I am just starting Chapter 3 (have gone to the village, but nothing big yet), here is my party with some of my ideas, please give me some of yours if you're not tired of this kind of thing already, and could you tell me if my party is as powerful as it should be by this point:

1. Aasimar Monk, Level 10

I am not going to touch this one, he's got by far the highest armour class which is good, but his attacks are really not that powerful, +8/+5/+2 unarmed, but pretty damn powerful with his crossbow. What does it mean when it says favored class paladin for him, does that mean I can multi to that and be able to continue monking (not that I would do that). I could go sorcerer (dark moon) but decided not to.

2. Drow Ranger, Level 9

As I said earlier, he can't cast spells for whatever reason, but thats besides the point. Good character here, but I wonder if I should multi him to 4th level fighter for specialization and extra feats? Or is 4 high levels of ranger preferable?

3. Tiefling Rogue/Fighter, Level 5/5

This has turned out to be a great character, very powerful. I don't think I will give him any more Rogue levels, or should I (reasons?), he's got ambi/twoweapon style so his attacks are phenomenal, and he's got high skill levels in use magic device, pretty all around character, Artemis was the model for this one, but I decided to go full out fighter rather then level 1 ranger.

4. Human Evoker/Sorcerer, Level 10/1

Gave her the Sorcerer level so she can cast conjuration spells, perhaps a cheat but hey. And picked identify and armour for the sorcerer level 1 which should come in handy, I will not give any more Sorcerer levels (or should I?)

5. Half-Elf Druid, Level 11

Weak character at first, now pretty powerful, low base attack, but lots of hit points, very powerful offencive spells, and not to mention shapeshifting abilities which I thought were useless at first but now come in handy on a regular basis. Will probably not multi this one at all, what you think?

Thanx guys, sorry for the long msg.

Trypt

Monk. Aasimar as a race have Paladin favoured class, which means it won't be counted for xp penalties when multiclassing. As it's a monk, I would suggest that you don't multiclass at all. He seems good to me. There are some good monk items that will help out later, don't panic.

Ranger. Take the fighter levels. Rangers cast spells? :confused: Not really. You won't lose anything. For me, rangers are only good if multiclassed. Feats are good and you'll get armour proficiencies for free. You can use the chunky armour if desperate.

Multi Rogue/Fighter. If you feel that the Rogue skills are good then perhaps you don't need the rogue levels, unless you want the Improved Evasion, but that needs level 10 Rogue... You can always get more Rogue skills when levelling up as a figher anyway, so long as you have good INT. Otherwise save the Skill Point for the next level up. Forget about Use Magic Device. It sucks and you need Mega Cha for it. You won't be able to use this skill. It's "broken" in IWD2 and won't work. You may give a few more levels of Rogue and the rest Fighter. I'd eventually go into HoF with 10 levels of Rogue and the rest Fighter...

Evoker/Sorcerer.

You read my exploit! It does not matter which Specialist you pick if you have 1 level of Sorcerer, although I would have gone with a Sorcerer or a Transmuter...

No don't go with equal Sorcerer/Wizard levels, it's not always worth it. Especially in HoF. Stick with the Wizard levels. Don't go past about 12 Alchemy, you need after adjustments about 16.

Druid. Sorry, lame race. Half-Elf is just way too lame in IWD2. But good character. I might multi in a few levels of Ranger or go for the 4 levels of Fighter, but if you don't she will be an awesome summoner by the end of the game. Consider not multiclassing.

Enjoy.

Thanx for the post..

Yeah, i wasn't going to multi with my monk anyway, its just that there doesn't seem to be any items yet, but as you said, don't panic. He's hard to hit already, 28 armour class, 8 more then my ranger, lol.

I just might give the ranger 4 figter levels, and he can now cast level 1 spells, not bad with stuff like entangle, then ping em off from afar with his great archery skill.

So I should eventually shoot for level 10 rogue you say? hmm, that seems like so far away since I want him to be more of a figter, perhaps I'll just go back and forth until 10/10 and then continue with fighter.

Yes, i did read the post here (about sorcerer lvl1) and it does help, now I can cast every school and still get the extra spells from specialization. I wonder what I shold focus in next, I have dual focus in evocation already, but I am stuck between transmutation and conjuration.

Druid, as I said, was very weak, but now she's pretty damn good, she can't hit at all, bad base attack, even with a good mace, but she can wear massive armour and cast some massive offencive spells not to mention the summonings.. can't wait to see level 7 spells, level 6 seem powerful, but not that useful (besides the fire seeds and the conjure natures allies 6)

Trypt

Wizard spell focus. Transmutation is good, because it will help with slow and resilient sphere. Conjuration? I think you mean Enchantment. Also good because this helps with Chaos, Confusion, Dominate, Mass Dominate, Hold, Sleep, etc. Charm is dumb in IWD2.

Multi Rogue/Figher. Your call, I'm just giving ideas. Extra rogue for me is lame. I personally always give a wizard the "rogue" skills.

Druid spells. You gonna love level 9 spells. Especially "Elemental Legion". Very very deadly...
How is the Shapeshifting? You like shambling mound?

No no, he won't be multi rogue/fighter all the way, I wanna continue just with fighter, I hope that he doesn't get a experience penalty when I get to 10/5 fighter/rogue, if so, then I'll have to give him a rogue level every 2 levels from then on.. I tried to multi my ranger to 4 levels fighter, but when I made him 9/1 ranger/fighter I saw the experience penalty (20%) and I just can't afford that for 5 levels.. I am not that big a fan of the shambling mound, is there something cool about that shapeshift? cuz I can't see anything beneficial, the polar bear and dire bear are much more powerful it seems. I might take the panther feat, maybe, its a great lure for monsters since he's fast, but then again so is the bear. Nothing like my monk though, he runs like a madman all the time, lol. I just beat that first white dragon, pretty simple fight if you make them chase you and ping em off with spells and arrows/bolts, but it seems in chapter 3 there isn't much experience after the fell wood, even the dragon only gave me 400, but then he was easy.

Trypt

Don't multi the druid. You'll be amazed how powerful a single-class druid can get in this game.

As for your ranger- is your wisdom 10 or lower? You can't get ranger spells without at least a wisdom of 11 so I'm guessing that's your problem If you want a handful of healing spells from your ranger, whether you multiclass or not, bump up your wisdom with an item. There are lots in the game.

Rogue/Fighter- well, since it's your only fighter, maybe you want to give everything you can to fighting, but since you've only got 5 in your party you'll probably be able to get to a fairly high level anyway. I personally like to get up to 10 levels in rogue for at least one character for all the fun extra feats that become available at that point, such as Slippery Mind (especially if you tend to fail will saves) and Crippling Strike.

[ December 02, 2002, 21:52: Message edited by: Sprite ]

Trypt wrote:
"..does that mean I can multi to that and be able to continue monking.. "

Be careful when multiclassing monks - each monk-order has a favoured class to multiclass to (just like paladins) and if you pick another you can not level up as a monk again.
(Though adding 1 level of monk is really nice for most classes)
Check the in game information for details - the manual is not very helpful here.

[ December 02, 2002, 22:46: Message edited by: Daniel ]

Daniel, the quote button is there for a reason.
[If you want to say something unrelated to the topic to a particular person, please use email or PM - BTA]

[ December 03, 2002, 01:26: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]

I think the reason that your druid can't hit things is because it is not proficient with a mace (at least, that's how it gos in 3E). Try using a scimitar, spear or club instead...

as I said many times now, i know DND very well, including 3E.. I wasn't complaining, its just a fact that druids are not great fighters, and why would I want them to be anyway? of course she's profficient with a mace, she is profficient with most simple weapons. She is getting better now, level 13 druid is quite an opponent, not to mention massive armour and loads of hit points (most in my party). Its a character that grew on me, as always in any campaign I played druids and clerics always need time. You always expect them to be better then they are, then they surprise you all of a sudden. My monk is becomming somewhat of a force too now, 22 wisdom, 20 dex and finall 14 strength, not bad.

Trypt

2. Drow Ranger, Level 9

As I said earlier, he can't cast spells for whatever reason, but thats besides the point. Good character here, but I wonder if I should multi him to 4th level fighter for specialization and extra feats? Or is 4 high levels of ranger preferable? Check out your wisdom. If you docked it out for other abilities, you will not be able to cast! But don't worry. The spells they get suck anyway. If you want those, get a druid, but druids are also crap.

3. Tiefling Rogue/Fighter, Level 5/5

This has turned out to be a great character, very powerful. I don't think I will give him any more Rogue levels, or should I (reasons?), he's got ambi/twoweapon style so his attacks are phenomenal, and he's got high skill levels in use magic device, pretty all around character, Artemis was the model for this one, but I decided to go full out fighter rather then level 1 ranger. In future, dont bother with rogues. They suck. Monks can get the evasions skills if you want, and just get your mage to study in the 'rogue' skills. They arent useful enough.

Cheers.

Baezlebub ... I disagree with the druid comment, I kinda like mine. He does get whacked a few more times than the others, but the spells are unique and that makes it fun to play.

Have the mage learn thief skills ... wow. Never thought of that. I have tons of points in alchemy, Arcane knowlege, etc ... I think that is the best idea I've heard in a long time! Thanks!!!

BTW ... does anyone know what the necessary values for search, disable device, pick-lock, etc are? I keep bulking these up, but I'm not sure, there hasn't been a lock I can't open in years.

[ December 03, 2002, 23:14: Message edited by: Mathetais ]

Mathetais. You seem to have worked out why Rogues are redundant. Your Wizard can get similarly good skill levels in all the Rogue skills that will be enough for the game despite them being cross class skills. Search, Disable Device are both INT based and I am yet to find a "Wizard" with low INT.

In those sticky moments when traps and locks won't cooperate use a potion or spell. I found only twice was it really nasty in Dragon's Eye.

You don't need Knowledge Arcana because I know a sad, sad, exploit that makes it worthless. Shall I tell you? Email me a private message and I'll tell you.

Alchemy only needs 16 points, after INT mod, so about 10 to 12 is enough.

Trypt. Your Rogue/Fighter is a Tiefling, so there should be no penalty because Rogue is the favoured class. Go for it. If you really like sneak attack have an odd level of Rogue because the extra d6 of damage comes every 2 levels.

The ranger got the xp penalty because for a Drow, neither fighter nor ranger are favoured class. But xp penalties in ECL races can be beneficial for the whole party because there level stays down and the average level for xp awards is better.

400xp for those crap dragons is normal. Just wait till later and you will get real xp for some tougher things...

I was just curious about the Shambling Mound. I liked the panther for the speed too. And I agree with Sprite. Don't multiclass a druid. The most crap character I ever made, was a "pseudocelt" multiclassed Bard/Druid (How Welsh can you get?!) and he sucked! Crap at everything. Should have had a plain druid.