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What is the best race for a Shadowdancer?

dracostrikedracostrike Member Posts: 151
in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Simple question, which should I run for a PC?

Comments

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,760
    Halfling.

    Best saving throws. Best thieving bonuses. 19 DEX. Also, a shortie!

    A penalty to STR can be compensated with an item, and there're several STR-enhancing items in BG2EE.
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
    Shadowdancers are rather lackluster if not dualed, but I believe Gnomes would be the best class for a single class Shadowdancer. They get very low saving throws with shorty bonus without losing anything on an offensive point of view. Alternatively Half-Orc will be stronger early game (With 19 STR, they'll deal 5*backstab multiplier bonus damage compared to another race, and a nice bonus to hit as well), but this advantage vanishes when you get STR items. I'd go for a gnome though.
  • dracostrikedracostrike Member Posts: 151
    Can you still do romances with halflings too?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,760
    dracostrike said:

    Can you still do romances with halflings too?

    Male Halflings - Jaheira, Aerie, Viconia, Neera, Dorn.
    Female Halflings - Anomen, Rasaad, Hexxat, Dorn.
  • jackjackjackjack Member Posts: 3,251
    Gnomes are indeed awesome, but I've personally never needed a thief with more than 17 STR, (there are a bajillion items to rectify that anyway), and Halflings get a saving throw bonus vs. Death that Gnomes do not.
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
    jackjack said:

    Gnomes are indeed awesome, but I've personally never needed a thief with more than 17 STR, (there are a bajillion items to rectify that anyway), and Halflings get a saving throw bonus vs. Death that Gnomes do not.

    Very true. I just learnt something today,always thought all shorties had the same save bonus.
    Then, Halfling it is I guess.
  • magisenseimagisensei Member Posts: 316
    The best choice would have to be elf - shadowdancer are part magical thief and the other races are not as magical as an elf.

    But if I had to pick a shorty race it would be halflings to be a shadowdancer with its bonuses to hiding.
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    Elves are also quite good. Unlike halflings, they can get a 19 base strength from the tome in BG1, and their con penalty doesn't really hurt anything. They don't get the halfling save bonuses, which is a big disadvantage, but the +1 to hit with swords comes in handy for landing those all-important backstabs in the early game.
  • sluckerssluckers Member Posts: 280
    edited June 2016
    I would go with halfling or elf, for the prime stat bonuses.

    Strength is truly unnecessary, though it is nice. A 17 str halfling will still land blows. The invisibility bonus, rather than the strength bonus (it's damage bonus is also not multiplied in backstabs) is a backstabbers big THAC0 perk. Don't get me wrong, strength is nice, but the invisibility plays a much bigger part when it comes to landing blows than +1 strength (which I believe is only +1 THACO and damage, and the damage jump from 18-19 strength is peanuts compared to the weapon damage which actually gets multplied), and the halfling bonuses are really helpful in the early game. It's a little extra umph in the early levels only, but it really helps at that particular point in the game.
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    To my mind, the main attraction of the 19 strength is +3 to hit, as opposed to the +1 to hit from 17 or 18. Although the +7 damage vs. the 18 strength's +2 is nothing to sneeze at either, at least until your backstab bonus hits x4 or so. If your backstab is x3, for example, having a 19 strength instead of an 18 is roughly like using a +3 weapon instead of a +1 weapon. 17 to 18 is definitely not important for a shadowdancer, but that 19 seems very much worthwhile. Of course it won't be too long before you can just put on a belt and do just as well no matter your base strength.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I would like to play a Frost Giant Shadowdancer. That would be awesome.
  • rapsam2003rapsam2003 Member Posts: 1,636
    semiticgod said:

    I would like to play a Frost Giant Shadowdancer. That would be awesome.

    Buy Neverwinter Nights 2 Complete from GoG.com. Then go to http://sigil-nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Sigil_NWN2_PW . Download all the Persistent World files (in the game itself). Create a Frost Giant and become a Shadowdancer.
  • ameliabogginsameliaboggins Member Posts: 287
    semiticgod said:

    I would like to play a Frost Giant Shadowdancer. That would be awesome.

    Not quite the same, but you could keeper Hexxat to shadowdancer.....20str or 21 is theres a tome from bg1 about )

    I dont recall any thief specific str items.....there was a couple in IWD.
    Its hard to justify giving a belt or gauntlet from the tank to the thief, depends on the grp i guess.
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