Hey Im making a Kensai then dualing to Mage later. (Sorry about making a new post but I couldn't post on my other one)
What stats should I have?
I've rolled
Str 18/83
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 18
Wis 13
Cha 3 ( I can use the ring in the cirus tent to improve this stat)
Also what weapons should I specialise in?

The reason I'm asking all these questions because I've never really made a fighter class before, I pick mages mostly. :D

Well, you won't get any hit point bonus with a 14 Con. Depending on what level you dual, you'll want either a 16 or 18 Con for your fighter levels.

Yes... Nerf your wisdom, you'll want the HP bonus (besides, only time you'll need wis is when castining Limited Wish, and potions of Insight can be so very helpful).

Besides that I can see nothing wrong with the stats you've chosen.

Definitely raise your CON, to 18, it will give you masive HP boost as you start as a fighter kit, if you dual at lvl13, you will get 13x4=52 HP boost which is MUCH!

Definitely raise your CON, to 18, it will give you masive HP boost as you start as a fighter kit, if you dual at lvl13, you will get 13x4=52 HP boost which is MUCH! Warriors gain bonus hit points up to 9. level. They gain fixed(3) number of hit points after that level.

AAAAAH how could I forgot it? I didn't sleep for a few nights only! :oops: Now I am REAAALY ashamed! Forgive me!

:D Still, it will make 9x4=36 extra HP which is nice enough again!

(Please do not think me as a newbie player who is very ignorant about the very basic mechanics of good old 2E AD&D, I am just careless and sleepy!) :coffee:

Also, remember to cast DuHM (if you're good) before levelling up as a Fighter.

I think HP is just an asset... a mage shouldn't get hit once anyway.

Hello boys and girls, can we say "area effect spells"?

I, for one, do not want my main character dying because some loser with a scroll manages to catch me on the edge of a Fireball. In PnP, CON is about fourth on my list of stats for wizards (INT, & DEX preceding it; the rest gets a little complicated), but with a CRPG where you can move a single point at a time, extra HP is a must.

@Klorox

DuHM?

Draw Upon Holy Might

If you DUHM before you level up, will extra CON bonus still be available when the duration runs out? I do not think so, I guess.

Though if you DUHM and rest, your inhuman CON will give you the regeneration rate for 8 hours, so you heal VERYquickly even if you don't have a cleirc. I think this is a bug?

Dump Dex and hike Wis for the lore bonus. Kensai AC sucks anyway and he will never be at the front of the party, so why not. Since you need 17 Str, try for 18/00.
Stats of 18/00-8-18-18-18-4 (=84) should be easy enough to roll.

Oh, just Ctrl+8 and get it over with. ;) Better yet, SK them all up to 25.

STR 18/76+
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 18
WIS 10+
CHA 3

And BOOM! Your Kensai->Mage rules.

There are plenty of strength spells and enhancement items available in-game as it is. Personally, I'd want a 17 or 18 Con, a Str of 14, if you're starting from BG (tome will bump that to 15 so you can dual class) an int of 17 or 18, and a wisdom of no less than 14 so (after tomes, if you're starting from BG) you can cast limited wish effectively. (There are a few uses for really high wisdom in the expansion, if you ever decide to play it.) Not having an 18 str will also enable you to have a bigger stat pool, since you won't be trying to get a high percentage score with your str.

Silverstar said:
If you DUHM before you level up, will extra CON bonus still be available when the duration runs out? I do not think so, I guess.It will. Weird, eh?

Why didn't you tell it earlier? I could have used that glitch! Oh well...

You never asked. ;)

@ Klorox

Are you sure about that?
I had the doubt if DUHM helps to gain more HPs when you level up, but after some tests I found out that the extra HPs gained disappear after DUHM's duration runs out.

Well I guessed so but Klorox seems so sure. Maybe a patch or another fixes the glitch and he doesn't have it? :confused:

The DUHM does not work in BG1. I bet it is a bug in BG2 that they never fixed.

Fighter/mages can use any weapon, so I suggest dual-wielding katanas. You aren't going to be an Armour Class record holder, so you might as well get some sweet sweet damage.

As for stats, you're better off with high Constitution than high Wisdom. Con 14 gives you nothing specific. Bonuses start from 15. If you keep rolling, you should be able to get a sum total above 90 after some time and perhaps something like 94 if you're patient enough, maybe more but that's going to be hard with such a low stat minimum. You need a sum total of 92 points to get STR 18/xx, DEX 18, CON 18, INT 18, WIS 10, CHA 10. If you don't mind being a little immature and boring, you can stick with 88 total and 8 in the last two stats.

If you really want to max out on certain stats, you may want to play BG1 and TotSC first. That should especially get you rid of the percentile STR dice problem (whatever it is, it still gets increased to 19 with a +1 increase).

I agree with Chev's suggestions - especially playing BG1 through as well. You can also then dump wisdom down to 7 and charisma to 9, as they will still be both 10 by the end of the game - it also helps you out by not needing quite as good of a roll for your stats.

I agree with Chev's suggestions - especially playing BG1 through as well. You can also then dump wisdom down to 7 and charisma to 9, as they will still be both 10 by the end of the game - it also helps you out by not needing quite as good of a roll for your stats. Playing 100 hours just to have slightly better stats ? You must be joking ! :grin:

It's and easier much faster to use a cheat program.

BG2 was surely designed with newly created charcters in mind, not for imported characters with superhuman stats.

A character with 18/51-18-18-18-3-3 is easy to roll and more than good enough.

Strength can be raised to 18/00 for a long time with one level2 mage spell.

Wisdom is useless since your party priest can talk with the genie if you use the cheesy wish spell.
Fighter lore is too low anyway to be useful, mages can cast identify.

Charisma can be raised with the ring.

Well, I doubt BG1 takes 100 hours - especially after you've played it through a couple of times and know where to go, and what areas you can skip entirely. The only way I can see needing 100 hours is if you explore every pixel of every area. I'm to the point where if there is nothing of value, I don't go there - like the two bandit areas Peldvale and something else - I just go straight to the bandit camp.

There's also something about taking a character through the whole series, and your character WILL have better stats if you do that. On my latest play through (which I started three days ago, and I'm already in Chapter 7 with about 12 hours of playing time), I started a R/C multi-class, and got the absolute best stat roll of my life on the first roll. At the end of BG1 my stats will be S19, D19, W21, Co19, I11, Ch15. Try rolling that up in BG2 (well I suppose you could always use SK).

Also, are you sure your cleric can talk to the genie? I always thought he always spoke with the person who summoned him - it would seem like the most logical outcome of the spell.

Also, are you sure your cleric can talk to the genie? I always thought he always spoke with the person who summoned him - it would seem like the most logical outcome of the spell. Oh, he tries. But if your cleric is quick you can intercept him (cheese).

@Aldeth: I guess most of the players who start playing BG2 nowadays would have to buy BG1 first in order to play it.

And 100 hours is pretty realistic for the first time through unless you use a walkthrough or other help spoiling the gaming experience.

But even the 12 hours you've already spent in 3 days playing without even getting finished are a long time just for getting better starting stats.

The few extra reloadings in the game for having a slightly weaker character in BG2 will take far less time.

I still reccomend a wisdom of 15 if you are starting from BG1 because high wisdom is very helpfull for limited wish. It becomes even more helpfull if you decide to purchase ToB. Imho the only reason you need to have a decent strength is so you can dual class. There are just so many potions, spells, items, etc. that increase this stat that it just seems like wasted points to set str at 18 in lieu of using them elsewhere.

The only benefit from 15 wis is that you don't have to command your priest to start talking when you cast the wish spells.

You can't use the spell during the whole BG1 game and 75 percent of BG2.

I also don't like the wish spell for roleplaying reasons. I don't like the "Please mighty genie help my weak party" playing style.

Having low strength will hurt during the whole BG1 game. It reduces the carrying capacity and the combat abilities vastly.

There is only one item which sets strength to 18/00, more than half the game will be over and I wouldn't choose the necessary dialogue options when roleplaying without a walkthrough.

Your other party members will need it as much as you if you get it and there are other useful gauntlets in the game.

Potions are expensive, don't last very long and other party members can also use them.

The strength spell is great, but you'll need more spells for your party than your mages can memorize and there are other useful level2 spells like mirror image.

You can buy a girdle which gives 19 str early in BG2, but other party members need strength as well and you might want to wear another girdle.


Conclusion: You will benefit from higher strength greatly all the time while higher wis only saves you a bit of clicking during the last 10-15 percent.

If you start BG2 with 19 STR from BG1, you save the girdle and you can give the other girdles to someone else in your party, if you don't mind your own STR not being the biggest in the party.

And I had my 20 WIS paladin talk to the genie instead of Nalia or Imoen. :p

I agree with the katannas - get Celestial Fury and the DAk'kon Zert Blade. If you spend your weapon proficiencies on Katannas and Dual Weilding you'll be able to dual at level 12. It works really well - I've played one before.

(The Kensai dual Thief is another interesting one.)

none of the stats are really vital (well besides maybe int) str you can get via belt, so you only "need" 15... dex, sure you can get -9 ac, that would make things easier, or you can rely on stoneskin/mirror image and imunities, which would allow you to have low dex... con, well I wouldnt go too low, but then again if ur not getting hit a lot then you dont need that much hp iether... wiz? thats only if u are a fan of limited wish spell and you refuse using potions..cha is the only stat i prefer having at 18 lol... I AINT PLAYING AN UGLY CHARACTER GOD DAMNIT (oh yes I'm vain.. oh so vain).. you can use a different party leader for reactions, but i dont like to, and there are other good rings out there.. pref ring of gaxx in combination with a +2 ring.
and foget katanas, sure CF is nice but crom frayer is better... and it will solve the str dilemma too.

[ January 25, 2006, 08:21: Message edited by: w.d. ]