Xzar - Nuker #2 (Whom I originally wanted to dual class to a cleric, but apparently can't now? Or do I need to spend a tome on him to do it?)
Xzar has always needed a Tome to dual-class, they didn't change any stats on any characters. There are a whole three Wisdom tomes in the game so sparing one for him isn't exactly the end of the world.
Owen - LE Human Swashbuckler, I plan to duel him out to Mage (with the help of the tome) during BGII: Not so sure what level though
Dorn - Owen's possible romantic intrest, and is the Main Fighter, Damage focused over Tank
Kagain - Tank, and otherwise frontline fighter
Viconia - I usually have Branwen as my Cleric, and so I decide for my evil party, to take the evil cleric, though I do have Branwen for a little while till I find Vici
Edwin - More or less will be the reason why my character will become a mage, is going to show that snide mage that he can be just as brilliant. (though not really) And beside I'll need all of the mage potential for BG:EE
I'm currently having Monty and Xzar with me, until I decide to pick up Edwin.. but I might have them for a while longer, I am rather fluid with my plans. I left Imoen in the 'care' of Jaheria and Khalid, I thought it would fit, my character views Imoen rather fondly, and doesn't care to have her in harms way, and since Gorion trusted the duo, they can't be that bad, right?
Xzar - Nuker #2 (Whom I originally wanted to dual class to a cleric, but apparently can't now? Or do I need to spend a tome on him to do it?)
Xzar has always needed a Tome to dual-class, they didn't change any stats on any characters. There are a whole three Wisdom tomes in the game so sparing one for him isn't exactly the end of the world.
I could not disagree more, there are 8 tomes in total, why waste one on a character that can't even be played in the sequel? I rarely, if ever, give a tome to any character that isn't the protagonist, but I'd never give one to one of the many npcs that are exclusive to the first game.
So far, my Evil Party is ... Viconia - I usually have Branwen as my Cleric, and so I decide for my evil party, to take the evil cleric, though I do have Branwen for a little while till I find Vici
You can pick Viconia up a lot earlier than Branwen. In my current game I picked her up *before* dealing with Tarnesh at the Friendly Arm Inn, her "Command" spell was a big help here.
Ravayu - Elven Thief/Mage. He's wielding Icingdeath and a bow, and despite Dorn probably leading the pack in # of kills in the party, it's Rav's sleep and horror spells that win most serious conflicts for me.
Kagain - This grumpy dwarf guy hired Rav and Co. early on, and basically stayed on, the lousy little freeloader. He gets to stay because, not unlike Ravayu, he's a stingy git who hates to spend any money. He's sporting the Gauntlets of Dexterity and is tank #1.
Dorn - He just randomly showed up out of the blue one day, talking revenge and doesn't afraiding of anything. Rav thinks he's a pretty cool guy, so he gets to stick around and do the terrible, terrible things that get done.
Viconia - Humans picking on elves? That Flaming Fist guy was gibbed so fast.... Viccy's tank #2 with her Ankheg Plate, and they're both rocking out at -4.
Imoen - Ravayu wouldn't be without Ims. She's a dab hand with a bow, and focused entirely on pick pocketting and trapfinding, the two things Rav doesn't deal with. He's been trying to get her into the arcane arts, but so far she ain't buying it.
Neera - Plucky comic relief more than anything else. She's only summoned one pit fiend (hilarious terrified screaming flight ensued), and seems to have fallen into a fairly passive role of identification and backup casting most of the time, since she has all of 9 HP. She's still managed to cast a Skulltrap six levels early to glorious, devastating effect twice now, and packs a mean wand.
She is, however, forbidden to cast any spells within ten feet of Dorn, on pain of death.
Velkir: Human Bounty Hunter Imoen: Thief/Mage (Used to have a crush on her in BG 2 till you learn she is your sis DAMN) Neera: Wild Mage (Cute but very annoying she dosent hold a torch to Jaheira) Jaheira: Fighter/Druid Good Tank good healing and loved her in BG2 (using her BG2 Pic) Faldorn: Druid She dosent get enough love I got her running around throwing Darts and casting spells Branwen: Fiery Cleric Tank Gal..wouldv love some Romance but "oh well"
You can pick Viconia up a lot earlier than Branwen. In my current game I picked her up *before* dealing with Tarnesh at the Friendly Arm Inn, her "Command" spell was a big help here.
I am aware you can pick her up, but I typically like having an 'In character' reason for going places, I can't think of a reason why you would go past Friendly Arms Inn. And plus, I wanted to have Branwen's little plot tie in.
Ashling - Half-Elf Blade. Now she's at level five, she sucks slightly less! (Not that I mind her sucking at low levels, given that some day in the distant future Defensive Spin and buffing spells will give her the lowest AC in the game.)
Khalid - More by default than anything else. I briefly contemplated replacing him with Ajantis, but he's an OK tank and I haven't used him than often in previous runs.
Jaheira - I miss Ironskins. And Insect Plague. And look forward to BG2. However, I do like Jaheira, and I like the idea of having almost the same party through both games. (I'll have to replace Khalid with either Minsc or Keldorn, but that should be my only permanent substitution.)
Imoen - She's my sis, and the best thief in the game. Really a no-brainer if you're playing a good guy and aren't a thief yourself.
Rasaad - The whole point of this run is to try out the new NPCs, and I like Rasaad so far. Despite the fact that his stats could be better and low-level monks are terrible. I'm taking him for the new quest and the romance, though, not for his combat prowess.
Neera - I find her very entertaining, in and out of combat. Wild magic certainly adds something to the simplest of encounters. Several times she's said "stand back and watch this!" right before turning herself orange or exploding in a fireball. Then again, she's saved my bacon a couple of times by entangling or flamestriking an opponent. Keeps life interesting, that's for sure.
I look on this party as a long-term investment. In BG2, Ashling and Rasaad will kick butt, Jaheira will be a much better tank, Imoen will become a powerful mage and Neera will be able to cast high level spells well ahead of time at the penalty of possibly turning everyone into squirrels. Surprisingly, though, they're getting through the game without too many reloads.
Do Not buy this game because its not enhanced, buggy and out dated engine, same old crap. The developers take your money for a cheap work. Actually its unplayable for me. The developers here lied that they send me refund , check my email but nothing there. Its my 50. registration here because they block me but i can come back anytime.
My evil party (my first party for BG:EE, and my first time going evil) Bjorn: Half-Orc Priest of Talos (with 19 strength, he was great damage in the early game, now he is healer/buffer and occasional hitter) Kagain: Such a good tank, just needed that 18 dex from the gauntlets. I cast strength on him every big fight since I don't have any of the Strength items yet. Dorn: Too good to resist. For the first few levels of Cloakwood, I just gave Dorn the boots of speed and had him kill everything by himself. Montaron: ...He is getting there. Very obnoxious when I skilled find traps over open lock ONE TIME and now he is behind on some of the locks (luckily I have knock from the next two characters.) He does decent damage when I sometimes cast strength on him, and he has been known to backstab stuff when he goes stealth or I cast invis. Xzar: Comes with Monty, and I have never tried him before. Very impressed, he is my support caster with very few damage spells (usually uses Horror, Remove Fear, Identify, and other stuff). I plan on getting the tomes soon now that I can access the big city, so I will dual him at level 6 to cleric. Edwin: I have never tried him before either. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER, HE IS AMAZING!! He has so many spells, and so many hitpoints! Larloch's to give him even more hitpoints, and glitterdust to make fights easier--plus he has elemental spells when I need damage fast.
My next party will be: CHARNAME: The Stalker kit from Ranger--I always wanted to backstab, but I want more combat potential than the thief gets (and multiclass is not my cup of tea for CHARNAME) Imoen or Safana: I've heard Safana is cool, but I'll probably just stick with Imoen. Rasaad: Love monks, and he seems like a cool NPC. EITHER Khalid, Jaheria and Neera: I like Jaheria, and Khalid works well if he has some strength item. With these two, my only mage options are either evil (and won't stay with me at Reputation 20), or Xan (who I just cannot stand) so I have to go with Neera. And it gives me the chance to get any items from her subplot.
OR Minsc, Dynaheir and Yeslick: Yeslick wins, Minsc wins, and Dynaheir isn't too bad.
Now I am just trying to decide what weapons to use with my stalker: Longsword if I go with Minsc, possibly scimitar/katana if I go with Khalid.
Xzar - Nuker #2 (Whom I originally wanted to dual class to a cleric, but apparently can't now? Or do I need to spend a tome on him to do it?)
Xzar has always needed a Tome to dual-class, they didn't change any stats on any characters. There are a whole three Wisdom tomes in the game so sparing one for him isn't exactly the end of the world.
I could not disagree more, there are 8 tomes in total, why waste one on a character that can't even be played in the sequel? I rarely, if ever, give a tome to any character that isn't the protagonist, but I'd never give one to one of the many npcs that are exclusive to the first game.
1.) If you used a tome on a character that does transition to BG2, would the tome stay applied? I know some stats are different between BG1 and BG2 (Edwin's strength, for example, goes from 9 to 10), so it seems unclear to me if the tomes would be 'remembered'. If the tome does apply, I can see your point. If the tome doesn't apply, then it makes no difference if the character goes on to BG2 or not.
2.) Using one of the 3 Wisdom tomes on an NPC is definitely not as severe as using the other tomes on an NPC. Wisdom only really helps lore, Priest spells, and how good a mage's wish can be. +2 Wisdom and +3 Wisdom is not a huge difference in many characters, so dropping 1 point on an NPC isn't a huge deal (even my Cleric is willing to share the wisdom to make Xzar more versatile).
my party is: Terminator - human blackguard dps Dorn - Dps Coran - cause i'm tired of always taking imoen Viconia - heal crowd control Branwen - heal crow control Edwin - for all the stuff a mage does
Hood(CHARNAME) - Assassin, plays the ranged role mostly but when the situation calls for it, stealth -->poison weapon backstab.
Minsc - always, always, always have him in my party. Usually rockin the full plate and boots of speed.
Jaheira - shes taking on the clerical role right now, with some CC thrown in there. She is my other front line "fighter" lol i couldn't even type that without using quotes.
Imoen - just too much story to tell there. Despite having a rogue already in the party, plan on dualing her to Mage for extra Oomph.
Kivan - My Nig***. Hes a must in every party i have. Legolas style dropping them from ridiculous distances with that amazing bowness.
and...
Neera - Yup. I said it. Huge risk, but hey whats the EE without a little chaos? I have had to reload more times that i can count from her casting "hold person" and really polymorphing them into an ogre or something ludicrous and wiping out my main.
She has been the greatest challenge thus far, with a whopping 10HP. But all in all, i have taken on the challenge of having a 4-2 ranged/melee party and never done it through an entire game before, and hope i can manage.
Sorry Khalid/Dynaheir, no flesh to stone for you, you got the butchered in the gnoll pits where i left your corpses to rot.
1.) If you used a tome on a character that does transition to BG2, would the tome stay applied? I know some stats are different between BG1 and BG2 (Edwin's strength, for example, goes from 9 to 10), so it seems unclear to me if the tomes would be 'remembered'. If the tome does apply, I can see your point. If the tome doesn't apply, then it makes no difference if the character goes on to BG2 or not.
Tomes don't make a difference for BG2, so you're right. With that said, I still consider it inconceivable to give anyone other than CHARNAME any of the tomes; I want my stats as high as possible, and giving him all of them is how to do it!
I can see giving most of the tomes to CHARNAME depending on your class (Str for fighting types, Dex and Con to pretty much anyone, Int to a caster, Cha for anyone who isn't going to use the ring of friendship, Wis for Priests). However, if +1 to a certain stat (e.g. +1 to Int for my Barbarian) REALLY doesn't help them that much, I feel that it is just a waste on CHARNAME, while giving it to another party member who can actually benefit from it is a very good idea.
There are many characters who with tomes will get a 17 or an 18 or in Wisdom AND / OR an 18 in Intelligence the tomes.
Since most people roll a lot or use CTRL 8 to "cheat" up stats...or even Shadowkeeper them...I figure...OK if I roll till I have stats I find acceptable I'm pretty good there.
But how do I go from there and take my followers / optimizing them?
WISDOM:
If I'm not a Cleric / Druid of some kind the Wisdom tombs aren't going to help me...but Branwen, Faldorn, Jaheria and Vicky all get incredible boosts making them drastically more effective in game. (17-18 Wisdom for a punishing amount of spells!)
INTELLIGENCE:
If I'm playing a mage, chances are I have 18 INT already, making the tomb in effect: WORTHLESS to my PC!!!
(There is ZERO point in having more than 18 INT as you do not gain bonus spells)
So...look at the myriad of spell casters who have 17 INT:
Xzar (Who can also Dual Class to either a Thief or a Cleric with the DEX Tome or one WIS tome making him incredibly flexible, as well as psychotic)
Dyaneir
Imoen (If you Dual Class her)
Neera
Qualye
And Safana (If you can settle for 17 Int and Dual Classing her...)
STRENGTH:
I often use the Strength tome to gift 19 STR on a warrior of some kind. If PC doesn't need it...why not make Minsc hugely powerful? And now that we have Dorn, you could have a Blackguard with 20 Natural STR.
CONSTITUTION:
I almost always prefer for the PC to get 19-20 Con if he's a warrior of some kind or if he's a mage using the Claw of Kazaroth but, if he's not going to need all that con...I can see making an exception for someone who just needs more bonus HP no matter how you slice it. Neera and Dorn both might be great candidates.
CHARISMA:
If the PC at 18 CHA give it to him / her to go to 19 for bonuses...if not it should always go to the PC with the highest score for better shopping.
DEXTERITY:
The bonuses past 19 DEX occur at 21 DEX! So there's no reason to pump anyone past 19 DEX ever, unless...you're an ELF who can make it 21 by BG2...so...really it's up for grabs as needed.
I prefer to use them on characters who will be coming back in BG2...but it's a game...no reason to get too attached a bonus point. Especially since your PC will almost always have better stats than any pen and paper equivalent for D&D 2nd Edition rules anyone could roll naturally.
why waste one on a character that can't even be played in the sequel?
Because I end up more invested in my NPCs than my protagonist.
A good party is balanced so that neither Charname or npcs are over/under-powered, but I'd still rather invest long term in a npc that I know would be around until ToB.
1.) If you used a tome on a character that does transition to BG2, would the tome stay applied? I know some stats are different between BG1 and BG2 (Edwin's strength, for example, goes from 9 to 10), so it seems unclear to me if the tomes would be 'remembered'. If the tome does apply, I can see your point. If the tome doesn't apply, then it makes no difference if the character goes on to BG2 or not.
Tomes don't make a difference for BG2, so you're right. With that said, I still consider it inconceivable to give anyone other than CHARNAME any of the tomes; I want my stats as high as possible, and giving him all of them is how to do it!
Even though I've been playing for literally 14 years, I only imported my BG1 save file into BG2 once and didn't give npcs any tomes so idk if the stats carry over for them, but they certainly do with the protagonist. Then again, if you buffed up someone before the sequel and their stats reverted... you can always fix that. Maybe Int on a fighter protagonist or something equally useless would be better off on an npc that you plan to keep throughout the entire series such as Imoen, Jaheira, or Minsc maybe. BUT in D&D, wisdom is not useless. It directly relates to lore in this game and possibly has some other minor roles for people other than priestly casters, but traditionally a higher wisdom is supposed to increase resistance to magic, increase experience, etc. Very useful for any class, just not so much in BG and yet I still wouldn't give it to someone who I know is dying off in SoA.
There are many characters who with tomes will get a 17 or an 18 or in Wisdom AND / OR an 18 in Intelligence the tomes.
Since most people roll a lot or use CTRL 8 to "cheat" up stats...or even Shadowkeeper them...I figure...OK if I roll till I have stats I find acceptable I'm pretty good there.
But how do I go from there and take my followers / optimizing them?
WISDOM:
If I'm not a Cleric / Druid of some kind the Wisdom tombs aren't going to help me...but Branwen, Faldorn, Jaheria and Vicky all get incredible boosts making them drastically more effective in game. (17-18 Wisdom for a punishing amount of spells!)
INTELLIGENCE:
If I'm playing a mage, chances are I have 18 INT already, making the tomb in effect: WORTHLESS to my PC!!!
(There is ZERO point in having more than 18 INT as you do not gain bonus spells)
So...look at the myriad of spell casters who have 17 INT:
Xzar (Who can also Dual Class to either a Thief or a Cleric with the DEX Tome or one WIS tome making him incredibly flexible, as well as psychotic)
Dyaneir
Imoen (If you Dual Class her)
Neera
Qualye
And Safana (If you can settle for 17 Int and Dual Classing her...)
STRENGTH:
I often use the Strength tome to gift 19 STR on a warrior of some kind. If PC doesn't need it...why not make Minsc hugely powerful? And now that we have Dorn, you could have a Blackguard with 20 Natural STR.
CONSTITUTION:
I almost always prefer for the PC to get 19-20 Con if he's a warrior of some kind or if he's a mage using the Claw of Kazaroth but, if he's not going to need all that con...I can see making an exception for someone who just needs more bonus HP no matter how you slice it. Neera and Dorn both might be great candidates.
CHARISMA:
If the PC at 18 CHA give it to him / her to go to 19 for bonuses...if not it should always go to the PC with the highest score for better shopping.
DEXTERITY:
The bonuses past 19 DEX occur at 21 DEX! So there's no reason to pump anyone past 19 DEX ever, unless...you're an ELF who can make it 21 by BG2...so...really it's up for grabs as needed.
I prefer to use them on characters who will be coming back in BG2...but it's a game...no reason to get too attached a bonus point. Especially since your PC will almost always have better stats than any pen and paper equivalent for D&D 2nd Edition rules anyone could roll naturally.
All I wanted to say is that your statement on Intelligence is wrong. A 19 Int is vastly greater than an 18 because below 19, you can't learn all the spells in the game.
@Abdel_Adrian - You mean when learning spells? Or in your book? Because there are some spells I can do without, but giving NPC's more spell slots usually means my team is working way better and you don't get any new spell slots at INT 19.
@Debaser I mean you will get some message when you attempt to learn a spell: "You have learned the maximum number of allowed spells for this level." or something like that. Only with 19 and higher can you bypass that forever. I think potions work though if you learn the spell under the effects, but that's cheese.
@Abdel_Adrian - You mean when learning spells? Or in your book? Because there are some spells I can do without, but giving NPC's more spell slots usually means my team is working way better and you don't get any new spell slots at INT 19.
@Abdel_Adrian - I'd much rather suck on a potion and learn a bunch of scrolls at once...but still have more slots to go around for battle but that's me. I get much more frustrated when I'm out of spells. =P
@Debaser I really really like your post man, here are a few more ideas for you in case you don't know, I figured you would appreciate this:
How to use Tomes on NPCs:
Strength Give it to Kivan. 18/12 -> 19 = +1 THAC0 +3 Damage -> +3 THAC0 +7 Damage Give it to Shar-Teel. 18/58 -> 19 = +2 THAC0 +3 Damage -> +3 THAC0 +7 Damage
Dexterity Give it to Coran. 20 -> 21 = +3 Ranged THAC0, -4 AC -> +4 Ranged THAC0, -5 AC Give it to Branwen and Dual-Class her to Thief. Give it to Xzar and Dual-Class him to Thief.
Constitution Give it to Kagain. 20 -> 21 = +5 HP/level -> +6 HP/level, slightly faster regeneration.
Intelligence Give it to Edwin. 18 -> 19 = 85% Spell Learn, Max 18 Known Spells/Level -> 95% Spell Learn, Unlimited Known Spells/Level Give it to Safana and Dual-Class her to Mage.
Wisdom Give one to Xzar and Dual-Class him to Cleric. Give two to Dynaheir and Dual-Class her to Cleric.
Charisma Give one to Ajantis to get him up to 18. Give one to Safana to get her up to 18.
I tend to hog all the tomes, but my current PC will generously donate those she doesn't need to her party. By which I mean the three WIS tomes will go to Jaheira to raise her Wisdom to 17, and the Intelligence one will go to Neera. I'll probably Shadowkeeper those bonuses onto those characters in BG2 - I don't see that as a cheat so much as a way of overcoming the technical limitations of the import process. Although Jaheira with seventeen WIS might be a bit unbalanced, so I'll have to think about that.
(I guess my Blade could technically use more Intelligence, as she only has twelve at the moment. However, she can always chug a Potion of Genius before scribing spells, and I don't see myself using even the seven spells per level that twelve INT gives me. The point of a Blade is to buff and then go into melee, not to stand at the back casting, and there aren't more than three or four good buffing spells per level.)
@Debaser I really really like your post man, here are a few more ideas for you in case you don't know, I figured you would appreciate this:
How to use Tomes on NPCs:
Strength Give it to Kivan. 18/12 -> 19 = +1 THAC0 +3 Damage -> +3 THAC0 +7 Damage Give it to Shar-Teel. 18/58 -> 19 = +2 THAC0 +3 Damage -> +3 THAC0 +7 Damage
Dexterity Give it to Coran. 20 -> 21 = +3 Ranged THAC0, -4 AC -> +4 Ranged THAC0, -5 AC Give it to Branwen and Dual-Class her to Thief. Give it to Xzar and Dual-Class him to Thief.
Constitution Give it to Kagain. 20 -> 21 = +5 HP/level -> +6 HP/level, slightly faster regeneration.
Intelligence Give it to Edwin. 18 -> 19 = 85% Spell Learn, Max 18 Known Spells/Level -> 95% Spell Learn, Unlimited Known Spells/Level Give it to Safana and Dual-Class her to Mage.
Wisdom Give one to Xzar and Dual-Class him to Cleric. Give two to Dynaheir and Dual-Class her to Cleric.
Charisma Give one to Ajantis to get him up to 18. Give one to Safana to get her up to 18.
Thanks @Quartz! I still tend to hog the tomes for CHARNAME, though, as want her to be as good as possible for NG2EE
Comments
Sulla - Blackguard
Dorn - Blackguard
Viconia - Cleric
Branwen - Cleric
Edwin - Annoying, Useless Mage w/ Prismatic Spray
Imoen - Whiny, Annoying Thief
Permanently Dead: Neera, Jaheira, Rasaad, Khalid, Kaigain, Minsc, and Dynaheir
Owen - LE Human Swashbuckler, I plan to duel him out to Mage (with the help of the tome) during BGII: Not so sure what level though
Dorn - Owen's possible romantic intrest, and is the Main Fighter, Damage focused over Tank
Kagain - Tank, and otherwise frontline fighter
Viconia - I usually have Branwen as my Cleric, and so I decide for my evil party, to take the evil cleric, though I do have Branwen for a little while till I find Vici
Edwin - More or less will be the reason why my character will become a mage, is going to show that snide mage that he can be just as brilliant. (though not really) And beside I'll need all of the mage potential for BG:EE
I'm currently having Monty and Xzar with me, until I decide to pick up Edwin.. but I might have them for a while longer, I am rather fluid with my plans. I left Imoen in the 'care' of Jaheria and Khalid, I thought it would fit, my character views Imoen rather fondly, and doesn't care to have her in harms way, and since Gorion trusted the duo, they can't be that bad, right?
Ravayu - Elven Thief/Mage. He's wielding Icingdeath and a bow, and despite Dorn probably leading the pack in # of kills in the party, it's Rav's sleep and horror spells that win most serious conflicts for me.
Kagain - This grumpy dwarf guy hired Rav and Co. early on, and basically stayed on, the lousy little freeloader. He gets to stay because, not unlike Ravayu, he's a stingy git who hates to spend any money. He's sporting the Gauntlets of Dexterity and is tank #1.
Dorn - He just randomly showed up out of the blue one day, talking revenge and doesn't afraiding of anything. Rav thinks he's a pretty cool guy, so he gets to stick around and do the terrible, terrible things that get done.
Viconia - Humans picking on elves? That Flaming Fist guy was gibbed so fast.... Viccy's tank #2 with her Ankheg Plate, and they're both rocking out at -4.
Imoen - Ravayu wouldn't be without Ims. She's a dab hand with a bow, and focused entirely on pick pocketting and trapfinding, the two things Rav doesn't deal with. He's been trying to get her into the arcane arts, but so far she ain't buying it.
Neera - Plucky comic relief more than anything else. She's only summoned one pit fiend (hilarious terrified screaming flight ensued), and seems to have fallen into a fairly passive role of identification and backup casting most of the time, since she has all of 9 HP. She's still managed to cast a Skulltrap six levels early to glorious, devastating effect twice now, and packs a mean wand.
She is, however, forbidden to cast any spells within ten feet of Dorn, on pain of death.
Thats all.. NPCs just get in the way!
Velkir: Human Bounty Hunter
Imoen: Thief/Mage (Used to have a crush on her in BG 2 till you learn she is your sis DAMN)
Neera: Wild Mage (Cute but very annoying she dosent hold a torch to Jaheira)
Jaheira: Fighter/Druid Good Tank good healing and loved her in BG2 (using her BG2 Pic)
Faldorn: Druid She dosent get enough love I got her running around throwing Darts and casting spells
Branwen: Fiery Cleric Tank Gal..wouldv love some Romance but "oh well"
Khalid - More by default than anything else. I briefly contemplated replacing him with Ajantis, but he's an OK tank and I haven't used him than often in previous runs.
Jaheira - I miss Ironskins. And Insect Plague. And look forward to BG2. However, I do like Jaheira, and I like the idea of having almost the same party through both games. (I'll have to replace Khalid with either Minsc or Keldorn, but that should be my only permanent substitution.)
Imoen - She's my sis, and the best thief in the game. Really a no-brainer if you're playing a good guy and aren't a thief yourself.
Rasaad - The whole point of this run is to try out the new NPCs, and I like Rasaad so far. Despite the fact that his stats could be better and low-level monks are terrible. I'm taking him for the new quest and the romance, though, not for his combat prowess.
Neera - I find her very entertaining, in and out of combat. Wild magic certainly adds something to the simplest of encounters. Several times she's said "stand back and watch this!" right before turning herself orange or exploding in a fireball. Then again, she's saved my bacon a couple of times by entangling or flamestriking an opponent. Keeps life interesting, that's for sure.
I look on this party as a long-term investment. In BG2, Ashling and Rasaad will kick butt, Jaheira will be a much better tank, Imoen will become a powerful mage and Neera will be able to cast high level spells well ahead of time at the penalty of possibly turning everyone into squirrels. Surprisingly, though, they're getting through the game without too many reloads.
Bjorn: Half-Orc Priest of Talos (with 19 strength, he was great damage in the early game, now he is healer/buffer and occasional hitter)
Kagain: Such a good tank, just needed that 18 dex from the gauntlets. I cast strength on him every big fight since I don't have any of the Strength items yet.
Dorn: Too good to resist. For the first few levels of Cloakwood, I just gave Dorn the boots of speed and had him kill everything by himself.
Montaron: ...He is getting there. Very obnoxious when I skilled find traps over open lock ONE TIME and now he is behind on some of the locks (luckily I have knock from the next two characters.) He does decent damage when I sometimes cast strength on him, and he has been known to backstab stuff when he goes stealth or I cast invis.
Xzar: Comes with Monty, and I have never tried him before. Very impressed, he is my support caster with very few damage spells (usually uses Horror, Remove Fear, Identify, and other stuff). I plan on getting the tomes soon now that I can access the big city, so I will dual him at level 6 to cleric.
Edwin: I have never tried him before either. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER, HE IS AMAZING!! He has so many spells, and so many hitpoints! Larloch's to give him even more hitpoints, and glitterdust to make fights easier--plus he has elemental spells when I need damage fast.
My next party will be:
CHARNAME: The Stalker kit from Ranger--I always wanted to backstab, but I want more combat potential than the thief gets (and multiclass is not my cup of tea for CHARNAME)
Imoen or Safana: I've heard Safana is cool, but I'll probably just stick with Imoen.
Rasaad: Love monks, and he seems like a cool NPC.
EITHER
Khalid, Jaheria and Neera: I like Jaheria, and Khalid works well if he has some strength item. With these two, my only mage options are either evil (and won't stay with me at Reputation 20), or Xan (who I just cannot stand) so I have to go with Neera. And it gives me the chance to get any items from her subplot.
OR
Minsc, Dynaheir and Yeslick: Yeslick wins, Minsc wins, and Dynaheir isn't too bad.
Now I am just trying to decide what weapons to use with my stalker: Longsword if I go with Minsc, possibly scimitar/katana if I go with Khalid.
Me: human Paladin. Tank
Imoen: good thief, may or may not dual to mage, plus continuity to BG2
Branwen: Cleric, better then Yeslick since single class rises quicker.
Neera: mage, NEW
Rasaad: monk, NEW
MInsc & Boo: Really?? You have to ask?! IT'S MINSC!!! AND BOO!!!! BUTT-KICKING FOR GOODNESS!!!!!!!
2.) Using one of the 3 Wisdom tomes on an NPC is definitely not as severe as using the other tomes on an NPC. Wisdom only really helps lore, Priest spells, and how good a mage's wish can be. +2 Wisdom and +3 Wisdom is not a huge difference in many characters, so dropping 1 point on an NPC isn't a huge deal (even my Cleric is willing to share the wisdom to make Xzar more versatile).
Terminator - human blackguard dps
Dorn - Dps
Coran - cause i'm tired of always taking imoen
Viconia - heal crowd control
Branwen - heal crow control
Edwin - for all the stuff a mage does
so far i can take on anything with this party
Hood(CHARNAME) - Assassin, plays the ranged role mostly but when the situation calls for it, stealth -->poison weapon backstab.
Minsc - always, always, always have him in my party. Usually rockin the full plate and boots of speed.
Jaheira - shes taking on the clerical role right now, with some CC thrown in there. She is my other front line "fighter" lol i couldn't even type that without using quotes.
Imoen - just too much story to tell there. Despite having a rogue already in the party, plan on dualing her to Mage for extra Oomph.
Kivan - My Nig***. Hes a must in every party i have. Legolas style dropping them from ridiculous distances with that amazing bowness.
and...
Neera - Yup. I said it. Huge risk, but hey whats the EE without a little chaos? I have had to reload more times that i can count from her casting "hold person" and really polymorphing them into an ogre or something ludicrous and wiping out my main.
She has been the greatest challenge thus far, with a whopping 10HP. But all in all, i have taken on the challenge of having a 4-2 ranged/melee party and never done it through an entire game before, and hope i can manage.
Sorry Khalid/Dynaheir, no flesh to stone for you, you got the butchered in the gnoll pits where i left your corpses to rot.
Time passes on, NPCs forget. Everyone wins!
I can see giving most of the tomes to CHARNAME depending on your class (Str for fighting types, Dex and Con to pretty much anyone, Int to a caster, Cha for anyone who isn't going to use the ring of friendship, Wis for Priests). However, if +1 to a certain stat (e.g. +1 to Int for my Barbarian) REALLY doesn't help them that much, I feel that it is just a waste on CHARNAME, while giving it to another party member who can actually benefit from it is a very good idea.
I see the tomes as tactical assets.
There are many characters who with tomes will get a 17 or an 18 or in Wisdom AND / OR an 18 in Intelligence the tomes.
Since most people roll a lot or use CTRL 8 to "cheat" up stats...or even Shadowkeeper them...I figure...OK if I roll till I have stats I find acceptable I'm pretty good there.
But how do I go from there and take my followers / optimizing them?
WISDOM:
If I'm not a Cleric / Druid of some kind the Wisdom tombs aren't going to help me...but Branwen, Faldorn, Jaheria and Vicky all get incredible boosts making them drastically more effective in game. (17-18 Wisdom for a punishing amount of spells!)
INTELLIGENCE:
If I'm playing a mage, chances are I have 18 INT already, making the tomb in effect: WORTHLESS to my PC!!!
(There is ZERO point in having more than 18 INT as you do not gain bonus spells)
So...look at the myriad of spell casters who have 17 INT:
Xzar (Who can also Dual Class to either a Thief or a Cleric with the DEX Tome or one WIS tome making him incredibly flexible, as well as psychotic)
Dyaneir
Imoen (If you Dual Class her)
Neera
Qualye
And Safana (If you can settle for 17 Int and Dual Classing her...)
STRENGTH:
I often use the Strength tome to gift 19 STR on a warrior of some kind. If PC doesn't need it...why not make Minsc hugely powerful? And now that we have Dorn, you could have a Blackguard with 20 Natural STR.
CONSTITUTION:
I almost always prefer for the PC to get 19-20 Con if he's a warrior of some kind or if he's a mage using the Claw of Kazaroth but, if he's not going to need all that con...I can see making an exception for someone who just needs more bonus HP no matter how you slice it. Neera and Dorn both might be great candidates.
CHARISMA:
If the PC at 18 CHA give it to him / her to go to 19 for bonuses...if not it should always go to the PC with the highest score for better shopping.
DEXTERITY:
The bonuses past 19 DEX occur at 21 DEX! So there's no reason to pump anyone past 19 DEX ever, unless...you're an ELF who can make it 21 by BG2...so...really it's up for grabs as needed.
I prefer to use them on characters who will be coming back in BG2...but it's a game...no reason to get too attached a bonus point. Especially since your PC will almost always have better stats than any pen and paper equivalent for D&D 2nd Edition rules anyone could roll naturally.
@Abdel_Adrian - You mean when learning spells? Or in your book? Because there are some spells I can do without, but giving NPC's more spell slots usually means my team is working way better and you don't get any new spell slots at INT 19.
How to use Tomes on NPCs:
Strength
Give it to Kivan. 18/12 -> 19 = +1 THAC0 +3 Damage -> +3 THAC0 +7 Damage
Give it to Shar-Teel. 18/58 -> 19 = +2 THAC0 +3 Damage -> +3 THAC0 +7 Damage
Dexterity
Give it to Coran. 20 -> 21 = +3 Ranged THAC0, -4 AC -> +4 Ranged THAC0, -5 AC
Give it to Branwen and Dual-Class her to Thief.
Give it to Xzar and Dual-Class him to Thief.
Constitution
Give it to Kagain. 20 -> 21 = +5 HP/level -> +6 HP/level, slightly faster regeneration.
Intelligence
Give it to Edwin. 18 -> 19 = 85% Spell Learn, Max 18 Known Spells/Level -> 95% Spell Learn, Unlimited Known Spells/Level
Give it to Safana and Dual-Class her to Mage.
Wisdom
Give one to Xzar and Dual-Class him to Cleric.
Give two to Dynaheir and Dual-Class her to Cleric.
Charisma
Give one to Ajantis to get him up to 18.
Give one to Safana to get her up to 18.
(I guess my Blade could technically use more Intelligence, as she only has twelve at the moment. However, she can always chug a Potion of Genius before scribing spells, and I don't see myself using even the seven spells per level that twelve INT gives me. The point of a Blade is to buff and then go into melee, not to stand at the back casting, and there aren't more than three or four good buffing spells per level.)