Party too weak?

[PrimeJunta]

Ok. If i side with this herold in the castle, i get a 2h golden sword or?

Not saying.

 

How do i stat my paladin? In my opinion: Fire Godlike - Aedyr - 18 16 4 3 19 18

 

But this build lacks on reflexes. Do i need them as tank?

 

/EDIT: Question about mechanics: I read, that one character should specialize on it. So one character puts all points in it or can i skill something else too, like stealth?

If you're making a tanky paladin, you're over-investing in Might. It will affect Lay On Hands and the other healing abilities, but the high Int which extends the duration will make up for it. So moving a few points from that to buff Reflex is not a bad idea, and yes, it is pretty important for a tanky character as a lot of special attacks target Reflex.

 

Note that you can also pick talents on level-up which add +10 to a defence. There are usually other talents that are more valuable, but if you really feel it's lacking, that helps. And of course there are plenty of items you can distribute around your party to either buff the strengths or compensate for weaknesses. So ultimately the abilities aren't such a big deal.

 

Maxing out Mechanics is not required, you can safely put a few points into getting some other abilities up to 3 or 4 or so. You'll just need to use lockpicks every once in a while, but there are plenty, and you might run into some traps you'll have to walk around rather than untrap. Having 2 or 3 as a base (from class and background) helps though.

[baldurs_gate_2]

If the deflection (resolve) is low, the enemies tend to attack this party member?

[gogocactus]

If the deflection (resolve) is low, the enemies tend to attack this party member?

If I'm not mistaken, if the damage output of your tanks is too low, enemies will disengage to attack party members with relatively lower defences (including deflection).

[Boeroer]

AI will look for the weakest members of your party. With weakest I mean low defenses and DR. They will try to rush them. Best example: Penhelm fight on PotD.

[baldurs_gate_2]

Does "Two-Handed" also work for range weapons? Is there no weapon focus for a hunting bow?

[gogocactus]

Does "Two-Handed" also work for range weapons? Is there no weapon focus for a hunting bow?

It doesn't work for ranged weapons. The description mentions it only works for melee weapons. The talent 'marksman' works for ranged weapons.

[baldurs_gate_2]

Yeah, but marksman does not give +damage? Does a ranger need a high amount of INT (around 15 or 16) or is it better to put it in DEX?

[Boeroer]

Depends on the weapon choice. For a bow DEX > INT.

[baldurs_gate_2]

Depends on the weapon choice. For a bow DEX > INT.

Why? Is INT not pretty useless for a ranger? Duration, Will and AoE, what talent has an effect on it?

[Boeroer]

Wounding Shot, -30 to all defenses from Disorienting (Scon Mica's Roar), Wounding from Persistence, Binding Roots, all scroll related buffs or DoT spells, Stunning Shots, Combusting Wounds from Ring of Searing Flames, Consecrated Ground from Shod-in-Faith and so on. DEX is more important for bow rangers for sure. For gun rangers with quick switch it's not so important. Here high INT can be more useful - depending on your gear and tactics. For melee rangers it also depends.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Boeroer

[baldurs_gate_2]

So, you should decide, to play as pure bow (hunting or war) with high dex or with guns, high int and weapon switch to other guns?

[Boeroer]

No - as I said you can do both. There's nothing wrong with a ranger who uses quick switch to fire his guns quickly and then uses a hunting bow to finish the job.

I doesn't really matter if DEX is 18 or 15 or if INT is 12 or 15. You don't need to minmax stats to build a good ranger. But if I should name a certain ranger build "best", then I would say it's the Stormcaller ranger with min CON and RES, max MIG, DEX and PER and rest in INT. Wear no armor (or don't suffer from recovery penalty, to be precise), take Driving Flight, Stunning Shots and Twinned Arrows to maximize proc chance for Returning Storm and build your pet into a DPS machine with Predator's Sense, Merciless Companion, Vicious Companion and Resilient Companion. This is one of the most impressive chars I ever played. It's high DPS combined with good CC and not too much micromanagement. It's all about the bow, but that's OK. You can then build the rest of the party around the fact that Stormcaller lowers shock DR by 6.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Boeroer

[baldurs_gate_2]

No - as I said you can do both. There's nothing wrong with a ranger who uses quick switch to fire his guns quickly and then uses a hunting bow to finish the job.

I doesn't really matter if DEX is 18 or 15 or if INT is 12 or 15. You don't need to minmax stats to build a good ranger. But if I should name a certain ranger build "best", then I would say it's the Stormcaller ranger with min CON and RES, max MIG, DEX and PER and rest in INT. Wear no armor (or don't suffer from recovery penalty, to be precise), take Driving Flight, Stunning Shots and Twinned Arrows to maximize proc chance for Returning Storm and build your pet into a DPS machine with Predator's Sense, Merciless Companion, Vicious Companion and Resilient Companion. This is one of the most impressive chars I ever played. It's high DPS combined with good CC and not too much micromanagement. It's all about the bow, but that's OK. You can then build the rest of the party around the fact that Stormcaller lowers shock DR by 6.

Hmm, but you need the expansion pack white march for this bow. Can you acquire the bow in the expansion early? I know you need to get to defiance bay to receive the message from the steward. Do i need a higher level to acquire it? Because my main character should be level 5 at defiance bay.

[Boeroer]

You need to do at least one of the quests you get when you visit the temple of Woedica. It's Heritage Hill Tower, Cliaban Rilag or BRackenbury Sanatorium. If you did one of them, you will be called by your steward. Lvl 5 is a bit early for Stalwart in the White March. Lvl 6 might work. After the initial fight in Stalwart you can just go west to Russetwood and in the lower half of the map, near the entrance, you can find a wolf that is wounded by a silver arrow - get it. Then go to Durgan's Battery and sneak past all the enemies and climb the tower in the north, east from the Battery. THere you will find the bow. Put them together and you will have Stormcaller. You don't need to fight a lot of mobs to get it. Just sneak in and out. Once you have it, try to upgrade it as soon as possible so it procs Returning Storm. That's not very difficult.

 

Before that you can use Persistence (hunting bow from the Endless Paths lvl 4). It has the very nice wounding enchantment that triggers Predator's Sense - it's a good alternative until you can get Stormcaller. 

Edited December 31, 2015 by Boeroer

[baldurs_gate_2]

You need to do at least one of the quests you get when you visit the temple of Woedica. It's Heritage Hill Tower, Cliaban Rilag or BRackenbury Sanatorium. If you did one of them, you will be called by your steward. Lvl 5 is a bit early for Stalwart in the White March. Lvl 6 might work. After the initial fight in Stalwart you can just go west to Russetwood and in the lower half of the map, near the entrance, you can find a wolf that is wounded by a silver arrow - get it. Then go to Durgan's Battery and sneak past all the enemies and climb the tower in the north, east from the Battery. THere you will find the bow. Put them together and you will have Stormcaller. You don't need to fight a lot of mobs to get it. Just sneak in and out. Once you have it, try to upgrade it as soon as possible so it procs Returning Storm. That's not very difficult.

 

Before that you can use Persistence (hunting bow from the Endless Paths lvl 4). It has the very nice wounding enchantment that triggers Predator's Sense - it's a good alternative until you can get Stormcaller. 

But can i reach the bow persistence with level 5 or 6? And which pet should i use?

[Boeroer]

With lvl 5 it's doable I'd say.

 

I would choose wolf or bear. The wolf does more damage (it's noticable) and the bear is more sturdy. It depends what other party members you have. If you have a healer or somebody who can buff the defenses or DR of your pet then I'd choose the wolf. If you don't have the possibility to protect your pet or if you don't want to watch after him all the time I'd choose bear.

I used them both in one playthrough (one Persistence Ranger with bear, the other a Stormcaller Ranger with wolf) and they are both good. I personally like the wolf a little better - for no particular reason.

[evilcat]

But can i reach the bow persistence with level 5 or 6? And which pet should i use?

Yes. Even more yes on normal. You may not clean completly lv 3rd (with ogres) just find the stairs down.

Pet: Bear is most bulletproof.

[baldurs_gate_2]

Ranger as main starter. Paladin as tank. Fighter DPS / off tank. Priest, Druid and Wizard.

[Boeroer]

So you have three chars with healing capability - I would take the wolf then.

[PrimeJunta]

You need to do at least one of the quests you get when you visit the temple of Woedica. It's Heritage Hill Tower, Cliaban Rilag or BRackenbury Sanatorium. If you did one of them, you will be called by your steward. 

 

Not so, you get the call from the steward as soon as you've finished the Temple of Woedica in the catacombs.

[Boeroer]

Now that I think of it I guess you're right. Even better that way.