Xan and his Moonblade
CookieShion
Member Posts: 5
Just as the title says.
Would it be best to keep Xan and his moonblade rather than keeping Dynaheir and Minsc? I know that Edward is a great character but I already ditched him. I've read some of the old(old old old) forum post on this, I would like to know new insights about it. I used to play BG on PC before way back 2003 and I was able to give console commands and enjoyed the game with a lot of Minsc which was really funny as a kid. Although, right now, I want to experience the game more and trying to mix the characters. If I'll get Xan, I'll most likely get Rasaad, and I don't even know if my party would be good or not although I enjoy Rasaad more than Minsc. It's nice to have some Ninja monk with really really long dialogues in the team than having Minsc talking to boo which is kind of cute too!
I have a full party With Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc and Dynaheir. I actually left Kivan at Nashkel town since I was running out of time with him. I just realized that I can't have all the characters that I want. I basically keep Khalid and Jaheira for the story purposes that they were supposed to do in the story.
Would it be best to keep Xan and his moonblade rather than keeping Dynaheir and Minsc? I know that Edward is a great character but I already ditched him. I've read some of the old(old old old) forum post on this, I would like to know new insights about it. I used to play BG on PC before way back 2003 and I was able to give console commands and enjoyed the game with a lot of Minsc which was really funny as a kid. Although, right now, I want to experience the game more and trying to mix the characters. If I'll get Xan, I'll most likely get Rasaad, and I don't even know if my party would be good or not although I enjoy Rasaad more than Minsc. It's nice to have some Ninja monk with really really long dialogues in the team than having Minsc talking to boo which is kind of cute too!
I have a full party With Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc and Dynaheir. I actually left Kivan at Nashkel town since I was running out of time with him. I just realized that I can't have all the characters that I want. I basically keep Khalid and Jaheira for the story purposes that they were supposed to do in the story.
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However, you could change his class to Fighter/mage through use of a mod (I'm not sure which mod does this but I'm pretty sure there's one for BG1, definitely for BG2 Xan mod at least).
As a mage though Xan can be good since there are tons of enchantment spells from levels 1 to 5 that require a saving throw, therefore they benefit from his enchanter kit. Losing spells such as magic missile, web, and cloudkill can be unfortunate, however other spells or wands can potentially substitute for these.
Overall I would recommend picking Xan for the experience - as you said yourself really. He's a funny character, and each mage character with their different specialist schools means you play each one differently, which can be fun to experiment with.
The primary advantage to Xan is that his Charm person (and let's be honest, most of the hardest fights involve at least *some* people) is harder to save against than normal.
I would likewise recommend running Xan alongside Ajantis as they have interactions. The NPC project broadens this interaction, particularly if you have an evil party member.
If you've played with Minsc a bunch give him a go - he's funny in his own way
Xan is an enchanter which means he can't use Invocation school spells.
That means no staples spells like Magic Missile, Web, Fireball etc. but it also means staple fighting mage spells like Shield and Fireshield also can't be cast by him.
You'll still have access to things like strength, stoneskin, armour spells, and already mentioned mirror image but his Thaco and attacks per round are still subpar compared to any other frontline fighter. If only he was able to be brought over into SoA where Tensor's Transformation would have made his moonblade that much more powerful.
That's not to say he is a horrible character, or his moonblade is a complete waste. It does give him 50% fire resistance and a +1 to AC. And spells like Hold Person, Charm, Chaos and Sleep are all enchantment spells. Instead of dealing damage, he takes enemies out of fights which can be a lifesaver.
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But if you are in an either/or situation between him and Dyna, Dyna has the slow poison special ability which can come in handy in the next two chapters but you give up everything about Xan however as she won't have access to enchantment spells.
Personally, I prefer Dyna's special ability over any other mages (Edwin's bonus spells, Xan's Moonblade, Quayle's invisibility, Xzar's dual class ability) but I prefer to use enchantment spells.
Actually,the best combo for xan is to cast Sleep on weak enemies such as kobolds and use the blade to finish them off .
if you keep Minsc/Dynaheir you're taking up two party slots - unless you let one die - whereas Xan only takes up one.
Xan has a distinct personality, but it's not really to my liking, and his attitude is pretty obvious through the dialogue when you first talk to him.
Optionally if Dynaheir were to die (through misfortune, obviously...) then you could recruit Xan to fill your arcane slot and also keep Minsc. Conversely, losing Minsc and having two mages may present you with early challenges.
As for companions you can basically pick any arcane caster and mix and match. Mostly they're specialists so the only thing you really need to consider when comparing them is which school of magic they cannot cast.
Xan and Dynaheir are the perfect blend if you do want two mages though. They both cancel each other's weaknesses. Just saying...
Give Xan the fire protection ring, equip him with his moonblade and send him towards a group of melee enemies with a potion of invisibility.
When the enemies pack together, drink the potion.
Nuke Xan with fireballs/arrows of explosion being out of the baddies line of sight.
Profit.
Even if you're wanting to use primarily area-of-effect spells, fireball is often overrated because its 1d6/per level damage is capped at 10d6. Admittedly this isn't a huge issue in BG1 alone but you'd be surprised how many players continue to use it into BG2 because they didn't notice the cap exists. The same is true for other 3rd level area-of-effect evocation spells but skull trap somewhat surprisingly has no cap and Xan is able to cast that one just fine.
As to the moonblade, it does make Xan decent in melee as single-class mages go. There's a period of time after he can cast mirror image when you could reasonably have him wade into melee, though this isn't the main reason to carry him in your party.
For parties that only want 1 mage (for whatever reason) I wouldn't recommend him, because you really need evocation and carrying around a shitload of wands just doesn't cut it.
His moonblade is fairly useless except for the fire resistance, which becomes absolutely epic with a mage robe and the ring of fire resistance. I can't precisely remember any other combo in BG1 that gives you 100%+ resistance to anything?
Just combine Xan with Edwin. Neutral or good aligned parties can stomach recruiting Edwin, but Xzar is a stretch... And like we all know, Edwin is a legend. There really isn't a reason not to recruit him, unless you want to walk around the Coast charming the commons with your 20 reputation.
The Moonblade is definitely not wasted on him. Besides the obvious fact that mage-types should either be using a ranged weapon (meh) or a stat-increasing weapon (which the Moonblade oh-so-awesomely is), BG1 is a low level setting (generally lower hitpoints, AC, etc). You'd be surprised how much damage Xan can do if you use a strength spell on him and have him help out in melee, which is what you should be doing once everything is stunned, sleeping, paralyzed or busy trying to hit your tank.
Xan is the best mage in Baldur's Gate. Of course if you want two mages, Edwin goes along great--Xan can disable and buff/debuff while Edwin can blast everything to hell with raw magic damage.
Minsc is decent, but I find Dorn, Kivan, and Shar-Teel to all be superior warriors. Sure he beats the latter two out in raw strength, but I'd way rather have a higher Dexterity, even if I lose a single HP/level too... not getting hit in the first place makes for a fighter who can withstand combat longer, meaning more hits and less dying. Hell, I'll even take tanky-tanks Kagain or Yeslick before I take Minsc, although they need the Dex Gauntlets same as him.
Of course, personality-wise, if you prefer Minsc and Dynaheir (I'm sorry), and that's what makes you happy, cool! The game isn't terribly difficult, you can clear it with any half-decent party on most difficulties.
The short version is that on a game-mechanics basis, Enchanter/Conjurer/Invoker are the most powerful specialist mages, with Conjurer being the clear winner. Interestingly these are the specialties of Xan/Edwin/Dynaheir.
I typically would pick Transmuter or Diviner, but these are exceptionally weak specialties, mechanics-wise.
If grandmastery should be reachable, Khalid will be better than Minsc, because GM bonuses, better ac and more hp 15-16-17, and str the easiest stat to increase by items.
Edit: and Khalid/Sharteel better archer than Kivan, not mention Coran.
You have a point for Khalid and Coran. But as far as Shar-Teel is concerned Kivan starts with his -1 thac0 bow racial bonus, 18 dexterity, and specialization with longbows (which includes an extra 1/2 attack). This means that compared to Shar-teel (who has no proficiency with any missile weapons at level 2) he has a -5 Thac0, +2 damage, 1/2 attack advantage when using longbows. Even if she puts both her points into becoming specialized in it (which she can't do until level 6) he's still going to be a better archer because of his racial bonus.
Kivan have 17 dex only, but you are right about the profs. Shar teel only better if place 3 points to bows, that achieved az lvl 9.
@ThacoBell well, I fully support you picking the specialist that appeals to you. Like I said, my favourites are Diviner and Transmuter.
I'm not sure if you read my spreadsheet at all or not, but basically the "contest" would go like this:
(1) Compare the spells each gives up
(2) Reduce their spell list to the ones that allow saving throws. Estimate/weight the value of each spell in order to assess the value of a -2 penalty to saves against that spell.
The Conjurer gives up practically nothing by giving up Divination spells... utility by way of identify and dubious value in Infravision, Detect Evil, Know Alignment, Detect Illusion. (it hurts me to say this, Divination is my favourite school).
In comparison, the Enchanter gives up the following spells:
So in order for the Enchanter to be the better options, the -2 penalty to saving throws for the following spells have to be worth giving up all those other spells for... and I'm pretty sure not all these spells offer a saving throw. Ray of Enfeeblement and Feeblemind are pretty fantastic, and you have the charm spells, but the Conjurer can cast all these, simply without the bonus to overcome saves.
* Damage is something that any class can deliver.
* As the game advances, damage delivered through spells gets pretty much irrelevant - except for those from AHW and Skull Trap (and both spells can be used by an Enchanter).
* Lots of Enchantment/Charm spells already have a Saving Throw penalty that stacks with the one delivered by an Enchanter.
* Enchanters may learn Greater Malison. So in two rounds, an Enchanter may throw a Chaos with -11 penalty to ST. To everyone in the area.
* Enchantment top tiers spells are accessed early on (at level 9): Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Chaos. And right at that level he/she has two uses of those.
* Most Invocation spells have a low damage cap and can be reproduced through wands.
For those interested I did some digging and expanded my spreadsheet. The part I found interesting is that there are few types of CC that affect undead (and slimes) with the exceptions being Blindness, Deafness, Disintegrate, Polymorph, Slow, and some Battleground overlays (entangle, grease, web). Of these effects Wizards have essentially one spell for each, with the exception of Blindness. Which happens to be super powerful if you blind a spellcaster since their sight radius becomes 1. If they're blinded they can't target anyone outside melee range with spells. Moreover, it turns out there are a few good spells for Blindness:
Your mileage may vary.
On another note: I think Khalid is really underappreciated. He can be built just about any way you want, and can basically become the second best fighter at any role. You get him super early too.