THE BEST IN MELEE

[IntrospectiveIdeals]

OK I'M AFRAID I HAVE CHOSEN TO BE A FIGHTER. MONKS MAY BECOME V.POWERFUL, BUT I CAN'T RESIST THE MAGICAL QUALITIES A FIGHTER CAN AQUIRE THROUGH EQUIPMENT.

HERE ARE MY STATS: SHOULD I REROLL, CHANGE THEM AT ALL?

STRENGTH: 19
DEXTERITY: 18
CONSTITUTION:19
WISDOM:3
INTELLIGENCE:3
CHARISMA:18

HE IS A LOVELY HALF ORC

[This message has been edited by IntrospectiveIdeals (edited 07-15-2001).]

[SSJ4Sephiroth]

firstly, TAKE OFF CAPS LOCK PLEASE!

okay, heres my actual message. Monks are pretty much cheap-o power gamers that severely unbalance the game.those stats look pretty good, but if ur gonna be in melee ur gonna need a higher INT than CHA cuz Illithids drain INT... just give Aerie the Nymph's cloak (bought from Mae'Var's guildhall) and the Ring of Human Influence for shopping and crap like that (which is all u need CHA for)

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Proud member of the HADB. And remember, when you're thinking of giant heads, why not think of the Big Giant Head?

[IntrospectiveIdeals]

I'VE JUST MADE MY CHARACTER, WHAT DOES THE RING OF HUMAN INFLUENCE DO?

RAISED INTELLIGENCE TO 10 I HOPE THAT SHOULD DO.

I HAVE GOT 6 PROFICIENCY SLOTS

SHOULD I PUT 3 ON FLAIL AND 3 ON SWORD AND SHIELD STYLE, THE FLAIL SLOTS BEING FOR THE FLAIL OF AGES.

[Azred]

Personally, I never give any fighter-type more than normal specialization (2 slots) in any weapon; given a fighter's good thaco, the ability to use great weapons, the bonuses from strength and the specialization, etc. they never have any problem running foes through the quisinart.

Then again, it's your character. What do you think you should do?


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An intelligent mind is the key to the universe.

The most distressing thing about practicing magic is the fact that even the most learned sorcerers cannot accurately describe what magic *is*....

[Cavern Sniffer]

Originally posted by Robin, Thief of Hearts: Nahh... Thieves are the best class

Totally agree, I use thieves pretty much exclusively, sometimes multi-classed fighter thieves for the THAC0 and proficiency bonuses. Never done 200 damage with one, I think 154 is my biggest damage, but yes I agree, I think the thief class is the single most involving class of all.


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It's bleedin dark down here, slippery too.
Man, that's a pisser.

[cHiCkEn_HeD]

I know that you have already chosen a fighter, and let me tell you that i LOVE fighters. Especially the Beserker. BUT, my favorite class in the game is a monk. they are absolutely fantastic in later levels. Just for fun, I did the following:
Gave a level 16 Keldorn the holy avenger, dragon scale armor, helmet of balduron, the girdle that makes your strength 19 (hill giant?), and gave him two more proficiancies in two handed weapon style. so he ended up with a THAC0 of about 1, and a AC of about -5 or so. HE also had around 120 Hp's or so. Oh and i also hasted him too.

I then Created a monk. Level 16 as well. gave him the gauntlets that mak your strength 18/00 and he had an AC of between (sorry dont remember this one exactly) -4 and -6. His THAC0 ended up being about 1 or 2.

I then just squared them off. it was no contest, the monk destroyed the heavily armored, holy avenger wielding, hasted paladin. I LOVE keldorn! I'm not trying to knock him here, because he has some other GREAT uses. As well, I know that he is not a fighter, but he WAS wielding a wonderful weapon that fighters cannot get. My point is that this monk has had no problem pretty much defeating anything. He has a wonderful NATURAL magic resistance, is super fast, has a great amount of attacks per round, and (i love this one) I killed Firekragg (or however you spell that nasty red dragon's name) with ONE hit. monks are a blast to play, and i would chose one to play over a fighter anyday. and that is my humble opinion.

[sep257]

flail of ages? damn......... is it worth building your char around that POS? just MHO, ive always had the mindset that a big half orc fighter should have a 2H sword, and leave the flails to the clerics

[deathknight]

First off monks are real cool. If you intend to solo or pair with 1 other char you might find that hard at first though.

As for weapon choices I would discourage spending alot of points into flail. Flail of the ages is fantastic since you can get it so early but I wouldn't build a character around it. There is a huge selection of 2h swords and longswords (or you could build a char around the celestial fury. harder to get but better than the flail by a longshot).

If you are looking to do alot solo I think a pure fighter is gunna have a little bit of difficulty. Fighters are much better when they got support. That really allows them to do what they do best and not worry about the rest. There are so many spell casters in this game that cast stoneskin and mantle and such. That could prove a big problem with a solo fighter.
Heh and I gotta agree with whoever else asked about the caps. Thats considered shouting online dude. Take a deep breath,relax and turn of the caps hehe.

[Nanobyte]

Just one thing. If you want to lay hits on an opponent, then a fighter is the best. I just want to give you an example. I have a Drow (basically an Elf, I have only changed the saves down by 2) He is lvl 4 (in BG1) and has a THAC0 of 7. He doesn't have that awesome 200 damage like the 'Amazing Thief', but he plants blows and leaves marks. 30 damage for critical. It basically depends on the weapon your character is using. That's about all, I'll update you when I reach BG2.

[This message has been edited by Nanobyte (edited 07-16-2001).]

[ScottG]

DeathKnight's first sentance is right on the money.

also:

Monks are awsome higher in level.

Fighter dualed to an Assasin (using shadowkeeper by placing subclass as assasin while a fighter and then dualing) using katana's has the most devistating hit potential (above 200 w/ a good girdle - if you can backstab it, it will die).

The Flail of Ages is a great 2nd hand wepon (on a dual wepon basis) to slow the creature your attacking (as well as other reasons).

Longswords are prob. the most verstital wepon class (there are lots of good ones), though it would seem very odd to weild a true flail and sword (best to think of it as a sword breaker).

For pure hack-n-slash nothing beats an axe (my choice for your fighter). You also get a very nice axe when you get the flail - combine this with an axe (Stonefire) purchased in the Copper C. and make your fighter GOOD so you can use Azuredge (you will never have to worry about missle wepons w/ it and you will never have to worry about the undead w/ it), also purchased in the CC. BTW, their is an awesome axe in TOB so you won't w/ something shiney and new when you play it.

and finally......

The extra bonus in strength can be easily aquired w/ a good girdle, but the extra constitution is nice.

If you are going pure class half-orc then I would go w/ a barbarian (this & dwarf are the best way to have max hitpoints), however Rangers also have excellent hitpoints and extra prof. points (for dual-wield) as well as some nice spells (healing and insect spell higher in level) Stalkers in paticular have backstab as well + some extra mage spells. Be sure to purchase greater healing potions whenever you can, you'll need em'.