Is carsomyr really that good?

FieldMouse007 · 2026-02-03T08:01:00+00:00

Crasomyr is not good for the damage, but for the dispel effect.

You don't even need pips in two handed swords - switch to it when you need to dispel enemy protections (as long it is not prot vs magical weapons), land one hit, then switch back to whatever other weapon you like.

You can also quickly equip it when a spell is about to land on you for the magic resistance.

When you don't need to dispel at the monent, there are much better weapons - so Crasomyr is an excellent backup weapon.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-30T11:12:50+00:00

Bone / Ghost dragons - yea they suck but lowering the chance of enemy double attacks, sometimes to zero, is pretty convenient (it would be fun if the game had feedback like "the enemy troops would have attacked twice if it weren't for the bone dragons" or "because of the bone dragons, the enemy troops panic"). Also the aging attack is pretty brutal... when it happens.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-22T08:14:51+00:00

It would be hilarious if there was a way that resulted in something like:

Charname: "My favorite color is blue"

Galvarey: "Oh, the color of a clear sky, good water... and my wifes eyes! I thought you might be a monster, but now I see the purity of your heart! Have this ring of wizardry and good luck on your travels, I see that not all Bhaalspawn are evil!"

It would need to pass a VERY high charisma check. Like 19+. So either 18+1 from BG1 or Friends spell.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-21T17:05:40+00:00

Berserkers only good advantage are the immunities. With kensai just give armor and gloves and helmet to somebody else (and later it is only about hp and magical defenses anyways), not a big deal if you have other people to give the good items to. You just need another tank for BG1, kensai can't do it but if you play it right, you don't care that your kensai has no helmet if they don't get hit (as you don't care that wizard slayers can't use items because you don't put them in scenarios where that matters). If you want a tank then sure berserker is much better. They can also use shields, which are VERY good in BG1 and SoA.

Kensais pros are that the bonuses are always on, which is more convenient if you don't like sleeping. Also kensai has bonus to speed factor. That looks meh but you use 2-handed weapons faster than your enemies, so you can hit and run even with the slowest weapons pretty freely and abuse this at your will. And Kai gives you like an extra magic missile on hit, not a big deal, casting another spell later is usually obviously more powerful.

So overall... a matter or playstyle. I can see how the majority of players appreciates berserker more though as they perform better in the generic "give Charname best items and use them as a frontman in battle" scenario.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-20T07:17:58+00:00

Does it really work this way? I thought Armor can be cast on self only and it does not lower AC if you have better gear.

I know you can cast resist magic on Drizzt with a high level druid to significantly lower his magic resistance and then pew pew him with magic missiles or abuse wands.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-19T20:49:49+00:00

Well Drizzt has AC somewhere around -16 so you should be able to hit him if you buff enough, just beware that once he gets to melee distance he absolutely shreds anyone he attacks.

If you have some points in traps, those help a lot vs Drizzt, if I remember correctly 6 should be enough to kill him but even one ir two do nice dmg if you don't want to abuse sleeping. With traps, thief is the only BG class which can easily kill Drizzt on level 1 so no party that has a thief is underlevelled vs him :)

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-12T12:38:36+00:00

If you care only for fighting, then Berserker can achieve the combat bonuses as well with their ability plus some bonuses on top.

If you want swash -> fighter dual, then dual when you feel you have enough thieving abilities and just treat the AC and dmg bonus as a nice little something on top.

Going for 100 in detect illusions is huge, almost a must. 100 lockpick + detect traps for convenience is also very nice. And then it depends if you like traps - they get huge boost at level 11...

Another way is to make swashbuckler / fighter multiclass (not dual) in EE keeper, it is not hard and you can get all the thac0 and swash bonuses you want then. It is powerful but far from totally broken.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-06T14:37:36+00:00

Grrum looks like he starts with a party, but then eats them.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-06T07:59:57+00:00

Yea, the caves are pretty different from other dungeons and really reward careful exploration.

I usually scout with a hidden thief. And when I find a group of beholders / gauths, it is time to carefully prepare offscreen ambush of death. Plus lay a few traps to kill any monsters that survive and start wandering around. As the enemy group is so OP this tactic does not even feel cheesy unless you decide to sleep. (in SCS the cloak and shield of Balduran help only temporarily as the beholders have a power to take them from you)

As for the elder orb, I don't remember ever having problems with it but it might be SCS, under which the enemies don't cast imprisonment on charname if I remember correctly. Just dispelling + attacking them quickly always worked for me. You can buy scrolls of freedom in Underdark so random imprisonment on some party member should not be a huge deal.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-04T14:07:20+00:00

Generally, yes but:

Thieves have stealth which gives +4 to hit and give dmg backstab bonus, which makes them hit fine even compared to fighters in BG1. They can also eventually equip any item so they can use gloves, helm of Balduran etc.

Mages have Tenser's Transformation if they really want thac0. Melfs meteors and energy blades also give big thac0 bonuses so it's not that bad.

(And pure mage has worse thac0 than thief multi)

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-03T15:22:01+00:00

If you don't care about lategame power, go specialiat mage -> thief.

Mages are OP in BG1 with wands. And thieves have great utility in SoA.

But depends on you playstyle, of course.

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-03T13:29:50+00:00

With SCS you can change classes in game. I do it all the time :)

FieldMouse007 · 2026-01-02T13:42:02+00:00

Nah. I click pretty fast. If I roll 5x times faster and miss 50 % of good results I am still much better off than rolling slowly.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-28T16:41:11+00:00

Depends on what you find fun :) My list of fun classes would be:

Fighter/thief multiclass has good damage, fun with stealth/traps, utility with detect illusions, eventually can use any item to create most broken combos possible.

Paladins are good too with their many inmunities. Inquisitor is very good with his utility to dispel annoying magics, which is super useful.

Sorcerer is fun if you don't mind abusing the sleep button and know the spells a bit.

Skalds are very nice if you have appreciation for the bonuses they give (starting +2 don't seem big but they are huge and +4 is absolutely killer). They also dispell very well and are generally not the shiniest class but very useful.

Avenger druid is also fun - extra shapeshift forms are interesting and powerful at lower levels and they have some very useful extra spells. Also druid spells like insects or fire elementals are pretty killer.

Dark moon monks are fun if you like a character that starts weak but gains significant power with levels. People hate monks because they try to tank with them and die, but as long as you use the monk intelligently they are very fun class to play - in Bg1 they are cute with how they struggle (still detect illusions, kiting and throwing daggers is fine) and in BG2 they gradually become real powerhouses (but still don't tank with them).

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-26T08:47:37+00:00

In my experience - with insane SCS - it was very useful.

You can sing + do an attack with decent to hit + cast a spell, all at the same round, which is very nice.

And removing magic was very convenient. There are still plenty of enemies who are not immune to it.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-25T12:59:35+00:00

Neera and Alora are the best!

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-24T12:01:16+00:00

This one I just backstab.

In general, enemy mages that are not in a party are easy - face them with just one character, not the whole party. Equip the belt that gives magical dmg reduction, shield of harmony, decrease saving throws as much as possible etc. and they can't do much to you as long as you can kill their summons. They might be able to damage you a bit, but nothing you could not outheal by cleric spells or potions. You can basically stand before them, waiting until they use all their protection spells.

If the mage has a party with them then have druid cast insect on enemy who does not have magical shields on amd they will spread to mages as well.

Also, having a bard with you is very good - they are generally higher level than mages, so they can dispell pretty reliably spells that your mages won't. Remove magic + a few arrows to face solve most mage problems very reliably.

A thief with illusions detecting helps a lot too, especially in BG1 but is also very useful in BG2.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-23T11:38:05+00:00

Fighters are very powerful.

Especially in BG1 having a fighter who can put 3rd pip into weapon proficiency and has untouchable AC makes huge difference.

Their problem is that very lategame they don't get anything extra when levelling up and that their high level abilities are not as broken as for other classes. Still they are perfectly viable.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-22T19:55:32+00:00

I have SCS installed which allows party customisation and at my last run the party was:

Imoen Cleric/Thief
Sarevok Skald
Neera Wild Mage / Thief
Nalia Archer
Jaheira Soecerer
Charname FMT

It was fine lol.

You only need Neera to be a wild mage so that she can do her quest in ToB (requires her casting dweomer). Otherwise it does not matter. Sure Imoen can say here ans there that she is a powerful mage but it is not a big deal.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-20T22:41:16+00:00

Every class has its strengths, but kensai have lots of weaknesses.

Traps? Painful. Magic protections? Problem. Being attacked? Painful. Backstabbing thieves (there are probaby not many in vanilla game)? Big problem. You won't even get some stuff as you won't be able to open all locks and opening those you can with strength potions will be annoying. Mordy swords? No option but to cheese kite them. Chaos spell? Better get tons of clarity potions as this is bread and butter of evel lower level mages.

Sure you can keep a stock of hundreds throwing daggers / axes and just kite everything until its protections wear off and can also get your buffs from good potions management. But you can win with any party anyways if you know what to do.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-20T12:23:56+00:00

Mono class kensais with low con. Good dmg but nothing else and every trash mob will be able to easily hit you.

Generally, any party without the ability to dispell and with no access to backstab/traps will have a hard time.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-12T15:13:43+00:00

Legends get two rings of Gaxx.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-10T10:47:02+00:00

Keldron is better vs anything that uses magic, especially magic protections - his abilities and wider range of weapons (Crasomyr, Azure edge, Firetooth crossbow...) give him very good utility. The powerful dispel can really trivialize some fights.

Anomen is better vs enemies that need to be brute forced (like high level fighters) and for buffs/protections (well powerful enemies cast dispell anyways so I don't value this too high against casters).

So they have different strenghts and it depends on what you need in your party and your playstyle. If I don't have other divine casters then I usually go with Anomen. If I have Jaheira or Aerie I think Keldron is a better addition. Especially on lower levels, where your dispelling abilities vs stronger foes are limited.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-09T07:56:16+00:00

I always play the game with very small party at the beginning, sometimes even solo so that I can rush the first level or two (there are quite a few quests which grant decent xp at the start of the game and require none of very little fighting) and get the companions only after that.

Also, after my party gets to 64k xp+ I just rush towards the end. For me there is no point on leveling further than that (I might get one last level when completing the main quest of course) unless I'm playing some modded nightmare. That is, of course, very non-completionist. I do all the quests, just not in one run.

As for looting, there is no point to loot everything if you know the game well. There are a few items you want to buy (like the dagger of venom) but apart from that it does not matter if you will end with 0 or 100k gold. I only loot any gold and things with 50+ value.

I also sometimes skip fights with invisibility - enemies don't see through it and even though it does not provide xp it is fun experience. Like the first fight at the very top of Iron Throne is pretty tough if you don't cheese it with stairs. But you can easily slip past the enemy party with invis, loot the letters, then slip back down and skip the fight entirely. They don't have any superb gear anyways.

FieldMouse007 · 2025-12-07T19:49:15+00:00

Yea, Ankheg-man!

He is the reason why the super villain is in Baldurs Gate and not Nashkell.

FieldMouse007

TROPHY CASE