Best of Cespenar's Recipes, and Stat bonuses (minor spoiler)

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 9:59 pm

If it would be okay to ask this in my last topic, I would have, but anyways...

1) Which of Cespenar's recipes can be considered the most important. Personally, I would think:

- Asylferund Chain (definitely for Aerie)

- Runehammer +5 (will do as a good side weapon for Anomen when it comes to taking out a few undead in some area, since he doesn't have the improve Mace of Disruption)

- Storm Star +5 (definitely a must-have for Anomen!)

- Angurvadal (for Imoen, after giving her proficiency in Long Sword a bit later on)

The thing is, which are the most important? The reason I ask this is that I'm afraid my money will run too short if I go for as many recipes as possible. For those that are wondering, my party is this:

PC (Cavalier, proficient in Long Sword, 2-Handed Sword, Bastard Sword, Flail, Sword & Shield style, and 2-Handed Weapon style)

Minsc (proficient in 2-Handed Sword, Mace, Long Bow, Axe, and max two-weapon fighting)

Sarevok (Maximum proficiency in 2-Handed Sword; also proficient in Crossbow, Halberd, and 2-Handed Weapon Style)

Anomen (Maximum proficiency in Mace; also proficient in Sling, Staff, Sword & Shield style, and club)

Imoen (currently profient in Dagger, Short Bow, Staff, Dart, and Single-Weapon style; will add Long Sword w/ the next available proficiency point)

Aerie (PC romance; proficient in War Hammer, Staff, Club, Mace, Sling, and Sword and Shield style)

Now, for the stat bonuses...

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2) Does this sound like a wise way to use up the stat bonuses from the Machine of Lum the Mad? I'm thinking of giving the Strength point to Imoen, so that she can carry a bit more when Angurvadal is not equipped. The Dex point goes to Minsc so that he normally has a slightly higher AC when he's not berserking. The Con point to Anomen (more Health points for him). The Int and Wis points to Aerie for more spells and Lore. Finally, the Cha point goes to my PC (though he already has 25 Cha with the Helm of Glory and Nymph cloak equipped along with his previous Cha enhancements)

Comments? Recommendations, anyone?

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 7:38 am

What?

I´m curious: Are you dual wielding the Mace and the Rune Hammer with Anomen?
I usually get him to kick buts with sword and shield style (dunno if that is a spoiler, so...)
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Well, I'd use him as a last resort fighter, so used to load him with restorations (greater) spells and keep him backward with the sling of everard, that shield from Shuga and blue dragons scales... lol... used to kick ass, cause when my barbarian and sarevok got hurt he would cast GRest and my party is as new as possible... hehehe.

Now, about the points... I cant tell ya, I started my char in BG2, so used them all on him to improve his deficient char, wis, and all.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 9:36 am

No, I'm not dual-wielding with Anomen. The Storm Star is going to be his primary weapon later on, while the Rune Hammer is going to be a back-up weapon in his inventory. I'm going to give him the Erinne Sling for a ranged weapon as well. I usually use the Shield of the Order with my PC (since I usually like to have Anomen equip his personal shield for the sake of it being his).

The thing is that I need to know which recipes are the most important for this party, in case I don't have enough money for all of them.

Does this clarify things?

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:37 am

My 2 gold worth...

Warning: the following is opinion, feel free to ignore it or disagree with me as violently as you please:

Dump shields on any serious fighters (mostly - exceptions for special weapons & special fights) - the weaker creatures will hardly hit you much anyway, stronger ones will hit you whatever AC you have - dual wield or use two handers. Virtually NOTHING in ToB will make any serious attacks with normal missiles, so the Delryn shield can take a break (though that was a darn handy ability earlier on)

The armour is certainly nice.

Anyway, I'm assuming you don't have the item upgrade mod, and I can't in any case remember all the itemswhich are only available with that. Weapons which are upgradable I've noted with a +.

I hate to say it, but if I were you I'd consider modifying a few of my proficiencies with SK or some such, I think you're a bit heavy on maces and two handed swords and I'd reassign as follows (with weapons associated)

PC- Cavalier - Proficiency 2HS, two handed weapons, Axe (gives you a decent ranged attack

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Using: Carsomyr+, Azuredge+ (though you'd have to use SK to summon the ilithium, and I think you need Item upgrades for that one), Axe of the Unyielding+,K'logarth,

Minsc - Spear, Flails (Longsword or Katana are also options), Dual wield, two hand weapon, Longbow
Using: Impaler+, Ixil's spike+, Flail of Ages+, Ice Star, Defender of Easthaven, some nice bow
If you really want 2HS for MInsc, maybe use the Silver sword, and I think there's another nice two hander you can pick up in ToB

Sarevok - as is
Using: Soul Reaver+(?), Unholy Avenger, Silver Sword, Dragonbreath, Ravager+, some crossbow

Anomen - Hammers max, dual wield(2), quarterstaff (remainder), sling(1)
Using: Crom Faeyr+(?), Runehammer+, Staff of the Ram+, any old sling

Imoen - as is
Using: Staff of Magi, Firetooth, Gesen bow or the other nice shorty (Teleomortis?), Angurduval+

Aerie - as is
Using: Mauler's arm 90% of the time for 18 STR, best sling, MoDisruption around undead (for Neg.planes prot., mostly), a good shield

So, the critical upgrades, for my money, would be:
Asylferund Chain
Carsomyr
Axe of the Unyielding
Ixil's Spike
Flail of Ages
Runehammer
Staff of the Ram
Angurduval

Obviously, any which aren't available can be dropped

With a melee power party like that, I'd definitely put Sir A in the front line - with decent regen (you do have regeneration rings right?), healing will not be needed much, and those four can likely turn most monsters into sushi in pretty short order, with Aeria and Immie mostly just supporting with ranged attacks, taking out mage protections, and the like.

As to Lumification points, highlight to see.

STR - two choices, accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative. If you have ok STR on your casters (Immie with Angurduval, Aerie with Mauler's Arm) then you can give it to a frontline fighter - obviously not whoever wields Carsomyr
CHA - PC is fine, season to taste
WIS - give it to Aerie or Anomen, whoever will get the most benefit from extra spells
CON to the fighter who will benefit most - you are using the Girdle of fortitude, right?
DEX to the fighter who will gain the most AC (remember, Dex above 18, takes multiple points to get any benefit)
INT to Imoen, she should be your main Arcane spellcaster

Have fun!

LizardWizard · Post by **LizardWizard** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 6:03 pm

Are you that concerned about running out of gold? If you sell most of the magic weapons and armor you find, you should have plenty. The expense of upgrades is trivial compared to buying scrolls; I think a better question would be which spells to buy.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:07 pm

Originally posted by LizardWizard
Are you that concerned about running out of gold? If you sell most of the magic weapons and armor you find, you should have plenty. The expense of upgrades is trivial compared to buying scrolls; I think a better question would be which spells to buy.

I've been selling some things I have stashed away anyways, mainly to make room in my Bag of Holding! So many items, so little hope to use some of them!

Spells are not as much a problem. So far, it seems like I've got the right spells at the moment.

Still, the value of what I sell may not be enough to cover all the available recipes. I'll have to and judge for myself, I guess.

koz-ivan · Post by **koz-ivan** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 11:09 am

re money - there is plenty of it to be found in tob, if you are a real packrat you'll have millions in gold by the end.

re: shields - i treat shields like i examine weapons for dual wielding, some have benefits that make them great choices for the off hand, fire resistance ect ect. i rarely use a "vanilla" + shield.

re: weapons, id orderthem just as you did:

1 chain mail
2 runehammer
3 storm star (could be put off for later since anomen is also good w/ hammers)
4 the sword... (could be delayed even more since it's really a backup weapon, imoen should not be charging into melee)

re stats:

looks decent, just be careful w/ anomen, some of his stats are hard coded and won't be increased, i think it's only his wisdom but i may be mistaken.

you might want to consider giving the +1 str to minsc - gives him "hill giant" strength, and that girdle could go to imoen and she can then carry a lot more.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 11:40 am

Originally posted by koz-ivan
re money - there is plenty of it to be found in tob, if you are a real packrat you'll have millions in gold by the end.

re: shields - i treat shields like i examine weapons for dual wielding, some have benefits that make them great choices for the off hand, fire resistance ect ect. i rarely use a "vanilla" + shield.

re: weapons, id orderthem just as you did:

1 chain mail
2 runehammer
3 storm star (could be put off for later since anomen is also good w/ hammers)
4 the sword... (could be delayed even more since it's really a backup weapon, imoen should not be charging into melee)

re stats:

looks decent, just be careful w/ anomen, some of his stats are hard coded and won't be increased, i think it's only his wisdom but i may be mistaken.

you might want to consider giving the +1 str to minsc - gives him "hill giant" strength, and that girdle could go to imoen and she can then carry a lot more.

Well, I've equipped Imoen w/ the Girdle of Piercing in order to giver her better protection from various attacks, and that has been a life-saver. Overall, I can't risk lowering her weapon protections, or otherwise she may become bait for various attacks. Angurvadal sounds like the answer (along with the Strength point from the MoLTM.

Also, Minsc's strength seems to be sufficient right now, so that doesn't seem to be an issue.

koz-ivan · Post by **koz-ivan** » Thu Oct 16, 2003 11:45 am

have imoen keep a stoneshield up, and mirror image ready to cast, she'll be fine w/o the belt, also consider protection from missles & the like.

jeremiah · Post by **jeremiah** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:58 am

Minsc starts out with 16 dexterity. Adding one dexterity point DOES NOT change his AC (only even numbered stats to 18 will result in AC improvement then it takes more dex stat points to increase AC).

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 2:53 pm

Originally posted by jeremiah
Minsc starts out with 16 dexterity. Adding one dexterity point DOES NOT change his AC (only even numbered stats to 18 will result in AC improvement then it takes more dex stat points to increase AC).

That's not what I remember with AD&D (IoW, second Edition). When I gave my Paladin (who started out with 16 Dex in BG1) the tome of Dexterity, he did gain a bonus point to his Armor Class for it. I also remember the manuals for BG1 and BG2 showing the structure of AC bonuses based on Dexterity, with the minimal bonus being at 15 (only +1). Dex 19 and 20 don't add to Armor Class, but 21 does.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but this is what I remember from not long ago. Okay?

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 4:25 pm

Aw, C'mon

Be harsh.

Give into your hate, Luke

The Z · Post by **The Z** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:57 pm

Originally posted by jeremiah
Minsc starts out with 16 dexterity. Adding one dexterity point DOES NOT change his AC (only even numbered stats to 18 will result in AC improvement then it takes more dex stat points to increase AC).

In the Baldur's Gate series, AC bonus from dexterity goes like this:
15: -1 to AC
16: -2 to AC
17: -3 to AC
18: -4 to AC

jeremiah · Post by **jeremiah** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 10:21 am

Originally posted by The Z
In the Baldur's Gate series, AC bonus from dexterity goes like this:
15: -1 to AC
16: -2 to AC
17: -3 to AC
18: -4 to AC

My bad, too much time playing IWD2 LOL and 3rd edition.

lompo · Post by **lompo** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 4:05 am

Re: My 2 gold worth...

Originally posted by nephtu
Warning:
Sarevok - as is
Using: Soul Reaver+(?), Unholy Avenger, Silver Sword, Dragonbreath, Ravager+, some crossbow

What is the Unholy Avenger? I've never heard of that sword.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 9:40 am

Aha

the Unholy Avenger is in the tactics mod - well, actually it's in the original game, I believe, but undroppable - used by Githyanki Anti-Paladins, it's essentially an evil version of Carsomyr. A nice sword for Sarevok

lompo · Post by **lompo** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 10:12 am

For the point distribution I would suggest:

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Strenght - give it to a fighter, it will raise his str. to 19 and with the possible extra point from deck of many things you can get to 20!!.
You should have 3 str. enhancing belt plus Crom (or 4 belts plus gauntlets of 18.00), so the 19 str. belt can go to Aerie/Imoen;
Ther is no real benefit to raise the str. of a spellcaster from 9-10 to 10-11, and Anomen should be using Crom (and also can't have his str. raised via deck of many things); Also what is the use to give Imoen a long sword, she should use SoM and at the most a bow when is not casting spells, and if you need some str. for her use the spell Strenght tha last for a long time!

Dexterity - consider to give the point to Imoen, she will benefit both for the thieving skills and for her ranged attack roll (she is using a bow isn't she?), or eventually to Aerie for raising her AC and her ranged attack roll (she is using a sling isn't she?).
The better ranged Thac0 for those two char. is a good thing, while and extra point of Ac to a front line fighter in ToB is not very important (monster will hit you the same) and a front line fighter will not use often a ranged weapon (and he has a goog Thac0 anyway).

Wisdom - has to go to Aerie to raise her wisdom for better results on spell wish (Imoen has a low wisdom for the needs of the spell);

Intelligence - should go to Aerie, so she can cast the higer lev. spells (you can raise Imoen int. via joun stones, while Aerie can use the helms)

Constitution - to any of the fighters that hasn't 18

Charisma - to the leader of the group (so you can change the cloack that raise Cha. from your pCavalier and use something more effective)