Best party to learn (most variety)?

irving15

Hey all,
I'm a bit new to the game and I'm looking to learn the mechanics of the game. I'd like to construct a party that has the most variety so I can get a taste of each class, or at least, each base class.

Here's what I've come up with myself:
-Main character (MAGE)
-Imoen (THIEF)
-Ajantis (PALADIN)
-Kivan (RANGER)
-Garrick (BARD)
-Branwen (CLERIC)

What are your thoughts on this party? Would you swap any of these characters around?

Thank you!

Stupid_Puns

Honestly, that right there is one of the perfect parties you can have in this game. Imoen and Ajantis are really one of the best at what they do. The only thing you may want to change is Garrick, seeing how (sadly) Bards aren't any good in this first game, but once again, that's just me, Garrick is still a very fun character to have. Branwen is a fine cleric, it's just that Viconia is a little better because of her innate magic resistance, but once again, that's just personal opinion. All-in-all, your party is great, variety is the key to this game. Last, I would have Minsc instead of Kivan/Garrick, simply because he's hilarious, a classic party member. Although, you would have to rescue Dynaheir who you'd have to either kill or lock in house.
So yeah, your party's great, only issue I personally have is the Bard, but once your later in the game, Bards are quite extraordinary. Last, you may want to have Jaheira because if you give her skill points in daggers, then buy the Dagger of Venom, but like I said before, just personal preference. A team like yours pretty ideal, you'll be just fine. (Insert clever ending here)

ThacoBell

I would recommend starting as a simpler to learn class, and use npc mages to get a hang of the class. That way if it is an issue, you can swap them for an easier to use class.

irving15

ThacoBell said:

I would recommend starting as a simpler to learn class, and use npc mages to get a hang of the class. That way if it is an issue, you can swap them for an easier to use class.

That makes a lot of sense but I.... I can't do it. I'm not a hardcore RP guy or anything but I just can't get into the story if the main character (me) is some sword wielding psycho or the guy playing the lute in the corner. I can identify with the snobby guy in the back though.

irving15

Stupid_Puns said:

Honestly, that right there is one of the perfect parties you can have in this game. Imoen and Ajantis are really one of the best at what they do. The only thing you may want to change is Garrick, seeing how (sadly) Bards aren't any good in this first game, but once again, that's just me, Garrick is still a very fun character to have. Branwen is a fine cleric, it's just that Viconia is a little better because of her innate magic resistance, but once again, that's just personal opinion. All-in-all, your party is great, variety is the key to this game. Last, I would have Minsc instead of Kivan/Garrick, simply because he's hilarious, a classic party member. Although, you would have to rescue Dynaheir who you'd have to either kill or lock in house.
So yeah, your party's great, only issue I personally have is the Bard, but once your later in the game, Bards are quite extraordinary. Last, you may want to have Jaheira because if you give her skill points in daggers, then buy the Dagger of Venom, but like I said before, just personal preference. A team like yours pretty ideal, you'll be just fine. (Insert clever ending here)

After a quick google of Garrick it seems that you have prevented me from stepping on a landmine, haha. People are brutal about him, lol! I'll see if I can use him only after I have more knowledge of this game, thanks!

ThacoBell

@irving That's fair, play whatever class you think will be the most fun. Also, don't listen to the haters about Garrick, he is the best npc in the game as far as abilities go. His personality is another matter. Bards are supremely underrated by the community.

DreadKhan

Garrick is one of the hardest NPCs to use effectively, he's not really weak. I wouldn't use him first.

Not all warriors are psychos, some are Khalid!

Redrake

If you want to use a mage PC, is true Immy, Ajantis and Kivan are all three solid choices.

For cleric, I would stick with Branwen until you get your hands on Yeslick. Yeslick is the best good aligned cleric around and you can give him Warhammer +2 as well.

For the last character, I'd say you can use another tank for melee fighting, like Shar-teel (even though she's evil) or one of the NPCs added by EE (the monk).

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Ammar

For variety:

1. Sorcerer
   
2. Monk
   
3. Fighter/Mage or Blade
   
4. Fighter/Druid or Fighter/Cleric (or Ranger/Cleric)
   
5. Cleric or Druid depending on whether you have F/D or F/C
   
6. Thief maybe as multi/dualclass
   

Covers all types of spells, spontaneous and vancian spellcasting, enough fighter classes to try out different weapon types. Monk is just a unique class.

So maybe (there are no blades of F/Ms in BG Vanilla.

PC Sorcerer, Blade or F/M (ideally gnomish Illusionist to have a specialist)
Raasad
Imoen (also for story)
Yeslick/Faldorn or Jaheira/Branwen
Someone else, maybe Neera (Wild Mages are also interesting) or a pure fighter type

Pantalion

-Main character (MAGE) - You may want to consider being a multiclass mage for your first character. It will give you more to do and introduce you to the up and down sides of multiclass. You'll also be a bit less squishy to accommodate for any tactical errors.
-Imoen (THIEF) - Good choice, Imoen is the second best pure thief, a good introduction if you want to check out dual classing, and easy and quick to pick up.
-Ajantis (PALADIN) - Fine. Paladins are jerks, but he's not a bad melee type guy.
-Kivan (RANGER) - Good. Kivan is solid in several roles.
-Branwen (CLERIC) - Her or Yeslick are both fine choices.
-Garrick (BARD) - Bards are lame. You may want to consider leaving this slot flexible to switch between various characters as you meet them, including Dorn, Rasaad and Neera to see how you like them (and get the EE quest content).

OrlonKronsteen

Ammar said:

For variety:

1. Sorcerer
   
2. Monk
   
3. Fighter/Mage or Blade
   
4. Fighter/Druid or Fighter/Cleric (or Ranger/Cleric)
   
5. Cleric or Druid depending on whether you have F/D or F/C
   
6. Thief maybe as multi/dualclass
   

Covers all types of spells, spontaneous and vancian spellcasting, enough fighter classes to try out different weapon types. Monk is just a unique class.

So maybe (there are no blades of F/Ms in BG Vanilla.

PC Sorcerer, Blade or F/M (ideally gnomish Illusionist to have a specialist)
Raasad
Imoen (also for story)
Yeslick/Faldorn or Jaheira/Branwen
Someone else, maybe Neera (Wild Mages are also interesting) or a pure fighter type

I like the variety in this list but sorcerers aren't necessarily a wise choice for new players who are just learning about spells, since they're stuck with their choices for the whole game.

Also, monks are really weak in BG1. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be played, but I think a cautionary note is warranted.

tbone1

DreadKhan said:

Not all warriors are psychos, some are Khalid!

Yeah! And there’s ... um, there’s ... wait, Yeslick is a multiclass ... hm, maybe Khalid is even MORE underrated than I’ve said before

Abby_Zero

Having a thief as your main character is good. Having a fighter/their is best.
Even better- replay over and over and over again, then you get the best of all worlds

irving15

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! It seems I have to balance my curiosity for the different classes with my game knowledge. Otherwise, I'll get my butt kicked even harder

Also, magic is sooo much fun in this game! I'm going to restart and make at least a two mage (or one mage, one sorcerer) party. I know it's weird restarting but I feel like I wasted a lot of epic fights using dumb swords and arrows when I could have charmed/nuked/stun most of them!

Arizael

I am probably coming in late, but just in case someone finds this useful.

PC: Kitted Cleric, or Fighter/Cleric. Avoid mages on your first try and definitly ignore sorcerors. My first character was 4hp mage, I still remember the pain. Cleric can stand his own in meele, swing with actual weapon and still get to cast to neat spells. You also see all the spell available for the level, giving you enough time to test them without having to hunt for scrolls.

The cannon party actual fits pretty well with PC cleric and is quite personality diverse.

Thief: Imoen - Great Dex, good Con and Cha. Bow, trap removal, lockpick, pick pocket. She does all your thief needs and needs next to no micromanagement in fights. Do not dual-class.

Arcane caster: Dynaheir - instead of gettting headache trying to figure out who gets affected by sleep or trying to micro your party in web, focus on the real reason why we play mages - nuking enemies with fireballs. Invoker fireballs get the sweet save penalty, plus Dyna gets good both INT and CON score.

Main hitter: Minsc - 2nd strongest warrior in the game. Thanks to being ranger he can dual-wield from the start or focus on two handers, choose at your leisure.

Tank: Khalid - Pure class Fighter with good CON. He will level fast meaning good chunk of hp to hide behind shield and plate.

Off-tank: Jaheira - Good constitution and her druidic spells will complement well with divine repertoir of the PC.

Such party will have all bases covered, won´t be too micro heavy and will do well in meele. Ideal for first playtrough.

irving15

Hey!
I finished the game a few days ago, I ended up trying out as many party members as I can by rotating them as I got to them. The parts I found difficult was when I failed to recognize enemy abilities or immunities. I also had problems when certain bosses (with magic resist) just hit the tank anyway (I guess their thac0 is amazing). The only solution I found for this was just to dps this thing before it kills us all. Oh and learning about basilisk gaze and ghoul paralyze was...unpleasant.

Anyway I'm going to play again before moving on to Dragonspear. Mage has been pretty fun, I definitely enjoy the tricks and quirky spells more than the direct damage options. The invulnerability globe is hilarious when facing enemy mages. Entangle, web coupled with fire wands and a barrage from everyone's ranged weapons is nice. With the ring of free action this is just a barrel of laughs. Blinding the fastest dart thrower in the land and Spooking Sarevok (hoorah Greater Malison and Doom) are moments in the game when I can truly express how much of a jerk I am.

My next play through, I'll roll an elven pure mage instead of human because I just realized they can be beardless mages. I'm toying with the idea of a mage/thief multi but I don't know if this allows for more shenanigans or less (with lessened mage levels).

DreadKhan

Imho those quirkier spells like Chaos and Web are better than damaging spells, provided you use them well. Still, dropping a Fireball on scouted enemies is fun.

ThacoBell

@irving15 You may enjoy playing an Enchanter. They get bonuses to a lot of the debuff and effect spells, but can't learn most of the directly damaging ones.

irving15

ThacoBell said:

@irving15 You may enjoy playing an Enchanter. They get bonuses to a lot of the debuff and effect spells, but can't learn most of the directly damaging ones.

Done! I'm rolling an elven enchanter now. As a special nod to Xan I will use Quarterstaves instead of slings because slings aren't stylish at all. Like, really? You're going to tear reality apart and bend others to your will, but wait don't forget to carry your rocks! Lol, unwashed peasants and their toys!

Pantalion

irving15 said:

I'm toying with the idea of a mage/thief multi but I don't know if this allows for more shenanigans or less (with lessened mage levels).

So, so, so many shenanigans, with exponentially more shenanigans becoming available as you progress through the series.