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Lack of NPCs

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Idiyen
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Lack of NPCs

Post by Idiyen »

Is it just me, or is there a HUGE lack of good NPCs in BG 2? I Love bg 2 and sorta like BG 1 (too slow for me, and sucks as a caster) But in BG 1 there was a butt-load of NPCs to chose, inc. some nice PURE classes. I find usually the cooler kits aren't NPC, and I have had more times than one when i just wanted a nice, pure character. Of course the mutts have their uses, but the pure form is almost always more powerful in a group. my best party:

any Tank (Really wasn't one in BG 2, in BG 1 there were a bunch of fighters, and even Jaheria could cut it... but not in BG 2) [Must deliver moderate damage]
Cleric (pure)[melee attacker, heals fighters] {Viconia is MUCH too ****y for this, god i miss branwen}
Mage/Cleric (ranged attacker, heals casters)
Mage (pure, specalist) [me]
Thief (pure, no gay kit, and doesnt sound like a homo *coughyoshimocough) [Although Jan fits nicely here]{another ranged attacker}
Damage dealer (Valgyar, that guy from BG 1 the elven ranger... gah i can't remeber. I dont care if their AC is 10 as long as the bodies drop)

Ideally i like the 3 mage / 3 priest / 1 tank / 1 damage / 2 ranged I had in BG 2 but it could be sooo much more efficent.

Vic was the only pure cleric, but she is so damn weak jaheria only one that got raise quick enough, but her spells blow chunks, anomen levels too slow, aerie is dual class and gets good priest spells at about the same time the sun goes supernova

Due to dumb AI, having more than 3 chars melee is asking to have a caster go get their ass beat, but i hate having someone doing nothing.

Thieves were awsome in BG 1, you could scout and pull with them, as well as solo stuff with backstab, but now that there are no good thieves left...

soooooo... I hope theres at least 5 new NPCs in ToB (there wont be, but hey who doesn't hope for a million dollars too? hehe)

good ones:
Thief (pure)
Kensai
Bard (pure)
good stat cleric
Mage/Fighter {blah blah cant use armor. Well, +4 chain is good enough, 'specially when he can blow Magic missles into the enemy in an instant}
Druid (not bastardized) maybe Druid/Mage

Also, they need more diversity, i mean come on, who likes only having 1 char to fill each role?

Ok im done
;)
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Dúnadan
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Post by Dúnadan »

Yeah, it'd be nice to have a pure theif in ToB, too bad we get stuck with some beefed up maniac who didn't last three rounds against my backstabbing thief..
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fable
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Post by fable »

Consider how many quests and how much interaction there currently is with just the NPCS we've got. I'm glad they didn't add more; they would have had to cutback on all the interactivity they provided.
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Jalios
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Post by Jalios »

besides even a fantasy world isn't filled up with 'perfect' fighters/clerics/mages/thieves...having 'weak'npc's adds to the fun factor IMO
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Edwin
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Post by Edwin »

I really liked the NPC in BGII. Viconia is a must have IMO. She's not weak. In BGI there was more choice, but some NPC were really not useful.
I also missed a good thief. But i think in ToB you'll be able to resurrect Yoshi if you want a pure thief.....Not the best option (i prefer assassins) but i think it could be interesting seeing how he justify himself.....
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Idiyen
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Post by Idiyen »

besides even a fantasy world isn't filled up with 'perfect' fighters/clerics/mages/thieves...having 'weak'npc's adds to the fun factor IMO
Sure it isn't but it is nice to have a diversity of choice (Right now you cant even fill out an all-evil party, you COULD in BG 1)

Consider how many quests and how much interaction there currently is with just the NPCS we've got. I'm glad they didn't add more; they would have had to cutback on all the interactivity they provided.
Well, maybe. NPC scripts don't look all that hard to write (from a programming standpoint anyway) But with ToB they could easily put in ~5 more NPCs and their scripts.
Viconia is a must have IMO. She's not weak. In BGI there was more choice, but some NPC were really not useful.
True, and there are non-useful NPCs in BG 2, but having your finalized party in CH2 isn't that great either. Pure clerics, to me, especially with the wis she has, need to be able to be in combat so they can heal the Tanks if necessary. If i want some back-row cleric, ill go for aerie
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Quitch
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Post by Quitch »

Sure, there were more NPCs in BG1, however.....many of them were not very useful, others were in places which by the time you reached, you'd already formed your party.

To have more NPCs in BG2 would have cut down on interaction if you introduced more. I'm sorry, but I fail to see how 16 NPCs cannot be considered very many, when you can only recruit 5!

Oh God, not more of this pure thief cack. If they'd introduced one, it would have been a waste of an NPC since nothing in the game requires one!

Why not simply PLAY as a thief if you feel the other roles are overcrowded????
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fable
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Post by fable »

I wrote
Consider how many quests and how much interaction there currently is with just the NPCS we've got. I'm glad they didn't add more; they would have had to cutback on all the interactivity they provided.
Idiyen replied
Well, maybe. NPC scripts don't look all that hard to write (from a programming standpoint anyway) But with ToB they could easily put in ~5 more NPCs and their scripts.
My point wasn't that the scripts are hard to write, but the number of quests and the amount of interactivity involved for each character. Take Korgan, for instance. He's got his own quest, a variety of reactions to a whole range of circumstances (including all the arguments with other adventurers you'll come across), his interactive scripts with the rest of the party (including his vicious battle of words and ideas with Aerie), his sounding you out about his philosophy of life, etc. A lot of work appears to have gone into fleshing out Korgan's personality through all this, not to mention the spoken dialog (which takes up a good deal of space).
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Post by cheesemage »

I was thinking lets say you send yoshimo at one point to the copper coronet, finish all your bussiness there and never comeback. Then you might be able to summon him ToB because hes not dead. Just a thought......
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Quitch
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Post by Quitch »

He still dies, but there are ways to keep him alive, there's a thread (or ten) on it somewhere?

Anyway, didn't Bioware say you'd be able to summon NPCs at the start of ToB?
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cheesemage
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Post by cheesemage »

yes you summon them at the abyssal stronghold
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Post by ThorinOakensfield »

I think there are enough npcs, because in bg1 i doubt anyone even played with the npcs you get in chap 4 and 5 except the theif guy in cloakwood w/20 dex. There were 3 or 4 npcs in the city.
Although i would liked to have seen a halfling swashbuckler, a dwarven priest of helm, a half orc wizard slayer with really high magic resistence and some cool abilities that the pc can't get.
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