How would you do an evil party?
Sloty1984
Member Posts: 147
Want to play as evil as possible and as small party as possible.
Which npcs and charname would you suggest?
I will play as evil as possible even if I get less experience
Which npcs and charname would you suggest?
I will play as evil as possible even if I get less experience
0
Comments
The evil party doesn't really lend itself to minimizing size, as the standard evil companions are all single classes in BG2EE. They're very good in their specialties, but they aren't as good at role-switching as the multiclass and dual-class characters that a good/neutral party picks up. Which means you wand to build the classic balanced party; a mage (Edwin), a thief (Hexxat), a cleric (Viconia), a warrior or two (Dorn, Korgan), and by then you have all the roles covered so the protagonist can be anything.
I also want to have a romance, which is the most interresting?
Is Korgan or Dorn more powerful?
What do you think about a blade CHARNAME?
Jan (neutral, but a good thief and a mage), Korgan ( best damage dealer, his rage is useful in some situations). Then it depends on your style and you have to pick the Charname class accordingly, if you are more into arcane magic Edwin is a good mage with his increased slots number and then Charname must cover the divine department being a dual or multi FC. If you are more into physical damage dealing probably Dorn and then Charname can both be a MC (multi?) or a FC (probably dual, an Anomen clone with kit, why not 2 bersekers in the party, one using axe as ranged weapon the other using the hammer that only Dwarves can use, better stats and proficiency choices, does not need super high Fighter levels as has the divine buffs), it depends on if Jan alone is enough arcane power for you.
If you like Viconia for romancing or RP reasons she covers the divine magic so Charname can be a multi or dual FM.
IMHO with only 4 in the party the key is taking the neutral Jan as he can cover 2 roles, the Thief one as well as Hexxat as his special equipment and his magic balance well her immortality and more rogue levels.
In all of those combos probably Dorn can replace Korgan, but I never played him as I always play good or neutral and the level of evilness of the EE introduced evil NPCs went too far for my taste, I had runs with Korgan or Viky in the party, but there is no place for the follower of a demon or a vampire in my squad.
Do I need a high level cleric?
Charname blade
Korgan
Viconia
Edwin
???
If you're going full evil, to the point that the law will be sending parties to kill you, then mixing in a neutral companion (like Jan, mentioned above) is very risky; they'll storm off permanently if you ever fall to reputation 1, taking anything they were carrying (except critical items) with them. You probably don't want that sort of careful reputation management in your run.
So that means an evil thief. Hexxat.
On the earlier question of Dorn versus Korgan ...
Dorn, as a half-orc blackguard, is someone you can't exactly duplicate in normal character creation. He starts with 19 strength, hitting harder than any blackguard you could build. But at the same time, he has only 14 CON, which weakens his ability to tank. He's still a great endgame tank when he can stack Armor of Faith and Hardiness for massive physical resistance, but he's a bit lacking in that role earlier on.
Korgan is someone you can duplicate almost exactly in normal character creation. And as a dwarf berserker with 19 CON, he's incredibly sturdy. Tons of hit points, the ability to ignore most status effects with his rage, and great saves to handle the rest. The only point that he has that you can't match is grand mastery in his chosen weapon at level 8, and a fighter you make will reach level 9 for grand mastery very quickly.
Dorn brings some pretty substantial quests with him, including area's you'd never get the chance to visit otherwise. Korgan has one rather short quest taking place entirely within the familiar confines of Athkatla, which you can complete within the first few hours after picking him up.
Who's better? Depends on what you're looking for.
Today I had a long lasting internet blackout so I post now an answer that I wrote before @jmerry 's one
No, but you need someone that can cast divine magic if you want to have Chaotic Commands, healing spells and the rest, he does not need to be a high level cleric, he can also be a multi or a druid, but playing without divine magic is more difficult, doable as there are potions and healing items and you can counter mind effects with items, potions and ST, but is more challenging.
Blade is a good kit, specially if you cheat in the SoD item that makes the song linger 3 rounds and use the Tresset's Choice Tweaks component that makes the song AoE bigger then the one of the present EE that makes impossible to cover the whole party unless you pack them very close to each other.
??? should probably be Dorn as you need to have mlee fighters to make the Enhanced Song matter, but then you lack of a thief and you have to use metagame to tank the traps and waste spells to open the containers you can not bash, the Blade with the help of potions can still steal for the party and Edwin with the SotM can scout. Or can be Hexxat or Jan, in this party the vampire is ok as you have both Edwin and Charname for the arcane magic.
Korgan is a very good dps dealer, but is not ideal as a tank, tanking should be the main task of the Blade that has the defensive spin and arcane protections, also the ones that make AC better matters when combined with the spin, a stoneskin will last him a long time. When he gets HLA the song gives him the same AC improvement of the spin while improving by 4 also Korgan's (and Dorn's) AC, with the Bard's hat he can still attack 2 rounds and skip the third to sing, the enhanced song makes also Viconia (simple haste, Sling of Everard, enchanted bullets and clerical attack buffs) do meaningful ranged damage with outstanding Thac0, she can do more then 60 damage/round that is helpful to the party, while she is safe and can still has time to cast in the round.
I add now something after reading @jmerry 's post that even if I did never played an evil run in my life you must act in a really mean way to fall to reputation 1 like killing people in the streets for no reason and there are ways to manage the reputation like giving money to the temples. I am not completely sure about it as I never did it but having Jan in the party should be possible like is possible to have Korgan or Viconia in a good party without them leaving.
About going without a thief a cleric has a spell to detect traps if you don't want to use metagame knowledge and a Mage with mirror images can tank most of them without taking any damage as a toon with a lot of HP can tank them at the cost of taking damage and most of the ones on the ground can be completely avoided once you know their position. The game has been soloed by many with not Thieves classes, to have a Thief is convenient (and traps and containers are also a source of xp), but is not impossible to go without him, for me the most annoying thing would have been loosing the stealing capability, but with a Bard in the party it is not a problem.
Does Viconia romance halforcs?
I dont want to play chaotic evil who kills people just for the bad reputation, I want to play some smart evil who sometimes even does good things for profit.
How do I make Viconia most efficient?
Whatever they feel like, that someone else hasn't taken already. You can't specialize in anything, after all, and in the long run you'll be proficient in lots of stuff. Only warriors focus on a single weapon type and need planning in advance.
Well, OK, there is one natural focus on a Blade: dual-wielding. You'll almost certainly take at least two dots in two-weapon style, and use it most of the time.
Korgan
Blade CHARNAME
Viconia
Edwin
Still the question how to make Viconia most efficient?
F/M/T
Korgan or Dorn (who is better?)
Viconia
Edwin
Frankly the best way to round that group out is a second arcane caster, perhaps a dual or multi. Gnome fighter/illusionist is probably the OP choice here, or a dualed berserker/mage. I also think a bard fits rather snugly into the party. One key to note is that Edwin lacks some crucial illusion/invisibility dispelling. Viconia can assist with that, as can Hexxat with investment in detect illusion. But the strongest counter to that is going to a protagonist mage with those spells.
I highly recommend a playthrough with all five of these NPC's as they have some cool scripted interactions. Often involving more than just two of them!
I wouldn't say Dorn has no use for flails. In fact, flail is a perfectly smart second melee option to add to Dorn, if no one else is taking that weapon type. It will still likely be your secondary weapon, but flail+shield is a good third option for Dorn alongside two handers and a ranged weapon. It's a good weapon set up if you need to get a spell cast midcombat, some extra tankiness. And its a good anti-undead, anti-clay golem etc set up. So it can do multiple things for you. I think paladins do really well in the saga (regardless of good or bad) with a 2H + blunt weapon and shield + ranged option. Lots of tactical flexibility on a single character, with no tedium of midcombat inventory shuffling.
Which weapons should I give to her and which are her most important spells?
Viconia at level 8, when you first pick her up in BG2EE, has proficiency in hammers, maces, slings, and shield style. Which, for a cleric with relatively low strength like her, is exactly what I'd pick if I were building her myself. While flails and morningstars can be excellent, they have higher strength requirements; they're not worth going for until you have more reliable access to strength boosts.
This depends on what focus you're going for. Will she be up front bashing faces? Then she wants to focus on combat self-buffs and quick-casting spells. Will she stand back and cast spells in combat, with the occasional sling shot between spells? Then she wants to focus on attack spells like Command and Hold Person. Is she more of a support character, casting for the party's benefit before and after fights? Then she cares about buffs for the party and healing spells.
But of course, as a cleric, she always knows all of her spells. Changing focus is as simple as memorizing a different set of spells for a new day.
http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7151
Some more exploits from BG1:
http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1898