small party
newbc
Member Posts: 2
Hi. Im new to Baldurs Gate. I just bought BGEE and have been playing around with different classes and npcs. Am I going to have to get used to controlling 6 chars, or is this game doable with a more managable 3 char party.
I was thinking of a 3 char party with the following:
Cavalier (melee power and some healing)
Swashbuckler (can either be close or ranged damage, plus other theif abilities)
Sorcerer (range damage, plus buffs)
I'm not a power gamer, but found having to control 6 players as too tedious. I was having more fun with a smaller group. Would I be lacking in anything with this group? Any suggestions?
I was thinking of a 3 char party with the following:
Cavalier (melee power and some healing)
Swashbuckler (can either be close or ranged damage, plus other theif abilities)
Sorcerer (range damage, plus buffs)
I'm not a power gamer, but found having to control 6 players as too tedious. I was having more fun with a smaller group. Would I be lacking in anything with this group? Any suggestions?
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Comments
It is possible to beat the game with small parties, even solo it if you know what you are doing. But BG is not one of these new brainlessly easy games that you can dominate just by left-clicking on the enemy. A larger party also lets you experience what different classes can do.
In terms of NPCs, there are 25 I think, and they pretty much cover every role you might want in ur party. However as a beginner, without guides you won't know which ones do what and who might be compatible or not in terms of alignment, and you might also not find somebody specific to a role you want to fill. Thankfully the only role that is essential in BG is Thieves for detecting traps, and there's thieves all over the place in BG 1.
Finally... if u are planning to play the whole saga with the same Charname, I just wanna point out that there is a canon party for BG 1. If roleplay continuity matters a lot to you, you might wanna find out who they are and stick with them. The new BG EE NPCs (Neera, Dorn and Rassad) are more colourful and kinda jump out at u, so hard to miss, but they weren't even in the original BG 1.
Sorcerors are very powerful, but you need to know what you're doing, it isn't for a first time player. A Wild Mage is pretty on par with a decent sorcerer. You can argue a sorcerer is more powerful but for the purposes of this discussion I think its fair to say they're pretty equal. Wild Mages are better for newbies because you aren't locked into your spell decisions forever; you can change them around as often as you rest.
You'll also want some kind of divine spellcaster, Cleric comes out on top of Druids generally speaking. And this isn't just for healing. Raw healing power is generally a waste of their abilities. In battle you'll want to heal with potions as they work immediately and can't be interrupted. Spellcaster healing works out of battle or in emergencies, and in later games when you get access to the Heal Spell you can slap it on someone and bring them up from almost dead to good to go in one spell. In D&D, healers don't work like they do in MMOs. Magical healing isn't really used mid-battle, you're better off buffing yourself or debuffing/neutralizing enemies to avoid having to heal at all.
Edit: Deleted the false statement that @Heindrich1988 recommends playing with a walkthrough
I'd suggest adding a Dwarven fighter/cleric character to the group and perhaps an Elven archer. Ranged attacks are quite powerful in BG.
If you'd like to use NPCs, I'd recommend:
Cavalier: charname
Kivan: ranged attack, secondary fighter
Khalid: fighter, ranged
Jaheira: Divine caster
Imoen: thief, secondary ranged attack
Neera: Arcance caster
They are all found early in the game and will give you a well rounded party, but there are a wide range of options that are equally valid.
There are lots of different ways to go and if you play evil (guessing not due to your cavalier) there's a whole different crew to choose from.
@Fredjo I believe @Heindrich1988 was actually recommending a blind playthrough and not following a walkthrough. I know he himself ran a no spoilers run and believe he would recommend others to do the same.
To play normally with a smaller party and not hugely meta-game or cheat, you should have 4 roles in your group - Warrior, Thief, Healer, Mage.
Classes that can take up these roles :
Warrior - all FIghters and Rangers, Paladins. Occasionally Clerics, but much less effective. Very good if Fighter/Cleric. Fighter/Thief multi-or-dual class. Occasionally a Swashbuckler.
Thief - only Thieves here. Noone else can do a good job at finding traps and opening locks. Bonus points for them being able to also be multi- or dual-classed to fill other role too. (Imoen being a thief/mage as one of the best combos)
Healer - no wonder, you will need a Cleric or a Druid. They make runs smoother, provide healing and usually have better fighting capabilities than Mages or Thieves. Viconia can be a good tank, Jaheira excels at fighting too, being Fighter/Druid. Or Yeslick (Fighter/Cleric).
Mage - Just choose a mage. Edwin is great, so is Dynaheir and Xzar (double points for Xzar - you can dual him to cleric with some effort. Also - Imoen can be a very good Thief/Mage)
Now...also - it is recommended to have 2 melee very-capable party-members in front lines. This will need you to meta-game a bit, but it is very rewarding.
As a last tip :
If you want to create your whole party (I'd advise against) - Choose - a Paladin kit + Fighter/Thief + Priest of XXX + Wild Mage (Powergaming party)
If you want to play with NPCs (which I'd recommend) - tell us what class you want to have your CHARNAME and we can give you some suggestions on the possible good party members.
Yea... precisely. I played parts of BG EE (most notably when I first entered Baldur's Gate and felt a bit overwhelmed) with a walkthrough and felt that I ruined the experience cos I just ended up mindlessly following a sequence of instructions. I played all the Ulgoth's Beard quests blind, and found that far more immersive and enjoyable, even if it took me quite a few attempts to work out how to kill the Greater Wolfwere. Hence my entire BG 2 LP has been blind cos I feel that's the best way to enjoy this game the first time around.
Oh yeah, when I say blind, I don't mean 'no learning'. I did read the manual that comes with the GoG download, and also asked specific questions on this forum.
I'd also second that having 2 melee capable characters makes life a lot simpler. Having a Fighter/Cleric or Fighter/Druid in addition to the initial party you suggest would cover all roles and round off the group nicely.