I see no reason to waste stat boosts on stats you don't need. Besides, if you are worried about stats, you can use a 3rd-party tool to set your stats. And it can hardly be called cheating when it's a non-MMO RPG. You'd only be cheating yourself out of the fun of immersion. What kind of party gives everything to one member anyway? Corporate party? For me, immersion, RP and storytelling is the whole point of this game.
@SandmanCCL Unless I get lucky and roll up some really good scores in the first five or so re-rolls, I'll likely give Kagain the Con tome since the only "must-have" for my warrior PCs is a good Strength. Once I can get an 18 Strength without gimping my other stats, I usually stop rolling. Strength tome will go to my PC for a total of 19, while Dex will have to see if my PC ends up with a 14 or 15 or better, otherwise I won't bother. Xzar or Edwin will probably get the Int tomes, and Viconia will get Wisdom.
But it's SO EASY to roll for fighters because they have 3 legit dump stats. There's no difference between 7 and 14 for any of those stats and I've never been one to place much emphasis on an otherwise arbitrary number when it comes to RP'ing my character. Isn't like you can really identify much of anything with your fighters due to Lore anyway.
I find with fighters it's really easy to min/max without having to actually min.
Honestly the only thing easier to roll for is a straight rogue because you don't even need to worry about the 18/XX bonus. Not that I ever place much emphasis on that anyway, but still.
"Easy" in that you can probably get a good 18/XX without many re-rolls, and that's all I go for. I don't sit around waiting for 18/90 Str, 18 Dex, and 18 Con. I'd go crazy. Also, I don't like to go below 13 or 14 Charisma on my main characters if I can avoid it, so it's not much of a dump stat for me.
Personally I use all on myself but if there is continuity with BG2 in the Enhanced versions I might be more inclined to consider some of them for other party members.
"Easy" in that you can probably get a good 18/XX without many re-rolls, and that's all I go for. I don't sit around waiting for 18/90 Str, 18 Dex, and 18 Con. I'd go crazy. Also, I don't like to go below 13 or 14 Charisma on my main characters if I can avoid it, so it's not much of a dump stat for me.
I feel you there with Charisma, though I wouldn't bother going beyond 10 unless I managed to hit 16. I can't think of any encounters where you need more than 10 CHA to get the reward, or have that NPC join and what not. You don't gain any bonus discount from shops til 16. I prefer to nerf wisdom over intelligence, too, because Illithids are a-holes. http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats#Charisma
However, don't stress about getting strength beyond 18/51. (Also, if you're aiming for high strength, 18/90 is the same as 18/76 and anything in between.)
The only benefit you gain between 18/51 and 18/99 is damage and carry weight. Difference between 18/51 through 18/75 and 18/91 through 18/99 is 2 damage and 70 carry weight. Not nearly as big a deal as any amount of extra AC from dexterity and having sick-huge-ginormous HP pools.
Especially because as you said, you give the strength tome to your dude. Doesn't matter what your percentage dice on strength is if you bump it to 19!
I like using them on my NPCs if there is a clear advantage to it that wouldn't otherwise be granted to my PC (for example, NPC on the threshold of higher Con HP modifier). Also, and I think this is fixed, STR tomes should increase a fighter's fractional 18/XY STR by the next increment, not to 19 unless they have 18/00 already.
There is also a difficulty argument to be made for not using them all on the PC, but that's the great thing about it being optional. It would be... interesting if more NPCs had 'threshold' level stats, where just 1 more would get them a tangible bonus. Make it a bit more painful for the 86% who replied to this thread to use all the tomes on their PC.
to bad you couldnt use the tomes to get into candlekeep, those crazies are trying to tell me that a tome that will permenantly increase an ability score is not of great value? i think they need a new door keeper
I used to use every tome on my main character, but lately this has since changed so for example I now give all my WIS tomes to either Jaheira or Viconia (depending on romance options in BG2), INT tome goes to Imoen etc...
For consistency I use Shadowkeeper for editing the stats in BG2 to what they were altered to in my BG1 playthrough.
Man, this is why you guys should play BGT, no stat editing required. They try for as much consistency as possible, so NPC stats/classes carry over
I played Tutu, myself. From what I hear about BGT, though, I hope Overhaul implements BG2:EE to work similarly.
The only thing that gets weird is when you don't dual Imoen (I've done this myself a few times) and she inexplicably has the ability to magic missile Irenicus in the cutscene. I usually give her the wand of magic missile from the dungeon and tell myself she used that, though it's not a perfect solution. I agree though, one of the most needed bits of extra content is proper continuity between the games.
even in the original series, the bg II npcs that were from bg 1 all have their stats boosted, granted minsc doesnt have 19 str and edwin doesnt have 19 int, but it hardly matters, minsc will be getting a belt of str anyway and in ToB you can erase spells from your spell book, so its still a complete waste to give them to npcs if you are going to carry your character over to bg II, although i've never played that triligoy mod, so i dont know how that goes
I keep them. I'm a selfish bunny. Between the tomes and LTM's machines, I can raise all my stats by at least two, and since I usually play characters that rely on high Dex scores, I need to have at least a 19 Dex going into Hell because I'm going to lose a point.
Also, and I think this is fixed, STR tomes should increase a fighter's fractional 18/XY STR by the next increment, not to 19 unless they have 18/00 already
Solely because I can take them with me when others can't. When I've played a Cleric/Ranger they enjoy their 21 wisdom from BG1.
In BG2/TOB I'm more than happy to share Lums bonuses among my party members. I usually have fighter multis so most physical bonuses go to my PC. The others have enough belts and gauntlets to counter their weaker stats. My Demi-God needs not bother.
If I could assign them to NPCs and have them keep those bonuses through to BG2 I'd share. The issue is alot of them don't feature in BG2 and those that do have different Stats.
They only carry over for me, so that's who I used them on. Sorry, Party members! Then again, the rest of the party got the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Gauntlets of Dexterity, and so on, so it all worked out.
@triclops41 icewind dale's draw upon holy might did that, but i would say that i dont mind the str jump, i love having a mage with 19 str, so when he actually hits with his stick he can actually deal some damage
I'm with Drugar. I use the tome on the character I think could use it the most, and adjust their BG2 counterparts accordingly. It's about the only time I ever "cheat" the game, and only because if I continue BG2 with characters I used in BG1, I want consistency, dang it!
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Besides, if you are worried about stats, you can use a 3rd-party tool to set your stats.
And it can hardly be called cheating when it's a non-MMO RPG. You'd only be cheating yourself out of the fun of immersion.
What kind of party gives everything to one member anyway? Corporate party?
For me, immersion, RP and storytelling is the whole point of this game.
I find with fighters it's really easy to min/max without having to actually min.
Honestly the only thing easier to roll for is a straight rogue because you don't even need to worry about the 18/XX bonus. Not that I ever place much emphasis on that anyway, but still.
http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats#Charisma
However, don't stress about getting strength beyond 18/51. (Also, if you're aiming for high strength, 18/90 is the same as 18/76 and anything in between.)
http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats#Strength
The only benefit you gain between 18/51 and 18/99 is damage and carry weight. Difference between 18/51 through 18/75 and 18/91 through 18/99 is 2 damage and 70 carry weight. Not nearly as big a deal as any amount of extra AC from dexterity and having sick-huge-ginormous HP pools.
Especially because as you said, you give the strength tome to your dude. Doesn't matter what your percentage dice on strength is if you bump it to 19!
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There is also a difficulty argument to be made for not using them all on the PC, but that's the great thing about it being optional. It would be... interesting if more NPCs had 'threshold' level stats, where just 1 more would get them a tangible bonus. Make it a bit more painful for the 86% who replied to this thread to use all the tomes on their PC.
I do use the tomes on myself though, should I find them, but I don't go out of my way to hunt them down.
Once or maybe a few time I did not even use the tomes , sold them .
For consistency I use Shadowkeeper for editing the stats in BG2 to what they were altered to in my BG1 playthrough.
I agree though, one of the most needed bits of extra content is proper continuity between the games.
I can't think of a class where it isn't at least the second stat you should aim for except a multi-class Cleric/Mage.
Only times I ever roll a character without it maxed is if I plan on using Gauntlets of Dexterity. Ever.
In BG2/TOB I'm more than happy to share Lums bonuses among my party members. I usually have fighter multis so most physical bonuses go to my PC. The others have enough belts and gauntlets to counter their weaker stats. My Demi-God needs not bother.
If I could assign them to NPCs and have them keep those bonuses through to BG2 I'd share. The issue is alot of them don't feature in BG2 and those that do have different Stats.
The stat boosts from the "Riddles" I always give to the NPCs that need them, usually Imoen for the intelligence and dexterity. She is also a