I have always gone with the Thieves but i was thinking of going to with the Vamps this time round. What goodies do they give you?(as compared to the Shadow Thieves)

Thieves->. Experience points and you get the Amulet Of Power,Elven Chainmail and Ring Of Protection +2 from Aran Livnail.


Vampires-> The only good thing is that they don`t attack you all the time. Otherwise,i think nothing.

You can kill Aran Linvail for the Amulet of Power (excellent item, I'll post stats in a sec) and Elven Chain (great for Bards and mage dual or multi classes).

Amulet of Power:

While Equipped:
Magic Resistance: +5%
Vocalize
Decrease Spell Casting Speed by 1
Immunity to Level Drain

Not Usable By:
Thief
Fighter

ADD-Just forgot that Aran gives it to you when you join him. The Elven Chain is the only bonus, in that case.

[ 08-01-2003, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: Pyrenk ]

You know I consider this as item spoiler. You could at least put some spoiler tags.
Oh well...
In general i think that the Shadow Thieves are better.
Oh and the boss is not Aran Livnail but [img]graemlins/choc.gif[/img] :D .

so the vamps don't give you anything
bummer

I always join the Thieves unless I am Evil. [img]smile.gif[/img]

<span style="color: lightblue">For powergaming, Bodhi is better. You get the same items from the Vamps no matter who you work for, but from the Thieves, working for Bodhi you get an extra set of Elven Chain, a few Mage Robes of Fire Protection, PLUS the Amullette of Power and ROP + 2.
For roleplaying, I say flip a coin; or wait for a little while until some doors are finished. [img]smile.gif[/img] (although, that could be a lengthy wait)

[ 08-01-2003, 06:32 PM: Message edited by: LennonCook ]

<font color="white">

Correction:It`s not Amullette of Power,it`s Amulet of Power. :D

Like I said. Roleplay.
</font>

Working for Bodhi will also net you a... *GASP!* throwing axe +2. Whoopee... ...

I just finished killing Linvail for Bodhi in my new game as a Chaotic Neutral Skald, and I must say that it was much more interesting than siding with the Shadow thieves. Those darn Shadow thief mages gave me a hard time with their Death Spells though... I think Anomen and Keldorn must've been killed a combined total of at least 6 times hehe :D .

And you've completely forgotten that you get these exact same items working for the Shadow Thieves, too, not to mention a whole lot earlier?

Apart from the Throwing Axe that Dundee mentioned, the only unique item that depends on your choice is the near-worthless Ring of Djinni Summoning, which is only available if you side with Bodhi.

If you side with Bodhi, you can kill Aran, which nets you Elven Chain...good for bards or mage multi/dual classes.

What side would you guys pick for a solo Generic mage who is Lawful Evil.

Bodhi,becuase of roleplaying Reasons.

Just once, I liked those death spells. Was fighting a lich in ToB and the lich died before I even got within 10 feet of it. How??!!! Well, he used a death spell and all my characters made a save vs spell...but he wasn't so lucky [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

LOL

<span style="color: lightblue">They were already mentioned earlier in the thread as what you get from siding with Aran. I emphasised 'plus' to point out that you get the items Aran gives you either way you go. ;)
Assuming a fully patched game, I admit it *is* possible to get Aran Linvail's Elven Chain mail which would balance it out a bit in terms of items you get, except that siding with Bodhi you get IT earlier than you would otherwise. ;)
And so, powergaming-wise, which is worse: waiting an extra few quests to get a good Ring and one of the best Amullets (if not the best) in the game, or waiting for two whole chapters to get a suit of armour that would have helped you through what you just did?

Worst would be playing a F/M, C/M, or F/C/M, and passing up Aran Linvail's Elven Chain+1 through Chapters 4 and 5....but also being dumb enough to pass up the Elven Chain, Robe of Vecna, Robe of X Archmagi, Improved Robe of X Archmagi, Drow Adamantine Chain+3, and Drow Adamantine Chain+6.

Talk about a tall tale. ;)

Talk about a tall tale. ;) </font>[/QUOTE]I was thinking to myself, "Is that possible?"... doesn't seem likely or probable, since Death Spell only targets the enemies...

Plus the fact that Deathspell doesnt have a savingthrow [img]tongue.gif[/img]
I think he's talking about Wail of the Banshee, since non-improved Liches tend to cast that .. but again .. the lich himself is unaffected by that spell [img]smile.gif[/img]

it *could* be that he was talking about death spell, since liches tend to fire that with a sequencer. but a lich cannot be killed by death spell(which kills everyone under 8 hitdice) because of its high level, and thus, high hit dice, not to mention that the lich casted the spell himself.

*ominous voice* The plot thickens...

it *could* be that he was talking about death spell, since liches tend to fire that with a sequencer. but a lich cannot be killed by death spell(which kills everyone under 8 hitdice) because of its high level, and thus, high hit dice, not to mention that the lich casted the spell himself. </font>[/QUOTE]No it couldnt, because he mentioned a save. Deathspell doesnt have a save vs. anything in the first place, just a simple everything summoned and under +/- 64 Base-HP dies.

Also if you download the Valen mod, you can have Valen join your team if you side with the vampires.

My theory is that Lord happened to nail the Lich with Azuredge just as the Lich got his spell off--creating the illusion that the Death Spell or Wail of the Banshee was what killed the Lich.