Strength Increasing Items post-Crom Faeyr?

zakalwe7 · Post by **zakalwe7** » Tue May 22, 2007 3:41 am

Quick question.

Current Party

Blade – Dualling katanas
Minsc – Dualling mace/flails
Korgan – Dualling axe/hammers
Viconia – Sling/flail
Kelsey
Imoen

I’ve just defeated Bodhi for the Lamphorn whatsitsname

Now I’ve recently just created Crom Faer which has caused a wee problem in my party. Prior to this I had my PC, Minsc, Korgan, Viconia all at 19+ (or 18/00+?) strength (I have UB installed and Minsc has his +1str bonus at completion). Now after creating CF I’m now in a small bit of trouble since I feel that I need CF in Korgan’s offhand to give him more strength. However this has given Viconia a massive hit to her str and she’s back down to her usual 10 which makes meleeing her a bit more of a risk. Ah well she has Sling of E at least.

So what I really would like help with is where I can find another strength improving item (my pc has one and I’ve used the 2 up for CF). Is there one in the final chapters of the game, Watcher Keep or one in ToB?

Toxeus · Post by **Toxeus** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:09 am

btw, strength bonus for sling of Everard is bug, fixed by baldurdash bugfix
IIRC, there is one more girdle of strength in WK and one in ToB. And of course Angurvadal - long sword, forged by Cespenar.

Ian Kognitow · Post by **Ian Kognitow** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:11 pm

There is of course the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength (19) from Barterman. Then there are the Girdles of Stone Giant Strength (20, in Suldanesslar) and Fire Giant Strength (22, in TOB--Yaga Shura's Lair).

For Viconia, you could switch her from Flail to Mace as a melee weapon and give her the Mauler's Arm (from the Copper Coronet), which sets strength to 18. The trouble there is that you still don't want her to carry a lot of stuff since she won't be able to move when she uses the sling. I would suggest having her make regular use of her spells Righteous Magic or Draw Upon Holy Might if you are using her in melee combat. Given where you are in the game, those should already send her up to somewhere around 16-18 in strength--give her one of the belts and she will be striking at 25 along with Korgan.

Toxeus · Post by **Toxeus** » Tue May 22, 2007 1:03 pm

Ian Kognitow wrote:I would suggest having her make regular use of her spells Righteous Magic or Draw Upon Holy Might if you are using her in melee combat.

Second level mage spell 'Strength' has much greater duration. Cast it twice, and feeble drow will hit with ogre's power

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Tue May 22, 2007 4:13 pm

I like giving Viconia (or Aerie) Maulers Arm, just in case they enter melee. A DUHM with that weapon equipped will make them hit pretty hard!

If you're worried about STR, why not make use of the many STR enhancing potions you come across in the game?

Crucis · Post by **Crucis** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:47 pm

The Mauler's Arm mace is a must-have for weaker characters like Aerie or Viconia. However, you still have to be concerned with the fact that unless they're going to wield it 100% of the time, they (well, Viccy in particular, since Aerie's a 50/50 cleric/mage) won't have the STR to wear heavier armor when trying to use a sling.

This is the BIG downside to creating Crom Feyr. You lose 2 powerful STR enhancing items and gain 1 back, but only as long as you actually wield it.
That said, CF is such a powerful item, that you can wield it even if you have no prof points (assuming that your character is allowed to wield a hammer), and still be way, way ahead on Thac0 and damage bonuses, such are the exceptional bonuses to be had from a STR 25.

I can hardly fault the original poster's desire to have Korgan wield CF in his off hand for the bonuses. That said, if I was going to be fighting any of the monsters that CF will kill with a single hit, I'd put CF in my main hand, since IIRC, you only get a single attack with the offhand weapon.

Something else to consider about CF, as truly powerful as it is, it's probably wasted if given to someone like Aerie or Viconia, since they don't get nearly as many attacks/round as someone like Korgan or Anomen. It's a shame to waste that most firepower on a NPC that only gets 1 atk/rnd.

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Wed May 23, 2007 3:53 pm

Crucis wrote:
Something else to consider about CF, as truly powerful as it is, it's probably wasted if given to someone like Aerie or Viconia, since they don't get nearly as many attacks/round as someone like Korgan or Anomen. It's a shame to waste that most firepower on a NPC that only gets 1 atk/rnd.

DEfinitely. It's a HUGE waste to give it to a non-melee powerhouse.