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

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Thanks Aldeth.

Can't wait to be my evil self. Mwa-ha-ha-ha.

 

Viconia is in NW corner of Peldvale. Not exactly the corner, but almost.

 

@ Aldeth

Thanks for the info,

I actually also had Jaheira, Khalid, and a PC 1/2 elf mage/cleric along too. I was hoping to get Khalid killed before we had to kill Dynaheir because I thought he might not like that. Luckily the mountain bear across the bridge north of the gnoll fortress did the trick. Then I went back to Beregost and got Kagain. I think I'll kick Xzar out, I really don't like his whiny voice, then maybe drop my PC mage/cleric and pick up Vicconia. Thanks for the waring about the basilisks, I definitely would have run into them because I usually like to explore the whole area.

So I'm thinking I'm going to go with this party:
PC 1/2 elf fighter/thief
Edwin
Vicconia
Kagain
Jaheira

which leaves one slot open for NPCs with quests.

Is BG I like BG II in that respect, that there are certain quests you can only do if you take the NPC into your party, or can I keep my PC cleric/mage and do the quests after talking to the NPC but not adding them to the party?

This way for roleplaying enjoyment issues I'll be able to take Edwin, Vicconia, and Jaheira along with me through SOA and TOB, swapping Kagain for Korgan. I will miss Keldorn's instant dispel magic though.

 

There aren't quests like BG2. You can do anything regardless of who is in the party...

 

"then maybe drop my PC mage/cleric and pick up Vicconia"

How would you do that, I wonder.
You can´t boot the pc, if that´s what you meant.

 

When I said "drop my PC mage/cleric" I meant the second Player created character that I am playing, the first slot is my protagonist the Fighter/thief. As it turned out, Garrick got bit by a black bear on the way to get Vicconia, so I had the space.

So now I've got my protagonist, fighter/thief, a cleric/mage, Vicconia, Kagain, Edwin, and Jaheirra. I'm in the mines of Naskel and so far I like how this party is working out.

 

Well, I've decided to start off as a Human Ranger, and I dual classed over to Cleric after reaching level 2 as a Ranger.

It's a little cheesey, but my character has ** in missile and blunt weapons (as opposed to the * max allowed by single classed Clerics), will be able to dual weild in BGII, and has access to all Cleric and Druid skills, while advancing as a single classed Cleric. Very nice.

the assumed party is a good, balanced one. I think my protagonist covers any small weakness this party has.

 

@Scot - that will work - lots of clerics/druids though...

@ Klorox - agreed. If there is one weakness in the assumed party, the only healer you have is Jaheira, and since she's multi-classed, she levels rather slowly. Especially in the first couple of chapters, it's nice to have a second healer simply because you only can memorize a few healing spells until you hit level 7 and get cure serious wounds. So I agree that that character will fix the only weakness in the assumed party, plus give you a much more versitile cleric as you go through the game.

 

not to mention, since I plan on playing a (mostly) Good-Aligned party, my playing a Cleric will allow me to avoid the most annoying NPCs in BGII, Aerie and Anomen!

 

I find the "default" party in BG1 to be the best from a story perspective. There are many ways I try to play, solo, my own characters etc but I always come back to the story. Its pretty much forced on us due to the beginning of BG2 but at least you can swap out two of the originals for who you want. I find the default group is a little light on healing in BG1 and you miss out on a few good clerical spells. I also dual Imoen at level 7 to keep it consistant with the sequel which leaves me minus a thief for some of the nastier traps . But it's doable with any PC class