Paladins in Baldurs Gate

[Qwinn]

Eh. If I could do that, I'd really take it a few levels higher in thief. Level 3 thief requires all of, what, 2500 xp?

Given the freedom to do so, I'd be tempted to take her as high as level 9 thief. Gets her more hit points, if nothing else, and why not give her some light melee capability too? And she'd have both classes reactivated at 360,000xp, really not all that far into a game with an xp cap of 8 million xp (with TOB).

But, and this is a big but... be careful, cause I think Imoen's character is completely reset when you, er, get her back (at a higher level then she was, but still). So it -may- not make any difference. I'd ask on the BGT boards if their mod does anything to make Imoen keep her previous class/levels after you rescue her.

Qwinn

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Yeah, that's why I asked - I thought level 3 was a bit soon if the whole series is taken into account and perhaps even just BG1 + ToSC. It's a pretty old faq that only focuses on BG1.

Then again, you may well be correct about the resets, so yeah I'll go check on the BWP/BGT forums...

Thanks

 

[The Genius]

My last play-through was with a kensai/thief. Fun, specially after you take the Use Any Item ability.

This.

 

[Andhaira]

What about the barbarian? Which has the better rage, berserker or babarian and which is the better class overall?

 

[Qwinn]

I don't -think- there's any difference in the rages, though I could be wrong. But, I'm fairly certain that barbarians can't dual class, which would be the fatal flaw there.

Straight up single-class comparison? I'd probably go with the barbarian over the berserker, for roleplay if nothing else. The only gameplay difference I can see is that you get fast movement in exchange for plate mail.

Qwinn

 

[Qwinn]

I take all that back. There's pretty significant differences, in the rage and other areas as well.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgatei ... barian.php


I'm not sure which rage I'd prefer. +4 strength and +4 con instead of the straight THACO and damage bonuses, and it -looks- like immunity to level drain and confusion instead of immunity to imprisonment and stun? You also get an AC -penalty- instead of a bonus, but you get +2 saves vs. magic.

Barbarian also gets immunity to backstab, but I'm not sure if that ever actually matters in unmodded (or even modded) gameplay.

And they do get 1-12 hp per level instead of 1-10, although the charts in my ToB manual cite both as 1-10hp.

And this is pretty significant: "- At level 11, 10% resistance to Slashing, Piercing, Crushing, and Missile Weapons (+5% for every 4 levels thereafter) "

So, yeah, Close call in my book, actually, but in a straight single class comparison, I'd probably go with barbarian just cause it'd be a bit more interesting.

Qwinn

 

[Shannow]

Dwarf-Barbarian has the best survivability of any non-munchkinized fighter char. You'll get con up to at least 21-22. Huge hp + natural regeneration + damage reduction that gets quite significant in ToB. The rage isn't too awesome, though. Strength isn't important with either Crom Faer or girdle of cloud giant strength and the rage only lasts for 5 rounds. I'd still go for berserker 9/mage. Especially for the amulet of the master that makes immune to level drain. I hate level drain...

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Eh. If I could do that, I'd really take it a few levels higher in thief. Level 3 thief requires all of, what, 2500 xp?

Given the freedom to do so, I'd be tempted to take her as high as level 9 thief. Gets her more hit points, if nothing else, and why not give her some light melee capability too? And she'd have both classes reactivated at 360,000xp, really not all that far into a game with an xp cap of 8 million xp (with TOB).

But, and this is a big but... be careful, cause I think Imoen's character is completely reset when you, er, get her back (at a higher level then she was, but still). So it -may- not make any difference. I'd ask on the BGT boards if their mod does anything to make Imoen keep her previous class/levels after you rescue her.

Qwinn

Ok, I got this from the BGT v1.07 readme:

"...non-player characters that appear in both Baldur's Gate and Shadows of Amn conditionally keep their attributes upon transition to Shadows of Amn depending on the fate that you left them in Baldur's Gate. Edwin, Imoen, Jaheira, Minsc, and Viconia will keep their attributes and appearance from Baldur's Gate if they are alive and are in your party when you talk to Belt after the defeat of Sarevok. Otherwise, they will present themselves in Shadows of Amn as if BGT-WeiDU was not installed."

Inventory also comes across - very cool. :D

 

[Qwinn]

That's cool

You do realize that the Imoen reset I'm talking about isn't at the crossover between BG1 and BG2, but when you pick her back up in Spellhold, though, yes? After Irenicus kidnaps her.

Qwinn

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Oh ok, no I'd didn't realize that.

I'm a BG virgin, so I don't know the complete story or seqence of events. So this happens sometime after the start of BG2?

Hmm, I wonder if that's taken care of as well - if not there's not much point in the carry-over in the first place. There's a stack of other mods installed along with BGT in the 'recommended' template of the Big World Project setup. I'll have to go through them to check this lol...

 

[Qwinn]

Aw, sorry for spoiling ya. (Though really, you find out about the kidnapping very early in BG2, so I doubt I've spoiled much).

Really, I'd think you'd be better off just looking for an appropriate forum and creating a post asking the question: "Is there any mod out there that allows Imoen to keep her class and levels after she rejoins the party in Spellhold, so that her build can be customized somewhat?" I'm pretty familiar with a lot of mods out there and I'm not sure it exists, so I doubt it'd be considered a spam or useless thread.

(And for that matter, I may be wrong and you may get to keep the levels by default in a BGT playthrough, so actually, don't assume I'm right when you ask the question, heh, I don't wanna make you take the blame for my stupidity).

The forum for this mod may be a good place to ask. Might even get an answer in the readme. The mod is called "Level One NPC's", and they allow you to respec characters from level one, so I'd think the question would've come up by now.

http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=140


Qwinn

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

AC -26? Yikes. Seriously? That seems pretty much designed to require a natural 20 for anything other than a 20th level fighter with a +5 weapon and high strength. Even with a +5 weapon (which I don't think you can find by the Irenicus fight), the +4 THACO bonus and a 22 strength, that kensai isn't going to hit that with anything other than a 20. -Maybe- with Crom Faeyr you can hit with anything less, so I hope that kensai specced in warhammers.

I tried Tactics, managed to get through Irenicus's starting dungeon, and then uninstalled it. Nothing was worth that kind of pain. I can only digest so much cheese.

Qwinn

If you have TOB and play with a small Party you will obv be already above L20 and have better THAC0. This final Tactics fight is a bitch. Also the most powerful items will be removed from your inventory (like Crom fayer, Amulet of the master , cloak of cheese). And then you get attacked accordingly (with Level Drain, STR drain f.e.).

Yes Tactics is about cheese some would say, but one could also say it's about acting effiently and cautiously. You soon will discover the importance of brilliant spells like Spell Immunity and all the sequenzers/contingiencies. I end up having several Chain Cont., Triggers etc memorized just for the ability to cast 3 uninterruptable spells in a round (that do not count vs 1 spell/round rule).
The first fight vs the Duergar Chieftain whatshisname in Chateau Irenicus is a bitch too huh? I replayed BGT a few month ago after having played NWN2/SoZ with its so called *challenging* fights. And what happened? I met the first Duergar party and was killed, and I was pleased.

I think some components of Tactics go a bit too far, but others I approve of. Everything is solvable though. The Kangaxx component for instance is pretty good. It just changes him so he uses more of his spells than just the demilich howl and trap the soul. Also you can't just use Scrolls of Pro Undead and whack him.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Eh. If I could do that, I'd really take it a few levels higher in thief. Level 3 thief requires all of, what, 2500 xp?

Given the freedom to do so, I'd be tempted to take her as high as level 9 thief. Gets her more hit points, if nothing else, and why not give her some light melee capability too? And she'd have both classes reactivated at 360,000xp, really not all that far into a game with an xp cap of 8 million xp (with TOB).

But, and this is a big but... be careful, cause I think Imoen's character is completely reset when you, er, get her back (at a higher level then she was, but still). So it -may- not make any difference. I'd ask on the BGT boards if their mod does anything to make Imoen keep her previous class/levels after you rescue her.

Qwinn

Ok, I got this from the BGT v1.07 readme:

"...non-player characters that appear in both Baldur's Gate and Shadows of Amn conditionally keep their attributes upon transition to Shadows of Amn depending on the fate that you left them in Baldur's Gate. Edwin, Imoen, Jaheira, Minsc, and Viconia will keep their attributes and appearance from Baldur's Gate if they are alive and are in your party when you talk to Belt after the defeat of Sarevok. Otherwise, they will present themselves in Shadows of Amn as if BGT-WeiDU was not installed."

Inventory also comes across - very cool. :D

The BGT transition between Bg1 and Bg2 never worked in my games though. I had to start Bg2 normally and then import my char. Also it doesn't prevent her from being reset as Thief 5/ Mage X in Spellhold.

 

[Andhaira]

Playing with a full party of 6 is the way to go. The best quests are the ones that come from your party members.

With TOB you will hit max levels during the game anyway, only latter so it doesn't matter.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Dwarf-Barbarian has the best survivability of any non-munchkinized fighter char. You'll get con up to at least 21-22. Huge hp + natural regeneration + damage reduction that gets quite significant in ToB. The rage isn't too awesome, though. Strength isn't important with either Crom Faer or girdle of cloud giant strength and the rage only lasts for 5 rounds. I'd still go for berserker 9/mage. Especially for the amulet of the master that makes immune to level drain. I hate level drain...

Yes i think you can come close to 100% damage reduction with items (like the Shield from the IWD Bonus Merchant).

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Playing with a full party of 6 is the way to go. The best quests are the ones that come from your party members.

With TOB you will hit max levels during the game anyway, only latter so it doesn't matter.

A full party is the least boring. But who has especially good quests, so that they qualifiy as the best?

 

[Major_Boobage]

Playing with a full party of 6 is the way to go. The best quests are the ones that come from your party members.

With TOB you will hit max levels during the game anyway, only latter so it doesn't matter.

You should see DAMURDOC's speedrun of TOB, its awesome. He does that solo as sorcerer.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

The BGT transition between Bg1 and Bg2 never worked in my games though. I had to start Bg2 normally and then import my char. Also it doesn't prevent her from being reset as Thief 5/ Mage X in Spellhold.

Meh. I guess I'll just play it through and see what happens, if I have to start BG2 normally no biggie. I think it may have been sorted in the latest versions of BGT though, but I'm not sure.

I'll leave dualing Imoen to mage a lttle later though - just in case. :wink:

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

The BGT transition between Bg1 and Bg2 never worked in my games though. I had to start Bg2 normally and then import my char. Also it doesn't prevent her from being reset as Thief 5/ Mage X in Spellhold.

Meh. I guess I'll just play it through and see what happens, if I have to start BG2 normally no biggie. I think it may have been sorted in the latest versions of BGT though, but I'm not sure.

I'll leave dualing Imoen to mage a lttle later though - just in case. :wink:

Well IF it now all works in BGT as you said and you plan to take Imoen thru the whole game - i suggest you dual her at 9 - not earlier. Because you'll need the points in her skills. All skills below 100 will suck anyway and even then you'll need Potions to increase the thieving skills frequently. That means you probably can't (and shouldn't) dual her during BG1/TotSC but at the beginning of Bg2. Of course you don't have her as a backup Mage during BG1 then.

 

[Darth Roxor]

That means you probably can't (and shouldn't) dual her during BG1/TotSC but at the beginning of Bg2. Of course you don't have her as a backup Mage during BG1 then.

She starts as a thief/mage in bg2.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

That means you probably can't (and shouldn't) dual her during BG1/TotSC but at the beginning of Bg2. Of course you don't have her as a backup Mage during BG1 then.

She starts as a thief/mage in bg2.

I know. His point was that in new version of BGT all companions stay how there were in Bg1.

 

[Shannow]

That means you probably can't (and shouldn't) dual her during BG1/TotSC but at the beginning of Bg2. Of course you don't have her as a backup Mage during BG1 then.

She starts as a thief/mage in bg2.

Wow, I see you have been following the thread very dilligently.
*respect*

 

[Darth Roxor]

That means you probably can't (and shouldn't) dual her during BG1/TotSC but at the beginning of Bg2. Of course you don't have her as a backup Mage during BG1 then.

She starts as a thief/mage in bg2.

Wow, I see you have been following the thread very dilligently.
*respect*

yup, redding is teh hard, and I just saw something that seemed wrong.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Well IF it now all works in BGT as you said and you plan to take Imoen thru the whole game - i suggest you dual her at 9 - not earlier. Because you'll need the points in her skills. All skills below 100 will suck anyway and even then you'll need Potions to increase the thieving skills frequently. That means you probably can't (and shouldn't) dual her during BG1/TotSC but at the beginning of Bg2. Of course you don't have her as a backup Mage during BG1 then.

Hmm, looks like I'm going to have to re-think my party a bit then.

My main is a chaotic neutral, half-elf, multi-classed fighter/mage so I guess I'll have to take Dynaheir along to make up the magic numbers - unless I decide to turn evil of course lol.

Minsc is a given also as he's in BG2 as well. As Imoen is going to specialize in find/remove traps, I'll need another thief for thievery so probably Coran (fighter/thief). Branwen for healing....yep I think that'll work out ok?

Edit: I have completely derailed this thread again, for which I apologise. I do have Ajantis in my party atm, but he wont be ther for long. Just don't see a place for him :D

 

[Andhaira]

Dude take edwin instead of dynaheir. ther is no reason not to take edwin, he rocks. He's more powerful than irenicus for crying out loud. It doesn't matter if he is evil, you wont miss out on anything due to it.

Since minsc will elave too either keep ajantis or take kivan.