Do your allies' talking skills have any effect?

mindloss · 01-18-2012, 04:46 PM

i.e., should I ever put a single point into diplomacy/bluff/intimidate for any of them, or is it only checked on the PC?

One other question/observation on skills in general: most of them seem pretty useless, at least in the vanilla OC. I don't have a super strong D&D background, but aside from a few blatant exceptions like open lock and crafting, etc., they seem of little value. I know people say it's good to get Listen and Spot and Hide and all that good stuff up, but I don't see the practical benefit materializing... maybe for PvP...

Anyway, mostly curious about my first question. Thanks!

kamalktk · 01-18-2012, 06:04 PM

Not in the OC. Only player talking skills are checked in the OC and the first expansion. In Storm of Zehir, they fixed this and party skills are checked. In community made modules, it depends on the builder, though they didn't have the option until Storm of Zehir provided it.

totalitaer · 01-19-2012, 05:22 AM

Remeber, bluff is still used for Feint check.

Yes, spot is for PvP (against shadowdancers who have hide in plain sight).

Unless you plan to solo the campaign or play Storm of Zehir, hide is almost useless, but you can use it before engaging enemies to ensure Neeshka doesn't get aggro right away.

Don't know what the hell listen is for. It is used a bit in Storm of Zehir (actually, every single skill is very useful in SoZ, so you want a party with all skills high and no overlaps), and you want one char to have surival, search, hide, spot and listen to be leader.

henri511 · 01-23-2012, 03:49 PM

Your diplomatic and intimidate skills can have a major effect in some cases. For example, you can sometimes avoid battles by convincing the opponents to go away.

bbellina · 01-24-2012, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mindloss

i.e., should I ever put a single point into diplomacy/bluff/intimidate for any of them, or is it only checked on the PC?

Out-of-the-box the companions in OC and MotB cannot talk to anyone but the main PC, so their conversation skills are not used at all. As others have said in SoZ the cohorts participate in most conversations and so their skill points matter.

One of the features of the OC Makeover SoZ Edition and MotB Makeover SoZ Edition is that they allow most NPC's to converse with the companions and so the companion skill points then have some relevance.

Regards

Axe_Edge · 01-24-2012, 01:49 PM

Regarding other skills, Tumble can give actual AC (dodge bonus). Think it's 1 AC per 10 tumble points. Spellcraft, concentration, etc. are important to the spellcasters, whether they're a PC or not. I usually crank Sand's crafting skills. If you use the makeover, paying attention to the other skills pays off when multi-classing the companions.

01-18-2012, 04:46 PM	#1
mindloss Join Date: Jan 2012 Reputation: 0 Posts: 1	Do your allies' talking skills have any effect? i.e., should I ever put a single point into diplomacy/bluff/intimidate for any of them, or is it only checked on the PC? One other question/observation on skills in general: most of them seem pretty useless, at least in the vanilla OC. I don't have a super strong D&D background, but aside from a few blatant exceptions like open lock and crafting, etc., they seem of little value. I know people say it's good to get Listen and Spot and Hide and all that good stuff up, but I don't see the practical benefit materializing... maybe for PvP... Anyway, mostly curious about my first question. Thanks!

01-19-2012, 05:22 AM	#3
totalitaer Join Date: Apr 2009 Reputation: 50 Posts: 861	Remeber, bluff is still used for Feint check. Yes, spot is for PvP (against shadowdancers who have hide in plain sight). Unless you plan to solo the campaign or play Storm of Zehir, hide is almost useless, but you can use it before engaging enemies to ensure Neeshka doesn't get aggro right away. Don't know what the hell listen is for. It is used a bit in Storm of Zehir (actually, every single skill is very useful in SoZ, so you want a party with all skills high and no overlaps), and you want one char to have surival, search, hide, spot and listen to be leader. Last edited by totalitaer: 01-19-2012 at 05:28 AM.

01-24-2012, 01:49 PM	#6
Axe_Edge Join Date: Dec 2011 Reputation: 5 Posts: 32	Regarding other skills, Tumble can give actual AC (dodge bonus). Think it's 1 AC per 10 tumble points. Spellcraft, concentration, etc. are important to the spellcasters, whether they're a PC or not. I usually crank Sand's crafting skills. If you use the makeover, paying attention to the other skills pays off when multi-classing the companions. Last edited by Axe_Edge: 01-24-2012 at 02:29 PM.

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01-18-2012, 06:04 PM	#2
kamalktk Join Date: Dec 2010 Reputation: 11 Posts: 213	Not in the OC. Only player talking skills are checked in the OC and the first expansion. In Storm of Zehir, they fixed this and party skills are checked. In community made modules, it depends on the builder, though they didn't have the option until Storm of Zehir provided it.

01-23-2012, 03:49 PM	#4
henri511 Join Date: Feb 2010 Reputation: 2 Posts: 63	Your diplomatic and intimidate skills can have a major effect in some cases. For example, you can sometimes avoid battles by convincing the opponents to go away.