Dorn sucks
Mezmerelda
Member Posts: 15
I don't know if it's the constitution or what, but out of my evil party, my mage and thief can outlast Dorn in close quarter combat. My bhallspawn is a blackgaurd so thank bhall I'm almost through bg1 so I can ditch his ass, worst time investment ever
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Poison Weapons
Yeah, he won't be as good as Charname, as you can minmax stats. But he served me quite well. Was quite instrumental to taking down Drizzt, for example.
I can see your point though, since Charname is Blackguard. If it is the first time you get him...
Paladins don't level as fast as a Thief like Imoen, so Thieves and classes that level fast like Bards end up gaining levels and hit points faster especially if they have enough constitution for extra hit points per level. I'd recommend either installing a mod which allows you to use the Neverwinter Nights way of gaining hit points (half the class hit points minimum per level) or just changing the difficulty to the normal setting when leveling up so those like Dorn don't get screwed with poor hit point rolls making them less beefy than some other NPCs.
The 2 'paladin' NPCs. Ajantis was usually a good pick for good parties in vanilla BG, so lets see how he compares to Dorn.
Dorn:
S19 Dex16 Con14 Int10 Wis15 Cha16
Ajantis:
S17 Dex13 Con16 Int12 Wis13Cha17
So Dorn gets +2 strength, +3 Dex, +3 Wis, -2 Con, -2 Int, -1 Cha. That is a pretty huge swing in Dorn's favor. He lets you give the gloves of dexterity to someone else, can still be a party leader, and hits *much* harder than Ajantis.
But what about special abilities?
Dorn:
* Poison Attack
* Aura of enemy debuff
* Can heal himself by draining enemy HP
Ajantis:
* Can give an AC bonus to himself or allies
* Can heal himself or allies
* Detect evil
Again, I'd give this one to Dorn. Poison Attack wrecks everything. Bane of mages, lets you take down Drizzt, nothing escapes his poisoned blades. He also brings some serious pain to enemies, doing much more to hurt them than Ajantis can do to protect the party.
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Given your party setup, Dorn seems like a great choice.
Tanky Charname + Kagain up front
Greatsword wielding Dorn behind them
Kagain tanks, Dorn deals loads of damage and further debuffs the enemy. What isn't to like?
To me both are must haves for a go at a good party or evil party, unless shaking things up with different sorts of characters on purpose. They make the best party leaders you can get (among NPCs) and dish out some good damage. Ajantis can get the Gauntlets of Dexterity for extra tankiness plus emergency healing if no Cleric, and Dorn can carry a crapton of stuff and has some nice offensive abilities. Dorn is also in the range of Constitution where he can use something like that Claw of Kazgaroth and not have to worry about losing out on hit points, since the difference between 14 Constitution and 7 Constitution is pretty minimal.
Both are characters that end up getting much better later on, and the 19 Strength Dorn has makes up for not getting weapon mastery Fighters would get (or Archers). They are just both really useful to have and have utility, Ajantis with his healing and Dorn with high Strength and Dexterity allowing him to use composite longbows pretty well. I mean yeah a min maxed player character will always look better on paper, but Paladins like these are always a great compliment to the party even if your player character is already a Paladin themselves.
Korgan, Dorn, Viconia, Edwin & Hexxat could beat the game on their own!
Play a Chaotic Evil Peasant and waltz to Godhood!
Dorn may have a point "too" low to give CON bonus, but he still levels as a warrior class and end up with more than necessary hitpoints. Full plate mail, ring/robe of protection and girdle of piercing (if two-handed) give him a decent enough AC to last a long time.
In BG2 there's the girdle of fortitude to bring his CON up to 18 for 8 hours, which can be equipped and swapped just for the bonus.
I have no trouble using both Dorn and Shar in BG1, both have quite average/low HP pools, but with proper gear they stay alive and dish out the pain. Sometimes the best defense is offensive overkill.
Dorn is fine, and his ToB quest lets you try and take down not one but two Silver Dragons.
I think the previous posters were talking about an earlier quirk/bug where using the belt to boost your Constitution before levelling up would actually grant you a *permanent* bonus, even after the item's duration ran out... which is obviously absurd.
I gave Dorn the gauntlets of dexterity and with poison weapon, criticals with two handed sword and his multiple auras, he totally rocks the casbah!
There is nothing like starting a battle with a Safana backstab and as the enemies turn their attention to her sudden deadly appearance, two Blackguards are decloaking with poison weapons in their midst( I have Neera cast Invisibility on Mainchar and Dorn). I am a big fan of my two blackguard party and it wouldn't be the same without Dorn il-Khan!
*Charisma, Constitution and Dexterity tomes have been used by Mainchar at this point.
(Actual stat roll of 98 total with 18(00) took about six minutes of rolling, I've never seen a 18(00) roll that high before or since.)