He was a bit frail to start and it's kind of a pain not being able to swap him in and out as I pick up different companions and do thier quests but the other two newbies will apparently go hang out at FAI when dismissed and most of the regulars will stay where you drop them as long as they aren't unhappy with you so we have adopted him as a sort of mainstay for the time being until his quest appears and then we shall see who makes the cut for the major run to the finish.
His accent kind of annoys me but that is just my personal taste, the voice actor did a fine job, just not my cup of tea. I thought he would truly suck beings what starting a monk in bg2 was difficult...how hard would it be in bg1 right? Well along with my main char who is a barbarian Rasaad is my other frontline fighter and he has been doing a damn fine job. I have found enough magical items for Rasaad to not get instajibbed in every fight and that stunning fist sure does come in handy. I just wish his unarmed fighting was a little better but alas I will have to wait for bg2ee before I can put away the scimitar her "borrowed" from Drizzt. His running speed is pretty awesome to have as a scouter or to explore maps with. I'm looking forward to giving him the gauntlets of strength and having him really tear through the baddies.
I have him in my party and he's died like 3 times, the same as Neera. It only cost me $200 gold to revive them back the first time but it was 600 and 400 the last times.
He's alright, I don't mind him. I'm contemplating turning him into a woman with the girdle, I might turn Neera into a man though
Steal the second scimitar from Drizzt that gives a 2 bonus to armor and give it to Rasaad. Together with 1 handed style he gets quite useful. Personality wise, I like him, being powerful or not.
I'm not sure how he's useful in that situation. He will only have 1 attack per round while using said scimitar... if having a net -3 to AC makes someone go from garbage to useful then Garrick with mage armor is king. Sadly, that's not the case.
I like his character but am a little displeased he doesn't really interject in conversations or really say much and that his quest doesn't start until the very late stages of the game. Mechanically he is a mess. For any fights above random wolves/bandits/bears he just sits in the back throwing darts so he wont get torn apart. Xzar does this just as good but can cast spells to boot.
I've actually had both Rasaad and Neera doing their part in melee, and they've come through most battles relatively unscathed. Neera has a prof in the quarterstaff, and owns that special one that gives the occasional +1 fire damage. And Rasaad, being a Monk, is supposed to use his fists and feet. So I've tried playing them as they appear to have been conceived.
Rounding out this party: a multi Fighter-Mage, Dorn, Viconia in ankheg plate, and Imoen either backstabbing or using the bow.
What is rather amazing to me is that my unarmored Fighter-Mage has a AC of 3 now with Armor cast at F4/M4 and he really doesn't take that much damage either.
I found playing with Rasaad to be fairly frustrating. Dorn is awesome, and Neera I find far more entertaining, not to mention pretty effective, but Rasaad just seems all-round lacklustre to me.
I started with all three new characters, but I dumped Neera when I finished her story to take Xan (love him and his shiny blue blade) and I killed Rasaad when he started talking every two second (that was before the bug got fixed...) I'll try him again on a second playthrough!
In terms of combat he was fine, quite good when we got to Baldur's Gate City. In terms of his personality and quest I was disappointed. He's boring. I couldn't really care less about the Light of Selûne and the business with his brother was silly. I won't be using him again and I'm going to steal his portrait picure for my main character because it's cool and shouldn't be wasted on him
I'm finding that Rasaad can be used effectively to stun enemy mages. And because mages don't have much HP he can even kill them.
In my game as the party is going through the Cloakwood mines with Rasaad now at level 6, and his fists are 1d10 at 2 attacks per round. I've got his AC down to -1 (-3 with the Shield Amulet). I'm not finding in the manual the weapons speed of his fists, but I would assume it is as fast as any weapon can be. (0 or 1? whichever)
His THACO is pretty poor, still at 15. But when he's focused on mages, their AC sucks. So it balances.
Also, because of his great speed he can sprint right at archers and tie them up into melee very quickly.
After Cloakwood I still have all of BG city, the remaining chapters, and ToSC--so that's a lot of the game left to play with him as a mage killer. I'll hit the XP cap... not sure what level he'll reach... But I still have a lot of game left and he's proving to be pretty fun and useful now.
I haven't done his quest yet, so I cant speak to that.
I like his character a lot. After playing more than a few CRPGs, I've seen angsty, whiny manchildren in just about every romanceable human male lead (Carth, Kaidan, Alistair, Anders, Anomen, the list goes on...) and Rassad breaks the trope but remains a good guy at heart, devoted to his cause. He doesn't whine, carry on or throw human-sized tantrums when things don't go his way. Plus monks are always a plus in my book. (I'm aware he doesn't have a real 'romance' but I'm sure it will be implemented in BG:EE2).
I kept him in my party in my entire first run. He IS weak and requires a lot of babysitting unfortunately, but as he leveled he has proved to be useful in quite a few battles whether wielding a short sword or unarmed (he just can't face enemies directly). So gameplay wise I'll admit there are far better party members than this guy, but as far as character concepts and personality goes, I'll say I like this guy. Looking forward to how he is in BG2:EE (hoping he keeps his calm, level headed personality of course).
He reaches level 8 at max. 1 level shy of being able to hurt enemies immune to normal weapons. Hurray!
This. Also I have him at level 5 or 6 right now and I saw him take like 20 swings at a skeleton and miss every one. Time slowed down it was pretty sad.
On a positive note, I feel like it's extra special when he does any amount of damage. Seeing Rasaad did X damage feels like a special treat lol
He reaches level 8 at max. 1 level shy of being able to hurt enemies immune to normal weapons. Hurray!
This. Also I have him at level 5 or 6 right now and I saw him take like 20 swings at a skeleton and miss every one. Time slowed down it was pretty sad.
On a positive note, I feel like it's extra special when he does any amount of damage. Seeing Rasaad did X damage feels like a special treat lol
lol.... i'm gonna try him next playthrough, i already have dorn (too OP) and neera in my current playthrough.
@EnterHaerDalis I'm getting him to hit pretty often now. He must have just had a string of bad rolls with that skelly.
I mean, with the lower AC targets, eg, fighters wearing splint or half plate, he's gonna swing at air a lot, it's true. But if you send him selectively after targets wearing just leather armor or robes he really does alright. And I routinely Blind enemy mages and archers via Glittedust and Blindness, both, which raises their AC by 4 (and modifies their attack rolls and saving throws also by -4).
He is the only one who has died in my party (two times). But I like him, and I think he is very useful, I also have him in DEX gauntlets and a amulet +1. Now he is level six and adding an extra dimension to my party... I am not a powergamer ayway, in which case I probably wouldnt bring him along.
His ability to stun mages adds a new dimension to the game's combat, and is very fun, I'm finding. I wish I had focused on this aspect earlier in the game. I still have about half the game to use him this way, and I expect him to be powerful at it. We'll see. I have been using the Shield amulet for him. But given that I'm using him as a mager-stunner, the Greenstone amulet might be a good choice also.
It's too bad his stealth isn't quite good enough yet to confidently have him sneak up and instantly deliver a stunning blow on hapless enemy mages. Throughout the game I split his point between Move Silently and Hide in Shadows. Now at level 6 both those abilities are at 40. In hindsight I think I might have done better to have dumped points into Hide in Shadows.
I mean, I nevertheless can, after a number of tries, succeed in getting him into stealth mode and accomplish this, though. I.e., I can have Imoen scout and reveal enemies, and launch the attack with Immy and Rasaad stealthed, and her backstabbing one mage and him stunning another, etc.
What I really need for him is a wearable item that increases stealth other than boots. Isn't there a cloak that does this?
Edit: Never mind, it's the cloak of non-detection I was thinking of. But that doesn't increase stealth. I don't think swapping out his boots is worth it to give him greater stealth. Unless there's a new magical item that increases stealth, I'll just have to have him run up to mages like he's already doing. Or struggle a bit to have him use stealth with Hide in Shadows now at 40.
The level cap in BG1 really hurts the monk class IMO, they seem to just be a gimped fighter with some thief skills. I only invited him into my party just so i can steal his boots and not have to commit murder as a good char.
Comments
to bad they gave him both shitty stats(compared to the other new NPC's) and a class that only works in bg2.
He's alright, I don't mind him. I'm contemplating turning him into a woman with the girdle, I might turn Neera into a man though
I like his character but am a little displeased he doesn't really interject in conversations or really say much and that his quest doesn't start until the very late stages of the game. Mechanically he is a mess. For any fights above random wolves/bandits/bears he just sits in the back throwing darts so he wont get torn apart. Xzar does this just as good but can cast spells to boot.
Rounding out this party: a multi Fighter-Mage, Dorn, Viconia in ankheg plate, and Imoen either backstabbing or using the bow.
What is rather amazing to me is that my unarmored Fighter-Mage has a AC of 3 now with Armor cast at F4/M4 and he really doesn't take that much damage either.
Dorn is awesome, though.
In my game as the party is going through the Cloakwood mines with Rasaad now at level 6, and his fists are 1d10 at 2 attacks per round. I've got his AC down to -1 (-3 with the Shield Amulet). I'm not finding in the manual the weapons speed of his fists, but I would assume it is as fast as any weapon can be. (0 or 1? whichever)
His THACO is pretty poor, still at 15. But when he's focused on mages, their AC sucks. So it balances.
Also, because of his great speed he can sprint right at archers and tie them up into melee very quickly.
After Cloakwood I still have all of BG city, the remaining chapters, and ToSC--so that's a lot of the game left to play with him as a mage killer. I'll hit the XP cap... not sure what level he'll reach... But I still have a lot of game left and he's proving to be pretty fun and useful now.
I haven't done his quest yet, so I cant speak to that.
I kept him in my party in my entire first run. He IS weak and requires a lot of babysitting unfortunately, but as he leveled he has proved to be useful in quite a few battles whether wielding a short sword or unarmed (he just can't face enemies directly). So gameplay wise I'll admit there are far better party members than this guy, but as far as character concepts and personality goes, I'll say I like this guy. Looking forward to how he is in BG2:EE (hoping he keeps his calm, level headed personality of course).
On a positive note, I feel like it's extra special when he does any amount of damage. Seeing Rasaad did X damage feels like a special treat lol
I mean, with the lower AC targets, eg, fighters wearing splint or half plate, he's gonna swing at air a lot, it's true. But if you send him selectively after targets wearing just leather armor or robes he really does alright. And I routinely Blind enemy mages and archers via Glittedust and Blindness, both, which raises their AC by 4 (and modifies their attack rolls and saving throws also by -4).
It's too bad his stealth isn't quite good enough yet to confidently have him sneak up and instantly deliver a stunning blow on hapless enemy mages. Throughout the game I split his point between Move Silently and Hide in Shadows. Now at level 6 both those abilities are at 40. In hindsight I think I might have done better to have dumped points into Hide in Shadows.
I mean, I nevertheless can, after a number of tries, succeed in getting him into stealth mode and accomplish this, though. I.e., I can have Imoen scout and reveal enemies, and launch the attack with Immy and Rasaad stealthed, and her backstabbing one mage and him stunning another, etc.
What I really need for him is a wearable item that increases stealth other than boots. Isn't there a cloak that does this?
Edit: Never mind, it's the cloak of non-detection I was thinking of. But that doesn't increase stealth. I don't think swapping out his boots is worth it to give him greater stealth. Unless there's a new magical item that increases stealth, I'll just have to have him run up to mages like he's already doing. Or struggle a bit to have him use stealth with Hide in Shadows now at 40.
I love how I can be a total asshole towards him in dialogs.