Strong Good and Evil Parties in BG2
Great Hierophant
of Amn and Throne of Bhall. I have not tried them myself, so I am looking
for comments and questions.
Good Party:
PC Fighter
Keldorn
Valygar
Anomen
Nalia
Yoshimo/Imoen
This is the party I will likely to be using during my next journey through
the complete game. My own fighter I will attain grandmastery in in War
Hammers and Long Swords. Keldorn gets to use the cool paladin weapons, as
well as dispel and true sight due to his kit. I prefer Valygar to Minsc, as
the former has a huge quest, better HP, and dual wielding. Nalia is
necessary as a single mage, because Aerie just doesn't cut it in this
capacity. (Although Aerie can use the robe of Vecna, which means almost
instant heals.) This also brings me to Anomen, who is a dual classed
fighter/cleric, current class cleric. This means he can level up much more
quickly than Aerie, and becomes competitive if he becomes a Knight (+4 Wis).
Also he can take alot more damage than the frail Aerie. Finally, a thief is
necessary when Yoshimo leaves the party, so I take Imoen back. She serves
three purposes, plot device (Bodhi), mage, and barebones thief. Although
she can't pick pockets, she can find traps, open most doors/containers for
XP, and can achieve perfect stealth with the Staff of the Magi. Use the
various thief items to boost her abilities. The only difficulty with this
party is that there is only one source of healing spells, as I am not
particularly keen on making my PC a fighter/cleric.
Evil Party:
PC Fighter
Korgan
Edwin
Viconia
Yoshimo/Imoen
Sarevok
This is a truly evil party. Although the evil parties level up faster
because they don't have multiclasses or dual classes, and they are peerless
in their individual roles, I would not advise them for two reasons. First,
evil parties have a serious hole to fill in the front lines, as Sarevok
doesn't become available until you finish Irenicus. Korgan and the PC
Fighter can be the only two reliable evil front line fighters until the
expansion. Although much can be done with two good fighters, especially
against Beholders, I generally feel safer with three front liners, at least
in the beginning. Yoshimo can help fill this role until Chapter 4, Chapters
5, 6, and 7 can seem very long without 3 front line fighters. In order to
fill in the above mentioned hole, you risk conflict with the more upstanding
NPCs. There is not much variety, but this group is self explanatory.
Second, playing an evil party is very difficult. The shops will charge you
more, the XP rewards may be less, juggling reputation becomes a pain.
Finally, lets examine my first party, which I took to victory over Melissan
yesterday.
First Party:
PC Fighter
Minsc/Sarevok
Jaheria
Aerie
Nalia
Imoen
In Shadows of Amn, Myself, Minsc, and Jaheria were the front liners,
although Minsc seemed very slow with his two handed swords and Jaheria had
relatively weak HPs. Aerie was the primary healer, Jaheria was the
secondary healer. Aerie was also a secondary spellcaster, but the spells
went first to Nalia, then Imoen. Imoen turned out to be a satisfactory
thief, as I described above. When I started Throne of Bhall, I ditched
Minsc in favor of Sarevok, a choice I have not regretted except for the fact
that Sarevok can't use shields well in relation to his weapon proficiencies.
I may have had a slightly more difficult Throne of Bhall experience with
this party than the good party described above.
Still, I want your comments and questions.
GH
Dranthar
news:t9A_6.12855$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Good Party:
>
> PC Fighter
> Keldorn
> Valygar
> Anomen
> Nalia
> Yoshimo/Imoen
This is the good party I used on my first time through BG2 (not TOB).
Protagonist (Priest of Lathander)
Minsc + Boo
Keldorn
Jan
Aerie
Nalia/Imoen
As an Illusionist/Thief, Jan is extremely useful for both thieving and spell
casting. Nalia is swapped for Imoen when I get her back, and she's obviously
the hardcore mage of the group. Keldorn and Minsc served as my standard
fighter type dudes, while my protagonist usually also served as a sort of
back up fighter, as well as doing all the usual Cleric tasks. My only regret
was keeping Aerie, whom I really should've swapped for Valygar or Mazzy to
make a total of three fighters. On the plus side, I never found myself short
of spells to cast!
When TOB finally comes out in Oz, I'm planning on continuing on with this
party, and ditching Aerie for either Sarvok or (if allignment conflicts
become an issue) Valygar/Mazzy.
Dranthar
Andreas Baus
> Evil Party:
> PC Fighter
> Korgan
> Edwin
> Viconia
> Yoshimo/Imoen
> Sarevok
> This is a truly evil party. Although the evil parties level up faster
> because they don't have multiclasses or dual classes, and they are peerless
> in their individual roles, I would not advise them for two reasons. First,
> evil parties have a serious hole to fill in the front lines, as Sarevok
> doesn't become available until you finish Irenicus. Korgan and the PC
> Fighter can be the only two reliable evil front line fighters until the
> expansion. Although much can be done with two good fighters, especially
> against Beholders, I generally feel safer with three front liners, at least
> in the beginning.
For one, by my count, Korgan counts a 1.5 Fighters :) I'm especially awed
by his berserker ability which grants him so many immunities to some of the
most annoying negative effects enemies can throw at you. (Minsc, having
this ability too, was easily able to take down a demilich one-on-one cause
berserking makes immune to imprisonment, and with that gone, the BG2
demiliches have the bite of a toothless puppy)
Also, while Viconia may not be the greatest damage dealer, but thanks to
her great AC (dex 19!) she can mingle in the front rows with the best. Ok,
that becomes obsolete once you enter the ToB, where even the wimpiest
opponents you encounter seem to have double digit negative thac0 making
even the best armor next to useless, but then you get Sarevok, so that's
not too bad...
> PC Fighter
> Minsc/Sarevok
> Jaheria
> Aerie
> Nalia
> Imoen
> In Shadows of Amn, Myself, Minsc, and Jaheria were the front liners,
> although Minsc seemed very slow with his two handed swords and Jaheria had
> relatively weak HPs. Aerie was the primary healer, Jaheria was the
> secondary healer. Aerie was also a secondary spellcaster, but the spells
> went first to Nalia, then Imoen. Imoen turned out to be a satisfactory
> thief, as I described above. When I started Throne of Bhall, I ditched
> Minsc in favor of Sarevok, a choice I have not regretted except for the fact
> that Sarevok can't use shields well in relation to his weapon proficiencies.
> I may have had a slightly more difficult Throne of Bhall experience with
> this party than the good party described above.
I've not finished my game yet (just gotten to the desert city and did the
lich quest there) but I'm doing fine with my party consisting of:
- PC Fighter/Mage (dualed): mainly an archer with grandmaster in longbow,
but with some stars in spears, 2h-weapons and first the Impaler, now
Ixil's Nail he can dish out some decent melee damage in a pinch (and
spears are *ranged* melee weapons, so he can stand behind the tanks and
pummel the enemy over their heads :)
- Keldorn: using 2H weapons like Carsomyr of course, or the Vorpal Halberd,
forgot the name, and of course his invaluable True Sight and ludicrously
powerful Dispel Magic
- Minsc: who keeps yelling about "swords, not words" even though he has not
held a sword for quite a long time, instead using all kinds of blunt
instruments of destruction. Flail of Ages, Mace of Disruption, Starfall
Mace and recently he's picked up two points in Axe proficiency for the
awesome Axe of the Unyielding. Depending on the situation, he's
alternating between dualwielding and using a shield (like the Shield of
Harmony against oppnents that like to charm or confuse
- Cernd: primary healer (especially after hitting level 14 his number of
available slots literally *explodes* so now I'm almost at a loss what to
fill them with :) and summoner (greater elementals, devas etc.).
And once he has cast all the spells necessary, thanks to the special
abilites he can now even transform *himself* into a quite powerful
fire or earth elemental and help out in melee. His only drawback is that
druids don't get a ressurection spell (but that gets alleviated pretty
quick after level 14 when they can gain 'Mass Raise Dead' through the
Abilities)
- Imoen: Primary spellcaster and token thief for disarming traps (finding
IMHO is more efficiently done by using Minsc's otherwise rather useless
lvl. 2 ranger spell slots for a couple of 'Find Traps') and picking
locks. With proper equipment her skills can be boosted far enough to be
sufficient. And of course, she *might* still be a major part of the
plot... I'll have to see.
- finally, of course, Aerie, as secondary healer (and primary resurrector
until Cernd got Mass Raise) and spellcaster, but more importantly for the
whole romance plot (which, as I just found out, is *ahem* bearing fruit
in unexpected ways, if I may say so :). Now that my collection of 'Giant
Strength' belts has grown larger than the number of chars than can
actually make good use of them I put a spare one on her and gave her a
shield + the rune hammer (as no one else in the party actually has a
single prof. point in hammers) but that was more for fun than anything
else cause her low number of HP would mean a quick death for her in
melee. But I figure with some defensive magic (Stoneskin, first and
foremost), she might double as a rearguard to protect Cernd and Imoen
from a surprise flanking maneuver (at least distracting the enemy to buy
some time, if nothing else) while the tanks are tied up in melee
and those two are busy casting... Another thing I'll have to see about.
Of course, the next party (PC Bard, romantically involved with Jaheira
and escorted by Anomen, Korgan, Jan and Edwin, is already waiting for their
go... :)
And then there's still my Assassin at the halfway point through the
original SoA (she's got a thing going with Anomen...)
And my 3 PC/3 NPC party which I made (just recently, they've not gotten
very far yet) because I wanted to try out the monk and sorcerer classes
without haing to start a new game for each of them, especially none of
them gets a differrent stronghold from what I've already seen. And of
course, the main PC fighter/cleric will attempt joining one of the temples
(and courting Viconia... :)
Phew, that means only two more games to go to see the Paladin and Ranger
strongholds... :)
--
----
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Insert joke here.] ----
--
an...@studcs.uni-sb.de (Andreas Baus)
Ramon
MIGHT NOT WANNA
READ...-----------------------------------------------------------
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.The first time I went thru, my "good" party was:
PC Ranger
Valgyr
Jaheria
Anomen
Aerie
Yoshimo/Imoen
The party did fairly well, lots of healing, & Anomen was pretty great with
his fighter enhancing cleric spells & the Flail of Ages. A little weak on
front-line AC tho, with two Ranger/Stalkers. Great sneak attacks tho!
Right now, before I start TOB, I'm going thru all of SOA with an "evil"
party, and I'm just now leaving the Asylum:
PC multi-class fighter/mage
Korgan
Jaheria
Viconia
Edwin
Yoshimo/Imoen
Firstly (as has been said many a time), I'm unsatisfied with the thief
choices...Imoen is bearable cuz she can pick locks & find traps. This group
is so kick-ass that I don't (& intentially dont' use this cheat...) of
drawing the enemies out one by one...i charge in...it's just too damn easy &
unrealistic to draw them out one by one & pick them off...it's much more fun
trying other tactics, cuz that one will always work & get's rather
boring/tiresom. Korgan ROCKS, double-wielding 2 +3 axes & beserking.
Viconia with good armour, girdle of hill giant st/flail of ages/fighter
enhancing cleric spells, Jaheria with Staff of Rynn +4 & gauntlets of ogre
power, plus that sling that adds strength dg to hits. My fighter-mage has
uses 2-handed swords, bracers AC 4, 19 dex, ring +2 (plus i just got a
second ring of regeneration, so both he & Korgan have one...), and even tho
he has sucky const., he has the belt which gives 18 const. for 8 hrs (so it
almost doubles his HP for a good chunk of adventuring time...), and with his
wide variety of defensive spells (stoneskin, spell deflection, etc...), he
can really deal some dg. It's great having a single class mage
(Edwin)...more high level spells & two rings of wizardry, plus Imoen's wiz
skills are nothing to sneeze at...plenty of healing with Jaheria/Viconia.
I'm literally walzting thru areas that gave me trouble the first time.
Having a blast! Anyone else try this combo (or close) before?
ramon
PS I thought when u hooked up with NPCs, they were supposed to have approx.
the same amount of XP or levels as the average of the party? When I got
Imoen again, the average party XP was 1,300,000, and she only had something
like 120,000 or something...maybe less?
"Great Hierophant" <great_hi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:t9A_6.12855$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
J.S.
"Ramon" <ra...@ex-machina-image.com> wrote in message
news:pjJ_6.260$yL.1...@news.uswest.net...
> ----------------------------SOME SPOILERS, SO IF U HAVEN'T PLAYED YET, U
> MIGHT NOT WANNA
> READ...-----------------------------------------------------------
> .
>
> ramon
>
> PS I thought when u hooked up with NPCs, they were supposed to have
approx.
> the same amount of XP or levels as the average of the party? When I got
> Imoen again, the average party XP was 1,300,000, and she only had
something
> like 120,000 or something...maybe less?
IIRC, she was lower by a level or 2 when I got her back. Im not sure. In the
begining of TOB she is one level lower than Nalia (18/17) and most of my
other chars are 18 or 14/15 for MC
J.S.
Shane Lowry
cheers
Shane
Dranthar <Dran...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9hemre$q47$1...@enyo.uwa.edu.au...
David Mayr
Melissan
> yesterday.
You wouldn't mind putting in a spoiler alert next time?
Dave
Nadazgada
Shane Lowry <wht...@NOSPAMoptushome.com.au> wrote in message
news:9hh1qm$2sm$1...@merki.connect.com.au...
> btw the expansion is out in Sydney ... saw it at EB today (bankstown)
>
> cheers
>
> Shane
>
>
world is enjoying ToB and the gamers in the UK are losing their eyeballs
watching in envy.
--
'Gnaag WILL fall...'
Nadazgada
Kraagenskull's loyal servant.
Nadazgada
fluke. Playing a dwarf barbarian.
2nd time, I decided to go LG (or as close to LG as possible) so it was:
Keldorn
Anomen
LG PC Conjurer
Aerie
Nalia
Jan (ok, I need a thief...)
Im quite surprised on how powerful this party was compared to the fluke
barbarian party. Well... live and learn then...
3rd time, I decided to still be good, but mostly ranged weapons:
PC Ranger/Cleric multiclass
Minsc
Mazzy
Nalia
Jaheira
Yoshimo
Had problems early in the game. Mainly because still using 2nd party tactics
in combat. But after a few days, I'm quite happy on how it turned out.
I have to say, even with shitty stats on some of the NPCs (according some so
me gamers), the trick is to change the style of play. Of course, easier said
than done. However, I'm sure I wont last 2 rounds in ToB. Devise new styles
then ;)
Evil party neexxtt!!
--
'Gnaag WILL fall...'
Nadazgada
Kraagenskull's loyal servant.
Challenge of the day: Take Aerie, equip her, and make her THE main tank.
lol. Then teach me.
Dranthar
news:Ry9%6.42073$mK4.4...@news6-win.server.ntlworld.com...
> Shane Lowry <wht...@NOSPAMoptushome.com.au> wrote in message
> news:9hh1qm$2sm$1...@merki.connect.com.au...
> > btw the expansion is out in Sydney ... saw it at EB today (bankstown)
> >
> world is enjoying ToB and the gamers in the UK are losing their eyeballs
> watching in envy.
Not all of Australia. I live in Perth, and the bloody thing still isn't out
yet. They initially said last Monday, then Wednesday, then Friday, and now
it's next Monday! I think they are being a little slack on the shipping.
Damn it, thats what you get for living in the most isolated city on the
planet. Grrr. :( :( :( :( :(
Dranthar
Nadazgada
Or thats what we get for staying in the most isolated continent in the
world. Well... it feels like it.
Tai Fong
the party as follows:
PC Kensai/Thief
Keldorn
Nalia
Aeerie
Mazzy (+++ in War Hammer, wielding Crom Frayer, I forced her to learn
the skill :)
Jaheira
I have no problems with mages or liches as Keldorn will be able to
dispel them using his special abilities, and my Kensai/Thief made one
hell of a back stab finishing most mages in one blow.
However, I would think my current game will be the strongest Good
Aligned party that I have ever played:
PC Ranger/Priest (dualled at level 9)
Minsc
Jaheira
Imoen
Jan Jansen
Keldorn
Regards,
Tai Fong
"Great Hierophant" <great_hi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<t9A_6.12855$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...
John Blevins
Paladin has more "non-goods" in it...
Party 1:
CG Elven Mage--I have a thing for mages, and elves.
Aerie--For romance, and I like her variety of spells; I give her a sling and
some robes/rings, and she's fine.
Jaheira/Keldorn/Jaheira--she can tank, and is better than most druids due to
the Harpers Call. (I have her using the staff-mace, a good +2 weapon) I took
Keldorn instead for the unseeing eye quest, but let him stay with his
family, and took Jaheira back.
Minsc--With a nice two-handed sword wha-BAM!
Yoshimo/Imoen--You need a thief, and once Imoen got back, I had even MORE
spell casting abilities.
Viconia/Haer'Dalis/Valygar--I initially took Viconia, and she was pretty
good, but she was bugging Aerie. I swapped her for HD under the allusion
that Bards could fight--when your DM sucks, your fighting abilties are
determined by what weapons you can use, not your two-hit numbers. I had him
all through Bhodi's stuff, Spellhold, the fish fight, and the Underdark, and
then I replaced him with a proper tank. I do like Valygar, as he is arguably
the best scout in the game; he can backstab more reliably than any thief.
John Blevins
John Blevins <js1...@home.com> wrote in message
news:8y037.15656$Y6.48...@news1.rdc2.pa.home.com...
Oh, and Party 2--
Me-- (Female) Human Cavalier--although the advantages of the other two kits
were nice, I liked to keep most of the 'traditional' paladin abilities.
Jaheira--See above; no switching around this time, though.
Minsc--Also see above.
Anomen--For romance, and he _is_ a nice Cleric, after he passes his test,
and he CAN tank.
Edwin--A VERY powerful mage, will probably switch for Imoen, because he's
getting all upset over reputation...although I would like to see how his
'transformation' works out...
Jan--Not only is he hilarious, he's the only multi-classed mage/thief, and
thus his theif abilities can improve, and he comes with a lot of cool
starting equipment; necromancy spells aren't so hot either, so his
specialization doesn't really hurt him. I might switch him for Imoen if I
want to keep Edwin.
Andreas Mattern
> Edwin--A VERY powerful mage, will probably switch for Imoen, because he's
> getting all upset over reputation...although I would like to see how his
> 'transformation' works out...
> Jan--Not only is he hilarious, he's the only multi-classed mage/thief, and
> thus his theif abilities can improve, and he comes with a lot of cool
> starting equipment; necromancy spells aren't so hot either, so his
> specialization doesn't really hurt him. I might switch him for Imoen if I
> want to keep Edwin.
Edwin is *mega* powerful as he gets two bonus spells per level I think. But
you´ll also want to keep Jan (laying traps is nice later) but especially
because he´s soooo funny. Easily my favourite character, when he started
that "adult diaper rash" dialogue with Keldorn in TOB I almost wet my own
pants from laughing. I didn´t take Imoen along in the end.
Now I´ll play again with her just to see how the story works out...
A lack of a good thief is my main complaint about the game though... :(
Rune Christensen
news:Lj737.16786$Y6.51...@news1.rdc2.pa.home.com...
>
> Oh, and Party 2--
>
> Me-- (Female) Human Cavalier--although the advantages of the other
two kits
> were nice, I liked to keep most of the 'traditional' paladin
abilities.
>
> Jaheira--See above; no switching around this time, though.
>
> Minsc--Also see above.
>
> Anomen--For romance, and he _is_ a nice Cleric, after he passes
his test,
> and he CAN tank.
"He CAN tank"? Anomen is the über-tank of BG2!! Where else, apart
from the main character, do you get a fighter with grand mastery in
some weapon who can increase his Strength, Con, and Dex into the 20s
(Draw upon Holy Might) while enjoying the benefits of Bless, Prayer,
REcitation, etc.? In my games of BG2, Anomen prodded as much buttock
as Keldorn with his Holy Avenger, simply because of his nasty
selection of personal-enchancement spells.
Rune Christensen
Andreas Mattern
> "He CAN tank"? Anomen is the über-tank of BG2!! Where else, apart
> from the main character, do you get a fighter with grand mastery in
> some weapon who can increase his Strength, Con, and Dex into the 20s
> (Draw upon Holy Might)
The 5th level version is even better...
> while enjoying the benefits of Bless, Prayer,
> REcitation, etc.? In my games of BG2, Anomen prodded as much buttock
> as Keldorn with his Holy Avenger, simply because of his nasty
> selection of personal-enchancement spells.
Definetely, he was the only character where I managed to fill the
portrait-image completely with the various spell symbols... ;) In TOB it´s
worth to drop the shield as AC doesn´t matter so much and get a second
weapon for the off-hand. I used Flail of Ages as the primary weapon and
Runehammer as the secondary, switching around against undead. He kicked
*major* butt like that. Might be worth sticking to one type of weapon and
give him more weapon slots there but I think the benefits aren´t that great
compared to IWD where more slots made a huge impact.
Andreas
John Blevins
Andreas Mattern <hr...@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> wrote in message
news:9iji32$l4n$1...@news.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de...
You really don't need a pure thief--the only thing you need thieves for in
this game is detecting/disarming traps and opening locks...
Andreas Mattern
> You really don't need a pure thief--the only thing you need thieves for in
> this game is detecting/disarming traps and opening locks...
And laying traps, I found it *very* useful a couple of times. Most of the
time I couldn´t be bothered but it´s very convenient and I was happy to put
skill points and later high level abilities into it. You don´t *need* it as
such as the fights can be done without them too but it´s just too funny to
see Demogorgon´s ass blasted to kingdom come... ;) Melissan also regretted
always appearing at the same spot... ;)
I also like to backstab now and then though it´s much more difficult than
e.g. in Torment. Most enemies come in greater number and the mages have the
protections running. Once they´re down it doesn´t matter anyway and they
fall in seconds... :( Jan was not the right candidate for that anyway, I´ll
include a dual class Fi/Th in my next party along with 4 NPCs and my Bard
PC and see how he fares.
Andreas
Brian Bates
> The 5th level version is even better...
Why be a wimp? Throw them both and really see some numbers soar :)
I do miss some of the bigger chants from IWD though...
> *major* butt like that. Might be worth sticking to one type of weapon and
> give him more weapon slots there but I think the benefits aren´t that great
> compared to IWD where more slots made a huge impact.
The 4th pip is pretty much wasted and 2 pips for a +1 damage adjustment
is a lot of time to invest. Get 3 each in maces, flails, and
dual-wielding and
it's time to rock...
bri
altrui...@saintsayer.com
===
James
P.S. It was just a joke between Oz and NZ, don't be offended if you do.
In article <Ry9%6.42073$mK4.4...@news6-win.server.ntlworld.com>, Nadazgada
says...
kromm
<hr...@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> wrote:
>Definetely, he was the only character where I managed to fill the
>portrait-image completely with the various spell symbols... ;) In TOB it愀
>worth to drop the shield as AC doesn愒 matter so much and get a second
>weapon for the off-hand. I used Flail of Ages as the primary weapon and
>Runehammer as the secondary, switching around against undead. He kicked
>*major* butt like that. Might be worth sticking to one type of weapon and
>give him more weapon slots there but I think the benefits aren愒 that great
>compared to IWD where more slots made a huge impact.
>
Agreed. Fighters' thac0's will eventually get so low that an extra +1
to hit makes no difference, and +x dam means little with uber strength
or fine weapons. You don't get the extra 1/2 attack per round. You
don't really need more than 2 points in something.
kromm