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Best candidates for Dagger of Venom

Hi, i'm new here so don't punch me too hard if topic was rised somewhere )

The point is that Dagger of Venom considered as one of the best weapons in whole saga, making it a waste of not using it, but I simply can't fit it.
My party lineup:
PC (dual wielding F/M with drizzt scimitars)
Khalid (long sword +2 + shield)
Coran (composite longbow +1)
Kivan (dead shot)
Yeslick (ashideena + sling+3)
Imoen (dual T/M primarily casting arcane + short bow)

Making my char using DoV is stupid because of BG2, coran is great archer and using DoV and backstab could be useful but puts him in bad position for archery, in which he shines, mostly same about kivan, except he can't backstab with it. Yeslick already great candidate for ashideena, which doesn't fit elsewhere. So I favors to khalid, but he already got ** in long swords, wasting which is a shame, or Imoen, which main goal in fights would be to show enemies some arcaine powa' rather to backstab.

So what's you thoughts about fitting DoV in my party and maybe general suggestions for best NPCs using DoV?

Comments

  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Honestly? There are more really good weapons than any one party can ever use. With the party you've built, there's no primary dagger user, and that's fine. You might have Imoen carry it as her melee option, but that's it.

    Note that all ranged characters take major combat penalties if a melee enemy closes on them, so they should have a melee alternate weapon. If nothing else, it's a way to not take +4 damage from the enemy's hits. In your party - Kivan's specialized in halberds, so he should use one. He gets two more proficiency points as he levels, which should go to two-handed style unless you want to develop another weapon for him. Coran's specialized in long swords, so he should use one of those - except you've given the best one to Khalid already, so he'll have to settle for a +1. He gets one more proficiency point as he levels, which isn't enough to specialize in anything. Imoen gets a bunch of proficiency points to spread around and can't specialize, so you'll have plenty of choices other characters aren't using.

    There are some issues with redundancy here; both Khalid and Coran are best used with longbows and longswords, and there's only so many good ones to go around. Since you're not taking Jaheira, why not pick up another warrior in Khalid's place? For example, Ajantis could use bastard swords - and it's really nice to have a bastard sword user if you do the werewolf island quest.
    Also... composite longbows require 18 strength to wield. Kivan has that, Coran doesn't. Are you sure you didn't switch their weapon choices?
    monicoThacoBellGrond0
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    Dagger of Venom is overrated.

    I mean, it's very good against spellcasters, but with your party setup of good ranged characters & the low health of magicians, a few arrows will kill them before they have time to cast a spell anyway.

    And to be honest, DoV is nice and all, but I wouldn't say it's a waste not using it. The physical damage is medium at best (1d4+2 piercing), any magical melee weapon deals more damage and since none of your characters have proficiency in daggers, the damage is even worse (2 proficiency points give +2 damage).
    Bows deal more damage, have more APR, there are special arrows of many kinds depending on your needs, and you can always use Arrows of Biting for the same poison ability than the dagger (save vs. death/poison negates, same as the dagger, but duration is longer, and takes away 30% of opponents HP instead of the 15 set damage over 15 seconds from the dagger, meaning it's sometimes more, sometimes less depending on enemy HP).

    In general, the DoV only really shines as a spellcaster interrupter, outside of this niche, it's just a good weapon, like many other good weapons.
    OrlonKronsteensarevok57Aerakar
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    "Honestly? There are more really good weapons than any one party can ever use. With the party you've built, there's no primary dagger user, and that's fine. You might have Imoen carry it as her melee option, but that's it."

    This right here. I build my party around using as many weapons types as possible, with no redundancies, but there's still a bunch of cool gear that goes unused with each palythrough.
    monicoAerakar
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    I'd usually give the Dagger of Venom to Jaheira in BG1. Her weapon selection is pretty poor in that game and monster HP is low enough for the ongoing poison damage to matter. I don't typically use the Dagger of Venom in the rest of the saga though.
  • ChroniclerChronicler Member Posts: 1,391
    The Dagger of Venom is powerful at disabling spellcasters, which is perfectly useful and fun, but nothing that demands inclusion.

    What earns it its reputation as "The Most Powerful Weapon in the Saga" is that it technically doesn't do poison damage. It deals a unique form of direct damage that is not resisted by anything in the game. This makes it possible to use it to kill some NPC's who are supposed to be unkillable, like Ulraunt.

    If you're not actively trying to break the game though then it's just one of many high quality weapons distributed through the different weapons categories.
    StummvonBordwehrmonico
  • ShangerooShangeroo Member Posts: 84
    I'd consider giving your charname the DoV for situational fights. Have him hit a target with DoV to get the poison effect, and then switch back to the scimitar.
  • Very_BigSwordVery_BigSword Member Posts: 222
    edited March 2020
    We need to consider the dagger of venom along with the option of throwing daggers to evaluate the most suitable candidate.

    Thrown daggers get two attacks per round and the damage bonus from high strength so any high strength and/or dex NPC will benefit the most. There are a lot of giant str potions and range rules in BG1, just saying...

    Despite that, the capabilities of magical arrows should also be taken into account for party balance. Without mods a thrown dagger cannot affect anything requiring +1 or higher enchantment to hit.

    Really it is just a discussion on daggers generally, of which DoV is clearly the best of them for melee.

    The best NPC for it without editors is Shar-Teel. Fighter starting with a point in daggers, dual wielding and exceptional strength. She can dual-class to Thief for nasty backstabs and keep adding points to dagger proficiency for more Thaco/damage bonus. There are threads on dual classing tactics for her and crunching the numbers.

    Next best: Dorn
    He has no missile weapon proficiencies at low level so thrown daggers with +7 Str bonus and an extra attack fit him very well. He can use blackguard poison weapon ability while striking with dagger of venom to stack the effects. Nasty stuff. But mostly he will be using great blades so daggers will only be used tactically. Regardless he can be specialised in dagger by level 6.

    Other warriors: Kivan, Minsc, Jaheira, Montaron, Coran
    The rangers have exceptional strength and 2 free pips in dual wielding. Long melee 2 handers, short melee dual wield for extra attack w/str bonus and poison chances, arrows or daggers from range as preferred. The argument is weaker for Kivan given his starting proficiencies and ability to wield composite longbow which already has high damage bonus. For Jaheira it offers an extra ranged attack per round compared to sling and tanking with dagger of venom and shield. Same for Montaron and he gets backstabs too. Coran has fighter Thaco so thats something, but he has better things to do. His sixth proficency should probably be in single weapon style for longsword backstab, and when he is not doing that he should be archering.

    Best of the rest: Eldoth, Faldorn, Alora, Safana, Imoen, Garrick
    They will hit more often than mages due to Thaco tables. Eldoth can use his unique poisoned arrow from range, then an arrow of biting, then a poison melee attack that should all stack which is fairly nifty. The others are merely "suitable" if there are no better candidates.
    Post edited by Very_BigSword on
    StummvonBordwehrGrond0ZRGAerakar
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