Trying To Decide Between Keldorn and Anomen
Andraste
Member Posts: 78
So, I've been running around Athkatla gathering coin, swapping out Keldorn and Anomen as the whim takes me. (I'm willing to cheat a little to equalise everyone's XP before I finally head for Spellhold.) But I've just taken Keldorn to the Government District for the first time, and now he wants to visit the wife and kids ... so it's time to make a decision about how to handle his personal quest.
The rest of my party consists of a Dwarven Defender, Rasaad, Mazzy, Aerie, and Yoshimo who will be replaced with Imoen when the time comes - basically Team Lawful Good (And Also Someone Who Can Actually Open A Door). But now I can't decide which of the remaining Lawful Good characters should join the team permanently.
On Keldorn's side of the equation:
- Casomyr. That's almost a winning argument in and of itself, mechanically speaking. My first CHARNAME was a Paladin, and I love that thing. My dwarf will be wielding Crom Faeyr, so nothing Anomen can use will quite match up to that.
- A host of useful Inquisitor abilities.
- A Paladin is basically the ultimate in Lawful Good, and I do have a theme going here.
... but on Anomen's side:
- Spellcasting. Why take one Cleric when you could take two? So many useful buffs. And it means that when Aerie inevitably bites it there's someone who can res her without walking all the way to a Temple.
- A Strength score that doesn't require him to steal items that could be better used by Rasaad and Mazzy. (Mazzy will mostly be an archer, but it's not like she won't end up in melee sometimes.) Especially since Anomen can easily pump himself up with spells.
- More interesting banter. Without him, Team Lawful Good basically stand around being nice to each other. It's kind of blah without everyone's favourite jerk sticking both feet in his mouth every time he opens it.
- Given the situation, I always feel bad about taking Keldorn away from his family. My character wouldn't, necessarily, since she's big on duty and sacrifice - but that won't stop me feeling awful about it.
I guess that Anomen has more advantages, but I feel that Casomyr should probably count twice. I'm half-tempted to drop Rasaad and take both of them, but this is the first time I've played the Enhanced Edition and I feel like I should bring one of the new NPCs. Besides, watching him gradually turn into a murder machine is entertaining, and Anomen won't romance a dwarf ...
The rest of my party consists of a Dwarven Defender, Rasaad, Mazzy, Aerie, and Yoshimo who will be replaced with Imoen when the time comes - basically Team Lawful Good (And Also Someone Who Can Actually Open A Door). But now I can't decide which of the remaining Lawful Good characters should join the team permanently.
On Keldorn's side of the equation:
- Casomyr. That's almost a winning argument in and of itself, mechanically speaking. My first CHARNAME was a Paladin, and I love that thing. My dwarf will be wielding Crom Faeyr, so nothing Anomen can use will quite match up to that.
- A host of useful Inquisitor abilities.
- A Paladin is basically the ultimate in Lawful Good, and I do have a theme going here.
... but on Anomen's side:
- Spellcasting. Why take one Cleric when you could take two? So many useful buffs. And it means that when Aerie inevitably bites it there's someone who can res her without walking all the way to a Temple.
- A Strength score that doesn't require him to steal items that could be better used by Rasaad and Mazzy. (Mazzy will mostly be an archer, but it's not like she won't end up in melee sometimes.) Especially since Anomen can easily pump himself up with spells.
- More interesting banter. Without him, Team Lawful Good basically stand around being nice to each other. It's kind of blah without everyone's favourite jerk sticking both feet in his mouth every time he opens it.
- Given the situation, I always feel bad about taking Keldorn away from his family. My character wouldn't, necessarily, since she's big on duty and sacrifice - but that won't stop me feeling awful about it.
I guess that Anomen has more advantages, but I feel that Casomyr should probably count twice. I'm half-tempted to drop Rasaad and take both of them, but this is the first time I've played the Enhanced Edition and I feel like I should bring one of the new NPCs. Besides, watching him gradually turn into a murder machine is entertaining, and Anomen won't romance a dwarf ...
1
Comments
The thing you have to ask yourself is if you need another cleric or if you want another fighter. While another cleric is good to have, Aerie should cover most of your needs for buffing and a rod of resurrection which there are plenty of and you can recharge in shops, is much better for resurrecting people than a cleric.
To put it short in my opinion.
Gameplay -> Keldorn
Personality -> Whichever you prefer
Usefulness in your party -> Keldorn
That dispel magic is very powerful and can not only remove the enemies buffs but also save your own people from debuffs.
Any reason you don't remove Mazzy and take Keldorn? He would do exactly what she does in your party and then some more. Keldorn have some really nice dialogues with Anomen even if you make anomen go CN. Mazzy on the other hand should be taken in a team with Korgan and Valygar to get the most out of her banters.
[Edited] : And unless you really want Aerie in your team you could also remove her and then make it without magic for a short while until you get Imoen which shouldn't be a problem. Then you'll have a single class cleric in Anomen and a single class mage in Imoen, which is more than enough.
I do feel bad for his family, but I'm inclined to allow the old paladin one last heroic quest before he retires.
From a RP perspective, both these two are somewhat interesting characters but of the two Keldorn is clearly the more "LG" of the two if you are truly going for a party of kind and valiant people. Anomen is lawful #$*& waaayyy too much of the time. Without Viconia in your party, Keldorn should play quite nicely with others.
Anyway i think that Keldorn is much better if you don't play a paladin.
And i totally agree with people that say that Anomen is annoying.
There is, however, another way... use EEKeeper to give Mazzy enough levels of thief to detect and disarm traps. As a lawful party, you shouldn't really be breaking and entering, and keeping a few knock scrolls on Aerie will mean you can get through any lock you will want to pick. So just give Mazzy three or four levels of thief and put everything into detect traps.
It makes sense from a roleplaying perspective; she's a nimble-fingered halfling and an experienced dungeon-delver, and she's low enough to the ground to see any impending trip wires!
Were she a human, it would be a viable dual-class within the engine, and I don't consider it cheating at all. The necessity of bringing a thief along with every playthrough really hinders one's ability to make a dynamic and unique party. Modding Mazzy in this way won't give her an unfair advantage in mechanical terms, it will just mean that you can get through dungeons safely without having to bring along a character that doesn't fit in your group.
If you'd rather not go down this route, remember also that Rasaad can detect (if not disarm) traps, as can Aerie and Anomen if you're willing to use a few spell slots. Instead of disarming them, you can use a low-level summon to trigger them. Both these, and knock scrolls, are dirt-cheap.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that having a thief really isn't that vital. Drop Yoshimo, comrade!
Oh, and with regards to forcing Keldorn to stick around: There you have it. If your character would hold Keldorn to his word, it really doesn't matter what you would do. This is a roleplaying game, after all!
It hadn't actually occurred to me to keep both of them and throw someone else out, but upon consideration it really does seem like the best solution. My current plan is to leave Aerie behind when I head to Spellhold - it actually doesn't make much roleplaying sense for my character to take her there, anyway. There's every reason not to take a mage who might get locked up and just complicate the problem even further - obviously CHARNAME doesn't know that there's been a regime change and it'll ultimately be irrelevant. And frankly, the idea of not doing the Underdark with Aerie fills me with joy. (Not that I imagine anyone in Team Lawful Good Plus Imoen will make a very convincing Drow, but she is especially awful at playing along.)
I'll decide whether the group is working well enough for endgame stuff and Throne of Bhaal when I get back to Athkatla - I can always swap someone else out for Aerie if I decide that I need more arcane firepower. (I have no compunction about using EE Keeper to equalise XP.) And giving Mazzy a few Thief levels just for traps is certainly an intriguing idea ...
I took Keldorn and Anomen in a recent play through. They don't have much banter after Anomen turns LG. This is sort of weird, but Anomen always starts with a lot of experience and levels up quickly. I sort of get annoyed that he becomes so powerful so quickly since I don't really like his character.
Once he gets Carsomyr, his magic resistance is at 50%. If he drinks a potion of Magic Protection, that brings it up to 100%. With true sight and dispel magic, no mage is safe from him. Demon lords soil themselves at his approach. I only regret that I cannot have him along in my current group (I am playing as a Blackguard, with Hexxat, Viconia and occasionally Korgan, in the group).
@DreadKhan are you really questioning my character because I don't like Aerie's "I'm tired" line? Please tell me I'm misunderstanding this
However, I do find in interesting that Minsc is very attatched to Aerie. Both have been caged and tormented, so they really have much in common.
@CField17 you were awfully flippant, and while Aerie is a game character, most people aren't very patient or understanding of those significantly disadvantaged. I don't consider that alone to be a very reasonable reason to dislike someone, and Imassumed you were going to take the 'Aerie whinnes all the time' angle. Perhaps you could elaborate your precise position? Or don't, and we'll move on.
Thank you for justifying my previous statement though. That said, we can probably move back on topic, the topic being 'Anomen is lawful jack***'. But maybe I am being too harsh? Probably not though.
Let us hold here... you look tired