Need powergaming advice... interesting build here

[Klorox]

I'm building a support character who will (eventually) be part of a HOF party. I want him to handle any and all dialogues that I can, and fill a lot of magical support.

The party is well stocked in both the Arcane and Divine magical areas as well (not counting this guy).

So far, this is what I've got:

Druid 12 (Barkskin)/Bard 11 (War Chant of the Sith).

I'm considering adding levels in any of the above classes, but also flirting with the idea of a few Barbarian levels, for the Rage, better speed (run away!) and more HP. Rogue is another idea. I plan on having him with weak physical stats, and although I never want this guy near combat, Evasion might prove very useful.

Would adding more levels in the Bard, or Druid classes help, or am I better off exploring a new class like Barbarian or Rogue (or something else)?

TIA

BTW, I'm not set on a Race for this guy yet either. I do not mind using a race with an ECL penalty, especially since the point of this character is to be a supporter.

I already have 3 Drow in my party though, and 2 Aasimar (I did the prologue with 2 Drow and 2 Aasimar to give the "main characters" a little head-start).

Edit: I switched a whole bunch around! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-19-2007, 11:39 PM: Message edited by: Klorox ]

[Aerich]

Well, I believe rogue is the only class that has each of the dialogue skills; every other class "pays" for at least one skill as a cross-class skill. However, that may not be an issue if you have weak physical stats but pump Int and Cha.

I'm not sold on the bard/druid combo for a support character. I've used one, admittedly not in HoF, and it always seemed weak. Bard songs are nice, but how helpful is a measly 3 hp of regeneration in HoF? Damage resistance is nice, but it's a drop in the bucket of melee pain. The luck song might be more valuable than war chant in HoF mode, if it affects spells in the same way as Tymora's Loop. To my mind, it's far better to maximize the potential (e.g. high level spells) of a druid by devoting a character to it, rather than trying to mix the druid class into a support character.

I've always liked a rogue/wizard as a "support" character. At higher levels, it can become a powerhouse, but is sufficiently useful at many "support" skills (thief skills, talking skills, item identification) to earn the designation. If you want to make it more of a support character, take more rogue levels, and learn spells with more of a "support" cachet to them - Bull's Strength, Eagle's Splendor, Identify, Haste, Stoneskin, etc. For race, pick any one that has rogue or wizard as a preferred class. Drow for power, elf for style, halfling for roleplay value. I wouldn't necessarily recommend tiefling, because of the hit to Cha, which is the stat checked for talking skills.

For mix-in classes to any "talking" support character, avoid paladin and monk, for obvious reasons. Barb will really just add hp; I don't see rage as a significant addition to a support character such as a rogue/wizard with weak physical stats. The speed is more useful, but not overwhelming.

If you are committed to using a Druid/Bard as your support character, Barb is a good addition (for one level, anyway). Rage can be activated while shapechanged, in the event the character finds itself forced to fight in melee. Rogue is good for access to skills and evasion, as you noted. Two levels is sufficient to get evasion, and that's all I'd recommend if you have another rogue in your party (so as to maximize the benefit for this character), unless you really want cheap access to dialogue skills. Aside from the reasons for taking these classes, I'd be tempted to take more druid levels for the spells. Their summons, in particular, are very useful for HoF. IMO, more druid levels for this character are more valuable than any Barb or Rogue mix-in levels.

[Klorox]

Thanks Aerich.

I think a Bard gets access to all of the "talky skills" (at least he really should!), and most of the spells you listed a Bard has access to.

I'm not sold on the character myself, but I am trying to fill out my party. I need a good talker (I want to add a few Paladin levels to my Aasimar Sorcerer) and I need a backup arcane spellcaster to the same character.

I was thinking about the basic Drow Rogue 1 or 2/Wizard X (he can handle all the thieving skills and be a great backup mage), and I'd really love a Bard in my party (I thought the songs were awesome in IWD1, although he really didn't get much better after reaching level 11).

[Aerich]

I'm perfectly willing to recommend a bard for a party that is NOT going to HoF. In regular mode, bard songs are good and many spells that are all-but-useless in HoF have utility. In HoF, a bard, whether it has 30 bard levels or only 11 bard levels and some levels of something else, probably won't be much more than a dead weight. They do have access to Mass Dominate and Wail of the Banshee (lvl 8 bard spells) at very high levels, but their spell access at bard spell lvls 4-7 is fairly pathetic from a HoF standpoint, aside from a few summons. While I like bards, IMO they simply do not have the spell access or the power to really pull their weight in a HoF party in IWD2. They can in IWD1, but not in IWD2.

I am under the impression that a bard has to pay 2 skill points for Intimidate. Let me know if I've remembered that wrong. I seem to recall being fairly unhappy about it.

A drow rogue/wizard is a very strong character, and seems to cover all the points you are looking for (talking, backup caster, thieving skills, tons of skill points). It's what I'd recommend. In HoF, the more dominant your spellcasters, the better off you will be.

[Klorox]

I plan on having both, the Bard/Druid and the Drow (or Deep Gnome) Rogue/Wizard (Illusionist).

Does a level 19 Druid have the spellpower to be good in HOF? Because that's what I'm looking at here...

[Aerich]

I think so. The key is high level spells, particularly the druid summons. According to the spell progression table in my manual (the IWD2 manual is, of course, renowned for its inaccuracies, so I make no representations that these numbers are accurate), a lvl 19 druid has 5 spell slots for spell lvls 1-5, 4 for lvls 6 & 7, and 3 for lvls 8 & 9. A level 20 druid has 4 slots for lvls 8 & 9. There's no change after that to access to spell lvls 7-9 until druid lvl 23.

To recap, a lvl 19 druid will go 4/3/3 for spell levels 7/8/9. The druid class tops out at 5/5/5 at lvl 26.

What level progression will you take with the bard/druid? Are you going to go bard[11] first? If so, your druid might be lvl 6 at best heading into HoF, meaning that it will have to be carried by the rest of the party for a while until you can add a few more druid levels.

[Klorox]

I think my progression is going to be something like this:

Bard 11, squat until Druid 10, then just keep adding Druid levels.

I'm going to get a huge XP penalty, but I really don't care with my support character (he'll be a Drow... the racial bonuses are just too good for a talker!).

BTW, you're right, the Bard doesn't get intimidate. That's really lame.