Please note that new user registrations disabled at this time.

New game started => ultimate power party for ToB (my two cents)

This forum is to be used for all discussions pertaining to BioWare's Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.
Post Reply
User avatar
Chade Fallstar
Posts: 143
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2000 11:00 pm
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Contact:

New game started => ultimate power party for ToB (my two cents)

Post by Chade Fallstar »

As I'm preparing for ToB I took a really long break and tried to figure out the best possible party for my first ToB gaming experience. Here's what I came up with ...

1st. Me, Ranger 9th => Cleric

Why a ranger cleric? why not, great versatility with weapons since by the time I'm ranger9/cleric10 I've gotten two stars (the maximum) in almost every weapon I can use + I can 'naturally' dualwield. Great & versatile character with lots of spells (at least with 22 wisdom) - I even have access to all clerical spells thanks to my char's ranger side. Plus I also get HideInShadows & HatedEnemy. The char is used as a frontline fighter / tank + to do all the clerical stuff needed. In my opinion, I'm worth 2 other characters.
equipped with ... whatever the best suits me, since I can equally effectively use any weapon a cleric can use.

2nd. Korgan

My DamageDealer / frontline fighter. He's the best at what he does. Every group needs at least one straight fighter. Also he's got great weapon skills, he only lacks in dualwielding which I can remedy.
equipped with axe & warhammer

3rd. Keldorn
My third fighter. Usually in the back defending my mages or if my 2 frontline guys get stunned / paralyzed / slowed etc. he has the means to set them free. Or he is running to battle right after myself & korgan depending what I am against. Inquisitor's Dispel Magic ability is just unreplaceable.
equipped with longsword & crossbow

4th. Haer'Dalis
My backup fighter (with contigencied tensor's of course) Lot's of equipment only bards can use. Other than that, a great character when used correctly. Nice stats - the ones that aren't nice can be fixed. adds a lot to versatility. When almost dead without any weapons / spells can still do a lot good to your party.
equipped with ... a bow / melee weapons when going into combat.

5th. Jan Jansen
5 words: Thieving skills that keep improving! + a nice personality. A combo no other char can offer.
equipped with crossbow / SoM (YES - my invisible scout trapdetector guy)

6th. Edwin
Edwin's edwin, he's so superior (as a mage) it makes me a sad.
Equipped with dagger / Staff

With these guys & the knowledge to use them I think I can run through ToB without any problems.
Seen on a web page:
"This site best viewed in Netscape Explorer."

Customer: "I ran Microwave Defrost, but it didn't help."
(Referring to Microsoft Defrag.)
Customer: "I have Microsoft Exploder."
Customer: "I have Microscope Exploiter."
Customer: "I have Netscape Complicator."
Customer: "I have Netscape Regulator."
Customer: "Uhh...I have Newscape and Outlook Exposure."
User avatar
Izgoth
Posts: 238
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2001 10:00 pm
Contact:

Post by Izgoth »

I heard Sarevok is the best fighter in the game. Perhaps you would want to have him instead of one of your chars. Perhaps dual him to a thief or something else at L20 because he will no longer gain thac0 bonuses after that.
User avatar
Laurelei
Posts: 230
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by Laurelei »

Nice party, but not sure why you posted it three times :p
User avatar
Edwin
Posts: 930
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2001 11:00 pm
Contact:

Post by Edwin »

Nice party, but i don't agree that
"Every group needs at least one straight fighter."

Now i have a group made of me (cavalier) Keldorn, Valygar, Jahiera (multi, not real fighter), Imoen, Aerie.....and it works really well!!!!!
I think that every party needs a warrior type (ranger, warrior, paladin) ;)
Edwin, mighty founder of the Council of Mages; Co-founder of the Shadow Mages

Sorcery and Shadow together as one, the arcane and the dark united. Through our knowledge and skill none can stand against us. We are as one, infallible and invincible. The Shadow Mages.
User avatar
Manveru
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2001 11:00 pm
Location: Lodz, Poland
Contact:

Post by Manveru »

I'm also slowly preparing for ToB (I'm currently in underdark) .

My party :

Manveru (F/M/C)
Keldorn
Jaheira
Aerie
Imoen
Jan Jansen

As you can see it is "mages" mainly party.

I plan to replace Keldorn or Jan Jansen by Sarevok. I would like to ask for advice :

Keldorn with his Carsomyr + True Sight is very useful

Jan Jansen is my main thief + spellcaster.

Is there any possibility to dualclass sarevok to thief ? (so I would kick Jan Jansen)
So sayeh

Wise Manveru Telcontar,
The Mighty Wizard from Eregion


The Eregion Wizards
Elen sila Lumenn' Omentielvo
User avatar
Edwin
Posts: 930
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2001 11:00 pm
Contact:

Post by Edwin »

Yes, it's possible, but in a large party like yours i don't think it would be wise because you'll lvl up slowly....IMO drop Aerie
Edwin, mighty founder of the Council of Mages; Co-founder of the Shadow Mages

Sorcery and Shadow together as one, the arcane and the dark united. Through our knowledge and skill none can stand against us. We are as one, infallible and invincible. The Shadow Mages.
User avatar
UserUnfriendly
Posts: 4109
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Sluggy Zone
Contact:

Post by UserUnfriendly »

I'd say drop Jan and keldorn for savarok and viconia, but I also am a major fan of mage heavy parties and I think now that the advantages Keldorn brings in with holy avenger can be replaced by the very versatile viconia.

Kedorn-inquisitor kit
immune to hold and charm, lilacor the talking sword does that as well, and for a mage heavy party, making everyone invisible protects them against that quite well. most enemy ai spell casters will run out of truesights fairly quickly, thus after they run out, your party is invulnerable to direct action spells while your own casters have no such restriction. Also most of your party is elven or half elven with high resistance anyway.

fast dispell magic and true sight, also redundant in a mage heavy party, all the spell casters and clerics should have a couple of slots reserved for them anyway.

Holy avenger is a really nice killing machine, but savarok as a fighter will level up fairly fast, and when you add a vorpal weapon with 10% insta kill, and greater whirlwind that can do 10 attacks a round, this makes holy avenger look like a discount toy at the flea market. also saverok can use soul reaver, which many people consider the best sword in the game, period. the more hits you land on a target, the more vulnerable it is.

50% magic resistance I've read is provided by viconia, and she retains it even while using a sling. So if you get hit by a area affect disabler, like horror, viconia is likely to resist and she can cast resist fear and fix thsat. keldorn can only cast dispell, and incidentally drop everyone's stone and iron skins at the same damned tiem!

ANyway, you cna drop imoen for jan, but I can't stand that turnip dude. I deliberately gave up having the best thief after yoshimo, sice he's the only npc capable of going up in trap levels, just because I hate him.

Super duper spike traps or stories of mobile vegetable commerce? The eternal question. Am seriosuly thinking of summoning jan, in the beginning of tob, vast greater malison and turning him into a squirrel so he can keep caspinar cumpany in the pocket plane. And as a possible food source...
They call me Darth...

Darth Gizka!

Muwahahahahhahahha!!!
User avatar
polaris
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Austin, Tx
Contact:

Post by polaris »

I have to disagree here. You can have a good party w/o Keldorn, but don't think that a mage-heavy party replaces him. Some points:

Dispell Magic: Keldorn gets MORE dispell magics than *any* spell caster, he casts them with a speed of *1* (almost impossible to interrupt), and most importantly he casts them at DOUBLE LEVEL. That changes dispell magic from a so-so spell (because most enemies have a higher level than you) into a veritable mage-killer.

Hold Person: Lilicar does not give immunity to hold type magic.

Truesight: Again, Keldorn casts truesight VERY quickly and gets far more truesights than almost any spell caster. It also not-so-incidentally frees up those precious fifth (cleric) and 7th (Mage) level slots for other spells.

Finally, with the HA, Keldorn is going to have one of the if not the highest magic resistances in the party. That complements any mage-heavy party nicely.

Don't get me wrong; you do not NEED Keldorn, but I think you were dismissing him a bit too blithly. IMO from a pure powergaming perspective (which is not the only consideration granted), I would rather have Keldorn over Viconia.

-Polaris
User avatar
StillSouth
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Australia
Contact:

Post by StillSouth »

My Party:

Vesri - Sorcorer
Minsc
Keldorn
Anomen

Minsc and Anomen duel wield, while Keldorn does the usual Carsomyr and other 2-handers thing.

I have found almost every magor bad guy unbelievebly easy. I just get those three to run in and distract/draw fire, while i cast Improved Alacrity. Fight over. I breach everyone that needs it, then lower resistance, then cast all my lvl 10 spells with casting time 1 (Comet and Dragon Breath) then cast Horrid Wilting till the alacrity runs out and it's over. Would you guys consider this cheese? It took me a while to figure it out?
User avatar
polaris
Posts: 459
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2001 10:00 pm
Location: Austin, Tx
Contact:

Post by polaris »

IMO this is not cheese. You seem to be using Alaclarity the way it is supposed to be used. It is a powerful spell. 'nuff said.

-Polaris

P.S. It shows the limitations of poor AI, but in this case that is hardly your fault. You don't seem to be taking unfair advantage.
User avatar
Nightmare
Posts: 3141
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2001 11:00 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by Nightmare »

My SoA party:
Keldorn
Minsc
Sorc.
Jaheira
Aerie
Imoen

Not going to get Sarevok, as I have a different party in ToB. Minsc would be the first to go, but he is dueling FoA and Crom Faeyr. Keldorn is unreplacable. Jaheira has great personality + druid spells + some fighting skills. Using her for romance (if I get a bug that I can't fix... bye Jaheira). Aerie is spell powerhouse + only cleric. Imoen is only thief and a great mage.

My ToB party:
Sarevok
Mazzy
Thief
Anomen
Jan
Imoen

Kicking a$$ with this party.
If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.
Post Reply