Kneller: The only faster way I know of is spells without saves, which there are a few. However, a fighter can reliably do 3 APR, more so with ImpHaste and GWW. So, figure 5 APR average, with a +3 Longsword (average weapon/damage), and a +5 STR bonus, and you're hitting much more often than not. You could easily be doing15-45 damage per round with a single fighter. Also consider that the further you go, MR is more common than DR.
Like I said, it's been a while since I've played, but if playing with a party, I would think one would do better by treating a mage like a support character for buffs and summons for meat shields.
That's how my three mages (Imoen, Aerie and me) rolled too. They were just clearing a way for the three meelee fighters (Minsc, Jaheira and Kheldorn) to lay on the hurt.
That worked pretty well on core rules, even without summons. I only had to do some serious summoning during the final battle in ToB.
Kneller: 5) Find Traps spell, and put thief points elsewhere perhaps
That way you do find those traps, but how do you disarm them? You're also missing out on quite some XP in BG2 that way.
