I just like the fact that melee opens up a bit more interactiveness than ranged does. A T/M can go invisible and bushwhack someone no matter the lighting, a F/M can crowd control and entire area and turn himself into a rolling ball of butcher knives.
Archery with the multi-classes is legit, it just feels like your options are less so. All my personal opinion, of course.
@Quartz tried going the ranged weapons route and it sounded really intriguing. But I saw in a recent post of his that he came away a bit disenchanted with Fighter/Mage.
I'm still interested in trying a F/M who is devastating with the bow. He or she would probably get more spells off that way. I think I might try to make that a dual-class though.
I'd definitely dual in that case. For archery to be viable as your primary tactic you need as many attacks and as many damage bonuses as you can get your hands on. Mazzy can be pretty dangerous with the Tuigan or Gesen bows (assuming True Grandmastery). Valygar or Imoen, not so much.
Of course, you could also Kensage it with a throwing axe (and end up doing even more damage), but that probably doesn't have the feel you're going for.
I think the other guys covered the stats you should roll for. 18 Str, Dex, Con, Int is optimal.
You don't really need max Int for BG2, because you can always chug an Int pot (should be plentiful) before learning spells, but I feel it's a little cheesy and cumbersome to do so all the time. Alternatively, you can lower the game difficulty to prevent spell memorization failure, but you are still limited on spells per level.
For the Wish spells, you can always either chug a Wisdom pot before hand, or better yet, get someone with high Wisdom (Viconia for example) to talk to the Djinni before he initiates the conversation with you.
I also agree with @Kaigen on considering dualling. You can GM in a weapon that way (even better with the True GM mod), get faster spell progression, and higher caster levels.
@Quartz tried going the ranged weapons route and it sounded really intriguing. But I saw in a recent post of his that he came away a bit disenchanted with Fighter/Mage.
I'm still interested in trying a F/M who is devastating with the bow. He or she would probably get more spells off that way. I think I might try to make that a dual-class though.
Yeah, tried the Elven Fighter/Mage BS, which sucked. I had much more fun when I just went with the Gnomish Fighter/Illusionist route. I gave her profs in Halberds, Crossbows, and Two-Handed Weapon style. She ran around in Elven Chain and was plenty powerful. I went the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy route btw, rather than Light Crossbow of Speed.
I'm kind of coming to the opinion that you should just sorta do whatever you want, you'll have more fun that way than "power builds" and still be plenty powerful.
Rolling 91-93 is quite possible in BGEE (and it was possible in BG1 too, mind you). So when I play fighter/mage I usually spread stats like this: Str: 16 (+1 from Tome, +1 in ToB from Machine of Lum the Mad but it doesn't matter if you use one of those girdles of giant strength or Angurvadal in ToB) Dex: 17 (+1 from Tome - you have to have high dexterity to compensate for the lack of proper armor (don't waste Gauntlets of Dexterity on this), -1 in BG2 if you play good, +1 in ToB from Machine of Lum the Mad) Con: 16 (+1 from Tome, -1 in BG2 if you sacrifice it to the demon in the dream, +1 in ToB from Machine of Lum the Mad) Int: 16 (+1 from Tome to cast high level spells) Wis: 13 (+1 from Tome - just for saves & lore, don't need it for Wish because there is a potion for that) Cha: 15 (+1 from Tome - for leadership and morale, and also for the funny line in BG2 from Aran Linvail's mistress)
These stats are a distributed a little weird. From a power-gaming perspective, you're way better off topping up your strength, dex and con than putting points in wisdom or charisma. Also, the saving throw bonuses from wisdom are not implemented in BG.
Yea, well, I don't actually powerplay as much as I roleplay, so these stats are quite alright for the well rounded character I have in mind. For example, putting 19 to Str for elf or half-elf is quite odd from the releplaying perspective, because these races are not that strong usually, even Drizzt has only 14 strength. But anyway, believe me, they are quite enough to seriously kick some ass without much effort. I suppose for power gaming you can just dump Cha and Wis points into Str, Dex and Con and put someone else in charge of the party. But it is not very heroic and also strange story wise, so there.
@Quartz tried going the ranged weapons route and it sounded really intriguing. But I saw in a recent post of his that he came away a bit disenchanted with Fighter/Mage.
I'm still interested in trying a F/M who is devastating with the bow. He or she would probably get more spells off that way. I think I might try to make that a dual-class though.
I'd definitely dual in that case. For archery to be viable as your primary tactic you need as many attacks and as many damage bonuses as you can get your hands on. Mazzy can be pretty dangerous with the Tuigan or Gesen bows (assuming True Grandmastery). Valygar or Imoen, not so much.
Of course, you could also Kensage it with a throwing axe (and end up doing even more damage), but that probably doesn't have the feel you're going for.
Just FYI, for me, I think I'll only be playing BG:EE and BG2:EE games separately, not the entire saga. Which hugely shaped the choice of when to dual:
So for a BG:EE game with a dualed F/M I'm considering dualing a Conjurer 3 to Fighter (who can reach level 8).
He'd only be able to cast level 1 and 2 spells. But with Evermemory and the Amulet of Metaspell Influence there'd be a good number of slots. (Six slots at level 1 and three slots at level 2.) He could cast a nice array of disabling spells: Sleep, Blindness, Sleep, Spook, Glitterdust, Horror, and Ray of Enfeeblement.
He'd have grandmastery in Shortbow. I'd equip him with the Eagle Bow and have him liberally gulp down Oils of Speed.
I think, though, that it might get a little boring to just mow down targets with a bow all game long. On the other hand, it might make it a little more interesting that he could Blind them first... and/or put them to sleep, horrify, or enfeeble them.
I tested this a little bit in the Candlekeep battle tutorial room, and I'm not sure how fun it will actually be... the ranged F/M concept, I mean.
...I'm kind of coming to the opinion that you should just sorta do whatever you want, you'll have more fun that way than "power builds" and still be plenty powerful.
This is so true. Especially for those of us who've played countless games over the years. You really don't have to go uber at all to beat this game--and do it fairly easily, at that. Most of the time I now look for something creative, fresh, and a little off the beaten path. Your halberd wielding gnome Illusionist/Fighter sounds like a blast.
@Aramintai sorry, I wasn't trying to insult you or anything. I kinda figured you were kinda going for a roleplaying perspective, but from what I can tell, this thread is more geared towards how to power game a Fighter/Mage.
There is another Neutral Robe on the mage that turned cleric that is stuck on the Isle of Baldurian, and another one on the ghost at Ulcaster (kill him with poison)
So, I think there are 4 robes of the neutral arch magi it he game, 2 evil, 1 good.
I am a nu-be playing F/M -TotSC. Where is the Good Robe?
@Quartz Currently doing an elven fighter/Mage in multiplayer, longbow sniping can be pretty fun and spells later will dominate all fights! I am curious to try the gnome route, and use Warhammers to kneecap people :-D
Newbie again. [Spoilers OK, mostly] -High Hedge Archmage robes seem very expensive to get before Midgame as I am not into pillaging Beregost et al. The Ghost in Ulcaster sounds like a better option. Does that mean I need Neutral/Good or True Neutral Alignment to wear the Neutral robe? Also, I am leaning towards Bassileus's War Hammer as my main melee weapon because of its spell disruption attack speed with 2 points in Bow also. [I am playing TotSC and do not seem to have Dual Weapon as a Proficiency choice]. That gives me choice of Ranged Attack or Melee [with Splint Mail] according to the situation in the early game. Dualling Imoen or not and when [which involves recruiting Coran and when] is the obvious question... I am thinking of making Imoen primary Mage fairly early, maybe Level 3-4 and getting to Coran before he starts at level 5 with poor trap finding. So I am thinking of my first objective [w/Imoen] as recruiting Kivan in High Hedge, then Ajantis, then Coran, collecting Wyvern heads, Doing the Ankheg Nest and then removing Kivan and recruiting Khalid/Jaheira at FAI. Then heading to Basilleus and Ulcaster areas and rescuing Melicamp before heading to Nashkel. >>MY QUESTION: Will we be strong enough to handle the Wyverns and Ankhegs with only 4 Level 2ish NPCs, no Varscona or Adisheena, and almost no spells until we can get to Ulcaster. Maybe stocking up healing potions?? Keeping in mind that what I am trying to pull off is getting Coran early and ending with Imoen Thief/Mage, Charname Fighter/Mage, Jaheira, Khalid and Coran. Well, sound like a plan and I will see if it can be done... Any thoughts much appreciated!
Aiming for Stats [w roll of 92]: 18/any-18-18-14-12-12. From an RP POV I think sheer competence is even more important for Goal oriented Leadership than Charisma, per se, so long as it isn't subpar...
I dont see needing Max Int because a Multiclass Mage is probably not going to get beyond Level 7-8. For a roll of 90 I would go with 18/any-18-17-14-11-12.
@Eadwyn_G8keeper Is this a game you have actually started or are still planning out?
The robe of the archmagi is expensive, so you'll have to wait on buying it for a bit. You can wear the Neutral or Good robe of the archmagi if your alignment has either Neutral or Good, respectively, included in it. The robe will be grayed out when you shop for it if the character is unable to equip it (regardless of whoever is doing the talking with Thalantyr, click on your main character while shopping to see before purchasing).
Mild spoiler:
You can buy a Shield Amulet at the Nashkel Fair, which in combination with the Armor spell gets AC down pretty low early on. When the amulet is low on charges sell it to a merchant and repurchase it recharged. Eventually you can get a Shield scroll, scribe it to your spellbook, and cast the spell. But using the amulet frees up a spell slot for a different spell if you wish.
What weapons proficiencies did you choose for your Fighter/Mage?
If your game is already underway and you didn't pick War Hammer you can still use it, but it won't be as effective as a weapon that you have proficiencies in.
If you haven't yet started the game, or decided to reroll your character and start a fresh game, War Hammer is actually an intriguing choice for a Fighter/Mage. If you're creating an elven or half-elven Fighter/Mage, the character will be multi-class and you can give him or her profs in Two Weapon Style (aka dual-wielding). So you actually could dual-wield hammers, which sounds kind of fun. But you could also dual-wield hammers and long swords.
As for getting Coran as early as possible... I want to keep spoilage at a minimum here... but you'll have to complete a couple plotline quests before you can get to him. You'll gain some levels as you do. Coran will probably be the last character you add to your party.
If you simply follow the plot, and pick up other characters along the way (completing their quests), you should be strong enough to tackle the wyverns with Coran.
Just be sure to hit the "Q" key a lot to quicksave the game. It's also a good idea to periodically make named (or archived) game saves as well
OK, Thanks Lemernis a lot. I am psyched just now. Finally scored a 90 roll and topped it with an 18/99 Str. So I am Half-Elf Fighter/Mage with 2pts Bow and 2pts Blunt Weapons. Stats 18/99-18-18-14-12-10. I have Blind memorized and Color Spray in Spellbook. Still planning to go to Beregost-High Hedge-Kivan first to score some XPs to get Eadwyn[me] and Imoen some quick XP before heading to FAI for Jaheira and Khalid. Personally, I gotta go with the Half-elves for the Story Line value. For now I will put off the decision about Dualling Imoen and getting Coran or simply keeping her as Thief and recruiting Neera. Then maybe I can save the whole Minsc/Dynaheir adventure for later. What is a blank spot is whether the timing of a certain FairPriced official person's presence [V] will get screwed up by visiting Beregost before FAI. Something tells me it will, dagnabbit!...and that's a problem! -I will mostly avoid pillaging the Sword Coast so maximizing all legit payouts will be a priority for my play-line...at least on this first-run. Thanks again. Much appreciated. In the Blessed Name of the Lady..
This was how my neutral evil female elf Fighter/Mage multi started out (think this was the best of 20 rolls):
18/49 Str (will be 19 after Tome) 19 Dex (now 20 after Tome) 17 Con (now 18 after Tome) 18 Int (will be 19 after Tome) 5 Wis (I know...) (now 6 after Tome) 8 Cha (still 8, gave Tome to Dorn)
Level 1 Long Swords ++ Two Weapon Fighting ++
Level 3 Long Swords ++ Two Weapon Fighting +++
Level 6 Long Swords ++ Two Weapon Fighting +++ Scimitars + (mostly to prepare for Belm in BG2)
She's currently level 6/5 and doing various quests in Baldur's Gate city.
I put no points in bows, they're not so useful in BG2 and with the elf +1 THAC0 bonus, high Dex and the +2 Deadshot Longbow. (which is +3 to hit, if you include the longbow bonus), and only a -2 penalty for not being proficient with a weapon, she still doesn't miss often.
Am currently wielding the +2/+1 cold damage Varscona and +1/+3 vs. Undead Harrower long swords. In BG2 as am evil, hope to get the Blackrazor long sword late-ish on and dual wield that with Belm, but will also put points into Katanas too.
In BGEE she's wearing the robes of Evil Archmagi (from Cloakwood mines), before that I used the Shield Amulet (which you can acquire early and quite cheap in Nashkel Carnival) and whichever Robe was most useful at the time, usually the one that helps vs. missiles. Also have a suit of Full Plate in her backpack, which sometimes gets used if an encounter that Monty has scouted out doesn't seem to warrant spell usage.
She also wears the Helm of Defense and the +1 to hit/+2 damage gauntlets, can't remember which belt or boots (this game is on hold until the next patch, as the ranged APR bug is not good for my NPCs). Also have the Ring of Wizardry (this would actually be better on Edwin, but CHARNAME wants it!). Ring of Fire Resistance and +1 Cloak of Protection.
CHARNAME's spell focus is mostly on self-buffs, haste etc.
NPCs are: Dorn (Two-handed Sword/ 2H fighting / Composite Bow) - party leader and "face" and main melee damage-dealer
Montaron (Short Sword / Sling / Quarter Staff ) - primary scout, mage back-stabber and now pick-pocket/shop-lifter. I gave him the 18/00 strength gloves, he's now awesome!
Viconia (Mace / Sling / Warhammer / Flails) - buffer and healer and slinger. Also likes summoning undead
Imoen (Shortsword / Shortbow / Crossbow / Dagger) - NOT dualed, primary Trap-finder / Lock-picker and now Trap-layer. Usually goes trap-finding/removing under Invisibility spell cast by Edwin. Primary weapons are +1 Light Crossbow of Speed and +2 Dagger of Venom, but also use +2 Shortbow, depending on ammo preferred.
Edwin (Staff / Darts) - primary offensive spell-caster, 'nuff said
Imoen is my only good-aligned NPC, she whines a bit about my party being "riff-raff", but don't think she will leave unless my Rep gets down to 2 (is usually between 6-10). With hind-sight Shar-Teel or even Safana may have been a better choice, as didn't want to dual Imoen.
BTW I like the neutral evil Dust Mephit familiar - Glitterdust x 1/day and Glassdust x 2/ day is great for messing up enemies. The Chaotic Good Fairy Dragon would be awesome too, Invisibility 10' Radius and Mirror Image (on the familiar), and the Lawful Evil Imp is nasty as well.
@Eadwyn_G8keeper Oh, yeah, as @Oxford_Guy mentions, don't forget to cast Find Familiar eventually. Having an animal familiar will boost your HP enough to really make a difference, especially early on. You can tuck the familiar away in your backpack and forget about it if you wish, or use it as a kind of 7th party member. If the familiar dies you permanently lose one point of Con, though. So you have to protect the critter.
@Eadwyn_G8keeper Oh, yeah, as @Oxford_Guy mentions, don't forget to cast Find Familiar eventually. Having an animal familiar will boost your HP enough to really make a difference, especially early on. You can tuck the familiar away in your backpack and forget about it if you wish, or use it as a kind of 7th party member. If the familiar dies you permanently lose one point of Con, though. So you have to protect the critter.
Indeed, BTW don't forget you can and should include your familiar in any party buffs (Bless, Chant, Remove Fear, Strength of One, Haste etc.), they can also benefit from Bard song (a Skald's Familiar can be awesome!), and some of them get their own self-buffs.
One thing to be aware of, though, familiars can't drink potions, so make sure you're able to cast a cure wounds spell / slow poison spell (or Bhaal power) otherwise you may not be able to cure your familiar. Some familiars (more than the in-game descriptions imply) do auto regenerate HP, though.
I dont see needing Max Int because a Multiclass Mage is probably not going to get beyond Level 7-8. For a roll of 90 I would go with 18/any-18-17-14-11-12.
Are you saying this because you think Intelligence affects the max spell level you can learn? It should, but doesn't in BGEE nor has it ever in BG1/BG2.
What Int *does* affect (apart from Lore and needing Int 9 to cast from a scrolls and use certain items) is chance to successfully scribe a scroll into your spell book (if playing on core or above, which all but beginners ought to be) *and* number of spells in your spell book per level.
You do not necessarily need very high Int as a mage, though, if prepared to batch-learn scrolls after glugging a Potion of Genius. As I said previously, 15 Int is good as gives 65% spell learn (95% with just one Potion of Genius), allows 11 spells in your spell book per level (the limit only really affects level 1 spells in practice in BG1) and gives +5 lore. Can raise to 16 Int mid-late game with the Tome).
@Oxford_Guy There are 2 rings of wizardy ingame, enough for both your main and Edwin. They no longer stack with each other though. If you're in the city of BG you should be able to pick the second up without too much trouble.
Comments
I always end up not giving a T/M or F/M ranged.
I figure I can toss a magic missle or fireball.
Archery with the multi-classes is legit, it just feels like your options are less so. All my personal opinion, of course.
Of course, you could also Kensage it with a throwing axe (and end up doing even more damage), but that probably doesn't have the feel you're going for.
You don't really need max Int for BG2, because you can always chug an Int pot (should be plentiful) before learning spells, but I feel it's a little cheesy and cumbersome to do so all the time. Alternatively, you can lower the game difficulty to prevent spell memorization failure, but you are still limited on spells per level.
For the Wish spells, you can always either chug a Wisdom pot before hand, or better yet, get someone with high Wisdom (Viconia for example) to talk to the Djinni before he initiates the conversation with you.
I also agree with @Kaigen on considering dualling. You can GM in a weapon that way (even better with the True GM mod), get faster spell progression, and higher caster levels.
I'm kind of coming to the opinion that you should just sorta do whatever you want, you'll have more fun that way than "power builds" and still be plenty powerful.
So for a BG:EE game with a dualed F/M I'm considering dualing a Conjurer 3 to Fighter (who can reach level 8).
He'd only be able to cast level 1 and 2 spells. But with Evermemory and the Amulet of Metaspell Influence there'd be a good number of slots. (Six slots at level 1 and three slots at level 2.) He could cast a nice array of disabling spells: Sleep, Blindness, Sleep, Spook, Glitterdust, Horror, and Ray of Enfeeblement.
He'd have grandmastery in Shortbow. I'd equip him with the Eagle Bow and have him liberally gulp down Oils of Speed.
I think, though, that it might get a little boring to just mow down targets with a bow all game long. On the other hand, it might make it a little more interesting that he could Blind them first... and/or put them to sleep, horrify, or enfeeble them.
I tested this a little bit in the Candlekeep battle tutorial room, and I'm not sure how fun it will actually be... the ranged F/M concept, I mean.
I played a gnome illusionist/thief
I love Jan but wanted my own version of him
*Assuming you want only one Good or Neutral robe... and also don't want an Evil robe...
Currently doing an elven fighter/Mage in multiplayer, longbow sniping can be pretty fun and spells later will dominate all fights! I am curious to try the gnome route, and use Warhammers to kneecap people :-D
The robe of the archmagi is expensive, so you'll have to wait on buying it for a bit. You can wear the Neutral or Good robe of the archmagi if your alignment has either Neutral or Good, respectively, included in it. The robe will be grayed out when you shop for it if the character is unable to equip it (regardless of whoever is doing the talking with Thalantyr, click on your main character while shopping to see before purchasing).
Mild spoiler:
What weapons proficiencies did you choose for your Fighter/Mage?
If your game is already underway and you didn't pick War Hammer you can still use it, but it won't be as effective as a weapon that you have proficiencies in.
If you haven't yet started the game, or decided to reroll your character and start a fresh game, War Hammer is actually an intriguing choice for a Fighter/Mage. If you're creating an elven or half-elven Fighter/Mage, the character will be multi-class and you can give him or her profs in Two Weapon Style (aka dual-wielding). So you actually could dual-wield hammers, which sounds kind of fun. But you could also dual-wield hammers and long swords.
As for getting Coran as early as possible... I want to keep spoilage at a minimum here... but you'll have to complete a couple plotline quests before you can get to him. You'll gain some levels as you do. Coran will probably be the last character you add to your party.
If you simply follow the plot, and pick up other characters along the way (completing their quests), you should be strong enough to tackle the wyverns with Coran.
Just be sure to hit the "Q" key a lot to quicksave the game. It's also a good idea to periodically make named (or archived) game saves as well
Imoen (pure Thief)
Kivan
Neera
Jaheira
Khalid
is a solid crew.
Tymora be with ye.
18/49 Str (will be 19 after Tome)
19 Dex (now 20 after Tome)
17 Con (now 18 after Tome)
18 Int (will be 19 after Tome)
5 Wis (I know...) (now 6 after Tome)
8 Cha (still 8, gave Tome to Dorn)
Level 1
Long Swords ++
Two Weapon Fighting ++
Level 3
Long Swords ++
Two Weapon Fighting +++
Level 6
Long Swords ++
Two Weapon Fighting +++
Scimitars + (mostly to prepare for Belm in BG2)
She's currently level 6/5 and doing various quests in Baldur's Gate city.
I put no points in bows, they're not so useful in BG2 and with the elf +1 THAC0 bonus, high Dex and the +2 Deadshot Longbow. (which is +3 to hit, if you include the longbow bonus), and only a -2 penalty for not being proficient with a weapon, she still doesn't miss often.
Am currently wielding the +2/+1 cold damage Varscona and +1/+3 vs. Undead Harrower long swords. In BG2 as am evil, hope to get the Blackrazor long sword late-ish on and dual wield that with Belm, but will also put points into Katanas too.
In BGEE she's wearing the robes of Evil Archmagi (from Cloakwood mines), before that I used the Shield Amulet (which you can acquire early and quite cheap in Nashkel Carnival) and whichever Robe was most useful at the time, usually the one that helps vs. missiles. Also have a suit of Full Plate in her backpack, which sometimes gets used if an encounter that Monty has scouted out doesn't seem to warrant spell usage.
She also wears the Helm of Defense and the +1 to hit/+2 damage gauntlets, can't remember which belt or boots (this game is on hold until the next patch, as the ranged APR bug is not good for my NPCs). Also have the Ring of Wizardry (this would actually be better on Edwin, but CHARNAME wants it!). Ring of Fire Resistance and +1 Cloak of Protection.
CHARNAME's spell focus is mostly on self-buffs, haste etc.
NPCs are:
Dorn (Two-handed Sword/ 2H fighting / Composite Bow) - party leader and "face" and main melee damage-dealer
Montaron (Short Sword / Sling / Quarter Staff ) - primary scout, mage back-stabber and now pick-pocket/shop-lifter. I gave him the 18/00 strength gloves, he's now awesome!
Viconia (Mace / Sling / Warhammer / Flails) - buffer and healer and slinger. Also likes summoning undead
Imoen (Shortsword / Shortbow / Crossbow / Dagger) - NOT dualed, primary Trap-finder / Lock-picker and now Trap-layer. Usually goes trap-finding/removing under Invisibility spell cast by Edwin. Primary weapons are +1 Light Crossbow of Speed and +2 Dagger of Venom, but also use +2 Shortbow, depending on ammo preferred.
Edwin (Staff / Darts) - primary offensive spell-caster, 'nuff said
Imoen is my only good-aligned NPC, she whines a bit about my party being "riff-raff", but don't think she will leave unless my Rep gets down to 2 (is usually between 6-10). With hind-sight Shar-Teel or even Safana may have been a better choice, as didn't want to dual Imoen.
BTW I like the neutral evil Dust Mephit familiar - Glitterdust x 1/day and Glassdust x 2/ day is great for messing up enemies. The Chaotic Good Fairy Dragon would be awesome too, Invisibility 10' Radius and Mirror Image (on the familiar), and the Lawful Evil Imp is nasty as well.
One thing to be aware of, though, familiars can't drink potions, so make sure you're able to cast a cure wounds spell / slow poison spell (or Bhaal power) otherwise you may not be able to cure your familiar. Some familiars (more than the in-game descriptions imply) do auto regenerate HP, though.
What Int *does* affect (apart from Lore and needing Int 9 to cast from a scrolls and use certain items) is chance to successfully scribe a scroll into your spell book (if playing on core or above, which all but beginners ought to be) *and* number of spells in your spell book per level.
You do not necessarily need very high Int as a mage, though, if prepared to batch-learn scrolls after glugging a Potion of Genius. As I said previously, 15 Int is good as gives 65% spell learn (95% with just one Potion of Genius), allows 11 spells in your spell book per level (the limit only really affects level 1 spells in practice in BG1) and gives +5 lore. Can raise to 16 Int mid-late game with the Tome).