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

Mission Statement!
I wanted to bring to the forums a place where people could get some insight of what a particular class might be holding for them. One of the recent things I've experienced was a lot of PMs in and out of game asking questions about bear warrior or class building as a whole.. this sparked me to want to do a simple class review guide for those wanting to explore some of the content BGTSCC has to offer.

Please keep in mind these are strictly my opinions and mostly written from a mechanics point of view. While a class could be awful mechanically, it could be loads of fun RP wise.

I will hammer these out when I feel I get enough experience withe particular class. Feel free to comment and share your own thoughts!

Bear Warrior

Class Description
“Many people, particularly those in the "uncivilized" regions of the world, revere bears as symbols of the warrior's strength and battle prowess.
By adopting the bear as a totem animal, warriors of these people hope to tap into some of the bear's strength.
Bear warriors, through a special relationship with bear spirits, literally adopt a bear's strength in the rage of battle, actually transforming into bears while they fight.
Only characters who can already tap into a spiritual power of rage can heighten that power to become bear warriors. “ – Wiki

The class is a barbarian that channels the bear totem spirit to transform into various levels of bear to engage in combat. These are polymorph effects unlike a normal barbarian rage and thus are subject to Poly rules with some slight differences.

Where it shines
Self sufficient throughout most of the game! One of the big draws to this class for me was the ability to get regeneration, high AC, and not have to vest much into gear or consumables. There were a couple low-epic times where my bear form was significantly out gunned till I got dire bear around 23. The regen per form really saves your butt if not just to shapechange and stand there to heal back missing HP. The bear forms have tremendously high AC for lower end content, but you will find yourself being attacked if you do not have higher end gear once hitting epics like most martial classes. The RP on this class was one of my favorites, who wouldn’t want to transform into a bear when pissed off? It was more fun that a druid than relies on sitting there buffing themselves for days. If you get additional Extended Rage feats and higher than usual Con, this thing can stay in bear form for over 3 minutes easily and be a monster of a tank!

Pain Points
Damage, I know most of the forums probably know by now I do not agree with the damage values of this class. One of the biggest drawbacks of this is having everything with DR mitigate your damage to tickles. Without Adamantine fists from monk, or the ability to use different metals, your damage will always be mitigated. Polymorph effects also limit your ability to use abilities, stances, feats, and items. I personally took fast healing on my bear just to compensate for being hit and not having the ability to heal with heal kits. Not having Expose Weakness as a Dex character or Northlander Hewing as a Str character is quite the blow, but you can still use power attack. Another fear is the Con loss death, although there is a system in place that prevents you from outright dying, the fear is still very much there if you shift back in combat.

Pros
• Self Sufficient
• Fun RP
• BEAR!!!!
• Higher than average AC
• Regeneration in bear form
• 3+ minute rage timers
• HUGE knockdown hits.. take that Shadow Dragon!
• All around general fun martial build to play

Cons
• Damage is a bit on the lower end vs DR mobs
• Polymorph mechanics
• Lack of items, abilities, and consumables
• Con loss fear of death is real

Final Thoughts
This class is one of my favorite classes on BG. I have fought hard to ensure that it gets the TLC that it needed. I truly feel the class is complete in its form, sure the damage is lacking and the skills are missing from poly, its fine, its still fun. I do not suggest playing the class without having a well of patience though, as it can be quite taxing. I highly recommend that if you do pick the class up, you get some sort of class to compensate the damage like: Anointed Knight, Fists of the Forest, or Frenzied Berserker. I also HIGHLY recommend you run an Autohotkey rage timer script, without it you are left guessing when your rage will revert which can often lead to a swift death. I have attached a basic one I got help with when I started: The items after the “;” explain what it does.. basically this timer is set for 60 seconds and when you press the “4” key, it pops a timer window on your screen. You can then press “\” to exit the app. All-in-all, this class was super fun and highly recommended if you want a self sufficient martial class. Its challenging to build, properly manage, and deal with polymorph, but very rewarding when you get the hang of it.

Rating: 4.5/5

Special Thanks
Valefort for constant back and forth on bug fixes
Luna for pushing the original concept with Rasael
QC for fighting me the whole way about concepts and ideas to improve the quality of life (seriously thanks for the debates! We got a lot of ideas out of it.)

Ayeee, Bear warrior, what a surprise
Even despite HUUUGE drawbacks like missing hotkeys and blocked consumables, it is a very fun class to play. AC is insane, with ICE it can easily reach 60+ (with no buffs!). Damage is relatively low (comapared to two-handed weapon Barbarian), it can be compensated with elemental damage, but the gap between min and max damage is like 20+ points (with min damage 20-30). Knockdown has huge DC due to size. Steadfast determination is a must. I would have also added possibility to create anti HipSter build (with 3 lvls of Wilderness Stalker) to Pros. I also think that roar should be an instantly activated ability or at least not interruptable by every possible sneeze *sighs*

Otherwise great review, it would be unusual to see guides about other classes here though Oo
Also, I didn't know about the feature with rage timer, gonna test it out

Knockdown has huge DC due to size

Was that size bonus really implemented? It wasn't last time I checked. The IKD DC should still be great due to STR, though. A nice class that doesn't need much buffing, though I also miss a little bit of dmg/weapon flexibility...

Paladin & Divinate

Class Description
“Devoutly religious, Divinates serve as the military branch of their church and consider themselves soldiers of their gods. Their religious discipline imbues them with a clear sense of purpose; promoting the principles of their faith is not only morally correct, but a sacred duty.
Role: Divinates were originally responsible for accompanying disciples of the church on religious pilgrimages, fighting off bandits and monsters that lay in wait. In time, church elders decided that all evils were potential threats to their disciples, and sent Divinates into the world to eliminate them. To a Divinate, evil is an affront to his faith; destroying an agent of evil is a holy act. Though the Divinate becomes a raging avenger when confronting evil, he is otherwise thoughtful and compassionate. He sees himself as an advocate of the common man, a source of solace to the downtrodden and disadvantaged. A Divinate may insist that the party share its treasure with destitute families and impoverished communities. He may offer temporary employment to a pauper too proud to accept charity. He conducts impromptu prayer services in makeshift chapels, and officiates at the christenings and burials of peasants. Though completely devoted to his faith, a Divinate respects all lawful good religions and has little interest in proselytizing.“ – Wiki

The classic holy warrior and lawful stupid knight! Paladin uses holy tactics such as smite, turn undead, and holy magic to empower himself. This particular kit that I chose focuses on the spells aspect while losing its ability to smite. The review itself is on paladins in general.

Where it shines
I love the idea of being a warrior of truth, justice, and upholding the law, and no one does it better than a Paladin. Out the gate you would normally get smite evil to really pack the punch to evil, but Divinate forgoes that to get longer spell durations and bonus spell slots. Out the gate, you don’t quite feel like a cleric, or a fighter, but a hybrid of the two. You gain immunity to fear, disease, and a bonus “oh shit” button for an emergency heal. In the beginning, weapon damage is lackluster and spells are mundane. As you level, the class begins to open up with some great spells and even the ability to get +8 bonus to particular ability scores such as Strength and Charisma. Later on these bonuses combined with an Epic Divine Might make for a HEAVY hitter. HolyLawful Sword and Weapon of Deity make for monster damage vs undead!

Pain Points
The spell diversity. Most of the problem lies in the fact spells do not last long enough, Divinate fixes that for the most part, but the problem still persists that because of the lack of spell slots, you will need either spell slot gear or be pigeon holed into the buff spells that bet suit your build. The different spells are pretty bland other than these core buffs and you will find yourself using the same set of spells every time. Another problem is the lack of combat abilities, you basically buff yourself, then “right click.” There is not a lot to do in actual combat other than maybe the occasional smite or turn undead in super rare circumstances. Kaedrin fixed this with paladin “Divine Spirits” which are more once per rest abilities that could be fun if set to a timer and watered down to be more of situational toggles rather than the powerful versions he has them listed as. Your martial ability unbuffed is weaker than most, so keep those wards up!

Pros
• Some of the best RP the server can offer
• Undead slayer champion!
• Amazing set of personal buffs
• Long duration spells
• Emergency “oh shit” heal button
• Immunity to disease and fear
• High saves
• Epic Divine Might monster!

Cons
• Very reliant on buffs
• Lack of spell diversity compared to a FS Warrior
• Lack of combat abilities other than smites
• All of the remove diseases.. with no diseases
• Lack of spell slots
• Slow and painful to level

Final Thoughts
One of my favorite classes in Pen & Paper 5e, there’s a good reason they moved the spellcasting ability to Charisma. This class would benefit big time from more spell slots and a bit more spell diversity, first to come to mind would be: Body of the Sun. Another key problem is the lack of combat abilities other than through feats. Of course, this was one of the biggest problems with fighter classes in general in 3.5. I think the class would benefit from some minor Spirit buffs like kaedrin’s but only with a timer and a lot less game changing. The class hits hard and has probably some of the best buffs in the game, its just too painful to get there with your caster level duration spells being so limiting at anything below the mid-teen levels. Not enough undead for me to smite in general, need some good level 12-18 undead dungeons. One of the best RP classes for BGTSCC in my opinion!

Rating: 3.5/5

Special Thanks
William Sunblade for his spell guide which can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=149&t=61584
Rasael for implementation of concept
QC for bug fixes due to kits being wonky when they first released.

Great thread.
Do you want contributions from other players?
One thing I would suggest is seperating RP score from mechanical score.

Grog wrote:Great thread.
Do you want contributions from other players?
One thing I would suggest is seperating RP score from mechanical score.

Contributions welcome! Honestly I am removing RP from the equation because I believe RP is what you make of it.. you either like the characters RP or you don't.. some are just easier than others. I want to leave this to a mechanics thread mostly, there are tons of other RP guides and examples out there... the journals alone.. wow.

Assassin

Class Description
“The Assassin is the master of dealing quick, lethal blows. Assassins often function as spies, informants, killers for hire, or agents of vengeance. Their training in anatomy, stealth, poison, and the dark arts allows them to carry out missions of death with shocking, terrifying precision. Most Rogues, Monks, and Bards who choose this class become examples of the classic assassin skulking in the shadows with a blade carrying certain death. Fighters, ex-Paladins, Rangers, Druids, and Barbarians operate as warrior-assassins, with as much ability to kill in combat as from the shadows. Sorcerers, Wizards, and Clerics may be the most terrifying assassins of all, for with their spells they can infiltrate and slay with even greater impunity.” – Wiki

Poisons, sneak attacks (death attack), hit and run tactics, and minor spells what more could an assassin ask for? This class has everything for those hidden executioners! The ability to Hide in Plain Sight is a must for all stealth users and it doesn’t get much better than this.

Where it shines
Lets point out the elephant in the room, Hide in Plain Sight (HiPS) is mandatory in my opinion for any sneaks. You could do the whole faint thing, but HiPS removes vision and thus stops spells from being cast directly on you. Breaking spell sight is a huge win for countering pesky casters who want to drop the heavy bombs on your fragile HP. Let’s talk about my favorite, Death Attack.. nothing brings me greater joy than hitting something out of stealth to get the paralysis proc and watch the thing stand there while I murder its face.. or ignore it to focus on others. This ability has to be one of my favorite to play with and just chain groups of mobs frozen in terror. Not to mentioned the ability allows you to deal bonus damage when normal sneak attacks apply. Lastly poison, poisons can be a bit finicky and are very situational because of their number of uses. BG has a custom change that uses to 3 hits instead of single use if you have the feat: Use Poison. Finding an epic poison with a high DC can cripple both casters and martial users alike if timed appropriately.

Pain Points
The spell book.. if you have any experience with assassin you know the spellbook is painful. At most you can get a Caster Level of 10 for each level of assassin after which you will be constantly dispelled by everything under the sun as well as be stuck with low duration buffs. While the spellbook holds some gems like Ghostly Visage, it hardly holds longer than minutes in an area with multiple caster NPCs. A suggested fix would be to tie the caster level to the character level, but unknown how BG feels about this fix as it would yield maximum reward for little investment. One of the other major drawbacks to this class is you cannot Use Poison while stealthed. It instantly breaks your stealth and you are left scrambling for 6 seconds while you attempted to hide with your poisoned weapon. This should be something easily fixed and I definitely recommend it as soon as possible! What good assassin would loudly and visibly coat a blade for its target?

Pros
• Hide in Plain Sight (HiPS)
• Death Attack paralysis
• Death Attack damage (sneak dice)
• Poisons for taking down difficult mobs
• Lots of skills

Cons
• Spellbook limited and easily dispelled
• Poison mechanics leave room for improvement
• Medium attack progression (in line with rogues, be mindful of it)


Final Thoughts
The class was fun, and those paralysis hits always bring a smile to my face. Its great gathering groups of things with HiPS and then getting them one by one paralyzed in a group. Having the ability to HiPS is a must and needs to be obtained as soon as possible when running this class with any sneak character. Get your assassin levels to 8 ASAP! The spell book isn’t a deal breaker, just something you mostly grow to ignore as you get higher leveled. The biggest drag is the poison coating breaking stealth. I would definitely urge staff to fix that and allow for coating then sneak attacking. Otherwise it just requires way too much preparation. I guess you could always coat a weapon and leave it in your inventory.. but then you would need to make poison last indefinitely until used. Currently Poison only lasts for 12 rounds on a assassin with the Use Poison feat. It should last till its 3 hits are used and can be done from stealth, or a single use which lasts indefinitely until expended. The poison slight mechanic change would easily get this class another half a star.

Rating: 4/5

Special Thanks
Poison system changes found on the forum: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=49041&p=647416&hilit=poison#p647416
Official class content: https://wiki.bgtscc.net/index.php?title=Assassin

You forgot to mention three important things with Assassin:

• Assassin spellcasting qualifies for the Arcane Archer PRC.
• Death Attack bonus dice applies to both arrows used with a Manyshot attack (meaning at 9th level, it's a whopping +10d6 damage. If that's a three-attack Manyshot flurry, that's 30d6 potential damage just from Assassin Death Attack).
• Death Attack saving throw vs. paralysis also applies to both arrows used with a Manyshot attack. If you can get 7 attacks per round, that's 6 potential saving throws vs paralysis for the first 3-attack flurry after breaking stealth.

Most Archer characters can only gain by taking the Assassin PRC, no matter what their build is.

also with epic precision death attack deals full damage vs crit ummunes

Also there's no way of applying poison without breaking stealth.

Unless you make it a 1 hr duration but 3-charged property for the assassin/ninja/blackguard classes (does not persist between resets), so one can apply it and forget about it until one actually decides to attack with it.

It is so weird that 4/5 class holds the first position in prestige class popularity list lol.

p.s. I really want to bring back alignment restrictions, or at least add some useless feats as class requitements. The class is OP.

KOPOJIbPAKOB wrote:The class is OP.

I am at times surprised by the fashion with which my fellow players employ the acronym "OP".

I wonder what your terms of comparison are.

Personally speaking, I can build a vast array of characters at least as powerful as any of your assassin builds (some of them easily far superior, outclassing them in PvE, events AND PvP). I can't imagine assassin being overpowered in any shape or form, unless you refer exclusively to the manyshot/death attack bug. In that case, I understand the claim, but still firmly disagree with your conclusion (on the following grounds: how easy it is to shut an archer down, how easy it is to build at least equally strong characters, and how many of those I can build).

Invoker wrote:how easy it is to shut an archer down.

Not an archer, but an archer with HipS. Agility based sneak characters with proper gear usually reach 50-60 Hide and MS scores, some have 70+, which turns them nearly invulnerable against an overwhelming majority of builds. And since this is a range character, things like trading blows after sneak attacks delievered and storm of vengeance don't work either. And yes, manyshot + death attack bug.