Good class to import.

BlackWizardMagus

So, I'm one of those persnickety guys who gets frustrated if things aren't just so. I've played through most of BG:EE twice, and yet I stopped both times, not liking my character. I know, it's weird. Anyway, I've kinda narrowed it down to three possible classes I think I'd really enjoy playing, but I've heard that maybe some aren't the best idea for BG2. I don't want anything ruined for me or end-game builds, please, but I was hoping for an idea of which class is not going to feel like dead-weight if I used them for the whole saga.

Elf Archer (Ranger Kit) mostly focusing on Shortbows (I understand they are probably the best in 2)
Dwarven Defender as the ultimate tank.
Half-orc Berserker (or Barbarian, but I don't think he measures up) dual-wielding flails and...something, I dunno, maybe longswords.

Like I said, I've tried not to ruin it for myself, but this is what I've heard in passing; ranged combat becomes much less effective in the sequel, the Defender would miss out on the best weapons and grandmastery, and the berserker's extra strength/damage is less amazing with stuff you can find. I don't really know what's true, but I just really like my PC to be the bomb, y'know? However, before someone suggests it, I don't want a fighter/mage. I actually did that already, and I just didn't like it. The magic in this game, while incredibly awesome, requires too much fiddling for me to enjoy. I keep a mage around for the basics, but I want my PC to just be a beast. And I'm not as worried about party configuration or anything like that; I'm flexible there, I just really get frustrated when I feel that my PC isn't the driving force of my party, without modding the hell out of him.

I'm open to other suggestions too, as long as I'm more of a specialist than a generalist. Maybe an Inquistor Paladin? I know he has sweet buffs, but is that ultimately better than anything above? Anyway, thanks for the help, hopefully I can get over my weird OCD and get to the, as I understand it, superior game.

Blackraven

BlackWizardMagus said:

So, I'm one of those persnickety guys who gets frustrated if things aren't just so. I've played through most of BG:EE twice, and yet I stopped both times, not liking my character. I know, it's weird.

Nope not weird at all. These are just symptoms of an affliction very common amongst people on these forums: restartitis.

As to your charname, you say you want him/her to be a beast. I gather that you're referring to physical rather than magical combat. Dwarven Defender (ultimate tank as you say), Half-Orc Berserker/Barbarian (strong damage dealer and nice immunities while enraged) and Inquisitor (the 'real' wizard slayer) are all solid choices.
Another great class is a Fighter/Thief for insta-chunking backstabs and by the time backstabs become less effective (late game) you'll have devastating traps and you'll be a tremendous warrior anyway.
Fighter/Cleric or Cleric/Ranger is another great class. You'll get all kinds of great buffs that make you a better fighter than pretty much any other warrior.

The Archer remains viable throughout the trilogy but does become less powerful, relatively speaking of course, as the game advances which isn't very satisfactory imo.

BlackWizardMagus

Yeah, I just don't like dealing with magic. I'll use a mage and a cleric for the bare minimum needs, but I'd rather just smash everything to death. I'm usually the opposite, but, meh. I also don't care much for backstabs and thieves; I actually did mod away traps and lockpicking because I felt it to be a road block. I guess I'm being whiny today.

So, Berserker/Defender/Inquisitor are all good options? None of them run out of steam later on? Good. Now to get myself to commit to one. Oh, to clarify, I'm not being gimped on the Defender weapon-wise, am I? I've heard yes and no on that. Obviously my tank's main job isn't offense, but I'd like to know ahead of time if, like, axes are going to suck end-game.

Thanks for the reply.

Blackraven

Axes are fine throughout the trilogy, even in SoA where admittedly you won't find any axes as outstanding as Carsomyr for two-handed swords or Celestial Fury for Katana, but good enough anyway.
I wouldn't worry about not being able to grandmaster your weapon. Grandmastery is quite nice but not indispensable. Besides the fact that you won't go all the way to grandmastery will make it easier to invest in other weapons, perhaps a blunt weapon such as hammers or flails.
You won't run out of steam. All three classes/kits are great. Maybe to narrow things down you could decide between Defender and Inquisitor because you said you wanted to be a specialist, and those two classes have more of a specialist feel to them imo.

Drayen

I would have to disagree about the archer. My last bg2 clear involved one. Aside from a few enemies immune to +3 weapons (Mostly SoA, but ive never found it to be a real problem), the archer is a huge powerhouse. He will hit very often, and by ToB, he will -never- miss. Pretty much like a kensai... slightly lower damage, but ranged attacks more than make up for it since theres zero downtime in movement between enemies and unlike the kensai, you never really have to back off from danger since youre already far away. Plus you get some basic spellcasting that makes you more resilient than a kensai. Kensai are definitely more fragile/suceptible to damage than an archer, but they do the highest damage in the game.

Honestly, my archer would kill enemies before they even reached by ToB, and he had the vast majority of kills in my group tied with korgan.

As far as your 3 choices go, i dont see how you can go wrong, you can be a powerhouse with almost all characters in BG2... Although i guess druids and clerics lack some juice in their spells, their role is support, but well-placed holy smites are always a glorious sight..

dreamrider

Drayen said:

I would have to disagree about the archer. ...

So glad to see your comment about Archer viability, as am about to start charname to play through, and have always loved ranged stuff. (sniper in Unreal, Vanq in Torchlight, etc, etc.)

From cautious, minimum spoiler reading I've done around the net, I have the impression that this poor abandoned elf kid should focus on the natural appeal of _longbows first_, any sort of _long blade proficiency as a backup_ (that katana that Winthrop keeps in the back of the cabinet has always had an exotic elegance), _two weapon_ finesse 'cause "hey, Ranger, extra pips", and then _expand into shortbows_ as a logical professional progression.

Would you say that is about right for semi-blind optimal Archer building? For a full run to demi-godhood?

Oh, yeah. Spending this afternoon rolling for a 96+, which is fortunately not an impossible target for an elven Ranger-type.

BlackWizardMagus

Yeah, that was what I wanted to know, basically, without spoiling it for myself; do those guys who are immune to weaker weapons really dominate later game, requiring you to focus heavily on how to take them down, or are they just another enemy and I can just have the rest of the party handle him while an archer tries to support or attack other guys or, if needed, go melee with some longswords?

DreadKhan

An archer isnt that bad in melee really late game, HLA cover up his limited proficiency (you lose 1/2 attack, 2 damage and +1 to hit vs a ranger, pretty negligible in ToB) well enough if you cant just arrow something to death. Taking spec in longbows is great for bg1, and solid for much of SoA, but maxed out shortbow is good really late game.

If you dont mind being a bit abberant, crossbows are good the whole series. You can buy Army Scythe in bg1, and a beast of a heavy crossbow right away nearly in soa, which is upgradeable eventually.

Or, you could rely on str and use a sling. It works really well as your strength is added. Archer bonus applies to it.

BlackWizardMagus

I just can't sail through multiple games bravely slaying demons and wizards with rocks. I don't really roleplay, but man.

Also, uh, newb here, what's an HLA?

dreamrider

High Level Ability aka Epic Abilities aka Epic Feats. Super class specific stuff that you can eventually do, like the warrior's Greater Whirlwnd attack, etc.

BlackWizardMagus

Ah, I've heard of those, thank you.

DreadKhan

Careful how you talk slings in these here parts... cause them's fightin words, partner.

But for serious, you dont have to use a bow. Crossbows work equally well in bg1 (fireball arrow vs one shot lightning bolts you can use really often), and better in bg2. They also look cooler!

I have offed Sarevok several times with a sling, with solo Cleric types. They may look ridiculous in your head, but in reality they are pretty effective.

BlackWizardMagus

Oh, I know they work, I just refuse to quest like that. If there's a quest where I have to keep a hungry wolf from attacking a flock of sheep, sure, but that's about it. Same reason I will not be offing dragons or whatever with a quarterstaff; I've heard they are actually really awesome, but no way am I giving a hulking half-orc a leather thong, rocks, and a stick. Can you just picture the statues and paintings made of your hero? Worst museum ever. Now, if I ever play a cleric, well, that'd be different.

DreadKhan

You're making King David cry...

BlackWizardMagus

BTW, since the wikia for this game sucks, is there another reference to use?

DreadKhan

Many people use the BG page for Play It Hardcore. It is lighter on spoilers, high on tables and the like. Or do you mean for lore, ie storyline discussion? Not really sure of a good one, but various wikis for Forgotten Realms have related info. Ignore the Abdel fellow they may mention, he's not fannon.

BlackWizardMagus

I'd be interested in a little story info, like Neera's side-plot without having to actually play it, but mostly I wanted tables and such. Thank you.

Drayen

dreamrider said:

Drayen said:

I would have to disagree about the archer. ...

From cautious, minimum spoiler reading I've done around the net, I have the impression that this poor abandoned elf kid should focus on the natural appeal of _longbows first_, any sort of _long blade proficiency as a backup_ (that katana that Winthrop keeps in the back of the cabinet has always had an exotic elegance), _two weapon_ finesse 'cause "hey, Ranger, extra pips", and then _expand into shortbows_ as a logical professional progression.

Would you say that is about right for semi-blind optimal Archer building? For a full run to demi-godhood?

Honestly, I wouldn't invest in melee at all, you will scarcely find enemies you can't hit with magical arrows, you could specialize in a 2h to use it if you have no way out of melee range, because using a bow vs a melee creature means he has a +4 attack bonus vs you and you have a -4 i think?

As far as the weapon of choice goes, i like firetooth as a crossbow, but I think longbows might be better because they have 1 more attack per round even if they do slightly less damage. There is a crossbow that adds an attack per round however...

As far as slings goes, from my testing, slings are the highest damage ranged weapon in the game because they use the strenght bonus (Bows don't), but as an archer you're stuck at 1 attack per round as you can't grandmaster slings... they still get your archer +damage/+thaco bonus however, and greater whirlwind will still give you 10 attack per round. If you really wanna minmax.. get a str boost belt, a longbow/xbow for normal attacks, and a sling for whirlwinds.