Who's your favorite BG1EE CLERIC?
Cactus
Member Posts: 152
- Who's your favorite BG1EE CLERIC?91 votes
- Yeslick - Dwarven Fighter/Cleric rules the day! Dispel Magic once a day, shorty saves and decent stats. What's not to like?18.68%
- Branwen - A fine woman, even though she appears a bit stoned... But you gotta love that blue hammer!25.27%
- Quayle - Gnomes rule the day! The ultimate spellcaster, being an Illusionist/Cleric n'all. He can even turn himself invisible once a day...3.30%
- Viconia - She is dark, she is wise, she is agile and she can even resist magic. If that not enough, she is a great romance...42.86%
- Tiax - Gnomes may rule the day, but Tiax rules all! And who doesn't want to join forces with an evil megalomanian Cleric/Thief and his pet ghast?!?5.49%
- Dynaheir - She is human, intelligent and wise. She can slow poison. She can be an Invoker->Cleric with a few WIS tomes. Plus Minsc and Boo stand ready!2.20%
- Xzar - Wanna destroy worlds? Let Xzar unleash his madness potential as a Necromancer->Cleric!!!2.20%
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Comments
It's a tough choice. I use all of the provided Clerics in various parties (although never the constructed Mage->Cleric possibilities, because I'm always building for a continuation into BG2 ... and therefore all Tomes are always for my protagonist). All of the Clerics are a good fit (IMO) in the particular parties in which I use them, and I've enjoyed working with all of them.
I voted Quayle on the ground that I end up using him more often than any other - I usually like having a backup caster for both arcane magic and divine magic (although I don't make a rigid rule of that), and Quayle gives me both of those in one party slot, and it's frequently advantageous that my backup casters aren't also front-liners (so that they don't have to stop fighting and switch to casting in mid-combat), so Quayle is an ideal fit for more of my parties than any other Cleric.
I might have voted Yeslick on the ground that he's obviously a better warrior than any other Cleric in the game, so he's great on the front line and thereby saves another party slot for ... whatever else I have in mind for that party. Because I want him to fight (because that's his advantage over others), and because interrupting his combat when I need him to cast is not ideal, he's better suited to be a backup caster rather than main divine caster. Also I like the guy as a personality, whereas Quayle is obviously a bit of a jerk (although he's had a personality transplant by the time we meet him in BG2). Nevertheless, Yeslick isn't "the right man for the job" so often as Quayle.
If I played Evil more often, then I might have voted Viconia, since she's naturally a fixture in most Evil parties. Even though her romance is only in BG2, if I'm planning for my protagonist to romance her in BG2, then for role-playing reasons it sometimes seems appropriate to squeeze her into the party for BG1 as well ... thus I sometimes use her in mainly-Neutral parties too (when I'd otherwise probably take Branwen). I use her significantly more often than any other Evil character, but still not so often as Quayle.
I like Branwen a lot, she fits my personal image of a "serious fantasy adventurer" better than most NPCs. When I can fit her into a party, she's my preferred choice, so I might have voted for her on that ground. But actually, "when I can fit her into a party" isn't so often as I'd like - less often than Quayle - especially since she sometimes loses a natural BG1 place to Viconia for BG2-continuity reasons. She also sometimes loses what might otherwise be her place in the party, when I've got a backup divine caster who is a part-Cleric, in which case I might prefer a Druid instead of a Cleric as main divine caster. (For example, in my current run I've got Yeslick up front and as backup for divine casting, so I've taken Faldorn instead of Branwen.)
I find that crazy Tiax rarely makes role-playing sense to me outside a thoroughly Evil run (unlike Viconia who is sane and trying to blend in). Also he's very late to acquire, which is particularly unhelpful for his Thief skills, since we don't get the chance to allocate most of his skill points where the party needs them to be. A Cleric/Thief would be a very useful resource for more parties if we could get him early enough to focus his skills, but as it is, I don't use Tiax very often. When I do, though, he's quite fun ... but no, that's not enough to have tempted me to vote Tiax.
I don't get why Branwen is so popular, to be honest. Truly, I find her rather dreadful. For a Cleric of Tempus, her melee stats are woeful, and her mental stats really aren't much better. I have recently finished my first run using Yeslick, however, and he is really very very good comparative to the other Cleric NPCs available in BG1. His personality isn't the worst either, I guess, but he is somewhat wanting for extra dialogue. You pick him up too late in the game to get attached to him, considering he doesn't so much have a sidequest or story attached to him to give you the contours of a complete personality (unlike Coran, Kivan, Dynaheir, Minsc, Edwin, Eldoth, Skie, Safana and others) except 'keep going the way you're going'.
But yeah, a big no on the Branwen front - for flavour, or for mechanics.
But.
I still like her the best. I like her story, her personality. I like that she can fit in any party (although an evil party will likely take Viconia over her any day of the week). I love that she starts with proficiency in hammers (hellooooo Ashideena). And I love that you can have her join your party really really early.
Yeslick is good, but he comes so late in the game, and honestly I thought his personality was a little boring. Vicky is wonderful, but she's evil and comes with conflicts. I've never used Tiax or Quayle, but that's because--again--you get them too late. And Xzar and Dyna dual-classing sound...interesting, but more tricky and difficult than just recruiting a straight-up cleric.
So, even if there are better clerics in the game, Branwen remains my go-to, if only because of her convenience and easy compatibility.
I've always found Branwen kind of annoying, I usually play good parties, so I don't take Viconia, and the rest come too late. Jaheira comes with a good amount of healing and makes a good secondary tank. If I want a full cleric, I'll just play one myself.
It doesn't need to take terribly long to reach some of the others, particularly Yeslick. When I reckon he's the right guy for my party, I stick fairly closely to the main plot for Chapters 1-4, ignoring most of the side-areas and side-quests - that's an easy role-play, since people keep urging you to hurry along with the main plot. That way, when I find Yeslick late in Chapter 4, I've still got most of my exploring to do, I've completed only around 15%-20% (I guess) of the whole game, so it doesn't remotely (IMO) feel "too late" to be still finalising my party line-up. Then I usually go exploring and side-questing at the start of Chapter 5, before entering BG City, so on entry to the City we'll be at roughly the same level as parties which did most of their exploring in earlier Chapters - my role-play for this is that we've succeeded in disrupting the Iron Throne's plans and won ourselves some breathing space from the immediate urgency, so now my protagonist wants to take some time to get better prepared before seeking out the brains behind the plot. (Actually, IMO, this approach fits the development of the story better than taking a lot of time out for exploration earlier.)
Also (and quite importantly for some), I find that doing it this way means that I can recruit Yeslick at just about the same XP as the rest of my party - in my current run, I recruited Yeslick at less than 1000xp difference from my protagonist, which is very close indeed. Thus his level feels just perfect, it's a great fit, as if he'd been with us all along. If I had done lots of the side-areas first, then he'd be well behind the rest of the party - he comes as Fighter4/Cleric5 (and in his case, unlike a couple of others, there's no higher-level version to which to scale up if you reach him later).
Even Quayle isn't too late, IMO, although only just barely not ... and maybe I'm stretching a point for him because he's just so very useful. Sticking to the main plot (as for Yeslick) until the end of Chapter 4, you can then head for the area outside the BG City entrance to recruit Quayle, so you've still completed only around 20%-25% of the whole game (and haven't entered the City) when you get him, and again I go exploring at that point to gather some experience and equipment and so on, before coming back to the City and entering. Fortunately Quayle does have a slightly higher-level version than Yeslick - you can recruit him as a Cleric6/Illusionist5, which again (if you've timed it right) should fit well with the level of the rest of the party.
Tiax, however, is too late for me. In story terms, it seems to me a watershed when you enter the City to seek out the plotters. I want to arrive in the City with a committed team already in place, who will stick with me to the end of the current adventure, so I'm uncomfortable about needing to recruit permanent colleagues beyond that point. I do it if I reckon it's what that particular party needs, but I don't have to like it. Also, since all three recruitable NPCs inside the City are Thieves, they all have the problem (mentioned in my previous post) that much of their skill allocation is pre-determined and isn't likely to be ideal for my party.
But I choose Branwen because she gets to level 3 very quickly, and that means silence spells. Her stats are solid, staring HP is great, and she's absolutely 100% correct: I AM a great warrior!
He is, most wise.
- easiest to locate, aside from Branwen
- great stats for a cleric, especially after making use of all the tomes of wisdom, +magic resist
- permanent follower, up to throne of bhaal
- not really that evil
- sexy as hell
I tried Yeslick and Branwen, didn't like the latter and Yeslick is so mediocre.
Never tried Tiax and Quayle, they're coming into the game to late.
But maybe after reading the thread from post 1 on I may change my mind
You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
A Fighter/Cleric who can DUHM and otherwise buff himself. Add to that the bracers of Dex and the belt of Str from the Rasaad's quest. Yep, the EE just made Yeslick even better.
The shorty and additional CON-based saving throws.
Plus, the Holy Smite.
I miss him in BG2EE so much.
For giggles, she can even be dualled to a theif.
Vic is ok, her downfall being her inadequate strength preventing her from wearing heavier armours (and even shields) until you find something to boost her strength.
Yeslick just rubs me the wrong way. It maybe his slower than normal speech due to int being his dump stat. Maybe its cause I dont like shorties in BG1 (there, I said it). Maybe it is where yoy recruit him, halfway through a dungeon with zero equipment. Regardless I rarely ever take him.
Quayle and Tiax come really late in the game, that by the time I meet them I am rushing through the game eager to start my next character.
Never dualled Dyna, giving her two tomes seems like a waste.
Dualled Xzar once but didnt like him as a cleric when their was a better evil one available.
I also tend to PC clerics because all the clerics in the game tend to have one flaw or another and starting with 18 Wisdom and finishing with 21 (with stat tomes) for all those extra spells is just divine.
At least if you reject Yeslick, he has the brains to get outta there, and you can recruit him later in Baldur's Gate if you really want to.
The most fun and utility I find in playing cleric/thief, so Tiax is it. Besides, Tiax is great fun to have around, especially when coupled with some other lunatics like Quayle.
Also, by the time I've cleared a path to Yeslick, I've also acquired a pile of loot, so that's a good time to haul a load back to the FAI for sale, and while I'm there I'll (if necessary) drop off a character, then return to the Mine and recruit Yeslick (taking with me any relevant equipment for him).
Even when I'm not planning to keep Yeslick in the party, I'll usually swap him in when I find him, because I treat it as his "personal quest" to finish clearing the Mine and defeat Davaeorn and re-flood it. The journal doesn't record it as Yeslick's "quest" to do this (probably because it's part of the main plot to do it anyway), but from his dialogue it's obvious that this is what he wants to do, and he'll quit the party if you don't do it within a few days, so it acts as his "personal quest" even though it doesn't say so. Then, of course, if I'm not keeping Yeslick, I'll drop him off back at the FAI and rejoin whoever else.
Look. I've done it. And in my opinion, it's not worth the trouble. Too much work and too much meta-gaming knowledge for my personal tastes. End of story.
Also, I...may have accidentally killed Faldorn when I swapped her for Yeslick on my first playthrough. She drowned in the mines, and with no prior knowledge about the game because it was my very first playthrough of the game ever, I had no idea it would happen. True story. Even now, I'm still bitter about it.
(Which, that experience probably plays a huge part in my not-fan-of-Yeslick-stance, but that's just how it is.)
However, I don't think it really takes very much meta-gaming. By that point your party already know that their objective is to flood the mine, so it's not (IMO) a huge leap of implausible foresight (a.k.a. meta-gaming) for the party to figure out that anyone left standing inside the mine might have a short future. Yes, it's meta-gaming to know that it's a bad idea, but I always find it easy enough to RP that someone in my party is smart enough to see the danger. YMMV.
Actually, one thing has always bothered me about this - you can get all the enslaved miners out in time, and you don't care if any remaining hostiles get drowned, but there's no way to tell the Cook (on the same level as Yeslick) to run for it. She's an innocent neutral, yet she always goes down with her kitchen, which seems very harsh.
This is for evil runs ofc. For good/neutral ones I just pick whomever I encounter first or sometimes I go without a cleric. It's not really needed for most of the game anyways. The low level healing is rather weak, summons unnecessary, buffs funny but redundant with a strong party. Jaheira is a good enough diviner for good/neutral runs.
I really don't like pure clerics, so both yeslick and quale or good options for me, but I tend to use them quite seldom nonetheless.
Overall I chose Tiax because he is the most fun and memorable for me and he is so effective at backstabbing with either of the amazing magical staves that are available. I (almost) always take two thieves in bg1 as they are so fun so lower thief skills isn't a problem.
Viconia is just great all round, funny, hot, great stats, and not only my favorite cleric but my favorite NPC in the entire series.
There's quite a lot of XP in those last two levels of the mine. In addition, if I'm going for Yeslick quickly as a permanent member, then:-
1) I may take a short cut across a couple of the earlier Cloakwood areas, and then go back to clear them after recruiting Yeslick, but some of that content (such as meeting Aldeth) must be completed before finishing the Mine (else it won't be available at all - Aldeth leaves unmet); and
2) I may take a back route to Yeslick through the secret passage before confronting Hareishan, so there's still half of his own level to clear as well as the last two; and
3) I often won't have visited the Ankheg area yet, whereas obviously there's no way to get to the other shorty Clerics without first fighting through the Ankhegs.
Together, these factors can add up to quite a substantial XP difference between when I can recruit Yeslick and the first chance to recruit other shorty Clerics, enough to be mechanically significant because some of the party will probably level up in that time. Yes, when I'm occasionally planning to use Tiax, then I'll usually also include someone else with Thief levels, to alleviate the problem with Tiax not having enough points allocated to the critical skills, and then I'll play a more Thief-orientated style for the remainder of the game. However, I don't habitually take two Thieves as a matter of course, so it's a significant restriction on my options for party composition when I have to keep another Thief in the permanent team. It's do-able, of course, but I find that my planning for the game ends up mostly revolving around the issue of how to arrive at Tiax with a party into which he'll be a good fit.
Its from her that I learned that "the bitch queen brooks no insolence."
Because Drow Necromancer.