IWD2: my newbie party

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Thanks for that corrected chart, Shrikant. You'd have an easier time using those code tags while posting than using periods.

I'm curious about the Transmuter though. I mean, two restricted schools is a bit much, isn't it? Especially when my Sorcerer probably won't be doing too much with the Abjuration spells (or will my 1 Bard level with a 5 CHA take care of that?).

 

Naah. I rarely use the code tag, since the font is smaller. In a table like raptor posted, it is not too bad since there is a lot of space in there to clear things up. But for words written closely together it just looks bad.

Frankly, Transmutation is one of the worse selections. However since you are going to get around the specialist limitations, that does not matter. The recommendation of Transmuter is due to other considerations.
If this work about did not exist, then I would recommend Necromancy as the best specialist school. The number of barred spells is the least and Illusion and Enchantment spells are useful enough that someone else WILL pick them.

 

I don't think I'm going to try to get around the specialist limitation anymore, unless one level of Bard does it. I'll probably build the character like so:

Rogue 1/Bard 1/Wizard X

I figure that I don't need to worry about Evasion too much with a back-row caster, so I'll add a Wizard level by doing this. This will be my backup to my Sorcerer, so I will determine soon if I want to leave a school or two completely to a Sorcerer who has limited spell selection, or just take a generalist Wizard who will be able to scribe spells that might not be too useful later, and not regret doing so.

 

The one level of bard SHOULD do it because even with 1 PALADIN level my mage managed to get past it even . BTW there is no gain to reaching level28 mage apart from a tiny damage increase to Delayed Blast FIreball so i sugges you actually take the 2nd level of rogue then possibly jus as your last level if you want it tho only if you play HoF will you reach level 30

 

You guys probably already want to kill me, but party creation really is the most fun part of the game for me, so here's a different party. Since I've noticed the paperdolls changing with every class-switch, I'm going to try to go for different looking races/sexes with almost every character too.

"Less Cheese, More Wiz(ards)"

1)Male Aasamir Fighter 4/Paladin X
2)Male Half-Orc Fighter 4/Barbarian X
3)Female Shield Dwarf Cleric of Tempus
4)Male Human Bard 11/Druid X
5)Male Drow Rogue 1/Wizard X
6)Female Human Paladin 1/Sorcerer X

A different variation:

1)Aasimar F4/Pal X
2)Dwarf F4/Barb X
3)Dwarf C of Tempus
4)Tiefling R1/Wiz X
5)Human P1/Sorc X
6)Elf Druid X

This is similar to the party I've been working on, but with much fewer ECL penalties (which are getting to be a real PITA. The spellcasters will all be more effective this way.

[ November 08, 2005, 07:44: Message edited by: Klorox ]

 

I know what you mean. If I were to start listing every party I had planned and restarted for it would make one of Chev's bible thumping posts in AoDA look like a footnote How far have you actually gone in this game?

 

It's a shame there aren't more games that allow the same party creation freedom as this one. I hope it is something we see in an upcoming game.

 

Shrikant: I've killed a few Orcs in Chapter 1 and destroyed a couple of barrels there.

 

WOW that party is almost exactly like my starting if you get rid of the bard levels from your druid and changed the races so there are a few more assimar(everyone with a spellcasting using wisdom). Plus i gave my wizard 2rogue and 1 paladin level cause i love paladins, wanted evasion to add to my magic resistance and cause i wanted the stat boost from paladin and the possibility to use paladin only items(the access to all opposition spells was just an accident i didnt even know would happen at first). And yea the fact i half wanted another level of rogue and half wanted a level of paladin made me do both cause their really isnt much use of wizard levels after 20 or so and in the end theres no difference between 28 or 27 levels as a spell caster so what the hell.

But thats irrelevant your party looks pretty good though my party like that got a lot of changes to it including the introduction of an ULTIMATE AC character but im sure you'll survive without him .

BTW keep your barbarian as a half orc not a dwarf though i think its cheap that half orcs lose four points and only gain 2 the only race to not level out points apart from the new races. But strength is worth it

Also did you ever look at the ultimate party guides like i told you to?

 

I finally got around to do a bunch of testing. and for some odd reason your right. But i cannot find a single file that could explain this in the game... Wich would meen that i could modify how much bonus hp you got from con, ho much armor from dex, and dmg from str, but not how much skillpoints you got from int !?

on the positive side it actually does encourage a bit more into for players that like skills. amasinglly few though.

All in all i find this strange. Why would they limit every other source of skillpoints (including humans bonus start skills) and not this one.

 

Hey Tal. The coded table raptor put up looks bite sized when I see it using Firefox. In Opera its the same size font as the rest of the post. Pretty weird.
Do you know the reason for the same? Please don't tell me to upgrade my version of Firefox.

 

@ Goon66:

Yeah, I looked at several guides. Those guys are really pushing it with characters with stats like 1 CHA and 20 CON. I'm looking for power, but I also like a little more balance with these guys.

@ Shrikant:

They look small to me too, and I'm using Firefox's Beta browser.
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Anyway:

I'm having some fun feeling out this game, but I'm not getting everything I want out of it. I have decided, yet again, to restart the game. I have the following ideas in mind, and would like help and input on how to accomplish this:

1) I want 2 dedicated Fighter types.
2) I want my main spellcasters to advance quickly in levels (no ECL, unless it's a backup caster).
3) I want at least one Dwarf in the party. They're undoubtedly my favorite race to play in Pen and Paper RPG's.
4) I would really like to include a Bard here, but I'm having trouble finding room. Please suggest a spot for one! I'm not obsessed with being able to cast with this Bard either, if he's multiclassed in, but it would be nice. If anything, I would like to be able to sing the first battle-song (with Lingering Song) and use some Bard-only items.
5)I want to avoid XP penalties AT ALL COSTS! I hate doing stuff for free, and want to be rewarded for my actions.


Here's what I have so far, but as I said, I'd really love some input here (you'll notice a lot of similarities to above posts):

1) Aasimar Fighter 4/ Paladin X -- I think the bonuses outweigh the ECL penalty here, because Paladins live for CHA and one level of a warrior class won't matter too much in the long run.

2) Shield Dwarf Fighter 4/ Barbarian X -- My other tank/meatshield/masher.

3) Human Paladin 1/ Sorcerer X -- Main arcane spellcaster here. I know the one level of Paladin takes away from the spellcasting power here, but I think the huge Saving Throw bonus helps too much to be ignored. The Paladin level also allows this one to use bows in case I don't need to cast a spell.

4) Gold Dwarf Cleric of Tempus -- I chose Tempus because it gives me the best tank-type Cleric without ever having to take away levels from the Cleric spellcasting. As I said earlier, I really love Dwarves.

5) Elf (Moon or Wild) Druid -- Choosing to be an Elf gives this character the Bow feat, which is much better than a Sling (the only real missile weapon Druids are proficient with). If you've read the post I just made praising Druids, you'll see that I'm really coming around on these guys. Also, and Elf just seems a natural fit for a Nature-based spellcaster.

6) Drow Elf Rogue 1 or 2/Wizard X -- This is where I break the mold of my above requirements, for a few reasons: I have never been a fan of CRPG Rogues or Thieves. I'm not into backstabbing, and they just get boring to me. I also have a Sorcerer as my main spellcaster, so the ECL penalty and fact that I'm taking a level or two away from the Wizard class isn't a huge deal to me. In addition to that, I've read that often times in this game you will struggle to find enough scrolls for a single-classed Wizard to fill his higher level spell slots.

Now, I'm really fiddling with the idea of switching Character #2 around quite a bit. I could change him into a Half-Orc, which will make him hit a bit harder, but also be more vulnerable to getting hurt (lower Saving Throws and less Hit Points). The real reason I am considering changing him to a Half-Orc would be to add a few Bard levels! Since my original build was for a Fighter 4/ Barbarian X, I was thinking I could add between 3 and 5 Bard levels (probably 5 levels, I like the Luck song) for the songs and ability to use Bard only items (Instruments, scrolls, ect.). It is unlikely to have a Half-Orc with a CHA very high, especially if his main role in my group is to be a Tank. If I go this route, I'll definitely invest in the Lingering Song Feat, because I can't have a tank doing nothing in combat but standing around singing.


EDIT: Sorry for repeating myself from earlier in this thread so much. I blame the Nyquil.

Please bear with me and read the whole post. You've all been so helpful and wonderful already. I really don't want to completely powergame this game away, and think this new one might offer balance, versatility, simplicity, and fun all in one.

 

Why not ditch the Wizard completely then and just go for a Bard / Rogue in that slot?

 

It's definitely a good idea, and I'll consider it HB. I guess it comes down to:

Party 1:

Aasimar Ftr/Pal
Dwarf Ftr/Barb
Dwarf Cleric
Human Pal/Sorc
Elf Druid
Human or Tiefling Rogue/Bard

Party 2:
Aasimar Ftr/Pal
HalfOrc Ftr/Bard/Barb
Dwarf Cleric
Human Pal/Sorc
Elf Druid
Drow Rogue/Wizard

 

Ever thought about a monk for slot 2? human for fast leveling or deep gnome (iirc) for cool features!

Maybe you want to ad a ranger level to your druid?? dual wielding etc.?? but then it should be a human, may be reason enough not to...

 

Party 1, I say. You're quite right that either Tiefling or Human is acceptable for the Rogue/Bard, but I'd consider a Halfling as well.

EDIT: @ Tillix - a ranger level on that character would give an XP penalty, although if Klorox is only using the Elf racial choice for the bow proficiency, it may be worth switching back to human and taking the Ranger level instead.

 

@ Tillix: I've never really liked Monks too much, from AD&D 1e to BG2, to their new 3e comeback (and this is coming from a Martial Artist!). The Druid/Ranger idea is a cool one, but I don't know. The Dual Weilding was nerfed in 3e, and I don't think it was too powerful anyway.

@ The Magpie, you're right about going Human and still getting the Bow proficieny if multiclassed. I still don't know about that Rogue/Bard type. It seems cool when talking about it, but it's kind of hard to work out good stats for him (especially when considering that FORT will be his worst save).

EDIT:

Maybe I should ditch the whole Bard idea, and go with this gang:

1) Aasimar Ftr4/Pal
2) Dwarf Ftr4/Barb
3) Dwarf Cleric (Tempus)
4) Human Pal1/Sorc
5) Elf Druid
6) Drow Rogue1/Wizard
6a)Tiefling Rogue1/Wizard (less ECL, same 20 INT)

EDIT 2:

1) Aasimar Ftr 4/ Paladin
2) Dwarf Ftr 4/ Barbarian
3) Dwarf Cleric (Tempus)
4) Human Pal 1/ Sorcerer
5) Human Bard 11/ Druid
6) Drow Rogue 1/ Wizard

[ November 10, 2005, 03:12: Message edited by: Klorox ]

 

Just wanted to mention how when i told you to look at Powerplaying guides i just wanted to show you what i meant when i said your party wasnt unltimate but seemed more fun then ultimate parties would be.

Btw raptor they probably didnt limit the skill points from INT cause they wanted to encourage people to take int(though it did pretty much fail) and also because classes like wizards and rogues need lots of skill points itd be quite hard to effectively use them if they didnt at least let you CHOOSE to have lots of skill points. So that if your willing to work for your skills you get them.(what i have said may have made no sense but overall i must say im happy to be right )