Another run through BG1: suggestions please :-)

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OberonZ you can't dual class a Half Orc, you can only dual class Humans (if you level up you'll see that your Half Orc can't dual class right now). Bear in mind that you have to be careful with weapon proficiencies for a Dual Class Berserker/Druid so you should focus on Druid weapons (mainly scimitars, spears, staves, darts, slings, clubs). The great advantage of Dualling a character into a Druid is that it takes much less XP to reach level 10 with a Druid, level 14 however takes a very long time... So if you're not extremely patient you could dual at level 9 instead and get your levels back at the beginning of SoA (much less trouble and you'll only lose the half attack per round bonus from not going for level 13 as a Berserker).

Characters 1 and 2 have the same mother so if 1 is human, 2 has to be human or half elf (it doesn't work if 1 is a half orc, even if we assumed the mother is human, 2 can't be a full elf).

Make 3 a Swashbuckler, the character will only benefit from this kit as it won't make getting skills any harder. 50% in traps is a bit low however, so I'd suggest playing 3 as a thief a bit longer to max out a bit some skills and then dual him. Master Thievery potions help with Pickpocket since they stack so I wouldn't put points in Pickpocket (put these points in Trap setting instead and it may be enough if you get this skill to 75%). Focus on Lockpick and Find Traps. Trap setting is level dependent so before level 6 the traps are a bit useless. Don't worry about getting to level 7 or 8 as a Mage (if you've got enough scrolls, you can level him up faster as a Mage by having him learn as many spells as possible when you switch to Mage and otherwise you can just have your party hunt for Sirenes or Basilisks -no need for a thief to kill these monsters and the XP will probably take you closer to the point when your Thief class will once again be active).

4 could be a Wild Mage (I've said it before, Wild Mages are definitely the best spellcasters at higher levels).

It's a pretty good party and you'll have no problem reaching the level cap with TotSC (161,000 XP). You could even consider taking some regular NPCs just for some quests (I'm thinking about Minsc, Coran or Eldoth).

Let us know how your game goes and last but not least have fun!

 

Durlag's Tower without a thief might be.. interesting, as you put it.

I'd focus on some Druid weapon (scimitar, staff perhaps) while youre still "just" a Berserker, but wouldn't spread points in all druid weapons at this phase. Leave something out so the points you get in the dual class transition phase don't go to waste.

Caradhras is right here. Think if the half attack per round, 1 extra enrage per day and few hitpoints is worth the longer wait. There's a huge leap in druid xp table at levels 14 and 15.

 

Actally Durlag's Tower can be skipped (at least the lower levels) there is enough XP to reach the level cap anyway.

Good points on weapon proficiencies though. Sound advice too, it's better to focus on different proficiencies in order not to waste any point in the process.

Berserker 9/Druid X doesn't lose out much compared to Berserker 13/Druid X and it's a much easier run. Getting to level 10 with a Druid is a breeze in SoA.

 

A typo on my part. The main protagonist is indeed human. As far as his sibling is concerned I'll change him to a half-elf. That ought to do it...

 

Well, making him a Half Elf you could have made a Ranger/Cleric instead of a Fighter/Cleric. A Ranger/Cleric muticlass is one of the most powerful class combinations IMO (gets both Cleric and Druid spells, the ability to use Cleric weapons and access to both HLAs -I could add stealth and favourite enemy but that is minor in comparison). Although to be honest you may not want that character to be a Ranger/Cleric because it would have become too powerful in the long run. With ToB multiclass characters get HLAs before single class or dual class characters -the XP to get HLAs is divided- they don't reach the highest levels in both classes though (not that it matters since by level 20 you've pretty much reached the maximum of a given class except for HLAs of course and some kit bonuses that keep getting better with higher levels).

I'm digressing a bit. Some players don't like the Berserker/Druid because they see it as a contradiction. I don't, every time I play one I think of Sláine (without the axe of course).

 

Mmmm, a berserker/druid, ranger/cleric, thief/mage and a wild mage would be waaay overpowered I reckon, so I'll sacrifice a little and stick with my party. Come to think of it, omitting the mage from my party should still leave a party that has everything required: tank/s, archer/s, healing, buffing, summoning, turning, offensive spells, trap finding and disarming, lock picking. Perhaps I should give it a go with such a party...

 

Nothing wrong with playing the game without a pure mage. It may even make things more interesting. As long as you have a Cleric and some offensive power you should do just fine.

 

I hardly ever take a mage through any of the bg games or iwd. I take a bard almost exclusively and I've never had any problems beating any of those games.

 

A bard wouldn't be a bad choice for Oberonz's party actually. Identifying magic objects wouldn't be a problem and it would take the pick pocket duty away from the thief. That's a good suggestion Starfox64.

 

Mmmm, I've never really tried playing with a bard for an extended adventure. Perhaps I should convert the mage. That way I wouldn't lose any progress.

 

A Bard can use many magic items and although he/she has fewer spells than a Mage, his/her spells are cast at a higher level sooner (by the end of BG1 a Bard can be level 10 whereas a Wizard will be level 8 iirc). The only drawback is not being able to use the Ring of Wizardry (the one that doubles the number of level 1 spells) although at high levels getting the Use Any Items HLA makes a Bard very versatile.

Playing multiplayer can't you delete a character and add another? You'll just have to add the appropriate amount of XP with Shadowkeeper.

 

I'm tempted to try the bard, but I really enjoy using mages. I'll keep the mage and try a bard in an unusual party in the future.

---------- Added 11 hours, 46 minutes and 16 seconds later... ----------

Update:

My party grabbed Imoen and ran like hell to the FAI, where we dropped her off with Khalid and Jaheira, politely declining their offer to join us. The mage at the entrance to the FAI was no hassle, he dropped very quickly after only one of my party members were affected by fear. We got the golden pantaloons, fetched the girdle for the merchant, retrieved the flamedance ring for that aunty in the house near the gate and then went off to Beregost to assist Landorin (I think that's her name???) with the spiders.

On the way to Beregost we ran into many groups of xvarts and gibberlings. Those poor little buggers were no match for my mage's sleep spell :-). Got into trouble a few times when we came across a group of ogres, but runaway tactics worked well. Hobgoblins, well, they were no hassle at all. My thief enjoyed picking up all the arrows they dropped while dying. Got into Beregost and cleared out "the house of spiders" without too much effort. Having a high charisma helps in that you get 6 antidotes from Landorin, of which I used 2 . Walked into Feldposts in for a little rest, but first placated Marl. After our rest we moved off to the Jovial Juggler, killing the assassin that showed up to take out my main protagonist. He was slightly tough in that for some reason my party was unlucky, they hardly got any hits in. My f/c had to cast a healing spell on my main, after which he scored a critical hit on the assassin. That was the end of it. Went off to meet Garrick. Took Silke out very quickly due to surrounding her with my party before dialog was activated. From there the party rested again in order to advance time so that it could break into the smithy's business, retrieving the +1 bastard sword. Man, what a difference. My main protagonist can now actually hit something. From there it was back to the FAI quickly to return the boots, wine and spider body. Off to Nashkel from here.

OMG, moving through the maps to get to Nashkel was a little hair raising. Came across a large group of ogres and had to pick them off one-by-one. Still, even doing so was tough. One hit and my main protagonist had to run like hell. I'm glad I've got 3 characters using ranged weapons. Also came across 2 vampiric wolves. Sheesh, these things are badass for a low-level party. At one stage my main protagonist was held, while both wolves were chomping away at his hide. Fortunately he'd gulped a potion of defense, so his AC was down to -6. Had to use my mage with a quarterstaff +1 to hit them with, while healing my main with the f/c to keep him alive. In between my f/c was getting a few shots in with his magical (conjured) weapon (+3). Eventually both wolves dropped, but my party needed to rest after the encounter in order to heal up and relearn spells. The bandits in the area were kind enough to drop their scalps at the sight of my party, so it was easy going until the party reached Nashkel.

Got into Nashkel and immediately entered the inn. That druid/cleric (whatever she is) that attacks the party in the inn was a bit tough to take out. My main saved against her first two spells, while the rest of my party kept missing with their ranged weapons. My main didn't even manage to hit her once! At her third spell she held him, so it was back to my f/c and my mage to pummel her. Fortunately they dropped her just before my main was about to peg off. A rest was well deserved. From there the party went off to the carnival.

My party arrived at the carnival without too much incident. When my party entered the tent of the mage however, reality struck hard. The bugger managed to get his mirror image spell off just after the dialog, because for some stupid reason the game cannot be paused immediately after dialog. One can press the spacebar as if in a fit, but it only activates after a little while. Anyway, the bastard managed to hold my main, while the rest of my party were hacking away trying to get rid of all the images. Just as the mage was about to cast another spell my mage let off a magic missile from a wand and disrupted him. I have no idea what he was about to cast but I wasn't going to give him anymore freebies. Once his multiple images were gone he dropped pretty quickly. From there it was off to the mines. At my latest save the party is about to enter the mines...

More to come when I get a chance to play a little more...

 

Low level adventuring is the most fun IMO.

Regarding the pause/dialogue thing, you can enable automatic pause in the options (I always enable "enemy in sight" or whatever it is called).

That's a nice start.

 

I agree, and I have enabled it, but it doesn't seem to be working. I had the same problem while playing through SoA and ToB. I'll try checking the box again and see if it's "reactivated". It could make the world of difference later on.

And thanks. I'm having lots of fun with this one

 

The problem is probably that the character is non hostile while in dialogue and then becomes hostile and starts casting so the pause only kicks in once the circle has turned red. It's been a while since I last played BG 1 or 2 and I don't remember having any problem with this.

Are you planning on hitting the mines next or are you going out of your way to rescue Dynaheir? Misnc could definitely use some help.

 

You got it all wrong.. Edwin needs a helping hand .

@OberonZ: do you have any content mods installed?

 

@Caradhras: I'm about to enter the mines. Since the party takes a reputation hit after clearing the mines I thought I'd get that out of the way ASAP, then I can continue building the party rep. afterwards. Once the mines are cleared I'm going to help Minsc out and get me some XP.

@Kullervo: No, no content mods added, just plain old Tutu. It would seem that Tutu makes things slightly harder in that more critters seem to spawn in areas, or is it the fact that I'm playing core rules...?

I'm actually itching to get home, cook food, bath the little one and get him into bed so that I can go bashing :-)

 

I think Tutu has some sort of spawn randomizer component, which could mean more and harder random enemies.

 

Well, I'm not really complaining. It just means more XP and a few more interesting and nerve-wracking encounters

 

The pausing thing: if you are playing multiplayer, I seem to remember that you can't pause/unpause as often as you might like (or, at least as often as I like). If this is the case, and you want to get rid of it, you can copy your savegame folder (starting with a number) from the myltiplayer savegames folder to the singleplayer folder.