"Perfect Party" for BG II and TOB?

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Thu May 17, 2001 5:38 pm

What do you think of the following "perfect party" for BG II and TOB? I'm sure there are many different versions and ideas of the "perfect party," but what are the advantages/disadvantages of the following party? I'd like to do a final tour of BG II taking my time acquiring magical items and preparing myself for TOB coming out in a couple of weeks....

1) Cavalier w/ Lilacor->Carsomyr
2) Half-Orc Barbarian w/ Defender of Easthaven and Drinker Sword
3) Cleric/Ranger w/ Flail of Ages and Harmony Shield
4) Evil Elven Assassin w/ Celestial Fury->Blackrazor or Tansheron's Bow->Gesen Bow
5) Sorcerer w/ Staff of Rynn->Staff of Magi
6) Halfling Cleric of Talos w/ Mace of Disruption->Crom Faehr or Sling of Everard

--Riverwind

ElvenKing · Post by **ElvenKing** » Thu May 17, 2001 6:11 pm

Everyone has their own opinions as to what makes the 'perfect' party. For me, the perfect party is one that is balanced in all aspects of the game. Able to dish out the melee, can throw spells with the best of them, lots of healing power and finally could steal the Crown Jewels out of the Tower of London. Also, and this is entirely subjective, I feel it important that they get along. No opposite alignments if possible. I realize that with 6 created characters this won't matter at all, but think of them as NPC's. You wouldn't want them always scrapping would you?
With all this in mind I would go with the following.

1) Human Cavalier w/ Carsomyr
2) Dwarven Berserker w/ Crom Faeyr and Dwarven Thrower
3) Human Kensai/Mage w/ Celestial Fury and Dak'kon's Zerth Blade
4) Elven Swashbuckler w/ Equalizer and Blackrazor and Gesen Bow
5) Halfling Priest of Lathander w/ Flail of Ages and Sling of Everard
6) Elven Sorceror w/ Staff of Magi

Personally, I think these guys are scary. Tons of melee ability, good clerical abilities, lots of spells, and a very good thief. I would go with a Berserker over a Barbarian any day just to be able to wear the premium armours, but that's just me.
I would hate to meet this group in battle...
ElvenKing

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Thu May 17, 2001 6:28 pm

Your party is actually pretty similar to mine. Regarding berserker versus barbarian, berserker would be my #2 choice for my #2 slot. Berserker can wear plate, barbarian can't--true. But barbarian can wear splint, including Ashen Scales, Armor of Faith, Jester's Chains, and Crimson Chain, all of which are close to plate. Also, a barbarian, especially a Half-Orc Barbarian, rolls d12 instead of d10, also has 19 constitution, total HP by the XP cap is about 175 HP. Finally, the Barbarian has 20% resistance to physical damage, add to this the 20% resistance to physical damage of the Defender of Easthaven, and you get 40% resistance to physical damage.

I think we both agree on a halfling pure cleric. I think you're more mage-oriented with your extra mage (Kensai/Mage) while I opted for an extra cleric (Cleric/Ranger). With a straight thief, the swashbuckler was my other choice, but I wanted a backstabber. (Assassins get x7). And I also wanted a missile attacker. Your swashbuckler can of course use a shortbow but since as a swashbuckler you want to dual-wield, it's going to be awkward switching between dual-wield and two-handed missile weapon. You gave your swashbuckler perhaps two of the most powerful one-handed weapons--I did pretty much the same thing for my blade. Problem is this. For some reason, when a non-fighter is hasted, he doesn't get additional attacks per round, can still only fight once with each hand. Not only that, but for some reason, instead of having twice as many attacks, he gets half as many--I tested this out a number of times, with autopause per end of round, and whether it was my swashbuckler or my blade, with the Boots of Speed or under the effect of Blackrazor's Haste effect (5% chance per hit) it actually cut in half my number of attacks per round so I only got one per round. So, you may want to give the Blackrazor to someone else.

--Riverwind

The Antichrist · Post by **The Antichrist** » Fri May 18, 2001 12:26 am

1. Blade
2. Paladin (any kit, they all kick arse)
3. Swashbuckler/Cleric
4. Specialist mage (invoker probably)

no need for 5 or 6 party members
and this party is fun as well as good
otherwise another good party is a

1.swashbuckler/mage
2. Korgan
3. Viconia
4. Edwin

another fun and kick arse party.

The Antichrist · Post by **The Antichrist** » Fri May 18, 2001 12:38 am

oh and one more thing......
kensai/mages suck
fighter/mages are much better
fighter/mages can wear bracers (bracers of AC 3 are very good)and helmets (vhailors helm and helm of brilliance come to mind)

another thing is that when you dual class the kensais bonuses dont amount to much

but then again its up to you

TheHellion · Post by **TheHellion** » Fri May 18, 2001 12:39 pm

Frankly, I can't imagine playing through ToB for the first time without NPCs, simply because you'd miss out on so much of the game. How will romances develop? What will become of Imoen? Will Minsc ever complete his djemma? Will Edwina come back to haunt Edwin as some bizarre split personality? Do dozens of furious Bhaal-spawn have a hankerin' for some turnips? Jan can deliver. Is Keldorn ever going to fulfill his promise to return home to his family? Can Aerie really cast a Spell Trap/Spell Shield/Absolute Immunity/Stoneskin/Blade Barrier/Tenser's Transformation spell combo? Curious minds want to know.

[ 05-18-2001: Message edited by: TheHellion ]

Red Inquisition · Post by **Red Inquisition** » Fri May 18, 2001 1:05 pm

A group of Assasins would be cool. They could all go aroud backstabing everything. Plus you could dual one or two of them to mage or clerc. It would be like a mini theives guild trying to take over.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Fri May 18, 2001 1:06 pm

A halfling cleric isn't the best choice a halfling has a penitilty to wisdom

Red Inquisition · Post by **Red Inquisition** » Fri May 18, 2001 1:12 pm

Would not the elf be a better clerc and halfling a better theif?

Yacobod · Post by **Yacobod** » Fri May 18, 2001 1:30 pm

i like this party

-half-orc barbarian
+++ dual weilding
++ maces
++ long swords
Mace of Disruption and Skullcrusher, and Equalizer and BlackRazor

-bezerker/cleric 9/20
Flail of Ages and Crom Faeyor

-elven sorceror
Robe of Vecna, Staff of the Magi

-swashbuckler/mage 10/17
dakkon zerth blade and belm
bladesinger chainmail

i think a party of 6 is overkill

i prefer a party of 4 because they level up faster

i dont think this is the best party, but it suits my playing style the best

it has the 2 tanks, 2 high level mages, theifing ability, and a high level cleric

Locke Da'averan · Post by **Locke Da'averan** » Fri May 18, 2001 2:16 pm

Paladin UH with carsomyr-> better in turning undead than cleric since his immune to level drain if you ran across some vampires(don't have to play with negative plane prot. all the time)

half-elf ranger/cleric dual wielding defender of easthaven and FoA

human monk->with cap remover and in ToB 100% magic res.+ insane speed+good dam+good THAC0+doesn't need almost any equipment (gauntlets of crushing)

half-orc fighter/thief(sword of balduran/daystar->equalizer/black razor) good in melee and in time a good thief also like a swashbuckler with multiplying backstab

sorcerer staff of magi+robe of vecna this guy is heavy artillery, in ToB and in BG2.

Kensai/Mage(zerth blade+CF) also a very good tank+ a good caster too.

Very few things can take down this party (a better party maybe)

very heavy in melee and also very heavy in magic+C/R's heal spells, works for me, atleast.

PaulDenton · Post by **PaulDenton** » Fri May 18, 2001 4:18 pm

Kensai(NG)
Minsc
Anomen
Nalia/Imeon

Swashbuckler(LE)
Korgan
Viconia
Edwin

PaulDenton · Post by **PaulDenton** » Fri May 18, 2001 4:19 pm

FYI, you can beat the game with any ****ing party!

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Fri May 18, 2001 4:27 pm

I will continue with my last party...

Cavalier.
Minsc.
Imoen.
Jaheira.
Nalia.
Edwin.

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Fri May 18, 2001 4:36 pm

You wrote--
1. Blade
2. Paladin (any kit, they all kick arse)
3. Swashbuckler/Cleric
4. Specialist mage (invoker probably)

That looks very similar to the Party of Four I finished the game with the first time through--I had:

1) Keldorn the NPC Paladin
2) Korgan the NPC Berserker
3) Mina III the PC Swashbuckler/Cleric
4) Haer Daelis the Blade

I also believe in a party of four--however, I thought it'd be interesting with a party of six to maximize the chances that my party would survive through the Throne of Bhaal Challenge.

--Riverwind

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Fri May 18, 2001 4:42 pm

Red Inquisition:

I think you may be right. It's not written anywhere about the halfling getting a -1 to wisdom, but I noticed that upon character creation--I had always thought it was just a -1 to strength. I had chosen halfling for the cleric because I wanted a bonus to slings, and I was going to count on Crom Faehr to compensate for the low strength--well, I think I may go for a different race--what about dwarf or half-orc by the way for the cleric?

As far as the Assassin, I wanted an elf because I wanted 18 strength and 19 dexterity and the bonus to bows, but it turns out that the best bows in BG II are shortbows, and I think that for some reason elves seem to only get a bonus for longbows? Problem with halfling is I'd like my thief to melee sometimes, I plan to give him the Celestial Fury towards that goal, a -1 to strength for a halfling would be a downer. What about a gnome assassin?

--Riverwind

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Fri May 18, 2001 4:44 pm

@Yacobod

I like your party of four a lot, except that you don't have any missile attacks--why not add in an Archer?

--Riverwind

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Fri May 18, 2001 4:46 pm

Locke:

Are you sure that a cleric-ranger can dual-wield? Because I think for some reason you can't put three stars in it, only two.

--Riverwind

Yacobod · Post by **Yacobod** » Fri May 18, 2001 7:19 pm

ive played through the game several times already, and i never used any missile attacks

i know there are many good short bows available, but i never seemed to use them

do you think it is better to go with an archer, or say an assassin to get the poisoned arrows??

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Fri May 18, 2001 9:11 pm

A straight elven swashbuckler believe it or not might be one of the best archers. Because it gets +1/5 levels combat bonuses--not as good as the Kensai's +1/3 levels, but Kensai cannot use missile weapons while the swashbuckler can.

Well, I don't think that the Archer's "Called Shot" is that great--regarding the Assassin, there are a very limited number of missile weapons it can poison--I have experimented and found that it can poison the Necradan Crossbow +3. Problem with a thief archer is that you don't get the additional attack/round which fighters or rangers get. Another interesting archer would be the wizard-slayer.

--Riverwind