I gave him the 19 strength belt, (charname with 18/xx str and Minsc wouldnt have profited too much from it) and bracers of blinding strike. He is lvl 6 now -> better AC. Rasaad is kicking ass in my party.
I couldnt handle it anymore and got rid of him. He can barely take out a kobold 1v1 at level 5. I used him as sling archer and he would still die randomly to things such as magic missile. Yesterday I got waylaid and the cave bear went straight for him. I could not move out fast enough and he got 1 shotted trying to escape. I am playing hardcore so I cant afford to res him after every zone I explore. The problem with rasaad is his constitution. Everything else is manageable
@mlitano - Monks are weak at low levels but I don't blame his skills if you have trouble 1 v 1 versus a kobold at level 5 even on insane. His HPs really aren't out of line with a lot of the non-meat-shield characters and he moves faster than any non-hasted character so if you are worried about him being one-shotted that similarly seems to rule out a high % of the other NPCs especially given that his speed gives you a wider range of error (i.e., greater ability to run away screaming).
In my game Rasaad hasn't died once. He's now at level 6. He has AC -3, HP 35, and THACO 15. His fists are 1d10 at 2 attacks per round which is pretty respectable. He can use Stunning Blow two times per rest period, but I reserve those for when I send him after mages.
If I really wanted I could have one of my mages cast Strength on him. Or have him use strength potions. I've only bothered to do that a few times, though, eg, for a particularly tough fight.
If Rasaad isn't trying to Stun mages (that I usually have my mages Blind first), he's fighting archers (also Blinded). And the archers when meleeing rarely hit him with his -3 AC. He sometimes fails to save against mage's Horror and Hold spells, but thus far it it has only rendered him ineffective, it doesn't end with his death.
In the cases where he's fighting a tougher melee opponent, he's usually teamed with someone else. He does fine.
In a few cases where he's gotten critted I may have him step back, glup a healing potion, and kite the enemy using the Ring of Energy from a distance. Enemy meleers don't have a chance of catching him with his blazing footspeed. When he's got them hurt he'll move back in and use his fists.
So at what level about does Rassad stop being a support character and starts becoming truly dangerous?
lvl 6 is OK. He can kill some gibberlings.
Earlier in the game he is just useless. Try to give him a sling, some buff potions (do not forget to use them, you can use a default Red 18 STR potion) or even fireball potions to throw into enemies from a distance (or the ring and the necklace with fire spells). Later try to put a star into single weap style, and if his run speed is still annoying give him some heavy items to slow him down, like somebody mentioned before. Put all his thief points into Hide, you can use him as a scout. Later in the game he will be OK with a scimitar+2 or even with a Drizzt's scimitar, if you want to kill him for his gear. Try to give him the Claw of Kaza later in the game... Still - low HP, bad THAC0.
You can get nice items for him in his personal quest area.
--There are some allusions to spoilers below. Avoid them if you really want to make sure you don't hit even HINTS of spoilers--
I don't know. Rasaad saved my butt against Greywolf. I had him hiding at night, just because I thought it was cool monks could hide, and forgot that one thing that angers Greywolf.(That was a spoiler I don't want to give to people) So Greywolf attacks me and Rasaad attacks him from the shadows while he's attacking Jaheria and Khalid. Then I had Rasaad use stunning fist. The freaking thing actually hit. Greywolf just stood there like a bag of rocks and got beat to death. If that hadn't landed Jaheria would be dead. (2 health after one successful hit on her.)
Indeed this may be the worst npc i have ever tried in BG series.. but i like to play the game without too much micromanagement, only pauses game if anyone is risking of dying etc
I used a constitution tome on Rassad for a quick HP bonus at level 5. Why waste something so valuable on him? Well, a party is only as strong as it's weakest link, and having more HP makes me more inclined to use him the way he was meant to be used. Arguably, Rassad needs CON more than anything.
Another thing that helps is using the "T" formation and putting him in the 4 spot. That way he can back up anyone on the front line without making himself an easy target.
I don't understand why everyone say he is weak. What do you expect of him? Its like saying that Imoen is weak because she is not powerful in melee.
Characters with bad AC always give something else to the party that the characters with the good AC can't. Rogues give their skills (lock pick, traps, and nice opener in combat, etc'), Bards give versatility (not bad at fighting, can sling few spells, can identify), and so on. Monks role on the low levels is to be a good scout, to aid the main fighters in combat, take down the weak enemies (like the rogue), use his stun when its most useful, and also guard the very weak characters in the back (wizards), because he can move across the battlefield fast.
Don't send your monk to attack an enemy that your melee rogue can't take down.
And almost every class is ultra awesome at BG2 with all of the +5 items that are scattered across the game like garbage.
I don't understand why everyone say he is weak. What do you expect of him? Its like saying that Imoen is weak because she is not powerful in melee.
Good points, all. Except I don't think you'll find many players who think Imoen is a weak character. Even at the lowest levels she can contribute effectively at range, and she has more HP than Rassad with her CON bonus. You have to be much more cautious with Rassad in the early game, though he is becoming more and more useful as he gains levels. I actually rather like him now that he's level 6. I'm thinking about playing a Charname monk in another playthrough to see what the class can do with awesome stats.
Comments
Rasaad just died two times in a row to Gibberlings in my game.
He is level 6.
If I really wanted I could have one of my mages cast Strength on him. Or have him use strength potions. I've only bothered to do that a few times, though, eg, for a particularly tough fight.
If Rasaad isn't trying to Stun mages (that I usually have my mages Blind first), he's fighting archers (also Blinded). And the archers when meleeing rarely hit him with his -3 AC. He sometimes fails to save against mage's Horror and Hold spells, but thus far it it has only rendered him ineffective, it doesn't end with his death.
In the cases where he's fighting a tougher melee opponent, he's usually teamed with someone else. He does fine.
In a few cases where he's gotten critted I may have him step back, glup a healing potion, and kite the enemy using the Ring of Energy from a distance. Enemy meleers don't have a chance of catching him with his blazing footspeed. When he's got them hurt he'll move back in and use his fists.
Earlier in the game he is just useless.
Try to give him a sling, some buff potions (do not forget to use them, you can use a default Red 18 STR potion) or even fireball potions to throw into enemies from a distance (or the ring and the necklace with fire spells). Later try to put a star into single weap style, and if his run speed is still annoying give him some heavy items to slow him down, like somebody mentioned before. Put all his thief points into Hide, you can use him as a scout.
Later in the game he will be OK with a scimitar+2 or even with a Drizzt's scimitar, if you want to kill him for his gear. Try to give him the Claw of Kaza later in the game...
Still - low HP, bad THAC0.
You can get nice items for him in his personal quest area.
I don't know. Rasaad saved my butt against Greywolf. I had him hiding at night, just because I thought it was cool monks could hide, and forgot that one thing that angers Greywolf.(That was a spoiler I don't want to give to people)
So Greywolf attacks me and Rasaad attacks him from the shadows while he's attacking Jaheria and Khalid. Then I had Rasaad use stunning fist. The freaking thing actually hit. Greywolf just stood there like a bag of rocks and got beat to death. If that hadn't landed Jaheria would be dead. (2 health after one successful hit on her.)
Another thing that helps is using the "T" formation and putting him in the 4 spot. That way he can back up anyone on the front line without making himself an easy target.
Characters with bad AC always give something else to the party that the characters with the good AC can't. Rogues give their skills (lock pick, traps, and nice opener in combat, etc'), Bards give versatility (not bad at fighting, can sling few spells, can identify), and so on. Monks role on the low levels is to be a good scout, to aid the main fighters in combat, take down the weak enemies (like the rogue), use his stun when its most useful, and also guard the very weak characters in the back (wizards), because he can move across the battlefield fast.
Don't send your monk to attack an enemy that your melee rogue can't take down.
And almost every class is ultra awesome at BG2 with all of the +5 items that are scattered across the game like garbage.
Thieves can be great damagedealers in BG1, unlike monks. BSing people is not just fun, but profit.