Geh4th's v5.0 game thread, progress, trouble, questions, requests for advice, etc Options

[geh4th]

This thread will document my experiences with my first serious attempt with IA v5.0. This is the first IA version I've played and I'm still fairly new to the mod; comments from others regarding my decisions, progress and problems are welcome.

I did a fairly short initial trial with 5.0 using a Vagrant and all-bioware NPC’s, but decided early on that I’d already seen/heard most of the NPC banter ad nauseum and frankly, it was getting old after many games of BG2. I decided to restart and customize a party to what I wanted to use and just pay attention to the business of campaigning.

As a result, I created 4 characters on multiplayer as the core of my group:

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1) Human Vagrant protagonist
Weapons: 2-wpn combat x3, longsword x2, flail, club, longbow
L9 will be flail again unless I've somehow found a better weapon than the FoA by then. Not bloody likely I figure.

Notes: This is the same protagonist I was using with the previous game; I want to play out the Vagrant to see those new quests. Next game I'll do a mage type.
Ability score note: I legitimately rolled an 18/00 strength with this PC. First time I've ever done that in many years of roleplaying. I nearly fell out of my chair
I took club because based on my earlier experience, those seemed to be a very prevalent decent quality weapon available early. Flail is obviously for the FoA and the late-game goodies that become available. I'm also looking to get at least one * in Axe soon (probably L12, but depends on what weapons I come up with, too.)

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2) Dwarven Fighter/Thief
Weapons: Warhammer x2, Shortsword x2, Axe x2

I wanted a decent thief that continues to level in the profession throughout ToB. His next 3 weapons picks are going to be in dual-wielding.
With a 19 constitution, this PC is a surprisingly good tank, particularly if before the tougher battles I have him don 'real' armor. With the Dwarven Thrower hammer, he's tremendously effective early in the game and I don't expect that to change.

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3) Human Ranger, Dualled to cleric immediately.
Weapons: 2-wpn combat style x3, Flail x2, Club x2, Hammer
As Cleric: Quarterstaff, Sling; mace at L4. Will take Quarterstaff again at L8 (there's some decent +3 staves available early.)
I love this class combination for a PC. Ranger abilities, Cleric spells and Druid Spells. Beats the heck out of Anomen if you ask me, despite the 4* he has in flail. I'm not a fan of going beyond 2* in a weapon anyhow, IMO the return is simply not worth the investment. And while it's not all that relevant for a cleric (who can't use slashing/piercing weapons) I think that it's foolish to over-specialize in one weapon class in a mod that encourages weapon diversity because of monster resistances to damage type.
The reason I dualled right away was to get the extra weapon proficiency at L8 cleric. I'm not sure if this is prudent since I'm 'wasting' about 15,000 xp's, but it seemed a reasonable goal. It also means she will regain her Ranger abilities relatively fast.

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4) Human Beserker
Weapons: 2-handed weapon style x2, 2-handed sword x2, Halberd x2.
My intent is for this PC to dual to mage at level 9. As a mage she'll take Quarterstaff (L1) + Dart (L6), then at L12 Quarterstaff again.
She's my 2-handed weapon specialist, needless to say.

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My last two spots will be BioWare NPC's that will vary initially as I do quests, but I'm a bit undecided on which two to carry into the late game. I'm fascinated by the Auramaster (Cernd, specifically) thanks to the class' incredible number and versatility of spells. Cernd is a bit lacking statistically (If only he had an 18 dex!) but his items upgrades look really cool - not to mention a few other druid-specific items available both from IA and vanilla SoA/ToB.

Imoen will ultimately be my last NPC once I get to her. I've read some game reports and realize that she's very powerful later in the game. Besides, she's been there from the start (of BG1) and I consider her essential to the story. Otherwise, what's the point?

This gives me 4 "tanks" (Vagrant, Fighter/Thief, Beserker/Mage, Ranger/Cleric) and 2 pure spellcasters (Auramaster, Sorcerer.) If this seems out of balance for IA, or if there's any obvious flaws that I'm overlooking, I invite anyone to comment on it. Do I have enough pure fighter firepower (i.e. will they be good enough later in the game)? Do I have enough arcane firepower? Is 2 divine casters too much (despite Cernd's arcane abilities)? If so, who would I replace Cernd with? Valygar? Haer'Dalis? Another custom PC? Someone else?

Thanks in advance for any input. I look forward to sharing my experiences just as others of you already have.


geh4th (maybe I'll invent a cool name for myself someday.)

[geh4th]

Regarding the Imoen-to-Bard idea, thanks for the permission but I'm probably going to shelve it for now. I'll keep it as an option, but I've gone back to playing my Vagrant group and in THAT group she's gonna stay a sorceress.

This was all just an exercise in exploring player party balancing anyhow. My point was that if you're playing a Mage or (especially) a Sorcerer Protagonist, do you necessarily want or need Imoen to also be a sorceress? In some people's mind, the answer would likely be "no".

My reference to "Sikret had done it" was really intended to point out that it *seemed* like you wanted a non-mod sorcerer in the game (seeing as vanilla SoA doesn't have one and IA really NEEDS one) and figured Imoen was the best candidate for the job. I'm sure there was other factors involved as well in your actions and methods. I don't presume to know exactly why you do things as a designer.

I had a Skald in my Vagrant's party for all of the pre-spellhold time period, but had always intended that this slot go to Imoen once I get to spellhold. I didn't make a sorcerer NPC because I wanted to see what a Skald could do.

While I found him useful in the early game, I could see where it was going later: he wouldn't be very good as I moved on to higher-level situations. I'd have to say that I'm disappointed in Bards (as many have already pointed out.) The main problem with them is that they're not really good at anything, and in IA everyone has to have their defined role. You can't really afford to leave one member of the party basically out of action just to sing in many of the battles...while as a spellcaster he's not as good as any mage/sorcerer and as a fighter he can't keep up thanks to a lack of multiple attacks. Really the only things going for the class are UAI and that cool armor that they can get. Skald song (and later Enhanced Bard Song) are nice, but does it really make up for not having another fighter swinging 4-6 times per round or another mage with REAL spellcasting ability?

Some have elaborated on the advantages of a Blade over a Skald, as a "tank". I see their point, but I still can't see a justification for why a blade is better than other pure and multi-classed options. Sure, he can buff and then defensive spin, but that is again one less person swinging a weapon or one less person casting useful spells. I prefer my people to be doing more 'assertive' things in combat.

IMO Bards and their kits are already a weak class. I've read the debates on the plan to limit them to 5th level spells. I'd have to say that makes a weak class useless in my opinion, but as Sikret points out, it's his game and his vision of how things should be. Since I'm actually having trouble justifying a bard for one of my 6 precious PC slots NOW, you can bet that I won't find them any better being further limited. Of course, that is MY choice.