What's the point of using a Duergar?

Remove all ads!

With ECL of +2, a Duergar's powers are not as powerful as a Drow, similarly with ECL +2. Duergar's immunity to paralysis does not seem as good as Drow's spell resistance, worse, Duergar has -2 sensitivity to light compared to Drow's -1.
Even Aasimar & Tiefling have spell resistances and they are only ECL +1.
When compared to Shield Dwarf, Duergar's only real advantage is immunity to paralysis, not really worth the extra ECL +2.
Maybe somebody can enlighten me on the true power of the Duergar.

 

...



(aka: no real reason to play one)

 

They certainly wouldn't be my first choice. They do get invisibility once a day and bonuses to search and move silently. So they could do well as rogue or a sneaky monk. But a tiefling (or drow) and a deep gnome would be better, respectively.

 

The Duergar can turn invisible which sounds quite cool, especially for thieves. You can turn invisible and search for traps unnoticed among enemies or you can turn invisible after a backstab. Deep gnomes can turn invisible too, but they have a higher ECL penalty, less strength for less damage and can't mix in a fighter level without ECL penalty.
The main reason some players recommend wasting fighter stat points for wisdom is to avoid being held, but 2 wis increases the save chance by lousy 5 percent while being a duergar grants immunity.

But from the powergaming point of view that's by far not enough to take a duergar. You don't get paralyzed very often and there are too many other ways to turn invisible in the game.

 

From the abilities of the Duergar, I would say it is more of a ECL+1 race rather than +2. I don't see any ability it has that really justifies the +2.

 

I never played one, but the immunity can be great when soloing (being held while soloing is synonymous with game over).

 

Duergars are the only really underpowered race in IWD2! The immunity isn't that great since you still need wis to be immune to charm. And the -4 to cha is bad for min/maxers. The bonuses aren't enough.
Even at -1 ECL they would still be at best a mediocre race and bad for most builds.
Last time I played with a duergar I "rebalanced" him by giving some small bonuses and immunities that I thought would fit him without making him overpowered.

 

the point, my young friends, is the "RP" part of "RPG"! if your turned of by the exp. gap.....

**spoiler**
...there's a book in the black raven monestary that can help fix it

 

That's cute.

Hopefully you can get away with RPing a Duergar who is on congenial terms with everyone on the surface and will join in the slaughter of his brethren beneath the Monastery.

As for the "spoiler" that's really old news.

 

I fail to see your point. Why shouldn't a Duergar attacked by Duergar defend himself and kill the attackers ? Should he rather say: "please slaughter me" ?
Humans kill humans all the time, but Duergars killing Duergars is anti-roleplaying

 

What I meant was why should a Duergar side with surfacers and humans (not to mention the odd Drow). Wouldn't it be swell to take on the opportunity to kill these pestering idiots with the help of vertically challenged evil denizens of the Underdark?

 

yeah yeah, its 'all about the best stats'.... that's how 3rd edition killed real d&d

 

Quite right.

 

Mr. Gygax (God bless him) certainly would agree with you. But is it really dead?

 

Just a fairy tale which doesn't become a fact by retelling it again and again.

 

3.5 ed is just some dumbed down hybrid between d&d and Diablo. Its aimed at the massed, like MTV music.

 

Sorry to interrupt people but IWD2 is a CRPG...
If you want to role play for real, get some friends together and play PnP.

Computers will never replace imagination, dice and crisps.

 

Agreed!

 

Oh boy. Just wait till you see 4E.

 

Hehehe I have seen it. Aparantly it COULD get worse... The group I play with: has stopped playing Wizards of the coast stuff completely now. Instead we started playing Conan. Basically the same rules, but way more realistic, and fun. Can even chop of peoples heads in it. Allways bugged me that you can`t even lose a finger in d&d.