ToB question SPOILERS

SnesleyWipes

Hi all,

Just started the expansion after a fantastic romp through BG2. Now S wants to join my gang out of the blue.

Obviously I'm being massively leaned on by the game to take him, but does anyone here ever NOT take him? I know he's a great fighter but stats aside (I played BG2 on hardest mode and want to keep the game difficult) we didn't even bring up the brutal slaying of beloved Gorion in the first game. How could this not come up in the convo?

I'm just not sold on the writing. It's like the Blizzard guys just thought "who's the coolest character" and shoehorned him in to make the game more special. Is it just lazy? It almost feels like a fan made patch, complete with tryingtoohardtobecool glowing eyes.

So... The only person I'm looking at to potentially get the boot is Minsc. Minsc, the guy who literally followed me into hell. Or Jan, because thieving became less and less as BG2 went on. I feel so guilty at the thought of dropping them for this two dimensional prick.

The question is, will I miss out on anything substantial if I just leave my bro here in the pocket plane? I mean there's not much substance to the guy even, I was disappointed after finally playing the first game how little his character was actually explored. He disappears for basically the entire game. Irenicus was so much better.

I'm rambling now.

In summary, take him along yes or no?

Oh, my charname is a straight up boring fighter too.

Thanks!

gnaumiec

I personally enjoyed his story arc as well as his interactions with Imoen. Also, his views and insishts on the bhaalspawn I found interesting. Though if your charname is a fighter, he is redundant... Except for his death bringer assault...

Lord_Tansheron

He has some interesting story elements, and also, well, the most overpowered special ability in the game (Deathbringer Assault). That being said he is still a bit of a d-bag even if you go the maximum redemption route, and he did kill your surrogate father.

That being said, he probably has more going on in ToB than many other characters, so if you're into story, you can ditch people like Hamsterman and Turnipboy and take S-Dawg instead.

Hudzy

I didn't take him my first time through ToB and just enjoyed carrying on with my SoA party. I tried him later and he does have more going on, but you certainly don't need him.

Gallowglass

Sarevok adds slightly to the story in ToB, with his redemption option and a few interesting banters.

Nevertheless, most runs I don't take him. This is partly because he's a long way behind everyone else in XP (and therefore has fewer HLAs, etc.), and partly because I've usually already got a party which works well and don't wish to change it by that late stage in the game.

If you have a full party and want to take Sarevok for ToB, then you need to consider which of your SoA party should retire to create space for him. I reckon the most natural fits for replacement by Sarevok are Minsc (if you're Good/Neutral guys planning to redeem Sarevok) or Dorn (if you're Evil guys planning not to redeem Sarevok, but have nerfed Dorn by freeing him from both of his possible patrons). Both Minsc and fallen-Dorn are relatively-weak warriors at ToB levels, and Sarevok is an effective upgrade in spite of lagging a few levels. If you have neither Minsc nor fallen-Dorn in your party, then it's likely that you'd be better-off keeping your existing team.

Arunsun

I never ever pick Sarevok for I like running a party from one end of the game to the other, and thus I don't like Sarevok. Just like Yeslick in BG1 . Really good but they come too late.
And somehow, no matter what class I play, I dislike taking Sarevok because it simply does not fit. Why would I want Gorion murderer in my team?

Lord_Tansheron

Arunsun said:

Why would I want Gorion murderer in my team?

Well, there's all sorts of CHARNAME out there. Sarevok is a great asset. He is a skilled Fighter, a powerful Deathbringer, an experienced strategist. You are going up against some seriously messed up stuff in ToB, and help is hard to come by. From there it's just a matter of how willing you are to compromise. An evil CHARNAME could overlook Gorion's death in light of Sarevok's assistance with your own quest. A neutral CHARNAME could argue that there is good and bad in everyone, including your half-brother, and that him working for you could balance out what he did in the past. Even a good CHARNAME could be willing to try and redeem Sarevok despite all his evil deeds, because you believe that everyone can be saved.

It is up to you to make the decision, and it can go either way. You can absolutely make similar arguments for why NOT to take Sarevok along. Your interpretation is the key.

Francois

I like him and his story, but he's also sort of redundant. With Minsc, Keldorn and now Dorn, there are just too many 2-handed sword wielding, full-plate-wearing warriors to choose from. But you can dual class him to mage or thief to make something different. So he could eventuall wield the holy avenger with grand mastery. If you think about taking him, wait until ToB to do Watcher's Keep, so you get more time to play with him.

SnesleyWipes

Thanks guys. I took him in the end. Minsc himself even said he wasn't sure he'd be up for the job. I feel guilty but considering the shit I've been fighting I definitely needed the power.

Still wondering why charname doesn't even mention Gorion to Sarevok.

P.S Am slightly confused where Sarevok's recent huge heath increase cam from? He was much lower than my charname and now has massively shot up after a level up?

Yannir

SnesleyWipes said:

P.S Am slightly confused where Sarevok's recent huge heath increase cam from? He was much lower than my charname and now has massively shot up after a level up?

All characters are automatically leveled up in ToB until they have 2,5M exp. If the char has more than that, they will stay as they are. So that level up may do several levels at once.

abacus

I usually have someone "tragically" killed in the fight against Irenicus... Typically a fighter type or other one trick pony... Minsc, Korgan, Mazzy and Valygar have, at various times, all fallen prey to the villainous mage.

Montresor_SP

If I'm planning to go with Sarevok, I either roleplay that one of my party wants to leave after SoA because they don't like the way I'm going, or I play with a 5-NPC party during SoA to make room for him.

Gallowglass

@Montresor_SP - ... and if you choose Minsc as the one who "wants to leave" to make room for Sarevok, then he more-or-less agrees that he wants to retire.