kits in BG1 Tutu

[Lemernis]

I've played Shadows of Amn twice but never tried any of the kits. I'm going to do that in a BG1 Tutu game next. But it occurs to me that given that kits were designed by the developers for levels 7-20, some of them may not translate too well to levels 1-9.

 

Some of the kits that look to be of interest to me are Swashbuckler, Bounty Hunter, Blade, Priest of Helm, Archer, Kensai, Sorcerer, and Monk. Not sure how any of these will work out for for up to level 7, though, which is probably where I'll end the game.

 

Any suggestions re: which kits are particularly fun for level 1-9 play?

[Kulyok]

Assassin is really, really cool. His poison ability is very powerful, but together with his lousy THAC0 and low thieving points (head over heels for me, btw) it is balanced.

 

Sorcerer is the best, since it is the only class that can choose Melf's Minute Meteors. Not that late in the game, either.

 

Berserker kills everything.

[Lemernis]

Again, I'm certain I won't be taking the character higher than level 7.

 

For assassin, what will the backstab multiplier be in this level range? If I can get x4 by mid game that would probably be worth it.

 

Sorc sound particularly appealing. I sometimes like to play an arcane spellcaster who uses a limited selection of close range spells and melees with a quarterstaff. Sorcerer sounds ideal for that.

 

Also, for a Berserker I'm considering a hammer-wielding human who attains High Mastery in War Hammer (mainly because I came across a custom portrait like that, which I like). How would you recommend that I handle weapons profs for that? Eg,

 

War Hammer + + + + (here I won't equip with a shield obviously)

 

War Hammer + + +

Sword and Shield Style +

 

War Hammer + +

Sword and Shield Style + +

 

Too bad there aren't any powerful two-handed war hammers in BG2, because then I'd put some profs into Two-Handed Weapon Style. (Btw, has anyone remodeled a two-handed sword into a two-handed war hammer, and added that new category of weapon to a mod?)

[Ghreyfain]

I've been told that kensais are very weak in Tutu, so I'd avoid them. As for the others, I haven't really thought about it too much, to be honest. Bounty Hunter might be fun, with all his array of traps, but he'll likely suffer in other areas if you want him to be any good at actually setting traps.

 

Whatever you decide to do, let us know. I'm sick of hearing bug reports, and wouldn't mind actually talking about how fun (or unfun) it is to play the mod.

[Kish]

War Hammer + + + + (here I won't equip with a shield obviously)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's anything but obvious, actually. Are you under the impression you get some kind of penalty for using a shield without Sword and Shield Style?

[Western Paladin]

Berserkers and Barbarians are real death machines in Tutu. Level 2 Iron Throne employees and mages whose only offensive spells are Horror just don't have any answer to the benefits of their Rage. Try the Berserker Minsc mini-mod for a taste of it. Speaking of mages, they get shredded by Priests of Helm and Inquisitors and their innate True Sight, because their only defenses are things like Mirror Image and Shadow Door. Swashbucklers do pretty well with their bonuses to hit. Shapeshifters are better than you might expect because their shifted form is more powerful than what the original saga's enemies were intended to meet.

[Domi]

I tried Monk in TUTU and it was rather weak, I did not like it at all.

 

Archers are devastating, if you want your PC to be second-liner.

 

I often play with Blades in TUTU, and in the beginning, dualwielding long swords (get the Greywolf's one asap + buy the +1), they hold au par with heavier fighters, especially when you activate their special attack modes. But I also make my Blades wear the simple elven chain, so I can't say reliably if they are good w/o it.

[Salk]

My party in TuTu 6+TuTufix 16 betatesting is as following:

 

1 Half-Orc Barbarian

1 Undead Hunter

1 Kensai (sorry, Ghrey...I won't follow your advice... )

1 Archer

1 Fighter/Mage/Cleric

1 Monk

 

I'll report how I felt with this party all along the game...

[Grim Squeaker]

I imagine your monk is gonna get the shit kicked out of him.

[Salk]

Grim Squeaker,

 

well, I do love the Monk class and I couldn't ever think of a party without one...

My monk is a nice old man with a yellow robe and a long beard so it's just okay if he is underpowered...

 

I love him anyway...

[Andyr]

I have managed Tutu with a certain Monk in my party just fine, and he doesn't die often... I think the key is to remember you can use your fast movement to run away from trouble and equip a sling if you are badly injured.

[Lemernis]

Well I have gone to the trouble of creating PCs for the following kits, and have been taking some of them out for short test runs:

 

Assassin

Barbarian

Berserker

Blade

Monk

Priest of Helm

Sorcerer

Stalker

Swashbuckler

 

I'm interested in Archer as well, but for that I have Kivan configured as one. I generally get bored with PCs who use mostly ranged attacks.

 

I should say at the outset that, for me, the custom portrait and soundset strongly affects how much I enjoy the character. I have a ton of custom portraits and several dozen soundsets. But even so, I often find it's not so easy for all this to mesh with certain classes. If I don't find a really good matchup then I tend not to get into the character as much, even if the class rocks. By the same token, when I find a really great portrait and soundset combo, I can enjoy characters that may not be all that strong.

 

Anyway, perhaps much for this reason, the kits that clicked for me right away were Assassin (using the Thief game's portrait and soundset of Garrett), the war hammer wielding Berserker I mentioned above, and the Priest of Helm (using a cool paladin portrait and the 'Lord Kalthorn' soundset; have no idea where that soundset is from). These characters were immediately fun to play for me. I didn't even care that much how well they performed, they just felt fun to play.

 

Okay, as to performance. (And take with a grain of salt, as I'm a newbie with the kits and its probably to early to begin assessing, but what the hey.)

 

Monk

The Monk's animations looks like fun. I like the idea of a marital artist. But his AC sucks. It will be a drag to have to constantly heal this guy in the thick of battle, or have to spend a fortune on CLWs for him. This kit strikes me as playable only if I can find some way to equip him with items that will get his AC to at least -1. His Dex is 18 of course. Maybe with gauntlets of dexterity and an ROP? And a cloak of protection (I can never remebember if rings and cloaks are cumulative)?

 

Sorcerer

The concept for this fellow is have him primarily use close range spells and melee with a quarterstave. He's strong and fast. As the game progresses his standard tactic will be to walk up to the enemy, paralyze with Ghoul Touch (or try to at least), slap down some Vampiric Touchs, and finish off with quarterstaff +3. Because of the quarterstaff's long range, he can do this pretty safely as long as there's a tank out in front of him. I'll probably have him take advantage of Melf's Minute Meteors as well. Anyway, the Sorcerer kit seems well suited to this kind of approach. I want a change of pace from the typical mage who stands back at a safe distance throwing rocks after casting a couple magic missiles.

 

So far the sorcerer's performing well.

 

Berserker

I gave him 3 profs in War Hammer and one prof in Sword and Shield Style. I like this guy a lot, he's fun. I'll be getting Ashideena for him right away. Only problem is whether he'll be overpowering. As a rule I'd rather be winning battles by the skin of my teeth, rather than tearing through enemy mobs like wet tissue paper.

 

Stalker

Looks promising, although in BG1 without the backstab multiplier (well, levels 1-8 anyway) I don't see a strong advantage to a standard ranger. He does get 20% more Stealth, which is definitely a big plus.

 

I've enjoyed using vanilla dual wielding rangers who sneak right into the enemy's midst like a commando and lauch a surprise melee attack. This tactic servers to occupy archers or spellcasters while other party members target them with spells Like Hold, Blind, Confusion, or what have you. The only difference from that with the Stalker in a Tutu game is the character will be stealthier. I suppose if you take the character on into SoA then it would be fun to begin enjoying a backstab multiplier when such attacks are launched.

 

I gave this character two profs in Scrimitar and two profs in Short Sword, with the plan to have him dual wield the scrimtar on the roof of Durlag's and the Whistling Sword.

 

Assassin

This kit could potentially be a blast. No problem for me that he'll just get the usual backstab multipliers in BG1. This kit will really depend on how well the poison attacks work out at low level. Only 15% to spend on thieving skills means you need another thief in the party for traps and locks, which isn't a big problem. But if the poison doesn't really do much at levels 1-7 I don't see much advantage to a vanilla thief--or better, a fighter-thief.

 

Well anyway, that's enough for now. I need to try them all out some.

[Linguist in Training]

If you're into paladins, don't forget about the Cavalier - Immunity to charm and poison is useful for taking on sirines.

[Western Paladin]

I expect your Sorcerer will be good in that role, and even better once he gets Stoneskin (that'll probably be much, much later, though). Only Sorcerers can cast Stoneskin in Tutu as far as I know - I've never found a scroll of it anywhere, and the mods I've played (NPC project, Grey Clan: In Candlelight) that add new items don't seem to have added any. Too bad - it's my outright favorite spell.

[Lemernis]

First a quick observation about a kit option for one of the NPCs: Khalid as a kensai, dual wielding bastard swords, pretty much sucks. I definitely regret selecting that option for him. I'd much prefer using him as a straight fighter (in a non-Tutu game I would have him using a longsword and large shield--not sure what Tutu does with him as a True Class fighter).

 

From what I can see so far, I would not enjoy using a kensai for a PC either in a BG1 Tutu game.

 

This subject reminds me that I gave my monk a prof in katana. Can anyone tell me where a katana may be found in the Tutu mod?

 

Continuing with a 'first look' review of the kits:

 

The Priest of Helm

This character is turning out to be more challenging at low level than I would have guessed. It takes a bit of doing to get this kit outfitted with proper gear, since he doesn't get a whole lot of starting cash.

 

Seeking Sword is fine, I guess. Decent spell, though honestly I don't see a great diference from Flame Blade. True Sight should prove to be useful, though in BG1 it may not be needed much.

 

This looks to be a pretty fun character, a decent variation of pure cleric. Mainly offers a roleplaying slant for folks who dig Helm I suppose. As with vanilla clerics in BG1 this kit offers fairly high difficulty early on, something I like.

 

Blade

Seems very vulnerable in the early going, and he's doing only mediocre damage dual wielding longswords. Not sure how well this kit is going to work out at levels 1-7.

 

Maybe dual-wielding isn't the way to go for a Blade in BG1. Now that I think about it, I recall reading somewhere that dual wielding only turns out to be better than using one weapon when the dual-wielded weapons have enchantments. If that's true, then in BG1 dual-wielding probably isn't a good idea in general.

 

Swashbuckler

Nice! This guy is routinely doling out about 11-16 damage right out of the gate, and at least with gibberlings he's not getting too bloodied up.

 

Because he lacks the backstab multiplier I didn't bother to invest skill points in Hide in Shadows and Move Silently. I can have another thief or a ranger in the party for that. I'm putting the points I would normally apply toward stealth into Pickpocketing instead, a skill I rarely end up using in most games. So that's an interesting change of pace.