Tank: dual fighter-->mage vs half-orc fighter/cleric?
SorrowSeer
Member Posts: 144
Greetings.
Struggling with an idea.
Since the begining (Icewind Dale original) a tank in my party always was a paladin.
Since "Heart of Winter" it didn't change, but I started to play in Heart of Fury mode (always).
Now, in EE, there's a somewhat different in-game mechanic.
So, I've got an idea to take washed party, but to take somewhat may be more efficient (in different ways) as a tank (to play from the beggining in HoF mode).
My party:
1. Tank.
2. Half-orc cleric/thief (it's annoying to play IWD without thief, and half-orc race give it a 19 STR).
3 and 4: elf rangers ("Archer" kits) as damagers.
5 and 6: pure bard and skald (identifying, pickpocketing, spells and MUSIC)
So, my two candidates for a tank:
1. Dual class fighter-to-mage with 5 stars in axes (for +2: defender and +2 throwing axe), who can wear shimmering sash and (maybe) shield ring. 18/00 STR and, of course, spells such as reflected image, mirror image, blur, stone skin, protection from normal weapons, etc.
2. Half-orc fighter/cleric presumably neutral (for bone merrow belt, ring of dwarven bone, giving star, baleful armor, etc.)
So, no shimmering sash (but boots of many paths), no shield ring (but boots of the fox), no axe +2: defender (but giving star).
STR and CON for 19
Spells: animate dead, armor of faith, drawupon holy might, storm shell, defensive harmony, entropy shield, physical mirror, etc.
Please, share some thoughts, towards this delema of mine.
Struggling with an idea.
Since the begining (Icewind Dale original) a tank in my party always was a paladin.
Since "Heart of Winter" it didn't change, but I started to play in Heart of Fury mode (always).
Now, in EE, there's a somewhat different in-game mechanic.
So, I've got an idea to take washed party, but to take somewhat may be more efficient (in different ways) as a tank (to play from the beggining in HoF mode).
My party:
1. Tank.
2. Half-orc cleric/thief (it's annoying to play IWD without thief, and half-orc race give it a 19 STR).
3 and 4: elf rangers ("Archer" kits) as damagers.
5 and 6: pure bard and skald (identifying, pickpocketing, spells and MUSIC)
So, my two candidates for a tank:
1. Dual class fighter-to-mage with 5 stars in axes (for +2: defender and +2 throwing axe), who can wear shimmering sash and (maybe) shield ring. 18/00 STR and, of course, spells such as reflected image, mirror image, blur, stone skin, protection from normal weapons, etc.
2. Half-orc fighter/cleric presumably neutral (for bone merrow belt, ring of dwarven bone, giving star, baleful armor, etc.)
So, no shimmering sash (but boots of many paths), no shield ring (but boots of the fox), no axe +2: defender (but giving star).
STR and CON for 19
Spells: animate dead, armor of faith, drawupon holy might, storm shell, defensive harmony, entropy shield, physical mirror, etc.
Please, share some thoughts, towards this delema of mine.
Post edited by SorrowSeer on
0
Comments
Only good alignment (no giving star)
And no half-orc (no 19 in STR and CON)
Thinking of it - I think I'll give it a try without thief at all (but have some concerns about Trials of the Lure Master).
Without thief (or thief dual/multiclass) my party will be complete.
About sorc and strong arcane casting - in HoF mode spells inflict a real small amount of damage (due to increased monsters hp). And casting takes time. And a pause between casts. In my observations archers (especially ranger kit) do a lot more damage for amount of casting time. And ressistance not helping - undead (skeletal, for example) dies more quickly than by spells.
About bards - due to not cumulative effect of two identical songs there's nice to have pure bard with magnificent War chant of Sith (in HoF mode this song will be available before end of Vale of Shadows). And skald song do cumulative with pure bard songs (which give us some AC at the start of the game, which needed due to strong enemies in HoF mode and lack of equipment. And gives more AC and some really nice immunities later with more AC and regeneration from War chant of Sith).
If you got prememorized defensive stuff scribed in your spellbooks and arent dependent on finding scrolls, a buffed up FMT or maybe FMC might end up on your frontline... otherwise, you might well find your party hiding behind a dragon disciple or a shaman or a fighter/druid for a good long chunk of game time, because everybody else is 1 bad roll away from being near-death in a melee
When even a freakin Lizardman can hit you for 40 hps without a critical, you can't really tank with hitpoints
Plus, there seems to be some sort of stun-like aspect to getting hit that usually means multiple hits will be landed in quick sucession