GameBanshee Forums

Hello,

So, I've decided to dust of BG2 for the first time in quite a while. My last savegame was just after the final battle in SoA, so I'm starting out fresh in ToB. Although, before embarking on this journey (it was probably about 4 years ago that I played ToB the last time), I have some questions for the community. Before asking them though, I'll list my current party and their proficiencies and gear:

[Carnifex]
Class: Kensai 9/Thief 22 (imported from BG1)
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Proficiencies: Scimitar ++++, Quarterstaff ++++, Two Weapon Style +++, Two Handed Weapon Style +, Longsword +, Dagger +
Equipment: Kachiko's Wakizashi, Belm, Belt of Inertial Barrier, Periapt of Proof Against Poison, Boots of Speed, Cloak of Mirroring, Ring of Gaxx, Mercykiller Ring, Dusty Rose Ioun Stone, Staff of Rynn (for Backstabs), Horn of Silence, Horn of Blasting.

[Korgan]
Class: Berserker 19
Proficiencies: Axe +++++, Warhammer ++, Two Weapon Style +++
Equipment: Crom Faeyr, Frostreaver, Red Dragon Scale, Gauntlets of Dexterity, Helm of Balduran, Amulet of Seldarine, Ring of Regeneration, Ring of Protection +2, Cloak of the Sewers, Girdle of Bluntness, Boots of Speed, Iron Horn of Valhalla

[Viconia]
Class: Cleric 21
Proficiencies: Flail +, Warhammer +, Club +, Mace +, Sling +, Sword and Shield Style +
Equipment: Flail of Ages/Sling of Arvoreen, Sentinel, Armor of the Hart, Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise, Vhalior's Helm, Amulet of Power, Ring of the Ram, Ring of Regeneration, Cloak of Reflection, Boots of Etherealness, Girdle of Hill Giant Strength, Black Spider Figurine, Wand of the Heavens

[Jaheira]
Class: Fighter 13/Druid 13
Proficiencies: Scimitar ++, Club ++, Spear +, Quarterstaff +, Sling +, Sword and Shield Style +
Equipment: Blackblood/Arla's Dragonbane, Dragon Scale Shield, Gorgon Plate, Gauntlets of Weapon Skill, Helm of Glory, Kaligun's Amulet of Magic Resistance, Ring of the Ram, Ring of Fire Control, Cloak of the Stars, Boots of the North

[Imoen]
Class: Thief7/Mage17
Proficiencies: Dagger +, Quarterstaff +, Short Bow +, Dart +
Equipment: Tansheron's Bow (Shortbow of Gesen for bosses), Robe of the Good Archmagi, Bracers of Archery, Amulet of 5% Magic Resistance, Ring of Earth Control, Ring of Protection +1, Cloak of Displacement, Boots of Avoidance, Girdle of Piercing, Wand of Wonder, Wand of Cloudkill

[Edwin]
Class: Conjurer 17
Proficiencies: Dagger +, Quarterstaff +, Sling +
Equipment: Staff of the Magi, Robe of Vecna, Bracers of Defense AC3, Ring of Wizardry, Ring of Acuity, Cloak of Protection +2, Girdle of Fortitude, Efreeti Bottle, Book of Infinite Spells

Taking a quick peek into my bag of holding, it seems I've managed to grab most of the items available in SoA, so if there are any suggestions regarding replacements/swaps to do gearwise, please let me know.

[Questions]

- I'm planning to replace Imoen with Sarevok and there are a few questionmarks. Keep him as a pure fighter for those nice fighter HLAs ? Keep him as a 2h with two-handed swords/halberds ? Dualwield longwords (I have no longsword users) and maces/katanas or just longswords ? Dualclass him into a mage for Tenser's and complementing Edwin where he's lacking (IE conjurations opposing schools) ?

- HLA levels are soon here, I'll be going for Use Any Item and Assassination (possibly Spike Trap and the Evasion HLAs) first and foremost for my PC, but what about the NPCs ? Deathblow/Greater Deathblow, Whirlwind Attack/Greater Whirlwind Attack, Critical Strike, Hardiness are all viable for the fighter classes I guess, but I'm open to suggestions for all the characters.

- With Use Any Item approaching, how would you optimize the PCs gear setup, being a kensai/thief ?

- Jaheiras weapon setup. I'm a big fan of AC so I'm inclined to keep her current 1h (club/scimitar/mace)+Shield setup. What do you think, keep that setup or go for spears ?

- I've forgotten most of what spells that would be of the most use in ToB, so any suggestions as to what to memorize in terms of druid/cleric/wizard spells would be greatly appreciated. Ideas ?

- Quickslot/Usable items. I've got a bad habit of neglecting these, which ones do you find particularly useful ?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Krgds,

//C

Not sure what it is you want to know but replacing a mage with a fighter is not a good idea you have enough melee already.

Best spells and abilities are Breach, Wish, and Improved Whirlwind. Dont need much more, put Hardiness on for tanks.

- Jaheiras weapon setup. I'm a big fan of AC so I'm inclined to keep her current 1h (club/scimitar/mace)+Shield setup. What do you think, keep that setup or go for spears ?

Will work either way but i wouldnt use clubs or scimitars, in ToB they are lacking good weapons. Mace is Okay though. Depends on what weapons you are using of the thief and Viconia since they share weapons obviously.

roller1234 wrote:Not sure what it is you want to know but replacing a mage with a fighter is not a good idea you have enough melee already.

Best spells and abilities are Breach, Wish, and Improved Whirlwind. Dont need much more, put Hardiness on for tanks.


Will work either way but i wouldnt use clubs or scimitars, in ToB they are lacking good weapons. Mace is Okay though. Depends on what weapons you are using of the thief and Viconia since they share weapons obviously.

Well, first of all I'd like to know what the best course for Sarevok would be, given my current party composition. Would it be best to keep him a straight up fighter focusing on twohanders (greatswords/halberds), dual him to a mage (thus keeping 2 arcane casters in the group and getting a spellsword type character, which is nice), or dual him to thief for the powerful UAI ability). Seeing as he comes with +++++ in greatswords already, I suppose I'll keep focused on twohanders in any event.

Second, judging by all the posts I've read thus far regarding fighter HLAs, the general consensus seems to be that getting up to GWW and stacking those seems to be the way to go, as well as tossing in some hardiness. I'd just like a confirmation on this, which you've given me.

Other than that, I've kind of figured out how I'd like to equip each individual party member by now (although input/thougts are appreciated), so I don't *need* an answer to that anymore.

After trudging through loads of post regarding spell picks and reading up on Xyx's thoughts on the individual spells, I'm up to speed there as well, pretty much.

To summarize, what I still want input on is the whole Sarevok situation as well as what quickslot items/usables people frequently use, as I have a tendency not to use them as often as I probably should.

Thread has gotten 100+ views by now, I'm sure someone will be able to provide some input, yes ?

Krgds,

//C

Damn im stupid, Jaheira cant use maces. Well scimitars are okay too, which she probably will not use since your main thief is using them. Im personally fond of spears, they are unique and not mainstream, there is one with a +10 damage bonus you get in the underwater city which is quite a strong weapon. And there is a powerful quarterstaff too. Depends on if you wanna use the stuff on the thief or the scimitar i guess.


ring of earth control gives stackable +1 AC so does the sewers cloak, not sure Imoen and Korgan are the best users of these items. And you could have the defender of easthaven mace for the same effect. Put them all on Viconia for a free +3 AC boost. She makes a good tank. Flail is kinda wasted on her since it has a cool on-hit effect but Viconia doesnt have a lot of attacks for it to apply often enough, then again you dont have other many blunt weapon users.


Im not particulary fond of pure fighters, even less fond of dual classes and even even less fond of switching party chars midgame, which pretty much means i never took Sarevok. But were i to take him for role playing reasons, i would keep him pure, he would be a second Korgan, which obviously works. Dualling prevents him from taking fighter HLA, which pretty much negates him as a fighter. Mind you it is possible, but he would need to switch to dual wield to get more attacks. Not sure if it goes well with roleplaying. Not to say he would need a couple of mil of exp to get back to the power and the game might end already by that time.


quickslot items? pretty pointless. Fill with healing potions heh.

Potion of wisdom, scroll of freedom, stuff of resurrection on Edwin, to cheesely use free resurrect, freedom and better Wish choices on a Projected Edwin.

hope that helps

roller1234 wrote:Damn im stupid, Jaheira cant use maces. Well scimitars are okay too, which she probably will not use since your main thief is using them. Im personally fond of spears, they are unique and not mainstream, there is one with a +10 damage bonus you get in the underwater city which is quite a strong weapon. And there is a powerful quarterstaff too. Depends on if you wanna use the stuff on the thief or the scimitar i guess.


ring of earth control gives stackable +1 AC so does the sewers cloak, not sure Imoen and Korgan are the best users of these items. And you could have the defender of easthaven mace for the same effect. Put them all on Viconia for a free +3 AC boost. She makes a good tank. Flail is kinda wasted on her since it has a cool on-hit effect but Viconia doesnt have a lot of attacks for it to apply often enough, then again you dont have other many blunt weapon users.


Im not particulary fond of pure fighters, even less fond of dual classes and even even less fond of switching party chars midgame, which pretty much means i never took Sarevok. But were i to take him for role playing reasons, i would keep him pure, he would be a second Korgan, which obviously works. Dualling prevents him from taking fighter HLA, which pretty much negates him as a fighter. Mind you it is possible, but he would need to switch to dual wield to get more attacks. Not sure if it goes well with roleplaying. Not to say he would need a couple of mil of exp to get back to the power and the game might end already by that time.


quickslot items? pretty pointless. Fill with healing potions heh.

Potion of wisdom, scroll of freedom, stuff of resurrection on Edwin, to cheesely use free resurrect, freedom and better Wish choices on a Projected Edwin.

hope that helps

It does, thanks for your input!

//C