If you want to play a specialist mage protaganist there is really no bad choice (possible exception: Wild mage) . I notice from the posts that Necromancers get more press than the others. What particular benefits does the Necromancer enjoy over other arcane casters? (I am aware there is an artifact just for him). Also does anyone believe that Necromancers should perhaps have to be Evil?

Also on the subject of Evil are there any plans for a more Evil-friendly path? One which would hopefully bring back the thief or even better the assassin as a more optimal character. I notice that not many posters view Korgan , Viconia or Edwin as interesting NPCs in IA which is in sharp contrast to the vanilla game and most other mods in which they were seen as perhaps the strongest representatives of their respective classes.

At the risk of answering my own question vis a vis the Evil NPCs , it would seem that Korgan , Viccy and Edwin have not really been improved compared to their good counterparts. Korgan can still be an insane tank its just that Valgyar has been really souped up from his previous mediocre status due to his item upgrades as have Keldorn and Anomen (both of whom were pretty good anyway). Nalia has been vastly improved , Imoen slightly less so but Edwin ? It would seem that allthough Viconia has still got advantages (lots of spells slots and that drow MR) she is quite weak physically (STR and CON) for a game that is easier for a more beefy cleric like Anomen.

The illusion school is quite weak with IA 5.0 installed. Spells like Simulacrum and Projected Image have been replaced by others. Mislead will go as well in the next version, iirc. So all that's left is Mirror Image, Blur and Improved Invisibility/Shadow Door. Mirror Image is actually quite useful, blur less so. To effectively use II/SD against a spellcaster enemy (which is a very good idea since they are unable to target your spellcaster when he is under those spells' effects) you have to combine it with SI:Divination. The problem about this idea is that you have to be quite high level to make it work, or else the enemies will simply cast Remove Magic and remove all your buffs.

Single class mages (including Necromancers) have the highest possible chance to train successful apprenti (even more chance than sorcerers). This means higher chance to forge Robe of the Apprenti which is required to forge Memory of the Apprenti.

Forging Memory of the Apprenti triggers a new encounter; hence, single class mages indirectly have more chance to see something new.

Also, there is one new necromantic spell in IA and at least one more will be added in the next version.

Also, see what Arkain wrote about the Illusionist school as the opposite school of Necromancy. As a necormancer you will not have access to spells of illusion school, but can memorize and cast one more spell per spell level.

Yes.



No, there is no such limitation.



In the long-term, yes. But for now, having a good aligned party will lead you to see more new quests.

Thanks for the responses.
I am aware that Necromancers can be any alignment , I was just thinking that philosophically they are all about death and dark magic and as such should perhaps be restricted to evil alignments. However in this game they really have no more evil attributes than any other mage , so no reason to limit them. I guess its all in the name ( Have you met my son in law the necromancer?).