Strongholds

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Well, I'm going to say that I like the Paladin stronghold the most, because you can do the quests one after the other, and you don't have to pay anyone for anything! Plus, you get to kill a red dragon towards the end of the quests...if you haven't already.

I usually play with the mutiple strongholds mod, os here's what I think about the others:

The cleric stronghold is a joke. The worst thing that happenes is a little killing of a few temple guards...I think that a high CHA makes this stronghold even easier.

The Keep is almost as easy. You spend more money than you ever make from it, and at the end, you get to kill a noble and is "army" of 6 or so guards.

The mage stronghold is way too easy, but you do get some cool stuff out of it...but who wants to wait a week in between each visit?

I havent played the thief for awhile now, but IIRC it was a pretty cool stronghold to have...I don't know about the money issue, since you have to pay Reanal his share, and almost every time you come back one of your stupid thieves gets locked up, so you have to spend more money to bail him out.

I never do the bard stronghold...I just can't stand it for some reason.

The ranger stronghold is quite fun. I usually always play it.

Same goes for the druid stronghold.

And there you have it.

 

I like the Ranger Stronghold the best. I have never done the druid or bard stronghold, though.

 

This is how Id rate them, from cool to crap:

Bard - The quest is fun and you get some great items too. It has to rank as the funniest stronghold IMO.
Thief - Getting this one is no hassle. And the improved thief stronghold mods have made it of decent duration. I always found this one profitable.
Ranger - Easiest quest when done earlier, else you fight a lich. Its short and very rewarding.
Paladin - Not much need be done to get it. The only good thing about this stronghold is that you can get on with your adventuring very early.
Fighter, Barbarian, Monk - Must be the most fun to get. But it never really paid off monetarily for me. Too long.
Mage, Sorcerer - Like with the Bard's, you gotta fight Tannari to get this stronghold. Funny dialogues but not a lot to do.
Druid - Faragon cheats. Quest aint that great either.
Cleric - You fight a dungeon full of beholders to get this stronghold. And then are subjected to this crap!

 

Shuch as? I never played that stronghold long enough to get any items...the whole cure of the script thing killed it.

 

You get a harp. It's not even that wonderful, there are better ones out there, but the exp is nice and so is the final encounter. I think mage is my fave, it would probably knock all the others out if i had the mod for it to work.

 

I like the sphere.

 

I know a lot of people thought it was boring, but the Paladin was great -- Lots of evil b*** kicking and no babysitting (except her, but you get rid of her). Plus it was Boo approved....

 

@ Shrikant:

I do not think this is true. I've played C/Rs, and when I enter the temple district, I'm directed to the temple of Helm, and I'm not offered the Cleric Stronghold, even though I haven't even talked to Delon yet.

 

Mine would have to be the Paladin or Fighter strongholds. Probaly the Paladin one overall. What about yours Lantus? You haven't said.

 

Definately the sphere, it is the one where you get the best items, especially if you're willing to kill your apprentices and load/save a lot. I usually (Cheese coming up, avert your eyes) just sit there and rest 12 or 15 times (Depending how many days I must wait) then talk again rather than waiting for a week. Then if they failed, load up before I asked for that item and retry. Sorry, it's kind of cheating but it gets you some amazingly powerful items.

 

From purely a money standpoint, the thieves guild is the only stronghold you can turn a profit in. The other strongholds that earn you money, you invariably end up spending more than you make from the stronghold. For example the D'Arnise stronghold makes you 500 gp a week, but you'll spend more than that in a typical game.

The playhouse has the potential to make gobs of money, but it also requires an input of an insane amount of gold along the way to get the most XP out of it - a 10,000 gp initial investment alone! - and unless you play really, really slowly, you'll never recoup what you spent.

The druid, cleric, paladin, ranger, and mage strongholds don't generate any money for you, but also cost relatively little (or in some cases nothing) as well. So in those instances, you have to do it based on items. Of these, if you get lucky and don't mind killing apprentices, the sphere is probably the best option, although you get a really nice set of armor from the paladin stronghold.

 

Looks like I've been missed

@Kitrax
I ment the items you get in the Planar Prison. Boots of speed, the green armour, air elemental staff, etc.
In that post, for each stronghold, the first sentence reffered to the quest you have to do in order to get the stronghold. Then what you get from playing the stronghold.

@Klorox
R/Cs must be good, right? Then their stronghold would be the temple of Lathander, not Helm. Also you must finish the Unseeing Eye quest, one way or another, before you are offered the quest.
You might get the reward for finishing the cult from the temple of Helm, but to get the stronghold you must enter the temple of Lathander.
Good - Lathander
Neural - Helm
Evil - Talos

[ December 04, 2004, 17:27: Message edited by: Shrikant ]

 

The paladin stronghold was fun. You get to protect people and fight evil.

I also like the bard stronghold. Watching that play after so much work felt rewarding.

 

I liked the Ranger stronghold.

 

I'm not sure if you can get a stronghold as a generic cleric... Anyone tried? Since the kits get advantages only, they're better imo

 

I have played a dualed Wizard Slayer/Cleric and was offered a Cleric stronghold. Its based on your alignment as in my last post. DCs and MCs cant choose kits and yet can get the Cleric stronghold. Though why you would want to stand around giving inane advise to losers is debatable.

 

The evil option is very funny for the cleric stronghold quest, especially the last one in a sick and twisted kind of way.

 

@ Shrikant

Yes, I understand the rules on which Cleric stronghold is offered and such. The issue with C/R's is that they are NOT offered the Cleric Stronghold, even if they've never even heard of the Umar Hills. Check it out sometime.