Unfortunately, Imoen doesn't have any banter or any interjections at all in BG1 because she was a last-minute addition to the game. I guess she'll interact with the new NPCs in BG:EE, but nothing else. That's why I don't use her in the first game, even though she's so important in the second.
Human pally(Inquisitor) LG, me Imoen Ajantis Kivan Branwen Neera
Much more rounded group than my normal, sub in Khalid and Jaheria over Branwen and Neera. gunna like having a mage, even if she's a time bomb waiting to happen.
The theme of my party will be mages (esp. the wild kind) and Tiax because he rules all. So most likely Wild Mage PC, Tiax, Neera, Xsar (can't remember if he comes on his own or as a package with Montaron), Edwin and perhaps Dorn Il Khan to take the punishment. Not sure that party will really hold together long, especially as I'm bad at being evil and the fact that it's quite likely I'll nuke the parties gold supply at some point.
Surprised, but not really at the same time considering the new NPC's being released... But I'll be going through solo, with an elven fighter/mage. I tend to murder the joinable NPC's(on sight, which is hard to do for most of them!).
Something tells me that the people taking Viconia (A Priestess of Shar) and Rasaad (A Monk of Selune) are going to have to do some serious rethinking half-way through the game. :P
I have no clue what my main char will be, but i will definitely play with the 3 new npc's in my first playthrough.
In fact, i think i will go for completely experimental party, just for variety's sake.
So maybe something like:
Main - Priest of Talos or Avenger Neera Rasaad Dorn Xzar Montaron
Evil party overall, and i have never played an entire game with a priest single or multi class main or with Xzar and Montaron either, so this will be a completely new experience.
After this first run, i will revert back to my main powerhouse party, doing the No reload challenge on Core Rules:
Main - Neutral Good or True Neutral Kensai (max str/dex/con/int) dualed in BG2 into Mage at lvl 9 Imoen (replaced by Jan while she is MIA in BG2) Kivan - replaced by Keldorn or another paladin in BG2 and Sarevok in ToB Viconia Edwin Either Minsc or Dorn (depending on how strong Dorn actually is) - replaced by Korgan in BG2
I think this is pretty much as close to maximum power as you can get using regular NPC's in the trilogy and i love the characters' personalities a lot as well (with the slight exceptions of Kivan and Keldorn).
@hellishreaper Yeah, they'll definitely do BG2:EE, even if the first one is a commercial failure (which I doubt).
Isn't it already a commercial success based solely upon the pre-orders? Beamdog was initially waiting to see how well BG:EE sold before proceeding with BG2, but now they seem fairly certain that they're proceeding with BG2.
Anyway, to answer the original question, I'm looking forward to doing an evil playthrough and trying out the new blackguard kit. I intend to play as a female blackguard and my ultimate goal is to romance Dorn. I will also likely have Shar-Teel in my party (possibly dual-classed to a thief), Safana (at least until I dual Shar-Teel), and Kaigan (until I find Dorn), and probably will give Neera a try at some point. Since I typically haven't done evil playthroughs in the past, I also intend to experiment with some NPCs I've normally overlooked (i.e: Faldorn, Eldoth).
The choice between Shar-Teel and Jaheira depends on whether stats carry over from BGEE to BG2EE - if they do, I'll use tomes on Jaheira and keep her around; if not, I'll just replace Shar-Teel with Korgan in the next game.
Fighter/Mage PC (female neutral evil elf) - dual-wield long sword and/or katanas (which are being added to BGEE - see recent FAQ post from @Tanthalas: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/4765/faq/p7), will also use long/composite bow w/o taking the proficiency (still get elf +1THAC0 bow bonus and +1THAC0 long/composite bow bonus anyway)
Dorn (Blackguard) - two-handed sword Kagain (Fighter) - axes, crossbow Monty (Figher/Thief) or Imoen (Thief) or Safana (Thief) - shortsword (dagger for Safana) and sling/shortbow/crossbow, respectively Viconia (Cleric) - mace, sling, then hammers Edwin (Conjurer) - staff, then darts
I usually play with two thieves, though, one focusing on stealth for scouting/backstabs, one focusing on find traps/locks, so this will be quite a challenge for me - initially may need to rely on Dorn's strength to bash locks, with back-up from the Knock spell for tough locks. If I take Imoen, I don't think I'll be dualing her either.
either: some fighter-mage dual/multi main (or ranger/cleric... or fighter/cleric. but most likely mage) Yeslick Neera Edwin
these four I'm are pretty sure of... the last two will either be Xzar and Monty (my faves, but I've already played through the game a lot of times with 'em), or some wild combination of Coran, Viconia, and Imoen, depending on whether or not will I be needing a bit of extra healing, turning people into pincushions, or backstabbity backstab.
Me (Stalker), Imoen, Rasaad, Neera, Viconia and Dorn. Feel kind of sad about not getting Minsc in this playthrough as he's my favourite character, but looking forward to seeing what the new companions are like
I will at some point recruit every single NPC, then put them all in the same room to pick up later when needed. Except for Kivan, of course, because he's a little ****hole who leaves for good if you don't have him in your party 24/7.
For each quest, I'll decide who I want in my party, and take them along with me. I just hope they don't all mind sharing a single room in the Friendly Arm Inn.
Comments
Imoen
Ajantis
Kivan
Branwen
Neera
Much more rounded group than my normal, sub in Khalid and Jaheria over Branwen and Neera. gunna like having a mage, even if she's a time bomb waiting to happen.
Hard to say until I get my hands on the game.
Neera
Imoen
Kivan
(Ajantis)
(Xan)
With the last two being rotated in and out with other npcs depending on where I am in the game. Chunking may change my plans though.
Me, jahera, khalid, and imoen
Human NG Ranger1>Cleric
Imoen
Kivan, then Coran (when available)
Minsc
Dynaheir
Ajantis
or
Human CN Berserker1>Cleric
Edwin
Shar-Teel
Viconia, then Dorn (when available)
Safana
Kagain
I've never played BG1 as an evil party, so I'm leaning towards taking this opportunity to try it. Especially since I want to give Dorn a shot.
In fact, i think i will go for completely experimental party, just for variety's sake.
So maybe something like:
Main - Priest of Talos or Avenger
Neera
Rasaad
Dorn
Xzar
Montaron
Evil party overall, and i have never played an entire game with a priest single or multi class main or with Xzar and Montaron either, so this will be a completely new experience.
After this first run, i will revert back to my main powerhouse party, doing the No reload challenge on Core Rules:
Main - Neutral Good or True Neutral Kensai (max str/dex/con/int) dualed in BG2 into Mage at lvl 9
Imoen (replaced by Jan while she is MIA in BG2)
Kivan - replaced by Keldorn or another paladin in BG2 and Sarevok in ToB
Viconia
Edwin
Either Minsc or Dorn (depending on how strong Dorn actually is) - replaced by Korgan in BG2
I think this is pretty much as close to maximum power as you can get using regular NPC's in the trilogy and i love the characters' personalities a lot as well (with the slight exceptions of Kivan and Keldorn).
Anyway, to answer the original question, I'm looking forward to doing an evil playthrough and trying out the new blackguard kit. I intend to play as a female blackguard and my ultimate goal is to romance Dorn. I will also likely have Shar-Teel in my party (possibly dual-classed to a thief), Safana (at least until I dual Shar-Teel), and Kaigan (until I find Dorn), and probably will give Neera a try at some point. Since I typically haven't done evil playthroughs in the past, I also intend to experiment with some NPCs I've normally overlooked (i.e: Faldorn, Eldoth).
Imoen,
Rasaad,
Neera,
Jaheira,
Minsc.
Elf Mage/Thief
Imoen (Replaced by Neera)
Jaheira
Khalid
Kivan
Coran
However, I may just have to replace Khalid with Rasaad. :P
Imoen
Khalid
Jaheira
Neera
Rasaad
Sorceress PC
Imoen (thief)
Viconia (cleric)
Shar-Teel/Jaheira (fighter)
Dorn (fighter)
Neera/Edwin (mage)
The choice between Shar-Teel and Jaheira depends on whether stats carry over from BGEE to BG2EE - if they do, I'll use tomes on Jaheira and keep her around; if not, I'll just replace Shar-Teel with Korgan in the next game.
Imoen
Jaheira
Khalid
Rasaad
Neera
Fighter/Mage PC (female neutral evil elf) - dual-wield long sword and/or katanas (which are being added to BGEE - see recent FAQ post from @Tanthalas: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/4765/faq/p7), will also use long/composite bow w/o taking the proficiency (still get elf +1THAC0 bow bonus and +1THAC0 long/composite bow bonus anyway)
Dorn (Blackguard) - two-handed sword
Kagain (Fighter) - axes, crossbow
Monty (Figher/Thief) or Imoen (Thief) or Safana (Thief) - shortsword (dagger for Safana) and sling/shortbow/crossbow, respectively
Viconia (Cleric) - mace, sling, then hammers
Edwin (Conjurer) - staff, then darts
I usually play with two thieves, though, one focusing on stealth for scouting/backstabs, one focusing on find traps/locks, so this will be quite a challenge for me - initially may need to rely on Dorn's strength to bash locks, with back-up from the Knock spell for tough locks. If I take Imoen, I don't think I'll be dualing her either.
some fighter-mage dual/multi main (or ranger/cleric... or fighter/cleric. but most likely mage)
Yeslick
Neera
Edwin
these four I'm are pretty sure of... the last two will either be Xzar and Monty (my faves, but I've already played through the game a lot of times with 'em), or some wild combination of Coran, Viconia, and Imoen, depending on whether or not will I be needing a bit of extra healing, turning people into pincushions, or backstabbity backstab.
Kagain
Shar'teel (dualed to thief)
Edwin
Xan
Faldorn
Protagonist will most likely be a blackguard.
Ajantis
Neera
Rasaad
Imoen
And a Bard but Im not sure which
For each quest, I'll decide who I want in my party, and take them along with me. I just hope they don't all mind sharing a single room in the Friendly Arm Inn.
Imoen (dualed to mage)
Neera
Rasaad
Havent decided about the last two.
Imoen, Xan, Kivan, Neera, Dorn.
Xzar (dual class to cleric)
Montaron
Shar-teel
Edwin
Dorn
I am having trouble deciding what I want to play as my CHARNAME.
I am thinking ranged fighter specializing in bows or a fighter/cleric.
Does anyone have any suggestions what my main should be to round out my party?