Classes Left to Play in BG2EE if Using New Characters

Jorkan

So now we have Rasaad (Monk), Dorn (Blackgaurd), Neera (Wild Mage) and Hexxat (Thief). That gives us two front line melee characters, a spellcaster and a ranged (Hexxat). If the player is wanting to use the new characters and maintain a well balanced group, what options are available to him?

Two spots are left in the group, one for the PC and one for another existing NPC. I'm thinking another thief is out of the question. One of the two spots has to be a healer of some sort. If the PC has one of its classes as healer, you could pick Minsc for another front line support or perhaps Edwin or Aerie for another mage.

What are your thoughts on PC class to take and additional NPC to bring along?

Madhax

I'll play along, though this is making several assumptions: That Rasaad will play nice with evil Dorn and likely-evil Hexxat, and that Hexxat will simply be a ranged-oriented thief. We'll see. My personal baseless peculation is that Hexxat will have a storyline-driven reason to dual-class to Cleric, but who knows.

Neither Dorn nor Rasaad are really "tank" material. They can both hold the line for a bit, but neither has high HP, and neither will be using shields. One true badass frontliner would serve the party well. Assuming the PC doesn't want to be a cleric and my guess on Hexxat was wrong, and that alignments don't matter, Anomen might fit well here.

Angling more to the evil side of things though, perhaps if there's a corruption-path to take Rasaad down that will turn him into a Dark Moon Monk, an evil Cleric/Mage PC would be pretty cool. That way you won't have to deal with Anomen's pompous righteousness, and the party should have enough utility to forgo a traditional tank.

Again forgetting alignment for a sec, a PC Cleric/Ranger would nicely fill a gap in this party and provide plenty of divine magic to support it, as well as potentially tanking.

Elendar

Would need another arcane caster, for sure. A wild mage as your only source of arcane magic would be absolutely horrible, not to mention the more arcane spellcasters you have the better off your party will be.

edit: @Maxhax

meh, in BG2, especially ToB, shields quickly become obsolete and characters will get hit regardless of how high(edit: low, rather. Silly old edition rules) their AC is. Only use for shields then is overpowered nonsense like the Mirror Shield...

KidCarnival

I'll say Haer'Dalis to be flexible; he can both frontline and support cast. And a tank orientied fighter/cleric multi as PC.

nano

meh, in BG2, especially ToB, shields quickly become obsolete and characters will get hit regardless of how high(edit: low, rather. Silly old edition rules) their AC is. Only use for shields then is overpowered nonsense like the Mirror Shield...

I wouldn't say it's overpowered. Even with that shield, shields aren't that attractive.

Elendar

nano said:

meh, in BG2, especially ToB, shields quickly become obsolete and characters will get hit regardless of how high(edit: low, rather. Silly old edition rules) their AC is. Only use for shields then is overpowered nonsense like the Mirror Shield...

I wouldn't say it's overpowered. Even with that shield, shields aren't that attractive.

Well, compared to the damage output you can get from dual-wielding weapons, I suppose not. But against Beholders and the like, its broken. :P And the cloak of mirroring is even more broken.

LordRumfish

Does the AC soft-cap still exist? If so, I am inclined to agree with all of the shield hate. If the AC soft-cap has been removed and any amount calculates normally... I could come up with some shield characters that would work, I think. It's still not going to be as good as more damage, but at least it wouldn't be useless.

nano

Elendar said:

nano said:

meh, in BG2, especially ToB, shields quickly become obsolete and characters will get hit regardless of how high(edit: low, rather. Silly old edition rules) their AC is. Only use for shields then is overpowered nonsense like the Mirror Shield...

I wouldn't say it's overpowered. Even with that shield, shields aren't that attractive.

Well, compared to the damage output you can get from dual-wielding weapons, I suppose not. But against Beholders and the like, its broken. :P And the cloak of mirroring is even more broken.
Fair point, I see what you mean. Ridiculously good in some situations but mostly useless the rest of the time.

shawne

In a predominantly Evil/Neutral party, you'll probably want to take Viconia with you - especially if her rivalry with Rasaad develops further (they never quite have it out in BG1, but you can tell it's building).

Cowled_wizard

I think Dorn can be a viable front liner. The game isnt so difficult that you need to min-max in order to win. Though he doesnt have high hps you can get the belt of const18 for some tough fights, and just be a bit more careful with him.... sure if you have dwarven defender with 20 const and 19 str and 18 dex maxed hps its better, but then again if your powergaming there are a million ways to beat the game. So Go dorn as tank!

Im also thinking about doing all new npcs group. Dorn, hexxat , Rasaad and Neera. My pc will be my blade of course. Doesnt do nearly as much damage as any kind of tank but it fits a role of second caster and soaks damage quite reasonably.
Last character could be anything because of abundancy of potions. Keldorn is overpowered and with carsomyr will make the game much easier so i dont know if ill use him... though banter with dorn should be great. Mazzy with tuigan can be a powerhouse early bg2. I think i might try jaheira, probably has good banter and her quest is pretty good. Plus becames a tob powerhouse.

You might wanna try dividing the npcs in 2-3 playthroughs. Rasaad in an all goodie -two shoes (anomen, keldorn, maybe aerie, mazzy ) and Dorn, hexxat , viconia , edwin, korgan in another.

And what about a neutral party? Haerdalis , jaheira , neera , Jan jansen (neera and jan jansen must have some funny banter)