Help me pick PC for an evil trilogy playthrough

Matteo12345

I am currently suffering from a major case of rerollitis. I have decided to do a complete trilogy runthrough with an evil party. I will be using the following NPCs:
Dorn
Edwin
Viconia
Kagain (BG) / Korgan (BG2) / Sarevok (ToB - or keep Korgan)
??????? (BG) / Hexxat (BG2)

I know I don't want to use a divine caster, pure thief, pure mage, F/M, or M/T.

Currently, I am considering one of the following: (1) blade; (2) using EEkeeper to make an elf fighter/thief kit multiclass (likely assassin or perhaps shadowdancer); or (3) dark moon monk.

I initially rolled a F/Assassin, but then I got nervous because: (1) I have always used two arcane casters in my party and while I am up to a challenge, I don't want to make the game too difficult and (2) I worried that a F/T plus Hexxat is too much thief for SoA and ToB. I then rolled a blade, which I hear is awesome but for some reason I am just hesitant to play. I then loaded up a DMM after downloading some monk HLA mod which seemed fun, but it seems there isn't a lot of gear for monks in the trilogy and I love the feeling of looting "that awesome item" I have been waiting for.

I don't mind micromanaging my PC (as long as it isn't just repetitive nonsense before each fight), and I would like my PC to be a big contributor to the team.

At the end of the day, however, I think my pick is going to come down to fun. Over 15 years I have played this game several times (always as a good guy for some reason, usually as a paladin or mage) and I want a fun new experience.

Any advice on what PC I should make (from either the above three ideas or something else) would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Ayiekie

My evil playthrough used a Red Dragon Disciple, but that's probably too close to "pure mage". On that note, you should grab Baeloth for your final party slot in BG1 (and he's in SoD too).

Shadowdancer actually has unique HLAs and you don't currently have anyone to handle thiefy stuff in BG1, so it might be worthwhile? With it being a multiclass and focusing on backstabbing later, you should have a reasonable amount of non-overlapping expertise with Hexxat (probably also give her a bow and focus early on stuff like Detect Illusion and maybe trap-laying).

Alexisisinneed

You could possibly do a C/M or a F/C. I always like having more casting then melee in the party, but that's me. Also if your into mods you can try the lost druid mod out there which gives an evil alignment druid option.

JumboWheat01

Dark Moon Monk could give you a very different flavor to your character. You're not the true front-liner, you're a side-liner. If push comes to shove, you can be very defensive and survivable, but you can still lay a smack down, if you're given the time to train up.

Though of course, nothing is stopping you from being a Druid (let's say Avenger for thematics,) and playing as more Neutral Evil rather than True Neutral, despite having to chose that. Jaheira gets away with her Neutral Goodness, why can't you get away with your Neutral Evilness?

deltago

Blade is a good choice, especially with an evil party play through.

secondary spell caster: check
awesome items: check (armor bard's can cast spells in all through out the series, bard specific items and your choice of weapon)
carries it's own weight: check

I personally would do Necromancer dualled to a cleric, but you said no divine, so blade it is.

Iglosnof

I would personally go with barbarian. It fits great with the whole chaotic evil theme (if you plan to kills lots and lots of people that don't need to die), it definitely pulls its own weight and is a beast all the way from Candlekeep to Throne of Bhaal. If you're not playing SCS you don't really need two mages and barbarian's immunities will help with most tough encounters.

Matteo12345

Thanks for the tips. I am rather set on not doing another divine caster. I haven't used Hexxat before, is she a better BS/melee or bow type of rogue. In the past, I have largely only used rogue to open locks and find traps. Will Hexxat have enough points to do that and also handle the sneak department, and also be able to set traps?

Iglosnof

She's a plain thief, by level 14 or so she should have enough points for all of that. And I'd say she could be a pretty decent backstaber.

Papa_Lou

I'm currently doing a complete saga playthrough right now with a monk. Mind you, it's a Sun Soul, but I'm having a ton of fun. The whole no equipment thing is barely noticeable, as Monks can still use some weapons if you so choose, as well as rings, boots, etc. so not being able to wear large pieces of armor barely feels like a drawback, especially due to the monk's awesome natural AC.

People aren't lying when they say monks are tough to start out with, as they start off pretty weak. But once you hit level 5 or so, you'll have no worries about throwing your monk into the heat of battle.

I'm not 100% certain on what abilities the Dark Moons get, but my Sun Soul has some awesome abilities like sun soulray and flaming fists, which keeps the character feeling fresh. So, I'd definitely recommend a monk.

Wowo

I'd take Imoen in BG2 as she works in an evil party and is the second Mage that you want in SCS. Hexxat is pretty blah as a pure thief.

For the PC id consider a half-Orc Fighter/Thief. Easy to focus on fun/combat skills like hide/ms, detect illusions and set traps and let your secondary thief handle traps and locks.

JumboWheat01

Papa_Lou said:

I'm not 100% certain on what abilities the Dark Moons get, but my Sun Soul has some awesome abilities like sun soulray and flaming fists, which keeps the character feeling fresh. So, I'd definitely recommend a monk.

Dark Mooners get things like Blur and Mirror Image to take their defensive potential to the next level. Sun Soul is definitely more offensive.

Which is rather weird when you thing about it. "Good" things tend to be better defensively in RPGs and the like while "Evil" things tend to be better offensively. It's a rather refreshing switch.

Zilber

If you want to play SOD, make a thief, there's no evil option there. If you want to EE and cheese for a mage, you might consider a Kensai FMT, just a bit of thief to get you through the day, and rampant destruction the rest of the day.

Baeloth is a very good character, Dorn is as well, the latter holding out throughout the series, the former until the end of SOD.

Kagain (Korgan in BG2)
Dorn
Viconia
Edwin or Baeloth
Montaron (Hexxat in BG2)

These already complete your team if you add a thief to them in early BG2 and SOD.

At close of BG1 a Dex 19 elf Kensai/Mage/Thief has fighter 6 / mage 6/ thief 7:
+30% Open Locks, +20% Find Traps, +40% Pick Pockets, +15% Move Silently, +33% Hide in Shadows. +215 points
x3 backstab
4 2 2 spells
THACO 14 base, +2 to hit and damage, +1 to hit with longsword, -2 AC, -1 weapon speed, 2x Kai

That's quite a nasty bugger.

Wowo

Only evil characters available for SoD are:
Dorn
Viconia
Edwin
Baeloth

M'khin makes an obvious 5th choice or, alternatively, (my favourite option) you can stick the Helm of Opposite Alignment on a good character to round out your party - lots of good characters to choose from and corrupt (mwhahaha).

DrHappyAngry

I've done the evil blade all the way through before SOD came out, and it is fun, but can be a bit tedious having to buff so often. I used pretty much the same party as you, and it works well. Although, I also found I had to abuse the hell out of Tenser's Transformation in TOB to get my thaco low enough to reliably hit a lot of enemies. Seeing all the cool new items in SOD makes me think a Blade would be a lot of fun to play through it with. I went scimitars, just so I could use Belm/Scarlet Ninja-to and get myself up to 3 attacks/round. Your spells are also really powerful, since bards level so fast, you can just destroy stuff with Melf's Minute Meteors and skull trap when not slicing things up, so it at least varies up your playstyle and gives you more options.

If you're going to do the blade with that party, you'll need a thief for BG1/SOD. Safana will be around through both, so she might be a good choice. Yoshi could fill the gap early on in BG2, until you pick up Hexxat. I think I took Shar-teel for my BG1 thief, after dualling her from fighter at level 3, but she won't stick around for SOD. I was really saddened when I found out she wouldn't be in SOD, she can be such a badass.

I probably wouldn't do the F/M/T unless you plan on running a smaller party, say of 4, or plan on soloing for portions of the games, to make up the slack. Otherwise, I just find everyone else in the group surpassing me by so much, it feels like my charname isn't really needed. If you don't mind falling behind, though, go for it.

Matteo12345

Would I have to change the thief's alignment with the opp alignment helm before going in SoD? Alternatively, if I keep a helm in my inventory for BG1, would it remain?
I looked online, but I couldn't see any mods adding more NPCs (evil thief) for SOD? Has anyone made a mod yet? I am using Mont right now and would love to keep him if that was possible.

DrHappyAngry

As long as you're not letting your rep get down too low (ie not slaughtering everyone), you shouldn't need to muck about with their alignment. Someone can probably get you the exact numbers, but I think you could keep neutral NPCs with a rep as low as somewhere around 4. The helm should transfer into SOD, but if somebody has it equipped after the intro in SOD, they could take it with them. If it's a neutral NPC, I don't think the helm really will do anything, anyways. Glint and Safana, the thieves in SOD, are both neutral. I suppose if you really wanted to, you could EE Keeper Safana's alignment to evil, not sure if that affects her leaving if you're rep gets too low, though.

If you're liking Monty, keep him for BG1. So long as you don't recruit Safana In BG1, she should level up to your level if you choose to recruit her in SOD. Just try to keep some gear around for her or Glint.

Wowo

DrHappyAngry said:

As long as you're not letting your rep get down too low (ie not slaughtering everyone), you shouldn't need to muck about with their alignment. Someone can probably get you the exact numbers, but I think you could keep neutral NPCs with a rep as low as somewhere around 4. The helm should transfer into SOD, but if somebody has it equipped after the intro in SOD, they could take it with them. If it's a neutral NPC, I don't think the helm really will do anything, anyways. Glint and Safana, the thieves in SOD, are both neutral. I suppose if you really wanted to, you could EE Keeper Safana's alignment to evil, not sure if that affects her leaving if you're rep gets too low, though.

If you're liking Monty, keep him for BG1. So long as you don't recruit Safana In BG1, she should level up to your level if you choose to recruit her in SOD. Just try to keep some gear around for her or Glint.

Glint is neutral good so you could helm him evil. Or make a PC thief and helm one of the many other good good characters.

DrHappyAngry

Wowo said:

Glint is neutral good so you could helm him evil. Or make a PC thief and helm one of the many other good good characters.

That's right, for some reason I keep thinking he's neutral, I guess it's his mischeviousness. The helm should work on him then. I'd still think Safana fits the evil party better, especially if you take Viconia.

DullSkullTheSecond

Enchanter / thief if you don't mind EEkeeper and power...

May get a bit too strong later on. Never tried it myself but will probably do it now haha

DarkShinobi

Hello! Not sure if you care about this in specific but since you are going to play with an evil party, and you have Viconia in your group, just remember that, being an elf will make you not be able to romance her, if you're playing with a male character and if this is an interest of yours!

brunardo

I vote blade, so many ways you can play them throughout the series and the most versatile - switch him from ranged to melee fighter style in BG and spellcaster to BG2 when needed or just have him harp all day, unique items, and high charisma makes him party leader...plus fancy spins

Yulaw9460

Deleted.

JumboWheat01

If considering a Mage/Thief, consider an Illusionist/Thief. And nobody expects an evil gnome.

Somnam

I have done a full playthrough with Shadow dancer charname. The team I used is exactly the one you described above. At no point in the game had I the feeling that the game was too hard. You will be fine! Also consider that Dorn/Korgan and possibly charname are all capable of pressuring enemies greatly on their own in melee situations. This group will rely less on planning/preparation than a high magic one, and more towards overwhelming/facing down single oponents quickly. GOOD luck!

ShadowGambit

Swashbuckler/Mage.... It is a M/T but closer to a F/M/T