Aerie again.......!

[Punkatt]

Hi.... Im planning on playing a caster party with
Main - Fighter/mage
Anomen - Cleric healer/tank
Aerie - Cleric/mage Support/healing
Edwin - Mage Heavy support
Kheldorn - Paladin Damage dealer
Jan - Thief/support

My question goes as this.... Will I make a huge mistake in taking Aerie since she`s multi or has she got potential? I`ve read a bunch of theads but none really suggesting Good/Bad so I`d like to have some fresh opinions stacked.
Post some quickly so I wont get that far in the game and losing lots of exp.
Ehh? Thx on forehand

[dj_venom]

Based on having Aerie, you have four mages in your party. Now I love a mage as much as the next guy, but personally, I think it's overkill, as there's only a certain amount of damage a bunch of mages can do. As such, with your party, Aerie wouldn't be that suitable.

Basically, Aerie has two things going for her, Cleric and Mage. Now, as I said earlier, you have the mage part covered by you, Edwin and Jan. So that means if you took her, it would be only for the cleric part. Having two clerics is fine, however you could do much more with that position. If you still want the healer, then I would agree with you (two healers is COOL), but Aerie is simply a weak cleric. If you wanted a cleric, you can go Viconia, as she can fare much better than Aerie. If cleric isn't that important, but you'd still want healing, than you can go with Jaheria for more firepower (never thought I'd say that). Then of course, if you don't want a second healer, you could take a fighter who can go even better than them (and no, I don't want to start a Fighter vs. Druid vs. Viconia debate).

My advice: Go with either Viconia or Jaheria, and don't take a fourth mage.

Hope all of this is helpful to you.

[Berethor]

Well, you + jan + edwin + aerie would be pretty redundant. You should have an evened out party with 3 fighters and 3 mages. I see u like anomen because he is a F/C. Anomen is a fairly good cleric, but another cleric might be useful, might I also suggest Jaheira. She can take a pounding and heal so that makes her good also(insect plague rocks!)then you will want a tough tank. There are 4 options in my opinion. Keldorn, Minsc, Mazzy, or Korgan.

Korgan definatley does the best damage and hits a lot, but he has a lot of missions when you first get him. also you have to keep you reputation average or he will get angry
(note:dont put korgan and aerie in a party, they have katfights )

Mazzy is a tough little halfling with potential, but is an expert as an archer. she is either a grand master or high master of the short bow, so you can count on some major long-distance damage. but she can also be really good as she is specialized in short sword, which makes her a good warrior too, but in my opinion, there arent that many good short swords in the game.

Keldorn is an damn good paladin that can deal out MAJOR damage. he is also renowned for his auto dispel magic, which can be helpful when party members are scared of dragons etc. he is especially good when you beat firkraag and get the carsomyr + 5, and even better when you upgrade it in Throne of Bhall

Minsc is an amazing ranger. how could ya not love him and his hamster boo? they plant their bootprints in the buttocks of evil over and over again. there are many good 2 handed swords he can use so you can expect him to do amazing damage. the only problem is that boo leaves penut shells in my backpack

[Punkatt]

How could I pick Aerie for her cleric skills only? First you dash out Webb & GREATER malice and similar spells and some area affect spells like incineration clouds and finally you smash 4 sequensers with three fireballs thats 12 fireballs at a time.or finger of death, dragon breath or other epic spells . One can only say evil...

[Deadalready]

Aerie isn't bad as a caster, she's capable of doing some rather interesting combinations...

I don't like her dialogue that's the only real problem with her, still I think it's better to go with Jahiera to get access to some of those unique druid spells.

[Lonelypilgrim]

Aerie will become much more useful later on.There was something about it in Druid Multi-Class thread...

I on the other hand really like Aerie`s dialogs.
So i voted for picking her up.

[TonyMontana1638]

I was always a big fan of Aerie and found her versatility very useful and would drop some other members of your party before her like anomen (whom i hate with a passion) but that would make your party magic-heavy in keeping her. Jaheira or viconcia would be a good replacement, and really depends on your style of play. Jaheira isn't a tank really, but she is versatile and has access to some unique druid abilities that are worth taking an extra look at, is a competent healer and a better fighter than Viconcia. Viconcia will have access to all of those sweet high-level cleric spells and will be very powerful later in the game, but she isn't as good of a fighter (constitution of 9 doesn't help). Both would work in your party, but it's a matter of preference I suppose. Another option would be to use both and drop anomen, or to go with Viconcia and replace anomen with a fighter like Minsc (one healer is usually enough, specially if shes a great one like viconcia... just make sure to protect her if you go that route though). It's a matter of preference, but at least this post and those that preceded it should help point you in some direction.

PS Jaheira and Viconcia also are my two favorite romance options if that matters to you at all . Hot drow, hot half-elf anyone (and yes I know they're pixelated characters for chrissakes...)?

[fable]

[QUOTE=Berethor]Well, you + jan + edwin + aerie would be pretty redundant. You should have an evened out party with 3 fighters and 3 mages.[/QUOTE]

Um, no. You can play it anyway you want, but when you start laying down The Law for others, that's when it needs to be repeated: as has been said frequently before in these forums, you can win BG2/SoA with any combination of party NPCs, including a full mage party (which you can create using the multi-game). Given how easy the game is with a typically balanced party even for a new player, skewing it to one side actually puts a bit of a challenge into things.

[Berethor]

[QUOTE=fable]Um, no. You can play it anyway you want, but when you start laying down The Law for others, that's when it needs to be repeated: as has been said frequently before in these forums, you can win BG2/SoA with any combination of party NPCs, including a full mage party (which you can create using the multi-game). Given how easy the game is with a typically balanced party even for a new player, skewing it to one side actually puts a bit of a challenge into things.[/QUOTE]

thats not exactly what I meant. I meant to say you could, just so your mages could have some physical, because if a mage is taking a pounding, what good is a mage if he cant cast a spell? Im just saying you could have an even party so your mages could cast spells without getting hit as much.

note:improved alcarty helps a helluva lot, but those are high level abilities

[fable]

[QUOTE=Berethor]thats not exactly what I meant. I meant to say you could, just so your mages could have some physical, because if a mage is taking a pounding, what good is a mage if he cant cast a spell?[/QUOTE]

A mage can summon other things to take the pounding.

[Faust]

Personally, I'd keep Aerie and drop Anomen (unless you are a female PC romancing him for another fighter type (i.e. Mazzy, Minsc, Valygar). You are a bit caster heavy, for my taste.

[Coot]

@Punkatt: Fable made a classic and valuable point: you can win this game with any (kind of) party. So feel free to take npc's in your party that you like because of their personalities or quests.

[Sononara]

I hate Aerie with a passion. Anomen, on the other hand...what a man!
Keldorn too...he's also good.
But, methinks you should leave Aerie out, (crap dialogue, annoying voice, stutters, always dies, really is crap at everything, imo) and replace er with Jaheria...now thats a woman!

For any who may be confused, currently im playing a woman. Thats why Anoman is one hellva man. In the past, ive romanced Jaheria, and thats why she is one helluva woman. Besides...I dont think lesbianism is possible in BG:2

[UserUnfriendly]

[QUOTE=Sononara]For any who may be confused, currently im playing a woman. Thats why Anoman is one hellva man. In the past, ive romanced Jaheria, and thats why she is one helluva woman. Besides...I dont think lesbianism is possible in BG:2 [/QUOTE]

aeriematch=1
viconiamatch=1
jaheiramatch=1

chloe, imoen romance mod, and a few others in the works

[fable]

But, methinks you should leave Aerie out, (crap dialogue, annoying voice, stutters, always dies, really is crap at everything, imo)

We are talking about the same Aerie, right? The character who can become not merely among the strongest in one profession, but in two, simultaneously? And use spells that harness both sets of powers, together?

[Punkatt]

KAboom

Hi!

I just want to tell you that my party owned the shadowdragon at lvl 9
So that proves it I would say....
And about the romancing... hehe Keldorns got Aerie I think B/ and Myself I`ll settle with Anomen and Jan is just an observer making pointers

P.S. greater malison + mass barrage from my mages owned his as right of the ground

[Sononara]

Yes, we are talking the same Aerie. But who needs Aerie, when one has anomen, and two sourcerors? Sourcerors whoop mages anyday, because u can cast the spells as u need them. Plus, Anomen reaches the high level spells much faster than aerie, same goes for both kesley, and my pc sourceror. Not to mention the annoying voice of Aerie...

[dj_venom]

Trust me, there's nothing wrong with having Aerie and Anomen, or Aerie and other wizards. I went through the game with Fighter, Minsc->Sarevok, Keldorn, Anomen, Jan and Aerie.

Now, I had SoA before ToB, so I had reached top level by the time I beat it. Then I finally got ToB, and continued my previous game. Now here is where I was really shocked.... I didn't reload once! I killed all necessary enemies with no problems, and it was extremely easy to me. I went back to these boards and wondered why people were having so many problems, however I'd managed to do my party perfectly.

I figured out afterwards that I went well because Aerie had finally reached the good spells, and started to work well with cleric. As for Jan, he also helped out heaps, and two mages are better than one. As for having Anomen, he's a good fighter, and having two clerics really speeds up the game with having more healing.
<hr>
As Fable said before, this game can be played with anyone, and any combination. So the best choice, is to pick what is right for you, roleplaying or otherwise.