How to build Jaheira from BG1 to BG2.

Kneller

I'm playing the GoG (not EE) version of BG/BG2. I have Jaheira now, and I'll be keeping her in the party for the whole series. With her, I'm never sure of an optimal way to gear her up, though I always tank with her. In BG1 her weapon options are pretty limited if I want to keep her with a shield. For RP reasons, I can't give her the dagger of venom (in PnP, only evil characters can use that and I play the video game that way). I could do daggers, and get her a +1 pretty easy/early but 1d4+1 damage? Forget about it. I won't be doing ToSC material for a while (so no +2 scimitar or the staff mace from UB). There are no magical clubs. That about sums it up, right?

So, keeping in mind that:

1) I'm willing to SK her proficiencies when, and only when, I first have her (and change them in BG2 to what I had in BG1)
2) I want to tank with her, which will likely require a shield, at least for BG1 until she gets Ironskins.
3) I'm not killing/PP Drizzt.

how should I build her? Thanks.

lunar

In bg1, club+shield works okay. You will lack a magical weapon for some time but club works wonders on pesky skeletons. Other characters do 1-2 damage to them while Jaheira easily smacks them with her club, occasionaly 1-hit shotting a skeleton for 8 damage. Club is much more favorable against all kinds of armors, too (well maybe except splint mail) For enemies that require magical weapons to hit, Jaheira should better stay back and throw magical sling stones, or cast a spell:shilellagh is a dependable toy when you need to hit something immune to normal weapons in melee. When you really need a magical weapon get proficiency in staves:the +3 staff from Ulgoth's Beard is cool, and Staff of Striking can be downright deadly.

Note that there are magical clubs in bg:ee like the night club. Hillarious name aside, it is a +2 weapon when used at night.

Kneller

Yeah, I'm thinking I should ditch the shield and go two handed with her, as that's also a good way to take on BG2, based on what I've read.

However, losing the AC from a (magical) shield is going to hurt considering her mediocre Dex. OTOH, I could also take her through BG2 with scimitars and eventually TWF. But that doesn't help me in BG1.

As is, it looks like I'm the only character using shields (and only small ones at that, due to my low str). I have:

Minsc (2h weapon)
Jah (Staff?)
Khalid (archer)
Imoen (thief->mage)
Dynaheir/Safana (until Imoen gets her thief levels back/Dynaheir
Me (cleric/mage with a small shield)

That's a lot of potential AC going to waste.

I do like the Shilellagh idea, though. Maybe I could keep her on clubs and that will hold her over until I get the scimitar from DT.

BelgarathMTH

She does surprisingly well for me with a club and shield for most of the first game, especially if a mage casts Strength on her just before combat. She may not be the highest damage dealer, but she's solid and holds the front line well.

There really aren't that many enemies in BG1 that require magic weapons to hit. I can only think of vamp wolves, wraith spiders, Icharyd, and revenants. You can't really tank the vamp wolves anyway because of the paralysis, so I always switch her to darts +x or bullets +x and have her kite during those cases.

She probably can't help much with battle horrors, so I'd maybe have her use her spells like Bless to help the party with those. Or, she can try to hold them off while your mages magic missile them to death.

The club is also a great skeleton smasher.

She has a spell "shillelagh" that gives her a magical weapon if needed, and/or you can carry around the staff +1 that you get from Silke.

EE has placed a new magic scimitar on the south peaks of the spider map in the Cloakwood. I can't remember if it's +1 or +2. So, if you're using EE, you could give her one or two pips in scimitars with that weapon in mind.

I don't know if you are going to EE Keeper her starting pips, but I'm always tempted to, to avoid wasted pips. I believe she comes with club, quarterstaff, and sling by default, so if you're going with that, when she gets her first new pip, I'd put it in scimitar.

Sometimes I EE Keeper the sling into darts, for the extra speed. If you want to use her in the front with a shield, then club, scimitar, and sling/darts are the way to go, but she also does very well as a second line fighter using the extra reach with quarterstaff and spear.

Also, if I plan to go to Werewolf Island, I often give her a pip in dagger so she can fight Karoug effectively with that dagger up there, and use the magic returning throwing daggers later on when those show up.

You have to make a choice between specializing in one-handed or two-handed weapons, but I think it's hard to go wrong with Jaheira.

Kneller

I forgot about that werewolf dagger. Even if it's just for that, it's usually worth it. That's the hardest fight in the game, imo.

Really, if you think about it. A +1 dagger is doing as much damage on average as a non-magical club. It might actually be worth swapping out all the club points for daggers. It seems weird, though, to be fighting with a little dagger yet also carrying a large shield.

BelgarathMTH

It may not really have to be an either/or between clubs and daggers, since she can only go to two pips in anything anyway. She will have a fighter's pips to use, so she has some choices to spread out proficiencies.

Another factor to consider - clubs are immune to breaking from the iron crisis, which can be a good early advantage.

I think I might start with one pip each in dagger, club, scimitar, and sling or darts. Then when she gets a new pip, she can specialize in whichever one you anticipate using in BG2, or in whichever one you've found the best weapon for. She should be able to wind up with two pips in all of them during BG2, and there are a couple of pretty decent magic clubs to be had in BG2.

I understand what you're saying about the dagger seeming like a silly weapon for a front line fighter. I think scimitar probably fits the image the best.

You might consider dropping the sling/darts in favor of an extra pip in daggers, with the intention to have her collect a bunch of them from High Hedge and throw them. Keep the one pip in clubs in case your scimitar breaks or you're fighting skeletons, and then put the first new pip in scimitar with the plan to use the magic scimitar in Cloakwood.

EDIT: Come to think of it, EE added a +1 magic club, too. The guys attacking that nymph tree have it, iirc.

Kneller

Being an MC, she doesn't level fast enough to stay ahead of the gear curve, imo. I feel like, with Jah, she's great, but you have to plan head well.

Another factor to consider - clubs are immune to breaking from the iron crisis, which can be a good early advantage.

Yeah, I thought of that. If it wasn't for breakage, I would have bought her a scimitar right from the start. And there are some good clubs in bg2 to pursue that path for a while.

BelgarathMTH said:

I understand what you're saying about the dagger seeming like a silly weapon for a front line fighter. I think scimitar probably fits the image the best.

Honestly, the only reason for the dagger (in the whole series) is the Karoug fight. It just seems like such a waste of a pip, though. Perhaps I could have Khalid and Minsc hold the line while the rest of us buff/spellcast? Though 2 fighters and 4 casters is a little unbalanced. She will probably only have access to level 4 spells anyway, and there's not much there to use -during- a fight. Maybe I could just give her a wand of the heavens from UB and keep her AC solid?

Say I'm at 120kxp at that point, 60kxp per class puts her at Fighter 7/Druid 8. That's 4 pips between the two classes, plus the 4 she starts with right? If my math is right, I can do daggers/scimitar/clubs/sling-or-dart and have all the 1h weapons covered even before bg2, right? Or does she only get pips in the "fastest" class?

Chack

IIRC, she only get's pips with her fighter levels. It's not the fastest class, it's the more warrior-like class, so fighter[ranger]/something get's fighter[range] pips; cleric/thief[mage] get's cleric pips; thief/mage gets thief pips.

Kneller

So she only gets them at fighter 3/6, but not druid 4/8? That's a drag...

BelgarathMTH

Well, about that Karoug fight, since Jaheira has a fighter's Thac0, she can probably wield that dagger non-proficiently and still win, as long as she has Strength, Bless, and Haste, with maybe also Chant, and skald song if your PC is one. If you take Ajantis for the bastard sword (from the Cloakwood druids) and let Jaheira wield the dagger non-proficiently, buff up to the nines, and keep a steady barrage of magic missiles and/or other offensive magic pelting him, you should be able to beat him without wasting that pip on daggers.

Also, the Wand of the Heavens hurts Karoug pretty bad, as long as you've got plenty of other sources of damage on him to keep that regeneration of his from overwhelming your dps.

(I can't remember what the sword is in the chest behind Karoug - is that a longsword or a bastard sword? Either way, there are three weapons you can use on Karoug total, as long as you've sided with the druids in the Cloakwood.)

If you don't like Ajantis, you could also keep or give Khalid at least one point in bastard sword, assuming you haven't killed him to split him from Jaheira.

Kneller

I'm playing cannon so it's Imoen (dualed), Jah, Khalid, Minsc, Dyn, and myself (cleric/illusionist). It's a little more spell-heavy than I would prefer, but that's how it goes.

I'll probably just give her a wand, but I'm kinda bummed about the proficiency thing.

Alexisisinneed

@lunar where is this said club located at?

lunar

@Alexisisinneed‌

Night Club +1 (Thac0 +1,+2 at night) - in a chest in entar sivershield's garden in Baldur's gate [v1.1.2012]

Also, might be useful:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/8110/a-guide-to-new-magic-items-in-bg-ee-spoilers/p1