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Help me pick my last party member!

ElzarathElzarath Member Posts: 173
edited November 2013 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Hey guys, I'm just about to finish my current play through with this party:

PC Sorcerer
Imoen
Branwen
Kaigan
Montaron
Xzar

I've had a blast with these guys - even a bit sad Xzar & Monty aren't recruitable in BG2 - but for my next game this is what I have planned:

PC Blade
Coran
Kivan
Safana
Yeslick
?????

Who should take the last slot? I find the cannon party a little dull so I don't really want them if it can be avoided and now that I'm looking at it I'm a bit low on the arcane power.. Maybe I should take Xan? Anyway, give me your feedback guys! Cheers

Comments

  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    Neera would be a good fit for that second party - you can recruit her much sooner than Xan.
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited November 2013
    I second Neera. She basically starts out with most of the good level 1 spells already learned and you can pick her up in Beregost. Remember though that she can now get killed during her initial fight. She also has a gem bag so thats pretty sweet.
  • meaglothmeagloth Member Posts: 3,806
    Neera, of Edwin, if you don't mind him. You need an arcane caster. Sick party though looks like one of the best line-ups you could have, that are more Melee than caster oriented.(I have a thing for magic, especially sorcerers.)
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    My vote is for Baeloth the Entertainer! If you don't want an evil caster Xan and Dynaheir are good. You can take the gem bag off Neera's smoking corpse.
  • ElendarElendar Member Posts: 831
    Neera is teh awesome.
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    Xan. Neera is far too chirpy.
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    Other options not suggested yet: Quayle, Imoen dualled to Mage at the first opportunity.
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    Quayle would require leaving an empty slot in the party roster until chapter 5 - not exactly optimal.
  • velehalvelehal Member Posts: 299
    shawne said:

    Quayle would require leaving an empty slot in the party roster until chapter 5 - not exactly optimal.

    Why? You can always use someone instead of him and then swap them in chapter 5. At least I always do it this way when I want to have someone who is available only in later chapters. Bonus is that then you can see more interactions between various NPCs.
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    velehal said:

    Why? You can always use someone instead of him and then swap them in chapter 5. At least I always do it this way when I want to have someone who is available only in later chapters. Bonus is that then you can see more interactions between various NPCs.

    It's the other way around IMO - if you have someone in your party who's been there for longer and has been customized to some extent (spell picks, equipment, etc.) why would you give that character up halfway through the game for another NPC?
  • LateralusLateralus Member Posts: 903
    Elzarath said:

    Hey guys, I'm just about to finish my current play through with this party:

    PC Sorcerer
    Imoen
    Branwen
    Kaigan
    Montaron
    Xzar

    I've had a blast with these guys - even a bit sad Xzar & Monty aren't recruitable in BG2 - but for my next game this is what I have planned:

    PC Blade
    Coran
    Kivan
    Safana
    Yeslick
    ?????

    Who should take the last slot? I find the cannon party a little dull so I don't really want them if it can be avoided and now that I'm looking at it I'm a bit low on the arcane power.. Maybe I should take Xan? Anyway, give me your feedback guys! Cheers

    Quayle. You have plenty of missile support. Make Yeslick your tank, have him pray for self buffs. Quayle can pray for healing spells and be a 2nd mage.
  • velehalvelehal Member Posts: 299
    It's the other way around IMO - if you have someone in your party who's been there for longer and has been customized to some extent (spell picks, equipment, etc.) why would you give that character up halfway through the game for another NPC?

    From player´s point of view there aren´t many reasons (apart from: I want my ideal/stronger party). But you can always devise some in game reason. E.g. the NPC decides to leave a party (is tired, wants to try something new, wants to set up his/her own party...), your character doesn´t like NPC and kick him/her out (it happens to my characters often with Anomen). It works for me except for a case of Imoen. I can´t find in game reason to kick her out of party if I´m not playing very evil/insane character.
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    shawne said:

    Quayle would require leaving an empty slot in the party roster until chapter 5 - not exactly optimal.

    It's not much of a downside because it helps you level faster. Sometimes I'll just solo or go dualing with Imoen and then pick up more NPCs once I get a few levels under my belt. Recruiting them at a higher level is more or less "free" exp.

    Still, in Quayle's case it might be annoying not having a mage until that point. In fact, for that party not having a cleric until Yeslick could be annoying as well.
  • FouneFoune Member Posts: 53
    If you like Edwin then take him with you, I love him and have him on every playthrough, he's a sick mage. I just made a Blade playthrough aswell and I couldn't have done it without a pure mage to back me up.
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    I say take Branwen or Viconia until you get Yeslick, then switch for Quayle after Cloakwood. Your Blade can handle the arcane magic needs with wands and scrolls so long.
  • JLeeJLee Member Posts: 650
    KidCarnival said:

    I say take Branwen or Viconia until you get Yeslick, then switch for Quayle after Cloakwood. Your Blade can handle the arcane magic needs with wands and scrolls so long.

    I agree. You are only going to have Kivan, Safana and your Blade until Cloakwood. You might also consider having Ajantis along until you get Yeslick.
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    It will already be tough to get Safana early. She now leaves if you don't do her quest in time. You will have to go through the sirines. They have Arrows of Biting, and can one-shot you even easier than a kobold commando on low levels, even if you don't get charmed. I'd say that Viconia gives you the best chance here. She has a chance to fight with Kivan, but I'm assuming as a bard, you have high charisma, so it's worth the risk. You only need to get them to play nice until Cloakwood, that's easily possible.
  • CutlassJackCutlassJack Member Posts: 493
    Also worth pointing out that if you're willing to give up a tome, Safana could be the group's mage. Then you could use the 6th slot for nearly anyone, since Coran comes more than equipped to handle the group's Lockpicking. (His trap detection is a little low to start though, so use Safana to cover that with her early levels)
  • ElzarathElzarath Member Posts: 173
    Thanks all. I hadn't fully planned what I'd do in the absence of having these guys earlier on. Might get Viccy and swap her for Yeslick later on, and as pointed out she can help with battling the sirines.

    I do like Edwin and even though he is awesome I've used him on a number of BG2 runs and Imoen is in my current group, so I don't want to join with either them again. I think I'll miss not having that extra arcane firepower though, Xzar and charname are pretty good at crowd control & damage dealing and it'd be harder to do this with just one arcane user. Neera's looking the goods, plus I'll get to try out some of the new content too.
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    If Viconia is a temporary solution until you get Yeslick, you still have a slot to fill early on while waiting for Coran. You could take Xan or Neera, ditch Viconia once you reach Coran (or possibly pass him over until you enter the mines, to have Cure Poison with the wyverns and all, then get him before the yard battle or entering the mines).

    At that point, you would have:

    Blade
    Kivan
    Safana
    Neera or Xan
    Coran
    Viconia --> ditch outside mines --> Yeslick
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