Usefulness of certain classes and kits in BG:EE
lemonjuice
Member Posts: 18
I've recently learned that I can create all BG2 classes and kits in BG:EE (yeah, recently). That was mainly why I didn't want to play BG:EE, but now that I know I can it looks like BG2 with a different story to me, which is just great seeing how I've played BG2 lots of times, but BG only once basically.
The thing is, I don't want to just make a char and play, I want to create my own party and move it directly to BG2:EE.
How good kits like Kensai, Shapeshifter or Monk are in BG:EE, without all those medium to high evel abilities they are getting in BG2? Kensai is relatively weak early game in BG2 for example, so is Monk, and the Shapeshifter will never get greater werewolf in BG:EE.
Will I be able to create a good team of 6 no matter the class and kit, beat the game as easy as if I solo and get NPCs, and reach an acceptable level for when I transfer to BG2:EE, that is at least the same level you'd have if you started a new game?
Or maybe I can't create a multiplayer party just for me in BG:EE, because the story doesn't allow it? Also, will a party of 6 work both in BG and BG2, or I will be forced to pick up an NPC at some point and leave one of my characters behind, and if yes, will a party of 5 be enough?
Also, if I play with a single char and NPCs, will I be able to transfer my single char, but the rest of my BG2:EE party be created characters instead of NPCs?
Thanks for reading.
The thing is, I don't want to just make a char and play, I want to create my own party and move it directly to BG2:EE.
How good kits like Kensai, Shapeshifter or Monk are in BG:EE, without all those medium to high evel abilities they are getting in BG2? Kensai is relatively weak early game in BG2 for example, so is Monk, and the Shapeshifter will never get greater werewolf in BG:EE.
Will I be able to create a good team of 6 no matter the class and kit, beat the game as easy as if I solo and get NPCs, and reach an acceptable level for when I transfer to BG2:EE, that is at least the same level you'd have if you started a new game?
Or maybe I can't create a multiplayer party just for me in BG:EE, because the story doesn't allow it? Also, will a party of 6 work both in BG and BG2, or I will be forced to pick up an NPC at some point and leave one of my characters behind, and if yes, will a party of 5 be enough?
Also, if I play with a single char and NPCs, will I be able to transfer my single char, but the rest of my BG2:EE party be created characters instead of NPCs?
Thanks for reading.
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Comments
Kensai is going to be squishy regardless, you can hit around 0 AC with claw of kaz, cloak of balduran, ring of pro+2, plus if you are insane you can use twinkle for some more AC ( I say insane because being skilled with scimitars is relatively weak in bg2) but there are potions of defense and of healing, so for very difficult battles, use those potions of defense and you should be good.
Shapeshifter is relatively mediocre, I have a team with one right now ( although I haven't been playing it much cause he is only level 4) but usable, druids get call woodland beings which is an AMAZING spell, plus they get level 5 spells as well, most delicious, so there could be a chance that in later game you will be using spells more than shapeshifting, or at least when you get level 5 spells, you cast iron skin, then shapeshift, so you will be alright.
Monks are alright if you play then the right way in bgee, my monk had -8 AC with 6 thac0 and was dealing 12-20 damage, but they must have single weapon style, and must be using twinkle to get that great AC, I had my monk go all through bgee and he did alright, once he got twinkle he was not to shabby, plus he needs a claw of kaz and a ring of pro+2 which can make things a little difficult if you also have that kensai on your team at the same time ( but of coarse there is always defence potions)
If you want to go the defense potion route, here is how you can get 4 really easily:
#2 - Will I be able to create a good team of 6 no matter the class and kit, beat the game as easy as if I solo and get NPCs, and reach an acceptable level for when I transfer to BG2:EE, that is at least the same level you'd have if you started a new game?
Yes, you can create any combo of 6 and be able to beat the game with it, if you are doing some whacky stuff, make sure you have at least 1 team mate that can use wands, because in bg1 wands are crazy powerful and really wreck shop, like wand of sleep, paralysis, fireball, frost, and such. Second, hitting the level cap is very easy, if you do absolutely everything you can before you hit nashkiel mines ( minus durlag's tower) you should be at least around 46 000 xp, and if you continue to do everything you can through cloak wood and do everything in bg the city, the time you start chapter 6 you should be at 100 000xp, durlags tower has around 40 000 -50 000 xp in it, and the stuff you can do in chapter 7 can give at least 10 000 xp more ( these figures are for each character in a party of 6) and that is why I don't even bother go to werewolf island because I already hit the xp cap so fast that its not necessary, you don't even need to grind to hit the xp cap easily, so hitting 161 000 xp should be no sweat, if you explore all areas, do all the stuff in bg the city and do durlags tower ( be warned that the final encounter can be very difficult in durlags tower if your team isn't optimal, but fighting the final encounter is not really necessary either - this is based on insane difficulty though- )
#3 - Making your own par-tays and what nots
You can make a custom made party of 6 no sweat, and in bg1 it really has no different effect than an npc party ( minus the fact that custom made parties are usually much stronger than single player npc parties because npcs aren't min-maxed, and custom parties can be) although the new npcs have mini quests that give special items during those quests that you wont be able to get with a custom party, but none of the items are really all that game changing, so you wont really miss them that much ( elven chain, amulet of spell warding and a couple great ones, but again you can live without them, plus rasaad also has an amazing belt in his quest somewhere, which is great for npc teams, but with a custom party, it may not be all that necessary) and you can take your party of 6 from bgee and ship there right on over to bg2ee no sweat without a hitch, and it will be the same case scenario, miss out on some npc jargon, but again, not game changing, ( and again your custom team will be much stronger than an npc team) although if you want to do some npc side questing and only make 5 guys and leave one space open, then that is still all good in the hood, a team of 5 is just as formidable ( infact in bg1 I do that sometimes waiting to get baeloth) and will work just as fine.
#4 - Also, if I play with a single char and NPCs, will I be able to transfer my single char, but the rest of my BG2:EE party be created characters instead of NPCs?
If the question you are asking is; play a single player game in bgee with one character, ship him over to bg2ee and make 5 new characters in bg2ee to join your bgee charname, then the answer is yes, also if you want, like I stated earlier if you make a whole new team of 6, you can ship the whole team over to bg2ee, I do this all the time, infact about 2/3 of my games are with custom made parties and I always ship all 6 over, so you will have no problems there
Hope this novella helps
Don't expect them to be a tank from the outset. You may need to use them in a secondary role for a significant period of time.
I suppose relatively is subjective but with Spectral Brand +4 on the main hand (later upgraded in ToB) and Belm on the offhand you'd do pretty well for yourself. 1d8 + 4 damage (+ 1d4 cold damage) isn't shabby at all. Now its no FOA, and I certainly wouldn't go suggesting that it is, but I personally certainly wouldn't peg Scimitars as relatively weak in BG2. Other weapons maybe, but not scimitars.
As for the monk one thing that hasn't been pointed out is wands. Monks can use Wand of the Heavens, which I think gives them a bit more reliability in BGEE.
I'll most likely do both a single player run to see the new stuff, and the two custom parties I've been planning for BG2:EE. Why make a choice one or the other after all, it's BG and it's awesome
You can also drink other potions as well as potions of defense, including potions of stone form and/or invulnerability (all these potions set your AC to 0). Buy/acquire these whenever you can.
As well, you can give your kensai boots of missile avoidance and the girdle of piercing together. This will reduce his/her AC by a further -8 to those pesky missile attacks.
Well-buffed, the Kensai becomes a very powerful combatant in BG:EE and beyond.
Other options for Kensai or Monks includes Ghost Armor (level 3 arcane spell), though there are a lot of very nice level 3 spells that could be more useful.
The main thing about the Kensai is that they're a fighter who is basically limited to non-magical leather armor, no gauntlets, helms, shields, and doesn't get any actual bonuses until lvl 3. They're not bad, and I personally enjoy single class Kensai greatly, but they do require extra care to use effectively at lower levels before they get to instant-chunking on hit levels of damage.
Monks are ok, but play MUCH differently then in BG2. It's better to focus on ranged weapons early on, or to use your speed to flank and attack squishier targets like archers before they can cause too much damage. Once you get 2 attacks though, you can start utilizing your stunning blow to devastating effect. You can also kite-fight most melee enemies quite well, but requires more micromanagement.
Shapeshifters are fine. They're no GWw, but Ww form is reasonably strong, and as long as you use it as a back-up for when your spells/buffs won't be effective it can do quite well.
I wasn't arguing Barkskin should replace the Shield amulet. If anything, it should act as a supplement! The idea was to suggest a number of ways to make the Kensai less squishy. @Corvino had already listed the amulet, so I provided some other useful ways to boost AC.
Anyway, my point is still that the amulet, the spell, barkskin and potions are all part of a tool set you can use to help squishy characters. You can really use any one - or all - of these.
The biggest issue with Usuno's blade is that druids can't use it. It's a good mainhand for anyone using scimitars until Spectral Brand becomes available though.
As if some other classes and kits are not extremely powerful...
I don't want to have to use mods again, see if they work etc, it's very annoying.
Generally speaking: Classes i feel arent that useful (compared to others)
BeastMaster (Monster summoning??? So bad...)
Avenger: Bonuses are poor, very little added to his shapeshifting abilities.
You dont think avenger falls short in power in BG2 before getting HLA? I never thought much of their new posible shapes...
Avengers don't lose that much compared to Vanilla druids. They're fairly weak compared to overpowered Berserker->Druid duals, but that's a completely different issue.
shapeshifter is great for tanking elemental damage after armor of faith and shapeshifted into Greater Werewolf he has around 75 all res
avenger is great in sword spider coz of poison so he can just poison everyone and run speed + poison is cool strategy
Actually, avenger's spider form in BG:EE doesn't have poison attacks (spider form has great APR of 4, immunity to the Web spell and movement speed, hits as +5). Only baby wywern form has poison attacks.