BG2EE: Who Stays With You?
shawne
Member Posts: 3,239
We all know that many characters won't be returning in BG2EE, and I'm curious: which party members will you be losing in the transition, and who will you use to replace them?
My lineup:
Dorn (sticking around)
Montaron -> Korgan (up to ToB) -> Sarevok
Shar-Teel -> New Evil Female Thief (?)
Viconia (as if I'd give her up)
Baeloth -> either Neera or Edwin (I really don't know anything about how Wild Mages function at higher levels, plus I accidentally triggered her romance when I was trying to get with Dorn so that's a whole other mess I need to sort out somehow - hopefully setting the global variable to 0 will be enough? If not, I'll just stick with Ed...)
My lineup:
Dorn (sticking around)
Montaron -> Korgan (up to ToB) -> Sarevok
Shar-Teel -> New Evil Female Thief (?)
Viconia (as if I'd give her up)
Baeloth -> either Neera or Edwin (I really don't know anything about how Wild Mages function at higher levels, plus I accidentally triggered her romance when I was trying to get with Dorn so that's a whole other mess I need to sort out somehow - hopefully setting the global variable to 0 will be enough? If not, I'll just stick with Ed...)
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Evil:
F/T protagonist
Dorn stays.
Neera stays.
Viconia stays.
Faldorn -> Edwin
Kagain -> Korgan
I might swap something around for the theoretical new thief NPC, but I haven't figured that out yet. I might ditch Neera, since I think I borked her romance.
Good:
Dragon Disciple protagonist
Ajantis -> Keldorn
Rasaad stays.
Neera stays.
Branwen -> Anomen
Imoen -> Yoshi -> Imoen, probably
This would be a good party to test out the new thief, but if she's evil that'll spell trouble...
The Three Massacreteers (Dorn Il'Khan, Edwin Odesseiron, Viconia deVir) will continue on!
The New Thief will replace Shar-Teel/Montaron
The 6th Slot, currently occupied by Xzar/Baeloth/Kagain/Eldoth will rotate, I think, eventually settling on Korgan, who will be sacrificed in Hell, and then Sarevok in ToB.
I'm thinking of doing most of BG2EE with Dorn + Harem (Charname, Viconia, Edwina and new Thief).
(My girls! I almost always take them...no matter what my alignment)
Viconia (Sometimes she needs The Helm of Alignment Change)
Jaheria
Imoen
If I'm good / Neutral.
Neera
Rasaad or Minsc
If I'm evil....
Dorn
Edwin
Baeloth (I hope they do bring him back he's so great)
The truth is...I made the kitting thread, and the thread about NPC's that could be brought back because I find that I'm not that crazy about the characters you can't invest in for the whole of the series.
I just play tested a small mod which I'm trying to find a host for...and I've got some ideas about a few mods, some of which are NPC related that I'd like to get into at some point...but I'm far more likely to take characters that I can really mold.
The exceptions to this rule are mostly evil. Shar-Teel and Kagain I will sometimes rationalize. For example: I never really find myself making time for Ajantis or Kivan over Minsc, who fills that good fighter guy role, but also carries over. Or Rasaad. who after leveling for a bit can become a great front-liner, though not as heavily armored of one.
At most I'll take maybe one character I can't have in the next game...or if it was an hardcore run I'd probably use them all while getting most of them killed...but as interesting as some of the characters are, i just really prefer being able to grow a good team.
Blade protagonist (Chaotic Neutral)
Dorn stays.
Neera stays.
Viconia stays.
Imoen > Jan
Coran > The New Thief??
Not sure about the last one...
Charname swashbuckler
Minsc
Jaheira
Khalid--->hm...possibly Valygar?
Neera
Dynaheir--->Hard to say. Imoen? Nalia?
Me
Minsc
Jaheira
Aerie
Viconia
Jan or Nalia (replaces Neera)
Will also have Neera around until she clashes with Aerie/Viconia. Mostly have her in my current playthrough to check the quality of Overhaul's new companions (it's good, I approve!) and out of curiousity for how the whole transition from BG to BGII will work with her.
The BG1 party obviously has Edwin as mage, Xzar as cleric (I barely use his necro spells; he doubles as Identify bot) --> replaced by Fail!Quest Anomen (never used him much in the past, I wanna see what's up with the egomanic jerk thing first hand), Dorn (sticks around), Kagain --> replaced by Korgan (charname has rp history with him, too and I don't share the "I hate him because he isn't Kagain" mentality) and the 6th ranger is Monty for trap/lock duty --> replaced by new evil thief; actually a perfect fit for me that it's gonna be another thief.
Edwin - stays
Xzar - Fail Anomen
Dorn - stays
Kagain - Korgan
Monty - new thief
For my Priest of Talos, I have no idea. A second cleric isn't optimal or neccessary, so it will probably be a mixed party rather than all evil. Blackguard, no idea either. While two Blackguards are certainly effective, it's also a bit dull.
I like your party!
Amazingly, I've been planning a rather simular combination (with some changes, different characters but with the same roles) myself.
PC Shadowdancer 13 lvl / dual-classed to a mage
Jaheira - stays - a healer and a tank (her improved DEX in BG2 + ironskins helps a lot to not get hit)
Dorn - stays - a damage dealer
Neera - stays - a wild mage at a high level can do wonders
Haerdalis - instead of Garrick - a blade - he's a bard (pickpocketing and lore, although with penalties, reach good numbers in BG2 anyway) who can tank (stoneskin + defensive spin) and be an additional arcane caster
Jan Jansen - instead of Imoen - (lockpickting, disarm traps, detect illusions, set traps); it can be a new thief too, especially if he's a cleric also
As I said, am not sure what to do with the last slot, I already have three arcane casters, so no need for more, but could perhaps do with a tanky character, Jaheira maybe (and her alignment would fit okay), though I'm not averse to taking another thief, the new one maybe. Am trying to avoid taking any Lawful characters....
Jaheira is my favourite party member. Her class combination is rather versatile and her druidic spells and HLAs differ from the cleric pool and bring interesting tactics. Due to Ironskins and fighter THACO and STR boosting items she's one of the best tanks.
You can always leave the last slot free to take an NPC into your party, complete his quest and take another one. This way you'll get acquainted with every possible NPC and while he's travelling with you it'll be clear about his pros and cons, his character etc. After taking everyone you'll be able to choose the best one who suits your party.
Me
Imoen
Khalid
Jaheira
Montron
Xzar
"By the time we're done, BG2 will have 21 NPCs to BG1s original 26."
BTW my Blade is male half-elf, in BGEE I've been romancing Neera, and could continue this in BG2, but I think I will actually try to romance Viconia... Yes, that's another options, and could make things interesting
I've romanced Vicky in the past and just want to try something new. Just for a change. But of course, the Viconia romance is interesting, intriguing and thought-provoking.
charname: NG priest of lothander
rasaad - stays
ajantis - keldorn/mazzy
yeslick - anomen
quayle - aerie
imoen - yoshimo/stays
charname: TN avenger
khalid - minsc
jahiera - stays
kivan - ?
neera - stays
imoen - yoshimo/stays
charname: LE wizard slayer
kagain - valygar/keldorn (my WS might be evil, but inquisitors hunt mages and valygar hates magic)
dorn - stays
viconia - stays
edwin - stays
shar teel - new evil thief (fingers crossed)
i'm very excited to take the Priest of Lothander and the Wizard Slayer, the Avenger was fun and flexible but a little underwhelming and I can see her sucking at later levels
I do not intend to try it again, since I'll be back to all evil after that, either with Viconia or my Priest of Talos charname.