Evil party for BG1, and 2 run through?

Baldurs305

OK, so let me first say, that this is a question, for the original Baldurs Gate, and BG 2, and I am using the easy TuTu mod.

Also, the last time I played BG, was back in 1999. so, ya been a while.

Also I never finished BG1, and not sure if I got to play BG2. I know I made it pretty far in BG 1, but, anyhow..here is my question...

What do you think of this party for an evil/neutral aligned group? ( I would go all evil, but there are a couple chars, neutral that I like, and my main PC will be neutral)

OK so I always wanted to try a PC bard class. Basically, I made my Bard, with these stats:

STR: 14
DEX: 18
CON: 15
INT-18
WIS-10
CHA-18

And I made him proficient with slings, and sword and shield style.

My basic idea for him, is to have someone with neutral alignment and a high enough CHA, so that I can be pretty evil, but still be able to get certain quests, and not have to deal with random Fist encounters..

And I am thinking he will also be able to cast, and write some nice spells to his book, and be able to buff the group, use bard song, etc. He can pick up a shiled and sword, or can attack with sling, if needed.( I really dont remmber the mechanics so not sure how to play a brad, thats why I am asking here)


Ok now here is the party I have in mind ( I realise I may have to go with other people for the time being..but I my end goal will be these chars:

Kagain- Need a fighter, and I like dwarves.
Edwin- No doubt he is the best mage in the game.
Viconia, A cleric, with 50% magic resist, sounds awesome..
Safana: Need a thief, and she seems to be good for the traps, and locks ( though her stealth is lacking)

ANd, after that..I am undecided. SO I have room for one more...but who should I go for? WOuld like evil, but another neutral would be ok. ( No good aligned though)

I was thinking a multi class thief/cleric? ( for some extra healing?) Tiax. OR possible Jaheria....If anyone have any ideas?

Also, I want to finish BG1, and then try BG2, but I am not sure if I can keep my same party for that game? Or what happens? Again, I am using the Easy TuTU, which combines BG1, on the BG 2 engine...sooo..ya..not sure.

Also, any advice on how to play my PC bard? Or if I should re-roll his stats? ( I thought them to be good, but not sure)

I havent really started paying much yet. Just made it throug Lions way, and I am not at the Friendly Arm...so I kind of want some guidance, before I move on. I dont mind if you have to give out some spoilers, if necessary.

Ok thanks for any help!

ajwz

They are good stats. He will do fine.
My advice would be to pick up another fighter-type, since your party is very melee light.
I'd suggest Shar-Teel

StoneSwords

Well, normally you can't have Jaheira without Khalid, so if you would prefer an evil fighter type character, Shar-Teel (however you spell her name) would be a good pick, giving you a couple of fighters for your front line

Baldurs305

Hmm...Shar teel eh? NEver tried her. Oh, and as far as Jaheria, or any other dual NPC, its easy to have just one of them. All you do, is send the one you no longer want to keep, into a building ( Inn or whatnot) And then have your PC talk to whatever NPC you want to recruit, and then you just drop the other one from the group.

( I already did once before to Jaheria, when I wanted to keep Khalid, so It does indeed work) But, ya I suppose i do need another party member with a good AC.

I really like Kivan, for my archer..his THAC0 is the lowest I have seen on any NPC, and can stealth...BUT he is good...and I already used him before...Not sure how my PC ranged, with a sling, can compare to his..

Baldurs305

Oh, forgot to ask..IF I could get Jaheria, alone ( which I think I can) WOuld she be a better choice than Shar Tel? What would be the best AC I could get you think?

StoneSwords

Well, Shar-Teel does have a low CON if I remember right, but Jaheira just doesn't seem like the type to hang around with an evil party for too long imo. I can't really think of any more evil or neutral fighterish characters that haven't been mentioned, except Montaron. If you don't mind a druid, maybe Faldorn?

Madhax

Can I vote for getting BGEE and picking up Dorn? He's easily my favorite NPC out of anything BG1 has to offer.

Madhax

Also, what kit are you planning to use with your bard? I humbly recommend Blade. Other types of bards seem too support-oriented for my tastes, since I think the main protagonist should have a more direct impact on the events of the game. Blades are sweet in a melee, supported by mage spells. Though that doesn't really work with your intent to go sword and board / sling, since a blade wants to be more melee-oriented and probably dual-wielding. I've heard Halberd blades are also pretty good.

IkMarc

Well I would give the bard the blade kit to get some better melee in the mix. Equiped with 2x Drizzt's scimitars, elven chainmail + protection spells makes it a really good melee class.

Secondly I would not take an extra party member. Thing is, the bard can be a bit of a jack of all trades, master of none on normal XP levels. But with more XP per member it can quickly be outstanding in many things, consider for example that many of its mage spells inflict damage based on level and will be outstanding due to the quick rogue progression table that the bard uses. Next thing is that I would then actually advise you to drop Edwin In BGEE. An XP boosted bard is plenty good in spellcasting for this party. It can spam wands, higher level damage magic missiles/acid arrows/fireballs, which is all you need especially when you wear the ring of wizardry. In BG2 however, a mage is essential.

Gallowglass

@Baldurs305- yes, you can de-couple Jaheira and Khalid (or any other paired characters) by sending the one you don't want into a building before reforming the party, but remember to shut the door behind them (else they can sometimes manage to walk back out), and remember never to go into that building again (else the couple will re-connect) - so don't use an inn or whatever, just shut them in an ordinary house. (Or since you're playing as neutral/evil, you could just send the one you don't want on a suicide mission.)

For your party, I'd probably take Jaheira, because currently your only divine caster is Viconia and a second divine caster is quite handy to have. Shar-Teel is a slightly better warrior than Jaheira, but Jaheira's pretty good (certainly sufficient to give Kagain some solid backup in melee), and Shar-Teel doesn't bring all the extra spell-power which you get from Jaheira. (In your party, I'd see Shar-Teel as an alternative to Kagain as lead fighter, rather than as your supporting tank.)

Your Bard's stats are certainly viable: 93 is a very good roll! However, if I'd been allocating a roll of 93 to a Bard, then I'd have taken 3 off his WIS and 1 off his DEX (all of which you can get back later by using the Tomes) and put the extra 4 points into STR (because then when he got the STR Tome as well to give himself 19 STR, he'd actually become fairly competent in melee, which is a handy extra ability for a Bard). The other stats, I'd have allocated exactly as you have. Nevertheless, even though I'd have allocated slightly differently, I wouldn't re-roll what you have: he's a pretty strong character with the allocation as it is. I'm not convinced about the choice of Sling as his ranged weapon: you haven't got anyone else in your party who uses Longbow, so I think I'd have given him that instead of Sling ... but this, too, is not a reason to re-roll, just a minor quibble. I reckon he'll be a lot of fun to play, Bards are a great class once you've got the hang of them (and once they've got the first couple of levels under their belts).

You also asked about continuity into BG2. The first thing to remember is that only your own character retains Tome bonuses to stats, so there's no point giving any Tome to anyone except yourself if you're carrying the party through into BG2. Secondly, some NPCs from BG1 are again available as party members in BG2, some others make a cameo appearance in BG2 but are no longer available to the party, and some don't appear in BG2 at all (being replaced by new characters instead). Of your current party, you'll have Viconia and Edwin (and Jaheira if you choose her) available again for your BG2 party, you'll briefly meet Safana at a late-ish stage in BG2 (but she won't be recruitable), and you won't see Kagain (or Shar-Teel) at all in BG2 (although you'll have Korgan available, another evil-aligned dwarf fighter, to replace Kagain).

Lateralus

If you want to go start to finish:

Viconia
Edwin
Dorn

These three can be yours from beginning to end, and they are all great NPCs. Edwin is probably the most powerful mage in the game.

There is rumored to be an NPC theif of evil alignment, made available for BG2:EE. So you will just need a rental for BG1. If you can stand here attitude, Shar-Teel is the best one.

terzaerian

I just finished BG1 with an evil party myself. The setup was charname (Barb), Shar-Teel, Kagain, Tiax, Viccy, and Edwin, and it was a viciously effective group. Charname and Shar-Teel were mainly DPS and off-tanks, and combining them with Kagain created a very effective wall-o-steel between hostiles and the squishies. My Barb was 2-H swords and bows, so between that and Kagain's magic throwing axe we weren't bereft of ranged firepower either, which, with the evil NPCs you have to work with, can be hard to come by, at least if you decide not to split Shar-Teel Long Sword / Long Bow.

And can I really exhort you to hire Tiax? I know he seems insane and annoying but Cleric-Thief is a killer combo. Really, if you can multi-class your party thief you should, because at the end of the day you only really *need* someone who can max out proficiencies in Locks and Traps, every other thief ability is really superfluous, especially in BG1. Stealth can be picked up by Rangers, Clerics, and Mages, and backstabbing and traps are just another form of DPS, and convoluted ones at that. Meanwhile, thieves can do very little in the way of support that Clerics can do.