Throne of Bhaal: Newbie Thoughts

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Wow, that was really selfless... I mean roleplaying.
I always give everything to my PC, without exception.

 

It's more selfless to give it to Nalia because Arya will get more benefit from Nalia's 9th level spells than from her own higher intelligence. Actually, if I was really roleplaying she would have taken it for herself (being completely unaware of game mechanics and not knowing that intelligence in a fighter / thief affects almost nothing).

 

If only you'd thought of this before your "Irenicus is stealing my Bhaal essence" dream in Spellhold; you could be back to an 18 Dex now!

 

Arya was at Spellhold which means she got training. There must have been some sort of instruction as to what was needed for each 'class'. A smart leader would want their followers to be as good as possible. So IMO it is still roleplaying.

 

@Nakia: Don't you mean Candlekeep?

@HB: I'm not sure you need 18 INT to cast 9th level spells...that rule is only there in 3rd Ed. DnD onwards.

INT in BG2 only affects the number of spells you can learn, and the percentage chance of failure to scribe a scroll.

 

@Faraaz

If Int<18, the NPC can't scribe 9 level spells.

 

But almost everyone here has the mage down a couple of Potions of Genius or Mind Focusing anyways before scribing a scrollbook full of spells.
Which allows them to bypass the inability to scribe 9th level scrolls and the limit on number of spells learnt of any level.
Still, 99% chance of scribing a scroll is not to be sneezed at.

 

Anyway, we're done with that level now and are on to what seems to be the last level, maybe. Party members are getting high level abilities left right and centre, which is lucky, because that seems to be the only benefit you get from gaining levels once you get past level 20 or so (seeing as you don't seem to get much in the way of HP, THAC0, or spells any more). I can now see why multi and dual class characters are miles better than single classes.

 

Yea, there really isn't anything left to do but bash some heads and hack the bosses. Like I said: after Watcher's Keep it gets menial.

 

@StayC: That isn't true, they can.

 

I give the points to whoever can use them when I encounter that machine.

The next level has some tough fights, and I found it to be the most annoying part of Watchers Keep, but that was just my opinion of it, you might like it.

 

Hmm, just done a strange quest where we had to control a spirit around a maze like playing an old style CRPG. Seemed a bit silly. Man, you get loads of XP in this Watcher's Keep.

Arya is now Kensai 12 / Thief 26. She has 3 HLAs: Use any item, Spike Trap, and Assassinate. She wears the White Dragon Scale armour. She dual wields any two of Celestial Fury, Spectral Brand, or Dagger of the Star. Celestial Fury is being used less and less now as it is only +3 and the bigger monsters never seem to get stunned by it any more.

I sense we are getting close to the end of the Watcher's Keep....

 

Yeah, that's one of the most annoying things about ToB: so much XP floating around that you end up leveling someone up after every minor battle...

 

@Faraaz, You are right. Don't know where my mind was. Maybe a squidhead got to me.

 

(Harbourboy) Your PC sounds somewhat similar to mine (Erika, F/T) She has just done Watchers Keep and is on to the start of the 'outside Saradush' section.

At level 18(fighter), 21(thief) she has something like 8 HLA's, since you get them much earlier if you are double classed.

I'm sure you are pleased with the white dragon scales, made into armour. Imagine how pleased I was when I found a thief could wear it without penalty, and it is -2AC. Even better than the Grandmaster leather, that has a permanent sort of 'haste'.

I am still using the Celestial Fury katana, with scimitar Belm in the offhand for an extra attack with the main hand (5 attacks now). However with some rather nice weapons turning up I am torn as to whether to keep Belm or put something else there. Even CF being kept in the main hand is not so much of a sure thing. Erika has proficiency in katana, mace and axe, (I never bothered with being proficient with scimitars). So, which way to go now - a good axe, a better katana, stick with what I have....I'm not sure.

 

Holy moly, how impossible to kill is that Imprisoned One at the end of Watcher's Keep? I lost count of how many times I had to reload. What a nightmare. I didn't even know it was possible for anyone to be immune to Time Stop! It was a waste of time casting Time Stop because he just waltzed up to us and whacked us while we were all waiting for Nalia to find three spells that actually made any sort of impact on him. I almost gave up and thought about going outside and just reading the damn scroll but then I remembered that I had been complaining before that some of the fights were too easy.

In the end, the only tactic that worked for us was to hide behind a wall of summons (and I discovered that there is actually a limit to how many summons you can control!). Fallen Deva, Aerial Servant, Fire Elemental, and three Skeleton Warriors kept him tied up just long enough for us to chip away with other attacks and then deal with his mates with the unpronouncable names.

Phew, so that was Watcher's Keep. Pretty cool. Now that we're about 4 levels higher and bristling with new armaments, it's time to go back to saving Saradush.

 

Did you attack the Imprisoned One directly upon entering the room, or did you have a longer conersation with him first?

 

We only killed the Imprisoned Demon second time around after talking to the Helm people first.

We’ve now been back to that Temple area after our previous troubles with the Wraiths. Resting in that area is now no longer a problem because all Arya has to do is a lay a load of snares down before sleeping and the damage done by them is so powerful now that they can pretty much take out a whole pack of Devil Shades or Greater Wolf-weres without Minsc having to open his eyes.

I have to say that Thieves get the best High Level Abilities. Arya is now seriously hyperpowered with Use Any Item, Assassinate, and Spike Trap. Once snares have done their work, Assassinate plus Kai is enough to kill just about anything in one or two blows. Amazing. We almost don’t need Minsc and Sarevok any more.

Anyway, after talking to Yogi Bear’s mother, we now have to go to the mountains to find some hearts.

 

If you think a Thief is overpowered HB, whatever would you say to a multi-classed Fighter/Thief now?? GWW AND Assassinate...albeit not simultaneously...what ever more could you want?

Also, be sure to keep Minsc and Sarevok around when you go to get those hearts...something tells me you'll be needing them!

 

I remember my Kensai 21/Thief 28... These were the days: (Celestial Fury+Belm+Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialisation)*Improved Haste+Assasinate: 10 attacks per round and *5 backstab bonus.
The only unconvenient thing was having to move from one opponent to another all the time(from one corpse to another, that is)