GameBanshee Forums

1) The rounded down average party level affects how much combat XP you get. I'd just level up normally.

2) Rogues get more skillpoints, 1.75 extra sneak attack damage every level and a bonus feat every 3 levels starting at level 10.
The main benefit is better sneak attack damage, if you don't sneak attack take fighter levels.

3) Armor gives a penalty to skills like "hide in shadows" and a spell failure chance for mages and bards. I'd rather cast mage armor, spirit armor or shield than using armor.

4) Turn undead destroys undead or makes them flee depending on your cleric level. It doesn't affect other monsters than undead which don't appear before chapter 3.

5) Monks aren't that great. Add a bard as 6th character, his songs will help the whole party.

kmonster wrote:
It doesn't affect other monsters than undead which don't appear before chapter 3.

Good to know..i was trying with all horde monsters

Thanks for the tips/answers .

I think about bard as well( also druid) , but then i decided to keep the party smaller ( easy to control, more XP, not stuck behind other characters,etc.)

DrizztKrm wrote:I have a 5 man party now:

Paladin, Fighter, Cleric , Rogue and a wizard(necromancer)

1-Level difference in party will effect general XP?

For example: my rogue 1 level higher than other party members, should i keep him low level until the others reach him?

Unless you really feel confident about handling your party at less than its best possible level, I agree with Kmonster. Level up whenever possible.

I just completed a party thru normal mode. And while I didn't do any serious level squatting (i.e. the delaying taking of levels), if I had a bunch of characters that were all within a handful of XP of leveling up, I might wait a little bit to let the others catch up... which really wouldn't take more than a battle or 2. But I was also confident that not levelling up instantly wouldn't be a big deal. About the only character that I would level up immediately was my sorceress.

2-I'm not huge fan of multi-classing , i tried when i was playing Newerwinter nights, and it didn't work the way expecting ( slow level progression, skills or items was limiting the other character)

I'm happy with my party but may be i can multi class my rogue(human) with a fighter when he reaches enough level to unlock all doors/chests/disable traps.

Will it worth, or pure Rogues will have better skills at advanced levels?

Again, I agree with Kmonster on this. If you like using sneak attacks aggressively, then stick with a pure rogue. Actually, even if you only took 4 levels of fighter, it won't really hurt the rogue all that much as for the cost of 2 sneak attack dice, you'll gain 3 explicit feat points, and a TON of free feats that come with the first fighter level (i.e. all of the martial weapons, plus all three armor proficiency feats).

Though you've probably passed this point by now, my suggestion for anyone intending to mix in some fighter levels would be to create the character as a rogue, but then take the first fighter level at the very first level up. My reasoning here is that traps aren't a big deal early on. But by taking the fighter level very early, you get all of the martial weapon feats. My suggestion after that would be to take at least 3 rogue levels before taking another fighter level. The first fighter level is key for the various martial weapon feats. It should be noted that you could simply take a single level of ranger and get all those same martial weapon feats without losing in the skills department. The primary reason for taking fighter levels over a ranger level is that one would be intending to take 4 fighter levels to have weapon specialization available.

3-I gave light armor(leather) proficiency points for my wizard,and with high dexterity stats i'm happy from the result,my wizard is not easy target anymore, but;

Most light armors have %10 arcane, %10 armor penalty.

My questions ? Arcane means all of the spells,or a specific type? %10 armor penalty will add to the top of arcane (%10+%10=%20) or are they separate?

Kmonster is correct. The Armor penalty is for various skills. I also think that it is applied if a character is using Weapon Finesse and has a shield in the off-hand (hence, the reason for weapon finesse-using characters to use small shields or bucklers with little or no armor penalty).

OTOH, the Arcane spell failure thing is applied against wizards, sorcerers, and bards.

And I agree with Kmonster here. Armored arcana is really a weak feat for a mage to take. I could possibly see a wizard spending a feat point on AA, since wizards get more feat points than sorcerers. But the reason wouldn't be to wear light armor, but to possibly use a small shield or buckler to boost AC. Smaller shields or bucklers usually have very low arcane penalties, and 1 point of AA should be enough to remove any risk of spell failure.

However, it's usually not that big an issue. There are plenty of spells that a caster can use to boost AC and his overall protection. Mage Armor, Mirror Image, Stone Skin are just three to consider.

4- I have problem with turn undead ,i know early levels not very efficient but mine is not working at all.

Lvl 4 my cleric stats:STR 18 Dex :10 Con:16 Int:10:Wis:16 Cha :14

I specially gave many points to STR for melee attack(most of the game melee fight,not spells) , but i don't know if my charisma or wisdom points too low?

And also I'm not sure how to use the skill ? according to description nothing else should attempting while trying to turn undead , whole party or just cleric? nothing means stand still or still i need to choose a target? wil lit work against all monsters or just undead ? whats gonna happen actually will the monsters die, or I'll transform a undead

Turning undead in IWD2 isn't a particularly heavily used ability. However, it is dependent on the cleric's (or paladin's) CHA stat. Something to think about is before you choose to start using Turn Undead in an area that's heavily infested with undead (there aren't many) is to have a mage cast "Eagle's Splendor" on the cleric to boost his CHA even further. It's a low level spell and should help.

It's also worth noting that there are a number of items around the game with the ability to disrupt undead creatures and "outsiders" (aka demons, elementals, etc.). These are probably more valuable than the Turn Undead ability.

5- One last questions, while i building the party i couldn't decide to add a monk or not, according to description they have many cool skills, usually i like melee party s, but did i made a mistake ?

I'm not a fan of monks either, though it's mostly because part of the reason that I like these D&D CRPG's is discovering and using items. And monks can't use many of the items that you might find. Besides, monks as a class don't really interest me much.

As for a 6th character, Kmonster's suggestion of a bard is a good one. They can be useful by simply standing around and singing. I just completed a party with a bard in it. Her primary roles were singing and as the party's spokesman, since she had a good CHA and lots of skill points that could be spent on talking skills. In combat, she sang and used a bow, and only engaged in melee when absolutely necessary. There are also a handful of really cool bard-only items with some useful spell-like effects. And if you do consider taking a bard, remember that the Lingering Song feat is the single most important feat that a bard should take at creation.

If you change your mind when you start getting 0 combat XP because of the average party level being too high or want the game to get easier you can add a bard, even if he's a few levels behind the rest of the party he'll still be useful.

Mages can also wear robes and bracers.

DrizztKrm wrote:1-Level difference in party will effect general XP?

For example: my rogue 1 level higher than other party members, should i keep him low level until the others reach him?

It shouldn't matter if the level difference is only 1. It's up to you whether you want to gain the level now or when everyone catches up.

2-I'm not huge fan of multi-classing , i tried when i was playing Newerwinter nights, and it didn't work the way expecting ( slow level progression, skills or items was limiting the other character)

i'm happy with my party but may be i can multi class my rogue(human) with a fighter when he reaches enough level to unlock all doors/chests/disable traps.

Will it worth, or pure Rogues will have better skills at advanced levels?

There are only 2 advantages I can see with keeping a pure rogue. Sneak Attack damage and Improved Evasion. If you like Sneak Attack and want to maximise it, multiclassing away from rogue will result in your losing sneak attack damage dice. Rogues can get Improved Evasion at level 10. Every level you multiclass away from rogue delays your getting IE.

As for the skills, I found that my Wizard is able to adequately do all of the thieving that a rogue would normally do. My skills aren't as high, but she gets the job done. She may fail disarming the odd trap, but most traps aren't that dangerous. If she cannot open a lock (which is rare), she has the Knock spell.

3-I gave light armor(leather) proficiency points for my wizard,and with high dexterity stats i'm happy from the result,my wizard is not easy target anymore, but;

Most light armors have %10 arcane, %10 armor penalty.

My questions ? Arcane means all of the spells,or a specific type? %10 armor penalty will add to the top of arcane (%10+%10=%20) or are they separate?

Wizard, sorcerers and bards cast arcane spells. If you have multiple items that have arcane spell failure, you add all of the ASF together. For instance, if you have a bucker (5%) and leather (10%), your total ASF is 15%.

The armour check penalty is not related to arcane spell failure. A -2 ACP just means that for skills like hide and move silently, you incur a -2 penalty to your skill check. It has nothing to do with ASF.

4- I have problem with turn undead ,i know early levels not very efficient but mine is not working at all.

Lvl 4 my cleric stats:STR 18 Dex :10 Con:16 Int:10:Wis:16 Cha :14

I specially gave many points to STR for melee attack(most of the game melee fight,not spells) , but i don't know if my charisma or wisdom points too low?

You have to be near undead before you can turn them. If they are far way, it has no effect. Cha does affect how well you turn and how often you can before having to rest. I personally, do not use it as I my cleric has low Cha (1) and there just aren't very many undead that I encounter.

5- One last questions, while i building the party i couldn't decide to add a monk or not, according to description they have many cool skills, usually i like melee party s, but did i made a mistake ?

I find that monks are not that good early, but are better at higher levels. The other issue with the monk is that they require too many high ability scores for a traditional monk. They need Str to attack, Dex and Wis for AC and other monk abilities and then Con because you're going to be in melee. I also find that there are a lot of cool items I find that I want to use. A monk traditionally just attacks with fists.

I do have a monk in my current party, but it is specifically to have a character with extremely high defences. As a result it would have weak offences and I had to multiclass and do other things to compensate. My monk probably won't resemble what you thing a monk would be like as I don't use things like Stunning Fist because he doesn't use his fists at all.

I would encourage you to try a monk if it interests you. Just be prepared to have to wait until mid to high levels before he really starts to be effective.

Stuntman wrote:I would encourage you to try a monk if it interests you. Just be prepared to have to wait until mid to high levels before he really starts to be effective.

I'd agree with this... I'd also suggest that until you feel that the monk can be competent in melee, its best use might be as an archer and scout, since the monk will certainly have a high DEX and good stealth/scouting abilities.

Crucis wrote:I'd agree with this... I'd also suggest that until you feel that the monk can be competent in melee, its best use might be as an archer and scout, since the monk will certainly have a high DEX and good stealth/scouting abilities.

One way I was able to make the monk more effective earlier is to get the Weapon Finesse feat and use light blades. My monk has 20 Dex and only 12 Str. Your BAB must be at least +1 before you can take this feat. A pure monk will need to be level 3 before you can take it, so for the Prologue your effectiveness will be limited. My particular monk is a ranger 1/monk X. I start off as a ranger for the two-weapon fighting and ambidexterity feats and can take weapon finesse at level 1 because a ranger's BAB is +1 at level 1. Then I switch to a monk afterwards. Depending on your race, multiclassing may incur XP penalties that you may not like.

Stuntman wrote:One way I was able to make the monk more effective earlier is to get the Weapon Finesse feat and use light blades. My monk has 20 Dex and only 12 Str. Your BAB must be at least +1 before you can take this feat. A pure monk will need to be level 3 before you can take it, so for the Prologue your effectiveness will be limited. My particular monk is a ranger 1/monk X. I start off as a ranger for the two-weapon fighting and ambidexterity feats and can take weapon finesse at level 1 because a ranger's BAB is +1 at level 1. Then I switch to a monk afterwards. Depending on your race, multiclassing may incur XP penalties that you may not like.

This build also had the advantage of giving your MC'd monk proficiency in all weapon types, Bow in particular, which you can use to keep you monk out of the front lines until you feel that it is capable of being effective in the front lines.

I agree that using weapon finesse with a monk is a good idea, since it's quite likely that many monks will have high DEX's and not enough stat points for a high STR.

Weapon Finesse also synergises well with two-weapon fighting/AD you gain from the Ranger and the high Dex of a monk. My Ranger/Monk gets a lot of kills early on because he gets twice as many attacks as other characters.

Sorry, DrizztKrm. I have no idea of XP decreases if you lower the difficulty.

Lowering or raising the difficulty setting won't change your XP gain.