Best party compliment

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I'm just finishing up my first completion of SoA/ToB as a good 6 character party, and I'm begining to think about my next party. I've decided to use the following NPC's:

Korgan
Edwin
Viconia
Sarevok

Yes, I realize this will be a 4 character party for most of the game, and 5 character for ToB, but that's how I want it because 6 characters made it so I didn't really need to strategize. Anyways, I am looking for a good PC class or kit to compliment this party. My criteria are as follows:

I do not want to be a tank/melee fighting type character.
I want to be evil.
I want to be a singleclass or kit, not a multiclass.
I do not want to be a thief (because I want to be able to side with Bodhi).
I want to be a race that can do the viconia romance.


Any suggestions? Note also that I am not looking for simply the character that will add the most power to this party, because I realize that any party really can beat the game. I'm looking for something interesting.

One last addition: I do not have any mods and I don't intend to install any, so forget about anything related to mods.

 

Blade

 

I suggest Neutral Evil Half-Elf Bard, but take one of the kits. The Blade is the most melee-oriented Bard, so I am not sure whether that will work for you or not.

However, taking a thief would make things easier. IIRC, you can take a thief and do stronghold quests, then side with Bodhi.

 

Bard of some sort.

1. Can cast magic to support Edwin.
2. Can actually cast some important spells at a higher level than Edwin.
3. Bard song can help improve combat abilities, and enhanced bard song is just awesome.
4. Bard stronghold quest is great fun.
5. UAI means you can use whatever equipment takes you fancy.
6. Identify all items as and when you pick them up. Saves loads.
7. Pickpocket items or steal stuff from shops when needed.
8. Play Half-Elf or Human.

As to which bard, is a tough choice...

1. Jester - song can confuse enemies and can be a huge benefit. Can actually be very powerful if played correctly.
2. Skald - +1 hit/damage. Song gives great combat benefits during SOA. A great all-rounder, that is more support oriented than the Blade.
3. Blade - spins are fantastic. can melee when required, but, more likely to engage in melee than a Skald.

I have just completed SOA/TOB myself with the following party ...

Skald
Korgan
Jaheira
Aerie
Delainy
Jan

This was great fun. Korgan was an awesome tank, with Jaheira providing great support. My Skald filled in with whatever was needed. I could engage in melee if required, and Tensers made me more powerful than Korgan. I would provide magic support to Aerie and Jan. I would also just stand and sing, which at high levels would make my party near invincible. I used longbows all through SOA and most of TOB, and during the final part of TOB I switched to purely dual-wielding (foebane and purifier).

Alternatively, choose a Druid. Very underrated class, that actually has some of the best anti-mage spells in the game and can desimate enemy mages with relative ease.

 

i would also take a Blade, but you have a very limited choice of options, i would have taken a fighter thief, or and assasin, if i where you.

but i'm not so go with Blade!


Balle

 

No thief in your party is quite annoying. Is there no way of convincing you to take Jan and skip Sarevok?

A couple of days ago I started an evil party myself and after considering Barbarian, Monk or Fighter/Thief I finally went with the F/T.
I joined Bohdi, no problem as a F/T, and plan to kill the Silver Dragon so I can make the Human Flesh armor. Blackrazor and that armor is very nice for a F/T.

Strictly speaking, with your criteria there aren't many options left. Fighter, Monk and Barbarian are out. Cleric is probably also out because it's typically a great tank. Blade might reasonably be considered a melee type character, so that is also out.

That leaves you with sorcerer, mage, druid and two Bard kits. Not much to choose from and I'd absolutely recommend sorcerer.

 

I would take Jan, but I have been intent on an "all evil" party. I realize he is neutral and wouldn't conflict particularly with anyone, I want to be evil for RP reasons. Although generally I detest multiclassing, I'm considering a mage/thief for this party, since apparently (judging by Earl Grey's F/T) I could still side with Bodhi.

I see a lot of people have recommended blade, and I really think a blade would be great but I am bothered by the lack of a thief. Plus, I've already partially solo'ed a blade so I may be looking for a character I havn't really used before. My solo blade endeavor ended because he got way too powerful to make the game challenging!

So I think I'll try a M/T, half-elf, chaotic evil. I'm really interested in employing the strategy for such a character I read in the "most powerful class" thread. It was something like

1. Cast mislead
2. cast improved invisibility on the mislead.
3. cast spell immunity: divination

This is supposed to allow uninterrupted continuous backstab damage that can only be negated by glitterdust.

I intend to use mage spells that augment my thief side: instead of having a character that is part mage and part thief, have a character that is a thief using magic to make him a more effective thief.

 

Uninterrupted backstab with II... Doesn't improved invisibility dissipate somewhat after you attack making it so you can no longer backstab and can be seen?

 

Well, under mislead the enemy attacks your image before you, and since your image is under improved invisibility and NOT attacking, it would remain invisible. As long as your mislead image exists, you are invisible.

I havn't actually tried this though but theoretically I think it would work wouldn't it? I read the strategy in the "most powerful class" thread.

 

I may be mistaken, but isn't there a mod that allows you to be a thief and still side with Bodhi?

 

Probably, but I have a deeply seeded fear of mods. I am paranoid that they will ruin my computer and/or game.

 

While there may be mods out there that might do that, many are not to be feared. Just ask one of the many high end modders floating around here.

(Its not like they have anything better to do )

 

nataben, get any Weidu mod and rest assured that it will not mess up your game/computer/life

I would recommend a Fighter/Thief as well...your life is going to be hell without a thief in that party which is very very uber otherwise. Might I, as always, recommend the Assassin? I know you said you don't want to be a thief, but trust me, they rock.

If not, Blade. They are the BEST! After Assassins and Sorcerers atleast. But...you do NOT want to use scripts for your Blade. Prefight buffs, and extreme micromanagement is where its at for the Blade. He'll eventually get to be so good, he'll be chunking enemies faster than Korgan! Make Korgan dualweild Axe of the Unyielding and any other weapon you like, but give your PC the Celestial Fury AND Crom Faeyr. He will be a MONSTER! Trust me.

 

Just a reminder: Make sure you do the Maevar quest before talking with Bohdi. No need to accept the thief stronghold after finishing it.

He did not want to take a Blade.
Also a F/M would do the same thing as a Blade - only with higer level spells and whirlwinds - but then in neither case would that bring Remove Traps to the party and he was not too keen on multiclass characters anyway.

 

Ah well. He doesn't know what he's in for. He's going to be ripping the hair out of his head every time he gets a locked door or his character gets turned to stone by a trap or some such nasty accidents.

Ah well.

Nothing says evil quite like an Assassin anyway.

 

Check out the familiars. Some of these can do simple thieving for you like scouting and pickpocketing, plus can't you use summons to set-off traps (your cleric can find them)? This would still make a Blade very viable.

@Earl: yes, but a F/M is really just for girlie elves who aren't able to be Bards. Only real men wear tights and sing!

 

Blades are way too powerful to make the game fun! You can make your party ultra invincible with improved bard song, you can melee better then korgan, you can cast some spells better then a mage for a good portion of the game, you can steal...

Just imagine what a blade, sarevok, and korgan can do with 4 misleads singing enhanced bardsong... it destroys all challenge!

 

Half-Elf Fighter/Thief. Your party has no sneaksman, and this will make life a hell of a lot easier, especially when those instant-death traps start arriving. Plus you won't have to waste spell slots memorising Knock for Edwin. If you're not above using ShadowKeeper, a Fighter/Assassin would be a very fitting addition to this party and not entirely inappropriate from a roleplaying perspective.

Failing that, a Mage/Thief would work well too. You'd be short of tanking power but between the PC and Edwin, you'd be raining phenomenal amounts of death on your enemies. By ToB, with traps and 10th level spells, a mage/thief can cause more havoc than just about any class, and then leave the remaining mess to be cleaned up by Korgan and Sarevok. With sneaking, non-detection and Time Traps, a Mage/Thief is VERY hard to stop.

 

Can anyone confirm or debunk the "unlimited backstab" strategy as posted earlier in this thread and in the "most powerful class" thread?

1. mislead
2. improved invis. on the image
3. spell immunity: divination
4. backstab repeatidly and with no interruption

 

It's pretty good. Instead of II on the Mislead image you could hide it out of sight and out of range.

Mislead will re-establish your invisibility after each action (attack in this case) so it is the ultimate spell for backstabbing. You just need to make sure it isn't dispelled which is the reason for SI: Divination since that protects against the very common True Sight.
To protect against Dispel and Remove magic you should also have SI: Abjuration.