powergaming party (BG2 TOB,NPC and multiplayer)
zur312
Member Posts: 1,366
What is the most powergaming party that you can think of?
two different groups of posts
1) multiplayer created party by player. What classes/races (and items)
2) charname + npc's. What npc's
-this is not 1 vs 2 but creating 2 different threads for 1 purpose is silly
-bg2 tob exp limit
-no mods
and why is this the most powergaming?
for example
F/M/T half-elf - like kensai mage but +100dmg with backstab
Kensai13/Mage - i think everyone know why kensai/mage
cleric/specjalist mage - healer who is almost immortal
mage slayer13/mage - antimage
edwin - most spells
npc's
F/M/T op op
sarevok dualed to mage op
edwin - op op op
aerie - op multi
keldorn - op dispell
Cernd - SS f yeah
like you can see I prefer magic
two different groups of posts
1) multiplayer created party by player. What classes/races (and items)
2) charname + npc's. What npc's
-this is not 1 vs 2 but creating 2 different threads for 1 purpose is silly
-bg2 tob exp limit
-no mods
and why is this the most powergaming?
for example
F/M/T half-elf - like kensai mage but +100dmg with backstab
Kensai13/Mage - i think everyone know why kensai/mage
cleric/specjalist mage - healer who is almost immortal
mage slayer13/mage - antimage
edwin - most spells
npc's
F/M/T op op
sarevok dualed to mage op
edwin - op op op
aerie - op multi
keldorn - op dispell
Cernd - SS f yeah
like you can see I prefer magic
Post edited by zur312 on
1
Comments
Because you can pick every single aspect of the character + roll for stats. Only a couple of characters have unique traits that make them (arguably) better than anything you can make, but you pay for those traits with the lack of being able to customise.
Kensai 13->Mage
Kensai 13->Mage
Barbarian 15->Cleric
Inquisitor
Swashbuckler 15->Fighter
It's a melee-dps oriented party, because that's where the greatest damage lies. No backstabs, though, as most if not all relevant enemies in my setup are immune to them. The barbarian->cleric is the "tank", stacking damage resistances as much as possible. Inquisitor I find indispensable during the early game, if for the saved frustration from not having to reload 1000 times to every random city battle at low levels, where a failed save equals death to all and protection spells are scarce.
I found that K->M's damage potential is simply unreal, Imp. Haste + Kai kills most enemies extremely quickly (especially those not immune to Timestop). The spells are used to dispel enemy defenses, which are rampant with my mods.
As for NPCs, there's several choices that stand out. I usually mod my NPCs to suit whatever classes/kits I want to play, simply to not have to deal with the annoying MP loading times and the missing banter/romance.
One of the cheesier choices is Jan; I made him my barb->cleric tank, where his special armor becomes ridiculous. With Defender of Easthaven, Roranach's Horn, and Armor of Faith, he can tank Ascension Melyssan all day long.
Another great and very powerful one is Sarevok, for the obvious reason of Deathbringer Assault, which, with some luck, makes short work of even the most dangerous enemies. He can become a double-edged sword, though, if your choices/alignment make him betray you during the final battle.
The most ridiculous NPC though is Solaufein. I like the mod because the character is fun and has a lot of dialogue, and also adds a very difficult battle (Eclipse); however, his character-specific sword is so good it dwarfs even the Flail of Ages, and not by a small margin.
Speaking of weapons, even with the ItemUpgrade mod, FoA+5 remains the best weapon in the game (except for Solaufein's, see above). Staff of the Ram certainly is powerful as well, but it's a) 2h (meaning less APR) and b) makes you lose Roranach's Horn, which comes in handy at times. Kundane/Belm/Scarlet Ninja-to are of course no-brainers and a must-have for any dual-wielder. Axe of the Unyielding is also incredibly powerful, though more so for plowing through trash than for killing bosses (who are pretty much exclusively immune to vorpal hits).
Spell-wise, I found myself using 90% buffs/debuffs and only 10% damage spells, of which 99% were Magic Missile and Horrid Wilting. There really is little reason to use any other offensive spells, given their cast time, enemy defenses, and damage that just doesn't compare to melee hits. Stoneskin is, of course, the best spell of all, followed closely by Improved Haste.
other ppl just post random 1 lines
can you explain why 15 lvl barb?
Paladin (Cavalier?)
Kensai -> Thief (For all your thieving with stupid powerful backstabs needs)
Kensai -> Mage (Because you might as well get some extra hp and thAC0, right?)
Berserker -> Cleric (Let's be real, from a powergaming standpoint, dualing out of a fighter kit is just better)
After those 4 I think you can do anything you want. Probably some more casters... maybe a ranger/cleric to get all those druid spells without needing to be a druid. The last spot should be an arcane caster. Sorcerer? Another dualed mage type? Something.
For single-player it seems a lot more subjective, but the idea that more magic = better remains true. I personally like for my PC to be a half-orc fighter/thief, because 19 strength is just fun. But there are plenty of belts and, if you go through BG1 first, that lovely tome, so in the end it doesn't matter much. Then you take along Keldorn (with a strength belt and some dex gloves) for Carsomyr, Minsc/Sarevok to be your other frontliner, Jan for magic and thief stuff, Viconia because... well... because Viconia, and Aerie, because if you follow the philosophy that more magic is better, being a cleric/mage is pretty darn good.
Dualing Sarevok is always a choice, but I'm not sure it is a good one. You will likely have all your thief needs covered (either by the PC or by Jan) and if you make him a mage he is just a low-level mage for the vast majority of the time.
Those are my thoughts.
Ranger -> Cleric
Kensai -> Mage
Swashbuckler -> Mage
Inquisitor
Sorcerer (maybe a dualed mage if you prefer - also, are there enough scrolls LOL)
Zerker -> Druid?
In a modded game, there is a noticeable shift away from spell power and to physical damage; I wouldn't want a cleric/mage in the games I usually play.
aerie is part mage = almost immortal with mirror images/stone skin
viconia is cleric so her spells are cleric spells = not the best in the game but greater restoration revive etc. are pretty cool
aerie is part mage = best spells in the game + best spells of cleric in the game but lower amount
that's why i think aerie is stronger
turn undead is cool on paper or in roleplaying but i don't think it matters
Kensai13> mage
fighter/thief
Cleric/illusionist
Sorcerer
the 6th could be anything and this team would still power through, either any bard kit or maybe a monk for mid soa and beyond, a resistance/immunities tank like the berserker, cav or dwarven defender
Bg ee
Archer pc
Kagain
Coran
mr surprise
Edwin
quayle
bg 2
Edwin (illegally powerful)
Haer dalis (illegally powerful)
Aerie (c/m is always great)
Jan (m/t is always great)
sarevok/korgan/keldorn (tank)
fighter/thief pc (powerful multi)
Ahh... kuroisan and improved illych, such a beautiful, painful memories...
... I just ran ; D
kensai12-mage- 2wf Frostreaver axe, Azuridge
kensai12-mage - Gensens Bow
kensai12-mage - 2handed weapons Silver Sword
Swashbuckler15-fighter - 2wf Celestial Fury, Malakar
Fighter/Cleric - 2wf CromFayer, Mace of disruption
more HLAs (23 compared to f/m/t's 3)
better backstab (x5 rather than x4)
more weapon pips
more thief points (largely irrelevant with jan too, but a nice to have)
get higher APR sooner
certainly by the time you're hitting the HLAs, having more allows for spike trap cheese, time stop + IH + assassination, use any item cheese, IH + critical strike,
Err, how did you come up with F/M/Ts only getting 3 HLAs? Remember, a character starts getting HLAs at their first level up after hitting 3 million xp. For a multiclass character, all classes contribute towards meeting this 3 million xp threshold. And I'm guessing that an F/M/T is going to level up more than 3 times after hitting 3 mil.
the only real defensive spell of her is armor of faith but it is not stacking in BG:ee so only 25% max reduction of damage
About f/t vs f/m/t maybe f/t can have faster apr but he has no defense like viconia
Ranger7->cleric
Kensai13->Mage
Kensai9-> theif
Swashbuckler10->Mage
Berserker13->cleric
This group should stay powerful throughout, since the dual classes are spread out, minimizing downtimes, and will be absolute wrecking balls at the end.