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Party Build... Yet Again!

Hello all, first post so please go easy!

I've played he games on and off over the years but it was about two years ago I played a run that got me to the end boss in TOB. Well that's as far as I got. Life took over and I never cracked the game.

I'm looking at doing a run from start to finish and want to know what the best party is, not which NPC but:

3 x Tank
1 x Thief
1 x Divine Caster
1 x Mage

or, is it two tanks and two mages with a thief and a divine caster?

Is dual classing worth while? Part of me is saying let the fighters fight and the mages mage. Still, dual classing the CHAR name from fighter to mage gives a more robust lead character even if they purely play the role of a mage.

My 3, 1, 1, 1 setup comes from a friend of mine that got BG back in the day, so to me that has somehow stuck as the default format.

Comments

  • RVNSRVNS Member Posts: 285
    There is no specific or ideal party setup. Either of the above listed class lists would do just fine. It is simply a matter of taste. I personally prefer multiclassing over dualclassing but both have advantages over the other.

    For someone who is just looking for a run to the end of the game, either of the above lists are balanced enough to get you there. If you get stuck at a point please feel free to post here again or look over the forums as they carry a large library of knowledge. The community is chocked full of helpful and nice people willing to help any player.

    Best of luck!
  • joluvjoluv Member Posts: 2,137
    It sounds like you might be treating "tank" (a character whose primary role is to absorb enemy attacks) as synonymous with "warrior" (a Fighter, Ranger, Paladin, or Monk) which is not really the case in these games. Most parties have at least one warrior whose primary role is dealing damage, and as you get farther into BG2, some of the most successful tanking strategies rely on magic (Stoneskin, Iron Skins, Protection from Magical Weapons, etc.) instead of heavy armor.
    booinyoureyes
  • tbone1tbone1 Member Posts: 1,985
    If I play the tank, I rarely find any need for another. NPCs like Mazzy and Valygar can do in a pinch. Jaheira and Anomen can buff their way to tankdom. Aerie and Jan, at high levels, can buff into epic tanks for one fight. But one good dedicated tank should be enough.
  • NeverusedNeverused Member Posts: 803
    When building a normal party, I have several criteria I like to hit:
    1 Thief, because dealing with traps whose effects are unknown is terrifying.
    1 or 2 Raise Dead users, since I'm terrified of running out of Wand of Resurrection charges in the Underdark or somewhere similar. Cleric/Jaheira/Shaman, in other words.
    Enough casts of Death Ward and Chaotic Commands to layer the entire party
    1 Arcane user
    1 Front-liner
    2 physical damage dealers.

    And note that these roles can and often do overlap for me. Aerie fills a Raise Dead user, an Arcane caster, and provides some Death Wards and Chaotic Commands. Anomen also fits a Raise Dead user, but he can also fulfill the slots of Front-liner and Physical damage dealer to some extent. Imoen and Jan both fill the Thief and Arcane user slot, while Haer'dalis is Arcane user, Front-liner, physical damage dealer.

    So an example party of mine, starting with a theoretical Sun Soul Monk.
    SSM is a physical damage dealer, but can't really be the only front-liner, especially not as CHARNAME, and fulfills no other role. For a Thief, I'll do the standard Yoshimo -> Imoen. For the Death Wards and Chaotic commands, I'll throw in Cernd and Anomen. I'll have only one Raise Dead user, but that should be fine. I'm lacking Arcane support at the moment before Spellhold so... Neera can join the squad as well.
    Going down the checklist, 1 Thief (Yoshimo -> Imoen), enough divine spellcasters for the necessary buffs (Cernd, Anomen), two arcane spellcasters (Imoen, Neera), 2 to 3 front liners (Cernd in GWW form, SSM late in the game, Anomen) and two physical damage dealers (CHARNAME, Anomen). I have an empty 6th slot that I can do literally whatever I want to and feel generally OK with, or even leave it open for a rotating 6th quest member slot.

    tbone1Noobacca
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    One strategy you can always use is having a thief solely for traps and locks, ignoring the set traps and backstab features. If this is the case, you can dual class a thief into a mage after satisfying the requirements for open locks and disarm traps, or use a multiclass mage/thief and add future thieving points into the remaining categories after first dealing with traps/locks.

    Having two mages is really useful for some fights, where they can both cast a spell that debilitates the opponent. If you have one cast web and the other cast slow/glitterdust/grease at the start of a battle many of the fights in the middle/late game become much easier.
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    Raptorman said:


    Is dual classing worth while? Part of me is saying let the fighters fight and the mages mage. Still, dual classing the CHAR name from fighter to mage gives a more robust lead character even if they purely play the role of a mage.

    Dual-classing has no long term ramifications, so for someone looking to play optimally it is a good call. I once did a run with a Fighter 6/Mage dual class, and although the Fighter levels were miniscule, it really changed the way in which I was able to play the character right through SoA and ToB.

    Another solid idea, though it's a little more costly for time, is to dual-class a Thief into a Mage (or vice versa!) Several NPCs already do this for you, but it's a straightforward and effective combo so you can handle life's little inconveniences without having to take particular NPCs with you. A Thief that is taken all the way up to level 9-12 before dual-class can handle all of life's little inconveniences and lay down some traps or offer some stealth, too, which is a whole lot of fun. The reverse method (Mage into Thief) is incredibly fun too, in my experience. You only really needs to go up to level 5 arcane magic before this combo becomes both flavourful and potent.
    tbone1Noobacca
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