Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

I leveled my Druid Sorc to level 6 in one day (want to say roughly 5-6 hours). I gave him a scrolls of summon 9 when he got to 2nd level teeheehee. I was like 4th level and using an elder elemental to run bare naked through the orc and gnoll caves. By level 8 I was running it around the xvarts. After awhile the random loot from the enemies paid for the scrolls; didn't hurt to be a thaumaturgist which means my lv 17 summon scrolls lasted like 34X60 min for a summon. Been hitting the xvarts for xp since level 8 and now I'm almost 18 after a weekish on and off. If you can get up a small horde of gold early on, those high level summons can really pay for themselves. Buffs and heal kits work wonders.

Aelcar wrote:

AC81 wrote:Do we really need a 'play-through' guide for any characters, especially the most powerful class in the game? Seems like it might kinda ruin some content and surprises for people. But if any were going to write it, I'd vote for Aelcar, Breteas or ohboy007.

How about a thread for a boring, non-UMD fighter? You know, someone that can't buff themselves to the status of a demi-god ...

Thanks for the vote of confidence man .

For non-UMD fighters, I have been thinking about it a lot, but I never really found a good answer to the various problems it would have. I'll think about it...

Meanwhile, a quasi-non-UMD fighter that can solo the Balor and pretty much everything else is the dwarf of Karond, Grimm Oathbreaker...pretty impressive!

For zero UMD play, I defer to your wisdom. I read of your bruiser 40 STR idea, pretty nice . By my side, I think that the biggest problem of zero UMD play is defense. HiPS, Evasion and other forms of defense (DR, regen...) are very important without magic back-up, I think, most of all because every enemy rolls way too many 20s . That's why off the top of my head the most effective non-UMD, non-magic users tend to be Monks.

Monk Level 30 (Mario Lee) kills Balor in the fire giants and dracolich solo . STR only 14...

Rasael wrote:Writing guides per class would probably help a lot. Not only players but also to gauge where the pain spots are for particular classes.

I vote for what Rasael has said here. There could be a new sub forum created in the Tips and Tricks section where for starters all the base classes are listed and given review or overview, or otherwise a guide is written for each, and recommendations on which prestige classes to take (if any) and types of equipment needed.

The only thing is this will probably take the knowledge of more than one person here.

odyssey wrote:

Aelcar wrote:

AC81 wrote:Do we really need a 'play-through' guide for any characters, especially the most powerful class in the game? Seems like it might kinda ruin some content and surprises for people. But if any were going to write it, I'd vote for Aelcar, Breteas or ohboy007.

How about a thread for a boring, non-UMD fighter? You know, someone that can't buff themselves to the status of a demi-god ...

Thanks for the vote of confidence man .

For non-UMD fighters, I have been thinking about it a lot, but I never really found a good answer to the various problems it would have. I'll think about it...

Meanwhile, a quasi-non-UMD fighter that can solo the Balor and pretty much everything else is the dwarf of Karond, Grimm Oathbreaker...pretty impressive!

For zero UMD play, I defer to your wisdom. I read of your bruiser 40 STR idea, pretty nice . By my side, I think that the biggest problem of zero UMD play is defense. HiPS, Evasion and other forms of defense (DR, regen...) are very important without magic back-up, I think, most of all because every enemy rolls way too many 20s . That's why off the top of my head the most effective non-UMD, non-magic users tend to be Monks.

Monk Level 30 (Mario Lee) kills Balor in the fire giants and dracolich solo . STR only 14...

Yep, I hear you. I saw a couple of Monk16/Fighter6/Assassin8 types out there that could do just that . Pretty nice. I guess you still need some UMD for those kind of bosses (otherwise, the Dracolich will kill you with his fire attacks for instance), but it's still very, very little.

UMD without really difficult to resist elemental attacks without using medication . But there are charms with elemental resistance 20 / - (acid, fire)

odyssey wrote:UMD without really difficult to resist elemental attacks without using medication . But there are charms with elemental resistance 20 / - (acid, fire)

Ye, they work well...for the Dracolich, though, I would still use the Immunities: those 200 dmg fire breaths and 400 dmg Ice Storms arent brilliant to take in the teeth :S.

in principle, can show how a monk kills dracolich or frost giant without any resistance to any energy and buff

very high reflex save with improved evasion???

dzidek1983 wrote:very high reflex save with improved evasion???

With a no save 400+ dmg Ice Storm? Good call!

Aelcar wrote: I saw a couple of Monk16/Fighter6/Assassin8 types out there...

I've wanted to play a monk for a while and this sounds interesting. Could you point to a build perhaps?

Aelcar wrote:

dzidek1983 wrote:very high reflex save with improved evasion???

With a no save 400+ dmg Ice Storm? Good call!

ok i give up...

Deathgrowl wrote:I have a request to the really good caster players:

Give some specific suggestions on how to deal with various dungeons on the server, solo and in party. Particularly epic level dungeons.

For instance: How do you, breteas, take a wizard through the Vault of the Dead - solo and party? What spells do you prepare? How do you use them?

These suggestions need to be viable for any alignment. And preferably not necessarily a min-maxed super power build.

Can it be done? In another thread, perhaps?

Any caster will know that mgic damage through sunlight wreaks havoc in there. The problem with mage kind of players is: Mages should be able to obliterate worlds, while instead they could, but only if they ACT like mages. Which is: (pardon my "french") 95.5 % of spawns isn't even worth the TIME of a mage using magic.

This is very true in DnD. Or do you think a DnD mage would bother with a goblin? A TRUE mage doesn't even let the goblin SEE him. Let alone ATTACK him. THAT is what mages in DnD are about.

Skill as a mage? Leaves you with ALL your powers-Without- Getting hurt at the final battle, and THEN making the -DM- --> -Pout- as you show your TRUE power. You stayted alive all that time, spent as little as needed and at the end, when all your friends (evil or not) are dying... You show the true power of what it means to be a mage.

That.

Is mage power. And very, very, viable on BG.

Mages rule.

Deathgrowl, I'm not trying to be condecending here, but I've simply expereienced the power of casters. More so mages. It's true that mages have a limited peak of power, but in DnD they're not out to kill everything that moves anyway.

In fact, a true mage will not even bother with most things that move. It's simply a waste of power. If you do not agree, that is fine, but with the fine tuned world BG has made for us, which is mostly based on lore....

Have a go at the searing caverns below durlags. You'll find that 95% of spawns except efreeti's (mages) won't even see you. In fact, just haste, invisble and a single ethereal potion can get you down to lvl 4 of the UD.

I can think of no other class who could get down that deep, without getting hurt, with so little effort.. (IC ! ) --> IC.

Meaning: I think few classes but the mage class, could get down there, unhurt, Rp-d, with most of their spells still ready to go.

Mages go firey eyes and wild winds when it's needed. Whether sorc ot wizard. (the first sooner than the latter) And only when it's worth it. Even mystra tells to value magic.

Is using magic to kill a goblin you could have avoided in the first place really worth using the weave?

Imo, if you did, you got the wrong idea of what it means to be a mage in the 1st place.

I ask how I'm supposed to deal with various dungeons and stuff on the server, and I get nonsense basically saying "don't".

What exactly is the "true power" of mages if virtually everything a mage does is ... well... NOTHING?

Your argument is also flawed in the sense of leveling: In PnP, you get experience for dealing with an encounter, regardless of how you deal with it. If you sneak past the goblins, you get experience. If you kill the goblins, you get experience. That's not the case on BGTSCC. So in epic levels, how are we supposed to level?

Summon creature? The Air elemental has 42 AC when buffed up (44 vs evil). Its damage is low, it's AB is atrocious. The earth elemental on the other side of the scale of the summon creature spell has slightly better damage and AB, but 35 (37) buffed AC.

Dominate? Well, disregarding the RP objections one might have, this can work in some cases. Not in The Vault, though. Other places are also problematic.

And to even make it work you will need so many buffs for it to work that as a generalist wizard you won't have anything but your own buffs and your summon's buffs. Both of them are also stuck when you meet an in-zone transition (like the minotaur labyrinth, nashkel mines and ogre cave). And they all suffer from horrendous AI.

I am sick and tired of hearing every time I ask for advice that the "true power of mages is doing nothing". It's absolutely, completely absurd. Give me some factual, specific advice rather than just tell me that I'm a bad mage player.

Now, having said all that, I realize it's largely a point about soloing I have made. But I've also pointed out several times in the past how endlessly boring it is as a mage to stand in the back watching the sneak attackers and power attackers plow everything to dust while, waiting for an overwhelming situation that might just never happen. And then when you do cast a spell, the mob is usually dead due to all the melee damage during the cast time. Beyond the initial buffing and maybe a haste or displacement for the meleers at the boss fight, there's not much use for a mage in an every-day party.

What exactly is the "true power" of mages if virtually everything a mage does is ... well... NOTHING?

Ah, aprentices. Eager. In time, you'll grasp what it means to have true power.


DG, I get where you're coming from. In my days as playing a mage I was thinking the same thing: Why am I even here, everyone kills everything and I can do nothing but buff. But...

At one point. I took a different turn to gameplay. I'm a mage.

Am I here to provide your buffs?

Am I here to haste you?

Am I here to displace you, or control the fight you fight?

Am I here to hide you? Make you leave the battle scene invisible so you can live?

Am I here to raise you?

Am I here to finalize your end battle, while you all who never lifted a finger to aid me, and get you all to safety?

No.


...


I am a mage, true to the weave. Respecting power granted to me. You may ask me for aid. And if I do so see fit your aid, and valued enough to help, I will grant such. I could protect an army, may see to it, an army will win. But in the end, I the mage, will live. No matter what the outcome.

For I am a mage, all bow before me.

Edit: If the case is not such, I will use my powers to try other means to aid my goal. You will not see me again. Happy dying, small folk. *whirl of fog, the mage vanishes*

Useless. There's no advice to be had, then.