Main character class for different aligned parties?

RagingOrc

In the effort to stop a previous thread becoming diluted, I decided to bring this thought to a new discussion.

Just out of interest what do you think the 'top' main character classes would be for parties of good, neutral and evil alignments, if you try to use npc's that fit with the party alignment spec?

The main character has got to slot in and make the whole team setup better, not just an add on or extra. They have to add something different and add value whilst complimenting the npc's classes and attitudes etc. Also they have to remain relevant for the entire saga. Feel free to post the party set up with the main character underneath as shown below.

Good Party:
Cannon (Minsc+ Dyh, Khalid and Jaheira, Imoen)
Main Char:
Pally

Good Party:
(Ajantis, Coran, Yeslick, Alora, Kivan)
Main Char:
Monk (added value debatable in BG1 lol :P)

Neutral:

Safana, Branwen, Neera etc

.....

Evil Party:

Dorn, Kagain, Viconia, Edwin, Shar-teel etc

......
I realise everyone plays differently but I just think it will make for an interesting discussion.

*Top means best suited to the task along with being most powerful.

Thanks

Corvino

I'm a big fan of a cleric/mage as part of the canon party for BG1. Cleric/Illusionists are very potent early on, and get a fantastic number of spells throughout the game. Combining two sets of HLAs and cleric spells in sequencers/contingencies is great.

They fill the casting gaps left by Jaheira's druid spells and Dynaheir's specialty as well in BG1. Sleep & Command both complement the party well and trivialise early enemies.

KidCarnival

For the evil party, not considering the new BG2EE NPC yet, there's barely a way around saying "thief" to stay relevant through the entire saga.

I'd go with either a human thief (to dual once the relevant skills are maxed) or a multiclass thief/mage.

In BG1, the party would be Montaron (either as backstabber or lock/trap duty, depending what charname invests in), Xzar (mage/cleric, dualed as soon as you can get to the wisdom tome), Kagain, Dorn (or Shar-Teel), Edwin.
In BG2, it's Dorn, Viconia, Edwin, Korgan, charname + rotating slot for NPC quests -> Sarevok (or new thief NPC)

[Deleted User]

I'll second @KidCarnival on the recommendation of a thief PC for an evil party. One of my characters ready to import into BG2EE when it arrives is a multiclass Cleric/Thief (though that particular combination is more for novelty, the Thief/Mage idea probably slots into an evil party better, especially in BG2). You might even consider a dual class Kensai->Thief, as you can get by in BG1 relying on Montaron (perhaps paired with a dualled Shar-Teel or Safana) and then dual-class in BG2 when it falls to you to pick up the slack.

Depending on the exact details surrounding the new thief, e.g. how well she fits in an evil party and whether her skills are set up to allow her to fill all the necessary roles of a thief, there are a couple of alternate possibilities you could consider. For one, there aren't many tremendously good ranged combatants among the evil NPCs. While the Archer kit is closed off to you by alignment restrictions, a Kensai (ironically enough) using throwing axes measures up quite well in the long run, especially given the extra STR bonuses you can get for being evil. Some sort of Fighter/Mage combination would also fit well, as while Evil has great fighters and great mages, they don't have any NPCs which leverage the benefits of combining those two disciplines, and in BG2 you likely won't want to rely on Edwin exclusively for your arcane spellcasting (his bonus spells notwithstanding).

KidCarnival

@Kaigen: I'm quite used to dualed Xzar. I usually have Viconia until I can dual him (usually I'm able to sneak into Durlag's for the tome before entering Cloakwood, where he gets his cleric levels rather quickly and can easily deal with poison/healing before arriving on the mines), and in BG2, Viconia fills the cleric role.
I rather have more arcane than divine power, hence I'd favor thief/mage (also to have a secondary caster to cover the spells Edwin can't learn). It's specific to my parties tho, cleric/thief works as well. If you don't need backstabbing, you can do without Xzar and Montaron (or dualed Shar-Teel) in BG1 and just max locks/traps and then dual. Or, to prepare for BG2, as a multiclass, start investing in Detect Illusion to keep the thief side useful.

Southpaw

...as there are many NPCs to choose from, both good, evil and neutral, whether a class compliments the others isn't really a big problem. I'd try to suggest merely classes to fit the theme/alignment (open for discussion of course).

Good: a Paladin, Cleric, Ranger, Mage/Cleric
Neutral: Druid, Bard, Barbarian, Sorceror
Evil: Blackguard, Assassin, Thief/Fighter, Necromancer

EntropyXII

For me personally:

Good: Bard with canon party (You get Keldorn in BG2 so no paladin..)

Neutral: Mage (No Neutral Mages in BG2 if I remember correctly)

Evil: Assassin - Up until BG2:EE there were no evil thieves. PLus the Assassin makes perfect sense for an evil playthrough.

KidCarnival

Neera is a neutral mage in BG2 now. For neutral, I'd go with druid, bard or barbarian.