How to get to ToB

velehal

I have finished BG1 with kensai and have an idea for a party in BG2:

kensai 13/mage, Mazzy, Rashad, Aerie, Imoen and later Sarevok. Insane SCS without double damage.

The party looks great but only in ToB. The real challenge will be to get there because the most of party members are weak in early/middle parts of SoA. Aerie is ok but levels very slowly, Rashad shines only later, Imoen is in Spellhold without spells and charname is squishy and after the dual-classing almost useless. Only Mazzy is great. Mazzy is always great. So it will be important who will be the sixth member in SoA until I get Sarevok. I am inclined to take Anomen because the second cleric and partial fighter will be handy and he is such asshole that I will have no regrets to swap him for Sarevok.
I am very scared of Spellhold and especially of Irenicus in Spellhold. I don´t know how to relialby beat him with this party with 1,5 million of experience without equipment. The only positive news is that even on isane difficulty he shouldn´t have any HLA in Spellhod. So no planetar.

Any advices for smoother transit to ToB?

Lord_Tansheron

Don't dual the Kensai at 13, dual it at 9. The benefits of dualing at 13 are not worth the downside.

How easy ToB is really depends on whether you've done Watcher's Keep. It has crazy XP and crazy gear, and makes a lot of things a lot easier.

Since you're not playing on LoB mode, a Kensai and a Monk are probably a very solid base for damage output already. Everything else is icing on the cake. Anomen could be a decent pick for a Sarevok stand-in, fighter/cleric combos are usually solid damage and you already have two mages. Alternatively, a heavy hitter like Keldorn might also be of interest, or if you don't mind the alignment, then Viconia could probably do well, too.

velehal

I know that it is ideal to dual at level 9 but I prefer level 13. I will do Watcher´s Keep after I get Sarevok, not in SoA.

iosfrustration

SCS is tough without a proper mage of your own. all of the traditional hard-counters to mage power such as inquisitor dispel, Druid IP and etc have been weakened to pointlessness in SCS

If you need to round out your roster with some arcane punch then Nalia could be a good fit.

monico

iosfrustration wrote: »

SCS is tough without a proper mage of your own. all of the traditional hard-counters to mage power such as inquisitor dispel, Druid IP and etc have been weakened to pointlessness in SCS

If you need to round out your roster with some arcane punch then Nalia could be a good fit.

Not sure I understand what you mean, he has himself (fighter/mage dual), Imoen (pure mage with a few thief levels) and Aerie (powerhouse). He has access to a lots of arcane magic.

Or do you mean before his PC duals and he saves Imy ?

In which case, I agree that Nalia, being an Imoen-doppelganger, is a good replacement until he can reclaim Imoen (gameplay will also be the same, so no downtime to readjust your new party composition).

For OP's question, I'd suggest recruiting either Keldorn or Valygar to fill your 6th slot until ToB:
- Keldorn, with his dispels and Carsormyr, can tank very well and take care of many mages (not sure though with SCS, I am not familiar with the changes to Inquisitor's dispels @iosfrustration is referring to)
- Valygar has great damage output, can scout and backstab better than any NPC in the game, has access to a few useful spells, and has fun banters with Mazzy.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention Korgan. Although his alignment might contradict with your party composition, it's actually quite fun especially since it is temporary (he insults Aerie, but I think it is just to "toughen her up", flirts with Mazzy, and mocks Nalia).
He's a beast as a fighter, very tanky, very hard hitting, and has loads of immunities thanks to his Berserker Enrage ability.
In other words, he is the tank you deserve, but maybe not the one you need right now.

ithildurnew

Despite what @iosfrustration seems to imply, the SCS changes to Inquisitor dispel (like most SCS components)is entirely optional. You can keep Inquisitors, insect spells, etc. just as they are in vanilla. Even if modded, 1.5x character level vs 2x is far from making the Dispel ability 'pointless'.

Nalia until Spellhold seems logical for this group which clearly seems good aligned (I assume you're going for a certain change in life perspective for Sarevok). A solid mage plus Inquisitor combo is very optimal for SCS.

Sir Anomen with grandmastery on FoA plus 16 WIS can be a powerhouse eventually, especially if you install the SCS component with IWD spells (there's a couple of IWD cleric buffs that make them almost as good as mages vs enemy SCS ai).

The toughest part probably will be ch2 when duals and multiclasses are at their weakest; just need to be careful until level 6 spells come online. Make sure you use Spell Immunity Abjuration for fights involving enemy mages; this is one of the biggest adjustments for people new to SCS.

I'd also recommend a level 9 dual if you're concerned about surviving early/mid SoA; then again I prefer multiclass F/M if the priority is ToB/longterm potential - they have much more options at higher levels than duals, which is helpful when half of a mage's spellbook start to become useless due to ToB saving throws.

velehal

I have full install of SCS (except tougher random encounters due to liches), inquisitors dispel at 1.5 of their level.
I am pondering only the 6th party memeber who will be replaced by Sarevok. Instead of Imoen I will have Jan and Yoshimo.
Korgan is awesome and I like him but problem is his conflict with Aerie. If it happens in chapter 2 or 3, I will release Korgan and replace him. But if it happens in Underdark (Can it there happen?), it will be inconvenient.

ithildurnew

If you're wanting to make SoA life easier you'll probably want a single or dual class divine caster (and arcane too, really). Jan and Aerie will both be lagging behind until they hit their stride mid/late SoA (and so will Imoen due to being locked up in spellhold); essentially all your casters so far are behind which won't make things easier, plus Monk won't hit his stride until late either.

Summary: your entire party so far is fairly squishy/ranged AND behind in caster levels... I'd recommend Anomen or Keldorn with gloves of Dex/potions of Dex.

iosfrustration

monico wrote: »

Or do you mean before his PC duals and he saves Imy ?
.

Yeah, I’m thinking chapter 2 and 3 are going to be the challenging bit for this party, especially with SCS

Imoen is still in jail, Charname is not going to have any useful mage levels yet. So Aerie is going to be his only arcane caster for a decent chunk of the early game. as a multi she is outclassed by most SCS mages in the early game

Taking Nalia all the way to Spellhold seems like a good way to plug the gap while OP waits for Aerie to become an unstoppable powerhouse and charname to get his mage game on. Of course I always feel a bit mean abandoning Nalia in the maze.

On a side note, I avoided Korgan for years because of the conflict with my (normally good aligned) party. But OMG that dude is awesome, I’ve come to love him

velehal

I always install CDTweaks component that NPC ignore reputation so I can take evil party member. But I am leaving the conflicts between NPCs intact so Korgan and Aerie can´t be in the same group.
Yes, the group is weak in SoA, at least befero charname regains kensai´s abilities. But in ToB will be very strong. Kensai/mage, cleric/mage, mage, monk and two pure fighters.
I won´t definitely leave anybody in Spellhold. Whoever there is instead of Imoen (Nalia, Jan...), he/she will be replaced before the sail to Spellhold by Yoshimo.
In chapter II I will probably skip Planar Sphere and Astral Prison and do them after the return from Underdark.