Which are the best NPCs to join?

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Please don't write about chars you created yourselves (ultimate party topic is about that I think). Just NPCs w/o cheats. Some chars below were cheated but if so I explain why and present a 'no cheat' alternative.

First a team I formed (My main char was Elf berserker dual wield): Keldorn, Nalia, Valygar (replaced with Sarevok inToB), Jaheira (replaced with Korgan in ToB) and of course Viconia.

Keldorn - I kept him solely for the sake of Carsomyr (not so useful in ToB as there are plenty +5 wep for every char) and True sight ability (this came in handy more than often) I couldn't keep him w/o cheats as he attacked Viconia after leaving Asylum. Hence in a w/o cheats team I'd take Jan in his place) Besides like Minsc he has those stupid loud and worst of all constant comments. He could just shut up.

Jan - He wouldn't replace Keldorn in the exact meaning. After all Paladin is more of a fighter than a thief. Jan would take Nalia's place in a thief's part of her job. Yoshimo is a better thief but Edwin can't cast divination which means no true sight and besides I hate the treacherous bastard Yosh.

Nalia - She just learned many spells before I met Edwin and I didn't want to repeat the process when I realized it would be necessary after looking at Edwin's clean spellbook. I cheated her to his stats. W/o cheats she's dumb and useless and I would replace her with Edwin. Even her ring is better than her.

Edwin - Best mage, what's more to say. Annoying comments that's true but not as annoying as Keldorn's or Minsc's.

Valygar - good with bows and dual Katanas but in ToB enemies are too tough to be just shot at and there are not too many really good Katanas. Perhaps if he were an archer. Anyway replaced with Sarevok.

Sarevok - Very good choice. I don't know how he does it but sometimes he hits his opponents for 200 damage. Besides his portrait is great. I just wish Vorpal was a +5 wep.

Jaheira - Advanced very slowly and I didn't need Druid spells that much after all. Replaced with Korgan.

Korgan - This guy rocks. Best fighter in game I think. Esp when he reached gran mastery in hammers and 3 stars in dual. I gave him Crom Faeyr and Axe of Unyiedling. He rocks with such equip. I think my own char would've trouble fighting him.

Viconia - Obvious reasons for joining her But seriously the best cleric in game and with good equip she's quite good in melee. Besides has some great lines to say. Overall interesting girl who knows how to take care for herself.

Hmm not a single good aligned NPC in my team. Neutral at best. Just wonder how such a party would react to all those do-gooder's errands of mine, constant rep rise and my own chaotic good alignemtent.

Overall it seems that Evil isn't good. It's better

 

you are correct--the evil NPC's are much better stat-wise and class-choice wise. Sarevok is ridiculous.. viconia with 18 wis and 19 dex.. korgan--a pure fighter with very high strength. edwin--the only npc mage with 18 intell

but, the role player in me would not let me take them. The first time through, my neutral good kensai took jah, minsc, val, imoen (early--yosh) and aerie. imho, val and minsc were more than enough fire power conisdering my kensai's ultra low thac0. in terms of katana's in the game---ever heard of c-fury? still one of the best in the game in tob

btw--if you don't think there are enough katana's in the game, just train val in something else. I did--war hammer.. he used crom and c-fury and was extraordianarily powerful. minsc use the axe of the unyielding and a long sword (can't rem which)

bottom line:

1. unmodified/early in the game--evil npc's are much better
2. late in the game---it doesn't matter. my good party was more than enough for anything in ToB or SoA.

re: jah not gaining levels---for some reason, I was able to pick up druid special abilities when she gained fighter levels.. nothing beats summoning an elemental prince just before a big battle.

I am replaying with a lawful good monk, vic, jan and hal just to check out some of the less popular choices. Deep into chapter 3 of SoA, things are going very well. vic, with the girdle of hill giant strength, can become quite a tank. jan is an excellent thief and good mage. and hal, using his mage spell protects and two GOOD short swords, can be a mighty distraction in the middle of a battle.

 

If I were you I'd bring
Sarevok- great fighter
Imoen- improved version of Nalia, except that De'Arnise ring gives her +2 Ac and fire protection. Also has better thief skills
Viconia- great Cleric for healing
Edwin- like everyone says, best magic-user w/ an attitude
Keldorn- paladin, Carsomyr +6 (w/ that eye) very powerful.
Aerie- (MAYBE) kinda sucky but if you need another mage or cleric, she can be VERY useful. just my opinion

 

with my kensai i had
Keldorn=tank with high lvl dispel and true sight
Saravok=Great tank with awsome stats
Valygar=ok tank
Jan=Good thief and hilarious
Aerie=great spells but the most annyoing thing to ever curse the planet

 

I'm trying a bit of an abnormal party with no cheats, well, except for a custom AI for mages & clerics that uses the new stuff in TOB. Don't know if anyone else has this one, but it's nice enough that it works for pretty much every NPC I've used it on. Anyways, here's the layout:

Me - Elven Sorceror - The AI loves the Sorceror (who doesn't?) and makes my character cast Stoneskin whenever necessary. I have yet to see my rather weak (low on constitution) elf go down past half health due to it constantly keeping the defenses up (and giving off a pretty damn nice lightshow in the process, I spent half my time taking screenshots).

Minsc - Missiler & Tank with a couple healing spells. The AI makes him use bow first, before switching to 2-handed sword. He typically doesn't use his spells much, cuz by the time the battle's over, Anomen's already rushing around healing everyone (gave Anomen the Boots of Speed from the Planar Prison).

Aerie - Missiler. The AI makes use of both her cleric and mage skills, casting a plethora of spells at a distance. I figure by the time a major battle is over, 95% of her spells are depleted.

Nalia - Missiler. I have her standing in for Imoen as a storyline character since I haven't gotten past Chapter 3 yet. The AI makes her act pretty much the same as Aerie, with the exception of a lack of clerical abilities (duh). Sadly, though, my tanks hog all the excitement and kill her targets in the middle of spellcasting. Heh.

Anomen - Tank. All the AI does for him is makes him cast Iron Skins on himself, and then dive in to dish out as much pain as possible. After the battle ends, since I loaded him up primarily with healing spells, he runs around and heals the entire party.

Jan - Missiler. The AI and Jan get along pretty well, but aside from being a better thief than Nalia, his worth in the party was just about as low. I kicked him out after the Trademeet quest and replaced him with Keldorn, since he started whining about my high rep.

Keldorn - Tank. I've only recently added him in, so I have yet to see how well this script controls him.

FYI, I believe the script can be found on Arundor's Abode, linked off of www.teambg.com in their forums. The only problem with it is that it's so damn complex that with six characters using it simultaneously, the game has a tendancy to freeze between loading maps every so often.

 

I think Edwin is a bit overpowered for an npc wizard. He has that wondrous ring, 18 int, he's a conjurer (best specialist wizard in the game) plus if you finish his quest in SOA he gets some permanent bonus like +con and +saving throws or somethings similar.

 

Sarevok with his Deathbringer Assaults is insane with any weapon...add a Ravager +6 for Vorpal Blows and a Greater Whirlwind...buh bye enemy

 

I'm going thru BG2 again this time the evil aligned party I mentioned earlier. When I release Imoen should I leave Jan and take her or should I rather keep him?

BTW though evil chars are stronger I find it strangely harder to play.

 

The party I have at the moment is-
Human Sorcerer
Minsc
Jaheria
Viconia
Jan
I will be picking up Saravok later on. With this party I feel that I have all the bases covered in the way of fighting, magic,healing and theiving although the only ones with a good alignment are myself and minsc. I don't mind neutral characters and although I don't like evil characters Viconia is probably the best cleric.

 

I'm wondering about this Jan/Imoen issue.

If I go there at once after gathering 15000 there won't such a large exp gap between my team and Imoen. And as for comparison of the two chars.

They both have intelligence allowing them to learn only 8th level spells. Though as Imoen's is 17 after visit to Watcher's Keep she could get 18 and learn 9th level spells in turn.

Jan is multiclass and Imoen is dualclss. Which means she's stuck with her thief's abilities. And since I have Edwin in my team I don't need another very powerful mage that much. Besides Jan has that cool equip of his which boosts his thief's skills.

One important question. Since Jan is an inventor does he upgrades his items or invent some new ones as he progresses? And if so what are they?

One more thing. I always felt terrible to just tell Imoen that she's on her own.

 

I have

Me - Berserker (tank)
Sarevok
Viconia
Jan
Edwin
Haer´Dalis

and Haer´Dalis ROCKS! in ToB, that high level bardsong and use any item are excellent. You can give him Unholy Reaver or Carsomyr, while he's doing the defensive spin. Really nice armor class and somewhat fighting abilities. Though the song is much better, just let stay him away from the fight and have his song give those incredible bonuses.
Only downside about Haer´Dalis in SoA was his song, well, now it got better, way better. +4 damage, thaco and -4 to AC. I can't remember if does anymore to party members, but he himself will recieve greater bonusses like magic resistance and -10 to AC. Doing defensive spin and bard song, he can pretty much stand there without getting hit by melee fighters, because he has (in my group) a AC of -21

[This message has been edited by Lokken (edited August 10, 2001).]

 

where do you find Sarevok?

 

You don't find him, he finds you. Pretty much right at the beginning of ToB. Be careful reading from the ToB boards if you haven't played it yet. Spoilers abound.

 

Lokken: Instead use offensive spin but first have him cast Tenser's Transformation.

My party:
Me: Paladin/Inquisitor: -10 AC /w Carsomyr +6, handles all the necessary dispelling and can kick some serious ass in combat.

Anomen: -7 ac /w crom faeyr, loaded up with heal spells and combat augmenting spells, ie globe of blades, aura of firey death, righteous magic ect to make him one serious tank.

Valygar: Best dual wielder EVER. With montolios cloak and his inability to gain mastery you can have him specialized in about anything. Right now his has Axe of Unyeilding and Flail of Ages + 5, but occasionally uses Foebane and the Answerer. Throw on Hardiness and watch the heads roll.

Mazzy: Still using Gesen bow making her the best mage disruptor EVER. Whips out Gram or Vorpal if anything gets too close.

Imoen: Sucks as a mage! Made her a thief! w00t w00t! All her thief skills are well over a hundred and the item combo on her from use anything gives her an ac of -16. Add greater evasion and we got -23. I use her as enemy bait.

Aerie: What can I say? Main character needs some action and the group needs a mage. 'nuff said. If the enemy is too tough for my group (LOL!) have her spell trigger 3 lower resistances->time stop->improved alacrity->all 50+ combat spells of hers.

[This message has been edited by Alex (edited August 11, 2001).]

 

IMHO you should play an RPG with a party you like.
FE I have Nalia right now. I was going to change her to Jan but I strangely started to like her so I'll keep her.

 

a team of sarevoks =)

 

Damn, Haer´Dalis is really that good? I thought that I would simply kick him out after finding Imoen thus resolving my 'Jan or Imoen problem'. Is he such a good char also in BG2 itself ie w/o ToB? If so then I'll have two options

1. Cheat ie 'convert' Imoen to Haer'Dalis.
2. Leave Imoen (yet again). Now I really wouldn't like to pick 2nd option

I'm also a berserker (elf dual) though lately I wonder if barbarian isn't a better choice.

One more thing. Where can I find tables that show when characters gain proficiency slots? And what abilities are available to each class.

 

I dont know, my berserker can walk through almost anything, because of high AC and he deals massive damage. I rarely use the enrage anymore because it takes to much time. instead I use the, the... highlevel abilities, yes

As for HaerDalis, he is a ok Archer and can identify most stuff in SoA. The Bard song in ToB was even better, I just read the description and it says:
The song also gives his allies +4 to hit, damage and AC(the good way), immunity to fear, stun and confusion, 5% magic resistance and IMMUNITY TO NORMAL WEAPONS!

seems like it was much than first described

 

Of course by the time you get to ToB, hardly anyone uses normal weapons

 

+4 bonuses and immunity to stun are great. But calling me sparrow sucks. Perhaps I'll cheat Imoen. I never played with a bard in my Party before. Unforunately if I cheat Imoen to bard I'll lose the possibility to have two mages cating 9th level spells after Int bonus from Watcher's Keep.

My berserker isn't that powerful. First I didn't manage to roll 18/00 strength but I guess that some strength belt can fix that. Second I placed my prof slots as follows: 1 bastard, 1 long, 1 Katana (I really hate it that long sword was divided to so many subspecializations)., 3 dual. Now I have 2 in bastard though it would be wiser to have 2 in long. Furthermore as Gran mastery doesn't give an extra attack as it should I doubt I be trying to get more than 3 prof slots for long and bastard (I'll leave katanas completely as Celestial Fury is the only truly interesting one). Right now I'm in Chapter III of BG2 and my berserker isn't that powerful at all.