Party Creation, need advices...

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:10 pm

[QUOTE=SP101]I think I'll stick with Keldy

... mainly because he's what my party needs, and also because he has great banters with Kelsey and Jan if I recall correctly![/QUOTE]

Good choice sticking with Keldorn, but you could swap out Anomen for Mazzy still. If you were at all worried about needing a cleric, he's there for ya, and he's no slouch in battle, either. The father/son banters between Anomen and Keldorn are well worth it too...

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:14 pm

[QUOTE=Erenor]Good choice sticking with Keldorn, but you could swap out Anomen for Mazzy still. If you were at all worried about needing a cleric, he's there for ya, and he's no slouch in battle, either. The father/son banters between Anomen and Keldorn are well worth it too...[/QUOTE]

And, you'd get the Anomen and Kelsey banters. Though, you would have to put up with having Anomen in your party....

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:10 pm

[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]Wich weapon you propose?[/QUOTE]My powergaming choice would be Crom of course - 25 Str is hard to top concerning its effects on THACO and damage.

Any other weapon that gives immunities (Arbane, Arvoreen) would be a fine addition as well (and certainly more modest / roleplayish). As for shields, I'm a fan of the shield of reflection - works nearly as good on archers as Balduran does on Beholders. Of course the 5 AC gain by the Whatsitsname +4 shield you can purchase in Ust'Natha is a nice alternative here. I'd probably give her both and switch according to the situation.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:58 pm

[QUOTE=Phantom Lord]My powergaming choice would be Crom of course - 25 Str is hard to top concerning its effects on THACO and damage.

Any other weapon that gives immunities (Arbane, Arvoreen) would be a fine addition as well (and certainly more modest / roleplayish). As for shields, I'm a fan of the shield of reflection - works nearly as good on archers as Balduran does on Beholders. Of course the 5 AC gain by the Whatsitsname +4 shield you can purchase in Ust'Natha is a nice alternative here. I'd probably give her both and switch according to the situation.[/QUOTE]

I dont really use Crom... unfortunately, cause I always build it and make its quest. I think that it is too cheesy - 25 strenght, its a helluva Child of Bhaal strenght!

My first favourite shield, in the old times, when I only played hack and slash was the shield of reflection. Rather cheap, very eficient, excelent for solo missions... better combo for protection is the shield and the cloak of mirroring.

Now regarding arvoreen and arbane... I like to haste my characters, improved haste, alas. So with Arbane I'll have them slowed... with another non-movement restrictive weapon, such as, lets say Equalizer or Dragon Bane.

I try to keep with the same weapon from the beggining to the end of the game... Its a personal choice. I only change to weapons that I already know I'll have for this or that player.

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 5:39 pm

Another question for you guys :

What should I use with Mazzy?

- Short Sword, Single Weapon Style, Short Bow

- Short Swords, Dual-Wielding, Another Weapon... wich one?

- Short Swords, Sword and Shield, Another Weapon... wich one?

Note : I won't use both dual-wielding and short bow at the same time. However, I can still carry a bow for special occasions (Short Bow of Gensen, to disrupt mages I've trouble to breach/dispell by exemple).

flounder · Post by **flounder** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 9:13 pm

I used the Spectral Blade in Mazzy's main hand quite a lot as well. At that point she had a base THACO of 0 so it was -5 or something. I rotate a lot of weapons with Mazzy, but the main ones were short bows and dual short swords. The speed factor of Sword of Mask (0) and Arbane (1) are nice too. I don't understand how Arbane "slows you down" from hasting characters?

Mazzy' saves from that game were 0,1,4,2,2. Man I just slaughtered the Mind Flayers with Mazzy in that game.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 12:20 am

[QUOTE=flounder] I don't understand how Arbane "slows you down" from hasting characters?
[/QUOTE]

the short sword of arbane has free action affect...which will stop slow effects cast by the enemy, AND will stop beneficial effects of haste cast by party members...simply unequip the sword, cast improve haste on mazzy, and equip the sword...you will be hasted AND freeaction...

[QUOTE=SP101]Another question for you guys :

What should I use with Mazzy?

- Short Sword, Single Weapon Style, Short Bow

- Short Swords, Dual-Wielding, Another Weapon... wich one?

- Short Swords, Sword and Shield, Another Weapon... wich one?

Note : I won't use both dual-wielding and short bow at the same time. However, I can still carry a bow for special occasions (Short Bow of Gensen, to disrupt mages I've trouble to breach/dispell by exemple).[/QUOTE]

two handed sword or halbard and the short bow of gesen or tulgan bow...

a two handed weapon is very powerful, and you can easily switch from melee to ranged mode simply by clicking on one button in the quick bar...

and it looks amusing to see this little halfling using a sword bigger than herself...

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:33 am

[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]I dont really use Crom... unfortunately, cause I always build it and make its quest. I think that it is too cheesy - 25 strenght, its a helluva Child of Bhaal strenght![/QUOTE]Well, Crom is overpowered, no doubt. But so is Carsomyr (50% MR is a lot). It's simply a powergaming choice. From a roleplaying point, halflings should use size S weapons, which leaves you with daggers and short swords in the first place.

[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]My first favourite shield, in the old times, when I only played hack and slash was the shield of reflection. Rather cheap, very eficient, excelent for solo missions... better combo for protection is the shield and the cloak of mirroring.[/QUOTE]Yeah, it's one great soloing item. Combine with sling or spells and archers are rendered completely helpless, for example Mae'Vars assassins if you use the cage in the basement or the orcish archers in the Windspear entry.

@SP101: Dual wield +++ and short swords +++++ would be my choice, you can still carry a shield with you and equip it when necessary. The shield proficiency ain't that great and reflection shield solves the missile issue completely. Changing to bow might take a few clicks, but it has no impact on the game otherwise.

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:06 pm

[QUOTE=Phantom Lord]@SP101: Dual wield +++ and short swords +++++ would be my choice, you can still carry a shield with you and equip it when necessary. The shield proficiency ain't that great and reflection shield solves the missile issue completely. Changing to bow might take a few clicks, but it has no impact on the game otherwise.[/QUOTE]

These options are good choices. Mazzy fits with short swords and she's fun to dual weild. There are too many good short swords in the game to just use one!

flounder · Post by **flounder** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 8:23 pm

I just tried this with Mazzy: Hasting her with Arbane equipped and it worked. Are you sure you're not thinking of something else? I also tried it with Minsc who was wearing a Ring of Free Action and it worked on him as well. I just wanted to check because I never remember Haste not working on them in my game.

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:34 pm

Flounder, do you have the latest patch installed? Because he's right about Arbane: if it's equipped, I was never able to haste a character.

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:41 pm

[QUOTE=fable]Flounder, do you have the latest patch installed? Because he's right about Arbane: if it's equipped, I was never able to haste a character.[/QUOTE]

Maybe Arbane is dual weilded and that's why it worked?

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:36 pm

[QUOTE=fable]Flounder, do you have the latest patch installed? Because he's right about Arbane: if it's equipped, I was never able to haste a character.[/QUOTE]It's even with the ring of free action, because it disables the boots of speed.They don't work if you put them on while you wear the ring. You have to remove the ring, put the boots on and then put the ring back on to get both effects. Arbane at least doesn't do this.

flounder · Post by **flounder** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:07 pm

Fable - I've never had any problems with any aspects of the game, so I've never installed any patches. I didn't know that was a problem because Arbane's description says nothing about negating haste spells. Why would that be?

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:00 am

Free action items seem to ward you from spells (and items) that change your movement rate.

To put it simple, it seems to be implemented like "don't change movement rate if this item is equipped" instead of "don't lower movement rate if this item is equipped".

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 7:02 am

Exactly as Phantom Lord says. Free action was implemented incorrectly, and never fixed by the devs.

flounder · Post by **flounder** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:19 am

So the correct usage of "Free Action" is to negate any movement rate increases in lieu of being unaffected by anything that impedes movement? And the patch will fix this, so I can play the way it is supposed to be used?

kams · Post by **kams** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:59 am

I am now using Haer'Dalis as a tank. Never saw him in this role before! (Has anyone already tried this???)

He is a good fighter with 2 short swords, but has little HP, but this problem can be cured with Stoneskin (if I remember the name of this spell). On 15 level he has 3 uses of Stoneskin, which is enough for any battle.
And if somebody beats the crap out of him, he can still be useful with his other spells.

So, now I think, that he is the most valueble character for the party.
Just yesterday he vanished the Unseen Eye (without using that Rod of Something) all by himself - with only buff cast like Bless, Barkskin or Chant.
The rest of the party surely enjoyed the show.

Evincar · Post by **Evincar** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 1:20 am

I've finished the game twice, but i always cheated, yeah, bad me. Dual wielding cromfear with a 40th level kensai is wimply wicked. (not to mention easy)

Now im doing it for a 3rd time, without cheats

My party usually cosisted of:

PC (fightertype)
Minsc
Jaheira
Anomen
Nalia
Aerie

My problem is that minsc always gets trashed due to his low dex. I have enough healing, but i feel like i can exchange Anomen and maybe Misc for something better. So that would be Keldorn for Anomen problably, but what for Minsc? He has a huge strengthscore (although my pc's is better) which really helps, but so far no other NPC's can rival that, except Korgan (who gets close), but my party is a good one, so no Korgan.

My 'wizards' also are never able to cast 9 level spells, unless i find an int buff somewhere and i wont use Edwin, first of all he's plain annoying, secondly, i killed him in BG 1, so how can he be alive now? And his stats arent that good.

Now, i dont know these Kelsey or Keto that are mentioned here. Are they additions to the game with a certain patch or something? Or are they from ToB? Or just pet names?

Im trying to get another sort of Party, maybe with Keldorn and for the time being Yoshimo. Any thoughts?

rbeverjr · Post by **rbeverjr** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:10 am

Mazzy tank

I agree with Fable that if it is a choice of Mazzy or Keldorn, then choose Keldorn to make the game easier (if that is what you want). On the other hand, Mazzy makes an excellent tank later in the game. Start her out shooting the Tuigan bow. In the later part of the game, equip her with Crom Faeyr in the main hand and Kundane in the off hand (with appropriate proficiencies garnered as you leveled her). She also wears the belt of fortitude. By ToB, she has around 150 HP, AC -5, and hits like a freight truck! Now put Improved Haste on her.

PS -Great saving throws too!