What proficiencies do Branwyn and Yeslick get in BGEE?

Oxford_Guy

I'm considering a good-aligned party for BGEE (have only played evil so far), and was wondering what proficiencies Branwyn and Yeslick get by default at different levels, as prefer them to Jaheira, but was thinking of playing a Skald and maybe giving him Warhammers...

Aasimar069

Branwen has :

Warhammer : *
Slings : *

at level 2


When I got Yeslick (can't remember the level)

He got :

Warhammer : **
And something else : flails, mace or sling IIRC

But since other pips from higher levels have not been attributed, you can still give them another weapon specialization ;-)

Wanderon

I have never been excited about warhammers in BG1 myself - yes you can get a +2 early on but at 1d4+1 they do less damage than any other blunt weapon type.

Oxford_Guy

Wanderon said:

I have never been excited about warhammers in BG1 myself - yes you can get a +2 early on but at 1d4+1 they do less damage than any other blunt weapon type.

Sure, but I was thinking of going the whole Norse hammers and axes schtick for my Skald, also they are fast (speed 2 or 3 for most), which is good for a Skald who wants to try "song twist" and get in a melee attack, but resume singing before the end of the round (only worth bothering with for major encounters, though)

More importantly, blunt weapons don't get THAC0 penalties vs. heavy armour (and get a +2 THAC0 bonus vs. chain) and few enemies have resistances to blunt (e.g. Skeletons, Oozes, Jellies, Slimes and Golems have partial or full resistance to piercing and slashing). Also, as well as the +2 Hammer, there's also the "Knee Capper" that you can get later which is +1 but +4 vs. Giant Humanoids (BTW which enemies are classed as "Giant" - Ogres I assume? But what about Ogrillons, Battle Horrors etc.? Anything else?)

Also, for what it's worth, in BGEE there is also the Hammer of dawn +1 (User is under nondetection) .

They come into their own in BG2, obviously, with Crom Faeyr and the Rune Hammer, and even the Dwarven Thrower, as a Skald could use this with UAI, which could be fun. In fact even though a Skald can only put one pip into wto-weapon fighting, the Strength bonus from CF in the off-hand would offset the THAC0 penalties and so would still make dual-wielding viable.

For BGEE, though, I might for Axes and Single Weapon Style at level 1 (which would still give me a ranged options), crossbows at level 4 (by which time I might be able to afford the Lightcrossbow of Speed), then Warhammers at Level 8. It's perhaps not the "optimal" choice, but would suit RP-wise!

Pecca

Yeslick has ** warhammer, ** sling, and * mace on level 4/5.

Oxford_Guy

Pecca said:

Yeslick has ** warhammer, ** sling, and * mace on level 4/5.

So, if my Skald waited until level 8 for Warhammers, then Yeslick I could put another point into Maces for him at level 6/x and give him the Stupifier (which he's more likely to hit with than my Skald), so that could work...

I just had another thought about Axes, you can use the Bereuls Retort +1 Throwing Axes as *both* melee *and* throwing axes, so it's a very cheap way to get a +1 Axe early on, it's faster than the +1 Battle Axe (speed 4 vs. 6) and does 3-8 base damage vs. 2-9 for the latter. Probably a better option until the +2 Axe or the Golden Axe

Pecca

I quite often use Near Infinity to change starting proficiencies of NPC's to my liking. Too many possibilities out there...

Oxford_Guy

Pecca said:

I quite often use Near Infinity to change starting proficiencies of NPC's to my liking. Too many possibilities out there...

I just can't bring myself to do that, for some reason!

Togglebottom

Oxford_Guy said:

I just can't bring myself to do that, for some reason!

How many times have you played through BG? Relax, you've experienced the game as it's meant to be played. Just think of changing proficiencies as creating your own party via multiplayer, only less powerful. Live a little!

Fenghoang

Wanderon said:

I have never been excited about warhammers in BG1 myself - yes you can get a +2 early on but at 1d4+1 they do less damage than any other blunt weapon type.

Ashideena is a +2 Warhammer with a +1 electrical dmg bonus - so it's almost a +3 weapon without the THAC0 bonus. IIRC, the +1 elec dmg counts as an extra hit, so weapons like Ashideena and Varscona has a better chance to hit a mage with Mirror Image on. From a purely damage comparison, it would only be one damage less per hit (on average) at best (compared to Varscona). Considering how the bulk of your damage bonus comes from weapon proficiency, class kit bonuses, and your strength modifier - the damage difference is marginal at best. And compared to the other available blunt weapons (since we're talking about Clerics here), it's pretty much the best from a purely damage perspective (5-8 vs 4-9 for the Mace +2 found in Durlag's Tower).

And like @Oxford_Guy mentioned, blunt weapons have the THAC0 and damage type advantage against many enemy/armor types.

Being able to nab it early is the cherry on top.

Oxford_Guy

In the end I decided my Skald is going to go with the whole norse thing and go:

Axes & Single Weapon Style > Crossbows > Warhammers, in that order

Axes give both a melee and ranged option, and Bereul's retort can be used in melee mode, giving a cheap (and fast speed) +1 Axe