Rogue Rebalancing Mod & Assassins
cbarchuk
Member Posts: 322
With the RR mod Assassins start at x3 backstab multiplier and achieve x7 by level 17 but at the same time the innate +1 to hit & damage has been removed. So with that being said what would be the best race for an Assassin using this mod?
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Comments
19 STR makes you jump from +1 Hit/+2 Dmg to +3 Hit/+7 Dmg (way better than the +1 Thac0 bonus that an Elf receives). And the higher Bashing reduces the pressure over Open Locks.
Nothing interesting changes from 19 DEX (the maximum a Half-Orc can achieve after the Tome) to 20 DEX (the maximum an Elf can achieve after the Tome).
Thac0 and thieving skills improve with level, stats don't.
Comparison (net values [Half-Orc - Elf])
Elf: +2 Thac0 with bows (+1 elf, +1 DEX), +5% thieving skills.
Half-Orc: +2 Thac0 with any melee (optimal for backstabbing | +1 with longsword or shortsword), +7 Dmg, Regeneration.
On top of that you can still have 18 strength, which you can get to 19 when you pick up the tome for it. Being an elf also gives you a bonus to thieving skills (including I think +10 to hide in shadows and move silently). Which is handy since after level 1 you'll only be getting only 15 points/level to distribute.
And of course you also get 90% resistance to sleep and charm spells. That never hurts.
In BG2, there are so many strength boosting items that, again, half-orc advantages become rather unimpressive. It’s really down to shorty saves vs elf’s thac0 bonus / partial immunities.
But it’s all if you have min/maxing in mind. Otherwise, half-orc are perfectly fine too.
Overall I think any race can make out nicely though in a party dynamic.
I will say that most stats are pretty easily upgraded through tomes and such and most can be temporarily fixed by the massive amount of potions and magic throughout the game. This simply comes down to whether you prefer to micro manage your characters or not.
Some of these things can also be situational. I may prefer to give my strength boosting items to my frontline like jaheira to make her more viable or Valygar for that matter. In that case I might prefer the higher strength of a half-orc for the extra thaco and damage bonus since I know these items are going elsewhere. Regardless of whether it stacks with backstab, consistent extra damage is always nice since not all enemies can be backstabbed.
This of course is just my thoughts, I tend to plan what equipment and characters I am going to use in a party before the game even starts.