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Tomes/Lum the Mad Boosts? (Stat boosts in general)

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  • taltamirtaltamir Member Posts: 288
    edited September 2013

    Correct me if I am wrong, but the "resistances" and "immune to +1 weapons and less" does NOT carry over when exporting and importing your character? I do remember that the Magic Resistance potions in Icewind dale gave +5% magic, BUT at import the resistance always reseted back to zero.
    And I do beleive I tried it in BG2... Anyone care to elaborate what carries over (all stat changes, such as str or dex does carry over of course), and obviously levels and xp.
    If resistances and immune buff does NOT carry over, then the good aligned character benefits less in the long run, such as replays...

    PS: Also does Armor buffs, saving throw buffs and hp buffs from the trial carry over any?

    why are you importing and exporting your character between SoA and ToB?
    XerxesV said:

    I'm sure I'm not the first one to ask this, but how can a book raise your stats?

    The book is literally full of magic that alters the body of the reader. After the reader finishes it the magic is spent, the book is then a normal mundane book that anyone can read and it will do nothing useful for them.
    XerxesV said:

    If they're magic, then how can non-spell casters use them?

    Same way a fighter uses a potion

    A better question is why anyone would ever craft one and not immediately use it.
    And in 3e, why anyone would EVER bother crafting a +1 tome at all, ever.

    See, the way it works in 3e is that you can cast wish for 5000XP, the list of "safe" wishes that cannot be perverted include a +1 to a stat (of self or another). If you string wishes together, casting them 10 seconds apart, you can push that all the way up to +5 bonus.
    If you got a +2 and want to upgrade it to a +3 it costs the same 3 wishes as a row as it would be to give someone with no bonus a +3. (well, sorta. It would leave you with both a +2 and a +3 bonus simultaneously, but only the +3 bonus apply. However, if someone was to ever spend 3 wishes to give you a -3 the +3 and -3 nullify each other and you would still retain the +2, which they would have to cancel out separately)

    Since a wizard can only cast 1 wish a DAY when he reaches level 17, he cannot string together 5 in a row alone. So he must resort to crafting a tome (which wastes an additional 500XP per +1 and a ton of GP).

    However, there are ways around it. You can get together with OTHER wizards and chain trade wishes (trust becomes a problem though). You can use scrolls but that is horrifically expensive and inefficient... You could try to acquire items like ring of 3 wishes (along with 2 you cast yourself if you level to 18 for a total of 5 within 50 seconds to get your chain).

    Or you can craft 9th level pearls of power. While expensive to craft, once made a pearl of power is basically an extra daily slot and you can have as many as you want. So you can use the same 4 pearls of power to get +5 to all stats at the cost of 25,000XP per stat. And while adventuring to collect that XP you can enjoy casting 5 level 9 spells a day

    Even if someone couldn't think of any "trick" to get around the chaining limitation, it still would never ever make sense to craft a +1 tome. Just write an IOU and then cast it yourself when a person claims it.
  • taltamir said:


    4. +2 bonus (aka -2) to all Saving Throws.

    4. +15 to your Hit Points. Blackrazor.

    I'd make the argument that 4 is something of a wash, though slightly leaning towards Evil. By the time you reach the end of SoA, CHARNAME's saves are probably already in "screw you" territory between base stats and magic items. 15 HP isn't a grand benefit either, but some additional buffer between you and death is always nice, and Blackrazor is nasty against anything which doesn't require a +4 or better to hit, which means it's still effective for a lot of ToB.
  • taltamirtaltamir Member Posts: 288
    there is still the occasional greater malison + spell that imposes a penalty to your rolls.

    But then again, +15 HP is nice.
  • AlsnAlsn Member Posts: 97
    edited November 2013
    With a shorty character(they get massive save bonuses since any sane player would max their constitution if playing a dwarf/gnome/halfling) the evil version of 4 is better than +2 to all saves. Even greater malisons don't do much when your saves are all -5 or better. Sure, the combination of greater malison and say, spook, might actually have a chance of sticking, but yout computer controlled enemies generally don't do that, even with mods like SCS.

    Edit: Just realised this was an old topic, sorry. :(
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    Shorty saves cap at 18 con.
  • EudaemoniumEudaemonium Member Posts: 3,199
    Need more aTweaks. Gives them bonuses all the way into the 20s :) Capping at +7.
  • AramintaiAramintai Member Posts: 232
    By the way, you can raise one more stat point from the Deck of Many Things (Star card):
    http://gamebanshee.com/baldursgateii/strategies/deckofmanythings.php
    Dragonspear
  • GamingFreakGamingFreak Member Posts: 639
    kamuizin said:

    Tome of stats should be placed in the library of irenicus's dungeon if they're not used during BG:EE and are in the inventory of the exported char or in the inventory of any of the NPCs if you export the saved game to BG2:EE.

    I hope they add this possibility in BG2:EE.

    Meh, you can just console them in and pretend you kept them with you the whole time (though sadly the wisdom and charisma ones can't be used in BG2EE)
  • Raistlin82Raistlin82 Member Posts: 256
    Just like with the Tomes, I gave STR DEX CON and CHA to my barbarian Bhaalspawn.
    INT to Edwin.
    WIS to Viconia.

    And I used EEKeeper to change Edwin and Viconia's stats in BG2EE accordingly.
    Hopefully, they should be carried over to ToB.
  • kryptixkryptix Member Posts: 741
    One of these playthroughs I'll finally use Valygar and pretend I kept the Wis books for him... Give them to him and dual him to cleric at 13 :).

    Actually, my current playthrough with a Drow (yes I gave myself the magic resistance :)) Lawful Neutral Fighter/Assassin might work with this!... She's at 18 STR, 17 CON, 19 DEX, 9 INT, 9 WIS, 18 CHA, which I know is powergaming a good roll to start with but with SCS on insane with a party low on arcane casters, I need my advantages :).

    Give all of the boosts to her except I'll give the INT one to Neera to avoid the hassle of drinking potions to scribe spells. Wis I'll save for Valygar in BG2.

    Therefore she should have at the end of BG1 19 STR, 18 CON, 20 DEX, 9 INT, 9 WIS, 19 CHA. After sacrificing WIS in BG2 (I think you can sacrifice WIS), then pumping up her stats with Lum the Mad and DOMT She should have 21 STR, 19 CON, 21 DEX, 9 INT, 8 WIS, 20 CHA. I'll give the second INT point probably to Neera as well and the extra WIS point probably to my Ranger Cleric Valygar...

    Then I'll lose a DEX in the hell trials most likely, I don't mind turning evil for this one because she's pragmatic, just starts neutral because she doesn't do evil things for the hell of it, but she won't want to lose a companion when she has DEX to spare (if I can raise the companion I'll keep the stats, not sure if thats possible in EE). Also I wanted blackrazor for her anyway.

    Planning this out, BG1 party is:

    CHARNAME
    Viconia
    Neera
    Dorn
    Xan
    Imoen

    BG2 party will be:
    CHARNAME
    Valygar
    Mazzy
    Neera
    Korgan/Dorn (not sure if I want to be quite evil enough to have Dorn along)
    Viconia/Imoen/Jan/Anomen (I really do need a second arcane caster with SCS, so probably Imoen or Jan, but Viconia is a fellow drow... I might also bring Anomen for the romance but I generally can't stand him, and Valygar will already be the dualed Cleric with far better stats and access to druid spells).

    I've already done the Hexxat romance so I probably will skip that this time and I won't need another thief... Debating Mazzy as Archer or Melee, probably I'll get her early as an archer and go melee in TOB.
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704

    kamuizin said:

    Tome of stats should be placed in the library of irenicus's dungeon if they're not used during BG:EE and are in the inventory of the exported char or in the inventory of any of the NPCs if you export the saved game to BG2:EE.

    I hope they add this possibility in BG2:EE.

    Meh, you can just console them in and pretend you kept them with you the whole time (though sadly the wisdom and charisma ones can't be used in BG2EE)
    This is valid to any item in the game, so should we save and close the game to add items at each 5 minutes and remove all the items in existence from BG2? Tomes area heavy, carry them should be part of the defy if the imported character keep them all in the inventory without using them.
  • dam23dam23 Member Posts: 30
    edited April 2014
    Just a quick heads up regarding bonus stats from tomes, lum the mad, hell, and min-maxing guys.

    Do not forget to factor in the +1 stat you can get from the Deck of Many Things in Watcher's Keep [1]

    Fighters get +1 STR
    Thieves get +1 DEX
    Casters get +1 to their primary casting stat

    I am unsure about multi-classed characters, however my human dual-classed fighter->thief got +1 DEX


    Additionally if you're going to min-max, do not hesitate to spend time on your stats rolls.
    While this is not very roleplay'ish, you can get rolls over 100 (I managed to hit a 101), with a theoretical maximum of 108 when rolling 6 on all your 3d6 * 6 dice.
    Of course the odds are astronomical.
    Using charisma as a dump stat, your minimum "acceptable" roll is 93 which lets you max every single other stat to 18, with an anti-roleplay 3 charisma.


    @Aranthys‌ I believe such tomes could be considered to be close to artifacts in terms of power so, you know, common rules need not apply ;)


    [1] http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/Walkthrough2/items/deck-of-many-things.php


    Edit: regarding the deck of many things, you want to get:
    1/ dungeon (save at -4 or imprison) or ruin (lose all gold) ; (you need a first bad draw)
    2/ star (+1 primary stat)
    3/ throne (1.000.000 xp)
  • bbearbbear Member Posts: 1,180
    An alternative to the "star" is the ring of protection+3. I believe this is the only way to obtain it in the game.

    From my experience, any multiclass combo with mage always take Int as primary stat. Fighter/Thief always take Dex. The Pecking Order is Int->Dex->Str. Not sure which place Wis would fall. I suspect it is Int->Wis->Dex->Str.
    jackjack
  • TwaniTwani Member Posts: 640
    What do sorcs and bards get, out of curiosity? Technically, their primary stat is CHA, but in practice they don't really get any benefit from it...
  • dam23dam23 Member Posts: 30
    Create a new game with a bard, use EE Keeper to give him a deck, try your luck ;)
  • thesoloerthesoloer Member Posts: 77
    dam23 said:

    Edit: regarding the deck of many things, you want to get:
    1/ dungeon (save at -4 or imprison) or ruin (lose all gold) ; (you need a first bad draw)
    2/ star (+1 primary stat)
    3/ throne (1.000.000 xp)

    Why do you need a bad draw first?
  • bbearbbear Member Posts: 1,180
    There are 2 different paths. A "good" draw and a "bad" draw lead to different set of cards. See the link for details:

    http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgateii/strategies/deckofmanythings.php
    jackjackCrevsDaak
  • dam23dam23 Member Posts: 30
    thesoloer said:


    Why do you need a bad draw first?

    As per information from the game files referenced at:
    http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/Walkthrough2/items/deck-of-many-things.php

    You need a bad draw on the first card, so you can get the Star or Key on your second card.

    Having at least 1 bad draw is also the only way to have a chance at Throne on your third and last card for 1.000.000 xp.
    CrevsDaak
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