Unable to train certain skills on level up...

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I'm having my bard focus on search and disable device skills (among others). At creation I put 4 points in each (which bought me 2 skill points in each). I also put 4 points into several class skills. When I reached level 2, it would allow me to put an additional point in my class skills, but it would not allow me to use 2 points to buy one more skill point in search and disable.

My INT is 18, so after creation I had 6 points in it. But I don't think that should be an issue, because I have 8 or 9 total in alchemy and knowledge arcana, and it still allows me to train those.

Someone suggested to me that non-class skills cannot be advanced after level 1, but I cannot find that in the manual or anywhere else. All I read is that non-class skills cost twice as much to increase.

Would greatly appreciate if someone would clarify this for me.
Thanks!

UPDATE: I just found this on a site I'd never found before....
"The maximum rank in a class skill is the character’s level + 3. If it’s a cross-class skill, the maximum rank is half of that number (do not round up or down)."

So, it sounds like a level 2 bard (for example) can reach 5 in class skill, but only 2.5 in a non-class skill, which would explain my situation.

Just putting that here in case it helps someone else.

 

This is explained on the in-game help screen, and there is a tip on the load screens.
I would suggest going to character record, clicking on "information" and taking a look at the in-game documentation.
Also reading the manual, which should be in the game directory, on the CD*, and is also available for download here.

* I've had the game for almost 20 years, at the time purchasing software via download was rare for commercial software put out by professional publishing houses, but common for public domain, shareware, and freeware. Commercial sites were just starting to offer paid downloads for software.

 

In 2nd Edition the bard is a kit of the thief class. As such I never understood why the bard did not get Knock in IWD2. The manual even says that "The bard is a rogue" which they renamed the thief class to in 3E.
That said, if you do have a sorcerer or wizard (that isn't an abjurer or necromancer) in the party, take the knock spell.
It may be a sacrifice for the sorcerer, but the loot might be worth it for those few locks that you have trouble picking.

Still, you might consider trying cat's grace as an alternative to knock. Cast it on the bard before having him try to open a stubborn lock. It should give a bonus point or two to his open lock roll. Combine that with Tymora's Melody and the lingering song feat and it will be like having 2-3 extra points in open lock (+1 luck, +1 or +2 from cat's grace depending on if you get 2-3 or 4-5 extra dex. It's possible if you have an odd dex score to get a +3 bonus to your dex modifier from cat's grace alone if you are lucky and get +5 to dex. That only works if your base dex score is an odd number, if it's even your modifier will only increase by +2).

The other thing to do is if you get any dex boosting items, give them to the bard after the CHA boosting ones. Open Locks and Disable Device depend on dex scores, so boosting dex boosts your skill by +1 for every 2 points in dexterity.
If you haven't built the bard yet, consider making a high dex build, and if you have made the character, once you raise your CHA to 19 or 20 consider putting the remaining points into DEX (though you probably won't get that far before finishing the game if you started with 16 CHA. You will reach 17CHA at level 4, 18 at level 8, 19 at level 12, and 20 at level 16, thus not getting a free point until level 20).

 

Or you could just start with human rogue with those stats:
S 8
D 16
Con 12
I 16
W 8
Cha 16
And just put points into Dexterity every 4 levels. Go rogue into 3rd or 5th level taking all important rogue skills (intimidate, search, open lock, disable device, maybe alchemy) and start taking bard lvels after that.

 

I know there's Jhonen's quest in IWD1 prologue, but where's (another one) in IWD2?

 

I looked at both of these places, but could not find it. Doesn't mean I couldn't have overlooked it, but I tried to look carefully.

Really appreciate the info! I'm actually having one of my melee toons focus on opening locks.

Thanks for that great info!! I'm actually including a sorcerer as my caster, so yes, she will be taking knock for sure.

I actually made my bard S 10, D 12, C10, I 18, W 10, C16. Since he is learning a ton of skills AND serving as my talker, I figured I needed 18 in INT. I suppose I could drop my STR and WIS, but I guess I worry about my WIS saves and being able to carry anything.

 

Actually they aren't that independent, your stats give modifiers for every 2 points. 10 is the base value, every two points above or below you get a +1 for every 2 points above 10, and there's a -1 modifier to relevant skills for every 2 points below 10, starting with -1 for the 8-9 range, -2 for the 6-7 range, -3 for 4-5, -4 for 2-3, and -5 for 1 point in a stat.
So having 12 dex and 4 points in Open Locks is the same as having 18 dex and only 1 point in open locks. Ditto for CHA. Having 12 CHA and 4 points in bluff is the same as having 18 CHA and 1 point. Similarly having 18 Dex and 4 points in Open Locks is the same as having only 12 DEX and putting 7 points into it.

So having high stats means you need to invest less skill points to make those checks, since they are based on your total ability. I am drawing a blank right now, but I believe that the "Character arbitration" and the "Character record" screens show different values for the various skills, one of which shows the effective values, but I am drawing a blank on which is which and my old computer where IWD2 is installed is turned off right now (plus I don't want to dig out the CD).

 

Thanks for tossing in that link...that's interesting. I had a similar list already, but I think this may have some additional items on it. It would be great if it would tell exactly which skill each requires....or would opening those files show that?

Regarding Niles, I've made him give up drinking with only about 10 WIS, so I think it's only CHA that is needed for him.

 

Whoa! I hadn't scrolled all the way down before....thats' awesome! Thanks!

 

Bard single class is a waste if your Bard is also your thief. In that case always go Rogue 1 then Bard for the rest of the game. You’ll get max thief skills to start with. After that a Bard with high intelligence will easily handle the thief role.

 

No disagreement there. But I've already restarted my party several times to fix things, so I think I'm just going to ride this one out. It seems to work fine...a fighter (with 16 DEX) is picking up the locks skill, and the bard has just enough skill points to level search, disarm, diplomacy, bluff, pickpocket, knowledge, and alchemy consistently. However, I may switch to rogue after Bard 11....either that or sorcerer, haven't decided yet.

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to have my sorc pick up knock, or just trust that my open locks skill on my fighter will be enough to let me save that spell slot. Kinda hoping that maybe with an occasional master thievery potion and cats grace I can get by without knock....but the thought of having to leave just one chest unlocked is frankly more than I can bear.

 

Excellent! Thank you for sharing all of that!!