Party thoughts

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Yes, I know, there's bound to be plenty of threads along this vein, but one more won't hurt.


I'm planning on taking a party consisting of:
PC (CG Human Fighter)
Khalid
Jahiera
Minsc
Dyanahier
Imoen

This is my first time playing fully through BG1, though I've played through BG2 a few times already (Sort of regretting buying BG2 before BG1, heh).

Anyway, how viable is this party? I don't forsee any problems, and with BG2's beginning in mind, this party makes the most sense to me RP-wise.

Progress-wise, I've got everyone in the party except Dyanahier, and I'm on my way to retrieve her now. Will my mostly level-one party be able to handle the Gnolls? (Jahiera recently became level 2 in both her classes)


Woo... I'm a noob all over again. (speaking of noobs, does everyone already know that there are no consequences, reputation-wise, for killing Noober? [in Nashkel or Beregost, forgot which] Same deal for Neeber when you get to BG2)

 

I think that that party is the one used to lead on to Baldur's Gate II

*claps*

I think you get more xp for talking to Noober numurous times aye

 

This party is fine. It is classed as the default party to finish BG1 and is thought of as the party you started BG2 with.

The default party if you start the TOTSC Mission Pack is PC, Minsc, Jaheira, Viconia, Imoen, Edwin.

Both are very good parties, with the latter giving more fire power.

Talk to Noober, about 20 times (I think) - dont wait to him to talk to you as it takes too long. Then kill him afterwards for no reputation loss.

 

To be honest I almost always use this party combo, nearly every time. Dynaheir very rarely survives my sword through her head when she talks, but I usually just kill her, feel better then load the game back Other than her annoying voice however, it's a great party, and if you catch them all at level one, they are all very versatile too. Happy gaming!

 

I've used this party a few times. It's pretty "classic" in that it covers most of your bases. So for variation, it isnt great, but for a solid party, it's just fine.

 

Yep, that was my first party too, way, way back in time. Only used it that one time as there are many better NPC's, but it's certainly good enough.

If Jaheira got to level 2/2, the rest can't be far behind. You can probably handle the gnolls.

 

That's the same party that I use normally in BG1. It's a little low on healing, but as I often play with a paladin, the Lay On Hands and healing spells as a Child of Bhaal make up for it.

 

Not a problem with that party, I use that combination all the time. As long as your Fighter, Minsc and Khalid all have composite long bows, Jahiera has her sling, and Imoen has her short bow there shouldn't be any difficulty in taking the stronghold, just be waery on the bridge and in the caves to the south as there isn't much room for movement and you may have to resort to a bit of good old sword play

As you go on in the game, you may feel that Jaheira and Dyanahier don't deal enough magic for the party and you may have to dual your Fighter or Imoen to a mage...I Dualed my Fighter (as waiting for Imoen's thieving skills to come back can get irratating) but you should do it early on as the benefits will be pointless if you do it before half the exp. cap blah blah blah...

 

The party is fine. In fact the party of Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira, Khalid, Imoen and any PC you can think of, will work just fine.

However, if you were going for a fighter class, I probably would have went for a paladin. That way, you would have had one of each of the three main fighting groups (fighter, paladin, and ranger)

 

Playing as a Paladin, my personal preference is to dump Khalid and Jaheira in favour of Kivan and Branwen.
I usually swap Imoen for Coran as well.

Gives me two front line Sword/Axe and Shield fighters (Paladin + Minsc).
Two Archers (Coran and Kivan), with Kivan pretty useful with a Halberd/2-handed sword, and Coran a fairly good thief (though you really need to boost the trap-finding)
A full Cleric for healing & defensive magic.
A Good mage.

Edited to add...
Gautlets of Ogre Power on Branwen bring her up to a reasonable 3rd combat fighter/sling shot as well.

 

My 6 pick would be:
Mistral - fighter/mage
Imoen - thief
Kivan - ranger (maybe raplaced with Ajantis, Faldorn, Quayle or Eldoth)
Branwen - cleric (maybe raplaced with "Vicky")
Minsc - ranger
Dynaheir - invoker

but maybe I'll try with 3 dudes only
Mistral - fighter/mage
Imoen - thief
Viconia - cleric

And some more stuff:
1) When the game gets going you ussualy don't change the winning team.
2) When you stick with certain party you miss all the fun. I still find Xzar and Montaron in my very first game most hilarious.
3) Imoen is starting to get on my nerves. I always played with her in my team and in current game she is even my leader.

 

i usually get that party to start with and then replace jeheira with yeslick or viconia and dynaheir with edwin. since minsc wont stick around i ditch him for coran.

 

As far as all-out damage goes, I recommend AGAINST taking any mage whatsoever. They can't cast too much in the way of mass damage spells, and if they aren't casting spells, they are nearly useless in combat.

As such, I would probably say, for all out power:

PC fighter, paladin or ranger
Minsc
Kivan
Coran
Imoen (Coran can't really cut it as a thief, but is great for backstabbing)
Yeslick (best fighting skills among the clerics)

 

I would bring a mage along because although they dont have much in the way of damage-dealing spells, there are a lot of wands that can make up for that. And unlinke in BG2 where a lightning bolt is a mere annoyance, here it is DEADLY haha. Or if you dont wanna bring a pure caster along, you could dual imoen after a few levels.

 

Coran is okay as a thief if you rush the first couple of chapters and pick him up early.

I never take Minsc anymore as he really annoys me, so I usually have Khalid up-front as my uber-tank and Kivan (or Coran) providing the very important ranged support.

I would definitely take one mage (or Bard) as there are areas in TOTSC where a mage is fairly essential (if only for dispelling and summoning).

 

A bard is useful, a mage, not really. Bards can use wands and are functional in combat. Combine this with a decent archer with arrows of detonantion and you can do far more area-effect damage than a mage can anyway.

 

I also used this "default" party on my first playthrough. However, I find dumping the Minsc-Dynaheir couple for Kivan and Edwin to be even more powerful - Edwin is undoubtedly the best mage in the series, and Kivan makes a great archer. If you're playing a fighter PC, this party works very well. Of course, with Edwin a high reputation becomes impossible.

 

The second default (as in the TOTSC default party) and probably the most powerful party in the game is ... PC, Minsc, Jaheira, Viconia, Imoen, Edwin. You have the best cleric, mage and thief in the game, plus two great tanks, so the PC can be whatever he wants and still win comfortably.

 

I remember that line up from my first time through . It didn't last all the way through though as i found the party a bit lacking for me and replaced jaheira and Khalid with Branwen and Viconia when I finally found her in something like chapter 3. It's a nice well balanced party to play through with though with a good balance.
Guess I just like doing it the hard way first time eh?

 

Your party is almost identical to the one I just finished the game with after not playing BG1 since about 2001 (I had a CG Elf F/M instead). That party will be fine, and Dynaheir is probably the best offensive mage since she's an Invoker - all they do is blast stuff.

The main things that mages are useful for are blasting spells o' doom and inconvenience (like Fireball and Web) or to Magic Missile the bejesus out of Sarevok in the last battle. A bard can do that just fine in BG1, although I'm not 100% sure if they can use the Ring Of Wizardry.

I would never go so far as to call Mages superfluous in BG1. Certainly they take a while to get good (at about level 5, when Fireball, Haste, Slow and Dispel Magic become available). In the meantime, I use them to disrupt enemy spellcasters with Magic Missile, Acid Arrow and Agannazar's Scorcher. But a bard can do all that as well, plus they can steal and fight (a bit).