Maybe it's a stupid question, but I could not quickly find an answer.
In IWD mage can remember a very small number of spells (even at higher levels than the first), including combat and support.
Almost every battle I have to use all combat spells. After that, the magician becomes an easy target and helpless.
There are 2 cases which I see:
- mage is weak and useless
- I should sleep after each battle
Or is there a more appropriate strategy?

Personally, I don't use my mages' arsenal when there's no reason to. Usually, you should be fine with just letting the arcane caster(s) deal with large groups of monsters (Fireball, Cloudkill, ...) or if you need to get an enemy down _real fast_.

If you're much more trigger-happy than I am with your magic missiles and the like, however, resting a lot sure is an OK way to play the game.

Mages start weak with only a few spells but get very powerful when gain enough levels, at the end they'll be able to cast over 30 spells without resting. With a single fireball they can wipe out a whole group of monsters, with a single haste spell they can double the party's physical combat power.

Your mage can still do some damage in combat without spells, give him a sling and bullets (take missile proficiency for a better chance to hit) to do damage from a safe distance, darts work too, you can even use melee weapons, staves have a bigger range than daggers which force you to step on enemy's toes to attack, since monsters usually turn towards the closest target this is dangerous.

When your mage can't avoid getting attacked casting mirror image and other spells will make him able to survive a few rounds, especially if you have good AC from equipment or spells like mage armor or shield, runnin away is also an option.

You get more spells per day from the beginning by taking a specialist wizard like illusionist, some options to make a mage powerful without spells is trading spell power for physical power by dual- or multiclassing or using a bard instead.

Thanks a lot, I catch the point.

Sleep after each battle. Unlike most other dungeon-crawl games, R&R in D&D was always a main part of the theme. Having limited magic spells is supposed to balance out those character classes who have them vs the fighters who have none. In the pen-and-paper game, going back to town to rest, restock and sell loot usually corresponded with wrapping up a real-time game session. In the computer game however, it just becomes a bit silly and tedious after a while imo, but that's D&D for you.

If this is happening, then you're being way too trigger happy. You certainly can play this way if you like, resting between each fight, but that's the natural consequence of an overkill approach to combat. Mages don't need to cast many spells to turn the tides of a battle, and you certainly don't need to be spell-happy to win fights.

One thing you might want to look into is how much emphasis you're placing on damage-dealing spells. These spells can be great for damage spiking, but tend to be very blunt and inefficient instruments. A fireball spell goes "bang" and then it's over; anything that survived is still a threat. A web spell (which is lower level) will continue to entangle enemies over a longer period of time, rendering them helpless targets for your party's archers. Half of the problem is with the CRPG's being too lenient with resting. Allowing the party to rest whenever they want and as often as they want without any consequences devalues the decision-making involved. Aside from very low-level characters, you certainly have the tools to persevere through many encounters. For most of IWD, I'd clear an entire dungeon level between each rest; you don't need to rest that frequently at all!


EDIT - just noticed this is a thread necro...

Yes, there have been several today.