New BG2 Party with some mod NPCs.

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Hi all, as you'll see from my other thread I'm currently playing through BG1 (tutu), but, as is inevitable, I am constantly looking forward to BG2 and find it irresistable not to be planning ahead (which is not good as my current BG1 party is rahter unsettled).

I've been installing quite a few mods. Nothing that adds major content but all the recommended ones (g3 tweaks, unfinished business etc.) - I've also installed a number of new NPC mods....

Here are the ones I've installed:

Solafuein
Kelsey
Xan (the new one from Pocket Plane)
Kivan (from gibberlings 3)

I didn't install Valen as I've read too many bad things about her.

Now, I want to take as many of these with me as possible...

But need advice in two major ways:

1. I have read up on what every one is class wise but this doesn't necessarily translate into an acutal party. Considering my PC is an Undead Hunter kit Pally, how well would these four work as a party with him and one other NPC (probably another tank)? Also, how does Sola work as a tank?

2.Are there any glaring mod conflicts here? Is this combo going to be glitchy? If so which one(s) should I remove? I can't be doing with technical glitches/ crashes.

Finally, I'd like anyone who's played with all of these NPcs to rank them from 1 to 4. In your ranking factor in "cheesiness" and how well the character is integrated into the game as well as how effective they are at what they do. Thanks in advance

 

1. Not very good. Two rather glaring omissions in that party are divine spellcasting and thievery. Since Tiax isn't an option, you're definitely going to have to drop someone to make room.

2. I've heard stories before (and even one today) about Sola and Kelsey having problems come ToB. And when you're not able to talk to Sarevok in the Pocket Plane, things get complicated. As for which one to dump, I'd say Kelsey and Sola. Kelsey because I'm blatantly prejudiced against sorcerers (which shouldn't be in any game claiming to follow the 2e ruleset), and Sola because of the numerous complaints I've heard about the battles he brings with him being too hard.

Also, I'd just use the same playing style you're using in your Tutu game. Take whoever you find, and let them go if they die. It'd be quite the interesting exercise.

 

I'd seriously take another warrior. I don't know what Kivan is (ranger, right?) but nobody else there is a full tank. Solaufein is really cheesy, seriously. And you can't get him until the Underdark. You'll be quite underpowered until that point.

Definitely get a thief and a divine caster.

 

Based on what's been said here I think I'm definitely going to uninstall Sola... I don't want an over powered NPC ruining my game.

I also have the PERENNIAL thief problem... Imoen and Nalia (not high enough) or Jan Jensen - CRAP.

Any good thief NPC mods out trhere?

 

IMHO Solaufein is the most powerful NPC available (even more than Valen).

Not only he can tank but after he gains his powerful Moonblade he becomes the best tank one can ever have...
So I agree that he is overpowered BUT don't forget that Sola's mod contains 2 of the hardest fights of modded BG2 (especially the Eclipse Party encounter).

There is the Fade NPC mod (with a romance too).
I haven't tried it yet but it I have read many good things about it.

 

Thanks for these suggestions... i'm not sure about Sola - I think it will be too much and the general perception I get about that mod is that it is buggy. Plus - from a plot/ RP perspective I don't think he'd join that party anyway, besides - I like to do the bulk of the quests in Chapter 2 and he arrives far far too late.

Also - as for Fade, I won't be installing her. I want to keep everything with the original games as possible. Kivan and Xan are BG1 characters who are in my BG1 party right now. With Kelsey, I've never played or had a sorcerer before so it will be intersting to see what he's like (will probably drop him for Edwin though, as I can't resist Edwin's incredible arsenal).

My current plan is something like this:

PC (undead hunter)
Kivan
Viconica
[A thief] - preferrably Coran from BG1 (is this possible) and if not then Imoen changed back to a straight theif (is there a mod that does this?)
Xan
Kelsey/ Edwin

This has continuity from my BG1 party as much as anything else but perhaps a little weak upfront.

 

Coran isn't possible, but I've been VERY happy with Alora in my Little People party. She's a swashbuckler, so while she can't backstab, she doesn't need to. Between 19 DEX and all the bonuses to attack, damage, and AC, she can do some fair damage with Tuigan or even get in there with a short sword for enemies who need a high-magic weapon. You can usually find her at CoM's forums, but they seem to be down right now, and I seem to remember something about the mod's author removing the download until she can add more stuff to the mod. If you've a need for it before it goes back up, just PM me with your e-mail address (and mention Alora, since I'll have probably forgotten about this ), and I'll send you the version I have.

 

Kelsey once you get used to him is pretty damned well an arsenal himself. Specially once you start putting items on him to give him more spells per level to cast. Sure it's got it's own limitations but once you learn to work with it it's not to bad.

Though I'm still not entirely fond of sorcerer's. Would rather play myself a wild mage for my idea of ultimate mage power.

 

@ Fel

You CAN get Coran with the Tortured Souls mod...but I'm on record as not being particularly fond of it (far too buggy).

@ Parvini

I played my last run-through with both Sola and Kelsey.

I experienced no bugs at all with the Sola mod...I'm surprised you've heard people say otherwise. I didn't know he had a reputation for bugginess...he gave me no trouble.

HOWEVER...while I don't think he's naturally overpowered, that moonblade he gets is the single most over-balanced item I've ever seen. Seriously, it's like two pages worth of item description to list all the stuff it does. With it, he's quite definitely too much.

And add another yes to the too-difficult battles contention...that Eclipse fight nearly matched the ultimate sorcerer from Improved Planar Sphere for pure cheese. And you don't even get any especially good loot when it's done!

My biggest problem with Sola, though, is that he completely hijacks the game. He'll take over dialogue that belongs to your PC (for instance, he invites Drizzt and friends to join your battle with Bodhi whether you want him too or not). He really aggravated me in that respect.

Kelsey kicks ass at high levels...sorcerers rule. Again, I found no bugs at all with him, although I have heard other people talk about the problem with Sarevok in ToB. Didn't happen to me.

Whatever you do, though, DON'T romance him. I'm assuming you're playing a male, so it's not an issue. If not, I'm warning you...the guy never shuts up. Seriously, every time you turn around, you'll get another love talk. And they go ON and ON... very tedious.

Other than that, I liked the guy. His quest was fun, if extremely short.

I think with your current lineup, you're missing a good tank. Personally, I'd drop Viconia and go with Anomen...he can definitely pull double-duty. Give him Crom Faeyr and the Flail of Ages, and send him to town. However, if you really want to keep as many BG1 characters as possible, you could beef up Viconia with items...but I still think Anomen's a far better fighter.

For your theif, I'd take Jan, since you seem to be disinclined to go with Yoshimo (and Imoen won't be much help to you in any case, unless you head to Spellhold as quickly as possible). And even if you DID want to run Tortured Souls and pick up Coran, you wouldn't get him til Chapter 6 anyway. And again...Tortured Souls = bugs galore.

Also, I'd ditch Xan and take Minsc. That way, you can take both Kelsey AND Edwin, which will be all the mage support you'll ever need for anything. And, you'd still get to keep another BG1 character.

 

It would make more sense to just drop Xan for Edwin or Kelsey if he was going to go that route.

Specially since Dropping Xan for Minsc would not open up a slot in his party for him to take both. It would just replace one of his 6 and still leave him deciding between the two.


And anybody wielding Crom Faeyr is powerful. Specially if you combo it with the Flail of Ages. However Viconia can be extremely powerful just wielding CromFaeyr and then using any one of several shields. The only thing that would actually threaten her for the most part would be the bosses that can beat any armor class anyway. She can be made into quite the formidable opponent through equipment very easily. She just happens to be a little more defensive than Anomen.

 

Yeah, I realized that after I posted it. That's what happens when you're all jacked up on Easter candy...you forget basic math!

 

Well... thanks for suggestions... I'm currently in Durlag's Tower (after Cloakwood, haven't been to Baldur's Gate yet) so it's still a fair while off till I get to that, I'm concerned my PC is going to be about level 9 or 10 by the time I get to BG2 as he's level 6 already and I'm only on level 2 of Durlag's Tower with more than half of the main BG1 game to go. I've put in the xp cap remover as I've always thought xp caps are unrealistic from an RP perspective.

The whole idea is that I WILL take Xan as he's been with me from the start and he's a SUPPORT mage (casts alot of enchantment spells). So it is a case of Kelsey OR Edwin...

Make cases for both here

I will definitely want my cleric to pull "double duty" - he/ she will be taking Yeslick's place in the party, I've changed Imoen to be an assassin as she was a level 5 assassin when I dropped her for Coran in Cloakwood. It's all about continuity, current plan:

PC ---> PC
Yeslick ---> Anomen/ Viconica
Kivan----> Kivan
Coran ----> Imoen (assassin)
Xan ----> Xan
Edwin ----> Edwin/ Kelsey

At present Croan and Kivan kill MOST things before my tanks can even get to them. It is on this principal that I'm basing my BG2 party with only one real tank and a support tank/ healer backed up by major archery.

 

archery sux in bg2

 

What Gastong said. I'd seriously consider ditching Kivan for Minsc. I've never played the Kivan BG2 mod, and only played with him a little in BG1, so maybe he's got potential I don't see, but if you want him purely for his archery skills, he's not going to get you very far in BG2.

If you're TRULY bound and determined to keep Xan , I'd go with Kelsey over Edwin, especially if you've never played with a sorcerer before. They're fun. However, either one of them could kick Xan's ass with both casting arms tied behind their backs...

You DO realize you're going to be walking around without a thief for most of the game, right?

 

I realise Edwin and Kelsey will both outpower Xan but Xan gives me interesting options and is pretty decent with the "boomerang" throwing dagger, weak as a kitten though, just 7 con .

Why does archery suck so much in BG2? I've never really been one for archy in BG period until now but this party is romping through Durlag's tower with relative ease (aside from reloading every time a feather touches Xan).

The tanking responsibilities will be shared by my cleric as well as summoned creatures (in particular skeletons and mountain bears , and later the Deva/ Planetar and of course Morethkin's Sword).

The MAJOR decision is Edwin or Kelsey - the only circumstance I will frop Xan is if he proves to be ridiculously useless OR if the mod has too many interruptions or too much dialogue. This is one of the main reasons I uninstalled Sola, someone said that he hijacks the game! Can't have that, does Kelsey hijack things?

As for thief... I'll take Yoshimo until I get to spellhold then Immy.

[ April 18, 2006, 11:22: Message edited by: Parvini ]

 

For one reason...not as much open space. The bad guys close with you a lot faster in BG2, leaving your archers either quite vulnerable or backing away a lot.

I wouldn't think so, if you're not romancing him. He didn't have an overwhelming amount of "regular" dialogue, just love talks. And he doesn't assume the PC's dialogue, which was my main beef with Sola.

Well, good.

 

Another reason archery sucks in BG2: hitpoints. It seems like everybody and his dog has at least 50 HP, so archery can't take anyone down before they get to you, except maybe the gobbos in ID. BG1 is a far different story, with all the weak gibberlings, bandits, kobolds, etc. One or two arrows and most minor enemies bite the dust.

 

In BG2, just about the only time you're going to go with ranged attacks is if your thief isnt sneak attacking, you're using an archer kit for your ranger, you dont want your cleric banging things on the head with blunt objects, or if your wizard/sorcerer is out of spells.

Your wizards almost never will run out of spells before the end of a battle. With the right equipment, your clerics and druids can be great up front with your fighters. the only people that will be throwing or shooting things at guys with any consistancy are your theives and your archers.

 

Hey, Sola never hi-jacks the game. He has usual romance-dialgues, but those are very-well written, so deep, and they are about philosophy and moral. he also has the occasional banters with other NPCs And he has something to say when a major event occurs, just like other original Bio-ware NPCs. This just shows how professionaly it was done. He has two spesific battles, the latter is extremely difficult and fun but can be avoided.

I didn't try Kelsey though, but somebody had found him annoying as he overwrote other NPC's reactions, always talking to get attention etc. Your call. Ladies do seem to like him though I am not suprised if the other option is Anomen.

 

I beg to differ, SS! When an NPC invites Drizzt to come along for the Bodhi-hunt without even consulting the PC, THAT'S hijacking. (Sorry to keep harping on that one point...it's the one that stuck with me the most, since I NEVER ask Drizzt to help out ...there were a few other times when he took over PC dialogue as well, I just can't recall them at the moment).

I'm not denying that Sola is a well-crafted mod. I'm just saying that he should know his place. Let him spout all the philosophy he wants, but I'll decide who goes where and when, thank you very much!

Kelsey's talkative, but not much more so than your average Bioware NPC. At least, I don't THINK so...like I said, the only time I took him I romanced him, and he never shut up with the love. Based on the non-gushy stuff I saw, he won't interject nearly as much as, say, Jaheira. But then, who does?