New game with a lot of mods...

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Well, i'm going to start a new game with a lot of mods installed (all the mega-mod, BGT, BP, SCS, SCSII and more)

My party will be:

me
Imoen
Alora (i have the mod that will bring her in SoA and ToB)
Kivan (mod)
?
?

I'd like to keep all NPC single class (maybe with an exception...)
I'd like to know if the Archer class is useful, more than a fighter with 5 stars in bow (the fighter may place 5 stars in other weapons too).
I'm also thinking of making Imoen a Sorcerer....so, for the last 2 spots, what do you suggest?? Consider at least one NPC that i can take for ALL the saga (Jaheira, Minsc, Edwin, Viconia) and that i have nothiing against using SK to change their class.
I think i'll be an assassin with just 4 levels of fighter (to get the 5 stars but not too much advantage)...i think a F\Assassin with SK is too powerful.

Opinions??
Suggestions???

Thanks a lot

 

Imoen as a sorcerer is loads of fun, so I'd definitely recommend that. Kivan is an archer, but the last time I had him in my party I found that ranged attacks are pretty pointless in the SoA part of the game. The enemies you want to hit (spellcasters mainly) get their stoneskins and mirror images up so fast your low damage arrow hits are not cutting it. And in melee the archer has serious disadvantages: not wearing metal armor makes you vulnerable and wielding a bow prevents you from dual-wielding. So you are vulnerable and not very capable of dealing serious damage (especially with only 1 * in weapon slots). My advice, as much as I loved Kivan in BG1, avoid the archer kit in SoA and ToB.

As for the other characters to have in your party I've really grown to like Korgan. Sure he's evil and you have to watch your reputation closely, but give him points in dual wielding, a heavy plate and 2 axes and you have yourself a serious killing machine. And he's not such a bad person either, just do the Jan Jansen returns home quest and you'll see what I mean. He's a single class too, so no shared xp or dual class hassle. If you really don't want an evil party member I'd substitute him with Minsc, rebuild through level 1 NPCs to a berserker and dual wield axes too.

I don't remember what class Alora is, but if she isn't a cleric you're in need of one. When it comes to picking clerics it's all about personal preference. If you can stand Anomen by all means pick him, he can get into melee with the best of them and cast a mean divine spell too. If you want a love interest Viconia is an option, but her personality is well... not very nice. If you're looking for custom NPC clerics go to the pocketplane website and search for wikaede or biddekelorak. The last one is a nicely build but questless and interactionless dwarven cleric of lathander, the other is a human cleric of helm if I'm not mistaken. Never had him in my party, but he's build ok.

 

Thanks for the reply!!!
So i'll surely make Imoen a sorcerer. Alora is a thief (but i think i'll make her a bounty hunter or a swashbuckler...never played one before).
I've had the same question marks with Kivan and archers...so i don't think i'll take him in the end...
Making Minsc a berserker is another good option...i've never had him until the end of the game, so this is a good chance for him.

My party now is shaping like:
Sure members:
Imoen: sorcerer
Minsc: berserker or leave him as he is
Alora: shashy or bounty hunter??

Now for the other 3:
Me: Fighter 4 dualled to assassin (with SK)
a cleric: Branwen and then Anomen??
?? Maybe Kivan until SoA and then Valygar ?? Maybe Jaheira??

 

I have to disagree with you on this. I've played it several times with Kivan in the party, and he's usually doing a lot of damage in fights. He attacks fast, and if you're lucky, you stand a good chance of disrupting a spellcaster, before he starts casting. Besides, not all of them use Stoneskin. Another point: when you are facing several spellcasters, Kivan's your best chance of keeping them at bay, with alternating attacks.

Also, ranged attacks can weaken certain opponents without your tanks taking the brunt of damage.

As for melee... keep him out of it, that's not his job, anyway.

This is just my opinion, but I'd keep Kivan as an archer (role play reasons, if nothing else).
There are several great longbows for him in the game: his own (improved later on), Heartseeker, Elven court bow...

 

Yes, the +1 to hit and +1 to damage with any missile weapon for every 3 levels of experience is surely interesting for an archer....and i've never played one...i'm really thinking about it....
thanks for discussing this, with discussion i'm making my mind clearer...

 

In my experience, the tougher spellcasters start the battle with a spell trigger or sequencer usually including a stoneskin. That happens so fast you cannot shoot them before that and when they got the stoneskin up your arrows are not really helping, unless they're poisoned. If you have a very solid party you can take an archer, all I'm saying is you shouldn't depend on him.

Spoiler

You might want to consider specialising in short bows first, because you get one early in the game that grants extra attacks per round. (tuigan bow in the backrooms of the copper coronet)

The advantage of rebuilding Minsc as a berserker is a better form of rage and the ability of putting 5 stars into a weapon of choice, as opposed to only 2 as a ranger. You'll lose the 2 stars rangers get for free in dual wielding, but you gain better weapon usage. Oh and you also lose the charm animal ability, but I've NEVER used that anywhere.

 

I'm with Loreseeker on the Archer debate.

If it is up fast enough to stop you firing, then a melee fighter is no better as the spell will still be up before he gets close enough to swing. The arrows you shoot are quite a help as, with a decent rate of fire and a low thac0, Archers can break through the stone layers fairly quickly.

You aren't really loosing out on all that much with only leather armour- the Umar Hills quest isn't that hard and can get you two heavily enchanted suits of armour. You miss out slightly on AC without metal armour, but not all that much.

Additionally, not dual-weilding shouldn't put you off as you can simply give the Archer a two-handed weapon (eg one of the many good 2-handed swords that you come across). He is only in combat until another party member can help out-after that, he's back to doing what he does best.

In conclusion, I'd recommend that you seriously consider taking Kivan- you can take him through the entire series, he's a powerful asset in combat (even in SoA) and the dialogue is written well.

 

All true.

In addition, if you take Kivan all the way to ToB, you can get Deheriana (his wife) to join your party at Suldanesselar, for the ToB part, under certain conditions. (Read the description of the Kivan and Deheriana mod). You can pick her class when you install the mod, so that it suits your party's needs. The down side is that she takes a spot in the party.
Adding Deheriana always felt like a nice touch to me. The guy deserves a happy ending.

As for the cleric spot in your party... I usually play without one, and it's feasable, although Restoration makes your life a lot easier in SoA. Still, like others said, Anomen or Viconia, your choice.
Aerie is a mage/cleric, so she can do that too. Personally, I dislike her complaining all the time, so I avoid her, but that's just me.

Jaheira works for me, so I use her instead of the clerics. She's an ok healer, and there's a really sweet wounding effect club you can pick up for her near Trademeet. A very long personal quest, but worth the wait. (imo)

By the way, is your PC male or female?
If female and elven, consider using Xan (enchanter, but you can alter his class for BG2). You can take him from Nashkel on, and he has a lovely romance stretching through the entire saga. Some delirious comments too. But it's Xan, so be warned "we're all doomed".
I think that you don't have to be elven for all his content, but you do, for the bonded romance path.

If male, Viconia and Jaheira. That's all I'm saying.

Minsc is a great pick. I always use him, and even if you leave him as ranger, he still packs a lot of punch. Besides, Boo is there, too. You can't go wrong.

Valygar... I never used his full potential, I must admit, but he is in one of my parties right now, and it's working ok. Not really tank material, though (imho)

Sorry about the post's length. I got carried away.

 

Must be personal preference then. I took Kivan on my last run through and loved his storyline and roleplaying, but in combat, he wasn't all that helpfull in my opinion.

 

Wow...it was a pleasure reading such a detailed post
I'm interested in the Deheriana resurrection and hoped for something like that from year ago, when i played BG for the first time. But she comes sooo late in the game....i'll have to think about it. I tend to become jealous of my party when i reach that part of the game....

I was never able to stand Xan....so no choice for him.

I'm also thinking about my sex or better, my PC sex
I think he'll be a male. But romances are not my first options in the game.

Thanks for all the infos..new my head is entering in the "pre-party creation loop"...I'll let you all know....

 

I checked my savegame and found that I have the Improved AI from the questpack (at least I think that's the mod it comes from) installed, so that explains why I didn't find Kivan all that helpfull. With the improved AI the frontline is often ignored by enemies and they will target the weaker party members instead. Party member using ranged attack are considered weaker, so he'd get targetted and had to switch to melee, which he isn't very good at.

 

If you want to modify your NPC's classes, use the Level1NPC mod. Much easier (and more idiot-proof) then using SK, and works with kits added by mods.

Giving Kivan the Tuigan bow is a waste, since thieves will benefit much more from the extra attack (namely that assassin you have your heart set on) and can't use long bows anyway.

A F/Assassin multi isn't overpowered. Takes much longer to get the points to hide effectively, and doesn't get any beneft except the poison until level 18. Besides, with SCS, you could use the extra edge later on. One-shotting fire giants never gets old.

 

I disagree DBG. The Tuigan bow is THE weapon for Archers (and for that matter any warrior with ***** in short bows -- Mazzy, for example). In the hands of a short bow expert the Tuigan bow is one of the most potent weapons in the game. I think the Strong Arm is a close second (and my preferred weapon for an archer -- long bows just look cooler for a fighter).

Give the warrior types the Tuigan bow with it's low 'to hit' bonus and high rate of fire -- the thieves need the high pluses from the Gesen or Tansheron to hit effectively.

An old post of mine:

Kivan will be absolutely deadly with Tuigan.

 

As far as Valygar goes, you can use him as an archer, but he also dual wields katanas. Once you have Celestial Fury he can become a one man wrecking crew. He also has pips in spears and there are some fantastic spears in game. Personally I prefer to use him as an archer/spear guy as otherwise you have to keep swapping the bow for the offhand weapon and it's a pain.
Note that he is a stalker, so he can also backstab and can be used as an assassin in lieu of a dedicated thief in your party.
You can give him the white dragon scale armour in ToB which brings down his AC, but his own armour is pretty good anyway (the shadow scale in SoA has a slightly better AC but not so many enchantments, so you have to make a choice about that).

 

Hehe - there is no rule that says if you wield katanas you must wield two of them

 

No indeed, but he does have two pips in dual wielding so people like to make the most of them.

 

And with Belm or Kundane he gets an extra whack with the katana -- always a good thing.