I don't really feel too bad that my charname has high stats, especially when I look at my brother sarevok's stats
Absolutely. Imoen's stats aren't exactly balanced either, when you get right down to it. Add in the stats of all the Bhaalspawn enemies you'll face, and I never feel guilty about re-rolling for 90+ at character creation.
You could also try lowering the Difficulty settings, for similar effect
I believe the best stories are the ones where you rise up from the gutter. Im pretty sure Frodo couldnt compare his stats with Sauron.
Yes, but I don't recall Frodo having to fight a one-on-one deathmatch with Sauron, either.
I don't really feel too bad that my charname has high stats, especially when I look at my brother sarevok's stats
Absolutely. Imoen's stats aren't exactly balanced either, when you get right down to it. Add in the stats of all the Bhaalspawn enemies you'll face, and I never feel guilty about re-rolling for 90+ at character creation.
You could also try lowering the Difficulty settings, for similar effect
I believe the best stories are the ones where you rise up from the gutter. Im pretty sure Frodo couldnt compare his stats with Sauron.
Yes, but I don't recall Frodo having to fight a one-on-one deathmatch with Sauron, either.
But he wasnt aware of that at character creation :P
On the other hand, Frodo also chose to go solo for the last chapter...
I wanted to go solo Shadow Dancer from BG1EE to BG2EE, but looks like I'll hold out on buying BG2EE until they sort out class balance..
Since there is no pvp, class balance is not a real issue. The character creator lets you create good characters, bad characters, and everything in between. That is the point.
Let's be honest here, much like many fantasy heroes*, Frodo had bad stats and just got lucky dice rolls.
Or if you go by DM of the Rings, Frodo was a player who got bored and left the game, becoming a DM-controlled NPC who saved the day while the remaining PC's (Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas) ran off and tried to do their own thing.
Since there is no pvp, class balance is not a real issue. The character creator lets you create good characters, bad characters, and everything in between. That is the point.
I wasn't referring to class vs class balance, obviously. ATM some classes just don't have any progression past level 10 (see: shadowdancer). There really is no point in making that character, importing it to BG2EE and then realizing that you won't be unlocking anything worth a damn throughout the whole second installment. I am not exaggerating. ATM the SD gets a 3x backstab mult at level 9 and that's it. He gets some flavor abilities later but nothing worth mentioning. That's the class balance I was referring to.
Assassin>mage or thief/mage! Or perhaps shadowdancer>mage depending on how I like shadowdancer after the patch.
I like the idea of having a similar class to Imoen because I can just picture them growing up and being notorious troublemakers who never paid attention in magic class. After they leave Candlekeep they regret not studying more and have to make up for it.
You can always play a dual fighter/cleric. There you get your dual wielding awesomeness combined with clerical spells. It's an extremely strong combo. Flail of ages along with Mace of Distruption/one of the hammers.
My first run through BG2:EE will be with my human Lawful Evil Blackguard, Drake. He'll be teaming up with the five evil NPCs, of course. Probably going to sacrifice Korgan to the Hell Trial, as he's replaceable and doesn't really have much ToB content at all.
I'm also planning to get either a Dwarven Defender or Barbarian that is not evil-aligned through BGEE and see where that goes in BG2EE.
I have a half-Orc priest of Helm I want to carry through to BG2:EE. Not to mention a Blackguard I want to carry on as well (which I use the portrait of the guy with golden armour and shield funnily enough).
Will probably roll a Monk at some point as well to take through as I loved playing through BG2 with a Monk. I think it was the first class I completed the game with back in the day.
I mostly play party of 5. My first Bg2:EE party will be like;
Charname (Stalker or Inquisitor) Minsc ( and boo ofc) Hexxat (I'll pick her because she's the new npc) Neera (I like wild magic) Viconia (I always pick her when I don't pick Keldorn)
Various bards, as well as a Beserker dualed to Thief. Pretty much the ones I import from BG:EE.
I am in some agreement with you. I just finished a solo run of the game with a berserker 7/thief 8 to see if I could (the character is completely badass in BG:EE, so I think they'll do fine in BG2:EE).
The first character I'm going to play through with is my human jester though. I never realized bards could be so much fun: you get a very high caster level for your spells (I'm imagining flame arrows that do 35d6 or 40d6 damage in ToB), you eventually become a talented pickpocket (she has exactly 100 at the end of BG:EE with 19 Dex), you can identify prettymuch everything with just a glance using Lore skill, and I decided to go big with longbows, two-handed swords and halberds so when she fights she hits hard (also 19 Str by game's end).
I'm also looking forward to my elven swashbuckler getting imported into BG2:EE. If you haven't tried them, swashbucklers are just plain fun. You level quickly, you get decent class-based bonuses to keep you relevant in combat and you get the full complement of thief skill points, so no worries about getting stuck without a lockpicker or a trapfinder. With the levels you get in BG2:EE, eventually you'll come to master all of the thief skills so you can play with snares or detect illusions to your heart's content.
I'm also a fan of multiclass characters and the many options at their disposal. Mage/thief and cleric/mage both seem appealing, and I've even had real, honest-to-goodness fun with a fighter/mage/thief. I generally prefer mixing thief with some type of spellcaster (I really hate being stuck without thief skills, and spellcasting is obviously very powerful in BG2:EE).
Since there is no pvp, class balance is not a real issue. The character creator lets you create good characters, bad characters, and everything in between. That is the point.
I wasn't referring to class vs class balance, obviously. ATM some classes just don't have any progression past level 10 (see: shadowdancer). There really is no point in making that character, importing it to BG2EE and then realizing that you won't be unlocking anything worth a damn throughout the whole second installment. I am not exaggerating. ATM the SD gets a 3x backstab mult at level 9 and that's it. He gets some flavor abilities later but nothing worth mentioning. That's the class balance I was referring to.
Continues to gain Thief skill points, proficiency pips, etc. Alternatively, Dual-Class at level 9.
I have a fighter/mage and a bard reared up and ready to go. Almost a sorcerer too (and gods is he already powerful enough. Can't wait to see him in BG2). After that, I plan to play a kensai and dual him to mage in BG2, and remake my mage/cleric for the enhanced run. So many characters, and so little time!
Will probably just continue with my Half Orc "Paladin" Fighter/Cleric from BGEE1, unless there's some new portrait/voice-sets/classes that tempt me to try something else.
Comments
On the other hand, Frodo also chose to go solo for the last chapter...
*The others have good stats and terrible dice rolls. Kvothe of Kingkiller Chronicles fame comes to mind here.
Necromancy will play a large part obviously :]
I wasn't referring to class vs class balance, obviously. ATM some classes just don't have any progression past level 10 (see: shadowdancer). There really is no point in making that character, importing it to BG2EE and then realizing that you won't be unlocking anything worth a damn throughout the whole second installment. I am not exaggerating. ATM the SD gets a 3x backstab mult at level 9 and that's it. He gets some flavor abilities later but nothing worth mentioning. That's the class balance I was referring to.
I like the idea of having a similar class to Imoen because I can just picture them growing up and being notorious troublemakers who never paid attention in magic class. After they leave Candlekeep they regret not studying more and have to make up for it.
It's an extremely strong combo. Flail of ages along with Mace of Distruption/one of the hammers.
I'm also planning to get either a Dwarven Defender or Barbarian that is not evil-aligned through BGEE and see where that goes in BG2EE.
f/i halaberds/staffs
Will probably roll a Monk at some point as well to take through as I loved playing through BG2 with a Monk. I think it was the first class I completed the game with back in the day.
My first Bg2:EE party will be like;
Charname (Stalker or Inquisitor)
Minsc ( and boo ofc)
Hexxat (I'll pick her because she's the new npc)
Neera (I like wild magic)
Viconia (I always pick her when I don't pick Keldorn)
My first play through I'm thinking evil:
Dorn
Viconia
Edwin
Korgan
Hexxat
Probably going to be playing mostly good though, I just really like the evil NPCs.
The first character I'm going to play through with is my human jester though. I never realized bards could be so much fun: you get a very high caster level for your spells (I'm imagining flame arrows that do 35d6 or 40d6 damage in ToB), you eventually become a talented pickpocket (she has exactly 100 at the end of BG:EE with 19 Dex), you can identify prettymuch everything with just a glance using Lore skill, and I decided to go big with longbows, two-handed swords and halberds so when she fights she hits hard (also 19 Str by game's end).
I'm also looking forward to my elven swashbuckler getting imported into BG2:EE. If you haven't tried them, swashbucklers are just plain fun. You level quickly, you get decent class-based bonuses to keep you relevant in combat and you get the full complement of thief skill points, so no worries about getting stuck without a lockpicker or a trapfinder. With the levels you get in BG2:EE, eventually you'll come to master all of the thief skills so you can play with snares or detect illusions to your heart's content.
I'm also a fan of multiclass characters and the many options at their disposal. Mage/thief and cleric/mage both seem appealing, and I've even had real, honest-to-goodness fun with a fighter/mage/thief. I generally prefer mixing thief with some type of spellcaster (I really hate being stuck without thief skills, and spellcasting is obviously very powerful in BG2:EE).