Favorite characters of each class

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Warriors: I think khalid is a great warrior... But Coran with a bow is great too! It has been a long time ago since he was in my party last time, but i used to like Ajantis too...

Priests: Branwen... Last time i played 8which is actually this time ) I sadly kicked her out in order to get Viconia in my party... and that was a bad choice!

Rogues: I think imoen is great... don't dual class her until she is level 5, and you'll have a great rogue...

Wizards: Usually, I don't have wizards in my party on the low levels, because when a wizard has few spells, and low hit points, they are bad, because they die all the time... But on the higher levels i think Dynaheir is great...

 

For a good/neutral party:

Warrior: Kivan. Superb archer, and you get him nice & early. Having Ogres as his Racial Enemy is also useful, as Beserkers can be quite annoying.

Priest: Branwen. In my party of 4 I'm doing now, she's tanking for the rest of us archers! With the right kit her AC is ridiculously low, and she gets the most out of her special ability, which I swear gives her something like a +4 THAC0 bonus. Only Viconia is competition, and I'd still take Branwen over her, unless I was specifically playing evil.

Rogue: Safana. Ok, so she doesn't have maxed DEX and it takes a while to find her, but the fact she has points where it really counts (Locks/Traps) more than makes up for this. And no-one else has mentioned her yet. Obviously, you can influence Imoen more, but there are other uses for her... . And Bards aren't even worth a mention.

Wizard: Xan (if you're talking pure class). The much-cited loss of MM and Fireball isn't too bad (No Web spell is more annoying), as he can still bomb down Sleep & Horror aplenty. Dynaheir's lack of Enchantment spells is far more annoying. Imoen dual-classed at lvl 4 or 5 is ideal, though. She can have 80-100% pickpocketing, which is plenty, and has a good choice of specialisations, including Conjurer (though I usually choose Illusionist; it just seems to fit better).

For Evil parties, you're more restricted on choice, and most of those choices are straightforward. But I will say that I prefer Kagain of the warriors, because his regeneration ability simply rocks! Beyond that, you basically have to take what you can find, pretty much.

[ June 16, 2005, 20:10: Message edited by: The Magpie ]

 

@Bard
Do you have Kivan and Viconia in the same party? (look at the NPC Conflicts thread)

@Felinoid
You can kill off Khalid by sening him ahead into danger, or you can drop him from the party alone in a building.

@Alavin
Minsc ticks me off too.

:EDIT: ooh... cool new stone...

 

@Shayleigh:
I know. I've killed Xzar a few times to get just Montaron. Besides, while doing my archer party recently, I decided that Khalid wasn't so bad.

 

I'm at Durlag's tower with Khalid, Jaheira, Yeslick, Immy (dualed at L5 to conjurer), Kivan, and me as a mage. Khalid has the second-most kills (his wife's got the #1 position.) I have to have Remove Fear memorized with both divine spellcasters though. Khalid actually works pretty well.

 

I play either a Human F who than is dualed to a Mage or a Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief.

So here are my list...

Figther: Myself - Minsc... I love his strength and when equiped with a shield, long sword +2 and the gaulet of weapon expertise he can do some massive damage. I would of picked Khalid but he runs away too much when he is damaged.

Archer: Myself if I am a pure fighter - Kivan and/or Coran. Both of these elfs are great with a bow. Since you can't get Coran right away the first NPC I pick up is Kivan since he is decent with a bow and his skills come in handy early in the game.

Thief - Myself if I am multiclass elf - Imoen since I max out her open locks & find trap thieving skills. Coran if I pick him up early enough in the game.

Cleric - Branwen. She has a great special ability that you can use again and again and by the time the third one is used everyone is tired so you rest and it recharges. Not only that but her Dex, Con, & Wis stats are good for a cleric. Add the Gaulents of Orge Power to her and she can be a tank later on in the game.

Mage - Myself either dual or mutliclass - Dynaheir or Imoen if I dual class her. Those two mages along with my mage when all casting Fireball can really add the damage up quickly.


Here is my Party...
Myself - Human F/M or Elf F/M/T
Imoen - T/M
Minsc - Ranger/Tank
Kivan or Coran - Archer/Stealth
Branwen - Cleric
Dynaheir - Mage

I am not sure what Yeslick stats are but I would consider him for my group if his stats were good like Branwen.

 

Yeslick, IMO, beats Brawnwen... not because she is bad, but because as a F/C, he gets multiple attacks per round.

 

Branwen:
STR 13
DEX 16
CON 15
INT 9
WIS 16
CHA 13
Special Ability - Spiritual Hammer

Yeslick:
STR 15
DEX 12
CON 17
INT 7
WIS 16
CHA 10
Special Ability - Dispel Magic

I think Branwen's better because of her DEX (I'm big on DEX ), faster level growth, and the fact that you have to wait until almost the end of Chapter 4 to get Yeslick, while Branwen can be gotten at the beginning of Chapter 2.

Yeslick's fighter abilities could come in handy, and I know his Dispel Magic ability would be a great help if you're a little arcane-light, but for me that's not enough to recommend him.

 

Here's my thing. Branwen's 2 point AC boost from Dex is balanced out by Yeslick getting about 3 more HP per level (two from the Con, one average from fighter levels). Their strengths are equivalent, but sticking the Gauntlets of Ogre Power on Yeslick means you're going to be doing that extra six damage half-again as often... and even slightly more, since Branwen will will have a slightly lower ThAC0, and won't get that +1 hit and +2 damage from specialization, either.

If you really want Spiritual Hammer, memorize it; there's not much worthwhile at 2nd level, aside from Draw Upon Holy Might, and THAT just further increases Yeslick's HP, while Branwen is capped at an effective +1HP/level increase because she's not part fighter.

By all means, keep Branwen until Cloakwood, and leave her someplace you can find her again... but Yeslick is, IMO, a better choice, once you get him.

 

You'll notice I didn't even mention the Spiritual Hammer except in passing; it's not a terribly great spell, and Branwen should be using Ashideena anyway. The CON HP bonus 'cap' is actually at +2 for non-fighters; in Branwen's case, she would require the Tome of CON or a DUHM spell. You have a good point about DUHM combined with Yeslick's slready good CON, though. If CON gets boosted high enough (20+), the character starts to regenerate, which can cut down on the amount of healing spells and potions you would need to use.

 

Regeneration from DUHM isn't really a factor; in IWD I've got an 18 Con, 30th level Paladin who uses it, and even with a 25 Con, he doesn't regenerate but one point during the turn it lasts.

And I know the Con bonus cap; but Yeslick, being part fighter, gets the +3; 2 on his fighter, 1 on his cleric. By Branwen's cap, I meant above what she already gets for having a 15 Con... she can get another point from DUHM or a tome of con, but that's it. When Yeslick casts it, he gets 1-2 HP per level, and while he won't get any bonus AC from Dex, that's more or less a wash, anyway.

 

I forgot to think about the logistics of it. And as I mentioned before, I'm more into DEX, so I tend to lean in the direction of more dextrous characters like Branwen. *shrug* Just a personal preference.

 

Like Fellinoid I am into dex as well. When I equip the Plate +3 or the A Plate with a Large Shield +1 Branwen AC is low enough not to be slashed to death if she enters combat. Equip with the GOOP she is a very decent warrior with healing spells.

 

@Cernak:

I think Dynaheir can dual to a cleric, if you give her all of the WIS tomes.

@Shayleigh:

I actually think this is a pretty good tactic, and I have as many people who can memorize a remove fear do so. If you only have one character memorize this spell, and s/he becomes horrored or something, then you're really screwed.

As for the whole Yeslick/Branwen debate, I like Yeslick more for multiple reasons:

1)He's Good aligned, so won't start whining at REP 19+.
2)He's a Dwarf, which IMHO is the most powerful race to choose from.
3)You'll fight a lot more than cast spells in this game, and Yeslick is a Fighter.
4)His special ability really is something special. As mentioned by Felinoid, Aishideena is the weapon of choice, and IMHO Dispel Magic is a very important spell.

Note: If you really want a Cleric in your party, I'd recommend taking Branwen for Chapters 2 and 3. Left her drown in Chapter 4 and get Yeslick!

 

My preference for Con over Dex (in the case of tanks) comes from the things that will ignore your AC, but hit you anyway... Fireballs, Magic Missiles, etc. The extra HP from Con can often mean you stay alive long enough to heal or disrupt further spells.

 

Fair enough, but Branwen's version is an enhanced version of the spell, giving her +4 THAC0 (trust me - I checked this out in my last game, and was shocked by the difference it made compoared to the memorised version). Whilst Fighter/Cleric seems more useful on the face of it, I find that (in BG1 at least) pure classes are better off with their faster levelling than multiclassed characters, at least for the majority of the game. At 161000 XP, Yeslick is probably better all round (+1 attack, Dispel Magic, not much lost on the Cleric side), but whilst playing through, the extra cleric levels do make a difference, not to mention the fact it takes so long to get Yeslick in the first place.

 

*vote for Yeslick*
Pros:
Yeslick is, of course, a better fighter overall than Branwen. Khalid alone is not enough tank in the higher levels. (And Kagain drives me crazy.)
Yeslick has Dispel Magic as a special ability, which is much more useful at higher levels than Spiritual Hammer.
Yeslick has dwarf resitances to magic, poison, etc.
Yeslick ticks off Jaheira.

Cons:
The whole dexterity thing.
You have to wait until chapter 4 to get Yeslick.
Yeslick ticks off Jaheira.

I'd take Branwen until you can get Yeslick, then dump her and pick him up.

 

Branwen venerates Tempus, she is worthy. Yeslick is just a senile dwarf who is responsible for the fiasco at the mines.

Anyway if I want a cleric I'll go and get Viconia. If I want another I'll give Xzar a book to raise his WIS and dual class him (a much easier choice than Dynaheir) and if I want to go crazy I'll recruit Tiax!

My favourite ranger: Kivan, nobody beats him just give him a bow and watch him work. + nice soundset, good story and hamster free.

My favourite fighter: Shar Teel, she can be dualled to thief (Khalid would be my second choice, he is SO funny).

My favourite mage: Xzar. Never ending fun with him on board.

My favourite cleric: Viconia, interesting character, MR what more could I want?

My favourite bard: Eldoth (I like him because he is quite like my favourite Pnp character), I always manage to end up killing him though.

My favourite thief: Skie, her soundset is very silly but I'm easily pleased. Safana is a more reasonable alternative and I sometimes dualled her to mage for fun (using the tome of intelligence).

My favourite multiclass character: Tiax... only you can't get him before reaching Baldur's Gate which is really annoying.

The one I really hate: Kagain, he keeps belching and rambling about money, I wonder how his CHA can be that high?!