Baldur's Gate Beamdog's Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 Enhanced Editions

[Theldaran]

Wait... a backstab-oriented kit with nerfed backstab? What is this madness?

This almost makes the kits in the Song and Silence mod appealing.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

That actually makes the NWN Shadowdancer look good which is not easy to do

 

[Average Manatee]

Wait... a backstab-oriented kit with nerfed backstab? What is this madness?

My thought too. My guess is that whoever made it thought Hide in Plain Sight would be way more powerful than it is, but getting 1 sneak attack every 2 rounds (which is what I assume it maxes out at) is going to be strictly inferior to just auto attacking.

 

[Theldaran]

I think it should play like a shit Assassin. Oh, yeah, Assassins are for evil-character-loving edgelord players, since you have to be Evil. But then again your backstab is relevant. Anyway, you have to wait until the end of the game to insta-kill foes, so it isn't great; imagine how shit then the Shadowdancer is.

 

[CptMace]

Assassins are genuine edgelords though.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

Assassins are genuine edgelords though.

So then Shadowdancers are those effete emo kids who listen to Good Charlotte

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

Player: Hi Thief! What are you good at?
Thief: A little of everything, but mostly stealing shit.
Player: Hi Bounty Hunter! What are you good at?
Bounty Hunter: Traps and trap accessories.
Player: Hi Swashbuckler! What are you good at?
Swashbuckler: Making Fighters look bad.
Player: Hi Assassin! What are you good at?
Assassin: MURDERING PEOPLE.
Player: Hi Shadowdancer! What are you good at?
Shadowdancer: Hiding...

 

[Sacred82]

Assassins are genuine edgelords though.

think I'll play an assassin next. Half-Orc.

Bounty Hunter is OP and too much micro, and Swashbuckler is meh.

 

[Parabalus]

Wait... a backstab-oriented kit with nerfed backstab? What is this madness?

My thought too. My guess is that whoever made it thought Hide in Plain Sight would be way more powerful than it is, but getting 1 sneak attack every 2 rounds (which is what I assume it maxes out at) is going to be strictly inferior to just auto attacking.

It doesn't break auto attack, you stealth in their face with no interruption. In NWN you had to break your attack, here you don't.

You can actually backstab easily multiple times per round with the SD since you can use e.g. HiS + invis pot in the same round, a lower BS modifier is warranted - might be too low, seems hard to pick the right number.

It's pretty cool as far as new kits go, very unique.

 

[sullynathan]

is it possible to solo this game as a paladin warrior mage? I want to test how far I can use the multi class or dual class system.

 

[Wintermute]

Paladins can't be dual or multi-class in 2E / BG.

More info on dual class restrictions here:
http://www.sorcerers.net/community/threads/what-classes-cant-you-dual-class-with.58309/#post-780502

 

[Dzupakazul]

If you really want to, you can probably make a Fighter/Mage and hack-in some Paladin abilities like Lay on Hands and the ability to use Carsomyr and just play with some self-restrictions as a trade-off (or not). Anything mixed with Mage (or just pure mage) can readily beat the game solo. Solo martials aren't too bad, but get somewhat one-dimensional when wading through trash while being quite tricky on some fights (you need to keep as many consumables as you can and use them judiciously). A single classed Pally would have a pretty chill time going solo, you have solid fighting ability, limited clerical magic, some cool utility and three kits that range from good to great.

 

[Average Manatee]

Probably want to play a Fighter/Cleric/Mage, which sort of covers the same bases with the exception of limited weaponry.

 

[Mojobeard]

Nah, just go dual-class Berserker/Cleric. Mage will just weight you down; you get less HP, have to rest for spells more often, have to actually worry about armor, get levels less often, have too many spells to manage, and just generally have to deal with more pussyfooting.
In BG1, Cleric gets Silence, 15' Radius against casters (and you can break AI with it too if you cast it before they can talk, this includes stopping Sarevok from attacking you) and Hold Person for dealing with groups of high level enemies. And remember, Sanctuary is just invisibility, you can skip trash enemies with it.
In BG2, you get actually powerful spells, but can also just cheese dragons with a hundred Glyphs of Warding.
All of that, plus Berserker's immunity to "everything" is really really strong. Equip a warhammer and go to town.

 

[sullynathan]

Also, is it preferable to make a full party or to wait and get companions?

 

[Mexi]

Also, is it preferable to make a full party or to wait and get companions?

You can always make more powerful custom parties, but I like going with the companions offered. You can get most of them early too and customize their skills. Shar-Teel is always my favorite because she's powerful as fuck if you dual her into a thief. Get the NPC mod, and you get some banter too.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

All of that, plus Berserker's immunity to "everything" is really really strong. Equip a warhammer and go to town.

Jesus, this. Crom Faeyr (or however that's fucking spelled) absolutely murders shit. Flails are a good choice for a Zerk/Cleric too because of Flail of Ages.

A single classed Pally would have a pretty chill time going solo, you have solid fighting ability, limited clerical magic, some cool utility and three kits that range from good to great.

Inquisitor and Cav are both excellent in their own rights, Undead Hunter is passable. Go Inquisitor if you want to absolutely ruin every mage's day, go Cav if you want to be nearly unstoppable.

 

[octavius]

All of that, plus Berserker's immunity to "everything" is really really strong. Equip a warhammer and go to town.

Jesus, this. Crom Faeyr (or however that's fucking spelled) absolutely murders shit. Flails are a good choice for a Zerk/Cleric too because of Flail of Ages.

Try dual wielding CF and Runehammer +5, or FoA and Defender of Easthaven.

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

Crom Faeyr is overrated - it's easy enough to get to 22 str with other items and that's only very slightly worse than 25. Its other abilities are OK, but nothing special, so there are better offhand weapons (like Defender of Easthaven for a cleric that can't use Belm/Kundane).

Flail of ages is great since it absolutely destroys everything due to elemental damage + slow.

Average Manatee main downside of not getting mage or thief levels is lack of ability to cheese with Staff of the Magi. But that could also be considered an upside.

 

[CptMace]

Crom Faeyr with hammer proficiency is ridiculously powerful.
Even without hammer proficiency, you'd get 2/3 bonus to THAC0 compared with proficient magical weapons thanks to the gain in STR.
There are other items to gain STR, yeah, but Crom Faeyr is the only one that allows you to use whatever the fuck you want in gear/trinket slots.

I don't see how it can be overrated. It's factually the best weapon in the game.

 

[octavius]

If playing a magic light party I find the Flail of the Ages more useful due to slowing and especially elemental damage that penetrates Stoneskin (as long as there's no pesky Prot vs Magic Weapons).

 

[CptMace]

Yeah but that's situational. If we're to talk about specific conditions of use, then a lot of weapons become very interesting, obviously.

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

Crom Faeyr with hammer proficiency is ridiculously powerful.
Even without hammer proficiency, you'd get 2/3 bonus to THAC0 compared with proficient magical weapons thanks to the gain in STR.
There are other items to gain STR, yeah, but Crom Faeyr is the only one that allows you to use whatever the fuck you want in gear/trinket slots.

I don't see how it can be overrated. It's factually the best weapon in the game.

It's not. Flail of Ages is much more versatile thanks to the elemental damage which annihilates spellcasters without having to breach them, plus slow, which is a fantastic debuff. In Vanilla BG2, I'd only use CF over FOA for enemies that require +4 or better to hit or one of the monsters that CF kills instantly. And of course in TOB FOA does even more ridiculous damage and gives free action.

CF allows you to use whatever you want in the gear slot but takes up a weapon slot so that's a wash. Plus the gear required to make it is quite useful, so unless you're soloing that's another downside. Lastly, it's actually not that useful for clerics because they can just DUHM to get a 25 str.

CF is a solid weapon, don't get me wrong. But for most scenarios FOA is better as the main hand weapon, and with a str belt a weapon that gives extra attacks to you main hand is better in the off hand.

 

[CptMace]

I had in mind a fighter with warhammer +5 and 4 weapon slots (as in, using 1 of 4 slots is barely a sacrifice compared to a belt slot which can be used for stuff like CON bonuses).
But I guess you're right, with holy might its main specificity is indeed neutered.

 

[Parabalus]

Crom Faeyr with hammer proficiency is ridiculously powerful.
Even without hammer proficiency, you'd get 2/3 bonus to THAC0 compared with proficient magical weapons thanks to the gain in STR.
There are other items to gain STR, yeah, but Crom Faeyr is the only one that allows you to use whatever the fuck you want in gear/trinket slots.

I don't see how it can be overrated. It's factually the best weapon in the game.

It's not. Flail of Ages is much more versatile thanks to the elemental damage which annihilates spellcasters without having to breach them, plus slow, which is a fantastic debuff. In Vanilla BG2, I'd only use CF over FOA for enemies that require +4 or better to hit or one of the monsters that CF kills instantly. And of course in TOB FOA does even more ridiculous damage and gives free action.

CF allows you to use whatever you want in the gear slot but takes up a weapon slot so that's a wash. Plus the gear required to make it is quite useful, so unless you're soloing that's another downside. Lastly, it's actually not that useful for clerics because they can just DUHM to get a 25 str.

CF is a solid weapon, don't get me wrong. But for most scenarios FOA is better as the main hand weapon, and with a str belt a weapon that gives extra attacks to you main hand is better in the off hand.

CF also does elemental, +5 electrical. It has 13 AVG base damage, FOA+3 has 10.5 , FOA+5 has 19.5. In your example of 22->25 STR CF would get a boost of -3/+4, which would put it miles above FoA3. Carsomyr5 is 11.5+5 vs CE for reference.

CF is also neat in that wielded in the main hand it has 2h weapon range.

I agree with you that "hurr durr 25 STR" sounds bad since you can easily hit 25 STR with buffs, but even without it the stats on the weapon are legit, it's basically a one handed 2h.