UPDATE 24.09.2013 Rasaad in BG2:EE
JuliusBorisov
Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,725
There’s been a lot of debate about Rasaad and his lack of power in BG:EE. Let’s see what happens in BG2:EE.
It is now confirmed (http://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/1mv2oh/anyone_have_questions_about_bgiiee/)
his ability scores will stay the same, so
Rasaad (total 85)
Str: 16 which means +1 damage, 150 lbs
Dex: 16 which means -2 AC/ +1 range
Con: 14 which means no bonuses
Int: 11 which means no bonuses
Wis: 14 which means no bonuses
Cha: 14 which means no bonuses
It wasn’t good enough for BG1, so it’s not good enough for BG2 too.
With natural monk advantages*** Rasaad is no longer a liability.
***speaking about it, let's look closely:
- 9th level: +1 to all saves. Immune to charm. The fist is considered a +1 weapon (+2 at 12th, +3 at 15th).
- 11th level: Immune to poison.
- 12th level: Another -1 to speed factor.
- 14th level: The monk gains 3% magic resistance per level (ie. 42% at 14th level, caps out at 78%).
- 20th level: Immune to non-magical weapons.
- TOB: 21st level: AC bonuses slow to every 3 levels
- TOB: 25th level: Fists become +4 weapons
- TOB: 30th level: AC bonuses slow to every 5 levels
I also expect some new specific items that improve his ability scores and/or give another bonuses.
EDIT: Rasaad apparently won't be able to use Keldorn's Armor so has to rely on his natural (improving with levels) AC.
But it does still worth to mention that Rasaad as a Sun Soul Monk won’t be able to use a Quivering Palm ability (as well as a Stunning Blow ability). From my point of view it’s a great disadvantage and his kit-specific abilities don’t make up for it.
No amount of damage can be equivalent to “the save or die attack”, especially if the enemy next to Rasaad is a dragon or another tough boss.
It is somehow sad that while in BG:EE it is much better when Rasaad has a kit, in BG2:EE it’s vice-versa, especially taking into account that officially he’ll have a kit and to un-kit him we’ll have to use a mod (that will 100% appear) – we’ve experienced the same (but vice-versa) all these months.
So, Rasaad in BG2:EE won’t be a liability but still there will be a lot of debate on whether he’s effective enough or not.
I'll be glad to hear other ideas.
It is now confirmed (http://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/1mv2oh/anyone_have_questions_about_bgiiee/)
his ability scores will stay the same, so
Rasaad (total 85)
Str: 16 which means +1 damage, 150 lbs
Dex: 16 which means -2 AC/ +1 range
Con: 14 which means no bonuses
Int: 11 which means no bonuses
Wis: 14 which means no bonuses
Cha: 14 which means no bonuses
It wasn’t good enough for BG1, so it’s not good enough for BG2 too.
With natural monk advantages*** Rasaad is no longer a liability.
***speaking about it, let's look closely:
- 9th level: +1 to all saves. Immune to charm. The fist is considered a +1 weapon (+2 at 12th, +3 at 15th).
- 11th level: Immune to poison.
- 12th level: Another -1 to speed factor.
- 14th level: The monk gains 3% magic resistance per level (ie. 42% at 14th level, caps out at 78%).
- 20th level: Immune to non-magical weapons.
- TOB: 21st level: AC bonuses slow to every 3 levels
- TOB: 25th level: Fists become +4 weapons
- TOB: 30th level: AC bonuses slow to every 5 levels
I also expect some new specific items that improve his ability scores and/or give another bonuses.
EDIT: Rasaad apparently won't be able to use Keldorn's Armor so has to rely on his natural (improving with levels) AC.
But it does still worth to mention that Rasaad as a Sun Soul Monk won’t be able to use a Quivering Palm ability (as well as a Stunning Blow ability). From my point of view it’s a great disadvantage and his kit-specific abilities don’t make up for it.
No amount of damage can be equivalent to “the save or die attack”, especially if the enemy next to Rasaad is a dragon or another tough boss.
It is somehow sad that while in BG:EE it is much better when Rasaad has a kit, in BG2:EE it’s vice-versa, especially taking into account that officially he’ll have a kit and to un-kit him we’ll have to use a mod (that will 100% appear) – we’ve experienced the same (but vice-versa) all these months.
So, Rasaad in BG2:EE won’t be a liability but still there will be a lot of debate on whether he’s effective enough or not.
I'll be glad to hear other ideas.
Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
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Comments
also strength is easily modified with belts, potions and spells and constitution can be buffed with the girdle/potion of fortitude.
Not no dice, it's D&D, of course there's dice. I meant no luck.
Not that people can't cast Luck. Just that monks won't be able to wear that armour.
Shut up now pixie359.
"Firecam Full-Plate Armor: Now unusable by neutrals (lawful-chaotic axis), neutrals (good-evil axis), evils, chaotics, half-orcs, monks, and gnomes. Minimum stat requirements are also altered slightly to restrict this to Keldorn more strictly."
Monks are an evolving class (similar to a Barbarian)...they start with 1 playstyle and slowly transition into another, from a hit/fade fragile speedster (ranged focus optional), into a nigh unstoppable engine of blisteringly quick physical death-dealing.
But a Sun Soul kit is not a vanilla kit. And Rasaad's stats are not the stats you choose if creating the main character - a monk. It's really hard to take him as he is.
Having been thinking about it for a while I come to a conclusion that including Rasaad into a party in BG2 will be done, in my case, only due to RP-reasons and my desire to see how his questline is developed. And when I think about any other NPC it's not only up to these reasons.
So I have to agree with @FinneousPJ.
Haer'Dalis has pretty crappy stats too, but that doesn't stop plenty of people from taking him along.
The comparison @madhax makes to Haer'dalis is apt. Mediocre stats are irrelevant if the character is in a powerful class, and by mid BG2, Monk certainly qualifies as such.
Personally, I think Rasaad's stats are fine in BG1, but he suffers from monks being bad at low-levels. If his stats stay the same, his class will be fine in BG2, but he'll suffer from low stats compared to other npcs.
Monk, like mages, start all squishy and then become diamond-tipped drillbits to shred your foes. They're a bit boring to play though.
It isn't difficult to edit Rasaad into a Sun Soul Monk manually via EEKeeper if you don't want to wait. I did so months ago, when the kit was first introduced.
"9.Will any of the new NPCs from BGEE have stat changes like Viconia and Edwin in BG->BG2?"
"9) This was done to fix problems with BG1 NPCs' original stats, but the new NPCs have much more functional stats, so there's no real need".
http://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/1mv2oh/anyone_have_questions_about_bgiiee/
SO, Dorn, Rasaad and Neera will have in BG2:EE exactly those stats they have in BG:EE.
That sucks. Really.
Any good news?
There WILL be new items for BG2EE, that's 100% sure. As Kaelore says on reddit.com "New content is anything new we've added, NPCs, quests, items, etcetera.". There will be a vast pool of new items, both special for new NPCs and for everyone.
The alignment of Hexxat is still not obvious. It's MY understanding that she is neutral, it's not confirmed. But I have a strong feeling she's not evil - and the reasons are obvious (read not only my point of view but also http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/19241/bg2-ee-no-evil-thief-please/p1 on this topic).
No one "promised" an evil thief. Trent Oster said "BG2 needs a good single class thief" - no pointing to her evil alignment.
But I don't see ANY problem here - a neutral thief can suit ANY party, including an evil one.
And good news ... Well, if much improved graphics, 350,000 words of new content, 30 new areas, the fact that a large variety of mods will be compatible from day one (Ascension, SCS and many-many others), smooth multiplayer ("super awesome") is not enough... I don't know what can be enough.
My logic is flawless.
Wasn't there also Trent responding to the fact that there is no evil-aligned thief with 'Yeah, we should sort that." or something. It was on one of reddit things. I might be misremembering.
EDIT: I can't find it anymore, so it seems likely I am just misremembering. Still, I hope for teh evulz.
STR
DEX
CON
STR 16 is the easiest to improve (Strength spell, belts, gloves...) so his 16 STR is more than fine.
DEX 16 is alright (+2 out of a maximum of +4... and you can give him the 18 dex Gloves if you really need to)
CON 14 instead of 16 means he loses at best 18 HP (Since past level 9, CON has no effect).
Hardly noticeable (At level 20, with CON 16+ he'd have an average of 80,5 HP (62,5 HP currently)... with maximized HP per level, he'd have 112 HP (94 Currently)
No doubt they'll add 3 or 4 new custom IWD style portraits like in BGEE, but most of the people don't use them (user screeshots). There is a plenty of awesome pics here http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/5339/alternate-npc-and-pc-portraits-because-i-m-bored-while-waiting-for-more-patches-to-come-out-p#latest We'll see. It would be great if they add some items like Valygar's personal Korthala stuff. But to be honest I'm 100% sure it doesn't happen. Rasaad's boots maybe. http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/11656/we-need-a-thief-npc-in-bg2-ee/p1
There are only 4 evil NPCs in BG2EE and only 5 in ToB
Good NPCs = 9, Neutral NPCs = 8
And the only evil thief in the whole game is Montaron. Half-thief though (
The point of the post was saying how the new NPCs won't get new gear or anything special in BGEE. You are probably right that "There will be a vast pool of new items, both special for new NPCs and for everyone." but that seems to be speculation based on the quote you made which doesn't mention this specifically: "New content is anything new we've added, NPCs, quests, items, etcetera.". - liam