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]

Excellent, thanks! I think I'll go with a Swashie, because I prefer single class and I have never tried one before.

Be prepared for a "HELP ME!!!!" thread or two over the next few months . Your comment about some battles being harder than ascension on insane is really scary! Does that include oversight's improved sendai on insane, and the final battle of ascension on insane?? Because from what I hear those battles are like most insanely cheesy craziness ever. I'm scared!

[thetruth]

Your comment about some battles being harder than ascension on insane is really scary! Does that include oversight's improved sendai on insane, and the final battle of ascension on insane??

Not all of them but let's say that the most difficult battles of IA are at the level of Ascesnion on insane.

Improved Sendai is not so difficult on insane if you have a party.
Well at least less difficult than soloing it with some classes .

[nataben1314]

Not all of them but let's say that the most difficult battles of IA are at the level of Ascesnion on insane.

Well, I guess there's no time like the present to learn true BG2 tactics lol. The hardest thing I'll have beaten up until starting IA will be like improved tor'gal from tactics with a solo blade... so this will be a whole new experience!

Improved Sendai is not so difficult on insane if you have a party.
Well at least less difficult than soloing it with some classes .

I think the definition of "difficult" for the most tactically advanced BG2 player out there is a lot different than my definition of difficult!



So (to everyone), this is what it looks like my party will be. Any final comments/tweaks/suggestions on ways to make it better? When I say better, I mean better in the sense of being able to make it through IA with the least difficulty, not necessarily the most powerful when all is said and done at the end of ToB:

1. (protagonist for ranger content) ranger/cleric multiclass (flails/clubs)
2. Berserker, dualed to mage at level 7. (katana/scimitar)
3. Auramaster (possibly Cernd) (druid staffs [stuff that helps casting], slings)
4. Fighter/Mage multiclass (staff)
5. Swashbuckler (longsword/katana)
6. Inquisitor (two handed sword)

And is there anything special about IA with regard to what proficiencies to pick, or should I just go about proficiencies as if I am playing through a regular game? I know about the item list in the readme but its hard for me to tell which of those items are available in early to mid game and which wont be available until the end of ToB where that type of thing doesn't matter as much anymore.

Sorry for so many questions, you guys are probably all thinking "this guy doesn't have a friggen chance, he can't even make a party".

[Sikret]

1. (protagonist for ranger content) ranger/cleric multiclass (flails/clubs)
2. Berserker, dualed to mage at level 7. (katana/scimitar)
3. Auramaster (possibly Cernd) (druid staffs [stuff that helps casting], slings)
4. Fighter/Mage multiclass (staff)
5. Swashbuckler (longsword/katana)
6. Inquisitor (two handed sword)

(1) No.1, no.3 and no.6 are fine, IMO. Just why don't you add war hammer to the list of weapons for your Ranger/Cleric either?

(2) Why do you give the staff to your F/M instead of your B-M? Your main mage will be the B-M after all. I think you can give the proficiency of Long Sword to you F/M.

(3) You will find good katanas but not excellent ones during the game. Why have you concentrated on katanas so much? Even Celestial Fury is nerfed and it will be probably consumed as an ingredient to forge an excellent war hammer in the long term.

(4) Who is going to use a powerful shield (ex: Supreme Shelter) with a good plate armor to have a good AC in your party? Noone? The inquisitor is going to use two handed swords which means he won't wield a shield and your protagonist being a ranger will most likely dual wield and will fight with two weapons. You won't have any character with excellent AC, I guess. Playing styles are different for sure and the game can be done with most of those different styles. IT's true that in most cases, protective spells such as pfmw and stoneskins can compensate low AC in a good way; nonetheless, if I were you, I would choose one of my characters to use shield and one weapon (instead of dual wielding), and a good plate armor. In the middle stages of the game in SOA, a character with good AC will be a great advantage. If I were you, I would probably dual my Swashbuckler to a mage (instead of my Berserker). I would leave the Berserker to continue in his class and would give him good armor and shield. But on other hand, thetruth has good arguments for having a high level single class Swashbuckler. I don't know. Play it in the way you prefer and just let us know about your progress. The good thing about this game is that it can be played in a wide range of different methods and styles.

[nataben1314]

(1) No.1, no.3 and no.6 are fine, IMO. Just why don't you add war hammer to the list of weapons for your Ranger/Cleric either?

ahh yes, I totally had forgot about warhammers!

(2) Why do you give the staff to your F/M instead of your B-M? Your main mage will be the B-M after all. I think you can give the proficiency of Long Sword to you F/M.

hmm good point. I was just going off thetruth recommending that I make sure that the b-m is a dual-wielder

(3) You will find good katanas but not excellent ones during the game. Why have you concentrated on katanas so much? Even Celestial Fury is nerfed and it will be probably consumed as an ingredient to forge an excellent war hammer in the long term.

ahh thanks! I hadn't realized CF was nerfed. I will not use katanas then. Maybe hammer/belm for the b-m (or f-m if I decide to switch which one dual-wields), and lswd/scarlet ninja-to for the swashie. I will probably also want someone proficient in axes so I can throw azureedge to beat up on undead.

(4) Who is going to use a powerful shield (ex: Supreme Shelter) with a good plate armor to have a good AC in your party? Noone? The inquisitor is going to use two handed swords which means he won't wield a shield and your protagonist being a ranger will most likely dual wield and will fight with two weapons. You won't have any character with excellent AC, I guess.

Well a swashie can have AC of about -24 while dual-wielding, which is certainly good! And he'll have UAI so if he really is in need of even lower AC he can switch to a single weapon and Supreme Shelter.

Playing styles are different for sure and the game can be done with most of those different styles. IT's true that in most cases, protective spells such as pfmw and stoneskins can compensate low AC in a good way; nonetheless, if I were you, I would choose one of my characters to use shield and one weapon (instead of dual wielding), and a good plate armor. In the middle stages of the game in SOA, a character with good AC will be a great advantage. If I were you, I would probably dual my Swashbuckler to a mage (instead of my Berserker). I would leave the Berserker to continue in his class and would give him good armor and shield. But on other hand, thetruth has good arguments for having a high level single class Swashbuckler. I don't know. Play it in the way you prefer and just let us know about your progress. The good thing about this game is that it can be played in a wide range of different methods and styles.

You raise some very good points, which I don't have a detailed enough knowledge of IA or the game in general to counter. I think we're probably just getting to the point where I will have a very powerful party regardless of what I choose. I should be starting in about 5 hours or so when I get back from my math exam, so wish me luck!