Does anybody ever take the "not till much later" NPCs?

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I like Alora, especially with Xan, Edwin or any of the crazier NPCs around (there's always at least one in my parties). She's a good thief, a decent archer, and oddly enough a decent backstabber despite her 8 strength. I guess this must be because of her rabbit's foot charm. She also has pretty good saves.
I dislike both BG1 bards, and Skie just makes Eldoth (who you already get late) that more unusable. Not to mention there's absolutely nothing special about Skie technically.
While BG2 Imoen is almost always present in my parties, BG1 Imoen is incredibly annoying. Not as annoying as Skie, but close. Best thief in the game though, since you get her at level 1 and you can dual her into a mage without sacrificing an int tome.
Safana's a decent NPC, technically solid except maybe for her proficiency points. Sometimes amusing, sometimes annoying.

 

I absolutely agree, especially with Xan in the party and the BG1 NPC-project installed. She's also got some very funny banter with Kagain.

 

I do like Safana as well. She doesn't have any proficiency points in bows, so I usually equip her with the light crossbow of speed. (Of course, there's only a +1 short bow available early anyway, so if you have one other character using it, you'd need another option anyway.)

 

As I have said before, between Alora, Safana, and Skie, it comes down more to personality than ability. I find them all about the same.

As for the people who diss Eldoth, compare him to the only other bard option: Garrick.
Suddenly he doesn't seem so bad.

 

Depends. Foolish naivete vs arrogance bordering on narcissism. Both have dismal int scores, so technically you'll be having problems regardless of who you bring. You get Garrick earlier and his dex is much better than Eldoth's, but Eldoth can create poisoned arrows.

TBH I'd much rather just pick another NPC unless I have a very specific party theme in mind. Bards are pretty powerful in BG1, but these two are a disgrace to their class.

 

lol 13 int is dismal. Besides it is not like int is THAT important just makes things more convenient and if you use tutu (which granted not everyone can or will) it isn't an issue at all. I do not mind garrick though I do think the BG1 characters would have been helped if they had BG2 era writing and quests.

 

I always favor diversity of characters/background/skills and 'epic look', over powermongering and cheese-eagerness.

So my typical end-of-game party includes :

1) Main charac (human mage)

2) Imoen (that I never dual to mage)

3) Jaheira

4) Garrick (that I like for his banters, even if he looks naive and slow-witted vs. e. g. the other bard)

5) Minsc,
and then Ajantis (Trivia : Minsc is hilarious to play with, which I do for 2/3 of the game, but he is too much of a whimpy muscle merry wacko for me to keep him 'till the end)

6) Branwen (I like to have that strong-breasted sturdy germanic king-kong Barbie-looking character because like Berlin, she's poor but sexy, and that why I've always liked her over Yeslick),
that I sometimes switch for Quayle (much like Garrick, and Xan to a certain extent, he's deliriously funny to play for his banters).


I must admit that I never managed to kill NPCs like Drizzt or Shandalar (to acquire their worldy possessions e. g. in the case of Drizzt) with that kind of party, but I guess that's not what I'm looking for...


And I also regret that some of these characters can't be found in BG2 (e. g. Garrick, Branwen, Quayle, etc.) although some alternatives are really nice (e. g. Haer'dalis replacing Garrick).

 

Actually, Quayle IS part of BG2, it's just that he's retired from adventuring to join the circus and has let the next generation take up the mantle of adventuring in the form of his adopted daughter Aerie.

 

I prefer Garrick to Eldoth because Garrick comes with the crossbow proficiency*. Give him the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy, Bracers of Archery, and Bolts of Biting/Lightning and suddenly he becomes useful. My blade had an easy time with this combo.

I sometimes take Faldorn cause I love the summons and often take Quayle- I used him as my only cleric and mage in my party once and didn't regret it. Another time I gave him the staff of striking and a potion of cloud giant strength and he beat Sarevok from behind a wall of summons. I thought that was pretty funny.

*At least in BG Tutu, which is all I have ever played.

 

I prefer crossbow of speed for the extra attack myself. I think garrick is useful just because he can use wands and scrolls which is about the only thing you need to make yourself awesome in BG1.

 

Yes I have. Mostly because I'm the rare type of player who will usually continue playing even after an NPC I've grown attached to gets permanently killed. On occasion I have reloaded a previous saved game if too many get permanently killed (such as setting off a lightning trap and getting massive damage) but I'm a firm believe of using the reload button as little as possible. It's more satistying to feel that you're soldiering on after a heavy defeat.