Dundee Slaytern's Random Musings. ~Defender of Easthaven +2~

[Dundee Slaytern]

I expect the vast majority of people to not know what the Defender of Easthaven +2 is. It is a flail that is sold by Joluv, the bonus merchant. I have never really took notice of it before, but now I wonder if we have an underappreciated weapon here.

It grants the bearer 20% physical resistance( except missile) and an AC bonus of 1. Not very impressive right? The low level of the enchantment is a let-down in particular, as most people will want a +3 enchanted weapon at least.

However... I do not intend to use it as a weapon, but purely for its bonuses. I intend to use as an off-hand weapon, and to be more specific, I intend to only use it with Paladins( except Inquisitors), Barbarians, Rangers, Cleric/Rangers, and Cleric/Fighters.

Why only these classes? Simply put... it is because they can cast Armour of the Faith( natural physical resistance in the Barbarians' case) and Hardiness. In addition, they can all dual-wield properly.

Armour of Faith = 25% at character level 20
Barbarians have 45% at level 39
Hardiness grants 40%

So... excluding the Barbarian,

25% + 20% + 40% = 85% physical resistance to melee attacks

The Barbarian can have,

45% + 20% + 40% = 105% physical resistance to melee attacks! Immunity! Does this mean he will heal 5%?

This is totally insane, as attacks that used to deal 20 damage, now deal 3 damage... or none in the Barbarians' case. Wonderful ain't it? Hell, it seems to be potentially even better than a shield towards the end, because the bosses practically ignore your AC and will always hit you.

So that concludes another random musing from me. As before, comments are welcome.

[Jim]

I know exactly what you mean!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I played a barbarian with 20% physical resistance, and dualled DOE an off hand weapon with Crom Faeyr. The description of this weapon is a little incorrect though. It does grant an +20% resistance to physical damage, but it's actually a +3 weapon, not +2 as it states. It even says "Defender of Easthaven +2", and then immediately below in the description, "Defender of Easthaven +3". It also states that it does 1D6+2 damage, which is also wrong, since a standard flail does 1D6+1, and this is +3 flail, therefore it deals 1D6+4 damage which is much better! I checked these values using IEEP.

Your immunity calculations for the ranger/paladin are correct but i'm not sure about the barbarians. Where does the 45% come from? (i'm assuming the 20% is from the weapon and the 40% is from hardiness?) Barbarians get 10% at 11th level and an additional 5% at level 15 and 19 IIRC, giving them a maximum of 20%, so their total resistance would be 20+20 = 40 permament and 80 when using hardiness which still rocks.

Also, don't ingore the helmet Ronarchs Horn (SP?) found on Gromnirs body, granting 50% resistance to crushing damage would give a permanent resistance of 90%!! to crushing damage in the barbarians case, increasing to the 127% maximum when using hardiness. Don't bother upgrading the staff of the ram with this, wear it instead, especially since you'll be dualling with the cool defender of easthaven.

Try it, your barbarian will rock!

[ 08-16-2002, 08:40 PM: Message edited by: Jim ]

[daan]

Why are they incorrect ?

All mentioned, except barbarians:

25% - Armour of faith
20% - DoE ( Defender of Easthaven )
40% - Hardiness
____________________________________+
85%

************************************************** *****************************

Barbarians:

45% - Natural physical resistane at lvl 39
20% - DoE
40% - Hardiness
____________________________________________+
105%

Didnt check if the 45% is correct at lvl 39 ... but it sounds o.k.
And the only way Dundee could be wrong, is if not all the classes he mentioned can cast armor of faith ... right ?

P.s. Like the helmet idea

[Jim]

I agree with Dundees ranger/paladins/DC/MC cleric values, it's just that barbarians have a max resistance of 20% to physical injury.

In ther original SoA, they gave barbarians 10% resistance at level 11, and an additional 5% every 5 levels or something thereafter, but after I installed ToB, it says in the kit description something like 10% at lvl 11, and an additional 5 at lvls 15 and 19, giving a maximum resistance of 20%.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Oooo... forgot about the helmet, but I believe it is a different helmet from the one Gromnir drops( I think). Isn't there a helmet in Watcher's Keep that grants some resistances as well( is it physical resistance? Can't remember at this point)? The one where you need the helm and two horns.

I did not know Barbarians' physical resistance cap at 20%. Nevertheless, 80% physical resistance is still a huge boost. I wish I had the DoE when I soloed with my Cavalier. [img]tongue.gif[/img] 85% would have helped a lot against Jonny... Balthazar... Tamah's Crushing Dragon's Breath... etc... ...

In anycase, I am getting pretty excited about this weapon, as I have never used it before, and new toys are always fun to play with. It's little nuggets of discovery like this that makes me so endeared to the game. More than a year later, I am still learning.

[Dundee Slaytern]

YES! I got it! The perfect character to use it!!!!

The Fighter/Thief/Cleric!!!!

*jumps around insanely*

Here's a clue... Jan Jansen... ...

~~ADD] Well, I need to sleep now. See you guys tomorrow. [img]smile.gif[/img] Oh, and thanks for the input you all. Much appreciated.

[ 08-07-2002, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[daan]

I gotcha on the fighter, clear on the cleric .. but the thief's been giving me a headache
What extra ability versus physical damage does the thief get you ?
EDIT:
making a lot more sense if you're planning on soloing with him though

[ 08-07-2002, 02:14 PM: Message edited by: daan ]

[SixOfSpades]

Damn, I was just about to mention Jan's armor, but Dundee beat me to it. Yeah, a Cleric/Thief (not a bad class, by the way, at least not in BG2) can't cast Hardiness, but they can wear Jan's armor, and permanent 25% (I think it's 25%) is better than occasional 40%, at least to me.

[daan]

Whoa ! .. your saying Jan's armor has phyisical protection too ?
[img]graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img] Is Fighter/thief/cleric a legit option ?

That would mean a permanent 45% protection ( better than any barbarian ) for the DoE and Jan's armor .. and an Xtra 65% with some spell-help.
Thats 110%, without the helmet HAHA !!
"Oh dear, im hurt quite badly, better run straight into Yaga-shuru and try to catch his weapons with my Body"
I'd like to see that sometime [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Lord Lothar]

No, Fighter/Cleric/Thief is not an option but it eould be nice to be able to have one.