By comparison the mages by far are the worst companions. To use Mage Armor, or Wyll's Armor of Shadow perk, they have to forego any medium armor or shield they might gain at lv4, being stuck at a pitiful 17 AC with mage armor at lv4. Landing spells even from elevation is pitiful, unlike landing an Inflict Wounds from backstab. For some reason mage CC spells in this game have abysmal hit chance unlike Lazael's Frightening Strike. You're basically a Charm bot with imp utility as Wyll with still abysmal hit chances in the Underdark thanks to neither Wyll or Gale having darkvision, but Shadowheart can cast the spell Light to illuminate enemies to make them easier to hit (or your druid with Moonbeam).
I don't know why anyone would ever use Astarion. With Shadowheart's Blessing of the Trickster you can pass any stealth check in the game, and Guidance helps a ton in dialogue checks.
I disagree with that. There is more to spellcasting than just single targets spells. A lot of battles don't require high ground or melee jumping, or any other tricks if you combine aoes. There are spells that turn the ground into difficult terrain & cause damage, and spells that obscure vision. Web alone made for probably the easiest fight I had with redcaps, because they didn't even manage to get close to the party. Another battle was the goblin camp, which the party attacked from the bridge side, so no high ground. But the gates make a great chokepoint if you cover the ground with aoes.
As for Wyll's utility, I made the mistake of not giving him repelling blast on that run. But I've just started a second druid playthrough, to see how well it works as a control option. Haven't decided yet whether it's Gale or Astarion (as arcane trickster) for thunderwave.
