Anyways, this is my second shot at playing the game. I finished it the first time using a Dark Elf, and it was fairly easy. Now I reckon I'm already two thirds of my second run at the game and this time I'm using a Battle Mage.
It's really challenging since a Battle Mage is not only concerned with magic, but also with combat. I have to take into consideration those two factors when I'm building up my character. I can't focus mainly on spellcasting skills because I have to balance out his combat skills as well.Regarding spells, I'm building a fire elemental mage -- I can cast fireballs, conjure up a powerful fire spiral, and surround myself with a protective flame 'skin' which harms enemies within a certain range. As for the combat side, I'm building a melee fighter which focuses on swords, and the flame skin spell helps a lot in this aspect.
But even though I'm quite adept with close combat, I'm still mainly a spellcaster and as such, I still have relatively low stats on defense and health. Because of this, I rely on finding good quality armor and items with resistance and dexterity bonuses. I also have two support spells -- spiritual healing and shield -- but I only use healing since the shield spell only deflects arrows and magic, and is useless when fighting in close quarters.
All in all, I think I'm off to a nice build. I'm thinking of learning some other spells -- even if they're not fire based -- such as phase shift (or teleporation), ring of ice (shards of ice shoot up from the ground which slows down and harms enemies), cataract of agility (boosts up speed and attack rate), reiki (health regeneration), and meteor shower (errr... a shower of meteors). But hey, I'm way far from the end and I still have a lot of possibilities going for me. It's really quite exciting.
Right now I'm in the middle of a desert, looking for Prince Valor's camp. I need to report to him the treachery of Baron DeMordrey and how his Shakura guards have been mistreating the kingdom. Plus, the orc tribes' unrest does not help the situation one bit. I'm very sure the increasing number of undead has something to do with this... and when there's undead involved, there's sure to be foul magic at its core.
My seraphim amulet is glowing. I see a blur in the sands. Arcane voices whisper in my ear and my fingers begin to stir the weave of magic surrounding me. As sparks of a fire spell crackle to life in my hands, I mutter with a wicked smile, "I have never felt MORE REAL in my entire life."
