1&2: Eldoth and Skie. To borrow Pantalion's turn of phrase, Eldoth's an utter epithet, Skie comes late in the game, and spectating an abusive relationship isn't my cup of tea. 3: Shar-Teel. My evil characters tend to be front-line types, and with the addition of Dorn, evil parties are spoiled for good melee characters, so she tends to get pushed to the wayside. Being a complete caricature doesn't help matters. 4: Tiax. I like Cleric/Thieves, but I have a hard time coming up with a good reason to put up with this guy's delusions. 5: Branwen. I don't exactly find single-class Clerics exciting in the best of situations, and her mediocre strength is the final nail in the coffin.
BG2:
1. Valygar. If you have exactly the right party to banter with him, he can almost be an interesting character. Almost. 2. Cernd. This has more to do with me finding single-class Druids even less interesting than single-class Clerics, and the fact that Jaheira gets plenty of druidic spellcasting anyway. 3. Anomen. I swear this guy complains more about doing good deeds than the evil NPCs just because he can't be arsed to care about "petty" concerns like slaving and murders. 4. Wilson. Generally when I play through BG2 again, half the reason is to see more interesting banters between NPCs, and I haven't heard about any good interactions this guy has... 5. Nalia. I actually like her character; she gets points for calling out Keldorn on the Radiant Heart's prejudicial membership requirements, and she grows into someone a bit more pragmatic by ToB. Unfortunately, Imoen is a very frequent inclusion in my parties, and it's hard to justify two Thief->Mages in the same group (particularly when they have practically the same skillset).
1- Yoshi. Don't like SC thieves and Jan is better at everything. 2- Valy. Never seen his value tbh, whatever he can do, others do better. As said above, had he been a F/T instead I could have used him as the party's thief in some runs. 3- Hexxat/Rasaad/Dorn/Neera. Not a big fan of either of them tbh, neither their personalities, quests or banter appeal to me much. I use Dorn in BG1 alot though. Maybe "cheating" the thread to put them all in the same spot, but I value them all the same way. I'm thinking I should give Rasaad a chance some day though. 4- Jaheira. Often dropped in favour of Cernd, if I want a druid at all. 5- Minsc. I use him in BG1, but not much in BG2.
Not a chance in hell that Jan is better than Yoshimo at "everything". 2 immediate things to point out - bounty hunter traps and backstabbing. Yoshimo makes an excellent backstabber (in every sense of the word ) while Jan is fairly useless at it.
Not a chance in hell that Jan is better than Yoshimo at "everything". 2 immediate things to point out - bounty hunter traps and backstabbing. Yoshimo makes an excellent backstabber (in every sense of the word ) while Jan is fairly useless at it.
There are numerous ways to make Jan a great backstabber, as with any kind of thief/mage combo. Mislead, shape change, etc etc..
Mislead, Shapechange etc are high level spells which would take Jan (a multiclass) an age to get to. So what you're effectively saying is that Jan with 2 million XP is a better backstabber than Yoshimo at 161k XP. Oh, and 6 million XP for Shapechange .
the same THACO table, Yoshimo at the same XP will have better THACO then the multi T/M, but only 1 or 2 better, has more strength, but there are strength enhancing items and Jan has a very low level spell that give him a long lasting better strength than Yoshi natural one, spells for invisibility and speed, useful in backstabbing (and the SotM). There is also a +4 backstabbing weapon available in early chap2, that helps both for THACO and DMG.
1 or 2 THACO points don't make one an excellent backstabber and the other fairly useless at it.
- Yoshimo uses a katana (and has a magical one) which makes a considerable difference vs short sword / dagger when damage is multiplied.
- Yoshimo's backstab multiplier is always ahead of Jan's, and he gets to x5 in half the time it takes Jan.
- Yoshimo's stealth skills are considerably better than Jan's, which helps with reliable, regular hide attempts to backstab without having to resort to invisibility every time (the duck round a corner and hide works far better with Yoshimo than Jan).
- Yoshimo gets weapon proficiencies more quickly, allowing him to train in the best backstabbing weapons the party finds, and more importantly get single weapon style to double critical chance as soon as possible.
- And that's on top of superior THAC0 and superior natural STR which means he's always 10-15% more likely to hit, and do more damage.
No one but you told that Jan has to use short sword / dagger, he is proficient "from the shelf" with the best backstabbing weapon of early SoA (+3 THACO and much better minimum damage then the Yoshi's only). About x5 multiplier is true, but only past 660K XP. For the strength a lev2 spell give 18.50 STR, 1 turn/level, same THACO +2 dmg (not multiplied in backstab) than Yoshi's 17 STR. With a lev 2 spell Jan has a (little) advantage. Yoshimo's stealth skills are considerably better than Jan's, Jan come with special equipment that help him with other skills so can spend more in hide.
If someone send Jan to backstab with his natural 9 STR he don't know how to use him, is not Jan's fault. But Yoshi is a better backstabber, early in the game for better hide skill and between 660k and 1.32M XP for the x5 backstab vs x4. Not for THACO and dmg. If Jan uses the weapon is already proficient in has +1 or +2 better Thaco then Yoshimo with his Katana, Better, not excellent backstabber vs fairly useless at it.
I have played a bigillion bg2 runs, and usually I like to switch it up, so usually I will always bring in new guys on every play through to help keep things interesting, so im just going to go through all the (N)PCs and see how often I use them:
Imoen: if I have a good aligned party, chances are she is going to be in there, with the ring of lock picks and disarm traps, she can wear the bladesinger armor and cast mage spells without a hitch, plus I never use backstab, all I need it 100 % open locks/disarm traps, so the fact that she gets mage spells it just an added bonus
Minsc: every once in a while I will bring him along, sometimes for flavor, sometimes for the fact if I want my group to be a little less power gamey, minsc is subpar at best and anything he can do, someone else can do better, so unless I need more melee power I usually stay away
Jaheira: I bring her along pretty often, she is great in SoA ( although when ToB comes by she really starts to lag behind) even being a multiclass she gains druid levels quickly for the first 12 or so and her weird harper quest dishes out 2 REALLY nice items
ring of wizardry and the harper pin
so basically that reason alone is why I bring her along
Yoshimo: I actually bring this guy along all the time now a days ( unless im playing an evil party) because he has thief skills, and he wears all the gear that imoen is going to wear once I hit spell hold, so he is a perfect slot holder for her
Aerie: if I feel like making a less power gaming party I will bring aerie along, although she has the ability to cast "almost" any spell in the game, she has hugely slow level progression, she doesn't even hit level 7 mage spells until 3 million XP where as your normal mage will be hitting level 9 spells, and she wont even hit level 9 mage spells until the tail end of ToB so even though she has huge spell casting capability it takes awhile, plus her HP is absolutely terrible, 30 HP at 161 000 XP? a level 2 barbarian/ dwarven defender can have more at level 2!
Nalia: again if im playing a good aligned party, nalia is probably going to be in it, having her and imoen both as mages is a huge double threat, especially when they can both start chaining up abidalzim's horrid wilting, plus every party needs a main mage, and nalia just continues to fill that role with me
Anomen: if I feel like kicking some serious bg2 butt, I bring him along, infact anomen taught me what power gaming was, just have those 7 levels of fighter majorly buffs him up huge, and when it comes to being a cleric he kicks viconias butt any day with more HP/ attacks per round/ to hit/ to damage, and at what cost? a little bit less level 1,2,3 and 4 spells? lol, anomen rocks when it comes to cleric power gaming for single player parties and his versatility is crazy good
Korgan: the only time I bring him along is when I have evil aligned parties, and since now there is only 5 evil npcs its kind of a no brainer, way back in the day I brought him along in good aligned parties, but even then that was very far and few between, so now adays I hardly play evil parties, so I rarely take this guy any more
Viconia: again, only when I make an evil party, I remember way back in the day ( like back in 2001) I would bring her along in good parties because I thought 65% MR was just way to good, and her portrait looks awesome, but now adays, im a silly power gamer and she just doesn't hold up well in that regard, so she rarely joins me anymore
Jan: he used to be my main thief for years, back in the good ol' vanilla days I used to do all the quests in chapter 2 before heading out to chapter 3, so I would need a thief for that, and since yoshimo leaves and imoen is outrageously behind in XP jan used to be the go to man, but now when I play single player games I rush off to spell hold right away so then I can get imoen to have XP close to that of the current team, and jan can learn the level 8 wonder Abi.Hor.Wilt. so that really hurts, so unfortunately these days, jan doesn't join with me anymore
Valygar: again I only bring this guy along if I don't want to play a power gaming group and if I don't want minsc, I have had many playthoughs with him, but in reality if you aren't going to use backstab ( which I never do) then there really is no point in having him along, not being able to wear plate mail really affects his AC for 2 reason; AC will be worse and armor modifiers will be bad as well, and since I don't use backstab he really has no need to come along with me, so more often than not, valygar just gets whacked so I can take his body for the planar sphere
Keldorn: I've been giving this guy a lot of love as of late lately, more often than not I have been bringing him along quite a bit, I used to toss him aside because of the fact his best weapon is carsomyr and that's a two handed weapon which means no shield, but now I've been switching it up giving him either long swords or bastard swords and its been quite effective, the only time I give keldorn carsomyr is if he is leading the team ( I don't like have more than 1 guy wielding two handed weapons) and even that scenario is rare, but as of late, I've been using him quite a bit
Haer Dalis: lol, I hate this guy with passion, now a lot of people say he is the best NPC bleh bleh blah and all that good jazz, but in all seriousness, I HATE him, even though he has access to mage spells and all that stuff, he is complete trash until he gets tensors transformation at LEVEL 16! and even then I find him to be subpar, I actually had a play through of being a blade and I found it to be a very boring class, the amount of buffing needed to be useful was just annoying, it was the first time I quit a file out of complete boredom as apposed to restartitis ADHD, and his stats are absolute trash, 46 HP? lulz, even with the "damage resistances" he has, its not enough to make this guy last, as I said, some people love him and thinks he is the best and that's fine, but in my opinion he is complete trash, anything he can do a CHARNAME can do infinitely better in every way so why even waste the party member slot?
Edwin: ah yes the evil theme continues, again only if im evil will I bring this guy along, which again is very rare, but on the flip side when it comes to spell casting, he can arguably do it better than a sorcerer, that amulet he wears gives him and extra 2 spells per day for EACH level, so when he hits level 18, that is 4 level 9 spells, backed up with that 18 INT and he can start casting level 9 spells right away with no potion consuming nonsense, added with the fact that the nether scroll gives him a saving throw bonus and a whooping +20 to lore, and you will find yourself with a pretty solid wizard on your hands
Cernd: ah cernd, you are so terribly loltastic buddy, back in the vanilla days when I would play evil teams ( since there was only 3 evil team mates) I had to fill up slots somehow and cernd back in the day would do that every once in awhile, because back then, it was actually possible to make him somewhat useful, because back then your terrible werewolf attack would bug out and disappear and then you could start using any weapon you were currently using, so then you could give cernd the staff of rynn and then the staff of the woodlands and then maybe even the staff of the ram +6 which actually made him some what decent, but now a days cernd is all "fixed up" and he is worthless, just complete utteral trash, his natural attack will NEVER get better, so that crappy damage that he deals even in his greater werewolf form will be stuff like that forever, and for some god forsaken reason they got rid of the constitution bonus as well for the werewolf forms, SAY WHAT?!?! its like the devs looked at the shapeshifter and said; okay, so his class is kind of bad already, so how can we really poop on it to make it horrible, and then someone raised their hand and said; oh I know! lets fix the natural attack bug so you will be stuck with a very crappy melee attack throughout the whole game, and we will make sure it never gets better, AND lets get rid of the constitution bonus as well, because you know it only makes sense that werewolf's regenerate so lets get rid of the thing that actually makes sense to this class, and then whoever was in charge said; ah, splendid idea, lets just cripple this class completely because that's what you do sometimes, so for that reason cernd will never EVER join me ever again, he is complete garbage and if you really want druid spells, bring jaheira along instead, at least she is useful in combat
Mazzy: I love mazzy, she is one of the best npcs to have in a good aligned party, equipped with good saves and a killer 18 DEX she will have some great AC, she will resist a lot of annoying affects from baddies and the like, and once you give her a belt of giant strength, she will really start to wreck shop, unless im playing evil, mazzy is always in my party, she is a perfect fit for a power gaming party
Sarevok: I remember the first time I played ToB I couldn't wait to see if sarevok could join your team ( since I read the novel before I played ToB) and after a short few minutes there was the option, and man did he ever feel godly, with power gamin stats and illegally high HP and the ability to dual over into a thief or mage, AND staying around even if you have a good team, he was great, and still is every once in a while, but now a days the only time I bring him along is if I start a fresh ToB play through, which I do every once in a great while, its kind of fun starting with mediocre gear and that bag of holding that holds 3000 items is just so handy, but if I start in SoA, 999 times out of 1000 sarevok doesn't join, the only time I had him join me when I started a SoA play through was when keldorn and my guy went to arms because keldorn was mad that I turned into the ravanger in the hell trials, so of coarse I whooped him up good and I thought; hmm well I just ousted keldorn and chunked him, and sarevok is just around the corner basically so lol, I guess I will just bring sarevok along, so I did, but on the flipside, the only time I bring sarevok along is if im starting a fresh ToB run, if not, then I just make him wait around in the pocket plane for all time
Dorn: ah and the evil theme continues, not only do I only bring this guy with evil teams ( kind of don't have a choice) but man is he a pain in the ass, he is in so much of a rush to go mess up some kids in the radiant heart building and have your REP drop to mud that it makes it very difficult to have him around, so if I bring this clown around I rush off the the copper corhornet quest and free the children and get some REP points so then I don't get harassed by cowled wizards and legion butt heads from having low REP, which would be all good if we were level 18 or so, but at level 8, that's quite the bumpy path indeed, if numb nuts wasn't so adamant on genocide then he would be alright, but this dorn we're talking about here, so tough times indeed, although that one sword he gets at the end of his SoA quest is pretty cool, especially the fact that my Nitz guy can use it instead to better effect so that's nice, but unless im evil, I steer way clear of this lout
Hexxat: ah and finally the last of the evil brigade finally shows its ugly head, now granted the vampire motif is kind of cool and all, but again, unless im evil, she's not coming, while she's not obsessed with dropping REP points like they're going out of style like dorn is, again she is very adamant on doing her quest jargon, which is fine, but seriously, what is up with all these new whack NPCs wanting you to run to do their quest crap when you are basically in your tighty whities with a stick pretty much, how about you guys come down a bit, lets get some gear so then we can take on your silly challenges a bit better, so that's one annoyance I have with hexxat, its hurry up and do my stuff regardless on how strong we are, which I really hate, this unorthodox rushing to finish NPC crap, especially the new NPC crap is a very small time frame, so unless im evil hexxat never joins me
Rasaad: don't even know if im spelling his name right, but that's okay, because I will probably never bring him along again, I never finished his quest in bg1 and I finished his in SoA and it was a bitch, it was outrageously brutal ( from what I remember) and that was probably for 2 reason; A- I had a team composed of every new EE NPC in my party, and B- rasaad is forcing you to run full speed ahead on his quest line giving you next to no time to gear up first, so even though I finished it, I did not find it fun at all, I found it to be more of a chore than anything and just a colossal pain in the ass, so with that being said, eventually one of these days I will finish his bg1ee quest and then try him once in bg2 so then I can finish him up all the way into ToB and then never use him again, im not really a fan of the new EE NPCS ( probably because im a purist and I don't use mods or anything like that) and I feel that they are just kind of out of place in the bg series, in my opinion they just don't sync in that well, why is it that 4 out of the 5 new NPCs have this HUGE quest of embarking while everyone else just has a 2 hour walk fest to finish off their little vendettas, so because of that rasaad will never join me, except for the one run I will give him in the future just to see what happens
Neira: did I spell her name right? no idea, anyway, out of all the new npcs she is the one I use most, at least in bg1 that is, because of her extra spell per day, she is basically like a specialist mage with no opposed schools, so when it comes to useful mages she has lots of spell casting capabilities going for her in bg1, and since I don't play no reload games neira becomes even better, with the odd reload here and there shes not that bad in bg1, and her quest jargon in bg1 is simple and fast and out of the way, so I find her to be quite useful in bg1, but now we had over to bg2, and I NEVER use her, for 2 reasons; A- she follows the same theme that all the new NPCs have; quick come and do my quest stuff as soon as possible hurry hurry hurry, nah im good brah, and B- theres an exploit that I take advantage of that makes it so she cant even join my team, but there no loss because nalia and imoen do just fine, but again she is going to be like rasaad, I will take her along in one more playthough sometime in the future ( by bringing both her and rasaad along, getting 2 birds with 1 stone) finish her quest off, and then never use her again, to me she is just like rasaad, feels a little out of place and just too much hassle to bring along
Wilson: ah Wilson, the good ol' easter egg character, I remember the first time I brought him around, I just loved this guy, the fact that his race and class or grizzly bear, I had the lols of a life time, and I was actually having fun bringing this guy around, and he actually improves upon level up, which would make him look pretty solid, but then comes reality; first, he cant use any items except for healing potions and (antidotes?) and trust me, he is going to use A LOT of healing potions since his AC will be garbage since he cant use any items, next, he is okay in SoA where damage output of enemies and the to hit of enemies isn't that great, but come time ToB, and he is going to die often, enemies will just have to look at him in a funny way and he will drop like a fly, and lastly there is a part in the game where he has an interaction for a certain NPC which I was just dieing to see what was going to happen ( the whole reason why I brought him along) and it was disappointing as piss, I couldn't believe how half-assed it was, and that just turned me right off with using this guy, so chances are that I will never use Wilson again, except maybe when I do the rasaad, neira run just so then I can see what his end ToB thing is, but other than that never, plus if I even wanted to use him and get him without cheating I would HAVE to bring rasaad and neira with me to get him legitimately and im not going to do that so, sorry Wilson, love the portrait love the idea, but unfortunately your novelty doesn't hold up strong enough to bring you around buddy
Jan? Charming? Hardly. He's funny, but bringing him along too much makes you want to squeeze the life out of him at some point. Yoshimo's good at blending in the background, banter-wise. You never get tired of him because most of his conversations seem to be aimed at bringing out other NPC's personalities.
Every NPC is carefully planned and designed for game balance, storyline etc. Regretfully, the original BG2 ran out of time and budget leading to many loose ends which UB tried to tie them up. Strangely Cernd seemed to be the 1 NPC that is extremely neglected by original designers and players alike ^^ (guess even the designers dunno what to make of a tree-hugger ^^)
Every NPC is carefully planned and designed for game balance, storyline etc. Regretfully, the original BG2 ran out of time and budget leading to many loose ends which UB tried to tie them up. Strangely Cernd seemed to be the 1 NPC that is extremely neglected by original designers and players alike ^^ (guess even the designers dunno what to make of a tree-hugger ^^)
the thing about cernd in the vanilla bg2 was that he was actually usable thanks to the natural attack disappearing exploit, but now for whatever reason the devs completely destroyed the shapeshifter making it absolutely terrible, so the only reason why someone would bring cernd along is just to see if they could beat the game in spite of his presence, the devs need to fix the shapeshifter class so its not complete trash, if they do, then cernd will have a fighting chance again, if not, cernd will forever be the character that now one will ever choose because of faulty game design
No character should be viable solely because of a bug exploit. Cernd is usable regardless of his garbage shapeshift form. Just don't use it. He's still the only single class druid available.
I agree, for some players having a single class druid that work at distance with spells and sling and only sometime go mlee with a good staff and his low APR is fine. There are also players that use Jaheira, that can be a mlee force, this way. And in an unmodded game is fine, not OP but fine.
I agree also about bug exploits as a way to make characters viable, I love every exploit and I cry and I complain every time an exploit is nerfed, but exploits are there for the fun, not to make characters viable.
But I see the point in what @sarevok57 say, shapeshifter is absolutely terrible, using the bug was a way to deal with that kit, nerfing the bug would have more sense if some more power would be added to the shapeshifted form, as now is a joke.
About the original developers and the balance I think that there is another factor. How could they immagine that the game would last 20 years, deeply modded, exploited in every possible way? Becoming for some players something with a level of complexity closer to chess game than freecell.... For a player that go through vanilla 4 or 5 times there is balance enough, for some power players no.
The Shapeshifter's only weakness is not being able to wear armor.
Just how much do you need your druid to wear armor?
and the fact that his weapon NEVER improves, what you get at level 13 is what you get until the end of time, no damage increase ( unless you give the gauntlets of specialization and such) but other than that nothing, his natural attack does not scale with the difficulty of the game, and he becomes more and more under balanced when the game progresses
Also Totemic Druid's spirit animals don't improve, they are very strong and useful for a good part of SoA but after become only meat shield. And a single class Druid is mainly a caster, and imo the weakest of them, but this is not a specific problem of Cernd or the Shapeshifter. In late game any druid reach a 6 natural THACO and can use a +6 weapon and a +5 ranged one, With their druid 1APR, they improve, just the Totemic will have much better summons that his spirit animals and the Shapeshifter will be more effective against bosses in his human form.
I agree that the werewolf is a joke, his greater form should have more, but even so it should not reach the mlee power of a Planetar or an Elemental Prince, just 1 point more of enchantment to hit a little more foe and a decent regeneration imo would be enough. Cernd is not a fighter, like Haer'Dalis is not. Jaheira and a F/M are fighters and they improve in fighting till the end.
Also Totemic Druid's spirit animals don't improve, they are very strong and useful for a good part of SoA but after become only meat shield.
I've been soloing with the Totemic druid in ToB with the SCS and can say that it's not true. The spirit animals are indeed weaker than the Deva and Elemental Princes, but they still help a lot in ToB. When you reach ToB, thanks to your high level, you can summon a spirit after a spirit, so that their number is always about 4-5. Yes, they can die quickly but they still hit things, and while enemies are busy with your animals your druid can destroy everything with energy blades.
@gorgonzola@bengoshi: In vanilla, the Spirit Animals did not improve with levels. In EE, they max out at level 10.
@sarevok: My point is that Shapeshifters get singled out even though unkitted druids aren't all that much better. Picking Shapeshifter doesn't actually cost you much. For what it's worth, Greater Werewolf form does make a pretty effective tank, if you want one.
As for the Shapeshifter's poor combat abilities, it's a mistake to expect a Shapeshifter druid to have the same battle prowess as a normal werewolf... because the Shapeshifter druid is a spellcasting class. A druid in werewolf form should not have the same combat abilities as a normal werewolf for the same reasons a druid in human form should not have the same combat abilities as a human fighter: the druid's energies are more devoted to magic than combat. Hence vanilla Cernd not being immune to normal weapons and everything.
Dragon Disciples don't have half the attack power of a dragon. But I don't hear anybody saying it's underpowered, because people know it's supposed to be a sorcerer with dragon heritage, not a dragon with some mage spells.
Evaluating the druid class in general would be a whole other discussion.
@bengoshi , they hit more than what I thought possible. But as semiticgod told my not EE spirit animals don't improve and in late SoA I didn't find them so strong. I didn't know your solo Totemic Druid adventure, I will read the whole topic. Now I just watched the linked parts. But even if the spirit animals are more then meat shield in late game they are no more the best weapon of the Totemic Druid, they are used with the powerful gated helpers, and the druid himself sometimes go mlee, but is mainly a caster. As Cernd or every Shapeshifter is, at a certain point of his development his shapeshifted form is very strong, and he is a strong Fighter as a good caster, but this gradually fade away as he become a better caster and the enemies become harder and harder. Cernd is not an unuseful NPC, druids are a class that has to be played in the proper way, like the blades, their power is not so self evident, only when you get used to them you realize their true power. This si true also to some extent for clerics, many people think that they are healers with some good buffs and some semi decent damaging spell. To really appreciate some classes soloing them really helps.
Only roleplayers should take offense in how Shapeshifter forms become less powerful as the game progresses. A true powergamer wouldn't care, and if balance between classes was actually worth the effort (it's not, BG2 is balanced around parties and every class already offers something to the table) then the final Shapeshifter form should not be a warrior at all, but a spellcaster of some sort.
You bring Cernd along because druid spells are downright OP for BG2 early and mid-game. The nymphs alone can help parties straight out of Irenicus' Dungeon win against most humanoid groups (which carry lots of useful and expensive magical weapons and armor) and make Cernd the most powerful healer for most of the game, not to mention spells like Insect Plague which can completely shut down most enemy spellcasting. He gets Fire Elementals, one of the few summons which can actually hit Kangaax and can hit right through Stoneskins and kill trolls without hassle. He also gets access to more spells (especially Nature's Beauty, one of the most OP spells in the game) significantly faster than Jaheira because because of the ridiculous way druids gain levels from 12-15. Finally, you can cheese your way through many fights with just Entangle + wands. Perhaps the main problem with pureclass druids is that they start to lose momentum later on in the game, but at that point your party should be drowning in XP/spoils that it doesn't matter.
It's easy to see why people don't like Cernd from a roleplaying perspective, but don't drag powergaming into it.
What's an NPC? I just solo the hell out of the game and often murder those guys with Portraits for the l00t.
Seriously now, I think mine goes this way (still I played with every NPC in the game at least once, save for Rasaad in BG2:EE).
BG1: -Skie: too late-game. -Imoen: don't like her/Safana's better (in my modded install... Anyway). -Baeloth: don't play Sorcerers (too OP IMO, and they don't fit parties). -Eldoth: if I'm playing evil with a party I usually don't have space for a Bard.
BG2: -Rasaad: literally never played with him (it's just that I only played BG2:EE once and with an Evil party). -Imoen: don't like her/Nalia's better (even if the game isn't modded :p Anyway I always make Nalia useful and take her instead). -Aerie: only took her half a run, got bored of her and dropped her for Mazzy. -Wilson: never played Rasaad->Couldn't have played Wilson. So sad :( I rly wanna try out tha bear.
Also I never learnt how to count so I completely ignored the fact that the titled said 5 and just put 4 because I take the rest of the NPCs quite frequently (when I play with a party, that is...).
AND YES I PLAY FALDORN. SHE'S THE BEST HEALER IN UNMODDED BG1 BY AGES.
@CrevsDaak Wilson is quite fun to have in party, do try him ^^. Rasaad's quest can be finished off rather fast and Rasaad don't really mind mixing with evil party members (my current run is all 5 EE NPCs +charname is neutral good archer). Just keep Vicky away from Rasaad in case of some bickering and all will be fine (Rasaad is too busy fighting his own evil thoughts and doubts to really care about other evil deeds ^^).
Hmmm, I just might make a new run with more "creatures" in party than human/humanoids ^^ (e.g. 1x bear +1x Werewolf + 1x Vampire and I wonder what others can join ... ^^).
I take Rasaad for his quest and he usually dies during his quest... I hate monks with a passion. Jan was amusing the first time... Minsc, see Jan Hexxat horrible character, boring quest, no good loot, pass. Aeries, 30HP i don't think I have ever finished a game with her ever.
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1&2: Eldoth and Skie. To borrow Pantalion's turn of phrase, Eldoth's an utter epithet, Skie comes late in the game, and spectating an abusive relationship isn't my cup of tea.
3: Shar-Teel. My evil characters tend to be front-line types, and with the addition of Dorn, evil parties are spoiled for good melee characters, so she tends to get pushed to the wayside. Being a complete caricature doesn't help matters.
4: Tiax. I like Cleric/Thieves, but I have a hard time coming up with a good reason to put up with this guy's delusions.
5: Branwen. I don't exactly find single-class Clerics exciting in the best of situations, and her mediocre strength is the final nail in the coffin.
BG2:
1. Valygar. If you have exactly the right party to banter with him, he can almost be an interesting character. Almost.
2. Cernd. This has more to do with me finding single-class Druids even less interesting than single-class Clerics, and the fact that Jaheira gets plenty of druidic spellcasting anyway.
3. Anomen. I swear this guy complains more about doing good deeds than the evil NPCs just because he can't be arsed to care about "petty" concerns like slaving and murders.
4. Wilson. Generally when I play through BG2 again, half the reason is to see more interesting banters between NPCs, and I haven't heard about any good interactions this guy has...
5. Nalia. I actually like her character; she gets points for calling out Keldorn on the Radiant Heart's prejudicial membership requirements, and she grows into someone a bit more pragmatic by ToB. Unfortunately, Imoen is a very frequent inclusion in my parties, and it's hard to justify two Thief->Mages in the same group (particularly when they have practically the same skillset).
1- Yoshi. Don't like SC thieves and Jan is better at everything.
2- Valy. Never seen his value tbh, whatever he can do, others do better. As said above, had he been a F/T instead I could have used him as the party's thief in some runs.
3- Hexxat/Rasaad/Dorn/Neera. Not a big fan of either of them tbh, neither their personalities, quests or banter appeal to me much. I use Dorn in BG1 alot though. Maybe "cheating" the thread to put them all in the same spot, but I value them all the same way. I'm thinking I should give Rasaad a chance some day though.
4- Jaheira. Often dropped in favour of Cernd, if I want a druid at all.
5- Minsc. I use him in BG1, but not much in BG2.
For most parts of SoA I find Rasaad rather squishy x_x (but very useful at times since he is a "beep beep" a.k.a. road runner ^^).
See the issue?
2. Cernd
3. Korgan
4. Mazzy
1 or 2 THACO points don't make one an excellent backstabber and the other fairly useless at it.
- Yoshimo uses a katana (and has a magical one) which makes a considerable difference vs short sword / dagger when damage is multiplied.
- Yoshimo's backstab multiplier is always ahead of Jan's, and he gets to x5 in half the time it takes Jan.
- Yoshimo's stealth skills are considerably better than Jan's, which helps with reliable, regular hide attempts to backstab without having to resort to invisibility every time (the duck round a corner and hide works far better with Yoshimo than Jan).
- Yoshimo gets weapon proficiencies more quickly, allowing him to train in the best backstabbing weapons the party finds, and more importantly get single weapon style to double critical chance as soon as possible.
- And that's on top of superior THAC0 and superior natural STR which means he's always 10-15% more likely to hit, and do more damage.
About x5 multiplier is true, but only past 660K XP.
For the strength a lev2 spell give 18.50 STR, 1 turn/level, same THACO +2 dmg (not multiplied in backstab) than Yoshi's 17 STR. With a lev 2 spell Jan has a (little) advantage.
Yoshimo's stealth skills are considerably better than Jan's, Jan come with special equipment that help him with other skills so can spend more in hide.
If someone send Jan to backstab with his natural 9 STR he don't know how to use him, is not Jan's fault.
But Yoshi is a better backstabber, early in the game for better hide skill and between 660k and 1.32M XP for the x5 backstab vs x4. Not for THACO and dmg. If Jan uses the weapon is already proficient in has +1 or +2 better Thaco then Yoshimo with his Katana, Better, not excellent backstabber vs fairly useless at it.
Imoen: if I have a good aligned party, chances are she is going to be in there, with the ring of lock picks and disarm traps, she can wear the bladesinger armor and cast mage spells without a hitch, plus I never use backstab, all I need it 100 % open locks/disarm traps, so the fact that she gets mage spells it just an added bonus
Minsc: every once in a while I will bring him along, sometimes for flavor, sometimes for the fact if I want my group to be a little less power gamey, minsc is subpar at best and anything he can do, someone else can do better, so unless I need more melee power I usually stay away
Jaheira: I bring her along pretty often, she is great in SoA ( although when ToB comes by she really starts to lag behind) even being a multiclass she gains druid levels quickly for the first 12 or so and her weird harper quest dishes out 2 REALLY nice items
Yoshimo: I actually bring this guy along all the time now a days ( unless im playing an evil party) because he has thief skills, and he wears all the gear that imoen is going to wear once I hit spell hold, so he is a perfect slot holder for her
Aerie: if I feel like making a less power gaming party I will bring aerie along, although she has the ability to cast "almost" any spell in the game, she has hugely slow level progression, she doesn't even hit level 7 mage spells until 3 million XP where as your normal mage will be hitting level 9 spells, and she wont even hit level 9 mage spells until the tail end of ToB so even though she has huge spell casting capability it takes awhile, plus her HP is absolutely terrible, 30 HP at 161 000 XP? a level 2 barbarian/ dwarven defender can have more at level 2!
Nalia: again if im playing a good aligned party, nalia is probably going to be in it, having her and imoen both as mages is a huge double threat, especially when they can both start chaining up abidalzim's horrid wilting, plus every party needs a main mage, and nalia just continues to fill that role with me
Anomen: if I feel like kicking some serious bg2 butt, I bring him along, infact anomen taught me what power gaming was, just have those 7 levels of fighter majorly buffs him up huge, and when it comes to being a cleric he kicks viconias butt any day with more HP/ attacks per round/ to hit/ to damage, and at what cost? a little bit less level 1,2,3 and 4 spells? lol, anomen rocks when it comes to cleric power gaming for single player parties and his versatility is crazy good
Korgan: the only time I bring him along is when I have evil aligned parties, and since now there is only 5 evil npcs its kind of a no brainer, way back in the day I brought him along in good aligned parties, but even then that was very far and few between, so now adays I hardly play evil parties, so I rarely take this guy any more
Viconia: again, only when I make an evil party, I remember way back in the day ( like back in 2001) I would bring her along in good parties because I thought 65% MR was just way to good, and her portrait looks awesome, but now adays, im a silly power gamer and she just doesn't hold up well in that regard, so she rarely joins me anymore
Jan: he used to be my main thief for years, back in the good ol' vanilla days I used to do all the quests in chapter 2 before heading out to chapter 3, so I would need a thief for that, and since yoshimo leaves and imoen is outrageously behind in XP jan used to be the go to man, but now when I play single player games I rush off to spell hold right away so then I can get imoen to have XP close to that of the current team, and jan can learn the level 8 wonder Abi.Hor.Wilt. so that really hurts, so unfortunately these days, jan doesn't join with me anymore
Valygar: again I only bring this guy along if I don't want to play a power gaming group and if I don't want minsc, I have had many playthoughs with him, but in reality if you aren't going to use backstab ( which I never do) then there really is no point in having him along, not being able to wear plate mail really affects his AC for 2 reason; AC will be worse and armor modifiers will be bad as well, and since I don't use backstab he really has no need to come along with me, so more often than not, valygar just gets whacked so I can take his body for the planar sphere
Keldorn: I've been giving this guy a lot of love as of late lately, more often than not I have been bringing him along quite a bit, I used to toss him aside because of the fact his best weapon is carsomyr and that's a two handed weapon which means no shield, but now I've been switching it up giving him either long swords or bastard swords and its been quite effective, the only time I give keldorn carsomyr is if he is leading the team ( I don't like have more than 1 guy wielding two handed weapons) and even that scenario is rare, but as of late, I've been using him quite a bit
Haer Dalis: lol, I hate this guy with passion, now a lot of people say he is the best NPC bleh bleh blah and all that good jazz, but in all seriousness, I HATE him, even though he has access to mage spells and all that stuff, he is complete trash until he gets tensors transformation at LEVEL 16! and even then I find him to be subpar, I actually had a play through of being a blade and I found it to be a very boring class, the amount of buffing needed to be useful was just annoying, it was the first time I quit a file out of complete boredom as apposed to restartitis ADHD, and his stats are absolute trash, 46 HP? lulz, even with the "damage resistances" he has, its not enough to make this guy last, as I said, some people love him and thinks he is the best and that's fine, but in my opinion he is complete trash, anything he can do a CHARNAME can do infinitely better in every way so why even waste the party member slot?
Edwin: ah yes the evil theme continues, again only if im evil will I bring this guy along, which again is very rare, but on the flip side when it comes to spell casting, he can arguably do it better than a sorcerer, that amulet he wears gives him and extra 2 spells per day for EACH level, so when he hits level 18, that is 4 level 9 spells, backed up with that 18 INT and he can start casting level 9 spells right away with no potion consuming nonsense, added with the fact that the nether scroll gives him a saving throw bonus and a whooping +20 to lore, and you will find yourself with a pretty solid wizard on your hands
Cernd: ah cernd, you are so terribly loltastic buddy, back in the vanilla days when I would play evil teams ( since there was only 3 evil team mates) I had to fill up slots somehow and cernd back in the day would do that every once in awhile, because back then, it was actually possible to make him somewhat useful, because back then your terrible werewolf attack would bug out and disappear and then you could start using any weapon you were currently using, so then you could give cernd the staff of rynn and then the staff of the woodlands and then maybe even the staff of the ram +6 which actually made him some what decent, but now a days cernd is all "fixed up" and he is worthless, just complete utteral trash, his natural attack will NEVER get better, so that crappy damage that he deals even in his greater werewolf form will be stuff like that forever, and for some god forsaken reason they got rid of the constitution bonus as well for the werewolf forms, SAY WHAT?!?! its like the devs looked at the shapeshifter and said; okay, so his class is kind of bad already, so how can we really poop on it to make it horrible, and then someone raised their hand and said; oh I know! lets fix the natural attack bug so you will be stuck with a very crappy melee attack throughout the whole game, and we will make sure it never gets better, AND lets get rid of the constitution bonus as well, because you know it only makes sense that werewolf's regenerate so lets get rid of the thing that actually makes sense to this class, and then whoever was in charge said; ah, splendid idea, lets just cripple this class completely because that's what you do sometimes, so for that reason cernd will never EVER join me ever again, he is complete garbage and if you really want druid spells, bring jaheira along instead, at least she is useful in combat
Mazzy: I love mazzy, she is one of the best npcs to have in a good aligned party, equipped with good saves and a killer 18 DEX she will have some great AC, she will resist a lot of annoying affects from baddies and the like, and once you give her a belt of giant strength, she will really start to wreck shop, unless im playing evil, mazzy is always in my party, she is a perfect fit for a power gaming party
Sarevok: I remember the first time I played ToB I couldn't wait to see if sarevok could join your team ( since I read the novel before I played ToB) and after a short few minutes there was the option, and man did he ever feel godly, with power gamin stats and illegally high HP and the ability to dual over into a thief or mage, AND staying around even if you have a good team, he was great, and still is every once in a while, but now a days the only time I bring him along is if I start a fresh ToB play through, which I do every once in a great while, its kind of fun starting with mediocre gear and that bag of holding that holds 3000 items is just so handy, but if I start in SoA, 999 times out of 1000 sarevok doesn't join, the only time I had him join me when I started a SoA play through was when keldorn and my guy went to arms because keldorn was mad that I turned into the ravanger in the hell trials, so of coarse I whooped him up good and I thought; hmm well I just ousted keldorn and chunked him, and sarevok is just around the corner basically so lol, I guess I will just bring sarevok along, so I did, but on the flipside, the only time I bring sarevok along is if im starting a fresh ToB run, if not, then I just make him wait around in the pocket plane for all time
Dorn: ah and the evil theme continues, not only do I only bring this guy with evil teams ( kind of don't have a choice) but man is he a pain in the ass, he is in so much of a rush to go mess up some kids in the radiant heart building and have your REP drop to mud that it makes it very difficult to have him around, so if I bring this clown around I rush off the the copper corhornet quest and free the children and get some REP points so then I don't get harassed by cowled wizards and legion butt heads from having low REP, which would be all good if we were level 18 or so, but at level 8, that's quite the bumpy path indeed, if numb nuts wasn't so adamant on genocide then he would be alright, but this dorn we're talking about here, so tough times indeed, although that one sword he gets at the end of his SoA quest is pretty cool, especially the fact that my Nitz guy can use it instead to better effect so that's nice, but unless im evil, I steer way clear of this lout
Hexxat: ah and finally the last of the evil brigade finally shows its ugly head, now granted the vampire motif is kind of cool and all, but again, unless im evil, she's not coming, while she's not obsessed with dropping REP points like they're going out of style like dorn is, again she is very adamant on doing her quest jargon, which is fine, but seriously, what is up with all these new whack NPCs wanting you to run to do their quest crap when you are basically in your tighty whities with a stick pretty much, how about you guys come down a bit, lets get some gear so then we can take on your silly challenges a bit better, so that's one annoyance I have with hexxat, its hurry up and do my stuff regardless on how strong we are, which I really hate, this unorthodox rushing to finish NPC crap, especially the new NPC crap is a very small time frame, so unless im evil hexxat never joins me
Rasaad: don't even know if im spelling his name right, but that's okay, because I will probably never bring him along again, I never finished his quest in bg1 and I finished his in SoA and it was a bitch, it was outrageously brutal ( from what I remember) and that was probably for 2 reason; A- I had a team composed of every new EE NPC in my party, and B- rasaad is forcing you to run full speed ahead on his quest line giving you next to no time to gear up first, so even though I finished it, I did not find it fun at all, I found it to be more of a chore than anything and just a colossal pain in the ass, so with that being said, eventually one of these days I will finish his bg1ee quest and then try him once in bg2 so then I can finish him up all the way into ToB and then never use him again, im not really a fan of the new EE NPCS ( probably because im a purist and I don't use mods or anything like that) and I feel that they are just kind of out of place in the bg series, in my opinion they just don't sync in that well, why is it that 4 out of the 5 new NPCs have this HUGE quest of embarking while everyone else just has a 2 hour walk fest to finish off their little vendettas, so because of that rasaad will never join me, except for the one run I will give him in the future just to see what happens
Neira: did I spell her name right? no idea, anyway, out of all the new npcs she is the one I use most, at least in bg1 that is, because of her extra spell per day, she is basically like a specialist mage with no opposed schools, so when it comes to useful mages she has lots of spell casting capabilities going for her in bg1, and since I don't play no reload games neira becomes even better, with the odd reload here and there shes not that bad in bg1, and her quest jargon in bg1 is simple and fast and out of the way, so I find her to be quite useful in bg1, but now we had over to bg2, and I NEVER use her, for 2 reasons; A- she follows the same theme that all the new NPCs have; quick come and do my quest stuff as soon as possible hurry hurry hurry, nah im good brah, and B- theres an exploit that I take advantage of that makes it so she cant even join my team, but there no loss because nalia and imoen do just fine, but again she is going to be like rasaad, I will take her along in one more playthough sometime in the future ( by bringing both her and rasaad along, getting 2 birds with 1 stone) finish her quest off, and then never use her again, to me she is just like rasaad, feels a little out of place and just too much hassle to bring along
Wilson: ah Wilson, the good ol' easter egg character, I remember the first time I brought him around, I just loved this guy, the fact that his race and class or grizzly bear, I had the lols of a life time, and I was actually having fun bringing this guy around, and he actually improves upon level up, which would make him look pretty solid, but then comes reality; first, he cant use any items except for healing potions and (antidotes?) and trust me, he is going to use A LOT of healing potions since his AC will be garbage since he cant use any items, next, he is okay in SoA where damage output of enemies and the to hit of enemies isn't that great, but come time ToB, and he is going to die often, enemies will just have to look at him in a funny way and he will drop like a fly, and lastly there is a part in the game where he has an interaction for a certain NPC which I was just dieing to see what was going to happen ( the whole reason why I brought him along) and it was disappointing as piss, I couldn't believe how half-assed it was, and that just turned me right off with using this guy, so chances are that I will never use Wilson again, except maybe when I do the rasaad, neira run just so then I can see what his end ToB thing is, but other than that never, plus if I even wanted to use him and get him without cheating I would HAVE to bring rasaad and neira with me to get him legitimately and im not going to do that so, sorry Wilson, love the portrait love the idea, but unfortunately your novelty doesn't hold up strong enough to bring you around buddy
More importantly,
He's funny, but bringing him along too much makes you want to squeeze the life out of him at some point.
Yoshimo's good at blending in the background, banter-wise. You never get tired of him because most of his conversations seem to be aimed at bringing out other NPC's personalities.
Regretfully, the original BG2 ran out of time and budget leading to many loose ends which UB tried to tie them up. Strangely Cernd seemed to be the 1 NPC that is extremely neglected by original designers and players alike ^^ (guess even the designers dunno what to make of a tree-hugger ^^)
I agree also about bug exploits as a way to make characters viable, I love every exploit and I cry and I complain every time an exploit is nerfed, but exploits are there for the fun, not to make characters viable.
But I see the point in what @sarevok57 say, shapeshifter is absolutely terrible, using the bug was a way to deal with that kit, nerfing the bug would have more sense if some more power would be added to the shapeshifted form, as now is a joke.
About the original developers and the balance I think that there is another factor. How could they immagine that the game would last 20 years, deeply modded, exploited in every possible way? Becoming for some players something with a level of complexity closer to chess game than freecell....
For a player that go through vanilla 4 or 5 times there is balance enough, for some power players no.
Just how much do you need your druid to wear armor?
And a single class Druid is mainly a caster, and imo the weakest of them, but this is not a specific problem of Cernd or the Shapeshifter.
In late game any druid reach a 6 natural THACO and can use a +6 weapon and a +5 ranged one, With their druid 1APR, they improve, just the Totemic will have much better summons that his spirit animals and the Shapeshifter will be more effective against bosses in his human form.
I agree that the werewolf is a joke, his greater form should have more, but even so it should not reach the mlee power of a Planetar or an Elemental Prince, just 1 point more of enchantment to hit a little more foe and a decent regeneration imo would be enough.
Cernd is not a fighter, like Haer'Dalis is not. Jaheira and a F/M are fighters and they improve in fighting till the end.
Check, for example, I used them in the temple of Fire Giants: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/669894/#Comment_669894, Pocket Plane challenges: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/673039/#Comment_673039 and https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/675401/#Comment_675401 , and even against Abazigal: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/674134/#Comment_674134
@sarevok: My point is that Shapeshifters get singled out even though unkitted druids aren't all that much better. Picking Shapeshifter doesn't actually cost you much. For what it's worth, Greater Werewolf form does make a pretty effective tank, if you want one.
As for the Shapeshifter's poor combat abilities, it's a mistake to expect a Shapeshifter druid to have the same battle prowess as a normal werewolf... because the Shapeshifter druid is a spellcasting class. A druid in werewolf form should not have the same combat abilities as a normal werewolf for the same reasons a druid in human form should not have the same combat abilities as a human fighter: the druid's energies are more devoted to magic than combat. Hence vanilla Cernd not being immune to normal weapons and everything.
Dragon Disciples don't have half the attack power of a dragon. But I don't hear anybody saying it's underpowered, because people know it's supposed to be a sorcerer with dragon heritage, not a dragon with some mage spells.
Evaluating the druid class in general would be a whole other discussion.
Looks like you play quite a bit of IWD too I guess?
I didn't know your solo Totemic Druid adventure, I will read the whole topic. Now I just watched the linked parts. But even if the spirit animals are more then meat shield in late game they are no more the best weapon of the Totemic Druid, they are used with the powerful gated helpers, and the druid himself sometimes go mlee, but is mainly a caster.
As Cernd or every Shapeshifter is, at a certain point of his development his shapeshifted form is very strong, and he is a strong Fighter as a good caster, but this gradually fade away as he become a better caster and the enemies become harder and harder.
Cernd is not an unuseful NPC, druids are a class that has to be played in the proper way, like the blades, their power is not so self evident, only when you get used to them you realize their true power. This si true also to some extent for clerics, many people think that they are healers with some good buffs and some semi decent damaging spell.
To really appreciate some classes soloing them really helps.
You bring Cernd along because druid spells are downright OP for BG2 early and mid-game. The nymphs alone can help parties straight out of Irenicus' Dungeon win against most humanoid groups (which carry lots of useful and expensive magical weapons and armor) and make Cernd the most powerful healer for most of the game, not to mention spells like Insect Plague which can completely shut down most enemy spellcasting. He gets Fire Elementals, one of the few summons which can actually hit Kangaax and can hit right through Stoneskins and kill trolls without hassle. He also gets access to more spells (especially Nature's Beauty, one of the most OP spells in the game) significantly faster than Jaheira because because of the ridiculous way druids gain levels from 12-15.
Finally, you can cheese your way through many fights with just Entangle + wands.
Perhaps the main problem with pureclass druids is that they start to lose momentum later on in the game, but at that point your party should be drowning in XP/spoils that it doesn't matter.
It's easy to see why people don't like Cernd from a roleplaying perspective, but don't drag powergaming into it.
Seriously now, I think mine goes this way (still I played with every NPC in the game at least once, save for Rasaad in BG2:EE).
BG1:
-Skie: too late-game.
-Imoen: don't like her/Safana's better (in my modded install... Anyway).
-Baeloth: don't play Sorcerers (too OP IMO, and they don't fit parties).
-Eldoth: if I'm playing evil with a party I usually don't have space for a Bard.
BG2:
-Rasaad: literally never played with him (it's just that I only played BG2:EE once and with an Evil party).
-Imoen: don't like her/Nalia's better (even if the game isn't modded :p Anyway I always make Nalia useful and take her instead).
-Aerie: only took her half a run, got bored of her and dropped her for Mazzy.
-Wilson: never played Rasaad->Couldn't have played Wilson. So sad :( I rly wanna try out tha bear.
Also I never learnt how to count so I completely ignored the fact that the titled said 5 and just put 4 because I take the rest of the NPCs quite frequently (when I play with a party, that is...).
AND YES I PLAY FALDORN. SHE'S THE BEST HEALER IN UNMODDED BG1 BY AGES.
Wilson is quite fun to have in party, do try him ^^. Rasaad's quest can be finished off rather fast and Rasaad don't really mind mixing with evil party members (my current run is all 5 EE NPCs +charname is neutral good archer).
Just keep Vicky away from Rasaad in case of some bickering and all will be fine (Rasaad is too busy fighting his own evil thoughts and doubts to really care about other evil deeds ^^).
Hmmm, I just might make a new run with more "creatures" in party than human/humanoids ^^ (e.g. 1x bear +1x Werewolf + 1x Vampire and I wonder what others can join ... ^^).
Jan was amusing the first time...
Minsc, see Jan
Hexxat horrible character, boring quest, no good loot, pass.
Aeries, 30HP i don't think I have ever finished a game with her ever.