I just bought a new computer because the motherboard for my old one died. So I think I will complete this game vanilla, since for my favorite playstyle SCS is really not a good match. I guess I'll continue powergaming my way along for this game, since I'll only have an hour or two here and there to play for the next ten weeks.
I plan to stick with this party to the end. I will complete all the ToSC quests (only Durlag's completed thus far; Aec still to be fought). So when I import Hector into BG2EE I expect that he will be Transmuter 10. This will compensate somewhat for Hector having only 3 levels of Fighter and roleplaying him to use Alteration spells at least half the time.
I'm now strongly leaning towards using Hector for a BG2EE "Let the Fates Decide" run (only through completion of SoA; not doing ToB) after completing the current BGEE game I have going with my Diviner. I think Hector should be a lot of fun to play from a roleplaying standpoint. But from the powergame vantage I'm still a little concerned that he might be less enjoyable in SoA... He might not be quite as badass anyway...
Again, I'm using Alteration spells for at least half of his slots:
Burning Hands Color Spray Shocking Grasp Knock Strength Haste Melf's Minute Meteors Slow Fireshield Otiluke's Resilient Sphere Polymorph Other Polymorph Self Stoneskin Teleport Field Wizard Eye Lower Resistance
Levels 6-9
Disintegrate Flesh to Stone Stone to Flesh Improved Haste Tenser's Transformation Ruby Ray of Reversal Sphere of Chaos Shapechange Spellstrike Time Stop
He can still use other spells (other than Abjuration, obviously), but those will be the ones he tends to favor. I guess the typical routine will be to cast some spells first and then use Tenser's. Once Tenser's is over use spells or melee as indicated. And he may well Polymorph or Shapechange then.
What I think will be really interesting from the storytelling aspect for this type of character is that he'll already be predisposed to shapechanging as a Transmuter--and when it comes to using the Slayer form ability, that will already be familiar and welcome territory to him. So that's potentially rich material to work with there in terms of story and character development. I expect to have him use the Slayer a lot, although I'm aware that that risks Hector's death. And, actually, if he does die from that (and only that), I will RP that he gets resurrected with the -1 to Con penalty from PnP.
Here is Hector:
He uses voice set 6, the gruff, gravelly Cockney one, which goes so well with that crazy-eyed portrait.
Hector is about 6' 7", powerfully framed and broad shouldered, and revels in heaving his halberd while in a barbarian rage. He's very much the Barbarian type of warrior, and loves the intense rush of battle. I'll play his prodigious Int (19 after the tome) as strictly street smart. His Int will be sort of like Tony Soprano's savvy (except Hector is not evil and he lacks Tony's charisma).
I have him as CN... although I could change that, I guess...
If I stick with that alignment, I will play him as capricious, moody, unpredictable, and highly risk-taking overall. He'll be mercurial, creative, and highly intuitive. And although smart as a whip, his judgment suffers from often not making the most purely logical choice. I think the heavy use of Alteration can just be attributable to his strong affinity for that school. I'll have to meditate a bit on how a character with this sort of personality would appreciate Alteration magic, i.e., why it strikes such a strong chord in him.
The fact the Hector will have stuck with the same party for all of BGEE is hardly Chaotic, though... So I guess maybe he's CN overall; but one of his quirks is that he tends to bond strongly. I'm still not sure how to work with that in the broader framework of being CN, but I reckon I can find a way.
Okay, well I finished this game and it was a pretty enjoyable ride, although not quite as fun once enemies were too high level for Color Spray. Watching swaths of the enemy collapse from Color Spray and then meleeing with a halberd was pretty satisfying.
It was kind of interesting to use Polymorph Self now and then. But with standard buffs and potions Hector was much more formidable using the Chelsea Crusher. So I didn't use shapeshifting as much as I had expected. If I had been playing a single class Transmuter, I'm sure I would have used it a lot.
With the method I was using to devote at least half the slots for each spell level to memorization of Alteration spells (more than half when an odd number), the limited spell selection wasn't as much fun for the second half of the game. I think it will improve in BG2EE, though.
Hector using Draw Upon Holy Might and his barbarian rage special ability maxed at 25 Strength for the duration of those two effects. He got 51% of the kills.
Rasaad using the Shield Amulet and Gauntlets of Ogre Power had AC -8. Throughout, he was reasonably capable and hardy as a meleer, and I ended up using his fire blasts quite a bit. He came in with 21% of the kills.
Safana was pretty formidable as a Swashbuckler. She got 16% of the kills. She pickpocketed a lot. Otherwise, this class seemed rather like a standard fighter. First time I'd tried a Swashbuckler kit.
Tiax was really great as a spellcasting tank! I had his AC at -5. He ended up with 11% of the kills.
I gave both Tiax and Safana decent trap setting ability but never needed or used it.
Edit: Oh, and the final battle--it was pretty easy. Prior to the battle Tiax summoned a ghast and Hector (via Monster Summoning III) an ogre and a wolf. Everyone was heavily buffed of course, including with lots of potions. Hector adanced alone and blasted the dais with a wand of fire to bring Sarevok (and then Semaj) back to the party at the entrance. The party basically just beat the crap out of Sarevok as the summoned monsters occupied Semaj. I had to do several reloads in order to get the satisfaction of Hector clearly getting the kill (best I could tell from the feedback). In the win in which Hector seemed to get the kill, there were no fatalities and I'm sure the party would have had a fairly easy time with the rest of Sarevok's party.
Next I'll write a bio for Hector that will serve as the launching pad for a "Fates" journaled playthrough of Shadows of Amn. I powergamed for this BGEE run with Hector, Tiax, Rasaad, and Safana. But I can still use this BGEE game for the bio for the RP-intensive run that I'll be making in BG2EE with the same character. I won't be able to start it until Lord knows when, since I still have the BGEE Diviner "Fates" game to complete. I'm at the start of chapter 6 with that game. But at the pace I can get gaming in, it'll be many months before that one gets wrapped up. With any luck I'll be able to start this new BG2EE game with Hector around Christmas time, hopefully.
It'll be fun to write some backstory for Hector, though, in the meantime. I'll probably start a thread on it soon in Challenges and Playthroughs, even if the game itself won't begin until the holiday season.
Comments
I plan to stick with this party to the end. I will complete all the ToSC quests (only Durlag's completed thus far; Aec still to be fought). So when I import Hector into BG2EE I expect that he will be Transmuter 10. This will compensate somewhat for Hector having only 3 levels of Fighter and roleplaying him to use Alteration spells at least half the time.
I'm now strongly leaning towards using Hector for a BG2EE "Let the Fates Decide" run (only through completion of SoA; not doing ToB) after completing the current BGEE game I have going with my Diviner. I think Hector should be a lot of fun to play from a roleplaying standpoint. But from the powergame vantage I'm still a little concerned that he might be less enjoyable in SoA... He might not be quite as badass anyway...
Again, I'm using Alteration spells for at least half of his slots:
Burning Hands
Color Spray
Shocking Grasp
Knock
Strength
Haste
Melf's Minute Meteors
Slow
Fireshield
Otiluke's Resilient Sphere
Polymorph Other
Polymorph Self
Stoneskin
Teleport Field
Wizard Eye
Lower Resistance
Levels 6-9
Disintegrate
Flesh to Stone
Stone to Flesh
Improved Haste
Tenser's Transformation
Ruby Ray of Reversal
Sphere of Chaos
Shapechange
Spellstrike
Time Stop
He can still use other spells (other than Abjuration, obviously), but those will be the ones he tends to favor. I guess the typical routine will be to cast some spells first and then use Tenser's. Once Tenser's is over use spells or melee as indicated. And he may well Polymorph or Shapechange then.
What I think will be really interesting from the storytelling aspect for this type of character is that he'll already be predisposed to shapechanging as a Transmuter--and when it comes to using the Slayer form ability, that will already be familiar and welcome territory to him. So that's potentially rich material to work with there in terms of story and character development. I expect to have him use the Slayer a lot, although I'm aware that that risks Hector's death. And, actually, if he does die from that (and only that), I will RP that he gets resurrected with the -1 to Con penalty from PnP.
Here is Hector:
He uses voice set 6, the gruff, gravelly Cockney one, which goes so well with that crazy-eyed portrait.
Hector is about 6' 7", powerfully framed and broad shouldered, and revels in heaving his halberd while in a barbarian rage. He's very much the Barbarian type of warrior, and loves the intense rush of battle. I'll play his prodigious Int (19 after the tome) as strictly street smart. His Int will be sort of like Tony Soprano's savvy (except Hector is not evil and he lacks Tony's charisma).
I have him as CN... although I could change that, I guess...
If I stick with that alignment, I will play him as capricious, moody, unpredictable, and highly risk-taking overall. He'll be mercurial, creative, and highly intuitive. And although smart as a whip, his judgment suffers from often not making the most purely logical choice. I think the heavy use of Alteration can just be attributable to his strong affinity for that school. I'll have to meditate a bit on how a character with this sort of personality would appreciate Alteration magic, i.e., why it strikes such a strong chord in him.
The fact the Hector will have stuck with the same party for all of BGEE is hardly Chaotic, though... So I guess maybe he's CN overall; but one of his quirks is that he tends to bond strongly. I'm still not sure how to work with that in the broader framework of being CN, but I reckon I can find a way.
It was kind of interesting to use Polymorph Self now and then. But with standard buffs and potions Hector was much more formidable using the Chelsea Crusher. So I didn't use shapeshifting as much as I had expected. If I had been playing a single class Transmuter, I'm sure I would have used it a lot.
With the method I was using to devote at least half the slots for each spell level to memorization of Alteration spells (more than half when an odd number), the limited spell selection wasn't as much fun for the second half of the game. I think it will improve in BG2EE, though.
Hector using Draw Upon Holy Might and his barbarian rage special ability maxed at 25 Strength for the duration of those two effects. He got 51% of the kills.
Rasaad using the Shield Amulet and Gauntlets of Ogre Power had AC -8. Throughout, he was reasonably capable and hardy as a meleer, and I ended up using his fire blasts quite a bit. He came in with 21% of the kills.
Safana was pretty formidable as a Swashbuckler. She got 16% of the kills. She pickpocketed a lot. Otherwise, this class seemed rather like a standard fighter. First time I'd tried a Swashbuckler kit.
Tiax was really great as a spellcasting tank! I had his AC at -5. He ended up with 11% of the kills.
I gave both Tiax and Safana decent trap setting ability but never needed or used it.
Edit: Oh, and the final battle--it was pretty easy. Prior to the battle Tiax summoned a ghast and Hector (via Monster Summoning III) an ogre and a wolf. Everyone was heavily buffed of course, including with lots of potions. Hector adanced alone and blasted the dais with a wand of fire to bring Sarevok (and then Semaj) back to the party at the entrance. The party basically just beat the crap out of Sarevok as the summoned monsters occupied Semaj. I had to do several reloads in order to get the satisfaction of Hector clearly getting the kill (best I could tell from the feedback). In the win in which Hector seemed to get the kill, there were no fatalities and I'm sure the party would have had a fairly easy time with the rest of Sarevok's party.
It'll be fun to write some backstory for Hector, though, in the meantime. I'll probably start a thread on it soon in Challenges and Playthroughs, even if the game itself won't begin until the holiday season.