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Well, after a few years break, I've decided to try baldurs gate 2 once again. I've been thinking of making a pure ranger (no kits) like I did the last time I played, but I'd like to know are my weapon selections ok.

I've been thinking of having two handed swords(So I could weild a warblade when I can buy it.), longbows, shortbows and crossbows. Is that a good idea, or should I only specialize in one long range weapon? And which in general do you find as the best long range weapons? longbows, shortbows or crossbows?

Also, which is the best longbow in SoA? Elven court or Heartseeker? I had them both in my previous game and they both were great weapons.

And mostly, how hard is it for a beginner to start with a kit? I've seriously been thinking of making an archer, but all my friends say that it'll be very hard, since you won't get any good bows until later in the game and you almost HAVE TO stick with melee weapons in the beginning.

Also, what armors would you suggest to wear? If I remember it right, ranger can wear black dragon scales without losing the stealth skill. Does the same work with red dragon scales too? What about gorgon plate?

And as a newbie question, how does the armor rate work? Which is better? 4 or -1? Help please

I always prefer the long bow for rangers BUT as you can have the T-bow early on which fires 3 per round, that rate of fire may take your preference to short bows.
crossbows have the excellent bolts of biting and the electrical ones too, so with a light crossbow of speed, you have a decent weapon there.

armour - I usually use the shadow dragon plate which keeps the ability to stealth, as do the other leather armours. the shadow dragon is the only plate that retains stealth, from memory. minsc is an NPC ranger and appears able to use tougher armours, but there is always the loss of stealth aspect even so. if you want resistances, some of the leather armours are good.

from RPG I think rangers should specialise in long-bow, axe and long-sword - even though 2 handed works better if using ranged. IMO through much of the game, the choice of 2 handers is not as good as one handers - you can specialise in single-weapon, so that when using a one-handed sword in the same configuration as the bow, you are not disadvantaged.

from memory, rangers cannot put more than 2 points into each weapon slot, unlike the fighter who can put 5. it may be a by-product of the quasi-druid/priest nature of rangers - they get some limited spellcasting and lose the high specialisation in weapons. it is not logical that a ranger couldn't become as good with a bow or axe as a fighter, but the limitations are part of the game.

Rangers (no kit) can wear any armor and wield any weapon, so your choice should be determined by your own playing style. Since rangers can only put two proficiency points in each weapon type, you will end up with proficiency in a lot of different weapons. The ranger class also starts out with two bonus proficiency points in Two Weapon Style. This encourages a lot of players to have their Rangers dual wield weapons.

Lower armor class is better. For example, AC -10 is a whole lot better than AC 10. If you dual wield weapons, you won't be able to carry a shield, so it will be harder to lower your armor class. It will also be harder to make up your mind about which kind of weapon you want to carry in your right hand and which kind you want to carry in your left hand. Dual wielding also makes it more difficult to switch back and forth to a ranged weapon (such as a bow).

Deciding which kind of armor to wear also forces you to make choices. For example, a Ranger can wear platemail for very good armor class, but you'll lose the stealth ability. How important in the stealth ability to you? If it's very important to you, then your character will probably wear some sort of leather armor. If you do that, you might as well choose the Stalker kit and get a backstab bonus and extra stealth. On the other hand, if you wear platemail, you have less need for a shield, so it will be easier to dual wield weapons. You could let the Thief in your party sneak up on people, then distract them with a frontal assault by your melee warriors (your Ranger, of course) so your Thief can backstab without being attacked immediately afterward. Better yet, if your Ranger wields a bow, you can shoot a few arrows before your enemy reaches you and then switch to a melee weapon with a nice head start on damage.

As for bows, the Short Bow of Gesen is probably the best ranged weapon in the game, unless you install Throne of Bhaal, so some people prefer to put proficiency points in Short Bow.

If you want me to make your choices for you, I'd be happy to oblige you. But if you tell us more about how you would like to play and who will be in your party, we could help you make your decisions yourself.

Well, I'd love to play as a "classic RPG ranger" who pretty much is stealthy, uses a bow until switches to sword the the enemy is near.

I'm currently pretty much balancing between the choice of either being a ranger, or an archer.

Regular ranger can use any armos(almost) and can specialize in many weapons. (I remember having ** in two-handed swords, longbows, shortbows and crossbows in my last game). But then again, archer can have ***** in long ranged weapons...

Is it possible to be a grandmaster in shortbows, longbows and crossbows?

I don't remember myself using stealth very much in my previous game except in the beginning. I've been thinking of using it a bit more this time.

And yes, I'd love to hear your opinions too.

By the way, if I install ToB, will there be any other major changes?

you gain higher levels
IIRc the xp cap in soa is 20
and in TOB 30
and with cap remover 40
so after you reach lvl 20 you gain TOB abilities (such as class pool abilities)

also if TOB is installed you can erase spells and rewrite them to your spellbook
also watcherskeep will be on your map

there are pretty much more differences but that's all i can think off about now

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Personal recommendation here, choose an Elf Archer.

Get the Night's Gift Armor +5 which augments your stealth abilities whilst providing excellent defense and doesn't requiring you to kill one of the greatest creatures in all of Faerun.

The +5 in longbow (make sure either composite or short, not longbow as the advantages of either of those two outwiegh the benefits of the longbow) will definately help you out in the end and the early stages. Also what can help you in the early stages is to choose scimitar proficiency and instead of the two-handed wielding, choose dual-wielding option with 3 stars in it and 1 in scimitar, couple this with the great scimitars in the game, you will be able to go toe-to-toe with almost all melee enemies in the game.

Spells that can provide support - Armor of Faith or Sanctuary, Resist Fire/Cold, Flame Blade - used in conjuction with two-weapon fighting can provide a great way to kill trolls, for the 3rd level spell choose dispel magic, it will definately help you against enemies.

This was the method I originally used when I was an archer and it was sufficient to beat the game but also to excel as a character in either; melee or long range attacks.

TOB will grant you tougher enemies in TOB but also in SOA concerning Watcher's Keep, but the rewards, abilities and the new NPC all make the additioon worthwhile in my view, whether you or others agree is your own choice. However, being able to reach great levels come with powerful abilities especially concerning the Archer.

If this appeals to you use it, if not ... well *sticks fork in the eye of RaNkeri* :laugh:

But is it possible to be a grandmaster in all three of them?

A classic Ranger sounds good to me, but if you want to rely heavily on ranged weapons, you should play an Archer. There are only two drawbacks: 1) you can't wear heavy armor, which isn't a problem since you want to use stealth and wear leather armor anyway like a good Ranger should, and 2) you can only put one proficiency point in any melee weapon, which doesn't really make much difference in the long run. An Archer can decimate entire parties of enemies before they reach you, so there doesn't have to be much melee fighting in the first place. Called Shot and grand mastery in ranged weapons more than make up for those drawbacks.

Contrary to what your friends say, I think it is harder to use melee weapons early in the game than it is to use ranged weapons. If you use disabling spells such as Sleep, Horror, Glitterdust, Web, Stinking Cloud, etc., ranged weapons are a very good bet.

Later in the game, at really high levels, I think that ranged weapons and Archers lose some of their appeal. But so do single-class Rangers, so you shouldn't let that discourage you from playing an Archer.

Throne of Bhaal adds many new things the game, including several more chapters and a brilliant conclusion to the saga. (Surely you want to see how the story ends.) It also adds a higher experience cap, High Level Abilities, new items, and new dialogues. I wouldn't play Shadows of Amn without it. Try Greater Death Blow in combination with an arrow of detonation and see what you think.

I don't think it's possible to attain Grand Mastery in Longbows, Short Bows, and Crossbows simply because you won't get 15 proficiency points to distribute. If I had to choose between, personally I think I would pick Short Bows just because there are several short bows that don't require ammunition, which eliminates some of the difficulties in managing stacks and stacks of arrows. Throne of Bhaal has an ammo belt that makes it easier to carry arrows. You can also use the unofficial Ease of Use patch to increase the capacity of bags of holding (so you can store thousands of arrows instead of just 700) and to increase the number of items you can put in one stack. I wouldn't play without it. Ease of Use will also allow you to wear rings of protection even when you're wearing enchanted armor, which will improve your armor class.

As Amran_X_Kaiser suggested, you should definitely make use of your spells. Doom can be used in combination with Greater Malison and Glitterdust to give your enemies huge saving throw penalties. And you will definitely want to use the High Level Abilities offered in Throne of Bhaal.

I don't think you should worry too much about specific items before you've even started the game. Too many people spend too much time worrying about "I want to max out out my character so what items should I get?" There are plenty of great items in the game and it's really hard to choose between them, so that should tell you that you'll have great equipment no matter what you choose.

However, if you want specific suggestions, I would choose the Tuigan Short Bow in Chapters 2-5 with Arrows of Piercing and Arrows of Fire, the Short Bow of Gesen in Chapters 6-7 in combination with enchanted arrows (you can do that even though it doesn't require arrows), and then in Throne of Bhaal you can choose another short bow if you want. As for armor, I like Aeger's Hide and Corthala Armor if you can manage to wear it. Shadow Dragon Armor is nice, but the best leather armor in Throne of Bhaal is Ice Dragon Armor. For a melee weapon, I'd pick one that inflicts elemental damage, such as the Stonefire Axe or the Hammer of Thunderbolts (which can be upgraded to Crom Faeyr). If you dual wield, you can put a weapon in your offhand that confers special benefits. For example, Belm grants you an extra attack, and the Defender of Easthaven gives you resistance to damage. Celestial Fury is also great if you don't want to give it to one of your other party members. If you pick a two-handed sword, make sure you put a couple of proficiency points in Two Handed Weapon Style. Boots of Speed, the Cloak of Non-Detection, Girdles of Giant Strength, and rings of protection, fire resistance, free action, regeneration are also good choices.

that's the thing with weapons or shields that confer benefits - you get reluctant to use double handed weapons because you lose the off-hand benefit.

I am playing a PC now as mage just to see what it is like to use the staff of the magi as the major weapon - I have 4 in staff (although I also have 5 in katana, as it takes a while getting good enough to fight the Twisted Rune)
the de-buffing of the staff is sooo handy. there are other de-buffing weapons and class specific destroyers which reduce wisdom of wipe spells.

items that give MR can be a real boost - and Viconia starts out with MR - add to that and you can have a very resistant character which is a real help in tight spots.

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VonDondu covers the Ranger topic well.

Will I only listed in my opinion the solo capabilities of the Archer, its good to see someone chipping in with more than that - give you the rundown of an Archer protaginist within a group.

Tuigans Bow will help certainly from chapters 2-5.

Also interesting to hear about the Ice Dragon Armor, but I thought it was splint mail and thus off-limits to the Archer class ?

I've decided to make a regular ranger. This way, I can use a heavy armor if necessary, and I can specialize in many weapons.

I can't remember though, can regular ranger have more than ** in bows?

has anyone ever played as beastmaster?
i did once..
and used a lot of find familiars as scouts..
well they all died..
and then i measured my stats as that of misc
and my CON was very low and i thought WTF:speech: :speech: :speech: :speech:
then i read about the find familair thingie and i quited

for the rest he seemed ok but never got further than chap 3 with him
the low con was too much of a disadvantage :/

Good decision. I think you'll enjoy that character, especially if you use all of his abilities for what they're worth.

No one but Archers and Fighters (not multi-class) can put more than two ** in any weapon. This means that by the end of the game you can have two proficiency points in all types of ranged weapons (even slings, darts, and throwing daggers) as well as a few melee weapons. With all of the great equipment you'll find on the way, you'll have a vast arsenal to choose from.

Fighters are great with bows and they can wear heavy armor, but they can't cast spells, use stealth, or choose a racial enemy. The way most people play a ranger, they might as well play Fighters and get the extra weapon benefits and the faster advancement table. When I have Minsc in my party, I usually use an editor to make him a Berserker and give him the biggest two handed sword I can find. "Full plate and packing steel!"

By the way, there are a few unofficial mods I would recommend even for a first time player, if you're interested in using those. (I posted a list in another message thread.) But if you want "plain vanilla" on this run as you become re-acquainted with the game, you could stick with the Baldurdash bug fixes and the Ease Of Use mod.


[QUOTE=Amran_X_Kaiser]Also interesting to hear about the Ice Dragon Armor, but I thought it was splint mail and thus off-limits to the Archer class ?[/QUOTE]
When I gave it to Minsc, he was able to sneak around (but his battle cry gave him away).

[QUOTE=RaNkeri]But is it possible to be a grandmaster in all three of them? [/QUOTE]only if you're an archer. And Grandmastery isn't as good in BGII as it is in other games. It really isn't worth it.

If you want any kind of melee ability, you're best off with a stalker or a ranger with no kit. Personally, I love stalkers, but you can't backstab with a two handed sword.

Slightly off-topic: If you do want a backstabber, a Fighter/Thief is infinitely better than a Stalker, save that the Ranger stronghold is one of the best in the game.

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Ever tried a fighter/thief vs stalker ?

At low levels the stalker wins, at level 17 its still a close fight, as for TOB the f/thief would win.

As for granfmastery not being all its cracked up to be - don't know but it certainly helps. 2 star proficeincy tends to be used for versatile characters - barbarians, ranger or paladins. 5 star is used by grunts - fighters. Everything is for those that have something else as their prime skill. So its really your decision depending on your play method.

5 *

my PC has 5* in katana and quarterstaff, which can come in handy for fights with elementals - you really notice how much less you hit when you drop down from a 5* weapon to less - e.g. when I switch from Celestial Fury to a longsword such as Daystar. I think it is important to try to get GM level, even if you want to avoid melee - the extra attacks per round are useful, especially with a disabling weapon that stuns/holds.