CriticalFailure

Nice guide, I agree with most of the points. I think Antipathetic Field deserves a mention as well. It's tricky to use and maybe somewhat redundant if you're taking Ectopsychic Echo, but it's available much earlier and it can be pretty devastating with proper positioning. Maybe not a must-have, but certainly a good option.

Not if you get her early. She was level 4 in my last playthrough (my PC was 3) and she had FoD, LoH, Intense Flames and WF: Soldier. Personally, I prefer choosing my paladin order based on flavour and RP rather than the special abilities. This doesn't really answer your question and some are probably mechanically better than others, but you may end up following a code or playing a personality you don't enjoy, which is... well, not enjoyable.

Because taking the time to cast those 873 buffs is not everyone's cup of tea. I'd be more inclined to play such a character if buffs weren't auto-dispelled after every fight. I haven't voted in the poll for now because 1) I don't usually stick to a single class and 2) there's a few I haven't tried yet. I tend to play melee characters more than other types, although not exclusively.

Wow, sensitive much. You mentioned their names and types, and those who have posted afterwards have been discussing their locations and quality. Tidefall is in a cave in the Searing Falls, NW. It's hidden (need 10 Mechanics or so; you can buff the skill with some scrolls and inn bonuses) and well protected, though.

I'm playing a BW, and I have to agree with this. I was hoping for ruthless and "the end justifies the means" and I just got generic baby-eating, which I don't even like when playing a proper blackguard either. Yeah, you don't HAVE to always pick the favoured options, but then the game is basically telling you that you're doing it wrong (or at least that you could do better). I was also expecting some more special dialogue options related to my order, but so far I've only got one, which actually happens to make a decision about whom to ally with in a certain quest for you. All in all, the main draw the class had for me is turning out to be quite disappointing so far. Funnily enough, there's an instance where slapping a maid counts as "cruel", but killing her is... nothing.

You can still get the quest with her in the party. Just talk to the ambassador again after getting her personal quest.

Yes, but that doesn't answer my question. Did you find it in your inventory after buying it? Because I didn't, or if I did, I missed it. Unless the game specifically states somewhere that retaliation items aren't supposed to stack, I wouldn't necessarily call it a bug. There's an opportunity cost after all, such as not using a shield with better defence instead.

That's what I thought at first, but I tested this like 5 times the other day (yes, I reloaded in the previous area before entering that one for the first time) and I always got the same weapon. I've got different ones in other playthroughs, but I couldn't say exactly when the game decides what loot is in there. Edit: Just saw knownastherat's post. Looks like we have different experiences then, or maybe I'm just extremely (un?)lucky.

How do you get that cape? If it's the one you can buy through a stronghold pop-up, I think I bought it in my previous playthrough, but I couldn't find the actual item anywhere. Is it spawned in the treasury or something? There's another retaliation plate you can get as loot from one of the 2nd round bounties. I don't remember the item's name.

I see, I wasn't aware of that (obviously ). It doesn't make it any less annoying to me, but good to know. I'm curious now, was this done with any other characters?

They do: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74074-my-fire-barbarian-tankish-build/?p=1650844

I could be wrong, but I think it's somewhat related to the weapon you're using as well. I seem to reach more enemies with Carnage with a greatsword than with a one-handed weapon.

Gromnir is a half-orc character in BG2-Throne of Bhaal who sometimes talks about himself in third person or plural. That "hah, good fun" stuff is also a quote by him. It was fine in the game. On a forum, however, I find it annoying and harder to read, but that's freedom of speech for you.

I'm not interested in entering a debate about overpoweredness and nerfs and that sort of stuff. That said: I like ciphers because casting magic most of the time and shooting occasionally is more fun to me than the other way around + resting to regain spells. It makes me feel more like a "true caster", so to speak. If you think that focus is too high as it is, maybe you can, you know... not use it fully? There's no need to ruin the class for those of us who like the way it plays now.

Well... Congratulations? I've soloed that area a couple of times too, but the point is, you don't HAVE to. If you manage, cool, but you can always leave it for later (and if the OP is struggling, saying "I did it" isn't going to help him anyway). I mean, you said it yourself: it took you three tries (and probably a while, considering that build's offensive capabilities). I don't know if the rest of your post was directed at me, because I agree that a few tweaks to the existing paladin abilities should be enough.

Thanks, I may give it a try, though I may just go human or something if I get tired of looking at a butt-ugly godlike (I wonder if the helm restriction can be modded, if only for the sake of covering those hideous heads). Tidefall was the main weapon on a barbarian I played on in my first playthrough, so I may end up using it again.

@Fessels: With that character, I would (eventually) get some retaliation gear and do something along these lines: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/74074-my-fire-barbarian-tankish-build/

@Mazeltov: You've already covered the basics, but do you mind sharing a few more details about the build? I'm playing a "Bleaker" too, but I'm not yet decided on some aspects of it. Might go for dual wielding, to get some more mileage of FoD.

Fair enough, I wasn't sure if you were looking for feedback as to how to get more dialogue, or checking if the build was any good as you had envisioned it, or something else. I don't think resolve goes inherently well nor badly with the rogue class. I'd say it's similar to charisma mostly in the way of force of personality, rather than... let's call it "social skills". I think you could drop INT and PER a bit without losing much, but if you're not going to get at least 15 RES or so out of it, you may as well leave it as it is. You don't usually get extra dialogue choices with average scores anyway.

Your "Durance" doesn't have the real Durance's banter, however, which is the main point of using existing NPCs. Exactly, and that's what I like about it. I'm trying a group with a paladin PC + Pallegina running different auras, for the sake of reducing micromanagement, but I'm not sure how it'll work in practice, due to the tiny range.

Resolve is one of, if not the main attribute for conversations (think charisma in DnD), so if you want to have as many options as possible, you definitely should raise it high.

See, it's because of statements like this that this thread exists. Some classes are better at killing, sure, but I fail to see how paladins are "extraordinarily bad" at it. If you're going to take on-kill talents, I'd expect you to build the character accordingly. If you focus on defence, you'll likely be bad at killing, but that isn't exclusive to paladins (and you shouldn't be considering those talents in the first place anyway).

No, they're not. Some classes are arguably stronger and some of the abilities are meh, but that doesn't mean paladins are -bad-. If you're struggling with one, you'll likely struggle with anything. Valenwood is a hard area to solo at level 2; just follow the road and come back later with companions to complete it. You're not supposed to clear every area as soon as you can enter it.

I don't care about being "the best at x" or those silly MMO over-specialisations, and I like hybrids. However, I do find paladins' special abilities underwhelming (except Faith and Conviction, assuming we're talking about the main character). If those abilities were a bit stronger and/or had some more uses per day, that'd probably do the trick.

There's also the resurrection one. Of course, it's better if you don't die in the first place, but it turned the tables for me in the end fight when Kana was the last one standing and about to die. It's an AoE cone so I was able to resurrect 3 characters at once. The +attributes ones sound good on paper, but I'm not sure if they're worth using over a summon (assuming you don't have one on already).