A Party Dilemma

Gaidal · Post by **Gaidal** » Tue May 15, 2001 10:53 pm

Ok I made the mistake (perhaps) of choosing to mix alignments in my party. This was long before I figured this could have any impact on my party (I played precious little of BG1). I've gone through a significant part of the game and finally come out with a party I'm satisfied with:

Me (Swashbuckler Thief)
Minsc
Mazzy
Korgan
Aerie
Viconia

Now as you can see, the evil throws a wrench in things. I was completely clueless about the reputation thing! Aerie has served as my mage for the better part of the game, but I tend not to rely heavily on mages. She primarily casts Haste, Breach, Pierce Magic, that sort of thing. I've found that most of the offensive spells are either useless or do too much damage to my party.

Anyways, I'm confident I could get through the rest of the game with this party (they're very good together, fighting wise!) and they haven't fought in ages! In fact, Korgan is extremely amusing, IMO.

However, I've recently gotten to the end of Chapter 4 and am faced with the option of rejoining Imoen to my party. Since my main character is a Thief, I have no need of them. Should I get Imoen? Who should I drop for her? (keep in mind I'm stuck underground with not a heck of a lot of equipment to give her) AND if you recommend having a mixed-aligned party, how does my configuration work out?

ElvenKing · Post by **ElvenKing** » Tue May 15, 2001 11:16 pm

I almost always play parties with compatible alignments to avoid the eventual conflicts. Unless you have the happy party patch installed, eventually Aerie and Korgan will fight, forcing you to choose between them. If you don't dump Korgan, Aerie leaves.
You have enough tanks, but in my opinion you could use more mage power for later in the game. One can never have enough Breach spells memorized... With that in mind, I would dump Korgan's cranky butt in Spellhold and pick up Imoen. This would give you the very versatile following lineup:

1) Minsc (CG Main Tank)
2) Mazzy (LG Backup Tank)
3) You (Main Thief/Emergency Tank)
4) Viconia (NE Main Cleric)
5) Imoen (NG Main Mage)
6) Aerie (LG Backup Mage/Backup Cleric)

You now have a party for all occasions. Plenty of bashing, and eventually with the right equipment Viconia can become really good at melee also. Tons of spellcasting; you have the best cleric in the game, the second best mage, and Aerie can be scary with sequencers for both mage and clerical spells. Also you have the best thief IMHO in the game with the Swashbuckler. Don't worry about equipment for Imoen - eventually you'll have more than enough amazing stuff for her.
Hope this helped,
ElvenKing

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Wed May 16, 2001 12:35 am

I don't know if Aerie leaves when Korgan is in your party....people say that viconia and Keldorn will fight, but i made 1 full game and a half with them and had no problem....
I'd say hello to Minsc....Korgan is much better IMO (and also have the berserker fury....)
Anyway, defeinetly take Imoen. A mage able to cast high lvl spells is a must near the end of the game IMO

Manveru · Post by **Manveru** » Wed May 16, 2001 12:49 am

Aerie doesn't leave ... she fights with Korgan after some time like Viconia - Keldorn.

Gaidal · Post by **Gaidal** » Wed May 16, 2001 12:39 pm

Man is that ever a hard decision..

Korgan IMO has some amazing natural resitances... he always seems to survive a domination attempt or otherwise.. And Minsc goes to town with his two-handed sword. Would I be wiser then to get rid of Aerie and keep Imoen as my primary mage? It'll be difficult to choose between Minsc and Korgan.

ElvenKing · Post by **ElvenKing** » Wed May 16, 2001 4:35 pm

Depends on what sort of style you want to play through with I guess. If you drop Aerie and keep Korgan your party will become pretty heavy in the melee department. If you prefer to go toe-to-toe with everything in the game this is the way to go. If you want to balance things out more, drop Korgan and keep Aerie. Then you would have one mage to dedicate strictly to knocking down defenses (Breach, Greater Malison, etc.) while the other one could become a purely offensive juggernaut. Plus with two clerics you could buff up a party with multiple protections VERY quickly. Personally I would go with the second combination, but once again, it all depends on your style of play.
Hope this helps,
ElvenKing

P.S: I could never bring myself to dumping Minsc. He is just too good with a 2H Sword to consider getting rid of. Plus he's loyal to your PC, sticking with you since BG1. I'm a big fan of loyalty...

[ 05-16-2001: Message edited by: ElvenKing ]