Help me tweak this party

Chronicler

So I've got my player character. A fighter/thief multiclass
Imoen: thief -> Mage
Jaheira: fighter/druid
Anomen: fighter -> cleric
Neera: Wild Mage
Haer'Dalid: Blade

It's a good team but I want my fighter/thief to be a thief first and a fighter second. I'm worried with this party set up she'll have to take up too much of the warrior duties, since she and Jaheira are the only two proper warriors, and both multiclasses. Thinking I should swap somebody out for a full class warrior like Mazzy but I don't know who.

sarevok57

how many melee types do you want? with this set up you could have up to 3 in melee and have your char is the back if need be

jaheira; she does well in melee by herself, give her a belt of giant STR and she is good to go, especially with that 17 DEX she will have some nice AC, plus she can use ironskins/armor of faith for some more combat protection

anomen; he only really needs the gauntlets of DEX ( since it is horrible ) but if he is wearing those, then he can hold a front line pretty well, especially with draw upon holy might and righteous magic, and then maybe if ya want you can throw in defensive harmony, have jaheira loaded up with healing spells ( thanks to her ironskins protecting her from attacks while casting ) and have anomen loaded up with the buff spells ( whether they are for the party; defensive harmony, chaotic commans, protection from fire or self buffs; draw upon holy might, righteous magic, physical mirror, shield of the archons )

haer'dalis; this guy can also do melee, but its a bit tricky at lower levels, first, pretty much EVERY single fight he will need to be buffed or else he will be turned into chopped liver ( at least on insane difficulty with double damage on ) next his to hit is kind of garbage so he will need some sort of str enhancing item or spell ( the level 2 mage spell strength will set a char's STR to 18/50 for a nice duration, or you can use the STR of One spell from a level 3 cleric which gives everyone 18/75 although it will lower anyone else's STR if it is higher ) but if you can survive the trek, once he hits level 16 he will be able to learn his best spell; tenser's transformation; this will make it so he gains a huge to hit bonus and will actually be able to do something in melee, he will still need buff spells to stay alive though, and thats the problem i have with haer'dalis; he is either pretty decent in combat or complete garbage, and to make him decent or better you HAVE to buff him ALL the time, so i find it annoying, but if that doesnt bother you, then all the better

ilduderino

I would want a bit more fighting power and would swap out Haer’dalis for Mazzy. Valygar or Minsc would also work. Keldorn and Anomen are fun too but they’d have to fight for the gauntlets of dexterity.

Shangeroo

Are you rp this as a neutral party or good aligned party? Haerdalis would be the one to replace

If neutral and willing to accept any mercenary types, Korgan, imo is the best fighting companion in SOA. Have him get grand mastery in katana and dual wield the axe of unyielding and celestial fury and he beserks so immune to lots of things.

If good aligned, Keldorn makes the SOA run easiest. Honestly, he doesn't really need the gauntlets of dexterity since you're using him to DPS with carosmyr. Jaheira with a shield and Iron skins makes for a better tank.

Also, think about whether you plan to replace this sixth character with Sarevok in TOB?

gorgonzola

Chronicler wrote: »

Imoen: thief -> Mage
Jaheira: fighter/druid
Anomen: fighter -> cleric
Neera: Wild Mage
Haer'Dalid: Blade

imoen is a mage that can use thief weapons and can open containers and find traps, thing that would have been great if you had nalia instead as charname could have focused on other thief skills at the beginning (setting traps, detecting illusions and stealth), but for obvious reasons she can't help the party that way.
so give her RoV and use her as main mage when reliability is needed, neera is utterly not reliable until she can cast the spells using a clone, then is the most powerful npc of them all.

jaheria: i have her almost always go for the DW route, she can use a shield if she has to tank for some reason, but with belm in the OH she gain 2 attacks compared with sword and shield or 2hander.
strong dps dealer, good summoner and with the super useful insect spells. very late also with the elemental prince, that can be called also if you have a planetar.

anomen: @sarevok57 imo forgot to mention the key buff for him, holy power, that give to him the same thac0 of a fighter of his cleric level. it also set his str to a certain value, overriding the belts, but then the str is risen by righteous magic and duhm, that you have to cast at last as has the less duration. this way he gets very soon 25 str, better thac0 then a pure fighter (not using crom), a always maxed dmg roll and a good buff at his hp. give him FoA and a good OH mace or hammer and will hit like a truck until the end of ToB.

neera: wild mage so super powerful, but only if you reload often or you follow strictly some rules like never have more then the minimum money, loot and gems can be sold when you really need to buy something, never cast spells on self (stoneskin or PFMW can be exceptions if she need to survive) or on the party, never cast without the item that act as a chaos shield and as she can cast it the improved chaos shield. and as soon as possible cast ONLY trough a PI or simulacrum.
doing that i had NEVER to reload for a bad surge, even if i use often dwehomers, that are the main reason of her utter power, she don't memorize other spells at that level.
the PI can cast up to 12 lev 9 spells, 6 of them can be picked on the fly, no need to memorize them.
6 energy drain to lower the level of a boss of 12, 6 wail of the banshee to get rid of large groups, 6 dragon breaths, 6 imprisonments? no problem she can late game do it on the fly, without any preparation before resting, so each PI can use a different tactic in the same day.
and obviously 6 wish/PI to replenish the spell books and items and to get rid of fatigue at once.
dwehomers don't even need improved alacrity as ignore the 1 spell/round limit, and on top of that she has her up to 6 regular lev 9 and lev 8 spells.
no edvin, no korgan no anybody else can get close to the utter power of a mid-late game wild mage.
as soon as she can cast lev 7 spells my neera start to spam all the lev 8 and 9 spells that she knows, ADHW in chap 2? sure, fight the CW, loot the scroll and use it trough dwehomer, 6 times with each PI, even if neera still lacks the level to cast a single lev 8 spell.


haer dalis. secondary mage as neera is not reliable to do it (no spells targeting the party) so very useful imoen's helper.
and blade. so equip him with 2 speed weapons, imo whit this order as soon as they become available boomerang dagger->firetooth dagger->scarlet ninja to MH and kundane OH (belm is needed for jaheira)
the daggers are also good weapons ranged. he will get 4 apr, 5 with the spin, 8 with improved alacrity.
he really needs every item that can boost his thac0, and in late game is better to use him with SNT MH crom OH and the gauntlets that give +1/2 apr. he looses 1/2 apr but his damage and thac0 are improved and he can hit almost every late game enemy.
he, and not jaheira, is the better tank if you are able to use at best the defensive spin, he can use blur and improved invisibility to further boost his ac and he will get a very low one. this mean that his stoneskins will last very long even against enemies with good thac0. the key is not to have him pinned to the ground while the enemies focus on other party toons, party's positioning is a key to have him tanking. if it happens the offensive spin overrides the defensive one letting you re position him.
so secondary mage, good damage dealer an best tank at the same time.
obviously the enhanced song and the hla traps are super useful. set 4 time traps and profit of 4 high apr rounds damage for free, while completely ignoring enemy's ac, as TS=granted hits without retaliation.
and tensor is always an option with him, better thac0 and a lot of hp, starting with blur, stoneskin and mirror images active and retaining the spins, i don't like to have the casting disabled, but for a blade sometimes i do an exception.

so with anomen, probably the most powerful mlee wise, jaheira and the blade you have already plenty of physical power, charname can back up when needed but in many situations he can also act as a thief.
and they all can cover also other functions, the 2 divine casters have spells useful to protect the party like chaotic commands and are perfect antimage (insects) and anti undead (turn), the blade is the real imoen's helper and backup.

if i see a problem in your party is the presence of neera and imoen at the same time. why?
simple, there is only a single RoV...
but you can swap it between the 2 depending if you want to use the very reliable imoen or the super powerful but risky wild mage.

not giving to haer dalis all the best items to improve his thac0, not buffing properly anomen and not going for the DW route with jaheira you need a korgan or charname will have to play more as fighter then as thief.

having to play charname as rogue i would specialize him in staves (backstab and later the most damaging weapon) and 2H sword (carsomyr to dispel on hit). it is true that also the SoTM can dispel on hit so pips in staff and 2 hand style (double critical chance on stabs) and then in DW and the good weapons that the other party members will not use (long swords, bastard swords and halberds) work as good.

EDIT: if you know how to use it you already have a SUPER party, strong mlee and super strong at casting, no need to change it at all.