Party dilemmas

max787

Hi everyone,

I'm having a bit of difficulty deciding upon my ideal party! I haven't played BG 1 or 2 in about 7 years, so I've forgotten most of the game mechanics, and when I did play I wasn't very good to be honest. I picked party members that I liked as opposed to picking a balanced, effective party. This time around I'd like to plan my party out in advance, as it will help me play the game and it also gives me something to do while I'm waiting for the mac version to be released!!

This is the party that I have in mind, but I need some help with picking a few members:

Tank: ME (Half-Orc, one of the fighter kits, 19/18/19 and then dump the rest into INT, Lawful good)

DPS: Dorn (I'll give him the bracers of DEX, but his CON worries me a bit...)

DPS + Ranged option: Minsc (Not the best character, but he's hilarious)

Mage: Dynaheir (I don't really want her, but I have no choice since Minsc is in the party)

Healer: ?? no idea on this one, Viconia probably, but I don't want to have to worry about reputation...

The final slot is the most difficult, the thief slot, I genuinely don't know what to do and I'd really appreciate some feedback. I have 2 choices, Coran who looks like an awesome archer, or Imoen. I would dual Imoen to a mage once she reaches level 6, but that would mean that I wouldn't have a thief for half of the game... At the moment I think that Coran would make for an easier playthrough, but Imoen would make a better end-game party.

So any suggestions for the healer and thief spots in my party?

Thanks!

Homer99

I like Imoen as a thief in my party, even without dual classing her into the mage class I think she's good enough with a bow, and with all the magic arrows you find she can hold her own in most boss fights.

As for a healer I would get Branwen near the carnival (make sure you have a turn from stone scroll handy) that or Jaheria, but I always feel bad murdering Khalid then booting his corpse from the party while his wife is watching.

max787

How can you have Jaheira without Khalid? I thought that certain NPCs were linked, as in you couldn't have one without the other, like Minsc and Dynaheir for example.

valky

max787 said:

How can you have Jaheira without Khalid? I thought that certain NPCs were linked, as in you couldn't have one without the other, like Minsc and Dynaheir for example.

Go to some house you'll never ever enter again, send Khalid alone into, make sure the door is closed.
Reform your party and kick him = gone. Works for every couple....I think you can also kill him, but have him or whomever else waiting in some house is IMO the better solution.

edit: for the healer I prefer Jaheira, Branwen ain't that bad neither, as she has 2 points more AC and +2 lvl2 bonus spells and she can also wear a very easy to-get warhammer +2.
Thief...Imoen ^^ playing a good party doesn't leave me a lot of options and with her high Charisma + Cloak she is my Bartender-speaker for lower prices.
But a lot ppl seem to prefer Coran as well, cause of the high dex - so it's up to you
Maybe I'll grab him as well..but restarted the game and am not that far into.

max787

Ok cool, thanks for the tip

That means that I could have:

Me - Tank

Dorn - DPS

Minsc - DPS

Jaheira - Healer

Dynaheir/Neera - Mage

Imoen/Coran

Or, after some reflection, I could make this party:

Me - Tank

Dorn - DPS

Coran - Archer + party thief

Jaheira - Healer + Auxiliary tank

Imoen - Thief/mage dual class (Dual at Lvl. 2 as I won't need her thief skills??)

Neera/Dynaheir - Mage

I would use summons for some extra front-line protection. I love Minsc, but he isn't strictly necessary since Dorn is better than him, and I don't need 3 melee fighters (Jaheira can cover if needs be). I actually quite like the look of that party, I have 2 good melee fighters, an awesome archer for ranged damage, 2 mages, and a healer

Which party looks more balanced to you guys?

Myval

Well.. I think you should go with Neera, and duel out Imoen as you where thinking earlier. It always (at least for me) took a bit to git Coran, so that would give you time to have Imoen gain some levels in Theif, before dueling her out. And then you have Coran to cover while she is learning her new skills.

That would be at least how I play that group. Though I would have Branwen over Jaheria, I don't like to separate spouses or partners.

valky

The problem I have with Dorn and some NPCs you have chosen, is the Neutral Evil stuff. So you have to keep your reputation between 3 and 17, else some1 might wander off. (or use some happy-npc patch from the BG-tweaks...)

And with 2 powerhouse characters in both examples on your frontline I'd rather go and grab Branwen. Give her the Gauntlets of Ogrethingie and she kicks in too. Would contribute the Dex-gauntlets further to Dorn so he got also a very high AC.

I'd go with the 2nd option. (reason: I don't like Minsc ^^) else both options are viable.

max787

I think I'm going to go with the second option too, I've used Minsc in every single BG 1+2 Playthrough so it will make a nice change to see other NPCs. I'm just after seeing that Jaheira is actually a Fighter/Druid whereas Yeslick is a Fighter/cleric, and Branwen is a pure cleric. The main job will be healing, so would Branwen not be better for healing and buffs? Also, which has better summons? a druid or a cleric? as I will need some cannon fodder.

Final Party:

Me - Tank

Dorn - DPS

Coran - Ranged DPS + Thief

Branwen? - Healer

Neera - Mage (To try out a new character, I also like her high DEX)

Imoen - Mage (Good with a bow too due to her DEX)

darthchair

Am I the only guy that chooses party based on the character and not his/her stats? Huh...

max787

darthchair said:

Am I the only guy that chooses party based on the character and not his/her stats? Huh...

Read the first paragraph of the OP, I've done that in the past, and found the game to be really difficult Also, planning the party is fun!

dam23

Erm, you know, it's not really my place to say how you should play... but...

Why not take all 3 new characters into your party ?

This is my current layout, which I do not expect to change:
- kagain as tank , natural 20 constitution makes him invaluable
- dorn as 2h DPS, also getting longbow spec
- jaheira as a versatile healer, getting club + sling specs
- me as dwarven thief/fighter, 18/100 17 19 , longsword and longbow proficiencies
- raasad as a duh... well he's tagging along for now, when he hits level 6ish he should have an acceptable THAC0 and armor class
- neera as crowd control mage (blind, charm, fear, web, hold person...)


This way, I get to use all 3 new characters and enjoy them

One would argue that this leaves little replay value, but we've all played the classic minsc/viconia/imoen/edwin team 200 times.

dam23

max787 said:

The main job will be healing, so would Branwen not be better for healing and buffs? Also, which has better summons? a druid or a cleric? as I will need some cannon fodder.

Imoen - Mage (Good with a bow too due to her DEX)

Regarding clerics vs druids, I believe druids have stronger offensive spells (insect plague is exceedingly good), and they get raise dead sooner if I'm not mistaken.
Cleric focus more on buffing the party.


Regarding imoen as a mage, I guess you would be dual classing her (as opposed to editing her character) ?
I for one am sick to death of imoen

Also, keep in mind that with 2 mages, you're going to need 2 of each scroll, if you want them both to learn the same spells.

ekster

max787 said:

Final Party:

Me - Tank

Dorn - DPS

Coran - Ranged DPS + Thief

Branwen? - Healer

Neera - Mage (To try out a new character, I also like her high DEX)

Imoen - Mage (Good with a bow too due to her DEX)

It's a pretty good party overall, but personally, I'd switch Dorn for Rasaad because you chose a mostly good/neutral party. I would want to avoid micro-managing reputation. Rasaad would be no where near as good at DPS, sure, but I don't think you'll have trouble dealing damage considering the rest of the party.

max787

dam23 said:

Erm, you know, it's not really my place to say how you should play... but...

I created this thread for suggestions

I'll be bringing Dorn and Neera along, but I've never liked the monk class so Raasad will be left behind unfortunately.

Yes, Dorn will be a bit of a pain due to his alignment (I can't go over 17 rep right?) but I want to try him

Imoen has to brought along, she's your sister! I'll be dualing her at level 2 as I won't need her thief skills. Would there be any benefit (other than thief skills) to dualing her later on?

For the mages, I think i'm going to have one crowd control mage, and one offensive mage, that will cut down on the amount of scrolls needed

Thanks for clarifying druids vs clerics, I'm going to go with Jaheira

valky

Oh, 1 important note further - Clerics got Silence 15', dispel magic & chaotic commands, which is in some areas or against specific npcs extremely helpful, e.g. Ice Temple can be annoying.
Though if am not wrong Insect Plague is basically the damage variant of it but available a bit later.

(http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/bg/character/spells/priest/ can check for yourself and decide thereafter .. but am about to dump Jaheira and get me Branwen..already encountered stupid mages and couldn't do a thing cause Neera was too low for dispel and there wasn't much of an option ^^ dunno what spells are added in BG:EE but that's the old BG1+TotSc list)

max787

Great link Valky, thanks for that

The priest spell line has some decent offensive spells actually I'm now considering dropping Imoen, and bringing along Branwen... Druid, cleric, mage, and archer as my backline, with me (tank) and Dorn (DPS) in the frontline... Decisions, decisions!

dam23

max787 said:

Imoen has to brought along, she's your sister! I'll be dualing her at level 2 as I won't need her thief skills. Would there be any benefit (other than thief skills) to dualing her later on?

Seeing she's a pure thief, she'd get mediocre HP and THAC0 bonuses, so beyond the thieving skills, you wouldn't be receiving anything extraordinary.

max787 said:

For the mages, I think i'm going to have one crowd control mage, and one offensive mage, that will cut down on the amount of scrolls needed

Be careful with that, you're going to spend a lot of time micromanaging spells (as in, what to cast, where to cast) so has to not harm your own party (skull trap, fireball).

It's otherwise a very fun setup to play indeed, I used to run BG2 with my main mage + edwin, who never ever runs out of spells

max787 said:

Thanks for clarifying druids vs clerics, I'm going to go with Jaheira

She's IMHO the best choice if you're going to optimize.
Her being dual class makes her lag behind a tiiiiiny bit in comparison with a pure druid, but she gets to use more gear (shields, helmets !) and benefits from more HP and a better THAC0

max787

What kit would people recommend for my character? I'm thinking wizard slayer, since pure fighter seems a bit boring...

EDIT: bearing in mind that his party role will be that of a tank, so Kensai for example is out of the question.

sandmanCCL

You should dump all of your characters, play it solo with a bard, and only utilize wands to inflict damage.

max787

max787 said:

What kit would people recommend for my character? I'm thinking wizard slayer, since pure fighter seems a bit boring...

EDIT: bearing in mind that his party role will be that of a tank, so Kensai for example is out of the question.

Actually, I think I have an even better idea!! What does everyone think of a Fighter/Cleric half-orc multiclass for my character? He's going to be a tank, not DPS, which means that he needs to soak up damage, occupy the enemy, and stay alive, not necessarily kill everyone. So, the cleric's defensive spells would be greatly beneficial for that

max787

sandmanCCL said:

You should dump all of your characters, play it solo with a bard, and only utilize wands to inflict damage.

Unfortunately, despite many playthroughs, I'm still a rubbish BG player A solo run would end in countless rage-quits =p

Time4Tiddy

Coran is a great party thief, but you will want to get him ASAP. If you play along and level as you go, he will be 5/5 when you get him, with 80% in open locks and poop for find traps. If you can get him at 3/3 (the earliest possible), he is 60% in open locks and you have 2 extra levels to dump all his points into find traps before things get too hairy.

If you wait to dual Imoen until 5 or 6, she can handle the traps and locks while Coran is getting those 2 thief levels.

Getting Coran at 3/3 means you have to be level 3 or lower when you find him. It's very do-able, but you have to skip most of the sidequests until after you have him, and you may have a bit of trouble with some of the boss fights prior to that.