Mazzy v. Rasaad v. Anomen v. Jaheira v. Neera - Just can't decide
bjorne
Member Posts: 32
Playing a mostly good (Jaheira and early Anomen excluded) run through and just can't decide who to leave out. Although I played the original BG when it was released, this is my first BG2 playthrough and trying not to look up much. Only in Chapter 2, although closing out a lot of quests before advancing.
Party that I'm currently sold on:
Main - Dwarven Fighter/Cleric from BG1, strong, wise and hardy, but no dex and mistake of spec in shields (working on changing that).
Keldorn
Nalia (replaced by Imoen eventually due to space constraints)
Members I think I'd probably like to keep:
Anomen (especially now that he's good and with increased wisdom)
Jaheira (messed up and gave her two handed instead of two weapon with first prof, but still feel loyal to her since she's been there since the beginning.
I was originally going to go with Rasaad as the sixth since I like the idea of a monk and used to play PnP with that class, but then I found Mazzy and liked her as well (although I'll work on setting her up to dual short swords and use her bow since she already specialized in short swords). Then there's also Neera, who I romanced in BGEE. Another consideration is that I'd on occassion like to pick up people for just the quest they are initially associated with (Valygar, others?). I don't want to weaken an end game character by having them miss out on exp though.
So conflicted and mainly venting frustration, but opinions are also welcome. Ha.
Party that I'm currently sold on:
Main - Dwarven Fighter/Cleric from BG1, strong, wise and hardy, but no dex and mistake of spec in shields (working on changing that).
Keldorn
Nalia (replaced by Imoen eventually due to space constraints)
Members I think I'd probably like to keep:
Anomen (especially now that he's good and with increased wisdom)
Jaheira (messed up and gave her two handed instead of two weapon with first prof, but still feel loyal to her since she's been there since the beginning.
I was originally going to go with Rasaad as the sixth since I like the idea of a monk and used to play PnP with that class, but then I found Mazzy and liked her as well (although I'll work on setting her up to dual short swords and use her bow since she already specialized in short swords). Then there's also Neera, who I romanced in BGEE. Another consideration is that I'd on occassion like to pick up people for just the quest they are initially associated with (Valygar, others?). I don't want to weaken an end game character by having them miss out on exp though.
So conflicted and mainly venting frustration, but opinions are also welcome. Ha.
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Comments
So, that would give you charname, Keldorn, Neera, and [thief to be replaced by Imoen] so far, with a choice of two of Jaheira, Mazzy, and Rasaad. Or, if you think you can get by without a thief for a while, you could try all three and see which ones fit your playing style the best.
You can buy Jaheira the staff of arundel from Joluv (in the copper coronet). That way she can use staffs in combat. She won't be as damaging as she would be with a speed weapon or a club/scimitar but it will give her more options when it comes to casting in the middle of combat/prior to it.
I've kind of been holding on to Anomen because I like to have a lot of healing after battles to minimize rest, I have a soft spot for clerics, and because I figured he'd get far more and better upper level spells and better turning than the main since my main is multi. I already see the vampires coming. I'm guessing you two have more exp with BG2 than I do... Am I going to be hurting by not having a high level cleric if I get rid of Anomen?
Basically you will lose out of course by now taking Anomen but I think you'd gain more from taking another party member instead.
obviously I can only speak for myself but I encountered a lot of issues with Rasaad so id probably leave him out or at least do his SOA quest then switch him out
also id switch out Anomen maybe for Neera. I don't see him really being needed for your party
Generally still works well for vampires though.
If I were to do it again, I would probably replace Rasaad with Mazzy or Valygar. Heck, I might still do it. Rasaad is a cool guy to have around, a little monosyllabic, maybe, but still pretty cool. Unlike many, I don't take issue with his personality or his (Mark Meer's) exaggerated fake Turkish accent. What I do take issue with is the fact that he, being a monk, becomes way, way too powerful by the time you hit mid-to-late SoA.
Consider this: at level 23 (Chapter 6), he has a THAC0 of -10 and, after one potion of invulnerability, an AC of -19, 74% Magic Resistance and sub-zero saving throws. I am running SCS and have the difficulty slider turned up to Insane, but this guy still makes me feel like I'm playing in god mode. I can tank pretty much any spell caster, take on a full Beholder hive or a group of Mind Flayers and still escape unscathed. So, unless you enjoy this kind of power play, I would suggest eschewing Rasaad for a more balanced (and arguably more talkative) party member, such as Mazzy.
Healing is good but getting little or no damage is better.
Regarding anomen :
- You already have a fighter cleric charname
- anomen has no dex, just as charname and keldorn and you can have only 1 pair of gauntlets of dex.
- if you really want a second divine caster, jahiera is the way to go since druid spells at level 5/6/7 are much better than clerics and she ends up eventually a much better fighter than anomen.
For me, anomen should go.
For the rest, you party is quite light arcane magic-wise and has virtually no thief.
Adding Jan jansen and Neera would solve both issues.
Another possibility is to take haer dalis.
Option 1 :
Charname/ keldorn/ rasaad or mazzy /jan/ neera/ jaheira
Option 2 : put haer dalis on either rasaad/mazzy (arcane heavy) or neera (melee/heavy)
In terms of NPCs, Jaheira seems to be the one that game devs went to town on, her personal quest/romance just keeps running and running for most the length of the game, I don't think anyone else comes close in terms of questing from the original game. The 4 new NPCs all have reasonably full personal quests too, although they can be run in a much more focussed way.
So I would suggest you keep Jaheira for a first run, although expect her leveling to be slow after the initial spurt. Druids take forever to level, and that goes double for a multi class. For most of the game, you will feel like you are advancing a fighter with levels twice as expensive as they should be - but by this time Jaheira will already have level 6 druid spells, so the early levels do pay off fast.
The other stand-out character for me has been Jan, who I always found too irritating to play before. I finally took him as my thief this time around, and he simply has an aswer for everything. Not much in the way of personal quest, but banters everywhere with everyone (and perhaps a little less annoying as the game moves on) - probably someone to consider on your next play through.
Nalia's thieving skills are weak, but nevertheless if you collect all of the Thief-boosting gear (Ring of Danger Sense, etc., etc.) and are prepared to give her a Thief-boosting potion when necessary, then she's actually (although just barely) adequate as your sole Thief, at least until the point when you can get Imoen back.
For your second front-line warrior, both Rasaad and Mazzy are viable choices. Mazzy is pretty good thoughout, whereas Rasaad is weak in early SoA, pretty good in late SoA, and tremendous at ToB levels. The choice is a matter of personal playing style.
That'd leave you room for one more character, and you'd certainly benefit from a second arcane caster. Neera is an obvious option, but there's also the option of keeping Nalia even after you've also got Imoen back. In the latter case you could eas your thievery by temporarily including Yoshimo or Jan.
Character - Dwarven F/C
Jaheira
Nalia then Imoen
Keldorn
Rasaad
Mazzy
Nalia uses potions to boost the thieving abilities when necessary to open a lock, which seems to be working OK. I plan to rotate in and out Keldorn, Rasaad, and Mazzy to cover other ground and stories (Rasaad is sitting while I cover Valygar and the sphere).
Tough not taking Anomen and Neera as well. Even Valygar seems a fun build, but I do think I'll enjoy the run with this selection since other characters I thought about builidng originally were paladins and monks. Adding an archer just seemed right.
Can't believe I didn't play this game after BG when they originally came out. Glad that it coming out on ipad convinced me to buy it.