Tips needed on playing Haer'Dalis

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I think I'm going to add him to my no-reloads party.

I just added Minsc after Valygar was chunked, but Minsc reached 9th level at the same time my protagonist got his first HLA.

This is my party:

Gnome Illusionist/Cleric
Jaheira
Keldorn
Mazzy
Imoen

 

Use him as a backup caster as you would normally use a bard. If you want him to melee, use spins, mirror image, stoneskin.

Remember that Free Action effects let him move even when he's using one of his spin abilities.

 

Playing Haer'Dalis is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman: You've got to have the initiative and make the move. You've got to make him move back and forth, and not to stay in one place for too long. Thrust, parry and have the rhythm of a dance in it, hard action when it's required, but remember to ease off a little so that he can continue. But first and foremost, this is really important, you have to have your protections in place or otherwise he'll get chunked.

You've played a kensai/mage or a F/M, right? Haerry, since he's a blade, is not that different from them, except for his lack of hp.

I'd make him melee. Blades get the highest AC eventually although it's necessary only in the direst of situations if PfMW is unavailable.

Haerry's great in spearheading attacks with mirror images, stoneskins and his spins. With defensive spin he gets AC to ward off blows that might take down his stoneskins and mirror images making him a good decoy for as long as he has his protection spells memorized. But then you want to ease the heat on him, so you have the option of getting him away, so yes, Free Action is almost a must.

With low levels you have to be careful however, having him as a melee flanker with offensive spins then is pretty solid and as your playing a no-reloads game I'd say that this would be the most suitable role for him.

Get him more hp, so Girdle of Fortitude and Pale Green Ioun Stone are a must. Getting him items that give resistances or damage reduction might be a good idea because he still has pretty low hp no matter what you do.

 

For Haer'Dalis...

After you do the Planar Sphere quest, you get the Melodic Chain +3, Kundane +2 and Boots of Speed..hang on to those!

Give him Belm +2 as well when you get it. Don't bother using his original short swords...they're not good for very long.

Get him to learn Improved Haste, Mislead, Stoneskin, Tensor's Transformation, Mirror Image, Blur, Haste and Melf's Minute Meteors.

Give him as much STR enhancing and THAC0 improving stuff as you can. AC is secondary for Haer'Dalis.

Pale Green Ioun Stone (10% HP bonus and +1 to THAC0) is great for him, so is any Girdle of Giant Strength.

Once you've done all that...buff him with the spells I mentioned and let him rip. NOTHING can stand in his path! He is perhaps the single most powerful NPC in the game, after Aerie...

When you get to ToB, get him Improved Bard Song and UAI. You don't even NEED Spike Traps or Time Traps...

Once you have UAI, switch Belm to the off hand and weild Scarlet Ninja To +3 in your main hand. Doing this and casting Improved Haste on yourself gets you 8 attacks per round...if you have also cast Tensor's Transformation, he attacks 8 times per round at a fighter lvl THAC0!! And don't forget...bards have a much higher level than Fighters for the same XP...

I could go on and on about Improved Bard Song stacking and Time Trap abuse and UAI abuse...but I won't bother. If you've done what I mentioned so far, you are overpowered enough already!

PS: If you don't like micromanagement, Haer'Dalis is not the character for you!

 

Wow, I never really got the best out of Haer'Dalis before, I just love his banters with Jaheira. Maybe I should try keeping him alive a little longer in future...

 

Honestly, I would not reccomend Haer'Dalis in a no-reloads game. Sure, he can be useful if you buff him a lot, but, just a moment you forget to put something up, or you are just plain unlucky, or your buffs are dispelled=dead Haer'Dalis. And probably chunked too since he has low HP and CON.

 

That's true...you don't want to have Haer'Dalis as your main tank in a no-reloads game...but you know, if you think about it...you're going to have to be on your toes pretty much all the time in a no-reloads game so odds are your other characters have an equal chance of dying...so yeah.

Don't stress it...

 

I know this is off topic but... how is your no-reloads-campaign going Klorox? I'd love to hear some news of it.

 

His swords are far from useless. The one that does dex drain on hit kills almost anything very quickly...

 

Good Anjo, I just reached Suldanessalar. More details soon!