Ultimate Party for Bg1 -> Siege -> bg2 playthrough

therdre

Once I finish siege, I want to start a new game from the begining of bg1 and use all the same characters till the end of bg2. I'll be using the new party creation feature (probably the best part of the patch) I know most people like the npcs, but I think it is much more enjoyable to create my own party like in IWD. Heres what I was thinking although I have 2 spots I'm debating on about which class to use and could use the opinions of others to help me out:

Fighter - Berserker Half Orc Dual Wield/Longswords will be using the +1 strength/constitution/charisma books on him since he is the party leader

Paladin - Cavalier Human Two Handed Weapon Style/2handed Swords - I am debating on making this spot a Berserker instead focusing on 2 handed weapons. I feel like the paladin would be better for bg1/siege but at higher levels in bg2 the berserker would be better

Fighter/Cleric - Half Orc Dual Wield/Morning star/Mace/War hammers (1 of the best class combinations in the game IMO) (Will be using at least 2 of the wisdom books on him)

Fighter - Berserker Human - Dual Class to Druid @ level 13 Dual Wield/Scimitars
This spot I'm debating on going shaman instead, I was skeptical of them at first but I am using 1 in my Siege runthrough at the moment and she is incredible

Illusionist/Thief - Gnome - shortbows/crossbows/darts (will use the +1 dex book on him)

Conjurer - Elf - Slings/Darts? (will use the +1 intel book on him)

I'm open to advice on the party, I will most likely play on core difficulty although I might bump that up to the next level of difficulty (forget what it's called). Also if anyone is interested in a multiplayer run through from bg1 - bg2 let me know I feel like that would be fun as well.

Icecreamtub

I would personally shy away from having two dual wielders in the same party, especially as Druid's have potent equipment aimed at Quarterstaves/Spears/Clubs.

Otherwise - Everything sounds pretty thought out and well planned, congratulations on such an interesting racial design and well thought out party! @therdre

Edit: Also, why Dual at lv.13? Your Druid won't be able to access the Fighter class until really late into ToB (Since this is a full party, you might not even get access to the Fighter class if you finish ToB unless you do absolutely everything in your game, iirc.)

It's usually recommended you dual at lv.9 or before then, especially for Druids, since they also have huge experience gains at levels 12-15 (Lv12: > 300, 000 > Lv.13: 750,000 > Lv. 14: 1,500,000 > Level 15: 3,000,000), but have super low EXP requirements up to lv.9. (

1-11 Table as follows for a Druid:

1 0
2 2,000
3 4,000
4 7,500
5 12,500
6 20,000
7 35,000
8 60,000
9 90,0001
10 125,000
11 200,000

Also, welcome to the Forums! Enjoy your stay~

therdre

I was going to do 13 because I've read warriors get an extra attack at 13, unless I confused myself and thats only Kensai? Level 9 would give me 2 points in two weapon style and grand mastery in scimitars so that does seem like it would work. And thanks for the welcome, think I'll be active here considering how much I am playing bg1/2 iwd these days haha

Edit - I should also mention I plan on doing every single quest/little thing possible so I'll be getting as much experience as there is in the games

Icecreamtub

The only thing you get with lv.13 dualing, if I'm not mistaken, is extra proficiencies that you get from levelling Druid to level 10 anyway.

The only *actual* benefit is (?)more Hit points from fighter con(?), but I definitely know the one benefit is an extra attack per round, which really isn't worth an extra four levels.

iirc you dual at 9 or 12, 9 being the most preferable in a 6 person party.

Even with every little thing being done, a lv.13 Dualed Druid still probably won't regain until the very end of Amn.

Edit: Most dual classes can get away with lv.12, but because it's a Druid I honestly would avoid dualing after level 10 at the latest. (I play almost exclusive Druid orientated builds in BG, even custom created illegal ones like Druid/Mage.)

This is all mainly because Druids, as mentioned in the spoiler tag, take a lot of EXP to go over lv.12.

Clumsy_Dwarf

Having both healers in melee might be an issue in BG2 more. If your ranged get hurt, the travel time might make a difference. The other issue is spell interrupts. Just an opinion to not put all your eggs in one basket.

Icecreamtub

@Clumsy_Dwarf

Mass Cure & Ranger's would have access to Cleric healing anyway, so there shouldn't be any issues at all.

marzbarz

Yeah id duel that druid-fig earlier like maybe near 9....but that's just me, I usually just grab that first or second cast for 5th level spells and move on. I think a multiclass here is better from what I read but even I don't wanna multiclass a druid/Warrior for some reason lol.

When I kinda tested this it let me levelup and also duel at 9 after I made imoen get the first trap in bg2 by the items. So you can get right into the warrior class starting of bg2 or lvl 9, but can also wait for level 10 for the ( I think ) 2 extra casts.

marzbarz

Level 11 will also give you 1 lvl 6 spell to cast if that interests you but at that point id just go the multiclass route if the spellcasting is what your building around.

therdre

I have all my healers melee in siege atm and its working alright, although I've been using healing potions more than usual it seems to balance it out. I've always liked melee more for whatever reason. If i went with shaman instead of the dual berserker/druid then she would most likely go shortbows, so ranged heals there. Although without the shaman, id have cure light wounds (lol) on my main character, Loh on my pally then heals on my figher/cleric and berserker/druid so lots of heals to go around

Icecreamtub

Healing potions are traded out most of the time during BG2 anyway, so don't worry about it. SoD seems to be "BRING ALL THE POTIONS, QUICKLY!" type of experience for any party that wasn't custom-made.

Icecreamtub

Also, Shamans are Sorcerer-Type, so if you ever found yourself in aid of one of your Clerical-Types needing healing spells, you could roll a Shaman who has a permenant access to a lot of spammable healing spells, without ever needing to keep switching them out whenever you plan to rest, meaning your other Clerics, Druids or Rangers are open to be one-type of orientated casters. (Such as Rangers using buff spells and Clerics being more offensive.

Also, during BG2, Shamans have a special extra spell per rank from 1-7, later in the game they get access to stuff like "Self-Full heal whenever at 10% hp" and "Self Cast -50% physical damage for 1 minute")

therdre

If I go shaman, you think I should go berserker 2 handed weapon style instead of the paladin?

luskan

If you dual at level 9 you can reach druid level 10 while still playing Dragonspear

marzbarz

Jus grab all kensai/fighter builds and duel them to casters eventually....win...also can be done with one kensai/whatever so imagine 6...