Too many lil elven cuties - needs advice

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 5:42 am

I'm about to make an old mistake again - I want to take both Aerie and Viconia with me.
So I'm in need of two girdles of giant strength

or, even better (since I don't want to cheat) any suggestion / advice / insight about equipment you can think of. Help!
How would you equip them? They have both the same problems... limited strength, limited weapon chioce (almost the same).
I'm in chapter two now, and I'm wondering what items should go after first ...

(My typical mistake: go to Nalia's keep, get the flail of the ages, Doh! Viconia can't wield it)

Thanks in advance for any suggestion... including weapons, armor, special items... (useful things from Item upgrade and other mods are welcome too).

genxooseven · Post by **genxooseven** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 6:06 am

Give Aerie the Girdle and get Mauler's Arm for Viconia from Bernard in the Copper Coronet. It sets STR to 18, and is a decent weapon for her throughout SoA or until you get the Gauntlets of Ogre Strength. Oh and by the time your able to make Crom, you'd find a replacement for those gloves, the Belt of Fire Giant Strength in Suldanesslar.

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 6:59 am

I know of Mauler's Arm... that's another of my typical errors... equip Mauler's Arm, give Viconia full plate... Enter ranged combat... Doh! Viconia can't walk anymore

I would like to find something trickyer...
And not only about strength, I would really like to find the best suited weapons for the two them...

ElvenKing · Post by **ElvenKing** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 7:52 am

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Best weapon for Aerie is the Staff of the Magi, coupled with the Robe of Vecna. Why? First, Aerie is a spell chucker, pure and simple. So all the benefits of the SotM are ideal for her - especially being consistently invisible. Since Aerie is often targeted due to her low HP's, the SotM frees her up somewhat. The Robe of Vecna is great for the reduction in spell casting time alone. Think about it, almost insta-cast mage AND cleric spells!
For Viconia, get her a strength belt from the Adventure Mart or do the Planar Sphere quest ASAP for the Gauntlets of Ogre Power. This way not only can Viconia wield any weaponry, she can use the heaviest shields and armour (think of all those great full and/or magical plates). Couple this with her 19 Dexterity and she gets her AC down real low - meaning that she can melee as much as you want and doesn't really have to worry too much about her lack of HP's. If necessary, give her some potions of fortitude for tough fights and HP's no longer become an issue.

Hope this helps,
ElvenKing

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 8:40 am

@ElvenKing: I agree, Viconia has the potential to make a decent fighter, both in melee and ranged combat. So it make sense to give the strength-enhancing items to her.

Aerie is not going to wear armor anyway, so enhancing her strength could be unnecessary. Agreed on the Robe of Vecna...
But I prefer to give the Staff of the Magi to Jan or Imoen, which can put it to best use while scouting and looking for traps and, in Jan's case, actually use it in melee (due to better thac0) to dispel things.
Actually, I'm wondering why Aerie should bother using any weapon at all! She has many combat spells... why bother slinging bullets at something (that she most likely won't hit...)
I would like to give her a weapon with protection properties, but not the Staff of the Magi yet. You know, I'm in chapter 2... (with Weimer's improved fights installed, heh)

Also, I'm wondering, what about giving Viconia proficiency in clubs? There aren't so many good hammers and maces around... No wait... Until chapter 5, there aren't *any*! (Am I correct? I mean, I don't want to give Viccy the mace of disruption... She knows how to turn undead!)

ElvenKing · Post by **ElvenKing** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 9:25 am

@ serjeLeBlade

Who are you using in your party? I could probably give you some ideas once you tell me who you have. I find some of the good weapons fit certain NPC's perfectly...

ElvenKing

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 9:43 am

The party I would like to put together by chapter 4 is the following:

Half-Elven Ranger/Cleric (me... and The Flail and The Hammer are *mine*)

Minsc (turned into true Barbarian... why rangers with odd rage abilities? And then we've got a ranger already!)
Viconia
Aerie
Mazzy
Yoshimo to be replaced with Imoen (still we have a plan to save him... if it works.... doh! We'll run out of space)

Koveras · Post by **Koveras** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 4:05 pm

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade
The party I would like to put together by chapter 4 is the following:

Half-Elven Ranger/Cleric (me... and The Flail and The Hammer are *mine*)
Minsc (turned into true Barbarian... why rangers with odd rage abilities? And then we've got a ranger already!)
Viconia
Aerie
Mazzy
Yoshimo to be replaced with Imoen (still we have a plan to save him... if it works.... doh! We'll run out of space)

I think having 2 clerics is not a good idea since clerics get so many spells that you don't need a another cleric. But that's just my opinion, if you like elven cuties

, then go for it.

In fact, right now in my game, the only priest is my ranger cleric.

Silvanerian · Post by **Silvanerian** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 5:11 pm

If you equip Viconia with the strength gloves or muelers arm as another poster mentioned and the girdle of fortitude and she'll be harder to kill.
The girdle increases your constitution to 18 for 8 hours once per day.
It is found at:

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

on the corps of Gaal, highpriest of the unseeing. (In his lair in the sewers - accept his quest of finding the other half of the rod and betray him).

-Syl.

JackOfClubs · Post by **JackOfClubs** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 5:14 pm

Loan Viconia the Gauntlets until it is time to make Crom Feyr. At that point you will have defeated most of the tough opponents and also there will be plenty of alternatives to heavy armor (magic armor tends to be lighter than its non-magical version, plus you can find lots of stackable protection rings, cloaks, helms, etc.)

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about Vic's strength. Her high dexterity makes her an excellent archer with a good sling. Give the Girdle of Hill Giant Strenght to Mazzy and you have three good front-liners which is one more that you need in the late game.

Koveras · Post by **Koveras** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 6:45 pm

Originally posted by JackOfClubs
Loan Viconia the Gauntlets until it is time to make Crom Feyr. At that point you will have defeated most of the tough opponents and also there will be plenty of alternatives to heavy armor (magic armor tends to be lighter than its non-magical version, plus you can find lots of stackable protection rings, cloaks, helms, etc.)

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about Vic's strength. Her high dexterity makes her an excellent archer with a good sling. Give the Girdle of Hill Giant Strenght to Mazzy and you have three good front-liners which is one more that you need in the late game.

Yeah, but imo giving Viccy the hammer is not a good option. For her, you only get 1 attack per round. You could've given it to a the ranger cleric. THis is unless you don't have anybody with hammer proficiencies except for Viccy.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 8:00 pm

"Best weapon for Aerie is the Staff of the Magi"

equip, then go into room full of lesser undead, does NOT work on liches with smarter mages installed, and turn undead...watch them blow up...

best armor for viccy is upgraded human skin, with its obscene magic resistance added to hers it makes her immune to magic with some more items...

best weapon for viccy is fulcrum club with item upgrade, adds +5 to clubs...or give to jahiera if you get her...

evil trick,

have aerie equipp fulcrum in off hand, cast black blade, cast draw on holy might, and righteous magic, cast improved haste and tensors in a spell trigger, turns her into a pure killer for a few rounds,,,,

black blade adds temp grandmastery in swords, fulcrum in clubs for the off hand hit...

aberrant80 · Post by **aberrant80** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 9:40 pm

Originally posted by Koveras
I think having 2 clerics is not a good idea since clerics get so many spells that you don't need a another cleric. But that's just my opinion, if you like elven cuties , then go for it.

In fact, right now in my game, the only priest is my ranger cleric.

yep, agreed. too many clerics. 2 is more than enough, 3 is plain waste. since ur actually so into melee combat (u wanted to wield the flail and crom), might as well go for single-classed ranger for faster levelling up.

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 5:17 am

First of all, thanks for all the replies and suggestions!

Second... I know that this isn't "the perfect party". In fact, I clearly stated that I'm making an error taking both Aerie and Viconia in the first post.
(Anyway, thanks to all those agreeing with me on the matter!)

The three clerics are there for different purposes and roles, and no one of them will (ever) go away from the current party. Going to explain the reasons:

PC: Undestructable front-line juggernaut. (Ironskins+Draw upon holy might being the lowest level of buffing... ) Simply put, no one else can do it.
Plus, If I go away the game won't work I guess

Viconia: Priestishly things. Control undead. High-level clerical spells. Magic registance. The other two (PC, Aerie) have none of that. Plus, added Imoen-romance value.
Aerie: The awesome combo cheese that's available to no other than her

And again, addition to Imoen-romance interactions.

Now browsing all the posts...

@Silvanerian: thank you for reminding me where the Girdle of Fortitude is! Going to do the quest of the Unseeing Eye at once. Fine

@JackOfClubs: Give the Girdle to Mazzy? Get serious! She can boost her strenght to 18+ by herself wich would become 19 with the Improved Sword of Arworeen... It would make as much sense as to wear the girdle myself (str 18/00)

Sorry, I prefer to give stats-enhancing items to the characters that actually need them badly... (only mho anyway)
@User: I was partially aware of the fact that Viccy could have appreciated the Human Flesh Armor as a present...

But we're no evil party, so maybe poor Viccy's out of luck...
Still, I can't stand Adalon, I actually wish I could kill her more and more every time I meet her... she gets on my nerves... so maybe this time...
I will see how Viccy behaves with Immy... If she'll be nice to us, maybe she'l get "some" reward

@User again (more important): Fulcrum? Why not Pitchwife instead? I usually choose Pitchwife. Is Fulcrum good for some special trick? Tell me, tell me please... !

As a side note, no one is telling me of weapons to give to Aerie other than the Staff of the Magi! (Which I want to, and *WILL*, give to Immy instead!)
And which I suspect she would steal anyway if I don't...

ElvenKing · Post by **ElvenKing** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 8:49 am

@ serjeLeBlade - I'm sorry about not having much in the way of advice. It looks like you are using weapons and mods I am unfamiliar with so chances are you have the ability to get some weapons that are even better than those in the game! However, in Aerie's case if you don't have a good Quarterstaff to give her why not give her the Staff Mace +2? It's good for the earlier parts of the game, it goes with her Quarterstaff proficiency AND it acts as one handed - which means you can let Aerie equip a nice small shield to drop her AC a few points. Something she desperately needs to protect those few HP's...

ElvenKing

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 9:40 am

Originally posted by ElvenKing
It looks like you are using weapons and mods I am unfamiliar with so chances are you have the ability to get some weapons that are even better than those in the game!

This stands absolutely true. I'm playing an heavily modded game, with both weapons and opponents way more powerful than the standard ones.... Weimer's crew doing.
(As a side note, some of the most wonderful weapon -say the Staff of the Magi- are held by the aforementioned most powerful opponents -Improved Twisted Rune, heh- .... which incidentally prevents me from grabbing them in chapter 2)

I'm aware that those factors could change the game dynamics very much ...
(But that's exactly the reason why I chose to install the mods in the first place!)

Thinking about how far Aerie could go using just MM and MMM.... mmhhh whole game maybe?

I want to try, it could work.
Saving some money this way... we're still low on cash...

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 9:49 am

(As a side note, some of the most wonderful weapon -say the Staff of the Magi- are held by the aforementioned most powerful opponents -Improved Twisted Rune, heh- .... which incidentally prevents me from grabbing them in chapter 2)

Yes, if you mean in chronological order. No, if you take into account that you can play later chapters, then return (in effect) to chapter two, and wallop the nine hells out of 'em.

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 10:07 am

Originally posted by fable
Yes, if you mean in chronological order. No, if you take into account that you can play later chapters, then return (in effect) to chapter two

That's just "Athkatla"! Not "chapter two"!

, and wallop the nine hells out of 'em.

(...which was exactly what I was planning to do...)

@User: still trying to guess... about Fulcrum... Do you mean it works like the Equalizer? If used off-hand the "alignment" damage adds to the main hand weapon too?

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 3:09 am

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade
And which I suspect she would steal anyway if I don't...

Lovely, isn't she?

(oh, how could they arrest Wynona Rider???
There's no more justice

)

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Fri Nov 08, 2002 9:55 pm

Bone Club
Gnasher
15,000 Gold
Fulcrum +4
+4 damage to Good/Evil/Lawful/Chaotics (cumulative)
shards: 2/round for 4 rounds, Grand Mastery in Clubs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

it should give you the benefits of the eqalizer, but its the grandmastery i like....

a cleric has only one star in clubs, with this one she becomes a grandmaster in clubs...with higher thaco and to hit bonuses....and half attack per round...