Good weapons to Target in OC (including HoU, SoU)

Riderat

Hi,

After several years, I am revisiting this corner of the internet.

I recently picked up the EE version. For build simplicity i picked fighter, planning to dual into Thief or eventually weapons master.

What is a good weapon to target in game? I would like to eventually specialise, but not sure what should be my aim. Currently finished tutorial with Long Sword. So far so good.

Any other equipment tips you can share are appreciated. E.g. is high armor a scam?

Thanks!

ForSerious

Long sword is a good option based on what you can have forged in chapter 3. If you plan to play through Hoards of the Underdark, there's a super powerful Katana you can get.
For the campaigns, high armor is not a scam, but it's also not something that really matters since you can potion out of most problems. 40 AC after level 20 seems to be more than enough, even though you can make builds that go to like 90.

Riderat

I see, thanks for the suggestion. Using Longsword I couldn't deal with sorcerers in prison. I switched to battle axe. everyone is just dying. Apart from the Orc in the basement.

Is there a general quick-start guide that gives an insight on game systems? From chat window, its hard to understand what am I rolling, and why. Same with potions. One can guess what Bless does, but its not mentioned anywhere.

And Lastly, whats the idea with companions. Are you expected to bring one (or is it suggested)? XP gains are much higher solo, but it looks like content is easier with two. Are henchmen matching the main character level?

ForSerious

If you right click on the top of the text window, you can choose to split it. That can help figure out what you are rolling after the fact. You have to do it every time you open the game though.
All the potions cast the spell of their name. You have to read the spell details either from online or from making another character that can have the spell in their spell book.

I usually don't have any companions because they reduce the XP you get. The one main benefit would be having the rogue so he can disable the numerous traps. There is exactly one locked chest that you cannot break in the sub-chapter between 1 and 2. (I don't remember in the other two campaigns. [Shadows of Undrentide is meant to be played starting at level 1, so you might want to make a new character for it anyway if you don't want it to be the easiest thing you ever play.])