Who else should I put in my party?

MorteTorment

So I'm playing BGII with someone else.

I'm playing a Kensei who I plan to dual to a Mage at level 9, along with a Swashbuckler, and he's a Pure Mage. We just got out of the first dungeon.

I'm thinking Jaheira and Minsc, as they're both very powerful, with there being so many cool Druid spells, and Minsc being such a powerhouse, but are there good reasons to go with somebody else? Maybe someone added in the EE.

Also, we're a good aligned party and I love cleric spells so I'm gonna need one. I've heard that there's ways to keep Viconia in your party, and I've always wanted to play with her. How can I keep her?

O_Bruce

You can easily keep Viconia around if your party reputation is lesser than 18. I don't know about romance, but I'm pretty sure that she can leave the party if you screw it up in some spectacular fashion.

Also, I don't know why you ever consider bringing Viconia into good-aligned party. She doesn't fit into that. Aerie and Anomen can be used for good-aligned party as a priests. Aeire is leveling up slower, bu she is also a mage, and Anomen has some levels as a fighter, so he can be more useful in meele..

You would probably want a thief. For good aligned parties, Imoen, Nalia (gameplay-wise is basically inferior Imoen) or Jan Jansen.

The last spot can be taken by any good or neutral aligment character you can encounter. The choice is up to you.

Buttercheese

I know that Viconia and Rasaad will initially clash where you have to decide on which you want to keep.
If I remember correctly, there is a similar issue with Viconia and Keldorn.

As for story reasons, Yoshimo is imo the best choice for a rogue. Jan is also great (#teamshorties).
Since you obviously don't need another mage, I'd skip on Aerie and Nalia. Keldorn makes a good tank if you give him something to raise his horendous Dex (plus, also one of the best characters imo). Anomen can be fun to have around, if you don't mind him being a brat (plus, the other partymembers will constantly rip on him, which is a blast). IMO Mazzy and Valygar are a bit boring, but I don't know what you are looking for in your companions. Hope I didn't forget anyone :X

Diomedes33

Drop Minsc, pick up Keldorn; a real powerhouse.

proghead3

Jaheria is quite good in SoA because of quick access to insect swarm and summon fire elemental, however multiclass leveling hurts her late game development. I generally replace her in ToB with Mr. Deathbringer.

Minsc is OK in the early game, but Mazzy is pretty much superior once she gets a strength item (which isn't hard to get) because of faster leveling, grandmastery, better dexterity, and better unique abilities.

As for clerics, Anomen with the dexterity bracers is so much better Viconia. She has better magic resistance, but he will have almost double the hit points, and will cap at 2.5 attacks a round (instead of 1 per round). I often run both Anomen and Viconia together (because I like having two clerics) and Anomen always has way more kills tallied. Plus, with Anomen, you don't need to worry about reputation.

Diomedes33

proghead3 said:

Jaheria is quite good in SoA because of quick access to insect swarm and summon fire elemental, however multiclass leveling hurts her late game development. I generally replace her in ToB with Mr. Deathbringer.

Minsc is OK in the early game, but Mazzy is pretty much superior once she gets a strength item (which isn't hard to get) because of faster leveling, grandmastery, better dexterity, and better unique abilities.

As for clerics, Anomen with the dexterity bracers is so much better Viconia. She has better magic resistance, but he will have almost double the hit points, and will cap at 2.5 attacks a round (instead of 1 per round). I often run both Anomen and Viconia together (because I like having two clerics) and Anomen always has way more kills tallied. Plus, with Anomen, you don't need to worry about reputation.

Last game though.. I made Viconia scary during mid game. A lot more then Anomen whom I also take in almost every party. She had Maulers arm for the 18 str. She had the girdle of fortitude for the 18 con on use and -10 AC. She laughed at just about everything.

Skatan

So you have or will have:

You - Kensai-mage = killer tank and supporting arcane
You - Swashbuckler = party thief
Friend - Mage = well, arcane blaster/buffer obviously.
NPC - Jaheira = druid and either slinger or tank, depending on choice. Or both depending on situation. I'm usually lazy and keep her as either rather than both (slings + insect plauge + summons in my case)
NPC - Minsc = decent tank/fighter. Decent with a bow, but more fun with Lilarcor or dual weilding.

So you want a cleric? The obvious choice, as mentioned above, is Anomen. Fits with alignment, can join up with your kensai and Minsc (and Jaheira) at the front lines or stay in the back slinging. Can be picked up immediately, but so can Viccy, who is the second choice. She's evil, drops your rep by 2 on pick-up (which matter little though), but can be kept on indefinetly with this team. No NPC clashes IIRC. I'd choose Anomen over Viccy for your team. The last choice, also mentioned above, is Aerie. Great character, but since you already have two arcane users, getting a third seems a waste and being MC she will lag behind a bit in levels, so you might as well go with Anomen or Viccy.