How good is Edwin?

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i've never used him but hear he gets a lot of bonus spells? he gets 1/level for being a specialty class. plus he has some kind of amulet that gives him bonus spells right? how many bonus spells does he get from the amulet? 1/level? 2/level?

 

One bonus spell per level.

 

He's the mutz nutz. He's better than a mage you make yourself I reckon.

 

can anyone use his amulet or just him?

 

Just him.

 

how do you keep edwin "happy" in a non-evil group? or should i say "unhappy"
i thought i saw a mod somewhere that did something like keeping all npcs "happy" regardless of your actions but i can't find it anywhere.

 

It must be an ease of use component, but IIRC it was for BG2?

Edwin can stay happily if you do his quest and do not hit a reputation of 18 or better.

 

isn't edwin's quest to kill denyheir (spelling?)? how do i do that without making minsc mad? do i just get denyheir, get her killed, and then get edwin? or is there another way?

 

Depends on whether you want Minsc in your party. If you don't then you can get Edwin, kill her and carry on. If you want both Minsc and Edwin you'll have to either kill Dynaheir before you get either of them (I think it's possible without Minsc knowing you've killed her) or get Minsc, rescue Dynaheir and then take Edwin. He'll join your party if she's already there and won't ask you to kill her, but you'll have to keep all 3 of them for this to work (as booting Dynaheir means you lose Minsc as well)

 

That works, but at some point you may run into the dialogue which causes Edwin and Minsc to fight. I believe Dynaheir starts it, so if you get her killed and kick her out of the party, then you should be safe. I think making her leave party when she is in an out-of-the-way building and the rest of the party is outside will also work.

 

Edwin is great. I always hated mages in BG and never bothered with them, but took Eddie this time and he's doing well. I got the Ring of Wizardry which is stashed somewhere out front of the FA Inn (it's *very* hard to find, but it is there...check Dan Simpson's walkthrough for coordinates) and that gives him a whole load of 1st level spells. He's a magic missile king.

This runthrough my party is Me (fighter), Imoen, Kivan, Eddie, Viconia and Coran. I'm using the Ease of Use mod happy component (otherwise they get annoyed about rep).
Honestly, I think Minsc is overrated - you can do just as well without him, unless you have a special attachment to him and his hamster...

 

what's wrong with having an attachment to a hamster?

think i'll just get denyheir killed off then get edwin.

thanks to all for their input. much appreciated

 

That's in BG2. Does it happen in the first game as well? In this case my suggestion may be more problematic. Won't Minsc get annoyed if you attack Dynaheir after she's in the party, or does he attack only if she hasn't joined yet? I suppose you could always send her to attack winter wolves by herself. That'll sort her

The Ring is taken out in subsequent versions (I remember TotSC removed it). There's another one much later in the game, in Baldur's Gate itself. I cannot remember if the latest TotSC patch adds the ring back in the FAI... It's been far too long since I last played.

 

no the ring is, WAS, still there

 

Edwin is overrated. He gets an extra spell per level compared to other specialist mages, but not more. You even need a second arcane caster in the party to cast identify if you do not want to pay a lot of money for it. Shop prices will be more expensive too with an evil party member since you cannot raise reputation too high and will have to do stupid evil things like killing an innocent just to decrease your reputation once it has been raised by quests.

 

It has been a while, so I may mis-remember something, but I'm almost certain it also happens in the original. If you have all three, Dynaheir eventually starts a dialogue that results in Minsc and Edwin fighting. The solution is to get her into the party and then get her killed (assuming that you don't actually want to keep her). That way the dialogue can never start. In my games, she tends to volunteer to solo the rest of the gnoll fortress...

 

I abide by the general consensus: Edwin is great. He is without doubt the best mage in BG1. Since you're playing evil anyway, you can just as well get Xar or Eldoth to do your identifying, dualing Xar to a cleric is a good idea if you don't need an extra mage.

 

Ziad - it's definitely there, I have it in my current game, with ToSC installed.

Also, if you are concerned about rep, download the Ease of Use mod from this site and install the happy component. I have Eddie and Viconia and a rep of 20. (Frankly I don't understand why more self-motivated people like Eddie would worry about you having a good rep, as it would allow his more nefarious activities to go unnoticed. He's with you for the power, after all).

 

Odd. I wonder what was wrong with my version of the game.

Not very logical in terms of character continuity (can you imagine Minsc going to all the trouble to rescue her, then letting her solo the fortress by herself?) but very efficient

An extra spell slot is a lot in this game (except for level 1 spells, which you can spam to ridiculous levels with both Rings of Wizardry). Lack of identify isn't a problem if you have a Bard and it is possible to rely on Edwin's Lore skill for most things. Paying to identify some of the better items is a small price to pay for the increase in power. There's so much money in the game anyway.

 

theres 2? where is the 2nd ring?