Is this enough melee? (just a Fighter/Illusionist and Minsc)

booinyoureyes

Hey forum!
I recently made a Fighter/Illusionist so I could finally try out a fighter/mage. For roleplaying purposes I want to take the following for sure:
Aerie (romance for my gnome )
Imoen (she's my sister!)
Kelsey Sorcerer NPC mod (romances Imoen)
Minsc (to be Aerie's bodyguard)
Jan (he can be my gnome uncle and the mentor of this very, very, very young party)

I plan on replacing Jan with Sarevok for ToB but I'm worried about SoA

I've never played with such a soft party. My first time beating the game I had 3 Fighter types (then 4 in ToB). The least I ever had was 2.5 (Charname Ranger, Jaheira and Minsc)
This party is significantly less-melee oriented, with only 1.5 fighter classes for ALL of SoA. Will this make the game too difficult? Is there any way to make one of these characters stronger in combat (maybe Aerie?)?

I'm thinking of taking Keldorn until its time to go to Spellhold, and then let him spend time with the family when I go save Imoen. However, Drow magic resistance kinda worries me.

Any help is appreciated

Metalloman

And Boo. Don't forget Boo.

Returning serious: Aerie with Crom Faeyr, Robe of Vecna, a good helmet and a huge shield (plus all cleric/mage buffs) turns in a really good melee fighter!

Metalloman

@booinyoureyes: look at this screenshot:



Ok, she is in ToB, but the only ToB object is the Improved Cloak +2, that still is +2 and the original non improved item is found in SoA.

In the screenshot is debuffed, of course, so that AC is pure without buffs. I think that for a Cleric/Mage it's not bad, no? ;D

EDIT: To aid her with her low CON and so with her low HP, I'm using the Constitution Belt (18 CON for 8 hrs).

kryptix

@booinyoureyes

I'm doing this with only my fighter illusionist and jaheira as melee and it's great, don't forget that spell protections are worth a lot more than armor, and there's a ton of potions of invulnerability or defense for Charname.

Hexxat doesn't count as a tank

Jan can tank later on actually very well with blur mirror stone skin improved invis and pfmw when targeted. Charname has hardiness and defender or east haven

Just make sure you don't get lazy about your contingencies I always lose neera and imoen to chunking when I do. If your not masochistic playing on insane like me it's not an issue.

Faydark

I'm not sure what's ahead, but I've just finished the Underdark with a party consisting of Sorc, Jaheira, Minsc, Imoen and Aerie. I rushed to Spellhold, doing only minimal quests to pick up a few items before going etc. I think my Sorc is about level 14, Aerie is 12/12 or so etc.

It was tough in places, but mostly due to the cheesy enemies (mindflayers and beholders), where even 1 or 2 more melee wouldn't have helped one bit. What I really wanted was a fighter/mage with 25 permanent intelligence and -20 AC, but alas..

booinyoureyes

Hey guys! thanks for all the insight
@metalloman Aerie looks beastly there, but a couple questions. What are these rings reaching and evermemory? Also what shield is that? I think if I go that route I'm gonna give her the most badass shield I can find! The only problem I can think of with her is attacks per round. Yet as a tank she is a beast!
I'm actually less concerned about taking hits than giving them! I play more like Mike Tyson than Rocky Balboa if you know what I mean

@kryptix how do you damage enemies with high resistance? So annoying when a group of Drow from some mod I use ambush you in the underdark and the graveyard. I cast 3x skull trap and do 0 damage to six drow! So frustrating! Also of course I play on insane! I have to because I cheat everyone boots of speed (too impatient!) so I have to punish myself. Nice to see a fellow masochist!

@Faydark do you play on insane difficulty or not? I'm worried cuz I usually play on insane, but I'm worried I may have to tone it down for this party.

kryptix

I have SCS running too but if Charname is power gamed stats wise, it's fine, start on axes with nalia's keep and buy azuredge early. With haste then imp haste he will be all the melee you need then get belm early for the attacks. Give kundane to Minsc.

You might want that sorc early for imp haste though.

I went axe to long sword (daystar) to crom Freyr.

Metalloman

@booinyoureyes: those are two mage spell-slots-adding rings, and you find them in SoA(can't remember where but I do remember that I found them very early in SoA).
That is a +5 shield and I can't remember if I found it in SoA or ToB, but you'll find plenty of +4 shields in SoA. ;D
Aerie Rocks!

booinyoureyes

kryptix said:

I have SCS running too but if Charname is power gamed stats wise, it's fine, start on axes with nalia's keep and buy azuredge early. With haste then imp haste he will be all the melee you need then get belm early for the attacks. Give kundane to Minsc.

@kryptix Wha???? Thats like what I usually do backwards, lol! I just can't imagine Minsc with a puny shortsword, but my gnome fits I usually give Minsc flails (replace bows in eekeeper) and then axes (replace maces). Flails and axes just scream "Buttkicking for Goodness" for me.

@Metalloman ooooohhh Evermemory is another name of the Ring of Wizardry. Unfortunately it requires the Harper's Hold Quest that needs Jaheira or for you to sacrifice one of your apprentices in the Mage Stronghold (Evil Evil Evil!). I guess I'll need Jaheira!
The Reaching Ring is the new Lavok item I think, replacing the old Magic Missile Dispenser ring (aka it doubles first level spells)
You're right... Aerie totally rocks!

Faydark

@booinyoureyes I'm playing on normal difficulty I think.. whatever the default is in BG2:EE. If anything, I'd expect that Insane difficulty and SCS would make it even worse for another melee to try and melee either of those enemy types. I guess another strong ranged character could help though, could fit one in that sixth party slot and dump them as needed (the sixth slot is my temp npc for quest slot usually).

My thought is "People solo Insane SCS, so any party should be able to work"

booinyoureyes

Soloing would be sooooo boring for me. For one, I'm not really big into the videogame thing other than Baldur's Gate so learning the ins and outs of every game mechanic isn't as fun for me as roleplaying with a game with a cool story set in a great, detailed world with big explosions, extremely memorable and loveable characters with excellent voice acting and awesome hamsters. Secondly, I kinda suck and would die all the time, lol

The fact that BG caters to both types of players, and even makes me patient enough to learn how to use a Fighter/Illusionist, just speaks volumes as to how awesome a series this is!

kryptix

@booinyoureyes

It's really one of the easiest classes I've played, just buff up and go smack things if you have robe of Vecna you can instantly breach and whack away again .

If you powergame the Fighter/Illusionist a bit, you can do all the physical damage you need. Until late in Chapter 3 (Around 2.5 million exp), I only used 1 melee, everyone else ranged (Charname melee). You'll find that theres actually a lot of encounters where it will be easier to just buff up Charname and go while everyone else hides (since you can't make other characters nearly as invulnerable). You can give yourself immunity to magical damage, immunity to physical damage, with a cleric you can then buff chaotic commands and with resist fear, plus shorty saves (or death ward) there's almost nothing that can kill you. Early on you might need a potion of invulnerability.

Grab Neera and do her quests for the new amulet with +2 ac and +2 saves for non-vampire fights.

At this point my Charname pretty much kills 3-5 trash enemies per round while meleeing because with Critical strikes active she hits for like 40-50 a swing... Boots of speed + imp haste you run fast enough to get out of there anyway.

If you get Charname buffed up enough you really don't need any other melee.

As for Drow, the best thing to use on them is firestorm barring that you just pound them with protection from magic weapons on since they all have a +3 weapon (so you don't have to worry about dying to a normal weapon).

jackjack

Yeah, like the old saying goes:
What did the ruffian say to the irritable Fighter/Illusionist after making fun of the gnome's stature?
Nothing, because the ruffian is dead.

booinyoureyes

Not gonna lie, I gave my character a Halfling Fighter paperdoll... I just couldn't see him with a beard. I also gave him Garrick's portrait since I find it hilarious

booinyoureyes

So I'm doing it! I took exactly who I said so far:
Minsc
Aerie
Jan
Kelsey

The fifth spot will be rotating. I'm gonna drop Kelsey for a bit to take up Keldorn and Anomen to get Anomen his knighthood, then leave Anomen for Mazzy while dropping Jan for a bit so he can spend time with the Jansen clan. Finally will drop Mazzy to spend time with her sister and leave Keldorn in semi-retirement with his wife and daughters. Off to Spellhold with a five-person party to save my sister!

Sounds like a plan

booinyoureyes

CONTINGENCY: CHANGE SUBJECT

Ok, so now that this is settled I have another "issue" (first world problems yo!)
Since I got so many mages, I gotta give some class specializations! Schools of magic for everyone with eeKeeper. I have:

Charname: Illusionist cuz he's a gnome
Jans: same as above
Imoen: Invoker! She learned from Dynaheir and Firebead in my world, so she'd take after her mentor in this school

So how about Aerie? She was raised by an illusionist/cleric so it would make role-playing sense for her to be the same, but I already have two! I'm thinking either:
a. Conjurer: As a worshiper of Baervan Wildwanderer, she can summon kind-hearted beings to help her. If only I can find a Chiktikka Fastpaws summon...
b. Abjurer: Her main role as a cleric is a protector so that would make sense.

What do you guys think?

kryptix

Sounds good. Btw I would pick up yoshimo just for the boat ride to brynnlaw so that you can get his heart, just equip him with nothing, you can park him on the docks in brynnlaw until you go into the asylum. You can do both ways to get in for more exp too.

booinyoureyes

i did not know you could get in both ways 0.o

kryptix

booinyoureyes said:

i did not know you could get in both ways 0.o

Kill the Mage for the keystone then do the whorehouse quest

booinyoureyes

Oooohhh, I already do that, lol. I just didn't realize you get the extra experience

Plus the Minsc dialogue with the Pirate Lord is absolutely classic!

kryptix

booinyoureyes said:

Oooohhh, I already do that, lol. I just didn't realize you get the extra experience

Plus the Minsc dialogue with the Pirate Lord is absolutely classic!

I'm tempted to briing Wilson for the special text one of these runs if only he didn't get beat up so hard

booinyoureyes

I got the special text option without having him in my party, lol! is that normal? I kinda wonder how he'll respond.