Advice on PC to fit NPC party
Nytram
Member Posts: 13
Hey all, first post! 
I have played the BGs a lot over the years and have always built my party around my PC concept to make it balanced.
Now however I find myself with a set party in mind and not sure what to make to fit in with them. The 5 npcs and their planned styles are:
Anomen - FoA+Shield, (Want him to go CN. I know he eventually attacks Aerie, is this a leave the group kind of thing or a temporary berserk?) Might replace him with Mr ToB when I get there.
Jaheira - Dual wield with Clubs/Belm and then Spectral Brand when I get to it. She would use spears (Impaler/Withering/Ixil) if PC was Dual Wielding with Belm. Romance for PC
Haer'Dalis - Dual Wield with Shortswords/longswords and Kundane. Maybe use Scarlet Ninja to with UAI
Aerie - Sling/Staff of Magi, Robe of Vecna. Romancing Haer'Dalis.
Jan --> Imoen - Important story element. Jan will warm her spot until I take Yoshi to Spellhold.
So the only restrictions on the PC are that he is a male human/half-elf/elf/halfling.
My thoughts for making something fun and unique to go with this group have so far been a Dark Moon Monk or an Archer. One option might be a F/M/T but I hear they level up extremely slowly in a full group.
Anyone got any other ideas?
Thanks in advance!
I have played the BGs a lot over the years and have always built my party around my PC concept to make it balanced.
Now however I find myself with a set party in mind and not sure what to make to fit in with them. The 5 npcs and their planned styles are:
Anomen - FoA+Shield, (Want him to go CN. I know he eventually attacks Aerie, is this a leave the group kind of thing or a temporary berserk?) Might replace him with Mr ToB when I get there.
Jaheira - Dual wield with Clubs/Belm and then Spectral Brand when I get to it. She would use spears (Impaler/Withering/Ixil) if PC was Dual Wielding with Belm. Romance for PC
Haer'Dalis - Dual Wield with Shortswords/longswords and Kundane. Maybe use Scarlet Ninja to with UAI
Aerie - Sling/Staff of Magi, Robe of Vecna. Romancing Haer'Dalis.
Jan --> Imoen - Important story element. Jan will warm her spot until I take Yoshi to Spellhold.
So the only restrictions on the PC are that he is a male human/half-elf/elf/halfling.
My thoughts for making something fun and unique to go with this group have so far been a Dark Moon Monk or an Archer. One option might be a F/M/T but I hear they level up extremely slowly in a full group.
Anyone got any other ideas?
Thanks in advance!
0
Comments
Well he did say Anomen would be CN, so that means yeah he fails the quest. He and Aerie will fight to the death.
Lets see... you've got a thief, three arcane casters, three divine casters, two front line fighters, a secondary fighter in Haer'Dalis.
You don't need more Arcane casters. You don't need more divine casters. You don't need more thieves.
Play the Dark Moon monk if you want. Or the Archer. I would pick Archer over Dark Moon if only so that you will have one dedicated ranged fighter in your group.
Maybe try a sun soul monk or a plain old monk? After trying a plain old monk for a bit I feel like Stunning Fist is often under-appreciated
I dunno how goody two-shoes you want to be, but a paladin might fit this team very well. Kitted, of course, since the kits are all awesome.
Maybe a berserker or a barbarian as well. You have plenty of casters and more than enough thief, and two front-liners. However... your front-liners are both dual classed and won't be as big of hitters as a pure martial class (until Mr. Throne of Bhaal of course). Maybe go for one of the regular, single class warrior types.
I have been playing a bit today testing some things out and started Anomen's quest chain to see how bad he gets. BEFORE his breakdown has even happened he is annoying the hell out of me. Now I don't want this to turn into another Anomen bashing thread (enough of those around) but I am really hoping he becomes a bit more rational in his comments after his "fall". At the moment he just complains about everything and keeps threatening to skewer Jan. I feel like that might only get worse...
Give Anomen the gauntlets that give you 18 dex, give him a shield, and have him cast DUHM before battles. Give Jaheira the belt that provides 19 strength, the heaviest armor, iron skins, and a shield. These two will lack offensive punch compared to just about any other two person front line but they'll be hard to hit. That's where the Archer will come in.
The Archer is a dps monster all the way through SoA. I beat SoA years and years ago with a similar setup and the Archer ripped through everything as long as there was one or two guys up front distracting the enemy. A buffed up Anomen and Jaheira will do that job nicely.
People complain that the Archer looses some of his punch in ToB in certain boss fights but by that point your two front liners will be able to dish out enough damage and have enough spells to have have things covered.
I think Archer or Inquisitor is a good choice for this party.
I thought that CN Anomen would make for a more interesting character than just his usual evil-smiting persona. The wisdom boost just gives him 2 bonus level 1 and level 2 spells which I could live without.
I read somewhere that he just chases Aerie around for a bit and eventually stops. I didn't think it was a "both leave the party and duel" type of deal.
As for Cernd, I know it's a bug but you can dispel his claws which means he attacks with a weapon (spears or staves are good) with werewolf stats and apr. Realistically this just makes him a mediocre fighter most of the time but he could swap out for utility of buffs/heals and what not. His AC and resistances could make him a pretty effective tank too.
@Glidderdust
I have played a bit as an archer before and I agree they are dps monsters. My issue with them is that they don't progress at all through the game. An archer at the start is the same as an archer at the end, only maybe with a better bow. That just feels a little dull to me compared to all the monk goodness you get as you level. I just really wish DMM could be neutral somehow.
On the other hand, the Archer is strong right out of the gate and doesn't slow down until ToB since he gets the extra +1 thac0 and damage every three levels as well as grand mastery. The monk probably has better high end abilities in Tob if you have the patience to get to mid SoA with a relatively weak main character.
You need a solid fighter
You can tank with Anomen and Jaheira. Stoneskin and Ironskin. Ghost Armor. Anomen can Duhm and Holy Power. Use HP first then DuHM. You can even lead Anomen towards the dual weapons path.
I would lead Anomen to dual weapon path before Jaheira because of cleric buffs. DuHM will make Str, Dex and Con like 25. And if you cast Holy Power 1st you get Fighter Thaco of equal level and an additional +1 HP per level.
I think I would go Elven Archer. He will get the lowest Thaco 1st and the most attacks 1st. Plenty of magical ranged weapons with automatic magic ammo. Plus magic ammo is plentiful to buy.
Unless you are playing evil no reason to let Anonmen fail his storyline quest. He is a much better Cleric when he passes and no problems with anyone.
OR or or or .................
I would consider a halfling berserker dual weapon wield as well. Would prefer dwarf but you probably want halfling for RP reasons. IF you were importing from BG1 you would use the tome of str on your character and at least the dexterity one. Not sure if you are importing. Either way give your charname one of the Str boosting items. Then Crom Faeyr in one hand. You can basically dual wield two +5 war hammers by ToB. In SoA you will dual wield +3 warhammers. And if you manually change weapons you can also throw a +3 warhammer.
Max your Con as halfling to add to your shorty bonus throws. Plus your berserk state and you are pretty much immune to everything.
You can easily make Anomen or Jaheria ranged. Probably Jaheria magical sling as she has more offense and summon spells than Anomen and he has way better self buffs.
You can give Jan or Imoen that magical crossbow from Watcher's keep too when they run out of spells.
The biggest weakness I see is actually arcane casting... With a bard and two multis, you're going to wait forever for the tasty high level spells and Mage HLAs.
With that in mind, the power play would be a Sorcerer or Wild Mage and swap out Aerie (A&J have got divine spells to burn) for a scrapper (Keldorn ftw).
If you're keen on a monk or archer, then you'd still be better off dropping Aerie in favour of a single or dual class Mage like Nalia, Imoen or Neera.
High level spells rule BG2 and ToB.
That said, if you *really* want Aerie... I'm sure you'll find a way.