Level-up Advice?

ishuman · Post by **ishuman** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:06 am

I wondered if I could get some advice on leveling up 2 of my party. One is my pure-fighter and the other is a rogue 3/Demarch of Mask 7. I’ve just (finally!) finished the Battle Squares and now its time to level up to 11th level. FYI, its my first time through IWD2 and I don’t plan to do the HOF mode (I think I'd rather go through it again with a smaller group). Here’s my party:

1) Gold Dwarf- fighter 10, (tank); LN; Str 20, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 6; skills (intimidate 13); feats (bullheaded, cleave, power attack, iron will, improved critical, lightning reflexes, WS: Hammer, WS: Long Sword)

2) Human- Rogue 3 / Demarch of Mask 7, (backup healer & summoner, scout, spellsword and sniper); NE; Str 12, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 6; skills (bluff 1, concentration 10, disable device 3, hide 9, move silently 9, search 5); feats (blind fight, combat casting, dash, dodge, rapid shot, subvocal casting)

3) Human- Fighter 4 / Barbarian 7 (tank and battle squares champion)

4) Shield Dwarf- Battleguard of Tempus 11 (healer, summoner)

5) Lightfoot Halfling- Rogue 2 / Diviner 9 (loremaster, alchemist, thief & backup bombardier)

6) Human Sorceress 11 (bombardier, diplomat)

They’ve been a fun and effective bunch so far. Characters 3-6 are straightforward for the rest of this game but I can’t decide what to do with the first two.

For instance, should I just keep the gold dwarf fighter (#1) as a pure fighter or multi-class him into something else? He’s fine as is but is running out of useful feats to take and I already have another pure-tank. He can’t take any levels of Paladin, Barbarian and most orders of Cleric because of his alignment. He’s also blocked from taking many feats because of his low INT, DEX and lack of concentration points. What other available feats are worth taking (he’s got 5 more coming!)? I imagine that his Int and Cha are too low for any sorcerer or wizard levels. Is there anything to be gained from adding a few cleric or druid levels? What about bard or rogue?

The human rogue/cleric (#2) was originally supposed to have ranger or fighter levels and be a mage-killer, scout and backup healer guy but ended up being more of a sniper and healer without the warrior-class levels. So now he can scout ahead but can’t really do any damage once he gets there. I could multi-class with some ranger or fighter levels to emphasize either the mage-killer or sniper roles. He could also just keep going as a cleric. Adding anything new would of course require a level of 20% MC penalty or squatting. Maybe some monk levels would work here since he has a high wisdom?

Any thoughts would be a big help! Sorry for the extra-long post.

Thanks.
-ishuman

ishuman · Post by **ishuman** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 8:00 pm

So it boils down to:

- what do I do with a 10th level pure fighter that can't add Barbarian or Paladin levels because of alignment?

- How to advance my rogue 3 /demarch of mask 7? Do I stick with cleric or mix-in some fighter/ranger levels?

-ishuman

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:01 am

Let's start with the rogue. I think improving his cleric skills is a way to go, high lvl cleric spells are very powerful.

As for the fighter - I can't recall the full list of feats available fo fighters, but if you say there's no useful skills to choose left, I believe you

I see you'd like to mix him with another warrior class, but why not consider taking a few levels in a spellcaster class? Take bard, for instance, with extremely helpful buffing and protecting spells at low levels (Mirror Image, Bull's Strength and stuff) and Ambidexterity and Two Weapon Fighting are also good for a fighter (if you haven't chosen them already). What say?

Wrath-Of-Egg · Post by **Wrath-Of-Egg** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:12 am

WEll... as for your fighter.. few Bard levels could have been quite usefull.. but 6 charisma.. isn't enough to to be able to cast spells..

and as for your spell sword.. well

Well since you arent going to play in HoF atleast for now.. so just keep doing what you have done allready..

silverdragon72 · Post by **silverdragon72** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:33 am

.

in case of your fighter:

stats are to low to mc him to any caster-type !

...best mc option would be rogue (at least 10 levels) or monk (all 20) !

in case of your fighter:

I would give him 2 or 4 fighter and 3 monk levels - 20 cleric levels are enough !

.

ishuman · Post by **ishuman** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 2:35 pm

[QUOTE=Wrath-Of-Egg]WEll... as for your fighter.. few Bard levels could have been quite usefull.. but 6 charisma.. isn't enough to to be able to cast spells..
[/QUOTE]

Exactly, he's just too dumb and ugly! But with a small boost to his 12 WIS he could cast 3rd level divine spells with 5 cleric/druid levels. Seems too late for monk levels if I don't do HOF. So its a trade off between fighter (3 extra feats, +2 BAB i think) and 3rd level spells from Druid or Cleric (Bane or Helm are avail).

For the rogue, Brynn's right, I definitely want to get to level 11 so he can cast 6th level spells such as Heal. Sadly, I don't seem to able to choose monk levels. That leaves me with 2 more levels for cleric (7th level spells and ~1 extra spell per level), fighter (2 extra feats and a few more hp) or ranger (ambidex, 2 weapon fighting, 1 fav enemy and a better match for rogue skills).

Thanks! -ishuman

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 2:51 pm

For your Tank I'd suggest taking Cleric or Druid levels. Rogue Levels for Evasion and sneak attacks are a possibility too, but as you already have a Rogue this is less important. Clerics give you domain spells that can be very handy and misc. bonuses dependent on Diety. This is probably a better option than Druids as Shpechanging won't really help you.

As for the Rogue/Cleric. Keep adding to your Cleric Levels. This will improve your Mirror Images and beef up your spell casting ability. Have him memorise Bulls Strength and cast it on himself after resting to boost your strength and up your combat ability. Keep adding to your cleric levels as you get some very good spells at higher levels. Once you get these you can start getting more Rogue levels.

ishuman · Post by **ishuman** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 3:36 pm

[QUOTE=Heidrek]For your Tank I'd suggest taking Cleric or Druid levels. Clerics give you domain spells that can be very handy and misc. bonuses dependent on Diety.

As for the Rogue/Cleric. Keep adding to your Cleric Levels. This will improve your Mirror Images and beef up your spell casting ability. Have him memorise Bulls Strength and cast it on himself after resting to boost your strength and up your combat ability.[/QUOTE]

Good point regarding the rogue/cleric and his mirror images and use of bull's strength. I think I'll stick to that.

For my tank, his alignment limits him to Ilmater (could help a little), Oghma (doesn't seem to fit), Helm (certainly would fit) or Bane (would work from a role-play perspective and seems fun).

Thanks!

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:39 pm

Bane might be your best bet for the Domain spells, or Ilmater for the +6 Con ability. Pretty nice Buff for extra HP prior to combat, combined with Bull Strength you've got a pretty good boost to your cambat ability. Oghma would be very good if you were going to progress to HoF as their high level domain spells are great, but in you're case not really too good. Helm is OK, the +2 Armour bonus is another nice buff but it doesn't excite me.

ishuman · Post by **ishuman** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:02 pm

Okay, I decided to stick with cleric levels for my rogue/cleric and to add a few Bane levels for my fighter. Adding Dreadmaster of Bane fit nicely with this character from a role-play and stats perspective, plus I'll get to check-out what all the fuss is about!

Thanks
-ishuman

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:28 pm

Go the ugly Dwarven Dreadmaster! Cleric levels are great for their 2nd level buffing spells. It hink this is the best option for your character to add a little versatility load up on Command spells at level 1 so you can thrown one out at the start of a fight,. This is a good way of taking out one opponent for a while, or interupting a spell caster (if the fail the Will save that is!). This works well with the +1 DC Dreadmaster ability. Being able to effectively paralyse someone for a round is pretty handy considering it can be done without sacrificing your attacks for the round thanks to the 1 casting time.