Haven't started the game yet. I noticed on a guide for party creation they say to go with a Dwarf Fighter/cleric and a half elf mage.

My question is, why do they recommend a half elf mage as opposed to a High Elf mage ? I cant see any advantage to the half elf

Thanks in advance

I'd actually recommend an elven mage over an half-elven mage, because an elf has the racial ability to spot hidden buttons. An half-elf does not. And since those pesky buttos are easy to miss when walking down a corridor a hint from a character does come in handy.

Also: Bring a dwarf because he can spot illusionary walls, which you are even more likely to miss. Same advice goes for the Ravenloft games, since they use roughly the same engine.

And if one of your character buys the farm (not very likely in Menzoberranzan, since combat is quite easy), you'll probably use Power Word: Reload anyway.

Thanks for the replies. Seems only that you cant resurrect the elf, cant see any other reason.

The manual states that both elves and half elves can detect magic doors etc.

Off to the Underdark !

But when you try it out you'll find that the half-elf never actually does.

You are in a maze of computer implementations of AD&D, all different.