Minsc (STR score aside, I cannot stand his Jar-Jar Binks personality)
I never liked Minsc in BG1 either. Not only did I find him annoying as hell, but he was vastly overrated as a fighter too IMO - he was little more than a tank, with mediocre dexterity and const.
He was much better in BG2 IMO, both in terms of quality and personality.
I went with the 'default' good party the first time I finished the game, and actually found them pretty balanced, especially if you dual Imoen to mage and give Khalid the ogre gauntlets.
My favorite good-aligned party is me as a mage, Ajantis, Kivan, Coran, Yeslick and Imoen dual-classed to a mage. I don't know why but Ajantis and Kivan just seem like this great buddy-cop odd-couple and I always have them together.
To this day, however, I don't think I've finished BG1 with an evil party!
I haven't play this since 1999 or so, i was like 15... I'm going to see how this comeback turns out. My then favorite npc would be Khalid (I remember his personality was really funny) and Minsc, he was my bro, ja! I also like Sarevok. I don't have least favorite. I never wanted to pick up the Bard though.
1. Minsc, because.. you know.. he is just awesome. 2. Xzar and Monti, I know I am cheating here, but I must have them together. 3. Xan, I think it's a special character, and I think I am somehow imotianaly attached to him from the times I was a kid and played this game. 4. Keldorn, one of the most complicated and tragic characters I have encountered. 5. Coran, he just adds magic to the game, I don't know..
Worst:
1. Kagain, empty character. 2. Anoman, oh god... I don't even want to start.. 3. Neera, she reminds me to much of Nalia in the manner she speaks and acts. 4. Quayle :X 5. Nalia, I just hate her.
To perhaps change it up a bit from what I wrote previously...
Best
1. Montaron (despite being aggravating and disturbing to my demeanor) 2. Xan (because even with him we are all doomed) 3. Edwin (when will these simpletons realise how grand his intelligence really is?) 4. Jan (because he is versatile as a character and interjects from time to time with fun dialogue. Why did he ever tell you about the great turnip crisis of 1052?...) 5. Neera (because I feel like of the new characters she has the most growth potential)
Worst (1 being the worst)
1. Cernd. (I like druids, I've just never really been very into the character) 2. Skie (Yea, yea she has good stats. You get her way too late, her personality is meh, and by the time you get to her her skills are already very planned out) 3. Rasaad (While I see his usability increasing greatly in BG2EE he seems like he's going to be a rather bland personality wise) 4. Eldoth (I like his personality, his skills/stats/abilities are meh and you get him fairly late compared to others) 5. Kagain (he's a nice tank, but dead personality wise).
I'm kind of surprised at how many people list Jan in their 'Least' column. For me, he is more than a competent thief, and in fact the only thief who continues to advance for the entire course of the game. And he has the added ability to cast spells and remove protections/enchantments too boot. this means he isn't merely around to remove traps and scout. He has an actual purpose in combat. Plus he is screamingly funny on top of everything else (particularly in combination with Minsc). What's not to love?
For me, my top list is as follows:
1. Viconia 2. Shar-Teel 3. Edwin 4. Minsc 5. Tiax
My bottom list is as follows (in no particular order)
Garick Xan Khalid Haer-Dalis (mostly for personality reasons) Aerie (exclusively for personality reasons. Otherwise she is a powerhouse)
1. Edwin (my fave NPC along with Xzar; great voiceset and if you switch NPCs around a lot, he has many extra banters or possible fights - Alora, Ajantis, Neera, Dorn, Dynaheir, Minsc; Red Wizards in forest) 2. Xzar dualed to cleric (if charname is no cleric - best voiceset in the game, unique banter, extra dialogue in the city) 3. Montaron or Shar-Teel dualed to thief (if charname is no thief; both very entertaining personalities; Shar-Teel is great for roleplay due to her backstory, as are Monty and Xzar) 4. Kagain (for his tanking qualities and laid back personality) 5. Dorn (as new NPC, no normal banters, which is a bit disappointing; but much dialogue and nice personal quest; interaction with many old NPCs, including Edwin, Viconia, Shar-Teel, Kagain)
Replace the "if" with Eldoth, if charname is indeed cleric or thief. Eldoth is WAY more useful than he gets credit for. If Skie wouldn't be so late to the party, she'd make the list, too. Garrick is better than many say, too.
Bottom:
1. Imoen, aka Miss Silent Treatment. No banters at all. 2. Neera. Entitled brat much? Annoying voice, too. 3. Dynaheir. So Edwin is the arrogant mage? SHE permanently tells me she's "always right". 4. Quayle. Just gets on my nerves. No idea if he's useful. 5. Skie. She's great from the profs and skills, her voiceset is a bit annoying, but that's fine because it's meant to be. But she's recruitable way too late, no relocation via mod, and tied to Eldoth, who you may or may not need. In other words, she'd be on the top list if she could be recruited before/in Cloakwood, but she's simply too inconvenient.
1. Jan (It's not a party unless there's turnips) 2. Xan (He makes me laugh) 3.Yoshimo (cause he's awesome) 4. Eldoth (just wish you could pick him up earlier without mods) 5. Garrick (His voice annoys me sometimes, but he's VERY versatile, so I can forgive that much...I like bards...ok?)
Runner Up: Haer'Daelis (While I hate the BG version of Blades, I like Tieflings (Tiefling and Elan are my favorite DnD races to play as (but not those 4th ed Draenei rip-offs...not that I'd ever play 4th anyway) so he gets a mention)
Honorable Mention: Sarevok, AWESOME as a villain, and great stats as a NPC...I just take exception to the way his ToB stuff is handled (not really his fault though).
Unfavorite-
1. Cernd (His mangling of proverbs is hilarious...but not enough to let him in my party) 2. Aerie (MY WINGS!!?!?!??!) 3. Imoen (YOU RUINED YOSHIMO'S QUESTLINE, YOU WHORE!?) 4. Quayle (MY INTELLIGENCE!?!?!?!) 5. Anomen (He's fake and kind of a dick)
There aren't many NPC's I dislike, so I guess my worst list for BG1 would have to be the NPC's that appear late in the game, like Alora and Tiax and Skie, just because I've usually gotten too comfortable with my party by the time I get to them so very rarely feel like replacing anyone. I'm also not too fond of NPC's that you have to take as pairs; Jaheira and Khalid, Dynaheir and Minsc, Skie and Eldoth...
Honourable mentions though:
Imoen: Despite the fact that she has very few banters for most of the games, she's still the little sister I never wanted.
Aerie: MY WINGS!!! But actually, that's an exaggeration at best, and for the most part totally wrong. She never really talks about her wings unless you romance and encourage her. People tend to assume one of two extremes with her; either the fake, dumb whiny blonde, or perfectly sweet innocent little angel. I feel that she's actually neither. She's subdued and introverted, but there's some pent up anger there that for the most part she's become good at redirecting. She also shows a lot of courage, determination and aggression, especially when it comes to protecting the party. She's naive and lacks experience; bit like the kids who left Candlekeep not so long ago.
If I had to choose least favourites, I guess I'd go with comic relief characters; Quayle, Jan, Minsc, etc. Although they're funny at first, the trouble with those kind of characters is that if you see too much of them they become like annoying 'wacky' characters from a sitcom... oh look, he's going to tell a crazy story about his relatives again. Great.
The biggest thing about Jan is that he banters with EVERYONE....no matter how off the wall the party combo you make, he'll have something to comment ("this reminds of...I mean, you know that time when...I errr.......hmm..actually nothing like this has EVER happened to me before" - And now you know %^$# just got real), and 9/10 it's hilarious, and is actually a powerful addition to the team in his own right. Devastating backstabs, obliterates illusions, can make his own special AoE Stun bolts, and his armor makes him one of the toughest characters in the game.
For me my favs arent necessarily characters who travel with me and they cross between bg1 and bg2... but here's my top 5:
1. Imoen - From the first moment I leave Candelkeep till the reclamation of my divine essence, she's there for me. She finds reasons to be cheerful even during the darkest of times and mechanically she's a well built character who remains useful throughout the entirety of the series.
2. Jaheira - Despite her creepy 'my husband just died let me hook up with my young ward" act in bg2, Jaheira has a great personality and skill set. She really comes off as strong moral compass and has some really good dialogue and voice acting.
3. Viconia - Another great personality and voice acting! Viconia doesn't always make it to the party but I always save her both in bg1 and bg2. I usually run good parties but mods that keep the party happy fix that when I have her. Viconia's built well mechanically and her racial MR is nice. With the right gear she's probably the most potent cleric in the series.
4. Keldorn - I really like inquisitors. The uber dispel plus on demand true seeing and no worries about level drain messing up spells make them a great frontliner and thus Keldorn is a great match for me. His personal story in bg2 is also amazing IMO and I really enjoy helping him resolve his issues.
5. Edwin - While I don't typically have Edwin in my party (I know most players must think I'm nuts), Edwin's personality and dialogue is awesome. Especially in BG2. I do realize how potent a mage he is but the reason he isn't usually included is because my CHARNAME is usually an arcane caster of some sort and Imoen is universally part of my group meaning I have more than enough arcane magic at my disposal.
I can't say I have a "bottom five". But many of the latecomers in BG1 never even have a chance to show me who they are because my party is pretty much set by then.
I don't really get attached to any NPCs in BG1, I guess I'd say the new ones, since they talk. Xzar's kinda funny I guess. In BG2 I'd go in no real order: 1. Edwin 2. Viconia 3. Minsc 4. Imoen 5. Sarevok
Best: 1. Xan (love him so much like i dont think i can even describe what i think about this guy in words omg) 2. Jaheira (She always felt like a parental figure to my charname and somewhere along the line i started really looking up to her) 3. Jan Jansen (Best character accept no substitutes) 4. Aerie (I know a lot of people think she's whiny and stuff, but of all the characters in the series, I think she has some of the best character development, and dammit she has got an inner strength that is so much greater than so many of you guys let on. And she's adorable.) 5. Cernd (say what you will, but Cernd is HILARIOUS. There is so much subtle sarcasm wrapped in those purposely vague nature-y lines of his)
Honorable mention is Quayle. I have had him on almost all of my BG1 parties. He's a damn good cleric/mage. Also he annoys the crap out of pretty much EVERY OTHER CHARACTER and that amuses me SO MUCH.
Worst: 1. Kagain (offensive stereotype) 2. Eldoth (he's just an ass and I want to punch him in the face) 3. Montaron (but I guess I can put up with him when I want Xzar around) 4. Yoshimo (I love him to pieces but I can't stand having him on my party, it's just too sad knowing what's going to happen) 5. Ajantis (was actually okay with him before I saw his interactions with Xan. Assuming someone is evil for no reason, ESPECIALLY when you could easily just use Detect Evil to clear things up, is NOT cool!)
Best 1. Edwin (awesome personality, funny quest in BG2, I love when he talks to himself) 2. Neera (I've fallen in love with her since the very moment she popped out of nowhere in Beregost and asked my charaname for help.) 3. Valygar (interesting personality and backstory) 4. Anomen (perhaps the best written character of BG2, I love the fact his alignment changes depending on his interactions with charaname) 5. Viconia (I love her story and the fact she can change alingnment, too)
Runners up: Jan Jansen (he makes me laugh!), Dorn (I have loved his quest and backstory), Alora (mainly because of her interaction with Edwin ), Xan, Branwen, Rasaad
Worst 1. (worst) Imoen. No banters, no interactions, and I don't find her funny but on the contrary rather silly. 2. Eldoth (do I really neeed to say why??) 3. Dynaheir (she's way too arrogant in my opinion, I don't like her attitude towards poor Minsc and the party in general) 4. Faldorn (too fanatical) 5. Safana (she incarnates a lot of things I hate in a woman)
This list might change a bit in my head once I actually finish both games at least once more. Since there's practically no banters in BG1, I've listed only BG2 npcs:
Best 1. Keldorn (despite being a paladin, he's not annoying. Kills mages, too.) 2. Sarevok (character development innit. And he's a melee beast!) 3. Aerie (good secondary arcane spellcaster. And in a game full of psychos where you kill 5 billion monsters, it's good to have one "Aerie" who e.g. spontaneously admires a certain dragon. awwwww) 4. Jaheira (attitude + loyalty + common sense) 5. Minsc & Boo (although you learn to expect him to say something about hamsters at every turn, he - Minsc - still manages to make me laugh hysterically)
Runner up: Korgan (axes cure everything)
Worst Can't say anything yet. Probably those who I can't fit in a semi-powergamey party.
Kagain has an accent? Are we talking about the same Kagain here? He's a typical dwarf, sure, but I think we are a few years past "KLINGONS = COMMUNISTS" asspulls.
Kagain has an accent? Are we talking about the same Kagain here? He's a typical dwarf, sure, but I think we are a few years past "KLINGONS = COMMUNISTS" asspulls.
Well, I personally don't hear it all that much, but every time a friend has watched me play BG, they ask, why does that guy have a yiddish accent? I guess I trust their ears more than mine, I mean if they're all hearing the same thing, can't be nothing, right?
And then once they find out what kind of character he is they start making offensive jokes.
And it's terrible.
So maybe he's not just an offensive stereotype but dammit my friends have made him feel like one and now i can't have him on my party without thinking about it.
To my (non-English native speaker) ears, he doesn't have an obvious accent. But then, in my mind, all dwarves have some sort of faux scandinavian accent. I see "hammers, axes, runes, mining, forging" and that leaves little room for any associations but "norse mythology".
Here's my list. Note that my view of characters is somewhat influenced by their utility, whether I like it or not.
BG1 Best 1. Shar-Teel (because she kicks ass and I find her baseless misandrony hilarious) 2. Jaheira (because I am entertained by sarcasm) 3. Imoen (because she's the only one who's really there for you, no matter who you are) 4. Minsc (because Boo isn't a joinable NPC) 5. Viconia (because I like seeing surface drow who aren't all goody-goody)
Worst 5. Quayle (because, while cleric/mages are extremely useful, Quayle's voice is just that annoying) 4. Alora (because I am not a fan of the annoyingly cheerful halfling stereotype) 3. Faldorn (because ecoterrorists can do so much better) 2. Xzar (because he's a psychopath, but not in an interesting way) 1. Garrick (because he's annoying and utterly useless)
BG2 Best 1. Haer'Dalis (because he's interesting, sharp-tongued, and so scarily competent that he makes newcomers respect bards) 2. Jaheira (as above, plus the added personal drama serves to make her much more interesting) 3. Mazzy (because he's one of the most genuinely noble people in any game, and because he's a 3-foot-tall evil-smiting badass) 4. Imoen (see Jaheira) 5. Keldorn (because his family troubles provide such an interesting take on the traditional "old warrior" archetype)
Worst 5. Yoshimo (because he thinks he's clever and he just isn't) 4. Jan (because turnip jokes get old fast) 3. Nalia (because "well-intentioned noble" is not a personality) 2. Anomen (because he's just such an arrogant self-righteous prick) 1. Cernd (because he's about as annoying as Anomen, but much less useful)
For BG 2 I'm going to go Ranger (or something) - Minsc, Jaheria, Valygar, Cerend and Mazzy. All the nature loving hippies!
5 Best BG1 NPCs: Edwin Odeseeron, or (Ed if you prefer a less syllable intenstive work out monkey fools) Viconia - Sexy Emo Drow Sharran Priestess of 1337ness. Minsc - BUTTKICKING FOR GOODNESS! Tiax - Tiax hears ya! Xarr - Stop touching meeee! / Mommy I don't feel to Good / I AM BECOME DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS!
5 Best BG2 NPCs: Edwina Viconia Minsc Jan - *burp* turnip reflex Korgan - Wassail, let's flail the bladder etc. Also for a CE dwarf, he's not chaotic stupid. He's actually a well developed 'I'm a bit mental' type character. You can see why he does stuff. (Like killing his diseased friend etc) He's just a high functioning sociopath.
Favorites: Edwin: Entertaining and a ridiculously powerful mage. A bit too powerful really. He makes it so that I never want to play a plain or specialist mage (except for wild mage). Aerie: Whiny at times, but I find her endearing. Out of the romance options she's most like the girls I'm normally attracted to/date (young with low self-esteem). She's also a great addition to the party due to being able to cast almost every spell in the game. Sarevok: Great villain and the best fighter NPC in the game. Viconia: A huge bitch, but an interesting one. Arguably the best cleric. Minsc: Amusing and a great frontliner, although the jokes have gotten old now.
Least Favorites: Jan: Never found him funny. I only use him as a placeholder for Imoen. Jaheira: Bossy and overall annoying as hell. Also fairly mediocre in all areas. Still use her on occasion though, so it can be argued that she shouldn't be here in place of those I don't use at all. However, since I don't use those other characters at all, I don't know them well enough to dislike them. Anomen: Probably the most annoying playable NPC in the game. Garrick: Never found a use for him. Bad stats and he's an idiot. Nalia: A poor man's Imoen.
Baldur's 1 only for me 1. Yeslick - Never leave the Cloakwood without him. Top tier fighter with added healing. 2. Imoen - Early recruit and can fill the thief or mage spot. 3. Coran - Luck be a lady. This free spirit is an amazing archer and comes just in time for Imoen to dual. 4. Ajantis - Every party needs a solid warrior, and Minsc is tied to his witch, who I often don't have room for with Imoen or even CHARNAME playing the mage. 5. Quayle - You guys don't like him? I love his high spell counts and he's been a perfect sixth man for me at times. He doesn't need to dominate in any field, cause he's just my backup everything. Priest, Mage, Ranged attacker when he's not busy. I like using him to dump skeletons and monsters all over the map while everyone else does the damage. Great utility.
1. Garrick - I've TRIED to find room for this guy. It doesn't work out well for him. 2. Skie + Eldoth - I've beaten BG several times and not even found these two. I know they're out there somewhere, but I already know they're not worth hunting down and they're too out of the way for me to stumble upon. 3. Viconia - I've never cared for Drow. I've never cared for evil party members. And my clerics and their armor need to be able to hold the line with my warriors, hence my top pick in the useful list. 4. Safana - She isn't Imoen or Coran, so I really have no use for her. How many thieves did we need? 5. Alora - Gotta give it to another thief. Just too many of them around, and this one comes even later than Safana.
1. Edwin. Obviously. Self explanatory. Powerhouse mage and a killer personality.
2. Xzar. Amazingly funny character who never made it to BG2 as an NPC. More's the shame.
3. Viconia. Sexy Drow and my first love.
4. Dynaheir. Have no idea why so many people hate her due to arrogance. Look up the Wychlaran, which is what Dynaheir is. They are the ruling mages of Rasheman. Their word is law and disobeying one is punishable by death. In fact, if you first rescue Dynaheir THEN find Minsc, he says something to her like: "I present my head for the taking," because he lost her and a bunch of strangers saved her instead of him. Thus, he considers himself and his mission a failure and expects to die. She absolves him of the death sentence, obviously and carries on. The point being, if you had this kind of power in your homeland, you'd be arrogant too. Dynaheir is a capable mage. Moreover, I have no idea what the hate towards Invokers is. They are the best mage specialist class in the game. Before the rule change, Invokers were the worst, since they couldn't cast Enchantment AND Conjuration. Since this was lifted in BG2, and only Enchantment spells were restricted, they are the best. Divination spells (which Conjurers, the supposed "best class" cannot cast) are actually useful at points, unlike enchantments which you will never miss if you don't have them. Finally, Dynaheir has the sexiest accent I have ever heard. Another real shame she never made it to BG2. I wish they'd do something about this in BG2:EE.
5. Jan Jansen. A bucket of laughs and a great character.
Special mention: Jaheira and Minsc. Faithful 'till the bitter end.
Least favourite:
1. Korgan. Absolutely hate this dwarf and I have no idea why. I had him in a few parties and genuinely tried to like him, but to no avail.
2. Alora. Happy happy boring boring.
3. Cernd. Oh GOD. What a sh!t character.
4. Keldorn. Another snooze-fest of a personality.
5. Mazzy. Ugh. She's arrogant and rates herself too highly. Montaron is Faerun's best halfling, obviously.
Special mention:
I hate every new NPC. Neera, Baeloth, Dorn and Rasheed. None of them are written well and bore me to tears. They have no place in BG at all. In fact, the only reason I haven't put them in my least favourite list is because I don't consider them as NPC's at all and completely ignore their existence in the game. Neeber/Noober are better written than these slugs.
Comments
He was much better in BG2 IMO, both in terms of quality and personality.
My favorite good-aligned party is me as a mage, Ajantis, Kivan, Coran, Yeslick and Imoen dual-classed to a mage. I don't know why but Ajantis and Kivan just seem like this great buddy-cop odd-couple and I always have them together.
To this day, however, I don't think I've finished BG1 with an evil party!
1. Minsc, because.. you know.. he is just awesome.
2. Xzar and Monti, I know I am cheating here, but I must have them together.
3. Xan, I think it's a special character, and I think I am somehow imotianaly attached to him from the times I was a kid and played this game.
4. Keldorn, one of the most complicated and tragic characters I have encountered.
5. Coran, he just adds magic to the game, I don't know..
Worst:
1. Kagain, empty character.
2. Anoman, oh god... I don't even want to start..
3. Neera, she reminds me to much of Nalia in the manner she speaks and acts.
4. Quayle :X
5. Nalia, I just hate her.
Best
1. Montaron (despite being aggravating and disturbing to my demeanor)
2. Xan (because even with him we are all doomed)
3. Edwin (when will these simpletons realise how grand his intelligence really is?)
4. Jan (because he is versatile as a character and interjects from time to time with fun dialogue. Why did he ever tell you about the great turnip crisis of 1052?...)
5. Neera (because I feel like of the new characters she has the most growth potential)
Worst (1 being the worst)
1. Cernd. (I like druids, I've just never really been very into the character)
2. Skie (Yea, yea she has good stats. You get her way too late, her personality is meh, and by the time you get to her her skills are already very planned out)
3. Rasaad (While I see his usability increasing greatly in BG2EE he seems like he's going to be a rather bland personality wise)
4. Eldoth (I like his personality, his skills/stats/abilities are meh and you get him fairly late compared to others)
5. Kagain (he's a nice tank, but dead personality wise).
For me, my top list is as follows:
1. Viconia
2. Shar-Teel
3. Edwin
4. Minsc
5. Tiax
My bottom list is as follows (in no particular order)
Garick
Xan
Khalid
Haer-Dalis (mostly for personality reasons)
Aerie (exclusively for personality reasons. Otherwise she is a powerhouse)
1. Edwin (my fave NPC along with Xzar; great voiceset and if you switch NPCs around a lot, he has many extra banters or possible fights - Alora, Ajantis, Neera, Dorn, Dynaheir, Minsc; Red Wizards in forest)
2. Xzar dualed to cleric (if charname is no cleric - best voiceset in the game, unique banter, extra dialogue in the city)
3. Montaron or Shar-Teel dualed to thief (if charname is no thief; both very entertaining personalities; Shar-Teel is great for roleplay due to her backstory, as are Monty and Xzar)
4. Kagain (for his tanking qualities and laid back personality)
5. Dorn (as new NPC, no normal banters, which is a bit disappointing; but much dialogue and nice personal quest; interaction with many old NPCs, including Edwin, Viconia, Shar-Teel, Kagain)
Replace the "if" with Eldoth, if charname is indeed cleric or thief. Eldoth is WAY more useful than he gets credit for. If Skie wouldn't be so late to the party, she'd make the list, too. Garrick is better than many say, too.
Bottom:
1. Imoen, aka Miss Silent Treatment. No banters at all.
2. Neera. Entitled brat much? Annoying voice, too.
3. Dynaheir. So Edwin is the arrogant mage? SHE permanently tells me she's "always right".
4. Quayle. Just gets on my nerves. No idea if he's useful.
5. Skie. She's great from the profs and skills, her voiceset is a bit annoying, but that's fine because it's meant to be. But she's recruitable way too late, no relocation via mod, and tied to Eldoth, who you may or may not need. In other words, she'd be on the top list if she could be recruited before/in Cloakwood, but she's simply too inconvenient.
Favorite-
1. Jan (It's not a party unless there's turnips)
2. Xan (He makes me laugh)
3.Yoshimo (cause he's awesome)
4. Eldoth (just wish you could pick him up earlier without mods)
5. Garrick (His voice annoys me sometimes, but he's VERY versatile, so I can forgive that much...I like bards...ok?)
Runner Up: Haer'Daelis (While I hate the BG version of Blades, I like Tieflings (Tiefling and Elan are my favorite DnD races to play as (but not those 4th ed Draenei rip-offs...not that I'd ever play 4th anyway) so he gets a mention)
Honorable Mention: Sarevok, AWESOME as a villain, and great stats as a NPC...I just take exception to the way his ToB stuff is handled (not really his fault though).
Unfavorite-
1. Cernd (His mangling of proverbs is hilarious...but not enough to let him in my party)
2. Aerie (MY WINGS!!?!?!??!)
3. Imoen (YOU RUINED YOSHIMO'S QUESTLINE, YOU WHORE!?)
4. Quayle (MY INTELLIGENCE!?!?!?!)
5. Anomen (He's fake and kind of a dick)
Runner Up: Dynaheir (cause she's a #%$&@)
Dishonorable Mention: Faldorn (Even more bland then Cernd)
Honourable mentions though:
Imoen: Despite the fact that she has very few banters for most of the games, she's still the little sister I never wanted.
Aerie: MY WINGS!!! But actually, that's an exaggeration at best, and for the most part totally wrong. She never really talks about her wings unless you romance and encourage her. People tend to assume one of two extremes with her; either the fake, dumb whiny blonde, or perfectly sweet innocent little angel. I feel that she's actually neither. She's subdued and introverted, but there's some pent up anger there that for the most part she's become good at redirecting. She also shows a lot of courage, determination and aggression, especially when it comes to protecting the party. She's naive and lacks experience; bit like the kids who left Candlekeep not so long ago.
If I had to choose least favourites, I guess I'd go with comic relief characters; Quayle, Jan, Minsc, etc. Although they're funny at first, the trouble with those kind of characters is that if you see too much of them they become like annoying 'wacky' characters from a sitcom... oh look, he's going to tell a crazy story about his relatives again. Great.
1. Imoen - From the first moment I leave Candelkeep till the reclamation of my divine essence, she's there for me. She finds reasons to be cheerful even during the darkest of times and mechanically she's a well built character who remains useful throughout the entirety of the series.
2. Jaheira - Despite her creepy 'my husband just died let me hook up with my young ward" act in bg2, Jaheira has a great personality and skill set. She really comes off as strong moral compass and has some really good dialogue and voice acting.
3. Viconia - Another great personality and voice acting! Viconia doesn't always make it to the party but I always save her both in bg1 and bg2. I usually run good parties but mods that keep the party happy fix that when I have her. Viconia's built well mechanically and her racial MR is nice. With the right gear she's probably the most potent cleric in the series.
4. Keldorn - I really like inquisitors. The uber dispel plus on demand true seeing and no worries about level drain messing up spells make them a great frontliner and thus Keldorn is a great match for me. His personal story in bg2 is also amazing IMO and I really enjoy helping him resolve his issues.
5. Edwin - While I don't typically have Edwin in my party (I know most players must think I'm nuts), Edwin's personality and dialogue is awesome. Especially in BG2. I do realize how potent a mage he is but the reason he isn't usually included is because my CHARNAME is usually an arcane caster of some sort and Imoen is universally part of my group meaning I have more than enough arcane magic at my disposal.
I can't say I have a "bottom five". But many of the latecomers in BG1 never even have a chance to show me who they are because my party is pretty much set by then.
In BG2 I'd go in no real order:
1. Edwin
2. Viconia
3. Minsc
4. Imoen
5. Sarevok
1. Xan (love him so much like i dont think i can even describe what i think about this guy in words omg)
2. Jaheira (She always felt like a parental figure to my charname and somewhere along the line i started really looking up to her)
3. Jan Jansen (Best character accept no substitutes)
4. Aerie (I know a lot of people think she's whiny and stuff, but of all the characters in the series, I think she has some of the best character development, and dammit she has got an inner strength that is so much greater than so many of you guys let on. And she's adorable.)
5. Cernd (say what you will, but Cernd is HILARIOUS. There is so much subtle sarcasm wrapped in those purposely vague nature-y lines of his)
Honorable mention is Quayle. I have had him on almost all of my BG1 parties. He's a damn good cleric/mage. Also he annoys the crap out of pretty much EVERY OTHER CHARACTER and that amuses me SO MUCH.
Worst:
1. Kagain (offensive stereotype)
2. Eldoth (he's just an ass and I want to punch him in the face)
3. Montaron (but I guess I can put up with him when I want Xzar around)
4. Yoshimo (I love him to pieces but I can't stand having him on my party, it's just too sad knowing what's going to happen)
5. Ajantis (was actually okay with him before I saw his interactions with Xan. Assuming someone is evil for no reason, ESPECIALLY when you could easily just use Detect Evil to clear things up, is NOT cool!)
Also when it comes to mages, it's VERY easy to fool detect evil.
1. Edwin (awesome personality, funny quest in BG2, I love when he talks to himself)
2. Neera (I've fallen in love with her since the very moment she popped out of nowhere in Beregost and asked my charaname for help.)
3. Valygar (interesting personality and backstory)
4. Anomen (perhaps the best written character of BG2, I love the fact his alignment changes depending on his interactions with charaname)
5. Viconia (I love her story and the fact she can change alingnment, too)
Runners up: Jan Jansen (he makes me laugh!), Dorn (I have loved his quest and backstory), Alora (mainly because of her interaction with Edwin
Worst
1. (worst) Imoen. No banters, no interactions, and I don't find her funny but on the contrary rather silly.
2. Eldoth (do I really neeed to say why??)
3. Dynaheir (she's way too arrogant in my opinion, I don't like her attitude towards poor Minsc and the party in general)
4. Faldorn (too fanatical)
5. Safana (she incarnates a lot of things I hate in a woman)
Best
1. Keldorn (despite being a paladin, he's not annoying. Kills mages, too.)
2. Sarevok (character development innit. And he's a melee beast!)
3. Aerie (good secondary arcane spellcaster. And in a game full of psychos where you kill 5 billion monsters, it's good to have one "Aerie" who e.g. spontaneously admires a certain dragon. awwwww)
4. Jaheira (attitude + loyalty + common sense)
5. Minsc & Boo (although you learn to expect him to say something about hamsters at every turn, he - Minsc - still manages to make me laugh hysterically)
Runner up: Korgan (axes cure everything)
Worst
Can't say anything yet. Probably those who I can't fit in a semi-powergamey party.
. -c .
And then once they find out what kind of character he is they start making offensive jokes.
And it's terrible.
So maybe he's not just an offensive stereotype but dammit my friends have made him feel like one and now i can't have him on my party without thinking about it.
BG1
Best
1. Shar-Teel (because she kicks ass and I find her baseless misandrony hilarious)
2. Jaheira (because I am entertained by sarcasm)
3. Imoen (because she's the only one who's really there for you, no matter who you are)
4. Minsc (because Boo isn't a joinable NPC)
5. Viconia (because I like seeing surface drow who aren't all goody-goody)
Worst
5. Quayle (because, while cleric/mages are extremely useful, Quayle's voice is just that annoying)
4. Alora (because I am not a fan of the annoyingly cheerful halfling stereotype)
3. Faldorn (because ecoterrorists can do so much better)
2. Xzar (because he's a psychopath, but not in an interesting way)
1. Garrick (because he's annoying and utterly useless)
BG2
Best
1. Haer'Dalis (because he's interesting, sharp-tongued, and so scarily competent that he makes newcomers respect bards)
2. Jaheira (as above, plus the added personal drama serves to make her much more interesting)
3. Mazzy (because he's one of the most genuinely noble people in any game, and because he's a 3-foot-tall evil-smiting badass)
4. Imoen (see Jaheira)
5. Keldorn (because his family troubles provide such an interesting take on the traditional "old warrior" archetype)
Worst
5. Yoshimo (because he thinks he's clever and he just isn't)
4. Jan (because turnip jokes get old fast)
3. Nalia (because "well-intentioned noble" is not a personality)
2. Anomen (because he's just such an arrogant self-righteous prick)
1. Cernd (because he's about as annoying as Anomen, but much less useful)
5 Best BG1 NPCs:
Edwin Odeseeron, or (Ed if you prefer a less syllable intenstive work out monkey fools)
Viconia - Sexy Emo Drow Sharran Priestess of 1337ness.
Minsc - BUTTKICKING FOR GOODNESS!
Tiax - Tiax hears ya!
Xarr - Stop touching meeee! / Mommy I don't feel to Good / I AM BECOME DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS!
5 Best BG2 NPCs:
Edwina
Viconia
Minsc
Jan - *burp* turnip reflex
Korgan - Wassail, let's flail the bladder etc. Also for a CE dwarf, he's not chaotic stupid. He's actually a well developed 'I'm a bit mental' type character. You can see why he does stuff. (Like killing his diseased friend etc) He's just a high functioning sociopath.
Edwin: Entertaining and a ridiculously powerful mage. A bit too powerful really. He makes it so that I never want to play a plain or specialist mage (except for wild mage).
Aerie: Whiny at times, but I find her endearing. Out of the romance options she's most like the girls I'm normally attracted to/date (young with low self-esteem). She's also a great addition to the party due to being able to cast almost every spell in the game.
Sarevok: Great villain and the best fighter NPC in the game.
Viconia: A huge bitch, but an interesting one. Arguably the best cleric.
Minsc: Amusing and a great frontliner, although the jokes have gotten old now.
Least Favorites:
Jan: Never found him funny. I only use him as a placeholder for Imoen.
Jaheira: Bossy and overall annoying as hell. Also fairly mediocre in all areas. Still use her on occasion though, so it can be argued that she shouldn't be here in place of those I don't use at all. However, since I don't use those other characters at all, I don't know them well enough to dislike them.
Anomen: Probably the most annoying playable NPC in the game.
Garrick: Never found a use for him. Bad stats and he's an idiot.
Nalia: A poor man's Imoen.
1. Yeslick - Never leave the Cloakwood without him. Top tier fighter with added healing.
2. Imoen - Early recruit and can fill the thief or mage spot.
3. Coran - Luck be a lady. This free spirit is an amazing archer and comes just in time for Imoen to dual.
4. Ajantis - Every party needs a solid warrior, and Minsc is tied to his witch, who I often don't have room for with Imoen or even CHARNAME playing the mage.
5. Quayle - You guys don't like him? I love his high spell counts and he's been a perfect sixth man for me at times. He doesn't need to dominate in any field, cause he's just my backup everything. Priest, Mage, Ranged attacker when he's not busy. I like using him to dump skeletons and monsters all over the map while everyone else does the damage. Great utility.
1. Garrick - I've TRIED to find room for this guy. It doesn't work out well for him.
2. Skie + Eldoth - I've beaten BG several times and not even found these two. I know they're out there somewhere, but I already know they're not worth hunting down and they're too out of the way for me to stumble upon.
3. Viconia - I've never cared for Drow. I've never cared for evil party members. And my clerics and their armor need to be able to hold the line with my warriors, hence my top pick in the useful list.
4. Safana - She isn't Imoen or Coran, so I really have no use for her. How many thieves did we need?
5. Alora - Gotta give it to another thief. Just too many of them around, and this one comes even later than Safana.
1. Edwin. Obviously. Self explanatory. Powerhouse mage and a killer personality.
2. Xzar. Amazingly funny character who never made it to BG2 as an NPC. More's the shame.
3. Viconia. Sexy Drow and my first love.
4. Dynaheir. Have no idea why so many people hate her due to arrogance. Look up the Wychlaran, which is what Dynaheir is. They are the ruling mages of Rasheman. Their word is law and disobeying one is punishable by death. In fact, if you first rescue Dynaheir THEN find Minsc, he says something to her like: "I present my head for the taking," because he lost her and a bunch of strangers saved her instead of him. Thus, he considers himself and his mission a failure and expects to die. She absolves him of the death sentence, obviously and carries on. The point being, if you had this kind of power in your homeland, you'd be arrogant too. Dynaheir is a capable mage. Moreover, I have no idea what the hate towards Invokers is. They are the best mage specialist class in the game. Before the rule change, Invokers were the worst, since they couldn't cast Enchantment AND Conjuration. Since this was lifted in BG2, and only Enchantment spells were restricted, they are the best. Divination spells (which Conjurers, the supposed "best class" cannot cast) are actually useful at points, unlike enchantments which you will never miss if you don't have them. Finally, Dynaheir has the sexiest accent I have ever heard. Another real shame she never made it to BG2. I wish they'd do something about this in BG2:EE.
5. Jan Jansen. A bucket of laughs and a great character.
Special mention: Jaheira and Minsc. Faithful 'till the bitter end.
Least favourite:
1. Korgan. Absolutely hate this dwarf and I have no idea why. I had him in a few parties and genuinely tried to like him, but to no avail.
2. Alora. Happy happy boring boring.
3. Cernd. Oh GOD. What a sh!t character.
4. Keldorn. Another snooze-fest of a personality.
5. Mazzy. Ugh. She's arrogant and rates herself too highly. Montaron is Faerun's best halfling, obviously.
Special mention:
I hate every new NPC. Neera, Baeloth, Dorn and Rasheed. None of them are written well and bore me to tears. They have no place in BG at all. In fact, the only reason I haven't put them in my least favourite list is because I don't consider them as NPC's at all and completely ignore their existence in the game. Neeber/Noober are better written than these slugs.
Worst isn't even worth mentioning, pick from any of the highly redundant, awful NPCs with no banter or personality in BG1.