Ideas for a Good aligned party

Corvino

I'm planning on running a goody-two-shoes party through SOA & TOB next and thought I'd ask for suggestions on party composition. I have a number of PCs I could use for Charname that have been run through BG:EE already.

I've not used Keldorn or Mazzy much, so I'd like to include both of them in the party. Rasaad is also on the list for his quests. This pretty much gives me all the melee I'll need, and I'm wavering on whether Mazzy will stay an archer or get developed into a tank. Also, picking up Wilson or Valygar could be an option instead of one of the above.

Neutral or Good casters are where I'm looking for advice. I'm going to aim for at least 1 divine caster and 2 arcane, and will need someone with some thief-y skills too. Imoen and Jan are out, as I've used them both a lot. Nalia might even enter consideration as a thief if I EEkeeper her a bit for a later dual. No suggestion is too outlandish - I'll even consider Cernd if you have a good enough reason.

Here are the options for Charname: Dwarf F/C, Gnome F/I, Half-Elf F/T, Human Berserker 7->Druid or Human Swashbuckler 10->Mage

Given these options, what party would you choose and why?

element

well if your ruling out what I would call the two best thieves id say use the swashbuckler>mage if its point distribution is adequate, then id have

PC(Swash>Mage), Mazzy, Keldorn, Rasad, Aerie, Neera

well pretty simple explanation you get 3 melee specialists potentially with the PC and Aerie joining in if your so inclined you also get 3 arcane casters which is nothing to be sniffed at and a cleric.

Aerie as a C/M is just a superb caster for her versatility, Neera on the other hand is probably the best Arcane Caster for a Non Edwin party not to mention the wild mage kit is loads of fun

Corvino

I was leaning in that direction, I'll admit @element. I've overused Jan and Imoen over the years and figured I'd probably go with either the Swash->Mage or the F/T. My main cause for hesitation is the limited amount of divine spellpower available, though with 3 mages that shouldn't be a huge issue.

Stasis_Sword

So to review you want a Neutral or Good party with a thief, but without using Imoen or Jan. Which leaves: Nalia and charname. Even if you dualed after the first dungeon charname would be a better thief. So unless you really like Nalia, charname is the logically choice for your thieving.

Fixed: Mazzy, Keldorn, Rasaad (could sub Valygar for one)
Arcane: Neera or Nalia
Divine: Anomen or Aerie
Theiving: charname

So the question is what type of thief.
Swash -> Mage - If you want a mage with just enough thieving pick this (lvl 10 for bonuses).
Thief -> Mage - If you want a mage who can invisible back stab pick this (lvl 9 = x4 backstab).
Thief/Mage - You'll be less mage but have thief HLA traps
Fighter/Thief - You're a backstabbing, whirlwinding machine that can wield anything.
Kensai -> Thief - Your back stabs are legendary, but it's a tougher road.
Fighter/Mage/Thief -> You'll level slowly but you can do anything.

PawnSlayer

element said:

well if your ruling out what I would call the two best thieves id say use the swashbuckler>mage if its point distribution is adequate, then id have

PC(Swash>Mage), Mazzy, Keldorn, Rasad, Aerie, Neera

well pretty simple explanation you get 3 melee specialists potentially with the PC and Aerie joining in if your so inclined you also get 3 arcane casters which is nothing to be sniffed at and a cleric.

Aerie as a C/M is just a superb caster for her versatility, Neera on the other hand is probably the best Arcane Caster for a Non Edwin party not to mention the wild mage kit is loads of fun

I'd go with this, leaving Mazzy as an Archer. Trademeet and the Copper Coronet Sewers/Slaver Compound are both done very early, giving Mazzy easy access to two of the best bows in the game - Tansheron for limitless +3 ammo, and Tuigan for very fast firing when +3 isn't needed. It's perfectly possible to recruit Mazzy right after leaving Irenicus's dungeon (though I'd get the other characters first as entering the Shadow Temple is a bit tricky) too. Her proficiencies are already matched to missile weapons and she's arguably the best recruitable character for it (arguable: Valygar, though Mazzy has grand mastery which he doesn't), though you could modify that with EE Keeper.

Aerie could be swapped for Anomen, optionally. That gives you Divine spells and more melee muscle dual-wielding Flail of Ages and either Crom Faeyr or (preferably in my opinion) Defender of Easthaven. If PC duals to mage, you've still got your "two arcane, one divine" spell slots. It depends really whether you want to be more magic or melee heavy. Personally, I'd rather have an extra tank than a third mage, especially for the early game when Rasaad is still struggling (around level 12 he gets much better), but that's just me.

Serpion

Berserker -> thief could be fun also Especially then you use Tenser transformation from scroll

Corvino

At the moment the lineup is as follows:

PC: F/T multi, dual wielder
Keldorn
Rasaad
Mazzy
Aerie
Neera

This should give me quite a few options and cover the requisite bases for thieving, melee and casting.

jackjack

That party is going to absolutely rip through people. Enjoy!

CrevsDaak

@Corvino I'll swap Rasaad for Anomen, you'll need a better cleric than Aerie.

kaffekoppen

Oh by the way, I was wondering... I haven't played with a good party in the EE at all and I know that int is now fixed so you need to have 18 to scribe level 9 spells. Since I just have Edwin, there's no problem.

You don't need 18 int to learn mage HLA spells, right? Just to scribe level 9 spells?

Skaffen

@kaffekoppen Don't worry about the int, just drink a potion. Pure nuisance implementation since the option file is set in a way that you don't get a proper error message why you can't scribe...

kaffekoppen

Ah but that is my question: drink a potion before scribing or drink before leveling up as well?

Anyway, when I'm done with ToB, I am also going to get a good party and try the remaining EE content. Will take Rasaad, Neera and even Wilson. I'll also be using Mazzy and Anomen, I think, which means I'll be playing some kind of thief... again

Corvino

That's how I've experienced it so far @kaffekoppen. Using Int potions has allowed Aerie to learn level 9 spells from scrolls. After that she can memorise and cast as normal.

kaffekoppen

OK, thanks, I'm still assuming you don't need 18 int to learn HLA level 10 spells, but I guess I won't be worrying about it. If it turns out badly I'm not beyond EEKeepering it. Normally I won't "cheat" with the keeper, but I'm very much opposed to the int change they made anyway, particularly because the game gives you 5 mages with less than 18 int. Can you even imagine playing a single-class mage without level 9 spells?

Edwin makes you quite spoiled, I guess. I'm sure I will be thinking "where are all my spell slots" when I grab any of the other mages again. But maybe, just maybe, my mage won't constantly be plotting to kill me or complain when we get a store discount.

elminster

You don't need 18 intelligence to learn HLA spells.