78 réponses à ce sujet

[Humanoid_Taifun]

There is a difference between a strength requirement and a strength damage bonus.

Even in the real world, a bow requires a certain strength to be used properly (otherwise you can't pull back the senew), but if you are stronger than that, you'd be smart not to use this excess strength, because that would only break the bow - so a bow can only put a certain amount of energy on the arrow, and it would be strange for stronger people to do more damage with it.

[Amnasty]

Race - Half-ling
class - Thief (Assassin Kit)
No Multi-class just Pure Thief - Assassin.

I am playing Assassin Thief for the first time ever. It's a cool backstab raw power but with just 15 points at level up very important to manage each point carefully before Level 21 to get the most out of it.
Also, I am ready to ignore any point on Detect Traps and Open Locks since initially my focus is only to make the Assassin as Dangerous as possible before reaching TOB.

Now, here are few doubts that need some help from the veterans.

1. Hide in Shadows & Move Silently equation  = added together and than the outcome is divided by 2.
But, there's a point at which Thief skills really don't get any better.
I want to know exactly at which point (Score) to STOP investing precious points in  'Hide in Shadows' (HIS) and 'Move Silently' (MS) abilities?
That is whats the best score (not percentages) for HIS & MS.
I am looking forward for a pure and lethal Assassin with the Best HIS and MS score and ready to sacrifice all other abilities.

For example,
I have set HIS = 150, MS =100 at Level 10
Is this enough for entire SOA & TOB as well? I want to level up strong before Level 21 and continuing the same values for TOB.

2. Is there a cap for Assassin's THAC0? Can I have a THAC0 of Zero by the end of Level 20 and continue to improve with Level up?

3. Which monsters are immune to Backstabbing apart from Liches and Dragons?

4. Thanks

Modifié par Amnasty, 09 août 2012 - 06:14 .

[ussnorway]

1. Yes that's fine as a rule of thumb but there are other things eg. standing in the sun or mage using 'True Sight' that effect your hide score... IMO 'Detect Illusions' is the most useful thief skill.

2. In vanilla BG2 a thief THAC0 caps at ten... you could dual to fighter (humans only) to get around this limit.

3. Varies wildly but if it has a name eg. Yaga-Shura then probably not.

4. Welcome.

Modifié par ussnorway, 09 août 2012 - 07:07 .

[Amnasty]

1. With Cloak of Non-Detection That's not a problem. Plus as far as my knowledge goes, Mages only Cast True Sight once alerted except Liches. No Other Mage is standing with True Sight ON. I won't give them a chance anyway!..

3. Playing with TOB installed + BG2 Fixpack

It would be helpful to know the Best Scores for MS and HIS.

Modifié par Amnasty, 09 août 2012 - 07:16 .

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Amnasty wrote...
I want to know exactly at which point (Score) to STOP investing precious points in  'Hide in Shadows' (HIS) and 'Move Silently' (MS) abilities?
[...]I have set HIS = 150, MS =100 at Level 10

Enemies don't detect you by comparing their detection skills against your stealth skills. You become visible when your Stealth roll fails. That means, that if you currently feel comfortable with how you can move around while under stealth, then there is no need to spend any more points in it.
SPOILER: .%5 yb slliks feiht ruoy gnirewol ,ytiretxed tniop a esol ylbaborp lliw uoy ,AoS fo dne eht tA :RELIOPS
Just by the way:
Don't raise either value, neither Hide in Shadows nor Move Silently above 255. They will wrap around and you will effectively start at 0 again.

2. Is there a cap for Assassin's THAC0? Can I have a THAC0 of Zero by the end of Level 20 and continue to improve with Level up?

As ussnorway wrote, your THAC0 maxes out at 10 (at level 22). But if you add strength bonus and weapon enchantment bonus and invisibility bonus (you're going to backstab them, right?),then you should be able to hit most opponents.

3. Which monsters are immune to Backstabbing apart from Liches and Dragons?

Unfortunately, most ToB bosses. The further you go, the less reliable a pure backstabber becomes.

ussnorway wrote...
2. In vanilla BG2 a thief THAC0 caps at ten... you could dual to fighter (humans only) to get around this limit.

You'd have to dualclass the assassin at an insane level for it to actually make sense - which would cripple your character for half of the game.

[morbidest2]

Amnasty wrote...

Man you guys discuss the most amazing things, that can come very helpful for me and any beginner.

Mr Spidey wrote...   .........

There is a very interesting long bow Strong Arm +2 requires amazingly 19 STR. For testing purpose this Strength bonus doesn't make much of a difference, in turn making it a little misleading for beginners like me to equip as a range weapon. Again, no clue whether 19 makes any difference to damage.

If you check the first of the Character Ability Scores Tables, You'll see that having Strength =19 gives you a +7 bonus on damage and a +3 bonus on your chance of hitting your target. Maybe not Toril shaking, but considering that in SoA you mostly use ranged weapons against either feeble enemies or Mages, it is signficant. But implicitely you are making the very good point that before you ever buy an item it pays to carefully read the fine print about who can use it and how many attacks per round you get from it. If you haven't played BG2 before, it's worth spending the time to go thru the 14 pages of tables to get a quick feel for how various abilities are important to different types of characters and what ability scores you want to roll for your PC.

[Amnasty]

Humanoid_Taifun wrote...
Don't raise either value, neither Hide in Shadows nor Move Silently above 255. They will wrap around and you will effectively start at 0 again.

I did not get this part.

What does this 'wrap' impact is all about?
In my search, thieves skills are not clear in respect to how AD&D scoring system works for them.
If the same Hit die rolls system affect Stealth rolls that means along with high chances of Hits there is always a chance of Miss (Stealth failure).
In such a case having HIs - 150 and MS - 150 is sufficient for SOA?

morbidest2 wrote...
If you haven't played BG2 before, it's
worth spending the time to go thru the 14 pages of tables to get a quick
feel for how various abilities are important to different types of
characters and what ability scores you want to roll for your PC.

Manual is not correct so I have to rely on other FAQ's. But, it's very limited as AD&D rules are completely new for me who has never played RPG style of this type.

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Amnasty wrote...
What does this 'wrap' impact is all about?

Think binary.
255 = 01 111 111
256 = 10 000 000
Unfortunately, the game only remembers the last 7 digits. (actually it remembers 8, but one is used for negative values IIRC)

along with high chances of Hits there is always a chance of Miss (Stealth failure).

Quite right.

In such a case having HIs - 150 and MS - 150 is sufficient for SOA?

As I said: If you are satisfied with your ability to hide (with how often you fail your roll when standing in the sunlight etc), then there is no point in increasing the value further. If you are not satisfied yet, then improve your stealth skill. There is no difference in this regard between SoA and ToB.

Modifié par Humanoid_Taifun, 09 août 2012 - 06:55 .

[Amnasty]

I need some understanding over calculating damage ( with True Grandmastery installed from G3 Bg2tweakspack)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Character Sheet

Race - Halfling (Fighter/thief Multiclass) Fighter Level 6, Thief Level 7 (44500 XP each)
STR 17, DEX 19, CON 18
Base THAC0 15 [ THAC0 14 (-1 Adjustment) ]
No. of attacks: 1
Ability Bonuses: To Hit +1. Damage +1
Katana ++++, Single Weapon Style ++
Weapon Equipped - Katana (Speed 4)

According to BG2 Table with the "True Grandmastery" tweak (from G3 BG2 Tweak Pack) installed:
Proficiency Points - 4
Level - High Mastery
Benefits with weapon - +3 THAC0. +4 damage. +1/2 attacks per round. -1 speed factor to weapon

With Katana Equipped the 'Hit Roll' when attacking shows like 12 + 4 = 16 Hit with certain Damage to the opponent.

Now, my confusion is with the '+4' in the above equation.
Is this the +4 Damage added from High Mastery alone or the sum of "+3 THAC0" with "+1 To Hit" ability makes the damage modifier sum up to +4??

Where is the +4 damage of High Mastery applied in the attack roll?

It's sounds confusing but my concern is about how the High Mastery and Ability of the Character show up on the Hit Rolls when I attack an opponent with Katana.
IMO, instead of +4 the Dungeon master should have given +5 (+4 from High Mastery and +1 To Hit from STR).
What's the exact equation for the above numbers?

thanks..

[Humanoid_Taifun]

The attack roll is not the damage roll. The attack roll only determines if you actually hit the enemy. Afterwards a second roll determines the damage.

[Amnasty]

Chapter 2 - Fighter/Mage Multi-class - Level 9 Race (Gnome)

1. Manual states that the 'spell trap' can absorb any level of spell, from one to nine. I have Staff of Magi equipped which provides this free for 8 hours or until 30 spell levels have been trapped.
If my protagonist is hit by a ruby ray of reversal, spellstrike, or pierce shield than Staff still absorbs them or the spell ends??
Firkraag casts Greater Malison, dragon breath and all forms of charm and confusion spells. Can 'spell trap' provide protection against these despite low magic resistance at Level 9??

2. I need to replace cloudkill, fireball and monster summoning spells from the spell-book and caste them directly from wands.
Fireball spell delivers up to a maximum of 10d6 by each level of spellcaster.
All wands also provide maximum damage according to the level of spellcaster or they follow the base damage (e.x. 1d6 points of fireball spell) only?

3. Attack from golems is considered as damage from 'magical weapon' or 'magical energy'?
Can any spell provide my Firghter/Mage protection, say using a spell like 'Protection from Magical Weapons" against Vampires, Golems or any magical means of attack?

thanks..

Modifié par Amnasty, 05 septembre 2012 - 05:47 .

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Amnasty wrote...
If my protagonist is hit by a ruby ray of reversal, spellstrike, or pierce shield than Staff still absorbs them or the spell ends??

RRoV, SS and PS explicitly state in their description that they will dispell Spell Trap.

Firkraag casts Greater Malison, dragon breath and all forms of charm and confusion spells. Can 'spell trap' provide protection against these despite low magic resistance at Level 9??

Spell Trap only works against single-target spells.

2. I need to replace cloudkill, fireball and monster summoning spells from the spell-book and caste them directly from wands.
Fireball spell delivers up to a maximum of 10d6 by each level of spellcaster.
All wands also provide maximum damage according to the level of spellcaster or they follow the base damage (e.x. 1d6 points of fireball spell) only?

Every Wand should cast its spell like a level 10 spell-caster.

3. Attack from golems is considered as damage from 'magical weapon' or 'magical energy'?
Can any spell provide my Firghter/Mage protection, say using a spell like 'Protection from Magical Weapons" against Vampires, Golems or any magical means of attack?

Magical Energy is a kind of damage that is dealt by spells like Magic Missile, Skull Trap and Horrid Wilting.
Attacks from golems, vampires or other creatures usually deal a different kind of damage (for example golems obviously do Crushing damage). Resisting the damage type of a vampire would not protect against the secondary effects of a vampire (ie: level drain). But Protection from Magical Weapons (the level 6 spell) makes them completely unable to hit you - so you can't lose levels either.

[Amnasty]

Another little help regarding XP cap in BG2

XP cap set upto a max of 8 million with TOB installed and in a standard SOA portion it caps around 3 million.

Is it possible to gain over 3 million in SOA for Fighter/Mage (with lesser party 1-2)

TOB is quite short as a game overall and considering almost 5 million XP alone reserved for TOB just makes no sense. Taking SOA-TOB together with a uniform distribution of XP should allow me to gain High Level Abilities in SOA around Chapter 5 or 6 but still it caps around the traditional limit of 3 million.

[Grond0]

If you have ToB installed then there is no separate cap for SoA, i.e. it is possible to get a character up to the 8m XP cap in SoA without ever going to ToB.

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Amnasty wrote...
Is it possible to gain over 3 million in SOA for Fighter/Mage (with lesser party 1-2)

In a full party you can reach about 3.5M XP in SoA. With 2 persons you would easily be able to reach 8M XP.

TOB is quite short as a game overall and considering almost 5 million XP alone reserved for TOB just makes no sense. Taking SOA-TOB together with a uniform distribution of XP should allow me to gain High Level Abilities in SOA around Chapter 5 or 6 but still it caps around the traditional limit of 3 million.

With ToB installed the cap is at 8M XP. The 2.95M XP only counts if you do not have ToB installed or if you are using mods that explicitly change the cap.
Incidentally, ToB has about as much XP as SoA - it is just much shorter, so you'll see the level-up symbol more often.

[Amnasty]

Grond0 wrote...

If you have ToB installed then there is no separate cap for SoA, i.e. it is possible to get a character up to the 8m XP cap in SoA without ever going to ToB.

Cool. That's great info. I can now play with more focus to level up my character and even include 1-2 NPC rather going plain solo. Thanks

Humanoid_Taifun wrote...
With ToB installed the cap is at 8M XP. The 2.95M XP only counts if you do not have ToB installed or if you are using mods that explicitly change the cap.
Incidentally, ToB has about as much XP as SoA - it is just much shorter, so you'll see the level-up symbol more often.

this means I can now enjoy multi-class option^_^ over dual.

thanks guys.. time to continue game 

[Grimwald the Wise]

It's not just newbies that have been helped by this thread!
Thanks everyone.

Modifié par Grimwald the Wise, 06 septembre 2012 - 09:07 .

[Matuse]

There are a few scripted encounters with vampires. (3, IIRC) Once you've gone through those, you're safe. Start chapter 3 to get a very useful item in the fights against vampires.

From my own mini-FAQ:

The street encounters of the guild war do occur at semi-random times, but they always occur in a particular order:
1. The party stumbles on Hareishan fighting a trio of shadow thieves. They really have no chance. After Hareishan
defeats them, she briefly speaks to you then changes into a bat and flies off. You can then check the bodies
for the following treasures: minor treasures, a black opal, water opal, sphene gem, bloodstone amulet, pearl
necklace and scrolls of spell thrust, stoneskin, and contingency
One of the thieves has a note from the leaders of the shadow thief guild warning them to not trust the members
of the new competitor guild.
2. Salia negotiating with 2 shadow thieves. The thieves see the party and attack.
Thieves have a note from the competitor guild advising shadow thieves to abandon the shadow thief guild
They also carry some small gems, potions, a find familiar scroll and a warhammer+1.
3. A man named Sansuki shows up, being pursued by vampires, including Del (who you meet later). Let them
have him, or throw down with the bloodsuckers, your choice. Just as a caution, Sansuki is evil, so casting
holy smite (or holy word) on the area will tag him too. That loses you the 8500 xp bonus for saving him,
and he attacks.
4. Parisa speaks to a shadow thief. He is reluctant but she...persuades him. If you are aligned with Aran
Linvail at this point, they will both attack. Otherwise she walks off with him.
5. Tanova asks if you work for the shadow thieves. Oddly, she does this even if you've already allied with the
Shadow Thieves, and have defeated Tanova inside the vampire lair, AND fought with Bodhi. Presumably this
encounter is why (unlike the other named vampires in the lair) she is unstakeable. She has 2 unnamed vampires
with her.
A seperate Guild War encounter occurs outside of this predefined order. Go to the temple district at night,
and between the temples of Helm and Lathander, a shadow thief poet will give a lengthy rhyme discussing his
feelings on the brutality of the war on the streets before he seems to go a little nutty and runs off.

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Matuse wrote...
4. Parisa speaks to a shadow thief. He is reluctant but she...persuades him. If you are aligned with Aran
Linvail at this point, they will both attack. Otherwise she walks off with him.

I just realized I have never tried to dispel that charm.

[Matuse]

An interesting thought, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was going off a script and couldn't be dispelled.

Still, would be kind of cool if the thief gave you a reward for saving him.

[Amnasty]

Joluv sells Everard's Morning Star +2 (50% chance per hit of making targeted spellcaster lose one spell from memory)

Is this weapon really worth especially for dual wielding with Flail of Ages +3 or Belm +2?
If this weapon can pass through stoneskins or even after breach, the 50% chance is just awesome. There is no detail of its effectiveness online.
Any one considered playing Everard's Morning Star +2? 

Modifié par Amnasty, 12 septembre 2012 - 04:58 .

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Amnasty wrote...
Is this weapon really worth especially for dual wielding with Flail of Ages +3 or Belm +2?
If this weapon can pass through stoneskins or even after breach, the 50% chance is just awesome. There is no detail of its effectiveness online.
Any one considered playing Everard's Morning Star +2?

Yes, the effect will go through stoneskins. But usually attacking the enemy with the Flail of Ages instead will have more effect - as it will disrupt spell-casting and deal damage. Most enemy mages are effectively dead once they start taking damage. The chance of removing a random spell from their spell book simply does not compare to that (because they probably wouldn't get around to using it anymore anyway).

That said, if you have problems with enemy mages surviving your beatings repeatedly (that is, for more than 10 successful hits) and still posing a threat to your party, then this weapon would probably be of use to you. You should consider altering your tactics first though - there are lots of weapons with elemental bonus damage.

[amanasleep]

Amnasty wrote...

Joluv sells Everard's Morning Star +2 (50% chance per hit of making targeted spellcaster lose one spell from memory)

Is this weapon really worth especially for dual wielding with Flail of Ages +3 or Belm +2?
If this weapon can pass through stoneskins or even after breach, the 50% chance is just awesome. There is no detail of its effectiveness online.
Any one considered playing Everard's Morning Star +2? 

Everard's Morningstar spell loss does indeed go through stoneskins, and targets highest spells first. With high APR this is like Shapechange: Nishruu.

Most fighter types have lots of good anti-mage options, but for Clerics this is a very potent utility weapon. Keep in mind that Flail of the Ages is plenty good against spellcasters itself, since the disruption caused by the elemental damage is often superior to the spell loss from Everard's, and because of the little-known fact that being Slowed doubles spellcasting time.

Nevertheless, early hits from Everard's can keep high level casters from zapping you with their best stuff.

edit: Double-fisted strategy advice from amanasleep and H_T. You should feel fortunate!

Modifié par amanasleep, 12 septembre 2012 - 05:44 .

[Amnasty]

Recrituing Mazzy!

No NPC incompatibilities are found on the web while keeping Mazzy throughout SOA except Jan Jansen.

In my previous play rescued her in Chapter 6 and realised what a waste of an opportunity. She is just fabulous with right weapons. I want to recruit her and have some queries, namely:

1. I plan to keep her upto TOB end. She doesn't engage into fights with any evil NPC but do other party members leave in her presence. Korgan doesn't leave nor Edwin.
My party for this play is Edwin, Jaheira (may be Viconia for some fights), Protag (Cleric/Fighter) and Jan.

So any of the above may leave sooner or later upto TOB because of Mazzy?

I want to play her with evil party.

2. Mazzy at Level 9 has 2 pips in short swords (with Bg2 Fixpack).
She levels up with the Protag (at level 9) or her levelling is with total party experience??
I can reach her early and it's easy to find her too but want to change her proficiency in short swords and if possible, reach her at a level where she is around 1 pip in short sword. Is it possible?

Should I keep a bigger party to level up slowly to recruit her at early levels (to offset leveling speed)?

3. I also want to recruit Korgan for particular tough fights but problem with him is his big fat arrogance. He damands a fee of 500 GP to recruit him for second time, no problems!... But for the third time he is gone for good .  So, practically have to keep him for entire play or recruit him only once.
Any way/mod that allows dumping him more than once without any problems?

4. Lastly a general quest :-
If I dual  any class (at any level) to a Fighter the HP's are added at a HP/Level bonus of a Non-Warrior i.e. a range of +1 or +2/level. Now, I regain inactive class and start progressing with Fighter class only for entire play.
How is the Constitution bonus calculated? At Warrior class HP/Bonus of +4 of CON 18 or Non-Warrior class?
I don't need Thief abilities above Level 10
No need for Cleric abilities above Level 11 (since most speels last a turn/level and use other NPC clerics to focus on healing spells)
This way my fighter can be versatile early on and retain powerful THAC0 with little waste of HP/level bonus.

yeah that''s it ..thanks

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Amnasty wrote...
do other party members leave in her presence.

No. She's a very friendly person.

Jaheira (may be Viconia for some fights)

If you are thinking of romaning either of them, this will break the romance.

I want to play her with evil party.

Just don't allow your reputation to drop too low (below 3).

2. Mazzy at Level 9 has 2 pips in short swords (with Bg2 Fixpack).
She levels up with the Protag (at level 9) or her levelling is with total party experience??
I can reach her early and it's easy to find her too but want to change her proficiency in short swords and if possible, reach her at a level where she is around 1 pip in short sword. Is it possible?

If during your time of meeting the PC is level 8, she will be level 8 as well.
If during your time of meeting the PC is level 9, she will be level 9 as well.
If during your time of meeting the PC is level 11, she will be level 11 as well.
If during your time of meeting the PC is level 12, she will be level 12 as well.
If you meet her at level 8, she will have only 1 point in shortswords. From level 9 onwards she will put every point into that weapon category.

Should I keep a bigger party to level up slowly to recruit her at early levels (to offset leveling speed)?

To my knowledge, in theory it would suffice to just not level up. XP isn't checked, only level.

Any way/mod that allows dumping him more than once without any problems?

I don't know, Flesh to Stone? Imprisonment? (a character is removed from the party automatically upon getting hit with either of those two - but the nature of the spell would not allow them to walk away)
Might be worth a try. I've personally never done it.

If I dual  any class (at any level) to a Fighter the HP's are added at a HP/Level bonus of a Non-Warrior i.e. a range of +1 or +2/level. Now, I regain inactive class and start progressing with Fighter class only for entire play.
How is the Constitution bonus calculated? At Warrior class HP/Bonus of +4 of CON 18 or Non-Warrior class?

If a character that still receives HD for level-ups rather than a fixed amount of HP dualclasses to fighter, then it will use the Con-bonus of non-warriors for the levels of the first class and the con-bonus of warriors for the levels of the new class.
If a dualclass is made at a level where the character would only regain the fixed amount of HP for a level-up, then the only con-bonus used is the non-fighter bonus.
That is one of the reasons why you usually dualclass from, not to fighter.
I don't need Thief abilities above Level 10

No need for Cleric abilities above Level 11 (since most speels last a turn/level and use other NPC clerics to focus on healing spells)

There are very useful cleric spells that are not yet available at level 11. I personally think a multiclass would be more versatile than a dualclass, because they would actually be capable of polishing the skills of both classes, but the whole thing really depends upon interpretation and personal playing style.