Character advice for Beyond Divinity

[GawainBS]

I'm going to try to finish BD before I start Ego Draconis.
I'd like to ask what your thoughts about the most effective character are.

1. What weapon to use? Shield or not? Which skills do you increase in said weaponstyle?
2. Which "support skills" are good; Repair or Identify and something else?
3. Is the Heal spell worth it? Is the Energy Resistance spell worth it?
4. How'd you distribute your stats? My character is going to be a meleefighter, while the Demon Knight is going to be a mage with Storm Hammer & Lightning Storm. Are those good spells?
5. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[flix]

The Shaman's Hammer and Lightning spells are probably the two best mage spells in the game, but you won't find a teacher for them until mid-Act II. Before that I used a focused elemental spell as the main attack. Other than that, the only support skills I used for the mage were Wisdom and Summoning Doll upgrades.

I would make the warrior 1 handed weapon + shield to keep both your defense and attack speed up. Attack speed, initiative, and chance to hit are more important than raw damage, generally. I'd go with one-handed slashing damage (and all its subsets), since there are many good slashing swords in the game. Make sure you are using the one handed + shield skills when you learn it, since there's a difference between 1-handed and 1-handed plus shield. Sharpen Weapon is a great skill to increase your damage, but it increases agility requirements (high agility is good though). I tried to keep identify maxed but repair isn't all that useful, since you'll almost always have access to someone who can repair for you and the keep the cash flow going. Any other skills that keep your warrior alive, like armor usage and evading, are useful.

The absolutley unstoppable team, though, is two warriors, one an archer and one melee. You lead with your hero, drawing enemies to you, while the DK pegs them from afar with a crossbow.

[GawainBS]

Thanks. I was planning on giving the DK a bow anyway.
So, Agility, Speed and Survivial are the key stats? I assume followed by Vitality for HP and some Strength for requirements and carrying?
Again going by memory, but is there a warrior Whirlwind style skill? Is it worth it?
I don't remember by heart, but it there an Enchant skill in BD?

Thanks for the advice so far!

[flix]

Vitality is number one, as always...strength and agility as items require...then the others as you mentioned.

Like in DD, the whirlwind attack is available to the warrior as a default special move. And unlike DD, you don't need any skill to enchant your equipment, just click on the equipped item and drag the charm into the slot (ignore the 'X')

[GawainBS]

Thanks! Now, let's hope that Vista doesn't screw me over...

[flix]

Don't forget to run in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME

[GawainBS]

Still got some questions, though...

Is Lockpicking worth it?
How about Alchemy? (See as it can give you permanent stat boosts, I'm thinking it is.)

[flix]

Lockpicking? Not worth it in BD. IIRC, it didn't even work. Alchemy is ok, you'll only get one chance to make a permanent potion (with holy water), but I never really needed alchemy with the availibility of potions.

[fable]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flix Lockpicking? Not worth it in BD. IIRC, it didn't even work.

Pretty much what I've been writing here since the game came out. On the other hand, pickpocketing is vastly overpowered--5 always successful tries on each merchant, the last time I checked--and an excellent investment.

[GawainBS]

Thanks to the both of you. I'll consider PP then.

[flix]

Quote:

On the other hand, pickpocketing is vastly overpowered--5 always successful tries on each merchant, the last time I checked--and an excellent investment.

I never tried pickpocketing in BD. That's odd, because it was balanced in DD (that is, chances were you'd fail with merchants).

[fable]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flix I never tried pickpocketing in BD. That's odd, because it was balanced in DD (that is, chances were you'd fail with merchants).

I know: never bothered investing in it, since there were so many great items available randomly. But BD quickly acquired a large chorus of complaints about lockpicking and pickpocketing in the Larian forums. I tried the latter, and found it behaved just as claimed. Then I went back to my previous save, and de-invested. I'm such a puritanical gamer at times.

[fable]

All this talk about DD and BD, and now, I'm actually considering another runtrhough of the former. I know the last section is a letdown, and that the development team had to rush to get it out the door, but before then, it was a damn fun game.

Might just do it.

[flix]

Given the skills of many modders, I'm surprised no one ever tried to populate the last area with characters and quests. You can tell that the devs intended to, with the desert village and all.

[fable]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flix Given the skills of many modders, I'm surprised no one ever tried to populate the last area with characters and quests. You can tell that the devs intended to, with the desert village and all.

Yeah, they remarked as much in interviews, including one I got. As you note, pretty surprising nobody has done anything with it. Up until that point, it's a very fun game.

But then, I don't recall seeing many mods, at all.