Comparing warriors

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Comparing warriors

I know this is no new subject, but this one is based on numbers.

Who's the best warrior in Baldur's Gate?

The most important stats for a warrior are:
Strength
Dexterity
Constitution

Strength is really what counts because it lowers the THACO and it raises damage points. And what do we want of a warrior?
A high dexterity lowers your AC. Consitution allows for more HP.

Minsc, with 18/93 is the strongest. It gives him +2 Thaco, + 5 Damage.
Shar-Teel: 18/58 -> +2 Thaco, +3 Damage
Kivan: 18/12 -> +1 Thaco, +3 Damage
Ajantis: 17 -> +1 Thaco, +1 Damage
Kagain: 16 -> 0 Thaco, +1 Damage
Khalid: 15 -> 0 Thaco, 0 Damage

If you stop here, Minsc is the best warrior. Please have a look at Khalid's score (don't mistake me, I like him)

Coran is not included because he's more an archer than a melee warrior.

Now, Khalid, Kagain and Shar-Teel are pure fighters and can have 4 proficency points, which gives +3 Thaco and +4 Damage, while a ranger or a paladin can have 2 points, which gives +1 Thaco and +2 Damage.

If you add this, you get:
Minsc: 18/93, ** -> +3 Thaco, + 7 Damage
Shar-Teel: 18/58, **** -> +5 Thaco, +7 Damage
Kivan: 18/12, ** -> +2 Thaco, +5 Damage
Ajantis: 17, ** -> +2 Thaco, +3 Damage
Kagain: 16, **** -> +3 Thaco, +5 Damage
Khalid: 15, **** -> +3 Thaco, +4 Damage
On this basis, Shar-Teel seems the best, Minsc second. This means that at lower levels, Minsc will be better but not at higher levels.

The dexterity scores are:
Minsc: 15 -> AC -1
Shar-Teel: 17 -> AC -3
Kivan: 17 -> AC -3
Ajantis: 13 -> AC 0
Kagain: 12 -> AC 0
Khalid: 16 -> AC -2

Again, Shar-Teel has the highest score. A low AC is very important for a warrior.

Now for the Con scores:
Minsc: 15 -> HP +1
Shar-Teel: 9 -> HP 0
Kivan: 14 -> HP 0
Ajantis: 16 -> HP +2
Kagain: 20 -> HP +5 + regenerates!
Khalid: 17 -> HP +3
Of course, Shar-Teel's the worst, but it's important to note that a 9 Con gives no penalty, only you have no bonus HP.
Kivan, with 14, hasn't more HP than Shar-Teel. And Minsc only 1/level, which means, maybe, 5-6 HP in all.
To me, the most important is Thaco, followed by damage, HP comes after. At this point, I still would point to Shar-Teel as the best warrior.
But... (SPOILER)
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But we know that in Baldur's Gate, you can find Ogre Strength gauntlets, that give 18/00 strength to the possessor.
With this, who becomes the best: Khalid, or Kagain? (At least, it must be a fighter, with 4 * proficiencies).
I would favor Kagain because his Con advantage seems better than the Dex advantage of Khalid, but his speciality is axes, and long swords seem better in the game (Another SPOILER:
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You don't come by an Axe+2 until late in the game, while Swords+2, even +3, are available quiet early).
So, with these Gauntlets, Khalid is the best warrior.
Problem: you don't pick up those gauntlets early in the game, and before they are available, you will have to tolerate a rather medium warrior (a chicken, some say).

Because of this, I would stick to Shar-Teel or Minsc.
If you don't mind evil characters, Shar-Teel is the best, and you can pick her up as early in the game as Minsc. (She's east of the Beregost temple, just go there early - she'll be level 2 - and equip your warrior with a plate mail, it should allow him to vanquish her).

Before I went into details, I thought Minsc was the best.

PS: I hope I haven't messed with the figures!

[ February 07, 2003, 16:14: Message edited by: Wil ]

 

Thank you for the great comparison I've always been told that Minsc were the best fighter in the game. Well, I guess he's not. But anyway, it's roleplaying so it might depend upon what fighters you like(or not), but that's another thing...

EDit: typo's

[ February 08, 2003, 19:40: Message edited by: Djizzu G'izmo ]

 

i guess this partially depends on what weapons you like your warriors to have, i find that minsc's proficiency in the long bow can come in quite useful as well as his ability with two handed swords him and my paladin toe to toe with the foes make a potent combination, so minsc is the fighter for me

 

Shar-Teel would not be it because she dies waaay too fast. Kagain's dex is too low and Khalid is too balanced (why the high int?). Minsc I think is the most useful. But you will want to try the others eventually to get the full scope of the game.