Skip to content

is familiar a cheesy spell?

ArthasArthas Member Posts: 1,091
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Used just to get the 15 hp, then having it in the backpack all the times? :(

Comments

  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    edited June 2016
    I don't view it as cheese, it has been there since the beginning. Nothing wrong with it at all since those early levels can be tough. The downsides if it does get killed aren't really worth it to me so I rarely use it myself. I get those extra hit points and more usually by dual- or multi-classing with fighter or cleric.

    Edit: I guess it has been too long since I played vanilla BG1 and it wasn't there. Still though, I don't view it as OP or cheese.
    Post edited by mf2112 on
  • ThrasymachusThrasymachus Member Posts: 915
    You only get 6 hp in BGEE (+SoD) and 12 in BG2/BG2EE. That's not really a big deal IMO. (One of the evil familiars provides even fewer HP.)

    Familiars can be useful sometimes. E.g., most are immune to basilisk stare attacks, so you can use them to 'scout' areas with basilisks. And they occasionally have interesting things to say.
  • dibdib Member Posts: 384
    You can also use it to watch Drizzt get butchered by gnolls.
  • Abi_DalzimAbi_Dalzim Member Posts: 1,428
    Its three attacks per round mean that it will kill the rats in Reevor's storehouse faster than any fighter build you're liable to have in Candlekeep.
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    I dont use it ever since they "fixed" the glitch where you could drop your familiar if you're given an item in a dialogue with a full inventory. The extra HP is nice but I dont need it so much that I have to permanently sacrifice 1 inventory slot.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    Flashburn said:

    The extra HP is nice but I dont need it so much that I have to permanently sacrifice 1 inventory slot.

    Do you really need that one used slot all the time? Or you like saving it for a proper opportunity?
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 6,002
    also, this spell first came out in SoA, not bg1, so in SoA that HP boost was kind of small, but however in bg1ee it is quite the boost, there are quite a few spells from bg2 that are in bg1ee now, so sometimes if it kind of feels out of place, chances are it was introduced into bg2 first,

    but since now bg1ee uses bg2's engine, that is why they transferred some bg2 stuff over to bg1
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    Abi_Dalzim said:

    Its three attacks per round mean that it will kill the rats in Reevor's storehouse faster than any fighter build you're liable to have in Candlekeep.

    Not a super useful endorsement
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    mf2112 said:

    I don't view it as cheese, it has been there since the beginning. Nothing wrong with it at all since those early levels can be tough. The downsides if it does get killed aren't really worth it to me so I rarely use it myself. I get those extra hit points and more usually by dual- or multi-classing with fighter or cleric.

    It hasn't been there since the beginning. Vanilla BG1 never had it.

    It's less cheesy if you refrain from keeping it in your pack.
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    Personally, I don't have much problem making a 1st level mage character slightly less prone to dying the first time a bandit looks in their general direction. To speak more specifically to the point, cheese is highly subjective, but it's usually defined as something that takes all challenge out of a situation that's supposed to be challenging. While the extra health from a familiar is certainly an advantage, I can't think of a lot of situations where it eliminates all or most of the challenge. There are a few times when the extra health will reduce the danger from "extremely high" to "high-ish", but that's hardly removing all challenge.
  • meaglothmeagloth Member Posts: 3,806
    If it was cheesey I would use it more often. I used it once so I could have a pet cat.
  • userunfriendlyuserunfriendly Member Posts: 39
    edited June 2016
    get ferret, best familiar.
    remove all items on one character except rift device or 2 pieces of drow gear
    save and have ferret pickpocket until successful.

    leave the unseeing eye or underdark with INTACT Items.

    when you get to the surface, ask familiar for your smuggled loot. cackle wildly.

    cheesy enough for you?
Sign In or Register to comment.

2025 Overhaul Games, a division of Beamdog. © 2025 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate, Wizards of the Coast and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. and are used with permission. © 1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Infinity Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.