NPC Support

[arsiwash]

I have played the game through a couple of times, and am wondering if I should change my party line up

1. PC Kensai - Thief

2. TANK Keldoran - Holy Avenger, you can't go wrong there

3. TANK - CLERIC Anomen He can specialize with weapons, actually get decent at 2 handed fighting, Flail of the Ages, along with Hammer of Thunderbolts. I also like the fact that he will level up quickly as a cleric to get the high end spells

4. CLERIC - MAGE Aerie With both Clerical and Mage spells, she can be a decent back up healer, as well as being able to cast mage spells as support. I have also had her tank as well, with an upgraded mace of disruption, stonekins, mirror image, and contigent spells, she can stand her own.. especially when using draw upon holy might. Having soloed with a Cleric - Mage, she is hard to pass up. A mage who can Timestop, then cast mage or cleric spells is hard to pass up

5. MAGE - Nalia, if you can put up with her constant whining about this or that, she is a good mage.

6. MAGE - Imoen Part of the story, so is really kind of essential, but fun enough to play with, and a good mage = to Nalia.
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Others
Cernd - Played with him enough to do quests, concerning him, but never really considered him as a part member

Edwin - Good Party, won't mix

Haer'Dalis - Never really tried him, his lack of full spell casting ability is limited. Identifying items is done by goggles... and spells if need be

Jaheira SEVERE Weapon restrictions, Multi - Classed, goes up too slow for my liking, though I have been tempted by her a couple of times.

Jan - I am already a thief, and a Multi - Classed Mage - Thief, will go up too slowly for my liking.

Korgan EVIL, Wont work

Mazzy - Thought about her, but her low strength puts me off, though I can give her a girdle of Hill Giant Strength. The ability to just hit with no other ability seems limited, I would rather go for Minsc

Minsc - Decent, but I prefer Keldoran

Valygar - Inferior to both Minsc and Keldoran in my opinion

Viconia - I LOVE her as a healer, but she is evil, and it is hard to keep her happy in a good group, and with swapping Keldoran for Minsc, it just won't work

Yoshimo If you have played the game through... you know...I have tried again and again of ways to try to get him in the beginning of ToB instead of Nalia... but no go. I would LOVE to Dual class him into a mage.

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I perfer clerics over druids, their spells seem to be stronger... plus Animate Dead for Skeletal Warriors, then sending them to deal with mages, and laugh as they try to kill them with all their spells.

Feel free to comment on other NPC classes to show what I am missing, I am willing to move things around a bit.

[RPGguy]

Well, you'll certainly have a lot of dialogue interruptions along the way. And you couldn't pay me to listen to all that complaining along the way. :laugh:

Some evil party member WILL work, just keep an eye on your reputation and don't let it get over 15.

Personally, I think it's a little Thief-heavy but any group of 6 (or less) can get the job done. So long as you are happy with it.

Haer'Dalis is way better than you think he is. He levels up incredibly fast and think about how that effects spells like flame arrow and skull trap. If that's not enough, he can buff himself to become a way better tank than Anomen or Keldorn. Stoneskin + Mirror Image + Improved Haste + Offensive Spin + Mislead with clone singing bard song + Improved Invisible. Pure nasty.

[arsiwash]

Haer'Dalis is way better than you think he is. He levels up incredibly fast and think about how that effects spells like flame arrow and skull trap. If that's not enough, he can buff himself to become a way better tank than Anomen or Keldorn. Stoneskin + Mirror Image + Improved Haste + Offensive Spin + Mislead with clone singing bard song + Improved Invisible. Pure nasty.

Well I am not quite thief heavy...since Imoen and Nalia dont really have any skills to speak of. I just consider them mages who can use short bows when need be.

I might drop Nalia for Haeri'Dalis though. Need to keep Imoen just for the game itself... though if possible in ToB, I think Sev can become a killer wizard if I can just get him to get along with the rest of the party.

The Use any item ability for Haeri'Dalis will come in quite handy later on as well.

I love grabbing the items that only a certain NPC can use and use them as need be.

[arsiwash]

Aerie and Haer'Dalis

Well, I am considering putting Haer'Dalis in my group, I just have one problem with it.

Aerie is the only female in the group with a romantic possibility. I have heard that Haer'Dalis will flirt and try to steal her away.

When the encounter happens is there any way to keep my romance going and keep all 3 of us in the party together?

[RPGguy]

ya, t'is a possibility. I've only had Aerie in the group for short periods and you're right...Haer'Dalis is all over her.

I honestly don't know if you can out-mac-daddy haer'dalis :laugh:

Also, make sure you take Yoshimo to Brynnlaw with you. Don't forget to do that.

[Kaer]

As far as I know, the ending request is not possible, sorry. I've tried it, but if you do continue the romance, then Haer'Dalis leaves. The only way to keep all three in the party is to let the two hook up graciously, and then leave it be.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

What (if any) mods are you using?
If you really want Haerry but don't want him hitting on your wingless whining wench you can install the G3 Tweakpack "Happy Patch", which allows you to keep your evil NPCs in good parties, prevents inter-party fights, and stops the Aerie/HD romance triangle from starting.

[arsiwash]

patches

I REALLY REALLY REALLY suck at any sort of computer work. I am afraid if I run any patches, that it might mess up the game, and I wont be able to play it.

I would love to remove the XP cap, but never figured out how to do it right.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Thanks to the wonders of Weidu [url="http://www.gibberlings3.net/readmes/readme-bg2tweaks.html"]it's surprisingly easy hey[/url] - even I managed to get it to work and I'm a hopeless technophobe. The Tweakpack has an XP cap remover and a whole bunch of other optional-but-useful changes.

The install order you want is the [url="http://www.bioware.com/games/throne_bhaal/support/patches/"]official Bioware ToB patch[/url], the G3 [url="http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2fixpack/"]fixpack[/url], then the Tweakpack. They're all pretty much self-installing and all you have to do is start the program, find your BG2 install directory (usually C:/Program Files/Black Isle/BGII-SoA - just use the browse function on the install program and ask for help here if you need it), follow the instructions and choose which changes you want.

Give it a shot - you'll be glad you did.