Advice for my Playthrough

TheWhitefire

Alright, so, I'm nearing Cloakwood in my latest BG:EE run with my dwarven defender (that guy is a TANK. 19 Constitution, plus the d12 HD and the Ashdeena Warhammer for smashing things. Thac0 is 7 right now, AC -1, and sitting at level 6 I believe). This is my second play though, and I have Minsc, Jaheera, Khalid, Imoen, Kivan and Neera in my party. Haven't tackled Ulgoth's Beard or Durlag's Tower with either of my mains yet (my first main only reached level 7 by the end, and I tried taking my DD to Ulgoth's Beard to do the island quest and lost half my party in the first major fight against that small army of mages).

Any advice for tackling the TotSC content? Also, what class should I tackle the game with next? (Keep in mind I play on "Normal" difficulty because I am a huge pansy)

Shin

A point that's usually considered a good time for the TotSC content both in terms of RP and power level is after chapter 6 when you get out of Candlekeep, before heading back to Baldur's Gate. You should have an extra 1-2 levels on yor party by then and some better gear.

For taking on mages you can for instance use detect illusion with Neera to get rid of mirror images, and make sure you have elemental-damage weapons (like Ashideena, Varscona, flame/frost arrows etc) that will deal damage through stoneskin and interrupt casts. Arrows of dispelling are also an (almost too) effective way of bringing down caster defenses. Kivan can dish out several of those every round with as good as unerring accuracy.


As for your next class, choose what you feel you'd like to play. With two playthroughs behind you you should have learned enough about the game to handle any class.

moody_mage

No 20 CON? Achievable with both dwarves and horcs. VERY useful when travelling or resting as you auto-regen most of your HP.

TheWhitefire

Decado: I just haven't found any tomes of constitution or other constitution-buffing items yet. Do plan to use all the tomes I can on my Main, as I want to drag him into BG2:EE as soon as I'm able.

Shin: I completely forgot about Arrows of Dispel. I do have "Remove Magic" for Neera, although I'll see if I don't already have Detect Illusions.

I've got Khalid with Varscona and my main with Ashdeena, so that's already well covered (Khalid also carries Harrower as a back-up when facing off against the undead).

Is there an easy way to avoid Confusion or Brainlock? I have Prot. From Fear, it's the Confusion that always messes up my party.

Shin

I believe the constitution tome can be grabbed early on:

inside the flesh golem cave in the lighthouse area.

TheWhitefire

Aha! Was planning on heading in there, just forgot to. That's good because I would like to get 20 con before I star getting stabbed in the face with spiders. Also, is it just me, or is Ettercap poison WAY more virulent than Giant Spider poison?

Shin

Actually they have the same kind of poison, but ettercaps attack three times as fast as giant spiders, so it's likely easier to end up poisoned by them.

TheWhitefire

Maybe it's the faster attacks that does it then because it always seems like my characters take way more damage much faster from ettercap poison than from spider poison.

yksimalt

I think also poison stacks.

/A.

alceryes

TheWhitefire said:

Alright, so, I'm nearing Cloakwood in my latest BG:EE run with my dwarven defender (that guy is a TANK. 19 Constitution, plus the d12 HD and the Ashdeena Warhammer for smashing things. Thac0 is 7 right now, AC -1, and sitting at level 6 I believe). This is my second play though, and I have Minsc, Jaheera, Khalid, Imoen, Kivan and Neera in my party. Haven't tackled Ulgoth's Beard or Durlag's Tower with either of my mains yet (my first main only reached level 7 by the end, and I tried taking my DD to Ulgoth's Beard to do the island quest and lost half my party in the first major fight against that small army of mages).

Any advice for tackling the TotSC content? Also, what class should I tackle the game with next? (Keep in mind I play on "Normal" difficulty because I am a huge pansy)

You should definitely get that CON tome for your DD, ASAP. With it you'll be able to fully heal from minor damage while clearing an area and come back from death's door (1 HP) whenever you travel between areas or rest. Are you dual-wielding hammers or using a shield? Ashideena is arguably the best weapons in the game so you can't go wrong there but I would forgo a shield to bring on hammer time. Make sure you have at least two pips in dual-wield before going this route though.

Any party combo is doable and the companions each add different flavor to the game but Khalid is dead weight, IMO. Unless you have a reason to keep him I would send him off to play paddycake with an ankheg and pick up Adjantis instead.

If you like playing on normal difficulty, and want to completely murder the game, play an elf archer next. Make sure you have a nineteen DEX, seventeen CON, and eighteen-plus STR. Start with two pips in longbow and one pip each in long sword and short sword, for dual-wielding when enemies get close. At level three put the third pip in longbow. You will literally rip the sword coast a new one!

Yesterday, I rolled a 91 with an 18/97 STR for an elven archer. He picked up the whole party immediately after leaving Candlekeep. He's currently running with Adjantis, Branwen, Imoen, Rasaad, and Neera. The group is level three/four and is about to dive into the Nashkel mines. This is my first 'hard' difficulty play through. The archer's numbers are just - staggering!

CaptainTingTang

alceryes said:

Apologies for the offtopic question, but how come you have black borders and gargoyle graphics around your character sheet? Mods?

Gallenger

Normal is a fine difficulty for the first few play-throughs, the higher difficulties and difficulty mods come into play once you've memorized every area of the map basically lol.

The expansion content is meant to be done right at or near the end of the game - level 7 on certain classes shouldn't be too rough. It is possible to do it slightly earlier if you're quite familiar with what you'll be up against. There are 2 quests you can get "stuck" in however, so if you're not sure it's best not to try until you're sure you're near the end and create a save before initiating them just in case.

lefreut

***

CaptainTingTang

lefreut said:

CaptainTingTang said:

Apologies for the offtopic question, but how come you have black borders and gargoyle graphics around your character sheet? Mods?

It's the SiegeOfDragonspear UI.

Oh! OK thanks

Eadwyn_G8keeper

Methinks you have listed too many in your party

TheWhitefire said:

Alright, so, ... and I have Minsc, Jaheera, Khalid, Imoen, Kivan and Neera in my party.

Personally I would drop Jaheira and Khalid [who may be called away by the Harpers on an urgent diplomatic mission to Amn] sometime after Nashkel Mines and pick up the Level 5 version of Branwen ~ because I really like playing with a long-lasting escort of Skeletons [Animate Dead]. Other folks prefer Viconia over Branwen for Cleric because of Magic Resistance ~ but Viconia must be recruited early or her low HP will be a long-term liability.

Note that Jaheira gains much more importance in BG2, both because of Story-lines available if she is a Party member and the fact that she fairly quickly learns a Druid spell that can dominate many encounters in SoA.

Ditto the advice to complete the Coastal maps before tackling Cloakwoods. There is one other UBER item to be found there that many have found to be a key asset in seemingly impossible situations.


Any advice for tackling the TotSC content? Also, what class should I tackle the game with next? (Keep in mind I play on "Normal" difficulty because I am a huge pansy)

I don't think there is any rush to play the TotSC content. The story of Durlag's Tower is a great stand-alone content but you might be well-advised to leave the last one or two lower levels for later adventures. Parts of Ulgoth's Beard can also be very difficult for full parties to survive. But your party looks strong if you have dual-classed Imoen to Mage after she gets 100% in Traps.

The Fighter/Mage Neutral Elf is a classic Godly character for the BG series. I personally enjoy the FMT with only 3-4 other party members ~ always, in my case, including Imoen.

Wowo

I definitely recommend a Fighter/Mage play through.

Why only -1 AC, should be able to do better than that!

alceryes

Wowo said:

I definitely recommend a Fighter/Mage play through. Why only -1 AC, should be able to do better than that!

Probably no DEX bonus.

F/M or F/M/T are spectacular PC's. If you go triple threat be prepared to see your mage part at level one and two for a loooong time. Once your companions get up to level six he'll almost be caught up though.