Questions about Dual Class, Fighters and Weapon Proficiency

Comments

• Giant2005 Member Posts: 43

  December 2015

  Regarding Dual-Wielding, your off-hand weapon is really only there for the buff to the min-ahnd (+1 attack in the case of Belm). Sure it would be nice to get yourself as proficient as possible with it but it isn't a priority. The same applies to the third pip in Two Weapon Style. The first two are enough to stop your main hand having penalties and all the third does is reduce the penalty of the unimportant off-hand weapon.
  
  As for dual class THAC0, they don't stack at all - you have the THAC0 of either your first or second class, whichever one provides the best value.
  
  Still, I wouldn't be shy about Dual-Classing if I were you. The general rule of thumb is that if you can, then you should. One combination that you didn't consider which may appeal to you if you aren't a fan of spending the time to self-buff is the Kensei-Thief. Thieves level really fast which means you get your Kensei abilities back quickly too. Also I am not sure if you are aware of this but ToB comes with High Level Abilities - one of which belonging to the Thief is called "Use Any Item" and that ability removes all of the penalties for being a Kensei. If you don't want to run around as a level 1 after dual-classing, you don't really have to. Just stockpile all of the spell scrolls you can find and if you have spare cash, buy as many as you can from the merchants. When you Dual Class, kick everyone out of your party if you are DCing into a Mage), or everyone but a Mage if you are DCing into anything else. Then have that Mage learn all of those spells, erasing old ones as necessary, and before you are done your first class will most likely have returned.

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• Lord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211

  December 2015

  Neo said:

  dual wield deals a lot more damage than 2h sword?

  It usually has a higher damage potential, yes, due to the +APR offhand weapons which increase your damage considerably. That being said, 2h can also be quite competitive, especially in parties that are light on buffs.

  Neo said:

  Do you just have to be super patient to play the Berserker? I'm also wondering how useful the rage is in the long run. I mean, it must be great in the early game but don't your saving throws become very good as you reach high levels so that you would resist most of those spells anyways?

  There are definitely effects that you would have a hard time resisting otherwise, such as Imprisonment by a certain lovely demi-lich you may encounter. But even aside from that, Rage is just a very easy-to-use way of negating most of the detrimental effects the game's more annoying enemies throw out. The minor downside of it being there after the fight ends is usually not a high price to pay for what you get. It's not like you have to use it all the time.

  Neo said:

  What about Paladin? I know that the best 2h sword can only be used by them. Can they dish out good damage (I know they can be great tanks) as a main character or are they much inferior to Kensai or Berserker no matter what on that department?

  If you're playing the unmodded game on normal rules, then nothing is "much inferior" to anything. You won't even notice many of the finer margins.
  Paladins are absolutely a very good class in BG2, and Inquisitor in particular is probably one of the best things you can be in this game. And that sword you mentioned really is that good

  Neo said:

  I'm wondering with the dual class, say I dual my Kensai at 9, it says that Kensai gets +1 attack damage and -1 THAC0 every 3 level if I remember well. Does this mean that if I dual at 9, all I get is +3 dmg, -3 THAC0 or do I get a lot more of those bonuses once I hit lvl 9 Mage?

  The whole idea is that you get the bonuses for free, because you can negate the penalties (i.e. not being able to use armor) through your second class. Fighters don't scale terribly well past lvl9 anyway, and unlike BG1, much of later BG2 and especially ToB is dominated by spellcasting, meaning you absolutely want to have that on your side. Pure casters however lack a reliable, no-questions-asked means of doing ad-hoc damage, which is why it's so good to pair them with a Fighter class. Ironically, spells are also the best means of protecting yourself in combat, meaning you pick the best defense (Mage) and pair it with the best offense (Fighter). The kit bonus from Kensai is just a cherry on top. No it won't stack higher, but does it need to? You're playing this combination to be invincible, once you're there, an extra 3 damage or whatever wouldn't matter much anyway.

  Neo said:

  Weapon speed only affects who gets to attack first each round, it doesn't give you more attacks right?

  Correct, unlike many other games "weapon speed" is a bit confusing in BG, as it does exactly what you say: hit earlier, but NOT more often. That is what "attacks per round" does, and why the weapons that give +1 APR are so very good.

  Neo said:

  People seem to agree overall about Flail of Ages to be the best MH weapon and Belm to be the best OH. If I dual at lvl 9, I only get 7 points to spend. I made a new Kensai and put 5 into Flails, 1 into Dual Wield. I could only have 2/3 Dual Wield and then any of the other good weapons (Celestial Fury for example), I won't be proficient with... It also means that I won't be proficient with my OH weapon. Is it that worth it to go with Dual Wield if you can't even max it out compared to 2h weapon?

  Your offhand weapon is fairly irrelevant. Most of the benefit from high proficiency comes from the extra APR anyway, and since you can't get more than 1 APR with your offhand in any way (save IH, which works a bit weirdly but doesn't change the argument) you don't really need more than 1 pip for your offhand - if even that. If you completely ignore offhand proficiencies, you'll hardly notice it. Dual-wield pips are worth it up to **, the 3rd is not very good. Grand Mastery however remains a priority in most cases, because of the extra APR.
  
  As for different weapons, it does pay to plan ahead. But don't be blinded by the weapon selection, you're rarely in a situation where you want to use many different types. Flails in particular is a very safe choice, because you get Flail of Ages so early on, and it remains so good throughout the game you'll hardly ever want to use something else.
  If you do like using a wide variety of weapons, perhaps a class like Paladin is a better fit. But if you want to plan ahead and maximize efficiency, then Grand Mastery on a Fighter is the way to go.

  Neo said:

  I would rather play with Katanas for a Kensai (or longswords or bastard swords) but I think that I might get screwed over late game if I put my points into this as mobs will resist the damage type and the weapons aren't strong enough to land attacks on some of the stronger enemies from what I read.

  Enemies don't resist slashing too much, here and there but nothing like missile or piercing, where you have strong resistances or immunities on several common types of enemy. Katana do suffer from the fact that they have an amazing one early on (Celestial Fury) but nothing useful at all in the rest of the game. Bastard Swords are sort of the opposite, nothing impressive for most of the game, then one of the best swords of all later on (Foebane). Long Swords are fairly balanced, with good early, mid, and late game choices (e.g. Daystar, Flametongue, Angurvadal).

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• Neo Member Posts: 127

  December 2015

  Thanks for the answers, it helps to clear up quite a few things. I might look into the Inquisitor (I also read that it was good but that it debuffs your whole party at the same time so that's part of what made me hesitate). Otherwise, I guess my proficiency points on Kensai are fine and I thought that since Flail of Ages is so strong, that I might only get it by the end of SoA but if you can get it not too late, then I guess I'd stick to flail for Grand Mastery. I just realized that I only put 8 int into my new Kensai though (I had 18/99 str roll) so I'd have to change that if I have to go Kensai/Mage . Otherwise, I might try Kensai/Thief to use anything, I just didn't know how late that would come in and I really hate (probably from not understanding it right) the Thief class in BG. Besides using it to disarm traps and open locks, I just don't know how to use them properly in combat and how to use their traps.

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• Gallowglass Member Posts: 3,356

  December 2015

  Oh blimey, a wall of text indeed! But okay, I'll have a go at answering, even though it'll be an even longer wall of text.

  Neo said:

  Here I'm stuck again, spending days reading and having a hard time making my mind. I had started BG2 with a Sorcerer but after looking at the high level spells, it seems like most of them are more for utility and not that impressive for damage dealing compared to melee damage I think (am I wrong?).

  Late-BG2 is mostly magical combat, it's all about buffing and de-buffing. Your melee characters often won't be able to touch the more serious enemies at all until after you've de-buffed them, and you'll probably be killed before you can do that if you're not well-buffed yourself. Melee damage in late-BG2 is basically the "mopping up" after winning the magical contest - you need it, but it's not the decisive factor. This is why many of the high-level spells are what you dismissively call "utility" spells, but nevertheless there are also some excellent damage spells there too.

  Neo said:

  If so, I'm not sure that I really see the point in having a Sorcerer as my main character if he's going to be mostly doing utility spells and medium/low damage support. I might as well just have an added party member for that.

  You can have a party member for any role, so what's the difference? There's a widespread (although certainly not universal) view that Sorcerer is the strongest class in late-BG2, although only if you've made the right spell selections at each level-up. (The right choices don't include many damage spells, but those few damage spells will see plenty of use.)

  Neo said:

  I thought that Sorcerer would be nice for nuking over the versatility of a mage but if he's mostly buffing/debuffing at high level, I don't see much point (AOEs aren't always very useful with friendly fire and mobs might have much better saving throws in BG2 to make my spells less effective on top of that).

  Any Mage is mostly buffing/de-buffing at high level, not just Sorcerers. That's where the action is.
  
  Yes, you can use a Sorcerer for blasting the enemy. But just pick two or three damage spells in BG1 and another two or three in BG2, and rely on those for all your "nuking". If you make good choices, this can work very well ... party-friendly AoE is particularly handy, of course.
  
  Yes, enemies have better saving throws as you go along, and you'll also meet some with significant Magic Resistance or immunities. De-buffing therefore becomes more important.

  Neo said:

  Then I'm thinking about either Kensai or Berserker. I had learned every single spell from BG1 on my K/M and he has 19 str but since I dualed him at lvl 7, I guess I'm best to make a new one for BG2 unfortunately.

  Nuts, a Kensai(7)->Mage is a perfectly fine protagonist for BG2. However, for BG2 you'll be using him mostly (and increasingly) as a Mage rather than as a Fighter, and the main advantage of the Kensai levels is that when he's forced into physical combat (or runs out of relevant spells) then he'll be significantly better at it than a single-class Mage.

  Neo said:

  Half-Orc Berserker with 2h sword is very tempting (19 str and good Sarevok sword early game) but it seems like it might not be a good idea in the long run as you eventually get belts to boost str higher and dual wield deals a lot more damage than 2h sword?

  Yes, you get some STR belts, but it's very handy when your protagonist doesn't need one and you can therefore let some other party member get the benefit.
  
  No, dual-wielding doesn't deal "a lot" more damage than two-handing, the difference is actual fairly marginal. Either is very effective, provided that you have the right proficiencies and equipment.

  Neo said:

  I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the K/M for the main reason that I found by the end the game that it was best to use buffing/debuffing spells for my K/M and it was taking forever to set it all up each fight (or before each fight) instead of just going in like a fighter should.

  In BG2, you'll soon find yourself spending even more time on buffing/de-buffing and other preparation than in BG1. It's a complex game of planned strategies and elaborate tactics, not a shoot-em-up. If you don't have the patience and interest to set up carefully and thoroughly for the major fights, then you'll just lose.

  Neo said:

  Is going ''pure'' Kensai worth it at all if I have an other mage in my party to do the buff/debuff or would I lose out too much from not having certain spells that can only be cast on the caster himself? I think that I read that Kensai's THAC0 is just so low that it doesn't really matter anyways to level it as a ''pure class''.

  If you want a protagonist to be a melee warrior, then pure Kensai is certainly a viable option.
  
  If you're going to dual to Mage at all, then that's a character which will be mainly a Mage for the rest of the game, not a front-line warrior - obviously a pure Mage until you get Kensai levels back, then a short window after getting your Kensai levels back when you'll again be competitive in melee, but then after that you'll be left well behind in Fighter levels by your NPC warriors and will be better off working mostly as a Mage (and leaving most of the melee work to NPCs) for the rest of the game.

  Neo said:

  About the Berserker, I found the rage to be pretty annoying in Black Pits. Sure, it's nice to be immuned to some CCs for a while but when it ends and the fight isn't over, it's pretty lame to be stuck with a debuff. I also had to wait for it to wear off every time I wanted to rest, which was very annoying.

  Rage is the point of Berserker; if you don't like the Rage, then Berserker isn't for you. The exhaustion afterwards is brief, just a minute or so. If you regard that as an excessive wait, then really I wonder whether you have the patience for this game.

  Neo said:

  I'm guessing that if I was to have him as my main character, you have to wait it off and rest after every encounter where you use it?

  No, after the first few levels you get multiple uses of Rage per day, so you don't need to rest every time. The after-use exhaustion should surely wear off by the time you reach your next battle.

  Neo said:

  If you don't, you risk having the debuff trigger during your next fight once the rage ends.

  You're rushing through at nigh-unbelievable speed if you can often reach the next battle while still Enraged from the previous battle. Even so, you can negate the exhaustion by just re-Enraging for that next battle, then wait afterwards for it to wear off.

  Neo said:

  How do you deal with this? Do you just have to be super patient to play the Berserker?

  No more than the patience demanded throughout the game. I wouldn't recommend BG to someone suffering severe ADHD, but anyone of normal attention-span shouldn't have a problem.

  Neo said:

  I'm also wondering how useful the rage is in the long run.

  Excellent, and more so as the game goes on.

  Neo said:

  I mean, it must be great in the early game but don't your saving throws become very good as you reach high levels so that you would resist most of those spells anyways?

  Many things can't be saved against, you need immunity. The immunities are especially valuable later when you face enemies who try to use those effects. So no, the value of Rage grows, not diminishes, as you progress.

  Neo said:

  Just like for the Kensai, is Berserker ''pure class'' good if I have someone else to do the buffs/debuffs or will he just be a fraction of what he could be as Berserker/Mage or Berserker/Cleric?

  Same role as pure Kensai, a melee warrior. Completely different role to a [anything]->Mage (who is primarily a Mage) or a [anything]->Cleric (who is primarily a Cleric).

  Neo said:

  What about Paladin? I know that the best 2h sword can only be used by them. Can they dish out good damage (I know they can be great tanks) as a main character or are they much inferior to Kensai or Berserker no matter what on that department?

  Paladins are fine melee warriors. They tend to be a little tougher and a little more versatile than Fighter kits, but a little less damaging ... but the difference isn't enough to change their role, it's often less than the differences caused by how they're equipped and so on.

  Neo said:

  I'll do the dual class if needed but I'm not a big fan of it to be honest.

  The main thing to know in BG2 about any dual-class is that it's then primarily the second class and should be played as such to make the most of it. (It's not the same in BG1, because the second class never gets so many levels higher than the first class.)

  Neo said:

  I already don't like to have a bunch of party members of different classes to manage, let alone when they have more than one class themselves (on top of becoming weak with the 2nd class until they catch up in levels to the initial one).

  For many of us, probably for most of us who are long-term players, the complexity is the attraction. If you don't like complexity, then, well, BG may not hold your interest for long.

  Neo said:

  I'm wondering with the dual class, say I dual my Kensai at 9, it says that Kensai gets +1 attack damage and -1 THAC0 every 3 level if I remember well. Does this mean that if I dual at 9, all I get is +3 dmg, -3 THAC0 or do I get a lot more of those bonuses once I hit lvl 9 Mage? Would I then get an extra +3 from the 9 Mage levels? I'm confused on this one.

  No, -3 THAC0 and +3 damage is "all you'd get". After dualling out of a class, you get no further progress from that class/kit. But -3 THAC0 and +3 damage is a really good bonus, especially for the Mage or Thief which you've now become!

  Neo said:

  I read that they get very high damage and THAC0 but I just don't see how it's that big of a deal if you Dual Class him.

  Well it gets very high if you stick to pure Kensai. Even dualling out and stopping further bonuses, it's enough to make a Mage or Thief a lot stronger in combat.

  Neo said:

  Weapon speed only affects who gets to attack first each round, it doesn't give you more attacks right?

  Right.

  Neo said:

  2h swords would be much more simple but apparently clearly inferior in terms of damage.

  Only slightly. And raw damage is not the only consideration, it's a much more subtle and complicated game than that. Two-handing is a perfectly credible strategy.

  Neo said:

  People seem to agree overall about Flail of Ages to be the best MH weapon and Belm to be the best OH.

  No.
  
  There are a couple of misleading propagandists who keep repeating this over and over, but they usually don't bother to explain that they're depending upon an exploit instead of legitimate use. FoA is the most damaging weapon for a dual-wielder's main hand only if you use an exploit to nullify the Free Action effect which is added when it gets its final upgrade to FoA +5. Free Action nerfs it hugely by making it incompatible with Haste spells and potions. (It's probable that the real developer-intended use for FoA +5 is as a Cleric weapon with a Shield in the off-hand, to help make sure that your Cleric stays in action for when you need urgent raising or healing or re-buffing.) Without cheating your way around the Free Action nerf, you're better off with various other weapons for the main hand.
  
  Belm +2 is often a good weapon for the off-hand, but for those who can use it (Fighter/Thieves, Blades, Swashbucklers) the Scarlet Ninja-To +3 is substantially better. There's also a lot to be said for the Defender of Easthaven +3 and Crom Faeyr +5 as off-hand weapons, which I frequently find more useful.
  
  It all depends, however, upon who is in your party and what weapons your other characters need. There isn't a one-size-fits-all-parties answer.

  Neo said:

  Is it that worth it to go with Dual Wield if you can't even max it out compared to 2h weapon?

  With * in dual-wielding, it's useless. With ** in dual-wielding, some people will do it, but the off-hand penalty is still substantial so you're often better off two-handing (and more likely hitting, and probably hitting harder) than getting an extra attack (which probably misses). With *** in dual-wielding, yes, it's well worthwhile.

  Neo said:

  Would that be a decent perk from being a ''pure fighter'' class so that you can get Grand Master for both your MH and OH plus the 3/3 Dual Wield?

  Yes to grandmastery for the main-hand weapon and mastery in dual-wielding. For the off-hand weapon, grandmastery wouldn't give you any extra APR and therefore isn't nearly so significant ... if that weapon class is going to be used only off-hand, there's probably no point going beyond mastery (which gives as much THAC0 benefit as grandmastery). However, grandmastery in both gives you the option of using the "off-hand" type efficiently in the main-hand instead, which can be situationally useful.

  Neo said:

  Should I not max out one weapon type but get points in 2-3 of them so that I can use different good weapons throughout the game?

  That depends upon who else you've got and what weapons they can use, but in general, no, you want to be really good with your main weapons, and rely on your companions to make use of other weapons when they're the right tool for the job. However, if your companions can't handle several situationally-important weapons, then it can be better for your protagonist to spread his proficiencies ... but not too much.

  Neo said:

  This is the main thing holding me back right now and I don't want to realize that I messed it up half way through the game.

  Quit panicking, just get on with it and see how it goes. You'll probably be fine.

  Neo said:

  I would rather play with Katanas for a Kensai (or longswords or bastard swords) but I think that I might get screwed over late game if I put my points into this as mobs will resist the damage type

  Some enemies have good resistance to sharps, that's true. Either give yourself some proficiencies in a blunt weapon as well, or just rely on your companions to take care of it when sharps aren't cutting the mustard. (Or indeed the Mustard Jelly )

  Neo said:

  ... and the weapons aren't strong enough to land attacks on some of the stronger enemies from what I read.

  Then you've read some nonsense. It's true that Katanas fade a little against some late-game enemies, although +3 remains good enough most of the time and +4 is good enough to hit very nearly every enemy. Bastard Swords and Long Swords both run all the way to +5, which is as high as you can get with any one-handed weapon. For a dual-wielding single-class Kensai wielding blades, I'd personally go with Bastard Sword as the main-hand weapon, using the Blade of Searing +3 from mid-SoA and eventually graduating to Foebane +5 (a brilliant weapon!) in ToB. (Unless you use the exploit to de-nerf the FoA +5, Foebane +5 is arguably the most damaging one-handed weapon in the game.)

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• Lord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211

  December 2015

  Neo said:

  I might look into the Inquisitor (I also read that it was good but that it debuffs your whole party at the same time so that's part of what made me hesitate).

  Just a matter of proper aim and positioning. Once you get a feel for the area of effect, you can dodge it most of the time and have only the enemy get hit. Sometimes it won't work, but that's usually because you have something important to dispel and the benefit outweighs the detriment :P

  Neo said:

  Otherwise, I guess my proficiency points on Kensai are fine and I thought that since Flail of Ages is so strong, that I might only get it by the end of SoA but if you can get it not too late, then I guess I'd stick to flail for Grand Mastery.

  The beauty of FoA is that you get it VERY early, and then upgrade it throughout the game. But even the very first version (well, proper first version i.e. the +3 one) is already REALLY good; better than almost any weapon in SoA and certainly better by miles than anything you'd have at that point in the game under most circumstances.

  Neo said:

  Otherwise, I might try Kensai/Thief to use anything, I just didn't know how late that would come in and I really hate (probably from not understanding it right) the Thief class in BG. Besides using it to disarm traps and open locks, I just don't know how to use them properly in combat and how to use their traps.

  Kensai->Thief is also a staple. There are many ways to use it, from just straight-up melee with thieving skills and perks like UAI, to extensive backstabbing or use of traps (mostly Spike Trap, which is obscenely overpowered). HLAs do take a while to get (3mil XP) but there is plenty of XP in BG2.

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• Neo Member Posts: 127

  December 2015

  Thanks for the answers Gallowglass. About me being impatient with the buffing/debuffing and berserker rage, I already played BG1 back in 1998 and I do like that game a lot so it can be for me but I most likely will only do 1 playthrough, 2 at most. I did not know that Berserker rage debuff wore off on its own, this is why I thought that you had to sleep to get rid of the debuff after each use. It might have come out as whiny but I'm fine with the tactical and slower aspect of the game lol. It's just that when I have to wait a few minutes for no reason at all other than to wait for a spell to end (web for example) so that I can move on even though the fight is over, I find it tedious and rather avoid adding extra situations like this to most of my fights if I can.
  
  Thanks for clearing up about the dual class being more about the 2nd class. I only dual classed in BG1 so both of my classes were around the same level (I think Kensai was at 7, Mage at 8 if I remember well) so I really thought that the point of using Mage was just to buff yourself to be an even stronger melee fighter rather than being a Mage with melee fighting skills on the side.
  
  I'm also glad I read what you wrote about weapons and proficiency. I had been looking through posts and discussions about those for the last week (some of them from 15 years ago) and couldn't find the precise answers. I do not plan on cheating or using mods so I might give the flail to an other character than my main one then. It would be a great weapon if I can get it early on but if it prevents me from using haste spells (which are very important if I want to focus on melee damage output), then I guess it isn't ideal.
  
  I understand that dual class is part of what is fun and the complexity if you want to replay the game many times over. It's just that for a first playthrough, I already have so many mage spells to learn, when I add all of the NPC classes I end up with (Thief for example that I clearly am not using the right way or Cleric since I haven't tried all the spells and often end up using as a heal bot), having dual class on top of it is just a bit much. If I had a good understanding of most classes, it'd be different.
  
  What I meant by not being too sure about Sorcerer being my main character was in the sense that if the damage spells aren't what is strongest about them in BG2, I'd end up buffing/debuffing and many of those spells might just need to be cast once per fight. Maybe my views are skewed because I played through BG1 4x and I haven't played BG2 yet but usually, I might need to do 1 dispell or 1 CC spell and I don't really need to keep on casting it again over and over (so I'll switch to damage spells after). If that's the case, then having a maxed out melee character (from having the right proficiencies and maxed out stats) should be more benificial while I can have an other mage do the buffs/debuffs. In BG1, I was using a mage for most of my utility spells while my sorcerer was more focused on dealing damage. These spells turn the caster into more of a support than a damage dealer (not denying that the support is essential, it's just that if I buff a random character that isn't maximized with my sorc, I think it turns out less efficient than if I buff a maxed melee character with a random party mage instead).

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• Lord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211

  December 2015

  Neo said:

  TI really thought that the point of using Mage was just to buff yourself to be an even stronger melee fighter rather than being a Mage with melee fighting skills on the side.

  Depends on how you look at it. Personally, I *do* play it like a Fighter that has spells to buff/debuff, but there's also people who put more emphasis on spells. I tend to find that weapons are the most reliable source of damage, while spells are the most reliable defense - a fighter/mage hybrid (various possible combos) unites that neatly; but I am and always will be a slicing dicing blade machine.

  Neo said:

  It would be a great weapon if I can get it early on but if it prevents me from using haste spells (which are very important if I want to focus on melee damage output), then I guess it isn't ideal.

  Only the very last version in late ToB has the Free Action effect on it. I haven't checked with the unmodded game lately, but it used to be that you can still benefit from haste as long as you equip the weapon AFTER you get the haste buff; it stops you from receiving the buff, but once you have it, it doesn't remove it. Not sure if that is still the case with the latest patches.

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• MrNooby Member Posts: 131

  December 2015

  I think it might. I mean, free action stops you being slowed, but equipping something with free action doesn't remove slow if it's already on you. Logcially, I'd assume the same applies to haste.

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• Lord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211

  December 2015

  Always been my reasoning as well, but there's been conflicting opinions over it. I can't recall what ended up happening, if anything did happen, and since I mod so extensively I can hardly check on my own game :P

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• sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975

  December 2015

  the best part of bg2 is, it doesn't matter what weapons you use or what skills you have, you can beat the game regardless, and when it comes to what is the most usefull/powerful you can be, that is 100% based on opinion, for example, I love 2 handed weapons, in theory are they inferior to dual wielding? maybe until you get greater whirlwind, then 2 handers come back to shine, plus I like weapons that give AC bonuses, if I were to dual wield I would go with axe of the unyielding and defender of easthaven, kind of like a a good offense and good defence sort of thing ( I even had a barbarian do that once, good times those) so in retrospect don't worry if you aren't outfitted with the 110% best of gear and such, play through the entire game all the way to the end of ToB, finish ToB, and then you will know whats coming up so when you play the game again, you will know what you will want to be proficient in and such

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• Lord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211

  December 2015

  It really cannot be stressed enough that unless you play on a very high modded difficulty setup, you will barely notice a difference between various "good" setups. Going for the "best" doesn't do a whole lot when the differences are so minute they get lost in regular RNG.
  
  Once you start getting more experienced with the game you may want to try upping the challenge with mods, and then there's merit to thinking about the small stuff. But the unmodded game can be and has been beaten by naked characters :P

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• MrNooby Member Posts: 131

  December 2015

  How do you go about beating the game with a naked character?

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• Giant2005 Member Posts: 43

  December 2015

  A Monk could do it easily enough as long as he avoided anything he couldn't harm or power-leveled himself enough to increase his fists to the point that they are effective.
  
  Other than that you kite fairly well with a Mage coupled with a whole lot of resting. Equipment doesn't really do much for a Mage anyway really.

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• MrNooby Member Posts: 131

  December 2015

  Then I challenge someone to solo the entirety of BG1-ToB with a naked non-casting character on Legacy of Bhaal mode.
  
  Let's see someone do that :P

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• Giant2005 Member Posts: 43

  December 2015

  Easy! Pick an NPC, strip 'em down and then proceed to kick ass with your other 5 fully equipped characters! That counts as having a naked non-casting character right?

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• MrNooby Member Posts: 131

  December 2015

  Nope, because I said solo aswell :P

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• Giant2005 Member Posts: 43

  December 2015

  Damn you are right. I missed that part! I think it could still be doable with a Monk though. You just need to grind yourself up to +4 Fists and take things excruciatingly slow in order to wait out the durations of the enemy spellcaster's buffs.

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• FinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455

  December 2015

  MrNooby said:

  Then I challenge someone to solo the entirety of BG1-ToB with a naked non-casting character on Legacy of Bhaal mode.
  
  Let's see someone do that :P

  @MrNooby You didn't say no reload so should be possible

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• MrNooby Member Posts: 131

  December 2015

  Dammit. No reloads as well :P Happy?

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