How do you most effectively build Jaheira?

Klorox

I'm looking at a 4 person party (my sorcerer, Jaheira, Minsc, thief, probably Imoen).

Minsc is easy with greatsword. Thief will use a bow.

Jaheira I'm stuck between cheesing a scimitar from everybody's favorite Drow, the Dagger of Venom, and a staff-mace +2.

I'm game to hear other ideas!

profanitywarning

Clubs and slings and shields work well for Jaheira.

ThacoBell

Looks like you don't have a tank. Jaheira can work this pretty well with a Shield. Her dex is enough to get a really good armor class with some heavy armor. Just remember to have her pull back a bit to cast.

cloudkillbeatsall

If you want to her to tank, use Iron Skins a lot.

For a weapon, I usually use Belm for the extra attack per round. Her damage and THAC0 are pretty terrible though so equip her with the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength when you actually want her to kill stuff. Otherwise use one of the belts that protect against piercing/slashing/crushing to give her that extra AC and prevent the skins from being eaten into.

Mush_Mush

Black Blood +3 with Full Plate +2 and Shield Of Harmony Helm Of Balduran...all pretty easy to get early on.

Stack up some Iron skins give her the Ring of Earth Control n the Sewer Cloak etc to boost AC even more and she will be the tankiest of tanks.

TheArtisan

This is asking solely for BG1, right?

I think Jaheira's just not quite there yet with her 14 DEX instead of 17 and inability to use her best spells yet. I end up finding her more useful for darts and utility. Entangle, Charm Person or Mammal, Call Lightning, Call Woodland Beings with Darts of Stunning and Bracers of Archery. Full/Ankheg Plate Mail with the Dagger of Venom and a shield into melee if absolutely necessary.

In BG2 I think she's among the best early/mid stage party members in the game.

Klorox

Sorry guys, I meant in BG1, not 2.

OrlonKronsteen

Don't forget about the gauntlets of dexterity. She can tank just fine with those, using clubs and shields to maximize AC. She can also be used for spells and ranged as Artemius_I suggests. Personally, I equip her with a staff. It's just how I envision Jahiera (heck, she's even holding a staff in her portrait). When I use her the first thing I do is use EE Keeper to change her pips to ** in staff and one * in 2-handed weapon style. I later add points in clubs. I usually use a sling for ranged, but darts are probably a great idea.

ThacoBell

In that case, she can still tank just fine. She will need to DEX gauntlets to do so though.

Mush_Mush

Klorox said:

Sorry guys, I meant in BG1, not 2.

Ah in that case...

Gauntlets Of Dex
Ankheg Plate Mail
Club (eventually Mighty Oak +2)
Sling +1
Large Shield +1 (Eventually Pellan's perhaps?)
Boots of avoidance
Elves Bane Girdle

Most of these you can get pretty early. There are other things you can acquire as you progress through game but this is the standard tank gettup.

Yulaw9460

Deleted.

Mush_Mush

For me it largely depends how lucky she is with hp rolls on level up. Generally whoever has the most hp gets tank duty.

malachi151

I agree with Mush_Mush, but I do put 2 pips into Scimitars to use the +2 Scimitar from CW (or you can kill Drizz, but... not counting that...)

Grum

A +2 club with shield and sling works well.

As for Minsc, don't discount him for dual wielding if you get him early enough. The Stupifier is an amazing weapon. Lvl 3 get ** in maces, and Lvl 6 get *** in two weapon fighting. He can hit pretty hard, and stun enemies to death with that mace.

malachi151

Grum said:

A +2 club with shield and sling works well.

As for Minsc, don't discount him for dual wielding if you get him early enough. The Stupifier is an amazing weapon. Lvl 3 get ** in maces, and Lvl 6 get *** in two weapon fighting. He can hit pretty hard, and stun enemies to death with that mace.

Yeah, Minsc is really awesome. He's by far the best melee character in the game for most parties IMO.

He got all of the best weapon possibilities.

The two main ways to do him are:

Two-Handed Sword ++ (Spiderbane)
Longbow ++ (Composite Longbow +1)
Two-Handed Weapon Style +

Two-Handed Sword ++ (Spiderbane)
Mace ++ (Stupifier & Mace +1 (+2))
Two-Weapon Style +++

He's the only NPC that can fully effectively dual wield, though Kevian can also, but not quite as well (and Monteran sp?).

Either setup makes use of basically the best weapon setups possible for NPC fighters.

Typically if I use Minsc as the only fighter/ main tank then I use two handed swords with a lonbow and give him the gauntlets of Dex which improves his armor class and archery THAC0. If I have him dual wield then I give him Legacy of the Masters and use another fighter as a main tank.

ThacoBell

Another good option for Jaheira and what I use when I have another tank planned, is to have her as a second line fighter using a staff. Decent positioning keeps out of direct danger and she can contribute in melee while being close enough to your front line to pop out needed heals.

malachi151

After having played through with Yeslick in a Skald group and really optimizing him I'd offer a few revisions to Mush-Mush to really maximize Jaheria.

You have two options:

Single Weapon Style ++ or Two Weapon Style ++

If you want her to be a main tank then get Single Weapon Style. If you want to pump up damage then get Two Weapon Style.

Weapons: Mighty Oak (Club +2) &/or Club +1
Armor: Ankheg Plate Mail
Bracers: Gauntlets Of Dex
Belt: Start with either crushing or slashing protection, then get the Big Fisted Belt (Strength 19)
Boots: Personal preference
Helm: Gift of Peace
Rings: Honorary Ring of Sune & Ring of Princes for starters

Of course the rings and cloak, etc. may be upgraded as you progress in Baldur's Gate.

The think about Jaheria is that she can certainly be a great companion in this configuration, but technically she's always an inferior version of Yeslick. Yeslick has almost identical stats to Jaheria and can be equipped the exact same way, but has a vastly superior spell book.

When comparably equipped their fighting stats will be about the same, but Yeslick brings way better spells and better saving throws and a nice special ability (Dispel Magic). Also Full Plate Armor is slightly better than Ankheg armor.

I do think that Yeslick and Jaheria can be two of the best tanks in the game though. With Gauntlets of Dex, and a shield or Single Weapon Style you can get their natural AC pretty low and then with additional buffs get it even lower. But Yeslick is defiantly better, but he's a late companion and Jaheria is more than capable enough as a fighter to pull through even on Insane difficulty.

Elendar

malachi151 said:

Grum said:

A +2 club with shield and sling works well.

As for Minsc, don't discount him for dual wielding if you get him early enough. The Stupifier is an amazing weapon. Lvl 3 get ** in maces, and Lvl 6 get *** in two weapon fighting. He can hit pretty hard, and stun enemies to death with that mace.

Yeah, Minsc is really awesome. He's by far the best melee character in the game for most parties IMO.

He got all of the best weapon possibilities.

The two main ways to do him are:

Two-Handed Sword ++ (Spiderbane)
Longbow ++ (Composite Longbow +1)
Two-Handed Weapon Style +

Two-Handed Sword ++ (Spiderbane)
Mace ++ (Stupifier & Mace +1 (+2))
Two-Weapon Style +++

He's the only NPC that can fully effectively dual wield, though Kevian can also, but not quite as well (and Monteran sp?).

Either setup makes use of basically the best weapon setups possible for NPC fighters.

Typically if I use Minsc as the only fighter/ main tank then I use two handed swords with a lonbow and give him the gauntlets of Dex which improves his armor class and archery THAC0. If I have him dual wield then I give him Legacy of the Masters and use another fighter as a main tank.

Khalid can effectively dual-wield, too, if you choose to use his proficiency points that way.

Quartz

Elendar said:

Khalid can effectively dual-wield, too, if you choose to use his proficiency points that way.

@Elendar Khalid is highly versatile and one of the easiest characters to "build" into pretty much whatever you want, he is seriously mechanically underrated. Yes, a PC fighter can knock his socks off but for a good or neutral non-fighter-PC CHARNAME, he's a good choice for a party member!

I've alternated between making him sword-and-board and a mean archer. He can do either. I'd never think to make him dual-wield, but that's a neat idea.

tbone1

Quartz said:

Elendar said:

Khalid can effectively dual-wield, too, if you choose to use his proficiency points that way.

@Elendar Khalid is highly versatile and one of the easiest characters to "build" into pretty much whatever you want, he is seriously mechanically underrated. Yes, a PC fighter can knock his socks off but for a good or neutral non-fighter-PC CHARNAME, he's a good choice for a party member!

I've alternated between making him sword-and-board and a mean archer. He can do either. I'd never think to make him dual-wield, but that's a neat idea.

One of Khalid's drawbacks is that he was in the original game, before kits and weapon styles were a thing. So he had that useless pip in axes, where he would have been better served to have it in sword-and-shield, single weapon, or two-weapon. Also, he always struck me as a better fighter/mage than fighter, but that may just be me.

malachi151

Not sure I agree about Khalid being any good. I mean, yes, you can have him in your party and beat the game, that's true, but I'd say he's clearly inferior to pretty much every other NPC there is.

Can you dual wield with him? Sure. But Minsc and Shar-Teel are clearly the best of dual wielding and pretty much every other fighter NPC is just as good or better for dual wielding than Khalid. Arguably Kagain, Yeslick and Jaheira are better for dual wielding than Khalid.

Can he be a good archer? Yeah, he can be okay, but he has no real advantage in archery until level 6 if you put all his remaining pips into Longbow, but Kivan and Coran are still better than him and possibly even Minsc and Shar-Teel if you dual her at 6.

Sword and board? This is clearly his best setup, but plenty of others do it better. Kagain, Ajantis, Jaheira and Yeslick are all as good or better at sword and board.

The only thing he really has going for him is constitution. His Dex is better than some others, but if you're going to use him as your main tank you still need to put the Gauntlets of Dex on him. If you're going to use him as an archer he's probably still better off with the Gauntlets of Dex than with Legacy of the Masters, unlike Kivan or Coran.

If you put the Gauntlets of Dex and the Big Fisted Belt on him he's okay, but that's true of anyone and I'd rather have Yeslick or Jaheria or Ajantis or Kagain in that configuration.

I mean yes, he's usable, but I can't think of any way that he's better than any other NPC in any given role.

Archer? Others are better.
Tank? Others are better.
Melee DPS? Others are better.

He's basically an NPC that can only be mediocre in any given role.

ThacoBell

Khalid can be built for any fighter role, and he will do so very well. he is basically 2nd best at everything. That is some good utility.

Loldrup

malachi151 said:

Khalid is basically an NPC that can only be mediocre in any given role.

You forget that Khalid can have 3 pips in Longswords. That alone brings him on parity with Ajantis and Kivan for sword and board.
Imagine equipping them all with the gauntlets of ogre power. Then Khalid has +1/+2 better than anyone except Dorn.
And eventually Khalid can have 4 pips in Longswords..

malachi151

Loldrup said:

malachi151 said:

Khalid is basically an NPC that can only be mediocre in any given role.

You forget that Khalid can have 3 pips in Longswords. That alone brings him on parity with Ajantis and Kivan for sword and board.
Imagine equipping them all with the gauntlets of ogre power. Then Khalid has +1/+2 better than anyone except Dorn.
And eventually Khalid can have 4 pips in Longswords..

Except his DEX still isn't good enough to be left alone if you want him for a tank, so if you want him as your main tank it's best to put the Gauntlets of DEX on him. If you get the Belt of STR from the Rassad quest then he can be good, but then again anyone can with both of those.

For a good tank I'd rather have Ajantis, Yeslick or Jaheria. For good DPS I'd rather have Kivan, Minsc, or Coran.

I mean, yeah, he can be okay, but he's not my first choice for any role. But that's just me.

Loldrup

With the strength belt, Khalid will once again be +1/+2 better than anyone else wearing the strength belt. +2/+2 if you compare with non-elves (which is most of the competition).
Then at some point he gets that 4th pip, putting him into +2/+3 advantage compared to non elves competitors. In short, he'll be way more destructive than any other NPC on the sword coast.

If you insist on upgrading his Dex from 16-18, and not boosting his strength, well, then he'll still be in the same league as Ajantis and Kivan when it comes to damage and thac0.

Oh, and he's got 17 CON! That beats the competition.

You may not like him, but the numbers speaks for themselves.

malachi151

Except that's all single wielding. For offensive power I'd prefer Minsc or Kivan who can dual wield, use bows and 2 handers. For a tank I'd rather have Ajantis or Yeslick who are more versatile. But again, to each his own.