Character stats, how does it work?

[.VM8RA]

Closes I have came to BG is playing PoE, in that we didn't have to roll for our stats like in a proper table top game.

Are their any good guides on how it works, but simple enough for a newcomer to understand!?

I basically would like to know some sugested stat layouts for certain builds and also what each stat does.

I wanted to dive right in, but when I got to that bit, I really didn't know how to increase or decrease any stats and I didn't know what any of them were for.

So yeah, guides would be greatly appreciated.

[Frondson]

Well, as far as the basics go it's like this:

Strength:
The highest you can raise most stats (for most races) is 18. Therefore Fighter types want it as high as possible. The number after the slash is percentile strength, an integer only a fighter-type (Fighters, Paladins, Barbarian, Ranger) can achieve. 00 actually means 100, so 18/01 is the lowest intiger and 18/00 is the highest. Milti-classed fighters can get percentile strength too and it's a good investement for the early game. Strength isn't very useful to a single-classed mage or ranged weapon user.

Dexterity:
Useful for all classes, as it determines the defence bonus you get. 18 is usually the suggested number. It also improves Ranged Weapon to hit chance so it's a must for ranged weapon users and melee users who want to get hit less.

Constitution:
Determines hit point bonus. Useful for Fighters as they get a bonus all the way to 18. Thieves, mages, and clerics only get bonus' to 16, so when playing as one of those classes don't bring it up higher unless you have extra points.

Intelligence
Determines number of Spells castable by a mage and the ease of copying scrolls to their spellbook. For Mages you should get 18, for other classes it is far less useful.

Wisdom
Determines the Spells castable for Priests. Clerics and Druids should put this at 18 and Paladins and Rangers should probably shoot for 14-15, higher if extra points are available. Otherwise, not that useful.

Charisma
Only Bards, Druids, and Paladins require this stat. It influences how people respond to you. A higher charisma leads to better prices at shops and sometimes better rewards from quests.

Some general stuff:
At creation keep rolling till you get a high number. Usually anything over 84 is fine but if you're playing a multiclass or something you can keep rolling for better. Highest I ever got was a 98 for a Paladin.

The start of the game can be unforgivable for Mages and Thieves, but over time things balance out. Sort of.

THACO (Your chance to hit an enemy vs their ArmorClass) can be confusing. Lower THACO is better. Use weapons you're skilled with to avoid penalty.

ArmorClass- Higher is better.

Mages have to stockpile their spells, kind of like Pillars' Per Rest abilities. Makes sure you choose spells carefully and rest when you need to recharge. They also cannot use ANY armor, unlike Pillars. So even if you go all Fighter-Mage, be prepared to not use any Chest armor besides Robes.

Check around with the highlight key for hidden items, there might be a treasure hidden in some random tree!

There's some basics. Hope some of it helps. Enjoy one of the greatest RPGs ever.

[.VM8RA]

thanks a lot for the info, I'll be sure to check this out before playing this weekend.

[.VM8RA]

I was thinking of picking a thief maybe, would I find party members to help me out pretty quick? I might go with a more beefy one to start with. I heard inquisitor was very stong in this game!?

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

Hello Nurgles. The first party member you come across will also be a thief. You aren't committed to dealing with her long-term however. If you are not interested in her or want to go the evil route the number of useful thieves are relatively low.

[.VM8RA]

I probably won't pick a theif as my character as I don't wanna go evil for my first playthrough. I might actually pick an iquisitor then or something killy mele. What's a good dps mele class that doesn't have too bad survivability also please!?

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

Fighter. Sword n' board for survivability, two-handed weapon for smashy. Pick a half orc for the extra Strength and Constitution. Nice easy class.

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

I should add, however, that you're going to be playing the other five party members as well. Or at least you will if you want to get the most out of your team's synergy. So, it isn't like you're going to be able to avoid dealing with wizard micromanagement.

[voehringer_nitron]

Thieves, single, dual or multiclass, can have an alignement as high as Neutral Good, so its possible to be a non-evil thief. The above mentioned thief in fact is Neutral Good. You can get your reputation as high as 18, maximum is 20, without evil party members leaving you.

Inquisitors can cast Dispel Magic and True Sight as inate abilities. Dispel Magic is very valuable. Enemy mages and bards love to cast disabling spells like Horror, Sleep and Hold Person. Aside from Mirror Image, you wont see a lot of Illusion spells, so True Sight is less useful. Part 2, however, expect to see a lot of Illusion spells, like Improved Invisibility and Mislead. Dispel Magic will remain useful, but enemies will switch to spells like Chaos.

[kaiyl_kariashi]

Thief in DnD terms specifically refers to an almost exclusively utility based character who handles a lot of odd-jobs for the party while generally providing only back-up combat support (typically by shooting at range or setting up traps for leading enemies into), though BG does make them a little bit more of an potent offensive force then they would be normally due to the ease of pulling multiple backstabs in BG which is actually pretty hard to do in PnP and can usually only be done once per encounter, barring very specific circumstances, allowing a well micro'd thief to rival mages in terms of raw damage output until very late in BG2.

While they aren't required by any stretch (no class is), playing without a thief will generally make your life a lot more annoying then it could've been.

[.VM8RA]

thanks for the info guys

[Kephin]

Another thing that should be noted (although not very important until you get to Baldur's Gate 2) is that you will die if any of your stats drop to 0. Some enemies can drain certain stats. So it can be beneficial to raise stats to at least 8-10, even if your class doesn't use those stats.

[.VM8RA]

Originally posted by Kephin:

Another thing that should be noted (although not very important until you get to Baldur's Gate 2) is that you will die if any of your stats drop to 0. Some enemies can drain certain stats. So it can be beneficial to raise stats to at least 8-10, even if your class doesn't use those stats.

thank you

[Barnabas]

Originally posted by Frondson:

Well, as far as the basics go it's like this:

Strength:
The highest you can raise most stats (for most races) is 18. Therefore Fighter types want it as high as possible. The number after the slash is percentile strength, an integer only a fighter-type (Fighters, Paladins, Barbarian, Ranger) can achieve. 00 actually means 100, so 18/01 is the lowest intiger and 18/00 is the highest. Milti-classed fighters can get percentile strength too and it's a good investement for the early game. Strength isn't very useful to a single-classed mage or ranged weapon user.

Dexterity:
Useful for all classes, as it determines the defence bonus you get. 18 is usually the suggested number. It also improves Ranged Weapon to hit chance so it's a must for ranged weapon users and melee users who want to get hit less.

Constitution:
Determines hit point bonus. Useful for Fighters as they get a bonus all the way to 18. Thieves, mages, and clerics only get bonus' to 16, so when playing as one of those classes don't bring it up higher unless you have extra points.

Intelligence
Determines number of Spells castable by a mage and the ease of copying scrolls to their spellbook. For Mages you should get 18, for other classes it is far less useful.

Wisdom
Determines the Spells castable for Priests. Clerics and Druids should put this at 18 and Paladins and Rangers should probably shoot for 14-15, higher if extra points are available. Otherwise, not that useful.

Charisma
Only Bards, Druids, and Paladins require this stat. It influences how people respond to you. A higher charisma leads to better prices at shops and sometimes better rewards from quests.

Some general stuff:
At creation keep rolling till you get a high number. Usually anything over 84 is fine but if you're playing a multiclass or something you can keep rolling for better. Highest I ever got was a 98 for a Paladin.

The start of the game can be unforgivable for Mages and Thieves, but over time things balance out. Sort of.

THACO (Your chance to hit an enemy vs their ArmorClass) can be confusing. Lower THACO is better. Use weapons you're skilled with to avoid penalty.

ArmorClass- Higher is better.

Mages have to stockpile their spells, kind of like Pillars' Per Rest abilities. Makes sure you choose spells carefully and rest when you need to recharge. They also cannot use ANY armor, unlike Pillars. So even if you go all Fighter-Mage, be prepared to not use any Chest armor besides Robes.

Check around with the highlight key for hidden items, there might be a treasure hidden in some random tree!

There's some basics. Hope some of it helps. Enjoy one of the greatest RPGs ever.

Everything here sounds right. Except you want your AC to be low not high. So a 0 or -1 is better than a 2 or 3. And you want your THAC0 to be high.

[Kephin]

Originally posted by Stalker:

Everything here sounds right. Except you want your AC to be low not high. So a 0 or -1 is better than a 2 or 3. And you want your THAC0 to be high.

You're correct about the AC, but you actually also want your THAC0 to be lower. An AC of 0 is better than 5, and a THAC0 of 15 is better than 20.

[voehringer_nitron]

THAC0 = To hit Armor Class 0. The ammount you you need to roll on a twenty sided die (plus any applicable bonuses) to successfully hit an opponent with an Armor Class of 0. If your THAC0 is 20, then 20 - 0 = 20. So you would only hit with a roll of 20. If your THAC0 is 10, then any roll of 10 or higher will hit.

In games based on edition 3 or 3.5 rules, like Icewind Dale 2 or Neverwinter Nights, higher AC is better. THAC0 is replaced by BAB, or Base Attack Bonus. Your BAB is added into your attack roll to determine your chance to hit, so higher numbers are better.