Neera's quest can be done quickly and before having access to a specific area. Could be a good thing to do if/when you dual Xzar - you'd have Neera's additional arcane casting during his downtime, and get some levels back with it.
Really? He wouldn't get along well in this party anyway. Guess he's being saved for another playthrough.
You get a pretty sweet cursed belt from it, though. I always hate giving it to anyone for Rp reasons, though, since it makes your INT pathetic (6) and the only person who ever needs it is Viconia. Lowering her INT by 10 just seems like cruel and unusual punishment, even if it does give her massive Strength.
I usually give the Hands of Takkok to M>C Xzar, so he really can become death, destroyer of worlds.
I typically have the same issue with getting bored after only being in the game for a few minutes... and changing party types doesn't seem to help me any... get bored whether I try a solo run or a new party composition I've never used before ... Was thinking about making my main a Bard for the first time and using the evil NPCs that I usually avoid because I hate dealing with the Flaming Fist... but I know that I probably wont even last past the mine.. Maybe multiplayer would liven things up, when they get the matchmaking service out.
Make a 4 member team using of of each class kit including the normal class? I'm about to finish my all Bard party and had a blast. Difficult, but fun with SCS.
2.) Dualwield -> 2 APR. Belm -> 3 APR. Offensive spin -> 4 APR. Improved haste -> 8 APR. Now add maximum damage to that and anything over that is just overkill.
3.) Use any item let's you use Carsomy and other juicy weapons / armors that otherwise wouldn't be able to. Nalias ring is amazing, so is Jans armor.
Indeed, and before UAI you get to use the fun Bard-specific magic items (though there is only one in BGEE) that are otherwise "wasted" (before UAI anyway) if you don't have a Bard in your party.
Bards also get the most fun stronghold quest in BG2
I would say that the closest thing to a Blade is a F/M/T. But in my opinion the blade has more style, and feels more like a complete character RP wise.
Agreed! :-)
In my current BGEE game I have a Level 6 Chaotic Neutral Blade (see below) dual-wielding Scimitars (Drizzt's +3 Icing Death, pick-pocketed, and one of the +2 Rashad's Talons), I put no points at all into ranged weapons, so that I can get to three pips into dual-wield at level 8. For a ranged weapon, I'm currently using the Deadshot +2 Long Bow (without proficiency), but will swap to the +5 THAC0 Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy when I can get into Baldur's Gate City, which should fully compensate for the lack of proficiency in a ranged weapon. I'm hoping to get the Elven Chain later, but for now am managing with the Shield Spell or Shield Amulet (which I can sell then steal back fully charged when it gets to the last charge), or +2 Chain Mail when not needing or wanting to use spells (can still use wands and scrolls with armour).
I also only gave my Blade 13 Int, as wanted to be able to max out Str and Dex without excessive re-rolling (I usually limit myself to 20 rolls for "difficult" classes, 10 for "easy" ones i.e. non-casters), it's not really a problem for scroll-scribing, as with two Potions of Genius you can still get over 95% chance of success.
For difficult pick-pocket targets (e.g. Drizzt and some stores) Potions of Master Thievery help - I used three to pick-pocket Drizzt plus the Luck spell, to get over 160% Pick Pocket
NB: these are the stats after applying the Con and Cha tomes and wearing Algernon's Cloak (pick-pocketed - I used on potion of Mastery Thievery to help with this).
I will give him all 3 Wisdom tomes, so by the end of the game he will have 10 Wisdom and no longer a lore penalty for BG2. In fact, he's going to get *all* the tomes :-)
@Oxford_Guy I think one of the nicest things about Blade's and an aspect that help them keep up with fighter/illusionist in BG1 is their ability to use the Claw from High Hedge without penalty ... seems a missed opportunity to start with 16 con.
@Oxford_Guy I think one of the nicest things about Blade's and an aspect that help them keep up with fighter/illusionist in BG1 is their ability to use the Claw from High Hedge without penalty ... seems a missed opportunity to start with 16 con.
The claw is good but it's taking up a ring slot that you could use on another ring instead. Ring of free action, ring of protection + 2, ring of fire resistance. And then once you get to BG2 you got 2 constitution that you don't need for anything that you could have put to another stat. It isn't such a bad idea either to give the claw to minsc or a fighter, sure they lose some health but once you get to the high numbers in health then removing 10-14 health isn't really that much of a problem. Nothing in BG1 will deal over 50 damage in a short amount of time. (Except lightning traps and slythe if you run SCS)
There is a non-blur claw somewhere. I forgot which topic, but it's from the guy who also made the non-green Elven Chain. He has a non-blurry claw and cloak of deplacement for download.
@Astafas, if you take requests for re-colors... Non-green (best black) ankheg armor and no-color effect arch magi robes? That would make me a very happy bhaalspawn. I already use the Cosmetic Revisions mod, and that's the only two things not included. (The arch magi robes look great, but alas - I want Edwin red/black and Xzar green/black...)
@Oxford_Guy I think one of the nicest things about Blade's and an aspect that help them keep up with fighter/illusionist in BG1 is their ability to use the Claw from High Hedge without penalty ... seems a missed opportunity to start with 16 con.
I started with only 15 Con, so would've had to lose 2 points from somewhere else and I'd already taken Wis (7) and Int (13) down as low as I felt comfortable with, starting Cha was 15 (minimum) and I wanted Str and Dex maxed (so could have 19 or each for BG2). I could've carried on rolling to get higher stats, but prefer to keep my characters "real" and limited myself to 20 re-rolls for this character. The Claw is nice, but not without it's problems (big penalties to saves vs. poison/death, and there are quite a few enemies with poison attacks in BGEE). In the end I gave the Claw to Dorn, as he suffers no HP loss from using it and is my main tank (rest of the part is mixed - Viconia, Coran, Imoen, Neera).
Also there is the issue with using the Claw meaning you can't wear two other rings, as @SionIV mentioned, and don't forget a Blade can get an extra 6HP (12HP in SOA, 24HP in ToB) from his/her Familiar.
The Blur effect lasts for ten seconds after each game load. I thought that enough. :-D
I use this (and the modified Cloak of Displacement), it's great, the Blur effect lasts just long enough to remind you that you've equipped these items.
Having non-colour Archmage robes would be pretty damned sweet. Xzar kinda looks like Santa at the moment. An evil, psychotic Santa.
Yep, I really love the Cosmetic Revisions for everything else (especially the non-colored mage robes), but the arch mage robe versions, while pretty sweet, aren't that versatile. I love it for Edwin, but Xzar just looks wrong in red.
I think it's fairly clear that the robe was designed with Edwin in mind. He's the best evil mage in the game, and is recruitable in Nashkel. With the exception of not being capable of knowing Identify, Edwin's CON and bonus spells make him a better mage choice than Xzar hands down. If Edwin was a proper Red Wizard who was barred from at least one extra school then it'd be a lot closer, but as it is he just has mad skillz with very little setback.
But then, lo, it was discovered that you could use a Wisdom tome to dual Xzar to Cleric, and greatness did descend upon the land.
Yep, that's quite obvious. I'm just thinking - a charname could easily be an evil mage or sorcerer and have a different backstory/color preference. Especially necromancers likely prefer green, black and such. And non-Thay conjurers would probably wear purple.
Comments
I usually give the Hands of Takkok to M>C Xzar, so he really can become death, destroyer of worlds.
Make your own party. It certainly adds new ways of doing things in the game.
Done that before too. :P
I made them myself. A Blade that acted as a tank, Skald named MC Hammer, a Jester, and a pure Bard.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16938/blade-offensive-spin-and-improved-haste#latest Indeed, and before UAI you get to use the fun Bard-specific magic items (though there is only one in BGEE) that are otherwise "wasted" (before UAI anyway) if you don't have a Bard in your party.
Bards also get the most fun stronghold quest in BG2 Agreed! :-)
In my current BGEE game I have a Level 6 Chaotic Neutral Blade (see below) dual-wielding Scimitars (Drizzt's +3 Icing Death, pick-pocketed, and one of the +2 Rashad's Talons), I put no points at all into ranged weapons, so that I can get to three pips into dual-wield at level 8. For a ranged weapon, I'm currently using the Deadshot +2 Long Bow (without proficiency), but will swap to the +5 THAC0 Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy when I can get into Baldur's Gate City, which should fully compensate for the lack of proficiency in a ranged weapon. I'm hoping to get the Elven Chain later, but for now am managing with the Shield Spell or Shield Amulet (which I can sell then steal back fully charged when it gets to the last charge), or +2 Chain Mail when not needing or wanting to use spells (can still use wands and scrolls with armour).
I also only gave my Blade 13 Int, as wanted to be able to max out Str and Dex without excessive re-rolling (I usually limit myself to 20 rolls for "difficult" classes, 10 for "easy" ones i.e. non-casters), it's not really a problem for scroll-scribing, as with two Potions of Genius you can still get over 95% chance of success.
For difficult pick-pocket targets (e.g. Drizzt and some stores) Potions of Master Thievery help - I used three to pick-pocket Drizzt plus the Luck spell, to get over 160% Pick Pocket
NB: these are the stats after applying the Con and Cha tomes and wearing Algernon's Cloak (pick-pocketed - I used on potion of Mastery Thievery to help with this).
I will give him all 3 Wisdom tomes, so by the end of the game he will have 10 Wisdom and no longer a lore penalty for BG2. In fact, he's going to get *all* the tomes :-)
I hate the Claw's blue effect, so I rarely use it, but I did have it on my Skald.
and it's made by @Astafas
Also there is the issue with using the Claw meaning you can't wear two other rings, as @SionIV mentioned, and don't forget a Blade can get an extra 6HP (12HP in SOA, 24HP in ToB) from his/her Familiar.
But then, lo, it was discovered that you could use a Wisdom tome to dual Xzar to Cleric, and greatness did descend upon the land.