Playing as a mage

[Toaster]

Thanks to CP1.7 I've just started playing Gothic 3 again, for the first time since I put it away in frustration playing the original version shortly after launch.

I'm playing with the new new AB and AI on medium difficulty, and my question is what would be the best training path as a mage if I'm trying to optimize fun? That is, not having to hit stuff with my Orcslayer for 15+ levels while training lots of AK I don't have any use for yet. I'm level 5 or so now, haven't spent any LPs yet and wouldn't mind letting Copper tank for me for a couple of levels, but is there some way to start casting spell pretty soon without gimping myself later on in the game?

EDIT: Also, which support skills are useful and which are just a waste of points? I'm thinking some lockpicking and potions all the way down to the permanent ones could be good to have, any others? Like the skinning / take claws ones, are they worth it?

[JDR13]

EDIT: Also, which support skills are useful and which are just a waste of points? I'm thinking some lockpicking and potions all the way down to the permanent ones could be good to have, any others? Like the skinning / take claws ones, are they worth it?


Yes, the hunting skills are cheap to learn (LP wise), and can earn you some decent money in the early going. The Hunting skill requirement is pretty low for them as well, around 120 I think.

[fragonard]

I did the same character and decided to go all magic except for difficult locks (to get money and otherwise unobtainable magic goodies). The only combat skill I took was staff and staff II. Put everything in AK to get Quick learner ASAP since it's a base requirement with AB. By level 15 (in Montera), I had summon skeleton and fireball and that was enough to get by. I'm now at level 28 with regenerate mana and summon demon. I still haven't done any other skills except to get hunting to 110 so I can use the bone bow. It's a little hard with AB but it can be done. I plan to add most of my future LP to extra mana since that seems to have the most payback.
AB really limits the skills you can realistically achieve so you must specialize. I've played through G3 twice before and I was shocked to realize that I couldn't be an archer and fighter too but that's the new reality; I can't even afford to get the basic utility skills because every bit of mana is precious.

[Prime Junta]

I'm (slowly) working on my mage build too. (Not playing much recently, since we have home improvement in progress and have evacuated, so I'm not at my computer all that much.) I didn't go quite as extreme as fragonard -- in addition to AK and Difficult Locks, I bought the hunting perks (for money and some quest requirements), Brew Mana Potions for, well, mana potions, Prospecting for the iron ore so I can crank out bastard swords for cash, and enough STR to be able to use the blade staff. And that's as far as I intend to go with non-mage skills and perks. I'm working toward Mana Regeneration, after that I intend to take Improve Robes, Magic Staffs, and a few more spells; then build up my mana for real.

I didn't check what level I'm at now, but I'm having fun -- I can't just blast away with fireballs like crazy, but I can use a combined strategy of using them as artillery preparation and then wading in with the blade staff; I'm also not half bad at arena fights. And I'm not even wearing any armor yet.

[Toaster]

So where can I find some staff to go with my cool staff skills? Blade staff preferably but some pointers on some magical ones for later on would be appreciated as well.

[fragonard]

Blade staff is in magic chest #28 IIRC and I think you can buy one in Braga for 18000. If you're running AB,however, the quarterstaff is actually pretty good since it has an extra 20 damage and a blade resistance bonus.

[Prime Junta]

Whaa? I bought my blade staff from the Hashishi dude in Cape Dun for 1000. (I have AB on, which may explain both the price and the availability difference.)

It does 20 more damage than the quarterstaff and feels like it has a bit more reach, same blade resistance bonus. It also deals out blade rather than bludgeoning damage. All in all, it feels a good deal more effective than the quarterstaff.

[Toaster]

I can't seem to find ANY combat staff at all, neither the Quarterstaff nor the Blade Staff. I didn't turn the slave in to the Hashishin in Cape Dun, but there surely must be some other way?

I've seen Mage's Staff on a few vendors though.

EDIT: Just found a Quarterstaff being sold by the orc smith in Trelis, still no Blade Staff though.

EDIT2: And I finally found a Blade Staff on the Hashishin emissary in Trelis as well, so never mind :) Now, combat training!

[fragonard]

You're right, that was in 1.6...got confused for a minute. :)

[Melvil]

Is Improved Robes actually working yet? The perk doesn't double any protections for me so far, at least not visibly.

[JDR13]

What about the "Make Excuses" perk? I never could see any good use for that, as it never seemed to actually work.

[Kostaz]

What about the "Make Excuses" perk? I never could see any good use for that, as it never seemed to actually work.
The last mention of that skill is in the changelog of CP1.5

Extract from the CP Changelog (http://snorre.jowood.de/~community/Gothic3/CP_Changelog_en.txt):
- The skill "Make excuses" is more effective - the higher the thief skill of the hero, the lower the risk to get caught.

[JDR13]

Mmmm, I'm guessing your Thief skill must be pretty high in order for it to be effective..

[Kostaz]

Mmmm, I'm guessing your Thief skill must be pretty high in order for it to be effective..
I never really tried it late in the game when my Thief skill was over 100 but I'll try it with cheats in CP1.7 to see the results.

Edit:With 100 Thief skill I failed to convince a rebel,I'll try later with 200.
Edit2:With 200 it worked:S

[migwell]

How can I use Light Armor, or Improved Robes indeed doubles the stats of your Mages (or Druids) robe.

[Pladio]

I believe it increases light armour's (such as robes) protection by 50%, but I might be wrong.

[migwell]

Well, whatever. I'm wearing a Druid robe, got the perk off of the head guy in Geldern and my protection stats went up considerably, but I have Helmet, rings and Amulet all added in as well. Worth getting for a mage. I don't think this does anything for armor though... does it?

[Gorath]

A mage doesn't need much protection. You'll become so powerful when you have a fireball spell or something comparable like ice lance, you'll kill groups of 5 orcs before they can reach you.

[rpgdude]

This thread is useful. But aren't there two way of playing mage at least : water mage and fire mage ?

[Kostaz]

This thread is useful. But aren't there two way of playing mage at least : water mage and fire mage ?Luckily the spells one is using are not restricted until later in the game so most mages make use of all the available spells no matter what their path.

[Pladio]

Sorry to revive the topic, but I've just restarted the game with my new laptop and I've decided to play as a mage this time.

I was wondering how you calculate the damage done by spells ? I can't seem to find a real way of doing that.

I think I'm like level 15 or so with Ice Lance, Telekinesis, Fireball as spells and I got about 300 mana and HP I think.
I was thinking of going the way of the druids, but the fire spells seem much more powerful from their descriptions.

Do you have any tips except for the ones listed above. Any spells which are a must ?

Storywise, I just got into Monterra's castle and am planning to move ahead to the immediate surroundings before going to the next city.

[Maylander]

Get mana regeneration as soon as possible, and pump Ancient Knowledge as high as possible. Whether you use lightning, ice lance or fire is irrelevant as long as you have high enough AK and the mana regen skill. :)

[fragonard]

I was wondering how you calculate the damage done by spells ? I can't seem to find a real way of doing that.



There's a guide on the JoWood forum that gives some help on this. Half your AK level adds to the damage and getting the specialized perk in a magic school (water, fire,druid) doubles the base power of all spells in that school.

http://forum.jowood.com/showthread.php?t=134771

[Pladio]

Get mana regeneration as soon as possible, and pump Ancient Knowledge as high as possible. Whether you use lightning, ice lance or fire is irrelevant as long as you have high enough AK and the mana regen skill. :)

I don't know where to find mana regen yet, but I will.
Thanks :)

There's a guide on the JoWood forum that gives some help on this. Half your AK level adds to the damage and getting the specialized perk in a magic school (water, fire,druid) doubles the base power of all spells in that school.

http://forum.jowood.com/showthread.php?t=134771

Thanks. I will have a look at the thread later too.

[Pladio]

How good is the open locks spell ?
What locks does it or doesn't it open ?

[Zaleukos]

Ice lance is great for stunning foes. I use it when fighting groups with multiple shamans, stun a few and whack the remaining ones. Bloodlust can be used for cheesy resolution of some quests (with some patience you can make non-hostile NPCs murder each other). Heal other is useful for some quests.

How good is the open locks spell ?
What locks does it or doesn't it open ?

EDIT: Reading the thread I notice that you have a few levels under your belt already. If you have enough AK to buy the spell, by all means get it rather than spending points on thievery!

Original posts
It opens all locks, but usually it isnt a worthwhile investment.

First of all you'll get it fairlyy late in the game. You will encounter expert (or whatever the second level chests are called) quite early, and it is easier to just spend a few points in thieving to get that level of lockpicking. Chests that cant be opened with that level of lockpicking are rarer than open locks scrolls (making the highest level of lockpicking pointless even to dedicated thieves).

Caveat: My experience is with 1.6 and earlier, but should still hold unless the late community patches changed loot and chests.

[Pladio]

I need another 100 AK before getting enough for open locks, but I haven't been able to open any difficult locks yet, so not a lot of special booty :)

I'm in Varant right now, just trying to do easy quests, but I have noticed that I can kill everything so easily compared to my last run as a fighter. fireball is great and ice lance isn't bad either. I like the fireball's burn, which is similar to poisoning and kills the beasts.

I can even kill snorting monsters one at a time. That's quite a feat so early in the game. I had only done quests in Ardea, Reddock, Montera, Trelis and Nemora then. Playing as a mgae is very easy compared to fighter. The only problem is the arena fights for now. I only have normal staff fighting for now though.

[Zaleukos]

I've never played a pure mage, so I cant vouch for the relative merit of extra AK/mana compared to getting the open difficult lock skill early on. Loot isnt critical so I imagine you arent losing out on much. Just eat your goblinberries and get some trophy skills for the extra cash instead.

Magic combat is very easy as long as you dont have to fight in cramped locations and can keep the enemies at a distance. There are a few dungeons that will be tricky. You will also run into some high-HP magic users, who will heal themselves before you can take them out with magic. They are best handled with ice lance (for stunning) followed by a fast melee weapon.

[Pladio]

I just met one of them. Good I saved just before, because he killed me - high undead priest in Ben Sala. I managed to kill him quite easily though the next time. Just a few Ice lances and then let Diego assault him :)

[Zaleukos]

Yeah, those are pretty much the toughest non-boss enemies in the game (maybe together with dragons, but dragons cant heal themselves AFAIK).

[Pladio]

One dragon at a time isn't hard at all. Beat one head-on. It's easy to stun them long enough for the next spell to be cast. Two of them nearly killed me underneath Cape and I had Cyrus helping me there.

I'm slowly creeping towards 200 AK and Mana Regen, but I have put some, maybe too many points into mana. It's helped me a lot though.
I've done a big part of Varant now, but I'm going back to Myrtana for the unsolved quests.
I'm not strong enough for those temples yet...

[Zaleukos]

Anything is easy if stunlocked;) I've not been very successful stunlocking dragons though. The only time I managed to took out the one near Geldern in melee I did so by hitting him through a ruin wall that blocked his breath attack.

I found the two cave dragons easier, the cave has a lot of cover options making it a piece of cake for a patient archer...

Speaking of stunlock I've never managed to defeat ogres in melee (they dont stun easily), but they are pretty darn trivial to a mage...

[Pladio]

I just got mana regen and beat the whole of Venguard quite easily with a few retreats :)
Mages are too easy ...

[Maylander]

Yep, it's a breeze after that. Good fun though.