Best over-all saving throws in BG1

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The best I can figure is a Dwarf Fighter/Thief with a 19 starting CON.

Does anybody out there with the books know if a Gnome Illusionist/Cleric or other multiclass has better saves?

I know the best has to be a Dwarf, Gnome, or Halfling.

TIA

PS: Any items that add to saves help. I'm trying to build a PC for a party where I refuse to relad, and I think the best Saving Throws possible will go a long way towards this goal.

 

according to pnp Halflings get the same saving throw bonus as dwarves based on Con. Gnomes get a similar bonus, but only for saves versus rod/staff/wand and spell saves where the other two get bonus to poison saves in addition. This assumes Baldur's Gate works the save bonuses the way they do in pnp.

High wisdom is supposed to provide a bonus to saves versus charms and other compulsion spells to all characters but i don't know if Baldur's gate uses the rule.

 

Starting saves for the class groups -
(Death, Rod/Staff/Wand, Petrification, Breath, Spell)
Warrior 1-2: 14, 16, 14, 17, 17
Wizard 1-5: 14, 11, 13, 15, 12
Priest 1-3: 10, 14, 13, 16, 15
Rogue 1-4: 13, 14, 12, 16, 15

Ending saving throws for the class groups -
(Death, Rod/Staff/Wand, Petrification, Breath, Spell)
Warrior 7-8: 10, 12, 11, 12, 13
Wizard 6-10: 13, 9, 11, 13, 10
Priest 7-9: 7, 11, 10, 13, 12
Priest 10-12: 6, 10, 9, 12, 11 (single-class druid only)
Rogue 5-8: 12, 12, 11, 15, 13 (multi)
Rogue 9-12: 11, 10, 10, 14, 11

Race benefits:
Dwarves and Halflings get Death, R/S/W, and Spell reduced by CON/3.5.
Gnomes get only R/S/W and Spell reduced by CON/3.5

Clearly, the best base saves are divinely or arcanely gifted. Most of the categories have an end range within a couple points of 11, except for the Death saving throw, which priests have a clear advantage on, in addition to decent saves in other categories. Meanwhile, rogues have crap saves except for a decent Petrify. So in this case, you want to be... either Yeslick or Quayle. Now let's do a comparison.

Dwarf or Halfling F/C with CON 18-20:
Start - 5, 9, 13, 16, 10
End - 2, 6, 10, 12, 7

Gnome I/C with CON 18-20 (14-17):
Start - 10, 6(7), 13, 15, 7(8)
End - 7, 4(5), 10, 13, 5(6)

Well, it looks like Quayle wins out except for the Death save, but there's HP to consider. The F/C will start with 14 and end with 98 (max), while the I/C will start with 8 and end with 56 (max). Saving vs. Spells or R/S/W for half damage more often means nothing when you've got half the HP. Go with Yeslick.

And just for the heck of it (in case you want to play through to BG2), let's do far-end saves...
Dwarf or Halfling F/C with CON 18-20: 0, 0, 4, 4, 1
Dwarf or Halfling F/C with CON 21+: 0, 0, 4, 4, 0
Gnome I/C with CON 14+: 2, 0, 5, 7, 0

EDIT: Items-

Claw of Kazgaroth: It hurts your max HP by poking CON down two points, but boosts your saving throws (except death). The net effect depends on race.
-Dwarf CON 20: -4, +3, +3, +3, +3
-Dwarf/Halfling CON 18/19: -5, +2, +3, +3, +2
-Gnome CON 18/19: -4, +2, +3, +3, +2 (no HP hit)
-Gnome CON 16/17: -4, +3, +3, +3, +3

Horn of Kazgaroth: Might make an F/T a bigger possibility, being unusable by any priest or a single-class thief, but usable by an F/T. It gives +2 to all saves and immunity to first and second level spells for 3 rounds (18 real-time seconds) in exchange for 10 hit points.

Robe of the Arch-Magi: Gives +1 to all saves, but only for wizards, tipping the equation towards Quayle slightly.

Standard:
-Ring of Protection +1/+2: +1/+2 to all saves, usable by all.
-Cloak of Balduran: +1 to all saves, usable by all.
-Helm of Defense: +1 to all saves, usable by all. (early)
-Helm of Balduran: +1 to all saves, usable by all.

And finally, some fully equipped PCs...

Dwarf F/C with 20 CON, wearing standard: 0, 2, 6, 8, 3 (103 HP)
Dwarf F/C with 20 CON, wearing standard + Claw: 2, 0, 3, 5, 1 (96 HP)
Gnome I/C with 19 CON, wearing standard + Robe: 2, 0, 5, 8, 0 (56 HP)
Gnome I/C with 19 CON, wearing standard + Robe + Claw: 7, 0, 2, 5, 0 (56 HP)
Dwarven F/T with 20 CON, wearing standard [horn]: 1, 3, 7, 8, 4 [0, 1, 5, 6, 2] (101 HP -10)
Dwarven F/T with 20 CON, wearing standard + Claw [horn]: 6, 1, 4, 5, 2 [4, 0, 2, 3, 0] (94 HP -10)

My opinion based on this: give Yeslick the Claw (you can always just take it off when you want regen).

[ August 29, 2006, 08:07: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

 

Wow, thanks you guys. Fel, outstanding job there!

 

Fel, you should really try to post more complete answers.

 

The Dwarven Fighter/Cleric is always a tough cotender in any arena.

 

And yet many people pass over Yeslick. Odd isn't it?

 

I thank that has more to do with his stats and the time/place you find him than it does his race/class.

 

I'm going for a "no reload" challenge on another forum, and this is the party I've decided to go with:

Dwarf F/T protagonist (Will eventually use Throwing Axe for missile, some Large Sword for backstabbing) Tank/Locks & Traps guy
Coran (Longbow) Archery/Tank
Kivan (Composite Long Bow) Archery/backstabber
Garrick (Light Crossbow of Speed) backup at everything. I'll give him armor and have him use a lot of scrolls
Imoen (T4>Conj) (Eagle Bow) My wizard. Maxes out Find Traps
Yeslick (Lightning Hammer & Sling +3 for Range) Tank/Healer

Again, thanks a lot Tal for breaking down the numbers for me. I hope my party has enough healing. EDIT: Since I installed EoU, at least I'll be stacking a ton of healing potions.

[ August 31, 2006, 01:27: Message edited by: Klorox ]

 

A few things:

1. What of the Kazgaroth items? Will you be using either of them?

2. Um, I don't think Kivan can backstab.
3. You are going to be pretty light on healing. Yeslick should be able to take care of it for you, even as a multi-class, but you won't get him until Cloakwood. So until then, you'll have noone who can heal.
4. I'd highly suggest Ajantis somewhere in there. Those PfE casts are very useful for a 2 point AC bonus on those important fights, or even every fight if you're resting a lot, and he can be pretty good with a bow if you give him the Gauntlets of DEX (which you'll want on him as a tank anyway). Given this is a no-reload game, you need every advantage you can get, and Ajantis would be quite an advantage IMHO.

 

LOL @ my mixup (Coran the backstabber, Kivan the tanker)

I think with my superior missile attacks, the healing won't be needed as much. Also, since I want to get to Coran at as low a level as possible (to mold his skills the way I want to, without cheating), I plan on keeping a full party at all times (which includes healers like Jaheira, Branwen, and possibly even Ajantis) as well as avoiding unneeded subquests.

 

Okay, that takes care of 2 & 3 (and maybe even 4), but what of 1? Will you be utilizing the Claw and/or Horn?

 

While that is true, many people really like Coran, despite him only being available just before Yeslick. Yeslick may need the Gauntlets of Dexterity to fulfil his full tanking potential, but then many characters of the game are lacking in Dex, not just Yeslick.

 

Fel, I'm not sure about the Claw and Horn. What "slots" on a character do they take up?

 

The Claw is a ring (not sure how that works...maybe it envelops your hand?), and the horn is a miscellaneous item, like a potion or scroll.

 

I'll be buying the items, but don't know who'll get what yet.

Are any of the items cursed and need a scroll to take them off? For some reason I remember at least one of them being cursed.

 

Yes, the Claw is cursed, which means 500 gold at a temple when you want to take it off, but when you find the right person to give it to you're not going to want to take it off.

 

Well, the thing is that I had considered giving it to my Protagonist, but I would hate to see him lose regeneration.

I might give it to Kivan with his 14 CON. It would help him more than hurt.

 

Only if you don't like her or want to make your game harder.