New game, haven't played in Ages...

Remove all ads!

Well, i haven't played this game in ages, but time for another shot at it. No mods or Tutu, just plain old fashioned BG. Been through it a zillion times with all of the characters, so i will be trying a mulit-player party as i never tried this aspect before. The character breakdown will be as follows...

1 - Human Pally
2 - Elven F/M
3 - Gnome C/T
4 - Human Illusionist
5 - Half-Elf Bard
6 - ?

Any suggestions on #6? Can't stand druids in this game...

 

Plain fighter -- the bonuses for to hit and damage are fantastic for this game.

* - can use the weapon without penalty.
** - +1 to hit, +2 damage, additional ½ attack per round.

Only plain fighters (or dual classed) can go further:

*** - +3 to hit, +3 damage, additional ½ attack per round.
**** - +3 to hit, +4 damage, additional ½ attack per round.
***** - +3 to hit, +5 damage, additional 1 attack per round.

Only dual classed fighters can get *****. I like to have *** in a missile weapon (bows rule in BG1) and *** in a melee weapon.

 

Hmm? Fighter? Is it necessary to get beyond Weapon Specialization in this game? That is, other than for the final fight? Bows and summons are usually the weapons of choice for that fight as it is, so i would think more than 2 stars in a weapon isn't needed. I was thinking along the lines of a Halfing Thief, as i could break up the thieving abilites.

 

One thief, even a multiclassed one, is more than enough in BG1. You have a bard who can pick the necessary pockets, so there's really no need to split up thieving abilities. C/T can handle pretty much any lock or trap in the game. If you're into sneaking & backstabbing (and who isn't ?), I'd recommend F/T.

Plain boring fighter, maybe a dwarf, would also be my choice for #6 (or possibly a F/C or R/C, since I like divine casters and druids aren't an option). BTW: is it even possible to get more than *** in vanilla game with XP cap?

 

No. If you dual class from a fighter to anything else, the proficiency restrictions of the second class apply. Many people assume (incorrectly) that because BGII lets you do it, BG will.

e.g. You dual class a fighter with +++ in Bows and ++ in Large Swords to thief at level 3. When your fighter abilities reactivate at Thief level 4, you aren't allowed to put the proficiency point you get into either of these weapon classes, as the thief restriction to no more than one + in a weapon applies, although you do get the benefit of the proficiency bonuses you acquired as a fighter.

 

u can get **** with a plain fighter. ** at creation, * at 3rd and * at 6th level... totaling ****

---------- Added 0 hours, 9 minutes and 2 seconds later... ----------

i was kinda envisioning a different approach to this run-thru... since i'm going multi-player, i wanted to control the characters as a team. Not just me and the party, like a single-player game. More like i'm in control of a unit or team on mission that just seems to expand as we encounter more issues. No "Lead" character or protagonist, but maybe act as part of an organization, like the Harpers. That would of been a nice add-on/mod, making an option to join an organization with extra encounters to go along with....

 

Heh. My bad. Of course, staying as pure fighter until level 6 will net you ++++, but the point is there's no way to gain Grandmastery in BG legitimately. Which is a gyp, considering that BGII nerfed Grandmastery into pointlessness - you can't really get "true" Grandmastery in either BG game without mods! What did the devs have against fighters?

 

Having *** is significant over ** for low level characters. It's like gaining two levels in the 'to hit' bracket and an additional +1 damage. I agree, going to **** is pointless -- I would rather be *** in two weapons (bow and large sword) than **** in one and ** in the other.

 

T2, i agree, i like the handy option of Multiple *** weapons. But, as i started the game last night, i have chosen "Better than Yeslick", a Dwarf F/C, for the final spot. A little extra healiing/buffing plus Tanking power to boot. So none of the characters in this run will go beyond specialization. Should make it a little more challenging.

 

This rules follows the 2E PHB; which is how it is suppose to work and not like how it works in BG2, which is closer to 3E rules than 2E rules.

 

I chuckled at all the ***s in this thread - a quick glance looked suspiciously like everyone was swearing.

 

I have only had to restart once since starting this party, Damnable Sirines!, but, to date, the C/T, By Far!, has been the most enjoyable character in the party. Several times i have sucessfully killed off a band of NPCs/Assassins with the C/T only, while scouting. I should try soloing her, looks like it would be a lot of fun. Maybe in Tutu though or she'll max out to quickly.... Did anyone find the C/T solo as boring after a while? Maybe a F/M/T instead?

 

A cleric/thief is a blast solo.

I did get a bit bored with her though. Once you get some well chosen HLA's everything get easy. Plus, by then you'll exploding liches with your turn undead ability.

Want to wander around without being targetted? No problem. Sanctuary.

[Edit: Deleted SoA/ToB specific stuff.]

 

FMTs rule. The lack of healing -vs- a C/T isn't much of a problem solo, because you don't have a party to heal as well, making your gained abilities (CLW etc.) just about enough. Mage spells help a lot in avoiding damage (Mirror Image, Invisibility) and although you can't cast spells while Invisible, you can still disarm traps. This alone makes dungeons (especially Firewine) much easier to navigate. The only pain while soloing is inventory management, but I assume most people would use the BG equivalent to Ease of Use. If I do another solo character, I think I'd have to, for my own sanity!

 

Maybe a Ranger or something? Or just a plain fighter that puts an insane amount of points into Bows. Archery in BG is so much fun

 

The C/T was one of my favorites characters to play; however, all PC games don't follow the rulebook which really restricts how many levels you may achieve in a class based on your race. If the game did do this, I bet most would not enjoy playing BG or BG2 for that matter.

 

I always thought the PnP rules of level caps for demi-humans was unnecessary in 2nd Edition. I loved playing 2nd edition way back when, but some rules were changed in house for our group, including the level-capping. Good thing BG doesn't have utilize it. But, i stopped playing this run-through, as MP mode is way to easy in the Vanilla game, making it a no-challenge adventure. Boring!

 

Say Blades of Vanatar, if you have the early version of BG1 (not tutu) would you consider having human that would dual-class to a specialist mage of some sort.

Different types of specialist mage require different scores for attributes other than Intelligence and I can find a list if you want. But one of the things the early versions of BG1 allowed humans to do was Dual-class to a specialist mage.

I've already done it by creating various Fighter/(specialist mage class), a cleric/necromancer, and a cleric/enchanter in BG1 so I know you can do it.

 

You probably don't need a list. Just go to the character creation screen and reroll about twenty times under each specialist and you will discover the stat that never goes below say 16 or so... i believe all the required ability scores are around 15 or 16, like the Pally's 17 CHA requirement.

My 2nd run thru the game, i used a Human Duled Fighter/Conjurer - as my protagonist. With the Ring of Wizardry, i always had lots of summoned meatbags to protect my party of missle-flingers and spell-lobbers. I did not specificly dual to Conjurer, i just had uber stats and stumbled across it when i tried to dual class to a Mage after 3rd level. I like the sound of an Evil Cleric/Necromancer, though Xzar can fill that role i believe in one of the mods, if not the regular game. But a little army of skeletons following my protagonist around is an angle i have not tried yet, should be fun!

 

Glad to have made an interesting suggestions.

I thought of a possible follower of Sune in faerun when I dual-classed a cleric to an enchanter(ess).