Anomen or Viconia?
shevy123456
Member Posts: 540
This is an old discussion but I wanted to gather some feedback and input of this again.
I should preface that I like Viconia a lot more, for many reasons; I think the NPC is better written and designed than Anomen. I am not saying Viconia fits the role for a drow as such, but the game in general is a bit different in some ways to the official lore, also even more so with the add-on mods (Region of Terror, for instance). I am also playing with many mods and most mod authors seem to have written more content for Viconia than for Anomen. Most seem to not like Anomen, hence there is more content for Viconia.
With that said, I was looking to have play-throughs that are based on "efficiency", without necessarily min-maxing to the maximum either. Just ... easier play-throughs.
Viconia is rather weak in the late game in that whenever she is in melee, she really gets nuked. I am aware how to buff her and she is mega-buffed, but even then she still takes a lot of damage, whereas e. g. Korgan just sits there and whacks everyone as if he is the god of destruction himself.
Now I was hoping that Anomen does better than Viconia, and indeed, he is better in melee IMO. He is nowhere near as powerful as Korgan (or Dusk; not even as strong as Drizzt either), but he causes less issues than Viconia does. Even then, though, as I am completing my run with Anomen, I wonder whether I should take him. While there is an increase in power with Anomen, I can not help but feel that Viconia is still a better choice, not only storyline wise but simply because she is not that much worse than Anomen is. But I am not sure, so ... does anyone have arguments in favour of Anomen? That is, specific examples where Anomen did perform much better than Viconia? Normally I actually keep Viconia in the backrow, since that is less of a hassle, whereas Anomen I can also send in the front row. But I am not entirely certain whether that is really a trade-off worth retaining over Viconia.
Edit: Forgot to add ... I don't actually refer to vanilla games, per se, as I no longer play vanilla games; I always play with a lot of mods, so the comparison is with, say, all possible mods, which NPC is "better", performance-wise (even though, as stated, I like the story of Viconia a lot more than Anomen's story, also nobody wants to do mods based on Anomen it seems).
I should preface that I like Viconia a lot more, for many reasons; I think the NPC is better written and designed than Anomen. I am not saying Viconia fits the role for a drow as such, but the game in general is a bit different in some ways to the official lore, also even more so with the add-on mods (Region of Terror, for instance). I am also playing with many mods and most mod authors seem to have written more content for Viconia than for Anomen. Most seem to not like Anomen, hence there is more content for Viconia.
With that said, I was looking to have play-throughs that are based on "efficiency", without necessarily min-maxing to the maximum either. Just ... easier play-throughs.
Viconia is rather weak in the late game in that whenever she is in melee, she really gets nuked. I am aware how to buff her and she is mega-buffed, but even then she still takes a lot of damage, whereas e. g. Korgan just sits there and whacks everyone as if he is the god of destruction himself.
Now I was hoping that Anomen does better than Viconia, and indeed, he is better in melee IMO. He is nowhere near as powerful as Korgan (or Dusk; not even as strong as Drizzt either), but he causes less issues than Viconia does. Even then, though, as I am completing my run with Anomen, I wonder whether I should take him. While there is an increase in power with Anomen, I can not help but feel that Viconia is still a better choice, not only storyline wise but simply because she is not that much worse than Anomen is. But I am not sure, so ... does anyone have arguments in favour of Anomen? That is, specific examples where Anomen did perform much better than Viconia? Normally I actually keep Viconia in the backrow, since that is less of a hassle, whereas Anomen I can also send in the front row. But I am not entirely certain whether that is really a trade-off worth retaining over Viconia.
Edit: Forgot to add ... I don't actually refer to vanilla games, per se, as I no longer play vanilla games; I always play with a lot of mods, so the comparison is with, say, all possible mods, which NPC is "better", performance-wise (even though, as stated, I like the story of Viconia a lot more than Anomen's story, also nobody wants to do mods based on Anomen it seems).
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other than that, anomen function wise is better than viconia in everyway possible except for viconia's high MR, but unfortunately MR doesnt block against physical damage which viconia is almost allergic to metaphorically speaking...
thanks to anomens fighter levels, he can hit 5 proficiency points in any weapon he can wield, which gives him bonus to hit/ damage and attacks per round that vicky will never have
also thanks to his fighter levels, his HP will be way higher than vicky thanks to the fact he can get up to +7 HP per level in those first 7 levels unlike vicky's +2
also, anomen's level will still be on par if not higher than a standard cleric thanks to how the wonky XP system works with dual class RPCs (recruitable player characters) and the fact that if he finishes his knighthood, he gets a bonus +50000, so with that you cant even say his level progression will be slower than viconia because it will be the same WITH his fighter levels intact
when it comes to spells, anomen at best hits 16 WIS and vicky hits 18 WIS at base, so she does get 1 extra level 3 and 4 spell, but this hardly puts her over anomen, since clerics grow up levels quickly and default at 9 slots up to level 5 regardless
when it comes to functionality in combat, anomen curb stomps viconia every time thanks to his fighter levels, and all he "loses" for having those fighter levels is that he can only grow to level 39 in his cleric class lol...
although, as stated, i do agree that viconia is written better, and for banter she is way more fun to have around, but if you need someone to hold the frontline and kick some sort of butt while doing it, anomen just does it better
the only thing that vicky even does okay against anomen is being a back row healer slinging away with that delicious 19 DEX, but ironically anomen can still wield a sling better thanks to his fighter levels...
Really, class choice is the most important thing in BG2 from a powergaming perspective. And Anomen is one of the few dual-classes, and already unlocked. And he dualed at basically the correct level, even if he wasted some of his fighter weapon proficiencies. Being able to combine the five pips on some weapon with spellcasting power is always going to among the most powerful builds in the series.
The point on the gloves of dexterity is fair. Although I think you can combine Anomen in a party with either Jaheira or Mazzy and thus create a frontline where only one character needs a dexterity boost. And Mazzy does actually work on the front surprisingly well. Dexterity potions are also plentiful enough to work for a boosting a second party member.
Beyond that, Anomen is stronger in every conceivable way.
There's not much else to say on the matter imo.
If you want your cleric to be purely casting, then Viccy IS better. But for anything else Anomen is just stronger.
Combined with Defender of Easthaven and Armor of Faith spell, he can facetank a LOT of physical pain. Nowhere near as good as Minsc or Valygar at facetanking, but definitely up there. (Warrior Hardiness HLA just pushes those two beyond anything the others can reach, when you combine with DoE, AoF and other tricks)
Besides, my answer to the Anomen vs Viconia debate is *always* Aerie.
Seriously. And quite often I'm playing some sort of cleric for myself anyway.
Hard truth.