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I have the 2 big items needed for the Crom Faeyr... is it worth turning these items into one? My cleric is the only one in the group proficient with it. Is it worth more than the sum of its parts?

SPOILERS






It's painful to give up the Frostgiant Belt, isn't it? The Guanlets of Ogre Strength are also nice. Well, making Crom Faeyr is up to you; I always do it, and I give it to Minsc. Just depends on whether you like hammers. I think it provides 25 strength, and instantly kills, er, golems or something.

Sometimes I just cheat up a second belt, but if you're new to the game, you won't want to do that. Best to play it first without cheating.

Spoilerish

If you stick it right through to ToB, there are strength belts/items a-plenty.

Dual-wielding Crom Faeyr is the business.

decisions, decisions

I usually give the different bits to different characters which makes losing the components a bit annoying. the qualifications for using the different items are different and whilst Aerie wielding the hammer might be curious her HP make her vulnerable.

if you can spare the items, Minsc with the +3 flail (or for undead the enhanced MoD) and crom is very powerful.

there is another hammer that boosts to 18 and I usually give that to the lass - but you need the AI off to stop her running into trouble.

[QUOTE=Celacena]there is another hammer that boosts to 18 and I usually give that to the lass - but you need the AI off to stop her running into trouble.[/QUOTE]
That'd be Viconia with the Mauler's Arm I believe?

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Spoiler

I think you buy it from the Copper Coronet

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[QUOTE=Pellinore] My cleric is the only one in the group proficient with it. QUOTE]It depends who your cleric is. Anomen is a great fighter and with CF he'll do a lot of damage.
Viconia is a very good cleric but she's less suited for melee combat, so giving her CF wouldn't be very efficient.

Pick it up, build it, just for fun. Nice quest, nice item, proves you're da man

I never bother to put the Crom Faeyr together, because I tend to use many of the low strength characters Jan, Imoen, Keldorn, Jahiera, Valygar and carrying items becomes an absolute hell to juggle, especially when characters are wearing full plate or heavy armours.

Besides the Crom doesn't even instant kill the most powerfull trolls or golems (the ones I'd like help killing), just the poor lower level ones that can easily be instant killed with most of the weapons available at that point in the game.

strong characters

usually magical armour is lighter than normal - so even though full plate is very good - lighter plate+1 for example is perhaps enough. if you have both rings of Gaxx (pickpocketed plus looted) then that is 4 AC points you gain - irrespective of whether you are using magic armour or not. with a +3 shield e.g. Saving Grace, my PC is somewhere aorund the -11/-13 AC level - I think when dual-wielding Celestial Fury and Daystar it is -11.
- and being dual class F/T she is only wearing Aeger's Hide leather armour.
cloak of the sewers can be used alongside rings of protection so that is another point and dex 18 - or beyond using those blue potions of ?mind-focusing which last 12 hours and can be bought from most good temples.

I usually have the cleric/MUs at around -5 AC and Jaheira/Minsc/PC at -7 and beyond. AC is about juggling the items between party members - even the gauntlets of dex need to be factored in (minsc/jah). bracers of AC3/AC4 for Nalia/Aerie with rings of +1/+2, cloak of protection and in Aerie's case the reflective shield as it is light. Mauler's Arm, mentioned above, gives Aerie str 18, but if you have her switch to ranged - sling of everard or seeking - you don't want to find she can't move. only depend on the 18 str for situations where combat may be avoided or where she can stand back and make magic attacks.

Girdle of HG strength is 19 and allows the main character to carry 500 - which means looted armour can be taken back for sale - but having 5 strength potions is normally enough to transport heavy treasure using every character's slots to the max. if the PC has 18/ strength, then Jaheira is a candidate for the girdle - the key to a successful party is maxing the combinations.

the class of the PC determines the optimised mix - a cleric/MU can dispense with Jah, Nalia or Aerie and a thief can do without Jan/Nalia/Yoshimo - a fighter may drop Minsc or not take up Keldorn etc - I try to reduce the party to 4 where practical and at the moment have Minsc, Nalia and Aerie with the PC - what with Jaheira coming and going. I can do without Aerie when both Nalia and Jaheira have done their quests, but the extra healing options are handy in case Jah gets immobilised in some way. even the tanks like Minsc can only take so much beating.
with a rod of resurrection, you can have the rest of the party as sacrifices, should you wish, but it takes patience to re-equip them after the battle's over. minsc is often abused in a way that no PnP character would accept - the gradual reduction in CON would upset a gamer, whereas it doesn't happen with the rod (and a computer).

if you have weaker characters carry the lighter items that can work too - because items can be swapped in inventories during combat - providing that the part do not get split or immobilised, an item can be with any character, even if it may be needed. the strong characters can carry the reserve weapons of the weaker ones and providing that the gamer stays alert, that almost never leads to problems of 'this weapon has no effect'.
I was battling Gaxx again yesterday - had scrolled the PC to be immune to magic, but the staff of Rynm was the only weapon doing damage either 2 or 4 points. then I spotted that jaheira had the sling of everard which even at 1 damage made enough difference to wear down the lich. his efreet also upset the balance of damage, so I used aerie's monster wand to create a distraction for it. that wand (being regularly sold, recharged and stolen back) is REALLY useful for creating diversions.

enough musings - back to work.