So now that Katarina and her crew (most of them anyway – Garin’s a little behind due to unbalanced levelling) have reached Level 16, I’ve updated their portraits a bit to reflect their growth.
Lady Katarina de Winter
Build: Human Paladin 4/Fighter 12
Combat: Holy Avenger Sword and Shield
Skills: Diplomacy
“czech woman,5’10”,age 35,proud smile,leader,shoulder-length brown hair,brown eyes,paladin armor,blue cloak,shield with snowflake motif,fine holy longsword“
Katarina now fully considers herself a Paladin, and all remaining levels will go towards that. She has been leading the Damage/XP board by far for most of the game, but Kordaal and Percy have been catching up lately. With her recent acquisition of the Holy Avenger that may shift back her way again. And with that sword adding Spell Resistance to her already ridiculous saves, she pretty much never goes down unless swarmed.
Percival Took,”Percy” :
Build: Halfling Fighter 12/Rogue 4
Combat: Small Blades, Dual Wield, Throwing
Skills: Bluff, Stealth
“halfling man,hobbit,3’8″,wry grin,brown hair,smooth skin,black leather armor,black cape,two daggers”
Percy has been strong through the whole of IWD2, but the combo of picking up a good damage throwing knife and a set of gauntlets that give him an extra-attack – in addition to rapid shot, etc – means he is just brutal on anything susceptible to his knives. I usually set him on wizard lockdown, as he chews through mirror image like nobody’s business and even with a high concentration you’ll start failing when you’re having to roll it 5 times per round.
Garin TrapSpringer
Build: Dwarf Rogue 4,Ranger 11
Combat: Axe or Hammer and shield, Crossbows
Skills: Animal Empathy, Search, Traps, Wild Lore
“short stout dwarf,4’8″,ranger,male,swiss,brown hair,short beard,metal helmet,heavy leather armor,backpack,warhammer,shield”
Garin started out slowly, but has been gaining momentum with better equipment, ranger spells, and as his favored enemies have come more into play. Despite mostly using leather armor he’s among the tankiest members of the crew. He’s still the “utility infielder”, competent at basically all roles – and shores up whatever tactical weaknesses develop in play.
Elara of Mielikki
Build: Elf Druid 16 of Mielikki
Combat: Bow, scimitar and shield, wild shape
Skills: Concentration, Wild Lore
“elf woman,cherokee,5’3″,green hooded cloak,green face tattoos,piercing stare,tanned,dark brown pony tail,green eyes,leather scale armor,cherokee jewelry,fine longbow“
Elara is still mean with the bow, and fully capable of engaging with either scimitar or wildshape as the situation demands. But she’s definitely transitioning to more of a spellcaster role nowadays. Too many good high-level Druid spells to be spending much time plinking away with arrows unless its just trash mobs. She is usually the one I pick when I need out-of-the box solutions. As between odd spells, wild-shapes, and being specced differently than everyone else she’s usually best-equipped to pull a rabbit out of her “hat”..
Kordaal Vanagas:
Build: Human Barbarian 15/Rogue 1
Combat: Polearm Specialist
Skills: Intimidate,Locks,Pickpocket,Bluff
“Romani man,smirking at viewer,goatee,blue-headband,earrings,tall,tanned,strong,6’2″,mid 30s,loose black hair,fine leather armor,black fur cloak,holding fine spear“
Kordaal started strong, but with limited durability. But with more Barbarian levels and some DR equipment he’s become both incredibly damaging and incredibly tough to take down. He’s highly resistant to just about everything except electricity, and has a metric ton of HP behind that, and regen gear to boot. So I just let him go to town on the biggest bad and worry about everyone else. He recently picked up a Spear of Disruption (works on both undead & outsiders). That’s been brutal on Undead – even the Lost Six had a member disintegrated by it. And as we start meeting demons in late IWD2 it should be even more entertaining.
Solstice Vanagas:
Build: Half-Elf Bard 1 / Sorceress 15
Skills: Concentration, Spellcraft, Knowledge (Arcane)
“gypsy bard woman,half-elf,5’6″,mid 30s,tanned,knowing smile,long black hair,red bandanna,romani jewelry,billowy white shirt,black arab pants,red cloak,arcane staff“
No longer the shrinking violet she started out as, and fully capable of pulling her own weight, Solstice has really pulled everyone’s fat out of the fire a number of times. She’s heavily specced toward enchantment spells, backed up by summoning (shadow summoning and such) and illusion. And its been rare that a simple confusion or chaos spell can’t rapidly change the course of a battle that’s not looking good. And when she needs to she’s also specced for Frost damage when she needs to go to town as DPS instead of controller, with a handful of Acid spells for those magic resistant beasties. Recently she’s picked up some anti-magic and anti-summoning capabilities to round things out. The bard level hasn’t turned out to do much. But it still suits her.
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