Good Alignment Party - What should I choose?

Tjobov · Post by **Tjobov** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 6:46 am

Heya, I'm having thoughts on which good alignment party I should choose. I'm considering these two:

Tjobov (me) - Bard, Half-Elf, Neutral Good
Imoen - Thief, Human, Neutral Good
Minsc - Ranger, Human, Neutral Good
Dynaheir - Invoker, Human, Lawful Good
Coran - Fighter/Thief, Elf, Chaotic Good
Branwen - Cleric, Human, Neutral Good -or- Yeslick - Fighter/Cleric, Dwarf, Lawful Good

Other option:

Tjobov (me) - Bard, Half-Elf, Neutral Good
Imoen - Mage, Human, Neutral Good
Kivan - Ranger, Elf, Chaotic Good
Ajantis - Paladin, Human, Lawful Good
Coran - Fighter/Thief, Elf, Chaotic Good
Branwen - Cleric, Human, Neutral Good -or- Yeslick - Fighter/Cleric, Dwarf, Lawful Good

So which of these two party's should I choose? And should I pick Branwen or Yeslick? And if I'm turning Imoen into a Mage, what kind of a mage then? ("normal mage", invoker etc.)
Ofcourse, if you have other good alignment party suggestions, feel free to drop them here

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:03 am

Well as to what I'd make my good party if I were going with 6 would be: Branwen
Xan
Kivan
Imoen
Ajantis/Coran(depending on your needs)
PC being whatever you want because with that party all bases are already covered. I'd go with a tank style fighter if I'd chosen Coran and an archer style if Ajantis.

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 3:30 pm

First party: I wouldn't use two thieves for xp reasons. But then again, you could let Coran specialise in hide in shadows and Imoen in picking locks.
Second party: for Imoen, illusionist would be the best choice.

Qwinn · Post by **Qwinn** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 8:01 pm

I prefer Imoen/Minsc/Dynaheir/Kivan/Yeslick, almost regardless of what my PC's class is.

(With Branwen as cleric until you -can- get Yeslick, of course)

Qwinn

JoyDaemon · Post by **JoyDaemon** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 10:23 am

Different parties have different NPC reactions. It's so fun when you realize a new feeling between your party members. Choose Silke, Eldoth and Garrick, it's so

. IMO the best good alignment party is Minsc, Dynaheir, Yeslick (better stats than Branwen), Coran (supreme Dex) and Kivan.

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 7:50 pm

Well last I looked at the book there was no difference between 19(which you as a PC could easily attain) and 20 dex, but even with that he still has two up on Kivan. But I'll take bandit hunting dirty harry over that wyvern hunting thief any day. Sentimental reasons, I guess.

Maphestow · Post by **Maphestow** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:37 pm

hey,
i've played through this game at least four times and have tweaked my team a little every time to try and pick the team which is best for me. i'm sure your tastes will be different, but you may want to try mine too.

Me - Mage
Imoen - Dual Classed to Invoker
Minsc - Ranger (intentionally kill off Dynaheir)
Branwen - Cleric (her stats I find to be better than Yeslick's)
Coran - Thief (use Safana until you can get to him)
Ajantis - Paladin

I am playing again right now and this is the first time I have used Coran and Ajantis, but they seem to be doing very well. Good luck choosing!

VonDondu · Post by **VonDondu** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:03 pm

[QUOTE=Coot]First party: I wouldn't use two thieves for xp reasons. But then again, you could let Coran specialise in hide in shadows and Imoen in picking locks...[/QUOTE]
If you were talking about two Thieves whose skills would be redundant, I wouldn't have two of them in the same party, either. But you have just pointed out why it's nice to have Coran and Imoen in the same party.

Essentially, Coran is a Fighter, and Imoen is a Thief or a Mage/Thief, so their respective roles in the party do not really overlap. And as you have pointed out, if you're short on thieving points (as low level characters tend to be), you can give them complementary skills. I once had a party with two Thieves, and one of them could Pick Locks, and the other one could Find Traps.

The same principle applies to Mages: if I have two or more Mages in my party, I allow them to specialize in (and memorize) different spells.

Curry · Post by **Curry** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 9:51 am

[QUOTE=Tjobov]Heya, I'm having thoughts on which good alignment party I should choose. I'm considering these two:

Tjobov (me) - Bard, Half-Elf, Neutral Good
Imoen - Thief, Human, Neutral Good
Minsc - Ranger, Human, Neutral Good
Dynaheir - Invoker, Human, Lawful Good
Coran - Fighter/Thief, Elf, Chaotic Good
Branwen - Cleric, Human, Neutral Good -or- Yeslick - Fighter/Cleric, Dwarf, Lawful Good

Other option:

Tjobov (me) - Bard, Half-Elf, Neutral Good
Imoen - Mage, Human, Neutral Good
Kivan - Ranger, Elf, Chaotic Good
Ajantis - Paladin, Human, Lawful Good
Coran - Fighter/Thief, Elf, Chaotic Good
Branwen - Cleric, Human, Neutral Good -or- Yeslick - Fighter/Cleric, Dwarf, Lawful Good

So which of these two party's should I choose? And should I pick Branwen or Yeslick? And if I'm turning Imoen into a Mage, what kind of a mage then? ("normal mage", invoker etc.)
Ofcourse, if you have other good alignment party suggestions, feel free to drop them here[/QUOTE]

The 2nd party is much better IMO. It takes a while until you get Coran though. I, however, prefer parties with less than 6 members. It makes the game a bit more challenging in the beginning and but unfortunatelythey lvl up faster than a party of 6. In your party it is Branwen who is the most useless character but the choice is yours. Oh, and you didn't tell us whether you're gonna dual Imoen to conjurer or (what is the 2nd option, illusionist?).

Tjobov · Post by **Tjobov** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 2:55 pm

Which fifth and sixth NPC should I choose?

Hey, it's me again -the starter of this post-, and I'm slowly coming to a decision. Although your advice was very welcome, I'm still more going along with option 1. Meaning:

Me - Bard, Half-Elf
Imoen - Thief (just a thief, nothing mage-like)
Minsc - Ranger
Dynaheir - Invoker

I'm quite sure that I'm going with this choice, but I'm still wondering if I chould choose Branwen or Yeslick, and if I should take Coran, Ajantis or Kivan as a sixth person (although probably not Kivan, seen that I already have a ranger). I probably take in Branwen and see how Yeslick will do when I find him later in the game.
Still, advice about a (good-aligment) fith or sixth player would be very welcome. Tjobov.

The Great Hairy · Post by **The Great Hairy** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:40 pm

Ajantis is pretty quick and easy to get, and you can get him straight away, without having to wait for a while. Coran you can't get until Chapter 4, so I would suggest grabbing Ajantis ASAP.

Stick with Branwen until Chapter 4 as well, then you can decide if you want Yeslick rather than her.

Note that Kivan and Minsc are quite different styles of Ranger, as Kivan specialises in bows and Minsc specialises in two handed swords.

Cheers,
TGHO

Tjobov · Post by **Tjobov** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:09 pm

Well, I must say that you are really giving good advice, Great Hairy One, thanks very much. That goes for all of you, by the way.

Still, I'm having two more questions:
1. When you dual-class Imoen, what are excactly her abilities? I saw, that after I had just dual-classed her, that she couldn't wear any armour anymore and couldn't use any of her 'thief weapons'. Now, I've read that she regains her thief skills when the Mage Class is one level above the Thief Class, but does that also mean that she can wear armour again, use the weapons etc.? Also, can she use Mage Cloaks?

2. How important is intelligence to your main character? While playing Icewind Dale, I noted that a high intelligence is quite useful because you get smarter dialogue options. However, with Baldur's Gate I'm not yet having the feeling that it matters. (only ofcourse, if you are a mage, but I'm talking about the other professions (fighter, thief, paladin etc.))

The Great Hairy · Post by **The Great Hairy** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:58 pm

[QUOTE=Tjobov]1. When you dual-class Imoen, what are excactly her abilities? I saw, that after I had just dual-classed her, that she couldn't wear any armour anymore and couldn't use any of her 'thief weapons'. Now, I've read that she regains her thief skills when the Mage Class is one level above the Thief Class, but does that also mean that she can wear armour again, use the weapons etc.? Also, can she use Mage Cloaks?[/QUOTE]

Once her Mage Class is higher than her Thief Class, she can use all of her thiefly items again, such as leather armours, short swords, short bows, etc., etc. However, remember the restriction on casting mage spells whilst wearing armour (you can't). She'll also be able to use her thief skills again at this point.

Anyone can wear magical cloaks.

[QUOTE=Tjobov]2. How important is intelligence to your main character? While playing Icewind Dale, I noted that a high intelligence is quite useful because you get smarter dialogue options. However, with Baldur's Gate I'm not yet having the feeling that it matters. (only ofcourse, if you are a mage, but I'm talking about the other professions (fighter, thief, paladin etc.))[/QUOTE]

It does affect dialogue in BG2, I'm not so sure about BG1. Although I wouldn't really play any PC with an INT less than 10 to be honest.

Cheers,
TGHO

Tjobov · Post by **Tjobov** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:50 am

Whooptie, I said magical cloak, but I meant mage robe. You know, these robes that only mages can wear, which give for an excample electrical resistance to the wearer. I wasn't referring to the cloaks like Algernon's Cloak

LotharBot · Post by **LotharBot** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:36 am

Imoen can wear a mage robe as soon as you dual-class her. In fact, that should be her armor for the rest of the game. Once she gets her thief abilities back, she can wear leather armor but can't cast any spells while she's wearing it, so you want to keep her with just a mage robe.

There are some nice robes at High Hedge...

The Great Hairy · Post by **The Great Hairy** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:15 pm

You can find a pair of Bracers of AC 6 and a pair of Bracers of AC 7. So they can be used for armour as well, as they allow mages to cast spells whilst wearing them.

Cheers,
TGHO

TheAmazingOopah · Post by **TheAmazingOopah** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 3:37 pm

Hey, I've decided to take Coran in my party, and I want to get him as fast as possible, meaning getting him straigt away after I cleansed Bandit Camp (which I doing right now). However, I wonder if Coran gets displeased, if you don't do his quest right away (I mean the one with the wyverns). I noticed how Jaheira gets impatient if you don't go to Nashkel straight away and that Minsc gets angry if you wait to long with freeing Dynaheir.
The thing is that I don't want to do the Coran quest right away, because Wyverns are quite strong and I am "only" at level 5 right now, so I wanted to wait a while untill I get a bit stronger with however Coran already in my party. Is this possible?

Curry · Post by **Curry** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:19 pm

He will leave your party if you don't do his quest. I'm not sure how many days it takes until he leaves though.

TheAmazingOopah · Post by **TheAmazingOopah** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:42 pm

Ah, thanks for your post, but the problem already was solved: I just decided to try the wyvern quest anyway, and it was quite easy since the 'not-really-that-dangerous-baby-wyverns' blocked the 'quite-dangerous-big-wyverns', so it wasn't really hard.

However, now I'm facing a new, well, sort of problem. It's not serious, but now Yeslick is complaining that he wants to flood the mine. I crossed Cloakwood just to get Yeslick out of his cell, and then headed straigt ahead to Beregost to collect the money for the wyvern head plus bandit scalps, and to kill Basillus. And so now, Yeslick is giving his first warning (he's with me 5 days already). This is probably the same thing as with Coran (I just have to do the quest as soon as possible), but still, can anyone give me a bit of information? Can I kill Basillus and clean Cloakwood forest first, before proceeding to the mine?

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:27 am

It's probably best to give Yeslick what he wants. When npc's start complaining about quests it won't be long before they leave. You probably have a few days left before he does but travelling back and forth between the Cloakwood mines and Bassilis takes a lot of time IIRC.