just curios : has anyone tried to solo a wild mage relying *only* on nahal's reckless dweomer (weapons excluded)??

Wow... I don't think that's possible. In the early game you don't have enough castings of it and it fails too often to be of any real use.

If you would try it by allowing him to cast normally, then you might stand a chance, but Nahal's reckless dweomer is indeed too unreliable at low levels. And you can't dual or multi to help him get to the higher levels.

well, if you allow him to cast normally it's like soloing a normal mage.
i was just curious if any of the real pros have tried it. there are so many threads about the "hardest" solo - like the "weak spells sorcerer" thread - maybe someone did it .....

if you allow him to cast normally it's like soloing a normal mage No, it's much easier. You have an extra spell per level like a specialist but without an opposition school. With careful use of Chaos Shield you get positive wild surges, which can be things like "spell cast at +5 levels". When you finally get to high levels and can use Nahal's properly you're practically a Sorcerer with ALL mage spells in your spellbook.

Not quite your typical normal mage :D

Besides wild surge are fun! I'm not a "real pro" but I love this type of mage and they make sense RP wise since wild magic is a product of the Time of Troubles -just like children of Bhaal- it's neat!

just curios : has anyone tried to solo a wild mage relying *only* on nahal's reckless dweomer (weapons excluded)? If you would try it by allowing him to cast normally, then you might stand a chance, but Nahal's reckless dweomer is indeed too unreliable at low levels. And you can't dual or multi to help him get to the higher levels.Sounds like an interesting challenge especially since I've never even created a wild mage character.

The problem with Wild Mage is that he is either a nightmare (if you never reload) or impossibly powerful (if you always reload). From what I can tell, his main disadvantage is a bad wild surge, but if your whole party ends up being Held or something, you would reload, thus negating the bad effect. Meanwhile, you get all the benefits of having those extra spells.

Harbourboy, it's not just the extra spells. The probability of a wild surge occurring in the first place is 5% IIRC. Multiply this by the probability of a real bad surge (such as all party held) and you get a pretty unlikely scenario. Now, cast Chaos Shield, and you're almost guaranteed to get a positive surge IF one occurs. You've then turned the wild mage's only disadvantage into one of his major strengths. Believe me, when you're level 7 and your fireball does the maximum 12d6 damage, this is no laughing matter.

@Earl Grey: so, considering another of your trial games? :)

i guess the real problem is rather that when you only want to cast nahal's rd (+ chaos shields), you'll only have a max of eight spells available at a time. spend two or three on buffs (given it works at first try) - about four or five spells will remain for the offensive sector; i doubt you'll be able to get the bosses down with these ....

maybe it's possible if we'd allow defensive spells be cast 'normally'

You don't need Chaos Shield that much (that is if you feel lucky) the wild mage has the potential to turn all his first level spells into the most powerful spells he knows... You don't have to be able to cast say level 8 or 9 spells to use them... Sure it's very risky but living on the edge is the only way to live for a wild mage.
True going solo can be quite difficult mot bad wild surges have the potential to take you out.
Wild magic is more of a matter of style, if you want to play it safe you'd better not go for a wild mage, if not then HAVE FUN!!!

I agree with Caradhras, wild mage is just more fun than ordinary mages, living on the edge is so fun :D . Sure some people will use them for their bonuses and advantages, but I just find them so fun for gameplay and rping :D

notice that Nahal's RD has no casting delay, you can cast them continuosly.

While it might be hard to solo, I think wild mage can work fine with a party. Just be sure don't keep much money in your purse, you don't know when THAT surge is gonna happed :shake:

Btw, I have a question about Improved chaos shield : how do you get it ? I don't have the choice to pick it when I reach lv14, and of course there's no scroll like that >__>

When I played the game I automatically got Improved Chaos Shield in my spellbook as a level 7 spell... I never need to "pick" it up, and there's definitely no such scroll. I don't think you even need to wait until level 14, it's in your spellbook when you start the game.