PC F/T (probably focus on bows for BG1) Dorn (tank) Kagain (axes!) Viconia (healbot) Edwin (spells) Xan (hilarity)
Obviously the new secret NPC would be a better fit for the Evil Mage #2 slot, but I can't stop giggling over the prospect of the chronically pessimistic Xan being surrounded by evil characters. I plan to use him in melee quite a bit with his moonblade. I expect he'll die more often but that just makes it funnier.
I am currently playing a group just like this except I have Mr Mystery in place of Xan - the PC is an elf FT and the group just finished Cloakwood in a no reload campaign (core)- you can follow some of thier exploits on the last few pages of this thread:
They are working very well together in spite of the fact that I generally prefer two priest types to two mage types and I may be tempted to swap out one of the mages for Tiax or Quayle at some point but then again maybe not as Edwin & Mr Mystery are very powerful together.
You can kill Ghost of Ulcaster by using poison attacks, like the dagger of venom. This will take some time since you can only hit with critical strikes for 7-8 poison damage and the ghost has 100HP. You will also get a severe reputation loss for killing this ghost (!!!).
Rep loss is based on the rep you have at the time. If the ghost counts like a commoner (and the Kozah topic suggests as much), I'll lose 3 - 4 rep with my average evil party rep. It's a fine way to take a rep hit without outrunning guards, too; there's no-one near the ghost. Much more convenient than a commoner or guard.
Just finished my first playthrough with this lineup:
Main character (Swashbuckler, thief duties as well as decent damage output with a scimitar +2 and shortsword +2) Minsc (Main tank with +3 plate mail, +3 greatsword. Also primary hamster keeper) Jaheira (Mostly heal/support, but no slouch in combat with plate mail +2 and quarterstaff...+3 I think? Occasionally switches to darts for tougher fights where she needs to stay out of things) Khalid (I wanted to replace him for a while, but he became an excellent archer who could also switch to sword/shield if enemies broke our lines to him and the mages) Dynaheir (Mage. Minor spell sequencer with two magic missiles is too much for most enemies. Also equipped with the Sling +3 found in Durlag's tower. She was going to learn cloudkill, but the game finished before I could level her enough) Neera (Mage, with more support spells than Dynaheir)
My evil party house rule is to never go over 14 rep even as "villain with good PR", so my rep hits are never that severe.
I do something similar, and try to keep mixed evil/neutral/good parties at 16 or below
Yep, 16 is the upper limit if I have neutral or good. My charname is evil 95 % of all games, so it ends up mixed this or that way. I also restrict bad rep to 7 with good aligned NPCs (I'm not 100 % sure, but I think 6 and below causes ranger charnames to fall, hence if I have Kivan in the party, I play it as if NPCs would fall, too.)
My evil party house rule is to never go over 14 rep even as "villain with good PR", so my rep hits are never that severe.
I do something similar, and try to keep mixed evil/neutral/good parties at 16 or below
Yep, 16 is the upper limit if I have neutral or good. My charname is evil 95 % of all games, so it ends up mixed this or that way. I also restrict bad rep to 7 with good aligned NPCs (I'm not 100 % sure, but I think 6 and below causes ranger charnames to fall, hence if I have Kivan in the party, I play it as if NPCs would fall, too.)
I think NPC rangers or Paladins will fall if rep drops too far or maybe they just leave or in some cases attack the group
Ya, NPCs don't fall, but I still take it as a restriction for what a good NPC would accept in a mixed group. Kivan didn't fall or leave at 5 rep, but I got it back up to 6 fairly soon. Maybe he didn't have the time to react or something.
My current mixed-alignment party seems to offer quite a good balance:
CHARNAME - Half-Elf Blade (CN) dual-wielding Drizzt's +3 Icing Death Scimitar (pickpocketed) and +2 Rashads Talon Scimitar, no ranged weapon proficiency, but will use the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy to balance this out. Also wears the gloves of Weapon Mastery. Wears the +2 Chain Mail, or nothing with the Shield Amulet. Will pick up the elven chain when it drops near Baldur's Gate. Mostly uses spells for self-buffing. Main pick-pocketer/shop-lifter.
Dorn (NE) - Wielding +2 Spiders Bane, +1 Composite Bow, and Dex gloves - to both improve his AC (he's my main tank) and his usefulness with the bow. Wears Full Plate and Helmet of Defence
Viconia (NE) - Wielding the +2/+1 Warhammer or the +1 Stupefier Mace, or +1 sling. Wears Ankheg Plate and +1 small shield
Coran (CG) - Wielding the +2 "Deadshot" bow and the +2/+1 Varscona Long sword. Uses the other set of gaunlets of Weapon Mastery. Wears the +3 Studded Leather Shadow Armour and boots of stealth. Thief skills focused on Open Locks and the stealth skills
Imoen (NG) - dualed to mage at level 5 Thief, has proficiencies in shortbow, short sword, single weapon style and sling (when a mage), uses the Archery Gloves. May pick daggers (for Dagger of Venom) with her final proficiency point. Has 100% in Find Traps, the rest of points were allocated to the stealth skills
Comments
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/12581/the-no-reload-challenge-spoiler-warning#latest
They are working very well together in spite of the fact that I generally prefer two priest types to two mage types and I may be tempted to swap out one of the mages for Tiax or Quayle at some point but then again maybe not as Edwin & Mr Mystery are very powerful together.
CHARNAME(usually a pally ultra tank)
Imoen Strait thief never dualled
Kivan
Minsc
Brawnwen
Dyanaheir
Main character (Swashbuckler, thief duties as well as decent damage output with a scimitar +2 and shortsword +2)
Minsc (Main tank with +3 plate mail, +3 greatsword. Also primary hamster keeper)
Jaheira (Mostly heal/support, but no slouch in combat with plate mail +2 and quarterstaff...+3 I think? Occasionally switches to darts for tougher fights where she needs to stay out of things)
Khalid (I wanted to replace him for a while, but he became an excellent archer who could also switch to sword/shield if enemies broke our lines to him and the mages)
Dynaheir (Mage. Minor spell sequencer with two magic missiles is too much for most enemies. Also equipped with the Sling +3 found in Durlag's tower. She was going to learn cloudkill, but the game finished before I could level her enough)
Neera (Mage, with more support spells than Dynaheir)
CHARNAME - Half-Elf Blade (CN) dual-wielding Drizzt's +3 Icing Death Scimitar (pickpocketed) and +2 Rashads Talon Scimitar, no ranged weapon proficiency, but will use the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy to balance this out. Also wears the gloves of Weapon Mastery. Wears the +2 Chain Mail, or nothing with the Shield Amulet. Will pick up the elven chain when it drops near Baldur's Gate. Mostly uses spells for self-buffing. Main pick-pocketer/shop-lifter.
Dorn (NE) - Wielding +2 Spiders Bane, +1 Composite Bow, and Dex gloves - to both improve his AC (he's my main tank) and his usefulness with the bow. Wears Full Plate and Helmet of Defence
Viconia (NE) - Wielding the +2/+1 Warhammer or the +1 Stupefier Mace, or +1 sling. Wears Ankheg Plate and +1 small shield
Coran (CG) - Wielding the +2 "Deadshot" bow and the +2/+1 Varscona Long sword. Uses the other set of gaunlets of Weapon Mastery. Wears the +3 Studded Leather Shadow Armour and boots of stealth. Thief skills focused on Open Locks and the stealth skills
Imoen (NG) - dualed to mage at level 5 Thief, has proficiencies in shortbow, short sword, single weapon style and sling (when a mage), uses the Archery Gloves. May pick daggers (for Dagger of Venom) with her final proficiency point. Has 100% in Find Traps, the rest of points were allocated to the stealth skills
Neera (CN) - in romance with CHARNAME