Paladin Stats

[david_m11]

I will soon be starting my first ever game of BG 2 and I have decided to play as a Paladin (Cavalier Kit).

I was wondering: What are the optimum stats that I should be aiming to roll for my character (without cheating!)

[Jim]

Go for at least 90-95 ability points (at least 15 average for each stat, should take no more than an hour of rolling)

Firstly, set DEX and CON to MAX (18) to maximise AC and HP.

Set INT to around 10 so's not to incure any penalties

Maximise CHA (since it's 17 for a paladin anyway, might as well spend an extra point) to 18.

Maximise WIS (set to 18 to give you +4 bonus against mental spells)

STR isn't too important since you'll eventually be using a girdle to maximise it, so place the rest of the points into STR

So, with 90-95 ability points, you could have

STR 13
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 10
WIS 18
CHA 18

And Voila, an effective paladin, but you'll need to get your mits on the girdle of hill giant STR pronto.......

[Gimlee]

You could be wasting your time trying to have a 95 score , or you could have a 86 to 90 score. I had a 91 paladin once. Who needs intelligence or wisdom (maybe more wisdom than int.). You have to have a great strenght. Don't follow what that other guy said. You need a very high strenght. The girdles of strenght, leave them for weeker party members.
And I suggest for a paladin, the two handed swords proficiencie.

[Sir Exxon]

I'd say something like this:
18 str - Important if you want him to be a good warrior
16 con - Same here
18 dex - Same here, a high AC is good
13 int - 10 is the average, so 12 will be a good stat, him beeing a warrior and all
15 wis - Same here, wisdon is important to learn priest-spells
17 cha - The paladins lowest charisma-point. But since you can get a ring that sets your cha to 18 with once you come out of Irenicus' dungeon, that will do.

Here is a good Warrior, who are well-liked, and can learn good priest-spells.
You should be able to get a set like this after a while.


see ya!

[Jim]

quote:

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Don't follow what that other guy said

---

Oi Gimlee everyone's entitled to their own opinion and I was just expresesing mine. Telling someone not to follow my advice is a little unnecessary, since nothing makes your opinions better than mine - each has his own. Since the PC will be upfront in most battles, you're going to want them maximising damage and so equip them with the best stuff. There's plenty of strength increasing items in BG2, including 4 girdles and some gauntlets, so there's still plenty for the weaker members.

Sir Exxon, high WIS values doesn't give bonus spells to Paladins unfortuanately.

[Foo]

You absolutely must have Con 18!! This will give you lots of extra HP (Life), so don't skimp there. You have to have at least 17 Cha, so you have to leave points there. You also have to have at least 13 Wis, so you have to leave points there.

Go for 18/xx STR, as someone else said you can give the Girdles of STR to weaker NPCs. You can sacrifice a little bit on DEX, as there are items that will get you to 18 DEX. INT really doesn't matter for a Paladin, I've left mine at 3, and used a potion on the rare occasion that I needed a high INT.

Oh, and DEFINITELY go with 2H-sword and 2H-weapon style for your weapon profs. There are lots of good 2H swords in the game, and you want your paladin to be able to use them!

[oldbittercraig]

A THREE INT(!?!?!?!) That would make your character as dumb as a post, literally.

Better watch out for illithids. One touch and you're toast.

I think that they really need to find a way to "punish" horrible stats for these games.

[Foo]

YES 3 INT!!

Those points can be better spent elsewhere. What do you ever really need INT for? When you do, you can use a Potion of Genius...

As far as illithids, have a cleric cast Chaotic Commands on whoever is to do the kicking-of-butts and smack 'em up some.

As always, the best defense is an ass-kicking offense!! They can't brain-drain you when they're dead!!

[Kaz]

I agree that you don't have to put as much on Strength because the Girdles of various Giant Strengths raise your Strength to ABOVE 18. So even if you have 18/00, you'll probably use the girdles anyway, since there is quite a difference between str. 19 and str. 18. However, I'd say Dex 18 is an absolute must, since you can give the gloves of Dex to another character (almost none have over Dex 17), and unlike the girdles, the Gloves of Dex *only* raise your Dex to 18.
Constitution: DEFINETELY 18. The HP you get are worth it. Trust me.
Int should be at least 10, if only for the RP-aspect: a character with Int 3 is too stupid to do anything but die. Charisma, I'm not sure here - 17 or 18. And that only leaves Wis, which should be moderately high because of your saves.

[oldbittercraig]

I still can't get over a 3 INT. Maybe because I play PNP games and can just imagine actually having to roleplay a character with an INT score of 3. This would be my contribution to every adventure arc:

"Shiny!"

I guess is an INT of 3 works for a pc powergamer...