NPC that can take a hit
ScotGaymer
Member Posts: 526
So basically I have been doing a "Storyline" play through of BGEE and BG2EE with my "canon" Charname.
His name is Tanis and he is an Elven Sorcerer, Chaotic Good aligned.
He is irreversibly gay, considered Imoen his sister even before he discovers (later in BG2EE) that she really IS his sister, had an inexplicable fondness for Minsc even though the warrior is completely nuts, misses Candlekeep something else, and found having to kill his brother Sarevok a heartbreakingly difficult decision to make.
He was subsequently traumatised by Irenicus, and only by focusing on getting back Imoen is he able to keep himself together.
How the storyline playthrough works is I am trying to play it in as logical and organic manner as possible - I visited areas in BGEE when it made sense to visit them, I took on NPCs and released said NPCs when it was sensible to have them or not have them.
For example Tanis and Imoen met up with Xzar and Montaron and Tanis found them to be friendly if a trifle odd and agreed to take them along with him (agreeing to go to Nashkel after a detour to the Friendly Arm Inn), Imoen was a lot more suspicious of them but then they proved their worth when Xzar magically blasted the head off of Tarnesh (almost literally, in my playthrough it was Xzar of all people that blasted him into Chunks). The maniacal laughter afterwards freaked Tanis and Imoen out a little, but Montaron dismissed it as shock.
The party picked up Auntie Jaheira and Uncle Khalid (the game explicitly tells you that Jaheria, and Khalid are your guardians now that Gorion is dead - and people wonder why I find Jaheira's romance creepy), and then head off south to Beregost (where we rescued Neera, and escorted her to safety at the Friendly Arm Inn), and then Nashkel.
By the time the party got to Nashkel, I judged that even the ever optimistic Tanis was thoroughly freaked out by the Zhentarim agents, and they both got left in Nashkel on their own (Tanis felt this was okay because he only promised to see them to Nashkel). He then took on Minsc and agreed to rescue his witch (Tanis felt they would be excellent replacements for the Zhents). After rescuing Dynaheir, the party cleared the Nashkel mines, saw Xan to safety in spite of his predictions of Doom, made our way back to Nashkel freeing Branwen along the way whereupon Minsc and Dynaheir "left" the party so that they might continue their journey which was judged to be more important than following Tanis about.
I continued playing in this vein, and ended the game with Tanis, Kivan, Ajantis, Yeslick, Rasaad, and Imoen (dual classed of course).
Doing the same thing in BG2EE.
Escaped Irenicus' dungeon with everyone, Imoen got stolen, rescued Aerie from the evil!Circus, felt very happy for Minsc when he promptly declared that she was "his new witch!", and promptly bounced Jaheria from the party right after dealing with the slaver quest in the Copper Coronet at the start of Chapter 2.
Basically I roleplayed it as Tanis freaked the fuck out over her previously maternal/aunt-like attentions suddenly turned romantic and sexual (literally in game the romances are horrible because they pretty much turn from "friendly" to "romantic" in the space of a single conversation), it hurt him to send her back to the Harpers because she was the only "mother" figure he had ever known but her "feelings" for him he found to be jarring, disturbing, and frightening and thus she had to go. (Seriously hadn't even really properly started the game yet and I was already getting the initial romance conversations with Jaheira, it's really annoying that Beamdog weren't allowed to fix the damn romances so they weren't creepy as fuck).
We continued on, picking up Anomen, and then Nathaniel (the only mod npc I have installed atm) and began doing the "Main quest" in earnest by trying to con, I mean work for the Shadow Thieves. And then it happened. Aerie decided Tanis was her boyfriend. And Tanis? Turned into a blushing, flailing, awkward mess because he was already kind of maybe interested in Nathaniel and didn't want him to get the wrong idea (the wrong idea being that Tanis was actually remotely interested in The Walking Tragedy Of Amn). At least thats how I roleplayed it to justify leaving Aerie and Minsc at the Circus. Tanis liked Minsc but couldn't justify seperating him from his new Witch and further damaging his fragile mental health.
But that was okay because we got the Magnificent Sir Keldorn just after, and boy can he tank!
Sadly as I was roleplaying/doing my story playthrough Tanis just couldn't justify asking Keldorn to stick around after that whole mess with his wife came out.
So now I have Tanis (Sorc), Yoshimo (DC: Fighter/Bounty Hunter), Anomen (DC: Fighter/Cleric of Helm), and Nathaniel (Sword Saint).
It's not a horrible party but as you can see I don't have a Tanky NPC. Anomen does in a pinch, but he is more defensive and can't really lay the smack down like say Minsc or Keldorn. Neither can Yoshimo even with his Fighter upgrade.
So I need a Tank.
Who would be a "good" BG2EE replacement for Kivan/Ajantis/Keldorn/Minsc? Good or neutral aligned please!
I am open to mod NPC obviously, as long as they aren't terrible Mary Sue's (*cough*Saerileth*cough*).
Thanks!
His name is Tanis and he is an Elven Sorcerer, Chaotic Good aligned.
He is irreversibly gay, considered Imoen his sister even before he discovers (later in BG2EE) that she really IS his sister, had an inexplicable fondness for Minsc even though the warrior is completely nuts, misses Candlekeep something else, and found having to kill his brother Sarevok a heartbreakingly difficult decision to make.
He was subsequently traumatised by Irenicus, and only by focusing on getting back Imoen is he able to keep himself together.
How the storyline playthrough works is I am trying to play it in as logical and organic manner as possible - I visited areas in BGEE when it made sense to visit them, I took on NPCs and released said NPCs when it was sensible to have them or not have them.
For example Tanis and Imoen met up with Xzar and Montaron and Tanis found them to be friendly if a trifle odd and agreed to take them along with him (agreeing to go to Nashkel after a detour to the Friendly Arm Inn), Imoen was a lot more suspicious of them but then they proved their worth when Xzar magically blasted the head off of Tarnesh (almost literally, in my playthrough it was Xzar of all people that blasted him into Chunks). The maniacal laughter afterwards freaked Tanis and Imoen out a little, but Montaron dismissed it as shock.
The party picked up Auntie Jaheira and Uncle Khalid (the game explicitly tells you that Jaheria, and Khalid are your guardians now that Gorion is dead - and people wonder why I find Jaheira's romance creepy), and then head off south to Beregost (where we rescued Neera, and escorted her to safety at the Friendly Arm Inn), and then Nashkel.
By the time the party got to Nashkel, I judged that even the ever optimistic Tanis was thoroughly freaked out by the Zhentarim agents, and they both got left in Nashkel on their own (Tanis felt this was okay because he only promised to see them to Nashkel). He then took on Minsc and agreed to rescue his witch (Tanis felt they would be excellent replacements for the Zhents). After rescuing Dynaheir, the party cleared the Nashkel mines, saw Xan to safety in spite of his predictions of Doom, made our way back to Nashkel freeing Branwen along the way whereupon Minsc and Dynaheir "left" the party so that they might continue their journey which was judged to be more important than following Tanis about.
I continued playing in this vein, and ended the game with Tanis, Kivan, Ajantis, Yeslick, Rasaad, and Imoen (dual classed of course).
Doing the same thing in BG2EE.
Escaped Irenicus' dungeon with everyone, Imoen got stolen, rescued Aerie from the evil!Circus, felt very happy for Minsc when he promptly declared that she was "his new witch!", and promptly bounced Jaheria from the party right after dealing with the slaver quest in the Copper Coronet at the start of Chapter 2.
Basically I roleplayed it as Tanis freaked the fuck out over her previously maternal/aunt-like attentions suddenly turned romantic and sexual (literally in game the romances are horrible because they pretty much turn from "friendly" to "romantic" in the space of a single conversation), it hurt him to send her back to the Harpers because she was the only "mother" figure he had ever known but her "feelings" for him he found to be jarring, disturbing, and frightening and thus she had to go. (Seriously hadn't even really properly started the game yet and I was already getting the initial romance conversations with Jaheira, it's really annoying that Beamdog weren't allowed to fix the damn romances so they weren't creepy as fuck).
We continued on, picking up Anomen, and then Nathaniel (the only mod npc I have installed atm) and began doing the "Main quest" in earnest by trying to con, I mean work for the Shadow Thieves. And then it happened. Aerie decided Tanis was her boyfriend. And Tanis? Turned into a blushing, flailing, awkward mess because he was already kind of maybe interested in Nathaniel and didn't want him to get the wrong idea (the wrong idea being that Tanis was actually remotely interested in The Walking Tragedy Of Amn). At least thats how I roleplayed it to justify leaving Aerie and Minsc at the Circus. Tanis liked Minsc but couldn't justify seperating him from his new Witch and further damaging his fragile mental health.
But that was okay because we got the Magnificent Sir Keldorn just after, and boy can he tank!
Sadly as I was roleplaying/doing my story playthrough Tanis just couldn't justify asking Keldorn to stick around after that whole mess with his wife came out.
So now I have Tanis (Sorc), Yoshimo (DC: Fighter/Bounty Hunter), Anomen (DC: Fighter/Cleric of Helm), and Nathaniel (Sword Saint).
It's not a horrible party but as you can see I don't have a Tanky NPC. Anomen does in a pinch, but he is more defensive and can't really lay the smack down like say Minsc or Keldorn. Neither can Yoshimo even with his Fighter upgrade.
So I need a Tank.
Who would be a "good" BG2EE replacement for Kivan/Ajantis/Keldorn/Minsc? Good or neutral aligned please!
I am open to mod NPC obviously, as long as they aren't terrible Mary Sue's (*cough*Saerileth*cough*).
Thanks!
5
Comments
Other than that, the monk Rasaad is an excellent tank in bg2! He was sucky in bg1 but here he is awesome, with some good gear he can get -11 ac easily, has a lot of attacks/round and can heal himself in a pinch. Strap a belt of giant strength and he will become a fighting machine with his fists. Not to mention good mobility, saving throws, and fiery special abilities to do some aoe damage, especially to undead.
Mazzy can tank if need be, she is grand master in shortbows but is a capable tank as well, use her special abilities to boost her strength, and she is good to go! She can remove fear and heal herself twice a day, too. And she has excellent saving throws for being small. What's there not to like?
Umm have you ever thought about Dorn? I really wanted to try out the romance but he is just so over the top evil and just..brutal. Viconia and Edwin are evil too, but I can tolerate them in a good walkthrough, but Dorn is so wicked that unless one plays a chaotic evil berserker it just does not make sense to have him in the party. I mean in bg2 his joining quest is slaughtering innocents in a wedding, so no-go. Viconia never goes about slaughtering the innocent as 'Shar demands sacrifice!' Or Edwin does not go murdering people for 'spell research' Imagine what would it be like if the Nether Scroll quest required him to take the heart of a little innocent child as a spell component, of them there are many in Athkathla streets.
Honestly the romances all kinda suck in BGEE and BG2EE, even the newly added ones.
The only good romances (in Mod NPCs) have I seen so far are Nathaniel (I know, I know it has it's issues), and Kelsey (some people think him boring). Though Arath is probably a good one too.
Never tried out Arath, I think the portrait really turned me off. (Not fan of that hair style, lol)
Have you tried Faren? He looks good, I have played up to half of the SoA with him before my harddrive blew up. He is bi and has slightly different romance dialogues for male and female pcs. Plus he has this cool 'bad boy' image, he is not really bad or evil btw. Has the same authors as Nathaniel so it must be a good alternative. While Nathaniel is sweet and soft spoken and sometimes shy and not very confident, Faren is the exact opposite:always cocky and a bit of trouble maker. It was scary playing with him as IRL I go for those types of guys too. Hmm I am not sure if he is EE compatible though. He is not what you need now anyway, fighter/thieves are not great tanks, though they can tank in an emergency.
I think most modders just assume that you are going to be taking Minsc along, because most people do. But for me, on this play through, after I picked up Aerie and they had the "you can be my witch!", "I'll be your witch!" conversation I felt like I just couldn't justify breaking up the pair so I had to leave both.
Try a fighter-mage. Angelo and Xan (with a fighter-mage install option) are both well made, complete mod NPCs. A second mage helps immensely, and both characters are competent in the frontline with defensive buffs. Fighter-mage Xan is stronger than Angelo later on, but both are fun and balanced with good humor included.
Haer'Dalis works in a similar role in an unmodded game, too.
I can relate to your rp justification there, but unlike bg1 you don't have to take two or none of them. Then again, Minsc is the only npc in the game without a personal (and boring) quest and I love him for that cos you don't need to do some boring fetch/go some place/talk some one chores that plague other NPCs. Jan's quest is especially abominable in subsequent playthroughs, so are Nalia's kidnapping, Cernd's and Keldorn's and Mazzy's family issues, etc. Unfinished business adds his own quest, though, which is fine as it is kinda funny, much like Edwin's quest.
I'd love Ajantis back but I dunno how I'd feel about breaking canon that much...
To be honest the only reason I am not using it myself is because I want to wait for the throne of bhaal portion to be completed.
And later in ToB you can switch korgan for... you know