Eldoth and Skie

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Has anyone ever used this pair. I know I am reluctant to as the best NPC's seem to be collected before cloakwood (except Coran - who you collect in there). If you take on Eldoth you would need to lose a mage or archer, although his poison arrow ability is handy I don't know if it will make much of a difference. What about Skie though? She seems an adequate thief stat wise, but what about thief skills?

My next game will be another Bard (or Mage/Thief) and I am tempted to plan my party around getting Eldoth and Skie. Any thoughts from people who have used them would be appreciated.

What other NPC's would compliment them best? Kagain, Shar-Teel and Viconia perhaps?

 

I believe Eldoth and Skie are Neutral evil and true nutral respectivly. If you want to go with a nutral/evil party and are a bard or mage/thief, you have magic to use, so edwin may not be the best choice. You need a fighter if you want a balanced party which I believe you are asking for, in which case, Shar-teel would work quite well. Tiax might make it fun and you'd have some cleric spells to boot with him. Now for the last NPC, perhaps Quale or Safana, both adding thieving skills, but Quale adds some extra clerical extravaganza-ing to the mix. Sounds like one messed up, chaotic party, if you ask me but it'd be fun to play with.

 

Well I have taken the plunge and gone for Eldoth in my Druid party.

I did have:
Me - Druid
Minsc
Jaheira
Kivan
Imoen
Dynaheir

I decided to dual-class Imoen at L7, so I needed a thief and I swapped Kivan for Safana. As Imoen was becoming a mage I swapped Dynaheir for Eldoth.

My new party is:-
Me - Druid L7 (tank and main priest)
Minsc - Ranger L6 (tank)
Jaheira - Fighter/Druid L5/L6 (tank and backup priest)
Safana - Thief L7 (thief and archer)
Imoen - Mage->Thief L4/L7 (party mage)
Eldoth - Bard L6 (backup mage and archer)

I have never used Eldoth or Safana before and I must say that I do like them. They both have great personalities and my party feels much more balanced now. I am not sure whether to keep Skie when I get to Baldurs Gate or not.

I have never tried Quayle or Tiax, so they might be next. I bet Montaron and Tiax would make a great duo.

I must admit that I do prefer the more evil inclined NPCs and enjoy playing evil more than good.

 

I just can't get past what I perceive as a weak class concept. Bards can't use their song when casting spells or firing their bows (which is logical). Bards can't wear armor and cast spells. Bards have no useful thief skills. Bards have relatively low hit points.

So even though I like the RP aspects of Eldoth, I just think a bard is a waste of a slot in my party.

 

When I'm not playing a Bard I always try and leave a spot for them. I find they have some very good uses.

1. Backup Archer - good Dex (except Eldoth), same THAC0 as thieves, but can use longbows such as LB of Marksmanship. Can also use halberds for distance melee fighting if need arises.
2. Can where chain when not casting spells, plus use the shield amulet (AC4) when needed.
3. Can use wands - always useful to have another charcater to use a monster, fireball or lightning wand.
4. Identify - can save you so much money over the course of the game.
5. Pickpocket - not many characters to pickpocket, but you can steal from some shops and save heaps (i.e. steal some Large Shields +1 from Nashkell store).
6. Backup Mage - always useful to have another charcater that can cast spells. Bards are usually a higher level than mages, so they can cast spells like Magic Missile amd Skull Trap at higher level. Not the number of spells of a mage but can also use scrolls if needed.
7. Bard Song - dont use it often, but when no spells it works like an improved bless spell and sometimes improving the chance of your fighters hitting will cause more damage overall than your bard could cause with bow support. Also, unlimited times per day. Try this - sing, spell, sing, spell, sing - as the song stays active 1-2 rounds when you do another task so with careful timing you can keep it on constantly. Sing whilst walking, then if you get attacked by a mage wit horror spell your charcters have a better chance of saving against it and also have a +1 to hit ready for battle.

The big shame of BG is that the only two bards in the game are poor examples of Bards. I do prefer playing a Bard myself as I love them. I just decided to have a change and try a Druid this time round.

So far though, Eldoth is proving very useful. He's saving me money, providing bow support and supporting Imoen with extra spells. Plus, he has a better chance of surviving than most of the mages in the game (more hp).