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Effective spells for Mage/Cleric in BG1?

Apologies ahead for the TLDR.

I, like many, have come back to enjoy BG1/BG2, using the BGT mod.

I’m also trying to do a ‘canon’ play through so to speak, basically taking Imoen (dualing over at lvl 7), Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira and Khalid through BG1 into BG2.

My title is slightly misleading, as I’ve got some other general questions as well, but it’s the question I’ll start with.

My PC is a Half/Elf Cleric/Mage, as I’ve always wanted to run one with better stats then what Aerie can achieve in BG2.

The progression of both classes of course is like molasses, which I am finding slightly tedious.

Which spells, in both classes offer the most bang for buck in BG1? On the mage side, I know that Sleep and say Spook are better over MM and Orb in the beginning, so those are the examples I’m looking for. On the Cleric side, I’m used to wading in with the Cleric, and using spells like Armor of Faith, Righteous Might etc, but don’t have a lot of experience with the other spells that would suit a Mage/Cleric in lieu, especially in BG1. I really don’t mind a Mage/Cleric combo, because combined they have about as many spells to cast as a Mage or Cleric individually, just lower level, but in the game I’ve started up, I was basically walking around with Sleep, Spook, 3 Cure Minor Wounds, Sanctuary, Mirror Image, and Cure Poison. I’m hoping I can get a bit more “creative” earlier. I understand I might be out of luck, and just have to wade through it.

Moving on… I know, given the canon team above, and the period where Imoen is a Mage, you are notably lacking a Thief.

If I collect Minsc and Dynaheir early, if I remember right, I am okay to leave them at some Inn if I have to pick up another Thief, while Imoen does her turn as a Mage?

One other thing I am worried about is mage scrolls, most notably the good ones. My PC would tend to goble up the best ones first, followed by Imoen, and then Dynaheir would be left the scraps. This is….slightly less then ideal IMO, and I’m open to switching my main around to some alternative.

Any ideas on an alternative that suits the “canon” party? They notably lack a Cleric, so some combination thereof seems best. Probably a Fighter/Cleric combination would be ideal. Human Fighter, dualed to a Cleric in SoA would give me the most effective char I can build in BG1, followed to a strong char in BG2, though I’d miss the fighter HLA’s.

In terms of Tomes. I planned to bump Jaheira's Dex to 18, and her Wisdom to 17, in lieu of bumping my mains stats, to basically round her out better. Good/bad idea? The CHA & INT tome would go to Imoen, and the STR to Minsc. Not sure who would get the CON (Jaheira or Minsc probably). My chars (Mage/Cleric) stats are 10/18/16/18/18/10 btw, Imoen leads the party with her 16 CHA. My understanding of the mod, is these stats on the NPC's port over in BG2, so there is a lot less reason to dump them all on your main.

Again, sorry for the long post, hope someone can tolerate my rambles.

I did something similar with a Blade. I'm not sure how much of my advice will be useful to you since I used Tutu, changed a few classes/proficiencies with Level 1 NPCs (Minsc was a Barbarian, Khalid a Berserker, Dynaheir a Conjurer, Imoen started as a Swashbuckler) and don't mind light cheating with Shadowkeeper, but...

Pysces wrote:Which spells, in both classes offer the most bang for buck in BG1? <snip>

It won't help you with Cleric spells, but [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/ugh-im-terrible-at-using-mages-118815-p2.html"]this[/url] is my take on Mage spells for BG2/Tutu.

Pysces wrote:Moving on… I know, given the canon team above, and the period where Imoen is a Mage, you are notably lacking a Thief.

If I collect Minsc and Dynaheir early, if I remember right, I am okay to leave them at some Inn if I have to pick up another Thief, while Imoen does her turn as a Mage?

It depends upon your mod setup. One of them has improved kick-out options which let you send them to Taverns, but I forget which one. If you're going with this you might be better off not picking up Minsc until you've already made your way to the gnoll stronghold, since he gets angry if you take too long to rescue her.
My solution to the Imoen thing was to figure out how much XP it would take for Immy to get her Thief levels back after dual-classing (I dualled her at Level 8) and just kept her as a pure Thief (well, Swashbuckler, but I use level 1 NPCs) without levelling her up until I could get her to Mage level 9 all at once. Once you dual her to Mage you lose all her unused XP, so I gave it to her via the cheat console instead.
Whether this works for you depends upon how open you are to cheating via Shadowkeeper or the CLUA console.

Pysces wrote:One other thing I am worried about is mage scrolls, most notably the good ones. My PC would tend to goble up the best ones first, followed by Imoen, and then Dynaheir would be left the scraps. This is….slightly less then ideal IMO, and I’m open to switching my main around to some alternative.

I'd make Immy your 3rd priority if I were you, with your C/M and Dynaheir given spells according to usefulness - i.e. your C/M will level up slower than Dynaheir, so it may be better to give Dynaheir some of the higher-level spells and/or spells that improve with class levels, and you'll have some overlap with your Cleric spells so your PC won't need the Mage versions. Also note that Dynaheir is a specialist mage and so can't cast some spell schools, but gets bonus spell slots. You'll pick up wands too, so you can save yourself some slots with those.
There's not much point your main having a sweet Level 4 spell when he/she can't cast it, while your other mage has 2 empty Level 4 slots. One good spell I can suggest for Cleric types is Call Woodland Beings, the summoned Nymph has 4 mass healing spells and a few Hold Persons, giving you a major healing boost and some nice canon fodder to boot.

Pysces wrote:Any ideas on an alternative that suits the “canon” party? They notably lack a Cleric, so some combination thereof seems best. Probably a Fighter/Cleric combination would be ideal. Human Fighter, dualed to a Cleric in SoA would give me the most effective char I can build in BG1, followed to a strong char in BG2, though I’d miss the fighter HLA’s.

With Jaheira, Minsc, and the C/M (don't forget your innate spells in the special abilities bar) you should be OK, you'll struggle a bit at early levels but with good tactics, potions of healing/antidote etc and magic items it's quite doable. If you really need a devoted Divine caster then a Ranger/Cleric is a powerhouse, albeit a cheesy one.
The 'canon' party is already pretty well-rounded, so anything will fit (or is superfluous, either way). IMO a Bard or Paladin is the best fit, or a Monk, but anything will do.

Pysces wrote:In terms of Tomes. I planned to bump Jaheira's Dex to 18, and her Wisdom to 17, in lieu of bumping my mains stats, to basically round her out better. Good/bad idea? The CHA & INT tome would go to Imoen, and the STR to Minsc. Not sure who would get the CON (Jaheira or Minsc probably). My chars (Mage/Cleric) stats are 10/18/16/18/18/10 btw, Imoen leads the party with her 16 CHA. My understanding of the mod, is these stats on the NPC's port over in BG2, so there is a lot less reason to dump them all on your main.

I'd give the DEX to Imoen too (thief skills boost and ranged THAC0 bonus, and Jaheira can cast spells that boost her physical stats), but otherwise that's a good plan assuming the stats do pass over - I've never used BGT so I'm not sure.
Don't forget that it's the CHA of your party leader (i.e. the top portrait) that counts, and that you can boost it with items like the Nymph Cloak, Helm of Glory, and the Friends spell.

Pysces wrote:Effective spells for Mage/Cleric in BG1?



Which spells, in both classes offer the most bang for buck in BG1? On the mage side, I know that Sleep and say Spook are better over MM and Orb in the beginning, so those are the examples I’m looking for. On the Cleric side, I’m used to wading in with the Cleric, and using spells like Armor of Faith, Righteous Might etc, but don’t have a lot of experience with the other spells that would suit a Mage/Cleric in lieu, especially in BG1. I really don’t mind a Mage/Cleric combo, because combined they have about as many spells to cast as a Mage or Cleric individually, just lower level, but in the game I’ve started up, I was basically walking around with Sleep, Spook, 3 Cure Minor Wounds, Sanctuary, Mirror Image, and Cure Poison. I’m hoping I can get a bit more “creative” earlier. I understand I might be out of luck, and just have to wade through it.

Command and hold person are staples of my caster clerics

A very handy 1st level spell in BG1 for a cleric is "Entangle". Yes, Jaheira has it, but can be helpful to have your cleric carry 1 Entangle, especially if they have 18 wisdom (which yours does) and has some extra level 1 slots. My reasoning is this. If you encounter a tough opponent with good saves or a fight with numerous bad guys, throwing 2 entangle spells at once (Jaheira and your PC) gives you an excellent chance of snaring most/all of them. Then you can take them down with arrows/bolts/bullets. The other advantage of entangle in BG1 is that it "only" targets your enemies. So you can cast it freely even if the enemy is close.

In BG2 your cleric only gets Entangle if they are a Cleric/Ranger, but BG1 allows them to have it as a regular cleric (would assume cleric/mage as well). Branwen, for example, has it in her available spells list.

Edit:
Just thought of a couple other useful low level cleric spells. You might carry a "Silence" spell in 1 of your slots. Jaheira does not have that in her spell list so only your cleric will have it. It has been helpful in a couple of occasions for me when I could not engage an enemy spell caster before they got mirror image running. Another 2nd level spell that "might" be useful if you do the canonical bit and dual Immy over is to take a "find traps" spell (Jaheira does have this one too). In the later stages of BG1 if you do not want to change out any members to add a thief back in when you are worried about traps. Helps take some of the pressure off of what to choose for Immy's theiving skills through level 7.

Thanks for the replies everyone. More answers then I expected for such an old game.

I've got two characters on the go now. This Mage/Cleric and a Cleric/Thief... and considering doing a Fighter/Thief instead. Had a few questions about some other things, but maybe the BG2 board is better for that, since they have less to do with BG1.

If your like me in games you'll play 10 characters through half the game each and then get bored of the game before completing it. :laugh: