Throne of Bhaal: Newbie Thoughts

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Okay, as I have now finished the Shadows of Amn part of the game, and because the original thread was approaching the limit of 500 posts, this thread is the continuation of my first ever adventure through Baldur's Gate II.

To recap, the following characters completed SoA:

Arya: Human NG Kensai 12 / Thief 20 - dual wielding Celestial Fury and various offhand weapons (current favourite: Pixie Prick). Has about 3.3m XP. Wears Girdle of Stone Giant Strength and the Amulet of Seldarine.

Minsc: Ranger 18 - wielding Silver Sword or Lilacor - HLA Whirlwind. Never casts his Ranger spells.

Viconia: Cleric 19 - carried Flail of Ages but is usually busy casting buffs, healing, and summoning

Nalia: Thief 4 / Wizard 17 - spends most of time casting magic piercing spells or summoning. Is idle the rest of the time.

Haer Dalis: Blade 20 - main role is to learn spare spells for extra XP and to occasionally play harp. His place in the party is very shakey as he seems to serve no purpose.

So we've wandered around that first forest and killed some threatening Bhaalspawn and have been teleported into some weird alternate plane and come face to face with Sarevok who has offered to join the party! Out of curiousity we have let him join so we are now back up to six (making Haer Dalis's place even more tenuous).

Plus, some magic allows us to get back any other character we want! For fun, we called up Keldorn and Anomen but they were a bit crap because they didn't have ny of their old gear and were back down to 2.5m XP so we didn't bother signing them up.

So now, what adventures await us?

 

Sarevok is a great addition to any party. Even though he is tremendously evil. The fun part with him comes later if you make the right dialogue choices.

As for his fighting skills, he makes a great tank, and can level a large number of foes for you. Especially if you get lucky enough for him to get a Deathbringer Assault. It usually kills the beastie right then and there.

The most fun part of TOB in my opinion was the Enclave, or Saradush.

 

hey! No spoilers remember.

Just make comments based on what has been done so far... no mentioning places still to be reached.

 

Have you got yourself acquianted with the little imp running around in your new home?

 

Keep it going HB, this is wicked! How are you finding the battles and story line in this one compared to SoA?

 

This will be fun!

Seeing that Minsc uses the vorpal sword I have to stick in a little tip, just in case it hasn't occured to you: Greater Malison isn't just for getting in spells that can be saved against, it also helps the Silver Sword be more effective.

How will you/have you equipped Sarevok?

 

HB, if you've still got Sarevok's sword with you, you might want to let him take a look at it...

 

Nope, he doesn't seem to recognize it. BTW, to make the vorpal sword (and many spells) more effective, viconia might precede the greater malison (which can be saved against, iirc) with an un-saveable doom. Minsc can do that too, in case you want to see that amiable rockhead dabble in the divine arts
Anyway, it might come in handy if Nalia wants to dabble into the darker arts of the arcane, and the lure of the destructive force made available by magic is a hard one to resist.

 

I don't think Doom is worth an action as it only targets one creature as opposed to Greater Malison which targets an area. Greater Malison & Whirlwind with a vorpal weapon can be so much fun.

 

Doom isn't as good, but sometimes every bit helps. Plus, it gives a penalty on all rolls (attack included). Just a suggestion, though.

 

I agree that Doom is not worth using instead of Greater Malison, but it stacks nicely with GM and gives you a 5% better chance to watch the head fly like a baseball.

 

Or, if you're planning to use Finger of Death, it makes sense to have your cleric cast doom, then your support mage casts Greater Malison, while your main mage casts Finger of Death. If timed right, it almost ALWAYS works!

Edit: Forgot to add, HB...Haer'Dalis is GREAT for this, once he gets a few levels of course. He has a really high casting level once he gets going, which translates into better durations.

How I usually use him in a party, is to have him memorise all the stuff like Breach, Lower Magic Resistance, Greater Malison, Web etc etc. He gets great bonuses because of a higher caster level.

[ February 01, 2005, 20:57: Message edited by: Faraaz ]

 

Yeah, a check at -8 is nothing to kid with.

 

It hardly matters in any case as all enemies quite likely have impossible-to-fail savings throws in any case, thus rendering all disabling spells almost useless. Harbourboy, you will notice that ToB is a lot more about hack'n'slash than SoA, once you have cleared Watcher's Keep (the best part of the expansion). Just get time stop, summons, and direct damage spells and you'll be fine (especially skeleton warriors for Viconia)

 

Well, that IS true as well...in most scenarios, your 7th level slots would be better spent on Delayed Blast Fireball rather than Finger of Death.

However, using FoD would be even more pointless WITHOUT the preparation of Doom+Greater Malison.

 

Just as an idea, does anyone know the saves of, say, a fire giant?

 

Are you really asking, or do you mean that rhetorically?

 

Wow. Watch HB get deluged with our opinions about ToB tactics!

No one has said this in the previous thread that I can tell, so I'll say it now. HB is a pretty darn good gamer who definitely doesn't need our help getting through the game.

Harbourboy, are you fed up with your party members, or do you still find them interesting? Say, Minsc, for example. Just curious.

 

Woah, this IS a deluge. Random responses to comments above:

1) Whilst I recognise the power of Doom / Malison, I seldom use them because you don't see the direct results of the spell (i.e. you just get a greater possibility of failed saves). I tend to stick to spells that have a direct outcome (like Improved Haste or Barkskin or Negative Plane Protection or Breach).

2) This party has not used Finger of Death or Delayed Blast Fireball at all in this campaign.

3) Splunge - it was a rhetorical question

4) Yes, I am sick of one of my party members, namely Haer Dalis, who I have just sent off for a holiday in the pocket plane. We're now back to 5 adventurers again.

5) Sarevok is outfitted with some VERY expensive armour that gives him immunity to normal weapons. It is very funny to watch Arya and Sarevok fighting non-magical enemies who cannot hit them at all. Can't remember what sword he is using.

Meanwhile, we have made some good progress in Sarudash, running all over the place meeting lots of Bhaalspawn. That Bhaal certainly got around a bit.

 

Errm... I don't know if this is a spoiler or not, but Haer Dalis can make all your party immune to normal weapon with his new bard song (and many other nasty stuff like fear, confuse, stun... ect)