Yeslick and Buckley's Buckler
JuliusBorisov
Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
In my latest playthrough (with SCS 24th) I gave Buckley's Buckler to Yeslick and his Constitution became 18 (instead of 17), so when he reached the next level, his shorty Saving Throws bonus changed to 5 (from 4).
This combined with Dexterity gauntlets and DUHM literally means he is a great tank. 18/00 - 18 - 18 with many - MANY Saving Throws bonuses (both from his race and from his CON). Marvellous!
Add Ashideena to it and Yeslick can hit everything while having superb AC and Saving Throws.
... Maybe this's not BIG news (or not even news at all to some people), but I just want to share this find with everyone.
P.S. How I wish Yeslick (a good-aligned dwarf cleric) is somehow available in BG2:EE...
By Clangeddin's hammer!
This combined with Dexterity gauntlets and DUHM literally means he is a great tank. 18/00 - 18 - 18 with many - MANY Saving Throws bonuses (both from his race and from his CON). Marvellous!
Add Ashideena to it and Yeslick can hit everything while having superb AC and Saving Throws.
... Maybe this's not BIG news (or not even news at all to some people), but I just want to share this find with everyone.
P.S. How I wish Yeslick (a good-aligned dwarf cleric) is somehow available in BG2:EE...
By Clangeddin's hammer!
7
Comments
Also note that saves are only recalculated on level-up, so you can give Yeslick a shield +1 or +2 for an AC bonus until his next level and still keep the save bonuses (but lose a couple of HP).
Will Yeslick mod (http://www.spellholdstudios.net/ie/yeslick) be modified for BG2EE? It would be a perfect solution.
@Corvino
This idea seems a bit cheesy to me (just as an ability to actually heal an NPC by just equipping and unequipping Buckley's Buckler) but it's interesting nonetheless;)
oh well... we already discussed this subject a few months ago ;-)
My most recent playthrough he turned into an even bigger badass. Exhibit A: Big Fisted belt. Add that + Dex gloves + buckys buckler he turns into an avatar of dwarven vengeance.
Granted that's a lot of stat items on one character, but its worth it. Keeping a cleric that has superb saving throws (to resist status effects) that can also cast a free dispel (to free party members from status effects) ensures smooth battles even when faced with nasty mages.
Yes, it's a valid option but...
It may*** be not a great idea to use such a unique and rare item as the Manual of Con on an NPC. The number of HP is never high enough. It's much better to use it by your main character, especially if you're going to export him to BG2 (except for those rare occasions when it's really quite useless for the main character due to him not gaining ANY bonus from an additional point in Con).
Buckley's Buckler is not so important, if compared with the Manual of Con, so it can be used by an NPC without risks of losing any possibilities (you can swap the person you give this shield without any problems while you can't bring back the already used Manual). And the point I've been trying to give (except the greatness of Yeslick as a tank) is that giving Buckley's Buckler to Yeslick (before his level-up) is more prolific if compared to giving this shield to any other NPC in the whole BG1. It gives him not only additional HP but also grants -1 to all the Saving Throws (making it -5).
His race and 17 Con are the reasons why Buckley's Buckler is so effective on him. Give Buckley's Buckler to Jaheira (who also has 17 Con) and she'll just get additional HPs, give it to Monty (who is also a "shorty") and it won't bring him any bonus to Saving Throws, giving only HPs, give it to Kagain - well, he already has 20 Con, regeneration and maximum Saving Throws, so Buckley's Buckler will give him only HPs and a higher rate of regeneration (1 HP / 50 seconds instead of 60 seconds is not a big difference).
***of course, it may be a good idea in certain circumstances and with certain NPCs as well;) but my main point is towards using Buckley's Buckler
Lets not fail to mention his dispell magic ability, crazy useful.
Ahm, I can't agree with you on this, unfortunately. There can be a point, in fact. The Claw of Kazgaroth gives bonuses to the saving throws vs. Wands, Polymorph, Breath, Spells, an armor class bonus of +1 and a missile armor class bonus of +4. These bonuses are priceless, especially taking into consideration it stacks with magical armor. But it lowers constitution by two points, so this is where any additional +1 Con helps.
When an NPC dies, he can be resurrected, when the main character dies, you have to reload and the less it takes place the better. And success of saving throws vs. Wands and Spells very often means life or death, so it's a good idea to give this constitution lowering item to the main character. And very often it means that Con becomes less than 16 after it (except when the character is min-maxed) - so the tome is not useless.
And the Claw of Kazgaroth can be transferred to BG2.
Also, in BG2 during talking to a demon during the dream sequence in Spellhold you must choose the stat to sacrifice. If this extra +1 to Con from the tome is really useless, you can choose Con.
That's why I point to the fact that occasions when it's really quite useless for the main character due to him not gaining ANY bonus from an additional point in Con are really rare.
But I find it wront to generalize that "for non-fighter characters with 16 Con, there's no point apart from greed to giving them the tome".
It works well with some other builds but it was meant to dump on Quayle.
Also, in BG2, you might lose one point. If you had 16, you'll also lose HP.
...plus I like Yeslick as much as I like Jaheira (turned to stone in the basilisk garden). Last time I liked Jaheira so much, I killed Khalid and gave her the ring (the cursed one).
Everybody benefits from the +1 AC and +4 Missile Defense. Below are the end game level -HP penalties for wearing the claw from the -2 CON curse and when applicable, the end game saving throws with adjusted shorty bonuses.
Imeon. -20
Khalid. -16
Ajantis. -16
Kivan. 0 Death 14, Wand 9, Poly 8, Breath 9, Spell 10
Minsc. -8
Dynaheir. -18
Coran. 0 Death 14, Wand 9, Poly 8, Breath 9, Spell 10
Yeslick. -11
Alora. 0 Death 13, Wand 5, Poly 7, Breath 11, Spell 6
Rassad. 0 Death 11, Wand 8, Poly 7, Breath 10, Spell 7
Out of all the good aligned NPCs, Alora benefits the most and I didn't even factor in the bonuses from her lucky rabbits foot! Still, a 13 save vs. Death is brutal.
Jaheira. -11
Garrick. 0 Death 15, Wand 7, Poly 7, Breath 11, Spell 8
Safana. 0 Death 15, Wand 7, Poly 7, Breath 11, Spell 8
Branwen. -8
Xan. -9
Faldorn. 0 Death 10, Wand 7, Poly 6, Breath 9, Spell 8
Quayle. 0 Death 9, Wand 4, Poly 7, Breath 10, Spell 5
Skie. -10
Neera. 0 Death 17, Wand 6, Poly 8, Breath 10, Spell 7
Quayle doesn't lose any HP, and his saving throws are insane. When recruited, he already has a pip in SnS style for an additional -2 missile defense. With the cloak of disruption equipped (why not, he already has the annoying blur in effect?) he gains ANOTHER +2 to ALL saving throws and another -4 to missile defense. Boots of avoidance and the belt of elvesban makes for another -8 missile defense. With gauntlets of ogre power he can equip large shields.
People like to hate Quayle, but smart players can realize that he can become 95% immune to Wands, Spells, and missile attacks with the right gear and even the remaining saves are rock solid as well. Deceptively, he is one of the most powerful NPC's in BG:EE.
Let's see if any evil NPC's can benefit more than Quayle...
Xzar. 0 Death 17, Wand 6, Poly 8, Breath 10, Spell 7
Montoran. -8
Kagain. -8 Death 9, Wand 4, Poly 8, Breath 9, Spell 5
Edwin. -9
Shar-teel. Death 14, Wand 9, Poly 8, Breath 9, Spell 10
Viconia. -8
Eldoth. -10
Tiax. -16
Dorn. 0 Death 11, Wand 7, Poly 6, Breath 7, Spell 8
Dorn benefits the most due in large part to the blagger's +2 bonus to saves. Kagain's saves are great because even while being cursed, he is STILL a badass dwarf with an 18 CON. Losing 8 HP and regeneration is a price to pay though.
Quayle with the Claw, Cloak of Disruption, amulet of protection +1, boots of avoidance, helmet of balduran, robes of the magi, gauntlets of ogre power, and the shield of falling stars. Death 4, Wand -1, Poly 2, Breath 5, Spell 0, Missile Defense -20. And, he comes with wraithform which is a powerful 3rd level spell.
I have no doubt he gets great saves with the Claw, but doing this to achieve max AC vs. missiles is unnecessary. Missiles are dangerous early in the gane due to small parties, low HP and poor gear. I cannot think of a significantly dangerous ranged enemy to a level 4-5 party with appropriate equipment.
Also, your frontline melee are more at risk from save or suck spells than your support casters. The AI tends to try and disable your tanks first. By concentrating save-boosting items on Quayle you make them more vulnerable.
If you like to tinker and buff, Quayle is a turd worth polishing.
Recently Dee has said BG2:EE would be mod-friendly. Some modders are ready to give BG2:EE-compatitive mods as soon as the game is released, for example, Cuv and his Ascension. The same can be said about SCS. Will the Yeslick mod be available as soon as BG2:EE is released? If not, how much time it will take to update this mod for EE? This question is very important to me because I see Yeslick as an essential member of my planned BG2:EE party.
Great! When talking about ToB content do you mean quests and dialogues or that there's no possibility to summon him as a party member in the Pocket Plane?