Whatcha think about that party setup?
Chapel
Member Posts: 21
Hi! Yes, it's one of those "is this party setup any good" questions. Makes me feel tad ashamed, but screw it!
After few years of leading dull, gray, non-BG life, I decided to return and give Enhanced Edition a go. I've already beaten BG:EE (blast from the past - with modern touch!), and now it's time for BG2:EE. Thing is... even though I've completed BG2:ToB in the past (I had to cheat my way out of very last fight. Hopefully I'll do better now), this game scares me a little. I'm not very good at AD&D, so sometimes I get lost in many different stats, spells, skills (and other things that begin with s, like... no, don't get me started). This time, I will try to combat this fear by mixture of AD&D learning and asking the crap out of you guys, if you'll be kind enough to answer, so that I'll understand and know more about the game.
But, it's time to cut to the chase. I've been thinking about my soon-to-be party setup, and this is what I've concocted in my mind. Tell me what you think, it's good and bad sides:
Chapel, my PC, an inported Human Cavalier. Primary stats maxed (three 19's, if tome bonuses will export as well), very low INT (4) medium WIS (15, but I heard wisdom is the most useless of stats, at least for paladins), high CHAR (19). Can't wait for the Mind Flyers city... proficiency in long swords, axes and sword'n'board. Maybe I'll try to learn two-handed swords and two-handed fighting style, mostly for Carsomyr, but just maybe.
Jan Janssen - usually I've been using Yoshimo/Imoen in the past, but it is time for a change. Second/third mage won't hurt!).
Aerie - I like her character, and I love how she is a cleric/mage).
Neera - wiiiiiiild! As much as she'll sometimes burn my party to cinders, I like her character, and I plan on romancing her. Will it collide much with my goody two-shoe ways?).
Mazzy - another new char for me, never been using her before. Now I'm a bit more open-minded about her low natural STR, considering her STR buffs. Plus, she'll make perhaps the only archer in my team, as well as frontline trooper. "Super trooper, lalalalalala...").
As for sixth guy, I am not sure. I'd like someone who can stand strong in melee combat. Usually it'd be Minsc, but I've been -always- using him in the past, so, Anomen, perhaps? Even if guy is annoying, if he can fight well, having second cleric would be good. I won't go for evil-aligned guys, unless they won't get into serious fights with other party members and won't leave me. I'm not interested in Keldorn, either. Viconia would be interesting, but she isn't a good fighter from what I recall. I was always interested in Valygar, but it sounds like his biggest strenght lies in backstabbing, and I just don't dig that combat style (all the pausing, careful clicking around the foes to get behind them, pausing again... bleh).
After few years of leading dull, gray, non-BG life, I decided to return and give Enhanced Edition a go. I've already beaten BG:EE (blast from the past - with modern touch!), and now it's time for BG2:EE. Thing is... even though I've completed BG2:ToB in the past (I had to cheat my way out of very last fight. Hopefully I'll do better now), this game scares me a little. I'm not very good at AD&D, so sometimes I get lost in many different stats, spells, skills (and other things that begin with s, like... no, don't get me started). This time, I will try to combat this fear by mixture of AD&D learning and asking the crap out of you guys, if you'll be kind enough to answer, so that I'll understand and know more about the game.
But, it's time to cut to the chase. I've been thinking about my soon-to-be party setup, and this is what I've concocted in my mind. Tell me what you think, it's good and bad sides:
Chapel, my PC, an inported Human Cavalier. Primary stats maxed (three 19's, if tome bonuses will export as well), very low INT (4) medium WIS (15, but I heard wisdom is the most useless of stats, at least for paladins), high CHAR (19). Can't wait for the Mind Flyers city... proficiency in long swords, axes and sword'n'board. Maybe I'll try to learn two-handed swords and two-handed fighting style, mostly for Carsomyr, but just maybe.
Jan Janssen - usually I've been using Yoshimo/Imoen in the past, but it is time for a change. Second/third mage won't hurt!).
Aerie - I like her character, and I love how she is a cleric/mage).
Neera - wiiiiiiild! As much as she'll sometimes burn my party to cinders, I like her character, and I plan on romancing her. Will it collide much with my goody two-shoe ways?).
Mazzy - another new char for me, never been using her before. Now I'm a bit more open-minded about her low natural STR, considering her STR buffs. Plus, she'll make perhaps the only archer in my team, as well as frontline trooper. "Super trooper, lalalalalala...").
As for sixth guy, I am not sure. I'd like someone who can stand strong in melee combat. Usually it'd be Minsc, but I've been -always- using him in the past, so, Anomen, perhaps? Even if guy is annoying, if he can fight well, having second cleric would be good. I won't go for evil-aligned guys, unless they won't get into serious fights with other party members and won't leave me. I'm not interested in Keldorn, either. Viconia would be interesting, but she isn't a good fighter from what I recall. I was always interested in Valygar, but it sounds like his biggest strenght lies in backstabbing, and I just don't dig that combat style (all the pausing, careful clicking around the foes to get behind them, pausing again... bleh).
1
Comments
+ Between your PC and Mazzy you have two decent front line fighters, supplemented by summons from literally everyone else in the party whenever necessary.
+ Jan can take care of all the locks and traps you will ever come across even though he's not a pure thief.
+ You have one pure mage for getting high level spells asap, and two dual-class mages for generally more spells and for when you need to counter something specific quickly (Breach / Lower Resistance springs to mind) or cast several of the same CC spell to increase the chance of it sticking on the next bunch of mobs standing inbetween you and glory.
Less party members means less people fighting over good gear and more xp for everyone. Not to mention less micromanaging.
If you do want a sixth, though... Rasaad would fit the melee bill. He starts out fairly weak but can get some pretty absurd defensive stats by roughly halfway through SoA. And he doesn't need much gear or very much attention beyond the occasional "hey Rasaad, go punch this guy in the face". Also, he's Lawful Good and has a fairly interesting quest line.
And no, Neera's wild, neutral ways will not collide with your good alignment. Knowing her character I'd say that if she wasn't so busy running from crazy Red Wizards she'd be contemplating an alignment shift to Chaotic Good to pass the time.
And I'd encourage you to go for those two-handed sword proficiency points you're considering because there's really no reason not to get Carsomyr if you're playing paladin.
Arcane magic in your party rocks! Maybe improve Divine magic ?;)
You can try a druid as the sixth member, Jaheira and Cernd are your choices.
You can try Anomen - another tank is never excessive. This way you can concentrate clerical spells by Aerie on debuffs and use every buff clerical spell available by Anomen.
Maybe you should also try each NPC as the 6th member, adventure with him/her a little, see how he/she acts in your party and in the end choose the one that appeared to be the most useful for you.
But I'd still take jaheira over anomen... he's annoying!
What you guys could help me with now are any tips regarding the characters I've chosen (Mazzy/Minsc, Jan, Rasaad, Aerie, Neera). Do they have any specifically good or bad points, whom should I save certain items for (like gauntlets of DEX - so far it seems Anomen'll have them), whose special skills are worthwhile or not, and why - these things.
PC - elven squashbuckler, so that I can dual wield and remove trap, open locks & loot with my main. Always wanted to do that. I'll train him in longswords or bastard swords and scimitars.
Jaheira - I heard she is sort of weak, but early and good anti-magic spells (insect plague and another insect spell) sounds good. Plus, her romance is well-written, and she can hold her own in combat if need be.
Keldorn - what party can go without a paladin? Been ages since I've seen Keldorn in action, and he'll wield Carsomyr. Plus, he'll bring heavy hitting Dispels. I hate mages.
Minsc - trained into dual-wielding maces and axes. I'd like to make him an archer, but it seems hardly doable, since Keldorn'll take Gauntlets of Dexterity (I'd rather have Valygar turned into an archer, but I cannot get Shadowkeep to work. Damnit!)
Nalia/Imoen - magic boomstick.
Aerie - ugh... I know she has a heart of gold, but she is so whiny... still, I need another mage. I'd rather have Edwin, but he and Minsc don't get along well. Makes perfect sense, but still, shame (maybe if I get the damned Shadowkeep to work...).