Best Party?

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Hi guys,

I have thought up the idea of playing through BG1 with a ranger, using all the tomes, then importing him into BG2 and classing him an archer. However, being quite inexperienced with BG1 can anyone tell me what the best party combination is for when your using a ranger? And where to find the best NPC's you suggest?

Many Thanks for any help!

 

You - Ranger
Ajantis - Paladin (found north of friendly arm)
Dynaheir - Mage (found at gnoll stronghold)
Branwen - Cleric (found at circus)
Imoen - Thief (found east of candlekeep)
Garrick - Bard (found at Beregost)

Two fighters, two spellcasters, one healer and one thief is all you need.

 

Thanks

I think im gonna use:

PC - Ranger - Bow
Minsc - Ranger - sword & shield
Ajantis - Paladin - Sword & shield
Jahiera - Fighter/Druid - Sling
Imoen - Thief (dualed to Mage @ lvl 5ish) - Bow
Viconia - Cleric - Sling

Is this OK? Please feel free to make substitutions to it

 

Minsc and Dynaheir are a pair, as are Jaheira and Khalid--if you only want one you'll need to arrange an "accident" for the other.

 

I can never bring myself to kill one of a pair, so I send one into a house/inn and then remove them - then the other stays.

Anyway, down to NPCs that are good to use...

Ajantis (Paladin) - an excellent tank, who I'm currently using in my mage game - give gauntlets of dex to improve ac
Jaheira (Fighter/Druid) - an excellent tank as well, who I take most games - become proficient in small swords or large swords for better selection of weapons
Coran (Fighter/Thief) - best archer in the game - give gauntles of ogre for superb backstabbing
Imoen (Thief -> Mage) - best thief in game - concentrate on OL(75%) and FT(100%) - I dual her to Mage at L7 when Coran takes over thief duties and she also becomes primary mage
Garrick (Bard) - good support archer and support mage - can save youa fortune on identify, can steal from shops and pickpocket Drizzts scimitar

I usually use Kivan until I get Coran.

This is a good balanced party and suited to supporting a ranger, but a bit more focused on grunt power which is better for a newbie.

Other decent choices (with alignment) -
Best Fighters -> Ajantis (LG), Kagain (LE), Minsc (NG)
Best Archers -> Coran (CG), Kivan (CG), Minsc (NG)
Best Thieves -> Imoen (NG), Safana (CN), Coran (CG)
Best Priests -> Viconia (NE), Branwen (TN), Yeslick (LG)
Best Mages -> Edwin (LE), Xzar (CE), Dynaheir (LG)

You can have a mixed alignment party if you are very careful with watching your reputation - keep it under 18.

Example "BEST" party:
You - Ranger
Ajantis (Paladin)
Coran (Fighter/Thief)
Imoen (Thief)
Viconia (Cleric)
Edwin (Conjurer)

 

My alltime favorite party:

Me - Mage (Illusionist)
Minsc
Khalid
Jaheira
Imoen
Dynaheir


I´m also a fan of pairs.
And these pairs seems to cover it all.

Minsc and Khalid works well as tanks with Jaheira as backup and her spells.
Imoen supporting with arrows.
And last but not least Me and Dynaheir making the job alot easier for the rest of the party with offensive spells and some protection spells for ourselves.


And this party would work with a Ranger instead of a Mage. Especially in BG1 because there aren´t really any that though battles. I just like spells... alot

 

My favourite party:

Me - Ranger - Scimitars & Longbow
Imoen - Thief- ShortSword & Shortbow
Kivan - Ranger - Halberd & Longbow
Coran - F/T - LongSword & Shortbow

 

I may be a little late on this, but here goes. It appears that you prefer the good characters, so I'll stick mostly with them.

First of all, there is absolutely no reason to have a mage in your party in BGI. If you really want to use mage spells, take Garrick or Eldoth with you, and you're fine. Bards can use all the wands, and can cast spells from scrolls, not to mention they are much more versatile in combat when not casting spells than mages can ever hope to be. The only thing you really lose is the ability to memorize 5th level mage scrolls, which isn't that big of a deal.

Secondly, I feel it is imperative to take at least one pure fighter along with you. For all the criticism Khalid takes, he is actually one of the best NPC's in the game. He has a great constitution and dexterity, and once you give him the gauntlets of ogre strength, he's an absolute killing machine.

Now, if you're going to use your ranger as an archer, you'll need one more front-liner. I'd probably go with Minsc here, but Ajantis is an adquate choice as well.

I guess I should finally get to your PC. If you are playing a ranger, and you're going to use him as an archer, go with an elf, for the bonus in bows, and the bonus in dexterity. You'll be able to raise your dexterity to 20 with the tome, which will really improve your THAC0.

So, right now we have You, Khalid, and Minsc.

You're going to need some more healing here. The best choice IMO, is Jaheira. She gets almost as many spells as a cleric, even though she's dual classed, and because she's part fighter, she'll hit more often and do more damage than any plain old cleric or druid.

Finally, I would take two of the following three, and it's entire up to you, depending on the balance you want between magic use, thief abilities, and lore:

Garrick, Imoen and Coran.

I'd probably ditch the concept of casting mage spells entirely, and go for Imoen and Coran here, taking Garrick along until you get Coran.

Equipment wise, it's going to be a little tough, because there's only so many good bows. I'd probably go with the long bow in the bandit camp for either you or Coran, the short bow +1 in Beregost for the other (later upgraded to the +2 eagle bow). With Imoen, you may want to give her a point in missile weapons, so she can either use a sling, or a crossbow, because you're pretty much out of magic bows at this point.

For the frontliners that's easy. Long swords all the way with Khalid, and give Minsc two proficiency points in whatever +2 weapon you are going to use by the end of the game (either short swords, axes, war hammer, or halberds)

 

Thanks all for your much needed advice!

I think i am gonna go with the party Duke Eltan has suggested (with the PC as a ranger/archer instead of a second mage) and ill swap Khalid for Ajantis i think (khlaid moans too bloody much!).

I think ill start again aswell, cos i used a Human and i see i should have used an Elf. Two things though people: (for now anyway!)

What is this Eagle bow Aldeth has mentioned? And how do i get it forged? (assuming its forged!)

And, does anyone know the locations of all the tomes? I think i know where 2 are, but thats about it!

 

*** Tome of Dexterity ***


- It's in a barrel behind Black Lily in the Thieves' Guild in Baldur's Gate.


*** Tome of Constitution ***


- It's on the lighthouse screen, in a cave behind the last sirens (on a strange coloured kind of sand, very yellow).


*** Tome of Wisdom ***


- It's on a priestess in Tymora's Temple in Baldur's Gate. Another can also be found in a tomb in Candlekeep.


*** Tome of Charisma ***


- It's in one of the three caves under the Gnoll Fortress.


*** Tome of Strength ***


- It's in a tomb in Candlekeep.


*** Tome of Intelligence ***


- It's in a bookcase on the top level of the mage Ramazith's tower in Baldur's Gate.


There you go pal.
Been to long since I played it throughly for me to remember where to get the Eagle Bow though.

 

You won't get the Eagle Bow until you get to Baldur's gate. I forget the guy's name, but you get it for completing the "poisoned" quest.

As for the Tomes (I know all the locations, but I may have which specific tome is where screwed up).

OK,

Strength: In the cellars under Candlekeep in one of the locked tombs.

Dexterity: In the Thieves Guild right next to Black Lily (the thief merchant in the guild)

Constitution: In the golem cave behind the sirens. It's one of the map areas along the coast, either the one with the lighthouse, or the one to the north of the lighthouse.

Intelligence: On the top level of Ragefast's tower in Baldur's Gate.

Wisdom: There are three - One in the tombs beneath Candlekeep. One from the priest in the temple next to the Hall of Wonders in Baldur's Gate, and one held by the demoness in Durlag's Keep.

Charisma - In one of the caves in the southwest corner of the map with the gnoll stronghold. It's in the section inhabited by xvarts. The entrace to the south part of the map is in the southeast corner, but you have to walk to the southwest corner.

Damn - Duke beat me to it.

 

There is another bow available ...

Composite Longbow +1 - available from Felderposts Inn (+2 THAC0, +3 Damage)

The bow in the bandit camp is the Longbow of Marksmanship (+3 THAC0, +2 Damage)

The other useful ranged weapons are...

Shortbow +1 - available from Beregost smithy
Eaglebow (SB+2) - from poison quest
Light Crossbow of Speed (CB+1, +1 Attack) - Beregost smithy
Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy - from Dabron Sashenstar (if you killed Aldeth)
Sling +1
Sling +2 (TOTSC?)
Darts of Stunning


Fighters use CB+1, LB Marksmanship, H CB of Accuracy.
Rogues use shortbows or L CB of speed.
Mages/Clerics use slings.
Druids use sling and/or darts.
Bards use longbow, shortbow or L CB of Speed.

 

Personally, I would go with a nice balanced party. i my BG game I have this party:

Me-Bard-Sling
Jahera-Fighter/druid-Staff
Kalid-Fighter-Sword and shield
Ajantis-Palidin-Sword and shield
Kivan-Ranger-Bow
Imoen-Thief-Bow

 

The best party can be formed by combining multiple handmade characters with NPCs. To do this first decide what kind of party you want these are my preferences:
1 fighter (me)
1 paladin
1 ranger
1 thief
1 cleric
1 mage
Pregenerate these any handmade characters you want with the option in multiplayer and then create a multiplayer game. Load these handmade characters (the first you load will become your PC) and put yourself in charge of each of them. Then start your 'single player' multiplayer game and save it. Then exit BG and move your save out of the multiplayer folder and into the save folder. Restart BG and load the save as a single player game and you will in effect have begun a single player game with multiple pcs (though the first you loaded when creating the game will still be your primary pc, he must stay in the party and if he dies you lose). Later as you meet NPCs feel free to swap them for your pcs and if you designed your pcs well you will eventually get your ideal party.

 

Me (Fighter)
Minsc
Coran
Brawnen
Khalid
Xan

Though it may seem strange, this part actually worked!

 

It's been a while since I played BG, but I always take Coran -- he takes down Sarevok for me every time! I also like Branwen. I hate Jaheira and kill her soon -- Khalid is good for fighting -- he's a straitforward fighter, and I like that -- I don't like taking Kagain because I don't like evil characters. I liked Garrick a lot, but he kept getting killed, which was a pain.

 

That one looks good MindFlayer

Cheers for all your help guys!

 

There really is no such thing as "best party" or "best character," etc. The game is actually fairly nerfed so as to make it easy to win with almost any combination, anyway. Plus there's way too much magic, even without cheese or cheats. Here are some party combos I tried that help prove my point:

Fighter party: Ajantis, Kivan, Khalid, Yeslick, Coran, led by a gnome illusionist

Priest party: Branwen, Viconia, Yeslick, Tiax, Quayle, led by elven fighter

Mage party: Quayle, Dynaheir, Edwin, Xan, Xzar, led by an elven fighter/thief

Single-classed thief party: Garrick, Eldoth, Alora, Safana, Skie, led by a half-elven ranger/priest

Multi-classed thief party: Garrick, Eldoth, Coran, Montaron, Tiax, led by human conjurer

The mage party was a little weak at first, and the single-classed thieves were almost as bad, but they were all fun, and all did well in final confrontation with Sarevok, etc. Although the priest party might have been more of a challenge if I had led with a ranger/priest or, better yet, a fighter/druid. In either case, it would have been interesting taking on Sarevok without arrows of disspelling, detonation, and piercing -- IMHO, these are the key to the last battle.