Favorite party setup?
Thesblah
Member Posts: 56
This has probably been asked...
But what's your favorite party setup of the NPCs?
But what's your favorite party setup of the NPCs?
0
Comments
Huh... that ended up being rather powergamey, unintentionally.
In truth I like to rotate party members in BG2, most of the non-evil and non-EE (cos their quests are more involved) companions get a run out as well so that I can have them available for Throne of Bhaal, and serve as backup party members if I lose any of the A team to perma-death.
Mazzy is sweet and has a charming voice. Jan is an excellent toolkit character and his flashers are wicked. Nalia is always willing to help, and has some excellent passive defenses in the form of her ring. Aerie provides cleric buffs, and has mage spells to avoid spell disruption. And Imoen is cute and fun to be with.
Aerie is in almost all of my non-solo runs. Of the three clerics in BG2, I find her the most likeable.
Jan then switch to Imoen.
Keldorn then switch to the new npc fighter in TOB.
Jaheira
Neera
Viconia
After that I find it really hard to not take Jahiera and Mazzy on every run. I like the sidequests and story that come along with Jahiera, and Mazzy is just amazing in all aspects.
After that it is really just on a run by run basis.
Charname most often F/M, F-M, F/M/T, F/T, T-M or similar.
Jan is king. Funny banters, good class and flashers. Amazing combo which can be cheesed if one so wish.
Anomen is an arrogant bastard, but a very good cleric.
Haer'dalis is a bard and bards are cool. Especially blades.
Jaheira is kinda annoying, but I still end up using her quite often due to her being F/D and I am a sucker for spells (I'm not a fan of single-class fighters and thieves).
Imoen ofc. Sometimes replacing Jan depending on what charname is.
After that I switch around depending on my charname and on the current questline. I don't mind using evil NPC's if I can get away with it without rep losses (like with Dorn).
B-team - I often use these for part of the playthrough:
Aerie is often in my A-team as well, but there's always someone better than her for most situations IMHO.
Keldorn is good.
Minsc is funny but after having him around a couple of times, I can replace him with someone new and not miss him too much (I can't help missing Boo though).
Edwin, 'cause he's the best mage in the game, even better than charname.
Not-at-all-team - I never use these:
Cernd
Nalia
Edit: Forgot about Imoen, haha! That's kinda funny.
Currently I'm switching between three playthroughs:
1: PC sorcerer, Jaheira, Anomen, Minsc (whom I shall replace with Imoen [modded into a bard]), Mazzy and Jan.
This party is probably the most fun. My sorcerer has ridiculous intelligence and wisdom, so I roleplay a Columbo-esque clown who is disarmingly daft but spookily astute. The party gels really well together, and watching Jan wind up Minsc and Anomen as the mood takes him is a joy. Minsc's spot had previously been Keldorn's, but I released the old knight from my service to spend time with his family.
Minsc serves very few functions that someone else in the party doesn't do better, so he is back-up scout, back-up archer and back-up tank as the situation warrants; however, he is my PRIMARY Minsc. He ups my game against vampires considerably, what with the mace of disruption and their being his racial enemy; I just slap a negative plane protection on him and he's away.
I'll ultimately replace him with Imoen though, as I can never bring myself to leave her behind in Spellhold. Depending on how I feel later on, I might swap Mazzy out and get Minsc back in. He is Minsc, after all.
2: PC Berserker, Jaheira, Haer'Dalis, Mazzy, Nalia, Aerie
Another instance where I couldn't leave Imoen behind in Spellhold, but this one totally threw out my party balance. I'd previously had Viconia, who was a great addition (between all six characters I had 3 front-liners, 3 divine casters, 3 arcane casters and a thief), but she came into conflict with just about everyone and got pissed off with me when I wouldn't join her Ayn Rand reading group, so she eventually left.
Now I have a fourth arcane caster, and I cannot justify Imoen's presence in the party. I've never played beyond chapter 3 with Nalia, so I'd prefer not to get rid of her, and every other arcanist serves a secondary function (Haer'Dalis is a beast in melee and Aerie is now my only cleric). I might leave Imoen in the safety of my keep when we finally get back to the mainland, but I don't like the idea of spending a significant chunk of the game with a redundant party member. I could always make her a second bard or just a pure thief, but for the moment, this playthrough is on the back burner.
3: PC Paladin, Korgan, Mazzy, Viconia, Cernd, Jan
Conceptually, I love this playthrough, as it's all about redemption. I'm going to replace Jan with Imoen and, come ToB, replace Cernd with Sarevok for the ultimate sibling reunion. By the end of the game, three formerly evil characters will either be neutral or good (I've always believed that Korgan's alignment really should change to chaotic neutral at the conclusion of his and Mazzy's banter, so I shall use an editor to achieve that).
Mechanically, this is a harder group to play than the other two. My main character didn't get a great roll and I hate dumping stats, so I had to give him a comparatively squishy constitution of 15. At present, my sole mage gains levels very slowly, and even when I replace him I will still have only one arcane caster.
And of course, one of my party is Cernd. When he is useful he's very very useful, but when he is bad he is horrid. He'll come into his own when he gets greater shapeshifting, though.
(can be the party cleric without devoting too much.. example with word of recalls can chaotic command the whole party)
2 Kheldorn
(too useful fighting mages)
3 Jaheira
(a fighter and the high level druid spells are fun)
4 Haer Dalis
(levels fast gets spike traps and another tank with spells)
5 Jan
(thieves skills) (ps - funny)
6 Mazzy
(10 APR with tuigan bow
when improved hasted... neat spells and Grand Mastery)