Killing Drizzt

I've actually agreed with the people that Xan isn't that different enough from Dynahir, Xar, or Edwin. As such, I took it upon myself to use Sword Coast Keeper to change him into a Fighter/Mage. I liked the moonblade idea, but his lack of THAC0 and HP meant that trying to take advantage of it nearly always got him killed for little benefit. Making him a fighter/mage solves that, as I also gave him the maximum HP for a fighter of the appropriate level with such a low CON. Making him a fighter/mage with such low stats also makes the strength spell VERY useful, along with mirror image and blur.

I know, I'm talking about a modded game, but it made it more fun and put more variety into the NPC mages. IMHO, having fun is what counts the most in a computer game.

 

Lol I found his banter hilarious as does my fiance. She even quotes him at opportune times. Still different strokes for different folks. Oddly I find characters like Anomen more annoying (at least pre romance).


I do agree that making him a fighter/mage would have been thematic and would make him unique. Heck he would still have a weakness in his low con but I would still use him.

 

Xan is quirky. There are hints of sarcasm in some of his quotes, and his competence is a complete contradiction to his pessimism. He's definitely worth bringing along if only to make your BG1 no-banter-packs ride more interesting, though the novelty may wane depending on how you play. Personally I've heard him say "I'll do what I can... but expect very little" right before a perfect Sleep/Slow/Blindness casting or "I'm beginning to think we have a chance" right after landing a critical, critical hit with his Moonblade to not develop some sort of bias towards the character.

A combination of good party management and enchantment/alteration spells helps offset his low THAC0/HP. Basically if you have someone who is really good at holding the enemy's attention then Xan should be just fine, unless you're fighting wolves and their random target AI. Most enchantment/Alteration spells either negate and penalize the target's dex bonus to AC or directly lower it's AC by some amount, allowing even a mage like Xan to hit as often as if he were a fighter. In BG2 I would dual-wield daggers on my solo mage so he can kill held/paralyzed/sleeping targets faster.

Once we consider popular low level priest spells like Command, Hold Person and Entangle then you should only be worried about Xan's THAC0 in modded games. Invisibility is a very important spell that can keep Xan alive in some encounters (eg. the fight against the spider abomination) and allows you to reposition him or block incoming monsters.

 

I'm sad to see all the Xan hate, he was one of my favorite RPG characters.

"Around you I'm ALMOST feel like we have a chance!"

Sure he was a pessimist but he was fun

 

Drizzt isn't hard to beat... I did it with a solo mage, and did so straight-up... no summoned monster spam, no abusing pathfinding or AI, or kicking people out of the party around him so he can't move, just straight up one-on-one.

It's actually a LOT simpler than people make it out be, and if I can kill him with a solo mage, it'll be ridiculously easy with a party.

Shandalar on the other hand, I haven't played around with much solo... IIRC, he eventually disappears from the game at the end of his spell-spamming script, which just annoyed me, so I just said screw it.

 

what was your strategy?

 

Gear:
Neck: Amulet of Metaspell Influence
Back: Robe of Protection +2
Arms: Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise
Torso: Knave's Robe (+1 AC vs. slashing)
Waist: Golden Girdle
Feet: Boots of Speed
Weapon: Quarterstaff +3

Buffs:
Violet Potion
Potion of Fortitude
Potion of Agility
Potion of Defense
Potion of Power
Potion of Mind Focusing
Blur
Mirror Image
Draw Upon Holy Might
Improved Invisibility
Oil of Speed (doesn't seem to add attacks for mages for whatever reason-- tested using auto-pause at end of each round-- but stacks with Boots of Speed movement-wise. I just used it so I could get away to refresh Mirror Image)

Mage AC breakdown:
0 Base = Potion of Defense
-2 = Robe of Protection +2
-1 = Knave's Robe (-1 vs. Slashing)
-3 = Golden Girdle (-3 vs. Slashing)
-4 = Improved Invisibility (enemy gets -4 to attack rolls)
-3 = Blur (+3 to AC)
-5 = 23 DEX (Potion of Agility + Potion of Mind Focusing + DUHM)
-18 total AC vs. his (IIRC) -5 Thac0 = he should be hitting 40% of the time, but since he misses on rolls of 8 and hits on 9, it's more like 60%. Regardless, Mirror Images soak all his hits (bring scrolls for extra casts).

Mage Thac0 Breakdown:
14 Base* = Potion of Power (Level 9 Mage = Thac0 18, x .8 = 15)
- 1 = Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise
- 3 = Quarterstaff +3
- 7 = 25 STR from Violet Potion
- 2 = Blunt vs. Chainmail
1 Total = hit 40% of the time vs. his apparent -12 AC (guessing the number comes from his base -10 AC, +2 from the scimitar, or maybe the penalty vs. chainmail wasn't implemented? Regardless, I miss rolling 12, hit with 13)

*I would've thought 15, but it goes to 14 in-game.

Damage Breakdown:
1-6 = Base Quarterstaff damage
+3 = enchantment
+2 = Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise
+14 = 25 STR from violet Potion
20-25 Total, average 22... x .7 due to D's 30% physical resistance = ~15 per hit.

Drizzt has 92 HP, so you only have to hit him 6-7 times (and can't crit, he's got a helmet effect) compared to all the times he's gotta hit you through all the mirror images (15 on average with three casts, plus more from scrolls), it's not that hard to beat him.

The only time he beat me was if the RNG was hatin' on me pretty hard and I didn't kill him before running out of mirror images from my memorized copies of the spell-- but that was before I brought scrolls along.

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On a seperate note, I just killed Shandalar one-on-one with the same mage. Kinda disappointing, really...

Gear/Buffs:
Potion of Insulation (Immune to Lightning bolts)
Potion of Magic Shielding (saves always succeed, damage from spells reduced 50%)
Potion of Magic Protection (+50% Magic Resistance)
Robe of the Archmagi (+5% Magic Resistance)
Cloak of Balduran (+25 Magic Resistance)

Combat Sequence:
Round 1-- I Cast Magic Missile.
Round 2-- He casts Globe of Invulnerability, I cast Dispel Magic to get rid of it.
Round 3 thru end of battle-- he starts slinging useless spells-- Mostly lightning bolts (I'm immune to electricity) or save-to-negate spells (saves always succeed), and anything else 80% MR handles well enough. Meanwhile, I just plaster him with Magic Missles till he pops.

All in all, just took me 6 MM's and 1 Dispel Magic, while he took at most a third of my HP off, and killed a bunch of commoners and innocent chickens.... OH! THE POOR CHICKENS!!!!!

He did get away one time when I must've gotten some RNG hate-- he does have 5% MR from his Robe of the Archmagi, and I could've rolled low damage numbers for my missiles.

FTR, if they changed something at some point to make Dispel Magic have a save, this won't work... all his saves are 1's, which means he automatically succeeds.