Help with my evil party please

SwordLord

I've gone Evil for the lulz and some nice characters. I tolerate other alignments. Planning to keep rep 16 or so.

I am level 5/6 at the moment.

Here is what I have
- PC Gnome multi class Thief/Illusionist - has Scythe x-bow
- Dorn - Blackguard with two handed weapon
- Kagain fighter with an Axe / Shield (good HP, not good hitting power) also x-bow (probably a mistake by me)
- Shar-Teel Fighter - two weapons, good hitting power, low CON (9)
- Branwen Cleric (Sling + blunt)
- Viconia Cleric (Sling + blunt)

I think I should have an archer and a mage. With an Archer I can use the marvellous arrows in the game (I have the x-bow bolts covered with my Gnome).

For the mage I guess Edwin. Initially I thought Baeloth Barrityl would be good. But people seem to rate Edwin (due to his amulet). For an Archer, I guess Kivan.

Who to drop? Branwen and Kagain and Shar-Teel?

If I drop Shar-Teel who to slot into her place?

Papa_Lou

There's no real pressing need for a ton of arcane power in Baldur's Gate 1. Since your charname is a thief/illusionist, they can technically handle all the magepower you need. However, if you still want one, I'd highly recommend Xzar. His personality is (in my opinion) one of the best in the game, and he's a pretty powerful wizard as well. Edwin still tops him, power-wise, but he's still far from weak. As for which party member(s) to drop, I'd definitely recommend Branwen. Two clerics isn't necessary, and having a party full of evil NPCs can be fun.

As for an archer, Kivan and Coran are both great choices, and I feel like Coran might fit a little better in the party, though he'd still stick out a little. If you want, you could always have Dorn act as an archer with a longbow.

But if you do take in Kivan or Coran, I'd recommend getting rid of either Dorn or Shar-Teel. Kagain is just too beefy to get rid of, and both Dorn and Shar-Teel both generally play the same role in the party as heavy hitters.

SwordLord

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I will have another look at Xzar.

Can you say more about why you would keep Kagain? He has great HP. But he wields an axe, not doing much damage. Shar-tiel does better dual wielding long swords.

In the run I did previously, I found archers - with those versatile arrows - incredibly helpful. I should have planned my party to bring in someone who specialisse in shortbow, to take advantage of the +2+2 Eagle bow. At least I have the Xbow and slings covered.

I think I made a mistake making my PC a dual class illusionist/thief. I could grab a thief from one of the multitide of suitable NPCs, for example Shar-thiel could be multiclassed fighter/thief at level 3. She could even build up skills in short bow, for a bit of ranged ability and to make use of good bows.

I started this run a long time ago and then paused. I would consider starting again.

Zilber

On evil characters you have the following options:

Fighter:
Shart-Teel: Awesome and high damage, though poor HP, can be a thief
Kagain: Illegal con (regeneration) so very good tank
Dorn: High damage and versatile, good mage killer, very nice voice

Bard:
Eldoth: Not that brilliant

Thief:
Montaron: Good backstabber
Tiax: Cleric/thief, which is a good combination. Also hilarious

Mage
Xzar: Quite good
Edwin: Better, and ties in with more stories
Baeloth: Hilarious, and good to boot

Cleric:
Viconia: Pretty, magic resistent and a fine AC tank

I would opt for Bard, Blade kit.

OrlonKronsteen

I agree that Xzar is great, but IIRC you can't recruit him after the Nashkel Mines quest is done. You don't need another mage, as @Papa_Lou says, but having a secondary caster can make things easier. Edwin and Baeloth are also great choices. You really can't go wrong with evil mages in this game.

The reason Kagain is so great is he has 20 constitution, which means that he maxes out on hp, regenerates and as a dwarf he gets insanely good saving throws. Give him the gauntlets of dexterity, good armour and a shield and he's an amazing tank. His mediocre strength isn't that important. If you want him to do more damage just give him potions or throw a strength spell on him. But his main purpose is to draw enemy fire/spells on the front lines, leaving your archers and casters free to unload. Speaking of archers, Dorn and Shar-Teel can both fill that role (Shar-Teel can do it as a pure fighter or when dualed to a thief). Dorn is awesome with his poison weapon ability. I'd give him longbows because there are a couple fantastic ones.

As for cleric, I'd drop Branwen and keep Viconia if you're doing an evil run. So, to summarize, basically I'd drop Branwen and pick up a mage to complete your party of six. You won't get Xzar on this run (also, he's tied in a pair with Montaron - you have to use both or kill one of them), but you can still grab Baeloth or Edwin. Either one will add some serious firepower to your arsenal.

SwordLord

Thanks, guys. I am excited about this run!

Looks like I don't have to swap that much around (Brannwen out, mage in). I read some more on multiclass, and I think my PC Illusionist/Thief will still be good to carry over to BG II.

I got Kagain early. Would any of you have developed him in other than Axe, considering there aren't really great axes around?

OrlonKronsteen

Axes are great for him. There's a +1 version available in a shop, and in BG1 +1 is all you need, really. You could alternatively develop him in flails for blunt damage. Not a bad move as blunt damage is the best in the game.

SomeSort

Axes are fine. Actually, the cheapest unbreakable magic weapon in the entire game is an axe, (go to Thunderhammer in Beregost, buy a throwing axe +1 for basically nothing, equip it and switch it to melee mode; voila, unbreakable +1 axe, though it only deals 1d6+1 damage instead of 1d8+1 like a regular +1 axe would). And you get a +2 in Baldur's Gate, which deals as much damage as the +2 Warhammer everyone likes to talk about and really only trails the Staff Mace, Varsacona, and Drizzt's Scimitars among one-handers.

Whatever benefit you could have gotten by equipping a "better" weapon would have been swamped by Kagain's extra starting proficiency points in axe, anyway. It's not a choice of axes vs. swords and saying the best weapon is a long sword and so swords are better. It's a question of axes with four proficiency points vs. swords with two proficiency points; the extra two pips give you +2 THACO and +2 damage, which makes an axe +2 equivalent to a long sword +4. And there definitely aren't any +4 long swords lying around in Baldur's Gate.

SwordLord

I got the +1 throwing axes early on. Now I have a +1 Battle Axe. So I should stop moaning. I will concentrate on giving Kagain belts / rings / buffs / that allow him to tank and draw enemy fire while I blast them.

I try to give all of the characters a bit of blunt to deal with skeletons when they appear. Kagain has one pip in flails and a +1 flail.

SomeSort

SwordLord said:

I got the +1 throwing axes early on. Now I have a +1 Battle Axe. So I should stop moaning. I will concentrate on giving Kagain belts / rings / buffs / that allow him to tank and draw enemy fire while I blast them.

I try to give all of the characters a bit of blunt to deal with skeletons when they appear. Kagain has one pip in flails and a +1 flail.

If you really want the ultimate melee badass possible, the Big Fisted Belt (from Rasaad's quest) + Gauntlets of Dexterity (from the Gnoll fortress) will give Kagain 19 strength, 18 dex, and 20 con. Since there's no easy / semi-permanent way to "fix" constitution, that's the best possible melee character you can get in BG1 without using tomes or rolling one yourself.

I usually don't give him the Big-Fisted belt, though, mostly because it's a shame to waste that 15 intelligence. I know INT doesn't really do anything worthwhile in BG1, it just always seemed like a shame to take the second-smartest character in the entire saga who isn't a mage or a human who can dual to mage and turn him into an idiot just for a couple points of strength.

(In case you're wondering, Viconia is the only non-mage / mage-capable character who is smarter.)

fateless

Unless there is something in SoD, which I admittedly might not have run across, There isn't anything one handed any significantly better than the Battleaxe +2 that you can get in Baldur's Gate and the proficiency doubles for the Throwing Axe +2 which is a returning axe for ranged in the BG1 game. With Kagain's natural setup and high con. Taking a couple steps to increase his strength and dex can put him practically on par with many charnames for tanking. He's actually one of the easier characters to "fix".

SwordLord

fateless said:

Taking a couple steps to increase his strength and dex can put him practically on par with many charnames for tanking. He's actually one of the easier characters to "fix".

Thanks. I put the 18 dex item you get at the Gnoll fortress on him. Fantastic result. I give him all the potions of strength.

This run I am trying not to end up with hundreds of unused potions at the end of the game.