Mage - Mages are among the most popular characters, and for good reason. Thanks to their wide selection of spells, they're among the most versatile and powerful characters in the game.
The Pros and Cons of a Mage
The wizard is the party's magical powerhouse. She can boost her party's combat effectiveness, help her compatriots scout, and levy fiery magical assaults at the enemies. Depending on whether or not she specializes, she may have access to nearly any kind of arcane spell.
Mage Assets
When you chose a Mage, you gain access to a wide range of powerful spells, but the class has a few hidden resources as well. Below are several assets you have going for you when you play a Mage.
High Intelligence: Don't let the Mage’s paltry fragile demur fool you. A Mage needs to have a high Intelligence score because that ability governs her spell casting. But a high Intelligence score also boosts the number of skill points she has available.
Good Saving Throws: A Mage uses the best save progression in the game for saves. This natural mental strength helps her resist most affects that fool her mind or assault her spirit, including charms, compulsions, illusions, fear effects, and even inflict spells.
Good Spell Selection: The Mage's spell list has unmatched breadth and depth, and virtually its whole range is open to her. With the right spell, she can damage or slay foes, whisk herself (and her friends) to safety, discern hidden truths, throw up impassible barriers, or even create useful items out of thin air.
Bonus Feats: Scribe Scroll, which the Mage gains as a bonus feat, lets her pack extra spells along on any trip. She also gets bonus item creation and metamagic feats as she attains higher levels.
Familiar: By spending a little cash, a Mage can gain a familiar who can serve as a spy, lookout, and general assistant.
School Specialization: A Mage can gain more spell casting ability by giving up access to part of the wizard spell list. This kind of specialization can also be a great role-playing hook, especially if she chooses a specialty that matches her temperament or history.
Mage Weaknesses
Mage’s pay a heavy price for their spell casting abilities. Here are a few of the disadvantages you should keep in mind if you're considering a wizard character.
Low Hit Points: Mages have some of the lowest natural hit points and constitution in the game
Poor Armor Class: Because the Mage has no proficiency with any kind of armor or shield, she generally has a low Armor Class. The combination of low hit points and low Armor Class makes her extremely vulnerable in physical combat, especially melee. She can use spells and magic items to improve her defense, but doing so makes them less available for other purposes.
Poor Attack Bonus: A Mage's base attack bonus is +1 per two wizard levels, which is the worst in the game. Wizards can dish out lots of damage with their spells, but they don't do well with weapons.
Vulnerability of melee: Because of Mage’s devotion to their particular school and scholarly pursuits of the magic arts, they have not trained properly to avoid melee damage. Therefore Mages usually take double from all melees.
