UPP vs JUPP vs JUPP2

Remove all ads!

Hi there!

I completed IWD 2 a good few years ago and have decided to tackle HOF mode with a power gaming party but looking through the above 3 guides I'm not entirely sure what to go for so was hoping that you guys could steer me in the right direction?

There's a few things which I'm willing to do regarding optimisation and level hits:
ECL races are not an issue (and may be preferred)

I think I'd prefer a spell casting party as opposed to melee, as I like the idea of raining fiery death on my foes

I'm not too keen on level squatting or muling but would be happy to add in extra characters to optimise the gaining of XP (so happy to start with a duo and increase to a 4 some and sextet in the course of the game but would need guidance on who to start with and add when)

I'm not over the moon with a multiclass penalty but could take the hit on a character or 2...

So that's what I'm looking for and was wondering which of the above would suit me best?

Cheers in advance!

 

In terms of who can be your low-level mule, I'd suggest a Bard.

They're very useful even at level 5, and you can let your Bard squat at level 5 basically forever if she's not on the front lines (archer or even just sing-and-forget).

Leveling her up to 11 is better than leaving her at 5, of course, because the L11 Sith Warsong is incredible.

So your initial starting party would be a Cleric and a Rogue (who proceeds into Diviner Wizard), and then later you'd add a Druid, and last you'd add a Bard.

 

Cheers Nifft,

Just out of curiosity, which party is that?

I would prefer to jump up to 6, so would you advise addign the bard and one sorc af chapter 2 and then bard and other sorc later in the game?

 

out of interest, here's a quote from the JUPP2 guide :

So starting with perhaps a 4 person party might be a good idea, adding in one more around this time.
Another good place to add a final member would be just before the trials in black raven monastery, since you get to kill a lot of stuff right after this point in the game.
I'd really suggest taking a good look at the JUPP2 guide, as it has a whole section on making your own tailored party as opposed with just going with the example ones.

 

Cheers Xosmi,

I think I'll have a read of that and see what I can come up with, my problem is that of to much choice! (that and I'm lazy and want it all done for me!)

I'll have a read through and create a party...so you;d recommend 4 people to start, add one at around level 8 for my main party and then my last guy at the raven monastery...that seems like a decent idea

But yeah, I'll leave off the example parties and see what I can build in...however, i'm still open to suggestions/example parties too!

 

Sure - you still get the advantage of faster levelling without too much of a hassle. of course you can keep the newly added characters lvl1 for some added level squatting bonus exp.
You don't have to create the entire party from scratch, but the section on making your own at least gives some good pointers on how to change things up and make one of the suggested parties your own

 

Don't use anything from early JUPP versions (before 2.0) - they're outdated in many ways, such as based on questionable tactics (muling) and/or contain factual errors here and there.

The heart of any party based on JUPP is at least one, preferably two characters that can reach extremely high AC, at the very least upper 60's, preferably 72+. As noted in the guide, there are several ways of achieving this, making it rather pointless to create a separate party layout for every possible preference.

 

Cheers Rechet,

I've been looking though all 3 parties (I like the idea of the first character in JUPP 1) but the same character in JUPP 2 is looking fgood as well!

I was half way through sorting out the party and will take a look through the documents but I'm pretty sure I want 2 assimar sorc/s paladins a druid of some sort, a bard, a wizard thief (probably drow) and a cleric...so once I run through it all I shall return with said party...

I like the idea of a 4 person party to start and add the last 2 at rhe black raven monastery

 

So I decided to go with JUPP 2 balanced party...From reading around it, the melee party could get boring so I'm not keen on that but I like the idea of the drow thief/mage and a aasimar paladin/sorc but I can see the value of the human sorc/pal/monk though as well...it's a bit of a conundrum!

I liked the first 2 characters in JUPP arcane party but they seem to be decent too late in the day...

 

Some have also reported that luck modifier reduces damage taken from spells by shifting the damage rolls towards 1, ultimately making a 10th level fireball do only 10 pts of fire damage instead of 10-60!

https://imgur.com/a/rBO2bY4

yeah it works exactly like that, I only take 5 damage instead of 10 because of reflex saves for half.

not sure why it always gets put down as a rumor when it takes like 5 seconds to check compared to the more complex things that had already been tested.

it makes small amounts of flat resistance a lot more attractive to play with, Assaimar bonuses or Aqua Mortis feats type stuff.