Tenser's Transformation, it's THE buff that makes a Blade the best.
Ah thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I guess once you get Tenser's Transformation you have better attacks than a fighter due to being higher level and having offensive spin. Although you still have less HP and worse armor.
Oh god, someone's going to do a Pacifist PC run now. I can feel it "My PC will never cast a harmful spell or use a weapon throughout the entire saga."
Haha. All too easy if you play a Cleric and do a lot of healing and buffing. The real challenge would be the solo pacifist run. You can only kill enemies that are absolutely required to advance the plot. Sounds kinda fun!
Is it really fun for the protagonist to do nothing while he plays a song?
For me, the tradeoff is worth it. But then, I've always gotten a kick out of support classes and passive buffs.
Skald's song trumps the single-class DPS loss, especially at low levels.
The regular song, maybe not much. I still tend to use it when there's lots of spread out mobs ("You have been waylaid by ...") and my squishest NPCs might be in a vulnerable spot, or a position where ranged is forced to melee.
Tenser's Transformation, it's THE buff that makes a Blade the best.
Ah thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I guess once you get Tenser's Transformation you have better attacks than a fighter due to being higher level and having offensive spin. Although you still have less HP and worse armor.
When you defensive spin (and have a free-motion ring) you have better AC than a warrior.
Soloing a blade IS hard till you have the ring and melodic chain, it becomes OP once you have Celestial Fury, a strength enhancing belt, tenser's transformation and the helm that casts simulcron (because the only better than 1 blade bard is two.)
Sounds like a nightmare. Especially the solo run part. But ya I could easily see the Cleric or Bard easily doing it for a party.
The question is would a Bard or Cleric casting something like hold person (attempting to stop combat, even if their allies are 'smarter' and just go kill the held person) still count as pacifism. So hold person, sleep, color spray, web.
Or do we want to do it as ONLY blue and white spell colors only. Herm :P
Well, at least for the solo run you can cast hold person and charm as long as you use it to run away. But if you're using it to let them get killed that would probably be against the spirit of the challenge.
I must be crazy because now I actually want to try this solo pacifist idea. I'm going to finish my BG2 playthrough first though. Anyone know how many enemies in you actually *have* to kill to finish BG1?
Soloing a blade IS hard till you have the ring and melodic chain, it becomes OP once you have Celestial Fury, a strength enhancing belt, tenser's transformation and the helm that casts simulcron (because the only better than 1 blade bard is two.)
That reminds me, why do people like the Celestial Fury so much? I mean it's definitely a good weapon, but the fact that it's only +3 makes it seem like it's a bit below the real top tier weapons in BG2 as far as I can tell. I guess it may be the second best weapon available in chapter 2 after Carsomyr, though.
Soloing a blade IS hard till you have the ring and melodic chain, it becomes OP once you have Celestial Fury, a strength enhancing belt, tenser's transformation and the helm that casts simulcron (because the only better than 1 blade bard is two.)
That reminds me, why do people like the Celestial Fury so much? I mean it's definitely a good weapon, but the fact that it's only +3 makes it seem like it's a bit below the real top tier weapons in BG2 as far as I can tell. I guess it may be the second best weapon available in chapter 2 after Carsomyr, though.
Because the celestial fury has a speed factor of 1, and stuns the target every hit unless they make a save. And katanas do great damage to begin with, 1d10, plus it's only 1 handed so it frees up the other hand. Carsomyr needs both hands and only has a speed factor of 5.
This is completely related to bards, but contains some minor spoilers.
Has anyone ever tried to pick pocket off of Lord Skarmaen Alibakkar in BG2 (in Trademeet)? Is he home prior to you completing the druids quest? He drops an elven chain mail when you kill him, which is useful certainly for Fighter/Mages, as well as for Bards prior to getting the Melodic chainmail.
Edit: Well, I just tried it. I guess you could not possibly do this until you save trademeet since he does not appear in his house before then.
Soloing a blade IS hard till you have the ring and melodic chain, it becomes OP once you have Celestial Fury, a strength enhancing belt, tenser's transformation and the helm that casts simulcron (because the only better than 1 blade bard is two.)
That reminds me, why do people like the Celestial Fury so much? I mean it's definitely a good weapon, but the fact that it's only +3 makes it seem like it's a bit below the real top tier weapons in BG2 as far as I can tell. I guess it may be the second best weapon available in chapter 2 after Carsomyr, though.
The fact that it's not required doesn't mean having an extra +1 or +2 isn't good. And it is required for Kangaxx, who drops a really nice item (Ring of Gaxx).
best party you can make in bg is 5skalds singing song and one blade with 2handed sword, those skalds give you -10thaco +10dmg -10ac to begin with and utterly annihilate everything.
Second best choise is 5jesters singing so every monster in game fails the save and one archer to pick them up.
best party you can make in bg is 5skalds singing song and one blade with 2handed sword, those skalds give you -10thaco +10dmg -10ac to begin with and utterly annihilate everything.
Second best choise is 5jesters singing so every monster in game fails the save and one archer to pick them up.
Do Skald song bonuses stack? That's crazy.
As for the Jester one, best to have them spamming Greater Malison before singing / at intervals with one another.
Well thats an exploit, i wouldnt expect this to work in BG:ee, or maybe i would if there is no such bug thread. In BG2 you dont even need that many bards. Cloned bards copies can sing too, and it stacks. In fact if your playing vanilla pretty much everything stacks, and bard song isnt the worst there.
celestial fury is great because it has a chance to stun on hit. Stunned = disabled and dead.
Mix it with the cloak of mirroring for pure cheese. Mind you, I find the solo Blade by the time they exit underdark as pure cheese. Due to solo XP, and fast bard leveling you'll have HLA's super fast and can just timestop trap and either nuke with all your spells or offensive spin your way through. On my run where I enbfeebled Irenicus, I did that so i could just go back out and finish all the chap 2 quests I skipped (I just zoomed through the game as fast as possible with all that xp.) Nothing is a challenge, not even Watcher's Tower. "Oh look at the giant horde of vampire and undead", use Daystar on yourself and a couple simulcrons, next.
Protection from horror helps a LOT in the beginning.
Be that as it may, it doesn't give the luck bonus it claims, so no help to hit, damage or saves. Aside from Horror blocking, it means the only use for your vanilla song is to prevent Sir Khalid from bravely running away after losing two hit points.
I forgot who said they did it, but someone mentioned charming Ursa when the Xvarts have him come out and attack you, then making the bear rampage through and kill the rest of the little smurfs. Genius idea. Very satisfying.
EEEEEeeeeEEEeyaaaaaaaaagH! I forgot who said they did it, but someone mentioned charming Ursa when the Xvarts have him come out and attack you, then making the bear rampage through and kill the rest of the little smurfs. Genius idea. Very satisfying.
@sandmanCCL Go back to your other thread, you Anomen-loving freak! ;-)
Comments
Skald's song trumps the single-class DPS loss, especially at low levels.
The regular song, maybe not much. I still tend to use it when there's lots of spread out mobs ("You have been waylaid by ...") and my squishest NPCs might be in a vulnerable spot, or a position where ranged is forced to melee.
Soloing a blade IS hard till you have the ring and melodic chain, it becomes OP once you have Celestial Fury, a strength enhancing belt, tenser's transformation and the helm that casts simulcron (because the only better than 1 blade bard is two.)
Sounds like a nightmare. Especially the solo run part. But ya I could easily see the Cleric or Bard easily doing it for a party.
The question is would a Bard or Cleric casting something like hold person (attempting to stop combat, even if their allies are 'smarter' and just go kill the held person) still count as pacifism. So hold person, sleep, color spray, web.
Or do we want to do it as ONLY blue and white spell colors only. Herm :P
I'm just more surprised that no one has come up with this challenge before. But good luck to you Sir. You're a braver man than I.
Edit: Well, I just tried it. I guess you could not possibly do this until you save trademeet since he does not appear in his house before then.
Second best choise is 5jesters singing so every monster in game fails the save and one archer to pick them up.
As for the Jester one, best to have them spamming Greater Malison before singing / at intervals with one another.
Either way: it doesn't make them any less annoying. And vampires are probably the most annoying mob in the game.
In BG1, Xvarts aren't challenging either. But their number and that high pitched battle cry they do makes me want to punch my screen.
Vampires are on that kind of level -- level drain is clever but also far and away the most tedious combat mechanic players have to deal with.
I should Shadowkeep my way into a 20th level toon and go put the hurt on their village again.
I forgot who said they did it, but someone mentioned charming Ursa when the Xvarts have him come out and attack you, then making the bear rampage through and kill the rest of the little smurfs. Genius idea. Very satisfying.
(And yeah, that was me about Ursa, too!)
;_;
okayfinebethatway *sulks*