Valygar - potential?

Lost One · Post by **Lost One** » Thu May 23, 2002 9:51 am

Hi,
I have a party of four characters - me (dwarf barbarian), Valygar, Viconia and Jan (though I will replace him with Imoen because I hate turnips

) and I've been wondering about Valygar's usefulness in my party mostly.
Most people don't seem to include Valygar in their parties, and I don't quite see why...so far, he's been the best scout, never fails a hide, and has the ability to sneak upon any creature and attack like a fighting monk would. He also seems a likeable person, and a lot less dumb & stupid than Minsc

(I hate Boo for taking over 5-extra-healing-potions-life-saving-slot)

But still, does he have real potential? I have basic questions over his:

1. Choice of Weapons
2. Armor
3. Backstabbing

By the end of SOA, what weapons should he be using for efficiency (are spears/katanas any good? if not, what WPs should he invest on when he acquires them?), is there better armor for him than Corthala Family Armor, and is his backstabbing of much worth? (i haven't used it yet because he hasn't been using the appropriate weapons...weird..considering an assassin I had could backstab with just about anything..)

So...to make a long story short, what do you critics make of him?

Leonardo · Post by **Leonardo** » Thu May 23, 2002 10:03 am

I took him with me through my first SoA run (Inquisitor, Minsc, Valgyar, Jaheira, Aerie, Imoen). Great character, really solid in battle and not annoying. Unfortunately, he didn't make the cut to ToB because he was replaced by a certain NPC in there... it was a choice between changing him or Minsc, and well, Minsc had been with me since Nashkel...
He used the Corthala armor for the entire game, and dual wielded katanas. He used a spear for a while, but since he could not backstab with it I gave up. The good point with the spear is that he could also use a longbow, which he can't do while dual-wielding without heavy inventory management.
The backstab can only be done with weapons a thief can use: daggers, shortswords, longswords, katanas...

Thrar · Post by **Thrar** » Thu May 23, 2002 11:01 am

the backstab problem is the family blade, which cannot b used for that. i believe there is a fix for that somewhere, dunno where tho.
if u dont have anyone else for katanas, valygar is excellent with CF. his armor is probably the best NPC item in game, u might trade the resists for some more AC from shadow dragon scales, however i think u will get low enough AC anyway.
when i used him last time, acid katana wasnt invented, so i went dualwielding CF with longswords. boots of speed, and u have a very nice scout with very nasty backstab attack.
imo, valy is one of the best fighter chars around, not straightforward like korgan or keldorn (he would kill me for mentioning him 2 words after that dwarf ^_^), but with extremely useful additional abilities/spells. go in, backstab, run around corner, cloak, go in, backstab, repeat til everyone is dead, preferably with cloak of non-detection (mages can b so easy...).
i think he had like 60% of kills in party, even tho my PC was monk.

Lost One · Post by **Lost One** » Thu May 23, 2002 11:41 am

it's good to see you managed to make good use of Valygar in your party, Thrar, because I'm betting my hopes on him (in TOB too, if I finish SOA..

) I hate annoying berserker types like Minsc and Korgan - YES, they're pretty good fighters, but when it comes to finesse, they are totally lacking...besides, when I had Minsc, he turned on my characters a few times when using his berseker schmerker. He is so mad, I would probably classify him as CHAOTIC NEUTRAL rather than whatever he is...

Anyways, barbarian rage is sooo much better.
btw, what's CF? Crom Faeyr? and thx for clarifying the backstab problem with his blade...i thought something smelled...turnipy.

island007 · Post by **island007** » Thu May 23, 2002 11:53 am

Hi,

First off I like Val. He can tank and dual weilding katanas is awesome. He is an excellent scout and his backstab is good. Celestial Fury is a natural for him.

Spoiler (Celestial Fury is in the Gaurded compound in the temple district. You have to go upstairs and fight for it. It is the best katan in the game, I would even say the best overall weapon in the game. Others may place it lower, but it is diffently in the top five.

His family armor is good .

Thanks

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Thu May 23, 2002 12:16 pm

Spoiler:

A big advantage that a lot of people may overlook is that his armour also protects against Charm spells, has numerous other protections and is one of the lowest AC values for leather armour in the game.

Kassaras · Post by **Kassaras** » Thu May 23, 2002 2:42 pm

CF is Celestial Fury one of the best weapons in SoA(many woud say THE best weapon)
As for Valygar
He is a pretty good fighter although a little depressing with that mumbling!
He has always the highest percentage of kills in my parties.
The only problem is that his AC is a little high and he seems to be failing every single save!!!!!

Melondar · Post by **Melondar** » Thu May 23, 2002 3:19 pm

In my game, I use Valygar as a scout and an archer most of the time, because I usually let Korgan and Minsc tank. My main character will shoot arrows in dangerous battles and dual wield his blade of roses and dragonslayer in ones where he isnt likely to be killed. Valygar usually gets killed more quickly then Minsc, Korgan or my main character anyway though so I mostly just let him plunk arrows.

Archeron · Post by **Archeron** » Thu May 23, 2002 7:14 pm

Valygar is probably the best NPC compromise, in my party I always had him running in just after my two tanks (keldorn and Korg). He scores high damage with CF which takes a lot of pressure of the two big boys. I tend to have him when I'm playing as a Mage etc, someones got to wield CF!

Korgan=hamme, axes
Keldorn=Carsomyr
Valygar=CF + long swords

Another tatic I used with V was to keep him at the back of my party to protect my vulnerable mages to avoid re-loading when assissins or pesky thieves tried to back stab my weak characters. This way he could join the battle if all was clear or use arrows of piercing or bitting (which is like having another mage) as this usually was able to interrupt many spell casters.

V is the solid alrounder and a valuable addition to any party.

Yeh, his armours pretty hot too, I had him finishing the game in it.

The Z · Post by **The Z** » Thu May 23, 2002 8:13 pm

I found Valygar hella useful throughout SoA...he was great as a tank, or an archer, and he doesn't complain at all. His personality is great, and his SoA ending speech was pretty cool ("You are none better than Lavok"). IMO his armor is awesome too....just like everyone else I had him with it the whole game.