Good/Evil/Neutral Parties

miker60

For people who watched the twitch tv demo videos closer than I:

We already know the "canon" party which begins BG2: Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira, Khalid, Imoen. It seemed to me from the demo that party (plus Safana replacing Imoen for an early quest) was the Good party for the beginning of BG: SoD.

What did people notice about which made up either the Evil or Neutral parties you have at the start of SoD?

I'm assuming Edwin and Viconia are party of the evil party.

Anyone have any better info? I'd like to do a good/evil/neutral playthrough of BG to prepare for SoD and I'd like to use the same NPC's they've chosen for my playthroughs.

cmk24

It looks like the neutral party was reveled over in this thread: http://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/656010/#Comment_656010

Avenger_teambg said:

Fardragon said:

Sure. What I am suggesting is that even if you start with the evil party, Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, Jaheira and Khalid will still be part of the story. Hence why those portraits feature in the trailer, and why those are the guys who are with you at the beginning of BG2.

Given that Rasaad is LG, I don't see how he would be in the default neutral party. I also suspect there will be zero overlap of default staring parties.

My guess neutral party: Neera, Branwen, Faldorn, Garrick, Skie

Khalid, Dorn, Jaheira, Safana, Neera. (you got one right).

shawne

Good party: Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira, Khalid, Imoen
Neutral party: Khalid, Dorn, Jaheira, Safana, Neera
Evil party: Dorn, Safana, Viconia, Edwin, Baeloth

Paladin

Dorn seems a bit out of place in the neutral party. He is pretty darn evil (and ruthlessly so). The others seem to make more sense. I would love to see Xan in that party, but it would be a little light on bruisers. Looking at the NPC list, it is a bit tough, given that neutral doesn't have a really strong fighter-type. Kagain, Dorn, and Shar-Teel are all too evil, and Minsc, Ajantis are too good. I think the answer is replacing Dorn with Kivan. I could see Kivan in a neutral party. He can hold his own, too.

miker60

Agreed. I'd rather see Branwen in the neutral party rather than Dorn. She's actually neutral and she's a bit of a "blank slate". The developers could have fun giving her the BG2 NPC treatment with a possible romance and more of a personality.

Gallowglass

shawne said:

Good party: Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira, Khalid, Imoen
Neutral party: Khalid, Dorn, Jaheira, Safana, Neera
Evil party: Dorn, Safana, Viconia, Edwin, Baeloth

That's officially confirmed for Neutral, and it appears from the announcement video that you're also correct about Evil. However ...

I still can't find any evidence that Imoen is in the Good party, even though that'd be the obvious supposition. I've re-checked the announcement video and the trailer, and every time the Good party is shown, it always has Safana and never has Imoen as a member, even though Imoen is seen talking to the party (as a blue-circled neutral). It also appears that the snippets shown come from widely-separated sections of the game, so it's not merely that all the gameplay demonstrations were recorded during a brief period when Safana substituted for Imoen.

I therefore wonder if it's possible that Safana is actually in all three default starting parties!?

If so, then that supports my earlier speculation (in another thread) that Imoen is not available in (or at least for much of) the new game, but instead has some separate role in the plot ... as she also did for a chunk of SoA, of course.

miker60

I agree with you that there is a good chance Safana replaces Imoen in the good party based on rewatching the demo footage.

This might provide a natural opportunity for Imoen to be away from the party and "force" her dual class into Mage thus preserving her canonical class.

I do hope that she is eventually recruitable and playable (as a mage a few levels below the rest of your party still getting used to her newfound powers).

Fardragon

Yes I have been developing a theory with regards to Imoen. Shut your eyes if you want to avoid potential spoilers.

Near the beginning of SoD one of the Baldur's Gate mages (who is the sorcerous sundries guy?) identifies Imoen's magical talent and takes her on as an apprentice. When the player heads off for Dragonspear Imoen has her own parallel adventure, uncovering Irenicus' plot to capture the PC. She rushes to save him/her, collecting any out of Minsc, Dynahair, Khalid and Jalhera on route if they aren't in the PCs party. They arrive just to late. Dynahair dies heroicly, defeating the SoD boss.

I wonder if its possible to play as Imoen, without the PC?

Aramintai

I'm not sure about Imoen being unavailable in SoD. Perhaps devs simply showed us in the demo that Imoen will still have presence in the story of SoD even if you don't take her into your party. After all, you could have dumped her right after leaving Candlekeep and never look back, but she will still be in Irenicus's dungeon in BG2, so I think SoD will try to explain that.

artificial_sunlight

Aramintai said:

After all, you could have dumped her right after leaving Candlekeep and never look back, .........

No you can't.

I sometimes try but it's just inpossible.

Aramintai

artificial_sunlight said:

Aramintai said:

After all, you could have dumped her right after leaving Candlekeep and never look back, .........

No you can't.

I sometimes try but it's just inpossible.

Let me guess, you always play soft, goody two-shoes characters?

Fardragon

If Imoen isn't in your final BG party:

The player is walking through the city at the start of SoD:

"Haya! It's me, Imoen!"
"I thought I told you to go back to Candlekeep?"
"Yeah, when have I ever done what YOU told me to?!"
"Well, since you are here, you better come with me."
"Sorry, but I just met this great wizard guy, and he is going to teach me to do real magic! Gorion would never let me near anything magical."

ber5nie5

i think it's awesome that safana will be available in bg2. enjoyed having her in my good party during sod.