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NobleNick · 02-12-2002, 09:32 PM

zakharak,

I read all the time about how parties start getting hammered in Chapters 2 and, especially, 3. I am not there, yet; but am taking measures to ensure that this is not my song when I get there. Part of the preparation is having characters with high ability scores. Twenty (20) EXTRA minutes of preparation in character generation PER CHARACTER can save you hours of agony later.

Your characters' ability scores will NOT increase with experience! That is why it is worth it to take a few extra minutes at the beginning to get the points necessary to max out the important ones.

High STR affects your ability to hit in melee combat *AND* the amount of damage you do. DEX, in addition to affecting thieving abilities, affects your ability to hit a target with a ranged weapon. CON of 18 gets you as many as 4 EXTRA hitpoints PER LEVEL for your warriors, and 2 EXTRA HP for your other characters (for about the first ten levels of each class). A WIS of 18 gets you as many as 6 EXTRA spells for your priest (2 extra 1st level, 2 extra 2nd level, and one extra for 3rd and for 4th levels). High INT affects your mage's ability to write spells and the maximum number of spells she can have in her spell book. INT and WIS both affect lore bonuses. CHA of 18 gives your Paladin some extra advantages and affects how dialogue (storyline) progresses.

You are actually pretty early in the game. If I were you, I'd create a party of new characters; but create them one at a time and adventure them each solo through Easthaven proper: to collect the full 5,000 xp for the simple quests onto EACH character. This will get each character to 3rd level. Once you've done that, band together into 2 parties of 3 characters and take the 2 parties individually across the bridge to get the goblins that stole the ... (you know), and the orcs that stole the (you know). After scarfing up the experience for all those quests twice, do the same in Kuldahar Pass and Kuldahar. (With your characters buffed up with the extra experience, you'll have 3rd level characters entering Kuldahar pass, instead of 2nd level.) By the time you are done in Kuldahar and bring your full party of 6 together, you should have 4th level characters. Since you already know what strategies to use, your power party should sail very quickly through the Vale.

I just finished Vale; but realized that my party has a weakness that makes it unfit for chapter 3. (No priest until one of my fighters duals over at level 7.) So, before I enter Chapter 2, I am starting a new priest back to Easthaven. I intend to run him through to Kuldahar solo. (I'll bring in a power character to help him through the rough spots, if need be.) Then I'll cheat a little and let him experience the rewards of the Vale finale solo, which should bring him up to the level of the rest of my party (level 6 or DEEP into level 5). Then he'll boot my lead fighter out of the party; and I'll have a priest that can dual over to fighter about the same time as my fighter duals over to priest.

Hope you found this entertaining.

02-12-2002, 09:32 PM	#8
NobleNick Quintesson Join Date: February 5, 2002 Location: Huntsville, AL, USA Age: 65 Posts: 1,045	zakharak, I read all the time about how parties start getting hammered in Chapters 2 and, especially, 3. I am not there, yet; but am taking measures to ensure that this is not my song when I get there. Part of the preparation is having characters with high ability scores. Twenty (20) EXTRA minutes of preparation in character generation PER CHARACTER can save you hours of agony later. Your characters' ability scores will NOT increase with experience! That is why it is worth it to take a few extra minutes at the beginning to get the points necessary to max out the important ones. High STR affects your ability to hit in melee combat AND the amount of damage you do. DEX, in addition to affecting thieving abilities, affects your ability to hit a target with a ranged weapon. CON of 18 gets you as many as 4 EXTRA hitpoints PER LEVEL for your warriors, and 2 EXTRA HP for your other characters (for about the first ten levels of each class). A WIS of 18 gets you as many as 6 EXTRA spells for your priest (2 extra 1st level, 2 extra 2nd level, and one extra for 3rd and for 4th levels). High INT affects your mage's ability to write spells and the maximum number of spells she can have in her spell book. INT and WIS both affect lore bonuses. CHA of 18 gives your Paladin some extra advantages and affects how dialogue (storyline) progresses. You are actually pretty early in the game. If I were you, I'd create a party of new characters; but create them one at a time and adventure them each solo through Easthaven proper: to collect the full 5,000 xp for the simple quests onto EACH character. This will get each character to 3rd level. Once you've done that, band together into 2 parties of 3 characters and take the 2 parties individually across the bridge to get the goblins that stole the ... (you know), and the orcs that stole the (you know). After scarfing up the experience for all those quests twice, do the same in Kuldahar Pass and Kuldahar. (With your characters buffed up with the extra experience, you'll have 3rd level characters entering Kuldahar pass, instead of 2nd level.) By the time you are done in Kuldahar and bring your full party of 6 together, you should have 4th level characters. Since you already know what strategies to use, your power party should sail very quickly through the Vale. I just finished Vale; but realized that my party has a weakness that makes it unfit for chapter 3. (No priest until one of my fighters duals over at level 7.) So, before I enter Chapter 2, I am starting a new priest back to Easthaven. I intend to run him through to Kuldahar solo. (I'll bring in a power character to help him through the rough spots, if need be.) Then I'll cheat a little and let him experience the rewards of the Vale finale solo, which should bring him up to the level of the rest of my party (level 6 or DEEP into level 5). Then he'll boot my lead fighter out of the party; and I'll have a priest that can dual over to fighter about the same time as my fighter duals over to priest. Hope you found this entertaining.