[Magness]

Originally posted by Gorluk: quote: Originally posted by Magness: I personally prefer to have a strong rogue in all of my parties because I like the roleplaying value of finding/disabling traps and opening locks. That said, I recognize that IWD2 doesn't put a very high premium on these skills and there are precious few traps that a healthy tank won't just shrug off.

yeah, i know that IWD2 is lacking in thieving/rogue department. it even doesn't give you experience for disarming traps (is that 3E rule or just in IWD2?). i remember that i've read somewhere one of the developers said they didn't have more time to implement those skills better in the game...it's a shame, i would love it. [/QUOTE]Yeah, it is a shame. I continue to play rogues cuz I like'em and generally don't want to feel like I'm cheesing the game due to a lack of serious trap threats.

btw. there's one more thing i wondered - should i level the moment i got enough points to, or wait for some time: 'till now i leveled just before i got enough points for one more level, meaning i'm always one level behind. should i worry about relative party exp. level if i have 6 person party (i pretty much do all the quests and kill all the monsters there are)

It's a matter of personal preference. Holding off on your level-ups is often refered to as "Level Squatting". I don't do it myself because it generally feels like cheating to me. But if you're OK doing it, that's your choice.

As to how long to hold off if you choose to level squat. Having no experience doing it, I'm not an expert. However, I think that one guideling would be that if you start having trouble with the enemies, perhaps it's time to level up.

also, should i consider giving feats in crossbow to my casters (lathander, wizard, sorc), since they all are using crossbows very often (any time they are not engaged in casting), and they are quite helpful that way (i know i should give them first SP and GSP, so i'm not sure if it would be smart to spend point on weapon, and they all already have 1 point in crossbow, so they are proficient) thanks

I almost always arm my mages with Xbows, since they usually have only meager DEX's and are better off getting one good shot with the best possible To Hit bonuses, vs. multiple shots with a much lower To Hit roll from a different ranged weapon.

Regarding your cleric, that can be a different story. A lot depends on how you built your cleric. if you built a very priestly, hide behind the lines cleric with lowish STR, and perhaps a decent DEX, an Xbow or a Bow (if your cleric happens to be an elf) is probably a good choice. OTOH, if your cleric is a fairly strong, melee worthy, plate wearing backup tank, maybe a weapon that adds the STR bonus to damage would be a good choice (best choice would be a sling).

In the party that I'm currently building, I have a cleric with a 16 STR and a 12 DEX and I'm arming her with a sling to take advantage of the +3 STR damage bonus.

So, is it worth spending an extra Feat point on Crossbow? That's a very iffy question. Here's my take.

Sorcerer? Probably not. Sorcs get the absolute minimum of feats. Save'em for magic related feats.

Wizard? Yes. Yes? you ask. YES. If you were to look at the appropriate tables, you'd discover that Wizards get quite a few more feats than a Sorcerer. Wizards have the Feat point to afford spending one on a 2nd point in Xbow, if that's his weapon of choice.

Cleric? Entirely personal preference and can largely depend on how often you even use ranged fire for your cleric. BTW, with a cleric of lathander, you'll be wanting to take Spirit of Flame as soon as you get 10 points in Spellcraft and have a feat point to spend. Something to keep in mind.