The merits of a halfling

TheHalflingBarb · Post by **TheHalflingBarb** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 2:09 am

i have to say, my newest character - a halfling barbarian - is the single best killing machine i have tried so far (out of melee fighters that is... not crazy fighter/clerics etc).

im not sure what his magical resistance is... but i have only failed to save once against a spell. while weilding lilicor and gloves of ogre strength he is an absolute riot. i previously tried a half-orc barbarian and he was constantly getting rooted with what seemed like terrible magical resistance. his strength bonus is negligable as seeing as i planned on soloing, i would have a lot of money very quickly and buying the gauntlets would happen all too soon. CON is only applicable to certain level isnt it? like after a certain level doesnt matter how high ur con is, fighters will all get a certain amount of hp's per level?

anyway... there is no real point to this post i guess... just want to make people aware that halfling barbarians are a LOT of fun to play whilst also being highly powerful tanks. i think the idea of a tiny little guy wieldin a huge talking sword whilst slaying rogues, demons and undead alike is absolutely hilarious!

i think i have to lay off the turps =\

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 3:00 am

Yeah! Halflings rule! Mine makes an excellent swashbuckler.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 4:46 am

thier saves at high level is great, but an elf with use any item, hacked into a kensai has comparable saves and around 95% magic resist...

holy avenger, too good to waste on paladins,
robe of vecna
ring of gaxx
amulet of power
lums machine
hell tear.

yeah, I too tried the gnome race kit, incredible saves, and killer attacks, and quite comparable to hafling, with better int scores, but lacking the poison saves. well guess what, the ring of gaxx makes you immune to poison...

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 5:07 am

Halflings are simply great and they make superb fighter thieves. Their thieving skills are the best of all races, especially with DEX 19. With all those STR-boosting items in the game their strength limitation doesn't matter much. My halfling f/t is dual wielding short swords (Mask +4 and Arbane +2) and with the cloak of nondetection he's a real backstab monster.

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 8:00 am

I've been meaning to ask this and now's a good time as any: what's a better choice, the swashbucklerkit or the fighter/thief multiclass? Swashbucklers can't backstab (well, they can but there's no multiplier) but f/t levels up slower. Then again, f/t can have two strongholds.

Sojourner · Post by **Sojourner** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 9:11 am

I've compared the swashie against a f/t and found that they were comparable. With all things being equal:

A swashbuckler will gain levels faster, and thus will net more thieving skill points. His THACO is comparable, and is actually slightly better at higher levels. His AC ends up being superior due to the bonuses.

A fighter/thief, on the other hand, has more attacks per round and can backstab. Being a multi-class, he will gain high-level abilities (ToB) sooner.

They gain weapon proficiency points at about the same rate. I'd say, if you don't care about backstabbing, play a swashie. If you like backstabbing, play a fighter/thief. If you're a backstabbing fanatic, play an assassin.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 9:40 am

Shame about the wisdom

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 12:52 pm

I'd personally go f/t for benefits of getting fighter HLA if you have ToB installed and the better hit dice plus the HP bonus if CON > 16. The possibility of specializing in other weapons than those a thief can use has certain advantages too (mace and war hammer come to mind, if you're powergaming maybe two-handed swords, but imagine a halfling with a two handed sword ...).

The swashbucklers big benefit is clearly AC. Backstab is fun, but it's absence won't really limit you.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 1:35 pm

think korgy with grand mastery in two handed, seems the animation seems to hit as much or more than typical animation for two handed, elves... or half orcs or human...

is it just me, or is the idea of a little dude whacking a dragon with giant sword funny...

Aragorn Returns · Post by **Aragorn Returns** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 6:54 pm

oh boy, assassins kick some serious butt, i'm using Celestial Fury with my assassin, he isn't even at a very high level but he is still backstabbing at x6 and going for over 150 damage with a critical hit. when he gets to higher multiplier it will be insane, also, the celestial fury does some other crazy damage stuff and i'm killing just about everything with one backstab.

ONE QUESTION:
Someone mentioned earlier that with a f/t you could get two strongholds. i've played all the way through the game 4 times. once i was a kensai/mage, i did the fighter stronghold first and took it, but then when i did the mage stronghold i didn't have the option of taking it, is there some glitch that i can abuse? how can you get more than one stronghold?

General · Post by **General** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 8:33 pm

There is a glitch with the fighter stronghold where you do it first, decline to take it, go get your other stronghold and then go back to get the fighter one. I tried it but I couldn't get it to work for some reason.

MegaToerist · Post by **MegaToerist** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 4:05 am

Two Strongholds

To get the two strongholds, do this:

- Talk to Nalia in CC and accept the quest
- Go to the De'Arnise keep
- Talk to Nalia again
- Enter the keep and kill Torgal
- Go back outside but do NOT talk to Nalia again; talking to her ruins it all!
- Do all appropriate quests for your other stronghold, and accept it
- Go back to De'Arnise keep and talk to Nalia
- Accept the keep as your stronghold

De'Arnise Keep is the only stronghold you can do this with, because it's the only quest where the completion and offering of the stronghold don't occur at the same time...

TC, Geert

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 5:12 am

Well, all I did was talking to Nalia and accepting the quest (to avoid that she talks to me every time I enter CC), then getting the thief stronghold, then I went to de Arnise and did anything that's required, talked to Nalia, got the second stronghold.

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 9:07 am

I love halflings too! I played a halfling barbarian once and he used slings, darts and daggers hehe. I thought he was going to be weak but really he wasn't so when you are using the really good weapons I can see how they can become really powerful.
On the thief issue I used to love swashbucklers and I still do but lately I have come to realise just how useful backstab is. I am currently playing a trio with an assassin an archer and a sorceror through soa and tob. And the assassin is very handy at taking out the strongest enemy before they react to you. It is especially useful to have your entire team able to hide or go invisible and this team can. I am backstabbing with the upgraded staff of the ram and wearing the belt of fire giant strength, plus the benefits in hell and I have 24 strength so I have a decent thaco. Staff of the ram is by far the best weapon in the bg2. With the gauntlets of extraordinary skill and boots of speed I have two attacks per round so I can hold my own after the initial backstab aswell.
An poison weapon can be very useful too so overall a very cool cgaracter is the assassin. And oh by the way, I am a halfling!!

its me · Post by **its me** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 2:12 pm

I'm playing a halfling chaotic good swashbuckler, with a good/ neutral party. will they complain if i take thief stronghold?

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 3:21 pm

Nope, they only complain if they don't like your rep. This is not a big problem for good groups, because it's easy to buy rep increase - but it's impossible to buy rep decrease. Killing innocent people to get a rep decrease is a little too hardcore even for many evil chars ...

its me · Post by **its me** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 12:44 pm

oops i do that when jaheria whines about rep being too high

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 1:49 pm

(spoilerish)

No need to do so. Neutral characters don't break because of high rep, only evil ones do and only with a rep of 19 or 20. If you're not acting too good, you get the slayer transformation ability before that point, slayer change drains rep.

truthseeker · Post by **truthseeker** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 7:54 pm

I saw this thread about Halflings and I wanted to throw in my 2 cents. I have been using a Halfling fighter (plain fighter). At first I thought it would make for a weak fighter, but I have been having a lot of fun with what has become a very tough little warrior. I have 3 or 4 **** in daggers and short sword, a few *** in dual wield. With Frost giant belt, boots of speed, red dragon armor, the little guy runs around shredding enemies with bone blade and kundane (5 attacks/round, low thac0 -this guy rarely misses). He's like a little cuisinart!! He and Mazzy are my primary tanks and I put a few *** in spears for her. For some reason i thinks its really funny to see this little half-pint duo running around kicking butt where ever they go. Like munckins on steroids!! Halflings rock!

samcu · Post by **samcu** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 10:18 pm

I will definately choose fighter/thief, because who needs 2000 points in thief skills anyway. Besides, the fighter abilities are awesome when combined with thief's.

I am not sure whether using greater whirlwind when backstab will work? What about critical strike and backstab?