I need advice for creating a good mage character

Hi everyone
I just beat the game for the first time with a female half-elf thief with a bit of fire magic, master melee, dodge, prowling, backstab and lockpicking. With 5 followers at the end, the game was too easy imo.
I was thinking about playing with a male elven mage now, because the tech part of the game doesn't appeal very much to me (maybe because I'm female :-o )
On the other hand, I think the offensive spells in the game are rather weak, for as far as I've seen them, so I need at least expertise in one weapon skill (possibly throwing).
I would like some advice for this character, for example what's the best spell school I should focus on, background, stats and so on.
Thank you

 

Offensive spells become VERY effective once your magick aptitude is high enough.
Here's a good scheme for a pure mage:
DX to maximum
WP18 or higher
INT 12
Temporal to the top+ Mastery
Unlocking Cuntrip
Harm
Shield of Protection
Fire to Fireflash
Other spells you find useful, as many as you need to boost your MA up to 100 (I suggest Conveyance college to the top, Teleportation sure saves time and effort).
NO COMBAT SKILLS
Mage's staff as a weapon, later replaced with Arcane staff (get at least 5-6 of them and keep in your inventory, changing them when you have used all the mana in the staff you're currently holding. While you're using the other 4, the first one will be replenishing).

Fighting tactics: Before the battle, launch Shield of Protection, Haste and Tempus Fugit. Cast harm until all enemies drop dead. When fighting against a large number of weak monsters, or when there is a need to destroy an inanimate object, use Fireflash.

At MA100, Harm deals about 80 points of damage, while it only cost 4 FT. Each Mage's staff contains 50 mana (equals to 50 FT), each Arcane staff 80 mana.
If you're into "one shot, one kill" thing- learn Force and use Disintegrate. Costs loads, but kills anyone and anything instantly.

 

bad typo...bad bad typo.

 

Thank you solaris, that seems to be a very effective character.
Would it still be possible to spend some cp on pickpocket and persuasion if I follow your advice? Persuasion is a must imo.

 

Well, I have always been famous for my typos. They always make sense- but never the one I want them to.

 

When I played by that scheme, I had CH20, Persuasion Mastery and Pick Pocket Mastery. So yes, its possible. In fact, I find that for a mage pick pocket is a must.
Don't worry too much about CPs. MA 100 means 20 spells learned, so you still have plenty of character points left. Don't forget that you don't need no fighting skills, no high strength, no perception- magick all the way!

 

Dark Elf, thanks for the very cool link, it's a big help :thumbup:

 

high magical aptitde and harm

 

Harm's the first spell I'd suggest you get. It deals out a very nice dose of damage for a novice character, and it keeps improving as you do. Got the Unlocking Cantrip, but eventually, went for Timestop and Teleport. My mage had good Charisma and attracted followers who were great at dealing out blunt trauma, while I stayed in the background and dealt death at a distance.

Get persuasion mastery: great for dealing with followers. And don't neglect merchant mastery. I expected some small advantage in buying and selling to accumulate over time, but the rate of improvement was entirely out of proportion, and the feature should have been examined for balance. Whoever heard of merchants selling items without any markup, and buying items for their own selling price? :-o

 

Is it really that high??? And here I was thinking that Haggle was useless...

 

I never cared for haggle...if money is what you need, then you can rob the magic shop in Blackroot for a few k gold everytime it restocks.

 

Unfortunately this is a roleplaying game, and some people might actually have characters who aren't thieves.