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Returning player unhappy with current team (mage + Dorn 1st time) on IPAD BGE:EE, no game edition

LillyOberonLillyOberon Member Posts: 14
edited July 2019 in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Hello, I am Lilly and playing for the first time a mage in BG:EE, on IPAD with no mod, no EEkeper, no money, no console and I am unhappy with the team I selected. Usually I love to play BG1 with Ajantis, Coran, Kivan, Yeslick, Garrick, etc on PC. But I wanted to have a go with Dorn and Viconia.

My team is made of ( see below) my mage, Imoen pure thief, Jaheira F/D, Viconia Cleric, Garrick Bard, and Dorn blackguard.

I noticed a bit late ( coming out from the mines of Nashkel, in the Valley of the Tomb) that
- Dorn is the only team member with a good STR
- Dorn is the only team member proficient in slashing weapon, and that thus none is proficient in
- large swords easily available around Naskhel mines (vascona +2, Harrower+1),
- large bows ( a good bow to grab early in the bandit camp that usually goes to Kivan)
- To summarise it : I lack experience with evil teams and haven’t really played Baldur since the early 2000’s or without the console. Due to health problems, the IPad is atm the best hardware for me.
- I have the impression that I was looking for a change in gameplay with one part of me saying go for it and the other side saying no, don’t. At the end Something that should be fun is missing. My team is nor good nor evil, nor melee nor ranged.

Q. Should I replace Jaheira (can heal and bless, will cure, slow poison, cast insects in mage Fights) or keep her and equip her with the dagger of venom and a good shield once I can afford them.

Q. Do I need a second melee ? At the moment my range dps is really low (range weapon+O and normal ammunition) but no money to buy for instance the Army Scythe for Garrick, a better sling or a short bow+1. I rely on loot mostly to equip the team and on charm, blind, injunction to win major fights. The overall dps is low.

Q. Who should I recrut ? Khalid (left in a house), Kagain, Shar-teel, or should I go for Kivan. I am starting chapter 4, team is level 3-4 and I have not cleaned the maps around the main quest, yet.

Kivan (makes usually 40% of my overall dps in good teams with a long bow)
Halberd ++
Long Bow ++
Two Weapon Skill ++

Kagain
Axe ++
Flail/Morningstar +
Crossbow +

Shar-Teel
Long Sword +
Dagger +
Two Weapon Skill ++


Q. Who should get the Bracer Dex 18 from the Gnoll hold ? Dorn to low AC or Garrick to raise dps ( no wand affordable atm. )
Q. Jaheira best candidate for a STR item ? Or Viconia + warhammer or axe. I cannot remember but I think there is a STR item to pickpocket ( with Garrick) on a NPC on the Map outside of Ulgoth’s Beard. Edit the item that you can pickpocket is a ring of free action. The bracers of Ogre strength are in the city of Baldur ( Dock area - ship - on a mage to kill)

At the moment the situation is as follows:

Dorn STR 19 Dex 16 Main tank, main mêlée, plate mail AC3
Two-Handed Sword ++ (Rancor+1)
Two-Handed Weapon Skill ++
Added Bastard sword + ( future Albruin+1, immunity to poison)
? Long sword ?

Jaheira F/D STR 14 DEX 17 with a free Ankheg plate mail found in a field in Nashkel
Club ++
Quarter Staff + , with a quaterstaff+1 slotted (sold in Beregost)
Sling ++ DEX 17, range dps slinging normal bullets

Imoen Thief STR 9, native Dex 18
Short Sword +, a Short sword +1 (loot)
Short Bow +, a normal short bow slotted, range Dps
Dagger +

Viconia Cleric STR 10, native Dex 19, awaiting an Ankheg mail once I can afford it
Mace +, the Stupefier +1, +stun slotted
Sling + sling+1 from a shop, for ranged dps
Fast leveling : she is level 4 while the rest of the team is behind
Q. What proficiency for her ( STR 10), she is not a fighter/cleric like Yeslick.

Garrick Bard STR 14 DEX16 CON 9
Short Sword +, a Short sword+1 (loot)
Crossbow +. Ranged dps with his original crossbow +0
Added Dagger +




Post edited by LillyOberon on

Comments

  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,325
    If you're going the Evil route, I think that picking up Kagain to complement Dorn as your melee tanks is a good idea. Give Kagain an Axe/Shield so he's your highest AC tank (and with his natural Con 20, he'll also be incredibly resilient), and use him to lead the way. (You can also give him the Gauntlets of Dexterity to further boost his AC if you prefer.) Use Dorn instead against undead foes since as a Blackguard he's protected against level drain.

    You can keep Imoen as your party Thief, although if you're going full-out Evil she won't be too happy with you. (She'll never leave though, bless her.) Alternatively, some ideas to fill the party thief role include:

    - Bringing Montaron
    - Bringing Tiax (a good choice for supplementing Viconia as your secondary healer, although it'll be a while before you find him)
    - Dual-classing Shar-Teel into a Fighter/Thief since apparently she makes an EXCELLENT backstabber.

    As far as strategy is concerned, missile weapons are VERY powerful in BG owing to the generally low HP of foes you'll encounter. Focused fire will usually cut down most enemies before they can even reach you, so I strongly suggest giving everybody a ranged weapon (except maybe Kagain, send him in to occupy enemies).
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    I also think Kagain would be a very good choice: He's both a tank and a damage sponge, whereas Dorn (imo) is too fragile to be a damage sponge (although Dorn is still very useful, I just never put him upfront).
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  • LillyOberonLillyOberon Member Posts: 14
    I’ll do that.

    Thank you for the input on a subject debated in so many posts, but I needed that input to .. jump over the line,
  • LillyOberonLillyOberon Member Posts: 14
    edited July 2019
    Dorn is really fragile and a slow pain to level up as compared to Ajantis the paladin version that can lay on hands. The combat IA is also not altruistic and I cannot expect the Blackguard to look after another team member on its own as the paladin IA does on occasion. ATM, I need to think very strongly about the caster amulet dropped by Simmeon during his quest to keep him in the team.
  • Black_ElkBlack_Elk Member Posts: 30
    edited July 2019
    Yeah go full Villain, it's more entertaining in the end I think. Good/Neutral play throughs, even with mixed alignment parties end up feeling kind of similar, but straight Evil can offer a pretty different game and its fun to just let your thieves rob everyone blind and punk everyone you encounter haha. Even if the trash talk banter can be fun keeping Jaheira or Garrick around, Kagain is definitely a beast and hard to ignore. Viconia too, she is still my favorite for a priest even if Faldorn and Jaheira have the cheapest mass heels with their Woodland Beings, Viconia's clutch casting command. Its probably the most OP spell in the game, combined with sleep from your mage and rounded out with holding spells, BG1 is like a rampage hehe. Plus its kind of entertaining to keep someone around who can still make good use of chain mail, since you know the heavy stuff is going elsewhere until Viconia can strap more strength and there is some nice chain in the early game. She's a better slinger too with the Dex bonus. Filling out the final spots on an evil party can be kind of tough though, I find that I always want to bring along more than the 5 slots will allow. Sometimes its fun to split the Xzar the Montaron pair by letting one of them get smashed into a puddle. Xzar can hold his weight pretty well late game, but Montaron is probably more useful early on, and he can also tank reasonably well if you give him a shield and some plate to get up in there. I like the Shar-Teel backstabber idea. I'd ditch or off someone along the way if you want, when you hit Cloakwood or the big city. I haven't played with Dorn before, but sounds like fun.
  • LillyOberonLillyOberon Member Posts: 14
    edited July 2019
    I agree, Viconia is a power house. I have to manually tell her to heal people and not let them die but there is nothing compared to her command and hold combine to my mage charm and blind to win early battles when the rest of the team is still unequiped. I wish however I could have 2 healers even multi or dual in the team.

    In this game, Montaron is already dead but I can still recrut Kargain, Shar-Teel and the rest.

  • GallengerGallenger Member Posts: 400
    edited July 2019
    You can dual class Xzar to a cleric... or TIAX :D That would give you two healers.
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