Help Inspire me to play
Deafhobbit
Member Posts: 6
I played a lot of BG1 and BG2, and picked up BGEE right when it came out. However, because I've played the game so many times (though, I'm certain, much less than some other people on this forum), I'm having trouble finding a character and party composition that excites me enough to play. I've started the game 2 or 3 times, but never been able to get to the mines without feeling like I'm stuck in a rut. I keep doing similar characters and party members as I've done in the past, and get bored. So, i wanted to come here and ask for advice on a race and class combo, party members, and general play style Anything a bit interesting, off the wall, or entertaining that you've done in the past would be much appreciated.
Some background
- I'm not sure if I'll have the time for another play-through any time soon, so I'm looking for a build that will be viable in BG2EE as well when it comes out.
- I've beaten BG1 as a Fighter, Cleric, and Ranger/Cleric Multiclass. I've beaten BG2 as a Kensai/Mage dual class, Ranger/Cleric Multiclass, and solo Bounty Hunter. Never beaten ToB.
- BG1 NPC's I've used a lot include Imoen (both dualed to thief and not), Branwen, Kivan, Minsc, and Dynahir. Not averse to reusing some of them, but would prefer to not reuse all of them.
- I've mostly played as a Male, but I'm willing to play a female.
- Would prefer good or neutral-ish alignment, largely because reputation management has always seemed like a pain. I am willing to use evil party members, however.
- I prefer playing with a party to soloing.
- I prefer flexible, spellcasting heavy parties, especially in BG2.
- Willing to do something moderately challenging, but nothing crazy.
- I've done plenty of tabletop roleplaying, so a roleplaying hook to a character that guides them and adds an extra dimension to gameplay and choices would be appreciated.
Thanks
Some background
- I'm not sure if I'll have the time for another play-through any time soon, so I'm looking for a build that will be viable in BG2EE as well when it comes out.
- I've beaten BG1 as a Fighter, Cleric, and Ranger/Cleric Multiclass. I've beaten BG2 as a Kensai/Mage dual class, Ranger/Cleric Multiclass, and solo Bounty Hunter. Never beaten ToB.
- BG1 NPC's I've used a lot include Imoen (both dualed to thief and not), Branwen, Kivan, Minsc, and Dynahir. Not averse to reusing some of them, but would prefer to not reuse all of them.
- I've mostly played as a Male, but I'm willing to play a female.
- Would prefer good or neutral-ish alignment, largely because reputation management has always seemed like a pain. I am willing to use evil party members, however.
- I prefer playing with a party to soloing.
- I prefer flexible, spellcasting heavy parties, especially in BG2.
- Willing to do something moderately challenging, but nothing crazy.
- I've done plenty of tabletop roleplaying, so a roleplaying hook to a character that guides them and adds an extra dimension to gameplay and choices would be appreciated.
Thanks
0
Comments
If you're imaginative and can come up with party interaction on your own, that's great. However, if you're looking for maximum interaction, then you can probably maximize your party for interaction. Some parties work well with each other banter-wise while others don't. Increased interaction between party members can be a great springboard for roleplaying ideas, and can really help with immersion.
Examples:
-Kivan and Branwen get along very well.
-Kivan absolutely hates Viconia
-Xan gets along well with Khalid.
-Quayle will annoy the shit out of pretty much everyone, and it's hilarious. He has a good number of unique interactions with Tiax as well.
-There's an interesting love triangle between Garrick, Skie, and Eldoth.
-There are extensive interactions between Coran and Safana.
-Shar-Teel will put Eldoth in his place.
-Ajantis may eventually come to blows with any evil party member.
-Alora has quite a bit of interaction with Xan, and will try to cheer him up.
-Alora also develops an odd kind of friendship with Edwin, and it is the most adorable thing ever. He will grow very fond of her.
-Ajantis will just assume that Xan is evil without even bothering to use Detect Evil on him to back up this claim, and will constantly harass him. Xan actually takes this pretty well, considering.
-There are interactions between Yeslick and Kagain.
-Edwin obviously has interactions with Minsc and Dynaheir, though you have to jump through some hoops in order to get them on the same party together, and Dynaheir is in constant danger of being killed by Edwin, so this party configuration isn't really the most optimal, but it's interesting.
-Khalid and Jaheira have several banters with Xzar and Montaron, and the two pairs will eventually come to blows.
-Jaheira and Faldorn have a tendency to exchange insults with each other.
-Eldoth will treat Skie like shit.
The BG1 NPC project adds a ton more interactions between characters. The ones listed above are all in vanilla BG1.
Try using unusual weaponry, like darts, throwing axes, morning stars, halberds etc
Leave a spare party slot or two, and pick up NPCs to suit your needs mood. Then dump them when you are done with them.
Go exploring in the areas you wouldn't normally do because there is no "Named" content in them, such as BG sewers or firewine bridge.
Theme your characters - I personally like to make fire mages who level their fire res to over 100, then wander into combat and sling fireballs at point blank range.
Keep track of every single party members kill list and numbers. Take note of how important enemy npcs died, and post the info on these boards.
- Xzar (to cleric - from necro 6, he becomes a casting machine and can tank, best cleric in the game for me - needs 1 wisdom tome)
- Shar-Teel (to thief - awesome backstabber, needs no tome)
- Dynaheir (to cleric, needs 2 wisdom tomes, I have that in my current run and it's the one thing I would NOT recommend, but it's a possibility for a good party)
- Safana (to mage, haven't tried it myself, but I hear it's good)
- Branwen (to thief, needs a tome, I think, haven't tried it myself yet)
Unless you really really want Jaheira and/or Khalid, nothing speaks against taking Xzar along. He's hilarious and you can get the wisdom tome conventiently around the time you'd ideally dual him (Durlag's upper levels).
A roleplay twist I like: become your squishy's bodyguard (likely your mage) like Minsc is Dynaheir's. Self imposed: it's game over if your mage dies and you may only use your bhaal-cure minor wounds on yourself and your "employer". For full effect/challenge, be the bodyguard of Xzar or Xan with their rather pitiful HP.
Cleric/Mage
You might consider trying a Fighter/Mage or a Blade. It can be a fun challenge to try to integrate spellcasting with melee. It's possible to do both deftly, and then you can enjoy martial combat and spells for your main.
I echo what others are saying about trying out the new NPCs. There are four of them. You don't necessarily have to use them all for the whole game, of course. But it's no trouble to assemble and keep a mixed alignment party. You probably know this, but:
And I love what @LadyE shared above about NPC interactions. It could be great fun to factor that in as well. But just be aware that the interactions are far and few between in the great scheme of the entire game.
(Actually thinking on that more, though, it might work out better to dedicate a game specifically for NPC interaction among the older NPCs. Versus just trying out the new NPCs. I.e., maybe do one or the other, and not try to do both.)
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15828/the-75-roll-no-reloadno-resurrection-challenge/p1
When you can, pick up....
Neera She will keep you on the edge of your seat when she goes to caste. She will also
try to romance you in a teenage sort of way.
Coran He's a great archer, and becomes a good thief when his Find Traps is up to par (and
please change his stupid portrait to one that looks young and aggressive).
Viconia She's mysterious. She especially has Magic Resistance so she can survive some pretty
nasty surprises from mages against the party and then caste her Dispel Magic
(just keep her away from Kivan).
Try playing at Core rules, without slipping down to Normal to get all the hit points. Try to have
a set rule how many times you might reload to learn a spell. After your Charname PC dies,
require after reloading that you get to a temple and donate the amount of a resurrection (assuming
that your good NPC characters would have rescued your body).
It's also great to be playing the new BGEE version.
I do all these things (except I *never* reload after failing to scribe a spell - if I really, really don't want to fail e.g. to scribe Stoneskin, I use the Red Potion or multiple Potions of Genius) and it definitely makes for a more challenging game and the satisfaction of not "cheating".
First off, while i appreciate some of the suggestions that involve putting external restrictions on myself (limiting reloads, donating money when i die, etc) i know myself well enough that doing that will just annoy me, and not help me enjoy the game.
Likewise, I'm a pretty hardcore completionist when it comes to my rpg's, so to all those suggesting I explore all the areas and do all the quests, i pretty much have that covered already.
Right now, I'm leaning towards playing a neutral sorcerer (or maybe the new dragon disciple kit), with a mostly neutral and evil party. Not necessairly wedded to the idea of playing an arcane caster, especially given the number of good caster options for neutral / evil parties, so some sort of Rogue is also in the running. Any suggestions based off either of those? I'd plan to rotate through a lot of different NPC's to see some of the new content, but aside from Viconia I'm not sure what sort of party i should build toward by the end of the game. Also, haven't really thought of a cool roleplaying hook for him or her yet.
Thanks again, and keep ideas coming!
Blaaade!
The most versatile class in the game, here are some plus pointers for them.
1.) Grab 18 charisma for those extra juicy rewards. +1 dagger from candlekeep, 6 antidotes from the guy in friendly arms in. 100 additional gold from silkie and much more. Get the charisma tome from gnoll stronghold as quickly as possible to unlock some nice extra dialogues that you can only get from high charisma.
2.) Pick pocketing. Pick pocketing is GREAT in baldur's gate. You can get some really tasty things right from the start. The charisma cloak from beregost, and the best item in the game (My opinion) a ring of free action from Ulgoth's beard. Get that ring and place it on your tank and don't worry about hold spells or ghouls/ghasts/carrions stunning you. Also this opens up other paths to the rogue in your party.
3.) Spells! With the fast levling of a bard you can get into spells very quickly, now add the higher level of spells you can cast it makes up for a very potent spell caster. You'll hit 5 magic missiles alot quicker than a mage will, same wth mirror images.
4.) Lore. You'll never have to use a single identify in the whole game. Just click on the item and your lore is more than enough to identify it.
5.) Offensive spin. This is one of the best abilities in the game, extra Thac0 and damage. Not to mention you'll always deal out max damage with this and you'll get more attacks per round. It's important to remember that this works for ranged weapons aswell, and throwing daggers and such. So when you're lower level and don't have mirror image and defensive spells yet then use a ranged weapon and Offensive spin for some great damage. You'll be dealing out more damage per arrow than Kivan or Coran will as a blade. Once you get some levels and have defensive spells (armor, mirror image) then equip dagger of venom (And a sword if you do trilogy or BGEE) with the offensive spin and tear apart everything. The most important thing with the spin isn't the 2/2 Thac0 or damage. It's the extra attack per round and always maximum damage.
6.) Defensive spin is a trap, don't use it in Baldur's gate 1.
The blade is an amazing class, and it's fun and versatile. There isn't anything your blade can't do, and the fact that you can only put 1 prof in a weapon isn't just a bad thing. It gives you the choise to have 4-5 different weapon types you can use, so if you get a new weapon or get bored of the old one you need 1 pip to change. The + you get from offensive spin is like having grand mastery in a weapon.
You will do more damage ranged than Kivan or Coran. You'll deal more damage in melee than Minsc. And you'll survive better than Kagain thanks to your spells.
I would advice you to pick imoen and put disarm trap and open lock to 80-100 and let her be your thief. As a bard you only miss out on level 5 mage spells (But your magic missile/ chromatic orbs and other spells will be more effective with your bard than it would from a mage or sorc), so you can easily let your blade be the only arcane caster in your party.
For the best of both worlds, play a Human Thief/Kit ( I'd go with Assassin for poison ) and Dual to Mage at level 6 to get to level 9 Mage for that 5th level spell. Or, dual at 7 for a little extra HP and one lower THAC0. It's a fun dual that I just got through a game with.
As for the Blade kit, I agree with @SionIV. However Defensive Spin is not to be skipped. I'm running an all Bard party atm ( one of each class ) and she can easily tank. For instance, I buffed her with Skald Song, Shield, and gave her a RoP+1 @ lvl 10 she had -16 AC. She's only level 6 atm so saved and gave her some exp to test it out with Defensive Spin.
That's not including all the other things you get throughout the game that increase AC, and she was quite naked then. Throw in Stoneskin, a RoP+2 and the Cloak of Balduran, and she's quite tanky. Since we're evil, might try to kill Drizzt for his Defender Scimitar for the Final Battle for even more AC.
Sure, the Blade can't move, but you can send it in to draw fire/aggro and plant it there to tank while your backline shoots them full of arrows, spells, and wands.
also theres a bunch of fun npcs located in baldurs gate that often get ignored you could try picking them up although it can take a while to get to them
If you have both arcane caster and thief on your list of options, a bard is definitely a good idea.
With a Blade, you can get up to -30 AC while in DF. They are great in BG2. One of the top Kits.
Bards only get better the longer you play them. The thing with bards is that they are weak(er) early game and sometimes you're pulling along a intentify machine / jukebox until they hit the 6-7 in level and can start hitting something reliably and get some spells. But once they get a couple of levels under them they turn out to be great and only improve through the game.
But the blade kit thanks to offensive spin makes your character a powerhouse from level 1. End game SoA / ToB you can put your party on the bench if you feel like it and solo the rest without much of any problem, it's that strong.
1.) Stoneskin, Mirror image, Tensers Transformation, Protection from Magical weapon, Haste / Improved haste, Fireshield red + blue.
2.) Dualwield -> 2 APR. Belm -> 3 APR. Offensive spin -> 4 APR. Improved haste -> 8 APR. Now add maximum damage to that and anything over that is just overkill.
3.) Use any item let's you use Carsomy and other juicy weapons / armors that otherwise wouldn't be able to.
Nalias ring is amazing, so is Jans armor.
I would say that the closest thing to a Blade is a F/M/T. But in my opinion the blade has more style, and feels more like a complete character RP wise.
you are the tank and the rest of the party use missle weapons
Install SCS and/or try playing no-reload.
/thread.
Tank tanks with Free Action, Skald sings, applies Web and provides other arcane duties, Thief pew pews and picks locks, the two Archers pew pew like pros, and the Cleric buffs heals and summons. Also, put one of the Ring of Free Action rings on the Skald to stay close enough for the song to affect the Tank while in Web.
Tank could be a Fighter/Druid ( preferably a Dual Class @lvl 6 ) for two castings of Iron Skins on self to bolster tankiness. Req to Dual to Druid: 15 Str, 17 Wis, 17 Cha, and be True Neutral. You can safely go with 16/16 Wis and Cha and grab the two early Tomes prior to Dualing.
Just finished a WS6/Druid 10. It was fun.
Edit: Wow, just remembered the Dragon fight with Morrigan's mother in DA:O. I saw a video of all bow users and Leiliana (sp?) years ago. Might go with an all range team next game.
Skald, three Archers one Thief and a Cleric. This sounds fun.
Bioshock Infinite may derail me a bit, but I'll be back.