Monk

[Jon Irenicus]

Originally posted by Stratos: Dex is overall the most important stat since the armor class bonus benefits everyone. I always max it out on every character I play.

Yea, agree with u. I remember my first game my PAlly had 12Str, 9Dex, 13Con, 11Int, 16Wis, and 17Cha... that was my first time playing the baldurs gate series. After playing it for some time I realised that my Pally's stats werent good.

[Assassin]

Originally posted by Thuram: You can drop CON to 16. Above that value it is only useful for fighters and rangers. Monks count as clerics. INT should be minimum 9 as this will allow you to use a wand and read scrolls. CHAR I think it is important. As far as I understand, this will allow you to strike earlier. I once had a thief with terrible charisma. When trying to backstab he often came out of shadows before even trying to hit. I believe it was because of his CHAR but maybe anybody could give us more insight here. And yes, max out DEX. As monks can't wear armour the AC increase because of the dexterity bonus will be very important in the beginning. It is even more important than strength 'cause you can buy early on a nice girdle for this stat.

More likely than not, your Thief has horrible Hide in Shadows and Move Silently skills...

[Thuram]

No, absolutely. He could stay "the whole day" in shadows, and was able to hide 99% at the first attempt. I can't remember well but I think he got 99% in both stats.

When I positioned him behind an enemy and started the attack, you could see the pantomine, trying to attack but throwing no dices. You know what I mean, the pantomine were any character seems to make several attacks although he has only 1 ApR.

It took quite a long time until he finally decided to roll the dice and make a real attack. By that time often he was already out of the shadows, because when you start the attack you begin to go out of shadows.

I blamed it to his bad reaction. The reaction along with the weapon speed determines when you attack in your initiative round. According to the manual, the reaction time depends on CHAR.

[SixOfSpades]

In that case, Thuram, the problem was your THAC0. Just because you've Hidden in Shadows, moved behind somebody, and attacked them, doesn't automatically guarantee a hit.

Thieves and Rangers (whether they're trying to Backstab or not) get a -4 bonus to their THAC0 when they're in Stealth, but Thieves have lousy THAC0 to begin with. To compensate, always use the highest-enchanted weapon you can, and don't waste your time with weapons that you're not proficient in.

As soon as you attack somebody, you begin to come out of Stealth. If your Backstab doesn't connect by the third swing, run away. Go back to your shadowy little corner, slip back into Stealth, and try again.

[Xen]

have INT at least 11,becuase it will allow you to survive Vs Mind Flayers(They will have to hit you three times)

[White Lancer]

Originally posted by SixOfSpades: In that case, Thuram, the problem was your THAC0. Just because you've Hidden in Shadows, moved behind somebody, and attacked them, doesn't automatically guarantee a hit. Thieves and Rangers (whether they're trying to Backstab or not) get a -4 bonus to their THAC0 when they're in Stealth, but Thieves have lousy THAC0 to begin with. To compensate, always use the highest-enchanted weapon you can, and don't waste your time with weapons that you're not proficient in. As soon as you attack somebody, you begin to come out of Stealth. If your Backstab doesn't connect by the third swing, run away. Go back to your shadowy little corner, slip back into Stealth, and try again.

I think what he meant, six, was that his attacks dont occur in the first few swings. The dice weren't rolled, and for all intents and purposes he may as well have been just standing there. Not just that he was missing, but that he wasn't actually swinging, all he got was the animation.

[Rataxes]

A problem I'm familiar with Thuram, though it's often even more irritating in my case. I very often employ the Hit and Run and Hide tactic with Thieves and Rangers, when you're hasted and use the Boots of speed, repeating that procedure can take less than a second. I've noticed that when I backstab someone while hiding, and then very quickly return to the shadows and backstab him again, I'll often go visible on the first swing, regardless of whether it's a real hit or a phantom swing. Waiting a little while before backstabbing again usually cures this little oddity though.

This bug is somewhat fixed by the Baldurash Fixpack, but it's not completely gone.

If you're experiencing this bug only when you're attempting to backstab shortly after you've already hit someone (shortly = less than a round in your case), my advice to you is to wait with the backstab until a whole round has passed. If you hit someone and then try to backstab him, the odds are much higher that you'll stand and lob phantom swings in his direction, than if you wait until your current attack round has passed.

[Thuram]

Warby, sorry for hijacking your thread. Although Monks can't backstab they can still use the hide, hit and run tactic. Hope that this was interesting to you too.

Yes, Rataxes hit the point. That was exactly what happened. Waiting improved in fact the chances of connecting a real attack on the first animation's swing. But in case of regenerating creatures this ruins the tactic.

Now I am playing a stalker/cleric and this hasn't happened again. I have now baldurdash installed. I will try to check this when I later on remove the ring of human influence in favor for the ring of gaxx.

Best regards.

[Olorin]

I think part of it could also be that if you try to backstab in the same round as you performed the hide in shadows ability, you won't get an attack till the next round. Rangers and monks don't have this problem because they have multiple attacks per round, and should have some left even if they start the backstabbing late in a round.

[Dobian]

I've just started my first game og BG2 and am playing a monk - human/lawful neutral/18/18/18/11/12/12. Any tips appredicated. I just jumped over here from the BG forum, having finished BG/TOSC the other day. I like the monk's special abilities, which remind me of my ranger from BG.