Simply, the first time I played BG2, I said, stuff this I'm gonna put together the best party possible disregarding Good or Bad.
This was my party.
Me (Fighter Mage)
Keldorn
Minsc
Imohen
Edwin
Viconia
Now this party did own, but 2 minor problems occured, ONe: Minsc and Edwin dont work together in the same party, at some point they attack each other, removing themselves from the party completely, the same thimg happens between Viconia and Keldorn.
TWo: Simple thing that I had trouble keeping my Repution at a point where everyone was happy.
Don't know why, but whenever I had minsc and edwin, they'd hardly say a word to each other... yet alone fight.
Same thing with Keldorn and Viconia...
Ah well Guess my PC was just so damn charasmatic that they wouldn't fight just to keep me happy!
Cartoon Law III
Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to its perimeter. Also called the silhouette of passage, this phenomenon is the speciality of victims of directed-pressure explosions and of reckless cowards who are so eager to escape that they exit directly through the wall of a house, leaving a cookie-cutout-perfect hole. The threat of skunks or matrimony often catalyzes this reaction.
Slight disagreement on the power of your party. Korgan is much better than either Minsc or Keldorn and Anomen (if he passes the test) is better than Viconia. She is really not that much better at spellcasting and her fighting skills are weak. I am also partial to Valygar over Minsc and Keldorn.
Anomen better than Viconia? I don't think Anomen is better than Viconia even if he does pass his test. She has higher wisdom than he does (even as a knight), and keep in mind that she has 65% magic resistance. Besides, she's much more fun to have in the party, and her high dex means her armor class can make her a suitable tank in the late game (though I've found that Jaheira can on average become the most armored npc).
I saved Suldanesellar from destruction, and all I got was this stupid amulet.
My philosophy on Viconia vs. Anomen is that, if I can't use another tank (i.e. I already have 3 tanks), I take Viconia for the magic resistance (useful since you don't want your Cleric disabled during combat) and less annoying voice set.
However, if you're trying to get by with a balanced yet small (3 or 4 members) party, Anomen is one of the most powerful characters you can get, far better than Viconia (or Jahiera).
I'm not sure why you prefer Valygar to Keldorn or even Minsc. Unless it's the katana proficiency, but CF isn't close to as good as Carsomyr. And Minsc doesn't make you waste a strength belt.
If you can spare the Str and Dex-enhancing items (not always a given, since several other characters need them too), Keldorn is far more useful than Korgan, since he can use Carsomyr, true sight, and dispel magic. I've always thought Minsc was just okay and annoying as hell, but that's just me.
My uber-party:
Swash/Mage
Korgan
Keldorn
Anomen
Edwin
And I wouldn't take a sixth member unless you want druid spells (Jahiera/Cernd), an archer (Mazzy, at least in SoA because of the superior short bows). Besides, five members leaves space for Sarevok.
my thoughts are that vico is much better than anomen. give her crom fayer/str belt and she can use great armor and is virtually immune to wizard spells. comparing their stats-
vicos str=less but /w belt of str is okay
ano dex=less but /w dex gloves is ok
vico con less but hp not too important to a cleric
INT is unimportant
vico has higher wis
cha unimportant (i dont know theirs anyway)
anomen will always be a better frontline ftr, more attacks /rnd +hp's.
viconia will always be a better 2nd rank char, higher wisdom, more spells, mr, higher dex for missle weapons.
the major diff is control vs destroy undead.
----
myself, i prefer anomen since i don't like sending mages & clerics into combat to begin with, why would i equip my healer w/ a weapon that gives her a massive str boost only to keep her in the back ranks? or send her in for one attack?
imo, the only evil char that (by far) outstrips any good counterpart is edwin, the sheer volume of spells the guy mem's is nuts. even more w/ ring wizardry & acuity.
and the all important 18 int, which by the book means he's the only npc able to cast 9th lv spells.
