What party are you starting SoD with?
Winterisle
Member Posts: 111
In my las thread I was asking about what Charname you people were thinking of using for going through SoD, but now I find out that it's possible to start off with the whole party you used to finish BGEE.
Right now I'm playing through the first part of the game using a chaotic neutral Jester armed with a dagger (a poison dagger soon): an absolute killing machine, I must say. Invisibility, his psychotic song and wands are completely devastating when put together.
My party consists in Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, Imoen and Neera, and we are on our way to rescue Dynaher. I really don't know if it's going to be better to keep Minsc and Dynaher and kick Neera out or to keep Neera and maybe bring in Rasaad for a while as one of my fighters. I've read that there's no Imoen in SoD so I think that later on I will be replazing her with Safana, before I head up to Baldurs Gate.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a party in mind to start Siege of Dragonspear with?
Right now I'm playing through the first part of the game using a chaotic neutral Jester armed with a dagger (a poison dagger soon): an absolute killing machine, I must say. Invisibility, his psychotic song and wands are completely devastating when put together.
My party consists in Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, Imoen and Neera, and we are on our way to rescue Dynaher. I really don't know if it's going to be better to keep Minsc and Dynaher and kick Neera out or to keep Neera and maybe bring in Rasaad for a while as one of my fighters. I've read that there's no Imoen in SoD so I think that later on I will be replazing her with Safana, before I head up to Baldurs Gate.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a party in mind to start Siege of Dragonspear with?
3
Comments
Dorn, and Neera were in the party, but dead. Shar-Teel and Yeslick both got chunked in the final battle.
From memory maybe ten other NPCs survived Ravayu's adventures still alive, so my party is probably going to involve picking up "four conveniently new NPCs".
Second playthrough will be a Kensai->Mage, Imoen, Dorn, Edwin, Viconia, and Baeloth.
Oh course, these will be the parties I start with. I have to assume characters like Baeloth will end up leaving early in the game.
Charname (Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief)
Imoen (Thief --> Mage)
Jaheira
Neera
Dorn
Minsc
Now, we don't know if the mentioned characters will stay in the group for the entire run. I haven't made up my mind on whether or not I will replace leaving characters or simply continue with a smaller group.
Branwen
Safana (Thief=>Mage)
Garrick
Skie
Thief/Bard heavy, but I kind of like it that way. The more I play this game, the less interest I have in spellcasters, and the more in using Fighters/Thieves to outwit the uppity magic-users in creative ways.
But I think I will wait until SoD's release and find out who I can actually take with me and how long they can stay before I really decide who is in my new "standard party" for complete playthroughs of the series.
I'm also unsure about what weapon proficiencies to take, not knowing what I'm going to find in SoD. For know I got dagger, crossbow and longbow. I got two ranged weapon profs just incase there's something extremelly awesome ranged-wise and I've chosen the wrong one. Any advice on any other weapon I could put a pip in?
I'd choose halberds, simply for The Wesley Chelsey Crusher and its 1d10+6 damage. It's limited to 1 attack per round, so it's ideal for bards, since their APR doesn't improve with levels. It would also allow you to take advantage of the various halberds in SoA and ToB.
In my current BG playthrough, I have Eldoth wielding "the Crusher" when he's not using his longbow, and his critical hits are pretty massive. The longer reach also helps in melee, as he can stand behind the frontliners without putting himself at too much risk.
Naer'amarth: Female, half-elf, cleric/mage, LE (7/7)
Kagain: 7
Viconia: 8
Eldoth: 9
Skie: 8
Edwin: 8
I have the XP cap removed, so I'm hoping my PC will reach 8/8 by the end of the game.
I'm enjoying having Kagain as the sole fighter, as it makes the battles last longer and requires more strategic thinking on my part. Viconia does quite well as a back-up frontliner when needed. I have the IDWfication mod installed, which adds a welcome variety to spell casting (especially for my cleric/mage) and Eldoth's bard songs.
Since Viconia and Edwin were in BG2, I'm thinking they will be the only NPCs in my party that will stick around for the entire game.
Kagain might not see any profitable reason to stay with my PC, since the bandit raids and Iron Crisis are over--that is, unless his business went under while he was away.
Skie will probably return to Baldur's Gate at some point to take care of loose ends, perhaps with a little more wisdom after her experiences with Eldoth and the rest of the party. Maybe she'll realize her naivete about Eldoth, grow a backbone, and use her resources as a noble toward more ambitious ends, which could include future collaborations with Naer'amarth.
Eldoth will most likely scurry off to another city in search of his next victim after (1) Skie wises up to him or (2) realizing Skie's gravy train has run its course.
However, in the pre-release clips and so on, Baeloth appears to be part of the default Evil party for at least a significant portion of SoD. Furthermore, since he's a Beamdog "own brand" character, there's a commercial motive for Beamdog to keep him involved for much of the game.
Thus I wouldn't bet on his departure being early. Maybe not even until the final scenes of SoD.
I will then do a playthrough for my secondary Bhaalspawn with: Faern (Bard Charname), Viconia, Imoen, Coran, Rasaad, and Baeloth
It could be that if Imoen is in your party she does not have the same actions as in the screenshot, but rather just speaks to the party as normal inter-party-member dialogue.
Either way, I'll still be doing that playthrough and experiencing that storyline. If Imoen does leave the party early in the game, or I find myself short on thieving skills then I'll have to find a way to work with that as I go. =D
So, the theory is that, for example, if I finish BG with Yeslick and Alora, I'll be starting SoD with them but they will eventually run off forcing me to replace them, but that If I start with, let's say, Rasaad, he'll stay, right?
Ajantis as Paladin
Minsc and Boo as Ranger
Yeslick as Dwarfen Cleric
Imoen ONLY as thief
Dynaheir as Invoker
Evil Party: Dwarven Defender ( Ulric Foehammer ), Shar-Teel Dualled to thief, Dorn, Viconia, Edwin, and Baeloth.
Good Party: Half-Orc Barbarian ( Gorgar Irontusk ), Jaheria, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir, and Imoen.
If everyone except Dorn leaves ... I hope the new NPCs don't mind murder and mayhem? (Or that I can pick up Viconia and Edwin during the course of the expansion.)
Team Evil:
Sorcerer PC
Dorn
Kagain->???
Skie->Safana
Viconia->M'Khiin
Eldoth->Baeloth
Team Amazon:
Dwarven Defender PC
Jaheira
Isra->Schael Corwin
Imoen->??? (unless I slap the Girdle of Gender on Glint)
Dynaheir
Neera
Ralof - an elven Fighter/Mage/Thief - Equiped with 2 longswords and a handful of defensive magic. Maximum level. THAC0 10-7 ish AC -1 standard but -4 to -16 in combat. With the right potions and by borrowing Dorns platemail I can easily manage to get above -20 AC.
Dorn - Blackguard. Equiped with a warhammer +2 (the golden one, the name slipped my memory) and shield. Maximum level. THAC0 6-7 ish AC -6
Kagain - Dwarf. Equiped with an Axe +2 and a shield. THAC0 8 AC - 5
Viconia - Cleric - Equiped with Drizzt armor and slings. She mostly focuses on buffing, and enchantmens (Hold, Rigid thinking). Remove fear against mages, defensive harmony and protection from evil 10 rad against other enemies, but it doesn't change much.
Edwin - Mage - Equiped with standard gear, nothing special. Great range of spells for most situations, but after finishing the game and Durlag, he is almost useless as my fighters kill litterly everything in a matter of seconds. The only spells he is using is disableing spells, such as horror, slow, Emotion, Sleep etc.
Tiax - Cleric/Thief - The only spells he uses are Dispel Magic, Reaminate Undead (skeletons) and Hold peron. He also summons a ghast / goul with his special ability.
As I mentioned this is a powergaming party and literally nothing can kill us, Edwin is almost useless since Ralof, Dorn and Kagain kills everything in a matter of seconds. Sarevok fell within a minute. This will be the party I'll do my first playthrough with. After that, they are heading for Amn