@sandmanCCL Garrick is far from useless (actually if played right, no BG NPC is useless), you just have to look at his strong points (yes he has a few) and compensate for his weaknesses. The +2 Dex modifier is good (ranged weapons are kinda overpowered in BG1) when he uses a bow or x-bow (I usually gave him the Light Crossbow of Speed). His pick-pocketing means your party's thief won't have to waste points in that skill and can focus on the more important open locks / trap detection / stealth. The bard song is not game-breaking but is far from worthless either, especially when it buffs the best bowmen in game (Coran & Kivan) and the lowly summons that keep mobs busy in melee. He is not (or shouldn't be) your primary magic user and as a result shouldn't have to write that many spells in his spellbook, just a select few -> those the specialist mage in your party can't memorize because of school incompatibility (as all single class NPC mages are specialists) and those that scale far better in damage / utility because of bard's fast leveling (like Magic Missile / Chromatic Orb / Melf's Acid Arrow to name a few). Also because he as bard is a magic user, you have another person in your group to use those lovely wands (of Fear / Fire / Frost / Paralyzation/ Sleep / Monster Summoning). And last but not least, his high bardic lore means you'll never have to cast an Identify spell once he has a few levels under his belt. True, he's far from a perfect character and definitely not a power-gamer's dream come true, but he is not a wasted slot in the party either. Plus I find his dialogue with Safana and Eldoth & Skie funny.
I like Garrick. No, he's not a particularly powerful character, it's true. I don't care about that. His story and personality still win me over. He's fun to have around.
In general, if you have to fight harder and smarter with a 'weaker' party, the victory is all the more satisfying.
NPCs I enjoy having around: 1. Minsc 2: Edwin 3: Viconia 4: Kivan 5: Imoen
NPCs I don't like much: 1. Dynaheir 2. Shar-Teel 3. Khalid 4. Montaron 5. Quayle
The rest are either neutral to me or I have never had them in my party. Xan is an interesting NPC, although I don't like his specialization, but I understand why some people dig him.
To be honest it's not her stats that put me off; it's just at the point when I meet her I never seem to need her. And for some reason I just don't really like druids. I usually have Jaheira in my party and one tree-hugger is more than enough for me.
I get that. Just wanted to point out she has a pretty significant upside!
@Koson: I'm aware of that. I just don't consider Garrick to be useful simply because his class is unlike Quayle, for example. Typically speaking I'm never lacking in the arcane caster department (Xzar and Edwin for evil playthroughs, Imoen and Xan/Dynaheir in any other alignment PT, and all this assuming I don't have access to the arcane myself.) Garrick himself has no real upside and lots of downsides.
And while Bard Lore is helpful, it's hardly necessary. I have no problem running around with items unidentified til I get to a town and then it's just a matter of resting at an Inn however many times I need til everything gets IDed from my mages. It's just a convenience thing and Garrick is so inconvenient in so many other areas.
Alot of hateing on Jan going on, I find him very useful in evil groups. Specialist mage/thief, traps/epic traps, detect illusions, use any item - melodic chain (for early stages), bard gloves, pulse amunition, can use any spell. Bards are the closest thing to fighter/mages, what with the lack of any in BG/BG2. Extra mage spells and another bow/crossbow user is welcome.
Top 5 (in no particular order/BG only): Edwin Shar-Teel (fighter/thief dual) Kagain Yeslick Coran
Bottom (" " " " " "): Eldoth Faldorn (druid spells pre BG2 were limited and weak) Dynaheir Tiax (too late in the game) Jaheira (druid spells/ bad str & dex, could of dealt with one)
Viconia is great in BG2 (100% magic resistance, impressive wisdom), Jaheira is also quite a strong character in BG2 as well. My EE party will probably be: PC (Blackguard), Kagain, Shar-Teel (dual), Faldorn (haha yep, higher cap + better spells), Quayle & Garrick.
The most cool party would have Kivan and Viconia, they have have dialog with each other, ( a love-hate relationship no less) and are 200% on top of the Cool chart for males and females. Plus Imoen, cant drop her due to being the old friend or whatever, plus she is quite cool too. Heya.
Alot of hateing on Jan going on, I find him very useful in evil groups. Specialist mage/thief, traps/epic traps, detect illusions, use any item - melodic chain (for early stages), bard gloves, pulse amunition, can use any spell.
Count me among the Jan fans, both in terms of practical party building and in terms of personality.
The only NPCs I can't stand to have in my party (and I am open to having that opinion changed) are:
Anomen Quayle Cernd
I find myself generally reluctant to bring in a single classed cleric or druid or a bard from a party building side (but Viconia gets an exception to this for plot reasons). I feel like the rest of the party ends up carrying those characters too often since I don't want to spend 5 minutes buffing them before every fight to make them useful.
Except if i say otherwise i will base all my evaluations in behavior, not in status. The fact an NPC is in my shit list doesn't mean that i don't use them. Viconia is in my BG2 shit list for example and i use her a lot, i just hate her behavior as i will explain below.
BG 1 NPCs:
Elite
-Shar-Teel (sadly BG don't explore her behavior well, she's an berserker woman, son of Angelo, one of Sarevok's Henchman, if Team BG can add content to her... oh god, that will be awersome!). -Viconia (based only on the knowledge of BG, she's a pretty decent character with a good reason to act as she do). -Xzar/Montaron (who don't like a couple of crazy people around?). -Coran (besides 20 dex? He's a funny character). -Safana (she could be called Safada, what is the portuguese translate for naughty, i really like her and i hope new content to be add for her banters).
Shit list
-Garrick (fucking retard). -Dynaheir (really don't like her, and in an attempt to keep her loyal to lawful good alignment, they broke her roleplay as one of the witches of Rashemen). -Branwen. -Faldorn (i feel cheated when i go to BG2 and discover that she only appear there as an enemy and don't even appear to remember charname). -Kagain (i know 20 con, but a door would have more voice lines in BG than him, besides his quest is broken).
BG2 NPCs:
Elite
-Edwin (too much fun ^^). -Minsc (too much fun and crazy XD). -Anomen (CN aligned). -Korgan (crazy psychopath bastard, but a funny one). -Sarevok.
*Special add: -Jaheira as the best romance avaliable in vanilla. -Valen as the best NPC mod.
Shit List
-Nalia (my top shit list this one, the only time i liked her was in a playthrough i did with an evil party of low reputation, when Isaea Roenall come to arrest her, i had the choice of kill him and all the guards. Don't know if it was a bug or based on my low reputation). - Viconia (try to fake a strong mind but has an EMO soul inside, she's an repressed version of Aerie that just fake her whine with bravado. Don't take me wrong i use her all the time, i just don't like her behavior, as i expect better from a drow than all that whine). -Crend (fucking bastard as a father, unlike Keldorn you don't need to ask him to stay in party, as he clearly don't give a shit to his son, speak of harmony and act as a wise person, but the skeleton in his closet belongs to a dinossaur). -Valygar (poor developed, has the potential to be the best NPC of the game, but totally wasted). -Yoshimo (he's not stupid and he's not loyal to Irenicus besides the Geas spell, so why he don't try to break the fucking geas during the game adventure? We broke a geas in BG with Umbrelle help, so why we can't do it in BG2? In the end, he's just an steppe for Imoem...).
Best: 1) Kagain (Best Tank in the Game -- FLESH WALL) 2) Minsc (Butt Kicking for Goodness!) 3) Edwin (Game's Best Mage) 4) Shar-Teel (Dual Her to a Thief at 7th level - Game's 2nd Best Percentile Strength) 5) Kivan (Percentile Strength + Archery Master... Too bad he's a flipping ranger).
Worst: 1) Garrick (Awful, Horrible, Bard) 2) Quayle (Loser, Loser, Loser!) 3) Faldorn (Please...) 4) Xan (No attack spells? Take that Moonblade and shove it. Would rank lower but he makes an IWD cameo of sorts!) 5) Eldoth (I like the voice acting but he requires Skie... and he's a bard... Double-Fail)
@AHF Anomen is actually a fighter dualled to cleric and as a result is far sturdier in melee and with decent gear and proper buffs (many cast by himself) is extremely powerful and wreaks havoc in hand-to-hand combat. Use him as tank, not as primary caster - his stats also favor this. Also his Undead Turning as a single class non-evil cleric is amazing. Most people are put off by his personality/dialogue, but it doesn't bother me much and I pair him with NPCs who mock him at every chance (Jan / Korgan). Also I have him fail his test as I like him more as CN and he fits better with my mixed-alignment group - but if you play a goody-two-shoes game, as CN he'll come to blows in the end with Keldorn and Aerie. Bards are amazing as a class, have several benefits and can compliment any party-setup. However they can not be dualled from/into or multiclassed so if you want one he'll have to be single. There's a whole thread dedicated to them.
@AHF Anomen is actually a fighter dualled to cleric and as a result is far sturdier in melee and with decent gear and proper buffs (many cast by himself) is extremely powerful and wreaks havoc in hand-to-hand combat. Use him as tank, not as primary caster - his stats also favor this. Also his Undead Turning as a single class non-evil cleric is amazing. Most people are put off by his personality/dialogue, but it doesn't bother me much and I pair him with NPCs who mock him at every chance (Jan / Korgan). Also I have him fail his test as I like him more as CN and he fits better with my mixed-alignment group - but if you play a goody-two-shoes game, as CN he'll come to blows in the end with Keldorn and Aerie.
It isn't the power aspect that is a turnoff with Anomen, it is the personality. I can't put myself in a rollplaying frame of mind where I like the guy. If my character is good, they are turned off by the arrogance and pettiness. If my character is evil, they just want to kill him.
I haven't done a play through with him failing his test, though. Maybe a Jan/Korgan combo (two characters I really enjoy) along with a failed Amonen would be more interesting.
Bards are amazing as a class, have several benefits and can compliment any party-setup. However they can not be dualled from/into or multiclassed so if you want one he'll have to be single. There's a whole thread dedicated to them.
I know they can be amazingly versatile but they are all pretty high maintenance - cast a bunch of spells, use a bunch of buffs, and they peak at being 75% as good as a fighter or 60% of a mage, etc. My issue is they aren't useful for disarming traps (opening locks I could live with) and can't backstab so their rogue skills aren't helpful; when using the bard song they just sit there watching everyone else; they never approach fighter attacks or thaco and so while you can stoneskin and dual-wield and offensive spin them into relevance you are constantly having to monitor them without a big payoff offensively; they never get the high level spells, etc. - it is the jack of all trades, master of none aspect I can't get over. I've solo'd through with the blade and had the vanilla bard in the party and just don't find myself interested in playing one or keeping the NPCs in the party.
@AHF: If you fail the quest with Anomen, he flips out and tries to kill Keldorn at some point.
His personality also shifts a lot if you go the Lawful Good route.
I still need to get around to playing with CN Anomen in the group to see if it changes his behavior in any significant way in Throne of Bhaal. It's the lone mystery left to me in BG2.
@AHF: If you fail the quest with Anomen, he flips out and tries to kill Keldorn at some point.
His personality also shifts a lot if you go the Lawful Good route.
I still need to get around to playing with CN Anomen in the group to see if it changes his behavior in any significant way in Throne of Bhaal. It's the lone mystery left to me in BG2.
I know that is how it works but I've always disliked him so much that I haven't played through that game yet. I am officially now lining up my next BGT run to include that one and give Anomen a final chance.
As for the LG shift, I agree it is there but the guy was such an a** earlier in the game that I still am not vested in his character in spite of the backstory with his family, etc. that is intended to make him more relatable and sympathetic.
@AHF, don't let the bad opinion of others about Anomen that spread as a gossip in any BG forum to make your mind, give a try with him. I'm too a great fan of Chaotic Neutral Anomen, it's worth a try. If you can't stand a romance with him, make a male main char and just add him as any other NPC.
If you make him Chaotic Neutral, just avoid have Aerie and Keldorn in the party as Anomen will eventually clash in combat with them.
The NPCs that better with Anomen are:
Jan: make the most hilarious jokes you will ever see in any other game. Ano the dung orc, will make you fall from your chair in laughts.
Korgan: will throw Anomen hypocrisy in his face at every opportunity.
Keldorn: will try to advise anomen before the Radiant Order test. If Anomen pass on the Test (and become Lawful Good), they will stay in good terms (as Anomen's arrogance behavior diminish after the exam), if Anomen fail on the test eventually he will challenge and attack Keldorn.
Aerie: Anomen don't stay in good terms with Aerie. After the test a CN anomen will eventually attack Aerie.
Viconia: She teases Anomen a bit, no problematic consequence with her. Anomen kinda of like Viconia.
Jaheira: will try to boss him out (as she perceives him as an non mature person), of course with his arrogant behavior some fun banters can be get there.
Edwin: With surprise i have to say Edwin and Anomen get along very well.
Am I really the only person that thinks Anomen is one of the most brilliantly written characters in CRPG-dom?
He's not SUPPOSED to be likable when you first meet him. Every other NPC is quirky or cute enough to get by, but he's the only one who is a genuine braggart. It's so rarely done in video games. The evil plotting sorcerer has been done a million times. The brooding emo tough girl shtick is played out. The dopey lovable meathead has been done a million times. The totally misogynistic holy warrior who is forced to learn and grow as a human being? Not as much and rarely as compellingly.
There have been some interesting answers so far and many of them I agree with and others I disagree with completely. Since you want to know what characters are fun to have around I'll write up a list of those aswell but the most powerful NPC's in BG1 (I've been playing with a mod that lets me use the BG2 engine for so long that I don't rember how much different they are in vanilla but since EE will be using this feature it doesn't matter, I also take into account a higher XP cap) are as follows:
Best (most powerful): 1) Edwin Odesseiron: Best mage in the game, no one can cast as many spells as he can and I find conjuror to be one of the best specilizations for mages.
2) Tiax: Cleric/Thief is an awesome combo simply for the ability to disarm traps/pick locks/open doors and containers "undetected" with the Sanctuary spell. He fills two integral roles in a party and with proper use of spells and items he can be quite devastating while backstabbing with the Spiritual Hammer spell, not to mention Draw Upon Holy Might. Very very VERY underrated NPC.
3) Kagain: He is THE best tank in either of the games. With an unexplainable 20 constitution he has way more HP's than anyone else and he actually regenerates hit points. With the Guantlets of Dexterity his AC is as good as it gets for a tank and he becomes even more of an unstoppable killing machine... I also nearly forgot about his "Shorty" bonuses on saving throws. Kagain is head and shoulders above the rest of the tanks, funny considering what a small fellow he is.
4) Montaron: Fighter/Thief is an awesome class. He can fill the tanking role by using a shield and wearing heavy armor and when it comes time to disable traps or unlock things simply remove the armor, rinse and repeat. Also, since he has a better Thac0 progression from his Fighter levels he will backstab much more reliably than a single classed Thief.
5) Viconia: She has a slightly lower Wisdom than Branwen and Yeslick but her 19 dexterity and 50% magic resistance more than make up for it. Give her a sling and she's great for ranged support or cast the Strength spell on her or give her Guantlets of Ogre Power and she can smash faces with the best of 'em. Her self buffing cleric spells also increase her abilities on the frontline while her inherent magic resistance helps keep her in the fray.
Honorable Mentions: Faldorn is vastly underrated. With the increased level cap she is the only one in the game that can cast 5th level divine spells. She is the best character is the game for crowd control/mage interrupting/summoning. Particularly summoning as she has access to many GREAT summoning spells and the innate ability to summon a Dread Wolf. Her crummy stats are inconsequential since she will remain in the back lines but if she does need to fight her way out of a situation her shapechanging abilities will make her better at it than most other divine casters.
Quayle also gets a spot here. While he doesn't have many priest spells per day he still has the largest number of spells in the game and the ability to cast arcane and divine spells gives him great versatility.
Worst (least powerful): 1) Garrick: Garrick is a terrible character power-wise. He has trouble learning any spells at all and with his low intelligence can't cast very many of the spells he does manage to actually learn each day. He has low hit points and AC (since wearing armor interferes with his spellcasting and potentially with his pick-pocketing) and is only good for standing in the back lines firing his bow/crossbow and using wands/scrolls. The Dual Classed Imoen as a Thief/Mage can do the exact same thing but she has a better dex (therefore hits more reliably), casts more spells, has more HP, and has better thieving abilities. Everything Garrick can do someone else can do better... way better. Don't bother with this guy if you're looking for a strong group.
2) Eldoth Kron: Eldoth suffers from most of the exact same problems as Garrick. He has the same crappy intelligence but has a few more hit points. Eldoth does have a lower dexterity score than Garrick but his poisoned arrows innate ability is fairly useful. He comes out better than Garrick by a fraction. Just to let you all know I have nothing against Bards, in fact I really like Bards both in this game and in most other iterations of DnD and CRPG's... I just don't like these bards.
3) Khalid: Every other tank (see Fighter/Paladin/Ranger) in the game is better than Khalid at everything Khalid tries to do. He has the lowest strength score out of all the pure classed tanks and most of the multi-class tanks are still on par or better. He has a lower strength than Montaron for goodness sake! He is weaker than a Halfling... I'll let that set in for a minute. The only tank classed NPC with worse strength is Coran, everyone else has 15 strength or better. Add in the fact that his dexterity isn't particularly good either and his entire character is hanging on the fact that he has 17 constitution... not the best but decent. Not to mention that if one of your characters lets out a moderately loud fart in the middle of the night he is likely to be startled out of sleep and run off screaming into the woods in pure terror. If you want a tank you can do SO much better than Khalid.
4) Alora: Alora has the best dexterity out of any of the Thieves in the game but that doesn't make up for the rest of her abysmal stats. Now, add in the fact that she is a chapter 5 character... and a chapter 5 Thief no less, and you've got one incredibly useless character. Most of her thieving skills will already be allocated when she joins you making her ok at everything but useless when it matters most. Imoen is a better pick if you have your heart set on a single-class Thief.
5) Dynaheir: Invokers are hands down the worst Mage specialization in the game. Dynaheir is an Invoker... Dynaheir also has pretty medicore stats. Her good constitution means she can take a few hits but any Mage that's getting hit isn't going to stand up long no matter how high their constitution score is. Her dexterity is quite low (granted it's higher than Edwins) but her true weakness comes from giving up access to TWO schools of magic and two particularly good schools at that, Enchantment and Conjuration namely. Enchantment has a lot of save or lose spells (like dire charm, confusion, and hold person) which are typically more useful than magic missiles and Conjuration is arguably one of the best schools in the game. Summoning monsters is extremely useful, they provide extra damage, can get between your squishies and the enemies, and every attack directed at a summoned monster is one less attack directed at a useful party member. Take Edwin and leave this chump to the Gnolls.
As for the most fun group I'd say that Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc and Dynaheir are a fun group to have (despite two of them being on the list of terrible NPC's) since this is the presumed party at the start of BG2. If you plan to import your character to BG2 this party will make it a seamless transition between games.
Besides them I'd say that Xzar and Montaron are great to have around because their insane attitudes and endless bickering make for some memorable moments. Also, Quayle and Tiax together can also be quite fun especially is Quayle gets killed. "Ha Ha! Smart guy dies! But Tiax goes on to RULE!"
For a more serious but still fun experience the way Kivan is tied to the main plot (seeking revenge on Tazok) aswell as Branwen (again, revenge but against Tranzig) can make you feel your companions are emotionally invested in the main plot line.
Whoever you go with though I'm sure you'll find things that you love or hate about any of the NPC's.
Minsc: Crazed Ranger dealing vengeance to evildoers everywhere. Imoen: Childhood friend I'm pretty sure she was the only one that stayed when I fireballed that 'Gentlemen's Club' under Baldur's Gate. Dynaheir: Real mages rain down death and destruction like heavy artillery. She can do that in spades. Branwen: Warrior Priestess of Tempus. What is not to love about butt kickin' chicks of warrior deities? I see Valkyrie in her future. Xan: Reminds me of Marvin the Paranoid Android.
Dislike
Edwin: Evil weasel Red Wizard of Thay. Nothing to like about this man. Shar-Teel: If I have to beat you up for you to join my party, I don't need you. Viconia: I really wanted to like her, I really did, but every other healing spell cast on her failed leaving me one irritated player
Taking into consideration factors that make for enjoyable inter-party dialogue and overall party-efficiency in BG1:
Best Five Viconia Kagain Shar-Teel (dual-classed as a thief at level 6; her Fighter skills come back in at Thief level 7) Edwin (mediocre ability scores, aside from INT and CON, but his utility as a Conjurer are second-to-none) Eldoth (a decent archer with the Bracers of Archery or Gauntlets of Dexterity and a decent backup mage with plenty of Potions of Genius or Mind Focusing. Plus, he can make poisoned arrows.)
Worst Five Khalid Garrick Quayle Faldorn Minsc (STR score aside, I cannot stand his Jar-Jar Binks personality)
Quayle also gets a spot here. While he doesn't have many priest spells per day he still has the largest number of spells in the game and the ability to cast arcane and divine spells gives him great versatility.
Nice to see someone else who thinks Quayle is underrated. He may be annoying as hell, but he's a good mage who can use a shield, wear a helmet, and cast cleric spells. Quite useful IMO.
Comments
Garrick is far from useless (actually if played right, no BG NPC is useless), you just have to look at his strong points (yes he has a few) and compensate for his weaknesses. The +2 Dex modifier is good (ranged weapons are kinda overpowered in BG1) when he uses a bow or x-bow (I usually gave him the Light Crossbow of Speed). His pick-pocketing means your party's thief won't have to waste points in that skill and can focus on the more important open locks / trap detection / stealth. The bard song is not game-breaking but is far from worthless either, especially when it buffs the best bowmen in game (Coran & Kivan) and the lowly summons that keep mobs busy in melee. He is not (or shouldn't be) your primary magic user and as a result shouldn't have to write that many spells in his spellbook, just a select few -> those the specialist mage in your party can't memorize because of school incompatibility (as all single class NPC mages are specialists) and those that scale far better in damage / utility because of bard's fast leveling (like Magic Missile / Chromatic Orb / Melf's Acid Arrow to name a few). Also because he as bard is a magic user, you have another person in your group to use those lovely wands (of Fear / Fire / Frost / Paralyzation/ Sleep / Monster Summoning). And last but not least, his high bardic lore means you'll never have to cast an Identify spell once he has a few levels under his belt.
True, he's far from a perfect character and definitely not a power-gamer's dream come true, but he is not a wasted slot in the party either. Plus I find his dialogue with Safana and Eldoth & Skie funny.
Play a Cleric/Thief and throw (a dual classed) Shar-Teel in there and watch the fireworks!
In general, if you have to fight harder and smarter with a 'weaker' party, the victory is all the more satisfying.
NPCs I enjoy having around:
1. Minsc
2: Edwin
3: Viconia
4: Kivan
5: Imoen
NPCs I don't like much:
1. Dynaheir
2. Shar-Teel
3. Khalid
4. Montaron
5. Quayle
The rest are either neutral to me or I have never had them in my party. Xan is an interesting NPC, although I don't like his specialization, but I understand why some people dig him.
@Koson: I'm aware of that. I just don't consider Garrick to be useful simply because his class is unlike Quayle, for example. Typically speaking I'm never lacking in the arcane caster department (Xzar and Edwin for evil playthroughs, Imoen and Xan/Dynaheir in any other alignment PT, and all this assuming I don't have access to the arcane myself.) Garrick himself has no real upside and lots of downsides.
And while Bard Lore is helpful, it's hardly necessary. I have no problem running around with items unidentified til I get to a town and then it's just a matter of resting at an Inn however many times I need til everything gets IDed from my mages. It's just a convenience thing and Garrick is so inconvenient in so many other areas.
Bards are the closest thing to fighter/mages, what with the lack of any in BG/BG2. Extra mage spells and another bow/crossbow user is welcome.
Top 5 (in no particular order/BG only):
Edwin
Shar-Teel (fighter/thief dual)
Kagain
Yeslick
Coran
Bottom (" " " " " "):
Eldoth
Faldorn (druid spells pre BG2 were limited and weak)
Dynaheir
Tiax (too late in the game)
Jaheira (druid spells/ bad str & dex, could of dealt with one)
Viconia is great in BG2 (100% magic resistance, impressive wisdom), Jaheira is also quite a strong character in BG2 as well. My EE party will probably be: PC (Blackguard), Kagain, Shar-Teel (dual), Faldorn (haha yep, higher cap + better spells), Quayle & Garrick.
1) Edwin
2) Viconia
3) Keldorn
4) Minsc
5) Xzar
Bottom 5
1) Imoen
2) Nalia
3) Jan Jansen
4) Jaheira
5) Faldorn
I've played it zero times without Viconia. Too good to pass by.
Best NPCs IMO....
BG1:
Kivan
Jaheira
Ajantis
Dynaheir
Minsc
Viconia
BG2:
Viconia
Edwin
Valygar
Jaheira
Man just roll with the default party. That aside
The most cool party would have Kivan and Viconia, they have have dialog with each other, ( a love-hate relationship no less) and are 200% on top of the Cool chart for males and females. Plus Imoen, cant drop her due to being the old friend or whatever, plus she is quite cool too. Heya.
Ajantis
Minsc
Jaheira
Imoen
Xan
worst
Quayle
montaron
Skie
Tiax
Alora
The only NPCs I can't stand to have in my party (and I am open to having that opinion changed) are:
Anomen
Quayle
Cernd
I find myself generally reluctant to bring in a single classed cleric or druid or a bard from a party building side (but Viconia gets an exception to this for plot reasons). I feel like the rest of the party ends up carrying those characters too often since I don't want to spend 5 minutes buffing them before every fight to make them useful.
BG 1 NPCs:
Elite
-Shar-Teel (sadly BG don't explore her behavior well, she's an berserker woman, son of Angelo, one of Sarevok's Henchman, if Team BG can add content to her... oh god, that will be awersome!).
-Viconia (based only on the knowledge of BG, she's a pretty decent character with a good reason to act as she do).
-Xzar/Montaron (who don't like a couple of crazy people around?).
-Coran (besides 20 dex? He's a funny character).
-Safana (she could be called Safada, what is the portuguese translate for naughty, i really like her and i hope new content to be add for her banters).
Shit list
-Garrick (fucking retard).
-Dynaheir (really don't like her, and in an attempt to keep her loyal to lawful good alignment, they broke her roleplay as one of the witches of Rashemen).
-Branwen.
-Faldorn (i feel cheated when i go to BG2 and discover that she only appear there as an enemy and don't even appear to remember charname).
-Kagain (i know 20 con, but a door would have more voice lines in BG than him, besides his quest is broken).
BG2 NPCs:
Elite
-Edwin (too much fun ^^).
-Minsc (too much fun and crazy XD).
-Anomen (CN aligned).
-Korgan (crazy psychopath bastard, but a funny one).
-Sarevok.
*Special add:
-Jaheira as the best romance avaliable in vanilla.
-Valen as the best NPC mod.
Shit List
-Nalia (my top shit list this one, the only time i liked her was in a playthrough i did with an evil party of low reputation, when Isaea Roenall come to arrest her, i had the choice of kill him and all the guards. Don't know if it was a bug or based on my low reputation).
- Viconia (try to fake a strong mind but has an EMO soul inside, she's an repressed version of Aerie that just fake her whine with bravado. Don't take me wrong i use her all the time, i just don't like her behavior, as i expect better from a drow than all that whine).
-Crend (fucking bastard as a father, unlike Keldorn you don't need to ask him to stay in party, as he clearly don't give a shit to his son, speak of harmony and act as a wise person, but the skeleton in his closet belongs to a dinossaur).
-Valygar (poor developed, has the potential to be the best NPC of the game, but totally wasted).
-Yoshimo (he's not stupid and he's not loyal to Irenicus besides the Geas spell, so why he don't try to break the fucking geas during the game adventure? We broke a geas in BG with Umbrelle help, so why we can't do it in BG2? In the end, he's just an steppe for Imoem...).
1) Kagain (Best Tank in the Game -- FLESH WALL)
2) Minsc (Butt Kicking for Goodness!)
3) Edwin (Game's Best Mage)
4) Shar-Teel (Dual Her to a Thief at 7th level - Game's 2nd Best Percentile Strength)
5) Kivan (Percentile Strength + Archery Master... Too bad he's a flipping ranger).
Worst:
1) Garrick (Awful, Horrible, Bard)
2) Quayle (Loser, Loser, Loser!)
3) Faldorn (Please...)
4) Xan (No attack spells? Take that Moonblade and shove it. Would rank lower but he makes an IWD cameo of sorts!)
5) Eldoth (I like the voice acting but he requires Skie... and he's a bard... Double-Fail)
Anomen is actually a fighter dualled to cleric and as a result is far sturdier in melee and with decent gear and proper buffs (many cast by himself) is extremely powerful and wreaks havoc in hand-to-hand combat. Use him as tank, not as primary caster - his stats also favor this. Also his Undead Turning as a single class non-evil cleric is amazing.
Most people are put off by his personality/dialogue, but it doesn't bother me much and I pair him with NPCs who mock him at every chance (Jan / Korgan). Also I have him fail his test as I like him more as CN and he fits better with my mixed-alignment group - but if you play a goody-two-shoes game, as CN he'll come to blows in the end with Keldorn and Aerie.
Bards are amazing as a class, have several benefits and can compliment any party-setup. However they can not be dualled from/into or multiclassed so if you want one he'll have to be single. There's a whole thread dedicated to them.
Valygar, few mage spells
Imoen, mage
Nalia, mage
Airie, mage
Mazzy, few mage spells
Edwin, pure mage
Haer'Dalis, many mage spells
Jan, mage
I don't really want any of these in my party because I want to be the sole spellslinger!
I haven't done a play through with him failing his test, though. Maybe a Jan/Korgan combo (two characters I really enjoy) along with a failed Amonen would be more interesting. I know they can be amazingly versatile but they are all pretty high maintenance - cast a bunch of spells, use a bunch of buffs, and they peak at being 75% as good as a fighter or 60% of a mage, etc. My issue is they aren't useful for disarming traps (opening locks I could live with) and can't backstab so their rogue skills aren't helpful; when using the bard song they just sit there watching everyone else; they never approach fighter attacks or thaco and so while you can stoneskin and dual-wield and offensive spin them into relevance you are constantly having to monitor them without a big payoff offensively; they never get the high level spells, etc. - it is the jack of all trades, master of none aspect I can't get over. I've solo'd through with the blade and had the vanilla bard in the party and just don't find myself interested in playing one or keeping the NPCs in the party.
Minsc & Dynaheir
Jaheira & Khalid
Imoen
Khalid sucks, he seems to be easily frightened. I don't like Dynaheir, but she is pretty much a package deal. Minsc is great, and Jaheira is handy.
His personality also shifts a lot if you go the Lawful Good route.
I still need to get around to playing with CN Anomen in the group to see if it changes his behavior in any significant way in Throne of Bhaal. It's the lone mystery left to me in BG2.
As for the LG shift, I agree it is there but the guy was such an a** earlier in the game that I still am not vested in his character in spite of the backstory with his family, etc. that is intended to make him more relatable and sympathetic.
If you make him Chaotic Neutral, just avoid have Aerie and Keldorn in the party as Anomen will eventually clash in combat with them.
The NPCs that better with Anomen are:
Jan: make the most hilarious jokes you will ever see in any other game. Ano the dung orc, will make you fall from your chair in laughts.
Korgan: will throw Anomen hypocrisy in his face at every opportunity.
Keldorn: will try to advise anomen before the Radiant Order test. If Anomen pass on the Test (and become Lawful Good), they will stay in good terms (as Anomen's arrogance behavior diminish after the exam), if Anomen fail on the test eventually he will challenge and attack Keldorn.
Aerie: Anomen don't stay in good terms with Aerie. After the test a CN anomen will eventually attack Aerie.
Viconia: She teases Anomen a bit, no problematic consequence with her. Anomen kinda of like Viconia.
Jaheira: will try to boss him out (as she perceives him as an non mature person), of course with his arrogant behavior some fun banters can be get there.
Edwin: With surprise i have to say Edwin and Anomen get along very well.
He's not SUPPOSED to be likable when you first meet him. Every other NPC is quirky or cute enough to get by, but he's the only one who is a genuine braggart. It's so rarely done in video games. The evil plotting sorcerer has been done a million times. The brooding emo tough girl shtick is played out. The dopey lovable meathead has been done a million times. The totally misogynistic holy warrior who is forced to learn and grow as a human being? Not as much and rarely as compellingly.
1) Edwin
2) Minsc
3) Viconia
4) Sarevok
5) Korgan
BOTTOM (worst first):
1) Anomen
2) Cernd
3) Yoshimo
4) Aerie
5) Jan
Sorry, I don't know the BG1 characters... yet.
Best (most powerful):
1) Edwin Odesseiron: Best mage in the game, no one can cast as many spells as he can and I find conjuror to be one of the best specilizations for mages.
2) Tiax: Cleric/Thief is an awesome combo simply for the ability to disarm traps/pick locks/open doors and containers "undetected" with the Sanctuary spell. He fills two integral roles in a party and with proper use of spells and items he can be quite devastating while backstabbing with the Spiritual Hammer spell, not to mention Draw Upon Holy Might. Very very VERY underrated NPC.
3) Kagain: He is THE best tank in either of the games. With an unexplainable 20 constitution he has way more HP's than anyone else and he actually regenerates hit points. With the Guantlets of Dexterity his AC is as good as it gets for a tank and he becomes even more of an unstoppable killing machine... I also nearly forgot about his "Shorty" bonuses on saving throws. Kagain is head and shoulders above the rest of the tanks, funny considering what a small fellow he is.
4) Montaron: Fighter/Thief is an awesome class. He can fill the tanking role by using a shield and wearing heavy armor and when it comes time to disable traps or unlock things simply remove the armor, rinse and repeat. Also, since he has a better Thac0 progression from his Fighter levels he will backstab much more reliably than a single classed Thief.
5) Viconia: She has a slightly lower Wisdom than Branwen and Yeslick but her 19 dexterity and 50% magic resistance more than make up for it. Give her a sling and she's great for ranged support or cast the Strength spell on her or give her Guantlets of Ogre Power and she can smash faces with the best of 'em. Her self buffing cleric spells also increase her abilities on the frontline while her inherent magic resistance helps keep her in the fray.
Honorable Mentions: Faldorn is vastly underrated. With the increased level cap she is the only one in the game that can cast 5th level divine spells. She is the best character is the game for crowd control/mage interrupting/summoning. Particularly summoning as she has access to many GREAT summoning spells and the innate ability to summon a Dread Wolf. Her crummy stats are inconsequential since she will remain in the back lines but if she does need to fight her way out of a situation her shapechanging abilities will make her better at it than most other divine casters.
Quayle also gets a spot here. While he doesn't have many priest spells per day he still has the largest number of spells in the game and the ability to cast arcane and divine spells gives him great versatility.
Worst (least powerful):
1) Garrick: Garrick is a terrible character power-wise. He has trouble learning any spells at all and with his low intelligence can't cast very many of the spells he does manage to actually learn each day. He has low hit points and AC (since wearing armor interferes with his spellcasting and potentially with his pick-pocketing) and is only good for standing in the back lines firing his bow/crossbow and using wands/scrolls. The Dual Classed Imoen as a Thief/Mage can do the exact same thing but she has a better dex (therefore hits more reliably), casts more spells, has more HP, and has better thieving abilities. Everything Garrick can do someone else can do better... way better. Don't bother with this guy if you're looking for a strong group.
2) Eldoth Kron: Eldoth suffers from most of the exact same problems as Garrick. He has the same crappy intelligence but has a few more hit points. Eldoth does have a lower dexterity score than Garrick but his poisoned arrows innate ability is fairly useful. He comes out better than Garrick by a fraction. Just to let you all know I have nothing against Bards, in fact I really like Bards both in this game and in most other iterations of DnD and CRPG's... I just don't like these bards.
3) Khalid: Every other tank (see Fighter/Paladin/Ranger) in the game is better than Khalid at everything Khalid tries to do. He has the lowest strength score out of all the pure classed tanks and most of the multi-class tanks are still on par or better. He has a lower strength than Montaron for goodness sake! He is weaker than a Halfling... I'll let that set in for a minute. The only tank classed NPC with worse strength is Coran, everyone else has 15 strength or better. Add in the fact that his dexterity isn't particularly good either and his entire character is hanging on the fact that he has 17 constitution... not the best but decent. Not to mention that if one of your characters lets out a moderately loud fart in the middle of the night he is likely to be startled out of sleep and run off screaming into the woods in pure terror. If you want a tank you can do SO much better than Khalid.
4) Alora: Alora has the best dexterity out of any of the Thieves in the game but that doesn't make up for the rest of her abysmal stats. Now, add in the fact that she is a chapter 5 character... and a chapter 5 Thief no less, and you've got one incredibly useless character. Most of her thieving skills will already be allocated when she joins you making her ok at everything but useless when it matters most. Imoen is a better pick if you have your heart set on a single-class Thief.
5) Dynaheir: Invokers are hands down the worst Mage specialization in the game. Dynaheir is an Invoker... Dynaheir also has pretty medicore stats. Her good constitution means she can take a few hits but any Mage that's getting hit isn't going to stand up long no matter how high their constitution score is. Her dexterity is quite low (granted it's higher than Edwins) but her true weakness comes from giving up access to TWO schools of magic and two particularly good schools at that, Enchantment and Conjuration namely. Enchantment has a lot of save or lose spells (like dire charm, confusion, and hold person) which are typically more useful than magic missiles and Conjuration is arguably one of the best schools in the game. Summoning monsters is extremely useful, they provide extra damage, can get between your squishies and the enemies, and every attack directed at a summoned monster is one less attack directed at a useful party member. Take Edwin and leave this chump to the Gnolls.
As for the most fun group I'd say that Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc and Dynaheir are a fun group to have (despite two of them being on the list of terrible NPC's) since this is the presumed party at the start of BG2. If you plan to import your character to BG2 this party will make it a seamless transition between games.
Besides them I'd say that Xzar and Montaron are great to have around because their insane attitudes and endless bickering make for some memorable moments. Also, Quayle and Tiax together can also be quite fun especially is Quayle gets killed. "Ha Ha! Smart guy dies! But Tiax goes on to RULE!"
For a more serious but still fun experience the way Kivan is tied to the main plot (seeking revenge on Tazok) aswell as Branwen (again, revenge but against Tranzig) can make you feel your companions are emotionally invested in the main plot line.
Whoever you go with though I'm sure you'll find things that you love or hate about any of the NPC's.
Minsc: Crazed Ranger dealing vengeance to evildoers everywhere.
Imoen: Childhood friend I'm pretty sure she was the only one that stayed when I fireballed that 'Gentlemen's Club' under Baldur's Gate.
Dynaheir: Real mages rain down death and destruction like heavy artillery. She can do that in spades.
Branwen: Warrior Priestess of Tempus. What is not to love about butt kickin' chicks of warrior deities? I see Valkyrie in her future.
Xan: Reminds me of Marvin the Paranoid Android.
Dislike
Edwin: Evil weasel Red Wizard of Thay. Nothing to like about this man.
Shar-Teel: If I have to beat you up for you to join my party, I don't need you.
Viconia: I really wanted to like her, I really did, but every other healing spell cast on her failed leaving me one irritated player
Best:
1. Coran
2. Kivan
3. Shar-Teel
4. Yeslick
5. Imoen
Worst:
1. Faldorn (probably the worst NPC in either BG)
2. Eldoth
3. Garrick
4. Xzar
5. Khalid
In BG2:
Best:
Anyone but Cernd
Worst:
Cernd
Best Five
Viconia
Kagain
Shar-Teel (dual-classed as a thief at level 6; her Fighter skills come back in at Thief level 7)
Edwin (mediocre ability scores, aside from INT and CON, but his utility as a Conjurer are second-to-none)
Eldoth (a decent archer with the Bracers of Archery or Gauntlets of Dexterity and a decent backup mage with plenty of Potions of Genius or Mind Focusing. Plus, he can make poisoned arrows.)
Worst Five
Khalid
Garrick
Quayle
Faldorn
Minsc (STR score aside, I cannot stand his Jar-Jar Binks personality)