Which Charname classes are the least replicable among the NPCs?

pvddr

Hey everyone! I want to start a new (BG2-TOB) playthrough and I am looking for charname ideas, but the thing is that I strongly dislike playing a charname that's very similar to an NPC. For example, I see no reason to make a Wild Mage charname because they will not provide a meaningfully different experience than I got by playing Neera, I don't think any Inquisitor that I make will be meaningfully different from Keldorn, and so on. For instance, the playthroughs that I've completed have been with Archer, Ranger/Cleric and Fighter/mage which I thought were all meaningfully different from any BG2 NPC I could get.

With that said, what are some other charnames that I could potentially play that are interesting and will offer an experience I can't find among the NPCs?

jsaving

Fighter/mage/thief and fighter/mage are the two main character types you can't replicate with joinable NPCs. I'd personally go for FMT if I were in your shoes.

jmerry

Fighter/thief, cleric/thief - those exist in BG1 but not BG2.
Shadowdancer - Hide in Plain Sight makes it play differently than most thieves.
Shaman - their summoning dance is unique, and they get some unique spells not on the druid list. Also, spontaneous divine casting.
Jester - other bards converge a bit with the Enhanced Bard Song HLA, but nobody else gets the debuff song.
Sorcerer - they're similar to mages, but spontaneous casting changes things up. If you want an artillery caster focusing on damage spells, sorcerer (or dragon disciple) is the way to go.
Paladins other than inquisitors - having spells to cast makes a difference.
Lots of kits - the differences are often minor, but only a few are covered by the standard NPCs.

VanDerBerg

I would say shaman. I had M'Khliin in the party in SoD and it was, indeed, quite different than any other class. You can use shortbow, which makes big difference in terms of fighting compared to druids. Detect illusion makes it slightly thiefy. And summoning, of course.

Other than shaman, ranger beastmaster and totemic druid. Both rely on putting summoned animals between you and the enemy. Totemic Druid would probably make more difference in BG1, though, but it still plays different than other druids in BG2 too, I think.

Jester for offensive bard song, though with the latest patch you cannot lull enemies to death while being invisible.

Dark soul monk too. From the kit description, it looks like much more defensive monk than Rasaad.

Enchanter mage. Not being able to use many damaging magics, Mordenkainen's swords or sequencers and triggers (without SCS) makes them rely much more on debuffing instead of nuking. Illusionist, for the same reason - no ADHW or Skull Trap. Abjurer too - no haste, improved haste or stoneskin. Scary. These sound quite different than general and wild mages and Edwin.

Finally, some odd dual classes. Wizard Slayer -> Druid or Kensai -> Druid.

ilduderino

The ones I wish were covered ingame by npcs are archer, fighter/cleric (multi), fighter/mage, fighter/thief and sorceror - there are loads of kits not represented but these are the ones that I think bring a lot. Cleric/thief would be nice in an npc but it’s pretty passive for charname.

The really nice classes already covered by NPCs are mage/thief, mage/cleric, fighter/druid, fighter/cleric (dual), inquisitor and conjuror (with uber necklace).

Reticent

Before EE I'd have said Monk hands down.

These days I'ld say Assassin and Archer are probably the kits mechanically furthest from what any of the NPCs are doing.

And if you want to count it as a class, Barbarian is the only class without any NPC representation.

Blackbɨrd

VanDerBerg wrote: »

I would say shaman. I had M'Khliin in the party in SoD and it was, indeed, quite different than any other class. You can use shortbow, which makes big difference in terms of fighting compared to druids. Detect illusion makes it slightly thiefy. And summoning, of course.

Other than shaman, ranger beastmaster and totemic druid. Both rely on putting summoned animals between you and the enemy. Totemic Druid would probably make more difference in BG1, though, but it still plays different than other druids in BG2 too, I think.

Jester for offensive bard song, though with the latest patch you cannot lull enemies to death while being invisible.

Dark soul monk too. From the kit description, it looks like much more defensive monk than Rasaad.

Enchanter mage. Not being able to use many damaging magics, Mordenkainen's swords or sequencers and triggers (without SCS) makes them rely much more on debuffing instead of nuking. Illusionist, for the same reason - no ADHW or Skull Trap. Abjurer too - no haste, improved haste or stoneskin. Scary. These sound quite different than general and wild mages and Edwin.

Finally, some odd dual classes. Wizard Slayer -> Druid or Kensai -> Druid.

Shaman is a great call.

ilduderino

Blackbɨrd wrote: »

VanDerBerg wrote: »

Shaman is a great call.

Ezer good

borntodie

The kit I personally miss the most is the Archer. Plays very differently from anything the existing NPC's can offer.

Bracchus

Probably Dark Moon monk which I currently have leveling in SoD, followed by Archer which Mazzy does a fairly decent job of - though I'm not at all saying she's as good as that Kit on a PC by any means! Having said that, I won't play those two classes without mods.

Khyron

Swashbuckler actually has its own unique niche, in that it gets ridiculously low ac with the use any item high level ability and full plate.. it can also be used to get a good AC, trap laying fighter dual class.

Or a recent favourite of mine.. high enough lvl to get UAI and Spike Trap HLA, then dual class to cleric.. cleric with mad AC, traps, lock picks, find traps, dispell illusions.. and longswords and all the juicy things clerics can't have any other way.

Not a gamebreaking monster like F/M, but it sure kicks arse.. especially if you solo a lot through SoD and early SoA to get that XP rolling fast.. because your thief levels will be gone for a while.