What is the most needed, consistently impactful, player character for BG2:EE ?

AngryUSAMan

I'm trying to decide which character to build for my upcoming playthrough of BG2:EE. Some requirements I have are that he/she is useful in a way in which other companions I meet in the game cannot be (i.e. it fills a hole that the companions I would choose do not) and preferably that it not have a significant amount of downtime to reach a high power level (such as dual classing at level 13 since most of the game will be spent regaining levels before becoming powerful).

Bonus points if you list which companions you would choose for the specific player character that you recommend. I have never completed all of BG2 but have finished BG1 so I'm not entirely familiar with item locations, specific tricks or other metagaming knowledge unlike all you pros around here. I suppose I would like a character that doesn't require an immense amount of experience with the game in order to "get right" the first time around. Also, I think I may have an easier time with a good party until I finish the game my first time around.

The more details, the better. I appreciate your time and any advice that you offer.

DJKajuru

Alright, let's me see...good party, effective, not much micromanagement...

Go with mage or specialist mage , and for your party pick minsc , jaheira , yoshimo and aerie.


Mage is a safe choice because in BG2 there are lots of spells that help you avoid getting damage (stoneskin,several illusions, protection from ...) while having access to spells that cause a lot of damage. If you've enough experience you could try using disabling spells such as chaos, confusion and glitterdust.

I chose the supposed canon party to help you because Minsc is already strong, has profs in powerful weapons such as 2 handed sword and longbow , and his berserk ability protects from all sorts of mental attacks. And he can wear any type of armor. Minsc geta better and better throughout the game .

Jaheira is a very useful character .Her druid levels go up faster than a cleric's therefore her multiclasse is not much of a problem , she has amazing healing and summoning spells ,and she can tank well provided that you get het decent armor+shield and increase her strength (magically or through potions or items).

Aerie is a safe alternative because she can help as support (healing) and magical firepower. She can also use shields and helmets for further protection. Considering that you already have a wizard , aerie also works as a backup mage memorizing spells that you may no have,or spells that complement each other (for instance, she casts greater malison while you cast chaos).

Finally, yoshimo because he is the only non-evil single classed thief. Traps and locks are very strong in BG2 and a thief is important specially for beginners . He levels up fast and his traps are very powerful when you can use them before combat. Replace him by Imoen in chapter 3 and you'll still have a good thief and also another backup mage (Imoen doesn't look so powerful at the begining but soon she'll have access to high level wizard spells).

I left the sixth slot optional because in IE games theres always room for that extra chatacter you have a taste for (a bard, a druid, a ranger etc) . Also, in ToB there's a new npc coming up so I'd pick him.

Souplesse

Hello,
The answer is very subjective obviously

First, I don’t like to play BG2 without BG1 Rp wise.

Then, I recommand one time playing good with :
-Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir and imoen in BG
-Jaheira, Minsc, Keldorn, Aerie, Yoshi—>Imoen in Bg2
In Tob I like to replace Keldorn by Mr Tob. Rp wise, his last quest is finish (beat Irenicus?) You can olso keep him obviously.

So you have a lot of different possibilities for charname! Maybe you’ll need some magic before rescuing Imoen so Sorcerer/mage or fighter/mage multi are good options. You cannot go wrong with a paladin or a fighter cleric either...
The way you play with Jaheira is an important consideration cause if you play her as a melee (best choice for me), you have already 3 front liners (Jaheira/Minsc/Keldorn) !
A lots of possibilities

Danacm

Very straightforward to use a paladin kit - cavalier or undead hunter. Minimal micromanagement and effective class, warrior thaco,hp, apr, minor clerical spells (buffs), all armor type and can cast in armor. Very beginner friendly. After that the berserker fighter kit is easy, ad the multi fighter/thief is great too.

Aaezil

Most impactful will come down to how well you play your class. Almost all strong classes can be “most impactful” in a party

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AngryUSAMan

Very nice suggestions all around here. So, I noticed that a couple of you recommend Aerie over Anomen for the cleric slot. Does her multiclass slow her down too much with gaining enough useful spells to be a great caster? I had thought I would use Anomen for his extra survivability and access to higher spell levels and more spells along with better turn undead. Is Aerie the best choice?

I like the idea of playing either a fighter/mage or single class mage. The only thing I would be worried about is that there seems to be no thief besides Yoshi and Imoen. Yoshi's great while he's around, but Imoen would be the end game thief and so I wonder, is 7 levels of thief sufficient for locks/traps for the highest level content? I guess the only other alternative would be to build a fighter/thief protagonist since I'd rather not make my character a single class thief. What advice would you offer with regards to my thieving needs?


Characters I'm considering taking with me:

Keldorn, Anomen OR Aerie (advice needed), Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshi/Imoen

I think I would switch Minsc out temporarily with other NPCs to do their quests then pick him back up afterwards.

Souplesse

Dex will be a problème if you take Keldorn and Anomen because you have only one gauntlet of dex.
I don’t like Anomen... he is a prick first, then cleric’s HLA are the worse for a frontliner. Aerie have a very different role in the team : buffing/debuffing and supporting mage. Some say that she can tank too, of course she can but she cannot properly dps soo there are better choices for that.

jsaving

FMT, FM, and FT are all super-strong choices that ensure you'll be consistently impactful throughout the BG saga. If you're not interested in recruiting Jan, add MT to the list.

Khyron

Player Character: Fighter/Mage.. because it's super powerful right out of candlekeep and arguably the single most powerfull bhaalspawn you can create.
(Fighter/Cleric is a good alternative)

Party:
Anomen - Levels up as a Single class cleric, extremely good for blade barrier /w sanctuary and he can instagib even the most powerfull liches with his turn undead, if you grind out enough xp. (lvl 26 for kangaxx?)
He'll also wreak havoc with divine buffs and flail of ages.

Keldorn - Because he dispells anything, sees through any illusion with true seeing, and can wield the Carsomyr, which is like.. stupendously powerful

Aerie - Very, very underestimated. Give her the Robe of Vecna (Adventurer's marts) and she will cast priest spells so fast, and thus heal you so fast, that there's simply not a single character that can compete with her in terms of heals and support spells.

Imoen - You'll want a single(or dual) class mage/sorcerer to get access to the most powerful spells asap.. besides, she's your sister. (Will need intelligence potion/item) to add lvl 9 spells to her book, but that's not a problem really.

Now, depending on wether you choose to go ranged or melee with your F/M, i'd choose last char like this:

If Ranged, leave last slot empty until ToB for more xp per char.
Then pick up

brother dearest.

If melee, you'll have you, Keldorn and Anomen up front already and more than 3 is a crowd.
Then pick up Jan Jansen for more spells and amazing thief HLA (game breaking traps that do up to 120 damage each, and you can stack 7 in one spot..)


This party would obliterate any feeble resistance you'd encounter in SoA.

Your F/M would have enough weapon pips for both melee and ranged, so you could switch around as you see fit.. and with all those magical protections you'll be invincible, albeit for shorter timespans than a F/C would be extremely resistant to damage.

It kinda works like this:
F/M can be invincible for limited durations
F/C can be extremely resistant to damage for fairly long periods of time (Armor of Faith + Defender of Easthaven alone is like 45% immunity to physical damage, use warrior HLA and you're at 85% reduction.. and this'll last you much longer than the F/M's complete immunities.

DJKajuru

AngryUSAMan said:

Very nice suggestions all around here. So, I noticed that a couple of you recommend Aerie over Anomen for the cleric slot. Does her multiclass slow her down too much with gaining enough useful spells to be a great caster? I had thought I would use Anomen for his extra survivability and access to higher spell levels and more spells along with better turn undead. Is Aerie the best choice?

I like the idea of playing either a fighter/mage or single class mage. The only thing I would be worried about is that there seems to be no thief besides Yoshi and Imoen. Yoshi's great while he's around, but Imoen would be the end game thief and so I wonder, is 7 levels of thief sufficient for locks/traps for the highest level content? I guess the only other alternative would be to build a fighter/thief protagonist since I'd rather not make my character a single class thief. What advice would you offer with regards to my thieving needs?


Characters I'm considering taking with me:

Keldorn, Anomen OR Aerie (advice needed), Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshi/Imoen

I think I would switch Minsc out temporarily with other NPCs to do their quests then pick him back up afterwards.

That's why I mentioned Aerie as a necessary backup mage or cleric. She won't get high level spells fast, but she can cast disabling spells such as chaos, hold person and glitterdust. She can also summon elementals or restore lost levels. As a mage she can cast spells that don't rely on level such as breach .

jsaving

AngryUSAMan said:

I like the idea of playing either a fighter/mage or single class mage. The only thing I would be worried about is that there seems to be no thief besides Yoshi and Imoen.

If you're worried about that then you should opt for FMT rather than FM. Fighter/mage, fighter/thief, and mage/thief have the best synergies in the game and you get them all with FMT. Plus you don't have to worry about carrying any of BG2's thief NPCs who I would argue are much weaker than CHARNAME (though I know there are some Yoshi/Imoen defenders on these boards).

Just keep in mind that you'll never receive 9th level spells. FMT is highly OP without them for many, many reasons, but if you have your heart set on dragon's breath or improved alacrity then FMT probably isn't the class for you.

Lammas

I'm not sure if I'd call it impactful but I always felt a bit of sadness that there is no Archer NPC in BG2. Mazzy comes closest being a fighter with 5 points in shortbows and good dex but not quite archer kit. Valygar can work but he ain't no archer kit either. It's also a pretty straighforward class: take the backline and shoot bad guys but he does get the ability to dualwield for what it's worth for him and gains some low level druid spells too.

Jan is also a mage-thief in the game and can fill the thief role especially with most of his starting gear giving him all sorts of boosts to thieving abilities. But if he nor yoshimo/imoen grab your fancy then making your own character able to fill that role is probably advisable.

Grond0

If you want your PC to be something unique, then I would steer away from mage types as you've got NPC options available there. Have you considered a wizard slayer? Their limitation on use of equipment makes them vulnerable as a solo, but in a full party that's not an issue and you get a character that:
- has the advantages of a fighter meaning they can always be in the action and getting more than their share of party kills.
- provides a unique ability not available to any NPC that makes many fights in the saga much easier.
- at high levels 100%+ MR makes the character a real beast in lots of combats (though in a full party you may well find you never get to maximum levels).

Chronicler

Grond0 said:

If you want your PC to be something unique, then I would steer away from mage types as you've got NPC options available there. Have you considered a wizard slayer? Their limitation on use of equipment makes them vulnerable as a solo, but in a full party that's not an issue and you get a character that:
- has the advantages of a fighter meaning they can always be in the action and getting more than their share of party kills.
- provides a unique ability not available to any NPC that makes many fights in the saga much easier.
- at high levels 100%+ MR makes the character a real beast in lots of combats (though in a full party you may well find you never get to maximum levels).

Wouldn't a wizard slayer only have 80ish Magic Resistance at max level?

Grond0

Chronicler said:

Grond0 said:

If you want your PC to be something unique, then I would steer away from mage types as you've got NPC options available there. Have you considered a wizard slayer? Their limitation on use of equipment makes them vulnerable as a solo, but in a full party that's not an issue and you get a character that:
- has the advantages of a fighter meaning they can always be in the action and getting more than their share of party kills.
- provides a unique ability not available to any NPC that makes many fights in the saga much easier.
- at high levels 100%+ MR makes the character a real beast in lots of combats (though in a full party you may well find you never get to maximum levels).

Wouldn't a wizard slayer only have 80ish Magic Resistance at max level?

@Chronicler that's right. A WS basic MR tops out at 84%. In addition you can get another 10% in the hell trials. When I wrote the above I was also assuming that you could use the Amulet of Seldarine in ToB. That always made sense to me given it was a gift from the elves to the Bhaalspawn and elves are experts at producing items not normally usable (like elven chainmail for mages). However, when I checked it seems that since I last played a WS in ToB the EE has decided that was an error and the amulet is no longer usable.

You can still get over 100% of course by using weapons / armor / shield to boost that, but I accept that doing so is much less attractive than the previous position I had in mind.

Danacm

Agree with @Grond0 almost every class is covered. Mages and arcane magic is over represented. Yes fighter mage is brokenly strong but in a party you really dont need such a strong character and can be more interesting combinations. Wizard slayers ability is uniq, and not used by any npc. Druid, cleric and straight fighter is covered too. Archer is not much but a high damaging fighter, a paladin is maybe interesting if used well. Sorcerer is the other kit that not used but againy its arcane magic.

dunbar

How about an Assassin? It's a role that's certainly not covered by any existing npcs and can have an impact right from the start as a mage disrupter, plus it covers basic thieving skills.

jsaving

Just about every class and class combination with the exception of FM, FT, and FMT are covered. But again, keep in mind that FM and FMT don't "handle" magic for the party as some are stating, because their caster level is too low to effectively use damage-dealing spells nor do they receive your highest-level spells until late/never.

What the M part does is basically make you the game's strongest tank whether you choose to wear robes, leather, or plate. For a fighter/mage that means you can enter nearly any fight in the game with impunity (and can even cast spell immunity when facing liches and the like). Also, when going FMT, the ability to cast invisibility more or less at will lets you backstab on command without putting any points in stealth skills and then gives you the melee staying power to easily survive even if your backstab reveals you in the middle of a mob.

Danacm

dunbar said:

How about an Assassin? It's a role that's certainly not covered by any existing npcs and can have an impact right from the start as a mage disrupter, plus it covers basic thieving skills.

To fill this role use fighter/thief instead. And Valygar.

dunbar

Danacm said:

dunbar said:

How about an Assassin? It's a role that's certainly not covered by any existing npcs and can have an impact right from the start as a mage disrupter, plus it covers basic thieving skills.

To fill this role use fighter/thief instead. And Valygar.

But neither of those have Poison Weapon which is what makes a ranged assassin such a good mage disrupter.

Vitor

You can't be a better mage than Edwin.
And you can't be a better priest than Viconia.

Those are facts. So, we have Thieves or Warriors.


If you want to be a Thief, you should have to know that the infinity engine is really stucked for Thieves. At least I can't play as a thief properly...
But there is not good thieves as NPCs in the game. You had Coran in BG1... He's sufficient as a thief there, but his best parts are for his fighters' abilities, since he's a great archer. So, you sure is able to make the best thief in the game for your main character.

You have great warriors as NPCs. Korgan is incredibly strong! Keldorn is also a really strong paladin. But usually you'd like to have at least 2 warriors at your party. So, you sure can make a warrior as strong as these two.
When I played BG Saga, I played it with an Elven Fighter (Berserk) and it was great. In Throne of Bhaal I had Charname, Korgan and a spoiler character that can join your party in ToB and is also a really strong fighter. Those 3 in the frontline demolished anything in their way!

AngryUSAMan

You are all giving me some really good ideas. One thing I still don't know though is if Imoen's thief skills are enough to handle all the traps and locks in ToB especially. I figured she would be fine for the SoA stuff but does she get 100 in find traps and pick locks? Have you all found her lacking when it comes to traps/locks late in the game?

If she's sufficient for the party's thief, I will likely go with a gnome Fighter/Illusionist for the shorty saves and extra intelligence. I've also decided to play through BG1 first before starting since it's been a long time since I finished it and I like the idea of grabbing the attribute tomes.

ThacoBell

@AngryUSAMan I think there are like 2 locks or traps across SoA and ToB that she can't disarm. Until you give her one of the many potion of master thieveries' that exist in the game. You won't need any other thieves with her in the party. There is exactly one trap somewhere that can't be disarmed by anybody.

Danacm

Or try a bard yourself, eg: a blade kit. I know there is one in the 2nd game but whatever. You as a bard train magic from Gorion and you can teach Imoen how to use magic. And both of you are rogues

Grond0

While there's no shortage of thieves, another kit that provides something unique is the bounty hunter. All thief traps are powerful if you stack them up, but the bounty hunter specials are particularly so. The latest EE edition has reinstated the ability to throw those, so you can treat them like fireballs for much of the game in addition to pre-laying them. Later in the game you get maze traps and there's something particularly satisfying about mazing an opponent and then filling the space where they will reappear full of skull traps .

AngryUSAMan

ThacoBell said:

@AngryUSAMan I think there are like 2 locks or traps across SoA and ToB that she can't disarm. Until you give her one of the many potion of master thieveries' that exist in the game. You won't need any other thieves with her in the party. There is exactly one trap somewhere that can't be disarmed by anybody.

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to know

@Vitor I will definitely be bringing Edwin and Viconia along when I get around to doing an evil game. It seems like a F/M/T might be good in that type of party but I may instead do a F/T because of my playing a gnome Illusionist/Fighter in my good playthrough which I'll be doing first.

@Grondo, I didn't realize that Bounty Hunters could throw traps in EE. That's very helpful to know.

Grond0

AngryUSAMan said:

@Grondo, I didn't realize that Bounty Hunters could throw traps in EE. That's very helpful to know.

They can't do so (at least successfully) unless they are out of sight of any enemy, but that's not difficult. If you like cheese you can even deliberately blind your own bounty hunter (or any thief), so that they can lay traps while very close to an enemy.

Skatan

Personally, I think it's good to have one single class character per main class, so fighter, mage and cleric (and/or druid). The only main class that isn't really needed to level single class, is thief.

So, by playing a fighter/mage or a fighter/thief or a fighter/cleric you can use the best NPCs that level as singleclass but still remain impactfull all the way since you have two roles; tank/ranged fighter and supporting caster or main thief and supporting fighter.

My personal choice; F/M, gnome for +spell slots and +saves. F/C, dwarf for pure awesomeness, F/T, any really, perhaps halforc if you like STR, otherwise any shortie class for +saves (I prefer the latter).

Good pairings are always a SC mage, ie Nalia/Imoen, Edwin, SC fighters Korgan, Minsc, Mazzy, etc, SC clerics Anomen or Viccy, SC druid, Cernd (yes, Cernd is GREAT). As said SC Thief isn't needed so I always use Jan Jensen (supporting mage as well) or Nalia. I like Yoshi as a character, but his starting points aren't that great IMHO.

The rest of the slots, fill them at your leisure, but here's a few examples:

Charname; F/M
SC Mage: Nalia, Edwin (Imoen)
SC Cleric / Druid: Viccy/Anomen/Cernd
MC Thief/mage: Jan (second supporting mage, but could be changed for Yoshi)
SC Warrior class: Korgan, Mazzy, Keldorn, Minsc, Valygar (to some extent.. ) etc
MC Divine: Jaheira as supporting divine caster

Charname; F/C
SC Mage: Nalia, Edwin (Imoen)
SC Cleric / Druid: Viccy/Anomen/Cernd
MC Thief/mage: Jan (second mage since charname is not a supporting mage)
SC Warrior class: Korgan, Mazzy, Keldorn, Minsc, Valygar (to some extent.. ) etc

Charname F/T
SC Mage: Nalia, Edwin (Imoen)
SC Cleric / Druid: Viccy/Anomen/Cernd
MC Thief/mage: Jan (supporting mage since charname is not a supporting mage, supporting thief if needed or if charname goes for backstab/stealth. Can be removed if Charname is full-time thief and use someone else instead)
SC Warrior class: Korgan, Mazzy, Keldorn, Minsc, Valygar (to some extent.. ) etc

So with setups like these you will have at least two frontliners with warrior class; charname and at least one more SC fighter. You will have either charname as supporting mage or buff-monkey supporting cleric (a buffed up dwarf F/C outperforms Korgan in battle). If you go down the F/T route, you can ie backstab or take the role as main thief and thus skipping other thieves alltogether, adding more warriors (ie one ranged and one or two melee), clerics, druids, mages or other funny options like Haer'dalis etc.