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Some noob questions

megaman12megaman12 Member Posts: 39
edited January 2021 in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Playing on LOB seems that glitterdust isn't as effective on enemies although they do get blinded, also do thieves get a lower thaco as they level up? What about Imoen the mage/thief companion.
Post edited by megaman12 on

Comments

  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,901
    If an enemy is blinded by Glitterdust, that's as effective as the spell gets. But then, blinded enemies aren't helpless. It's only a penalty to AC and to attack, plus the inability to target anything that isn't right in their face. And Glitterdust blindness doesn't last very long. Against LoB enemies that have massive bonuses to AC, THAC0, and hit points, of course it doesn't seem as effective.

    All characters get better THAC0 as they level up. Warriors get it fastest, and go the farthest, but everybody improves.
    Warriors (fighters, paladins, rangers, and monks) get 1 point of base THAC0 per level - from 20 at level 1 to zero at level 21.
    Priests (clerics, druids, and shamans) get 2 points of base THAC0 for every three levels, from 20 at level 1 to 6 at level 22.
    Rogues (thieves and bards) get 1 point of base THAC0 for every two levels, from 20 at level 1 to 10 at level 21.
    Mages (and sorcerers) get 1 point of base THAC0 for every three levels, from 20 at level to 13 at level 22.
    Multiclass and dual-class characters get the best THAC0 from among their classes. For example, when you first meet Imoen in BG2, she's a thief 7/mage 8. A level 7 thief has base THAC0 17 and a level 8 mage has base THAC0 18, so Imoen is at 17. Later on, you get her back and she gains some mage levels. She might be a thief 7/mage 13 that second time around - that's base THAC0 17 for the thief levels and 16 for the mage levels, for 16 overall.

    THAC0 does not continue to improve in epic levels. Those level 21 and level 22 figures I quoted are as good as it gets. If you want more ... that's what enchanted weapons, buffs, stat bonuses, and so on are for.
  • megaman12megaman12 Member Posts: 39
    Well I have Imoen at level 5 and she is ready to level up to 6 with dual class to Mage. How would that go if she dual classed. I didn't dual class her right away I waited till level 5.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,901
    While she's a pure mage - before the dual completes and she gets her thief abilities back - she'll have mage THAC0. Base 20 at levels 1-3, base 19 at levels 4-6. Once she completes the dual, the better THAC0 will apply. Between 18 for thief 6 and 18 for mage 7, that's a base THAC0 of 18.

    Oh, and any excess XP past your current level's minimum will be lost when you dual class. If you have 20K XP and thief level 5 (10K XP required), you'll start over with no XP in the new class. The best time to dual is not when you have the level up button visible; it's immediately after you've used it in your original class.
  • megaman12megaman12 Member Posts: 39
    In my LOB playthrough what class does the most damage and with what weapons
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,901
    That question betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what LoB is about. Going for a damage race - kill the enemy before they kill you - is a solid strategy at normal difficulty levels. On LoB, that'll just get you killed. I can kill a mob of kobolds in one wand fireball at lower difficulty; on LoB, that'll just take out a quarter of their HP, and they respond by filling you with arrows before you can follow up.

    If you're playing LoB, focus your optimization thoughts on how to not die. If you can stay alive, you can kill the enemies eventually.
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