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Old 11-17-2004, 12:15 AM   #1
Aerich
Lord Ao
 

Join Date: May 27, 2004
Location: Canada
Age: 42
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Hi there, and welcome to my first post in this part of the forum. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I've been lurking for a couple days, reading old posts for tips and figuring out the 3rd Ed rules. I won't be playing until at least around Christmas, but I might as well get some early opinions.

I've got extensive experience in IWD 1 and tabletop 2nd Ed, so I'm fairly strong on tactical strategy, need for a balanced party, etc.

Here's a party I'm considering:

1) Paladin
2) Barbarian
3) Monk
4) Sorceror
5) Cleric
6) Bard

These will be the main classes. I plan on taking a few fighter levels with the Barb, and maybe starting off the monk with a few rogue levels (3?). What would you recommend for the others? Paladin has plenty of options; fighter? wizard? cleric? Stay single-classed? I may put some fighter into the bard. Please discuss the pros and cons of these choices.

The only character I'm not firmly set on having is the bard (never played a barbarian, monk, or sorceror, so I want to try them out). I've thought about replacing it with another front-line fighter, a wizard, a druid, or another cleric. I see that the bard can learn most of the wizard skills, so I thought about keeping it to take some of the talking/magical knowledge pressure off the sorceror so it can focus on what it does best. I figure the bard could take on the role of NPC interaction, missile specialist and party buffer.

Further, what deity would you recommend for the cleric? I see him/her as party support and 3rd tank until the monk gets rolling. However, I'm intrigued by some of the more offense-oriented magics as well.

The other area of help I need is in the area of feats and skills - what do you see as the essentials for each class?

Thanks.

[ 11-17-2004, 02:02 AM: Message edited by: Aerich ]
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Old 11-17-2004, 05:21 AM   #2
Marty4
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Join Date: August 31, 2004
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All right! Welcome to the IWD2 forum!

On multiclassing: In case you don't know how this works in 3rd ed, You can chose any class when you level up, so long as there is no class or alignment restrictions. Further, weapon profeciency is in the feats section and only goes up to specialization(3 points), so four levels of fighter is enough.

Something you should know about sorcerors and bards: they gain their spells as they level up, and only wind up with about 5 spells that they know per level. They make up for this with their increases spells per day, bu they are rather specialized. I would dump the sorceror and put in a mage.

Dont multiclass the bard! There is NO point!

I actually ran a rogue1/monk thru the entire game succesfully, but in your case with a full party I would take two levels in it. be sure to have maxed DEX! A thing about rogues: they need a high INT to get lotsa skill points to put into rogue stuff. I found that a rogue1/mage works well, especially if it's a drow (though a drow in a 6 person party isn't the best idea unless you are going for HoF mode, too)

If you like tanks, four levels of fighter on your cleric with good combat stats can make him your main tank with a cache of powerful spells to use. I would recomend Morninglord of Lathander, as they get lots of very powerful fire spells, including fire storm (2 hits, each twice as powerful as a fireball, and longer range). If you do this, be sure to get 10 points of skills in spellcraft(plus or minus your INT modifier) to get the feat Spirit of Flame, which adds 5% more fire damage and gives 5 resistance to fire.

6 people in your party is good, but I would recomend four to get the xp moving faster. If you went with a four person party, I would recomend:

aasimir fighter4/paladin
human fighter4/cleric
Drow rogue1/mage
Svirneblin monk

The paladin, cleric, and monk can all tank, and the monk serves as an awesome decoy for your cleric and mage to bombard enemies with AoE spells. I once charged my monk into the middle of an army of barbarians (Probably 30-40 enemies) and then had my cleric cast fire storm followed by flamestrike. The barbarians took 50 damage each from the first storm, then 100 total from the flamestrike and second storm. then the cleric and monk wade in to mop up the wounded survivors.


skills:

Warriors: With your Paladin, get concentration, diplomacy. With Barb, get 4 in concentration and the rest in anything.(four concentration and 2 weapons with weapon specialization gets a nice feat)

mages:spellcraft, arcane knowlege, alchemy

priests:spellcraft, concentration

Thief: all "thievey"skills except use magic item(useless!)

Feats:

Warriors: maximized attacks, power attack, profieciency, saving throw increasers

mages: spell specialization, element specialization, spell piercing

priests: fighing stuff and a bit of spell and element specialization

thieves: use the thief level to get lots of fighting or casting feats for when you MC.

Good luck!

[ 11-17-2004, 05:51 AM: Message edited by: Marty4 ]
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Old 11-17-2004, 06:13 AM   #3
Bozos of Bones
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Paladin: Tank him. 10 DEX, max STR and CON, high CHA. Heretic's Bane, Fiendslayer, Heroic Inspiration, weapon proficiency 2 points - longsword are the feats you should be focusing on. Also, get 4 levels of fighter in to get 3rd point into longsword, and a few more feats to get into saves-boosting feats.
Barbarian: Stay with medium armor, don't take heavy armor feat. Have 14 DEX and maximise STR. Feats you should get include Power Attack, Cleave, Heroic Inspiration, saves-bosters. Axes are good weapons for barbs, especially if you dual-wield them(add a level of Ranger, Trolls as preferred enemy). Or a greatsword, they're great too(lol).
Monk: Power Attack, Cleave, Dodge, Dirty Fighting, Improved Critical. Get a bunch of points into stealth skills, a monk and a rogue can clean out a certain jungle temple all alone by sneaking. If you want, add a level of Paladin so you can put on a certain item that boosts a certain stat by 5.
Sorcerer: Remember, CHA is the sorcerer casting statistic, many players made the mistake of oversight. Now, Feats include Spell Focus: Evocation(2 points), Spirit of Flames, Combat Casting, Subvocal Casting. And be very carefull of spell selection, what you select is what you keep. Take spells which have good level-up progression(Skull Trap over Fireball, Chromatic Orb is a must...).
Cleric: Recommended dieties include Lathander, Tempus, Ilmater and from the evil side maybe Bane and Talos. Heavy armor and tank skills all the way. Take either Polearm or Hammer as a weapon. Subvocal Casting and Combat Casting are once again, a must.
Rogue(substitute for bard, preferred choice): First off, take a level of Ranger, and specialise in Short Swords, and then later maybe longswords for Scimitars. Remember, lighter weapon goes in offhand. Feats should include Crippling Strike, Dodge, Slippery Mind, Envenom Weapon, Dirty Fighting, Improved Criticals, Weapon Finesse and Expertise. You might aswell forego trap-defuse skills and go stealth mostly. Maximise DEX, and focus on it through out the game.

There, a nice little party capable of doing just about anything in the game. Y'all have fun now, y'hear? [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Old 11-17-2004, 06:20 AM   #4
Marty4
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Firstly, that certain item increases a certain stat by 15 (if we're thinking of the same certain item)

Secondly, the barbarian should use greatAXES. They look dopey, but they are by far superior to greatswords.

Thirdly, Bozos, why are you giving the paladin only 10 dex? I would go with 12.
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Old 11-18-2004, 03:25 AM   #5
Aerich
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Join Date: May 27, 2004
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So seeing as I have so little time, I rolled up the party and played through Targos tonight. Not too many surprises.

The party is projected as follows:

1) Dwarf Fighter[4]/Barbarian using Axe. I'm not sure if this was the absolute best choice. Isn't there something about short people and movement rates? Anyway, Max Str, good Dex, good Con.

2) Aasimar Fighter[4?]/Paladin using longsword. Max Str, decent Con, good Cha, decent Wis.

3) Human Rogue[3]/Monk using bows for now. Great Dex, good Wis, good Int, decent Str.

4) Elven Sorceress - took Chromatic Orb and Sleep for my first spells. Good choices. High Cha, Int, and Dex.

5) Human Cleric of Lathander - good Str and Con, excellent Wis.

6) Half-elf Bard - decided to go for it. Just a singer so far, and provides a bit of melee if the sorceress is attacked (I know, the blind leading the blind...).
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Old 11-18-2004, 05:05 AM   #6
Bozos of Bones
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SPOILER!!! Here goes the spoiler now, get ready for it... I was thinking of the Every God Ring, +5 to wisdom. so there... did you like the spoiler? END SPOILER!!!
OK, Greataxes are good, but the enchanted are less available, but some are great(elemental bursts come to mind)but then there's a +1 greatsword later in Kuldahar that has a mean little enchantment, more handy than a +5 greataxe. The paladin is going to be wearing heavy armor, and there are some awesome plates that have +0 MAX DEX, so why waste 2 points best used into STR.
The short people stuff has not been incorporated into the game, or your barb would be dealing 1d10 instead of 1d12 with the axe. About the bard, with Lingering Song he can rule in most battles. Just hit pause, click to play a song, click t play another song etc... and you get free 2 rounds of song effects without using any time whatsoever. Probably an exploit. LOL at the blind leading the blind, but the Bard can be of great help to a sorceress. But be carefull, this is your first run through the game and you haven't got wizards, so the spells you choose stick with you...
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Old 11-18-2004, 05:19 AM   #7
Marty4
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If you can handle it, have your sorceres and bard take none or as few as possible same spells. You will want versatality and be unable to use certain spells at key moments that they become available. Have lots of offense, but be sure not to overlook stoneskin, fireshield, mirror image, etc.
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Old 11-21-2004, 11:24 PM   #8
Aerich
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Join Date: May 27, 2004
Location: Canada
Age: 42
Posts: 2,061
After a few experiments in party creation, I've finally (almost) settled on one, and have played through to the Shaengaerne (sp?) dam. I decided to powergame it while I get the hang of the spells, interface, etc.

Anyway, here's the (5 member) current party - I don't have the stats in front of me, but be assured that all the right ability scores are maxed or at least quite high.

1) Half-Orc Fighter[4]/Barbarian - obvious purpose. My best killer, especially with Power Attack and a greataxe.

2) Aasimar Paladin[2]/Cleric of Ilmater - starting to become effective, but all the spells seem to be going into healing right now (via spontaneous casting).

3) Tiefling Ranger[1]/Rogue - Good, but could seriously use some better weapons - normal shortsword and magical dagger don't do much against creatures with weapon immunities (the various were-monsters).

4) Elven Wizard - doing well, but needs to head back and buy a greater spell selection and some third level spells. Uses Sleep or Web to reduce the odds for my two tanks.

5) Human Monk - I decided not to wait forever to get a decent monk (as the drow paladin/monk build would take). Not bad so far - I maxed Str and Dex and nerfed Cha to get the Wis up there. Does a good job running down archers and clerics, and is tougher than the rogue. May take a level of paladin somewhere along the way; maybe after level 7 so I get Wholeness of Body first.

I will add a 6th character shortly. I'm going to flip a coin between a druid and a cleric of Lathander, although I'm leaning to the cleric at the moment. Can druids "spontaneously cast" to get healing spells? At any rate, I feel the need of having more protective/healing/general purpose spells than I have access to at the moment.

Edit: answered and removed a stupid question. And added a cleric of Lathander.

[ 11-22-2004, 02:46 AM: Message edited by: Aerich ]
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Old 11-22-2004, 03:07 AM   #9
shadowolf03
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Hmmm... about your monk...i'm not sure if you can multi class into a paladin along the way...might be wrong though....
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Old 11-22-2004, 12:22 PM   #10
Aerich
Lord Ao
 

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If not, no biggie. It'll mean my monk gets to high levels even quicker. Its stats are sufficiently powered to keep it working well.

It saved me at the Shaengarne bridge - I accidentally drew just about every enemy on the map, but kept my monk running around through Webs long enough to kill off quite a few monsters.
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