I kind of feel like the 1d6 of the staff represents the wielder using it like a mage -- thwacking it like an old man beating an unruly teenager with his cane. It's too bad it can't become a 1d10 in a warrior's hands.
Still, I tried this with a fighter in PnP, and it was fun to visualize. I say go for it, though the animations may not cooperate with your concept.
The additional damage from a warrior swinging a weapon is reflected in the proficiency bonus and additional ApR.
I know a staff can be a wicked weapon in some skilled hands (especially if you consider tripping your humanoid opponent), but saying it should do the same damage as a two handed sword is silly.
It sure is a viable build, thanks for all the input. ^^ I think my kensai wielded the staff at zero speed factor or such, because when he entered melee, he always smacked instantly before the opposition. Then, I make him run around in circles, since he has used up his attack for this round-, and count to six. (To pass a round) I may use the auto pause on round end, too. And then I immediately smack another blow before the opponent can retaliate. With carefulplaying opponents have no chance to attack at all! Was going great, even so close to lvl up. Sadly, a gnoll slasher one hit KO'ed my kensai :-( with a critical hit, I think. But my kensai had full health, I thought lvl 1 characters never get killed in one hit at full health, maybe criticals ignore that rule, or my guy was fatigued after a long journey, maybe it was the cause. Bummer. I tend to lose interest when my character dies and start over :-p Oh well, lesson learned. Never fight with fatigue, the quarterstaff strategy may not be %100 safe against opponents with reach. (Gnolls, flinds, Big S himself)
Fatigue just gives a -1 luck bonus, that never gets any worse (unlike IWD which will WRECK YOUR WORLD, if you try to ignore your fatigue).
Lvl 1 characters don't get ANY advantages, most low HD enemies just deal comparatively low amount of damage, weapon depending. A Halberd is a 1d10 weapon and gnolls have 18/67 str, flinds/chieftans have 18/00.
Flinds are actually fairly high level enemies, I think the highest of the Gnolls, or on par with a chieftain.
You could try it with a barbarian next...they deal a little less damage, but their built-in speed allows them to get away faster (staves have a base speed of 3, so ** two-weapon will completely remove the speed, regardless of bonus), and their much better armor makes it less likely to be hit. You likely just didn't get out of range in time, whereas with boots of speed, you would have (Halberds have a base speed of 9, which means they swing at roughly the 5-6 sec mark.
Fatigue just gives a -1 luck bonus, that never gets any worse (unlike IWD which will WRECK YOUR WORLD, if you try to ignore your fatigue).
Lvl 1 characters don't get ANY advantages, most low HD enemies just deal comparatively low amount of damage, weapon depending. A Halberd is a 1d10 weapon and gnolls have 18/67 str, flinds/chieftans have 18/00.
Flinds are actually fairly high level enemies, I think the highest of the Gnolls, or on par with a chieftain.
You could try it with a barbarian next...they deal a little less damage, but their built-in speed allows them to get away faster (staves have a base speed of 3, so ** two-weapon will completely remove the speed, regardless of bonus), and their much better armor makes it less likely to be hit. You likely just didn't get out of range in time, whereas with boots of speed, you would have (Halberds have a base speed of 9, which means they swing at roughly the 5-6 sec mark.
That makes sense, thank you! But the mentlal picture of a barbarian wielding a staff..is rather not as cool. I may go for beastmaster, maybe. There was this blond guy in beastmaster series, he could swing a mean bone staff to KO bad guys. Hmm, he had kensai abilities too though, with no armor worn and amazing speed/damage bonuses ^^
I always thought a lvl 1 player character can not be killed in one hit, as long as he is at full health. I thought it was a mercy rule. So a golem that could do 20+ damage normally would do 3 damage to your 4 hp mage to leave him with 1 hp. If he was wounded by a scratch earlier, and has 3/4 hp, the golem would do full normal damage and chunk your char.
No, rest assured, I've been crit killed by Carbo/Shank in one hit before...I can assure you there is no mercy, AT ALL. Even on easy it just halves the damage you take.
Well keep in mind, Barbarians aren't battle raging nut-cases like berserkers. They do have the ability to channel their wrath into increased str, but without the loss of control. And their preference for light armor is due to their natural speed and dexterity. Barbarians tend to revere animal totems, and model their fighting styles based on the Animal spirits their clan most identify with.
Even if you consider Wulfgar (Drizzt's barbarian friend), he fights practically naked (just leather armor), and spends more time avoiding most blows then taking them, though he's also no slouch in that department either, able to shrug off parried blows from giants and dragons to a degree, before leading into with a massive battle ending smash, or even just chucking his hammer at them from a distance. Also, something a lot of people forget, his weapon of choice was a steel re-enforced quarterstaff until Brunenor made Aegis Fang for him.
No, rest assured, I've been crit killed by Carbo/Shank in one hit before...I can assure you there is no mercy, AT ALL. Even on easy it just halves the damage you take.
Well keep in mind, Barbarians aren't battle raging nut-cases like berserkers. They do have the ability to channel their wrath into increased str, but without the loss of control. And their preference for light armor is due to their natural speed and dexterity. Barbarians tend to revere animal totems, and model their fighting styles based on the Animal spirits their clan most identify with.
Even if you consider Wulfgar (Drizzt's barbarian friend), he fights practically naked (just leather armor), and spends more time avoiding most blows then taking them, though he's also no slouch in that department either, able to shrug off parried blows from giants and dragons to a degree, before leading into with a massive battle ending smash, or even just chucking his hammer at them from a distance. Also, something a lot of people forget, his weapon of choice was a steel re-enforced quarterstaff until Brunenor made Aegis Fang for him.
That makes sense, too! Yeah, I happen to think of Conan when I hear barbarian, heh...guilty as charged.
Weird, I always believed in the mercy rule. I need to test, create a lvl 1 char with 4 hp and let a flesh golem punch him in the face. A golem easily has more than +3 bonus to damage so it should be one hit kill. Hmm
I think in a decent sized party this is definately viable. If you aren't dual classing probably the best race is dwarf. You will have enough pips in bg2 to gm another weapon.
Mine in particular is a halfling using halberds, (saving throws are just sick with 19con) ... bursty crits into the 60's range @ lvl 12 and -5 thaco unbuffed, against tougher opponents like dragons no one in the party really does any damage until the mages and wizard slayers lock it down (scs2)... mostly she'll just offtank trash with the zerker/cleric until spell protections pop then she comes in and supports.
what does 7/2 go to under improved haste anyways? does +5% crit and +1 damage and extra speed make up for the extra attacks? Well there's only so many 1 handed weapons to go round and only 3 +1 attack swords so for a full party this isn't bad. Harmonium Halberd isn't bad early in the game you can buy it from the bonus merchants! There are good staves available through the entire series but they mostly have no elemental damage, there's a good halberd in the underdark i can't wait to try. Managed to not get hit much in my 6 player party. AC seems so irrelevant in bg2 ...
Rambling, sorry! ... I think 2 hander pure kensai has some appreciable power but it's kinda crude and 1 dimensional. Just a weapons platform that needs support, there's better stuff needed for a smaller party. Inquisitor is probably better ... maybe damage is king though, ... if you use her right well ...
Fatigue is supposed to add another -1 to luck for every four hours beyond 24 hours without rest and I'm fairly sure someone (team member) confirmed this was implemented for BGEE in another thread.
This was also supposed to be the way it worked in BG1 vanilla but as I recall the implementation was very haphazard in that game particularly if you went beyond 48 hours or more.
I used to be really attracted to this idea, and I have tried to start it in several rpg's, not just Baldur's Gate. I can never bring myself to stick with it, because it just always seems like two-handed swords are so much better in most games. In BG, if you stick with the staff, you're giving up Spider's Bane, and later, in SoA, Lilarcor. Every time I try to make a staff build, I find some awesome sword that I just have to use.
Or one-handed weapons with shields, such as Flail of Ages with Shield of Balduran in SoA.
No, there are no blunt weapons in EE that can harm Loups....they removed the root of the problem (club...only blunt weapon in the saga with silver/cold iron flags)...for some reason...
I totally forgot what this thread was about so when I saw the title I thought that one of the BG staff members was being nominated as a saint for some reason. Other than going full derp for a brief moment, I think that this would be an interesting challenge to solo run. I've only ever used a kensai with dual Katanas before. Yeah, yeah, unimaginative and all that. But hey I like my pallies too much not to use them.
Comments
I know a staff can be a wicked weapon in some skilled hands (especially if you consider tripping your humanoid opponent), but saying it should do the same damage as a two handed sword is silly.
Was going great, even so close to lvl up. Sadly, a gnoll slasher one hit KO'ed my kensai :-( with a critical hit, I think. But my kensai had full health, I thought lvl 1 characters never get killed in one hit at full health, maybe criticals ignore that rule, or my guy was fatigued after a long journey, maybe it was the cause. Bummer. I tend to lose interest when my character dies and start over :-p
Oh well, lesson learned. Never fight with fatigue, the quarterstaff strategy may not be %100 safe against opponents with reach. (Gnolls, flinds, Big S himself)
Lvl 1 characters don't get ANY advantages, most low HD enemies just deal comparatively low amount of damage, weapon depending. A Halberd is a 1d10 weapon and gnolls have 18/67 str, flinds/chieftans have 18/00.
Flinds are actually fairly high level enemies, I think the highest of the Gnolls, or on par with a chieftain.
You could try it with a barbarian next...they deal a little less damage, but their built-in speed allows them to get away faster (staves have a base speed of 3, so ** two-weapon will completely remove the speed, regardless of bonus), and their much better armor makes it less likely to be hit. You likely just didn't get out of range in time, whereas with boots of speed, you would have (Halberds have a base speed of 9, which means they swing at roughly the 5-6 sec mark.
I always thought a lvl 1 player character can not be killed in one hit, as long as he is at full health. I thought it was a mercy rule. So a golem that could do 20+ damage normally would do 3 damage to your 4 hp mage to leave him with 1 hp. If he was wounded by a scratch earlier, and has 3/4 hp, the golem would do full normal damage and chunk your char.
Well keep in mind, Barbarians aren't battle raging nut-cases like berserkers. They do have the ability to channel their wrath into increased str, but without the loss of control. And their preference for light armor is due to their natural speed and dexterity. Barbarians tend to revere animal totems, and model their fighting styles based on the Animal spirits their clan most identify with.
Even if you consider Wulfgar (Drizzt's barbarian friend), he fights practically naked (just leather armor), and spends more time avoiding most blows then taking them, though he's also no slouch in that department either, able to shrug off parried blows from giants and dragons to a degree, before leading into with a massive battle ending smash, or even just chucking his hammer at them from a distance. Also, something a lot of people forget, his weapon of choice was a steel re-enforced quarterstaff until Brunenor made Aegis Fang for him.
Weird, I always believed in the mercy rule. I need to test, create a lvl 1 char with 4 hp and let a flesh golem punch him in the face. A golem easily has more than +3 bonus to damage so it should be one hit kill. Hmm
Mine in particular is a halfling using halberds, (saving throws are just sick with 19con) ... bursty crits into the 60's range @ lvl 12 and -5 thaco unbuffed, against tougher opponents like dragons no one in the party really does any damage until the mages and wizard slayers lock it down (scs2)... mostly she'll just offtank trash with the zerker/cleric until spell protections pop then she comes in and supports.
what does 7/2 go to under improved haste anyways? does +5% crit and +1 damage and extra speed make up for the extra attacks? Well there's only so many 1 handed weapons to go round and only 3 +1 attack swords so for a full party this isn't bad. Harmonium Halberd isn't bad early in the game you can buy it from the bonus merchants! There are good staves available through the entire series but they mostly have no elemental damage, there's a good halberd in the underdark i can't wait to try. Managed to not get hit much in my 6 player party. AC seems so irrelevant in bg2 ...
Rambling, sorry!
This was also supposed to be the way it worked in BG1 vanilla but as I recall the implementation was very haphazard in that game particularly if you went beyond 48 hours or more.
Or one-handed weapons with shields, such as Flail of Ages with Shield of Balduran in SoA.
Good luck with your own staff fighter.
Other than going full derp for a brief moment, I think that this would be an interesting challenge to solo run. I've only ever used a kensai with dual Katanas before. Yeah, yeah, unimaginative and all that. But hey I like my pallies too much not to use them.