Starting new game. Need some help :)

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Hi all. I just started a new game. My character is Kensai and thought of dualing him to Mage. I've rolled a pretty high scores but i'm not abusing him. Here's my ability scores:

Str - 17
Dex - 18
Con - 16
Int - 18
Wis - 10
Cha - 13

With the above stats, i could basically pump up Str/Dex/Con/Int to all 18 but it seems to offend nature and hence i go with the above stats . Needed 18 dex. since Kensai's can't wear armor. Went for 18 int. since planning to dual him to a Mage later on. A character can't possible have all high stats so i have 16 for my constitution although i really love to have max. HPs/level.

Now sorry for the long rant . Hope you guys could answer these few questions for me

1. As i've stated i plan to dual class to a Kensai/Mage. Should i dual at level 9 or 12 or 13?

2. My current party compose of:
Me (Kensai)
Minsc (Ranger)
Jaheira (Druid)
Jan Jansen (Illusionist/Thief)
Aerie (Cleric/Mage)

I don't have a good Thief hence i went for Jan Jansen. Needed Aerie for her romance and Minc is as funny as ever . Jaheira for her nice clerical spells. Is this party recommended?

3. I would like to have 4 characters in the party. Unfortunately i lack a thief, so i went for Jan Jansen. I ended up with 5 characters. Is 6 characters advisable or 5 is enough for Shadows of Amn and TOB?

Thanks all .

 

Color me confused. If you're not powergaming, why go with a Kensai>Mage?

Anyway, off with my rant, onto your question. The level to dual at depends entirely on what you have installed. If you only have SoA, as noted by the forum you're posting in, I suggest level 7 or 9 if you're feeling adventurous. If you have ToB (a possibility, since you might not know the rules around here, I suggest level 13, for the maximum ApR.

 

1. Level 13. Given your party, you've got enough arcane that you don't have to be rushing it, and 13 will give you the most out of your Kensai levels.

2. Looks very good.

3. You can do it with any number from 1 to 6; some are more difficult, but all are doable. As for your party, Jan is the only crucial one. If you want to cut it down to four, I'd say the best one to leave would be Aerie since the others fit the niches perfectly, but a romance means that's out of the question. So your choice would be Minsc or Jaheira.

Cutting Minsc means that your PC and Jaheira will have to share the tanking duties to make it work. Cutting Jaheira would mean that you don't get the nifty druidic spells and have to rely solely on Aerie for healing. Your call. (Really, the perfect four person party is Korgan, Edwin, Viconia, and a PC thief.)

 

My favorite 4 person party is PC=R/C, Jan, Kelsey and any other non thief NPC...Jahiera is my usual pick but sometimes i like Keldorn for Caromsyr and true sight/dispel.

I would raise your Kensai's STR to 18 if your planning on doing a lot of backstabbing....also I might consider putting more in wis for the saves.

You will never get high level mage spells with your party cuz niether Jan or Aeirie maxes out in SOA. So no horrid wilting etc. I would consider Imoen or Kelsey instead of minsc for a good aligned party (if your powergaming). Jaheira can do the tanking...but then again I am mage biased.

 

WIS doesn't help you with Saving Throws, even though it says it does in the manual.

 

@Isshy

A Kensai dualed to a mage can't backstab.

 

@Klorox

Are you sure wis does not help about saving throws about the mind. There is no proof if it does or not as the game rolls saving throws succesfuly and tells us the results ONLY if it is succesful.

For example Minsc has a nasty tendency to fail his save vs spells against mind effects like confusion and charm? Is it just me, or pure luck, or his abysmal wisdom score?

And my PC, having very high wis, sometimes rolls a save vs spells 22 or 24. It says save vs spells 24 on the combat window. How is it possible unless I get some bonuses somewhere? And items adjust the saving throw on the character sheet, does not give + bonus to actual roll or so I think?

What do you think?

 

Oops...was thinking Kensai/Thief. Also this was in the SOA forum when I posted so...

 

Well, there's no 2DA file for WIS-based save vs spell mods that I've ever found. The only 2DA file I know of that even references wisdom is the one that gives priests their extra spells.

If these did exist then they'd presumably operate in the same way the CON-based saving throw bonuses for dwarves/halflings/gnomes do, and those appear in the character sheet, so I'd say Klorox is correct. (Hell, in the core rules you're meant to get spell immunities for WIS higher than 18, but no luck there either.)

Anyway, that setup looks okay. I like my PC fighters to at least have an optimal strength to free up the belts and such for the other characters, since their STR scores are all generally rubbish. Or I take them through BG1 first so that they end up with 19 STR, heh. But if you plan to dual wield Crom Faeyr or something later on then no worries.

 

Hi all. Thanks for the replies . However would still like to know if anyone could answer some of my doubts

1. Would like to know if i could temporarily remove aerie and swap her for another NPC for their quest and later on adding her back. Will that affect the romance progression? Also, i heard if an NPC is dead and later resurrected it will affect the progression of the romance. Is this true? If so is there a work-around for this?

2. I heard Jaheira can be a good tank. How would it be possible since she could only have 1 weapon proficiency star. IIRC only fighter line could achieve weapon proficiency beyond proficient. I'm still early in the game, any idea on how to tank her up? I mostly use her for clerical or party defense. She only have sling and scimitar. Most of the time she can't hit anyone.

3. I intend to perform all the sidequests. I heard is only possible to do it only on Chapter 2. Is this true?

Thanks all. This is a truly addictive game

 

3. Most of the Chapter 2 sidequests can still be completed later on in the game, although I always think it seems silly to do that when you should really be hot on the trail of someone else by then.

 

1. Any romance ends when you kick out the NPC. Don't kick out Aerie if you want things to continue romantically. I've heard the NPC getting petrified also ends the romance, thought I've never had it happen. I had Anomen die once and end the romance. My best advice is to save often and prepare to reload should this happen.

2. Jaheira can tank due to one spell - Iron Skins. Think of it as the druidic version of Stoneskin. She can get 2 * in her weapon profs. Give her 2 pips in your weapon of choice, seems you're leaning toward scimitar, and things should change for the better (ie: more hits). Typically, I have her wear the best shield and 2nd/3rd best armor. It depends on what the PC is nad whether there are other tankable NCPs (Korgan, Keldorn, Minsc, Anomen, Mazzy).

3. You can do the sidequests whenever you feel like it. Keep in mind that some quests are time based! The best one to do early is Jaheira's involvement with the Harpers since it takes *forever and a day* to complete. No, I'm not kidding.

Hope this help you.

 

Hi all. Am back with more questions. Hopefully you guys don't mind it

1. Could anyone confirm that dead NPCs end romance? Means that one must reload if the NPC that you are romancing is dead?

2. What is the weapon of choice for Jaheira? Should i stick her with Scimitar+Shield? How about Minc? I'm mainly having him wielding 2-Handed swords. Yeah i do know it's totally depends on my choice but i'll guess i need your opinion

3. I kept on hearing people describing that only 2 stars ** is only needed for weapon specialization. Why is that so? Should i put 3 or 4 stars to Katana and Two weapon style? Or only 2 ** is sufficient and i could save more for other weapon? I thought a 3rd * to Two weapon style would eliminate the off-hand penalty?

4. Can anyone explain to me why everyone is saying Keldorn is the ultimate wizard slayer? As far as i know he has only this Dispel Magic ability. Is it because he could dispel any magic buffs that was casted on a mage?

Thanks all.

 

1. No idea. As has already been said, the more immediate problem is with petrification, which effectively removes the victim from the party.

2. Most popular setup for Jaheira seems to be maxing out her two-weapon fighting, then putting Belm in her offhand and the best available one-handed scimitar or club in her main hand. You could also put two stars in two-handed weapons and specialise in staff or spear, I guess, if there's any of those weapons you particularly want her to use.

For Minsc... two-handed swords is fine, there's plenty of good ones. He's also good with longbows (though ranged is probably a waste of his high strength), he's specialised in maces, and being a ranger he comes with two dots in two-weapon fighting, so you can go a few ways with him.

3. This is just a matter of maths. For two points in a weapon proficiency, you get +1 to hit, +2 damage, and an additional half an attack per round with that weapon. For five points, all you get on top of that is an additional +1 to hit and +2 damage (plus a bonus to weapon speed factor, which doesn't really matter a hell of a lot in BG). But that's totally separate from the weapon styles, like two-weapon, two-handed weapon and single weapon. Those don't operate in the same way as normal weapon proficiencies, and yes, if you want to dual wield then you should put three points into two-weapon fighting where possible.

4. Keldorn is a paladin, which means he can wield the holy avenger Carsomyr. Carsomyr dispels magic on striking. He's also an Inquisitor, so he gets an innate dispel magic ability, and the Inquisitor's dispel magic operates at twice the level of the Inquisitor, making it superior to the clerical and arcane spells of the same name. He's not the *ultimate* mage slayer, he's just a fairly good one. He's of little extra benefit against something like a lich, though.

If you were asking why dispel magic is useful against magic-users, it's because of all the spells they get that make it difficult for physical attacks to kill them. You need to dispel those.

 

1. Death doesn't affect romance, petrification does though. But don't worry about it much, you can always fix it with CLUA

2. Jaheira actually doesn't have much choice, she starts off with ** in club and * in scimitar, she gains lv slowly, she cannot place 2 stars in 2 weapons style. So she's gota stick to club/sword and shield style for quite a while.

3. There are people who don't think too high of the left hand, it can only make one atk/round with a plain +2 weapon.

 

The off hand is really more for the added bonuses for the item in it weather weapon or shield. many seem obsessed with sticking weapons in it but there are some shields with a decent set of bonus things on them to consider for Jaheira. There are some rather nice two handed weapons the farther you get through the game though and specially into ToB. There are a couple of nice spears and staves.

By Bonus's I mean things like strength modification. Protection from Level draining. Protection from domination and the like. The many different things you can get from them.


As for Weapon speed. I've come to realize with my Wizard Slayer that it can matter. Faster weapons in it's hand can mean the difference between say 80% ability to cast spells and 50-70% depending on the monster for my wizard Slayer. And it works on Dragons it works on Lichs. It works on Irenicus. It works on a bunch of other things that have spell casting powers but aren't mages or clerics. But unless your doing multiple attacks in a single round your not going to notice it's affect.

 

I put Jaheira with a club (Blackblood from Trademeet) and a shield (Fortress from Ribald's). Eventually, I'll put points in scimitar and dagger so she can use the Spectral Brand scimitar in ToB, the Bone Blade dagger until I get to ToB and the Firetooth returning dagger as her missile weapon. I *never* have her dual weild. She's best (imo) with a weapon and shield. Another thing with Jaheira - get her a strength belt or GoOP to enhance her fighting.

Minsc I keep on a 2 handed sword (Sword of Chaos, Lilacor and Vorpal) until I get his 2 points in halberds. The halberds I like him using are Dragon's Breath (Underdark), the Wave (for fire elementals) and Ravager (ToB).

Unless you have long-term plans for your PC or an NPC, putting 2* in a weapon is best. Jaheira, Minsc and Keldorn can only put 2 pips in a weapon slot. Anomen, otoh, can put up to 5 pips because he is a fighter dualled to a cleric. Fighters (and their kits) are the only ones who can put 5* in an weapon choice. I usually take several hours to plot and plan my PC and NPC weapons and armor, so I won't be wasting proficiency points.

If your PC is going to weild katanas for the whole game, go ahead and throw 5* in and get grandmastery.

2 weapon/dual weilding - 3 pips in 2 weapon fighting style decrease the penalty for hitting with the off-hand. IIRC, with 3*, the penalties are 0/-2. There's a lot of math here I don't understand, so the technical details are best left to others. Best advice is to max it out at 3* if you're going to use 2 weapons.

Keldorn is an Inquisitor class of paladin and gets 2 special abilities (in addition to othe pally ones): True Sight and Dispel Magic. He (or any other Inquisitor) gets these at 1 use/4 levels, beginning at level 1 with 1 use. At level 8, he should have (iirc) 3 True Sight and 3 Dispel Magic uses. The Inquisitor casts his/her Dispel Magic at twice his/her caster level. What does this mean? When an 8th level Keldorn uses his Dispel Magic on a mage, he's really casting it at 16th level! The higher the caster level, the more spells get dispelled! And, by having Keldorn in your party, it frees up your cleric(s) and mage(s) from needing to have such spells memorized as frequently.

 

Staff of the Ram is a fairly good weapon for Jaheira. Quarterstaff seems to be her 'roleplaying weapon', too, for whatever that's worth.

Huh? Sure she can, she's a multiclassed fighter. She can put three dots in it.

Weapon speed - I've used plenty of weapons with on hit effects, I've never noticed weapon speed really doing anything. Assuming it works the way it's supposed to, you get the exact same number of attacks per round regardless of your weapon speed, since all it does is cause your attacks to occur earlier in the round rather than later. If you have a pressing urgency to mete out all of your attacks as quickly as possible (wizard slayer) then I can see how it might be useful, but in practice I just never notice it.

If you want that extra return from grandmastery then sure, but I suggest putting two dots in your chosen weapon, then the maximum number of dots in your chosen weapon style, and then the extra three dots in the former, because the additional bonus really isn't that big a deal.

 

1. No, it won't kill the romance AFAIK, but I would never let my lady love die.

2. Jaheira is always with a shield for me. Clubs or Scimitars with darts for long-range; you can get the Crimson Dart +3 really easy and early from WK.
I always keep Minsc using two-handed swords for RP purposes. After all, his 'weapon ineffective' line is "I need a bigger sword!", not "I need a bigger halberd!"

3. Two stars is all you need for specialization, but past that you have Mastery (3), High Mastery (4), and Grand Mastery (5). The step from 1 to 2 is big (with the extra half-attack per round), while the next steps are relatively small (with only weapon speed and a measly amount of bonuses to hit and damage), but if you're sure that you want to use a particular type of weapon for the entire game, go ahead and do it.
I almost never put more than 2 stars in dual-wielding, because all you get for the third star is 2 points of THAC0 for the off-hand, which only gets one attack per round no matter what. If you've got proficiency points to burn, then by all means go ahead and put that third point in, but otherwise you shouldn't bother.

4. Mostly it's the True Sight combined with the MR from Carsomyr. High MR keeps the mage's offensive spells from working as they should, and True Sight keeps the mage's best defensive (illusionary) spells from working, leaving him open to the entire party.

@Prine:

I believe that's actually a common bug. Baldurdash fixes it.

 

Well to me Jaheira is the absolute tank, thus I gave him the best shield and armor, and all resistance&saving throw gear. With harper pin, she is immune to lightning and fire, all saves are very low, and she has the lowest AC possible. Add the fact she can cast useful protection spells and can summon, plus heal herself, she is one tough nut to crack.

She is usually the last (wo)man to stand, even when my PC is killed. I love her that way, a defensive tank, willing to suffer punishment (which she is either already immune or can heal) whilst other more attack-type people (like kensais) deal the fury to enemies.