Ideas for sixth member?

jankmaster

I'm starting another run of BG2 EE cause I thin I'm an addict... Anyway, I decided to roll a male paladin (cavalier to be specific) and was thinking about my party set up. I want to do a run with all the chapter one characters in the party, meaning Minsc, Jaheria, Yoshimo, and Aerie. Thinking of who to fill the last slot up with is making me think though. I think I need more arcane power in the group than Aerie can provide, but my only options are seem to be Nalia (who strikes me as too close to an Imoen copy), Edwin (who MInsc will probably end up killing), or Neera (Who I've already done several playthroughs with as the main spell caster of the group).

I could take a third option and look for mod party members but those seem to be hit or miss, though I did enjoy the Tyris Flare and Isra mods. Perhaps I will reinstall Tyris Flare to get my mage...

Fourth far out option is to use Haer Dalis but he's a bard and only gets low level spells....

Anyway, I'm taking suggestions, cause I'm kinda stuck who to pick as my final party member. Hmmm maybe in the end the sixth person will be a rotating mix of whoever even though it wrecks with their xp growth... Thoughts anybody? Should I just choose whoever I want and use Aerie as the main arcane caster in the group? Should I steal a copy of Star Wars the Force Awakens? I'm open for ideas!

Arunsun

You know, this reminds me of my Uncle Sconky Jansen... He was the adventuring sort and he cleared many a dungeon in his time. Once, he went to a Lich vault, and though he heroically slew the beast, he only came back monthes later, and it happens that the lich cursed him with a curse that would end up killing him. On his deathbed did he tell me his very last advice if I ever were to take up his torch and go adventuring: "Pick Jan, he is awesome"

Gallowglass

Yes, I agree that your main need will eventually be a full arcane caster. That's increasingly helpful as you get further through the game. It'd be technically possible to complete the game using only Aerie for arcane casting, but it'd certainly be much more difficult to do it that way.

However, I'm guessing that when the appropriate plot moment occurs for you to rescue Imoen, she'll then replace Yoshimo in your party (for reasons which I assume are obvious, since you've played before). So then you'll have her as main arcane caster with Aerie as her backup, and that's perfectly sufficient arcane power to cover you for the rest of the game, and Imoen also keeps you covered for the essential thieving skills (i.e. Find/Disarm Traps and Open Locks).

For the period before you get Imoen back, it's not so vital to have more arcane power than Aerie, although this somewhat depends upon which side-quests you choose to do early, and which ones you leave until after rescuing Imoen. Even so, a little more arcane power is always helpful, of course.

I would probably go for Haer'Dalis to complete your party. He's a perfectly adequate caster for the early stages, and by the time he reaches his limit and can't advance any further in spell levels, you'll probably have rescued Imoen, so then you'll have plenty of arcane power. And having Haer'Dalis means that you'll still have someone who can pick pockets (and steal from shops) even after you've swapped Yoshimo for Imoen, which isn't very important but can sometimes be useful. And at the higher levels, when you no longer need to rely on Haer'Dalis as a caster because you've got Imoen, his fighting ability (with more uses of Spin available) becomes quite worthwhile. And eventually he'll graduate to Enhanced Bard Song, which (unlike ordinary Bard song) is a seriously powerful ability.

If you're planning to play through a romance with your protagonist being a male Cavalier, then the options in your group will be Aerie or Jaheira. If you take Haer'Dalis along, then bear in mind that the romance with Aerie becomes quite tricky to complete successfully - not impossible, of course, but definitely more difficult to complete without your party breaking up. Therefore, I suggest following the Jaheira romance, and letting Aerie and Haer'Dalis play out their own romantic involvement without you getting involved in the difficult love-triangle situation.

If you'd rather not take Haer'Dalis, then a different approach would be to take Anomen. With Jaheira as a half-Druid and Aerie as a half-Cleric, and with both your Cavalier protagonist and even Minsc able to cast some low-level divine spells, you have more than enough divine casting power to get through the game, but nevertheless you'll eventually be a little llightweight on high-level divine casting for the later stages. A full Cleric would eventually reach much higher Cleric levels and thereby provide much more divine casting in the late game, which isn't essential but can be pretty useful. Also for the later stages, Anomen's Turn Undead power becomes very strong, whereas Aerie's Turn Undead isn't nearly so impressive. In the earlier stages, Anomen's combat ability is pretty good ... eventually he'd be outclassed at combat by your protagonist and Minsc and Jaheira, but he can contribute quite well in the first half of the game. But of course, the glaring weakness of this approach is that although your party would be excellent at divine casting and combat, you'd be distinctly weak at arcane casting until you retrieve Imoen.

I agree with you about other arcane casters. As you say, Edwin is a bad idea when you've got Minsc, because they'll fight. Nalia is a fine alternative to Imoen (if you have some other Thief, because Nalia isn't so good at that), but Nalia and Imoen together can seem too similar ... although they're a terrifically powerful casting team, of course, so some of my parties include both when I want to go really heavyweight on arcane casting. Neera is also an extremely powerful casting team with Imoen, but I agree that if you've taken her numerous times already, then a change of faces would probably be welcome.

The one you haven't mentioned is Jan ... of course he's great if you want to use the more optional Thief skills, but that's rather redundant while you've got Yoshimo, and unnecessary (although it can be fun) once you've recovered Imoen, whilst as an arcane caster he's about the same as Aerie. If you enjoy using a lot of Thief skills then Jan is obviously the way to go, your third alternative instead of Haer'Dalis or Anomen, but if Thief skills aren't your style then he'd be pretty redundant in your particular party - not someone you'd choose simply for his casting ability alone, when you've already got Aerie as a competent support caster, and not a great contributor in physical combat. He's fun, though.

jankmaster

I always found divine casting more utilitarian and usually useful compared to arcane casting which is flashy but the need to rest constantly makes it overrated in IMHO. I'll probably end up taking Anomen, as I think I plan on romancing Aerie as the idea of romancing Jaheria gives me bad vibes after going through a whole game with Khalid at my side. As for Jan his mage progress would be the same as Aerie so he's out, again I don't think I'll pick Nalia and Neera's been my spell caster and LI before. Guess I'll just use Imoen once she comes around. This might come back to bite me come TOB, but what's life without a little risk.

Even so, I'm thinking still switching Anomen or whoever at certain points because I like doing certain quests like the Planar prison one.

Gallowglass

jankmaster said:

I always found divine casting more utilitarian and usually useful compared to arcane casting which is flashy but the need to rest constantly makes it overrated in IMHO.

A lot of people are likely to disagree with you about that ... but really it's a matter of playing style, and I'll say that your position is defensible. Much of ToB would be difficult without a solid high-level arcane caster on your side, but arcane magic is not so essential for most sections of SoA, and having plenty of divine magic (and potions like Oil of Speed) does cover a lot of the gaps. Some of your battles will take longer, but you can be so well-buffed that you still ought to win reliably.

jankmaster said:

Even so, I'm thinking still switching Anomen or whoever at certain points because I like doing certain quests like the Planar prison one.

Sure, I always do that too.

Since Yoshimo is with you only temporarily (i.e. until you rescue Imoen), his XP progress therefore doesn't matter in the long run, so I'd use him as the one to swap in and out as necessary for various quests in the earlier stages. After rescuing Imoen, yes, of course you then need to pick one of your permanent companions to step out for any further quests which require a vacant slot.

jankmaster

Then the question becomes who should I use for thief skills like disarming traps... Though I know that some quests like the ones in Tradesmen generally don't require traps, it's the ones pretty much anywhere else that need trap disarming...

[Deleted User]

Gallowglass has some great recommendations. I'll just toss in that if you're starting from a sort of "Bioware canon" approach, I think Rasaad makes a great addition for a "Beamdog canon" party. He's got some good quests and adds another heavy-hitter to your lineup without demanding much in the way of equipment support.

As for quests you can do without a trapfinder in the party, you can track down the Fallen Paladins for the Order of the Radiant Heart without having to go through any traps. IIRC there's only one or two traps in the Astral Prison quest. And that to the Trademeet quests and you might have enough to get to a good value for picking up Imoen when you factor in the main quests you have to do.

If you're only swapping Yoshimo out for NPC sidequests, though, a lot of those don't require blundering through any traps. Anomen, Cernd, Mazzy, Nalia, Jan, and Keldorn all have trap-free sidequests, though in some cases you have to turn the NPC down and do the associated quest before picking them up. Edwin and Korgan's quests can be done without a thief if you're willing to clear out the second tombs area ahead of time. I don't think Dorn's quest line has any notable traps, though with that lineup you probably aren't planning on doing his quests (although no one in that party will categorically refuse to travel with Dorn).