnt even try

For the same reason i know that drinking cyanide will lead to death even though i haven't tried it yet...

 

[TemplarGR]

I really enjoyed playing as a Wild Mage, not because you can access high level spells early, but due to the randomness of them. I like the Prismatic Spray and Sphere of Chaos spells for the same reason, having the high risk vs. high reward + unpredictability makes things far more exciting.

Yes, and that is the reason wild mages are UTTER SHIT. Wild mages are fun, because 99% of the retards on the codex play crpgs by savescumming 100 times per minute. It is fun in the same way a fucking slot machine is "fun". But imagine runninga slot machine in pen and paper, wouldn't be that "fun" then, would it? Unless you had a moron DM who would let you "reroll" until you get the cool effects, and then you might as well stop playing because it becomes a travesty.

On the other hand, judging by how the battle system works and the consistency of it, wild mages are cancer. I doubt any of you casuals would play iron man mode with a wild mage...

 

[Tweed]

Yes, and that is the reason wild mages are UTTER SHIT. Wild mages are fun, because 99% of the retards on the codex play crpgs by savescumming 100 times per minute. It is fun in the same way a fucking slot machine is "fun". But imagine runninga slot machine in pen and paper, wouldn't be that "fun" then, would it? Unless you had a moron DM who would let you "reroll" until you get the cool effects, and then you might as well stop playing because it becomes a travesty.

On the other hand, judging by how the battle system works and the consistency of it, wild mages are cancer. I doubt any of you casuals would play iron man mode with a wild mage...

Sorry that you hate fun.

 

[TemplarGR]

Sorry that you hate fun.

Savescumming like a retard is only "fun" if you belong in the autistic spectrum.

 

[Cael]

Sorry that you hate fun.

Savescumming like a retard is only "fun" if you belong in the autistic spectrum.

What does that make Bugmaker fanbois?

 

[the_shadow]

I really enjoyed playing as a Wild Mage, not because you can access high level spells early, but due to the randomness of them. I like the Prismatic Spray and Sphere of Chaos spells for the same reason, having the high risk vs. high reward + unpredictability makes things far more exciting.

Yes, and that is the reason wild mages are UTTER SHIT. Wild mages are fun, because 99% of the retards on the codex play crpgs by savescumming 100 times per minute.

How would you know that? Do you watch over their shoulder while they play, or do all the members here have some sort of live streaming service I don't know about?

It is fun in the same way a fucking slot machine is "fun".

Yes, a degree of unpredictability in games can make things more interesting. That's why dice rolls make D&D more interesting, because even a Level 10 fighter can roll a 1 and critical miss a level 1 kobold.

But imagine runninga slot machine in pen and paper, wouldn't be that "fun" then, would it?

Running a slot machine? No. Running a wild mage in a pen and paper RPG? That could be fun, depending on how it is executed.

Unless you had a moron DM who would let you "reroll" until you get the cool effects, and then you might as well stop playing because it becomes a travesty.

Who said anything about re-rolling until you get 'cool effects'? Wild mages are interesting because of the unpredictability, not because they consistently provide 'cool effects'. Consistently getting awesome outcomes is the very opposite of an enjoyable game of chance.

On the other hand, judging by how the battle system works and the consistency of it, wild mages are cancer. I doubt any of you casuals would play iron man mode with a wild mage...

So whether a character is fun is determined by whether the game can be completed in iron man mode with it? Hmmmm.

 

[Tweed]

Savescumming like a retard is only "fun" if you belong in the autistic spectrum.

I forgot that I needed to impose a bunch of goofy rules on how I play games in order to derive true joy from them, how very foolish and dumb of me.