GameBanshee Forums

I've already got my party laid out (most balanced, and favorite NPCs in the game), and I know I'd have fun with any of these options as my protagonist.

It now all boils down to power level.

Anyway, here's the party I plan on playing:

Imoen
Minsc
Jaheira

Can't ditch my buddies from the first game!

Keldorn
Anomen

I'm playing a good party, and I need a Cleric. Anomen fits perfectly. Keldorn is cool, and the fact that there is a holy sword in this game makes it very difficult for me to give him up.

Anyway, I'm having trouble deciding on how to make my Protagonist. I do have ToB installed, as this will probably influence this poll one way or another. Here is what I've got so far:

Human (or 1/2 Elf) Sorcerer
Human Kensai (13) Mage
Human Berserker (13) Mage
1/2 Elf Fighter/Mage
Gnome Fighter/Mage -- no romance with this option, but that makes the Harper Quests go much more smoothly (or so I'm told).

If you vote for any of the options besides the first one, please comment on what weapons I should go for. I'm considering either dual wielding with this character (probably Katanas and Flails for Celestial Fury and the Flail of Ages) or going with Quarterstaff and Shortbow (Staff of Magi is awesome when you can fight with it, and there are two really good shortbows in the game).

TIA!

Well, considering that your party has two reasonable fighters in Minsc and Keldorn, and the other non-arcane members of your party can handle themselves physically (Anomen and Jaheira), I'd say a sorceror is probably the most useful. Most parties have one powerful spellcaster, who is either Edwin (with his bonus 2 spells per level) or the protagonist as a sorceror.

Then again, its down to your own preference. I know some friends of mine would rather have more fighters so that they can make use of all the cool equipment in the game... but I find it fun to mix good spellcasting ability into my party. So, do what you like.

No easy answer, since it depends on how you plan the rest of your party. Personally, I've played both as PCs, and enjoyed each. This also mirrors my experience in other games: sometimes I enjoy a full spellcaster, at other times, I prefer the warrior mage approach.

You don't have anyone with thieving skills until you rescue Immy. You may be able to find traps with a mage but you won't be able to disable them - they are worth a lot of points. Also setting traps is very useful as is pickpocketing. I think you have to many tanks - your party is pretty much two dimensional regardless of the picks you posted.

Jan would accompany me until Imoen came back. I find his thieving skills (especially with his equipment) better than Yoshimos. He also helps out with some spellcasting. Of course, I'd leave Jan in Atkatla, and have Yoshimo take a trip with me to Spellhold.

regarding choice of weapon: I'd prefer the Flail of Ages over the Celestial Fury for ToB purposes. Remember that CF is a +3 weapon. Hence the more powerful bosses etc that require a +4 weapon or higher to hit won't be affected by CF at all. In ToB the FoA goes up to +5 (one of the few +5 single handed weapons) and has ridiculously high bonus damage (1d6+6 +2 of fire, cold, acid, poison and electricity). With 25 STR from Crom Faeyr the damage range for FoA is 31-36, without damage bonuses from other items, while that for CF is 18-27, a difference in average of 10 damage. Also most spell protections (Mantle etc) protect against the weapon damage but not the elemental damage, so FoA gets past mage protections, allowing the fighter to disrupt casting while your own mage gets off that important Spellstrike or something.

Also regarding the stun, although it occurs every hit, the target gets a save versus the stun, and in ToB enemy saves are bound to be quite high... so the stun may not really pull off enough for liking. However the slow for FoA has no save, and even though there's only a 33% chance of it occurring, it'll probably do so sooner than later.

FoA also gets various minor benefits like Free Action and 5% MR.

Having said that, however, considering how melee intensive your party is, you might as well give CF and FoA to different party members instead of choosing between the two, since they're 2 of the most powerful weapons in the game.

Originally posted by araknid70
regarding choice of weapon: I'd prefer the Flail of Ages over the Celestial Fury for ToB purposes. Remember that CF is a +3 weapon. Hence the more powerful bosses etc that require a +4 weapon or higher to hit won't be affected by CF at all.

Very true but *IF* you happen to have Weimer's item upgrade mod, then you can easily upgrade your Celestial Fury to +5.
Some might consider this cheating altough I personally do not think that it is because of the fact that most weapons can be upgraded to +5 or +6 in ToB (as you pointed out already).

Regardless, I would keep both weapons. They are both great weapons and have different uses. I normally give FoA to Mincs and he seems to do really good with it.

the decision, as pointed out by fable, should be based on what you want to play - a fulltime caster or a "spellsword". the sorcerer is the winner for a caster option, and very in-character with the whole bhaal-spawn story.

every other combo (all of which are equally effective, their pros and cons balancing out) should be played as a frontliner that uses spells to prepare himself, and NOT as a spellcaster with a lot of HPs. since you have another mage in your party, this will not be a problem for your char.

in sum, it comes to this: you wanna stand in the middle of battle, protected by the superspells that make you untouchable and rain down distruction on your enemies - play the sorcerer. you wanna run up to the baddies protected and enhanced by the right two-three spells and whack them down - paly one of the warrior/mage combos combos. as said, IMHO they're equally effective - you can choose one based on roleplaying or even visual considerations, i/e what avatar you want the char to use



the weapons choice... i (almost) always use the two you mentioned - Celestal Fury and Flail of Ages for my main char. the katana is the best in SoA, and towards ToB the flails gains in power, and by the end it becomes the most effective one-handed weapon. if i have room, i give my char a specialization in axes, for the throwing axes early on, and for using the Axe of the Unyelding in the non-boss figths in ToB.

I voted the multiclass fighter-mage. Simply because you get the best out of two classes.

However, I'd wish there would be an option for the Archer-Mage...cause that option is the most powerful IMO.

I just experienced the enormous power of that class.

Timestop, Improved Aclarity, Protection removing spells, Improved haste => more then 10 attack per round => enemy dead in 1 round


Edit: As for weapons for your fighter-mage. You might want to consider using belm offhand (for the extra attack per round) and CF/FoA/ Crom Faeyr in your mainhand.

if you're gonna go sorceror, i love the elf avatar and the general stats.

gnomish fightermage entertains me though imagine sarevok looking down at a little guy with a beard an thinkin "how the hell did this thing kick my ass?"

Numbers wise, I like Gnome Ftr/Mages better than Elf or Half Elven ones.

The ability to get a 19 INT (no limit on memorized spells) helps more than any of the other advantages of being an elf or halfelf (and I've already said: I'm not playing an elf -- just don't like 'em).


As for Celestial Fury vs. Flail of Ages: I've always preferred the Flail, I really don't know why. I'll give Imoen the Ceelstial Fury (until I get the Staff of Magi).

There's also the possibility of giving a F/M (or Kensai, ect.) ***** in Quarterstaff, ** in Two handed fighting style, and letting him go to town with the Staff of the Magi. That weapon has so many advantages that go to waste on most spellcasters (since they won't use it in melee combat).