Using the "default party" (assuming BGII play) -- a few questions:

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Ok, in case anybody doesn't know, BGII assumes you've had the following party:

Minsc
Dynaheir
Imoen
Jaheira
Khalid

That's a pretty decent, well rounded party, IMHO. I'd like to role-play a protagonist with this party, for continuities purpose, and transfer the character into BGII.

My question is this: What protagonist best fits that party? I'm torn between a multiclassed Fighter/Mage, a Ranger/Cleric, and a Single-classed Cleric (possibly start as a Fighter).

I'm also open to any suggestions.

 

That was my Party in my first game with my Paladin. He didn't get any spells in BG1 though.

The only tricky thing with this group is head off to get Dynaheir as soon as you get Minsc or else you run the risk of him going nutso on you in 10 days game time.

 

Well, it all depends on how you use the other characters. And the class of my PC usually is the thing that decides what to do with the others.

Fighter - Works well, have Minsc or Khalid use a bow if you run out of good melee weapons.
Cleric - Works if you use Jaheira abit more on the front.
Mage - Same as above.

Although, I haven´t played a R/C with this party.
Seems like a cool thing though. I´d go with this class if I were you, just for the fun of it.

 

You can get through the game with those five by themselves. Of course, since you can't exclude a PC, you don't have that option. However, since you could get through the game with those five alone, it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever what your PC is. Honestly, I don't think you could pick anything that would be bad for the party. That having been said, I'd take a ranger/cleric multiclass.

 

ill have to disagree with you their, if you make a character with very low constitution than he will die fast and if prot dies than your fudged, but other than that i dont believe it matters too much what your prot class is.

 

I don't like the default party- I am more fond of :
Minsc
Dynaheir
Branwen
Jaheira
Imoen

Khalid has a lack of self esteem- I'd rather have a powerful cleric such as Branwen in my party- it opens up many more quests, such as to kill Tranzig quicker. Also, all Khalid does is open up the Harper quest in Baldur's Gate. Where is Khalid anyway in BGII(I just started playing...)

 

I played the game twice or more times with this party. Very good party. (And no, Khalid is not bad at all if you are good enough) Usually played with a Mage or Conjurer, but with Fighter/Mage as well.
(By the way, in Cloakwood, Jaheira "interacted" with the druids there -> first signs of BGII NPC relationships)

 

Edwin > Play for another 5 minutes or so and you´ll find out what´s up with Khalid.

And yes, that party always works very well.
I´ve used it most times I´ve played the game, probably around 15 times atleast.
I tend to solo though, playing with a party got too easy after a couple of years of playing.

 

OK I just started playing BGII, so I wouldn't know.

 

I used this party my last time through with a straight fighter. It worked REALLY well I found. (actually I took that game through to the VERY end of ToB just two days ago, much fun, very long)

Magic is useful in BG1 but I wouldn't over do it, because sometimes hack and slash is the best way to bring them down. Best of luck.

 

Using this default party, I'm considering dual-classing Imoen into a Conjurur (her specialty is the opposition school of Dynaheir's, making me very good in the spellcasting department).

I don't know if two mages is worth it, though. Do you think it makes my party stronger, or weaker (since I won't have a really good thief in the party)?

 

I wouldn´t dual Imoen with this party.

 

Neither would I. There are plenty more mages (such as Edwin, Xan, and Dynaheir) which can have more abilities than just dualing Imoen. For example, try out BGII to see what Imoen is like there- she is dualed and her wizard spells are a little edgy to me. Again, however, this is just my opinion and others may think differently.

 

I would only favor dual-classing Imoen if your PC is a thief or thief multi-class. Otherwise, you really need her as your primary thief.

 

I agree. In my last post, the drawback about Xan is- HE CAN'T CAST FIREBALLS OR MAGIC MISSLES!!! That's why I'd take Minsc and Dynaheir (if my main character was a non-mage). Plus, Imoen's intelligence isn't all too high. Edwin is a better mage (w/ 18 intelligence). And don't think I'm saying that because it's my login name.

 

Hi, I'm just starting BG 1 after taking a good aligned party through BG II and TOB.

My PC is a 1/2 elf fighter/thief, neutral evil. I want to be able to get the silver pantaloons in BGII so that I can create [snip] in TOB, so I need an evil party.

So my question is, what is an ideal party for an evil aligned party?

[ToB spoiler removed.] -Tal

[ March 18, 2004, 22:30: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

OK Scot, you really don't have that many options unfortunately, because a lot of the evil aligned NPC's aren't available until Chapter 4 or 5.

In the beginning here's what you're looking at for options (roughly in the order you'll encounter them):

Montoron (halfling fighter/thief)
Xzar (human necromancer)
Kaigan (dwarven fighter)
Viconia (elven cleric)
Shar-Teel (human fighter)
Edwin (human conjurer)

That's 6, pick 5 (keeping in mind that Xzar and Monty are a pair, so if you don't want both, kill one of them - evil is easy in this regard...). If you want to count Chaotic Neutral as acceptable to a mostly evil party, there's also Garrick, a human bard.

Now, as you progress through the game, you'll have a lot more options in Chapters 4 and 5. It's at this point that you'll probably want some "accident" to befall Montoron, because two fighter/thieves isn't all that useful to the party, especially once one thief has enough skill points to take care of everything. In chapter 4, you'll find Eldoth, an evil human bard, and he's pretty good (high lore, decent strength, some spell casting ability). If you took Garrick, Eldoth exceeds him in almost every department, so make the switch.

In chapter 5, your options increase further. First there's Quayle, who is a gnome illusionist/cleric - good illusionist, but not a very good cleric. However, if you have Viconia, then he's fine, a few bonus cleric spells along with some mage spells - he's also Chaotic Neutral so not truly evil.

Also, there's Tiax, a gnome cleric/thief. Very odd combination, that's all I can say. He is evil, so he would fit in well. I don't know if he will be very useful to your particular party, as you are a thief yourself, and he's only an average cleric.

So, what would I do if I were you, given a PC fighter/thief?

I'd take along Viconia, Kaigan, Shar-Teel, Edwin and Garrick initially, subing out Garrick for Eldoth or Quayle later in the game. If you want all evil, then keep Eldoth in your party. (Although then you have to take care of the Skie issue when it arises - no problem if you're evil though.)

EDIT: One more thing - put all of your thief skill points into pick locks and find traps until they are each 100%. With the boots of stealth and shadow armor, you'll have a decent enough stealth skill, and you'll probably have a bard to take care of pick pocketing.

 

@Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

What other PC types would be good to run the begining evil party with? Keep in mind that he would also have to be good to go into BGII.

 

@ Aldeth the Foppish Idiot,

Thanks for the advice, I already had picked up Montaron and Xzar. I ran into Minsc and insulted Boo so he attacked me and I killed him, which felt a little weird to do since he is who I am roleplaying in BG II in the game where my daughters are the protagonist, but then I picked up Edwin and now we're off to kill Dynaheir. Montaron got frozen to death by a winter wolf south of Naskell, so that's taken care of. I'm going to go get Kagain soon too.

So with Skie, can I just kill her myself to get rid of her and Eldorth will stick around, or does she suddenly have to get foolishly brave?

 

@ Jag - Actually, a fighter-theif is an excellent option. If you're looking ahead to an evil party in BG2, you have to consider who else is coming along. For certain, you're going to have Korgan, Edwin and Viconia - so you have a fighter, mage and cleric. To fill out the party, you're going to have to pick up some chaotic neutral characters who will include Jan, Haer Dalis and Anomen if he fails his test. So you have to pick five of those six. It's really nice to have two characters who can tank. If you don't take Anomen, it almost forces you to make your PC at least part fighter, which is why a fighter-thief is a good option. Besides, if you don't have Anomen, then you obviously took Edwin, Jan, and Haer Dalis, so this is shaping up as a magic heavy party, so adding another fighter or part fighter makes sense. If you take Anomen, then you can have Korgan and Anomen in the front line, and it opens up possibilities for your PC, although part fighter is still recommended.

Assuming you keep Anomen, you will have two clerics, one full mage, and either Jan or Haer Dalis who will serve as a backup mage, so magic-wise, you're set. This is why I don't particularly care for playing evil - limited choice of what you can make your PC and keep the party be well-balanced. Of note, I have played a beserker and had Korgan in the party. When the two of you rage, there's not much anything can do against you. You're both pretty impervious to magic, and you both hit hard.

If it was me, I'd go with:

PC fighter-thief multi-class or kensai dualled to thief
Korgan
Anomen
Viconia
Edwin
Haer-Dalis

@ Scot

Skie will have to get a surge of bravery. I would recommend the house with all the guardians, as it's in the northwest quadrant of the city where you'll meet skie anyway. So you'll have to temporarily kick one of your other characters out. Try and save right before hand if you can because some evil NPC's walk away and don't come back if you kick them out - although I think you're safe if you kick Xzar out.

One fear I have for this party is it is developing to be very magic-intesive (which is fine if that matches your playing style, but is going to be a pain if it doesn't fit your playing style). Right now, you have two mages and a bard. Assuming you are going to take Kaigan and Shar-Teel, Viconia isn't going to fit, and that's a problem. If you are going to keep both Xzar and Edwin, then you certainly don't need Eldoth, and if you want to keep Eldoth, you certainly don't need both Xzar and Edwin. For simplicity sake, I would probably keep both the mages, and do without the bard. That way you don't have to deal with the Skie situation in Chapter 5, and it makes life easier...

The other problem I have is the order you're picking up the NPC's. Kaigan is in Beregost, and if you already got to Naskel, it suggests you already went through Beregost and passed him off. He's in a house north of the Feldpost Inn. You have to head to the map immediately north of Beregost to find the destroyed caravan (he leaves if you don't do it) and once he sees the caravan is detroyed he says he's tired of looking and will stay with you.

Also, you've also passed off Viconia and Shar-Teel at this point as well. Viconia is in the forest immediately east of the Friendly Arm Inn (it's either Peldvale or Larswood, and I don't remember which). Stay on the western edge of the map and you'll find her in the northwest corner. There's some tough fights there so don't wander away from the western edge if you have a low level party.

Shar-Teel, is in the map east of the Temple (which is east of Beregost) also on the northwest corner of that map area. It is imperative that you stay along the western edge on this map, as there are several basilisks on this screen, and you definitely don't want to be messing with them with a low level party.

[ March 19, 2004, 19:47: Message edited by: Aldeth the Foppish Idiot ]