Are you satisfied of npc from black isle?

Angel[it] · Post by **Angel[it]** » Wed Jan 17, 2001 4:59 pm

I loves Bg2 but i think that more and various npc would be better what do you think about it?

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Role player from italy

Karembeu · Post by **Karembeu** » Wed Jan 17, 2001 5:12 pm

I think the mixture is pretty good...I mean we've got an alright mix of alignments(probably too many good ones but I guess Black Isle figured that most people would play good)....a couple of different races and classes. Obviously there is always room for improvement and I'm sure no one is 100% satisfied.
Personally I'd like to see an evil equivalent of Minsc....how about a stupid half-orc with a rat(instead of a hamster)???
Overall though I think the NPC's are pretty good....(especially that blonde half-elven lass Jaheira)......

geh4th · Post by **geh4th** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 4:14 am

I thought they should have brought back more of the BG1 NPC's. I liked that Dwarf Fighter/ Cleric (from the Cloakwood mines, forgot his name) and while he was a bit, um, weird, I thought that Corran was an awesome archer and a pretty good thief, to boot.

There was a LOT of unused kit possibilities if these NPC were included....Kivan (Archer), the crazy druid woman in cloakwook (Avenger), Ajantis (Cavalier, probably)...and they coulda used just about any of the thieves from BG1, most would have been an improvement in THAT department.

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"If you prefer, you could say EXPERT treasure hunter!"
--Gandalf the Grey, the Hobbit

Rail · Post by **Rail** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 4:26 am

I think the best suggestion is to bring back Branwen.

I liked that dwarven fighter/cleric too, but I can't remember his name either.

And make Mazzy and Valygar possible romances for the players. Branwen or Nalia, too. Give us some variety.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 4:36 am

If they had only made a pure thief that you could keep the whole game through... I certainly find Imoen and Nalia to much alike eachother. Also (since I most of the time play neutral/evil parties), I find it a bit disturbing that four out of sixteen NPCs are lawful good (Keldorn, Aerie, Mazzy and the beknighted Anomen).

I like that it is now more easy to gather your NPCs from start (with a few exceptions). Who wants any change in your group after several chapters? In my opinion, it is also a mistake from the creators to have made certain party constellations impossible. Only giving us 16 NPCs to mix with, I think that some heavy arguments between the NPCs should be enough (no need to leave or fight to death when they are most needed). Should two NPCs not be able to work together, why not at least let us know right away?

I believe we all have our favourites from BG 1. Personally, I absolutely adored Quayle (Why on earth did they not let us play him in BG 2!?) as well as Kagain ("Gold runs the world, kid..."). Eldoth was another favourite of mine (Skie on the other hand tended to have a lot of accidents).

Garcia · Post by **Garcia** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 5:03 am

As my girlfriend says: I am never satisfied

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 5:03 am

The name of the dwarven Fighter/Cleric is Yeslick ("I load sixteen tons and what do I get...").

Rail · Post by **Rail** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 5:11 am

Ah, yes. Thank you. Yeslick was cool.
And Kaigan was lots better than Korgan. "I'm gonna make us all stinkin' rich!"

Maurice · Post by **Maurice** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 5:52 am

I think the addition of a few more NPC's wouldn't have hurt the game. One or two more female love interests would have been nice.

As it is, many of the NPC's from BG1 return in BG2, and either get themselves killed (Adjantis, Coran, Tiax ...) or remain non-recruitable (Quayle). Some never make an appearance (Skie, Kivan, etc...)

Gurt · Post by **Gurt** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 6:53 am

I was a bit miffed with the assumptions that BlackIsle made about the composition of your party - how hard would it have been to check in the BG1 saved game (if you imported, as I did) to see who you had and modify the dialogue just slightly.

In BG1 I 'accidentally' allowed Jaheira's husband to die, and then dumped his corpse from the party, and also had nothing to do with Minsc who - against popular opinion maybe - I think is the most irritating thing to walk a virtual earth.

Biggest gripe. No thief. I'm going to have to get hold of magic items to boost Imoen's thief abilities up, coz they aint that good as they are. (mind you, if she had the thieving abilities of my Imoen in BG1 then it would be different.....)

geh4th · Post by **geh4th** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 8:26 am

My Khalid in BG1 had an "accident", too....it was most unfortunate. I kept Minsc, on the other hand......

Re: Imoen....you could always use Shadowkeeper to return Imoen to a true thief, and forget the magic altogether...... In my game, I DID dual her to a mage (illusionist, actually) but I did it at 5th level. Worked out well at the time.....

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"If you prefer, you could say EXPERT treasure hunter!"
--Gandalf the Grey, the Hobbit

Saumerez · Post by **Saumerez** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 8:33 am

Obviously more variety in recruitable NPCs is always better. I imagine it is a large increase in workload to put them in though.

I am guessing that they won't add any with the expansion either. TotSC added no NPCs so....just a guess.

millwall · Post by **millwall** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 8:39 am

Judging by the damage the do a friendly mind flayer wouldn't go amiss! But on a more serious note the number and range of NPC's is fine. What I would like to see is much more detailed or multiple NPC quests. If you are looking for additional NPC's I have a suggestion, but it would involve the creation of a couple of new kits. I'm thinking of a fighter or a mage with a mercenary kit. These would be just that bit better than your average fighter or mage but would have to be paid in gold on a daily basis. Run out of money and they either turn hostile or leave.

Kik'th Mutchath · Post by **Kik'th Mutchath** » Thu Jan 18, 2001 10:13 am

Yep, I'm afraid Mr. Khalid, AKA the most annoying 'man' alive, met with a rather grisly accident...SO tragic. One-in-a-million chance...He, um, ACCIDENTALLY brutally slashed his throat while shaving. Yeah.

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"What _can_ be cured must be endured..."

Giles the Sorcerer · Post by **Giles the Sorcerer** » Mon Jan 29, 2001 11:31 pm

I imagine it would be plenty o work. But they could be tied in with existing quests/NPC quests.

Adjantis could be tied in with Fiirkrag and that quest. Montaron could actually be rescuable from the harpers, That way his quest would be the same as Jaheria's.
Quayle and Aerie could be a pair like Minsc and Dynaheir were in the original.

Also, more thought should be put into what kits they have, in effort to give variety.
Valyagar could be a Wizard Slayer.

Haer'Dalis could be a sorcerer, and it would fit because he is extra planar (remember it says they are odd and have unusual powers.)

Nalia should be a straight thief (c'mon THREE fighter thieves is a bit excessive?)

Jaheria should be a RANGER/CLERIC. What she says and the like is not druidlike. I doubt she gives a flying @#$@ about balance.

Branwen could also fit in as helping you on the church quests, giving the option to have a cleric of a specific god.

Adjantis could not have died and agreed to help you with the Fiirkraag quest if Keldorn was not with you. (why does no one give me a different response their after killing 6 members of their organization?)

Morul, or one of the aprentices from the Planar Sphere could join you, bringing the number of mages without thieving abilities to a whopping TWO.

Yeslick could be a prisoner again somewhere ; )

I'm sure you could fit in many more, but these are the really easy ones.

bootlegcorndogs · Post by **bootlegcorndogs** » Tue Jan 30, 2001 12:25 am

Hell, I missed Xan.
"We're all doomed."
Wouldn't mind having Yeslick and Branwen back, either. Kivan I've always been pretty indifferent to, since half the time I play a ranger and I don't need him cramping my style.

As for the NPC variation in BG2 overall, I liked it. There was a definite "good" bias, though. My favorite NPC is still Jaheira, in spite of her mountain of script problems. And it wouldn't be a Baldur's Gate game without Minsc, although I miss Dynaheir. Granted, she was basically Jaheira's personality in a mage's body, which was PROBABLY why they killed her off, but she was still fun to have around. Jan was a great addition in the humor department, too, and I like the added depth to Viconia's character. All in all I think they did a pretty good job this time around. I'm hoping they expand greatly on the existing characters rather than introducing too many new ones in the inevitable expansion. Hell, if you ask me the expansion pack should be nothing but more individual NPC oriented quests, like Jan resolving his problems with that other gnome whose name escapes me, or Minsc completing his dejemma, or the PC and whoever his/her romantic interest was developing their relationship further.

-BC

Aegnor · Post by **Aegnor** » Tue Jan 30, 2001 5:47 am

It was great to see a larger number NPC's in BGII, having played Planescape where there are barely enough to fill your party. My only thing with these NPC's is you don't get 'em early enough (in their careers, that is) to tailor things like proficiencies to your needs.

The game needs more thieves. Not the trap-detecting, whiny do-gooders like Nalia (BARELY counts as a thief, IMO). Yoshimo's not a bad model, but if you've played far enough into the game you know what the problem with him is.

No, I want to see a stealthy, backstabbing, wall-climbing, trap-setting, hard and mean NPC thief. Something like what you get with Annah in PST (though maybe not so ridiculously powerful).

Hardly hear anything about those NPC's from the Collector's Edition...anybody have anything to say about them?

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Tue Jan 30, 2001 6:17 am

Aegnor; Are you implying that there are NPCs in the Collector's Edition that can actually join your party? Although I did not buy this version of the game, I believe you've misunderstood. The two NPCs in question are salesmen, offering weapons, armour and such (quite powerful and therefor expensive). If you did not buy the Collector's Edition, a file can now be downloaded to implement these two persons in your game.

Rail · Post by **Rail** » Tue Jan 30, 2001 6:31 am

I thought it was false advertising to say there were 2 new NPCs with the collector's ed.

Having played BG1 again, I think my favorite NPC is Kaigan- the dwarf. I hope they bring him back, though he is somewhat similar th Korgan, Kaigan's personality is just awesome.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Tue Jan 30, 2001 6:42 am

Well Rail, technically they still ARE NPCs even if they cannot join your party, right?