This has to be the best party possible
Stormvessel
Member Posts: 654
I have put a ton of time into BGEE so I feel I can say this with confidence. This is by far the best party I've yet used, and my Steam playtime is through the roof - so this is saying a lot.
Just so you know I am not some noob rattling off.
This is my character, a blackguard named Mordeth, pronounced More Death - seemed appropriate seeing as how he's a bhaalspawn. He's no savior, just Mordeth
.
Oh, I finished the game so he has all the tomes in case anyone wonders. I have played through this game at least 20 times.
Here is the party:
Bhaalspawn, DARTS, Halberds (+6 Ravager to come, I will give Sarevok something else), and two handed style
Dorn, two handed swords, crossbows, two handed style
Shar Teel dueld to Thief at level 6 (finishing 6-9 fighter thief), everything in longswords and two-weapon fighting
Viconia w/ ogre gauntlets (Shar Teel has mastery gauntlets)
Baeloth w/ evermemory
Edwin w/ evermemory
TOO EASY. EVEN MAX DIFFICULTY. I have had the game be easy before but never this easy. Having two arcane casters really make a big difference, Dorn's a hoss, and a 6/9 Shar Teel is just unbelievably SOLID.
I honestly don't know what the strength of this party is. My two Blackguards, one using darts w/ poison weapon and the other crossbows, Shar Teel with the ungodly backstabs souped up on strength pots, or the two best casters in the game on one team.
I challenge ANYONE to name a better party (not counting my protagonist as everyone should favor their own).
Just so you know I am not some noob rattling off.
This is my character, a blackguard named Mordeth, pronounced More Death - seemed appropriate seeing as how he's a bhaalspawn. He's no savior, just Mordeth
.Oh, I finished the game so he has all the tomes in case anyone wonders. I have played through this game at least 20 times.
Here is the party:
Bhaalspawn, DARTS, Halberds (+6 Ravager to come, I will give Sarevok something else), and two handed style
Dorn, two handed swords, crossbows, two handed style
Shar Teel dueld to Thief at level 6 (finishing 6-9 fighter thief), everything in longswords and two-weapon fighting
Viconia w/ ogre gauntlets (Shar Teel has mastery gauntlets)
Baeloth w/ evermemory
Edwin w/ evermemory
TOO EASY. EVEN MAX DIFFICULTY. I have had the game be easy before but never this easy. Having two arcane casters really make a big difference, Dorn's a hoss, and a 6/9 Shar Teel is just unbelievably SOLID.
I honestly don't know what the strength of this party is. My two Blackguards, one using darts w/ poison weapon and the other crossbows, Shar Teel with the ungodly backstabs souped up on strength pots, or the two best casters in the game on one team.
I challenge ANYONE to name a better party (not counting my protagonist as everyone should favor their own).
6
Comments
If we're talking about a full 6 man powergaming party using NPCs, I guess the best way is to just have 6 archers or 1 tank + 5 archers. In BG1, Divine and Arcane magic are unnecessary, as is having a Thief (just avoid/tank/protect yourself from traps and bash/cast Knock on containers/doors you want to open). The way to accomplish that with NPCs would be to have:
- Kagain as a tank - with dexterity gauntlets and the 19 str belt from Rasaad's questline, he is a monster
- Elf Archer Charname
- Coran
- Kivan
- Make an archer out of Shar-Teel and Dorn (or Khalid) - getting to level 3 for the first proficiency point is really fast and even before that, using weapons they're not proficient with is not a big deal for Fighters. Or you can just melee with them until you get 1-2 proficiency points.
At your disposal are Composite Longbow +1, Dead Shot (Longbow of Marksmanship), Protector of the Dryads (shortbow +2), The Army Scythe (Light Crossbow of Speed) and some cool darts.
Use the tome of dexterity on Dorn or Coran - there is no ranged thac0 difference between 17-18 dex, and 19-20 dex. Dorn going from 16 to 17 would gain +1 thac0, same with Coran going from 20 to 21.
Use the tome of constitution on Kagain for even more hp (21 con gives a +6 bonus = 16 hp per level).
You end up with:
1. A self-healing tank (the regeneration from 20+ con will allow him to fully heal up between areas) with the most hp attainable in game (1d10+6), outstanding saving throws ("shorty saves" +5 bonus with 18+ con), great AC and 19 str just to make him even more insane.
2. Immense firepower provided by 5 competent ranged attackers to annihilate anything that would stand in your way. You also have Dorn's abilities (mainly poison weapon), you can easily interrupt casters, kite if necessary or use Dorn as an off-tank in melee.
3. I guess the added bonus of this party is that ultimately you have a Thief in Coran for disarming traps in Durlag's Tower, if you want to do that place.
Of course, the gameplay of such party would mostly involve little besides left-click + watch, but we're not talking about the most interesting team to play.
If you really want a Cleric you can go with Yeslick for tank, I guess, or create a better dwarf/half-orc Fighter/Cleric Charname and make an archer out of Montaron/Khalid.
If you really want a Mage, swap Khalid/Shar-Teel for a late dualed Imoen. She is probably best, because she can at least use the Protector of the Dryads + Bracers of Archery + has better Thief thac0 + has 18 dex = she can contribute some damage during fights in between casting spells.
That's a really cool portrait, by the way.
The Great Gazib
Well-Adjusted Al
Portalbendarwinden
Lord Binky The Buffoon
Schlumpsha the Sewer King
Mission accomplished!
19 STR
18 DEX
20 CON
Shorty Saving Throws
High Mastery
16
20
Really good tank, but Dorn unloads the punishment. There are plenty of constitution pots in the game or otherwise I would agree. The best part is Dorn's natural con is 14, meaning you can give him the claw and it makes no difference aside from higher death save but paladins have good saves already. With the claw the saves are even better. True, you can give Kaigan the claw but that pretty much erases his main draw. Dorn with the Claw and Con pots > Kagain any day. And then we have poison weapon, which is just brutal. I've used both and Dorn wipes the floor with him. Dorn is tanky enough if you know what you're doing and brings the pain in ways Kagain could only dream.
But everyone has their opinions.
Kagain have better saving throws (even with the claw on Dorn)
Kagain have higher physical damage (High Mastery + Belt)
Kagain have better Thac0 (High Mastery + Belt)
Kagain regenerates HP.
The only thing Dorn has over Kagain is the poison.
Dorn can't equip any decent belts in the game, Kagain gets a 19 STR belt. Both can equip gauntlets of dexterity or weapon expertise. So Kagain will always have 19 STR and 20 CON.
-2 bonus to Death, Wand, and Spell saving throws with ADDITIONAL Constitution-based bonuses.
[Edited] : And your steam playtime means nothing, there are people here who have over 5 000 hours spent in this game with the original, way before BG:EE came out.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/13758/human-black-guard-portrait/p1
I want to play an evil party and would prefer to have Dorn, Kagain, Viconia and Shar-Teel (dual classed) on board.
Option A: my char is mage of any kind. Should I still look for Edwin/Baeloth as #6?
Option B: if my char is NOT mage and I take Edwin/Baeloth as #6 what my char should be for more fun and also having BGII in mind?
But again, this is just my opinion. I created this thread only because I love this game and want to hear other people's opinion. Healthy debate is good.
In my opinion, it's cheese. So I might even give the nod to Kagain for that reason alone. No one likes cheese in a game that's already easy.
*Casts protection from Cheese*
Option A: Yes. It's not essential, but it's useful to have more than one arcane caster.
Option B: Looking ahead to BG2, the problem is that the only Mage (or arcane caster of any kind) available to an all-Evil party in BG2 is Edwin. He's a fine Mage, but (especially in late-BG2) it's even more useful than in BG1 to have more than one arcane caster. If you'll allow a part-Mage as "not exactly a Mage", then I'd say go with a multiclass Cleric/Mage as the best fit for the available Evil team in BG2, to be a support caster for both Edwin and Viconia. Alternatively, a Bard (probably kitted) would be a viable choice. However, if you mean "no sort of arcane caster at all", and if you still want your party to be Evil-only, then hmmm ... that's trickier ... maybe a multiclass Fighter/Cleric.
With Dorn, Kagain, Vicky, and Shar-Teel... with a Mage charname...I would personally go with second caster. I prefer Baeloth because of the extra spells a day and on the fly versatility, but Edwin also works.
With a non-Mage charname...only having one caster for the party, I would take EDWIN over Baeloth. He gets access to a larger repertoire, and will eventually have access to level 5 spells whereas Baeloth will not. Cloud-Kill is incredible. Sunfire is also good, but it doesn't really beat fireball unless you disable the cap. Still, it's worth it for the level 5 spells.
Baeloth is more of a second caster. Mage + Sorcerer > Mage + Mage, but if you can only have one, I would go Mage for the extra spell choices and 5th circle spells.
Hope that helps.
How could you not include Noober or Larry, Darryl & Darryl
Honestly what other game offers this type of value? Baldur's gate is one of a kind the best game ever made!
I can't play with a party without it, the game is just too easy even with less than optimal parties. I definitely recommend it, you can download it from the gibberlings website and give it a whirl, it'll feel like your playing a completely new game.