Shimrod

I can think of many examples of games where clerics could heal yet weren't indispensable to a party. They aren't just buffbots in BG2, IWD2, they can be strong and fun to play. Heals just mean less downtime, I don't see how that can be a bad thing. It's not an MMO that we need to be padding the game out with downtime to get subs money. If I were to complain about any class in typical RPGs it would be rogues rather than clerics. Having to take up up a party slot just for lockpicking and disarming traps while being otherwise dead weight.

My vote would be for both healing spells and the ability to rest anywhere. Clerics should be for buffs, rez and heals, if I bring one along I should expect a melee party to have less downtime and tank better with buffs. If I don't bring a cleric then I'd want to fall back on buff/healing potions and the ability to rest anywhere to regain health. Fair enough that rules and locations need to differ because it's not a AD&D. I've accepted I won't be able to see Icewind Dale, Menzoberranzan, Mithril Hall etc. On the plus side at least crenshinibon won't be surfacing again. But I don't see why we therefore need to have a radically different RPG forumla, with wizards that need to weightlift and clerics that can't heal. Regarding resting to regain health, if I find some cubbyhole to rest in a cave system and I didn't pack any firewood I should still be able to rest there, bandage up and make with the magical healing poultices. Surely resting requires only being sleepy and not being chewed on by a bear. In fact I didn't want to light a fire in the cave system anyway as the smoke would give away my position, and I'd probably asphixiate. Yes there should be an element of danger with resting and the party members needs to take watches. The risk should be based on the situation the party is in and be mitigated by locking doors, being undetected, finding a safe cubbyhole, carrying an expansible wizards tower, pocket plane, or having mark/recall spells to pop home for a nap. The only game I recall that prevented me resting iirc was Storm of Zehir and I thought it sucked that I couldn't rest in a sheltered cave I'd cleaned out, while being forced to go sleep out on a mountain with biting winds and monsters roaming about.

While I liked the diversity of BG2 spells I also found the rest-to-regain-spells mechanic tedious particularly when soloing. I most often used a sorc instead of a wizard simply to avoid taking up spell slots with infrequently used utility spells (sequencers, contingencies, identify, knock etc). Often I would simply use shadowkeeper to add +10 spells per level, on the basis that less resting = more fun. I think my ideal system would combine dragon age's cooldown approach with bg2's diversity of spells, allowing me to continue playing without micromanaging. I also loved dragon age's configurable AI system, so I could just configure a party member as a healer and let them get on with it without having to micromanage them.

I grew up with p&p 2e and reading dragonlance. What I loved most about BG2 over IWD and BG1 was the comprehensive magic implementation, allowing me to indulge my Raistlin complex. Imprisoning, feebleminding, petrifying insolent NPCs never gets old. I just love the completeness of the spell system with contingencies, sequencers, time stop, simulacrum etc. Given the choice I prefer to solo; just me, my bag of holding, and the occasional summoning for company. Will PoE cater for the compleat mage, or is it just fireballs, magic missiles, short duration buffs etc?