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Custom Team or Story Characters?

perfectblueperfectblue Member Posts: 10
edited August 2012 in Archive (General Discussion)
How will you be playing through BG1 your first time through. Using the story characters, or building your own custom team. Personally the latter for me.
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Comments

  • EidolonEidolon Member Posts: 99
    edited August 2012
    Story characters. No party is complete without Edwin and Viconia, and there are at least a couple more favorite NPCs. I don't really care that much for power gaming, and most of the NPCs just make the experience richer. Even after playing it often.
  • raywindraywind Member Posts: 289
    with npc for the first go and then back to custom party (solo) 99% of the time i solo the game
  • SceptenarSceptenar Member Posts: 606
    Story characters during the first playthrough, going after the new guys especially. Later I'm going to build "the team to beat all teams", in other words a completely custom group.
  • O_BruceO_Bruce Member Posts: 2,790
    Custom Team is boring. Enough said from me.
  • CheesebellyCheesebelly Member Posts: 1,727
    Definitely story characters! Wanna meet the new guys! :D
  • WrainWrain Member Posts: 6
    I'll play with the story characters, for sure i'll keep at least two of the new NPCs. I really love the interaction (especially with the banter mod) and the unique background of each characters.
    The only alternative that I can think of is to play with one custom characters to try out some new kits.
  • Doom972Doom972 Member Posts: 150
    I prefer to have characters in my party who have their own goals and ambitions, rather than a bunch of robots. Since you can beat the game with a solo character, the tactical advantage of having a custom party isn't all that useful.
  • Twilight_FoxTwilight_Fox Member Posts: 448
    Yup, the npcs have some weaknesses, I like that this way.
  • reedmilfamreedmilfam Member Posts: 2,808
    Story. I thought I'd prefer to make the awesome characters I wanted, myself, but it was flat and weak.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    Twilight_Fox said:

    Yup, the npcs have some weaknesses, I like that this way.

    Most of the NPCs also have some strengths the PC can never acquire or must work to acquire. Edwin's amulet, Kagain's 20 Constitution, Jaheira is the only Druid with a resurrection spell, etc.
  • jmanreisjmanreis Member Posts: 39
    How do you build your own custom team? I thought the game only allowed you to create one player character.
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,344
    Story characters. A major part of playing the game would be lost to me without them.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    jmanreis said:

    How do you build your own custom team? I thought the game only allowed you to create one player character.

    You can play a multiplayer game by yourself, create a character in all six slots, and give control of them to yourself.

  • cutlasskiwicutlasskiwi Member Posts: 35
    Definitely story characters. I have to try the new ones but the hard part is deciding who will get the other slots.
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    The NPCs are really the thing that distinguishes "Baldur's Gate" from, say, "Icewind Dale", so I'll definitely stick with existing characters. :)
  • KholdstareKholdstare Member Posts: 160
    I always use story characters. I can never have fun playing custom ones.
  • KosonKoson Member Posts: 284
    Story characters. Custom team is for IWD.
  • KageDeltaKageDelta Member Posts: 14
    I will be playing a few seperate games. One by myself. And two more with two friends seperatey. In the multiplayer ones I will be making the "dream team". Me and my two buddies have talked at extent what we need to make the perfect party. And we will each get to make 3 characters each. For my play through I will probably have a party of 4 custom party members. For quick levels. And only take npcs for their respective quests.
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited August 2012
    One of my chief interests is the new content, i.e., the three new NPCs, their quests, and the Black Pits. I will therefore probably pick up all three new NPCs.

    I always include Imoen. So there's only room for one more NPC after Neera, Rasaad, and Dorn are on board.

    I'll need a healer. Probably Viconia.

    I'll likely play a half-elven fighter-mage. I intend to use spells such as Blind, Sleep, Horror, Ghoul Touch (love that spell), Slow, Vampiric Touch, Hold Person, Confusion, Emotion: Hopelessness, Chaos, Domination, and Feeblemind. After disabling his targets the PC will melee. I guess I'll have him dual-wield... Using weapon-and-shield doesn't seem very "realistic" for someone who casts spells then wades into combat.
    Post edited by Lemernis on
  • MetaSiegMetaSieg Member Posts: 26
    Story characters. Party banter is far to amusing.
  • The_New_RomanceThe_New_Romance Member Posts: 839
    Story characters, but god knows which PC setup I'll chose.

    The time for a custom kickass squad will come in the Black Pits :) Looking forward to that, as the IWD construct-your-own-party-o-matic has its advantages, too.
  • sandmanCCLsandmanCCL Member Posts: 1,389
    I usually use story characters, though I'll fudge their stats a little if I think the character is totally ass. So many of them are completely worthless as is.

    Things I consistently cheat on with some of the NPCs:
    -I give Quayle 13 wisdom for example so he stops failing casting divine spells because I mean really. I also give him 9 strength instead of just the 8 he has so he can at least equip the effing maces he's default proficient with.

    -I give all the BG2 characters their BG2 stats.

    -I change Dynaheir into a Diviner because Invoker is by and large the most useless mage spec in the game.

    -I often change Branwen into a Fighter/Cleric. Just two ranks of fighter, but it means I also boost her strength to 15 and wisdom to 17, just so she'd be "legit." She's a good enough NPC in her own right and I recognize doing this makes her borderline OP especially considering when you get her, but meh. I guess I mostly do this to satisfy my own idea of what her backstory is.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    I like either, but the NPCs do have their advantages.

    For an evil party, nothing quite beats Kagain for sheer durability and Edwin is basically a light machine gun chambered for spells. Viconia's magic resistance is incredibly attractive in the BG2 engine where she can be healed and buffed without failure.

    Dynaheir might have the most useful unique ability in the whole game in her Slow Poison.

    Minsc basically has a PC's stats as it is, and can also Enrage for situations like the sirens on the beach south of Candlekeep.

    Branwen gets free hammer summoning spells which are awesome in the early stages of the game.
  • sandmanCCLsandmanCCL Member Posts: 1,389
    Schneidend said:


    Dynaheir might have the most useful unique ability in the whole game in her Slow Poison.

    Sentences like this make me realize just how differently I think than most people! I always found it to be rather useless because I'd always have a cleric or two in the party and outside of DUHM, there is a significant dearth of useful level 2 divine spells.

    Tiax gets my vote for best NPC ability. That is to say, ruling all. Forget about the ghoul.
  • kiroskiros Member Posts: 119
    jmanreis said:

    How do you build your own custom team? I thought the game only allowed you to create one player character.

    @jmanreis
    Create a team in a multiplayer game, then import to single player.
    I'll probably use the story characters on first playthrough, then once BG2EE is released I'll create my own unique team.

  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    sandmanCCL said:



    Sentences like this make me realize just how differently I think than most people! I always found it to be rather useless because I'd always have a cleric or two in the party and outside of DUHM, there is a significant dearth of useful level 2 divine spells.

    Tiax gets my vote for best NPC ability. That is to say, ruling all. Forget about the ghoul.

    Shit, you're right. I forgot about Tiax ruling.

    As for Level 2 Cleric spells, I usually get poisoned in the level 1-2 range, so my clerics don't even have them yet. I also tend to make use of Find Traps, Hold Person, and Silence, so my Level 2 slots are precious.
  • sandmanCCLsandmanCCL Member Posts: 1,389
    Oh right, Hold Person. Derp. Always think that's a 3rd level spell. I think it is in 3E, which would explain why I get that confused all the time.

    Still, I don't know if you've noticed in other threads but I am a huge advocate for consumables being the largest portion of your cash expenditures. Yeah weapons and armor you can buy are great and all and occasionally best in slot, but by and large the BEST gear available you'll obtain before you really have the gold to buy anything of substantial value anyway.

    I shell out I don't even want to think about how much cash in the way of Elixirs of Health. 10 HP a swig AND removes poison? GLUG GLUG SLURP BURP.

    I also tend to rest the moment I get to any new area, after preparing the spells I know I'm going to need in said area. Hold Person is among the best spells in the game but is pretty much useless in all the areas I can think of where Poison is a problem. I think the only things that present a problem when it comes to poison early game are Sirenes, most of them I wipe out before I even manage to get Dynaheir in the party. By the time she joins me, her ability only really comes into play in Cloakwood with the spiders and wyverns n such.
  • BjjorickBjjorick Member Posts: 1,208
    story chars, i'll reroll til i get superman, gotta have some weak chars to balance it all out.

    plus, aerie romancable......plus neera romancable......that's soooo much better then the army of super mutants with perfect stats i would create.

    Also, from char creation to candlekeep is about 3 weeks if i make the whole party.....maybe for my 2nd playthough?
  • JolanthusJolanthus Member Posts: 292
    sandmanCCL said:

    -I change Dynaheir into a Diviner because Invoker is by and large the most useless mage spec in the game.

    Diviners have no place on the battlefield. >_>
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    I've never played BG with a full party of my own. I use IWD for that. Joinable NPCs all the way!!
    Also.. Because it's never been an option for me before, I'm really tempted to go for a Sorcerer while I'm at it! ^^
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