Who Makes The Cut (possible spoilers)

Gamey_Jamie

I've dabbled with all the party members through various play-throughs but I tend to go for the same set up: Morte, Dak'kon, Annah, Grace, Nordom. But am I missing out having not really explored Vhailor and Ignis? And if I put one/both of them in who would you cut from the group? All the characters are great so it's a tough choice.

jsaving

There are big XP/memory gains from exhausting their dialogue trees but little else to be gained from carrying them in your party.

Zaxares

I always wind up using that same party too. Both Ignis and Vhailor are fascinating characters, but Ignis' grasp on sanity is tenuous to say the least, and Vhailor is such a single-minded entity that you know if Vhailor won't hesitate to turn on you in an instant if you happen to break his narrow-minded version of justice. (In fact, that's the only reason one of your previous incarnations didn't kill him. He knew that if he ever needed something to destroy himself permanently in the future, he might just have a need for Vhailor.)

Gamey_Jamie

Thanks for coming back to me jsaving and Zaxares. Thought as much. I suppose I'm just keen to do something different with my latest play-through but completely get what you're saying. I'm running a rogue this time who will be chaotic good. With that being the case I imagine Vhailor would want to skin me sooner rather than later. That leads me to Ignus. If TNO isn't a mage I'd be reliant on Dak'kon for spellcasting and he's not the best. But then not sure who would go to make space for him - suppose Annah as she's a rogue too but their relationship is so interesting would be a shame not to experience that again.

Also not sure if there is any particular interaction with Ignus/Vhailor and the other party members? I know Grace seems to have a soft spot for Nordom for example and pops up with some banter between them, which is charming and made me smile.

It's a good problem to have and testament again to the writing in this amazing game.

Cyeh

As far as I remember, all of them were approached by one of the previous incarnations for their ability to permanently end TNO: Ignus could burn him, Vhailor could pass judgement the hard way (suddenly I've felt an urge to watch Dredd) and Dak'kon could cut the astral cord during plane travel. I might be wrong, but even Xachariah's aim was deadly for everyone, even TNO.

Personally, I think only Annah, Morte and Dak'kon add something meaningful in a more or less significant way to the actual plot while playing. The rest are just a cool story + extra XP for exploring their dialogues once. Since you usually take Grace and Nordom - no reason not to take the other two this time. The short video of Ignus in the end is worth it as is watching Vhailor wreak *utter havoc* after being resurrected and told that there'd been some injustice done.

Queegon

I usually cut Fall-from-Grace and always pack Morte, Dak'kon and Nordom.
Vhailor is just a slightly different Morte with less tankiness and more damage, the only meaningful thing he brings to the table is extra stats for lawful characters, a lot of extra XP and extra dialogue choice for Trias where you redeem and kill at the same time. Most often I leave Fall in the prison instead of him.

Fall just brings nothing to the table because the fights are really easy and healing is absolutely not needed with how many charms you can get.

Play as a thief, that way you can get Ignus instead of Annah (I know, I know, but it's fine. Really.) Ignus is great. I suggest using some mod that makes Ignus' base attack magical (I don't see why it wouldn't be) so he can do something against normal-weapon immune creatures even without spells.

Fighter is the worst playthrough to go with as there will be a significant crowding with Morte, Dak'kon and Annah already on the frontline (god forbid with Vhailor, too). That's why I always take Nordom, good damage, fun character and most importantly, attacks from range.

A lawful mage and a lawful thief playthrough is prefered from the metagaming perspective even though it makes little sense, sadly. A chaotic mage is fine as you won't lose any essential stat for this class and allows some extra wriggle room for role-playing.
You can't really role-play in PS:T, if you don't care about losing a bunch of XP, extra CON, STR, DMG and the best weapon (again, fromt the metagaming perspective here). because the game highly favors a paladin trope with all the items geared at LG char. Wish someone would step in and create a mod that addresses this. (Hail @Aquadrizzt

Gamey_Jamie

Thanks for sharing your thoughts @Cyeh and @Queegon. Always good to get different perspectives. I have a real soft spot for Nordom - I think I stumbled on him during my first playthrough and just felt lucky to have found the plucky little modron. So if he had to stay, and I'm playing a CG/CN thief, that would be Morte, Dak'kon, Ignus, Nordom, +Annah or Grace (I'll be too chaotic for Vhailor to stand me).

I'm no metagamer myself - it's more about story and the experience and I'm just trying to have a different experience whilst retaining a sense of sentimentality. I think they're all great ultimately so whichever way I go it will be a blast.

Thank you for all the food for thought everyone ?

Queegon

Before internet was a common thing, I didn't even know there was some Nordom and stumbled upon him randomly. A secret follower, if you will. That made my day. And he grew on me over time.

I like your approach to PS:T, though for the reason stated I wouldn't even consider chaotic thief myself despite wishing to do so. The bonuses you get are too large. :P

Gamey_Jamie wrote: »

I think they're all great ultimately so whichever way I go it will be a blast.

Right you are, 100%. Have fun!

Gamey_Jamie

Exactly the same for me @Queegon. Felt like I had been really rewarded for my curiosity when I recruited him, given there's a good few steps you need to take to find him in the first place. Just really like his character sprite as well, his chatter, the dialogue you can explore with him. Yeah Nordom FTW! Hell, maybe I should just run around with my favourite 6-sided buddy and chuck the rest! (joking we'd die every 2 mins)