BG2EE New NPC Party

[Deleted User]

So I'm thinking that my first BG2EE playthrough will include all the of the Overhaul-added NPCs, so I can see their new areas, sidequests, and banters with each other (and check for conflicts). That gives me 4 NPCs: Dorn, Rasaad, Neera, and Hexxat; plus the protagonist and an open spot. This party already has the basics covered pretty well, as both Dorn and Rasaad should be excellent front-liners in BG2, Neera covers primary arcane casting, and Hexxat will fill thiefly duties. My question is, what would be a good Bhaalspawn and fifth NPC to round things out with?

Thoughts so far:

Jaheira: Has her own subplot, adds divine spellcasting, can tank fairly effectively.

Nalia: Secondary arcane spellcasting with a Ring of Protection +2 thrown in for good measure. Also has her own subplot. Might be interesting to see if she calls out Rasaad on the "only humans can be monks" thing the way she calls Keldorn out re: the Radiant Heart.

Mazzy: Could shore up the frontline or provide solid ranged backup. Has two subplots, though one is very minor. I'm morbidly curious to see what kind of banters she and Dorn might have.

Jan: Backup spellcasting and backup thieving. Subplot. As we all know, Jan gets along with everybody like a house on fire, so why not see how he does with all the new people?

Bhaalspawn: A Blade (or other Bard kit) would add to the arcane capability of the group and let me do the Bard stronghold (which is a personal favorite). Ranger/Cleric (or Fighter/Divine multiclass) would provide clerical spellcasting and strong tanking in case Rasaad/Dorn don't tank as well as I hope. An Inquisitor would be great for Carsomyr, Dispel Magic, and True Sight, but would make for a weird RP dynamic with the Evil party members, especially Dorn, who is not at all shy about his morals (or lack thereof). Of course, I could always go Kensai->Mage.

CutlassJack

I don't think you can go wrong with Viconia. Great romance, great for the underdark segments, and will probably continue to be a fun foil for Rassaad as she was in BGEE.

[Deleted User]

CutlassJack said:

I don't think you can go wrong with Viconia. Great romance, great for the underdark segments, and will probably continue to be a fun foil for Rassaad as she was in BGEE.

Not a bad idea, though I'll probably be romancing one of the new people as opposed to Viconia. Seeing their arguments continue would be interesting.

Night_Watch

i think you may need a divine spellcaster (Viconia, Anomen) unless you make your charname into one. personally i think i'm going to roll a cleric or druid, pick up the new four, and then just cycle out all the regulars (so i can do their quests and see how they interact w/ the new npcs) until i get to ToB and pick up Sarevok. end game it'll either be Sarevok/Imoen b/c I like the idea of family tackling family problems (like Hamlet, but with more backstabbing =p)

[Deleted User]

@Night_Watch Well, I figure I'll be doing subsequent runs where I use the new NPCs individually, which will present a better opportunity to see a lot of banters with the old NPCs; I thought about the cycling idea, but with how long it can take banters to fire, I don't think that would be effective unless you use the cheat code to fire them manually. And I take Sarevok and Imoen on most runs for exactly the reasons you mention, so I figured I'd leave them out this time.

Night_Watch

@Kaigen that would certainly be better if you plan for multiple play throughs (i don't know if i will). I forgot how long some banters take to activate. if there will now be 21 NPCs and assuming my math is correct (combination formula C=n!/r!(n-r)!), then (21!/(5!16!)) means there will now be 20349 party combinations as opposed to the 6188 (17!/(5!12!)) from vanilla BG2 O.o

have fun =p

[Deleted User]

Well, unless they added a bunch of banters involving 3+ characters, you don't have to worry about every party combination, just pairing off NPCs with the new people, which cuts things down to about 5 playthroughs for each new NPC, or about 20. I don't intend to do nearly that many, but it's a much more manageable list.