Help with my new party

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I've had IWD2 for quite a while now but could never get past the Western Pass part of the game due to bordom. Just recently I took a solo drow Fighter (4)/ Ranger (x)/ Barbarian (4) up to Kuldahar but got bored again.

Anyway, I'm giving it another shot with a four person party to keep me interested and would like to find out if you guys think it is worth taking all the way through to the end of HoF or if there are any adjustments I need to make / starting again.

OK, I have several mods installed, Ease of Use, Extra feats mod, Additional druid spells installed but I do not have the Half Dragon wild shapes.

1. My leader is my main talker, who really likes telling stories, and Arcane Spell chucker. I got the idea from JUPP guide and really liked it.

Rahl the Necromancer:

Sorcerer (19) Bard (11) Male Drow (Chaotic Neutral)

Str - 8 (8)
Dex - 12 (12)
Con - 10 (10)
Int - 20 (20)
Wis - 10 (10)
Cha - 20 (27)

He is weak as a kitten at the moment but has just gotton his second lvl 4 spell (up to the Western Pass). I'm levelling up the sorcerer part first as it is probably the most powerfull.

Do bards get spells the same way as a sorcerer??

2. Next is my support spell caster who has a bit of fighting technique (the fighter levels will be last.

Elixia:

Druid (16) Sorcerer (10) Fighter (4) Wild Elf, Female, (True Neutral)

Str 10 (10)
Dex 8 (8)
Con - 10 (10)
Int - 12 (12)
Wis - 18 (24)
Cha - 18 (19)

I'm not sure how effective this char will be in HoF but i think it will be good for the Normal game. Again any comments about level distribution are welcome

3. Is my buffer and healer and not a very nice person to chat to (also summoner). Again I'm using a drow due to the favoured class and bonuses.

Viera D'Gardon (Stupid name but it sounds drowish to me so ):

Monk (3) Fighter (4) Dreadmaster of Bane (23) Drow, Female, (Lawful Evil)

Str - 14
Dex - 20
Con - 10
Int - 13 (14)
Wis - 18 (26) +2 for encounter in Kuldahar
Cha - 5

I saw Chev post this in a recent topic (although I worked the char out before i saw it) and i'm pretty happy with it (its my only char who will go over lvl 20 in one class).

4. My last char is my pride and joy. My assassin .
I really want your comments on this one because i want him to be powerful but i'm not sure. When maxed out levels he will be,

Veras Jade (isn't that just the best name ever ):

Fighter (4) Barbarian (6) Ranger (10) Rogue (10) Drow, Male, (Neutral Evil)

Str - 18 (25)
Dex - 20 (20)
Con - 10 (10)
Int - 16 (16)
Wis - 10 (10)
Cha - 6 (6)

I'm worried he will have too few rogue levels but he is my only fighting type and the ranger levels give favoured enemies. So what do you think?

Again, if anybody has any suggestions please let me know whilst I can still change them

And sorry about the longish post

 

1) Bards do get spells in the same way as sorcerers, just less of them.
2) I would get Druid levels first (at least until you get Barkskin). If you have the Druid mods then this char will kick butt when Shape-Changed - otherwise Barkskin is the biggie. Otherwise, they might be a bit weak to start off with (no Str or Dex so not much of a fighter).
3) That Cleric will be pretty mean. Should be good.
4) You can take or leave your Ranger because Favoured Enemy isn't that exciting. I think he might want more Con if he's going to be fighting up front. Also, won't he have a massive XP penalty (unless I'm missing something)?

My main question is: who is doing the Tanking up front? Neither Viera nor Veras will have high HP. Has that caused any problems so far? Spell Resistance and / or Evasion will be helpful if they are in thick of things and Rahl is hurling fireballs into the crowd.

Drows are pretty tough so are good choices for going into HOF.

I think you could probably do pretty well with that party.

 

Because I've used 'ease of use' the heavier the armour the more damage resistant Varas is, so hp become less of a problem for him, Viera is using a great sword or great axe which gives her extra reach meaning I keep Varas up from and have her attack from the rear. She also uses a crossbow.

 

3)

Str - 14
Dex - 20
Con - 10
Int - 13 (14)
Wis - 18 (26) +2 for encounter in Kuldahar
Cha - 5

Make it
Str - 14
Dex - 19 (20)
Con - 10
Int - 14
Wis - 18 (26) +2 for encounter in Kuldahar
Cha - 5

or change the -1 at start ++ at level up on other attribute
but keep INT on end level from the start - because from INT you get skills all the way.

The same for CON - you get HP from CON all the way.

 

The last one will have to face XP penalty. You could try even distribution of levels in fighter, rogue, ranger and barbarian (or monk instead of both rogue and barbarian for rogue characters). If you choose to bring one class to a higher level, it should be the race's favoured class.

The druid/sorcerer/fighter one seems nice on the roleplaying side, but I don't see it as a power combo. Druids don't really have buffs for fighting and sorcerers of level 10 don't have much. What's more, arcane spells of caster level 10 aren't going to be powerful, DC-wise (worse rolls to hit with spell). Perhaps druid/cleric(Lathander or Selune best)/fighter and using cleric levels for healing and level-independent spells while saving druid slots for the real fun? At any rate, get the Spirit of Flame feat so soon as possible. Evocation focus(2) and Spell Penetration(2) ASAP. Scion of Storms should be a nice idea, as druids have lightning spells in abundance.

Druids also seem a good material for mixing with low ranger and rogue levels. Evasion, dual-wielding, you get it. Unless your one is Jaheirish and walking around in fullplate

Don't start as fighter. It would be easier to survive, but you need the skill points.

The bard/sorcerer one. Nice. Not like bard spells are going to be really useful or large in quantity. Or like having 25% of your party stand still and sing is a really nice idea. Lingering Song is a must, BTW. You'll be able to sing songs while not casting sorcerer spells and the song will still work when you cast, which rocks. Spell Penetration(2) is a must, to offset the lower caster level, too. Wonder if Subvocal Casting helps with songs... Elemental spell feats will help to offset the lower level when it comes to damage. Plus, they will let you exceed the normal maximum. If your songs are going to last, spells like Gedlee's Loop or Sunfire had better be tuned to the max.

Note: rogue substitutes need good INT stats to get enough skill points. A nice way is having the ranger (2 skill points per level) do the scouting and the wizard searching and disarming (huge INT will provide a nice offset of bonus). Knock spell is a no-fail and is only second level arcane, which means a 3rd level wizard will open just about everything. A sorcerer won't have to change spell list and sleep to cast as many knocks as he may possibly need.

Note2: Lawful Neutral druids would make very nice multi with monks as both depend on wisdom and dexterity. And you get evasion from first level of monk! Power-wise, monk is always a good idea if your wisdom is 12+ and you don't wear armour. You can still use weapons - don't have to fight unarmed too. It's just asking for a ranger level or couple, for the dual wielding. Fighter not bad, to give specialisation damage bonus to offset low strength. Like ranger(3)/monk(3)/fighter(4)/druid(20). Works only for humans and half-elves without XP penalty. Druid switched to cleric, it will work for female drow elves (hint).

 

Thanks Chev, thats great help

I seem to be having a problem, Veras' sneak attack seems to have stopped wirking. Does sneak attack get included in the normal damage after it increases? I have a fealling this may be the case as I have a damage potential of 6 - 11 so this would mean a critical hit if 12 - 22 piercing, right? But he 'sneak attacks' for 30 or so piercing, am I missing something? (it isn't the weapons or power attack adding extras damage but if it isn't a case of sneak attack damage being included in normal damage - does this mean he cannot sneak attack any more? he is wearing plate armour and using short swords)

 

I could be wrong about this, but I believe that when you sneak attack, it'll tell you in the dialogue window that you did a sneak attack, and how much damage it was for. If you're not getting that anymore, then the sneak attack isn't working. If the dialogue box says you are sneak attacking for X damage, then the sneak attack IS working.

Now, when a sneak attack IS successful, the damage is 1D6 per every odd level added to the normal damage. So, a level 5 Rogue who sneak attacks does normal damage, plus 3D6. Sneak Attack dice are not doubled for a critical hit.

If you are currently doing sneak attacks that hit for 30 damage, then it sounds to me like it's working fine.

 

Its not giving me a dialogue saying 'sneak attack' but is doing more damage than he should be able to. In other words I'm just getting one ammount of damage and I'm wondering if all damage (sneak included) gets rolled into one dialogue. I know there 'was' sneak attack dialogue but not anymore

 

And you sure your normal damage range is 6-11? How did you come to those numbers? Short Sword +1 and a +4 STR modifier? How often are you getting the 30 damage? Are you sure you don't have a weapon that hits harder than you think? What the critical damage modifier of the weapon? If it's x3 instead of x2, then a critical could very well hit for 30 damage.

I was thinking earlier that maybe wearing plate negates the sneak attack, but I'm not sure it does. I might be thinking about Baldur's Gate here.

 

There is some armour somewhere that stops you doing stuff but it doesn't say so. For example, the Umber Hulk armour gives you good AC but a barbarian can't rage when wearing it.

 

Ok, I've made a seperate save game and made Varas into the charcter I planned to see if more sneak attack damage occurs (rogue level is 10 -which should give 5d6 right?). I gave him some pretty good weapons and armour - the ones I planned to give him eventually. Those are Hawks Feather Armour, Letto's end short sword (he can't really use this because he is chaotic neutral but I'm just testing.) and flurry short sword in the off hand. Damage is now 20 - 25 and his critical hit backstabs are doing 65 damage is the highest I've got I shouldn't be able to do more than 50 hp dam! I'm going to make a pure rogue and see what happens to his damage - i'll post the result here


:EDIT: OK I found my answer but have come up with another question. I took the feat Crippling Strike and it seems to replace 15d6 damage of a level 29 rogue with a crappy -1 str penalty to the enemy (which is what happened to Veras). Is it that the sneak attack is converted or does the extra damage still occur but not show up in the dialogue box?

[ February 03, 2004, 00:51: Message edited by: Malovae ]

 

Not sure about this one. According to the description of the feat, it's supposed to do the damage AND the STR penalty. Course, the description in the booklet and the one in the game are different. The booklet says it does 1 point of STR damage per die of sneak attack. So a level 29 Rogue SHOULD do 15D6 damage and 15 STR. According to the game, it would do 15D6 and 1 STR. Sadly, this is one feat that I haven't a clue about how it works, because whenever I'm picking a new feat, and I read the description in the game, I figure it's a waste of a feat. So I've never taken it.

 

> Spell Resistance and / or Evasion will be helpful
> if they are in thick of things and Rahl is hurling
> fireballs into the crowd.

IMO spell resistance don't protect from AOE spells like fireball.

 

You may be right there but it does protect from skull trap