Questions about some stats.

GaNoN

Well stat thingy always confuses me.

If im a priest will i need int?

Also, dex improves thaco on fighters and such?

If im a mage i need wisdom?

ty in advance.

TJ_Hooker

Umm, have you tried looking at the game manual?

GaNoN

TJ_Hooker said:

Umm, have you tried looking at the game manual?

no i didnt. thankyou.

atcDave

GaNoN the quick answer to all your questions is no. But to be more thorough...

Intelligence is of little use to a priest. Keep it at 9 or better, you need that much to use magic scrolls (this applies to all characters). Also, in the sequel, you will fight a beastie known as an illithid (or Mind Flayer) that can kill your character through Intelligence drain, so more is always better. But priests have no particular need of Intelligence.

Dexterity does not directly aid Thac0. But it does provide a plus to hit for missile weapons only; +1 for a 16, +2 for a 17 or 18. But remember there are significant penalties for using a missile weapon once you're in melee range, so you can't be TOTALLY dependent on missile weapons. Dexterity also provide a bonus to armor class (at 15 or better). Dexterity is really a useful stat for ANY character class.

A mage does not need wisdom. In PNP wisdom has some benefits for any character class, but these were not implemented in Baldur's Gate. So only priests actually care about wisdom in the game. There is one exception, a mage needs an 18 wisdom to make full use of a Wish spell, but that will NEVER matter in BG. Late in BG2 it will come up. Even then, you can win the game just fine without any mage in your party having an 18 wisdom, it just isn't a very big deal.

citizenxo

http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats

GaNoN

atcDave said:

GaNoN the quick answer to all your questions is no. But to be more thorough...

Intelligence is of little use to a priest. Keep it at 9 or better, you need that much to use magic scrolls (this applies to all characters). Also, in the sequel, you will fight a beastie known as an illithid (or Mind Flayer) that can kill your character through Intelligence drain, so more is always better. But priests have no particular need of Intelligence.

Dexterity does not directly aid Thac0. But it does provide a plus to hit for missile weapons only; +1 for a 16, +2 for a 17 or 18. But remember there are significant penalties for using a missile weapon once you're in melee range, so you can't be TOTALLY dependent on missile weapons. Dexterity also provide a bonus to armor class (at 15 or better). Dexterity is really a useful stat for ANY character class.

A mage does not need wisdom. In PNP wisdom has some benefits for any character class, but these were not implemented in Baldur's Gate. So only priests actually care about wisdom in the game. There is one exception, a mage needs an 18 wisdom to make full use of a Wish spell, but that will NEVER matter in BG. Late in BG2 it will come up. Even then, you can win the game just fine without any mage in your party having an 18 wisdom, it just isn't a very big deal.

well i got an incredible roll on my priest/ranger

18:00 str
18 dex
18 con
5 int
18 wisdom
18 charisma.

so my int is only 5 is that rly bad?

Wilbur

GaNoN said:

atcDave said:

GaNoN the quick answer to all your questions is no. But to be more thorough...

Intelligence is of little use to a priest. Keep it at 9 or better, you need that much to use magic scrolls (this applies to all characters). Also, in the sequel, you will fight a beastie known as an illithid (or Mind Flayer) that can kill your character through Intelligence drain, so more is always better. But priests have no particular need of Intelligence.

Dexterity does not directly aid Thac0. But it does provide a plus to hit for missile weapons only; +1 for a 16, +2 for a 17 or 18. But remember there are significant penalties for using a missile weapon once you're in melee range, so you can't be TOTALLY dependent on missile weapons. Dexterity also provide a bonus to armor class (at 15 or better). Dexterity is really a useful stat for ANY character class.

A mage does not need wisdom. In PNP wisdom has some benefits for any character class, but these were not implemented in Baldur's Gate. So only priests actually care about wisdom in the game. There is one exception, a mage needs an 18 wisdom to make full use of a Wish spell, but that will NEVER matter in BG. Late in BG2 it will come up. Even then, you can win the game just fine without any mage in your party having an 18 wisdom, it just isn't a very big deal.

well i got an incredible roll on my priest/ranger

18:00 str
18 dex
18 con
5 int
18 wisdom
18 charisma.

so my int is only 5 is that rly bad?

He's so stupid he probably couldn't pass the elementary school. Gladly he doesn't need to.

atcDave

GaNoN said:

atcDave said:

GaNoN the quick answer to all your questions is no. But to be more thorough...

Intelligence is of little use to a priest. Keep it at 9 or better, you need that much to use magic scrolls (this applies to all characters). Also, in the sequel, you will fight a beastie known as an illithid (or Mind Flayer) that can kill your character through Intelligence drain, so more is always better. But priests have no particular need of Intelligence.

Dexterity does not directly aid Thac0. But it does provide a plus to hit for missile weapons only; +1 for a 16, +2 for a 17 or 18. But remember there are significant penalties for using a missile weapon once you're in melee range, so you can't be TOTALLY dependent on missile weapons. Dexterity also provide a bonus to armor class (at 15 or better). Dexterity is really a useful stat for ANY character class.

A mage does not need wisdom. In PNP wisdom has some benefits for any character class, but these were not implemented in Baldur's Gate. So only priests actually care about wisdom in the game. There is one exception, a mage needs an 18 wisdom to make full use of a Wish spell, but that will NEVER matter in BG. Late in BG2 it will come up. Even then, you can win the game just fine without any mage in your party having an 18 wisdom, it just isn't a very big deal.

well i got an incredible roll on my priest/ranger

18:00 str
18 dex
18 con
5 int
18 wisdom
18 charisma.

so my int is only 5 is that rly bad?

yeah that Intelligence is really bad! I might take Dexterity or constitution down a point and charisma down three and add them all to intelligence!

TJ_Hooker

Unless you are concerned about roleplaying/having a believable character, there is no difference in having 3 intelligence or 18 intelligence in BG1 for a Ranger/Cleric (there'll be a difference in lore, but your lore wouldn't be that good regardless). Only in BG2 does it matter at all, and even then only against a specific kind of monster.

Edit: as @atcDave points out, I forgot that you need at least 9 INT to use scrolls and wands.

atcDave

TJ_Hooker said:

Unless you are concerned about roleplaying/having a believable character, there is no difference in having 3 intelligence or 18 intelligence in BG1 for a Ranger/Cleric (there'll be a difference in lore, but your lore wouldn't be that good regardless). Only in BG2 does it matter at all, and even then only against a specific kind of monster.

Well it does matter because at a 5 you can't even use magic scrolls. I believe you need a 9 to use the various magic scrolls, so I would consider that a floor.

Kampri

Wisdom influences a characters save against certain spell effects. I wouldn't want my mage that holds a tremendous amount of power to be susceptible to mind control spells. That's just me, but it could result in catastrophic results mid-fight.

Wilbur

Kampri said:

Wisdom influences a characters save against certain spell effects. I wouldn't want my mage that holds a tremendous amount of power to be susceptible to mind control spells. That's just me, but it could result in catastrophic results mid-fight.

High wisdom didn't give a bonus to saving throws in original BG1 and I don't think this feature has been implemented in BG:EE either.

Djimmy

Wilbur said:

Kampri said:

Wisdom influences a characters save against certain spell effects. I wouldn't want my mage that holds a tremendous amount of power to be susceptible to mind control spells. That's just me, but it could result in catastrophic results mid-fight.

High wisdom didn't give a bonus to saving throws in original BG1 and I don't think this feature has been implemented in BG:EE either.

Yeah, that is in 3rd edition D&D where Wisdom gives addtitional Will saving throws. For instance, Icewind Dale 2.

@GaNoN Check this out if you want to learn more about stats in Baldur's Gate(which follows Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition rules)

http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats

Fardragon

atcDave said:

TJ_Hooker said:

Unless you are concerned about roleplaying/having a believable character, there is no difference in having 3 intelligence or 18 intelligence in BG1 for a Ranger/Cleric (there'll be a difference in lore, but your lore wouldn't be that good regardless). Only in BG2 does it matter at all, and even then only against a specific kind of monster.

Well it does matter because at a 5 you can't even use magic scrolls. I believe you need a 9 to use the various magic scrolls, so I would consider that a floor.

Also applies to wands (Fear, Heavens) and some other magic items.

atcDave

Djimmy said:

Wilbur said:

Kampri said:

Wisdom influences a characters save against certain spell effects. I wouldn't want my mage that holds a tremendous amount of power to be susceptible to mind control spells. That's just me, but it could result in catastrophic results mid-fight.

High wisdom didn't give a bonus to saving throws in original BG1 and I don't think this feature has been implemented in BG:EE either.

Yeah, that is in 3rd edition D&D where Wisdom gives addtitional Will saving throws. For instance, Icewind Dale 2.

@GaNoN Check this out if you want to learn more about stats in Baldur's Gate(which follows Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition rules)

http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats

Actually that was a part of 1E and 2E also. But it was never implemented in BG. In PNP even a (2E) fighter or thief might like having a high wisdom, lot's of benefits. But in BG it doesn't matter.

Kampri

"Yeah, that is in 3rd edition D&D where Wisdom gives additional Will saving throws. For instance, Icewind Dale 2."

Ah, I see atcDave covered my point. Didn't realize that BG didn't draw all the rules from the AD&D books. Thanks for the clarification actDave.

ZanathKariashi

In PnP Dex also reduces the penalty for dual-wielding (very high dex character have no reason to even put points in two style, except in PnP ** two weapon style (it only has 2 ranks in PnP, not 3 as in BG) allows same-size weapon wielding, otherwise the off-hand has to be lighter then the main hand unless you're wielding daggers), and gives a bonus save vs certain spells (all the same ones that would have a reflexive save in 3rd edition).