Cursed Items You Use Regularly
HaHaCharade
Member Posts: 1,643
I am currently running an evil party in BG1 and have 3 cursed items equipped on 3 different characters... I guess they are an unfortunate lot!
"Big-Fisted Belt" - Kagain - Intelligence hit does nothing to him, and the 19 strength from this coupled with the 18 dex from the Gauntlets of Dexterity, make him the ultimate meat tank.
"Claw of Kazgaroth" - Dorn - The Con hit doesn't affect him (except by making him fatigued more often from travel) and the saving throw bonuses therefore outweigh the negatives on this item. Some people never buy this, but I always do.
"Kiel's Morning Star: +3" - My Main - Running a Half-Orc Fighter/Cleric. This in her main hand and the Thresher +2 from Sorcerous Sundries in their off-hand hand, gives her a wicked +3/+2 Dual-Wield combo. Couple this with the increased damage and THAC0 from berserking, the immunity to several spells (including Charm Person) and increased saves against others, its pretty cool. Yeah, Yeah you can attack friendly targets if you're not careful. The key is to play smart. Here's some tips I've found for using a cursed-berserking weapon:
- The effect doesn't last SUPER long. Just until all enemies (red bases) are slain. Then (give or take 5-10 seconds) they will return to normal. The key is to hurl the berserking character at said enemies, and have your other party members give them a bit of room. If you play it right, they will only attack enemies and then once they target a friend you just jog around for a few seconds until your main's yellow base changes back to green and ur good. Sometimes I cast Invisibility 10' Radius, and only have my berserking character attack for awhile. They can't see the other party members to attack them, so they only really attack enemies.
- If you are playing a Fighter/Cleric as a berserker, cast your buffs, etc. BEFORE combat. You won't be able to cast spells once the bloodlust hits....
- You (most of the time) have a few solid seconds to command a character using a cursed-berserking weapon, before the status over takes them. Use this to command them to attack who you want, or to move them, as needed.
- Keep a "Remove Curse" spell memorized and handy on a mage. Helps in some battles to have better control of your character.
- Keep a secondary weapon in the primary slot, in case you want to REM CURSE at a given time. Example: My character has Kiel's and Thresher but I keep another +1 Morning Star in my primary slot just in case I need to ditch Kiel's for a fight.
- If you're doing battles in a town, where there are innocents... you may want to unequip for a bit.
Really - As an evil party - Its just fun to berserk and go crazy. Can it screw you? Sure. But if you play smart its fun and a bit of an added challenge to the game.
"Big-Fisted Belt" - Kagain - Intelligence hit does nothing to him, and the 19 strength from this coupled with the 18 dex from the Gauntlets of Dexterity, make him the ultimate meat tank.
"Claw of Kazgaroth" - Dorn - The Con hit doesn't affect him (except by making him fatigued more often from travel) and the saving throw bonuses therefore outweigh the negatives on this item. Some people never buy this, but I always do.
"Kiel's Morning Star: +3" - My Main - Running a Half-Orc Fighter/Cleric. This in her main hand and the Thresher +2 from Sorcerous Sundries in their off-hand hand, gives her a wicked +3/+2 Dual-Wield combo. Couple this with the increased damage and THAC0 from berserking, the immunity to several spells (including Charm Person) and increased saves against others, its pretty cool. Yeah, Yeah you can attack friendly targets if you're not careful. The key is to play smart. Here's some tips I've found for using a cursed-berserking weapon:
- The effect doesn't last SUPER long. Just until all enemies (red bases) are slain. Then (give or take 5-10 seconds) they will return to normal. The key is to hurl the berserking character at said enemies, and have your other party members give them a bit of room. If you play it right, they will only attack enemies and then once they target a friend you just jog around for a few seconds until your main's yellow base changes back to green and ur good. Sometimes I cast Invisibility 10' Radius, and only have my berserking character attack for awhile. They can't see the other party members to attack them, so they only really attack enemies.
- If you are playing a Fighter/Cleric as a berserker, cast your buffs, etc. BEFORE combat. You won't be able to cast spells once the bloodlust hits....
- You (most of the time) have a few solid seconds to command a character using a cursed-berserking weapon, before the status over takes them. Use this to command them to attack who you want, or to move them, as needed.
- Keep a "Remove Curse" spell memorized and handy on a mage. Helps in some battles to have better control of your character.
- Keep a secondary weapon in the primary slot, in case you want to REM CURSE at a given time. Example: My character has Kiel's and Thresher but I keep another +1 Morning Star in my primary slot just in case I need to ditch Kiel's for a fight.
- If you're doing battles in a town, where there are innocents... you may want to unequip for a bit.
Really - As an evil party - Its just fun to berserk and go crazy. Can it screw you? Sure. But if you play smart its fun and a bit of an added challenge to the game.
Post edited by HaHaCharade on
11
Comments
infact, if you like the claw of kazgaroth more than the helm of balduran, you can have the claw import instead of the helm ( sometimes i do this on my swashbuckler runs ) into bg2
other melee characters that really benefit from it are minsc and kivan, since kivan doesnt have a HP bonus, and minsc's +1 per level is negligible for the benefits you get
also durlag's goblet works real well with a character using kiel's helm which makes you immune to fear, so then you are immune to durlag's goblet effect, plus you can recharge the goblet as well
but for other cursed stuff, nah, berserking is a little to wild for me, and especially if i need that character to cast spells during combat it just won't be possible
although in IWD ( HoW ) there is that cloak that the seer drops when she dies, and i always equip that cloak, damn good cloak, don't know why its cursed
Durlag's Goblet is also awesome on Dorn / Another Blackguard. They are immune to fear as well, so in theory you can swap it back and forth and fill up HP on them AND another character with Kiel's helm.
I get your point on the spell thing. Its the real downside for berserking imo. Though, I will say that my Fighter/Clerics rarely cast spells IN battle anyway. Before and after, sure. I tend to take 2 mages on my runs so that helps.
I forgot you could import the claw to BG2.... Man that is tempting, but Helm of Balduran is pretty ripped. Do you think the claw is more apt to be used later game than the helm? (Its been a few years since I played BG2).
usually though i still prefer the helmet, but every once in a great while i bring in the claw just for the lulz
Sword of berserking is too hard to handle.
However, I do use Backbitter Spear in My Fighter/Druid run and I'm considering removing it since it eats a lot of my healing spells to compensate the minor damage and hit buff by +2 ?.
luckily there is a +2 spear in bg the city
If you're going to import it to BG2... the ideal user is someone with good saves versus death and poor saves versus spell, as well as a constitution in the 9-14 or 18+ range (so as not to lose HP). That save pattern comes from a cleric or druid (base saves 2 vs death and 7 vs spell at high levels). Anomen? 16 Con, loses HP. Viconia? 8 Con, loses HP. Cernd? 13 Con. He's the ideal user... except for one little problem. His personal gear has minimum Con requirements. If you give him the claw, his cloak will be unequipped every time he levels up, requiring either a Remove Curse effect or a temporary Con boost.