who is the coolest NPC?

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Skywind...

First off, a fighter is determined by his weapons and gear. If Keldorn didn't have any armour on and was wielding a vanilla 2H sword, then there is no contest: Minsc would wipe the floor with him.

But with Girdle of Frost Giant STR and Carsomyr, then Minsc is toast.

It doesn't matter how good a fighter is with no equipment; that's why there is restrictions. To give other classes advantages/disadvantages. All of Keldorn's weaknesses can easily be made insignificant early in the game. His Dex can be made 18, and his STR can be made 19.

Besides, with Berserk Minsc becomes a totally strategy-less blunderer. He'd be dead in no time because you couldn't use any spells, hiding ability or good stuff like that. You just lose control of him and he runs in there like an idiot.

Lastly, Keldorn's Dispel Magic and True Sight are better than's Minsc's Berserk because, if Minsc rages, then you won't need to use Keldorn's ability - but it won't matter because Minsc will lose control and become an even bigger moron. If Minsc doesn't rage, then Keldorn can dispel any spells he casts, and can True Sight Minsc if he hides.

 

Does no one appreciate Korgan at all?
He's tough, brutal and so psychotically funny!

Haer'Dalis is certainly an interesting character, although he is very weak initially. He does get better and his dialogues are very well written.

Viconia: Every Dark Lord's companion. Some of her later dialogues when applied to an evil PC are absolutely smug and hilarious.

Edwin: Shallow character but serves as a major source of amusement for being so. But he is THE mage in BG2. Even a PC mage cannot beat him in a spell duel.

Yoshimio: Come on, what's there not to like about this guy? He's witty, intelligent, reliable, sensible and loyal...for a while at least. I ALWAYS have Yoshimio in my party. His alignment is perfect for parties that swing either way on the alignment scale as well.

Keldorn: Unbalanced class, unbalanced weapon, supreme kit abilities.

Minsc is entertaining the first few times through BG2 but I don't bother with him anymore. He's simply too weak compared to Korgan and I've become sick of his rabid dialogue.

Jahiera: Too bad she will not turn to the dark side. It is such a pity to have to kill such a fair, powerful and graceful woman.

NPCs that are definitely not cool: Valygar, Cernd and Mazzy. They are so bland that there is little reason to bring them along.

 

Most Powerful: Would say protagonist, but since it has to be NPC... Naw, most of them can be equally powerfull. Except for Melissan, but she's a cheat anyway.

Underrated: Aerie, she'a a -like stated before- a bag of spells.

Overrated: Minsc. For some reason he ALWAYS fails his saving throws vs. confusion, charm or hold...

Best Addition: Imoen. Good spellcaster, has thieving abilities and she a good personality.

Coolest: Er... Must say that Irenicus and Bodhi are pretty cool...

 

@ Virne

Lilarcor is a custom-made sword for Minsc dude! Lilarcor rends the weilder immune to both Charm and Confusion! And as someone pointed out earlier on the boards, it is a talking sword, which is a perfect trait for Minsc!\

Oh yeah, Rings of Free Action and Regeneration will maximize his ability to be your main tank if you so desire.

 

Beren...
You need help, man!

 

Coolest? You even need to ask? I shout her name to the heavens! Viconia! I've said why before, so I'll not try your patience now.

Most powerful? Valen. Sorry. Seriously, I'd say either Keldorn, Edwin, or Jaheira. Edwin and Keldorn are obvious choices, but Jaheira's combination of offensive, defensive, summoning, and healing spells together with her fighting abilities (not to mention a lees then faithful implementation of druidic oaths) makes her nigh unstoppable.

Most overated? I'll say either Aerie or Korgan. Neither one really does anything irreplaceable, and, for me at least, their personalities just render them totally useless for me.

Most underated? Mazzy. Even at low levels, she can kick but, her special abilities are valuable even at higher levels, she kicks but just like any fighter, and she's cool.

Of course, that's just my opinion...

 

coolest - haer'dalis
underrated - anomen
overrated - korgan (he gets hit way too much for my liking)
overpowered - keldorn, possibly the most game-unbalancing kit in the game

 

The coolest one would be: Haer’dalis – The wording he uses of his words is…unique…and his personality is just one of the most interesting ones out of all of them.

Most powerful: Anomen – He becomes so very powerful later on; it’s just too bad he’s so annoying…

Underrated: Aerie – Her combination of arcane and divine magic is exquisite, and with some ability modifying items, she gets even more powerful.

Best addition: Jaheira – Her divine magic is very helpful in a lot of situations, especially when fighting spell casters, and I always use her in melee, where she seems to excel quite well when properly equipped. The only thing she seems to lack is arcane magic, and that’s not a big deal, especially since I usually play a magic user of some sort.

Overrated: Keldorn – I know I am going to get a lot of crap for this, but for me, and in my parties, he never really fits in, personality-wise or otherwise. I’m just not a big melee heavy player, and his abilities are already more than taken care of by other members of the party. He also seems to die the most, for some reason, even when he’s better equipped than Minsc, or any other party member, dying even more than Aerie..

 

@ Soubriquet: You said:

Overrated: Keldorn – He also seems to die the most, for some reason, even when he’s better equipped than Minsc, or any other party member, dying even more than Aerie..


The wording of that last part had me laughin' some! LOL!

The reason why Keldorn might be dying on you alot may be due to his low dexterity (9-which translates into a lower Armor Class).

If you equip him with the Gauntlets of Dexterity (raises Dex to 18), he can be a very valuable fighter.

But I'm still not too high on him myself. Maybe because my PC is a (better) Paladin and my Gauntlets of Dexterity are reserved for Anomen (who, IMHO, is more versatile than Keldorn).

A little , but not much I beleive.

Keldorn gets alot of well-deserved respect for his True Sight, but I honestly hardly ever cast this spell! I never have Keldorn in my party, nor do I get my magic users to cast it. Granted, it might take me a little bit longer to kill liches/magic users than others, and occasionally might have to use 1 or 2 more healing potions/spells than others, but all in all, I honestly get along just fine without True Sight, even finished SoA maybe casting True Sight a total of less than 5 times in the game.

 

C'mon, Boo is definitely a NPC - he even has is own sound effects. This is much more than most of the NPCs in Baldur's Gate.

But excluding the Great Miniature Giant Space Hamster:

• Most powerful: Aerie - By far the best spell-caster in the game.
• Coolest: Minsc - He's not the best fighter, but his almost Paladin of Tyr rightousness is definitely cool. Boo helps too!
• Underrated: Mazzy
  - Too bad she isn't a "true" archer, but she's very close too it.
• Overrated: Jaheira - Not the best cleric, not the best fighter. The romance and extra quests are a definite plus.

[ November 10, 2003, 08:33: Message edited by: Blackhawk ]

 

Overrated: IMO, there's no overrated NPC who doesn't deserve the praise he's given.

Most powerful: Edwin. He can cast spells like mad, even in SoA.

Coolest: Haer Dalis. Edwin comes a very close second.

Underrated: Mazzy. She deserves far more credit for her abilities.

[ November 10, 2003, 08:52: Message edited by: Scythesong Immortal ]

 

i think Mazzy is o.k
her abilities are pretty useful, but she is not owning any sense of humor and she is all serious and stuff
Haer'Dalis looks cool,but IMO, he is useless, i think bards are quite useless
you could just be a mage/theif as i said before
keldorn is NOT a good character (no offense to Keldorn fans )
he may have good abilities but he is a little weak and leaves hte party to live with his family

 

@Mystra's Chosen:
If Keldorn is wielding Carsomyr and Minsc is dual-wielding Crom Faeyr and another +3 hammer or mace, Whose better than?
My thinking is that the Minsc will be much deadly.
Btw, Minsc's rage make him immune to many status effect and imprisonment, which Keldorn even with Carsomyr may not be safe from, as Keldorn will only have 50% MR.
Continue to argue against me. I like it.
So long that it does not get heated.

 

Interesting, Skywind. Is that all they have or do they have anything else?

 

Coolest: Korgan. (Can't really say why, i just like him)

Best Addition: Imoen. (She gets 100+ in the only neccesary thief skills open lock and disarm trap with a few items, she is a good mage, and she can use shortbows and such. AND she's pretty essential for the story.)

Most Powerful: Keldorn. (This guy kicks ass with strength belt, dexterity gauntlets and a holy avenger. Heck, he could solo with some healing and a thief.)

Underrated: Cernd. (Maybe not in vanilla SoA, but with the Ease-of-Use mod, he's THE TANK!)

Overrated: Minsc. (I... just don't like him. Can't really say why here either.)

EDIT: motivated my answers

[ November 11, 2003, 20:38: Message edited by: Xei Win Toh ]

 

@Wei Win Toh
how is Imoen the best NPC?
se dulled to a mage too early so therefore has inadequate thief abilities and she is not as good a mage as Aerie or Edwin

 

I cant beleive the topic question.
There is only one answer.
Coolest NPC = Minsc. He has all the funniest lines, is totally lost in his mind AND keeps a hamster. What more can you ask for?

Who is the best addition and so on totally depends on the rest of your party. Although there is a few I´d never take. Haer Dalis (sp) to mention one. And as you can see on my spelling, I haven´t been around him alot. Freaks me out with his frikkin´ talk... This is the worst thing in BG2, couldn´t they just have kept poetry out of this masterpiece.
Cernd is another one I keep out of my party. Who wants a druid anyway?
(Didn´t mean to offend you Druid lovers, it´s just my humble opinion)

Ohh, I leave Mazzy out to because she´s a halfling. No, I´m not a racist, but it looks so dumb when those small characters run around the others like children. And no, I dont use any of the dwarves or gnomes either because of this.

 

Skywind...

If Keldorn had the Girdle of Stone Giant (set STR to 20, as the Frost Giant one will be taken by Crom) and Gaunts of Dex, then he'll have better AC than Minsc, so it will may come out even.

Also, you'll have to put Prof Points in Hammer, which you don't really get to use until Chapter 6.

Keldorn and Minsc are about even fighter, but with Keldorn's DM and TS, there's no contest about who's the more lethal. Add Carsomyr to the equation and doom is the only thing for evil (and Minsc).