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Class for Evil Playthrough

mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
edited January 2014 in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
I'm preparing for my first playthrough of BGII:EE and my first evil playthrough ever. I'm starting in BG1 with the same character but I'm not sure class to make of it.

I'm considering the following party for BG2:

1 - CHARNAME
2 - Hexxat
3 - Viconia (romance)
4 - Dorn
5 - Edwin
6 - Mr. Throne of Bhaal

What class do you think fits with this party? Will Hexxat be sufficient as solo thief and a good backstabber? (I know next to nothing about her) Will I be able to get Dorn wary enough in the game so I can count on him? Will Edwin be sufficient spellcaster for the whole game?

I'm torn between Sorcerer and Barbarian, or maybe perhaps a dual of some sort (Berserker during BG1, Mage or Thief in BG2?) Thief is out of the question because I want to side with Bodhi.

What do you think?

Thanks!

Comments

  • Stasis_SwordStasis_Sword Member Posts: 91
    Hexxat can cover thieving.
    Viconia has cleric covered.
    Edwin is the best single mage, but arcane magic is so useful why not have 2?

    Recommendations:
    Fighter/Mage - Strong, tough, 9th level spells eventually
    Blade - Less spells but more options: UAI, Bard songs, and traps. Can still tank and give melee support.
  • SerpionSerpion Member Posts: 67
    Who is Mr. Throne of Bhaal? :)

    Anyway if you play with SCS you required two or more mages, in other way it will be hard game :)
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    edited January 2014
    I *highly* recommend picking up Korgan for SoA. He's evil, he has great stats and a good fighter kit. Get him the gauntlets of dexterity though! I wouldn't do an evil playthrough without the unholy trinity: Korgan, Viconia and Edwin.

    Will you be able to get Dorn early enough? Yes, you can get him right after the first dungeon in BG2. In BG1 you are likely level 1-2 when you get him (I was anyway). Beware the reputation loss though!

    Will Edwin be sufficient? He's the best mage in the game by far, but I suggest you get the Robe of Vecna as soon as you can. The only thing he can't do is Divination so most notably you lose True Sight and Identify. Just get the Glasses of Identification and use True Sight on Viconia (or use Detect Illusion). It's not a problem.

    Will Hexxat be sufficient? Well, she's a pure thief so she's swimming in points for thieving skills. Yes, she'll cover your thieving needs. I don't personally like pure thieves very much, but of the pure thieves she has by far the best stats (not right away though, can't say more without spoiling). She can backstab too, but pure thieves suck in combat otherwise. She does have certain... abilities that make her more useful than the average thief.

    Now for your main character: Sorc and barbarian are fine (though I prefer *all* other fighter types to barbs). Anything fits into the party above. Random classes I like: wild mage, kensai, fighter/thief, fighter/mage. Dwarven Defender is amazing too, but I don't know if Viconia will romance a dwarf.
    Serpion said:


    Anyway if you play with SCS you required two or more mages, in other way it will be hard game :)

    I would recommend against using SCS on your first playthrough. I see it as more of a way for veterans to get more challenge out of a game they already master.
  • TheZodiakTheZodiak Member Posts: 33
    I would go for korgan aswell. He is one of the most funny characters in the game. Furthermore you have to consider that imoen will be part of your group aswell (from time to time).
  • FoggyFoggy Member Posts: 297
    I suppose you will roll with Korgan in SoA, he's a killing machine, or Jaheira for tanking and more divine casting, later replaced by Mr ToB. With Dorn and Mr ToB in the party rolling a barbarian might be a bit too much. 3 melee powerhouses may seem a good idea but in BG2 it's all about magic. I'd go with the sorcerer, Edwin alone simply won't do considering he might get killed or disabled mid combat leaving you exposed without magic support.
    With the exact same party you chose, I rolled a Dragon Disciple, and never looked back. I even dumped Hexxat later for Imoen since I have no interest in a pure thief and Imoen plays well in an evil party too, she never leaves the PC side and an additional magic user is welcome while still covering the party thieving need (although you miss on traps).
    For my evil barbarian playthrough I recruited Korgan, Viconia, Edwin, Jan and Haer'Dalis (later replaced by The Man in ToB dualed to mage).
  • jackjackjackjack Member Posts: 3,251
    I feel like a Blade would fit well in this party. Make him/her Neutral Evil.
  • Aozgolo108Aozgolo108 Member Posts: 79
    The only issue I see is possibly limiting yourself by having Dorn and Sarevok together, they both pretty much occupy the same role minus a few differences in skills (both are heavy melee hitters who use 2 handers), not to mention you won't even find Sarevok until finishing ToB (unless EE changed something I don't know about) so you'll need someone else meantime.

    Personally, as far as your class goes I don't see an issue with playing any particular type (except Druid/Paladin/Ranger due to alignment restrictions) so I actually tend to base my decision upon the stronghold you get. Fighters, Barbarians, and Monks get the De'arnise Hold which is nice to look at and rather imposing but the rewards are kind of "meh", Clerics just get a temple room which is very underwhelming. The Planar Sphere (Mage/Sorceror) makes for one of the coolest strongholds I think, though you may have to stave off your evil notion to kill your apprentices if you want the best reward. I've also heard the Bard Stronghold is a lot of fun, I haven't gotten to experience it yet.

    Personally I'm doing a very similar thing with an evil playthrough, but I'm actually a chaotic neutral Skald (Bard Kit). I use Viconia, Shar-Teel, Dorn, Neera, and Safana in BG1 (I may switch out Safana for Tiax once I hit BG, and possibly Shar-Teel for Baeloth (slightly concerned about lack of melee fighters if I do). For BG2 I plan on using Dorn, Neera, Hexxat Viconia, and I'm a bit undecided about the 6th, either Jan (for being an interesting character) or Korgan. Regardless I think a Bard (any kit) is a nice supplement to both these parties, especially if you make them a ranged archer.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    Blade or Sorcerer (this should have been a poll!)
    You have two absolute melee beasts, and even Viccy can go up front with some buffs. Hexxat is too much thief already, and Viconia is the best divine caster.
    I'd go for sorcerer, since you can cover all the spells Edwin doesn't get, and because they are powerful. However, Blade is my personal favorite class, and would fit in very well here. They are always fun since they can always be doing something.
  • SkaffenSkaffen Member Posts: 709
    Why not a monk? The new evil kit gives pretty good abilities and the detect illusion ability synergises nicely with Edwins lack of truesight.
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    edited January 2014
    You guys are fast! Great answers!

    As most of you suggested, I think I'll pick up Korgan as well, at least until ToB, that way I have two strong melee NPCs from the start. With that, I do need a little bit more magic in this party…

    @Aozgolo108 An evil Skald is a really interesting concept, but doesn't it relegate the PC to mostly just sit around and sing?

    For the sake of party versatility, I can see how a Bard of some sort seems the best choice, but the Planar Sphere stronghold seems much cooler and fitting for an evil playthrough than the playhouse. I think I'll go with Sorcerer (perhaps Dragon Disciple for the variety).
    With Korgan/Sarevok, that makes for a party of: 2 Fighters, 1 Paladin, 1 Thief, 1 Cleric, 1 Wizard, 1 Sorcerer. Pretty powerful party! :)

    And if Edwin gets on my nerves (he usually does), I can boot him and get Haer'Dalis instead! :D Making my character the main spell caster, with Haer'Dalis for support.
  • foolstonefoolstone Member Posts: 37
    I also vote Sorcerer, there are many good fighters in Evil team.
  • EudaemoniumEudaemonium Member Posts: 3,199
    I ran this party with my Fighter/Thief, and found she seemed pretty redundant. The party ended up begin really melee-heavy and low on magic. I presume a Barbarian would occupy a similar slot with even less utility, so I'd caution against it. In my opinion, the following classes probably synch best with a full evil team:

    Bard
    Mage
    Sorcerer
    Cleric/Mage

    Thief- or Fighter-Mage would also work, but I think the above are better choices for evil Charnames if you're planning on using all the evil NPCs.
  • TheZodiakTheZodiak Member Posts: 33
    Maybe you should consider playing a bard. I would recommend a jester because it is more offensive play at the beginning and i think that evil characters should be more offensive types. The Jester is really good in BG1 because enemys have bad saves. Even in BG2 you should be fine with three possible debuffs.

    When you reach HLA then you can have the advanced bard song and this is exactly the time where you have Korgan, Dorn AND Sarevok in your party. This results in 3 melees which are buffed by your song. Pretty monstrous i think :-).

    However a bard is a more supportive role and more like a 2nd mage.

    I personally run a chaotic evil cleric/mage. In BG1 i have no problems till now (enter city of Baldurs Gate) even with a reputation of 1 and lots of flaming fist fights ;-).
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    Yeah, a Sorcerer would probably be a good pick for the Evil team, as having two arcane casters means you can set them up to cover each other's deficiencies (ie: give yourself all the high-damage spells while filling Edwin's spellbook with buffs and debuffs, or vice-versa).
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    @TheZodiak How is the game experience with a reputation of 1? Isn't it all just constant battle with everyone hostile?
  • TheZodiakTheZodiak Member Posts: 33
    The game experience is awesome because i'm not bound to do something i don't like. I can do alot of experiments and find new ways to solve a quest. Playing the anti-hero is much more fun for me.

    Regarding the hostiles: Not at all. Of course there is a chance that a group of flaming fist will spawn from time to time, but it is not always the case. The rest of the npc's are pretty much neutral for me. I guess when you have low charisma it can be worse. There is only one flaw so far: Sellers have very high prices even if you boost your charisma to 20+ with the friendship spell.
  • PibaroPibaro Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,989
    I did the evil run with the same party, but I was a dual berserker/mage, and it was almost perfect.
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    edited January 2014
    @mrdeluxe: You can also consider

    sacrificing Korgan during the Hell trials, and replacing him with Sarevok at the start of ToB; then, if you choose to let Hexxat die at the end of her ToB quest (by which point you won't really need a thief anymore), you can use the Fate Spirit to bring Korgan back as a third fighter. With Dorn, Sarevok and Korgan in your party, there will be very few obstacles you won't be able to completely obliterate.
  • kryptixkryptix Member Posts: 741
    I wouldn't roll without at least two arcane casters, both of which have access to level 9 spells and mage HLAs, so I would go with a mage dual/multi. Hexxat is a very capable backstabber and regularly got stabs in the 80-90 range with Celestial Fury and in the 100+ range with Staff of the Ram (Give her a bunch of + Damage gear to get higher backstabs, and it synergizes with bard song). Also she levels super fast and had UAI and Spike Traps by the Underdark. (Don't do what I did and think that I'd wait for Chapter 6 to pick up the Scarlet Ninja-to, it will be useful in Chapter 4-5, so just get it in advance).

    Personally, the overpowered option would be a Gnome Fighter/Illusionist, but that should only be needed if you are playing with SCS etc on high difficulties.

    I'd consider going with a Darkmoon Monk or a Dwarven Fighter/Cleric (maybe even Keeper in a Dwarven Defender kit?) Firestorms are fun and buffing yourself to 25 strength would let one of the other melee take Crom Freyr.
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    @shawne sacrificing Korgan is a pretty interesting idea, but I think you just spoiled me about Hexxat a little bit. :)

    @Pibaro Right now my choices are between sorceress (and romance Hexxat) and a female berserker/mage as well! A beserkeress seems an interesting concept! :D
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    @mrdeluxe: That's what the spoiler tag is for, after all... ;)
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    I'd prefer a sorc myself, but I still think they are more difficult to manage if this is your first playthrough of BG2. It's much easier to pick the right spells if you already know how it all works.

    @Kryptix: Dwarven Defender/Cleric would be plain overpowered. You could get more than 100% physical damage resistance :)
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    @kaffekoppen not my first playthrough of BG2, but of BG2:EE. I've played BG2 many, many times… :)
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    edited January 2014
    In that case, sorc is great :)

    I think I would also feel insecure about my spellcasting abilities if I was forced to be in a party with Edwin. As a sorcerer, at least you can do something he can't!
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    edited January 2014
    Ok, quick pool for what you think is the most badass for a female PC: Berserker or Dragon Disciple? :)

    Think Red Sonja vs Daenerys Targaryen (but evil).
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    The sorc!
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    edited January 2014
    Why would you need another Berserker if you've got Korgan? Dragon Disciple wins. :)
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    @shawne I just enjoy the concept of a female berserker, bitch-slapping Sarevok/Irenicus/Firkraag… :D

    But yeah, the DD fits best! :)
  • abacusabacus Member Posts: 1,307
    If you go Sorcerer/DD route, do some research into spell picks... Sorcerers are hugely powerful, but a bit restrictive if you don't know the spellbook well.
    Generally speaking, try to get spells that scale well with level (eg: skull trap > fireball), and avoid duplication of effects (so don't take >1 spell with an invisibility effect, decide early which summons you want - nishru could be good, hakeashar could be good, but nishru *AND* hakeashar is one wasted spell).
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