Larian Banner: Baldur's Gate Patch 9
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#601617 01/04/17 05:39 PM
Joined: Mar 2017
V
stranger
OP Offline
stranger
V
Joined: Mar 2017
Any suggested character/ party builds as of alpha 3.0.520.425? I'm loving the game but would like to experience as much as possible in the limited time I have to play. Characters that can stand up in a battle while still being able to sneak, steal and barter would be great. I'm also eying Polymorph, Necromancy and Summoning as I haven't really touched them yet.

Joined: Apr 2017
D
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
D
Joined: Apr 2017
Well I would encourage a Polymorph/Necromancer hibrid.The way I built it,I can't barter and sneak for the life of me but I can fight and steal like a champ.

Joined: Jul 2014
K
stranger
Offline
stranger
K
Joined: Jul 2014
I love the Viking Rogue in DOS:EE and tried it in DOS2, but found out that the skills, the attributes and pretty much everything gameplay-wise has changed and I wanted to try something else anyway, so I created this "Reaver" class for myself.

It is basically the Inquisitor, but instead of a staff you use a greatsword, spec exclusively in STR and INT, put points into retribution and 2h, warfare 2, necromancer 4 and use crippling blow, battering ram, mosquito swarm, decaying touch and rage. I also use the elf racial skill to get the 10% dmg boost.

I love it. It is amazing. I am pretty much wrecking anything. I dont have a lot of health, but my health is constantly replenishing just by regular attacks with points in necromancy. As far as talents go, I considered using Leech, but with all the passive health stealing it is pointless. Instead, I chose All Skilled Up to get the extra points needed with warlord.

Thats pretty much it. When the game comes out, Ill be doing a full playthrough with the Reaver. I cant wait smile

Last edited by khatmar; 14/05/17 10:45 PM.
Joined: Sep 2016
L
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
L
Joined: Sep 2016
Originally Posted by khatmar
I created this "Reaver" class for myself.

It is basically the Inquisitor, but instead of a staff you use a greatsword, spec exclusively in STR and INT
That is basically a battlemage isn't it? Or perhaps battlemage should dual-wield not use two handed?

In any case for that sort of character you need some speed - perhaps a point in Warfare and the warlord talent so you can get stuck in and keep going. Anything for a bit more AP.

I'd suggest not using polymorph at the moment - it is so OP it isn't fun. I imagine (hope) they'll tune it down a bit in the next patch.

Joined: Jan 2009
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2009
I've been giving my Rogue characters +1 Aerothurge so they can use Teleport, Netherswap, and Favourable Wind, all helpful utility skills which don't require much in the way of INT.

Joined: Nov 2016
Location: California
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Location: California
This (Reaver) is a good build! I just created it an experimented a bit.

I'm still doing my walkthrough with the 4 ranger-summoner party. We're up to level 5, and its working out pretty well. I had to invest heavily in summoner, but it's starting to pay off.

Joined: Aug 2016
member
Offline
member
Joined: Aug 2016
Don't suppose anyone has an idea for a Witcher build?

Joined: Mar 2014
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2014
Originally Posted by cool-dude01
Don't suppose anyone has an idea for a Witcher build?


Well, two swords would be mandatory so you need a strength based build. Only Witchers are not tanky characters.

But you cannot invest in finesse, which also increases dodging, because swords are strength based.

So you cannot make a sword wielding quick and dodgy character.

You would need to restrict yourself a lot in other things and spread skill and attribute points a lot to even get something similar to a Witcher, but im not sure what would be the purpose anyway.





Hiver #605018 07/06/17 09:00 AM
Joined: Apr 2017
D
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
D
Joined: Apr 2017
Originally Posted by Hiver
Originally Posted by cool-dude01
Don't suppose anyone has an idea for a Witcher build?


Well, two swords would be mandatory so you need a strength based build. Only Witchers are not tanky characters.

But you cannot invest in finesse, which also increases dodging, because swords are strength based.

So you cannot make a sword wielding quick and dodgy character.

You would need to restrict yourself a lot in other things and spread skill and attribute points a lot to even get something similar to a Witcher, but im not sure what would be the purpose anyway.




In theory he could make a witcher like build if he would be willing to sacrifice the constitution stat for finesse. The disadvantage of doing things this way is that he will be squishier than his tank,but the upside is that investing in Scoundrel becomes more advantageous for him because with his above average finesse he could use Chloroform and deal good damage with it,as well as gain some disengage abilities like walk in shadows and cloak and dagger (which last I checked don't need a dagger to cast).

My advice:
Go Human
Starting stats: 14 str, 12 fin, 12 wits 10 in the rest
Using Knight preset: +1 warfare and scoundrel ->Adrenaline Rush,Battering Ram, Cripling Strike or Battlestomp
Executioner talent with +1 in persuasion (so he can be the face of your party,the guy who trades and is very charismatic)

Alternatively you could go +1 poly and scoundrel for more important utility skills,namely Bull Rush and Chameleon Cloak...but then you would have to drop the +1 in persuasion for +1 in thievery to maximize the value of your main

By level 4 get Opportunist talent, Cloak and Dagger, Bull Rush and Chameleon Cloak as well as 16 str and 6 memory slots. Finnesse and Wits can be spread out as you like, both help keep you alive, but in my opinion being able to outpace your opponents is more valuable than having a higher dodge value and bonus damage to Chloroform.

Joined: Jan 2009
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2009
How are you supposed to start with 14 STR and 12 FIN (+6) with only 3 points to spend? I think you mean 12 STR and 11 FIN.

Joined: Apr 2017
D
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
D
Joined: Apr 2017
Originally Posted by Stabbey
How are you supposed to start with 14 STR and 12 FIN (+6) with only 3 points to spend? I think you mean 12 STR and 11 FIN.


I was thinking about the lvl 2 stats for that build,my bad.

Joined: Sep 2019
stranger
Offline
stranger
Joined: Sep 2019
Here's one I've been having fun with the last couple days. Ifan as the main character- Duel wielding with one-handed weapon and dagger, Pyro, Scoundrel, Warfare, level up attributes evenly, focus on Persuasion and Bartering for civil abilities. Backstab kind of makes his starting critical hit talent moot to a point unless you land one with a sword hit, but it's not like it's a great boost in the first place. Plus with Battering Ram, Backslash, Cloak and Dagger and Blitz, you have 4 abilities that will move you all around the board, two of which work with Sparking Swings, and you can use Pyro for range. The Red Prince is Two-handed, with Pyro (of course, cause he's got fire breath), Warfare and Polymorph, because being able to BullRush and then Battering Ram back to back is fun, as is flying over anything with Spread Your Wings. Let's not forget Chicken Claw. Focus on Strength, Constitution and Intelligence attributes, and Lucky Charm civil ability. Lohse has a minor focus on Duel-wield with two wands, Summoner, Aero and Hydro. Focus on Finesse for armor, then of course Constitution and Intelligence, and Loremaster civ ability. Fane is a Ranger with Necro and Geo, considering giving him a couple points of Scoundrel for an extra teleport. Finesse, Wits and Intelligence attributes. His civil abilities are thievery and sneak. He's got infinite lockpicks, and he can get into "infected" places. Adjust Wits and Memory as you need to for each character. Looking forward to having Fane put Living On The Edge on Red Prince and using Supernova in a pinch. It's best to level up Summoning for Lohse as fast as possible, which isn't hard, you'll get armor that helps you do that later on. The huge incarnate she can summon at lvl 10 is totally worth it. You can still use Hydro and Aero for status effects like freeze and shock, which aren't so much based on level as they are enemy magic armor, I think. Level up Hydro before Aero for better healing. The only problem I find with having so many skills is having to focus alot on memory, especially when you start learning source skills, but by then every character should have at least their major attribute at like level 20, especially with the help of gear.

Joined: Jan 2009
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2009
Originally Posted by BobbyMachete
Here's one I've been having fun with the last couple days. Ifan as the main character- Duel wielding with one-handed weapon and dagger, Pyro, Scoundrel, Warfare, level up attributes evenly, focus on Persuasion and Bartering for civil abilities.

Backstab kind of makes his starting critical hit talent moot to a point unless you land one with a sword hit, but it's not like it's a great boost in the first place. Plus with Battering Ram, Backslash, Cloak and Dagger and Blitz, you have 4 abilities that will move you all around the board, two of which work with Sparking Swings, and you can use Pyro for range.

The Red Prince is Two-handed, with Pyro (of course, cause he's got fire breath), Warfare and Polymorph, because being able to BullRush and then Battering Ram back to back is fun, as is flying over anything with Spread Your Wings. Let's not forget Chicken Claw. Focus on Strength, Constitution and Intelligence attributes, and Lucky Charm civil ability.

Lohse has a minor focus on Duel-wield with two wands, Summoner, Aero and Hydro. Focus on Finesse for armor, then of course Constitution and Intelligence, and Loremaster civ ability.

Fane is a Ranger with Necro and Geo, considering giving him a couple points of Scoundrel for an extra teleport. Finesse, Wits and Intelligence attributes. His civil abilities are thievery and sneak. He's got infinite lockpicks, and he can get into "infected" places. Adjust Wits and Memory as you need to for each character.

Looking forward to having Fane put Living On The Edge on Red Prince and using Supernova in a pinch. It's best to level up Summoning for Lohse as fast as possible, which isn't hard, you'll get armor that helps you do that later on. The huge incarnate she can summon at lvl 10 is totally worth it. You can still use Hydro and Aero for status effects like freeze and shock, which aren't so much based on level as they are enemy magic armor, I think. Level up Hydro before Aero for better healing. The only problem I find with having so many skills is having to focus alot on memory, especially when you start learning source skills, but by then every character should have at least their major attribute at like level 20, especially with the help of gear.


(Quoted for the improved readability of paragraphs.)

... Every single one of those builds looks, at least on the surface, to be really bad.

Overall, you're putting a lot of points into CON. The reason you feel the need to do that is because you need the survivability in long fights, right? That's because you're splitting your attributes between STR and INT, which completely cripples your damage. If you kill enemies faster, you don't need as much CON, in fact almost none.

Splitting attribute points is bad because almost all attacks do EITHER Physical damage OR Magical damage, but NOT both at the same time, which means that on every attack, you are dealing half the damage you should be dealing. You also have no space for "adjusting memory and wits for each characters" in addition to splitting between STR/INT/CON.


Ifan
One-handed weapon and dagger? I'm pretty sure daggers get bonus from FIN, and other 1H weapons get a bonus from STR. Cloak and Dagger doesn't require a dagger equipped, I think, so you're cutting your damage output drastically only for backlash.

Spreading attributes evenly? That seems highly questionable because most attacks only deal either physical or magical damage. I guess you're trying to mitigate that by doing a Sparking Swings build, and the wiki says it does the same damage as Fireball, which maybe(?) means it gets the bonuses from intelligence that Fireball gets. Still though, there's still going to be two turns with Sparking Swings on cooldown.

Splitting civil attributes is a bad idea, period, because you only get a total of 6 Civil points all game. At a certain point, your points into Persuasion will be almost useless because you won't have enough to pass the checks which require Persuasion 4 and 5.


Red Prince
"Focusing on three attributes" is an oxymoron. You cannot focus on three attributes. If you're putting enough points into CON that you can say you're focusing on it, you're probably putting too many points in. You don't need that much CON. Most of this build describes a "knight" archtype, and every point you put into Pyro and INT for the purpose of improving your fire breath cripples your physical attacks.


Lhose
I assume that by "focus on Finesse for armor", you mean "exactly 4 points", because that's all you need on armor. You are dual-wielding wands, which means you don't need CON for a shield. Most points should go into INT. Your combat point distribution is a mess. You're taking Summoning, which needs 10 for max effectiveness, and Aero, AND Hydro, AND???!!! Dual Wielding? You don't have enough points for all that. Drop the points in Dual Wielding, you should be casting spells not using regular attacks.

Fane
Same problems here too. You're splitting your attribute points which kills your damage. Sneak is a useless civil ability, it's a waste. Pretty much anytime Sneak would be handy you can just get around another way or by using Cloak and Dagger.

Last edited by Stabbey; 18/09/19 07:46 PM.
Joined: Nov 2018
Location: Wisconsin
W
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
W
Joined: Nov 2018
Location: Wisconsin
Stabby makes some great points. In general, you want to pick a single Civil Ability on a character and max it out. Here are some strong recommendations for Civil Abilities, pick either Ifan or Loshe and max Battering. This is due to the human Battering bonus. The other can max Lucky Charm. Fane can max Thievery. Red Prince as a bonus 1 in Persuasion as a lizard. Three Civil Ability points in Persuasion with the lizard bonus and an amulet with Persuasion bonus gets you to level 5 Persuasion. Take the "All Skilled Up" talent on Red Prince to get an extra Civil Ability point. Dump these into Loremaster. Keep an amulet handy with a Loremaster bonus and Red Prince can cover both Persuasion and Loremaster. Elves get a Loremaster bonus, so you can do a similar Persuasion/Loremaster double build with them. That just leaves Telekinesis and Sneaking, which is a waste. If you really need Sneaking you the mask to transform into a dwarf. Keep one set of boots and belt with Sneaking on them. That will get you to Sneaking 3, which is just short of the max of 5. To be fair, you can go over the max of 5 on Sneaking, but 6 Sneaking doesn't given any more bonus than 5, at least not any time I have tested it. That means no wasted points in Sneaking leaving only Telekinesis. If you aren't doing a TK build, just keep an amulet and a belt with Telekinesis on them and they will do what you need.

As for splitting ability points, again Stabby makes great points. Splitting stats nerfs your damage output. It you are playing below Tactician difficulty, you can get away with it. However, it is recommended to push your main stat up to the max of 40 as quick as you can as each point will add 5% of base damage to your damage. This leads to killing quicker and dead opponents don't hit back. It is ok to put a few points into other off stats to balance gear a bit for survivability as well as Memory to get more skills. The only other thing would be getting one character to have Wits of 16 or 17 to spot all the hidden locations. Beyond that, the only time I put points into Constitution is if it is needed for gear, like a shield.
As for damage, Summoning and Bows are the only two types of damage that can be freely adjusted to between physical or magical damage and still do great damage. With Summoning is depends on the surface you summon the incarnate. For bows, you can keep a supply of magical arrows when you need to do magical damage.
Other types damage will be mainly physical or magical with strength and finesse being for your melee physical damage dealers and intelligence being for magical damage. Your melee physical damage users can use grenades to do magical damage when needed. It isn't good damage, but when a target has 2k physical armor and only 200 magical armor, punching through the magical side is far easier. It is ok to give your physical damage dealers an element secondary skill to do some magical damage when needed. However, depending on the target, they may be highly resistant or even immune to this secondary skill and you will have to fall back on grenades. Oppositely, intelligence based builds will deal mainly magical damage. However, a couple points in Necromancy and they can do some physical damage as well. Mosquito Swarm and Infect have short cool downs and are great when your mage style has to do physical damage. If you are doing a battlemage style where you intelligence character is on the front line, then Cleric combo of Decaying Touch followed by Restoration works well if physical armor has already been removed. If you want to do more physical damage you use the Necro summons. However, these come without magical armor, so be careful on how and when you use them. Also, keep in mind each character can only have one summon at a time. So, if your mage type is a Summoner, don't bother with Necro summons. There are also physical damage grenades you can store on your elemental dealers.
Another option is to follow a recommendation from the Fextralife web site and make your entire group either physical or magical dealers. It doesn't matter how much physical armor something has if your have 4 characters that are going to pummel it physically, it will go down pretty quick. The same can be said for a full magical party.

Joined: May 2013
Location: Scotland
H
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
H
Joined: May 2013
Location: Scotland
If going full magical, I recommend having at least one character adding enough STR to use physical armour and one with enough FIN for rogue armour, that way you're not wasting good drops, especially ones that add to magical skills!

Joined: Jan 2009
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2009
Originally Posted by hairyscotsman
If going full magical, I recommend having at least one character adding enough STR to use physical armour and one with enough FIN for rogue armour, that way you're not wasting good drops, especially ones that add to magical skills!


That is a good idea, because it only takes 4 points (for a total of 14) to wear the best armor of another type. In fact if you don't, by the end-game, you'll have a notable weakness to physical attacks. It's splitting points evenly between two primary attributes which is problematic.


Moderated by  gbnf, Monodon 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5