Good HLA's for a Ranger/Cleric

[krunchyfrogg]

I am not very good at this, and I'm new to High Level Abilities. I don't want to make any really poor choices, so I was hoping someone could help me out with selecting High Level Abilities.

TIA

[Xen]

This should be in the TOB forum, not SOA. If you don`t have TOB do not read.
SPOILERS!
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C/R can be a very strong opponent if you give him Ironskin, Armor of Faith, DoE and Hardiness. So I suggest: Hardiness, Deathblow, Greater Deathblow, Aura of Flaming Death, Critical Strike, and of course Whirlwind and Greater Whirlwind.

[Brainless One]

Well actually, I would have posted this in the Throne of Bhaal forum, where more people are familiar with HLA's. But I shall answer your question. First of all, what weapons does your character use? It is very important to know whether you are soloing (most likely judging by your HLA receiving in SoA) or also if you are a ranged attacker.
-Brainless One

[Feral]

Definitely a TOB Forum post, so SPOILERS ahoy!
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I think the single best HLA (which you cast as a 7th level spell) for a cleric or a cleric-whatever combination is Summon Deva. Elemental Summoning is useful, too, especially since you can only have one Deva at a time. From a melee perspective, I agree with Xen's suggestions. Hardiness might actually be useful for your PC because his/her armour class probably isn't as good as a true fighter's. I'd put Critical Strike last - it comes in handy only sometimes. Greater Deathblow kills some surprising monsters, including illithid.

[Ed: your answer to Brainless One's post may bring other ideas. For example, Greater Deathblow is great combined with a ranged weapon]

[ 08-20-2004, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: Feral ]

[krunchyfrogg]

Crapola, I meant to post this in ToB forum. If a mod could move it, I'd appreciate that.

I'm not soloing, and my character dual-weilds the Flail of Ages and the Defender of Easthaven. Nasty combo!

BTW, my AC is probably the best on in the party, but I'm considering reducing his AC by wearing the armor you get crafted of the Shadow Dragon's hide (so I could use Stealth). It's just a thought...

[Assassin]

Critical Strike is better than GWW, in my opinion. Combined with Improved Haste, a character can easily hit for 7 times, making it the equivalent of 14(!) attacks per round. Also, he'll hit for every single one of them, making it irrelevant his thac0 (*cough* harmwillalwayshit *cough* *cough*). I don't think I've personally taken GWW or WW in any of my games after the first one.

Also, as a Ranger/Cleric, there isn't anything that a Fighter can do that he can't do. In fact, Iron Skins probably makes the Ranger/Cleric superior to your regular Fighter in terms of damage protection.

I'm going to go against the crowd here and say Aura of Flaming Death/Hardiness if you need AC. Also, Energy Blades can come in surprisingly handy if you need enchanted weapons. However, if you're in melee most of the time, don't expect it to be that useful.

If you're in a party and you have a Mage, then a Planetar is almost always more useful than a Deva (okay, maybe not against Undead...). That's why I don't support Devas that much in parties. Elemental Summoning is a moot point if you have a Druid in the party.

So... My picks would be... Hardiness, Aura of Flaming Death, Critical Strike, Greater Deathblow, and Energy Blades.

[ 08-20-2004, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Assassin ]

[Imrahil]

It is *very* easy to get HLA's with a full party in SoA, so I disagree that this should be a ToB (where the chance of greater spoilers in increased) post. I'd say it's fine where it is, given that there are no ToB spoilers involved with asking about HLA's.

With that said, your choice of HLA's depends entirely upon your party & your weapons.

If you are the party's Tank & have a few Sorcerers/Wizards who can cast many, many Improved Hastes, then by all means go for Critical Strike & Greater Deathblow (both of which require a "wasted" HLA to access them), plus a couple of Hardiness.

If you are the party's Tank & have few Arcane casters, go for Greater Whirlwind & Hardiness (esp. if you are a Flail user with Flail of Ages + Defender of Easthaven or [any weapon] + Crom Faeyr).

If you have other Tanks, you're better off going with Summon Deva, Implosion, Storm of Vengeance (an excellent Mage disruptor), Energy Blades, Greater Whirlwind, & Elemental Summoning.

Far too many people automatically assume you have many, many Improved Hastes available. Granted, Improved Haste makes Greater Whirlwind a bit useless, but if you can't cast it 20-30 times a day, GWW is more valuable than Critical Strike (how many enemies do you actually have trouble hitting by the time you hit 3,000,000 XP, anyway?).

If you are soloing, Improved Haste is likely unavailable, so GWW, Summon Deva, & Hardiness are your best bets.

It all depends on your party (or lack thereof) & your role in the party.

- Imrahil

[krunchyfrogg]

Re: Role in the party:

Unless you're a Mage, you're considered a Tank (at least in some part) in my party:

Cleric/Ranger protagonist
Korgan
Keldorn
Jaheira
Edwin
Imoen

[Imrahil]

Given that make-up, Korgan can be your main Tank (meaning damage soaker, not necessarily damage disher), Jaheira can take care of (Greater) Elemental Summoning & Keldorn can take care of Summon Deva (which is much better for him since it's a special ability rather than a Level 7 spell for you).

With Edwin & Imoen, you'll have an average amount of Improved Hastes, so you, Keldorn, Korgan, & Jaheira could all benefit from a few GWW (since you'll quickly exhaust your Improved Hastes if you try to use it on everyone).

Keldorn & Korgan could take a couple of Critical Strikes for when you use your Imp. Haste on them (although most bosses are immune to Critical Hits & can be hit on less than a 20). Korgan could take a few Greater Deathblows for dealing with Mind Flayers, but not more than 2 or 3.

Keldorn would benefit from Hardiness, but you, Korgan, & Jaheira likely won't (since Korgan will likely have a nigh-unhittable AC & you & Jaheira will have Ironskins + Armor of Faith).

You & Jaheira could use a couple of Critical Strikes, since you're both multi-classed & won't have the THAC0 or the godly weapons Keldorn & Korgan likely will. Your Aura of Flaming Deaths won't last too long, though, so I'd avoid that one til much later (like, in ToB, even).

For the most part, I'd say you should take Storm of Vengeance (better than most of your level 7 options unless you're facing undead), Whirlwind, GWW's (allowing you to use your Imp. Hastes on Keldorn & Korgan), maybe Implosion & Energy Blades, then perhaps a Critical Strike or 2 (you have to "waste" some HLA's to even open it up). Then alternate between 1 non-GWW 1 GWW every other level.

Just my opinion, of course - take whatever you think will be most fun to use after the first couple of "important" ones. [img]smile.gif[/img]

- Imrahil

[Brainless One]

It is *very* easy to get HLA's with a full party in SoA, so I disagree that this should be a ToB (where the chance of greater spoilers in increased) post. I'd say it's fine where it is, given that there are no ToB spoilers involved with asking about HLA's.

If you have regular Shadows of Amn and no Throne of Bhaal installed, there ARE no High Level Abilities. Period. Level does not matter.
-Brainless One