General Party Layout

Snc · Post by **Snc** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:58 pm

Hi. I've been reading these forums for a while but never had anything to ask, since almost everything can be found through searching old threads. However, I didn't find this, so what the hell, I registered and started the thread.

I'm wondering, what do you generally look for in a party? For me (I'm not interested in roleplaying, I'm more of a powergamer) It's 2 Fighters, 2 Mages, 1 Cleric and 1 Thief, with one of the mages being the weakest link and expendable if I want a smaller party and obiously having one character perform several roles.

My main character tends to be a level 9 Fighter dualed to Mage or Cleric (It was a Kensai Mage my first time through the game, Berserker Cleric the second, which I'm currently on). And I look for some strong, maybe pure class Fighter or Paladin to be main tank and soak up the damage while the Kensai wreaks havoc. My third character (and last if the main tank isn't pure class) tends to be a low level thief to deal with the traps and locks, providing some scouting every now and then. He generally duals to mage early on and becomes the offensive caster, with my PC (if he's a mage as well) casting primarily buffs and debuffs.

The party I have now is as follows:
- Me (Berserker 9 -> Cleric). Uses Flail of Ages, buffs himself pretty good and is an unstoppable killing machine.
- Keldorn. Mage slayer, good fighter when he gets his gloves of dexterity and uses the Carsomyr, number 1 reason to prefer him over other NPCs as a melee damage source.
- Imoen. She can handle all thievely things, albeit she needs a potion sometimes, and is a great mage. She's no Edwin but she fills two roles at once allowing for higher levels in the party. Since she's a thief she can use short bows and deal some decent damage when there's no need to waste spells.
I considered using Edwin but he isn't really needed since I'm on a good aligned party and Imoen isn't learning self buffs as I did with my Kensai->Mage, so she can handle buffing/debuffing and hurling the ocassional fireball. I'm lacking someone to use the awesome Long Swords (Keldorn does until he gets Carsomyr), but it's a compromise I had to make in order to keep the party small as I like it.

Well that was my useless rant. I'd like to hear what you think a well balanced party should be.

Aramant · Post by **Aramant** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:35 pm

I'm far from a power-gamer, but I find myself usually making very similar party compositions. Generally speaking, I have two tanks, a wizard, a cleric, a thief, and a high-dex fighter that primarily uses a bow. BG2 kind of makes this difficult, with everyone and his brother being multiclassed, but I make do with what I have.

I have a very straightforward approach to playing these games, so I'm not much of a buffing spellcaster. My means of dealing with most encounters is to use ranged weapons until the enemy closes, and then have my melee tanks crunch the enemy melee fighters. My thief, cleric, archer, and wizard use ranged weapons and spells to pick off enemy spellcasters and archers. I typically use my wizard to help take down stronger enemies with focused spells like magic missile or minute meteors, but if I can manage it without hitting my own party, I'll lay down webs, cloud kills, and fireballs when necessary. I'm not much of a summoner, and my cleric spells are pretty much used for healing, or for those higher level spells that cause serious damage to evil creatures or undead .

RBitG · Post by **RBitG** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:28 pm

I have always found, that you want characters that can do more than one job, as such, i always go for around 3 mages, 3 clerics (Or druids), 3 fighters, and a theif, that is,

That is, Me (Sorc. or Mage)
Minsc (Fighter, archer/Later level Druid spells, good tank)
Jaheria (Fighter/Druid)
Anomen (Fighter/Cleric)
Aerie (Mage/Cleric)
Immy (Theif/Mage)

They may be weaker at lower levels, but towards the end of the game, and in TOB, they really start to rock.

I always find it a good idea to have every party member able to cast spells, and often to perform a secondary role. This way you are never stuck in narrow passageways, with four of your characters incapable of action. Also, it is rare that party members will be disabled, because both Mage and Cleric type classes get rather good dispelling type spells. Also, if the cleric is dead, one of the other two can revive him/her/it.

CFM · Post by **CFM** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 12:20 pm

I would always have a full party, because I dig the diverse personalities & abilities of each NPC. I think any combo of NPCs can win the game fairly easily, especially after going through the whole game previously.

Parties of 6: 2 tanks, 2 priest spellcasters, 2 wizard spellcasters, and someone in there with Open Locks & Detect Traps. I think a druid & a cleric compliment each other, so as to have access to all priest spells.

My first game:
PC (Priest of Lanthander)
Keldorn
Minsc & Boo
Jahiera
Aerie/You-Know-Who from ToB
Yoshimo/Imoen

Minor weakness:
I felt a little underpowered wizardly until I rescued Imoen.

My next game:
PC (Fighter/Mage bad guy)
Mazzy/You-Know-Who from ToB
Korgan
Viconia
Edwin
Yoshimo/Imoen

Minor weakness:
I may miss having a druid compliment the cleric.

Since my first (only) play-thru, I've come to understand certain NPC pairs are more interesting to have in a party. For example, I understand the normally testy Korgan has interesting banter with Mazzy. I also hear Aerie with Haer'Dalis is fun, or Anomen with Keldorn. That would determine party compositions, at least for me. I'd take Jan along because I hear he's funny with most any other NPC. The fact that he's maybe the least strongest character is not a factor, at least for me.

On that note, if this thread was meant to be about power-gaming, my apologies for the outta-place reply.

Berethor · Post by **Berethor** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:49 pm

That seems like a balanced party so far. Here's what I had on my first playthrough:

PC (Assassin)
Minsc (Good Tank)
Keldorn (Carsomyr Rocks)
Jaheira (Good Tank with good spells)
Haer' Dalis/Imoen
Aerie (decent spellcaster)

on my second time; the one I'm currently on I have:

PC (Tank Wizardslayer)
Minsc (Good Tank)
Cernd (Greater Wolfwere and Nature's Beauty rock)
Viconia (TANK with Crom Faeyr)
Imoen (Good spellcaster/OK thief)
Jan (decent spellcaster/thief but I took him for the laughs)

My party is always balanced. My tanks the first time: Minsc and Keldorn. The second time: Myself and Minsc. My Mages the first time:Imoen and Aerie. The second time:Imoen and Jan. My cleric the first time: also Aerie. The second time: Viconia. My Druid the first time: Jaheira. The second time: Cernd. My Thief the first time: Myself. The second time: Imoen and Jan.
Both times I had an extra semi-tank(Jaheira and Cernd) but they played their druid role so other than that my parties were perfectly balanced.

My advice: Get another tank, one of the druids, and another mage.

Armycardinal · Post by **Armycardinal** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:25 pm

My 2 cents

I have played through a few times - always good guys...just can't seem to play the bad guy role

Me (female sorcerer/imported from BG1)
Keldorn
Anomen (smooch!!)

Jahiera
Aerie
Immy/Nalia

Not too bad. I will always say it...Aerie is awesome at higher levels. If this party had a weakness, it is not enough tanks. The 4 girls stayed back and plinked away with slings and spells.

Second

Me (male Paladin also imported from BG1/Carsomyr does indeed rock!)
Anomen
Jahiera (smooch!

)
Jan (I totally agree - he is a hoot and pretty good character too)
Aerie
Nalia/Immy

I fixed my tank problem with me, Ano, and Jah

Third

Me (male Archer - no smooching sorry)
Keldorn
Ano
Mazzy
Jah
Aerie
Immy/Nalia

Mazzy is undervalued IMHO. I needed a tank and with the right equipment, she can hold her own. Jah had an issue of tank or sling, but she was the perfect mid-range character - shoot sling bullets, dart forward to heal and whack someone's head and move back

Fourth

Me (female monk - OMG!!! monks are juggernauts! You wouldn't think to look at them - no armor, limited weapons, etc. She kicked, literally, some bad guys back where they belonged)
Kel
Ano (no smooching - she is a monk after all)
Jah
Aerie
Nalia/Immy

I was apprehensive, at first, about the monk class but WOW! You just get stronger and stronger. I also added and dropped NPCs to get their quests and more EXP.

and Finally, currently

Me (male swashbuckler, dualed longswords- trying to smooch Aerie)
Ano
Valgyar (dual w/ katanas, he is turning out to be a real "Billy Bad-a.." oops! sorry Fable :angel: )
Jah
Aerie
Nalia/Immy

I'll let you know how we do...we are mucking about the city right about now

Sorry for the length

AC

Amran_X_Kaiser · Post by **Amran_X_Kaiser** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 2:38 pm

Reply

Once I finally get my exams out of the way I plan to get all the rp games BG series and IWD series and go through them with the same group:

Paladin (high charisma for shops)
Fighter/Cleric (preferable to ranger/cleric as druid is covering those spells)
Fighter/Mage (dual-class with authority)
Fighter/Thief (my archer and backstabber)
Specialist Mage (loads of spells)
Druid (loads of offensive spells and summons are good)

Whether or not we actually make it is another thing.

As for party - go with what you know !!!

Hejmen · Post by **Hejmen** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:56 pm

heh

Heh, when I picked my party I pretty much went for which ever people I liked and didn't at one point try to kill each other (which was hard with Edwin and the drow in my party). I played the game a ton before I ever got around to finishing it, but here's the party I beat it with.

I was a fighter.
Edwin
Anomen
Cernd
Mazzy
Viconia

They are worked pretty well with each other I thought.