So I'm kind of disappointed to see that the game forces me to get my stronghold before I can get the ranger companion (or any of the other companions). I'd prefer to be able to build them up as I want. I was sort of hoping they'd learned from how few people probably actually bother to use some of the late game BG1 NPC's, but I guess they didn't.
Well, I think you find the stronghold pretty early in the game (if you count like 10-15 hours early, lol). Speaking of the ranger, Sanagi I believe her name is, I love her!
She has a family though so I can't RP a romance
Wait, is saying she has a family spoilers? It might be spoilers.
Oh, btw. Do characters who aren't currently in your party but are at your keep still gain experience Kotor/Dragon Age style or do I need to actually quest with them specifically?
They get adventures intermittently sitting around in your stronghold, which gives them decent xp.
@elminster I didn't feel forced to take stronghold before I met Sagani the Ranger, not at all. I've got the Stronghold, yes, and only then met Sagani but it didn't break anything for me: I'm still VERY early in the game and Sagani already feels like a natural part of my group.
I like her! She's like Alora and Kivan have come together, and more!
@elminster I didn't feel forced to take stronghold before I met Sagani the Ranger, not at all. I've got the Stronghold, yes, and only then met Sagani but it didn't break anything for me: I'm still VERY early in the game and Sagani already feels like a natural part of my group.
I like her! She's like Alora and Kivan have come together, and more!
You may not have felt forced but you still were forced. Running with the same 4 characters is boring, especially considering there are 8 of them in the game. If this were PST and combat was largely unnecessary then that would be one thing, but this isn't PST. They are particularly boring as well if you are already using one of the classes of one of the 4 (Fighter, Mage, Cleric, or Chanter).
Ohh and you still may be relatively early in the game compared to the number of hours you have left, but its still going to take awhile after you get to Gilded Vale before you are able to get her. Sorry this is inexcusable.
@elminster I didn't feel forced to take stronghold before I met Sagani the Ranger, not at all. I've got the Stronghold, yes, and only then met Sagani but it didn't break anything for me: I'm still VERY early in the game and Sagani already feels like a natural part of my group.
I like her! She's like Alora and Kivan have come together, and more!
You may not have felt forced but you still were forced. Running with the same 4 characters is boring, especially considering there are 8 of them in the game. If this were PST and combat was largely unnecessary then that would be one thing, but this isn't PST. They are particularly boring as well if you are already using one of the classes of one of the 4 (Fighter, Mage, Cleric, or Chanter).
Ohh and you still may be relatively early in the game compared to the number of hours you have left, but its still going to take awhile after you get to Gilded Vale before you are able to get her. Sorry this is inexcusable.
I have to agree this is my one issue with the game thus far. The lack of companions (8 is just such a small number relative to what we are used to).
Now I would assume that there are certainly going to be a few more added in the promised expansion, and the combination of the mini-game of the stronghold and the ability to hand-craft your own party members at any time goes a long way towards making this less of an issue....but yeah....I would have hoped for 12 to 15 companions myself
On the bright side, Divinity: Original Sin added two NPCs in a free DLC pack not too long after launch, and I know there was at least a Monk planned out of the missing classes based on the Wiki page. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Obsidian went a similar route and added a NPC from each of the 3 missing classes somewhere early in the game not too far down the road. Not out of the question.
@elminster I didn't feel forced to take stronghold before I met Sagani the Ranger, not at all. I've got the Stronghold, yes, and only then met Sagani but it didn't break anything for me: I'm still VERY early in the game and Sagani already feels like a natural part of my group.
I like her! She's like Alora and Kivan have come together, and more!
Yeah! Of the pre-made NPCs, Sagani is definitely my favorite so far n_n. She's cute, tough, and super funny! I love her .
Atm I have everyone now except for the Avian Paladin woman. So far I REALLY like Eder, Aloth, Durance, and Sagani. I used a bit of Grieving Mother but not a fan of her weird mind visions >_>. I'm a chanter so I'll have to use Kana Rua on a future run to avoid class duplicates. I just got Hiravias so can't comment on him. I did have my custom NPC, Piro, as my party's druid but she's now hanging out back at the keep while I see if I like Hiravias's personality more. When I get home from class today I'm going to do side-quests while looking for the Paladin woman.
I'm wondering at this point if it was cut to 8 companions because of time constraints, that they just felt they only had good personality and stories for that many, or if they felt strongly about the ability to recruit and craft your own.
As much as I'd LIKE to see more companions, the ones that are there ARE great imo. And as I've said before, this game is really a amalgamation of all the Infinity Engine games, so the fact that it has 8 fully-fleshed out characters (BG) AND the ability to put whoever and whatever in your party at any time (IWD) sort of fits the bill of what they were going for.
You could argue that BG1 just had too damn many NPCs (and some of them didn't show up until 2/3 of the way through, which is why I won't play the original without the NPC Project). Alora is great but who the hell wants to wait until you are halfway through the quests in the city to pick her up?? BG2 got the amount and quality about perfect.
Overall, I'm happy with the ones that Pillars has, I firmly believe they should work on adding 3 more, and that those 3 should cover the missing classes (Monk, Barbarian and Rogue if I'm correct).
On the bright side, Divinity: Original Sin added two NPCs in a free DLC pack not too long after launch, and I know there was at least a Monk planned out of the missing classes based on the Wiki page. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Obsidian went a similar route and added a NPC from each of the 3 missing classes somewhere early in the game not too far down the road. Not out of the question.
This is my hope as well, that we will see more joinable companions relatively soon. I would much prefer that the game be made as solid as possible prior to launch and worry about fuzzy things like NPCs later on.
And it adds the appearance of additional content for free. Particularly in today's market place where every little DLC costs the consumer more, if they can offer something for "Free" after launch? That's the kind of marketing thing that I would try to sell to my company.
But this is all rampant speculation on my part and based on zero facts (yet).
I'm wondering at this point if it was cut to 8 companions because of time constraints, that they just felt they only had good personality and stories for that many, or if they felt strongly about the ability to recruit and craft your own.
As much as I'd LIKE to see more companions, the ones that are there ARE great imo. And as I've said before, this game is really a amalgamation of all the Infinity Engine games, so the fact that it has 8 fully-fleshed out characters (BG) AND the ability to put whoever and whatever in your party at any time (IWD) sort of fits the bill of what they were going for.
You could argue that BG1 just had too damn many NPCs (and some of them didn't show up until 2/3 of the way through, which is why I won't play the original without the NPC Project). Alora is great but who the hell wants to wait until you are halfway through the quests in the city to pick her up?? BG2 got the amount and quality about perfect.
Overall, I'm happy with the ones that Pillars has, I firmly believe they should work on adding 3 more, and that those 3 should cover the missing classes (Monk, Barbarian and Rogue if I'm correct).
Yeah, despite Alora being my favorite NPC from BG1 I have to use the NPC project to put her in Gullykin or I never end up using her because my party is usually established by then =/
So far at least for PoE I can say that none of the companions feel as though I'm near the end of the game when I recruit them. As previously stated I'm just missing one and I still feel I'm pretty early in the game. I think PoE definitely dodged the bullet of including party member NPCs at the last second.
As for more NPCs, I would love to have a rogue in the party. My chanter is currently my trap spotter/disarmer with some points in stealth while Sagani is my primary scout with tons of stealth.
I am still playing around with the classes and races and having real difficulty on making a monk that works without giving him weapons and heavy armor, which completely defeats the point of having a monk in the pary, IMO. Any hints or tips?
I am still playing around with the classes and races and having real difficulty on making a monk that works without giving him weapons and heavy armor, which completely defeats the point of having a monk in the pary, IMO. Any hints or tips?
I know nothing of the monk but when I do my custom party run of the game I plan on having one so I can't help atm, sorry
Also, got the Paladin Woman. Watching her walk. Her character model, portrait, and everything screams "Hero!"
I love her concept. Time to see if I like her personality.
Edit: Traded Edér for her. I'll pick him up again when I do his companion quest-thing again.
I am still playing around with the classes and races and having real difficulty on making a monk that works without giving him weapons and heavy armor, which completely defeats the point of having a monk in the pary, IMO. Any hints or tips?
I know nothing of the monk but when I do my custom party run of the game I plan on having one so I can't help atm, sorry
Also, got the Paladin Woman. Watching her walk. Her character model, portrait, and everything screams "Hero!"
I love her concept. Time to see if I like her personality.
Edit: Traded Edér for her. I'll pick him up again when I do his companion quest-thing again.
Where is the paladin woman, I haven't noticed her and I'm a fair way into act 2, maybe I haven't paid enough attention.
I am still playing around with the classes and races and having real difficulty on making a monk that works without giving him weapons and heavy armor, which completely defeats the point of having a monk in the pary, IMO. Any hints or tips?
I know nothing of the monk but when I do my custom party run of the game I plan on having one so I can't help atm, sorry
Also, got the Paladin Woman. Watching her walk. Her character model, portrait, and everything screams "Hero!"
I love her concept. Time to see if I like her personality.
Edit: Traded Edér for her. I'll pick him up again when I do his companion quest-thing again.
Where is the paladin woman, I haven't noticed her and I'm a fair way into act 2, maybe I haven't paid enough attention.
You find her in Defiance Bay in the Ondra's Gift part of the city near a Valian Embassy I think it is. Go inside and do a delivery quest and it will lead to her joining you.
As for more NPCs, I would love to have a rogue in the party.
I second that. I think everybody should try a rogue in this game. Give him maximum Might and Dexterity and watch him getting the most enemies killed stat.
Btw, any class can cast from a scroll as long as they have the lore skill high enough, correct? I'm thinking on one of my custom characters to be an arcane trickster type as a rogue with a bunch of points in lore so that they can cast with scrolls, if that's possible anyway.
Considering only the NPCs in the game, i.e. no hired mercenary, what party do you guys think would be better for a rogue main? Right now I am going with Eder, Pallegina, Durance, Kana and Alloth, but it does not seem to work as well as I expected, with many fights finishing with only 1 character standing up.
It's still VERY early game for me. I was finishing up another and haven't had a lot of time to get into it.
My question is this, with my primary being a Wizard, I am finding it a bit challenging that one of the first companions you encounter is also a wizard. I tend to play my wizards as being squishy even if they aren't. And I am having a big problem getting the 'Range' of the cone spells. They always go off either right on top of my party, or completely missing the enemy (sometimes both). So having TWO such characters in an otherwise small party is problematic at best for me. Anyone else having similar issues?
@the_spyder One thing I tested that works, although I don't like to do it, is give your mage the best armor and defensive items and send him to the front. This way you do not get allies in the cone.
@mlnevese - thanks. Yeah, I do that now. Don't much like it either. But I guess you gotta do what you gotta do within the confines of the game engine. Hopefully that will even out later on. I was just trying to avoid the dreaded attack of opportunity once combat gets heavy. After all, that's why I employ tanks.
And ultimately I ended up creating a custom companion with my hard earned cash. That helps out a little bit.
Yeah, I hired a killer Nature Godlike Ranger with a bear familiar. I'm scrounging up for a second custom companion. They really do make a difference. Of course, I may end up having to jettison one or both as I meet joinable NPCs, but I'm going have trouble letting go of her.
It's still VERY early game for me. I was finishing up another and haven't had a lot of time to get into it.
My question is this, with my primary being a Wizard, I am finding it a bit challenging that one of the first companions you encounter is also a wizard. I tend to play my wizards as being squishy even if they aren't.
Early on I'd probably recommend taking said wizard along, but once you have a couple more companions I would say you can ditch him. If you can handle the fights without a second caster and don't feel a need to explore all the companions' content, just drop him off at inn/stronghold. The game compensates you xp-wise for every companion below the party limit, so it won't gimp you terribly much. Plus you could replace him with some custom character if you prefer a fuller party.
@mlnevese If you play Eder as a tank, you probably need a real damage dealer at the front line (if that's not your own pc). In my first playthrough I used an additional dwarf barbarian, quite efficient even though I do not specifically recommand a barbarian. However in the very early stages of the game, a priest is more than welcome. Durance is not far away and his support spells really make a difference.
Do not hesitate to use everything you have. The ingredients/components are not rare (dragon's stuff for obvious reasons and some jewels - otherwise everything seems to come in abundance). Reuse the traps you disarmed and/or the priest seals, this can have a substantial impact. Obviously you have to boost and max the mechanics skill on a companion you wish to keep permanently. Use the summons from the figurines (the horn is the first available object IIRC). High lore on some npcs also opens the possibility to cast spells from high level scrolls.
Playing two wizards might be a bit frustrating for the first half of the game but I bet this really works well later on.
Comments
She has a family though so I can't RP a romance
Wait, is saying she has a family spoilers? It might be spoilers.
I like her! She's like Alora and Kivan have come together, and more!
Ohh and you still may be relatively early in the game compared to the number of hours you have left, but its still going to take awhile after you get to Gilded Vale before you are able to get her. Sorry this is inexcusable.
Now I would assume that there are certainly going to be a few more added in the promised expansion, and the combination of the mini-game of the stronghold and the ability to hand-craft your own party members at any time goes a long way towards making this less of an issue....but yeah....I would have hoped for 12 to 15 companions myself
On the bright side, Divinity: Original Sin added two NPCs in a free DLC pack not too long after launch, and I know there was at least a Monk planned out of the missing classes based on the Wiki page. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Obsidian went a similar route and added a NPC from each of the 3 missing classes somewhere early in the game not too far down the road. Not out of the question.
Atm I have everyone now except for the Avian Paladin woman. So far I REALLY like Eder, Aloth, Durance, and Sagani. I used a bit of Grieving Mother but not a fan of her weird mind visions >_>. I'm a chanter so I'll have to use Kana Rua on a future run to avoid class duplicates. I just got Hiravias so can't comment on him. I did have my custom NPC, Piro, as my party's druid but she's now hanging out back at the keep while I see if I like Hiravias's personality more. When I get home from class today I'm going to do side-quests while looking for the Paladin woman.
As much as I'd LIKE to see more companions, the ones that are there ARE great imo. And as I've said before, this game is really a amalgamation of all the Infinity Engine games, so the fact that it has 8 fully-fleshed out characters (BG) AND the ability to put whoever and whatever in your party at any time (IWD) sort of fits the bill of what they were going for.
You could argue that BG1 just had too damn many NPCs (and some of them didn't show up until 2/3 of the way through, which is why I won't play the original without the NPC Project). Alora is great but who the hell wants to wait until you are halfway through the quests in the city to pick her up?? BG2 got the amount and quality about perfect.
Overall, I'm happy with the ones that Pillars has, I firmly believe they should work on adding 3 more, and that those 3 should cover the missing classes (Monk, Barbarian and Rogue if I'm correct).
And it adds the appearance of additional content for free. Particularly in today's market place where every little DLC costs the consumer more, if they can offer something for "Free" after launch? That's the kind of marketing thing that I would try to sell to my company.
But this is all rampant speculation on my part and based on zero facts (yet).
So far at least for PoE I can say that none of the companions feel as though I'm near the end of the game when I recruit them. As previously stated I'm just missing one and I still feel I'm pretty early in the game. I think PoE definitely dodged the bullet of including party member NPCs at the last second.
As for more NPCs, I would love to have a rogue in the party. My chanter is currently my trap spotter/disarmer with some points in stealth while Sagani is my primary scout with tons of stealth.
Also, got the Paladin Woman. Watching her walk. Her character model, portrait, and everything screams "Hero!"
I love her concept. Time to see if I like her personality.
Edit: Traded Edér for her. I'll pick him up again when I do his companion quest-thing again.
My question is this, with my primary being a Wizard, I am finding it a bit challenging that one of the first companions you encounter is also a wizard. I tend to play my wizards as being squishy even if they aren't. And I am having a big problem getting the 'Range' of the cone spells. They always go off either right on top of my party, or completely missing the enemy (sometimes both). So having TWO such characters in an otherwise small party is problematic at best for me. Anyone else having similar issues?
And ultimately I ended up creating a custom companion with my hard earned cash. That helps out a little bit.
If you play Eder as a tank, you probably need a real damage dealer at the front line (if that's not your own pc). In my first playthrough I used an additional dwarf barbarian, quite efficient even though I do not specifically recommand a barbarian. However in the very early stages of the game, a priest is more than welcome. Durance is not far away and his support spells really make a difference.
Do not hesitate to use everything you have. The ingredients/components are not rare (dragon's stuff for obvious reasons and some jewels - otherwise everything seems to come in abundance). Reuse the traps you disarmed and/or the priest seals, this can have a substantial impact. Obviously you have to boost and max the mechanics skill on a companion you wish to keep permanently.
Use the summons from the figurines (the horn is the first available object IIRC).
High lore on some npcs also opens the possibility to cast spells from high level scrolls.
Playing two wizards might be a bit frustrating for the first half of the game but I bet this really works well later on.