What is a good duo?

Sloty

For my next run through I want to play with only one npc, prefferably one I can romance.
Can also be a mod NPC.

Question is which maincharacter I should take and who of the NPCs I shall take with me.
Any ideas?

Blucher

They should all be good, depending on your character's class. Honestly, I'd just pick one whose romance I wanted to see and haven't yet.

Sloty

I want a duo where only one character can melee decently and it doesnt need to be a killermachine in melee.

Which maincharacter plus which NPC would you suggest me then?

What about a F/M/T?

Ah and a romance option would be nice...

DragonKing

Go general mage+aerie that should be fun lmao!!!

Yannir

F/M/T is a killer in melee, AFAIK. Never actually played the class. I suggest Viconia as your partner with this class.

With Jaheira, you could F/M or T/M. F/M is better in melee, but T/M gives access to everything you need, thieving skills in this case. Same classes work with Anomen, if you play a female protagonist.

With Aerie, I would pick F/T or a Swashbuckler. Any dual from a thief kit to a fighter works as well. The other way around may work just as well. Depends on if you want a good fighter or a good thief.

I have no knowledge of Mod-NPC's and their romances so I won't comment on those. With the EE-NPC's I wouldn't suggest a duo-run since they are all single class. Ofc, you can, I just can't offer advice about it. Viconia as a single class is an exception btw.

Sloty

Okay I really want 1 arcane caster(at least) and 1 divine caster.Thieving skills would be great too!
Also a romance would be really fun.

Guess it will be the F/M/T then...
Any advice on who to take with me?

Also both should have a decent ranged option if possible...

Sloty

Who is the strongest of these 4:Aerie,Anomen,Viconia or Jaheira?
Also which romance is the most fun?

Which weapons would be strong for a F/M/T?

Or what do you think about a sorcerer NPC and F/M/T?
Or Edwin instead of the sorcerer?

[Deleted User]

I did a run with a F/M/C and Imoen that was pretty fun (not a romance without a mod, though). You could do a F/M/C and Hexxat, I suppose.

Between the 4 Bioware romances, I think Jaheira is the strongest in terms of story. Which character is more powerful is a trickier determination, but you could do worse than a Fighter/Druid. She's capable in melee and can carry a sling as a backup ranged weapon. Honestly, any of the Bioware romances would do fine with a F/M/T because they all have divine spellcasting to cover that hole. Aerie might be the strongest, but I dislike the writing for her romance.

For your F/M/T, long swords are a good option right out the gate, but as soon as you have the gold for Dak'kon's Zerth Blade, you'll want katana proficiency. If you need a ranged option, short bows are always nice.

Sloty

Thanks.
But why is Aerie the strongest,what makes her so powerfull?
Which weapons would you give Jaheira?
I never did the Anomen romance, is it fun?

I also have a mod with Edwin romance.How strong is he from a powergaming point of view?

Sloty

So it comes down to one of: Aerie,Jaheira,Anomen,Edwin or Kelsey(mod sorcerer).
Which one would you suggest me to take?

Sloty

I am going to play as a Fighter/Mage/Thief I think.
Which of those mentioned NPCs would complete the small group to the best effect?(remember: only ONE npc)???
Also which do you think are the best weapons for a F/M/T?
Also, is it hard to play an evil CHARNAME in this game?

Yannir

Sloty said:

I am going to play as a Fighter/Mage/Thief I think.
Which of those mentioned NPCs would complete the small group to the best effect?(remember: only ONE npc)???

I'd take Aerie. Just keep her out of melee.

Sloty said:

Also, is it hard to play an evil CHARNAME in this game?

It's as hard as it is for you to RP an evil character. It actually makes some stuff much easier.

Nonnahswriter

Sloty said:

Thanks.
But why is Aerie the strongest,what makes her so powerfull?
Which weapons would you give Jaheira?
I never did the Anomen romance, is it fun?

I also have a mod with Edwin romance.How strong is he from a powergaming point of view?

Aerie is a cleric/mage, which makes her spellslinging skills stupid combo-y at high levels. You can put her divine spells into sequencers for instant-buffs. She's slow at leveling up, but with a two-people party, she should progress pretty fast.

For Jaheira, I'd personally get her a club and a shield. Weapons like clubs and quarterstaves do crushing damage, which is the best damage-type to use against golems, skeletons, and others. She also gets really low AC with shields, so she becomes a pretty amazing tank with that and druid buffs.

Anomen's romance is... Difficult. He's a very arrogant NPC, full of tall tales of heroics that flatter himself in the best way possible, and you can't really call him out on it. Plus he's got some very traditional views on women. In fact, in one dialogue when your PC talks about your adventures on the Sword Coast, he doesn't believe a woman could have been capable of those deeds. Seriously? That's not exactly something you want to say to the heroine you're trying to woo. A lot of players drop his romance just for that. He does get better if you help him succeed in his quest, and he changes his alignment to Lawful Good. But fail his quest, and he turns Chaotic Neutral, which basically makes him into a giant jerkwad.

I can't say anything about the mod romance for Edwin, as I haven't played it, but Edwin himself is a pretty strong spellcaster. He can learn extra spells thanks to his amulet, on top of the bonus ones he gets for his mage specialization. His school, a conjurer, makes it so he can't learn divine spells, which is considered one of the weakest spell schools anyway, so you're not missing much. That also means he can't cast Identify, however, so you'll be spending a lot of time and money at the temples to identify your many magic items. Unless you decide to run another arcane caster or a bard as your PC.

Lord_Tansheron

Sloty said:

Which of those mentioned NPCs would complete the small group to the best effect?(remember: only ONE npc)???

Aerie is a powerful spellcaster, and casters are king in BG2. There are some fairly silly combos you can pull off as a M/C, and you also have all the buffs ever at your disposal; good if you want to make CHARNAME into a walking death machine.

Viconia has a lot of buffs as well, and very good stats. It could be argued that a M/C is better than a pure Cleric, though you can definitely get a lot out of Vicky.

Jaheira is alright. I don't like Druids much in comparison to C or M, though they have their uses. Jaheira can get into the fray reasonably well, but not amazingly so. You also don't get a whole lot of buffs for CHARNAME out of her.

Anomen is an insufferable twat that is as annoying as he is useless.

Sloty said:

Also which do you think are the best weapons for a F/M/T?

Flail of the Ages+5 main hand, Scarlet Ninja-tô+3 off-hand (via Use Any Item). If you don't want to micromanage equip/re-equip to get around Free Action blocking Improved Haste, you can also use Crom Faeyr main hand instead of the Flail. Can also pair Carsomyr+6 with Greater Whirlwind Attack as it becomes available (via Use Any Item; may require mod for triple-class HLAs not sure).

Sloty said:

Also, is it hard to play an evil CHARNAME in this game?

Not hard, just usually a tad bit less rewarding. The game has somewhat of a bias towards being good, but it doesn't punish being evil too harshly. Several nice rewards for the evil path, too, especially in Hell.

Sloty

Thanks!
So it is going down to Aerie or Edwin I think.
Which one would be better in a combo with F/M/T you think?

Lord_Tansheron

Probably Aerie. In small party games you risk CHARNAME dying more easily (simply because there are fewer targets to choose from), meaning you will want to protect him/her/mayonnaise more. A Cleric has some useful protective buffs (especially Chaotic Commands) that trivialize many dangers.

If you know what you're doing and don't mind the occasional risk, you could however definitely argue for Edwin as well. He is quite the potent mage, and mages can do pretty much everything and anything in BG2.

Perhaps it all comes down to the RP. Edwin has no romance, Aerie does. Edwin is also an evil SOB who will happily tear the world a new one. Aerie will not like a good murder spree. Your choice!

TheArtisan

The Edwin romance mod is surprisingly funny and sweet. I'm not a huge Edwin fan, but it's worth playing.

I don't remember how but I think you can change his alignment to neutral at some point. Opinion may vary on whether this is a good thing.

Sloty

So what do you think about Edwin then?
Will he and a F/M/T be a formidable team?
What do they loose if I dont take Aerie?

TheArtisan

Well, you obviously lose cleric spells. How much of an issue that is depends on your playstyle. Healing shouldn't be an issue since you'll probably have a million healing potions. Edwin has the advantage of being a single class mage (so he levels faster than Aerie) so you have him use offensive spells while the F/M/T mostly uses self-buffs to tank and deal damage.

You should be fine. Most solo runs have some sort of deficiency since they only play with one character anyway.

Yannir

End-game is going to be more difficult with Edwin since single classes, especially mages, reach their peak quite early and don't really get any better after that point. Aerie will at that point still keep getting stronger.

Arunsun

@Yannir I am not too sure what you call "early" but a mage reaches such a powerspike when he gets level 9 spells that it is fortunage for game balance that they do not get a lot better than that later. Aerie may be ultimately stronger, though Neera can arguably be as strong since she is a wild magi, with NRD. Not to mention her romance is quite good IMHO.
A F/M/T would not have divine spells with Neera though

Wowo

Is go Aerie plus a Gnome Illusionist/thief (which is an option for Aerie).

Bit weaker in melee but Polymorph Self and Shapechange fix that nicely for both of you and with her buffs and your backstab you'll have heaps of fun.

Remember that as a triple class you lose level 9 spells which just isn't fun at all especially when an illusionist/thief gets so many more spells and just as many attacks (via Polymorph self -> spider form, minor sequencer -> shocking grasp).

Sloty

Who would you give the robe of vecna to?

Also do you have some tips on making aerie as powerful as possible?

Sloty

what is the earliest to ge a +4 weapon?

Arunsun

@Sloty Robe of Vecna would for Aerie in that case since she benefits from it for her Cleric spells. The earliest to get a +4 weapon is as soon as you get to Athkathla. The Staff of the Rynn+4 (which despites what its name can make you think is but a +4 staff) is available from Ribald Barterman in Waukeen's Promenade, and the Sling of Everard +5 which fires +5 bullets if none are equipped is available from Joluv in the copper coronet.

Lord_Tansheron

Sloty said:

what is the earliest to ge a +4 weapon?

Probably Daystar if you smash-and-grab.

Wowo

Earliest +4 weapon is from the genie in the plane of air if you import your character with The Burning Earth.

DragonKing

As always Viconia is always the right answer.

Sloty

With my F/M/T I now have longswords,flails and dual wield.
Which weapon would you suggest me to learn next?

abacus

Sloty said:

With my F/M/T I now have longswords,flails and dual wield.
Which weapon would you suggest me to learn next?

Standard power gaming advice is either scimitars or short swords. Both have options which provide one extra attack per round. This attack is always applied to the main hand, so they are great options for your left paw. (Basically, with Improved Haste, it means an extra 2 attacks with the Flail of Ages or whatever weapon you're using.)

You'll almost always be better in melee than at range, but if you really want a ranged option, Shortbows and Crossbows are the best picks as they both offer no-ammo, +4 options.

Lord_Tansheron

There is little need to go for multiple weapon types. There are very few instances where you'll actively switch out your main hand. The most important one is probably against undead, where you will want either Azuredge (axe) or Mace of Disruption (mace) for the instant-kill option.

If you have triple-class HLAs and know you will get both UAI and GWW, you can also put some points in 2h sword for Carsomyr.

A ranged weapon is also a possibility, if you feel you'll need it. You shouldn't, though.

Since you're limited to ** as multiclass I suppose you can go broad. You'll have the points to spare. It likely won't matter but hey, might as well...