Has anyone completed improved anvil without an auramaster Options

[Patrick_hindman]

This is just an opinionated post on why i love the auramaster
From my experience so far the auramaster seems to me an essential asset to any party going through improved anvil, his improved caster speed makes him a lifesaver in any battle situation and the extra spells he gets makes him an excellent damage dealer and great defender. Right now with cernd's upgraded cload, ring of protection and helm of defense he basically saves every time combined with his defense spells make him a great tank against mages and his faster casting time makes heal a incredibly useful spell in battle (saved my fighters so many times from those damn skeleton lords).

This in my opinion though makes all the other druid classes underated... because really having low health, low strength(sif he needs any) and the ability of not wearing armour, natural resistance(he has all the resistance spells anyway) and immunity poison and shapeshift(which is useless anyway) is a small price to pay for the bonuses you get in return.

So i would like to know other opinions on this.... is the auramaster too weak(i doubt it), overpowered, or do the druid classes need a makeover to match it.

[Kerkes]

Auramaster can't "Wish", of course. But a mage can! So, take both! I believe mage (sorc) + auramaster is a very nice arcane setup for any party. I wouldn't agree that "Greater Restoration" is more useful. In some battles, yes, but not all. I agree that Auramaster's usefulness tends to weaken in late-game, when you've got Chain Contingencies to fire 3x ruby ray in an instant, Improved Alcatry etc. and when party priest hits 25+levels so he can cast 5 7th lvl spells. But even then, he is still useful for select few tough opponents, and his mirror image/ironskins makes him still a great front-line healer. Auramaster is for me great in early and mid-game, since he can cast "Heal" more often than a cleric with same amount of experience. Emotion, mass cure, Chaotic commands are always nice too. I tend to keep Cernd close to my sorc/mage so he can insta-cast "Death Ward" since so many mages fire 3xfinger of death in a Chain Con, and poor mages have basically no chance of surviving that. Besides that, Cernd practically ensures that no one in your party will ever get imprisoned.
In end-game battles, I would take a cleric over Auramaster any day.
I agree with Shadan that a blade is a kick-ass character, in many ways more powerful than a f/m, which is a bit stupid I must say. Their Thac0 should really be capped at 10, as it was in vanilla. This way, (8th lvl spells, permanetnt imp.alcatry, a fighter's thac0, most powerful remove magic, +2 spells per level etc) blade is actually more powerful (and with offensive spin, far more leathal (who needs GWW? imp.haste + Scarlett ninja+Crom Fayr+spin =8 apr,max dmg done.) than a multi f/m can ever get in IA. + it's very hard for enemies to dispel buffs a bard places on your fighters.
I would leave bards with 3 or 4 6th lvl slots for some spells, but that should really be the limit for them.
They'll still be useful for "remove magic" and tanking golems and skeletons.