Powergaming or not? That´s the question.

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Do you think it´s wrong to "powergame"? Like trying to get as many 18 or 19 as possible when you create a new character. Do you play that way or do you try to make the characters realistic?

 

i personaly just try to max out my stats for my class. i like to play thieves and mages so ill try to get 18 on str. con. dex. and chr. if im playing as a mage i devot all remaining points and my wisdom points to intelligence and will reroll untill i get those stats.

not sure if this answered youre question or not but i hope it helps.

 

All on 18 and you like to play thieves? Better to set Dexterity on 19

Well I don't think powergaming is wrong but I would advice: Create a new character, roll once for stats and don't make a "superman"out of him. You would be suprised to see how much fun it is when all fights etc. aren't that easy anymore.

 

Quote: "Create a new character, roll once for stats and don't make a "superman"out of him. You would be suprised to see how much fun it is when all fights etc. aren't that easy anymore."

LOL, I've imported my character from BG:TotSC after finding all the tomes, and I'm still having a hell of a time with the game. Maybe it's easier after you've played through once, but I've finally had my first encounter with a large group of vamps and it wasn't that good an encounter even with my "superman" main character. Maybe after I've encountered and come up with good strategies for most of the monsters I'll be less worried about my stats, but as this is still my first time to get to Chap.3 I still need all the help I can get.

Anyway, I think the powergamer question can be answered with another question. Do you see BG2 as a role-playing experience, or a computer game that must be beat? My guess is, the answer to that question will determine your attitude towards powergamers. If it's a computer game, you'll want to play it in such a way that you get "the most" out of your character. If it's role-playing you'll want to "stay true" to your character and stay away from power-hungry strategies.

 

Remember, this game is an experience, not a challenge! My first time through the game, I used shadowkeeper to enhance my main character a bit. (19 str 18 dex 18 con 15 int 15 wis 18 cha) While this meant that my character was a bit stronger than normal, (I used a single class fighter) the game was still not a walkover. The game didn't turn into the "I look at you, you die!" type of game.

Some might object to this, but I really enjoyed my game, which still took me about 6 weeks to play from beginning to end.

Ps. I always play with high charisma. This is a leftover from my Fallout days, and so not because it allows me to buy cheap items.

 

Next time though, drop the charisma, you'll get the ring of human influence in the circus tent next to the exit og Irenicus' dungeon: it gives 18 charisma. I did, the second time...

 

But then you need to use a ring slot for that one, when there are a couple of cool rings that I can think of I would like to have instead. But still, you only need the charisma when talking to someone, so you could put it on and off. But that does remove pretty much of the roleplay aspect.

About the powergaming, I think it should be your own decision, personally I have rather good stats (or so I think), but then I was rather lucky as well, I couldn't imagine sitting and rerolling for 2 hours, that I have heard some have been doing

[This message has been edited by Lokken (edited May 25, 2001).]

 

hehe, you mean people like me then?
I can sit for a very long time just trying to get as high points as possible
Right now I´m trying to create a good(!) undead hunter since they are the absolutely best paladins there are in bg2!!

 

Well, I guess that would be someone like you. I tried it once and in the end I caught myself just hitting reroll, didn't catch the stats or anything

 

i personally dont consider re-rolling your stats "powergaming".

I think that it is more like "powergaming" if you use shadowkeeper to change your stats and items etc. after your character is made.

 

Bowie i do not think you are right:
If you think about it the whole point of roleplaying is that you have a person who you want to play. The computer does not decide what class you are or what abilities you have so surely it does not matter if you change your stats around.
The whole pioint is it is a game based on a game. You have to roll the dice and if you want to role it again it does not mean you are not a roleplayer.
Shadow keeper on the other hand IS cheating!

 

Maybe this is kinda irrelevent to you, but I have a system to instantly judge how good a stat roll is. All you do is:
1)create a new character,

2)without rerolling the stats given, allocate what stats you want them depending on the class you've chosen,

3)save that current roll (store it),

4)get rid of all of the stats (take away the points till they reach their limit) and remember the points left (located at the top of the stat box)

5)re-roll the stat and remove the points from the random numbered stats and iff it is higher than the last, put the points on the stats until they meet your approval,

6)store the stats if it has a higher point total compared to the last, if not keep trying,

7)if you keep trying this and find the ideal stat, store and keep looking for a couple of minutes until you find one higher.

Believe me when I say that is probably the best way to sift through all of the stats without having to count up the points for each roll, normally if I find that once i've found the ideal stat, I keep trying to find one with at least 3 stat points higher.

Best of all, this is the best way to optimise you character without having to resort to shadow keeper. Hope this helps a bit for all you anti-cheat fans