POLL: Powergaming Finals

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Well, the time has come for the finals. Out of 45 responses, the highest total I received for any of the combinations was 8, and I also received two 7's. Far from a concensus opinion at any rate. So, what I'm doing now is taking the top three choices for you review below. Conveniently, the three highest totals gave one single-classed character, one dual-classed character, and one multi-classed character.

Assumptions: Same as last poll with the following additions:

Since the majority of people chose some form of good as their alignment, I'm going to assume that you made the "good" choices in the Hell tests, thus you lost one point of dexterity, but gained two points of wisdom.

Also, it keeping with the "good" alignment, I'm assuming that you went through BG1 and got a tome for each primary attribute, and two for wisdom (if you're good and properly role-playing, you won't use the tome of wisdom for Tymora's temple).

I'm assuming you're using Lum's machine and getting one additional point for each of your primary attributes.

Finally, since wisdom isn't important to any of the three options, we'll assume you sacrificed a point of wisdom to get by the demon in the dream sequence where you lose your soul (and you still have more wisdom than anything else).

So, onto the three contestants.

1. A single-classed elf sorcerer. Let's assume that this sorcerer is an elf, as the one point constitution penalty won't cause any loss of HP, and the extra point of dexterity might come in handy.

So your stats would be:

STR: 20
DEX: 20
CON: 19
WIS: 22
INT: 20
CHA: 20

You have 8 million XP, so you are a Level 31 sorcerer, and you have gained 13 HLA's which can be divided any way you choose.

2. A dual-classed human (obviously) kensai-mage. The stats would be:

STR: 20
DEX: 19
CON: 20 (so he even regenerates!)
WIS: 22
INT: 20
CHA: 20

Using the 8 million XP cap, it turns out that you have to reserve more points for the mage levels, as mages level slower than kensais do. So this guy is Kensai 21/Mage 22. Yep, you read that correctly. Kensai's hit level 21 at 3.25 million XP, while mages hit level 22 at 4.5 million, for a total of 7.75 million. The last 250,000 XP to get to 8 million total won't get you another mage level. While that 250,000 XP would get you another level in the kensai class, you would then have to get another level in the mage class as well to activate your kensai abilities, and that takes you over 8 million.

Bad points: This guy is a little light on HLA's, as you only get HLA's each time you level up when you current class has over 3 million XP. So this character has just 2 fighter HLA's and 5 mage HLA's - so choose carefully.

Good points: You get 9th level spells. You have maxed out the kensai's THAC0 bonus (stops going down once you hit level 20). You can use your kai ability 7 times per day.

3. A multi-classed elf fighter/mage/thief. Stats are the same as the elf sorcerer above.

As a multi-class splitting your XP three ways, you could get a total of 2,666,666 XP in each class. So this guy is a fighter 18/ mage 17/ thief 22. Level 18 fighter = 2.5 million XP, Level 17 mage = 2.625 million XP, Level 22 thief 2.64 million XP.

Bad points: On the down side, no 9th level spells. Additionally, fighters get THAC0 bonuses all the way to level 20, so you're missing out on a couple points of THAC0 as well.

Good points: On the other hand, with a multi-classed character, you get HLA's whenever your total XP for the three classes added together exceeds 3 million. So in this case, as soon as you hit 1 million XP in each class, you get an HLA. All told this character will receive 21 HLA's. Additionally, these HLA's can be selected from any combination of fighter/mage/thief HLA's. For example, if you level up as a thief, you are not required to take a thief HLA - you can choose from the mage or fighter list if you desire. If you care to know, this character will receive (after acheiving a total of 3 million XP total) 7 more fighter levels, 5 more mage levels, and 9 more thief levels, which is where the total of 21 HLA's comes from.

This is a really tough choice, I must admit...

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 22 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Powergaming Finals (22 votes.)

Which character is the best for powergaming? (Choose 1)
* A single-classed 31st Level Elven Sorcerer (13 HLA's) - 36% (8)
* A dual-classed 21st Level Kensai/22nd Level Mage (human) (2 Fighter HLA's, 5 Mage HLA's) - 32% (7)
* A multi-classed elven F(18)/M(17)/T(22) (21 HLA's) - 32% (7)

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, though I've heard that triple-classed chars don't get HLAs? In any case, I'd go for the K/M (as always ). Outstanding fighter, with high spellscasting capabilities. Difficult choice though, since you miss out on the thieving part. K/Ms are just too damn powerful though - I cannot choose the others.

I'd dual-wield, of course, the Crom Faeyr and Celestial Fury -> Blackrazor -> Axe of the Unyeilding. Other equipment that I think of for the moment are Ring of Gaxx, Robe of Vecna and the Ring of Wizardry.

As for HLA's:
Mage - Planetar, Improved Alacrity, Dragons Breath, Comet and well Enegry Blades, there ain't much to choose from. The extra spell slots feels somewhat wasted compared to the spells.
Fighter - Now this is hard. Dual-wielding excludes the Whirlwind attacks. The Deathblows are underrated. Suprisingly many enemies are lvl 12 or so. Slay Beholders for example in one blow ain't bad - Korgan took the whole Beholder lair in the Underdark with Cloak of Spell Deflection and the Deathblows. Though since you're gonna meat up pretty much everything anyway, those are a bit wasted too. The Kai ability gives alot of damage, so the Critical Strike is a bit out of the way too. Mayby Hardiness and Magic Resistance then, tough choice. Don't know really.

 

Elven Sorcerer.

Everybody seems to underestimate the power of pure magic. Nothing would stand up to the strength in my little pinky.

 

@ Spet

I've never played a triple-classed character, so I don't know this from personal experience, but many, many members of SP have, and I have heard them discuss HLA's before as well. That said, while I cannot be certain, I think that triple-classed characters do in fact get HLA's.

As an aside, I still think that the fighter-mage is better than the kensai/mage dual class that seems to be winning here. You would max out as a level 20 mage instead of 22, but you would also gain fighter levels, maxing out at 24 instead of 21. Plus, you get a total of 20 HLA's. (11 from fighter levels, 9 from mages that can be spent any way you like.) Of course, not enough people agreed with that logic, which is why fighter-mage multi-class is not among the finalists.

 

@dmc: I agree! Sorceror's rule! I think there is little to look for ward to in the end. When the greatest damage Abazigal could do is his dragon breath.

I go ith the sorceror!!!!

 

We don't seem to be deciding anything so far, my vote (sorcerer) makes it a three way tie at 7 votes each.

 

DOH!

Well, let's hope we get about the same number of responses we got from the first poll (45). If that's the case, we haven't even tallied half the votes yet, and changes can still happen...