Deciding on BGT Custom Party

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I'm doing another play through that I'd like to keep from level 1 all the way to ToB. I've gone through SoA before with PC + NPCs, and I've done the original in BGT with both PC + NPCs as well as a custom party.

Here's my current idea:

HE Cleric/Ranger - Main character, off tank + divine support
Dwarf Berzerker - Tank
Gnome Illusionist/Thief (basically level 1 Jan) - Thief/arcane
Elf Cleric/Mage (basically level 1 Aerie) - Arcane/divine support

I figure with most of the time going with 4 characters, the difficulty in leveling up multiclass characters will be somewhat offset, with the 2 extra slots open for quest characters if and when they are needed.

Other ideas were:

Human Inquisitor (probably swap out Dwarf Berzerker)
F/M/T or F/M/C (just for fun, never done triple class before)
Blade (probably just level 1 Haer'dalis)
Halfling F/T (more ranged support)


Currently with the above party, I'm making my way through BG without any problems, but I know what's ahead in SOA. Any thoughts/comments on the composition?

 

This was my final line-up for BG2:
Protagonist: Paladin (Undead Hunter)
PC: Paladin (Cavalier)
Jaheira: Fighter-Druid
Anomen: Fighter-Cleric
Nalia: Thief-Mage
Aerie: Sorceror

As the last three are not available in the Irenicus dungeon I used temporary PCs of my own creation. I used the mod Level1NPCs to alter some of the classes there.

 

Level 1 NPCs is certainly a good idea. I have been doing it manually ever since I got NearInfinity, by making the NPCs exportable and then manually de-levelling them so that I could keep 1 party BG->ToB. I love most of the NPCs and am constantly thinking of switching back and forth to try a new one here or there.

Currently thinking of maybe going with this one:
Cleric/Ranger - PC Multiclass Half-Elf
Blade - Haer'Dalis
Cleric/Mage - Aerie
Illusionist/Thief - Jan

My concern mainly is how well the Cleric/Ranger is able to tank as opposed to having a Paladin or Berserker. I'm hoping the additional XP and being able to put the best gear on one person may mitigate this.

These characters would all be starting at level 1, and also take into mind that I rolled my own version of each of these to make sure they maxed out their important stats. The NPCs still interact as normal which is interesting but I still get to have my party somewhat consistent throughout the entire game. It may be that I can't picture another Gnome Illusionist when I could have Jan and all of his personality, which goes for the other NPCs as well.

I am sure that I will be picking up other NPCs when they are directly related to quests, but having 4 core members getting the lion share of the XP.

 

All of your characters can summon, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about tanking/fodder. In any case tanking at lower levels is always dangerous no matter what your class is.

 

That is a good point. Animate dead will take longer to become the best summon, but skeleton fodder along with the Summon Monster I-III list should be enough defensively for handling big encounters.

I think the true test will be Davaeorn, if the party survives a tough mid-game encounter like that it will work well.

 

Aerie was getting a bad review at the Bioware Social boards for being semi-useless by the time you get to BG2.

 

I don't doubt that some people might feel that way, even though I think "useless" would be hyperbolic. Once you get to ToB, someone with as much XP as you accrue during that game would certainly have overcome the bigger disadvantages of her class. She will also benefit from both Arcane and Divine HLAs, which are pretty awesome.

Assuming that you agree with them, I wouldn't think it's related to her class, but her attributes. I would never roll a magic user in BG2 or Tabletop with 16 INT and 16 WIS. Even without resorting to dozens of re-rolls, you should at least be able to manage a decent INT and WIS score for that class. However, I am aware that many people have found her very powerful even with these attributes, so much so that I have seen at least one person doing a BG2 solo run with her. With liberal resting and smart spell selection I can see how you would pull it off.

I also think there is great value in using the Bioware NPCs, don't get me wrong. Level 1 NPCs is one solution to mediocre attributes for people who want a more powerful party. Whether you use that or another method I think it is the best of both worlds to have a strong party and enjoy the well-written interactions.