The thing is that you can't cast spells when you're in the werewolf form, and you can only change shape so often, so it'll need some juggling around. Also keep in mind that the forms don't work properly in an unmodded game, and that his spell choices are, overall, somewhat subpar to a cleric's.
Because the Werwolf is nerfed in bg, without the mod. With the Mod it's a really Powerfull kit though. He has less qualities as a tank or damagedealer then a fighter and he can't cast spells while shapeshifted. So if you pick up a druid, you should pick up any other kit if possible. In BGII i would prefer a cleric anyway :-D
@the_spyder - yeah, some have a reason, but others just tag along because. Coran and Safana are actually stupid to join you; both have quests that would get them paid well and instead, they let you have the XP and gold. Eldoth too, though you could argue his plan is so elaborate he can't pull it off without an experienced group like yours.
I often use Branwen as cleric, if I'm not playing one myself, but yeah, her story and personality is rather boring. On the other hand, she's also not annoying. Some voice sets just annoy the hell outta me, so being boring is preferable to that.
I admit I tend to prioritise character stats and skills over roleplay and interaction. I also don't usually pick NPCs that I can't get very early on, mostly because I want to be able to choose how they level up and what spells and weapons they'll be using. Gameplaywise (not sure that's even a word, but what the hell), I'd say Garrick in BG1, and Cernd in BG2. Roleplaywise (I dunnit again...), Branwen for BG1 and Cernd again for BG2, although Jan annoys the crap out of me...
I actually have no idea. I find that I project onto NPCs that I like far more than they probably deserve.
Maybe Dynaheir (sp? =P), or Jaheira. I always found Khalid rather entertaining, but I never liked Jaheira. Minsc gets old, but I liked him at first so he gets a pass. BG2 has Cernd and Valygar, who kind of eclipse everyone but each other in their utter triteness. 90% of the time I just murder Valygar and use his corpse as a door key. I really dislike Korgan. I find him obnoxious, unfunny, dull, and generally a worthless fellow to have around. I always pray that he gets stuck in the Sacrifice Trial in Hell.
Everything I agree with except Valygar. Then again, now that I have a CHARNAME Stalker, I might not use him...
I don't find Cernd or Valygar boring. Maybe because I like them both. You all who say Cernd is boring, at least admit that his ending story is colorful and tragic, and not boring at all.
@KidCarnival, Admittedly Branwen (or as I call her Branflakes) is totally a dud, personality wise. But she does make a more than decent Cleric and is totally loyal due to the whole "You saved my life by returning me from an eternity as a stone statue" thing.
@keltarking. Jan is intended to be annoying. That is a significant part of his charm. And put him together with Minsc and watch the hilarity ensue.
@toanwrath. Yeah, I never use Valygar either. I usually get him (alive or dead) to the entrance of the sphere and use him as a key. That is pretty much all she wrote.
Xzar and Montaron have very good reasons for keeping with Charname.
That one is even covered in the game, actually. Go to the upstairs of the Sorcerous Sundries with those guys in your party and you might be surprised by what you encounter.
Kivan, incredibly annoying and cliche, hes the typical gender confused transvestite elven "male"
I wouldn't say so. He's actually fairly manly
They used Dirty Harry as his inspiration for chrissake. Kivan's awesome and a pure killer, love him.
I saw a picture on Deviant Art of him that could be one of the best BG fanarts I've ever seen (along with the Xan one in the same gallery, even though I'm not a fan at all of unmodded Xan):
I'd give BG1 NPCs the benefit of the doubt when answering this question just because there was so much less interaction in that game in general. I feel like Branwen, Skie, etc. could've been a whole lot more interesting if Bioware had given them as many lines as, say, Valygar got in BG2/ToB.
That said... CERND. Cernd Cernd Cernd. The scene right before the final battle in SoA -- when everyone's giving their final goosebump-inducing speeches about whooping ass and the power of friendship and all that -- was the first time I'd ever seen anything like that in a game, and as a result stands as one of my favorite gaming moments of all time. But if you bring Cernd along, he'll manage to take that emotional moment and smash it with a line composed of pure, distilled, vanilla-flavored boredom. It's been years since I bothered bringing him along, but in my head the line he delivered was something like "I don't really care about any of this, but I guess I'll fight now." Thanks, Cernd. Really inspirational.
@the_spyder - Yeah, I like Branwen as a cleric, even in evil parties, but I feel a few more or just different lines and interactions would have made her a better character. You only hear about her backstory if you read the bio, and it's a bio that would suggest some ideas. She was seen as unfit to be a priest because she's a woman, so I always thought she should react to Viconia - a priest from a female-dominated culture - and Shar-Teel, who thinks women in general are superior. I'm not even talking about full banters, just more frequent use of the "compliment - thanks for compliment" lines, which exist in her soundset. Edwin and Kagain have zero interaction, but you can count on it that one will insult the other every now and then and the other will reply in kind. Their stories say nothing about that, but they obviously dislike each other for some reason. Yet the only one Branwen frequently interacts with in that way is Eldoth, who would have exactly the same interaction with nearly every other female NPC.
Technically, so would absolutely everyone else in the game, but aside from a couple smartasses we've mostly ignored those.
The OP doesn't actually specify it has to be a companion/party member NPC (or RPC as they're called in some other games) and the thread's title gives quite a lot of options. Sure it mentions Cernd and Valygar who are recruitable, but also Quayle who's recruitable in the first game and not in the second.
@cyberarmy Anomen isn't boring. He's BG2's version of Eldoth, a complete tool who you're meant to dislike and provides other NPCs with a target for their ire. That he's the only vanilla female romance option then becomes something of a bad joke though.
Really, take Jan along with Anomen and watch the self-righteous git get repeatedly taken to pieces by a gnome. Pay particular attention to Jan's tale of "Ano the dung-orc".
You know, as great as Kagain is as a tank (now bested by Dorn)
I'm sorry, but what? Dorn does not best Kagain as a tank in any appreciable manner. Kagain has 20 Con, which means he beats everyone as soon as he gets the Gloves of Dexterity. Dorn has 14 Con, which means he might as well have had 10; there's absolutely no point in using Dorn as a tank, especially over Kagain.
Give Kagain the Big-Fisted Belt, the Gloves of Dexterity, and he is a better tank than anyone in the game -- only a dwarf PC with maximum Con and the Manual of Bodily Health can be his equal, though Kagain with the Manual is better yet.
Really, Dorn? A tank? I can't think of a worse role to force him into.
The most bland and boring NPC in the series is definitely Cernd. Garrick at least has some entertaining lines.
You know, as great as Kagain is as a tank (now bested by Dorn)
I'm sorry, but what? Dorn does not best Kagain as a tank in any appreciable manner. Kagain has 20 Con, which means he beats everyone as soon as he gets the Gloves of Dexterity. Dorn has 14 Con, which means he might as well have had 10; there's absolutely no point in using Dorn as a tank, especially over Kagain.
Give Kagain the Big-Fisted Belt, the Gloves of Dexterity, and he is a better tank than anyone in the game -- only a dwarf PC with maximum Con and the Manual of Bodily Health can be his equal, though Kagain with the Manual is better yet.
Really, Dorn? A tank? I can't think of a worse role to force him into.
The most bland and boring NPC in the series is definitely Cernd. Garrick at least has some entertaining lines.
To be fair, if you really don't like Kagain or want Dorn as your tank/melee, you can give him the constitution tome to get him to 15 con which is +1 HP per level. So, 14 isn't quite as bad as 10. Otherwise, I completely agree that Kagain is a better tank than Drn, Cernd is boring, and Garrick has some entertaining lines
You know, as great as Kagain is as a tank (now bested by Dorn)
I'm sorry, but what? Dorn does not best Kagain as a tank in any appreciable manner. Kagain has 20 Con, which means he beats everyone as soon as he gets the Gloves of Dexterity. Dorn has 14 Con, which means he might as well have had 10; there's absolutely no point in using Dorn as a tank, especially over Kagain.
Give Kagain the Big-Fisted Belt, the Gloves of Dexterity, and he is a better tank than anyone in the game -- only a dwarf PC with maximum Con and the Manual of Bodily Health can be his equal, though Kagain with the Manual is better yet.
Really, Dorn? A tank? I can't think of a worse role to force him into.
The most bland and boring NPC in the series is definitely Cernd. Garrick at least has some entertaining lines.
It's been a long time since I used Kagain, I admit. He is a little beast for sure.
Dorn is such a savage damage dealer though, what with his 19 Str, that crazy powerful sword of his, and his poison ability. His THACO is improved by +2 if his sword kills within the last 24 hours (which is all the time basically).
If you don't place Dorn on the front line how do you use him?
I'll have to try a game with the two of side by side to see who ends up with the most kills. Kagain dual-wielding axes and Dorn of course using Rancor. It could well be Kagain who comes out with the most kills.
At the end of the day, it actually doesn't matter if one is a little better than the other. They're both devastating meleers.
she cries around when i dont talk to her too. But i would not want to miss her as a companion in battle to give her credits;)
She does become quite a little whirlwind in battle. She never really talks at all about her wings though except in the romance. The only real problem I've ever had is if chaotic Anomen attacks her, and there used to be that annoying bug where she wouldn't move afterwards.
Comments
He has less qualities as a tank or damagedealer then a fighter and he can't cast spells while shapeshifted.
So if you pick up a druid, you should pick up any other kit if possible.
In BGII i would prefer a cleric anyway :-D
I often use Branwen as cleric, if I'm not playing one myself, but yeah, her story and personality is rather boring. On the other hand, she's also not annoying. Some voice sets just annoy the hell outta me, so being boring is preferable to that.
Garrick is hands down the most boring, just an utterly useless npc.
@keltarking. Jan is intended to be annoying. That is a significant part of his charm. And put him together with Minsc and watch the hilarity ensue.
@toanwrath. Yeah, I never use Valygar either. I usually get him (alive or dead) to the entrance of the sphere and use him as a key. That is pretty much all she wrote.
Xan is worse. He even wears a dress!
I saw a picture on Deviant Art of him that could be one of the best BG fanarts I've ever seen (along with the Xan one in the same gallery, even though I'm not a fan at all of unmodded Xan):
http://smilika.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4cj4sp
That said... CERND. Cernd Cernd Cernd. The scene right before the final battle in SoA -- when everyone's giving their final goosebump-inducing speeches about whooping ass and the power of friendship and all that -- was the first time I'd ever seen anything like that in a game, and as a result stands as one of my favorite gaming moments of all time. But if you bring Cernd along, he'll manage to take that emotional moment and smash it with a line composed of pure, distilled, vanilla-flavored boredom. It's been years since I bothered bringing him along, but in my head the line he delivered was something like "I don't really care about any of this, but I guess I'll fight now." Thanks, Cernd. Really inspirational.
Edwin and Kagain have zero interaction, but you can count on it that one will insult the other every now and then and the other will reply in kind. Their stories say nothing about that, but they obviously dislike each other for some reason. Yet the only one Branwen frequently interacts with in that way is Eldoth, who would have exactly the same interaction with nearly every other female NPC.
Technically, so would absolutely everyone else in the game, but aside from a couple smartasses we've mostly ignored those.
Anomen in BG2, curious thing he detect traps with his body instead of cleric spells. Well sepaking of low wisdom...
Really, take Jan along with Anomen and watch the self-righteous git get repeatedly taken to pieces by a gnome. Pay particular attention to Jan's tale of "Ano the dung-orc".
TL;DR - not boring, just a prat
Give Kagain the Big-Fisted Belt, the Gloves of Dexterity, and he is a better tank than anyone in the game -- only a dwarf PC with maximum Con and the Manual of Bodily Health can be his equal, though Kagain with the Manual is better yet.
Really, Dorn? A tank? I can't think of a worse role to force him into.
The most bland and boring NPC in the series is definitely Cernd. Garrick at least has some entertaining lines.
Otherwise, I completely agree that Kagain is a better tank than Drn, Cernd is boring, and Garrick has some entertaining lines
Dorn is such a savage damage dealer though, what with his 19 Str, that crazy powerful sword of his, and his poison ability. His THACO is improved by +2 if his sword kills within the last 24 hours (which is all the time basically).
If you don't place Dorn on the front line how do you use him?
I'll have to try a game with the two of side by side to see who ends up with the most kills. Kagain dual-wielding axes and Dorn of course using Rancor. It could well be Kagain who comes out with the most kills.
At the end of the day, it actually doesn't matter if one is a little better than the other. They're both devastating meleers.