Companion For Kelsey

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 5:26 pm

Well I really like Sorcerors, but having one as a PC really limits what you can do with a two man party so I'm gonna use Kelsey. My problem now is to decide who to make as his companion. The one thing I'm sure I don't want is a Bard or Mage, and possibly a Thief. I want someone that's pretty versatile. I was thinking possibly a Fighter type. Any suggestions?

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 5:48 pm

How about some version of a fighter/thief?

or perhaps a fighter/cleric ?

Morbent · Post by **Morbent** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 5:49 pm

A Ranger/Cleric (multi ordual-classed, your choice) would be a pretty good choice I think.

They get all the Divine spells, can dual wield a couple of very good weapons like Crom, FoA or MoD to name but a few. They're very strong warriors, but they also have a lot of buffing spells which are often invaluable, and they have a handful of good offensive spells as well.

That would be my choice anyway

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 5:52 pm

[QUOTE=Morbent]A Ranger/Cleric (multi ordual-classed, your choice) would be a pretty good choice I think.

They get all the Divine spells, can dual wield a couple of very good weapons like Crom, FoA or MoD to name but a few. They're very strong warriors, but they also have a lot of buffing spells which are often invaluable, and they have a handful of good offensive spells as well.

That would be my choice anyway

[/QUOTE] Good point, plus ranger/clerics (multi at least) have access to druid spells as well.

Morbent · Post by **Morbent** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 5:54 pm

[QUOTE=dragon wench]Good point, plus ranger/clerics (multi at least) have access to druid spells as well.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's what I meant by Divine spells (clerical + druidic) but maybe I wasn't clear enough

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 6:13 pm

lol, sorry

I'm a little distracted and obviously not very awake this afternoon

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 6:55 pm

I just started a(nother) game with a Ranger/Cleric (Mutli-classed) and it's pretty cool. You have both Cleric & Druids spells, and you're a nice Tank when using some spells like Armor or the Faith, Barkskin, Defensive Harmony and all those cleric & druid buffing spells. It's doing the job of a Tank, a Druid and a Cleric. 3 in 1

You'll probably need a Thief too in your game... maybe a Cleric/Thief (Halflings only?) would be nice too. Or a Dual-Classed Thief/Cleric So you can handle healing, buffing & thievery, as well as tanking (while buffed).

Morbent · Post by **Morbent** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:01 pm

[QUOTE=SP101]You'll probably need a Thief too in your game... maybe a Cleric/Thief (Halflings only?) would be nice too. Or a Dual-Classed Thief/Cleric So you can handle healing, buffing & thievery, as well as tanking (while buffed).[/QUOTE]

I say he doesn't need a Thief all that much. Kelsey can take care of the locked doors/chests with Knock, and you can just walk on most traps without getting too hurt except in some situations, but these can be countered by buffing yourself before, or trying to avoid the traps if you know where they are.

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:07 pm

I'm always try to have (even in a Duo) the "basic classes"

- 1 Rogue
- 1 Magic-user
- 1 Healer
- 1 Tank

So a combo like Imoen (Thief + Mage) would work with a Warrior/Cleric, a Ranger/Cleric, or even a pure Cleric. Anyway, if you will use loads of summons with Kelsey, then you don't need a tank at all. If you're gonna use damages spells (Magic Missile, Fireball, Dragon Breath, etc), then you'll need a tank to hold those monsters.

@Skuld : If you want great advices from us, just tell us wich (type of) spells you'll use with Kelsey. Help us to help you

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 10:09 pm

Well to reply to your request, my ideal spells selections for any sorc will go something like this:
1: Magic Missile
Identify
Charm
Spook
2. Knock
Melf's Acid Arrow
Mirror Image
Vocalize
Web
3. Hold Person
Dispel Magic
Fireball/Skull Trap
Haste/Slow
MMM/Flame Arrow
4. Stoneskin
Fireshield: Red
Greater Malison
Wizard Eye
Ice Storm
5. Breach
Animate Dead
Chaos
Cloudkill
Sunfire
6. Chain Lightning
Prot. Magic Weapons
Tenser's Transformation
7. Mordenkainen's Sword
Project Image
8. AD Horrid Wilting
Simulacrum
I think you get the picture. Now for another twist. No multi classes. If I'm gonna have a fighter he/she's gonna have ***** in something by the end of the game. I'd like to give a fighter type a try. I think I can manage without a healer provided my PC and Kelsey are an efficient enough killing machine. Well let me pose a question to you all. Which of the "Warriors" do you think would best match up with a Sorceror? I think that's basically the answer I'm looking for. I want a challenge, but nothing impossible.

glenfar · Post by **glenfar** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 10:32 pm

If you're open to Mods, with the ease-of-use mod any class that could get ** before is now able to get *****, which opens the door to multi-class as well as Rangers and Paladins.

Other than that, you're looking at a single or dual fighter. I'd go with a Berserker personally for all the immunities. And if you want a really good tank, dual to a Cleric for the extra buffs. (Just make sure to allocate your fighter proficiences to a weapon a Cleric can use!)

Morbent · Post by **Morbent** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 7:09 am

Yeah, a Berserker/Cleric would be strong, or a Berserker/Thief, depending on your preference.

But if you still just want a single class, you can also go for a plain Berserker

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 7:10 am

Until you reach lvl 15 (So you can start summoning Skeletons Warriors), you should use all those summonings items (Efreet Bottle, Horn of Vhalala (Spelling?) and the thing to summon a spider...). Then you can just use ur Raide Dead spell to do the work of holding your enemies while you kill them.

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:19 pm

Hmm... I was thinking of dropping the Cleric altogether, but since there's an overwhelming amount of people all for the Berserker I might go that route. And about the Ease of Use mod, the only character I'd consider playing with that would be a Barbarian. The rest seem kinda cheesy. I kinda want to try a Barbarian because I've never really played one before, and the damage resistance is really appealing to me. With a party of two and the XP cap removed what kinda resistances am I looking at, and is it worth it? The other option i was looking at was a Monk. Also a class I never really played. Would that be any good for my duo? So I'm down to either Barbarian(too many perks plus Rage) or a Monk(would it be doable?). Suggestions please.

Morbent · Post by **Morbent** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 5:30 pm

A monk can solo the game, so I guess it should be fine with Kelsey as companion. However, if you go that way, be wary in the beginning of the game, for you will be quite weak, but as you gain levels, you should have no trouble with the vast majority of battles.

A barbarian with ease of use would be quite good I think. The inability to wear full plate can be compensated by the damage resistance (btw, I think it's capped at some level, but I can't remember when) and with 5 stars in *insert whatever weapon you want to use*, they can dish a lot of damage.

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 8:21 pm

I'm not gonna paly with mods aside from of course kelsey and the cap remover, so ease of use is out of the question. I have decided on the barbarian, but now what weapons to use is my problem. I just don't know.

Morbent · Post by **Morbent** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 10:46 pm

The cheesiest way to allow your weapon proficiencies would be to dual wield two weapons, Crom Fayer in off-hand and Flail of Ages or Axe of the Unyielding in the main hand. There are tons of other deadly combos, but this is one which always works well.

BTW, before you get Crom, you can use the Defender of Easthaven flail, the one the bonus merchant from the copper coronet sells you, it adds 20% more to your damage resistance

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 9:28 am

Screw it.... i'll go for some cheese and do the FoA and Crom Fayer. I've never really played too cheesy before, but then again, I've never really played with such an underpowered party before. I mean I was trying to decide which dual weild combo to go for and it was either Celestial Fury and something else or Crom Fayer and FoA. I think I'm gonna go with Axes, Hammers and Flails. It'll give me some variety until I get my target weapons and it'll give me some good throwing options too.

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 6:59 pm

Wel I finally started. I decided on a Barbarian. I got quite the ideal roll(no cheating mind you):
str 19
dex 18
con 19
int 12
wis 17
cha 11
Needless to say I chose a Half-orc for the obvious perks. I made it through the dungeon with Imoen taging along as a trap detector/packmule. From there I did the circus tent and slaver quests, then I picked up Kelsey, freed Voconia and now I'm off to Nalia's keep. The Barbarian is a lot better than I thought he'd be. I made it up to where I am now without dying once, but I atribute that to my attempt to fight only one bad guy at a time. In some cases it's simple doorway tactics and in others it making sure only one person follows you around a corner where they'll soon be executed. I ended up choosing Axes, Flails and two weapon style putting my first point thereafter into Hammers. I pucked up Stonefire from Bernard for the trolls I will and have encountered before I get the FoA. Ideally I want to have my Barb with the FoA and Crom Fayer with the Rifthome Axe for a ranged weapon, and Kelsey with the Staff of the Magi and the Boomerang dagger for a ranged weapon. We'll see how that goes.

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 7:09 pm

Nice.

Give us other reports of your Dualing Trough BG2. By the way, how are you taking care of traps? Are you just avoiding traps or stepping on them? For Open Lock, I think you can just use Draw Upon Holy Might (With a base of 19

)