Just wondering how you get the most use out of the shaman. So far I've taken Bless, CLW, and Doom for the level 1 spellbook and charm for level 2. It's a weird class, because you want them dancing to summon spirits, but they also have spells to cast, which breaks the summons. I've tried waiting for the spirit text to appear in the log and move Sky a small amount, but it instantly unsummons my spirits every time.
What do you do for the thief skills. I've taken set traps so far because awesome but aren't really sure what to do next. I've been taking detect traps since I plan on trying Durlag's Tower. Open locks can be covered with knock, while the two stealth skills can be covered with invisibility (they're also a heavy investment since they depend on two skills). Detect illusion is nice, but Sky gets that, although he then has to use it instead of summoning or casting. I guess the real question is, how good is pick pockets? Potions of master thievery aren't exactly hard to come by, and the important items can be planned for.
For the shaman you have to deactivate the dancing button before moving - and then reactivate it before the next check (which, at 60 fps should be 6 seconds since the previous one). That provides plenty of time to move around if you're careful. However, there is a separate dancing cooldown timer for the shaman, which means they are not able to attack or cast spells during the periods between dancing. I tend to prioritize slow poison as a spell, but that's only because I don't allow the use of antidote potions - those are cheap, plentiful and normally better than a spell. If you haven't tried Writhing Fog then give that a go. Even with SCS there are enemies that don't react to that and can be killed from out of sight. There are also many enemies that can be run round inside the effect (shamans are immune to their own Fog). I agree with you though that one of the problems with playing the shaman is that they have so many options. I deliberately set the strength and dexterity of the character below their maximums, as with those shamans are also pretty lethal with ranged weapons - especially daggers with the extra APR and strength bonus.
The thief skills I prioritize vary a lot depending on a run:
- find traps is a convenience measure and allows additional treasure to be grabbed and that's often an early priority.
- I also often put enough into open locks to open most chests without potions. Most of the time I don't have a mage in the party and even if I do knock is only definitely found in the Cloakwood Mine (which for me is most of the way through a run).
- set traps tends to be increased after the others, though occasionally (as in this run) I decide to have fun by doing that first to make the 'Elminster option' easier.
- I often use stealth skills extensively when solo, so that would tend to be my first choice to improve. In a party though there are other options for scouting.
- detect illusion is normally not improved until BG2. In this case that's especially so as the shaman gets that ability for free (though as noted above, there's the problem of wanting to do too many things at once).
- I find pickpocketing entirely useless as an ability. There are very few things indeed I thing are worthwhile attempting to pickpocket in a no-reload run and the ones there are can be done using potions anyway.
Any particular question about divine spells you had in mind? At lower levels clerics have some amazing spells. The druid ones are not as good at low levels, but at level 3 and higher they start making up for that.
For the shaman you have to deactivate the dancing button before moving - and then reactivate it before the next check (which, at 60 fps should be 6 seconds since the previous one).
I deliberately set the strength and dexterity of the character below their maximums, as with those shamans are also pretty lethal with ranged weapons - especially daggers with the extra APR and strength bonus.
Giving Sky the strength manual is a definite consideration, and my intention is to equip him with Prat's axe, possibly switching to throwing daggers once the returning ones are available. Do throwing weapons benefit from the IAS of Belm or Kundane, as that's an option for Star as well? Falesia isn't a terrible choice either. Would she get percentile strength after dualing to ranger?
The thief skills I prioritize vary a lot depending on a run...
Thanks for the rundown. I'll start putting points into open lock. Find traps is at 75, and that should detect most things, with potions of perception being available if needed.
Any particular question about divine spells you had in mind? At lower levels clerics have some amazing spells. The druid ones are not as good at low levels, but at level 3 and higher they start making up for that.
Any recommended go-to spells?
Level 1: I've been making heavy use of command after reading about the ankheg area, but I assume it falls off later. CLW is self explanatory. Doom seems to be something that will be useful in landing spells later on, and bless gives a decent party buff. Sanctuary is pretty useful, especially for scouting and oh shit moments. Detect evil, magical stone, and shillelagh don't seem useful. Armor of faith looks alright. Entangle is fine, but web seems better, and Waiver has access to chromatic orb at that level.
Level 2: Hold person and silence seem like the best spells on this level. DUHM has its uses and is particularly good for Falesia with the PoL ability. Flame blade and spiritual hammer are alright, but it's not hard to find enchanted weapons. I'm not quite sure how barkskin interacts with armor and don't know which situations I would use aid or chant. There aren't a lot of great choices for Waiver, but that makes it easier to stack up on webs.
Level 3: I've seen heavy use of animate dead in your runs. Dispel magic is situational. Waiver gets access to call lightning, lightning bolt, and summon insects at this level, which are all pretty good, but I'm cautious of lightning bolt.
Level 4+: I haven't unlocked these yet and haven't looked at them much. Summons are almost always useful, so I suspect they are usually memorized. Many of the others are situational.
One correction - I see I referred earlier to 6 seconds at 60 fps - I play at 60, but I intended to refer to 6 seconds at 30 fps .
Throwing weapons don't get the additional attack from Belm when thrown - but they do if dual-wielded (and the throwing dagger keeps its basic 2 APR even when used in melee).
Your analysis of divine spells seems generally fine to me.
Level 1: you might find remove fear useful in certain situations, though I tend not to bother with that (spreading out the party instead to prevent multiple people needing to save).
Level 2: I find aid a bit more useful than you suggest - as a spell it stacks with bless, so is helpful if you need quick kills (as it can be cast on others it also makes it easier to combine with other self-buffs). In addition it provides some healing if you've not already used it for other purposes. You should also think about using chant for significant battles.
Level 3: you're wise to be cautious of lightning bolt . In some situations you can stack large numbers of glyphs of warding and pull enemies into them (particularly helpful for this party as you don't have access to skull trap). Holy smite does pretty good area damage and can be targeted safely on non-evil people. Strength of one can also be a good option for this party as strengths are generally low.
Comments
What do you do for the thief skills. I've taken set traps so far because awesome but aren't really sure what to do next. I've been taking detect traps since I plan on trying Durlag's Tower. Open locks can be covered with knock, while the two stealth skills can be covered with invisibility (they're also a heavy investment since they depend on two skills). Detect illusion is nice, but Sky gets that, although he then has to use it instead of summoning or casting. I guess the real question is, how good is pick pockets? Potions of master thievery aren't exactly hard to come by, and the important items can be planned for.
Also, any insight on the divine spells?
The thief skills I prioritize vary a lot depending on a run:
- find traps is a convenience measure and allows additional treasure to be grabbed and that's often an early priority.
- I also often put enough into open locks to open most chests without potions. Most of the time I don't have a mage in the party and even if I do knock is only definitely found in the Cloakwood Mine (which for me is most of the way through a run).
- set traps tends to be increased after the others, though occasionally (as in this run) I decide to have fun by doing that first to make the 'Elminster option' easier.
- I often use stealth skills extensively when solo, so that would tend to be my first choice to improve. In a party though there are other options for scouting.
- detect illusion is normally not improved until BG2. In this case that's especially so as the shaman gets that ability for free (though as noted above, there's the problem of wanting to do too many things at once).
- I find pickpocketing entirely useless as an ability. There are very few things indeed I thing are worthwhile attempting to pickpocket in a no-reload run and the ones there are can be done using potions anyway.
Any particular question about divine spells you had in mind? At lower levels clerics have some amazing spells. The druid ones are not as good at low levels, but at level 3 and higher they start making up for that.
Level 1: I've been making heavy use of command after reading about the ankheg area, but I assume it falls off later. CLW is self explanatory. Doom seems to be something that will be useful in landing spells later on, and bless gives a decent party buff. Sanctuary is pretty useful, especially for scouting and oh shit moments. Detect evil, magical stone, and shillelagh don't seem useful. Armor of faith looks alright. Entangle is fine, but web seems better, and Waiver has access to chromatic orb at that level.
Level 2: Hold person and silence seem like the best spells on this level. DUHM has its uses and is particularly good for Falesia with the PoL ability. Flame blade and spiritual hammer are alright, but it's not hard to find enchanted weapons. I'm not quite sure how barkskin interacts with armor and don't know which situations I would use aid or chant. There aren't a lot of great choices for Waiver, but that makes it easier to stack up on webs.
Level 3: I've seen heavy use of animate dead in your runs. Dispel magic is situational. Waiver gets access to call lightning, lightning bolt, and summon insects at this level, which are all pretty good, but I'm cautious of lightning bolt.
Level 4+: I haven't unlocked these yet and haven't looked at them much. Summons are almost always useful, so I suspect they are usually memorized. Many of the others are situational.
Throwing weapons don't get the additional attack from Belm when thrown - but they do if dual-wielded (and the throwing dagger keeps its basic 2 APR even when used in melee).
Your analysis of divine spells seems generally fine to me.
Level 1: you might find remove fear useful in certain situations, though I tend not to bother with that (spreading out the party instead to prevent multiple people needing to save).
Level 2: I find aid a bit more useful than you suggest - as a spell it stacks with bless, so is helpful if you need quick kills (as it can be cast on others it also makes it easier to combine with other self-buffs). In addition it provides some healing if you've not already used it for other purposes. You should also think about using chant for significant battles.
Level 3: you're wise to be cautious of lightning bolt