Mage Duels, Baldur's Gate 1 Original

Mage Duels Baldur's Gate 1

Spellcaster duels aka Mage duels are a form of encounter design that have their seminal employment in Baldur's Gate 1 Original.

Note that BG1 invented spellcaster duels, NOT BG2. I'm talking about proper spellcaster duels involving BG1 Classes such mages, clerics, druids and bards. And BG1 Enemies such as ogre mages and greater doppelgangers.

The most famous and memorable mage duel of the last two decades has been the Davaeorn duel, but BG1 has many examples: Tarnesh, Silke, Nimbul, Mulahey, Bassilus, Tranzig, Venkt, Amarande, Kysus, Rezin, Natasha, Osmadi, Droth, Mutamin, Ramazith, Degrodel, Entillus, Naaman, Cythandria, Angelo, Shaldrissa, Semaj, Krystin.

cf. Baldur's Gate Enemies.

Due to the ability of enemy spellcasters to immobilize and incinerate parties, or turn party members against each other, party mages usually tell everyone else to stand back and stay the hell out of the way when they take on the rival mage by themselves. While not always true, this serves as a good warning: The only way to take on a Mage, is with another Mage.

Spellcaster duels are a mainstay of the plot-critical path but can be found elsewhere as well. They employ illusions, teleporting, invisibility, protections, direct damage, immobilization, divide and conquer etc.

There are at least 20 more in the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion:

So there we have it. BG2 did not invent spellcaster duels because they were already in BG1 and IWD1. The reader will note that, these days, BG2 gets wrongfully credited for many things BG1 actually invented.

BG1 invented simulation of pre-buffing and highly mobile spellcasters [Davaeorn]. Pre-BG2 Infinity Engine was also capable of bypassing aura cleansing and employing complex scripting and tattoo contingencies [see: DSotSC].

Relatively speaking, BG1 spellcaster duels put BG2 ones to shame. BG1 employed mobility through movement and the Dimension Door spell, the latter of which BG2 omitted due to its sequence-breaking potential (because BioWare didn't want players skipping through their infantile cutscene-infested critical path). Most rival BG2 spellcasters are wholly immobile. They Shadow Door and then reappear in the exact same spot, ready to be killed.

Improved Invisibility also breaks almost every spellcaster encounter in BG2 because enemy spellcasters ignore party members that are under the effect, even when they're being attacked.

What BG2 added in respect to spellcasting (more spells and player-usable sequencers, triggers and contingencies) was just a Captain Obvious evolution on what the IE could already handle. BG2 revolutionized nothing at all [BG1 vs. BG2].

Next up: Baldur's Gate 1 Arcane Spells.

Baldur's Gate 1 Original (Index) | Baldur's Gate 1 Review (Index).