Amazing.
I don't know how I never got to play this brilliant game through all these years. It was really a unique and fun experience, and I'm not even done with it yet!
SOA was really fun, I pretty much liked everything about it. By the time I got to TOB though it wasn't quite the same, I was more or less rushing towards the end, just killing everything.
Anyway, I'm considering at the moment what to do next. I know that at some point I must play a solo sorcerer or something like that (and try different mods too). But I was thinking, since for the first time I went with a boring goody two-shoes party, I might try going evil with Edwin (he kicks ass), Viconia and Korgan.
But then I'm not so sure about the PC, and here I could use some help. I do need some thieving skills (and I dont want any of the natural NPC thieves), so I was thinking about assassin, which looks really cool, or a swashbuckler, which might be good for extra muscle power.
The thing is, I never even backstabbed or layed a single trap in my first run, so these might be new fun things to experiment with. There's also the option of dual class or multi class, but I'm not so sure about these.
Should I already go for some difficulty increasing mod? I just use vanilla with latest patch. Anyway I would be glad to recieve feedback on this. Thanks
So, I just finished Baldur's Gate 2
Débuté par
shoopi
, sept. 29 2011 06:53
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#2
Posté 29 septembre 2011 - 07:57
jaxsbudgie
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Well done on beating SoA!
The Edwin/Korgan/Viconia trio is solid, I preach a lot on here about them and all evil characters in general. At the moment I'm playing a Swashbuckler with this very trio, as well as Haer'Dalis and Cernd. Although I'd have to admit, a four man party just seems to have the edge over a six man one.
If you're planning on playing any Thief, I'd suggest downloading the Rogue Rebalancing mod. I can send you my WeiDU log if you like? I've spent years whittling away at it, trying to get it as perfect and bug free as possible. All the mods I have aren't game breaking, I don't have any NPC mods because they smell of modified content, I only really have game tweaks and improvements.
Backstabbing is easy once you get the hang of it, all you need to do it attack from behind whilst invisible or hiding in shadows. All Thieves (apart from Swashbucklers who can't backstab at all) can reach x5 damage when backstabbing, except for the Assassin who supersedes this all the way up to x7.
Traps are great albeit a little overpowered in the vanilla game (someone is bound to contradict me on that one) and the HLA traps become available to all Thief and Bard classes, reducing the uniqueness of the Bounty Hunter kit. Rogue Rebalancing fixes this.
To lay traps successfully you need a high Set Snare score. With a score of 100 you can lay traps all the time with no difficulty, you will always succeed. Set Snares is a Thief ability that doesn't need more than 100 points in it. Hide in Shadows and Move Silently benefit from having points over 100. The Bounty Hunter is a Thief kit specialised in traps and gets some good traps unique to his kit.
Again I'd suggest downloading Rogue Rebalancing, they well ... rebalance all the Thief kits for the better, well ... in my opinion anyway. Browse over the Readme and decide for yourself.
You could start as a Human Fighter then dual over to Thief. When I do this, as soon as I dual to Thief, I open up my save game in Shadow Keeper and change my class into a Thief kit. You shouldn't do this with the Swashbuckler because it's a little pointless and could be considered cheating. But then again, everyone on here has their own opinions on what cheating is. But seriously, don't be a Fighter/Swashbuckler.
I'd say a Fighter dualled to Assassin could be fun. Dual wielding shortswords/daggers with an inventory packed full of invisibility potions for constant backstabs, you'd be pretty dangerous. I've played this exact character with the Edwin/Korgan/Viconia trio and it was one of my most memorable.
The Edwin/Korgan/Viconia trio is solid, I preach a lot on here about them and all evil characters in general. At the moment I'm playing a Swashbuckler with this very trio, as well as Haer'Dalis and Cernd. Although I'd have to admit, a four man party just seems to have the edge over a six man one.
If you're planning on playing any Thief, I'd suggest downloading the Rogue Rebalancing mod. I can send you my WeiDU log if you like? I've spent years whittling away at it, trying to get it as perfect and bug free as possible. All the mods I have aren't game breaking, I don't have any NPC mods because they smell of modified content, I only really have game tweaks and improvements.
Backstabbing is easy once you get the hang of it, all you need to do it attack from behind whilst invisible or hiding in shadows. All Thieves (apart from Swashbucklers who can't backstab at all) can reach x5 damage when backstabbing, except for the Assassin who supersedes this all the way up to x7.
Traps are great albeit a little overpowered in the vanilla game (someone is bound to contradict me on that one) and the HLA traps become available to all Thief and Bard classes, reducing the uniqueness of the Bounty Hunter kit. Rogue Rebalancing fixes this.
To lay traps successfully you need a high Set Snare score. With a score of 100 you can lay traps all the time with no difficulty, you will always succeed. Set Snares is a Thief ability that doesn't need more than 100 points in it. Hide in Shadows and Move Silently benefit from having points over 100. The Bounty Hunter is a Thief kit specialised in traps and gets some good traps unique to his kit.
Again I'd suggest downloading Rogue Rebalancing, they well ... rebalance all the Thief kits for the better, well ... in my opinion anyway. Browse over the Readme and decide for yourself.
You could start as a Human Fighter then dual over to Thief. When I do this, as soon as I dual to Thief, I open up my save game in Shadow Keeper and change my class into a Thief kit. You shouldn't do this with the Swashbuckler because it's a little pointless and could be considered cheating. But then again, everyone on here has their own opinions on what cheating is. But seriously, don't be a Fighter/Swashbuckler.
I'd say a Fighter dualled to Assassin could be fun. Dual wielding shortswords/daggers with an inventory packed full of invisibility potions for constant backstabs, you'd be pretty dangerous. I've played this exact character with the Edwin/Korgan/Viconia trio and it was one of my most memorable.
Modifié par jaxsbudgie, 29 septembre 2011 - 08:01 .
#3
Posté 29 septembre 2011 - 11:49
corey_russell
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My best thief, Yeroc, was a level 9 human fighter dualed to a thief. He got pretty good with his thief skills. Dualing at 9 gives you a lot more HP than a standard thief class/subkit would, plus some Thac0/Saves help.
I think all the thief kits have things going for them, so they can work as well. If you aren't playing no-reload, I would just do what strikes your fancy and give it a shot. There's enough fighting in Irenicus' Dungeon that if you end up not liking a thief kit you can just re-roll a different one and start again with only a little time lost.
I think all the thief kits have things going for them, so they can work as well. If you aren't playing no-reload, I would just do what strikes your fancy and give it a shot. There's enough fighting in Irenicus' Dungeon that if you end up not liking a thief kit you can just re-roll a different one and start again with only a little time lost.
#4
Posté 29 septembre 2011 - 11:54
ncknck
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playing without g3 patch and tobex is baad. Difficulty? try Tactics, although its pretty hard. The first fight is downright insane.
#5
Posté 30 septembre 2011 - 12:52
shoopi
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What do the g3 patch and tobex do exactly, and why are they so good?
Anyway, at the moment I rolled another vanilla game with an assassin. It's quite different than the powerful berserker I had last game, with 5 attacks per round (10 most of the time with Imp haste), chopping everything to pieces when my mage wasn't blasting it.
I figured swashbuckler, while good, is a weaker fighter with thieving skills. Compared to assassin, which is a specialized thief that offers a more unique experience. I'd also rather play an assassin than a bountyhunter.
I also considered doing a fighter->thief, but 9 always seemed not enough for me. I get the life, 1/2 attack, and free grandmastery, but the thaco and saves are negligible. Maybe if I'd wait until 13, I get life, extra full attack, grandmastery, great saves, and slightly better thaco than a thief could ever have. I'll need to wait a little longer to reactivate the fighter, but it's not so bad in a smaller party. Also a fighter->thief could go all the way to 14 and the thief will still get to level 39 at the end.
This might be a good choice indeed, but I have to confess at the moment I'm more drawn to the pure thief, which allows me to use a kit. So, at the moment I'm aiming for PC assassin, Korgan, Edwin and Viconia. My last game however I was sort of muscle heavy, and here I'm afraid I only have korgan at the front. I might have considered a thief(kit)->fighter, but you cannot use thieving skills while wearing heavy armor, so I know that will get tedious for me. Assassin also requires more tactical play, like running away, hiding, then coming back and backstabbing. Hopefuly that will turn out alright. So, do you think this is a decent party?
Anyway, at the moment I rolled another vanilla game with an assassin. It's quite different than the powerful berserker I had last game, with 5 attacks per round (10 most of the time with Imp haste), chopping everything to pieces when my mage wasn't blasting it.
I figured swashbuckler, while good, is a weaker fighter with thieving skills. Compared to assassin, which is a specialized thief that offers a more unique experience. I'd also rather play an assassin than a bountyhunter.
I also considered doing a fighter->thief, but 9 always seemed not enough for me. I get the life, 1/2 attack, and free grandmastery, but the thaco and saves are negligible. Maybe if I'd wait until 13, I get life, extra full attack, grandmastery, great saves, and slightly better thaco than a thief could ever have. I'll need to wait a little longer to reactivate the fighter, but it's not so bad in a smaller party. Also a fighter->thief could go all the way to 14 and the thief will still get to level 39 at the end.
This might be a good choice indeed, but I have to confess at the moment I'm more drawn to the pure thief, which allows me to use a kit. So, at the moment I'm aiming for PC assassin, Korgan, Edwin and Viconia. My last game however I was sort of muscle heavy, and here I'm afraid I only have korgan at the front. I might have considered a thief(kit)->fighter, but you cannot use thieving skills while wearing heavy armor, so I know that will get tedious for me. Assassin also requires more tactical play, like running away, hiding, then coming back and backstabbing. Hopefuly that will turn out alright. So, do you think this is a decent party?
Modifié par shoopi, 30 septembre 2011 - 01:13 .
#6
Posté 30 septembre 2011 - 01:01
shoopi
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Right now I started in the dungeon, I have only minsc to provide extra support against the baddies. Hide and backstab is really fun and works really well against single monsters, but against packs of goblins it's really just better to shoot or confront them directly.
It might get really interesting if I could one shot annoying mages and stuff like that later, but after backstabbing I'm down to one attack per round with a thaco of a thief... not so impressive - unless I constantly run (or use a potion of invisibility), hide, then come back for another backstab. It might get really tedious later on, or it might be pretty fun strategy. I'm not sure yet.
Also, there's no way I'm playing no-reload for now, I'm hardly experienced or determined enough.
It might get really interesting if I could one shot annoying mages and stuff like that later, but after backstabbing I'm down to one attack per round with a thaco of a thief... not so impressive - unless I constantly run (or use a potion of invisibility), hide, then come back for another backstab. It might get really tedious later on, or it might be pretty fun strategy. I'm not sure yet.
Also, there's no way I'm playing no-reload for now, I'm hardly experienced or determined enough.
Modifié par shoopi, 30 septembre 2011 - 01:09 .
#7
Posté 30 septembre 2011 - 01:39
ncknck
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g3 and tobex are fan made bugfixes. Say without g3 it is possible to stack Armor of Faith or lots of other spells or abilities like hardiness, and gain immunity to everything. tobex mainly fixes broken dispel magic and blindness (gives stackable -10 to thac0 to enemies unpatched)
Modifié par ncknck, 30 septembre 2011 - 01:40 .
#8
Posté 30 septembre 2011 - 03:26
Gorthaur X
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I like the evil three NPCs (and the evil fourth too, really), which is probably why my favorite class is the Swashbuckler/Mage. Dualed at level ten, and with 18 dex, you'll be able to max locks, traps, and a third thief skill of your choice, have a thac0 sufficient for fighting most non-boss enemies throughout the game, and still be able to reach level 30 as a mage.
With TobEx and TB#Tweaks, you can even have the Swashbuckler get the extra 1/2 APR from weapon specialization, as intended.
With TobEx and TB#Tweaks, you can even have the Swashbuckler get the extra 1/2 APR from weapon specialization, as intended.
Modifié par Gorthaur X, 30 septembre 2011 - 03:30 .
#9
Posté 30 septembre 2011 - 01:23
shoopi
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Swashi doesn't get 1/2 from weapon specialization? that's sucky. Maybe I should get that then. Does it have true grandmastery too?
Thanks for your suggestions. Need to decide if I keep going with the assassin or start again.
Thanks for your suggestions. Need to decide if I keep going with the assassin or start again.
#10
Posté 30 septembre 2011 - 01:40
Gorthaur X
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Yeah, in vanilla BG2, only fighters (and paladins, barbarians, etc.) could gain APR from proficiency, the other classes could not. Until TobEx, it was considered to be an unfixable bug for years. That's why I love the modding community; even after a decade, people are coming up with solutions to these things.
True grandmastery is a component of BG2Tweaks, a different mod. However, if you do have that installed, then TB#Tweaks will allow non-fighters to benefit from it, so for example, a pure-class wizard casting Black Blade of Disaster will have 5/2 APR.
True grandmastery is a component of BG2Tweaks, a different mod. However, if you do have that installed, then TB#Tweaks will allow non-fighters to benefit from it, so for example, a pure-class wizard casting Black Blade of Disaster will have 5/2 APR.
#11
Posté 01 octobre 2011 - 02:52
Seagloom
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Backstab thieves can be very fun. Assassin is great fun too, but your character will have trouble with picking locks and disarming traps at first. There are simply not enough points early on to cover stealth and all those other skills.
Backstabbing itself becomes much easier once your thief finds boots of speed. Then he can backstab, run into a dark corner, stealth again, and repeat the process. For enemies that are immune to backstab or to contribute when hit and fade tactics are not viable, I suggest a shortbow. That will grant your thief two attacks per round. Three attacks with the Tuigan bow. An assassin specifically can also use their poison ability to lace their arrows added punch. There are also poisoned throwing daggers for sale in Waukeen's Promenade.
Your thief isn't going to shred through enemies like a Kensai, but he can be a solid contributor to the party with the added bonus of slaying tougher foes in a single blow. Throw traps in, and a thief can be godly. They merely require a different approach to combat.
If you want to melee, I recommend a fighter/thief dual or multiclass over a swashbuckler. That broadens your weapon selection, grants an extra attack, and still gives your character a powerful backstab. Swashbuckler is good if you want a skirmishing warrior that can handle utility duties, but not as versatile or durable.
Backstabbing itself becomes much easier once your thief finds boots of speed. Then he can backstab, run into a dark corner, stealth again, and repeat the process. For enemies that are immune to backstab or to contribute when hit and fade tactics are not viable, I suggest a shortbow. That will grant your thief two attacks per round. Three attacks with the Tuigan bow. An assassin specifically can also use their poison ability to lace their arrows added punch. There are also poisoned throwing daggers for sale in Waukeen's Promenade.
Your thief isn't going to shred through enemies like a Kensai, but he can be a solid contributor to the party with the added bonus of slaying tougher foes in a single blow. Throw traps in, and a thief can be godly. They merely require a different approach to combat.
If you want to melee, I recommend a fighter/thief dual or multiclass over a swashbuckler. That broadens your weapon selection, grants an extra attack, and still gives your character a powerful backstab. Swashbuckler is good if you want a skirmishing warrior that can handle utility duties, but not as versatile or durable.
Modifié par Seagloom, 01 octobre 2011 - 03:50 .
#12
Posté 01 octobre 2011 - 03:07
ncknck
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A thief doesnt really need more than 1 apr, since only first attack counts as backstab, so a thief/mage is gonna do just fine, and useful to the party overwise. Like Jan. With STR items he is seriously kicking some arse. In fact Jan is doing better than fine. With Mislead he is automatically rehiding and backstabbing every round. Thats amazing to watch. He is second best NPC in the game. After Haerdalis. Lol.
#13
Posté 03 octobre 2011 - 03:57
shoopi
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My pc assassin is really fun - there are opportunities to backstab all over Athkatla, practically in every battle. Backstabbing rules. Already gathered Korgan and the beautiful force Viconia (romancing her should be 1000% more fun than Jaheira). Doing quests. Edwin soon.
I also installed tactics and item upgrades which I will probably use later. This second walkthrough should be cool.
I also installed tactics and item upgrades which I will probably use later. This second walkthrough should be cool.
#14
Posté 08 octobre 2011 - 03:10
C Barchuk
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Go with the assassin. I think they're a fantastic kit whether you play them vanilla or use rogue rebalancing. RR is nice for the assassin but your poison ability will be nerfed and you'll lose the hit and damage bonus. In return you gain death attack. So really either is good but the assassin is a very cool class that is alot of fun but will require alot of tactics.
