Four man party recommendations
Isthmos
Member Posts: 3
Hello guys!
I am finishing my first playthrough of BG1 and am already thinking ahead towards BG2. In BG1 I had a four man party which I was very fond of. It felt like a tight knitted team where everyone had a specific function and nothing was doubled, and it was easier to micromanage the team as I wanted. Plus it’s nice with a little bonus XP. I’d like to go with a four or perhaps five man party in BG2 as well, but I don’t really know the NPCs of that game so I’m asking for some recommendations. This was my composition for BG1:
CHARNAME: Wild mage
Yeslick: Cleric/Tank
Minsc: DPS/off-tank
Coran: DPS/Thief
I liked this team a lot and am looking for something similar in BG2. I’m thinking perhaps Jaheira, Imoen and Minsc. Would I need an extra tank with this do you think? Could someone in BG2 take up both the duties of a tank and divine mage as Yeslick in BG1? Is there some multi-classed thief that could also do DPS like Coran? Or should I perhaps go with five instead and have one as a primary tank?
Looking forward to playing BG2 later.
I am finishing my first playthrough of BG1 and am already thinking ahead towards BG2. In BG1 I had a four man party which I was very fond of. It felt like a tight knitted team where everyone had a specific function and nothing was doubled, and it was easier to micromanage the team as I wanted. Plus it’s nice with a little bonus XP. I’d like to go with a four or perhaps five man party in BG2 as well, but I don’t really know the NPCs of that game so I’m asking for some recommendations. This was my composition for BG1:
CHARNAME: Wild mage
Yeslick: Cleric/Tank
Minsc: DPS/off-tank
Coran: DPS/Thief
I liked this team a lot and am looking for something similar in BG2. I’m thinking perhaps Jaheira, Imoen and Minsc. Would I need an extra tank with this do you think? Could someone in BG2 take up both the duties of a tank and divine mage as Yeslick in BG1? Is there some multi-classed thief that could also do DPS like Coran? Or should I perhaps go with five instead and have one as a primary tank?
Looking forward to playing BG2 later.
3
Comments
anomen: he is an amazing fighter dualed over to cleric, he can eventually get 5 proficiency points in a weapon and he gets full cleric levels so all the divine spell casting you need
mazzy: she is an amazing melee character ( if you want to make her that way ) she comes with 18 dex so her AC will be great, she is a fighter so she can hit up to 5 proficiency points, and her invoke courage ability is actually really great ( plus she gets lay on hands twice a day - she can only use this on herself - and she gets a strength ability twice a day as well, solid melee character ) although you might want to give her the belt of hill giant str ( since she starts with 15 ) but in the mean time you can use those strength abilities she has
jan: jan is one of the only thieves in the game that can actually gain thief levels since his is an illusionist/thief, nalia and imoen are dual classed thieves, hexxat is an evil thief, and spoiler:
Nearly every NPC has an individual quest you won't get if you don't take them.
Plus encounters are harder and there's far, far more party interaction.
Apart from that advice, pretty much any direction/suggestions are going to contain spoilers.
You will need a thief, mage, tank, cleric to cover your bases in an unknown game as a minimum. Just play it by ear, see who you meet, take it from there.
And enjoy, you can always change things along the way, find you are coping well, drop somebody and reduce the party size.
BG2 is a very long game and what you think you will do often turns out to be impossible so you have to change things.
And it's hard.
Elenari (female elf mage protagonist)
Imoen
Branwen
Elohim (male Dwarven defender)
I was thinking of swapping Branwen out for Yeslick I think him n Elohim would make a good dwarven duo.
Anyway to your question, for BG2 the dialogue is much richer and I'd suggest if you're new to BG2 you should probly take a full party simply to maximize the banter and quest opportunities That being said for a 4 man team I'd suggest
Jaheira - Tank - (full plate, fortress shield, iron skins + healing = great tank)
Anomen - Good cleric if you can stand his arrogance...Aerie is an alternative (cleric/mage)
Yoshimo - solid thief, Jan is also great altho he is an Illusionist/thief so you'd have to share scrolls.
You also want to make absolutely sure that your main melee characters are currently progressing as a fighter (or ranger or paladin) and will continue to do so the entire game, so they'll eventually be able to access the exceptionally strong HLAs (high level abilities) granted only to warriors. The meta before Throne of Bhaal was released was to dual from fighter to something else, but the meta afterward is to multiclass fighter with any of those classes (or ranger with cleric).
I like to combine several of those "essential" roles into a single character so I typically opt for a fighter/mage/thief protagonist who dual-wields katanas, handles traps/locks, and casts breach. I then take Minsc for flails, Viconia for lesser restoration, and Jaheira to maintain some continuity with BG1.
Another solid protagonist is a ranger/cleric who dual-wields flails and can cast lesser restoration. I then take Jan for traps/locks and breach, Minsc for katanas, Mazzy or Jaheira for flavor, and sometimes Imoen (after her "vacation") if I'm doing a speed run and want to make sure I can access time stop before the game is over.
If you don't create a multi-role main character yourself, you don't have the greatest options when it comes to thieves. There's nobody like Coran, for example, who can give you a solid melee presence while simultaneously handling traps/locks. And while some people can tolerate Anomen's personality, his inability to get fighter HLAs really starts to bite once you enter the latter part of the game.
She is extremely underestimated.. but god damnit, give her the robe of vecna and use the right mage protections (if sanctuary fails you) and she can walk around the battleground healing so, so fast.
The robe of vecna has a Mage requirement, thus she is the only healing NPC in the entire bhaalspawn saga that can use it, and it vastly improves casting time/speed.
This makes her casting time for healing spells ridiculously fast, when she gains high level abilities (late SoA, early ToB) and gets improved alacrity.. well, she can burn off heal spells faster than your 2-3 melee chars can chug potions.. combined.
As suggested above, Anomen is also a safe bet.
You can't really go wrong with him, because Flails and Warhammers have some of the extremely supreme OP artifacts available in the entire saga. Combine this with his excellent stats and class combo.. One of my strongest ever bhaalspawn (except total cheese chars) was built just like him.. except for more optimal base stats. He can be your tank, healer or dps.. or all 3 at once.
Keldorn is also extremely newbie friendly.. inquisitors are, in general.
He is the only NPC in BG2 that gets to wield the (imo) most powerful weapon -by far-.
His inquisitor true seeing and dispells will make you shread Mage enemies like paper, where a lack of Keldorn/Inquisitor might make it seem nearly impossible. Get his Dexterity up, and he is also an excellent main tank. Far, far superior as a melee combatant compared to any other NPC available.. rivaled only by.. some guy you meet at the beginning of ToB
Jan as suggested above is also.. well.. he has his uses. A so-so mage (I don't like illusionists, personal pref).. and a pretty good thief. Laying traps (and lots of them) is a game changer (or breaker..) and his Thief high level abilities like Spike Trap can obliterate fights.
He is extremely chatty though.. my god, is he chatty..
So a party would look like this:
Charname: Wildmage - Offensive spellcaster
Keldorn: DPS, Tank, Dispeller - Mage/Lich destroyer extraordinaire
Anomen: DPS, Tank, Healer - Blunt weapon specialist
Aerie: Support, Protective Spells, Healing extraordinaire
Jan: Offensive/Crowd Control spells, Thief
Imoen: Summoner, Offensive/Disabling/Dispeller, Thief (Can drop Jan really)
A total of:
2 Melee (perfect, avoids crowding - fill with summons when needed)
4 Mages - Extreme firepower
2 Clerics - Good healing cover
1 Thief - Utility, Tactical
1 Mage/Lich destroyer
I guess that's a little over the top on details..
In any case, if you want a max of 4 then:
Wildmage
Anomen
Jaheira
Jan
2 mages
2 healers
2 melee
1 thief
7 critical roles, 4 chars. Go get'em.
Larek (CHARNAME, shadow dancer, plan to dual to a mage in BG2)
Yeslick (tank and healing)
Kivan (artillery and reserve second-line fighter)
Imoen (switched to mage at second level)
I gave Imoen a pip in darts for some lovely, tasty spell disruption in addition to arrow-filled magery. The only problem with this group is keeping enough arrows around.
The best I might have had was
Charname (cavalier, always a good choice for frontline badassery)
Coran (thief, artillery)
Branwen (healer)
Dynaheir (mage)
Haer'Dalis (mage defensive Spells, blade dances)
Aerie (Cleric/Mage)
Jan (Thief/Mage)
Everyone can tank like a boss. You have a healer, thief, and a melee tank. Charname can be just about anything. If you can roll high enough and go from BG1 try a Berserker (9) Druid.
With stoneskin and ironskin melee opponents won't be a concern. A 4 man party will mean hitting lvl14 before spellhold if you do all quests.
Finally Charname will have grand mastery, near full fighter HP, high Cha and his own spell list. It will make him feel unique.
If your Charisma is high enough, you can keep him despite being good.. (he might pick fights with some other chars)
Keldorn is a paladin and will of course endorse a good party.
Totally agree though, having cleric spells with Robe of Vecna/Amulet of Power is insanely good, probably the most annoying thing about cleric spells is many of them have long cast times, and you can do some crazy combo's with Sequencers, trigger and contingencies. A Mage/cleric is easily able to solo the game.