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Quick question about my Ranger...

StormvesselStormvessel Member Posts: 654
Okay, I am brand new to BG and D&D and had an excellent roll on a Fighter but being the noob I am, screwed up on the proficiencies...

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/22560/check-out-this-amazing-roll-question-about-proficiency#

...in any case, I saved the Fighter to use on a future playthrough, and decided that my first playthrough would be with a Ranger that will dual into a Cleric (little more interesting than Fighter). I will go straight into BGEE2 (once it releases) when I finish BGEE1. I have had a lot of questions and this community has been very gracious, so I promise this is the last time I will trouble you guys about build advice.

Here is my build - naturally I have some questions. :)

Ranger (Cleric once I hit lvl 8):

Str 18/00
Dx 18
Cn 18 - once I get to Cleric will I lose the accumulative build up from the 2 extra points (from 16 - 18)???
Int 11 - didn't want to dump it because of future Mindflayers, and I assume Clerics don't need Int???
Ws 18 - I assume it will be needed once I hit Cleric???
Ch 11 - would love to be higher but just couldn't do it. Hope that's okay.

Chose Ogres as a racial enemy because I hear you can choose again when you hit BG2 (and if you can't Ogres are abundant in both games).

Went two points in Flail for that awesome Flail in BG2 and since Clerics can use it, and the other two points in Longbow.

I hope this will work. Thanks so much to this community and I promise after this I will just suck it up and enjoy the experience - no more worries. Thanks! :)

Comments

  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    edited October 2013
    You sure are lucky with those 18/00 strength rolls.

    Don't dual at 8. There's no real benefit in it. Is this your first dual class? You want to pick a "threshold level", ie. a level where you get a particular bonus, at which to dual from. Warriors gain new proficiency points every 3 levels, and a new 1/2 attack per round at levels 7 and 13, as well as maximum HP per level through level 9. So most duals tend to happen at levels 7, 9, or 13, when coming from a warrior class.

    Furthermore, the BGEE XP cap is 18,900 (or around there, I forget), which means that dualling after level 6 as a ranger will make it impossible to overtake your ranger level and regain those abilities. You'll be stuck as a weak Cleric for the endgame of BG1, which will be rough for a newbie. If you are determined to keep this character, I'd just play the entirety of BGEE as a Ranger, and wait until 9 or 13 in BG2EE to dual then.

    Your attributes are great. You won't lose the HP you gained as a Ranger when you dual to Cleric, so the Constitution is fine. The wisdom is great, too. Int and Cha seems fine.

    Flails are a great choice of melee weapon. Longbows are solid for range, but Clerics can't use them, so you'll have wasted these points by the time you dual class. That's not terrible, since you probably won't attack from range much at that point anyway, but keep that in mind.

    I rarely pay attention to Favored Enemy, it doesn't come up much no matter what you choose.

    If you aren't devoted to this character, I would have easily recommended a multiclass character instead. A half-elf Cleric/Ranger avoids the unpleasantness of dual-classing, resulting in zero downtime and both class's abilities from start to finish. You'll never get to use bows and your cleric progression will be slower in the late game, but you'll never have a weak character, either.
  • elementelement Member Posts: 833
    edited October 2013
    your first character was good this one is also fine

    honestly I think your going to suffer somewhat for meta gaming to this extent if its your first run through.
    Besides there's likely going to be a bunch of new weapons in BG2EE something there may make you change your mind about what weapon you want to use
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Experience cap for BGEE is 161,000.
  • StormvesselStormvessel Member Posts: 654
    edited October 2013
    Thanks guys! No Madhax, I use the Baldur's Gate Autoroller and tell it not to accept any rolls less than 18/00 for warriors. I guess it's better than cheating and ctrl shift 8 or whatever but it does save time.

    I think I will take your advice Madhax. I will go with a Half-elf and multiclass my Ranger cleric - it makes so much more sense. I will reference your advice in the future about when to dual, also. I guess I was just wanting to be a human but a half-elf for multiclass will do fine.

    Element: I get what you are saying, but I am not really worried about the spoiling anything for the first game. I am an idiot and tried playing BG2 first about a year ago when I bought the dvd with all those D&D games on it - anthology or something - I have since purchased the EE and plan to buy the EE for BG2 as well, but the point is, I already know the plot twist and who, or what, my character is, so that kinda sucks. I figured the game can't be spoiled worse. It's BG2 I am holding out for, and everything I choose is with that game in mind.
  • elementelement Member Posts: 833
    that's cool, well regardless enjoy it its a great game
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    I like playing humans, too. That's why I always use EEKeeper to edit my half-elves and elves to look human when I'm forced to play those races.
  • badbromancebadbromance Member Posts: 238
    edited October 2013
    EDIT: Didn't see that my points were already addressed above
  • StormvesselStormvessel Member Posts: 654
    edited October 2013
    Madhax said:

    I like playing humans, too. That's why I always use EEKeeper to edit my half-elves and elves to look human when I'm forced to play those races.

    Thanks for mentioning that. I may actually give that a try.

    Last question - being a race other than human won't hurt any future romantic interests I would hope? It says in the creation screen that it's gender related, so I don't take it that race also plays a factor? I hope not, but on the flip side, a human woman and a halfling would seem kind of strange in a funny way.
  • jackjackjackjack Member Posts: 3,251
    To my knowledge, only humans and half-elves are eligible for romances. I've been wrong before, though.
  • enqenqenqenq Member Posts: 499
    Elves work fine. I mean, it makes *more* sense than humans even, considering the races of the three default romancable women in BG2.

    (I also believe Aerie will romance gnomes...?)
  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    Viconia will not romance elves. Aerie will romance gnomes. Humans and half elves are deemed eligible by all.
  • EudaemoniumEudaemonium Member Posts: 3,199
    The EE romances will also romance all races, but Rasaad's is limited to Good-Aligned females and Neera to males of any alignment. Dorn isn't picky as long as you have power and competency.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    enqenq said:

    Elves work fine. I mean, it makes *more* sense than humans even, considering the races of the three default romancable women in BG2.

    (I also believe Aerie will romance gnomes...?)

    I'm not sure how it "makes more sense." Elves and humans are both humanoids of similar proportions. Aside from personal preferences, there's no inherent biological imperative in elven women that alerts them when they're attracted to something that is not an elf. Also, Jaheira's a half-elf, and Viconia is a drow and thus culturally biased against non-drow elves.
  • StormvesselStormvessel Member Posts: 654

    enqenq said:

    Elves work fine. I mean, it makes *more* sense than humans even, considering the races of the three default romancable women in BG2.

    (I also believe Aerie will romance gnomes...?)

    I'm not sure how it "makes more sense." Elves and humans are both humanoids of similar proportions. Aside from personal preferences, there's no inherent biological imperative in elven women that alerts them when they're attracted to something that is not an elf. Also, Jaheira's a half-elf, and Viconia is a drow and thus culturally biased against non-drow elves.
    I sure hope that the prejiduces and racial standards in our world aren't also found in the Forgotten Realms, but I wouldn't be surprised.
  • Also, last I checked, any of the original romances will romance Halflings (and I might be crazy, but I think Viconia romances Half-Orcs?).
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