Best quest order?

[HideYourFace]

Since im not that experienced i got to ask you all 'nerds'. Just kiddin'.

So, when i first come out of the irenicus prison i use to walk into the tent where aerie is and do that quest whatever its called. So, where do i go then?

Suppose i play a 2-memb.party FMT and jaheira...

Which quests is good to start with? the easy first ones..
dearnise keep...

but after that?

Thankful for answers....

Cya!

[Ian Kognitow]

*minor spoilers on general quest details*











I would recommend:

(1) all the stuff around the copper coronet. This includes the slaving quest and the Lilarcor mini-quest.

(2) Tanner quest around the Bridge District

(3) Since you have Jaheira, you should probably be well off enough to go do both parts of the trademeet/druid grove quest. You may want to avoid the Trolls however.

(4) Mini-quests around trademeet. These would include the aristocrat feud and the back-end of the tanner quest.

(5) Shadow-Thief stronghold. You may want to at least start this earlier as there is an area where you can get easy experience points unlocking stuff. With only two characters it would not be insignificant.

After completing these, you should be powerful enough to go about the other quests reasonably enough in any order. If you don't mind taking NPCs on a temporary basis, you can do Korgan's quest for some reasonable experience.

[CUE]

Jaheira's curse quest is easy enough.

Also, the harper quests take a long time, so getting them started early is a good thing.

I would do the D'Arnise keep before the thief or mage stronghold so you can do the multiple stronghold trick.

I agree with Ian Kognitow about doing the Bridge district murder quest early. Perhaps not before the ones above as I recall there is a mean fight or two involved, but defineately before going to Trademeet for plot purposes.

[UncleScratchy]

I agree with the above recommendations. Having played F/M/T with only Jaheira a couple of times I would add that you will find your party advancing at a very nice pace. Consider that a F/M/T equates to 3 single class chars in the party and Jaheira as 2 single class chars. So you really want to stick to the small party. You can equip yourselves with the best available stuff - belts of strength, high quality armor, etc. With this kind of party I want to be thinking of which quest will get me some good equipment fast. A good test of your abilities is to take on the Pebblecrusher gang before leaving Waukeen's Promenade. It can be done and its very satisfying. Do the circus first if you like so you can get the ring of Human Influence. Pebblecrusher is tough but the equipment, xps and money you make from it will get you going. As a F/M/T you will want the Vecna Robe as early as possible plus the gauntlets that set your AC to 3. Since you can't steal them you will need lots of cash fast. Also you will want the belt of 18 STR for Jaheira - all these come from the Adventurer's Mart. Jaheira can get at least 3 or 4 excellent items just doing Trademeet/Druid Grove (a couple of scimitars, a couple of nice clubs, a nice shield, etc.), so plan on doing it fairly early. You might consider paying the 15K to the thieves fairly early so you can get into the secret thief's areas and get the amulet of power. As a Thief you will eventually get UAI special ability - that means being able to use some bard only or dwarf only equipment so don't be to eager to sell it all off (thinking of some nice harps, armor, throwing hammer, etc.). Staff of the Magi and Ring of Gaxx should be fairly high on you list as well - at least before going to Bynnlaw (simulcrum plus scrolls of Protection from Magic, staff of Rynn, a few insect plagues, etc. should let you do these). Besides Trademeet do everything you can in Athkatla. You won't get mush of anything decent in de'Arnise Hold that you can use but if you want two strongholds than you could do this first, but don't commit to Nalia to become the new lord. Then do the Mae'var quest, get that stronghold and go back to Nalia and tell her you accept. A bug in the game allows you to do this and get the fighter stronghold as well. Also pick up as many side quests for NPCs as possible. Pick up Anomen, and drop him again immediately - same for Jan. This gets the game clock going for both of their personal quests. Pick them up again later and hopefully their quests will have triggered. If I play just a F/M/T and Jaheira, I like to pick up Immy and keep her to the end of the game. By then your first two chars will be very formidable and Immy will quickly become an uber-mage.

[CUE]

Concerning equipment here are some other recommendations for the early game: (please excuse any incorrect names)

Jaheira: Mace of strength in the Copper Coronet

FMT: Elven Chainmail in Trademeet (in case you can't afford the Robe of Vecna)

FMT: Dakkon's Zerth Blade in the Adventurers mart.

FMT: Valygar's armour.

Also, for some reason everyone here has suggest that you do the fighter's and thief's strongholds. I think that the fighter's and the mage's would be more fun and give better items.

[Thrain]

essentially the fighter an theif strongholds do the same thing - earn money. i really like the mage stronghold, but if you have jaheira, you will get enough rings of wizardy anyway.

jaheira can't use the mauler's arm (although this is a perfect weapon for viccy if you take her) but i would recommend the staff of rhynn from the adventurer's mart

[mikeyboypdx]

My quest orders

Depends on your party. I usually go with two tanks, two mages (usually one dual-classed to cleric, one dual-classed to thief), one "pure" cleric type (anomen, e.g), and then whatever I'm playing for my main character (have completed TOB with all classes, most interesting/fun was probably, strangely enough, bard....bards actually get pretty tough at about level 25, but i digress).

If you have a couple of mages, most lucrative place to start early on, hands down, is d'Arnise Hold. Then from there, I do the piddly stuff in the Copper Coronet (Lilarcor, etc). Then I usually do the graveyard quests, both inside and outside.

If you plan on doing this route, though, you might want to check my SPOILERS below....otherwise you'll probably be crushed like small bug.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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1. Not really a spoiler, but the trolls at d'Arnise hold go down very quickly if you have two mages hittin' with acid arrow

2. If you're going to do the cemetary quests, take a moment to hasten up your best thief, have him quaff a potion of thievery, and have him run into the secret door inside the inn at the city gates to steal Daystar. Cast Sunray and watch the undead explode......very nice.

[UncleScratchy]

Re: My quest orders

Originally posted by mikeyboypdx
Depends on your party....

The proposed party is a FMT and Jaheira.

[Ian Kognitow]

Further to UncleScratchy's points, another reason to do trademeet and the thieves quests early (rather than the often-mentioned de'arnise keep) is that they provide the most cash so that with only two party members, you should be able to outfit them both with all the best purchasable equipment available in the early game after they are complete (complemented by selling lots of looted armour and such). As mentioned Robe of Vecna, 3AC bracers, and Hill Giant Belt should be obtained from adventurers mart. I would also recommend the Sling of Everard for Jaheira. The Belt of Inertial Barrier is usually good for whoever does not have a strength belt available. Other weapons could be useful to buy depending on what proficiencies you take on.

[HideYourFace]

morot

well thx uncle!


i am now playing a FMT and jaheira. the FMT is a dual wielding with long swords and flails. Cfury and FoA. ( good weaponchoice?)
Which weapon should jaheira specialize in and use? scimitar/shield, or what is the best? maybe ill pick up anomen to use crom feyr later... and immy ofcourse with a short bow of gesen.

[UncleScratchy]

Those are good weapons for your main char. There are a lot of flails in the game but not many good one IMO. Jaheira is a natural with clubs and you can get some nice ones in the game. Also she's good with staves and you should consider laying out the gold for the Staff of Rynn (Adventurers Mart) so she can kill golems and Kangaxx with it. Though there are very few good scimitars in the game and far to many of them are not weildable by a druid (I've never understood this logic) so I tend to equip Jaheria with a good sling (try Joluv the bonus merchant in the Copper Coronet) and a club. I like that Blackblood Club+3 you can buy in Trademeet: 1d6+3 plus it does +3 acid damage, just what it takes for killing trolls. If you get an extra prof point you might want to put in on maces for her so she can use the Mace of Disruption and Skullcrusher+3.

[lompo]

Actually Uncle there are two very good flails in SoA: FoA (not inferior to CF) and DoE (one of the best offhand option); plus FoA is upgradable to in ToB (bacoming awesome) and you have another +5 weapon available (Icestar).
As for Jaheira she can't use maces (being a druid) and her best option are either clubs/sling and shields (great tank) switching to scimitar in ToB (eventually 2W style) or go for staff/spear and 2H weapon style (great option for both weapons).

[krunchyfrogg]

Jaheira is even good with Daggers too. There is a +4 dagger and a returning throwing dagger in SoA.

[Ian Kognitow]

The long sword flail combination is formidable. I have written on other threads to defend the use of dual-wielding long swords, which I think is often underrated, especially in SoA, where there are several useful swords, allowing a number of combinations and immunities. There may not be that uber-longsword, except for Blackrazor (which is only at the end of the game and becomes less useful in ToB, being only +3), but the proficiency is very versatile.
The only thing to keep in mind, Hideyourface, is that Celestial Fury is classified as a katana, which in BGII requires its own proficiency. This may be obvious to you, but I didn't see any remarks on it and thought I should bring it up. I agree with lompo that the Defender of Easthaven is quite useful as an offhand weapon. There are downsides though in that it is very expensive and is ultimately only a +2 - so in the end it will be one of those special use weapons and I would generally suggest an offhand with other immunities. Essentially, I feel that if you're wading into a battle with a f/m/t and you've already burnt through your stoneskins and other protections such that the 20% physical immunity is absorbing damage, you're probably in trouble anyway. Equilizer, though often ridiculed, and in truth weak compared to the difficulty of getting it, is a fine offhand weapon given its various bonuses and immunities. If you're interested, I have written more about it in other threads, and I think userunfriendly has too. So, I'd think a FoA/Equilizer combination would probably be your usual pair, then swapping in Blackrazor late in the game. I'm not that fond of the long swords in ToB but FoA becomes super-powerful, especially in combination with equilizer/blackrazor bonuses.

I usually don't take Jaheira along so I don't have a very good idea of how best to equip her. But usually, any cleric I have is carrying sling of everard. It's +5 so can be used for stuff like Golems and Kangaxx and is useful when doing cast and attack. Even when I have used her I rarely used her in melee, but I have usually had her using belm or blackblood. I forget the name but the item-upgrade mod allows you to combine blackblood and Gnasher to make a very nice weapon, if you have that installed.

[Thrain]

you have to remember that jaheira isn't a cleric, she's a druid (one that can tank) and should be played as such.

i don't see the point of CF and FoA. in my opinion a more useful combination would be the zerth blade and FoA.

CF and FoA don't grant immunities or any other real bonus that weapons like belm grant.

on the subject of belm, Jaheira dual weilding Belm and Blackblood/Gnasher isn't a pleasant prospect for enemies. Nor, for that matter, is Jaheira with the staff of rhynn and the staff of the magi.

in the end, you are going to end up with more equipment than you can shake a big stick at, so you'll be able to equip them various ways and be successful. i would say get the elven chain from trademeet early though (i know thief skills are cancelled when it's worn but it's essential for a fighter/mage)

[Armycardinal]

Spoilers...











I usually tank Jahiera with as much armor as I can get her (Gorgon's Plate-Underdark, Red Dragon's Armor, Armor of Heart), and if it's only you and her, give her the Gauntlets of Dex., and a helm of charm protection, and someone mentioned belts of strength - whatever flavor you like.

For weapons, I give her the above mentioned Staff of Rhynn and keep the Impaler-Shaugain city, and lots of damage)



FWIW.


AC

[UncleScratchy]

Originally posted by lompo
Actually Uncle there are two very good flails in SoA: FoA (not inferior to CF) and DoE (one of the best offhand option); plus FoA is upgradable to in ToB (bacoming awesome) and you have another +5 weapon available (Icestar).
As for Jaheira she can't use maces (being a druid) and her best option are either clubs/sling and shields (great tank) switching to scimitar in ToB (eventually 2W style) or go for staff/spear and 2H weapon style (great option for both weapons).

I forgot that druids can't use maces - even fighter/druids. This is why this class gives me fits. They can use mostly the lousy scimitars but few of the really good ones. I've heard good things about Jaheira and spears but I normally give her profs in clubs, slings and scimitars. Belm is the only decent scimitar she can wield until you get to Watchers Keep and get the Spectral Brand. I always tank Jaheira - best armor and shield, if for no other reason than her higher level spells are so awesome. I've never dual weaponed Jaheira but I've also hear good things about her dualing Belm and a club. Anyway, you can't go wrong with her in a small party.

[Ian Kognitow]

Assuming that the f/m/t is actually proficient in katanas rather than just longswords, I would still generally think CF to be the better option rather than zerth. Zerth is certainly useful early in the game but only has a thaco modifier so there are going to be a lot of things it can't hit. The spells as well, while convenient to have early only go up to level 4, so unless you really need that stoneskin or magic missile, its usefulness will not be that great as you progress. However, Thrain's comments on immunities are well taken and this is why I very much like long swords for dual wielders. Even though equilizer and blackrazor come later in the game, adjatha the drinker and daystar are readily available early on and are very good offhanders offering various benefits. Even flame tongue can be quite formidable well into the game. These can all be mixed and matched depending on the situation. Some may find it cheesy to be swapping through weapons like this, but maybe think of it as though your familiar is hauling them all around and you can ask for particular ones appropriate to the situation in the manner of a surgeon.

[lompo]

Originally posted by Ian Kognitow
I agree with lompo that the Defender of Easthaven is quite useful as an offhand weapon. There are downsides though in that it is very expensive and is ultimately only a +2 - so in the end it will be one of those special use weapons and I would generally suggest an offhand with other immunities. Essentially, I feel that if you're wading into a battle with a f/m/t and you've already burnt through your stoneskins and other protections such that the 20% physical immunity is absorbing damage, you're probably in trouble anyway.

Although stated as a +2 weapon, DoE is actually a +3 weapon; it is expensive, but you can get it early (while you get Equalizer late); that said the choice for the off-hand weapon depends on many factors (classes of char., style of playing, other char. in the group etc.):for a F/M DoE doesn't seem the best choice (compared to Dakkon zerth, Equalizer or Belm/Kundane or even Arbane), while for a F/C or R/C is almost the only option (excluded Crom), and for a pure fighter type is a good option (DoE+hardiness=60% dmg resistance, not bad).

Daystar and Flametongue aren't great offhanders (no benefit), while they are decent mainhander; actually Daystar is good to have in the unusea weapon slot, because you still can use the spell even if you are not wielding it.

As for Jaheira, she is the best tank you can get for a fighter, just give her good gear and add Ironskin and Armour of Faith(and later hardiness): she is almost invulnerable to phisical dmg. But she will do gratly in any configuration.

For a F/M or M/T there are better option than the elven chain, bracers can give you better AC (plus some other benefits) and Vecna and robe of Archimagi have the same AC plus bonuses (robe of Archi. can be even upgraded becoming a great option).

If you have the upgrade mod, I agree the Pithcwife (Blackblood+Gnasher) is an awesome weapon, definetly the best antispellcaster weapon (elemental dmg + dmg over time outch!!!).

[Mirk]

i often use jaheira as slinger/darter/gaggerthrower, especially in a party that does not have a dedicated ranged attacker.

there are many good slongs in the game, ALL of which add Str bonuses to damage (countrary to their description), and with the abandance of magical bullets and specialization by the time you get to the underdark this produces16-20 dmg hits at a rate of 5/2 rounds, with the advantage of not requiring her to close to the enemy, and from enemy to enemy after one is killed.

darts are EXELLENT magekillers (darts of wounding) and fighterstoppers (darts of stuning). the high rate of fire (9/2 with specializaton) means that the first will hit VERY early in the round, and a save is bound to be failed somwhere along the way. with ToB's Smite & Greater Smite darts get even nastier, as 4-5 enemies can be killed IN ONE ROUND, exactly in those situations when you need it (various illithid ambushes, a deamon with minions, etc). and again, she doesn't have to move from the spot.

finally, the Firetooth dagger +3 (that does the damage of a flying bastard sword +3 and elemental damage), again, at a higher than regular weapons rate of fire, will go through stoneskin and mantle spells. and it can be easilly converted to a melle weapon, THAT DOES AN EXTRA ATTACK! remember, it's like having a very quick bastard sword +3, +1d3 fire!

for other equipment, i prefer elemental protection over AC, a Str girdle, and an array of shields that is adopted to different kinds of enemies.