Mage/Thief

[Skuld]

So for my new character I'm planning on starting I wanna do a thief/mage of sorts, have yet to decide the race. As far as skills go I think it'll just be Spot Traps and maybe Haggle and Persuasion. weapons will be thrown. And so far for spells I'll go with: Phantasm[whole school], Fire[to Fireflash], Disarm, Unlock Cantrip, Shield of Force, and I'm thinking about a few spells in Summoning[maybe to Orcish Champion or Guardian Ogre]. Any ideas, suggestions, or comments on my choices? Thanks.

[IHateUsernames]

sounds good but put a point or two in meele just in case. dont take harm. i did this with my fighter/mage and only jused that spell instead of fighting

[fable]

There, we'd differ. Harm is an excellent spell; and just because you have it, doesn't mean you need to use it all the time. But if you're going to play a magic type who doesn't engage in melee, Harm is the way to go.

Assuming you find the spell, and mage spells in general (like Fire Flash) overpowered, check out a mod here. It changes some spells and lessens some spell effects. Monsters have elemental immunities (many to fire), and Agility of fire increases speed rather than dexterity.

[IHateUsernames]

i think ill do that fable. i looked at it before and it looks pretty good. i just cant stop myself from using harm all the time when i get it

[Skuld]

Well I've had a slight change of Direction. I'm gonna do an Elf, Dark Elf Follower(no thieving). What I wanna know is which is better in the sense of what it can damage, how much damage is dealt, and how much fatigue is used... Fireflash, Harm, or Jolt? So far the only spells I definately want are the whole school of Conveyance, Shield of Protection, and a damage spell now and that's the reason for the previous query. And I never was too fond of Agility of Fire or Wall of Fire that's why I'd rather take something like Harm or Jolt where there's nothing I'll have to put a point in that I'll never use. That's only 7-9 spells so far. I was thinking maybe Summoning or Mental. What do you two think?

[IHateUsernames]

i would go for harm if you dont have any mods or anything that lover spell damage. im still using it with level 50 mage!

if you take summoning dont take the familiar as you cant make it go away. (might be fixed in patch. not sure)

[death_ken13]

I currently use the entire college of conveyance, harm and agility of fire but i only have thre cps to spend until i get to level 50. Teleportation is one of my favourite spells in usefulness and harm is my main ranged attack. Can anyone suggest what i spend my last 3 cps in?

[tom the terribl]

I like to max out in Force, Necro White, Conveyance, plus Harm, Unlocking Cantrip, and Strength of Earth. But a complete mage needs 18 p of Intelligence, 18 p of Will power, and 18 to Constitution. I suually put a couple points to Strength. If you want to use tech skills like repair (I recommend this) or spot trap then get the helm in the Ashbury Haunted House. Every time you put on this helm you trade 20 points of Alignment for 20 + Magic on magic/tech meter. Since you get plus Alignment points for fighting creatures you can gain these quickly. Build up point like for Repair. Apply 3 points to Repair while near the Tarant junk dealer. Ash him for Appretance Repair and then Expert. If you have the above mentioned helm put it on them remove it if your helm is for light or increased armor.

The Harm spell is the only offensive spell that can not be blocked. To be effective your Magic/Tech meter needs to be max magic. I've used this spell to kill Kerghan before he enters the regenitive shell.

[fable]

When I was running a mage in Arcanum, my first spell was Harm. It's definitely overpowered, especially since the spell grows in force as you make levels; but at the start, at least, you need something to replace those swords and guns other people wave around. Definitely a must for mages.

I didn't bother with the rest of the Necromantic (evil) school. It's largely summoning, and I'd rather have had followers who could do my melee work and carrying, as well. I went for Conveyence all the way (Teleportation is the only way to travel) and Temporal (Tempus Fugit will turn a losing battle into a knock over--for you). Agility of Fire and Strength of Earth were others I grabbed, as well.

[Crunchy in milk]

The major drawback for magic focused thieves that deal with traps is the high skill requirements to find and disarm traps, skills that are well supplemented with technical marvels. I never could figure why detect unseen is such a high ranked spell in a rarely developed school.

D&D type blaster mages tend to bore me rather quickly so I found myself avoiding the fire and force trees (not counting protective shield) and going with a Stage Magician model, focusing on morph, summons, mind and a little temporal (for hasted demons). With summons at least you can play solo and sneak past fights you don't want to pick. Even easier if you master prowling. It also makes power levelling nigh impossible since you're not racking up mega exp for hitting things.

Morph is a bit powerful though. In the final battle I dropped Kerghan's will power and managed to sheep him. He chewed the edge of my jumper.

[tom the terribl]

Don't count out Force because the Destruction spell works very well on automations and if you become a master in Force the spell cost is cut in half.