how do I recruit Viconia? (reputation too low)

doctordog

my 'evil' party is currently running (me) a mage/thief, Kagain, Montaran, Shat-teel, Edwin, Xzar ..

I feel like I need a cleric and would like to swap out Kagain/Xzar for Viconia, but my reputation is only a 4, meaning she walks away as soon as I kill the flaming fist guard. It was previously a 6, but I killed a druid in cloakwood, which lowered it further.

I've tried casting 'friends', which has no effect .. and can revert to my save where my reputation is a 6. Shy of cheating, would the only way be to do a couple of quests that raise my reputation back up to an 8?

Kaltzor

Well, the easiest way to get a bit of reputation is donating some gold to a church... At 6 you will need to donate 200 gold and at 7 100 gold to get it to go up.

There should be a church at Friendly Arm Inn where you can do it.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

mashedtaters

Yes, you generally have to have a higher reputation to recruit any npcs, even the evil ones. It's a stupid feature, but it can be fixed by several mods, including the gibberlings3 tweak pack. You could also try reloading a previous save and ask her again; maybe her reaction will be more favorable this time? Otherwise, you'll have to reload a previous save, buy better reputation at the local temple, and then rescue her again.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

doctordog

thanks guys. is she worth swapping out Xzar and Montaran for?

Edwin is my heavy-duty spellcaster, Xzar is mostly relegated to backup and not of much use (best spell at the moment is web, which my main character has anyway). Xzar seems to deplete in HP pretty quickly and shar-teel + kagain seem far superior in combat.

doctordog

sorry, I mean Montaran depletes HP pretty quickly in combat

Heindrich

If u don't have any healers, then it's a no-brainer, Viconia is pretty awesome. If u do have a healer already, I'd still dump Xzar and Montaron... but then I don't like them, so I'm biased

Crawley

You can also ignore Viconia, get a tome of wisdom (probably the one in BG the easiest one to get) and dual-class Xzar. He kicks ass as mage/cleric

sarevok57

the reason why viconia might not be joining your team with low reputation is probably because your reaction adjustment is to low for her to join, when your rep hits below 8, you start to get a penalty on your reaction adjustment towards npcs, so if your rep is 4, you probally have somewhere around -3 or so, and if your cha is below 10, then you get more negative reaction points, starting at -1 at 9 cha, and another -1 for every point below that

the_spyder

doctordog said:

thanks guys. is she worth swapping out Xzar and Montaran for?

Edwin is my heavy-duty spellcaster, Xzar is mostly relegated to backup and not of much use (best spell at the moment is web, which my main character has anyway). Xzar seems to deplete in HP pretty quickly and shar-teel + kagain seem far superior in combat.

Personally, I'd go with Viconia, but you could get the two tomes of wisdom and give them to Xzar, then convert him to Cleric. I understand that he makes the best Cleric in the game if you handle the conversion correctly.

Thunder

The reputation and reaction systems are retarded.

Schneidend

Look, Viconia's not going to join up with a ragtag, crusty gang of bandits. Clean up and get your act together, you bum.

doctordog

the_spyder said:

Personally, I'd go with Viconia, but you could get the two tomes of wisdom and give them to Xzar, then convert him to Cleric. I understand that he makes the best Cleric in the game if you handle the conversion correctly.

only issue I just realized is that while my character is a thief, I've poured most of her points into stealth and pickpocketing, whereas Montaran is the trap-finding/lock-opening guy. I ended up dumping Safana, so my only option would be to wait for Tiax?

PGoeran

You could always dual-class Shar-Teel to thief. Or send Xzar off to a grisly end and dump him, keep Montaron around.

Freche

I posted this in another thread a while back.

Freche said:

Rep & Charisma matters when meeting NPCs.
They can do an reaction roll and depending on the score they might react differently.

The roll is 8-12 then modified by Rep & Charisma.
CHA modifier: http://iesdp.gibberlings3.net/files/2da/2da_tob/rmodchr.htm
REP modifier: http://iesdp.gibberlings3.net/files/2da/2da_tob/rmodrep.htm
These are from TOB but there is no change in these charts for BGEE.

And IIRC Viconia needs a reaction score of 8+

I don't know your charisma, but you should use the character with most when talking to her, (probably a mage if you have friends spell).

With a reputation of 4 you will need 18 charisma to be guaranteed that she will join you. If you have 16 charisma you could get her but it's not guaranteed (you need to get 12 on the reaction roll, before rep & cha modifications).

doctordog

thanks guys, I ended up donating money to the temple and was able to recruit her.

swapped out Xzar and Montaran. party's pretty much perfect -- so happy with it -- best party I've run so far

EnterHaerDalis

Viconia is a beast. I regularly use her in my 75 stat no reload challenge as my main tank.

Give her the early Ring of Protection, the Stupefier Mace from the Burning Wizard in Beregost and the Small Shield +1 (I think you get this from the first encounter with Dorn) with her natural 50% magic resist plus her freakish dexterity and she can take alot of flak. The only issue is her HP, sometimes you get painful rolls of like +2 HP when you level her but if you can get 1 or 2 good rolls on leveling her up she is IMO the best early-mid game tank

CaptRory

She also has those sweet cleric buffs. =3 Also give her the ankheg armor in Nashkel if you don't think it is cheating.

doctordog

actually, one hitch I just discovered whilst plumbing the Firewine Ruins -- I can detect traps with Viconia's spell, but my thieve's abilities are too pitiful to disarm them anyway I can get around this? I've just been using my tank (Kaigan) to walk over them and take the hit, but it isn't an ideal solution (and has diminishing returns, as expected)

KidCarnival

Do you have potions to boost your thief skills? The wandering merchant on the Ulgoth map sells some. Not sure it's worth leaving Firewine tho if you already walked over the traps with Kagain.

Banex

doctordog said:

actually, one hitch I just discovered whilst plumbing the Firewine Ruins -- I can detect traps with Viconia's spell, but my thieve's abilities are too pitiful to disarm them anyway I can get around this? I've just been using my tank (Kaigan) to walk over them and take the hit, but it isn't an ideal solution (and has diminishing returns, as expected)

You'll want your thieves at 75 minimum for traps and locks and assassins don't count for this as their meagre skills need to go into stealth.To be honest just do the stuff outside of the ruins,going into the ruins themselves just isn't worth the bother half the time.A lot of hassle for little gain.

doctordog

kidcarnival: i don't have any potions, but they'll come in handy for baldur's gate city and the mines, so thanks for the tip

banex: i maxed my thief out on stealth and pickpocketing and neglected traps/locks .. she's a level 5/5 mage/thief, and i'm ready to go to the mines, so not sure i'll have a chance to attend to traps and locks before i finish up

DreadKhan

Use the SUPERDUPER secret backdoor. Makes Firewine, the most disappointing (infuriatingly good outside art, nifty backstory for a goddamn kobold maze with truly horrifying traps) and utterly pointless dungeon less sanity violating. Seriously, I was so pumped when I first found Firewine... Only to find out the only treasure worth grabbing is outside the complex, or is a silly abuse of a ghost.

Well, you get a couple scrolls. >:@ I hate rapid respawns as a rule, but Firewine is about the worst.

Use the shortcuts young Padawan...

Edit: uhhh... To answer your question, unless I want them specifically for my party, I see Xzar and Monty as short term fillers. I generally liked Edwin for Mage, and find Monty gets massacred in studded leather.

KidCarnival

If you put all your points in stealth and pickpocketing, potions won't help you much later. To have an effective thief who gets you through late game traps, you need, ideally, 100 in traps and locks each; or 80+ and potions. If you have Shar-Teel around, it's probably the best approach to dual her to thief and then use her as ranged damage dealer. She can use any ranged weapon effectively with her strength and dex, so you aren't losing the damage dealer long-term.

doctordog

KidCarnival: I'm already up to the mines -- a little late to dual-class and train Shar-teel up, isn't it?

doctordog

EnterHaerDalis said:

the Stupefier Mace from the Burning Wizard in Beregost

I can't seem to find this .. is it only in the EE?

doctordog

BTW: by mines, i'm referring to the cloakwood mines..

KidCarnival

doctordog said:

KidCarnival: I'm already up to the mines -- a little late to dual-class and train Shar-teel up, isn't it?

Depends. Some people like to dual her at 6 (I prefer at 3). But generally, yeah, it's a bit late. If you can switch out anyone - after Cloakwood, you get access to the city with some options. Skie is the best thief, but I assume you don't have Eldoth (need him to get Skie). Alora isn't bad as a ranged fighter, but good aligned and puts a lot in pick pockets. Leaves you with Tiax - cleric/thief multi and chaotic evil. I was in a similar situation once and finally switched out my cleric for him. With potions, Tiax can handle the traps and locks in Durlag's Tower and other late game areas, plus you keep a cleric (though not as good as the others; he's still useful enough and has the Summon Ghast ability to make up for his limited melee use).

elminster

doctordog said:

EnterHaerDalis said:

the Stupefier Mace from the Burning Wizard in Beregost

I can't seem to find this .. is it only in the EE?

Yes its only in EE.

doctordog

KidCarnival said:

doctordog said:

KidCarnival: I'm already up to the mines -- a little late to dual-class and train Shar-teel up, isn't it?

Depends. Some people like to dual her at 6 (I prefer at 3). But generally, yeah, it's a bit late. If you can switch out anyone - after Cloakwood, you get access to the city with some options. Skie is the best thief, but I assume you don't have Eldoth (need him to get Skie). Alora isn't bad as a ranged fighter, but good aligned and puts a lot in pick pockets. Leaves you with Tiax - cleric/thief multi and chaotic evil. I was in a similar situation once and finally switched out my cleric for him. With potions, Tiax can handle the traps and locks in Durlag's Tower and other late game areas, plus you keep a cleric (though not as good as the others; he's still useful enough and has the Summon Ghast ability to make up for his limited melee use).

Cool, yeah no Eldoth, but I'm actually only running 5 in my party at the moment, so there's room for Tiax.