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powergaming party (BG2 TOB,NPC and multiplayer)

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  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    I am quite sad actually that Bards aren't very good. We could use some class variety, and Bards have some interesting things about them with at least the potential to be useful... sadly the way they work, few of them actually come to fruition. I might be looking into some mods for that (like RogueRebalancing), though likely not before IR/SR v4 come out.

    @B4nJ0‌ it's always completely alright if you play something because you enjoy it. That really should be a prime concern in the end, and I totally do that myself at time. It's just perhaps helpful to people who're less well-versed in the mechanics of the game to point out that Bards aren't very good - that, again, is no reason not to consciously make that choice for reasons other than power, but just so we're clear :P

    @kensai Berserker->Druid has always been interesting to me, but just seems even WORSE than Cleric somehow. Again I might need to wait for SR v4 to give it another go, I feel that Druids are somewhat underpowered in general.
  • KloroxKlorox Member Posts: 927

    @Klorox It's slang for your in-game avatar.

    It doesn't seem that way to me. Weird. I'm probably too old to "get it." LOL.
  • dreamriderdreamrider Member Posts: 417
    Comes from the word "cartoon", or in this specific case "cartoon character", by way of the slang of animation artists. They tended to refer to just the characters as " 'toons" since in many cases the characters were most of their work, separately animated on transparent "cels" (celluloid sheets) which were then filmed against relatively static background scenery, which often was created by other artists.

    Recall that the animated characters part of town in Who Killed Roger Rabbit was " 'Toon Town".
  • KloroxKlorox Member Posts: 927
    I understand cartoon=toon, an I can see how you might call the paper doll a toon, but I do not see the context lining up.

    Maybe I will, eventually. I still get annoyed at the way the word "fail" or "you fail" is used now, since it is now accepted in a way that wasnt correct a few year ago.
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    Well, you certainly sound like a right fun chap
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Klorox said:

    since it is now accepted in a way that wasnt correct a few year ago.

    That is how language works, ESPECIALLY colloquial language. I know it ain't rad, but if you don't capiche you're a harvey, ey?
  • KloroxKlorox Member Posts: 927

    Well, you certainly sound like a right fun chap

    I can be, LOL. I am using the "stayed up all night binge-watching "The Walking Dead" excuse. :P
  • KloroxKlorox Member Posts: 927

    Klorox said:

    since it is now accepted in a way that wasnt correct a few year ago.

    That is how language works, ESPECIALLY colloquial language. I know it ain't rad, but if you don't capiche you're a harvey, ey?
    Nice 8-)
  • JLeeJLee Member Posts: 650
    I love this thread even though I am not a powergamer. I play on core with no mods, so this will be a party reflecting that condition. Think of this as powergaming for dummies.

    Cleric/Ranger: FoA + DoE
    Inquisitor: Cars.
    Gnome F/I: Axe of Unyielding + Belm
    Dwarf Kensai: Crom Faeyr + Kundane
    Dwarf Swashbuckler: Celestial Fury -> Angurvadal +5 + SN
    Sorcerer : Not for damage primarily, but as a buff/debuff specialist

    I would never play such a party on the difficulty level I use, nor would it come close to demanding it, but I imagine this would breeze through regardless of player experience. Perhaps on harder difficulties the Kensai would struggle, but on core it does incredible damage. With IH and critical strike, not much lives past one round.

    I respect the input of those that play on difficulties/mods demanding optimized characters. That is where true powergaming exists and I appreciate the insight shared in this thread.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    @JLee welcome, and glad you're enjoying the discussion! You're right of course, your party will SHATTER a no-mod game with little to no effort :P Don't be afraid to crank up the difficulty! It really teaches you a lot about proper play by punishing your mistakes, but it's not a big increase like some of the mods (SCS in particular); basically all it does past Core is that your guys take more damage, that's it.

    Love the Dwarf Kensai with hammers, lots of fun stuff to be had there. A bit iffy on the F/I though, in particular the weapon choice; no good axes around until Unyielding, are there? Also don't like giving up Necromancy as an Illusionist, but that's probably no big deal either way in an unmodded game. Just saying ;)

    I also like that you have a lot of single classes in your big party, shows me you know how to balance things with group size. Good! Too many people making the mistake of trying to cram in EVERYTHING into a 6-man party, without fully realizing the XP penalty. That Swashbuckler can probably run the show solo at high levels, though :P Should be quite the sight. Unmodded game Swashies can literally kill ToB bosses in a single round.
  • B4nJ0B4nJ0 Member Posts: 93
    edited October 2014
    A little update since I finally started my run today ;) and I added another "unusual" man to the party as well!


    Half-elf blade: scarlet and belm
    Human Inquisitor: claymore
    Human bers 9/cleric: Foa and Defender
    Human Kensai9/mage: Axe and Kundane
    Human Assa13/fighter: Shortbow, crossbow and quaterstaff

    Ofc blade and inqui will be able to switch mh if needed!

    Btw, why I went with the "strange" idea of an assassin dual?

    - I didn't need another UAI user but I still wanted the disarm traps /detect illu utility
    - I wanted a flexible person that can switch both in melee and ranged.

    My 1st idea was to have a 3rd +1apr off hand user if needed when I had to switch scarlet from blade, and ranged otherwise. So I tinkered a standard swash10/fighter, a kensai/thief or smthing like that. But I think that an assassin can be the best toon for a ranged+melee role given that:

    - You still got the "full" backstab ratio as a standard thief at lvl 13, and I know (and like, to be honest) to backstab when allowed
    -You get a decent actived ability (poison) that works with both ranged and melee weapons.
    -You still get a +1thaco and +1dmg in any "mode" and, since this will mainly ranged, swashbuckler ac bonus is almost useless most of the time.
    -fighter kits are quite meh in ranged or can not use a bow at all and we discussed already about the fighter9/mage try and I believe as well is not that usefull.

    the only think that worries me is that at lvl 13 and 19dex (tome), my thief skills are:

    0 set traps (I don't mind)
    100 open locket / disarm traps (optimal)
    65 detect illusion ( argh!)

    Honestly I have no idea how that skill works while not capped at 100. I think that is in the top 3 reasons to have a thief in party (Uai, disarm, detect illu are my picks) so I'm a bit worried. I'll test it out anyway, but I would like to have a little feedback about this assa/fighter as well ;)
    Post edited by B4nJ0 on
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    edited October 2014
    Assassin->Fighter is a decent option if you like backstabbing and/or a ranged thief. I personally prefer Swashbuckler->Fighter because I like my thieves in melee (and am very lazy with backstabbing) but objectively the A->F is pretty good. 13 is a reasonable level to dual for the extra BS multiplier and some extra thief skills; 10 or 11 are also possible if you don't mind skipping on some thief skills and an extra xBS, and want to be more XP-efficient (it's a minor point, thieves have a very good XP/lvl ratio).

    As for those thief skills, I seem to recall that you don't need more than 95 in trap/lock to pop anything in the game - you may want to double-check, though. That being said, I don't think you need DI with an Inquisitor in the party. It's convenient to have sure, but I much prefer True Sight. You could put skill into Move Silently instead, to have an easier time BSing. Without an Inquisitor (or a Cleric of Helm I guess...), I very much agree that Detect Illusions is amazing. If you put 95/95 into traps/locks that leaves you with 75 Move Silently, and you can boost that with the boots to almost max at practically no cost. Should be enough for all your stealthing needs (remember, just ignore Hide in Shadows, always put things into Move Silently and only there).
  • B4nJ0B4nJ0 Member Posts: 93
    Ty for the tips ;) Anyway I have an hybrid playstile with backstab, I tend to use it in the 1st couple of rounds with invi, ring and potion, then I switch quite fast to a "standard" fighter/whatever.

    That's just my playstile, a good thing of the thief class is that it has a lot of different playstile even if builded in the same way and there isn't a true winner or optimal choice most of the time.

    Honestly you are right about inqui true sight, I'm just too focussed to do micromanagement between rounds on classes that I like to play so I almost always use detect illu when I have the chance. 95/95/rest move sil is a smart suggestion and I'll try it right now!
  • JLeeJLee Member Posts: 650
    edited October 2014
    There are so many potions of mastery thievery in the game + knock that only 60 in open locks is needed, imo. Of course it is a convenience to have 95, but since we're powergaming now ;) i don't think you need more than that.

    Use Nalia as your sole thief and you will see that she is completely sufficient with 60 OL and 80 FT.

    One thing I have learned from this thread is that thieves and clerics are luxury items :D

    I happen to like a little luxury now and again, but that is for another thread :O
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    You're very right, Clerics and Thieves are largely for convenience. I've been running Thief-less for years, and Cleric-less for even longer, and never really missed them TOO much. Of course now I'm old and lazy and so I take a thief along to not have to bother too much with traps and locks :P

    I'm also investigating the possibility of having a F->T around explicitly for Carsomyr, since I really do have it up to here with the Inquisitor...
  • B4nJ0B4nJ0 Member Posts: 93
    edited October 2014
    The point is that on a pc dnd games are hybrids between roleplay and h&s and both nwn and infinity share the same problem imo: attacks per round.

    In nwn a character w/out 26bab (6atks/round) is not optimal and, to be honest, I would say not playable.

    In infinity you have to take fighter to max pips and atks, same story has 3rd edition.


    Funny thing is that fighters are almost useless past lvl 4 (forti save is the only plus imo) in d&d 3rd edition and useless after 13 in 2nd, so wizards of the coast did even a worst job in the next reincarnation of the game, IMO at least :p

    Given that, basically in bg2 we can say that any toon that has at least 9 lvls of fighter (dual, not multi) is better then any other character you may play otherwise, inqui oppa as, maybe, only exception.

    And I say maybe couz if you know how to play the casters fights there is a good chance that a K>T is better. You will have detect illusion, better dmg and UAI for Carsomyr in the end anyway has you pointed out already.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Couldn't agree more. APR is the defining factor in damage output, also because spells are so inefficient at dealing damage (outside of AoE). It really becomes a melee offense vs. spell defense game, and it's no surprise that the class combinations best at that come out on top (i.e. Kensai->Mage). I do like K->T as a damage dealer, but only having DI and BS as utility (since traps/locks are more of a convenience than true utility) may not fully outweigh a K->M. A mix of the two may be indicated, though I'm still not sure whether more IHs on an extra mage might not just be better on their own... :P

    I am very interested to see what Kit Revisions brings to the table once it's actually getting released. It looks promising, but I haven't had a chance to see it in action yet, and it may not solve enough of the issues given how deeply ingrained they are in the game rules.

    Well, no game is perfect. I think there are issues for sure, but there is a reason I've been playing this game for over ten years :P
  • lololo555lololo555 Member Posts: 66
    edited November 2014
    Wizard Slayer - dwarf - with the rebalancing mod
    Cavalier - inquisitor is a just too much, also demons and dragons are a pain in the butt, also I get magic resistance, when trying to put remove fear on my CHARNAME, wonder what the problem (does anyone know how to fix that?). Also no clue how to disarm liches without this uber dispel... Also Carsomyr is for wussies
    F/m/t - detect illusion for the win
    Fighter/cleric - dwarf
    Rager/cleric - favored enemy - demonic/fell - I feel like I'm cheating, sometimes it's too easy, I abstain from creeping doom as much as possible
    Berserker 13 -> mage

    Also SCSII, Tactics and various others

    Tried playing an antipaladin, but either overpowered against some mages or he totally screws up my cursing abilities

    Also Can anyone recommend a good kit pack? I mean really good and balanced, most what I find is just terrible...
    Post edited by lololo555 on
  • GrandGourouGrandGourou Member Posts: 3
    lamaros said:

    Back on the BG1/whole saga powergaming thing, given BG2 is pretty much discussed to death:

    Archers are gods and would have to make a slot for sure. They dominate BG1 and remain great for much of early-mid BG2. Elf, obviously.
    Inquisitors are still gods.
    Fighter/Thieves are great from the get go, and would have a spot. Backstabbing is good, thieving skills are handy, and late game with two class HLAs they remain very damaging. Obviously you get a demi-human, with Dwarves probably the best option due to saving throws and the +dex tome in BG1.

    The last two spots (no need for a full party) would be for mage duals of one kind or another. Kensais are a little meh in BG1 for a number of reasons, so you'd maybe nod to berserkers instead. The differences late game won't be make or break IMO, and they will power through early on. A sorcerer would also be ok, though it's less optimal than a fighter kit->mage.





    Hello everyone !

    First i want to apologize for my poor english. I'm french and i will try to be as well understable as possible.

    I read this whole thread, and some discussions are really amazing. I quoted lamaros because my concern is powergaming from BG1 to ToB. I know we are here in a BG2/Tob specific thread but i didn't want to create another topic for that.

    In fact, i want to create my own powergaming party, which would fit my proper style of gaming.

    Here is how i play BG saga :
    * i don't like to rest.
    * my characters must know how to fight.
    * i don't like to spend scrolls, or items charges, or learned spells, or potions. I keep that for the boss of the level. Or the boss of the next dungeon. Or the final boss.
    * i disarm all traps and i unlock all containers of the game.
    * i play Steam BG:EE and BG2:EE with SCS mods.

    Given that, i wonder what would be the best party to dominate the whole game.

    I have selected some potentially interesting characters :

    - Elf Archer
    - Human Inquisitor
    - Half-Orc Fighter/Thief
    - Gnome Fighter/Illusionist
    - Human Kensaï>Mage
    - Human Berserker>Mage
    - Half-Elf Cleric/Ranger
    - Human Ranger>Cleric
    - Dwarf Fighter/Cleric
    - Human Berserker>Druid
    - Human Berserker>Cleric


    I think that Archer, Inquisitor and F/T are perfect for me. Next them i need a high level mage so i have to make a choice between K>M and B>M. Maybe B>M is better for BG1.

    My biggest doubt is for my divine spell caster. I don't know if a multiclass cleric like a dwarf F/C or a C/R would be strong enough, or if i must have a high level Cleric or Druid in my team ?

    Last spot can be available for a F/I, in order to begin BG1 with an active spell caster.

    So, my party could look like :

    - Archer
    - Inquisitor
    - F/T
    - B>M or K>M
    - C/R or F/C
    - F/I

    Other solution with two divine and two arcane spell casters :

    - F/T
    - F/I
    - B>M or K>M
    - B>C or B>D or R>C
    - C/R or F/C
    - Archer or Inquisitor (tough choice !)


    If you have any comments or any advices, it would be strongly appreciated.

    Have a good day and again bravo for this thread !


  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    I would take the first party with K->M and C/R. I would also make the F/T a F/M/T.
  • HerrderGezeitenHerrderGezeiten Member Posts: 139
    What is the next strongest Crossbow user after Ranger/Archer? (Evil :-( )
    Blackguard? or Fighter or a Fighter/T multi or Fighter 3/9lev/T

    With out the Archer kit there is a massive lose of Crossbow power.

  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Anything with Grand Mastery would be my guess, low APR is what kills crossbows so you want as much of it as you can. Going for a hundred GWWs is not a plan I don't think, though it is quite funny with some of the heavy hitters.
  • HerrderGezeitenHerrderGezeiten Member Posts: 139
    edited November 2014
    How sad it comes not really that near to the archer.
    Etwo 8 vs 6
    Dam 7-14 vs 9-16 + special Skill 2x (End BG1) ~20% more Dam for sure (hit rate).

    Multi to T is quite late, needs 1 level Fighter again in BG2 for Grand mastery that's not that nice for flavour.
    The funny thing is, Start with BG 2 and you can give Grand mastery with level 7 already,...

    Right now I miss a evil Archer,....

    Hm,.. right now I think to play a good archer evil, without going to low with reputation.
    But that maybe will get me mad.
  • zur312zur312 Member Posts: 1,366

    I would take the first party with K->M and C/R. I would also make the F/T a F/M/T.


    f/t has some cool features like more hp but that is probably not worth droping mage levels with pfmw and mantles also improved haste

    well f/t is kinda bad ; P

    i remember in my tactics let's play that with fmt u could easily destroy everything in 1 round that is not immune to backtabs just timestop/assasinete skill and everything dies with few time traps u can just wreck everything

    but this is also really cheesy
  • zur312zur312 Member Posts: 1,366

    Assassin-> Should be enough for all your stealthing needs (remember, just ignore Hide in Shadows, always put things into Move Silently and only there).

    why?
  • zur312zur312 Member Posts: 1,366

    I am quite sad actually that Bards aren't very good. We could use some class variety, and Bards have some interesting things about them with at least the potential to be useful... sadly the way they work, few of them actually come to fruition. I might be looking into some mods for that (like RogueRebalancing), though likely not before IR/SR v4 come out.

    @B4nJ0‌ it's always completely alright if you play something because you enjoy it. That really should be a prime concern in the end, and I totally do that myself at time. It's just perhaps helpful to people who're less well-versed in the mechanics of the game to point out that Bards aren't very good - that, again, is no reason not to consciously make that choice for reasons other than power, but just so we're clear :P

    @kensai Berserker->Druid has always been interesting to me, but just seems even WORSE than Cleric somehow. Again I might need to wait for SR v4 to give it another go, I feel that Druids are somewhat underpowered in general.

    fighter/druids multi could be cool

    with GW shapeshifted into elemental
    fun fun fun

    but on lower levels clerics > druids for sure

    the only spell for druids is insects from 6th level spells i am really sad for druids in BG
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    @zur312‌ It checks an average of both Hide and Move whenever you try to go stealth, but while in stealth it only checks Move. That means that mathematically, points in Hide are useless as they add exactly the same to the chance to stealth, but do nothing for remaining in stealth.
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,538
    Druids have it bad but... i am running this through bgee and bg2ee

    Avenger 12 dualed to fighter.

    Level 7 spells take too long to get to and are not all that great anyhow. Avenger gives good utility with the extra spells and shapes.
    If you top it off with fighter levels you have good (self)buff and melee capability (with grandmaster in whichever druid weapon you prefer).
  • zur312zur312 Member Posts: 1,366
    i am thinking of playing big moded BGT version and i need a protagonist for all time so i need a pretty cool character not really powergaming but someone that is more usefull than viconia ; P

    i will be playing with npc coz i have many npc mods too

    playing bg1+totsc+bg2+tob+many mods

    ideas:
    archer
    fighter/ilusionist
    blade
    ranger/cleric
    i don't know

    i won't play inquisitor i did it one time so there is no need for a reapeat



    any more ideas for this one?
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    Hide in shadows and Move Silently are totally identical.
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