Will you check out my custom party?

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I always cringed at the idea of playing a full, 6-piece custom party in BG2 because I'd feel like I was missing out on lots of good NPC interactions and quests.

However, lately I don't have too much time to play, and I'm not sure I'll have the patience to go through the game so many more times (so far I only completed it twice). And there's a lot of classes I wanted to try out. So I decided to pass on the NPCs I learned to love for a while and started out SoA with a brand new party, with every type of character I wanted to try out of curiosity or powergaming lust. I just assumed Alastair, my protagonist, met them on the Sword Coast in the same way he could've met any other NPC.

To my surprise, I haven't had this fun playing BG2 in a long while. Even Chateau Irenicus is an exhilarating experience of sorts.

So I want to share the info on my characters here. Are you bored? Can you tell me what you think? Any suggestions? Am I lacking on arcane firepower? Anyway, here they are:

Protagonist:
Alastair, Human Male NG Wild Mage (I always wanted to try out this kit)

STR 9 / DEX 17 / CON 16 / INT 18 / WIS 15 / CHA 10
Weapon Profs: Quarter Staff, Dagger

He's the party leader, which should work out right as soon as I can get that ring of Human Influence.

Blaze, Human Female LG Kensai

STR 18/97 / DEX 18 / CON 15 / INT 10 / WIS 11 / CHA 13
Weapon profs: Long Sword ***, Katana (for when I get Celestial Fury), Single Weapon Style **

The finesse fighter. She's actually meant to be Alastair's soon-to-be wife, if they manage to survive anyway.

Kulthar, Half-Orc Male CG Fighter

STR 19 / DEX 18 / CON 19 / INT 15 / WIS 13 / CHA 8
Weapon Profs: 2-Handed Sword ****, 2-Handed Weapon Style **

You will notice that somehow I rolled stats so high that the party's tank ended up being wise and smart. He's meant to be good friends with Alastair since he found shelter under his party. You know, it ain't easy for a Half-Orc out there, no matter how smart you are.

Keira, Half-Elven Female NG Cleric/Ranger

STR 18/74 / DEX 16 / CON 18 / INT 11 / WIS 18 / CHA 13
Weapon Profs: Hammer **, Mace **, Sling *, 2-Weapon **

I read so much about how powerful C/Rs are that I decided to try one out. Hopefully that's enough divine spellcasting and I can't wait to have her dual-wielding Crom Fayer.

Selena, Elven Female CG Archer
STR 18/55 / DEX 19 / CON 15 / INT 10 / WIS 14 / CHA 10
Weapon Profs: Short Bow ***, Long Bow ***

Yeah I know, I splitted her points between both long and short bows. But I figured out that since grandmastery was nerfed in BG2, wouldn't hurt if she could shoot ANY bow well. My idea is having her using Hearseeker until I can assemble the Gesen Bow.

She's supposed to be the dark, lunatic, maladujusted elf who can shoot an insect from a mile away. Her first incarnation was on IWD where she was a F/T and had WIS 9, which suits her better. Anyway, being inconsequential is the job of her side-kick...

...Sparrow, Halfling Male TN Swashbuckler

STR 15 / DEX 19 / CON 16 / INT 12 / WIS 9 / CHA 10
Weapon Profs: Scimitar **, Short Sword *, Crossbow *

Swashbucklers kick ass. Backstabbing isn't very much my gaming style anyway.

Well this is it for now. Any comments are welcome. But thanks anyway if you took the time to read.

 

That looks like a decent party. You could also check out mod kits as there are plenty around. If you want to have some serious fun with that wild mage, download the wild mage additions mod and let the chaos begin!!!

I find that parties made up of characters that you have created can be quite powerful and a great alternative to having to listen to the banters that you get to know off by heart pretty quickly. You can also vary them heaps as well so you dont always have the same style group (like 3 meatshield, 1 thief, 1 mage, 1 cleric). My current party consists of 6 characters that all have a warrior class. Its good fun when everyone runs in with melee weapons drawn

 

Looks good. I prefer two spellcasters of each type, but you should be fine. Your cleric/ranger will be a bit short of spells for a while, and I would have made the half-orc a berserker, but you should have enough power, and it certainly looks fun.

 

Deifnitely make half-orc a barbarian or berserker, suits him better.

I enjoy creating a one additional PC via multi-player, it is fun to assume a friendship and/or romance between them.

Hope you have EoU's MP created characters component, for it makes things a lot easier!

Also you can copy your MP save to normal save place, therefore play from single player game to skip borin character arbitration screen each time you load.

Hope you have fun! See you around!

 

This is going to be a pretty physical combat oriented party, but it's a good mix for that style. Though with a wild mage as your only arcane, it will be...interesting when you face off against other mages. I usually prefer having someone stable to Breach and such if I'm playing physical, though I suppose the NRD flexibility may help some there. Also, I love the way you varied the stats rather than going for the powergaming numbers. It makes them look more real.

 

Wild mages are incredibly fun and are potentially the most powerful spell-caster class, so I am sure he will do just fine.

 

when i make parties on MP i like to make the bios for the other chars i made. I try to write a story about how the PC came to meet the other chars i made. I dont have BG so they didnt meet the PC while he was adventuring around BG.

yep gotta have that part of EOU, otherwise they dissappear should you kick them out.

 

Thanks for all the tips, people.

I'm playing on a fresh, patched ToB installation without any mods. I'm always checking some of them out but most aren't really appealing to me. Maybe because I'm too much of a nitpicker when it comes to rule balancing, tweaking, etc.

So far it's being a lot of fun, I'm just doing some quests in Athkatla but I'm having a lot of trouble dealing with Rayic Gethras. He's a real pain in the arse without proper counterspelling.

That's why I'm not sure if having a MC Cleric/Ranger was a great idea when I already have 2 VERY melee-oriented characters. I'm missing the firepower I used to have when Viconia was around, even though my C/R can deal some nice damage with her maces. Not to mention that the game was hard enough with 2 mages. Thinking about facing Tolgerias on the Planar Sphere makes me want to restart with more arcane power.

 

A Cleric Ranger shouldn't really have so many problems with spellcasters. Don't forget you get access to a whole variety of Druid spells.
Change your strategies and try different spells. This class is one of the most powerful classes in the game.

Plus if you're lucky with your Wild Mage you will have a blast (remember that a wild surge can have good effects... I once summoned a Nishruu and the spell was cast 5 or 6 times... I mean, 5 or 6 Nishruus, few mages can handle that much heat!)

 

^Unless they are smart enough to cast a Death spell instantly, at least they always do that in my games.

Use your ranger/cleric's Insect Plague against mages and other spell casters!


Rayic Gethras is a wimp. Just have Death Ward (Finger of Death, Disintegrate) and Pro from Fire (Sunfire) and run away from his symbols. You can kill him very quickly if all your characters get a free hit before he turns hostile and his contingencies kick in. Put Magic Missiles in a sequencer, fire away:he is toast.

 

Playing the game with self-imposed restrictions helps keep it fresh. In my current run though, I've got no arcane spellcasters at all, I'm using a nature-centric party - ranger/cleric PC, Jaheira, Minsc and Yoshimo (I know he's not nature-centric, but I need someone to remove traps, etc). If I find I'm lacking in combat ability, I'll add Valygar. Until my party goes to Watcher's Keep, I'm going to be in trouble against a lot of spellcasters - no breach, spellstrike, etc.

 

If I could beat Reyic Gethras with bounty hunter and Jaheira alone, than you can surely kick his ass with party like this Sure, I had some luck with saving throws, but still.

Otherwise, I like the party. More melee oriented, which suits me fine. One arcane spellcaster is more than enought, and you got divine spellcaster, so all your needs are met. I too would make half orc berserker, but that's just me. Archers are incredibly powerful on highter levels, and they are excelent dragon killers. No melee character can remove stoneskin from a mage as quicly as archer. You'll grow to love your one, I'm sure of it I think you should be fine, and there is no need for new start. I would just change the thief class to bounty hunter, or plain thief because I like backstabing, but if you can live without it, than go for it. It's your game after all.

 

It all depends on your style of play. I have wild mage PC, Aerie and Immy in my party now, it is fun:One casts Greater Malison, others cast Slow+Chaos and enemies are really crippled at the first round. Or Aerie adds a Doom on top of that and my Wild Mage tempts chances with a deadly Disintegrate and/or scary Finger of Death on one big bad enemy (it works most of the time thanks to total -6 save penalty)I am having lots of fun! My quote is 'You can not have enough arcane casters in a party!' It is the real power!

 

Suit yourself, I'm more of a melee oriented type And about the magic, I favour divine more than arcane, because it fits better with armors