Most satisfying playthrough?
mrdeluxe
Member Posts: 98
Having never finished ToB (but having finished BG1 several times and BG2 a couple), I'm wondering which class, race, alignment, etc would be a good choice for a play through from BG1 to ToB for the first—and canonical—time.
One that meshes well with the different NPCs, that will keep the game interesting and challenging, and will provide for the most satisfying ending for the Saga.
So, for you, what combinations of class, party and story choices made for a satisfying playthrough?
One that meshes well with the different NPCs, that will keep the game interesting and challenging, and will provide for the most satisfying ending for the Saga.
So, for you, what combinations of class, party and story choices made for a satisfying playthrough?
3
Comments
The same situation is with the so-called "canon party" (see for e.g., http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32186/canon-party-question)
My understanding is that nearly every player has his own "canon" CHARNAME and we just can't come to one united opinion on this matter.
Some will tell you Gorion's ward should be a fighter, others will vote for a cleric and I will say that CHARNAME should be a mage.
In order to get the most satisfying playthrough, you should play the character YOU want to play in the first place.
You should decide yourself what you like more: a badass fighter, a sneaky thief or a mage of immense power. Or maybe you like a wild barbarian, or maybe a druid with summoned animals, or maybe a jester, confusing everyone.
I think that to get a playthrough you will really like you should not only concentrate on the charname's class/kit and abilities but also on other aspects of the game.
Just read several discussions from here http://forum.baldursgate.com/categories/challenges-and-playthroughs - and you'll see how people RP their characters, their parties, their lovestories. All of them are different but people get joy and excitement evenly.
Halizurex by @OlvynChuru - an evil Jester, Papaver Somnife by @lolien - a cleric/thief, Roisin by @Elrandir - an archer, Serene Winterbloom - a beast master by @Blackraven , Mordukhavar - a dragon disciple by @Mush_Mush . The list just goes on and on. And all of them are charnames and they feel very real. Read http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32574/were-all-doomed-a-thread-covering-blackravens-charnames-attempts-at-no-reload-trilogy-runs-d#latest and http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/31199/discussion-about-ideas-for-future-challenges-and-play-throughs#latest for even more playthrough ideas.
There're people like @Gotural , @CrevsDaak , me and many otheres who like to make their game the hardest they can. We get our satisfaction from beating difficult situations on no-reload runs with limited supplies and many difficulty-enhancing mods.
@bbear has beaten the game with the level 1 (ONE!) CHARNAME and it was fun.
@Lemernis is a master of random RP-ing, check http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16860/let-the-fates-decide-game-journal-there-will-be-major-spoilers#latest. It's fun too!
So, play this game as you want to play it.
For me the most satisfying “Full” play through is a caster class. You REALLY get to feel the progression from pitiful caster that’s about as useful as a wet napkin, to unstoppable god that way. While my warrior/paladins felt like gods straight out of Candle Keep and just kind of stayed that way the whole series, I really have fond memories of my wild mage’s progression.
I thought back to my first wolf encounter where I shot a little pink ball that did 2 damage and then went “ummmm Immoen? You got this right?”, to ToB when I would go up to a lich and Time Stop/Improved Alacrity then Reckless Dweomer half a dozen Dragon’s Breaths out before he even sensed me in the room. Made me sit back and think “Man I’ve come a long way”.
Exposed to magic (Gorion), melee (the watchers), and stealth (Imoen), he would likely have at least a bit of skill in all things, but likely not to the extent of a FMT. Not only that, but it also shows that he has a life outside of his training. He's a musician and loves to play and this not only provides noticeable help in his adventuring life, it also makes him a more realistic character by providing a real and visible hobby.
He's a human because he sees Gorion as his real father. Whether deep down he knows Gorion is not his real father or not, he believes it's true because he wants to. He loves Gorion like his true father and is practically torn to shreds emotionally when he's killed. He's practically inconsolable, but Imoen pushes him to meet with Khalid and Jaheira, and while he's not made much better by this, at least he's being forced to move and not just sit and wallow in despair. As the journey goes on, he recovers from his sorrow and realizes that he must move on, as it's what Gorion would have wished. And hey, this hero jazz isn't half bad.
He meets many people along the way, but he ends up with the canonical party. Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, and Dynaheir. These people become strong friends, which only makes their forced parting all the harder. (Although these won't be spoilers for mrdeluxe, I am going to go ahead and spoiler the rest of this for those that haven't played BG2.)
Unfortunately, Aerie leaves the party. CHARNAME romances her, but even after all he's been through, he's still a naive little boy when it comes to love. I think you can all guess what I'm saying. He moves too fast and ruins it. This hurts him, but he realizes he screwed up, and it's yet another part of his growth as a character and as a human. This means that the party at the end of SoA is only a five man party. After all, by the point at which Aerie would leave, it's far to late to try and recruit a new ally, get them up to date on the situation, and be able to trust them about what's happening. All it would do is harm the party's trust and teamwork that has been built up. It IS, however, very convenient for ToB. When "you know who" asks to join you in ToB, CHARNAME takes a long hard look at his journey so far, which was really all started by this man. Finally, after much inner deliberation, he says yes. Forgiveness is something he's learned to be a powerful tool, and so it proves to be. At the end of ToB, this character chooses... I actually don't know. I'm really not quite sure.
So that's my canonical play-through. I don't know if it's my most satisfying play-through (partly because I haven't finished it) but there it is.
I've been thinking a lot about the first aspect (canon) lately as I've been working on a novelized playthrough in which I want to take certain canonical aspects into account. But as @bengoshi mentioned, pretty much all races/classes/kits can be justified with a proper backstory. It worked even for my Beastmaster (a relatively unlikely charname class). She was visited and instructed by Selune and received her powers directly from her. I think the enjoyability of your playthrough will be decided largely by the time and detail you invest in your charname and in interaction with NPCs.
If you take entertainment value and the saga ending into account, then I agree with @TheRaven476 that a caster class is probably the most appealing. Casters, especially wizards, have a nice progression curve (from very weak and vulnerable to very powerful), which fits the narrative of starting out as an inexperienced youngster and growing into a godlike force. Also, casters offer more ways to deal with different battles because they get more and more different spells. (Warriors and thieves tend to be more one-trick ponies, without saying they're boring, I personally like Thieves a lot)). You could consider playing a multiclass to add even more diversity: fighter/mage, thief/mage and cleric/mage, cleric/thief are all solid choices, or a bard (as @Elrandir mentioned, they're very versatile as well). In my case I went with a Half-Elf Cleric (of Oghma)/Mage not in the least because it will allow for more interesting and varied battle descriptions.
As to NPCs, the game is pretty explicit in suggesting that you travel at one point with Khalid and Jaheira, Minsc and Dynaheir, Imoen, and Viconia who calls you for help in BG2. In BG1 these NPCs cover all basic classes: two warriors, a warrior/druid, a wizard, a thief, a cleric. This leaves your class choice wide open. In BG2 (especially if you play neutral/good) you only have Jan Jansen as a good thief. I like the runt but others don't, so that might be a reason to go caster/thief. That way you won't have to rely on Jan.
If you wish to use other NPCs as well (simply because you like them), you could consider using different NPCs, and rotating a bit. Maybe establish a base somewhere where you meet up, and roleplay that your NPCs have their own agendas and cannot always accompany Charname.
When I said "canon" I wasn't really referring what the games consider canon (a.i.: your party being Iomen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir), but what individual playthroughs you might have experienced that has become canonical for you, like @Elrandir's story regarding Aerie leaving the party. I loved that.
I realized over my years playing Baldur's Gate that I tend to focus more on player character construction (wouldn't it be cool to make a half-orc lawful good kensai that only used a non-magical quarterstaff) than focusing on the actual story experience.
It has been years since I've played Baldur's Gate without thinking about bending the game to feed on the CHARNAME I created, than to simply pick a class I think it's cool and let the game itself influence how that character turns out. That's what I'm trying to do, now: stop restarting and creating character after character. Just pick a class and play the game, from start to finish. And maybe not play it again for a couple of years.
I could never get tutu to work properly, and so I'm going at BGEE with this character now.
I like sorcerer a lot because they have natural power, it's not something they learned (although one could definitely justify being a mage growing up in Candlekeep).
He has average stats (I am starting with all 10's). He has a power growing inside him, and will use it for good.
That's just my current go. Personally, I get fed up with almost any game I start that isn't justifiably canon. This is in my mind only, but for me, a canon protagonist must be:
1) Human, half elf, half orc, or halfling. Any other race doesn't fit the age requirement of "only being slightly older than Imoen," who is a teenager.
2) Not a ranger, druid, paladin, cleric, or barbarian. I just can't see how the protagonist can justify either a background so heavily steeped in nature (because s/he grew up in a library), nor can I see one who dedicates his/her life to a deity (considering the whole Bhaalspawn thing).
Again, I know there are justifications for going against my above rules, but they just don't cut it for me.
Any other combination works pretty well for me.