To be fair, Viconia has more than just the "cool" factor from being a drow; she also has magic resistance and insanely good dex. But she does overshadow Branwen, who is not a bad NPC at all. Unless I play a cleric as charname, it's Branwen in my party 8 out of 10 times. (1 would be Viconia, 1 Faldorn, according to my latest runs.)
Branwen has 16 dex and 15 con. 16 wis. and a better strength.
She is shadowed by Viconia only because of the boobs / romance factor added by the release of BG2 later.
Branwen has 16 dex and 15 con. 16 wis. and a better strength.
She is shadowed by Viconia only because of the boobs / romance factor added by the release of BG2 later.
Agreed, I find Branwen's stats more appealing. Permanent fatigue, inability to wear the Claw without also getting the tome (or buckler), need for Ogre strength gloves, ankheg armor before that... Viconia needs too much gear I rather give to other NPCs. The magic resistance is only so useful if all she can do is hurl away with a sling and rarely get in the range of spells. I also prefer Branwen's personality. She feels more like a cleric. I mean, wisdom is their prime stat, I can see how that applies to Branwen. She accepts her fate (seeing it as a test of faith that her people don't agree with a woman being a priest) in a calm manner, which I find is a wise thing to do. Viconia keeps acting like she's still among drow and belittles the surface dwellers she wants to protect her... Not so wise.
I actually think branwen is the best cleric in bg, she frequently makes it into my parties, but it's not set in stone...unlike her
Xzar and Yeslick have both their advantages (instant-dispel magic and 6 mage levels are pretty nice), but are less flexible from their alignment and the way to get them. I rarely have the patience for Yeslick and I also dislike seperating Xzar and Monty. Branwen fits in every party and never has the phase of being mostly dead weight (which Viconia does, due to all the gear she needs). "Best" depends on the playstyle and party composition, but Branwen is certainly the most flexible cleric. There's clearly a diamond hidden in that rock.
Branwen also doesn't have the baggage of anti-drow prejudice following her everywhere: it's rather nice to have a cleric who's starting from a clean slate.
Branwen has 16 dex and 15 con. 16 wis. and a better strength.
She is shadowed by Viconia only because of the boobs / romance factor added by the release of BG2 later.
Agreed, I find Branwen's stats more appealing. Permanent fatigue, inability to wear the Claw without also getting the tome (or buckler), need for Ogre strength gloves, ankheg armor before that... Viconia needs too much gear I rather give to other NPCs. The magic resistance is only so useful if all she can do is hurl away with a sling and rarely get in the range of spells. I also prefer Branwen's personality. She feels more like a cleric. I mean, wisdom is their prime stat, I can see how that applies to Branwen. She accepts her fate (seeing it as a test of faith that her people don't agree with a woman being a priest) in a calm manner, which I find is a wise thing to do. Viconia keeps acting like she's still among drow and belittles the surface dwellers she wants to protect her... Not so wise.
Also worth mentionning that in vanilla BG, magic resistance can be quite a pain ;-) (can block your own healing / buffing / debuffing spells).
Branwen has 16 dex and 15 con. 16 wis. and a better strength.
She is shadowed by Viconia only because of the boobs / romance factor added by the release of BG2 later.
Agreed, I find Branwen's stats more appealing. Permanent fatigue, inability to wear the Claw without also getting the tome (or buckler), need for Ogre strength gloves, ankheg armor before that... Viconia needs too much gear I rather give to other NPCs. The magic resistance is only so useful if all she can do is hurl away with a sling and rarely get in the range of spells. I also prefer Branwen's personality. She feels more like a cleric. I mean, wisdom is their prime stat, I can see how that applies to Branwen. She accepts her fate (seeing it as a test of faith that her people don't agree with a woman being a priest) in a calm manner, which I find is a wise thing to do. Viconia keeps acting like she's still among drow and belittles the surface dwellers she wants to protect her... Not so wise.
Also worth mentionning that in vanilla BG, magic resistance can be quite a pain ;-) (can block your own healing / buffing / debuffing spells).
Branwen has 16 dex and 15 con. 16 wis. and a better strength.
She is shadowed by Viconia only because of the boobs / romance factor added by the release of BG2 later.
Agreed, I find Branwen's stats more appealing. Permanent fatigue, inability to wear the Claw without also getting the tome (or buckler), need for Ogre strength gloves, ankheg armor before that... Viconia needs too much gear I rather give to other NPCs. The magic resistance is only so useful if all she can do is hurl away with a sling and rarely get in the range of spells. I also prefer Branwen's personality. She feels more like a cleric. I mean, wisdom is their prime stat, I can see how that applies to Branwen. She accepts her fate (seeing it as a test of faith that her people don't agree with a woman being a priest) in a calm manner, which I find is a wise thing to do. Viconia keeps acting like she's still among drow and belittles the surface dwellers she wants to protect her... Not so wise.
Also worth mentionning that in vanilla BG, magic resistance can be quite a pain ;-) (can block your own healing / buffing / debuffing spells).
Yep, in vanilla that was a real annoyance. Resisting healing spells was the most stupid thing ever. It's not a problem in EE anymore, but the cons still outweight the pro for me (the low con-con especially, pardon the pun.)
Sorry to recall it again, but in BG1, there is only a handful of battle that actually require magic resistance.
Mages are quite weak in BG1 and now there are new spells from BG2 to resist the most annoying effects (I have in mind the Berserk ability, Chaotic Commands and so on).
Yep, in vanilla that was a real annoyance. Resisting healing spells was the most stupid thing ever. It's not a problem in EE anymore, but the cons still outweight the pro for me (the low con-con especially, pardon the pun.)
I don't find her low Con a problem as she hardly ever gets hit when wearing the Ankheg plate
Yep, in vanilla that was a real annoyance. Resisting healing spells was the most stupid thing ever. It's not a problem in EE anymore, but the cons still outweight the pro for me (the low con-con especially, pardon the pun.)
I don't find her low Con a problem as she hardly ever gets hit when wearing the Ankheg plate
Exactly. My experience as well. She actually tanks great in that respect--and she can cast while tanking! I put her on the front line and have enemy tanks swing and miss at her while she casts Hold, Command, and whatever else.
Not that I don't appreciate Branwen, 'cause I do. But overall I do think Viconia brings more to the table.
The exception to this rule is when Branwen is dualed to Thief! Then she is incredibly useful. (Even more than she is as pure class cleric, I mean. Because she's already a strong character as a plain cleric.)
Yep, in vanilla that was a real annoyance. Resisting healing spells was the most stupid thing ever. It's not a problem in EE anymore, but the cons still outweight the pro for me (the low con-con especially, pardon the pun.)
I don't find her low Con a problem as she hardly ever gets hit when wearing the Ankheg plate
Exactly. My experience as well. She actually tanks great in that respect--and she can cast while tanking! I put her on the front line and have enemy tanks swing and miss at her while she casts Hold, Command, and whatever else.
Not that I don't appreciate Branwen, 'cause I do. But overall I do think Viconia brings more to the table.
The exception to this rule is when Branwen is dualed to Thief! Then she is incredibly useful. (Even more than she is as pure class cleric, I mean. Because she's already a strong character as a plain cleric.)
And if you give her Tazok's gloves she can tank even better, with Full Plate and Large Shield, not that her AC is bad with just the Ankheg Plate, +1 Small Shield and a protection ring.
But to give her the Claw, you also need to give her the con tome or buckler. With 8 con, she gets into the HP penalty territory. Then she needs Ankheg plate because she can't wear armor other clerics can wear. Then she needs the Ogre gloves to wear those armors and shields... It's an investment of many items (Ogre gloves come in somewhat late, too) and less flexible than Branwen, who can wear normal armor and shields right away.
But to give her the Claw, you also need to give her the con tome or buckler. With 8 con, she gets into the HP penalty territory. Then she needs Ankheg plate because she can't wear armor other clerics can wear. Then she needs the Ogre gloves to wear those armors and shields... It's an investment of many items (Ogre gloves come in somewhat late, too) and less flexible than Branwen, who can wear normal armor and shields right away.
She doesn't really need the Claw, though, I think this is more useful on Dorn
I was just thinking the other day that she's one character I'd like to see fleshed out a lot more. I mean there's the whole backstory with Tranzig that never really amounts to anything, plus the way that you get her in your party is pretty cool. And who doesn't love Nordic women.
Yeah, I'd like to see more of her flesh.. Um..... I mean more fleshed out...
I like Bran-flakes. I usually have her as a staple in my 'Good' parties.
Branwen as Tank #2, Khalid with Ogre Gauntlets -Minsc with GofDex, Kivan/Coran, Imoen Dualed at Level 6 and Charname F/M with 18Dex [Bows and Blunt Weapons]. With 3--Comp Longbow +1 and a focus on Archery with Charname's 18/76 Str getting good value from Ashideena when useful.
No idea whether my PC will suffer from not being able to use Amazing Swords available in BG2 as I kinda doubt there will be much in the way of Amazing Blunt Weapons. But imagine my BG2 role to be much more focussed on Arcane Casting.
My strategic sense has always had prickles about recruiting Viconia with a Good Party because of the notoriety her Drow-ness would attract. Lost Rep pts is not such a big deal but she hardly makes sense when my Charname is trying to Lay-low somewhat aggressively until matters begin to make sense...
@Eadwyn_G8keeper, don't worry *at all* about lacking Amazing Blunt Weapons in BG2, there are numerous excellent blunts. Some people argue that the Flail of Ages is the best weapon in the whole series, and obviously that's a flail. There are also some excellent weapons in the other blunt categories. You'll probably want some characters in your BG2 party wielding sharps, but you can use NPCs for that: if your Charname happens to be specialised in blunts, s/he'll still have plenty of very good weapon options.
I like Branwen. Very useful cleric, fairly useful in combat too, quite interesting personality. I agree that it'd be nice if her story and character were more fleshed out.
... Branwen is definitely high on the list of NPCs I wish had more backstory, i.e. WHY Tranzig made her a statue and why he chose this particular idea instead of simply killing her. This kind of punishment says it was more than a random encounter or a wrong place, wrong time situation.
Branwen does explain some of this in dialogue at the time you recruit her. She was in an adventuring party alongside Tranzig, but rebelled when she disapproved of some of their actions, and turning her to stone was Tranzig's way of punishing her. So indeed, we know it wasn't just some random encounter. However, I'll agree that Branwen's vengeance deserves to be turned into a proper questline. It looks to me like the original developers intended to make a proper quest out of this, but I guess they ran out of time before completing it.
A simple disagreement leads to rather unusual punishment - and exactly nothing happens when she meets Tranzig again - can't be the plan, so yeah, details, please.
About the claw: Yeah, sure it's better on Dorn. Because he's not losing HP from wearing it. Every other PC can wear it and get away with either no disadvantage or giving up an advantage - but no-one else gets a *penalty*. 8 is really really low for a cleric. Xan as mage, sure, though it still annoys me that low con NPCs want to rest all the time, with no-one else in the party needing rest.
Branwen has opened a 'tough-girls' -Bouldering- attraction at the Nashkel Carnival which is the talk of far and wide. She has dedicated 20% of the profits to re-educating the Kobolds about the highly lucrative possibilities of Fresh Herbs [All kinds...Sometimes, ye jus gotta get, you know...stoned! ]
I just hope she isn't six feet under in the canon, that would, uhh, break my heart, or something.
No, at least not yet. In original BG2, nothing at all was said about what had become of Branwen, so there is no canon. I suppose it's conceivable that, when BG2ee comes out, it might tell us more about her fate, which would then be new canon, but I don't expect this.
Comments
... Sorry, I just had to.
No but seriously, you can always cry on her boulder.
She is shadowed by Viconia only because of the boobs / romance factor added by the release of BG2 later.
I also prefer Branwen's personality. She feels more like a cleric. I mean, wisdom is their prime stat, I can see how that applies to Branwen. She accepts her fate (seeing it as a test of faith that her people don't agree with a woman being a priest) in a calm manner, which I find is a wise thing to do. Viconia keeps acting like she's still among drow and belittles the surface dwellers she wants to protect her... Not so wise.
Branwen fits in every party and never has the phase of being mostly dead weight (which Viconia does, due to all the gear she needs). "Best" depends on the playstyle and party composition, but Branwen is certainly the most flexible cleric. There's clearly a diamond hidden in that rock.
(can block your own healing / buffing / debuffing spells).
That's why I said vanilla BG ;-)
Still, her stats sucks. ^_^
Sorry to recall it again, but in BG1, there is only a handful of battle that actually require magic resistance.
Mages are quite weak in BG1 and now there are new spells from BG2 to resist the most annoying effects (I have in mind the Berserk ability, Chaotic Commands and so on).
Not that I don't appreciate Branwen, 'cause I do. But overall I do think Viconia brings more to the table.
The exception to this rule is when Branwen is dualed to Thief! Then she is incredibly useful. (Even more than she is as pure class cleric, I mean. Because she's already a strong character as a plain cleric.)
I like Bran-flakes. I usually have her as a staple in my 'Good' parties.
No idea whether my PC will suffer from not being able to use Amazing Swords available in BG2 as I kinda doubt there will be much in the way of Amazing Blunt Weapons. But imagine my BG2 role to be much more focussed on Arcane Casting.
My strategic sense has always had prickles about recruiting Viconia with a Good Party because of the notoriety her Drow-ness would attract. Lost Rep pts is not such a big deal but she hardly makes sense when my Charname is trying to Lay-low somewhat aggressively until matters begin to make sense...
About the claw: Yeah, sure it's better on Dorn. Because he's not losing HP from wearing it. Every other PC can wear it and get away with either no disadvantage or giving up an advantage - but no-one else gets a *penalty*. 8 is really really low for a cleric. Xan as mage, sure, though it still annoys me that low con NPCs want to rest all the time, with no-one else in the party needing rest.
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