Favorite and Interesting Character Builds.

[Thrifalas]

Originally Posted by Crenshinibon

I am nut sure if it is capped at 20 but either way, if you dual at 19 you' should have about 24 mage levels. As a Kensai/Mage you shouldn't even use damage spells. At level 19 (because even if you dual at 18 you'll still come out as a level 24 mage and you get the +6 to hit and damage bonus from the Kensai which increases applies to ALL weapons. The way I play that class though, I don't care about attacks per round as they are already set, whether you have the proficiencies or not. Either way, as a 22 Kensai or a 19, you can play that character in many ways.

No, because a 22 kensai won't reach 23 mage levels and thus not regain his kensai abilties. And 19 is still pretty worthless, do you even gain anything at that level? Except for 3 hp?

And Klorox, does it matter? You can't get over 10 atk/rnd anyway, can you? Although I have to admit, 20 would be... so sexy. Hi Ravager.

[Gorlam]

personally I have been playing around with a berserker/cleric build. I am just trying to find a good level "sweet spot" to dual class over. Right now im working with a 20/30 berserker/cleric.

[Crenshinibon]

Well then again, it does make level 19 the perfect time to dual as you can't go at 21. So what? Three hit points, whoo. Sure, you could dual at 18 and get more experience with your mage class but I think there really is no point. Either way, you'll reach the cap, if you solo, before you pay your contact, not to mention by the time you're a level 19 Kensai you'll already have a good amount of scrolls to learn which give you a nice experience boost.

If you have Improved Haste, GWW is a waste. The attacks ARE capped at ten... because if they weren't the Priest of Lathender, even without dual classing would be able to kill just about anything through the sheer amount of attacks per round as Boon of Lathender stacks with Improved Haste and with itself and if you want to use bugs, it can be recharged without resting.

[Solusek]

Seriously guys, there's one thing I have been asking myself. How the hell are you able to get such armor values? Like -20/-24 pre-buffed and what not. How is that even possible? It really eludes me, even though I would consider myself quite an experienced BG player. Maybe it's just a matter of equipping style so to speak, as I tend to prefer offence over defence.

Anyway, could anybody please do me a favor and post the equipment, stats, and all other armor bonuses of his/her -20 or better AC character? I really need a detailed description on this please! Only legit builds/equipment please!(I do not consider 2 Rings of Gaxx legit, although I know it is possible to get them without cheating) Thx in advance!


So long,
Sol

[GawainBS]

This is just on top of my head, I'm missing quite a lot of things.
10 Base
-4 from 18 DEX
-9 from Full Plate
-1 Ring of Earth Elemental Control (The one you find in the D'Arnisse Keep.)
-2 Cloak of Protection
-2 Ring of Gaxx
-4 Shield of Balduran (Amongst others.)
-1 Helm of Balduran
-1 Yamato Wakizashi (Bought from the Innkeeper in Sarudush, IIRC.)

That should be -14 unbuffed. Add in:
-2 Protection from Evil
-3 Blur
-4 Improved Invisibility

This gives -21, and you can add Mirror Image & Stone Skin in the mix. These numbers probably aren't 100% correct, but it's the gist of the equipment/spells you need.
There's also a mod that lets you wear magical armour + "X of Protection" together, according to 2nd Ed. P & P rules, IIRC.

[Solusek]

Originally Posted by GawainBS

This is just on top of my head, I'm missing quite a lot of things.
10 Base
-4 from 18 DEX
-9 from Full Plate
-1 Ring of Earth Elemental Control (The one you find in the D'Arnisse Keep.)
-2 Cloak of Protection
-2 Ring of Gaxx
-4 Shield of Balduran (Amongst others.)
-1 Helm of Balduran
-1 Yamato Wakizashi (Bought from the Innkeeper in Sarudush, IIRC.)

That should be -14 unbuffed. Add in:
-2 Protection from Evil
-3 Blur
-4 Improved Invisibility

This gives -21, and you can add Mirror Image & Stone Skin in the mix. These numbers probably aren't 100% correct, but it's the gist of the equipment/spells you need.
There's also a mod that lets you wear magical armour + "X of Protection" together, according to 2nd Ed. P & P rules, IIRC.

Of course, that's no problem. My tank characters usually have something around -12 to -15 AC unbuffed, too. But people in this thread were talking about -20(!) AC *unbuffed* or even -24. In my opinion that's just ridiculous and not achievable without cheating/cheesing/abusing/exploiting whatever. The mod could be an explanation though. But even then -20/-24 seems quite impossible to me.


So long,
Sol

[GawainBS]

Well, if we use a swashbuckler, we can get -19 unbuffed.

10 Base
-4 from 18 DEX
-9 from Black Dragon Scale Studded Leather
-1 Ring of Earth Elemental Control (The one you find in the D'Arnisse Keep.)
-2 Ring of Gaxx
-3 some buckler
-2 Twinkle (Drizzt's scimitar.)
-8 Class ability by lvl 40.

That's -19, unbuffed.

[Crenshinibon]

It's very easy to get to a high AC.

Here's one of my characters:

Swashbuckler/Cleric

-4 to -5 AC from the Swashbuckler part, -2 AC from Hell, subtracted from the starting AC.

Also, the character has 19 Dexterity (18 natural, +1 from Machine of Lum the Mad), when using Shuruppak's Plate which gives an additional +1 to Dexterity, the gain increases to -2 extra AC.

Equipped Items That Influence AC:

Yamato +4
Shuruppak's Plate
Ring of Gaxx
Cloak of the Sewers
Amulet of the Master Harper
Darksteel Shield +4
Vhalior's Helm

That should bring you to exactly -24.

If you decide to buff up with Aura of Flaming Death or Draw Upon Holy Might you can go up to -26.

Although, usually I wouldn't have this setup as I of course would use buffs so I'd most likely Runehammer and Flail of Ages in combination with the Improved Cloak of Protection +2 Improved Haste effect for a total of eight attacks per round and Aura of Flaming death for the AC boost.

I play with no mods. Only the latest patch.

[Celacena]

has nobody mentioned AC improved by naughtily high DEX scores?

things are not so good for the thief PC until UAI brings them up to fighter-standard armour. even when available, you'd want your tank to have the armour and the thief would probably get division 2 armour.

I have a 19 DEX before coming across the mad machine with the chance to raise it to 20. if I imported the character to ToB before the test that lowers DEX I would keep the enhancement. it is also possible that accepting the Evil path might be open to my chaotic PC. I'm not sure from an RPG aspect that my PC would be CE - it would be more appropriate to become CN from CG - the difference between CG and CE on one test when you KNOW you can resurrect the NPC is just too harsh and I would be tempted to nullify the result of that 'test' in SK.

I can only get AC 3 through armour (thief character)
when UAI is available, -2 armour would be available and red dragon scale plate (-1) would allow hide in shadows I think - or white dragon plate might. some dragon scale plate (certainly black) allows rangers to hide, so I assume that will be true of a thief with UAI. helm of balduran also becomes available. shield can get 7? points

until UAI the bucker +1 is best available, I assume BUT using AC granting weapon in off hand (I think there is a suitable sword - Yamoto?) would also give AC benefit with extra attacks.

ioun stone - 1 point

2 x Ring of Gaxx (haven't done so) or 1 x +2 and Earth control +1 = 3 or 4 points

cloak of the sewers gives 1 point but cloak of protection +2 becomes available and does not conflict with bracers of AC3.

not as good as having UAI, but not too shabby for a thief.

[Crenshinibon]

That is horrible Celacena! If I'm correct, without UAI you can still use the White Dragon scales found in level three of Watcher's Keep. Even if you can use fighter armor, why would you? You're a THIEF! I say screw heavy armor because you need to hide in shadows and you can't unequip it in mid combat. If you are caught in melee you can always equip a shield if you don't have one already. Besides, why would you be in melee anyway? Hit and run is what backstabbing types are all about. Well sure, you could use armor if you want to be a pure trapper but, yeah. Yes, the bonus from such a weapon is applied when used offhand, however, why would you? Thieves already have dreadful THAC0 and dual wielding makes it worse. I always used Sword of the Mask +4/+5 (as you can buy it early on) and Staff of the Ram +4/+6

Before UAI I used the Shadow Dragon scales (counts as leather), the Ring of Gaxx (or the Air Elemental ring sold at Ribald's) and Kiel's Buckler. Even at that point you're good for the game.

[Thrifalas]

If you really want to hit the low AC's, you get yourself the Big Metal Unit which is, even though it's an eastern egg, very legit and provides a, iirc, -10 base AC.

[Crenshinibon]

Mmmm. Usable by absolutely everyone, even monks, however the spelcasting penalty does apply for all arcane casters.

[Celacena]

I got UAI (now level 30 of last night) and didn't like the thief in metal - (elven) PC has got 20 dex (19 + machine +1 ) - the Toll took a point of wisdom (back to 17) instead of dex. didn't get the +1 on the deck of many things, but did get 1,000,000 points just for the PC - hence the level 30 BEFORE underdark or the end of WK

using:
black dragon scale armour
ring of gaxx
swapping between cloak of non-detection/reflection (spell damage)
ioun stone
swapping rings - danger sense/lock picks/earth elemental control
staff of the magi
amulet of power (only to prevent level drain)
boots of speed
paladin's bracers (for HP) swapping to gloves of pickpocketing, when needed (but as have 150% plus skill, it's a safety measure only)

then using staff of the ram (+4) or ?avagadrul? +4 or Daystar (if the bonuses apply e.g. undead)

I can now use the staff to turn invisible & get away to hide in shadows, then return for the big hits. with the assassination skill - I don't know how much that can get to, but it is x7 backstab multiplier and I have already obliterated a number of mid-level enemies. I can hardly wait for ToB proper, but I want to play the party through.

will the SotM and cloak of non-detection work against the big bosses in ToB?


As for the BMU - you can only get that if you started in BG1, surely? Pantaloons etc

[Crenshinibon]

Backstab should last you for a long time. You'll be able to kill the drow from Sendai's fortress in about one hit, most of the time.

That combination does work however, remember that demons CAN see through invisibility so the Ravagaer and the Slayer and any other demon can too. Also. Amelyssan can see through invisibility as well.

If you have UAI, I suggest you use Vhalior's Helm instead of an Ioun Stone. Also, I'd net the Gauntlets of Extraordinary Expertise from the Marilith on the fifth level of Watcher's Keep. Not only does it give an extra half attack per round but it also gives a much appreciated THAC0 bonus. There is no real need to switch between the cloaks as you have your eight hour Spell Trap to protect you.

Later on, if your character is male, I suggest romancing Jahiera for her Harper Pin and using Montolio's Cloak instead. If you have a priest and did the hell trial for the strength bonus and have the girdle of fire giant strength equipped, take his/her holy symbol for the strength bonus as it stacks with all other bonuses. At that point you will have 25 strength which gives you a nice damage bonus and a THAC0 bonus.

[Celacena]

I can't recall which items come from the bonus merchants and which are in the 2nd stack at the adventurers mart - I haven't got the helm and nobody has vecna.

demons seeing invisible is a bit of a pain. good job I can run and set spike traps...

the girdle of FGS is rather late in the game for my liking and it is a pain to need to sacrifice so many items to get crom freyr.

there is a trick to getting multiple cleric symbols - remove them from the party without their symbol and when you recruit them, they get another.