Misc. Questions on Difficulty, Party Composition, and Spell Selection Options

[nataben1314]

It seems as though, judging from another and not having actually played the mod yet (waiting for v4), that mages are now in a situation where they are used almost totally for dispelling, immuning other characters, and creating summons. Would those in the know (esp. sikret/thetruth) agree with that? I'm not trying to imply that this is necessarily a negative if true, I'm just interested for the sake of future spell and party selection

Speaking of party selection, do you think I'd be making things too hard for myself to make a party of single-class characters? I've always disliked multiclasses unless soloing, and am not too keen on having a party full of five fighter/x's and one ranger/cleric.

And on difficulty, I wonder if it would be possible to make a rough difficulty guide for the quests of chapters 2 and/or 6? What I envision is something like e.g. "windspear hills: level 9-13 minimum" or whatever. With all the new content its difficult for me to know which are the easier quests and which are the ones best left to chapter 6. And for a player of my (low) skill level, it is difficult to determine if you are losing a fight due to wrong tactics, or due to the fact that you're simply too low of a level for that fight. So a general quest difficulty guide (at least for chapters 2/6 where the game is not very linear, and maybe a minimum avg. level before going off to spellhold) would likely save me much frustration and/or lots of me making HELP threads

thanks, and I can't wait until v4.

[nataben1314]

sikret:

excellent, thanks! I will use my R/C for my protagonist then.

thetruth:

What makes the f/t or swashy so good? I mean I know they can backstab but other than that what distinguishes them from a fighter? I confess that I don't think I get the maximum use out of UAI. What's so good about it? What about instead of a swashy maybe being a bountyhunter? I read somewhere that high level bountyhunters have a throwable area of effect maze trap with a significant save penalty attached. Is that true? Would it be effective in IA? Maybe like a fighter dualed to a bountyhunter? Oh and what all is entailed with dualing the berserker to mage? Do I just have to make sure int is 16 or above? Should I dual him immediately, like right at the very beginning of irenicus' dungeon?

thanks guys!

[thetruth]

What makes the f/t or swashy so good? I mean I know they can backstab but other than that what distinguishes them from a fighter? I confess that I don't think I get the maximum use out of UAI. What's so good about it?

F/T at high levels is like a Fighter with thieving skills.
Same THACO (missing only 1 ApR if you use the Grand Mastery patch).

With UAI you can use:

- weapons, like the Scarlet Ninja-To (+1 ApR) or the Carsomyr
- items, like Jan's armor (+ DoEastheaven, Hardiness, Gromnir's helm for 85% res. to physical dmg and immunity to crushing)
- scrolls (having a secondary F/M is always useful in the really tough battles)

Timetraps:

In the SoA part of the game are extremely useful. Pick some of them right after UAI and before GWWs.
10 ApR (dualwielding Belm,Kundane or Scarlet + I.Haste) with the time stopped


Swashbuckler:

He reaches his true power in ToB levels.
- 24 permanent AC + UAI + WWs + Timetraps and with a Fighter's THACO and big bonus to damage.

His AC is effective even against the very powerful enemies of IA.
In a small party he would be even more effective (higher levels in the SoA part of the game)

What about instead of a swashy maybe being a bountyhunter? I read somewhere that high level bountyhunters have a throwable area of effect maze trap with a significant save penalty attached. Is that true? Would it be effective in IA?

The Bounty Hunters' traps can maze the target ignoring MR and saving throws.
They can be thrown but only if the enemy is out of your visual range.

Maze traps can be a very good tactical weapon (dividing enemies), but the Bounty Hunter doesn't have the melee power of a F/T or a Swashie.

Maybe like a fighter dualed to a bountyhunter?

In BG2 you can't choose a kit for your second class.

Oh and what all is entailed with dualing the berserker to mage? Do I just have to make sure int is 16 or above? Should I dual him immediately, like right at the very beginning of irenicus' dungeon?

You need 15 in STR and 17 in INT.
Mongerman wrote the best levels for dual-classing (though you gain 1/2 ApR at 7 level and another 1/2 at 13).

The best (power-wise) level for dualclass is the 13 level, but in this case you want him mainly as a Mage.
So if you dual class at 7 level he will level up so fast that you won't miss at all any Mage spells.

Just remember to take Grand Mastery in a 1-handed weapon.Even better if you have the True Grandmastery patch (Ease of Use).
The B-M will be very effective with Timestop + I.Haste + dual wielding.