Need Paladin build

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Hi folks, well after being pretty happy with NWN2 that I'm about to finish, I'm already planing on BG1+2 +expansions game

Thought is to take one char from BG1 all the way to ToB.

Being newb I am I wonder if you nice people would give me a nice Paladin build, with minimum stats (and where to put them if I roll higher), weapon proficiencies and any tips you can think of

IIRC BGs should be lot harder than NWNs so any help is appreciated

Thank you for your time!

 

STR - 18 w/ exceptional
DEX - as high as you can go for powergame, 9-14 otherwise
CON - shoot for 18
INT - 9 is just fine
WIS - higher the better, but I usually settle around 14
CHA - either a 17 or 18, this is locked

The higher the con, the higher the HP - and thus, it's more prudent to go shieldless and wield the stereotypical paladin weapon - the two-handed sword. There are plenty of good ones scattered throughout both games. I would also pick a decent ranged weapon (crossbows seem more appropriate for a paladin to me than bows) and a blunt weapon of some kind. Possible maces. Also note that an 18 DEX gives you a +4 bonus to your AC, regardless of what you're wearing and packing. I'd aim for as high of CON as possible if you plan to go shieldless.

If you're playing TuTu, the Cavalier kit is a lot of fun. I personally prefer the Inquisitor, but I'd think it would get a little boring through all those levels. Of course, if you go Cav you won't have access to missile weapons and will have to emphasize one-handed throwable axes (of which there are plenty good ones in the game).

 

STR 18/51-00
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 5 (so you can survive a mindflayer critical in BG2 after reading the +1 int tome in BG1)
WIS 13 or so is minumum, set it as low as possible, it's useless
CHA 18

A total roll of 90 is quite easy to get. Spend additional points in int, it's only nearly instead of totally useless like wis.

Weapon profs in BG1: bow, large sword first and a blunt weapon (hammer, flail or quarterstaff) later
in BG2: greatsword, a (cross)bow type or axes or daggers for throwing, quarterstaff

 

I'd suggest the following stats:

STR: 18/whatever
DEX: 18
CON: 18
INT: 12 (at least)
WIS: 13 (I think this is the minimum)
CHA: 17 is fine, some like 18 but it really won't matter in the end.

 

If you use a little meta gaming knowledge, you can have the following stats:

STR 14 (enought to use two handed swords and use the heaviest armors)
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 10
WIS 13
CHA 17

Together, 90 points. Achievable, in lets say, half an hour. You get Gauntlests of ogre power later in the game, that sets your STR to 18/00, so lower STR at the start isn't that much of a problem. I don't know if BG 1 has Bracets of dexterity. If it does, you can drop your DEX as low as 7, and still have no penalty on AC.

If however, you are a patient type, you can try to score the following stats:

STR 18/xx
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 10
WIS 13
CHA 17

This nests you a grand total of 94 points. You can do it, but you have to be very patient indeed, because you can try re-rolling for an hour and more. I was lucky, got it an about half an hour But this is truly a powerful build, and when/if you get all six tomes in BG 1, you will have 100 points at the end of BG 1, 100 at the end of BG: SoA, and 106 at the end of BG: ToB. Maybe even 107, if you use Deck of many things. Nothing will be able to stand in your way

 

The Paladin is probably the easiest character to play in this game. The stats have been covered already.

For BG1 missile weapons rule. You should initially choose two proficiency points in bows or missile weapons and two points in large swords. After that take points in blunt weapons. Always keep your paladin equiped with the best armor possible.

When you shift to BG2 you will be able to take a kit -- the kits are all much better than a vanilla paladin. All three kits have their strengths and weaknesses, and no kit really is better than the others. The Undead Slayer is basically immune to the effects of the undead -- and there's a lot of undead in BG2. The Inquisitor is a mage killer supreme, there is an NPC that is an Inquisitor. The Cavalier is more like a traditional paladin than the other two with bonuses to fight demons and dragons.

In BG2 you want to start with two proficiency points in two-handed sword, two in two-handed weapon fighting style and two in axes.

 

The low Str/Dex is more of an either/or option as both stats can be boosted- but you can only wear one pair of gauntlets. The disadvantage to this is that you then cannot give those items to an NPC who may be able to benefit from them more.

 

Bruno: I personally like giving Paladins points in Bows and Largeswords initially, and then adding points in Axes for throwing axes. You're better off with a shield!

 

Things you should know before making your decision:

Unlike in 3e games there's usually no difference between 7 and 14 in a stat in BG, only extreme values grant bonusses or penalties. A character with 14 in all stats will be very weak.

BG isn't roleplaying depending on stats like NWN, a character with 3 int and 3 wis gets the same dialogue options and results as a character with 18 int and 18 wis. Only 2-3 really unimportant options were added to BG2, and you can get them anyway.

WISDOM doesn't add spell resistance and doesn't grant bonus spells for paladins, so wisdom is totally useless.

In BG2 you'll meet a kind of monsters who drain 5 INT temporary with each hit, if you reach 0 you die. But they'll only hit at 1 of 20 attacks, so 6 int should be enough against them unless you are very unlucky.
Since you can get +1 INT in BG1 having 5 at the start will be sufficient.
But it's just one type of monsters in one of the two games, so I'd rather go with 3 int than reducing important stats.

CHARISMA is very useful on the other hand, it influences the rewards you get and the shop prices.
If you played the prologue with 18 cha first and replay with 17 cha you'll nearly cry about how unfriendly the people have become and which rewards you didn't get. (the first magical weapon and several GP)
But I think once you managed to increase your reputation by at least 1 later in the game you'll always get the friendly rewards even with 17 cha.

DEXTERITY is probably the most useful stat, the +4 AC for 18 help a lot and the ranged bonus isn't bad either.
There's a chance to find gauntlets which grant 18, but other party members will need them as well and you'll want to wear other gauntlets.

CONSTITUTION is also useful, the extra HP will help surviving.

About STRENGTH: It's the stat which is the easiest to raise.
The level2 spell can grant 18/50 strength to anyone for a very long time, and cast a second time you get even 18/00.
In BG2 there are several items which set strength to a certain high value (19,20,21,...) and there are many strength potions in both games.
The reason I still recommend 18/.. strength is that it's not fun to have reduced carrying capacity and you can find a book near the end of BG1 which will increase strength by 1. If you have 18/01 the values 18/51-75, 18/76-90,18/91-99 and 18/00 will be overjumped and you land directly at 19 which gives enormous bonusses.


In BG1 movement is slow so you'll do a lot more damage with ranged attacks than in melee, so you really need a ranged weapon for everyone.
The by far best crossbow you can find in BG1 is just as good as a simple, non-magical composite long bow. And slings or darts do even less damage. So if you want your character to have the most kills in your party start with ** in bows. I'd also take ** in large swords. Very few enemies can only be hurt with crushing weapons, so I'd take profiency points in a crushing weapon type like quarterstaffs later.

When starting BG2 you'll have to redistribute your profiency points since weapon types are changed. I'd take 2-handed swords and quarterstaffs.


You should also know that your PC is only one of usually 6 party members, so the game won't become much more difficult if you create a very weak character.

 

Get all the 18s you can, be an Inquisitor...end of story.

If you want to cast spell,s be an Undead Hunter.

 

Or if you want some bonuses without any real disadvantages, pick a Cavalier. The fear immunity has saved me from having to cast a pre-knowledge spell more than once.

 

What I meant was, lower one of them, boost another. And yes, NPCs can benefit greatly from them, but if you want to make powerful characters, you can meta-game a little, and use thet knowledge to your advantage. It's a choice everybody has to make for himself.

A sound advice. Cavalier is very good kit, and fear immunity is pricelles from time to time. That +3 to hit and damage bonus against dragons and demons can be useful too. But does that count against devils too?

I found cavalier to be much better kit than undead hunter. They can both turn undead at the same level. Now, if undead hunter would be able to turn indead at his class level, that would be a different story. But as things stand, I like cavalier much more. Althought, I still think inqusitor is the best paladin kit.

Just yesterday i tried to score the stats form my post above, and I actualy did it I now have cavalier wit 18/89 STR, 18 DEX, 18 CON, 10 INT, 13 WIS and 17 CHA. ** in two handed swords, long swords and two handed weapon style. If you would like it, I can send it to you And it only took me about half an hour again Damn, I'm lucky with this dices

 

Inquisitor is the best kit IMHO, very very useful against all kinds of spell casters, which BG2 has plenty of. Though there is already an Inquisitor NPC in BG2, so you can just take him and decide to be another kit instead. Undead Hunter is very swell too, its immunities sure come in handy, there are LOTS of very nasty undead critters in BG2. Go for longswords, axes and maces then, for best anti-undead weapons! Hmm, I really do not like Cavalier much though. (sorry Fel!)

 

Klorox: I agree that axes can be quite powerful in BG1 -- unfortunately it is very late in the game before you get a magic throwing axe and the normal variety take up too much weight IMO.

Silverstar: Making an undead killing machine has the unfortunate side effect of missing out on the most powerful weapon in SoA (a certain two-handed sword that can do a one hit kill on a pit fiend).

There are only two holy avengers in the game: a two-handed sword and a bastard sword. The two-handed sword is the better of the two, but the bastard sword will allow for two-weapon fighting. The bastard sword is only available with ToB installed and realistically not available until later in the game. I obtained the two-handed sword at 10th level.

I really enjoyed the Cavalier. The Undead Hunter is the easiest class to play in the entire game (three characters can be protected from level drain, a huge bonus). The only Inquisitor I've played is Keldorn (I like variety).

kmonster made some very good points about stats for BG1. The tomes will raise every stat you have. Good starting stats are:
Str: 18(xx) raised to 19 (+3 to hit, +7 damage)
Dex: 17 raised to 18 (you don't need a 19, you're a tank)
Con: 18 raised to 19 (+5 hit points per level)
Int: Go as high as possible, this is the dump stat but you NEED at least 5 preferably 10 with it raised one point from a tome.
Wis: Put it to the minimum the game allows (I think 13).
Cha: 18 raised to 19. With a few items you will have godlike charisma and significant discounts at the stores.

Some of these stats will get a boost in SoA/ToB. By the time I had finished SoA and Watcher's Keep my Cavalier had a 20 strength (+3, +8), 20 constitution (regeneration), and a 21 charisma.

 

What? Azuredge is an incredible paladin missile weapon (even usable by cavaliers), available in the Copper Coronet VERY early in Chapter 2, and a hell of a lot cheaper than it should be. It's usually one of my first buys because of the low price tag.

 

I think he's referring to the BG1 portion when he says "late in the game."

I agree about Azuredge - one of my first pickups, too. I just wish throwing axes flew faster, but hey - at least they return to your hand.

 

Phew, finally. Sometimes I hate RL

Anyway it looks like I'm problem free at least for now, and that I'll be able to finish NWN2 pretty soon.

I've read through the whole thread and I have a pretty good idea on what I have to roll or perhaps have it sent from "Mordokai"

You guys really impress me with all the knowledge you posses. You know this game inside out. I still have no idea how you guys do it... Like the example with STR...It being 18/00 or 18/xx (what is this exactly... what is difference between 18/51 and 18/57) or having STR at 19 "which gives enormous bonuses".... What are these bonuses and how do you calculate them?

I really hope I finally get to play this game through. I have started both BG1 and 2 at least 2 times each and every time there is something that comes in between :/ In any case I feel for you guys, I'm merciless when it comes to asking stupid D&D questions.

 

Play the game 19 thousand times like we have, and you'll know Jaheira's bra size before you know it.

 

This is a misconception. Darts do every bit as much damage as bows until you start getting the really good gear. And because they let you use a shield darts are well suited for a paladin.

Long bow with ** means you get 2.5 attacks per round. Each hit does 1-6 damage +2 damage for specialization. If all attacks hit you can expect to do 13.75 damage per round.

Dart with ** means you get 3.5 attacks per round. Each hit does 1-3 damage +2 damage for specialization. If all attacks hit you can expect to do 14 damage per round.

It is true that the long bow has a better chance of hitting than the dart. It is also true that a composite bow is better than a dart. But the higher attack rate makes darts better than any bow against spell casters. And the fact that you can't sue a shield with a bow hurts.

Darts are not generally as good as bows. But for a paladin they are very much a viable choice.

 

Well, that part at least is in the back of the manual, page 134. For the example, there's no difference at all between 18/51 and 18/57. 51+ is good for the THAC0 bonus for the earlier levels, but don't strain yourself trying to get an extra point or two of damage since you're going to be boosting it up to 19 regardless (which, BTW, gives +3 to hit and +7 to damage, as some may have already said).