Edwin vs. Valygar - NPC Replacement

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 8:00 am

I lost my NS password and didn't feel like retrieving it ... so I made a new one.

But anyway - I'm still on Chapter 2, but I completed most of the quests for it. Still have my Necromancer who is now Level 13. And the party is:

Korgan - Level 12
Valygar - Level 10
Yoshimo - Level 15
Viconia - Level 13
Haer'Dalis - Level 14

I've just recently returned to Athkatla after finishing the Windspear and Umar Hill quests and conquering the de'Arnise Hold about a week ago, got hold of the Planar Sphere and now am trying to free the soldiers through Ribald. I've been planning on getting rid of Valygar simply because of his alignment - but so far - to my surprise, everything has been perfect. There are still the ocassional remarks by Korgan and Viconia (who get along perfectly) against H'D and Valygar. But no one talks about Yoshimo. So I still want to drop the ranger and get Edwin to complete the evil party. Should I do this?

Thanks in advance.

Obike Fixx · Post by **Obike Fixx** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 8:08 am

I think you should because, you have got enough Fighter in Korgan, but no mage(of course you have Haer'Dalis, but lets face it he IS weak).

But that's just my opinion.

MasterDarkNinja · Post by **MasterDarkNinja** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 9:43 am

Korgan - Level 12
Valygar - Level 10
Yoshimo - Level 15
Viconia - Level 13
Haer'Dalis - Level 14

get rid of Yoshimo and replace him with Jan. Jan is a MUCH better thief as well as a mage, you will be glad that you did this later. plus Jan is VERY funny (even funnier with Minsc)
you say that you are a necromancer...based on this party I think that you need all of the close up fighters that you have. Valygar is the 2nd best I'd say that you have. if you are a mage then you don't need edwin I say that a good party has the following.
3 fighters
1 thief
1 cleric
1 mage
as for if the mage is a necromancer illusionist you decide.
the guild book recommends (but I disagree with it)
2 fighters
2 mages
1 cleric
1 thief
with my suggestion you would have a thief/mage that can still increase both levels. I think that this is the switch that you should do, it is possible to get good and evil NPC's to work together just don't get your rep above 18 or else you'll be in trouble. once in a while with a party like that an evil act helps you (like killing the harpers lose 2 rep).

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 6:19 am

I decided to replace Valygar with Edwin. After defeating Lavok's incarnation in the Planar Sphere and listening to his comments about Necromancers and evil spellcasters, I realized that I stood for everything he hated - which wasn't good. He clearly said that "dead things should remain dead" - which I believe would piss almost any Necromancer off; at least I was. Edwin, on the other hand, I grew to like quickly after encountering him during the Renal conspiracy quest. You would think that two lawful evil Mages both yearning for power and domination wouldn't like each other very much, despite the similarities.

Immediately after doing the swap, the entire dynamic of the party changed. Things became more lively and entertaining. And to my surprise, during combat, Edwin let loose some incredible power. What I can't figure out is how he can memorize more spells than I can when I'm almost 2 levels higher than he. Nevertheless, he gets the job done very well.

I appreciate the advice and I don't mean to sound especially unappreciative to MDN's efforts to help me, but I gotta disagree with your opinions on Yoshimo and Haer'Dalis. Yoshimo, for the most part, serves almost as a fighter/thief for me. He has never been killed once and is talented in both respects of weapons and cunning. Haer'Dalis is, for a lack of better words, the most powerful character in my party. I don't know who told you people he was weak, but he surely is not. During combat he deals more damage than Korgan and Yoshimo combined and he can casts spells while wearing the Melodic Chain +2 I gave 'em. His dual-wielding abilities are incredible and offensive spellcasting abilities and almost as good as Edwin and my PC.

Let's just say I was incredibly lucky finding Haer'Dalis when I did. But I guess this lies within perspective.

Yuusuke · Post by **Yuusuke** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 8:20 am

Tiny Spoilers

You should replace Valygar with someone, that's for sure. He'll probably have a conflict with Korgan or Viconia some time down the line. Since there are no other neutral/evil melee NPCs in the game, I guess you're stuck with either Edwin or Jan Jansen. I might consider Jan, since you you're is already a necromancer. The problem is, if Korgan is your only tank, when you bump into mindflayers later and he gets stunned, your party is toast. Just make sure Korgan has plenty of berserker rage left when he meets up with the Illithids.

MasterDarkNinja · Post by **MasterDarkNinja** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 9:34 am

you CAN have both good and evil people in your group, you just need to stop your reputation from getting above 18. once in a while you need to do some evil deeds to keep your down some. (I've done it before). also don't do too many evil deeds or else you'll lose your good and neutral people instead of evil people. also there are a few quests that party members will betray you if you do the evil way so don't do the evil path if there's something at stake for someone in your group.

I don't mean to sound especially unappreciative to MDN's efforts to help me, but I gotta disagree with your opinions on Yoshimo and Haer'Dalis. Yoshimo, for the most part, serves almost as a fighter/thief for me. He has never been killed once and is talented in both respects of weapons and cunning.

Yoshimo is not a good NPC, in fact he's one of the worst.....replace him with Jan, Jan may not be good at close up fighting but you will regret not doing it later if you keep Yoshimo. Also I think that you have too many pure wizards. your going to have trouble with scrolls and your wizards. it's better (from how BG2 is made) to have one main wizard and one minor wizard that's also a thief (like Jan).
also you do need more close up fighters I agree with the others. maybe Keldorn would be a good addition. even though he's a bad paladin class he can still be powerful with the holy sword of +5 that you find on a dragon.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:19 pm

also, with edwin in party, let him keep the netherscrolls, and hop over to the graveyard.....

you will NOT regret it...

his spells are due to his family amulet, which is unremovable and undroppable, which gives him 2 extra spells per level...

if you install item upgrade, and make the sorc ring, you can give him so many spells its sick...

MasterDarkNinja · Post by **MasterDarkNinja** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 2:30 pm

it's true that due to that hacked necklace of Edwin's that he's a better wizard then you could ever build (unless you hack up their hp in the shadow keeper).

gnomethingy · Post by **gnomethingy** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 9:24 pm

Thats the annoying thing about a single class mage, its the reason why I always play a sorcerer, I mean.. Who wants there pc to be worse than an npc?

Heres an equipable copy of edwins amulet, if you sick of him having more spells than you...

Yuusuke · Post by **Yuusuke** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 10:54 am

SPOILER

I'm not even talking about reputations. I'm talking about the fact that Viconia and Valygar will get into a duel to the death.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Sep 06, 2002 1:55 pm

Re: SPOILER

Originally posted by Yuusuke
I'm not even talking about reputations. I'm talking about the fact that Viconia and Valygar will get into a duel to the death.

Unless you download the patch that prevents in-party conflict...

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Sat Sep 07, 2002 4:50 pm

Ohhhh ... kay.

Rewinding ... about the Illithids thing - I'm in the underdark now, and Korgan's level 17 I think. He can rage 5 times/day - 135hp. Enough said.

About the whole Yoshimo thing - he was also replaced with Imoen due to some ... *shifty eyes* ... unpleasantness in Spellhold. He can never return.

Moving along, I do realize Korgan's my only tank, and that he carries a HUGE load of melee responsibility. But his 53% total party kills and over 500 monsters fallen by his war hammers speaks for itself. During battle, I almost never have to pause unless like 4 people died at once. LOL, in fact the only person that can't cast spells IS Korgan. But trust me, I really like it this way. With Edwin and my PC side by side hurling spell after spell in the background while H'D, Korgan melee everything and Imoen backstabs (doesn't that seem perculiarly OOC for her?) everything turns out perfectly.

About the scrolls, things are cool with that. I've allocated most of the powerful evocational spells to Edwin and alterational spells to H'D. Imoen has illusionary spells while I have conjuration and death magic spells. Together, we've probably copied like 20,000xp worth of spells into our mage books - which helped level up 4 people, twice.

Oh and about Edwin's necklace: I figured it out when I tried to give him the Amulet of Power and he didn't ... let me, lol. So I knew that whatever he was wearing had to be good and making him more powerful since it couldn't be transported to anyone else in any way. I knew about being able to have good/evil chars together - but like I said Valygar was a necessary loss for other reasons. Whoa @ the Viconia vs. Valygar spoiler - had no idea, to be honest. Thanks for that heads up, regardless.

Yepperz