Unless you are going around pickpocketing every guard you can find and are really lucky and don't get repeats, its actually pretty uncommon to have most of the level 7 or 8 spells before spellhold.
You can buy and get as normal loot lots of level 7 and 8 scrolls in SoA, level 6 is more into the random loot and buy category.
I would just like to throw out here that you can actually buy close to every single level 6 spell in the game. Between the dwarf fence in waukeens (at night), Bernard (Cooper coronet) and the guy who sells the archmage robe in trademeet you can stack up on most level 6 spells.
Scouting a bit on the Internet for some locations where you always pick up high level scrolls, i've found two more of each level.
Summon Hakeashar (7) - Gracien in Ployers house. Sphere of Chaos (7) - Planar Prison. Warding Whip (8) - Planar sphere. Spell Trigger (8) - Malacazar in Ployers house.
You can get Spell Trigger in SoA but only as random loot, and this is the only scroll (besides Spell Shield, but that one is level 5) that you can only get as random loot (in SoA).
Actually to correct you Spell Trigger on Malacazar is a random drop. Its certainly possible to get that from him but you could also end up getting gold or a gem (or another scroll for that matter). Its the same situation with Summon Hakeashar on Gracien.
Scouting a bit on the Internet for some locations where you always pick up high level scrolls, i've found two more of each level.
Summon Hakeashar (7) - Gracien in Ployers house. Sphere of Chaos (7) - Planar Prison. Warding Whip (8) - Planar sphere. Spell Trigger (8) - Malacazar in Ployers house.
You can get Spell Trigger in SoA but only as random loot, and this is the only scroll (besides Spell Shield, but that one is level 5) that you can only get as random loot (in SoA).
Actually to correct you Spell Trigger on Malacazar is a random drop. Its certainly possible to get that from him but you could also end up getting gold or a gem (or another scroll for that matter). Its the same situation with Summon Hakeashar on Gracien.
Thank you for correcting me, i normally don't run with Jaheira so took for granted that the site was correct as the two other mentioned scrolls do appear where they should.
Most of the things on those sites are probably correct, but when you write thousands of words and look over countless game files you are bound to get something wrong
I voted for Viconia because, even though I have her (for her magic resist, ironically enough) she is a bad tank, bad Str. and I already have a cleric. I just got her to test her out (spoiler: SHE'S DOING BADLY).
I voted for Viconia because, even though I have her (for her magic resist, ironically enough) she is a bad tank, bad Str. and I already have a cleric. I just got her to test her out (spoiler: SHE'S DOING BADLY).
Whoa whoa whoa, WHOA. Let's not get hasty here @abazigal5 Viconia is one of the best NPCs in the game, funny to boot IMO. She can easily reach high AC and there are items that can deal with her low strength. As far as tanking goes, SoF, DUHM and good to go
Having recently completed my first BG:EE run, I can see a case for Coran being overrated.
Don't get me wrong, he was a member of my party from the moment that I found him until the end of my game, but he was never more than just a backup archer.
I know Coran is theoretically the best archer in the game (due to having the lowest THAC0), but in practical terms, once a character's THAC0 gets low enough, they can still hit just about anything and the difference in effectiveness becomes almost negligible - so my charname ranger and Kivan with around 5-6 THAC0 were basically just as good sharpshooters as Coran with his 3-4 THAC0, plus they could also stand at the front line and tank. Also, Coran's mediocre strength prevents him from using composite long bows unless you give him something to boost it (unlike Kivan) - but personally, I'd rather give my str-boosting items to characters that will make better use of it, like the front-liners.
As a thief, Coran was basically useless to me - by the time you find him, his thieving skills are poorly distributed for what you need at that point in the game. Seeing as I had had Imoen in my party since the start of the game and her skills were distributed exactly as I wanted them, I just threw ankheg on Coran and never gave a second thought to his thieving ability. Although his high dext and surprisingly high HPs (given that he gets no bonus for his con) enable him to survive melee encounters, his low str and high THAC0 (for melee weapons) prevent him from being an effective damage-dealer in melee.
In the end, I found Coran to be a respectable addition to my party, but also somewhat redundant and perhaps not entirely necessary. TBH, the main reason that I kept Coran was that I enjoyed his banters - particularly his clumsy attempts at hitting on Dynaheir and Branwen.
Funny enough, I think Coran would've been a more useful NPC in BG2, since the game suffers from a lack of viable thieves, and Coran's status as a multi-class would make him more useful than just a vanilla thief.
I voted for Viconia because, even though I have her (for her magic resist, ironically enough) she is a bad tank, bad Str. and I already have a cleric. I just got her to test her out (spoiler: SHE'S DOING BADLY).
Whoa whoa whoa, WHOA. Let's not get hasty here @abazigal5 Viconia is one of the best NPCs in the game, funny to boot IMO. She can easily reach high AC and there are items that can deal with her low strength. As far as tanking goes, SoF, DUHM and good to go
Its going to be more involved than that in my opinion.
You'll probably also want Mauler's Arm to deal with her poor strength (since its the easiest and cheapest way to do so), as well as some kind of shield (preferably the fortress shield). Mauler's Arm also helps to ensure she has enough strength to use plate mail/full plate.
Her health is another issue. The problem is that unless you pick her up at level 13 her rolls from levels 1-9 end up being mediocre. To give you an idea of what I mean her level 13 form has 72 health, compared to her level 8 form that has 42 health, her level 9 form that has 48, and her level 11 form that has 60 health. So you'll also want to pick up the Girdle of Fortitude to address her health.
DUHM doesn't really help much in terms of her ability to tank. At most it reduces her AC by 2 (when she hits level 15). On the otherhand for someone like Anomen it makes a much bigger difference (particularly if he is wearing the dexterity guantlets) because it can boost both his AC (when wearing the gauntlets) and his health (since he has 7 levels as a fighter he can end up gaining a lot of health with this spell).
I'm assuming you mean AoF (Armor of Faith). Obviously its a great spell and she will eventually get others (like Regeneration) that improve her ability to tank.
Tanking is not a role I would use her in, at least not as my primary tank, because doing so is a bit more effort than what I would normally care for such a simple role. However, I would say that @abazigal5 should try to get her to level 14 first before judging her on this. Regeneration (level 7 spells) has a long casting time and its duration could certainly be better, but in my opinion it will make a difference in terms of her ability to tank.
DUHM raises constitution as well and will aid in HP on top of anything else you may have fortifying her constitution. I personally don't main tank with her, but she is a great off tank. Due to her high AC she can cast her spells in the thick of battle most of the time with no interruptions. Her MR only helps in that department.
Her only downside IMO is when she does get hit, you should probably begin to micro her around to shake off what ever is on her. Even jacked up constitution leaves her unable to take much punishment.
DUHM raises constitution as well and will aid in HP on top of anything else you may have fortifying her constitution. I personally don't main tank with her, but she is a great off tank. Due to her high AC she can cast her spells in the thick of battle most of the time with no interruptions. Her MR only helps in that department.
Her only downside IMO is when she does get hit, you should probably begin to micro her around to shake off what ever is on her. Even jacked up constitution leaves her unable to take much punishment.
DUHM won't aid her hp. Her constitution starts out at 8, meaning that the highest DUHM can bring it to is 14 (at level 18). You don't get any HP bonuses for having 14 or less constitution. Also since she is a pure class cleric she doesn't benefit at all health wise from having greater than 16 constitution.
I voted for Viconia because, even though I have her (for her magic resist, ironically enough) she is a bad tank, bad Str. and I already have a cleric. I just got her to test her out (spoiler: SHE'S DOING BADLY).
Whoa whoa whoa, WHOA. Let's not get hasty here @abazigal5 Viconia is one of the best NPCs in the game, funny to boot IMO. She can easily reach high AC and there are items that can deal with her low strength. As far as tanking goes, SoF, DUHM and good to go
You're probably right. I just meant that she was doing badly in my game. Part of it was that she didn't have good weapons (I was planning to give her Storm Star from the Machine of Lum the Mad in Watcher's Keep and give Crom Faeyr to my cleric PC (imagine my shock when I realized that I didn't have the sewer key).
Yes, @SharGuidesMyHand and @Eadwyn_G8keeper, Coran would've been a very useful recruitable NPC in BG2ee. However, even if it were possible to recruit him after his cameo in Chapter 6 (if he survived it), then that'd be rather late in the game to be a widely-useful option, so it'd be better if we could meet him earlier ... but meeting him earlier would be a significant change to original content, and therefore something that Overhaul isn't allowed to do. I'd have thought they could add the option to recruit after his cameo without breaching their contract, though.
Nevertheless, I find him very useful in BG1ee. @SharGuidesMyHand: you belittle Coran's ability as a front-liner because of his mediocre STR, but you also say that you're willing to give STR-boosting items to front-liners. Well, I've tried Coran (with the Gauntlets of Ogre Power) as a front-liner, and he's pretty darn good at it - as an Elf he gets a THAC0 bonus with Longswords, and he's already specialised in Longswords, so give him Varscona +2 (switching to Harrower +1/+3 when you meet undead) and he's a good damage-dealer. At the same time, with excellent DEX and wearing full plate and a good shield, he gets a very good AC. Result: an excellent front-liner, and with the added advantage that you can temporarily swap him into the Shadow Armor if you need him to go stealthy (or open a lock, or whatever). Furthermore, you've still got the Gauntlets of Dexterity and the Big-Fisted Belt to equip other characters.
@abazigal5, I use Viconia on the front line by putting her in ankheg armor plus whatever else lowers AC, and she's then at something like -6 or -7. At least in vanilla BG1 she rarely gets hit with AC that low. So I have enemies swing away at her while having her cast spells, not melee. I use Command, Hold Person, Doom, and Rigid Thinking, mainly. Sometimes Charm Person or Mammal. Silence if it's vanilla (not SCS).
@Gallowglass, Coran told my Charname that he doesn't like wearing Full Plate. He feels clumsy in it, and slow. And knightly. But even so, I think it's hard to overrate one of the best NPCs in BG1.
Re: Viconia, I second what @Lemernis said, she's a good tank at least in BG1, and potentially in BG2 as well. It's easy to get really low AC with her, and with high magic resistance she'll be difficult to hurt either through magical or physical attacks.
I'm surprised Keldorn's votes are so low. Then again the problem I suppose isn't the Inquisitor, but an Inquisitor paired with Carsomyr, such that the combination together makes some high level mage protections superfluous.
I'm surprised Keldorn's votes are so low. Then again the problem I suppose isn't the Inquisitor, but an Inquisitor paired with Carsomyr, such that the combination together makes some high level mage protections superfluous.
He doesn't even need Carsomyr, he'll remove all the protections on his own, that's why the Inquisitor is so good. Carsomyr is just sprinkles on the top and a bat-to-the-face in melee combat.
I've been surprised I haven't voted in this poll before.
To me, the most overrated NPC in the series is Imoen.
Mainly because she has little communication with other party members. The second reason for this is her "nothing spectacular" thief status in both games: there're better thieves in BG1, Montaron and Coran to name a few, and in BG2 she's not marginally better than Nalia and there's magnificent Jan.
In BG2 I usually have a full party to the moment I come to the Spellhold so there's just no place for Imoen. The only exception is when I take Yoshimo with me due to the RP reasons.
So, I don't fully understand what makes Imoen so stand-out. Especially if comparing her with other variants in this poll:
Edwin - the number of spells is OP
Keldorn - the Inquisitor kit is very powerful for BG, not mentioning the ability to wield Carsomyr
Haer'Dalis - the blade kit is very powerful too + he has swords with some flavor
Minsc - the voice-acting is really tremendous
Viconia - the magic resistance makes her unique
Baeloth - the number of spells and his class are OP
Dorn - the Blackguard kit is very powerful and STR 19 for BG1 is quite much
Jan - hilarious quotes, the personality and powerful class combo + his trinkets are fun
I don't normally come to defend Imoen, but she is the second best thief in BG1, with Alora being the best.
And neither Montaron nor Coran are better thieves than Imoen. If you base this on them being a F/T then Imoen is without doubt the most powerful thief in the game because she can become a M/T and neither Montaron nor Coran are as powerful as mage Imoen.
In BG2 she is better than Nalia, and while she is a worse thief than Jan she is single class so she'll level up as a mage faster. Jan is a specialized mage so he gets bonus points there.
In my opinion Jan is the better character, but Imoen isn't all that bad.
I dislike her somewhat, but she isn's as bad gameplay wise as people make her out to be.
And it doesn't surprise me that Minsc is leading this poll. If you remove his voice set which along with his dialogues can get very annoying after having heard them for several years, he got nothing going for him.
He is the worst fighter type character in BG1 and BG2.
[Minsc] is the worst fighter type character in BG1 and BG2.
Well, there's Rasaad to give him a run for his money in that category (at least before he gets his belt; or from a RP vantage if Rasaad wouldn't want his intelligence reduced so drastically). Shar-Teel now in EE has profs in long sword, dagger, and dual-wielding; and left as Fighter (versus dualed to Thief) she is a bit underwhelming. I like leaving her as Fighter and EEKeeper her profs to two-handed sword, two-handed weapon, and crossbow for a closer match with the original game. Then I would rate her above Minsc, for sure. Or if she is left as is in EE and dualed to Thief. Ajantis... it's roughly a tie martially, I would say... I guess re: special abilities I'd rate Lay on Hands and Protection from Evil slightly above Charm Animal, though--so slight nod to Ajantis.
For BG2 I have agree, the other warrior types are stronger.
[Minsc] is the worst fighter type character in BG1 and BG2.
Well, there's Rasaad to give him a run for his money in that category (at least before he gets his belt; or from a RP vantage if Rasaad wouldn't want his intelligence reduced so drastically). Shar-Teel now in EE has profs in long sword, dagger, and dual-wielding; and left as Fighter (versus dualed to Thief) she is a bit underwhelming. I like leaving her as Fighter and EEKeeper her profs to two-handed sword, two-handed weapon, and crossbow for a closer match with the original game. Then I would rate her above Minsc, for sure. Ajantis... it's roughly a tie martially, I would say... I guess re: special abilities I'd rate Lay on Hands and Protection from Evil slightly above Charm Animal, though--so slight nod to Ajantis.
For BG2 I have agree, the other warrior types are stronger.
I don't really count Rasaad to the fighter category, unless there was something called para olympic in BG fighting.
Shar-Teel is a better fighter than Minsc, she'll deal more damage and have better Thaco than him. She has better dexterity and Minsc only get +1 more HP than Shar-Teel. It's a shame BGEE fucked her over when it comes to proficiency, but it does let her use Varscona and the Dagger of Venom. I normally change her proficiency back to what she had in BG1.
Ajantis gets more health than Minsc, he'll do less damage but you can give him a certain belt to help out there. Ajantis should be using the Gauntlets of Dexterity. He also has as you mentioned his paladin abilities and he can get 19 in Charisma with a certain cloak, so you can have him as your party leader. Take all this into consideration i'll still rate him above Minsc.
Actually, from a roleplaying vantage, Minsc is one of the two characters in the game (along with Yeslick) that I think could have no issues wearing the strength belt. Not much difference there.... But anyway, with the damage bonuses from 19 Strength, I'd rate him ahead of the others.
I'm surprised Keldorn's votes are so low. Then again the problem I suppose isn't the Inquisitor, but an Inquisitor paired with Carsomyr, such that the combination together makes some high level mage protections superfluous.
He doesn't even need Carsomyr, he'll remove all the protections on his own, that's why the Inquisitor is so good. Carsomyr is just sprinkles on the top and a bat-to-the-face in melee combat.
My specific issue is that Carsomyr lets him bypass any protection from magical weapons spell period (with another build in dispel on said sword). I've never used SCS, but I have seen Keldorn's dispel fail, or simply not come up often enough to do what I needed. In fact in my Wizard Slayer run I still needed Imoen before I was finally able to take on any dragon. Once Keldorn got Carsomyr though, his initial dispel + Carsomyr's on hit dispel removed any real spell protection removal from my team.
Hence why I believe that either Carsomyr or Inquisitor by themselves, while powerful, aren't to bad, but the combination just makes me sad. And I love paladins (granted I love cavaliers).
I guess the combination almost reminds me of final fantasy tactics when the game is just like "Oh ya and here is Orlandu with an Excaliber. Enjoy Chapter 4"
Comments
Viconia is one of the best NPCs in the game, funny to boot IMO. She can easily reach high AC and there are items that can deal with her low strength. As far as tanking goes, SoF, DUHM and good to go
Don't get me wrong, he was a member of my party from the moment that I found him until the end of my game, but he was never more than just a backup archer.
I know Coran is theoretically the best archer in the game (due to having the lowest THAC0), but in practical terms, once a character's THAC0 gets low enough, they can still hit just about anything and the difference in effectiveness becomes almost negligible - so my charname ranger and Kivan with around 5-6 THAC0 were basically just as good sharpshooters as Coran with his 3-4 THAC0, plus they could also stand at the front line and tank. Also, Coran's mediocre strength prevents him from using composite long bows unless you give him something to boost it (unlike Kivan) - but personally, I'd rather give my str-boosting items to characters that will make better use of it, like the front-liners.
As a thief, Coran was basically useless to me - by the time you find him, his thieving skills are poorly distributed for what you need at that point in the game. Seeing as I had had Imoen in my party since the start of the game and her skills were distributed exactly as I wanted them, I just threw ankheg on Coran and never gave a second thought to his thieving ability. Although his high dext and surprisingly high HPs (given that he gets no bonus for his con) enable him to survive melee encounters, his low str and high THAC0 (for melee weapons) prevent him from being an effective damage-dealer in melee.
In the end, I found Coran to be a respectable addition to my party, but also somewhat redundant and perhaps not entirely necessary. TBH, the main reason that I kept Coran was that I enjoyed his banters - particularly his clumsy attempts at hitting on Dynaheir and Branwen.
Funny enough, I think Coran would've been a more useful NPC in BG2, since the game suffers from a lack of viable thieves, and Coran's status as a multi-class would make him more useful than just a vanilla thief.
You'll probably also want Mauler's Arm to deal with her poor strength (since its the easiest and cheapest way to do so), as well as some kind of shield (preferably the fortress shield). Mauler's Arm also helps to ensure she has enough strength to use plate mail/full plate.
Her health is another issue. The problem is that unless you pick her up at level 13 her rolls from levels 1-9 end up being mediocre. To give you an idea of what I mean her level 13 form has 72 health, compared to her level 8 form that has 42 health, her level 9 form that has 48, and her level 11 form that has 60 health. So you'll also want to pick up the Girdle of Fortitude to address her health.
DUHM doesn't really help much in terms of her ability to tank. At most it reduces her AC by 2 (when she hits level 15). On the otherhand for someone like Anomen it makes a much bigger difference (particularly if he is wearing the dexterity guantlets) because it can boost both his AC (when wearing the gauntlets) and his health (since he has 7 levels as a fighter he can end up gaining a lot of health with this spell).
I'm assuming you mean AoF (Armor of Faith). Obviously its a great spell and she will eventually get others (like Regeneration) that improve her ability to tank.
Tanking is not a role I would use her in, at least not as my primary tank, because doing so is a bit more effort than what I would normally care for such a simple role. However, I would say that @abazigal5 should try to get her to level 14 first before judging her on this. Regeneration (level 7 spells) has a long casting time and its duration could certainly be better, but in my opinion it will make a difference in terms of her ability to tank.
Her only downside IMO is when she does get hit, you should probably begin to micro her around to shake off what ever is on her. Even jacked up constitution leaves her unable to take much punishment.
Nevertheless, I find him very useful in BG1ee. @SharGuidesMyHand: you belittle Coran's ability as a front-liner because of his mediocre STR, but you also say that you're willing to give STR-boosting items to front-liners. Well, I've tried Coran (with the Gauntlets of Ogre Power) as a front-liner, and he's pretty darn good at it - as an Elf he gets a THAC0 bonus with Longswords, and he's already specialised in Longswords, so give him Varscona +2 (switching to Harrower +1/+3 when you meet undead) and he's a good damage-dealer. At the same time, with excellent DEX and wearing full plate and a good shield, he gets a very good AC. Result: an excellent front-liner, and with the added advantage that you can temporarily swap him into the Shadow Armor if you need him to go stealthy (or open a lock, or whatever). Furthermore, you've still got the Gauntlets of Dexterity and the Big-Fisted Belt to equip other characters.
Re: Viconia, I second what @Lemernis said, she's a good tank at least in BG1, and potentially in BG2 as well. It's easy to get really low AC with her, and with high magic resistance she'll be difficult to hurt either through magical or physical attacks.
To me, the most overrated NPC in the series is Imoen.
Mainly because she has little communication with other party members. The second reason for this is her "nothing spectacular" thief status in both games: there're better thieves in BG1, Montaron and Coran to name a few, and in BG2 she's not marginally better than Nalia and there's magnificent Jan.
In BG2 I usually have a full party to the moment I come to the Spellhold so there's just no place for Imoen. The only exception is when I take Yoshimo with me due to the RP reasons.
So, I don't fully understand what makes Imoen so stand-out. Especially if comparing her with other variants in this poll:
Edwin - the number of spells is OP
Keldorn - the Inquisitor kit is very powerful for BG, not mentioning the ability to wield Carsomyr
Haer'Dalis - the blade kit is very powerful too + he has swords with some flavor
Minsc - the voice-acting is really tremendous
Viconia - the magic resistance makes her unique
Baeloth - the number of spells and his class are OP
Dorn - the Blackguard kit is very powerful and STR 19 for BG1 is quite much
Jan - hilarious quotes, the personality and powerful class combo + his trinkets are fun
And neither Montaron nor Coran are better thieves than Imoen. If you base this on them being a F/T then Imoen is without doubt the most powerful thief in the game because she can become a M/T and neither Montaron nor Coran are as powerful as mage Imoen.
In BG2 she is better than Nalia, and while she is a worse thief than Jan she is single class so she'll level up as a mage faster. Jan is a specialized mage so he gets bonus points there.
In my opinion Jan is the better character, but Imoen isn't all that bad.
I dislike her somewhat, but she isn's as bad gameplay wise as people make her out to be.
And it doesn't surprise me that Minsc is leading this poll. If you remove his voice set which along with his dialogues can get very annoying after having heard them for several years, he got nothing going for him.
He is the worst fighter type character in BG1 and BG2.
For BG2 I have agree, the other warrior types are stronger.
Shar-Teel is a better fighter than Minsc, she'll deal more damage and have better Thaco than him. She has better dexterity and Minsc only get +1 more HP than Shar-Teel. It's a shame BGEE fucked her over when it comes to proficiency, but it does let her use Varscona and the Dagger of Venom. I normally change her proficiency back to what she had in BG1.
Ajantis gets more health than Minsc, he'll do less damage but you can give him a certain belt to help out there. Ajantis should be using the Gauntlets of Dexterity. He also has as you mentioned his paladin abilities and he can get 19 in Charisma with a certain cloak, so you can have him as your party leader. Take all this into consideration i'll still rate him above Minsc.
Actually, from a roleplaying vantage, Minsc is one of the two characters in the game (along with Yeslick) that I think could have no issues wearing the strength belt. Not much difference there.... But anyway, with the damage bonuses from 19 Strength, I'd rate him ahead of the others.
Hence why I believe that either Carsomyr or Inquisitor by themselves, while powerful, aren't to bad, but the combination just makes me sad. And I love paladins (granted I love cavaliers).
I guess the combination almost reminds me of final fantasy tactics when the game is just like "Oh ya and here is Orlandu with an Excaliber. Enjoy Chapter 4"