BG 2 Party Composition

Vesimas

I finished BG 1 with this setup:

Me Beserker
Dorn
Branwen
Imoen
Neera
Edwin

Since i understand that Branwen isn't present in BG 2, who i should pick?

A)
Me Beserker 13/Cleric XX
Dorn
Edwin
Hexxat
Cleric role = Viconia - Anomen
Mage role = Neera


Me Beserker 13/Cleric XX
Dorn
Edwin
Hexxat
Cleric/mage role = Aerie
Fighter role = Korgan

Other suggestion? TY

Heindrich

Well u already have several evil characters, so I'd spare poor Aerie and Anomen the pain of having to travel with such a dastardly bunch.

So Option A with Viconia and Neera, assuming Hexxat can cover ur thief needs (I haven't tried BG 2 EE yet so don't yet know her capabilities). If you wanna be safe, maybe Jan Jansen as a thief who can also cast spells?

Montresor_SP

I'd say option A). As @Heindrich1988 says, Viconia fits better with an evil party than Anomen.

Anomen has the advantage that he has more hit points and some levels as a fighter, but lower wisdom so he makes for a poorer cleric. If you choose him, at a certain point you should give him some evil advice.

In his personal quest, when he returns home after his sister is killed, advice him to seek revenge. That way he will later be rejected by the Order and his alignment shifts to CN instead of LG.

Option won't work for long.

Aerie and Korgan don't get along and sooner or later she will leave the party permanently.

Xukuth

The difference in Wisdom between Anomen and Viconia makes essentially no difference in terms of Cleric ability - I think it ends up being something like a single level 4 cleric spell. The real difference is that Viconia is a pure cleric, not a dual-class, so she has the benefit of those extra experience points in her Cleric class. This difference, of course, gets less and less significant as the party grows more experienced, at which point Anomen's extra HP and attacks really become significant.

Vesimas

What about this: Me (beserker/cleric), Dorn, Hexxat, Edwin, Aerie, Anomen. I'll have 3 melee, 1 rogue, 2 mages and 3 clerics.

If i remember well the first time i finished BG 2/BG 2 ToB i used: Me (thief dual classed to mage), Edwin, Aerie, Anomen, Keldorn, Misc (replaced with Sarevok)

Frosty

Anomen is rather stuck up about evil characters he will fight with Edwin, the NPc added by beamdog how ever are not fully integrated and have no conflicts with any one since beamdog can not alter Biowere NPCs. so I would suggest replacing Edwin with Neera, Jan, or Nalia,

Purudaya

Frosty said:

Anomen is rather stuck up about evil characters he will fight with Edwin, the NPc added by beamdog how ever are not fully integrated and have no conflicts with any one since beamdog can not alter Biowere NPCs. so I would suggest replacing Edwin with Neera, Jan, or Nalia,

I don't believe that this is the case. Neera and Edwin can't be in the same party, for example; and I think Hexxat has conflicts with more than one NPC

velehal

Be careful that Aerie and fallen Anomen don´t fit together.
And from powergaming perspective Anomen is much better than Viconia. In fact he is one of the strongest NPC in the whole game.

Vesimas

In BGEE i had Neera and Edwin in the same party didn't had a problem. Btw i think i'm going with this combination: Viconia, Dorn, Neera, Hexxat, Korgan and me (beserker/cleric) trying to use only one mage

DetectiveMittens

I tried having Neera and Edwin in the same party in BG2. Immediately had to kick out on of them .

There are other wizards you can use. Jan and Imoen are both sufficient - although no where near as useful as Hexxat is a thief, they will fill the role of Mage handily. Imoen will have no conflicts with any party members and is duel-classed so she will only progress as a Mage. I don't count Nalia she is bad

Vesimas

Sorry for bothering again but i just recruited Korgan and his hp poll is 100Hp. Don't understand why since he has d10+5 cost x 8 levels so it's 120hp.

PS: tryed also to recruit him with lower difficulty but nothing changed

velehal

NPCs don´t get maximum hitpoints per level before you meet them. Lower difficulty influence only hitpoints that NPCs gain when you are leveling them. You can change it by one BG2 Tweak Pack component and then NPCs will have maximum possible hitpoints when you meet them.

Vesimas

Ah! Ok didn't know that, thankx a lot BTW just recruit Hexxat it's the best npc ever made

Time4Tiddy

IMO Anomen is the better cleric. He has many more hp and much higher str, plus can get two prof points in weapons. Yes he has lower Wis, but it's a loss of 3 spells total (compared to Vicky), 2 level ones and 1 level two, not really a factor when you are using the higher level spells. Yes, he's dualled, but he's not multi, so he catches up on cleric levels pretty quickly. By level 15 or so, the xp needed to level up is significant enough that he's only one level behind Viconia, if that. Aerie, on the other hand will be many levels behind either of them, and she's also a pain in a good party. She cannot co-exist with Korgan for long. Anomen, on the other hand, will be just fine in an evil party, if you provide him with some evil advice.

ChildofBhaal599

So, anyone use Jaheira, Aerie, Viconia, Neera, Dorn party yet with a male charname? (: I intend that to be my second playthrough to have fun as they argue over me. Maybe I will even pick Dorn in the end and see if they react

recklessheart

@ChildofBhaal599 I have Jaheira and Viconia, but Viconia said nothing about Dorn. Jaheira and I reached a bump in our romance because the bandits that are supposed to arrive in the middle of the night did not, yet apparently her romance global remained in place, because after sleeping with Dorn she approached me and said that she was more disappointed in me than she could ever express, and said she was glad Gorion could not see the path I have chosen. It was rather upsetting, considering I love Jaheira! lol

Jaheira also slanders Dorn at one point for being a thoroughly unnatural presence, and states that she will not tolerate his presence much longer. She never fought him though, and I don't think that conversation is contingent on romances, as neither of them at any point refer to the protagonist. I think it'll always happen if they stay in the party too long together.

ChildofBhaal599

recklessheart said:

@ChildofBhaal599 I have Jaheira and Viconia, but Viconia said nothing about Dorn. Jaheira and I reached a bump in our romance because the bandits that are supposed to arrive in the middle of the night did not, yet apparently her romance global remained in place, because after sleeping with Dorn she approached me and said that she was more disappointed in me than she could ever express, and said she was glad Gorion could not see the path I have chosen. It was rather upsetting, considering I love Jaheira! lol

Jaheira also slanders Dorn at one point for being a thoroughly unnatural presence, and states that she will not tolerate his presence much longer. She never fought him though, and I don't think that conversation is contingent on romances, as neither of them at any point refer to the protagonist. I think it'll always happen if they stay in the party too long together.

don't you need to wait long enough for the bandit ambush sort of like the talks? i wouldn't know as my first time it took forever for me to realize i need to sleep outside to continue. really stupid move considering in BG2 you almost always have an inn at your disposal.

apparantly jaheira is homophobic lol she doesn't get nearly that upset if you go with viconia or aerie, or even sleep with phaere. or is it because he is a half orc blackguard?

and about that party, I am close enough. It is just missing dorn because, well I just can't play without Minsc

recklessheart

The tainted demonic blackguard presence thing does it for her, I believe. Viconia is evil, but Jaheira has some understanding of how she is a byproduct of a cruel society - indicated by her concurrence that you should save Viconia from the mob when you first see her in BG2. She loathes Viconia's air of superiority and her outlook, but Viconia doesn't really affront Jaheira's Druidic side.

[Deleted User]

Purudaya said:

Frosty said:

Anomen is rather stuck up about evil characters he will fight with Edwin, the NPc added by beamdog how ever are not fully integrated and have no conflicts with any one since beamdog can not alter Biowere NPCs. so I would suggest replacing Edwin with Neera, Jan, or Nalia,

I don't believe that this is the case. Neera and Edwin can't be in the same party, for example; and I think Hexxat has conflicts with more than one NPC

In addition, Anomen and Dorn do not play well together.

Skaffen

I suggest B but throw out Aerie for reasons discussed above and take HaerDelis. One priest is enough (I actually find it the easiest class not to have at all) and the blade can do both magical support and hold his own in melee if you buff a bit. With Kundane and Belm he has 4 attacks early in chapter 2 without offensive spin and harp of pandemonium is a great item that is seriously underrated. I took him along for the first time just for a change and am positively surprised by the fellow. You could also go for Jan for some more mage power but with Hexx and Jan I think you have more thief skills than you ever need so it would be a waste.

EvanJones

Old-Style (non-EE), Long-Term (Through ToB) Party Progression. Protagonist, Fighter/Mage Somewhat inclusive, but ultimately good, and with Impossible Difficulty, no-reload priority survivability in mind. At least you'll get a small sampling of most of the good-evil mainstream characters along the way. And without unduly depriving your final party of XP along the way.

-- Do Circus Quest with original 4, adding Aerie. You need the 18 Charisma (+"Friends") for shopping. if you maximized your initial $$$ pickup, you should be able to afford both the glasses and a magic permit (7100 gp, net). Sell one or two scrolls if necessary, but keep that to a minimum.

-- Go to CopperKorona. Drop Minsc (so sorry, Boo). Add Nalia and Korgan.

-- Head off to Gummint District (ostensibly to buy Magic permit). Rescue Viconia. Drop Aerie and Yoshimo. Add Viconia, Jan. (You might want to delay swapping Yoshi for Jan until you hit the docks so you won't miss out on the Solo-Jaba routine between Yosh and MaeVar. Matter of taste.)

-- Go back to the Coronet. Drop Viconia. Add Anomen.

-- Go to Dock, begin Thieves' Guild Quest. (Then swap Yoshima for Jan if you didn't do that earlier). You'll do the Ployer Detour (so as not to cheese), in the meantme. Accept Edwin's offer. Remove Nalia. Add Edwin.

-- Start Book of Kaza and do Nether Scroll. Remove Edwin. Add Nalia.

-- Finish Kaza and head off to the Temple District, enter the sewers, and carefully make your way over to Keldorn. Drop Korgan. Add Keldorn.

-- Before heading off to Spellhold: Drop Jan. Add Yoshimo. If you hate Jan, you can stick with Yoshimo, throughout, but believe me, Jan's spells are hugely useful, especially if playing no-reload. He's worth a minor investment in spells (Strength, Fireball, Armor, Shield, maybe), even though he's not going to be with you until the end. And his Stoneskins make him more durable than Yoshima.

-- When Yoshima departs for better climes, simply Add Imoen.

-- Sub out Keldorn for Valygar, but only for his quest. You may want to temporarily add in Mazzy or HD for their quests, but there's no need. Or for Cernd's presence in the group.

That gets you the mainstream quests (and Jan's, besides). Stick with Korgan's and Edwin's quest priority. When/if Nalia bugs out, just go pick her up, and grab/craft the first part of the flail, then return to the city. Anomen and Keldorn will divert you as well, but it shouldn't interfere with things too badly.


That leaves us with a final party of:

Anomen
Keldorn
Jaheira
Nalia
Imoen

Yes, Nalia.

Her spellpower is amazing and she gets 8th and 9th level spells just when the doctor ordered. Not to mention 5th-Level spells (including Chaos), starting out. Non-reload Man does not survive on Insect-Swarm-without-backup for long. Fit her out with the Robes (even before you buy the Strength Belt), and let her rip. To the Abyss with these mere straight-out NPC comparisons! The value of a character is that (s)he has what you need when you need it. No-reload, Mission "Impossible", remember? When it comes to that, Nalia is IT. (Take it from a old game designer.) In tandem with Imoem and preferably the protag. as well, you will destroy all opposition and still retain a very robust front line.


Even in terms of straight-up power, Nalia eats Minsc for lunch, and as support, she is the mainstay of the good party throughout Shadows of Amn. And with her stoneskins, she even out-tanks Minsc, when necessary. You could swap her out for Savvy later on if you like because by then Imoen (and maybe you) will have 9th level spells available.

The only compelling, rational reason to choose Minsc over Nalia is Boo.

EvanJones

Did I mistake MaeVar and Bloodscalp? 10 years in the pen for me ...