Creating a party question
gouken510
Member Posts: 7
Hello everyone. Me and my two friends want to start BG:EE multiplayer and we haven't played before. I created a start party https://ibb.co/T8nD1fm. But I got some question in my mind
1- I wanted to create a tank who i can send directly to enemies. So i think his defense should be good. But i couldn't see any parrying skill when i chose weapons proficiency. Does not tank need parrying skills ?
2- Doesn't using shields need parry skill?
3- Why we choose melee weapons skills for mage i mean we use spells to hit. Does mana finish sometimes? Or when enemy come too close to mage can't mage cast a spell? Or is it better that choose throwing skills with caster characters?
4- Most of people don't choose cure light wounds so how can we heal in combat and after combat?
5- Is this set up party good enough to finish game?
1- I wanted to create a tank who i can send directly to enemies. So i think his defense should be good. But i couldn't see any parrying skill when i chose weapons proficiency. Does not tank need parrying skills ?
2- Doesn't using shields need parry skill?
3- Why we choose melee weapons skills for mage i mean we use spells to hit. Does mana finish sometimes? Or when enemy come too close to mage can't mage cast a spell? Or is it better that choose throwing skills with caster characters?
4- Most of people don't choose cure light wounds so how can we heal in combat and after combat?
5- Is this set up party good enough to finish game?
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Comments
3. Mages can only cast a limited number of spells per day, and then they must rest to re-memorize them, so a Mage will often do some normal attacks in combat. Enemies get an attack bonus in melee if you don't have a melee weapon equipped. Still, I usually prefer to start with a ranged proficiency to keep my mage as far from combat as possible. The dagger proficiency works for both melee and thrown daggers.
4. Cure Light Wounds is a handy spell. You can heal just by resting, but it takes a long time.
5. Yes, this is a good party setup. You also have the option of picking up NPCs to fill out your party.
But your tank is also a damage dealer, so do not forget dps.
3. No mana in dnd rules. Casters memorise a number of spells and when they exhaust them they need to rest to recover or change them. The sorcerer class can cast any same spell they know repeatedly without memorising it again for a number of times but know fewer spells.
4. Healing spells and potions, in and out of combat (lots of potions). Mages can heal themselves a bit in combat with larlochs minor drain, but it's not much. Rest for a small amount of HP and new healing spells.
5. Seems like a good party. You have everything covered. If you need extra healing there are two cleric NPC's to recruit, one evil one good. Or pick a fighter type, thief, mage etc, according to your needs.
Remember that your mage/thief cannot cast spells while wearing armour (thief ability) and should stick with mage robes, amulets and rings to improve AC. There are some good ones so it not a disadvantage really. Clerics can cast while wearing armour and use a shield, so it's fine.
Second, there are a couple of items that will increase your number of level 1 or level 2 memorized spell slots. The first of these items is a ring that's available very early in the game but is hidden.
Finally, specialist mages get one extra memorized spell per day. The only way to be a multiclassed specialist mage is to be a Gnome Illusionist. So you could play a Gnome Illusionist/Thief instead of an Elf Mage/Thief, at the cost of not being able to cast spells from the Necromancy school. If you're only planning to play BG1, that's a great trade-off from a power perspective. Necromancy really shines at higher levels, so it's a tougher decision for BG2.
But i am not sure about these?
And i am not sure about two other party members.
-Dwarven defender. But which weapon or weapons?
-gnome cleric/illusionist. which weapon or weapons?
-fighter/cleric. which race? And which weapon or weapons?
or
-Dwarven defender. But which weapon or weapons?
-fighter/cleric. Which race and which weapon or weapons?
-??????
or
-Dwarven defender. But which weapon or weapons?
-gnome cleric/illusionist. which weapon or weapons?
-elf fighter/mage with bow and but what should be other weapon?
or
-Dwarven defender. But which weapon or weapons?
-fighter/cleric. which race? And which weapon or weapons?
-mage. But which race or which class kit?
For a Dwarven Defender in BG1, I'd start with two pips in hammers and two in axes, then put your level 3 pip in hammers and level 6 pip in axes. That's because there's a really nice hammer available early in BG1 but the good axes aren't available until pretty late in the game, and the third pip in any weapon is more significant than the fourth.
For the Fighter/Cleric, starting with pips in slings and maces would be good. Halfling, Dwarf, and Half-Orc are the natural choices for race. Those all have some pros and cons, but any of them will be fun.
What @joluv says about Dwarven Defenders going for both hammers and axes makes a lot of sense. Starting in Baldur's Gate 2 you will want to put a few points into dualwielding, but there is no need to rush abandoning your AC before your resistances and HP can make up for it.
With a cleric/illusionist I would not care much about weapons in Baldur's Gate 1. A point in slings to allow the character to contribute to the battle without wasting spells. In Baldur's Gate 2, the character will potentially become a melee powerhouse, if you are willing to invest time casting a bunch of spells before every battle. Otherwise, you can keep the character in the back and still be very efficient by casting spells.
The main question when arming the Fighter/Mage (or Fighter/Illusionist), is how to not get into a weapon rivalry with somebody else. But since that is not much a problem in your proposed parties, the FM basically has free pickings. Longbow is good in Baldur's Gate 1. But starting in Baldur's Gate 2, every archer will want to use a particular shortbow. If you wish to play both games but do not wish to put points into both, that is something to keep in mind. For melee, I do not agree with joluv entirely. He is not wrong, but I think two-handed weapons (swords) might be better.
What mage kit is best for you depends on what you like doing the most. Enchanters are excellent at disabling enemies. Invokers are best at blowing enemies up. Transmuters are best at getting themselves killed.
This is a reasonable stance; the highest-damage weapon in the game a two-handed sword. The decision at least partially depends on how you want to handle Drizzt. If you're going to cheesily kill him or let him die early in the game, then scimitars are really hard to beat. But if you're going to help him out, then yeah, two-handed swords are better.
--Half Orc Fighter/Cleric - starting with pips in slings and maces
--Dwarven Defender - But i read "Dwarven Defender may not exceed High Mastery (four slots) in axes and war hammers. Am i wrong?
--Does other character should be (what race?)Fighter/Mage? or (Gnome)Fighter/Illusionist? ( For long range longbows for sure doesn't matter which class i will choose. For Melee two-handed or scimitar ? or something else? You said for it : "scimitars, with the plan to eventually dual-wield." Am i right?
and
Illusionists ( specialist mages) vs Mages. I know specialist mage cannot learn or cast spells from their opposing school and -15% penalty to their chance of learning spells that don't belong to their chosen school. But are these so important? Cause in the other hand there is one more spell slot. From here it looks like specialist mages are better than mages(generalist) mostly. What do you think? In which situtations mages are better than specialist ones?
With a Cleric, Conjurer is a safe option because you automatically get all the relevant divination spells from him. It doesn’t really maximize the save penalty, but it’s probably going to harm you the least. But generalists are completely fine, and have enough spell slots after low levels to be worthwhile. On another note, I’d really recommend a thief for traps: they’re deadly if you haven’t played before. I’d recommend someone run a fighter/mage/thief instead of a fighter/mage, though it’s going to eventually lock you out of 9th level spells. Or a mage/thief, since there’re two fighters already in the party.
- One dot: Proficiency
- Two dots: Specialization
- Three dots: Mastery
- Four dots: High Mastery
- Five dots: Grand Mastery
It's impossible to achieve five dots in a weapon anyway under the BG1 (non-SoD) experience cap, except for weird dual-class shenanigans. As such, the high mastery restriction isn't a drawback at all yet; it only limits you when reaching level 9+ in the next game. The restriction that you can't be more than specialized in anything else matters, but it's not that big a deal.
One thing to watch for playing a DD: that half movement speed on Defensive Stance has a higher priority than everything. Boots of speed won't help. The ring of free action won't help. A friend casting haste on you will get you the extra attack, but not any improvement in movement speed.
Compared to specialization, mastery gives you +1 damage and +2 THAC0. High mastery gives you another +1 damage and -1 speed factor. The THAC0 bonus is so valuable that I think it's worth sacrificing high mastery to have mastery in both weapons. This is especially true because you'll probably want to use hammers for most of the game before switching to axes, so this strategy lets you have mastery in your primary weapon for almost the entire game.
You'll be fine either way, though. It's not a big difference.
Yeah, I was thinking more for future in BG2 and ToB. I still think 2 pips in Sword & Shield is more useful in BGEE but it's only marginally better as a tank that can fart in the general direction of missiles rather than an early dual-wielder.