Best party for fun and powergaming

egon

I decided I wanted to replay BG2 before going all in on BG3 but I can't decide what party would be the most fun.
Here's the current lineup
CHARNAME (kensai13/thiefX)
Minsc
Jaheira (romanced)
Jan Jansen
Aerie
Haer'dalis

However, that's a party I've played with before and I thinking of mixing it up a bit. Either by replacing Aerie with Viconia (Vic was my cleric in my BG1 playthrough) or replacing HD with Keldorn. Keldorn's Dispel Magic at levelx2 is just so damn useful but HD levels up so fast that maybe it doesn't matter?
Also, Aerie with sensate amulet and Robe of Vecna is just a spellcasting machine gun (even though Jan does look snazzy in it).

So, I'm curious about your opinions. Is Aerie really that much better than Viconia at higher levels (with mods and all my last party finished ToB at around lvl 37-42)? Is HD and Viconia a pairing than HD and Aerie, or Keldorn and Aerie? Who can Jan make the most fun out of? Please help!

DinoDin

The key thing your party lacks from a power game standpoint is a high level mage. And this would be somewhat even more true if you remove HD, as you would lose his high caster level. And that could help compensate.

From this standpoint, I'd argue switching Jan for someone like Imoen or Nalia. You can't switch to Neera, as it looks like you'll need a backup thief to cover while you dual. And I think one of those is perfect. With gear they can handle, temporarily, the thief needs.

Similarly yeah, you can swap out Viconia for Aerie to get a faster leveling cleric. The second thing your party lacks is a high level divine caster. Or Anomen might be a better fit in your party imo. You can rely on Jaheira to tank but your party setup could allow her to dual scimitar and Minsc to two-handed sword it with a tanky guy like Anomen up front.

If you want to take Keldorn in that setup, I really feel that Minsc is the one you should sacrifice. Minsc is obviously tons of fun, but he's not exactly a great powergaming option in BG2. Him and Keldorn will compete for some similar gear, albeit not end game gear.

egon

All parties can be powergame-y if they're high level enough.

Never really felt that the need for a very high level mage. Aerie, Jan and HD have always been enough for me. Question is if just HD and Jan will do if I replace Aerie with Viconia. Same goes for the divine caster part. Aerie and Jaheira have always complemented each other well enough that I haven't had the need for anyone else. And Anomen is so, so boring that I never keep him around for longer than his personal quest. :P

Thieving isn't a problem, I've already levelled enough that me and Jan are good enough just the two of us.

I do agree on your assessment of Minsc and Keldorn though, I don't need both. I'll keep Keldorn around for his quest and then I'll let him retire to his family.

Thanks for your iput, you've giving me a few things to think about. Like deciding on if I want Viconia or Aerie.

gorgonzola

It completely depends on your style.

Aerie, Jan and HD have always been enough for you, but you will get at xp cap 2 +3 lev 9 slots, the same amount Nalia or Imoen get at a little more then 6Mxp, they get also the first lev 9 slot at 6Mxp while the pure mages (with basic thieving capability) get it way earlier, at 3M mage xp. The same is true for lev 7 (PI that multiplies the number of memorized spells if used wisely) and 8 slots, respectively 3M vs little more then 1.5M and 4.5M vs little more then 2.25M.
This means that at the xp level where Aerie can cast her first ADHW or Jan an equivalent Imoen can, maybe trough a PI, cast Improved Alacrity and with RoV and AoP unleash half spell book in a couple of rounds, we are at a completely different level of magic power and only near the end the multi catch up with it.
But if for your style this is not important your 3 arcane casters are perfectly fine and maybe even without Aerie you'll be fine.

About replacing Aerie with Viky or Anomen you will make the battles vs undeads much easier, they will explode or be dominated, Aerie can make it happen only in small parties very careful to get all the xp possible. You will get also a cleric more powerful in the divine department, the same reasoning I did for the mage part of the CM is true for the divine part. But you loose completely the arcane casting of Aerie, that can be important if you don't have a pure mage and swaping her for Viconia the mlee capability she gets once she is high level enough. Aerie with the correct buffs will be limited to 4 apr, DW improved hasted, but she will have fighter like Thac0, 25 STR without STR equipment and will be extremely resilient to physical damage due to her arcane protections, she can be the perfect tank while dealing about 100 dmg/round, Viconia can use the same offensive on self buffs even earlier, but she will rely only on her HP and AC to survive as she gets near the mlee enemies. Anomen, that you don't like and I perfectly understand why, is almost as good as Viconia as cleric and has lev7 fighter and potentially GM to boost the apr, and has a good hp pool further boosted by DUHM and Holy Power to survive mlee so is more effective then Aerie damage wise and somehow less resilient, even if with the Defender in the OH and Armour of Faith + the hp pool can withstand the harsh mlee environment.
Each of the 3 cover the Cleric role in a different way, it really depends on how you like to play the battles, Viky will be the best divine caster and can pack 50 ranged damage/round with the proper sling, bullets and buffs, Anomen is the best physical damage dealer, able to deal with minor foe even with no or minimal buffing and Aerie is the best tank with good mlee output and she can cast arcane spells at the cost of requiring more buffing and having way less anti undead capability.

I don't see Keldorn replacing HD unless you have a pure mage (Nalia and Imoen included in the category) as early SoA the multi mages will level slow, his slots and higher caster level will be crucial with the spells that are level depending for duration or damage, he is also a better tank with defensive spin and arcane protections when your Kensai is a glass cannon before he gets UAI and when he gets them the song can help the party, I don't think that the Dispel Magic and the Pally only sword are enough to balance it in your party.
Keldorn can replace Minsc if Anomen is not in the party as they compete for the DEX increasing gauntlets, he is a little less tanky but a better anti mage.

I find your party complete as it is, all the departments are well covered and 2 thieves can be super helpful if you are into that way of playing where tactical use of traps and stabs can really make a difference. Any change will change also the way you will play the party, i.e. swapping Nalia and Viconia for HD and Aerie you get more powerful arcane, divine and anti undead capability at the cost of loosing the Blade's and later Aerie's mlee capability, the use of divine spells in the sequencers and the HLA song, the party is almost as good, if not even better, but requires a different style.

You are right telling that all parties can be powergame-y, but they can be so in different ways, choose the way you like to play and eventually change some party members accordingly.

DinoDin

Yep. You can absolutely get by with just two arcane casters even if they're a multi and a bard as you have here.

James_M

Try to mix in:
Keldorn (the Carsomyr +5 rocks!) and Imoen (she quickly becomes a high level mage; she has enough thieving skill for the entire game including the expansion)
...in place of two of the following:
Minsc, Haer'dalis or Jan.

Khyron

Edwin would really add some bombs to this party, but once you get high enough level with your mage multiclasses the gap does close quite a bit.

Nevertheless, Edwin is a bloody great spell caster and hilarious to have in a party. Druid healers and Cleric heals kind of offer much of the same, so since you're romancing Jaheira i'd drop either Aerie or Haer'Dalis for Edwin.. or both of them for Viconia and Edwin, because Viccy is hilarious too.