THACO, ..Base THACO & Damage.

[Charlie]

Hi all.

Can someone please explain about THACO for me? I understand what it is but what's base and "actual"?

My fighter has a

Base THACO:5
THACO:-5.

Base 5 means I have to roll a 5 or more to hit (I think)...yes? So what's the other one?
Minus 5 what, from where? Is -4 better than -5 or is -6 better?...or is it better to not be a minus figure?

Also I (Fighter) have attacks 7/2. Is that 7 attacks with one hand (don't seem like it) and 2 with the other...or is it something else?... I only really use a 2 handed sword (Lilacor) anyway and usually hit for 24 or so damage (is that good?) or can a lot more "average" damage be done with other weapons? My sword does 1D10 + 2 and I get a +7 for strength, that's 19...where'd the other points come from?

Are all of the above good, bad or average figures?

Thanks.

[Tobbin]

The base THAC0 is the unmodified THAC0. The next THAC0 is adjusted. The lower your THAC0 the better. You have -10 to the THAC0 because you have -3 due to the + of the weapon and you have -7 due to the strength bonus you get. I think that you are doing a critical hit when you are getting 24 hitpoints of damage. This will multiply the amount of damage that you do by a factor of 2. So when you see 24, it's probably because you had rolled a 12 and it was doubled. From what I've seen, this is a +3 weapon. That makes it +3 to damage too. I'm not sure, cause I never got this sword (I don't like 2-handed weapons). As for the 7/2. This means that you will get 7 attacks per every 2 rounds. This averages to 3.5 attacks per round. This is pretty good. The 19 Strength that you have is very good. You can find some items in the game to bump it up higher, but 18/00 is normally the highest you can get. Are you by chance a Half-Orc?

[Charlie]

Thanks Tobbin.

My character is a human, lawful good with 19 strength because of a book I found in BG1 (wish I'd given him the other books too now).

For my critical hits I'm doing 47s or thereabouts. I'm sorry but I still don't quite get what you're saying about I have a -3 and a -7 for my bloke.

Also the damage I'm causing is still confusing me a little.

Thanks for responding anyway.

Is it possible to find an item in BG2 to increase strength permanently?

[Tobbin]

Ok, the THAC0 of your character is 5, right?
Well, then you get to adjust it by the magic of your weapon. It is +3 to hit.
This makes it a 2.
Then you adjust it by how strong your character is. This is a factor of 7.
This now makes it a -5.
As for the critical hits, you may have something else going on that adjusts the "to hit damage of the weapon". I'm not really sure. If I saw the character (including items), I could get a better idea. As for permanent adjustments, if there are any, I haven't found any. Other than using Shadow Cheater anyways. Sorry that I couldn't help you more.

Actually, no. I take that back. I think that you could use a limited wish scroll or spell to get your stats up. I can't really remember. And there was another area in Chapter 7 that you get to increase some stats too. Sorry about that, I am a bit tired and wasn't thinking clearly.

[Charlie]

Thanks a lot Tobbin, that's real good of you to explain. I understand the THACO now. I'll come back to weapon damage at a later date unless someone else posts. Limited wish spell I have. Can this permanently increase stat's?

Anyway, cheers again mate....appreciated.

[Tobbin]

Yes, it can. Good luck to you.

[Charlie]

Thanks a lot Tobbin, that's real good of you to explain. I understand the THACO now. I'll come back to weapon damage at a later date unless someone else posts. Limited wish spell I have. Can this permanently increase stat's?

Anyway, cheers again mate....appreciated.