GameBanshee Forums

Hi there,

it's been a while since I've posted things.
I got a question whether to wield dual weapons or to wield a shield. We all know that WS cannot use anything magical but Armor and Weapons, thus the luck of AC will be quite obvious, I thought that having a shield on would boost my AC, but the trade-off I lose an off-hand attack. I was thinkin of dual long swords, because there is a real nice one (the one which silences) and many others which are handy.
And here emerges the second question, should I only focus on long swords or stick to other weapons.
Oh, during writing I come up with 3rd question, at what lvl should I dual him into thief (for obvious UAI HLA : ))
I use a enhanced WS mod, which gives me 4%MR instead of 1%.
PS, do you know any bugged items which my WS could use? I know that there is nice one which grants me another 10%MR and +1 Saving Throws.

btw my party is me ws, jaheira, aerie, yoshi(dualed into fighter) and haerdalis, kinda arcane party, was thinkin of "droppin" yoshi for the sake of imoen after Spellhold (obvious reasons).
Sorry for my being chaotic, but my posting skills are out of practice ; )
Cheers

I suggest dualing at level fourteen (or thirteen if you don't feel like getting the most out of a lost thief level) and then becoming a 14 (or 13) fighter and 39 thief.

As for weapons, I suggest that you, at first, specialize in flails, to make up for your lack of armor, you'd use the Defender of Easthaven which grants a bonus AC as well as 20% physical resistance.

After you gain Use Any Item, you can of course use all the magical items you couldn't before, however, I recommend that you use Jan's armor instead of anything else.

At best, I think you should probably have maybe three points in each weapon (unless you're positive that you want to go all out) as if you're dualing so early on, you won't have as many proficiency points available.

Would I be able to backstab with Defender of Easthaven?

A WS doesn't get low AC. Honestly, how many AC reducing items do your fighters usually wear except your armor? Using a magical armor makes you unable to use rings/cloaks anyhow. With 18+ dex and a top notch armor (0 or better) you'll end up with the same AC as a normal fighter.

About the level to dual, I'm all with Crenshinibon on this one.

And about items that you're allowed to wear; Boots of Speed works. That's all I know and in truth, all I really care about. ^^

Thrifalas wrote:A WS doesn't get low AC. Honestly, how many AC reducing items do your fighters usually wear except your armor? Using a magical armor makes you unable to use rings/cloaks anyhow. With 18+ dex and a top notch armor (0 or better) you'll end up with the same AC as a normal fighter.

Well, WS could get low ac if s\he would be able to wear gaxx ring, ring of earth, cloak of sewers, which makes 4 AC less ^^ But alas, no magical items permitted, but I'm not to play powerhouse, just pure challange.

Well, after you get UAI you will be a powerhouse either way.

As for armor, eh, it only does so much. Even when you have -24 AC (which I think you should be able to achieve), you want to focus in physical resistance. This combination (13 or 14 Fighter/39 Thief) can get 45& Physical resistance at most.

If you had enough fighter levels for Hardiness however, you'd be able to get 85% physical resistance.

Anyway, if you want a challenge, you'll want to avoid getting traps, so you'll probably get (after UAI) Assassination and then Evasion (so you can get Greater Evasion).

Also, you cannot backstab with weapons that a vanilla thief can't use, thus you cannot backstab with the Defender of Easthaven. However, that doesn't really matter as you'll be using it in your offhand anyway.

I don't think you'll encounter much of a challenge with such a character.

If you don't want to powerplay, don't dual. A WS -> T is one of the most powerful combinations, after UAI of course

I've soloed a Wizard Slayer with Ascension installed on Insane. Here are my hints:

Your Wizard Slayer will be well buffed with arcane and divine buffs (seeing your support). But if you need more, use the following equipment:

Helm of Balduran
Foebane +5 (ToB)
Shield of the Order +4 (ToB)
Delver's Plate +2
Amulet of the Seldarine (ToB)

These items will improve your saves. Other items which a Wizard Slayer may use (except weapons and armor):

Green Protection scrolls
Rod of Reversal (ToB)
Wand of Cursing
Brine Potions
Rod of Resurrection

My advice is also that your WS always carries a normal weapon (to attack those mages under ProMW).

Later in the game, Ekindu's Plate (bought from the Smugglers in Amkethran) will be very useful.

I never was much of a fan of shields (even in a solo-game). Best rely on Hardiness, speed, healing potions and resurrection charges in battle. Mirror Image from Ilbratha will also help, as will Roranarch's Horn in ToB. However, in some situations, certain immunity granting shields will be very useful - like the Shield of Harmony or Reflection shield. But most of the time, your Wizard Slayer is best dual-wielding.

Too bad that the Defender is not upgradable ; ) Cuz +1 ac and +2 enchantment is not going to be so helpful in ToB. I was thinkin of runnin wiv Flail of Ages and Defender thru all SoA, and swap into this 22 str long sword + ?
Or it's simply up to situation I will find myself in? Switchin between weapons and stuff. I'm starting to like this kit, kinda useful, and cummulative spell failure along with 50MR makes this kit a wizard slayer (= so far so good.

That doesn't matter.

It only attacks once per round (without Improved Haste) anyway. The 20% physical is simply invaluable. You should have 22 strength either way, by the time that you can upgrade the sword to give you a constant strength bonus, you should already have the Girdle of Fire Giant Strength. Trust me on this. You *want* the flail in your off hand. The Flail of Ages (and any other weapon that does elemental damage) is very good against caster as the elemental damage goes right through the Stoneskin spell. If you want to backstab, you might want to use a weapon with a high bonus, such as the Staff of the Ram +6. Short Sword of the Mask +4 is available early on too.

I've decided not to dual. No dual, no UAI, thus no belts allowed. Simply Salos kicked the idea of dualing out of my head.

A Wizard Slayer cannot wear a Girdle of Giant Strength (or any girdle, for that matter). In the last Ascension fight, my Wizard Slayer was mainly killed by Mel's Unleash Energy, which bypasses both Protection from Magic globe and Magic resistance, and deals Magical damage. The Belt of Inertial Barrier would have helped immensely in this case, IF a WS could wear it. Green Protection scrolls covered the rest of the elemental resistances easily, providing my WS with 120% Fire Resistance vs Mel's Dragon Breath (which also penetrates MR and Protection from Magic)

As for Defender of Easthaven, it was an almost-permanently off-hand weapon for my solo Wizard Slayer (and it is of +3 enchantment BTW).

For a Wizard slayer solo, GWW and Hardiness are much more important than Critical Strike. For a party WS, Hardiness is a must, but GWW attacks are rendered obsolete by Improved Haste.

Also, your WS should reach 100% and more magic resistance at higher levels.

And for weapons and stuff - since it's a party WS, and you're playing the vanilla game, it's not that important whether you decide to switch weapons and armor in different combat situations, or you'd stick with a single weapon combination. If you have the True Grandmastery tweak installed, however, make sure that your WS has ***** in at least one weapon of your choice. My personal favourite choice for WS are Axes, with Flails and Warhammers shortly behind.

Why do you find axes to be so supreme?

Well, first of all, the Axe of the Unyielding (the best axe in the game) is nothing to scoff at as it offers regeneration, a bonus constitution point, a bonus AC as well as vorpal strike (ten percent that the target dies, given that they fail their saving throw). And that's not mentioning the nice bonus to your THAC0.

Also, specializing in axes lets you use throwing axes as well, thus covering the need for a ranged weapon.

Man, I have to say this, you are simply a Walking Reference Book ; )
But now came the confusion, there is a long sword which grants 22 str, there is Axe of Unyielding, there is a Defender of Kuldahar, there is a Blackrazor, there are a lot of there ises, you know what I mean?; )

First of all, play the game and enjoy it. If you're the roleplayer type, then do what your character would do.

If you're reffering to the flail, Defender of Easthaven, it's a must. If you're worried about maxing out only two weapons, you could technically get away with putting only three points in each weapon as anything higher doesn't grant an increase to your attack speed.

As for swords, personally, Angurvadal is only desirable because of its' negative plane protection effect, which you can get from Mace of Disruption +2, Spectral Brand +5 or Runehammer +4, all of which (especially the first one) are found earlier on than the upgrade to the sword.

If you're worried about strength, don't be. Simply keep Blackrazor and attack with it. The 15% triggers quite often and grants three points each time (not to mention drains four levels if your enemy isn't immune). Did I mention that it grants haste with that effect too? With this weapon, you could even switch to different boots (Gargoyle Boots) to avoid backstabs when fighting rogues and still keep the speed bonus.

But yeah, after you've hit enough to get your strength to 25, you can switch to another weapon, like the Flail of Ages, and attack with that. THAC0 shouldn't give you much problems though, so don't worry too much about it.