Dorn is strong, but no stronger than any PC I have rolled. Also, stat totals are not all that matter. If I remember correctly Edwin is by far one of the best NPCs with one of the lowest combined stats. Dorn is juuuust right for me.
Good point. The main reason people wet themselves over Edwin is because of his extra spells, 18 INT, and 16 CON. With his 72 stat total (so much for his supremacism), every other specialist wizard in the game has better STR, DEX, WIS, and CHA (tied with Xzar) than him. If it weren't for the 1 extra spell per level, I think powergamers would pass him over for Xzar, Xan, or Dynaheir. As far as role-playing goes, I think he's definitely one of the most amusing and interesting NPCs (the evil players' Minsc?).
@ Pantalion Edit: Just noticed, looks like *somebody* killed Jaheira in that pic, but not Khallid. Finding out why is going to be the new major mystery of the upcoming game.
Doesn't mean she's dead as all you have to do is use the trick of kicking her out while in a store or bar and then leaving. He/she will stay there and in case of emergency can be re-recruited. No idea why that works but it does. It's how people usually drop any of the pairs like those who like minsc but not dynaheir.
I hope the other NPCs aren't as on-the-brink-of-OP as this one. Wouldn't be fun. I think Dorn's stats could have been a little more civilized.
I agree with your first two clauses but not your third. Ajantis had a roll of 88, to put the opposite of Ajantis too much lower than that would've been stupid. That said, I would've hoped he had been at an 88 with Ajantis rather than 90, but oh well.
If Rasaad has high stats I will more or less understand because he needs them as a low level Monk. If Neera's stats are super high I will throw a bitch-fit, not even going to sugar coat it. Because then it'll just be proven "lala, who cares about balancing these new NPCs along the old ones? No one cares about them!" which would just look awful. But so far Overhaul seems dedicated to not doing that.
Poor Dorn is a full point lower than he should be, he should have a 91 stat total.
I'm not gonna lie, the lack of a 17 Charisma does annoy me, but 1 point lower isn't the end of the world so yeah. Incidentally, he's tied with Eldoth for most Charismatic Evil NPC.
Good point. The main reason people wet themselves over Edwin is because of his extra spells, 18 INT, and 16 CON. With his 72 stat total (so much for his supremacism), every other specialist wizard in the game has better STR, DEX, WIS, and CHA (tied with Xzar) than him. If it weren't for the 1 extra spell per level, I think powergamers would pass him over for Xzar, Xan, or Dynaheir. As far as role-playing goes, I think he's definitely one of the most amusing and interesting NPCs (the evil players' Minsc?).
It's because literally, LITERALLY, all you need on a mage is constitution and intelligence. Everything else could be sitting at just 10 (gasp... Like Edwin!) and you'll automatically be among the best characters in the game. Missing out on dexterity sucks, but considering mage AC tends to be atrocious anyway it's a bigger deal to have more health than more AC.
None of the mage NPCs have any business with more than 10 strength. Seriously, it's pointless. Ooh an extra 20 pounds of carry weight on a guy who doesn't need more than 10 pounds of gear total. Big deal.
If Edwin was a regular mage and didn't gain the bonus spells per day, he'd still be the best mage in the game. Edit: Sorry, second best. I actually prefer Imoen, because HP from rogue levels, max wizard constitution AND dexterity for ranged thac0.
Good point. The main reason people wet themselves over Edwin is because of his extra spells, 18 INT, and 16 CON. With his 72 stat total (so much for his supremacism), every other specialist wizard in the game has better STR, DEX, WIS, and CHA (tied with Xzar) than him. If it weren't for the 1 extra spell per level, I think powergamers would pass him over for Xzar, Xan, or Dynaheir. As far as role-playing goes, I think he's definitely one of the most amusing and interesting NPCs (the evil players' Minsc?).
It's because literally, LITERALLY, all you need on a mage is constitution and intelligence. Everything else could be sitting at just 10 (gasp... Like Edwin!) and you'll automatically be among the best characters in the game. Missing out on dexterity sucks, but considering mage AC tends to be atrocious anyway it's a bigger deal to have more health than more AC.
None of the mage NPCs have any business with more than 10 strength. Seriously, it's pointless. Ooh an extra 20 pounds of carry weight on a guy who doesn't need more than 10 pounds of gear total. Big deal.
If Edwin was a regular mage and didn't gain the bonus spells per day, he'd still be the best mage in the game.
I think ten pounds is a little low considering potions.
Good point. The main reason people wet themselves over Edwin is because of his extra spells, 18 INT, and 16 CON. With his 72 stat total (so much for his supremacism), every other specialist wizard in the game has better STR, DEX, WIS, and CHA (tied with Xzar) than him. If it weren't for the 1 extra spell per level, I think powergamers would pass him over for Xzar, Xan, or Dynaheir. As far as role-playing goes, I think he's definitely one of the most amusing and interesting NPCs (the evil players' Minsc?).
It's because literally, LITERALLY, all you need on a mage is constitution and intelligence. Everything else could be sitting at just 10 (gasp... Like Edwin!) and you'll automatically be among the best characters in the game. Missing out on dexterity sucks, but considering mage AC tends to be atrocious anyway it's a bigger deal to have more health than more AC.
None of the mage NPCs have any business with more than 10 strength. Seriously, it's pointless. Ooh an extra 20 pounds of carry weight on a guy who doesn't need more than 10 pounds of gear total. Big deal.
If Edwin was a regular mage and didn't gain the bonus spells per day, he'd still be the best mage in the game. Edit: Sorry, second best. I actually prefer Imoen, because HP from rogue levels, max wizard constitution AND dexterity for ranged thac0.
I'm pretty much an exclusive mage player and I've never put much importance on CON with mages. I see CON as important to characters who engage in melee and DEX as more important for those I want to prevent from engaging in melee, staying in the back of the party and contributing missile support. Larloch's Minor Drain and Vampiric Touch compensate nicely for the lack of a CON bonus, as well as doing damage to enemies. And since high DEX provides both AC bonuses and to hit bonuses with missiles, it seems a more "economical" use of ability score points than putting them into CON.
Edwin pretty much sucks after he's out of spells at levels 5 and under. He only has the blunt weapon/staff proficiency, so he's limited to melee only--with a 10 DEX no less. Even with an Armor or Shield spell, he's still a liability. He usually ends up tagging along, staying out of battles, and sitting on his thumb until my party rests again and his spells are re-memorized.
Anyone else ever wonder if Edwin was written as the NPC with Asperger's?
Good stats - really good stats! This is promising. Even so, I hope there isn't horrible incongruity that results in all three new NPCs being stat-blessed to such a degree that they're blatantly more powerful in their respective fields than the original NPCs. From her bio post, Neera doesn't seem as though she should have 18 Intelligence. That would put her on par with Edwin, and make her more intelligent than Nalia, which she hasn't been portrayed to be thus far.
What is this about giving him the tomes? Is doing that with tomes a normal thing? Giving them to people who already have high stats?
...I always give my tomes to people with lower corresponding stats to compensate for their weaknesses.
How do you determine who gets them in your games? Does the one with the lowest score (in comparison to the others) get the tome?
I give several to my PC (always INT, WIS, and CHA), but I usually give Viconia a WIS tome or two, Monty the DEX tome, and sometimes the CON tome to Kagain, making him into a super-tank. Since Dorn is one point away from a +1 bonus to his HP, I'll be giving him the CON tome.
It's hard not to meta-game my stats during character creation, knowing that the tomes exist.
Lowest stat is part of it. But it's like, lowest stat among characters in which that stat would actually make a difference. For example. I wouldn't use it on a character with an ability score of 8 because a 9 is still a -1. I also wouldn't bother raising, say, a straight up fighter's intelligence. I would spend it on someone with a class that actually uses the stat. Charisma always goes to my charname regardless of the party because a lot of stuff, like characters joining, that sort of thing, depends on the leader's charisma. The Constitution tome always goes to Xan because seriously the poor man needs all the CON he can get. 7 is just a pathetic stat to have. Considering he's got a neat sword I would really like to get some use out of, and that means melee combat, anything that will help him get more HP on level up is a plus.
I'm rather hoping that Rasaad has at least 17 STR, 18 DEX, and 16 CON. I know that it's really high, but he's a low-level monk and needs great stats just to compete with the vanilla BG1 NPCs.
By the time of BG2, balance can be maintained because the vanilla BG2 NPCs have great stats too and he'll have transformed into the death machine that is a high-level monk.
So im new to baldurs gate (played diablo at the time) pre ordered and i already know im going to play a human blackguard and i was curious what i need to spec my character to become one, is it true i need to roll paladin first?
Blackguard will be a subclass of Paladin, so it will be pretty obvious after you click "paladin" what to do next. As for your stats, bump up strength, dexterity, constitution as much as you can. This is a game where optimal stats are actually not important.
@Hellishreaper Nope, you'll create the character as a Blackguard. A fallen paladin is still a fallen paladin in the game, and such a character might not be evil. But a blackguard is evil and the kit has it's own unique features that set it apart from a fallen paladin.
So im new to baldurs gate (played diablo at the time) pre ordered and i already know im going to play a human blackguard and i was curious what i need to spec my character to become one, is it true i need to roll paladin first?
Blackguard is a kit of Paladin. Think of it as a sub-class that works much like the regular class with a few tweaks. You will have to be human and evil, but that's it as far as requirements go.
Make sure to get high Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity and I'd recommend specializing in Two-handed swords. Other than that, you're good. Paladins are a simple and fun class to pay. They make a terrific beginner class.
You should try to aim for at least 10 intelligence. And when you're using a merchant drag the character with the highest charisma in the top slot of the party.
Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but it was obvious the three new NPCs were going to have above average stats. They've been future proofed for BG2, of which every NPC has spectacular stats.
So I was thinking about Dorn's low Constitution... Then I realized, that since he won't lose any hp from it, he is a prime candidate for the Claw of Kazgaroth.
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Doesn't mean she's dead as all you have to do is use the trick of kicking her out while in a store or bar and then leaving. He/she will stay there and in case of emergency can be re-recruited. No idea why that works but it does. It's how people usually drop any of the pairs like those who like minsc but not dynaheir.
If Rasaad has high stats I will more or less understand because he needs them as a low level Monk. If Neera's stats are super high I will throw a bitch-fit, not even going to sugar coat it. Because then it'll just be proven "lala, who cares about balancing these new NPCs along the old ones? No one cares about them!" which would just look awful. But so far Overhaul seems dedicated to not doing that. I'm not gonna lie, the lack of a 17 Charisma does annoy me, but 1 point lower isn't the end of the world so yeah. Incidentally, he's tied with Eldoth for most Charismatic Evil NPC.
But I believe it's coded the same as BG2 so if you remove the XP cap, he could still get spells. I mean Minsc can for crying out loud.
None of the mage NPCs have any business with more than 10 strength. Seriously, it's pointless. Ooh an extra 20 pounds of carry weight on a guy who doesn't need more than 10 pounds of gear total. Big deal.
If Edwin was a regular mage and didn't gain the bonus spells per day, he'd still be the best mage in the game. Edit: Sorry, second best. I actually prefer Imoen, because HP from rogue levels, max wizard constitution AND dexterity for ranged thac0.
Edwin pretty much sucks after he's out of spells at levels 5 and under. He only has the blunt weapon/staff proficiency, so he's limited to melee only--with a 10 DEX no less. Even with an Armor or Shield spell, he's still a liability. He usually ends up tagging along, staying out of battles, and sitting on his thumb until my party rests again and his spells are re-memorized.
Anyone else ever wonder if Edwin was written as the NPC with Asperger's?
Even so, I hope there isn't horrible incongruity that results in all three new NPCs being stat-blessed to such a degree that they're blatantly more powerful in their respective fields than the original NPCs. From her bio post, Neera doesn't seem as though she should have 18 Intelligence. That would put her on par with Edwin, and make her more intelligent than Nalia, which she hasn't been portrayed to be thus far.
Lowest stat is part of it. But it's like, lowest stat among characters in which that stat would actually make a difference. For example. I wouldn't use it on a character with an ability score of 8 because a 9 is still a -1. I also wouldn't bother raising, say, a straight up fighter's intelligence. I would spend it on someone with a class that actually uses the stat. Charisma always goes to my charname regardless of the party because a lot of stuff, like characters joining, that sort of thing, depends on the leader's charisma.
The Constitution tome always goes to Xan because seriously the poor man needs all the CON he can get. 7 is just a pathetic stat to have. Considering he's got a neat sword I would really like to get some use out of, and that means melee combat, anything that will help him get more HP on level up is a plus.
I'm selfish and I keep all the tomes for myself.
By the time of BG2, balance can be maintained because the vanilla BG2 NPCs have great stats too and he'll have transformed into the death machine that is a high-level monk.
Blackguard will be a subclass of Paladin, so it will be pretty obvious after you click "paladin" what to do next.
As for your stats, bump up strength, dexterity, constitution as much as you can. This is a game where optimal stats are actually not important.
Make sure to get high Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity and I'd recommend specializing in Two-handed swords. Other than that, you're good. Paladins are a simple and fun class to pay. They make a terrific beginner class.