Paladin isn't responsible if the party thief goes off to pilfer things as long as he doesn't find out...
If Imoen goes upstairs at an Inn by herself, there is just nothing good that she could be doing. Especially if she comes back down with a cloak stinking of Algernon and wants noble CHARNAME to wear it as it makes him or her more "charming".
It doesn't help that the game lets her get away with it:
Noble CHARNAME: Nice cloak, if a bit smelly. Did you steal it?
Imoen: Don't be silly! Of course not! It was a gift.
Noble CHARNAME: Why would some smelly person give you a gift?
Imoen: Because they like me, sheesh!
Noble CHARNAME: Why would they like you? What did you do for them?
Imoen: What kinda girl do you think I am? *slaps CHARNAME*
Noble CHARNAME: I'm going up stairs to have a talk with them.
Imoen: Sheesh, good luck with that.
*Noble CHARNAME stomps upstairs, then returns mere seconds later*
Noble CHARNAME: What did you do to him?
Imoen: Nuttin'. Why—what, he didn't remember me? *sniffs*
Noble CHARNAME: Didn't remember you? He didn't remember this*lifts edge of cloak* I paraded up and down in front of him and not even a blink! He just told me to get out of his room.
Imoen: Yeah, he does that. Creep.
Hmm, back on-topic. Clubs. Nothing says "Cavalier!" like a good ol'-fashioned club slung over one shoulder. It's like a morningstar, but eco-friendlier!
Someone mentioned Albruin for a Cavalier - what's the point in being immune to poison twice? But seriously bastard swords are not the best bet for a main proficiency.
My current Cavalier has + in Bastard swords so he can slap around greater wolfweres, but ++ in 2h swords and 2h style. I can vouch for putting 1 + in axes early on though, they are useful for boosting your ranged arsenal, though a stack of the things weighs a ton.
Bastard swords and axes both become solid choices in BG2, with +3 fire & ice/acid axes available early on for your Troll-slaughtering needs and a 1h mini-Carsomyr for when you need the shield of cheese to take down a lair of Beholders.
Thought there was a better one than varscona somewhere along the line but i'm in the category of sword and board over 2h weapons of slowness. Only difference is i use the undead hunter kit rather than cavalier.
@Corvino isn't that a flail? The one you put together at the place where Nalia lives?
Remember that two-handed swords only make 1-10 damage (1-12 in BG2). That's why there is no Katana+2, which would mean 2HS would be useless...
Ring of free action brings the same situational advantage as Spider Bane (ie the few fight where there are hold/web spells), but you can use a great shield to boost your defense.
Please again, note that at the beginning of BG2 you'll very able to respecialize at will when you'll import your character. You'd better take advantage of the weapons available in this game before thinking BG2. ;-)
+2 Spear is on Jacil, Counting House in NE Baldur's Gate (where you meet Marek and Lothander). Break in, kill the guard, steal the loot. So paladinesque.
My personal proficiencies for a BG1 run with a Cavalier
Starting the game: Warhammer ++ Longsword ++
Reason: I put Warhammer before Longsword because you can get it slightly sooner. But more to the point, while the Longsword will hit slightly harder, the Warhammer will have a better chance of hitting every enemy you face. Some armors in game confer additional AC versus slashing weapons. No armor in game provides additional AC versus crushing weapons.
This means early in the game you'll have: +2 Warhammer with +1 Electrical damage +2 Longsword with +2 Cold damage
Now at level 3 and level 6 I'd add Bastard Swords: I have a few reasons for this
1st: in BGEE there are certain enemies in the game that can only be hit by certain weapons with a cold steel property. 2 of the weapons with that property are bastard sword. One of them is from a quest, the other is right next to the hardest enemy you need to kill with that property.
2nd: While Carsomyr is nice in BG2, in Watchers keep there is an equally good Bastard Sword (After its upgraded). While Carsomyr is better at the start, and shields get a lot more detrimental in BG2 (PLEASE FIND A WAY TO MAKE BETTER SHIELDS in BG2EE), I still like the flavor of it.
Honorable mentions (I.e. the weapons I'd add in BG2):
Flails Maces Axes
There is a great mace in BG2 for undead killing that happily confers Negative Plane Protection. Unfortunately your ability to RP the way to the best version of this mace will require significant grey area if not outright violating your paladin calling as it were (although it doesn't do that in game).
The flail is because well. Not even going to spoiler this. Flail of Ages +3 is amazing and it only gets better in Throne of Bhaal.
Axes are tremendously helpful as they allow you to equip throwing axes. Furthermore, they aren't taking ANOTHER weapon proficiency away from your potential cleric who can also use them. At most I'd take 2 outta 3 of the suggested blunt weapons here and leave the 3rd for whoever you use as a cleric if you use one. Take Axes in your last slot as again in BG2 there are some really early axes you can acquire that are +3.
Good Luck on your journey and may helm guide your path
@Gilgalahad I mean 2 separate +3 axes. The first is a +3 axe with bonus fire damage available to buy early on, the second is a +3 axe with +1 acid & +1 cold damage available in Nalia's keep.
One might say, you are the Spider's greatest enemy. =3
There's a ring of free action, and web is not a spell that you meet often when you're out of Cloakwood (other location I can recall are Catacombs under Candlekeep).
To my knowledge, the Ring of Free Action prevents the benefits of Haste, while the sword confers the same bonus without blocking Haste.
Well..much like FoA...just swap to another weapon when you run into the handful of enemies the stupifier (poor mans FoA) can't hit. Hammers are a nice choice, for Ashideena, it's early, it hits damn near anything, it can penetrate stoneskins win-win. And Nothing is immune to blunt. And barely anything has any resistance to it, making it the perfect safety damage class. * Maces, * Hammers, ** Two weapon, would be a good start (I usually just throw up a PfE and ignore the shields entirely). Prior to EE, I would've gone Hammers/Longswords..but damn..that stun is nice.
The Warblade and Carsomyr are the only 1d12 weapons in the game. 2-handed axes have that as their default amount, but they're only in IWD.
They aren't. They're resistant to blunt, one of the few enemies to do so (and immune to missile and piercing). Slashing works best against them but you can definitely kill them with blunt, since my F/C runs have always used Ashideena, and there's nothing it can't kill (which is why I'm convinced the Loup Garou on Furry Isle are bugged since I've never had trouble killing them with Ashideena before in the original game)
@Gilgalahad I mean 2 separate +3 axes. The first is a +3 axe with bonus fire damage available to buy early on, the second is a +3 axe with +1 acid & +1 cold damage available in Nalia's keep.
Gotcha. My memory isn't the greatest lol couldn't remember those axes :-)
Comments
It doesn't help that the game lets her get away with it:
Imoen: Don't be silly! Of course not! It was a gift.
Noble CHARNAME: Why would some smelly person give you a gift?
Imoen: Because they like me, sheesh!
Noble CHARNAME: Why would they like you? What did you do for them?
Imoen: What kinda girl do you think I am? *slaps CHARNAME*
Noble CHARNAME: I'm going up stairs to have a talk with them.
Imoen: Sheesh, good luck with that.
*Noble CHARNAME stomps upstairs, then returns mere seconds later*
Noble CHARNAME: What did you do to him?
Imoen: Nuttin'. Why—what, he didn't remember me? *sniffs*
Noble CHARNAME: Didn't remember you? He didn't remember this *lifts edge of cloak* I paraded up and down in front of him and not even a blink! He just told me to get out of his room.
Imoen: Yeah, he does that. Creep.
Hmm, back on-topic. Clubs. Nothing says "Cavalier!" like a good ol'-fashioned club slung over one shoulder. It's like a morningstar, but eco-friendlier!
++ Two-Handed Weapon Style
++ Two-Handed Sword
++ Spear
So classic.
My current Cavalier has + in Bastard swords so he can slap around greater wolfweres, but ++ in 2h swords and 2h style. I can vouch for putting 1 + in axes early on though, they are useful for boosting your ranged arsenal, though a stack of the things weighs a ton.
Bastard swords and axes both become solid choices in BG2, with +3 fire & ice/acid axes available early on for your Troll-slaughtering needs and a 1h mini-Carsomyr for when you need the shield of cheese to take down a lair of Beholders.
@Corvino isn't that a flail? The one you put together at the place where Nalia lives?
That's why there is no Katana+2, which would mean 2HS would be useless...
Ring of free action brings the same situational advantage as Spider Bane (ie the few fight where there are hold/web spells), but you can use a great shield to boost your defense.
Please again, note that at the beginning of BG2 you'll very able to respecialize at will when you'll import your character. You'd better take advantage of the weapons available in this game before thinking BG2. ;-)
Starting the game:
Warhammer ++
Longsword ++
Reason:
I put Warhammer before Longsword because you can get it slightly sooner. But more to the point, while the Longsword will hit slightly harder, the Warhammer will have a better chance of hitting every enemy you face. Some armors in game confer additional AC versus slashing weapons. No armor in game provides additional AC versus crushing weapons.
This means early in the game you'll have:
+2 Warhammer with +1 Electrical damage
+2 Longsword with +2 Cold damage
Now at level 3 and level 6 I'd add Bastard Swords:
I have a few reasons for this
1st: in BGEE there are certain enemies in the game that can only be hit by certain weapons with a cold steel property. 2 of the weapons with that property are bastard sword. One of them is from a quest, the other is right next to the hardest enemy you need to kill with that property.
2nd: While Carsomyr is nice in BG2, in Watchers keep there is an equally good Bastard Sword (After its upgraded). While Carsomyr is better at the start, and shields get a lot more detrimental in BG2 (PLEASE FIND A WAY TO MAKE BETTER SHIELDS in BG2EE), I still like the flavor of it.
Honorable mentions (I.e. the weapons I'd add in BG2):
Flails
Maces
Axes
There is a great mace in BG2 for undead killing that happily confers Negative Plane Protection. Unfortunately your ability to RP the way to the best version of this mace will require significant grey area if not outright violating your paladin calling as it were (although it doesn't do that in game).
The flail is because well. Not even going to spoiler this. Flail of Ages +3 is amazing and it only gets better in Throne of Bhaal.
Axes are tremendously helpful as they allow you to equip throwing axes. Furthermore, they aren't taking ANOTHER weapon proficiency away from your potential cleric who can also use them. At most I'd take 2 outta 3 of the suggested blunt weapons here and leave the 3rd for whoever you use as a cleric if you use one. Take Axes in your last slot as again in BG2 there are some really early axes you can acquire that are +3.
Good Luck on your journey and may helm guide your path
The Warblade and Carsomyr are the only 1d12 weapons in the game. 2-handed axes have that as their default amount, but they're only in IWD.
Guess any weapon will suffice, at least for the majority of encounters.