(Minor Spoilers) Questions regarding several NPCs personality wise

SymphonyofSwords

Though I have already finished the game multiple times, there are still several NPCs that I never took along. Their kits just didn't seem that interesting to me at the time. Now I am thinking about remedying that in my next playthrough.

Do the following characters have interesting personalities and/or stories that make them worthwhile?

- Cernd
- Haer Dalis
- Mazzy (I didn't like the fact that she bullies Valygar to be her squire. Is she like that to other characters, too?)
- Valygar (I usually kick him out after his planar sphere quest. Am I missing something?)

dockaboomski

Cernd: He's not bad. I like him because he's very laid back, but his usefulness is limited because of his statistics and class.
Haer'Dalis: Many people hate this guy. He's odd. I like him though, and his quest is pretty cool.
Mazzy: She's only like that to Valygar, and eventually he accepts it and they get along fine. She's basically a paladin.
Valygar: As with Haer'Dalis, a lot of people despise him because he is a little bland. I like him though, because of backstory he expands upon during the game, especially with Jan.
Hope that helps.

SymphonyofSwords

Thanks, that is exactly the kind of input I am looking for. So in order to experience Valygar's backstory, I have to take Jan with me?

Who has more banter, Valygar or Haer Dalis?

Yannir

That would actually be a nifty group to push through the game. If a little short on arcane power but bringing Jan along can rectify that a bit. For CHARNAME, I'd go with a cleric, probably multiclassed dwarven F/C.

Haer'Dalis is awesome, he has lots of banter and a colorful personality, gets along with pretty much anyone. Valygar is a pretty stoic personality but has great interaction with Mazzy and Jan.

xzar_monty

Personally, I don't understand why people seem to have so much against Valygar. I agree that he is a bit on the gruff and quiet side, but he's an excellent character, in my opinion. "Character" doesn't necessarily imply the kind of flamboyance where you put on jester's clothes and climb into treetops to sing "All hail wild mages!", or whatever. The way Valygar is written is entirely logical, and I think he's one of the better characters in the series.

Cernd is nice and laid back, but the problem with him is that his kit is seriously bugged, so although he should be a reasonably powerful NPC, he's actually just rubbish. But this is a question of game mechanics, not his personality.

Haer'Dalis is ok, I quite like him. He gives the impression that he's not the kind of guy you'd want to trust, but then again, he's not an outright prick like Edwin, for instance.

Mazzy is very serious, which is to be expected, because she would very much like to be a Paladin, and I find her quite charming.

Cernd's quest is ok. There is some poignancy to it as well. Mazzy's quest is rather bland. Haer'Dalis doesn't have anything except the Planar Prison, although he should have had extra content - it was cut at some point. Ditto Valygar - nothing beyond the Planar Sphere. (Incidentally, if you actually do kill him and deliver him to Tolgerias, you get almost nothing as a reward and you miss a big quest. This was unbelievably bad writing from the game developers.)

Personally speaking, I almost never use Nalia (useless as a thief, there are much better mages available, personality not very interesting) and Cernd (see above). And I never use Edwin (I know he's the best mage in the game, but if you're as self-absorbed and arrogant as that, you won't get into my team).

Yann1989

Mazzy is a polyvalent fighter that I've taken in my team, but it's true that she does not speak so much. I think she's had some dialogues with Minsc and Aerie but I don't remember exactly.

Yannir

xzar_monty said:

Personally, I don't understand why people seem to have so much against Valygar. I agree that he is a bit on the gruff and quiet side, but he's an excellent character, in my opinion. "Character" doesn't necessarily imply the kind of flamboyance where you put on jester's clothes and climb into treetops to sing "All hail wild mages!", or whatever. The way Valygar is written is entirely logical, and I think he's one of the better characters in the series.

I totally agree. He's got great character and stalker is a good kit. Had him in my group in many playthroughs since I find Minsc annoying in the long run.

Ravenslight

I just thought I would add my voice to the others who like Haer’Dalis. I find him to be an interesting character, as well as having an interesting quest tied to him. If you like using mods, there is a lovely mod by Aeryn, at Spellhold Studios, that adds a romance track for him, if your PC is female.

Mhamza

xzar_monty said:

Personally, I don't understand why people seem to have so much against Valygar. I agree that he is a bit on the gruff and quiet side, but he's an excellent character, in my opinion. "Character" doesn't necessarily imply the kind of flamboyance where you put on jester's clothes and climb into treetops to sing "All hail wild mages!", or whatever. The way Valygar is written is entirely logical, and I think he's one of the better characters in the series.

Couldn't agree more, then there's the Unfinished Business mod which adds more backstory for him and ties into the main quest.

Coutelier

Cernd has a quest which won't necessarily make you like him a great deal more, but like everything it's good to experience at least once, and then decide for yourself.

Haer'Dalis can have a romance with Aerie:

There's a chance though there'll be a scene where she gets really mad about the things villains are doing, and then she dumps him. (Either in Spellhold or Saradush).

Mazzy just has one little quest after you save her IIRC.

SymphonyofSwords

Thanks for your inputs everyone! In case anyone is curious, this is the party I ended up with so far:

So I have chosen Cernd, Haer Dalis and Valygar.

Cernd is insane with the fixpack werewolf buff.

Haer Dalis dies every 10min. After he is able to cast stoneskin, he dies every 15min. Stupid low constitution. It makes the game slightly more challenging, though, which is a good thing.

I modded Valygar into a Fighter/Thief. I desperately need a thief and I think in BG2 before HLAs this class is on a similar level as the stalker, so it balances out.

Besides that I have Viconia as a heal bot and supermage Edwin.

Jarrakul

Wait wait wait, Haer'Dalis keeps dying? But... he's the best tank NPC in the game. Are you using Mirror Image? Have you gotten him the melodic chainmail? How is Haer'Dalis dying but not everyone else? I am confused. o_O

SymphonyofSwords

He dies to fireballs and lightning bolts ALL the time. Oh, and once he died to poison. If this keeps going on, he is going to become the next Nameless One.

Musigny

The Unfinished Business mod aims at restoring a few quests related to some of those npcs.
http://mods.pocketplane.net/readmes/readme_ub.html
As usual just install what you need.

Jarrakul

Ah. Well, obviously fire and lightning resistance will help with that. Mostly, though, I recommend heavy use of Mirror Image, since, unlike stoneskin, it blocks spell damage also.

SymphonyofSwords

I thought mirror image blocked only magic missile? Does it work against other single targeting spells such as finger of death or chromatic orb as well?

After putting on the girdle of constitution and some leveling, he now has 100hp and is back to just writing bad poems about death instead of experiencing it first hand. Too bad the enhanced edition fixed all blade spinning shenanigans. It was one of the major reasons I wanted to try Haer Dalis out. -.-