            Arena:TES, Gems of Enlightenment for Battle Mages

Steve Cotellesse has provided this excellent expose' of the Battle Mage class
which is reproduced with minimal editing below:

    "As a beta-tester, I've run quite a few characters through Arena.  I've
become very partial to the BM, IMHO they're one of the deadliest in the
game and most fun to play having the best of both fighter & spellcaster
worlds.  The BM, as with all spellcasters, also gets to play with one of,
what I feel, the coolest parts of the game - the Spellmaker.  The
following is strictly my opinion and based on my experience."

   "Weaknesses:  They're weak in the beginning of the game and you do need
to save often, very often.  Armor and shield selection is poor (only
leather armor and buckler or round shield) but a shield spell, especially
for the higher level BM, negates that disadvatange.  You can't get or use
the armor and shield type artifacts but at higher levels that is not a
problem and I eventually disgard most of it to keep my inventory screen
less cluttered."

  "Strengths:  Good weapon selection and they can use the Ebony Blade which
is perhaps the BEST artifact in the game.  With a max of 175 spell points,
though not as high as the Sorceror's 300, you have enough to cast spells
that will crush, fry, slice and dice any opponent."

  "Strategy:  I prefer the Khajiit - quick, agile and climbs chasms quickly
and gets out of the water quickly.  Not only does that make traveling
through the dungeons easier, you can usually fight your way up out of a
chasm or water if need be."

    "Roll and create a character with above average agility, speed and
strength. I usually start with enough STR to get a +1 bonus, AGI for a +1
or +2 bonus, speed at 55 or 60, PER & LUK of 50 and the rest into END."

   "Check the date when you're in the starter dungeon.  Most of the time I
find it near the 3rd of Hearthfire.  Pace yourself so you leave the
starter and arrive in town, DURING DAYLIGHT, on the 3rd of Hearthfire
(Tales & Tallow holiday) so you can shop the Mage's Guild at half price. 
My BMs come out of the starter at 4th level."

    "First day in town, run, don't walk, to the nearest equipment store and
sell everything but your best known weapon (don't bother trying to get
magic items ID'ed - sell 'em, you want all your cash for the Mage's
guild).  If you found the Longsword of Firestorm you'll get 18750 for it
and be in good financial shape.  Next stop is the mage's guild.  Buy at
least 10 potions of Heal True (don't bother with Heal, not worth the
money), Restore Power and Free Action, 5 potions of Purification.  Buy the
stock Light spell. Now use the Spellmaker."

    "General note on the Spellmaker - spells are generally cheaper to cast
and have higher power (most bang for the casting cost) if their
power/strength is based on you character's level, and the per level range
should be the same so you know exactly what the spell will do (minimize
random dice rolls)."

    "Create a shield spell that gives 1 point protection plus 5 or 10
points additional per level (depends on casting cost).  Next create what
will be one of the handiest spells in your grimoire, I call it the 'Burst'
spell.  Select Target to be Centered on Caster, Effect is Damage to
Health, range is 1 to 1 plus at least 5 to 5 per level and Save VS Fire. 
The Burst spell will put down Trolls (and most anything else) for good. 
It's best use is when your blocked by a monster when swimming or in a
chasm because you don't need to see the monsters, it works through walls
and doors - it's a great all-purpose all around spell, especially when you
get jumped by more than one monster.  If you have the cash, create a
Fireball (and optionally an Iceball) spell: 1 Target at Range, Damage to
Health, same specs as Busrt Spell (Iceball - Save vs Cold)."

   "If you still have cash left, you might want to buy a Mark or Ring of
Firestorm or Paralyze.  Definetly buy more Heal True, Restore Power, Free
Action and Purify potions."

  "Now shop the equipment stores and see if you can find a good sword
(Dwarven, Adamatium, etc) and maybe pick up a long bow and some leathers."

    "At this point you can do one of two things, start going for the O.I.
(Ogham Infinitum) quests to build up your stats or if you were low on
cash, tackle a few local dungeons."

   "A note on doing local dungeons.  As you explore them, you'll find rooms
that have beds, you can usually rest on the beds for short periods (I
always rest in 2 hour 'naps') without being attacked that often.  This can
be a good early strategy - rest and fight - to go up another level or two
(ALWAYS SAVE OFTEN AND BEFORE RESTING!)"

   "Anyway, you want to start doing O.I. quests (Narsis in Morrowood is a
good place to get them).  Max your Endurance first, this gives you
additional HP bonus at each level advance and a BM NEEDS high hit points. 
Next, max out your AGI, SPD, STR, INT and WIL.  I usually use my level
advance points to bring up LUK and PER.  Next Quest is the Ebony Blade."

  "Get the quest for Auriel's Bow (once you buy the map for a quest you can
retrieve any artifacts out of repair) (ed. note, this topic is also well
covered in the general gems for Arena).  Now put the Blade and Bow in repair
and go for the Nerc. Amulet. Once you have those three artifacts you are
ready for the Staff Quests."

   "By this time you should now be level 9 or 10 and are well equipped for
the First Staff piece.  Throughout this early stage you should be building
up your stockpile of Heal True, Restore Power, Free Action and Purify. 
When you start to do the Staff Quests, Resist Fire, Levitate and
Invisibilty are handy. Resist Fire is good to gulp down right before you
go into the final room for the 1st Staff piece.  You should also delete
the 'Burst' and 'Shield' Spells and create higher power versions of them."

   "The quests for the remaining 7 Staff pieces will put you up against a
lot of spell casting monsters.  Use Spellmaker to make the spell that will
see you through the rest of the game.  Make a spell reflection spell.  Set
it's range to 1% and 9% per level so you will reflect back spells at least
80% to 90% of the time at level 9 or 10 and duration should be the same as
your 'Light' spell.   By keeping the duration of your spell reflection the
same as your light spell (and cast 'Light' then 'Spell Mirror" at the same
time) you'll know your spell reflection wore off when the light spell
poofs.  As you advance in levels, create another spell that's even better.
This one you want to provide Spell Absorbtion (about 50% efficiency) and
Spell Reflection (100% or better effeciency).  Now you're in business with
this spell.  About half the spells thrown at you will replenish your spell
points and the rest bounce back and fry the caster.  Again, as you advance
in levels, keep going back to Spellmaker and redo your spells for greater
power or longer durations."

   "Starting with the second staff dungeon, you want a spell reflection
spell. Take along resist cold potions for the second staff dungeon also."

   "Other great spells, Fireballs that do 25 or 30 Damage per level (so
does my burst spell).  Slow Death has continous damage and poison, cast
this one, stand back and watch 'em eventually keel over.  Force Bolt is
cool and great to use on monsters that 'disappear' when dead.  Paralyze
(100%) with large damage to health.  Often 'freezes' them at the moment of
death (cool effect!) and you can pilfer the body (that you otherwise
couldn't) and find some neat stuff sometimes.  My Bomb spell is an Area at
Range spell with Damage at least 20 per level - fries a group of crits one
shot."

   "By the time of the end game, you should be at level 20+ and
unstoppable! For the final battle with the Ultimate Bad Guy - my BM can
wax him with one (very potent) spell."

   "Final thoughts - When you use Spellmaker, keep an eye on its casting
cost as you can build spells that even a maxed Sorceror can't cast. 
Experiment, it's loads of fun to come up with different combinations of
effects and see what they do."

  "Obviously you'll want to workup some other utility spells like Open,
Create Floor, etc.  The spells you make in Spellmaker are much better than
the stock spells the Guild sells."

  "By the mid to end game, I only carry Heal True, Restore Power, Resist
Fire, Free Action, Levitate and Purify.  I use a spell to transfer Stamina
from the bad guys before I fry 'em <g>.  I use the Ebony Blade for melee,
Auriel's Bow and a Mithril long bow for ranged combat and spells when I
want to put the oppostion out of their misery quickly."

  "When you're up against a spell caster AND have spell absorbtion in
effect, when you cast a spell, wait for your opponent to cast another
spell at you before you 'target' them - this way you'll get your spell
points replenished right then and there."

  "A neat trick with spell absorption is to stand close to a wall or
monster and cast something like Fireball and absorb the points back from
your own spell (do this only with 100% spell absorption otherwise it can
be fatal to you!)."

   "Just remember, BMs are a tough go in the beginning, you'll need to go
slow, build up gradual and save often but are totaly awesome at the end. 
If you're the type of player that likes to utterly crush the opposition at
will, like to fight up close & personal or waste 'em before they close on
you (depending on your mood at the time) then the BM is for you - BMs
RULE!"

    "I think you'll find the paralyse with heavy damage spell combo to be
cool as some monsters have slightly different 'poses' when they die while
still paralyzed. Make paralysis the first effect and damage to health the
second."

Many of the above suggestions are applicable to other spell classes as well,
so try them out. Happy gaming to all of you,

gsv
