Suggestions for a mostly-warrior party.
AgrielAdarei
Member Posts: 11
I've been playing the Baldur's Gate Saga since i can remember, played it so much back when it released that i melted my original discs in my computer, bought another set and played them to nearly the same state. Recently got the EEs, forgot what weapons go where (i can remember most of the locations, just can't remember what the "meta" was). Just hoping some fellow nerd could help me along.
My party is as follows:
Gnome Berserker, to be dual'd to mage at 13.
Cavalier, gonna use Carsomyr.
Elf Archer, Tuigan's/Gesen's
Half Orc Swashbuckler,
Haven't thought out the 5th (not going to use 6man party). Probably another Berserker dual'd into Cleric at 13
Thanks in advance
Agriel
(P.S This is my first post on Beamdog, this place has the weirdest category sorting, so if it's the wrong place, my bad)
My party is as follows:
Gnome Berserker, to be dual'd to mage at 13.
Cavalier, gonna use Carsomyr.
Elf Archer, Tuigan's/Gesen's
Half Orc Swashbuckler,
Haven't thought out the 5th (not going to use 6man party). Probably another Berserker dual'd into Cleric at 13
Thanks in advance
Agriel
(P.S This is my first post on Beamdog, this place has the weirdest category sorting, so if it's the wrong place, my bad)
0
Comments
From the sound of it, you're planning on using a bunch of custom characters? In that case, consider an Inquisitor instead of a Cavalier. Dispel Magic at x2 Class level never stops being incredibly useful. Without any kind of mage (and from the sound of things you'll be mageless until the Underdark at least) it's the best way of dealing with mages.
Apart from that, everything sounds OK.
Yeah i forgot to mention that >_<
Non-human Dual class, XP Cap remover, and Bonus merchants are the only mods i'm using.
Still need help on the weapons though, probably use CF/Belm on either the Swashy or Bermage, then Crom/FoA on Bercleric, still short on possibilities though.
the reason i use Cavalier over Inquisitor is because Cavalier was my favorite archetype in the old days. Picked him because hunting dragons n demons seemed so awesome (little did i know the dragon fights in ToB would be monstrous). + Carsomyr made up for the lack of anti-magic potential.
EDIT: i'm also using a smaller party to try and counteract the high dual-class level (first time i've tried dual classing. The dozens of playthroughs prior have been purist or multiclass).
If you're taking that custom party through BG1ee first, then you'll be playing for a very long time with neither a Mage nor a Cleric. It can be done, but you're making it pretty difficult for yourself.
Even if you're starting it in BG2ee, then it'll still be quite a while before you have any Mage or Cleric. Your choice, of course, but I wouldn't recommend it.
And as @Onestep pointed out, you can't legally dual a gnome. You'd have to mod it to force the dual. [Edit: I see that while I was writing this, you've now posted again and are clearly aware of this point.]
As for your weapons, CF and Belm sounds fine for SoA, though you might want to consider a +5 Mainhand weapon for ToB. Crom and FoA are great and will work throughout the whole trilogy.
But I really have to recommend the Inquisitor over the Cavalier. It will be a huge help until you regain your Mage levels, which won't happen for some time. The Inquisitors class ability basically means that you're doubling your Dispel power. You've already got a very melee heavy group, so having a character that makes enemies consistently vulnerable to the whole group is great.
Bermage: Stonefire/Axe of Hrothgar & Belm >ToB> Axe of the Unyielding & Belm
Inquisitor: Carsy
Bercleric: Ashideena & Defender Of Easthaven >mid SoA> FoA & HoT >ToB> FoA+5 & Crom
I'm having the most trouble planning out the early/mid SoA for the Swashy, ToB i'll just use Angurvadal/Equalizer/Blackrazor & Scarlet Ninja-to.
Best to give belm to your thief, since they really need the extra attack more than your berzerker. Blade of Roses is a good very early +3 weapon until you get something more useful.
For berzerker, the flail of ages is a good choice; you can get it pretty early in your stronghold quest. You also have a good axe +3 in that castle so axe are another good choice. Some of the best later weapons are the flail of ages and axe of unyielding.
Upgraded mace of disruption, I think is an essential situational weapon, so I suggest to have someone that has specialization in maces. If you don't have a cleric to cast chaotic command, the berzerker would be the best choice.
For Paladin's my preference is Undead Hunter. There are way more undead in the game compared to dragons and immunity to level drain is really useful. I think inquisitors cannot turn undead, so they are not a good choice if you don't have a cleric.
You could make a monk for the last guy. I don't like them, but it's a different kind of warrior.
My recommendation, for a slightly easier power-curve (less downtime etc) would be to add a F/C or F(<9, maybe 7)-C for the fifth slot (and maybe dual the swashy to mage for late game power), It would probably make it easier midgame and still not hamper your endgame power. I prefer more arcane most of the time myself but since you stated you want the party to be warrior heavy, I guess you can skip that advice.
Gnome Berserker, to be dual'd to mage at 13.
* Axes (acess to ranged) and maces
Inquisitory, gonna use Carsomyr.
* 2hand swords, longswords
Elf Archer, Tuigan's/Gesen's
P* robably add qstaffs for second line melee and/or shortswords(kundane)/longswords
Half Orc Swashbuckler, staying swashy or to be dual'd to mage at ~10 (depending on your skills, I would skip stealth and only go for lockpick, traps and pickpocket)
* Go for scimis and katas, prepping for UAI
F/C or Berzerker, to be dual'd to cleric at ~7 or even sooner.
* Flails and hammers
Good to see yet another old school player coming back; welcome to the community!
You might want to have one of your berzerkers be a barbarian instead, since both have different immunities (barbarian rage protects from level drain, berzerker from imprisonment).
The biggest barbarian-specific advantage, imo, is the damage resistance they get at high levels. As AC becomes less important, DR becomes moreso, and the barbarian eventually out-tanks the berserker. Other less obvious advantages include strong lock-smashing ability with rage early-game, and the ability to heal when resting/travelling by using the Con boost from rage. Overall I'd say they're competitive, gaining more damage early-game and more tanking late-game, but they are weaker for a bit in the mid-game.
@Jarrakul is correct that Berzerker Rage protects from level drain just like Barbarian Rage, but only Berzerker Rage protects from Imprisonment, and that's important in certain situations.
A particular weakness of Barbarians, which @Jarrakul forgot to mention, is the armour restriction. A Berzerker can wear any armour, whereas a Barbarian can wear at most Scale Armour, i.e. not Plate. Eventually you'll find an excellent Scale Armour which is as good as Plate, but not until BG2:ToB. Thus you have to play the whole of BG1 and BG2:SoA with an AC-handicap, and AC is particularly important in those earlier stages, so this is quite a significant difference for a front-liner. IMO, this difference tips the overall balance in favour of the Berzerker.
In any case, since @AgrielAdarei is planning to dual-class those characters, they have to be Berzerkers because Barbarians can't dual.
Also, consider making the Zercler a Ranger/Cleric instead. That would give you access to those awesome druid spells as well. Iron Skins is particularly useful when wading into melee. Rage is a great thing to have when dualing into a mage, but with the cleric it becomes redundant. Clerics already have spells like Chaotic Commands or Free Action to counter almost any kind of CC. Ultimately, it's a question whether you want Grand Mastery or Druid Spells, which are both major game-changers.
Finally, paladins can use any weapons they want to, there are no restrictions. Putting pips into halberds may be a good idea since they do have plenty of pips to spare. I would, however, put pips into crossbows first. Since your Inquisitor is going to be using spells in some fights, a ranged weapon may be needed for the downtime. I think a crossbow is most fitting, and they come pretty great as well.
PS. Storm Star is the only party-friendly AoE weapon in the game, and it is a +5 mace. IMO, it is one of the best weapons in BG2, but others may disagree.