Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition

[Squark]

Chain mail gets a tad better in BG2- Well, sort of- Elven Chain Mail is great for Multi- or Dual-Class Mages.

[Morty]

Chainmail has 3 more points of AC than studded leather. I'm not sure what you mean by "endgame", but you can't really get a studded leather that would be better than a magic chainmail in BG1. Looks like I missed the assassin who gets you a +2 Chainmail, though. They really should learn to waylay you in less isolated spots...

[Johnny Blade]

Leather is AC 8, Studded Leather 7, Chain Mail 5, Splint Mail 4.

You could always give the kit a flat 1 or 2 point bonus, so you don't have to worry about when what armor is possibly available as much. Or free points in Single Weapon Style for flavor reasons, something like that.

[danzibr]

I can't believe there are *no* functional Shapeshifter mods. I opened up a bunch of how-to's. Hopefully I'll get one made over the next couple days.

[hobbitkniver]

Which class makes the best archer? A fighter, a basic ranger or a ranger with the Archer kit?

[Morty]

Leather is AC 8, Studded Leather 7, Chain Mail 5, Splint Mail 4.

You could always give the kit a flat 1 or 2 point bonus, so you don't have to worry about when what armor is possibly available as much. Or free points in Single Weapon Style for flavor reasons, something like that.

I'd rather not give this kit a preference for a specific style. An AC bonus could work, though.
Still, when I actually make it, I think I'll try to give it edited versions of the Spins, better tailored to the fact that it's a Fighter kit and meant to be played from level 1.

Which class makes the best archer? A fighter, a basic ranger or a ranger with the Archer kit?

Archer, definetly. It can achieve Grand Mastery in ranged weapons, gets bonuses to ranged weapons and has a powerful special ability.

[Johnny Blade]

Yeah, Archer for sure. If you want numbers, an Elven Archer at 19 Dex steadily investing proficiency points in longbows will, starting at level 6, get +9 to attack and + 6 to damage rolls, doing more damage at range than most can do in melee.

Dark horse option would be going for darts instead of longbows. You miss out on the +1 to hit Elves get with bows as well as the significant additional bonuses from magical bows, and also have a lower base damage, but you do get an extra attack per round.
And in EE, Thalantyr does sell some pretty nice darts that do a lot of elemental damage. They allow the enemy a saving throw, but have your Cleric cast Doom on anything you want gone to lower its saves and it should go away very quickly.

[Morty]

After a break in playing, I made a detour to Gullykin and looted the Mail of the Dead +2 from an assassin. Now let's see if wearing it makes my Skirmisher too strong.

[Mx.Silver]

So, hypothetical question everyone: If you were given the task of making the Wizard Slayer kit less terrible, what would you change about it?

[Morty]

Honestly, I'd probably start with revamping its disadvantages one way or another. Not being able to use any magic items except for weapons and armor is just too crippling, even if we give them some anti-magic abilities that are actually useful.

[hobbitkniver]

So, hypothetical question everyone: If you were given the task of making the Wizard Slayer kit less terrible, what would you change about it?

Change the disadvantage to something like the character can't be targeted by helpful arcane magic or something.

[Cespenar]

I think the idea of the Wizard Slayer itself is redundant to begin with. I mean, Inquisitors, hello?

Personally, though, I'd just up the magic resistance. 3% per level, maybe?

[ArlEammon]

I think the idea of the Wizard Slayer itself is redundant to begin with. I mean, Inquisitors, hello?

Personally, though, I'd just up the magic resistance. 3% per level, maybe?

Ah, I think that, the Wizard Slayer is okay as a class. Inquisitors would just come from a religious institution. The Wizard Slayer wouldn't necessarily.

[Morty]

Inquisitor is a Paladin kit, which brings several things with it, such as the alignment restriction and inability to master weapons. A Fighter kit that fights spellcasters is fine, but Wizard Slayer is awful.

[ArlEammon]

Inquisitor is a Paladin kit, which brings several things with it, such as the alignment restriction and inability to master weapons. A Fighter kit that fights spellcasters is fine, but Wizard Slayer is awful.

Oh, I'm not saying I ever had experience with it, I'm just saying that outside of Baldur's Gate, or maybe as a conceptual class, it's a good idea.

[Hjolnai]

The main use I see for Wizard Slayer in its current form is in BGII, dual-classed (ironically enough) to mage - then you can have magical defenses of your own to let you last long enough to hit an enemy's stoneskins ten times, neutralising them.

[Kish]

If it takes a single-classed sorcerer that long to kill an enemy mage who is vulnerable to a wizard slayer's spell disruption ability, the sorcerer is doing it wrong.

[Shadow]

Screw all that jazz. I love the fact that humans can dual class, but I hate the 2nd ed rules that it uses. I've never liked them, even when I played 2nd ed. Losing access to all of that stuff for just as long as it took you to earn it is just too steep.
Multiclassing humanoids is the way to go IMO. And by the time you actually start to see a difference in power, you already have enough higher level abilities/spells/.etc that it doesn't matter, but it was WAY easier to get there.
Gnome thief/illusionist FTW!

[Hjolnai]

If it takes a single-classed sorcerer that long to kill an enemy mage who is vulnerable to a wizard slayer's spell disruption ability, the sorcerer is doing it wrong.

Not in SCSII, where high-level mages will have truly excessive defenses - it's faster to wait for their PFMW to expire than to go through the several spells in a row you need to make them vulnerable.

Without that, you're right - it's just that niche abilities become so much more useful when they bypass most defenses.

[Starbuck_II]

So, hypothetical question everyone: If you were given the task of making the Wizard Slayer kit less terrible, what would you change about it?

Chenge MR value to be higher, grant remove magic 1/day, change how much failure their strikes grant mages, grant them a save vs spells (they supposed to fight mages after all)

[WarriorPoet]

Question... if I use Shadowkeeper to turn Ajantis into an In do Inquisitor, do I need to manually give him the level 1 abilities since he starts at level 2 or just wait for him to level up? Currently he is an Inquisitor in name alone, still has standard paladin abilities.

[Calemyr]

Question... if I use Shadowkeeper to turn Ajantis into an In do Inquisitor, do I need to manually give him the level 1 abilities since he starts at level 2 or just wait for him to level up? Currently he is an Inquisitor in name alone, still has standard paladin abilities.

Just level up. His abilities should reset then.

[Scarlet-Devil]

So, finished my elf swashbuckler/mage playthrough; ended up cutting it kind've short and not reaching the exp cap. I liked the new content, especially Dorn (apparently they're bringing him back for BG2), with Rasaad next and Neera the least. I also think the blackguard kit is pretty awesome, and I've been half-tempted to make one.

I ended up going with Montaron, Neera, Rasaad, Dorn, and Xan for party members; Xan has always been a favorite, and I've never used Monty before.

Anyone ever use Alora, the halfling thief in Baldur's Gate?

[Morty]

Just level up. His abilities should reset then.

They should? Huh. I was considering making him an Inquisitor myself but I gave up for the very same reason. If a level up resets abilities it would make it easier...

Anyone ever use Alora, the halfling thief in Baldur's Gate?

I've heard that her thief ability points are pretty badly spent, which makes her less than useful.

[Calemyr]

They should? Huh. I was considering making him an Inquisitor myself but I gave up for the very same reason. If a level up resets abilities it would make it easier...

It always has worked for me turning Imoen into a swashbuckler. I can't imagine a paladin would be any different. I think the only thing that isn't recalculated from scratch at each level up is your proficiencies.

I've heard that her thief ability points are pretty badly spent, which makes her less than useful.

Not spent badly, just not usefully. Alora's natural inclination is towards stealth, not traps or locks. She's an awesome scout, but a pretty meager thief. That's just her character. However, she's in a game that's simply swimming in rogues and rangers and monks that her stealth-centric preferences are not all that valuable and she appears so late that there's not many levels remaining for you to encourage her towards a more useful path. On the other hand, give her a gauntlet of ogre strength and the short sword of backstabbing, and little miss happy-happy is probably the nastiest backstab machine in the game.

[Scarlet-Devil]

So, I've been trying to kill Tazok the first time you meet him (optionally) in the Bandit Camp, but despite some really good damage on my part, I haven't been able to yet. Did they make it impossible in the enhanced edition to kill him at this point in the game?

[Mx.Silver]

Not spent badly, just not usefully. Alora's natural inclination is towards stealth, not traps or locks. She's an awesome scout, but a pretty meager thief. That's just her character. However, she's in a game that's simply swimming in rogues and rangers and monks that her stealth-centric preferences are not all that valuable and she appears so late that there's not many levels remaining for you to encourage her towards a more useful path. On the other hand, give her a gauntlet of ogre strength and the short sword of backstabbing, and little miss happy-happy is probably the nastiest backstab machine in the game.

Yeah, really it's the fact that she only turns up so late in the game which hurts her. The gnomes have similar problems in that regard. It's one of the reasons I liked the NPC project, that you could actually access them at a more reasonable point. Well, except for Skie anyway.

[Scarlet-Devil]

Yeah, really it's the fact that she only turns up so late in the game which hurts her. The gnomes have similar problems in that regard. It's one of the reasons I liked the NPC project, that you could actually access them at a more reasonable point. Well, except for Skie anyway.

Welp, I'm doing another quick playthrough as a monk, since I've never had the Baldur's Gate monk experience. I grabbed a six man party and rushed straight through the main story stuff, then picked up Alora at level 4. Her lucky rabbit's foot is one of the best items in the game, giving +2 (-2) to AC and all saves, and stacking with everything else, like Balduran's stuff does. Unfortunately, thieves can't use the gauntlets of ogre power, so I'm thinking of either making her an assassin (to make her better at backstabbing and fighting in general) or a swashbuckler (giving up on backstabbing and just making her a better fighter with a good AC) and giving her gauntlets of weapon expertise, while giving the gauntlets of ogre power to Viconia.

Anyone know if Drizzt's mithril chain mail is usable by thieves? If so, I'd be tempted to kill Drizzt and give my Swashbuckler-Imoen the armor and Twinkle (switching her melee proficiencies to scimitar), to make a really terrifying swashbuckler out of her.

[Squark]

Anyone know if Drizzt's mithril chain mail is usable by thieves? If so, I'd be tempted to kill Drizzt and give my Swashbuckler-Imoen the armor and Twinkle (switching her melee proficiencies to scimitar), to make a really terrifying swashbuckler out of her.

Nope, in spite of the name it's just enchanted chain mail. There might be a mod out there that changes it, although since a lot of the modding is concentrated on BG2, and in BG2 Drizzt's loot is a lot less special, I wouldn't bet on it.

[Animastryfe]

So, I've been trying to kill Tazok the first time you meet him (optionally) in the Bandit Camp, but despite some really good damage on my part, I haven't been able to yet. Did they make it impossible in the enhanced edition to kill him at this point in the game?

I have only snuck into the Bandit camp before, and I think if you choose that path then Tazok will always automatically stop the fight once you've done enough damage to him. I didn't know that he was killable at this stage.

Edit: How do you all use thieves in combat? Hide in Shadows for the initial backstab, then what? NPCs use potions of invisibility repeatedly in combat, but that seems far too expensive.