GameBanshee Forums

If you want the 'ultimate' spell caster than you are probably right. *I* OTOH like balance. I find that it is *incredibly* useful to be able to bash someone's brains in with a fair chance of sucess when those spells aren't cutting it (or I am running low).

That IMO is what makes the Kensai-Mage dual so powerful, but (as I said before), the one *disadvantage* of dualing is that you will never see those neato fighter skills at high levels.

In addition, I have to ask what level you are dualing at? If you are dualing at ninth, then you should see the same number of quest spells as a straight mage (since the Kensai part is only 250,000 or less than a level). If you dualed at 13th, you will only be 1-2 levels behind in mage and should still be able to get the best quest spells (Aclarity, Summon Planetar, and Comet/DB per your preference).

Of course that is just my experience.

-Polaris

Guilty of being really greedy. I want
Kai+several greater whirlwinds and summon planear with incresed acuity.

When my spells run out I want to hit tensors transform, activate kai, activate greater whirlwind and hit melissan with full damage 10 hits perround in an magic resistant state with ravager+6.

not to mention possibly using the black blade of disaster against her...

User,

There's your problem. If you wait THAT late to dual, then the XP cost becomes prohibative and you might as well have been a multiclass.

Dualing IMO is far more powerful than multiclassing but ONLY if you do it right...and like any great thing, it *does* come with a price tag. The price tage is that *if* you want the most effective duals, then you *must* dual early and forgo the high level special abilities in your first class.

If you are in a party, the level you should be dualing at for the Kensai-Mage is 9th.

If you are soloing, the absolute *latest* you should dual is 13th. If you get greedy and wait, you will be *less* powerful at the end of the game.

-Polaris

I never tried Demogorgon with the patch that makes him as strong as he first was ment to be, the patch that can be gotten from Baldurdash, but wouldnt that be the toughest fight? anyone tried this?

I have not. I tend to be gun shy of using a patch from any source *but* the company. I won't even use beta patches. That might be a tad narrow of me, but (not on this game) I have had a lot of problems before I started following this policy.

-Polaris

I don't like use the Baldurdash pacth too. But the Byoware simply don't know what is a pacht. It seems like they realy don't care about the game, they have the money and thats ok. The Blizzard for example launch pacth ever month. Byoware sometimes really make me mad. And the Baldurdash make real good advances, all of them works fine with me, and with no bugs related with the pacth proposition.
Sorry to be offtopic

I have run soa alone without tob, and find the balderdash patches to be better overall than the offical patches. Soa has been out for a while now, and the balderdash patches are very popular and very well debugged. quite frankly, I have higher hopes for them than bioware.

back to the original toic...polaris I quite agree with you and I too have done the math. I think what I will do is since I enjoy creative cheating, I will create a 21th level wild mage, cheat and give her quest spells, and then dual to kensai for 4 greater whilwinds.

I mean the sheer power is intoxicating....
kai does full damage per strike. with greater whirlwind you get ten hits per round.
Do the math, especially if you use a mage's buffing spells, 200-400 damage per round with say the sword of grief. This would be the ultimate fighter mage. and if I dual to cleric or druid, which may not be possible, I have a huge number of spells to play with. This time around my party consists of

Myself -uber sorceress
Savarok
aerie
viconia
jaheira
imoen

with the exception of Edwin, I've got the best clerics and multi's in the game. I love multiclass characters, they can do wonderful things, like aerie can chain cleric spells, the best in the game to use against demons and undead. I always go really heavy on magical firepower, and most of my inventory has always been magic enhancers and special devices for particular situatiions. Next run I'll go

myslef wildmage cleric or wildmage kensai
Saverok
Korgan
jaheira
viconia
imoen

Drop aerie even tho she's my favorite, because I will be dual welding crom feyr with storm star

The saverok korgan combo will be even better than keldorn with avenger.

Some really nasty axes in the game, and if I give korgan points in long sword, he and saverok with grandmastery halberd will have the pick of the best weapons in the game.

Vorpal weapons rule!!!!

Except for demogorgon and melissan, bu that's what the secondary weapons are for.

Hope you have fun

-Polaris

<slightly off-topic>

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly:
<STRONG>use project image to cast 12 solars, and have them attack en-masse.</STRONG>

Have you tried the Project Image -> Simulacrum -> Project Image -> etc. trick? Creates an army of clones. I once got over 12 in the same screen in a test save. Some lost their items, but all retained their spells.

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly:
<STRONG>4 greater malisons</STRONG>

Alas... does not stack.

Originally posted by polaris:
<STRONG>I would disagree that the Sorcerer is the best class. I find that a Mage is better (but then again *I* prefer to have a bit more flexibility than the Sorcerer permits).</STRONG>

How many different spells do you actually use?

Originally posted by polaris:
<STRONG>I find that no needing to learn spells from scrolls is a DISADVANTAGE rather than an ADVANTAGE.</STRONG>

It certainly removes cheap XP gaining...

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly:
<STRONG>like the infamous web incindeary cloud trick</STRONG>

Ah, minor cheese. In PnP, Webs burn.

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly:
<STRONG>the wild mage/cleric dual, I think will be a killer. All the extra slotsof specialist mage</STRONG>

Are you sure Wild Mage gets those specialist slots? I read otherwise somewhere...

Oh, and did you ever try casting loads of Chain Contingencies with Improved Alacrity? I have yet to try that (no ToB...), but on paper it shows great promise (with Chain Contingency having a Casting Time of zero).

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly:
<STRONG>Hey, like my new signature?</STRONG>

Certainly. It's about a raccoon called Chiktikka, if I'm not mistaken.

Originally posted by polaris:
<STRONG>I tend to be gun shy of using a patch from any source *but* the company.</STRONG>

Heh, I'll take the Baldurdash patches over the official stuff any day.

</slightly off topic>

XyX, I think the wild mage is a specialty class, so it gets the extra slot. I seem to remember seeign the extra slot when I was using clua console to see how far I can push dual.

also, are you sure reater malisons don't stack?

Also, will dooms stack? This bodes ill of my ambition to turn dragons and hive mothers into squirrels and have aerie chase them with the big hammer...

Malisons don't stack.

Dooms stacks- But is an game error like blur and armor of faith.

This way probably you gonna have your squirrels troup, or kill dragons with cromatic orb, or...

Aegis, thanks for the tip. I was basing it on my first time through the game, and, actually, the last time I played I got irritated when the planetar took me away because I was really mopping the deck with those fools.

And to Polaris and UserUnfriendly, you guys have some great info in your posts! But holly-preparation batman, I want my gameing experience to be a little less like taking the SAT's. Still, I love reading your experiences and strategies.

It's true! Doom stacks, but it shouldn't!

I want to mention my last battle with Irenicus's dragon - It was not my toughest battle, but it was fun...

There was a big entangle covering half the battlefield. I had cast malison and doom (once) on the dragon, and was wailing on it pretty good, but Keldorn, who was first in line, got entangled and the dragon was about to kill him...my protagonist fighter-mage cast "spook" on the dragon, and it got scared and started running! Keldorn was saved. I had Jaheira move in on the frightened dragon in Earth Elemental form and do a whirlwind attack, and she took it out...there you go, a first level spell saves the day again!

So, the demogorgon patched from baldurdash, IS he the far toughest enemy ever? Seems the topic got out of hand towards bugs and hacking things

toughest fight? hm, I guess taking on the Baalor in the Underdark without any +3 weapons and without any Lower Resistance spells was my toughest fight
at least it was the one with the most reloads...

Thanks guys, I was curious about doom. Looks like once again Aerie is by far the most valuable npc, get her high enoug then cast greater acuity and a sequece of dooms.

Guys, has anyone actually tried out stacked armors of faith? I've read it does stack and 4 will protect a cleric from anything.

Intend to use this to make jaheira invulnerable for a little close in whirlwind attack with demogorgon...

Doc, when I'm not role playing or chatting on this forum or working, my fav games include the xcom series, Shogun total war, and other strategy games.
I suspect polaris and xyx are IT professions like me.

we enjoy pushing the envelope of the game, to create spell effects and tweaks to get the maximum firepower. Straight bashing works great in tob and soa, a lot of monsters must be bashed due to high resistance and saves, and there is a lot of strategy in bashing as well. But I've always preferred the finess of an anti-tank weapon over the hack and slash of a broadsword.

Polaris, spook is a fab spell. due to its penalty save it almost always work, and according to one faq if you can panic a living spell caster, it can't cast spells. tue, you do have to hunt them down later and finish him with a torture spell, but thats cool too. This is better than interrupt with a melf acid arrow. Too bad the only way I've ever interrupted a lich was with incindeary cloud.

the improved demogorgan is the craziest fight i've seen yet. (so far i've only managed to beat him w/ traps which seems rather unethical, i'll be avoiding this fight in future games)

draconis is kinda funny, 1st time through i killed him easy, 2nd time woah. it seemed like he'd counter every strategy i tried, only the pocket plane saved me.

Toughest fight in ToB for me was the last final seal party in Watcher's Keep. Heck, getting only three party members killed in the battle seemed like a *great* result for me...

Runner-up has to be the 3rd battle with Melissan (at least for someone like me who wasn't prepared for a series of fairly tough battles after leaving the pocket plane for the last time), with Draconis getting a honorable mention.

I didn't fight the Demogorgon; I figured that Helmite wanker deserved to be sealed in there with him...