Forming my Party

Remove all ads!

Hi all,

Just starting to play BG2 again with throne of baalh installed.

Now i'm trying the figure out the best party to play with.

My main character is a Paladin (transfered from BG1)

So this means that it's gonna be a good party.

I already pretty sure about the follwing npc's

Mins - Great frontliner
Anomen - My mai cleric (healer)
Jahiera - frontliner and backup cleric
Imoen - For thieving and as a Mage


But here it is. The last party member. Wich one is the best addition to this party?

choiches for a good party are:

- Nalia - same as imoen (using her until i get imoen herself)
- Aerie
- Jan - also same as imoen
- Keldorn - My main man is already a paladin so a second one? don't think so.
- Haer Dalis
- Cernd- Already have jahiera as a druid
- Valygar
- Mazzy


Wich would you include in the above party and why?


Thanks in advance!

 

Jan would be good for more of combat oriented thieving...Mislead+Backstab is good, as are high level traps which Imoen will never get.

Otherwise, Haer'Dalis is good as well, but only if you know how to handle Blades. If you are up to all the micromanagement he represents, then you will be very happy with the results you will get from him!

Mazzy is a cool archer, but other than that, she doesn't bring anything to the table. I'd recommnd getting Nalia actually...as I see that you don't have a full time mage. Imoen would be good enough, but if you can afford a mage, why not?

 

I like Mazzy. She's fun in that while she is a pure combat character, she differs from the usual big sword type melee characters that predominate this game. She's a great NPC archer, can also get great at melee with weapon specialisation and a strength belt and has a nice voice. Valygar also breaks the melee stereotype mould, and he can be very handy as a scout.

However, taking Mazzy or Valygar would make your party a pretty melee intensive one. Thats OK, but you may prefer a second arcane magic user to help Imoen out, especially as magical debuffs are so important in BG2. Haer'Dalis is cool, but he may seem weak if you're not used to making the most of bards (I recommend Scythesong Immortal's excellent blade FAQ if you decide to take this avenue). Otherwise, Nalia is decent enough. I've taken both her and Imoen in the same party before and although its a bit dull having such similar characters together, they provide more than enough magic power. Jan is a nice alternative, as he can continue to gain thief skills and so you could play with traps and the like. The final option I would suggest is downloading the excellent Kelsey mod. Since you've played BG2 before, mods can refresh the game a great deal.

Well, theres a load of suggestions. Hope they've been of some help

 

This is very wrong Nalia is not the same as Imoen and is in fact the best good mage in the game. She will be of a higher level by the time you get Imoen back and should be used as a primary spellcaster and not a thief. Equip Nalia as a mage and Imoen as a mage/thief and you will have an awesome combo. Both these chars, casting project image and you can cast timestops all day long

I would take Yoshimo as your thief until you get Imoen back, that way you can complete his soul quest.

As to the others .....

Aerie can be very powerful if you use and equip her correctly. Although a weaker mage and cleric than the others, she has the biggest range of spells available to any character and can combine both cleric and mage spells in triggers ... which is a very powerful feature.

Jan is the best thief available in the game, so if you want a thief more than a mage then take him. I like to take him in neutral/evil parties where the PC isnt a thief. If you have never taken him before then he is a must as his banters with the other chars can be quite funny.

Keldorn is another great character. Yes, you have a Paladin, but do you have an Inquisitor? His dispel/truesight is fantastic. I am playing a new game without him and I have faced some real problems without his dispelling abilities. In fact, Jaheira and Keldoen are an awesome anti-mage combo.

Haer'Dalis is a fun character and surprising powerful. The blade is a great kit and once you get to use mislead with improved bard song (try the effect of 2-3 bard songs playing at once), and tensers (with this he can out-tank the fighters), you will see how powerful these can be. Bards do need good micro-management and can be a pain at times ... my latest game is with a blade, but I actually had more fun with Haer'D but I had to kick him out of a previous game as I was romancing Aerie

Valygar can be extremely powerful if played right and I much prefer to take him along than Minsc. I use him for stealth and backstabbing. A great backup fighter, who can go invis and then backstab for huge damage ... try using the dagger (or shortsword) that has a % chance to go invis ... it is so awesome with Valygar.

Mazzy is ok. The best archer in the game and potentially a great fighter. But I think a support character rather than tank would suit you better.

So, bascially ....

If you want spellcasting power go with Nalia or Aerie.

If you want spellcasting and a the power of a high-level thief go with Jan.

If you want more muscle then Keldorn or Mazzy.

If you want a stealthy fighter go with Valygar.

If you want a utility char for spellcasting/buffing go with Haer'Dalis.

You could still consider the evil chars ...

Viconia is rescued by you, so it is surely your responsibility to look after her. And besides, why not try and convert her to good?

Korgan is more mercenary than evil. He hates spellcasters and will gladly help you.

Edwin is, well Edwin ... so I wouldnt bother with him actually.

 

One thing I have learned from this Board is that there are no bad characters (evil, yes; bad, no). It's all in the way they are handled and equipped.

In my second good party I had Nalia & Imoen. Together they are formidable. Great combo.

 

I agree, Nalia&Imoen is kinda good to have, your party lacks arcane power and it is a bad thing!

Are you sure Anomen is much needed? Well a cleric is needed but still...

I do not reccomend Mazzy, I do not find her uber powerful, but I do not like ranged fighting so your call. (But she is a little cutie right? And suits your PC well! Aww a paladin and a little lass who wants to be a paladin too! Does she have a romance mod? Hehehe )

Your BG1 char is a vanilla paladin right? Can you edit him via SK to have a kit, maybe Inquisitor? YES make him an Inquisitor, they rock, plus you will not need Keldorn so awfully! TRY it! Their True Sight and Dispel Magic makes mage battles ridiculously easy! (so I do not take him, plus how can I take him from his poor wife, children and home?)

If you can not decide, you can always create a helper via MP game, this way you can create your very own NPC, sure you will mis dialogues and such, but it is usefull. I personally have a MP created kensai and he is a quite help in purest hack and slash melee power, a thing all parties need in ToB!

Just paste your save to MPsave, add the character, then move it to save again. BUT you should have EASE of USE mod's component about MP created chars!

 

@Silverstar:
You don't have to SK for a kit! Just select it when starting the game. (That's what I did for the pally I imported to BG2.)

[rant]
Why do people cheat when they don't have to? Cheating should be a last resort when you can't manipulate the game rules!
[/rant]

@apidia:
Welcome to the Boards!

Jan is your man if you want thieving abilities. He and Yoshimo are the only ones who can advance their thief skills. Nalia is a much more annoying Imoen variant with poorer thief skills and better mage skills.

If you've got Jaheira, don't bother with Cernd, though you may want to try him out the next time through.

You can always give your paladin the inquisitor kit on startup if you really want those abilities, so there's no reason to take Keldorn (unless you just want to reunite him with his family and move on ).

Valygar's great if you use him properly, and you won't find anyone else who you should even consider backstabbing with.

I'm not going to say anything about Aerie or Haer'Dalis because they get on my nerves, and I haven't used Mazzy yet so I can't really say anything about her either.

 

Oops sorry, I am ashamed. But the guy did not say if he had a kit or not. If he can choose, we must highly encourage him to choose Inquisitor.

Soo, Apidia, what is your kit?(maybe he did not choose one?)

 

Not necessarily; I chose Cavalier for mine and was not disappointed. Undead hunter has some good bonuses for very little restrictions, too. (Immune to hold and level drain combined with bonuses against undead makes him very useful against liches and such. No lay on hands: so what?)

Inquisitor may have some awesome bonuses, but they also have some relatively harsh restrictions when compared to the other kits; over all, it balances. I do agree that a kit (any kit) is almost a must for a paladin, though.

 

For paladins, I decide in advance whether or not I'll bring Keldorn along. If so, I'd go Cavalier, as you'll complement his abilities perfectly. If you're going to leave him with his family, I'd choose Inquisitor. They possess truly unique abilities which come in very handy. That said, any of the kits are good, but (as is common in BG2) the vanilla paladin is conspicuously underpowered compared to the kits.

 

I'd suggest Nalia or Jan (whichever one you hate less). Jan will allow you to explore all aspects of thieving, and Nalia will bring more magery (and more whining) to the table.

 

A couple of extra comments ...

If you take Keldorn, be a Cavalier (i love these) or Undead Hunter yourself. Keldorn runs around with Carsomyr and you dual-wield Purifier + Axe Unyielding (or Answerer) ... great combination

With Anomen and Jahiera as your clerics, you will find that you use them on the front-line a lot (or at least you should do) as they are both great tanks. This will leave you very lacking in mid-battle buffing/healing ... in this respect I would use Aerie. She has the same arcane abilities as Jan, and as Imoen can cover all thief needs, so she may be a much better choice for you. Plus, she whines a lot less than Nalia ... although she isnt as good a mage, she is very powerful.

 

Mazzy is amazing if you give an unlimited ammo bow. She racks up an amazing number of kills and you may not even know about it. Give her a strength girdle and she becomes a standard melee tank.

Also in my oppinion yes Nalia is more powerful mage than Imoen but it does not take long for Nalia's level difference to evaporate. By Throne of Bhaal they should be about the same level and then they are preety much the same though I believe that Imoen's personality and thief skills make her the better of the two.

Lastly as long as you have breach, dispel magic, true sight, and a spell that eliminates protections to breach (and you can cast them quickly) you will be fine with a warrior heavy party. If you like warrior parties the inquisitor kit is almost a must since it covers a lot of bases. At least it worked for me.

 

Thnx! Guys,

I think i go voor the nalia/imoen combo.

Oh by the way i have chosen the cavelier kit for my paladin. just beecause of personal preference.

next goal is to retrieve the celestial fury.

Wish me luck ; )

 

GoodLuck then!

Imoen&Nalia is great, one casts DragonBreath and the other casts Comet, and then the critters are usually dead.

OK, cavaliers is nice, and it is refreshing as now mage fights will be a considerable challenge. Have fun!

 

Good luck! You have a good party going since you have two good mages to dispel mage defences. The Cavalier is fun and has no "real" disadvantages. I highly reccomend proficiencies in daggers or axes so that you can use a ranged weapon since these proficiencies count as mellee proficiencies and thus you can use throwing axes/ daggers!