Uhh, Cernd is a god damn beast
tedmann12
Member Posts: 128
After 20 years, I’ve never played with Cernd and finally tried him out. I’m playing with SCS and spell revisions and my god does he dominate. Greater Werewolf combined with tons of spells makes him a savage.
I put entropy shield and a few small buffs on him and he has -19 AC, 100% resistance to like all elements and really high MR, 3 attacks per round with like 23 STR (could easily get higher ac and more str if I buffed harder) and he’s got iron skins! And instantly can switch back to a faster and unload his huge array of spells.
The guy is by far the strongest char in my party. I’m just so blown away as I always assumed he was just another scrub.
I put entropy shield and a few small buffs on him and he has -19 AC, 100% resistance to like all elements and really high MR, 3 attacks per round with like 23 STR (could easily get higher ac and more str if I buffed harder) and he’s got iron skins! And instantly can switch back to a faster and unload his huge array of spells.
The guy is by far the strongest char in my party. I’m just so blown away as I always assumed he was just another scrub.
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Comments
SCS also has a component that alters the shapeshifting forms for greater convenience. In the case of greater werewolf form, that's unlimited at-will transformations just by equipping or unequipping a "token" weapon, considerable added regeneration, slightly better damage, an enchantment level of +3, and worse AC.
Still, whether with or without that component, with or without added spell mods, Shapeshifters are fantastic tanks - especially against magic/elemental threats. An endgame werewolf can reach 100% immunity to fire, cold, and electric damage with a single piece of equipment and no other buffs.
How can I increase his chance to hit and APR? I thought adding belm on his off hand still added apr but looks like that was changed.
If you're using the vanilla transformation, those block off-hand weapons. A weapon held in the off hand will have no effect whatsoever when shapeshifted. No passive effects, no off-hand attacks, no dual-wielding penalties. You're better off with either nothing at all and single-weapon style, or a shield. Single-class druids can use the Shield of the Lost, so you're not just stuck with underwhelming bucklers forever.
For better chances to hit, you can get slight THAC0 improvements from certain gloves and helmets. Or, once you level up enough, his base THAC0 gets better - but that'll take a long time. 3.15 million XP (level 16) for the next improvement after 750K (level 13). Or you can take the shapeshifting HLAs. Elemental forms set your base THAC0 to 2, which is basically +8 or +10 to hit if you grab them early, and still +4 to hit even at super-high levels.
In the run I recently finished, both Cernd and Jaheira relied on fire elemental form once they reached 3 million XP. They were very sturdy and very effective front-line combatants.
For more APR ... Improved Haste will take you from 3 to 4, or from 3 to 6 if using the vanilla version of the greater werewolf transformation. That's it as far as Cernd is concerned. Warrior levels can add more, as can katana specialization for the SCS version (daggers in v32 and earlier). The gauntlets of extraordinary specialization (warriors only) can add +1/2 as well, though the token's haste effect means that the final number will round down to an integer.