Best BG2: EE Party
vonbee5040
Member Posts: 11
What's your favorite Party ?
What's the strongest party in the game ?
I always thought to have the best party in the game you have to make a thief (BG2 in matter of thief is weak in my opinion and i never used Jan). Now planning to try the Kensai/mage combo (after doing Sorcerer, Cleric, Fighter, Mage, Thief runs)
What's the strongest party in the game ?
I always thought to have the best party in the game you have to make a thief (BG2 in matter of thief is weak in my opinion and i never used Jan). Now planning to try the Kensai/mage combo (after doing Sorcerer, Cleric, Fighter, Mage, Thief runs)
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Any balanced party is quite strong, but no-one agrees about a single "strongest party" - it's a guaranteed way to start an argument! There are many party combinations which can win easily, and what is "strongest" depends not only upon your choice of protagonist but also upon your playing style. How you develop your companions (proficiencies, etc.) also makes a lot of difference to the efficacy of your party. The only thing upon which most of us are likely to agree is that an unbalanced party (i.e. some basic skill is missing) has a weakness which will make the game harder.
I hesitate even to offer examples, because others are bound to say "that's rubbish!", but okay, I'll try:-
An example of a particularly strong party for a Good protagonist (IMO, obviously) would be Keldorn, Mazzy, (Cleric/Ranger protagonist), Anomen, Imoen & Nalia.
A particularly strong party with a Neutral/Evil protagonist (again IMO) would be Dorn, Korgan, Jaheira, Viconia, Jan & (Sorcerer protagonist).
(Yes, I've deliberately constructed examples in which all of the NPCs are different between the two parties.)
Minsk
Willison
Jan Jahnson
Arey
Yhosemo/rotating quest NPC/Imoen.
Korgan (Sarevok in TOB), Jan, Edwin, Viconia (Aerie in TOB), Keldorn. Depends on your PC a bit, but its pretty hard to go wrong, unless Keldorn kills Viconia early. But you can buy rods of resurection. meh.
I'd find that pretty boring, but it's probably the most 'powerful' party.
I agree with @Gallowglass that "your "favourite" party should depend upon who your protagonist is in any particular run. Different choices of protagonist make a huge difference to the preferable choice of NPCs."
For BG2:EE I always seek at least 2 mages, 2 divine casters, better if 1 cleric+1 druid, 1 thief and 2-3 fighters. It's more than 6 members and that's why I like multi-class characters. When you have many characters who can cast Dispel Magic, Resist Fear and other protective spells it helps a lot.
My current party consists of an Assassin PC, Anomen, Jaheira, Nalia, Aerie and Minsk. As you can see, Anomen, Jaheira and Minsk are solid fightes, in the same time Anomen and Jaheira are divine casters. Nalia and Aerie cover arcane magic enough + Aerie is another cleric. And my PC is specialized on traps, backstabs and poisoning enemy spellcasters. It's a very tough group.
Another party I've had consisted of an Avenger PC, Dorn, Viconia, Jan, Hexxat and Haer'Dalis. Dorn and buffed Haer'Dalis presented tough fighters, buffed Viconia was also a solid tank. My PC an Vikky were divine casters while Jan and Haer'Dalis gave arcane magic. Maybe I missed the high-level spells a little but Jan is a good mage (his +1 spell per level helped a lot) and Avenger's spells include some arcane magic too. I could swap Hexxat for Imoen in order to get high-level spells but lose set traps and backstabs.
So, @vonbee5040 , there's no one strongest party in the game. You should try different combinations so that NPCs add to your PC. You should seek balance in your party so that it would be versatile in order to oppose different enemies.
F/M charname
Jan
Dorn (Poison Weapon)
Jaheira
Keldorn (anti magic)
Korgan (Tank Master General)
Edwin (dat spellbook)
Jan (utility-gnome as thief & secondary caster)
Jaheira (good tank & Druid bugs & summons)
Now I'm rolling with Xan as F/M, Angelo, Adrian C/M, my bro Yoshi rotating with bunch of npc mods later transform into Imogen and last but not least, Rasaad. Just to see how things goes. Oh and me myself as B/M.
Overall some favorite npcs (Viconia, Keldorn, Angelo, Yoshimo etc) but on the 'strongest', I don't really care. It is all about RP and enjoying the game over and over again and for some time to come
Never actually thought of who the strongest NPC's are, as I usually play a sorc and it doesn't matter then.
This is about my 4th evil playthrough, i've never finished a ToB evil playthrough in all these years, I intend too now after having bought the EE finally.
Korgan and Edwin of course, as referenced above are very strong as they get going.
The new Evil NPC's I don't rate for strength, I actually boosted Hexxat by editing her into a duel fighter/thief, as I found her too weak otherwise. Low Con, Penalties in Sunlight, Sometimes forgetting the cloak (to take it off or on), being a pure thief too which is imho a handicap in this game anyway as you don't need that high thief skills. Nice Dex/Str if you remember the cloak of course but too weak to really make use of it. I also thought the blackguard's con too low, and I would probably replace him with a modded evil NPC if I ever do another run, though it was a lot of fun to see an evil paladin, we are just talking strength and I find two handed weapons inherently the 3rd weakest option of the fighting styles. Two weapons offers much more versatility and a shield can offer some excellent protections
Viconia is a decent enough cleric, magic resist and high wisdom but a bit squishy.
If I wanted to improve this evil aligned party i'd swap out the 2 new guys with 2 modded evil NPC's, would like to see the mod for the wicked updated to ee, as well as some of the others.
I always advise of course the 2 banter packs, flirt packs and romance packs
At the moment I have my Dragon Disciple, Lawful Neutral.
He has Minsc kitted out as a Barbarian.
Khalid and Jaheria
Imoen and Dorn.
Minsc comes with me on pretty much every run I do. He's my absolute favorite. Khalid and Jaheria were unusual for me, I usually find them a little annoying however I'm branching out this time
For BG2 I plan to have Myself, Minsc, Keldorn, Jan (Must have JAN!) Valygar, Rasaad.
Be interesting to see how that goes. Really keen to test out a high level monk.
--- My favorite has always been PC (Sorcerer), Aerie, Jan, Viconia, Korgan, Valygar/Dorn.
--- For ToB it remains the same with Sarevok taking the place of Valygar/Dorn.
-----> Double healer is essential imo, two powerhouse front liners, and 3 Mages makes a great team.
--- With a melee fighter as PC (Kensai/Mage), Aerie, Viconia, Jan, Edwin, Korgan (Sarevok in ToB).
- Viconia is probably the most essential NPC due to her ability to serve as a frontliner being a high level Cleric, high AC, magic resistance, and decked out in great gear. Aerie comes in as a close second, but she's very squishy.
For the casual/fun playthrough I always include Jan because of his interactions with other NPCs, and he's a great NPC.
--- My last playthrough included PC (Cleric/Mage), Jan, Dorn, Cernd and Neera for romancing purposes.
As such, it's not possibly to objectively construct THE best party. But it is possible to discuss the pros and cons of various parts, so people can assemble from that what they think is best UNDER THEIR OWN PERSONAL SETUP OF PREFERENCES.
Generally, among the many factors that influence choices, a few stand out as probably the ones with the most impact: mods, difficulty and game mode, and custom vs. stock parties.
Among mods, SCS is certainly the most important mention (but by no means the only one). In terms of difficulty, SCS plays a role as well, but also the game's innate difficulty system (up to Insane). Additionally we now also have the option of enabling the "Hard as Bhaals" difficulty mode (and don't let anyone tell you it's called "Legacy of Bhaal" or such nonsense! I swear!). Lastly, there is also the issue of whether you run with a custom party, or with the game's stock NPCs.
What you choose for these options can change the balance of power among kits and classes CONSIDERABLY. In general, though, even a game modded to 11/10 is probably not difficult enough for experienced players to preclude certain classes/kits completely. Some will be noticeably easier to play, though!
As a general rule, I personally also tend towards a more offensive approach. I don't usually play under no-reload rules or such (no-rez, no-rest, etc. etc.), meaning that I will readily sacrifice defense for more damage output. That means that I tend to run with uncomplicated, straightforward damage dealers that use weapons rather than spells or summons. All of my casters are generally in a class combination that also lets them be effective weapon fighters, meaning I have ready access to no-questions-asked damage output. Spells are used primarily to support that, either offensively or defensively.
As a consequence, a large portion of my parties feature combinations like Berserker->Cleric dual, Kensai->Mage dual, or Ranger/Cleric multi.
I rarely run single classes, but when I do it's classes that can't dual or multi to begin with; Paladin is the most prominent example. Under SCS especially, Inquisitors are extremely useful additions to any party because of their borderline overpowered dispel (depending on SCS settings) and their highly useful True Sight - as well as having access to Carsomyr, the Holy Avenger, one of the best weapons in the game. Note here that the game does actually provide you with a very nicely statted Inquisitor in Keldorn, arguably making him the "best" (see caveats at the beginning for every use of this term) game NPC.
Another class, or rather: kit, that I frequently use and that cannot dual/multi is the Archer. Ranged weapons are completely out of control in BG1, but even in BG2 they tend to dominate most of the early and midgame, and even after tapering off towards the end they remain quite effective. Archers are very, very powerful in many setups and have become a staple of mine after a long period of somewhat shunning them for no good reason. The game however does not provide an Archer NPC by default, so if you want to run with the stock lineup you'll have to use CHARNAME for that slot.
A very popular single-class option is also the Sorcerer. Indeed, it is most often quoted as the most powerful of all classes, and a regular face on the scene of solo playthroughs. It is undoubtedly very powerful in BG2, where spells rule supreme in many ways. Their versatility is undeniable, and there is practically nothing they cannot handle, even without any support. However, I personally find them too inefficient in damage output (barring AoE and/or "cheese") compared to a weapon damage dealer. While their versatility is nice, I personally am of the opinion that it isn't all that necessary considering the abundance of scrolls all over BG2 (unlike IWD, where scrolls are actually a rather rare commodity). Also, the fact that you tend to use the same narrow selection of spells over and over anyway means you don't need to have strange things ready at a moment's notice (one major strength of how Sorcerers cast spells).
Lastly, I'm not a big friend of Rogues, both Thieves and Bards. There is almost nothing worth stealing in these games, locks and traps can be brute-forced or circumvented, and most enemies that are actually a challenge are immune to backstabs - leaving Thieves in a bit of a pickle. That being said, there are definitely arguments to make for them in a party, and many ways in which they can in fact be highly effective ("abusing" Mislead + backstab "cheese" is arguably the highest sustained damage output in the game).
When I do run with a Thief, it tends to be a Swashbuckler->Fighter dual, essentially a Fighter with some thieving skill. Convenience more than anything, really.
And there you have it! Let me just repeat my initial caveat in that anything you read here is ALWAYS subject to individual variables and preferences. No two people have the same game here, and consequently what is "best" changes more frequently than Jaheira's mood.
Nevertheless, as a final tidbit, here's my rough personal ranking of the game's stock NPCs in terms of "power":
Keldorn
Sarevok
Edwin
Dorn
Jan
Viconia
Neera
Hexxat
Aerie
Haer'Dalis, Jaheira, Minsc, Nalia, Mazzy, Yoshimo, Imoen, Korgan, Rashaad
...
...
...
Anomen
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Cernd
From a powergaming perspective? Probably a custom party:
Fighter/Illusionist
Skald
Inquisitor
Kensai->Bounty Hunter
Dwarven Defender/Assassin
Berserker/Dragon Disciple/Shadowdancer
At best we can provide an unofficial "tier list" of NPCs, party-wise. Even this is subjective.
My ranking (ignoring reloads):
Neera - wild magic, can scribe scrolls
Haer 'Dalis - massive party buffs on top of being a blade, can scribe scrolls and steal
Sarevok - can dual to thief or mage
Jan Jansen - he's a mage and can disarm traps/open locks = massive XP, plus other goodies
Aerie - because M/C
Imoen and Nalia - mages with some trap disarming/lockpicking ability
Edwin - Hi Edwin
Jaheira - figher HLAs + druid spells, can rez
Cernd - druid spells, allows you to breeze through early/mid game
Yoshimo and Hexxat - thieving skills and traps. Oh the traps.
Viconia and Anomen - shines in mid/late game, but everyone else before them in this list gets you there faster and easier. moves up and down in the list depending on party composition
Keldorn, Dorn, Korgan, Mazzy, Valygar, Rashaad, Minsc and Boo - moves up and down in the list depending on party composition
Neera - wild magic. Yes, I know she's also at the top of the list.
I consider this a very strong party for good/neutral party members only. I used to use the happy patch to mix-in Edwin, Korgan and Viccy, but that was when I used to power game.
If you're not going to dual-class any NPC, I'm pretty sure the strongest party is something like:
Korgan
Sarevok
Viconia
Haer'Dalis
Edwin
+Charname
Of course Keldorn with Carsomyr is great to dispell buffs, but, if you can do the debuff with Edwin, then Sarevok and Korgan would hit much harder than him. If you're in SoA, you'll need a Thief to disarm traps. But if you're in ToB you can just disarm any trap with Cloak of Mirroring. Also, you can buy as much as Knock Scrolls that you need to open locks (I personally just used EE Keeper to give 99 Knock scrolls to Edwin, since I don't like to use Thieves in Baldur's Gate...).
I never tryed, but I think that Aerie with Improved Alacrity and using both arcane and divine spells is something to be considered. But, in the end, I don't think she can be better than Edwin or Viconia, to get a room in the party. Haer'Dalis is essential, to buff this very phisical oriented party with epic Bard Song.
About charname class, I like to go Berserk. It's simpler, and it's good in all your playthrough, from CandleKeep to Throne of Bhaal. But I recognize that a Fighter/Mage might be stronger in te end, even thought your railroad to reach that will be less smoother.
Whether it's actually better than a max-APR setup with DW + GM + IH is debatable, of course (as is the influence of Sarevok's Deathbringer Assault on average damage output), but I'd definitely say Keldorn is a very strong contender for best NPC.
Of course, there remains the little issue of him being an incorrigible goody two-shoes that doesn't mesh too well with most of the other strongest NPCs, who are mostly evil-aligned....
Aerie is a big contender because of her versatility. With both cleric and mage buffs at her disposal, plus helmets and shields, she's more or less impossible to kill. Using her as a tank improves the survivability of the entire party.
Imoen is a solid alternative to Edwin. She doesn't have nearly as many spells, but her damage output is impressive late-game, as she can use Black Blade of Disaster, Mislead, Belm, and Improved Haste to deal over 1000 damage in backstabs within one Time Stop spell.
Ultimately levels are what matters in the BG series. Generally the higher the NPC levels the better, but there are breakpoints.
You're right of course that the principles involved are very much along the lines of what you mentioned. Be efficient about gear/xp/fights. But that's pretty vague a thing to go on
Sorcerer
Fighter/Cleric
Archer