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Anomen and Haer'Dalis are cool.

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  • sandmanCCLsandmanCCL Member Posts: 1,389
    Quartz said:

    I miss having Yoshimo in my party.

    I never take him now for ...

    ahh ...

    reasons. ;)

    You know. You work your ass off to make him totally awesome and legit, and then he betrays you and dies no matter what. Cool shit.

    I agree with you. Considering some of the things you do in Throne of Bhaal, I really wish they'd have included something involving him.
    Dragonspear
  • BaldursCatBaldursCat Member Posts: 432
    edited October 2012
    kamuizin said:


    So, to end, in my opinion, Anomen romance is VERY WELL wrote, but with all due respect to everyone, some people just LACK the capacity of perceive the nuances in this refined work. It isn't a direct romance as the others, try to ignore any of the male romance options and the romance is spoiled, disagree with any of the female romances and nearly all the times the romance end.

    The most fun part in Anomen romance, is that in a world of fantasy, he's pratically the only true human there, arrogant, naive, shortminded sometimes, ambitious and most than anything, he changes, he changes a lot. The Anomen in end of ToB is compelty different than the Anomen you meet in Copper Coronet, both the Lawful Good (best in bonus terms) and the Chaotic Neutral (best in storyline terms) had an extremly positive evolution in their personalities.

    I didn't think it possible to come across someone who had analysed Anomen quite as much I have! ;)

    I find it difficult to hate him in the same way some do simply because he's got such a good backstory, which, if you think about it, goes a long way to explaining the way he is when you first meet him: defensive, eager to impress, using arrogance as a protective shell. Sure, he's a noble but he had none of the privileged existence everyone else around him had so in RW terms he's an outsider, both with the nobility in Athkatla and as a 'knight' as his path to Knighthood isn't traditional. When I bear all this in mind I can forgive him some of the stupid stuff he says.

    EDIT: Oh, and agreed re Yoshimo!
    NybCR
  • CorvenCorven Member Posts: 2
    edited October 2012
    I just signed up to ask: Why no love for Haer'Dalis? I see all/most of you going on and on about Anomen but it seems like almost nobody had Haer'Dalis in his/her party. How come?
    Gameplaywise, Bards can be pretty powerfull in BG2. You do know, that they can cast Tenser's Transformation and a ton of other selfbuffs? Makes em pretty powerfull and they gain levels faster, meaning you can profit from instant-death Chromatic Orbs while your enemies are still vulnerable to them. Also, they get the ability to use any item. Tensered Bard with one of those platemails that still allow you to cast spells plus magic swords of beefyness +5? Yummy...

    But I don't choose my party based on their class/stats. You can beat BG2/TOB with almost any party, the only class you realy need (imho) is a cleric for some healing.


    I choose my party mostly based on the npc's character (uh... I mean, as in personality and stuff ^^' ;) ), and Haer'Dalis is one of the funnier/more interesting ones.
    I almost died laughing when I had him and Edwin in the same party and startet doing Edwin's sidequest.
    He has some of the most entertaining banter, at least in my opinion. Yeah, I know, we all have favorites ;)

    Also, just think what could have been: Haer'Dalis was supposed to be a romance-option for a female Bhaalchild. They had to scrap that due to lack of time. I think it's sad. Can't help but wonder how that one would have played out, what the subplot of the romance would have been.
    Man, I whish they could add the romance in the EE, but I guess they can't because of the kind of contract they have.

    Haer'Dalis is my favorite npc and I almost always take him along.

    I heared somewhere that Valygar was the third romance option for females, would have liked that, too.
    sandmanCCLjhart1018Brude
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    I didn't spoke of Haer'Dalis cos i have nothing against or in favor for him, he's ok for me. Probally the fact of some people dislike him is in reason of frustation. Haer'Dalis, being the only Thiefling joinable NPC, the only planar travel joinable NPC, is somehow... too ordinary, too common, and that frustate a bit. As a blade he's ok, he has his uses in terms of power evaluation.
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    @Corven

    I think the reason most people ignore Haer'dalis (self included) is because bards were so notoriously bad in BG1 in terms of party options. I WOULD like to try Haer'dalis soon though. I just need to get through my current playthrough so I can try him in a BG2 party.
  • sandmanCCLsandmanCCL Member Posts: 1,389
    @Dragonspear: Oh man. You're in for a treat. He's seriously awesome.

    He's just a little on the brittle side so make sure he's not the focus of aggression, and he'll shred things. Offensive Spin is gloriously deadly. Plus, hey, specialization in a type of weapon not really utilized by anyone else, and with lots of options for additional self-buffs by way of triggering gear.
    BaldursCat
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    @SandmanCCL

    I'm really looking forward to Haer'Dalis v my Fighter/Mage. Although the more I play my FM the more I wish I was an FMT instead =/. As I said in Rilthea's thread, the traps in cloakwood are starting to really hurt.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited October 2012
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • KosonKoson Member Posts: 284
    @Corven Yes, Haer'Dalis is cool and a great NPC to have in your group, both as personality / dialogue & comments and as a powerhouse of magic+melee. You don't see him mentioned very often because most people overlook / ignore him, seeing no/little utility in a bard, regardless of how good / powerful he really is. Is a shame that his and Valygar's romance got cut, would be great to have them restored for the EE although I don't think it very likely.
    The reason you see most people talking about Anomen is because he attracts so much hate and ire due to being the only official romance option for female PCs and he has a less than lovable attitude, especially right after you meet him. Had he not been the only romantic interest for ladies, most likely he'd be more accepted and valued. As it is, he tends to be the one arousing the strongest (& mostly negative) emotions and so he "steals the stage" from the tiefling bard, especially in a thread dedicated to both.
    DragonspearCorven
  • CorvenCorven Member Posts: 2
    edited October 2012
    @Koson

    Yeah, I can get behind that. I only played with him on one playthrough to see what he was like. I thought something along the lines of "man, what a douchebag..."
    But I kinda like that about him, in a strange way. You know, he is just.... human?! With all the flaws and bad habbits. I absolutly DO NOT like him, but I'd maybe pic him again because he's "interesting".
    BaldursCat
  • jhart1018jhart1018 Member Posts: 909
    Haer'Dalis amuses me. I want to smack Anomen upside the head every so often, but I romance him because he's the only option for a female PC. Haer'Dalis's epilogue is classic and had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I rarely have a spot for him due to party composition, but if there's room, he's in.
    CorvenDragonspear
  • KosonKoson Member Posts: 284
    @Corven Exactly! As someone else said in this thread, I think he characterizes the best the human race with its bad and good attributes. Is just that he's best at showcasing his less than pleasing qualities and it takes time and patience to see his good parts and appreciate him for what & who he really is, despite or maybe even because of his imperfections.
  • MoomintrollMoomintroll Member Posts: 1,498
    I've always like Anomen, Haer'Dalis not so much.
  • KosonKoson Member Posts: 284
    @jhart1018 Careful with smacking Anomen's head, Minsc was doing fine as ranger until receiving one head blow too many. ;)
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    @Koson

    Too many ways one can take that, thankfully we all love Minsc and are therefore taking it properly.
    mlneveseCorvenBrude
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,579

    This probably doesn't come as a shocker to anyone but I really like Aerie, too, from a personality perspective.

    I like Aerie too, partly for the same reason. The voice work for her is great - it conveys almost all aspects of her personality at once (i.e: her innocence, her naivety, her earnestness, etc.). From the moment I meet her and she's trapped as an "orc," I feel drawn to her. I also like the interactions between her and the other NPCs - ie: Jaheira chides her for getting wounded, or the way Nalia treats her like a little sister.

    Of course, she's also a very useful NPC too - especially the way her mage and cleric spells can be used in combination (i.e: her cleric spells combined into triggers and sequences, or the Robe of Vecna used to hasten both mage and cleric casting).
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    Mechanically, both are very good NPCs.
    Furthermore, Haer'Dalis is cool and I like his banter with the companions.
    Anomen is hated because he has a horrible personality. Yes he can be changed, and that is a wonderful concept, but it's hard to heal the scars of hearing him call Jaheira a half-elven wench just because she disagreed with murdering some douche for his dagger to get friendly with Mae'Var, a Shadow Thief. I mean... He's just such a douchebag. I don't mind characters with a bad attitude (ie. Korgan, Edwin), but Anomen is just downright abrasive to listen to.
  • styggastygga Member Posts: 467

    I like Aerie too, partly for the same reason. The voice work for her is great - it conveys almost all aspects of her personality at once (i.e: her innocence, her naivety, her earnestness, etc.). From the moment I meet her and she's trapped as an "orc," I feel drawn to her.



    Ogre not orc!
  • AethernautAethernaut Member Posts: 60
    edited November 2013
    Haer'Dalis is awesome with the right items.

    Ring of free action means he can use defensive spin and move. Now you might say - 'so what, he's probably not high enough level to hit stuff', but look at it this way - Effective bait, effective distraction whilst your characters do other stuff.

    Cheekiest/Cheesiest tactic:

    Use any item skill and improved bard's song in ToB in combination with Vhailor's Helm and the mislead spell means you have up to 4 Haer'Dalis on the screen (Vhailor's Helm allows you to cast Simulacrum, + mislead is another clone), giving you insane negative AC.

    High levels - ToB, I give him the Answerer and Equaliser, Asylferund Chain and he goes to town.

    He has an interesting personality and memorable lines. Some elemental resists and better weapon focus than a blade gets by default.

    His hitpoints aren't the best, but you can always give him the Constitution belt you get in the Cult of the Eyeless quest if you want to put him into front line melee with the best of them. A bit pointless if you ask me, but he'll get a few hits in.

    As for Anomen.

    I don't hate Anomen, but I always play a male character because I myself am male in reality.

    *Slight spoilers*




    Anomen is only interesting in my eyes if you romance him as a female character. You see some extra nuance to his personality, which is slightly tortured in my eyes. You don't really touch on this otherwise.

    Plus if he passes his knight test, he gets that +4 boost to his wisdom.

    I'd rather take Keldorn any day of the week. Who I then swop for Sarevok later on, on account of me feeling he's helped enough and has a family to take care of etc.
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