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Help choosing last member for BG2 and ToB team

Hi,

I'm currently near the end of completing BG1EE and its expansion and starting to plan for the sequel.
Usually I play pc as a magic user but this time I went with a multiclass fighter/cleric NG, and I feel like using companions I never or rarely used. So no Viconia, Minsc or Edwin.

Companions I'm sure of
- Imoen, Jan in the meantime: even after 20 years I can't imagine a run without the little sister o:)
- Mazzy: the few times I used her before I really liked her character and kit, no idea why I dropped her, this time she will stay.
- Valygar in SoA then Saverok in ToB: I've never used any of those and they look great for having another front-liner.
- Neera: first time playing the EE but I do like her a lot, pretty funny and wild mages in a party create great moments ^^

The team seems fine as is: 2 front-liners, 1 ranged/hybrid, 1 thief, 2 magic users

I think for SoA I could take anyone and be fine with it, but I'm less sure for ToB, I feel like having only my pc for divine magic and attack oriented may be a bad idea.

So Aerie and Jaheira came to mind.
Jaheira, I'm sure she'll do find and some druids exclusive spells are great, no surprise however.
I've never played for long with Aerie so it could be a good opportunity, but with already Imoen and Neera in the party I wonder if there are enough items for 3 magic users. Or can Aerie be geared more like a cleric and still cast some mage spells?

I'd appreciate any advice on those 2 or even another idea.
Thanks for reading this far :smile:

Comments

  • BertleBertle Member Posts: 49
    Between Aerie and Jaheira I would go Jaheira in terms of party balance. You've already got Imoen, Jan, and Neera, which gives you a lot of arcane magic ability in the party. Between Jaheira and Aerie, I find Jaheira to be a better melee fighter which it seems like you're looking for. Yes, you could buff Aerie with spells and use her in melee but her sucky constitution makes her a little squishy in my opinion.

    That being said, if you often use Jaheira and would like to try Aerie out I think you'd do just fine. Your party of 5 above is pretty balanced as is and I don't see the 6th member being a huge factor, just extra flavor.

    Also, if you're looking for a divine/melee mix, Anomen would be a good fit! I would personally lean towards him over Jaheira or Aerie from a power perspective.
    kaja8Halmy
  • HalmyHalmy Member Posts: 3
    Bertle wrote: »
    Between Aerie and Jaheira I would go Jaheira in terms of party balance. You've already got Imoen, Jan, and Neera, which gives you a lot of arcane magic ability in the party. Between Jaheira and Aerie, I find Jaheira to be a better melee fighter which it seems like you're looking for. Yes, you could buff Aerie with spells and use her in melee but her sucky constitution makes her a little squishy in my opinion.

    That being said, if you often use Jaheira and would like to try Aerie out I think you'd do just fine. Your party of 5 above is pretty balanced as is and I don't see the 6th member being a huge factor, just extra flavor.

    Also, if you're looking for a divine/melee mix, Anomen would be a good fit! I would personally lean towards him over Jaheira or Aerie from a power perspective.

    Oh right I forgot to mention Anomen, I've already done a full run before with him and he's indeed quite capable and would have been my go to character.
    However my pc is female and I have Ajantis in my BG1 party, I'm not sure I can handle Anomen affection in BG2 :p

    Regarding Aerie, knowing Imoen will be my main mage (I gave her the tome of understand in BG1 for 18 int), and Neera backup mage, do you have some recommendation on how to gear her?

    I've never used a mage/cleric but I was thinking
    - Elven chain mail so she can still cast, Imoen gets robe of Vecna.
    - Shield of Harmony, low strength requirements and useful immunity.
    - Any good sling
    - Mace of Disruption or why not Crom Faeyr to fix her strength issue and for some melee fun, my pc won't use it

    You think it's a ok start for her?
  • SixOfSpadesSixOfSpades Member Posts: 44
    The PC's Fighter/Cleric would make Anomen completely redundant, & do the same thing for Aerie's Cleric half.
    As mentioned, Imoen + Neera would make Aerie's Mage half obsolete as well. Better save her for a different party.
    Jaheira, however, is well in the clear: More Warriors are almost always welcome, she's a better fighter than Anomen, and as you say, her Druid spells make her unique (as Cernd might as well not even exist).

    How familiar are you with Korgan and Keldorn? Either one of them should do well in the empty slot, or in the Valygar / Sarevok slot. I've never used Neera, but the dialogue between a Wild Mage & an Inquisitor has GOT to interesting.
    Halmy
  • HalmyHalmy Member Posts: 3
    The PC's Fighter/Cleric would make Anomen completely redundant, & do the same thing for Aerie's Cleric half.
    As mentioned, Imoen + Neera would make Aerie's Mage half obsolete as well. Better save her for a different party.
    Jaheira, however, is well in the clear: More Warriors are almost always welcome, she's a better fighter than Anomen, and as you say, her Druid spells make her unique (as Cernd might as well not even exist).

    How familiar are you with Korgan and Keldorn? Either one of them should do well in the empty slot, or in the Valygar / Sarevok slot. I've never used Neera, but the dialogue between a Wild Mage & an Inquisitor has GOT to interesting.

    That's really a good point about about Aerie, it will probably be better to take her another time when I do a run with Minsc if I want to appreciate her character and what she brings to the party.

    I've already played with Keldorn a couple times before and really liked him, but resisting using Carsomyr is too hard for me when playing with a paladin in the party and I feel like trying new weapons too.

    Korgan could be fun though but being CE I'm afraid it will be difficult to manage in good/neutral party, maybe like Aerie better for another run.

    I guess Jaheira it is, she does make the most sense to balance the party.
    Thanks for the input :smile:
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    Cernd would be a worthy addition if you really want to try something different. He can tank almost as well as Jaheira when a werewolf and becomes a super-powerful druid spellcaster late in SoA or beginning of ToB. He gets a bad rap because he's a terrible daddy, but that doesn't mean he's not good in a party...
    DinoDin
  • Oswald81Oswald81 Member Posts: 63
    Keldorn maybe or you can keep Jan. He is the one I can't live without in Baldur's Gate II as Hexxat is laughable as a thief, even though it would be nice to have a NPC you can afford to get killed from time to time, but that handcuffs you to being an evil party if you go for the more difficult settings. And I love to set traps. I also have a certain love for Korgan due to how useful he is as a battlerager which makes a lot of stuff much easier to handle, just be careful about the reputation.
  • Rik_KirtaniyaRik_Kirtaniya Member Posts: 1,742
    I would recommend Aerie. Why? Cause there's nothing like too many mages!

    Mage gang unite!
    HalmyZaxaresgorgonzola
  • ShravanPShravanP Member Posts: 8
    I agree that Aerie is a better fit here. You already have 3 frontliners: Charname F/C, Sarevok / Valygar, and Mazzy. Aerie rounds out your partly really nicely here and can be the best support character in existence.
    gorgonzola
  • vishvish Member Posts: 49
    I personally love Jan. He's got the best NPC kit in the game and his banters+audio are really good. I always ditch Imoen for Jan. Aerie is a solid pickup. She's quite the liability throughout the entire game with her low Constitution, but if you can protect your backline well she'll do just fine. Even on the lower difficulties she can get into trouble quick. You also always need a dedicated healer IMO. Aerie isn't the best but she'll do.

    Between Imoen and Neera AND Aerie, yes, there are plenty of magic items to split among them. Neera gets great use out of those nice Wild Mage items, Imoen gets maybe a tankier armor like the elven chain mails, and Aerie gets the Robe of Vecna. You'll need to split up the accessories wisely, but there are plenty of Time Stop, ADHW, and other must have high level scrolls available for all to have.

    My teams vary, but the one thing I never go without is a Cleric/Mage. They're just too valuable to pass up. They offer a ton of utility and count as two party members in my book.

    In terms of evilness vs goodness... I found it doesn't really matter. Evil NPCs like Korgan don't really have a problem with you doing good things. Just don't let your reputation get above 16, I think is the trigger. Korgan is also a BEAST, probably the 2nd best NPC behind Jan. He's another one I don't like leaving behind. Great audio, banters, and who doesn't love a surly dwarf?
    Oswald81
  • Oswald81Oswald81 Member Posts: 63
    vish wrote: »
    I personally love Jan. He's got the best NPC kit in the game and his banters+audio are really good. I always ditch Imoen for Jan. Aerie is a solid pickup. She's quite the liability throughout the entire game with her low Constitution, but if you can protect your backline well she'll do just fine. Even on the lower difficulties she can get into trouble quick. You also always need a dedicated healer IMO. Aerie isn't the best but she'll do.

    Between Imoen and Neera AND Aerie, yes, there are plenty of magic items to split among them. Neera gets great use out of those nice Wild Mage items, Imoen gets maybe a tankier armor like the elven chain mails, and Aerie gets the Robe of Vecna. You'll need to split up the accessories wisely, but there are plenty of Time Stop, ADHW, and other must have high level scrolls available for all to have.

    My teams vary, but the one thing I never go without is a Cleric/Mage. They're just too valuable to pass up. They offer a ton of utility and count as two party members in my book.

    In terms of evilness vs goodness... I found it doesn't really matter. Evil NPCs like Korgan don't really have a problem with you doing good things. Just don't let your reputation get above 16, I think is the trigger. Korgan is also a BEAST, probably the 2nd best NPC behind Jan. He's another one I don't like leaving behind. Great audio, banters, and who doesn't love a surly dwarf?

    The trigger is 19, and Korgan say bye-bye. But he won't come back if your reputation is above 16 I think if you dismiss him or get him imprisoned or whatever.
  • AerieAerie Member Posts: 226
    Don't take me like others are saying.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Evil party members generally leave permanently at 19+ rep in SoA. In ToB, they don't; only Dorn actually leaves at high rep.

    Korgan doesn't have any special reputation requirements to come back after being kicked out, but you do have to pay him 500 gold each time you bring him back in SoA. He is a mercenary, after all.
  • BracchusBracchus Member Posts: 41
    I'm currently running SoA on a F/C as well and running Keldorn, Mazzy, Jan, Jaheira, Neera.
    • Keldorn for melee because well.... Inquisitors
    • Jan I consider a must have on every run. Besides being the best thief option IMO, his second class adds another arcane caster and most people agree he's a top tier companion in BG2.
    • Neera simply because I prefer my main arcane caster to be single classed. If I get a really bad wild surge, I'll reload, and there's some interesting things you can do with wild mages.
    • Jahiera was optional but she can be built into a really solid NPC. decent offense/defense, a few gems in the druid spells.
    • Mazzy is basically the best ranged companion in BG2 and she, like Keldorn, requires very little management during fights which frees me up some effort due to the spell management I have to deal with on the other 3 companions plus myself.

    I could've substituted Haer'Dalis in for either Jaheira or Mazzy because Blades are great but they also require more micromanaging to hit their optimal peak in combat than I care to put the effort into. Korgan as mentioned above is a beast but I tend to make my parties either good+neutrals or evil+neutrals. That way I at least get a break from monitoring my rep on some playthroughs. Speaking of evil playthroughs, my usual picks for that would come from a pool of Korgan, Edwin, Dorn, Viccy, Jan, Haer'Dalis, and "you-know-who" depending on what class I am.
    gorgonzola
  • CyberliskCyberlisk Member Posts: 29
    Halmy wrote: »

    Korgan could be fun though but being CE I'm afraid it will be difficult to manage in good/neutral party, maybe like Aerie better for another run.

    I guess Jaheira it is, she does make the most sense to balance the party.
    Thanks for the input :smile:

    Korgan actually works surprisingly well in a neutral/good-aligned party as long as you don't have more than 18 reputation. The interactions with him feel much easier and more natural to handle as a good PC than as an evil one because unfortunately there is almost no way of telling him "Hey, I get it.. I'm evil too, but not in the bloodthirsty, brainless kind of way that you are."

    Afaik Korgan also has a certain respect for strong, good-aligned character that stand their ground and fight for their principles. Apparently there is some interesting philosophical banter between him and Keldorn as well, even though or rather because they are polar opposites in terms of alignment.
    gorgonzolaAerakar
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    Halmy wrote: »
    I've never played for long with Aerie
    Then please take a look at this thread:
    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/47354/superaerie-power-tactics-for-the-c-m-spoilers
    and you will see that she is possibly the most versatile NPC in the game and does not lack of power once you get used to play the CM multiclass. The fact that in the thread different players use her with completely different styles is a clue of her versatility.

    I strongly disagree with who told that she is squishy, properly buffed end game she will have more then 100 hp, that is not much, but don't forget that she is a mage and the mages have the best self protection spells, mirror images, stoneskin, spells to make the AC better and when it is needed PFMW and the mantle line spells, and SI on top of it.

    At the beginning of SoA she is a secondary mage and cleric, being multi so somehow underleveled in her classes, but has a ton of spells/day as she has access at 2 pools, but the more the game progresses the more she shines and becomes versatile and powerful.
    You can keep her far from the front line, casting spells and mixing in the sequencers arcane and divine magic for very interesting results, but you can also send her to the front line and there she can be the best possible tank, immune to physical damage and magic damage if you use the right protections, while she DW some strong blunt weapon like maces or flails.

    My end game Aerie buffed for mlee has 4 apr, -8 MH Thac0 and -4 OH, deals 24 dmg each hit, and if needed also her simulacrum pops up and buffs (welding MH a BBoD for even more damage), and I can buff her very fast if I use the sequencers, the contingency and the trigger to do it.

    It has to be told that like Haer Dalis she needs some levels and some buffing to shine, but is less items hungry then him, as cleric she easily gets 25 str without items, freeing the belts for your usual fighters, give her an archmage robe, a couple of weapons, a good sling and she is ready to go.

    I strongly suggest you to trust in her and give her a try, this run or one of the next ones.

  • DinoDinDinoDin Member Posts: 1,567
    edited October 2020
    I'd advocate Jaheira or Cernd. It's just nice to round out the party with some spells and ability to use specific gear. You have plenty of mage with Jan/Imoen and Neera. Plenty of fighter/tankiness with Valygar/Sarevok and Mazzy. Not to mention your own main cleric.

    The thing is, insect plague is just devastating for some of the more dangerous fights. It cuts through many spell protections. I'd probably lean towards Cernd over Jaheira, just for the faster spell progression and because your party has plenty of tankiness.

    My humble opinion is that Aerie just kind of bad from a combat role. She is a decent NPC to round out a party that lacks enough spellcasters, but that's not your current party. Her ability to hit with weapons is weaker than Jaheira or Cernd. And that's what makes her weak in combat despite her large spell repertoire. She cannot do as much in a short timeframe in combat as your other options. (Classes that can attack well and cast spells are overpowered in these IE games because of how combat splits spell/item usage and attacking.)

    The Robe of Vecna makes Aeria a boss, but it will also make Neera a boss for you.
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    @DinoDin I agree that a druid is a very good 6th member for that party, even if I probably would prefer Jaheira over Cernd as she is more versatile as she can wear and armor and she has fighter's thac0, apr and hla, even at the cost of having her get the very high level druid spells much later, due to the strange druid progression.
    It is true that the party has already 3 front liners, but 4 kill faster then 3 and jaheira in my opinion has enough druid specific magic to suit the party needs, given that there is already a multi cleric on top of 3 mages, there is really few beyond the insect spells that can not be substituted by their spells.
    But it probably depends on my particular play style, both are good choices.

    As I told in my previous post I can not agree about Aerie, and it depends probably on the fact that I had experimented a lot with her, I sent her solo mlee against dragons, properly buffed, and she took them down pretty fast without even getting scratched, both in vanilla and Tactics mod settings, and can be a terrific caster, I would not call it being bad from a combat role.
    But there is absolutely no need of her in this party as it is any way well rounded.

    About the RoV I think that to assign it to a single mage is a waste of it, unless the player likes to rest and memorize again often, it is so good to have 2 high level mages like Imoen and Neera, and imho the one of them that in a particular situation has the role of main caster wear it.
    Probably in the hardest late game battles the better user of it is Imoen because Neera can spam dwehomers, Imoen or her PI with Improved Alacrity and Neera spamming her Dwehomers and some sequencer can nuke the battlefield, the dwehomers ignore the 1 spell/round rule.
    DinoDiniosfrustration
  • BracchusBracchus Member Posts: 41
    gorgonzola wrote: »
    Halmy wrote: »
    I've never played for long with Aerie
    Then please take a look at this thread:
    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/47354/superaerie-power-tactics-for-the-c-m-spoilers
    and you will see that she is possibly the most versatile NPC in the game and does not lack of power once you get used to play the CM multiclass. The fact that in the thread different players use her with completely different styles is a clue of her versatility.

    I strongly disagree with who told that she is squishy, properly buffed end game she will have more then 100 hp, that is not much, but don't forget that she is a mage and the mages have the best self protection spells, mirror images, stoneskin, spells to make the AC better and when it is needed PFMW and the mantle line spells, and SI on top of it.

    At the beginning of SoA she is a secondary mage and cleric, being multi so somehow underleveled in her classes, but has a ton of spells/day as she has access at 2 pools, but the more the game progresses the more she shines and becomes versatile and powerful.
    You can keep her far from the front line, casting spells and mixing in the sequencers arcane and divine magic for very interesting results, but you can also send her to the front line and there she can be the best possible tank, immune to physical damage and magic damage if you use the right protections, while she DW some strong blunt weapon like maces or flails.

    My end game Aerie buffed for mlee has 4 apr, -8 MH Thac0 and -4 OH, deals 24 dmg each hit, and if needed also her simulacrum pops up and buffs (welding MH a BBoD for even more damage), and I can buff her very fast if I use the sequencers, the contingency and the trigger to do it.

    It has to be told that like Haer Dalis she needs some levels and some buffing to shine, but is less items hungry then him, as cleric she easily gets 25 str without items, freeing the belts for your usual fighters, give her an archmage robe, a couple of weapons, a good sling and she is ready to go.

    I strongly suggest you to trust in her and give her a try, this run or one of the next ones.

    I agree with everything you said. It's just that for me, I could totally see myself getting carpal tunnel playing her in my party lol. Especially if I'm already playing a fairly management intensive mainchar. She has a LOT of spell selections to manage and execute
    gorgonzola
  • DinoDinDinoDin Member Posts: 1,567
    gorgonzola wrote: »
    As I told in my previous post I can not agree about Aerie...

    I went through and read your analysis on Aerie and I appreciate the deep work you've done there. I want to caveat what I'm about to say by first acknowledging that there are no bad NPC's in the game, especially BG2. You did a great job outlining some of her unique (among NPC's) abilities such as using mage contingencies to include priest spells, and the power within.

    That being said, I just find the analysis falls a little short on the greater context. It's true that Aerie can turn into a combat beast with the proper pre-buffing. But that's kind of the rub for me. Virtually any NPC or player-made character with access to arcane spells can do the same. A player with great knowledge an access to sufficient spell levels can turn Neera or Imoen or Edwin into something that can solo kill a dragon too. All it takes is the willingness to pre-buff and the right knowledge about mage protections. But the corollary to this is that Aerie is gaining mage levels more slowly than every other NPC except Jan.

    If your analysis says Aerie is absolutely great in combat, so long as you're willing to stack on these various fifth level and above spells before a tough fight, I think there's a contradiction in there.

    I think Aerie can fulfill a great role in a certain kind of party, especially a fighter-heavy party. Because she, like the mage-thiefs in a way, gives you diverse options in one character slot. So you can easily roll with a party of three casters with her as opposed to the more stereotypical run of taking four. However, because many tough fights involve having to shut down multiple enemy casters, it's still better to have the spell casting widely distributed, as opposed to narrowly distributed. It's true as you say that Aerie works on single target fights like dragons, but many tough encounters involve multiple dangerous enemies. And even RoV doesn't overcome the limit on casting once per turn (only improved alacrity will do that).

    Lastly, I'd add that Aerie doesn't bring much in the unique NPC traits. All you get is elf resistances that wouldn't exist on a cleric. Many other NPC's bring something unique to the table in one way or another, such as Valygar's armor or Jan's useful crossbow ammo or Mazzy's skills. Nor does she get rewarding special quests such as the Beamdog NPC's, Jaheira or Anomen. None of these are game-breaking of course, but they can be helpful little boosts, especially early on.

    Again, all respect to your analysis. I've just found that in my own peculiar playstyle, where I often eschew heavy pre-buffing, that Aerie ranks in my lower tier of NPC's.
    AerakarStummvonBordwehrgorgonzola
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    edited October 2020
    DinoDin wrote: »
    Virtually any NPC or player-made character with access to arcane spells can do the same. A player with great knowledge an access to sufficient spell levels can turn Neera or Imoen or Edwin into something that can solo kill a dragon too...................... But the corollary to this is that Aerie is gaining mage levels more slowly than every other NPC except Jan.

    ........................................................................

    Lastly, I'd add that Aerie doesn't bring much in the unique NPC traits. All you get is elf resistances that wouldn't exist on a cleric. Many other NPC's bring something unique to the table in one way or another............................................................

    Again, all respect to your analysis. I've just found that in my own peculiar playstyle, where I often eschew heavy pre-buffing, that Aerie ranks in my lower tier of NPC's.
    Aerie brings something in the unique NPC traits, something that only a Charname can do, but as she is almost perfect at it why waste a Charname for the purpose...
    She has access both to the arcane and divine (Cleric) magics, it is true that Neera or Imoen or Edwin after a certain level can kill a dragon solo, but they do it as mages, with their spells, they can if needed tensor transform themselves, but at a steep price, their spell casting will be prevented, so if they try to mlee and run out of stone skins (included the ones that they can store in the contingency and in a sequencer) they have to rely only on their doubled HP, mlee are like warriors without apr.

    She has the cleric's magic, the best offensive buffs in the game, and arcane magic, the best protection, and her offensive buff, Holy Power + Righteous magic + DUHM does not prevent casting while active. She will get 25 STR without items (+7 thac0 +14 dmg), freeing the belts for other party members, granted maxed damage on hit, that becomes terrific when combined with BBoD or shapeshifted into golem, and a good hp boost, while she can still cast!. Arcane and divine if she wears a robe, divine only if she uses an armor.
    My late game aerie has like 115 hp buffed, and I don't use maxed hp gain on leveling up, that would bring probably 30% more, and if she tensor transforms on top of it it doubles. This means that she can go to battle with up to 300hp, wearing the best armor and with a stoneskin active and an other in the contingency, with some blur and improved invisibility to make her ac even better, she can be more tanky then Korgan, while she can still cast cleric spells.
    Or she can be happy of her 115-150 hp, use all the stoneskins and PFMW in her spell book and still be able to cast arcane offensive magic.
    No Imoen or Edwin can replicate that...

    And have I to tell you how arcane and divine magic can be powerful when combined in sequencers, trigger and very late game in the CC? There is plenty of examples in the thread I had linked.

    I am not saying that she is the most powerful NPC, at BG2 level I have no doubt, the queen of them all is Neera, I have her spamming ADHW in chap 2 and late game nuke with up to 11 lev 9 spells in a very short time (how many enemies survive to 11 Dragon's Breaths?).
    I am only saying that she is the most versatile NPC, and in this is very unique, she can cast 2 different magics while using a sling in a more effective way then the other mages, for more then 50 physical dmg/round, or she can go mlee, super tanky, dealing more then 100 dmg/round and throwing in some quick spell every round she does not need to cast again a protection.
    Mlee wise Anomen is better then her, more apr, but lacks of the arcane protections and lacks of SI, a single dispel magic can strip all his buffs. Also Anomen can not use the SoTM to dispel on hit, she does, having actual thac0 to hit the foe.

    In early SoA she can not do all this, she needs some levels to have her buffs become effective, but in spite of being under leveled compared to single class mages and clerics she can cast more spells then any other NPC as is the only one with 2 different spell books active. And in early SoA imho the main problem of the casters is that their spell books are short blankets, they have few spells/day at disposal.

    Surely Aerie to be really effective needs buffing and micro managing, even if the use of contingency, sequencers and trigger make in game her buffing really fast, in a couple of rounds she can put on many buffs and protections, but yes players that don't like to micro manage will never get the best of her.

    iosfrustration
  • iosfrustrationiosfrustration Member Posts: 153
    edited October 2020
    Aerie adheres strictly to the trope of “lethal joke character”
    At first glance, and second glance, and probably 10 games later she seems absolutely useless. A poor mage, a terrible cleric, rotten stats, not many spells. She is just, terrible, in every way.

    But the ruleset of D&D2e is deep and mysterious, And after a few dozen games and a really deep understanding of some of the games more opaque systems her power starts to show through.
    Almost every weakness has a compensation. because of her unique class, with carefully selected gear, and the right buffs, she can compensate for everything, all at once.

    Then a switch goes on - with a massive amount of time and energy and a complete understanding of the games rules Aerie is undoubtedly the most powerful character in the game.

    Because of the way she plays she rewards (only) the absurd amount of time required to understand the game fully - a perfect example of the lethal joke character

    Well played BioWare - well played!
    gorgonzola
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    Even if i told that in my experience the most powerful one is Neera, even never reloading when bad surges happen, I agree with @iosfrustration 100%.
    The power of mages is immediately apparent to almost everyone, the one of the clerics not so much, I often read that Viconia is too squishy to send her mlee :D , but is the synergy of the 2 magics that is terrific.
    The fact that she needs 6M xp to unlock the 100% of her potential is only fair, other way she would be a straight broken NPC...

    But surely she is not a point and click toon, you have to learn how to buff her, how to combine her 2 pools of magic, is perfect for those that like to experiment, to find new ways and combos, to dig deep to find big hidden gems, the ones that like to play with easy maintenance characters and classes will probably never discover her full power, even if with just a little knowledge they can anyway improve her contribution to the party a lot.
    I.e. to cast on her only a couple of buffs is not an hard work, but it make her way more effective with her sling while she stay back and cast spells, she will get a very good thac0 and pack an huge damage (with that +14 due to the 25 str), while an Imoen will often miss vs anything that has an armor and when hit does a barely noticeable damage. Those 25 or 50 (with normal haste) damage/round while having all the rest of the round to cast her spell are a good pay for the time and effort spent to cast a couple of buffs.
    Obviously to have her end game summon a deva and an elemental prince or 4 earth elementals, a buffed simulacrum welding BBoD and FoA and casting IA to help her summoned army from the back needs a lot of planning and work, even if the actual in game time to do it is only very few rounds as she can use a pre set CC, trigger and sequencers to speed up the things.
    iosfrustration
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