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Something I've not given a lot of thought to in the past but since I'm playing a thief this time thought it was about time I found out.

When you get your extra 20 points for going up a level, to stick on Find traps stealth etc. Is there any benefit to taking your score over 100%?

My character is currently at 85% for a couple of scores so guess I have a night or to before I have this dilema to solve.

My thought are, there must be some benefit pure on the basis that the game allows you to score over 100% rather than stopping at 100%, if that makes sense.

But any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
Thanks

For BG1, not really, simply because there's no trap or lock so difficult to find/disarm/unlock in the game.
As for stealth, you will less likely fail to hide or to be found if you have the higher skill. It will be useful if you use lots of backstabbing. At the same time, you will find boots of stealth very early in the game, and with them you will easily go over the 100% stealth skill.
All in all, you do not need to go over 100% in any skills in BG1, in my opinion.

Thanks for that.

Guess the obvious next question is what about BG2, which is where this character is heading?

One scenario that I can think of in both BGI and BGII is when a spell is cast which affects your saving rolls. More likely to happen in BGII than in BGI

To avoid plagiarism... not too long ago, the amazingly knowledgeable VonDondu had a great post relating to just such a topic, I think:

http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldu ... post890514

Check it out in the BG2: SoA forums, ma broth'a!

Thanks for the acknoweldgement CFM, but all I did was look up the information with Infinity Explorer, and anyone else can do the same. You just have to be curious/obsessive and determined.

Locked doors and chests have a lock pick difficulty that varies. For example, there are two locked chests on the second floor of Candlekeep Inn that have a difficulty of 30. If your Open Locks skill is over 30, you can pick those locks. The chest that contains the star sapphire has a difficulty of 65, so I don't think a 1st Level character can open it. I haven't checked a lot of containers, but I suspect the maximum difficulty setting is 100. If your Open Locks ability is 100, I think you can open every lock in the game.

Traps have a detection difficulty score and a disarm/removal difficulty score. The first big bunch of traps you'll come across (if you follow the designers' plans) are in the Nashkel Mines. They have a difficulty rating of 10 to 15, so even a low level Thief can detect and disarm them. The worst traps at Firewine have a difficulty rating of 40, and one of the traps at Ulcaster has a rating of 50. There's one trap in the Cloakwood Mines that's rated at 90 (I think it triggers the Battle Horror), but the rest are rated at 50 or below. Same with the Thief's Maze. If you install TOTSC, the new areas have better traps. There's one at Ice Island rated at 90, and most of the traps at Durlag's Tower range from 60 to 100. I haven't seen any traps with a difficulty rating higher than 100, so I suspect the maximum is 100. If your Find Traps ability is 100, I think you can detect and disarm every trap in the game.

I can't think of any stores you can steal from aside from Candlekeep Inn and a few general stores. The one at Candlekeep has a "Steal Difficulty" of 30, and the general stores range from 15 to 40. I think the "Steal Difficulty" is compared to your Pickpocketing ability, and the difference determines your chance of success. There is always at least a 1% chance of failure. So if you try to steal from Winthrop, you'll be successful 99% of the time if your Pickpocketing ability is 129.

Stealth seems to be a straightforward chance of success, but is subject to modifiers. For example, it is more difficult to hide in broad daylight without any cover than it is to hide next to some trees at night. Stealth ability over 100 is certainly helpful, but 130 is probably all you'll ever need.

Thx for that, much appreciated.