Party Configuration Questions (spoilers welcome)

[Katoya]

Greetings and Salutations,

I am running a Kensai/Mage (currently lvl 9/10 NG) and I am looking for a complete party that does not completely annoy me. I am part of the way through Chapter 2 and about to fight the Red dragon after successfully vanquishing the Shadow dragon.

Currently I have:
Minsc just made lv 10
Keldorn
Yoshimo – I know he eventually leaves
Anomen
Jaheira

I would like to add another magic user to the mix. I have read some walkthroughs that say that Minsc and Edwin will eventually fight. I really like Minsc’s personality and he is generally decent in a fight. I would eventually like to get him the Silver Sword and the +5 avenger for Keldorn. I know that Edwin will not get along with either Minsc or Keldorn.

Jaheira is now high enough level that she can produce fire elementals and is starting not to suck. (She mainly just uses the +5 sling). I am not interested in the romance but the 100,000 eventual exp would be nice.

I was also thinking about getting rid of Anomen. Unfortunately, Viconia will not work with my configuration also. Anomen is really annoying and not that great. I could get rid of him and just keep Jaheira and run with no cleric. (I had Aerie for a while but she was SO ANNOYING that I was quite pleased when she departed in a huff because I would not coddle her any more…)

My question is who should stay and who should go?

Maybe add Jan and drop Anomen?

What other NPC’s would you recommend under these circumstances?

Thanks and Cheers,

Katoya

[Amran_X_Kaiser]

Reply

Protaginist (Kensai/Mage)
Viconia
Edwin
Korgan
Yoshimo

and any other NPC for a limited amount of time - this is to get the quests that they bring with them - after that just dump them. You get a good NPC in TOB.

[Katoya]

Protaginist (Kensai/Mage)
Viconia
Edwin
Korgan
Yoshimo

and any other NPC for a limited amount of time - this is to get the quests that they bring with them - after that just dump them. You get a good NPC in TOB.

Thanks,

This would be superior if I was evil.

I want to stay good hence my query....

[kmonster]

Regarding power your party is fine, just trade Yoshimo for Imoen as soon as possible and maybe minsc for a better warrior.

But since you can't stand Anomen you'd better dismiss him, the game is harder without cleric (the +2 AC and saving throws from PfE 10'" help a lot), but still doable.
You can keep a party of 5 for gaining more XP and power faster or replace him by anyone you want, you've enough fighting,arcane and druidic spell power with your 5 characters (assuming you want to trade Yoshimo for Imoen or Jan later).

Jan is the only one who adds high level thieving skills like trapsetting or x5 backstab for the whole game, and he's even multiclassed with the overpowered mage class, so regarding power he's the best non-cleric party add-on, especially for ToB.
Valgyar adds backstabbing, Mazzy adds plain fighting power with the best stats and halfling bonusses, Haer'Dalis bardic power.
You can afford to choose your whole party based on sympathy, your character could even solo the game.

[AvatarOfLight]

The party I used was
Minsc
Keldorn
Anomen
Jaheira
Aerie

Aerie would be the good (as in alignment) caster choice. She's a cleric/mage after all. You could even drop Anomen as you've got a replacement cleric. It leaves you without a thief. But having finished IWD, BG and NWN series without one, I assure you it's not a problem xD

[Katoya]

Regarding power your party is fine, just trade Yoshimo for Imoen as soon as possible and maybe minsc for a better warrior.

But since you can't stand Anomen you'd better dismiss him, the game is harder without cleric (the +2 AC and saving throws from PfE 10'" help a lot), but still doable.
You can keep a party of 5 for gaining more XP and power faster or replace him by anyone you want, you've enough fighting,arcane and druidic spell power with your 5 characters (assuming you want to trade Yoshimo for Imoen or Jan later).

Jan is the only one who adds high level thieving skills like trapsetting or x5 backstab for the whole game, and he's even multiclassed with the overpowered mage class, so regarding power he's the best non-cleric party add-on, especially for ToB.
Valgyar adds backstabbing, Mazzy adds plain fighting power with the best stats and halfling bonusses, Haer'Dalis bardic power.
You can afford to choose your whole party based on sympathy, your character could even solo the game.

Cheers,

Actually, I could not stand Aerie. She left in a huff over a romantic tiff with Jaheira. She was the MOST annoying. Anomen is fine for the moment but expendible. You make a good point about the PfE.

Jaheira is also annoying but becomming more useful. In combat she mostly uses her sling... so she could be expendible for the right replacement.

Yes, I am planning on Imoen or Jan. Whom is better between the two? Imoen would be more of a mage but Jan would have stronger thieving skills. I can't recall if an Illusionist has many offensive spells.

I like Minsc, He's entertaining. If I were to get rid of him whom would you recommend?

I had Mazzy for a while and she did not do well on the front line. Valygar??

Thanks

[Katoya]

It leaves you without a thief. But having finished IWD, BG and NWN series without one, I assure you it's not a problem xD

How did you open all of the locked doors and chests?

Aerie left. And I don't think I want her back.

[RPG Guy (sorta)]

How did you open all of the locked doors and chests?

Aerie left. And I don't think I want her back.

With all the mage power you want to carry, load up on Knock. You're other LVL 2 spells will soon be obsolete except Resist Fear and perhaps the occasion use of Web (loaded into a minor sequencer).

Good luck.

PS Agree on Aerie. What a truly horrid personality. I actually killed her in the game I'm playing right now, while she was still under the illusion spell in the circus tent. I pretended to not believe her story as an excuse to do away with her right-quick!

(evil grin)

[kmonster]

Jan fits better into your party than Imoen since you already have a fast levelling mage but no real thief.
The few necromancy spells he can't cast aren't as useful as the extra spell per level he gets as illusionist, especially since he isn't the only mage in the party. With ToB he can even cast level 9 spells and gets the fantastic thief HLAs.
Storywise Imoen fits better.
You can even take both for an even more powerful party, mages are sooo overpowered.
If you want Imoen you'd better hurry to rescue her so she won't be too far behind in XP. (besides the moralic aspect unless you want to roleplay an evil character who has fun killing dragons while she suffers waiting for her rescue)

Mazzy is superior to Minsc if played properly, better AC because of high dex, faster levelling, immense saving throw bonusses for being a halfling. Low strength doesn't matter, just cast "strength" twice for 18/00 or give her an item.
But the game won't be considerably harder if you keep Minsc. You like him, so there's no need to dismiss him.

Valgyar is great if you want to use him for backstabbing, for normal combat he isn't better than Minsc.

If you want to get rid both of Jaheira and Anomen you can go to Trademeet where you'll meet Cernd, a shapeshifter druid. But he can't raise dead party members until he has 3,000,000 XP and gained the first HLA. Make sure you don't forget to reload if you don't have a cleric in your party and get level drained by vampires or other undead. Keeping a restoration scroll for emergencies doesn't hurt either.

[VonDondu]

Currently I have:
[Kensai/Mage]
Minsc
Keldorn
Yoshimo
Anomen
Jaheira

I would like to add another magic user to the mix...

Priest spells are great, and it's nice to have Druid spells as well as Cleric spells, so I recommend that you keep both Jaheira and Anomen.

A Kensai/Mage is versatile, but I reckon you will cast a lot of buffing spells to get the most out of your character (instead of a wider range of offensive spells). You have three spellcasters already, but I agree that you need another Mage who can cast Wizard spells that will complement your Kensai/Mage's spell selections. For example, if your Kensai/Mage uses all his 4th level spell slots on Stoneskin, your other Mage can memorize Greater Malison, Emotion, and/or Teleport Field. While your Kensai/Mage uses all his 2nd level spell slots on Mirror Image, your other Mage can memorize Glitterdust (which works very well in combination with Greater Malison and Emotion). You can apply the same line of thinking to other spell levels. For 3rd level spells, your Kensai/Mage can memorize Haste, Invisibility 10' Radius, Ghost Armor (or whatever buffing spells you prefer) while your other Mage memorizes Slow, Skull Trap (not available to Illusionists), Spell Thrust, and Melf's Minute Meteors. It's nice to have as many 5th level spells available as possible (e.g., Breach, Lower Resistance, Hold Monster, Spell Immunity). For 6th level spells, your Kensai/Mage can memorize Tenser's Transformation, Improved Haste, Contingency, Protection from Magic Energy, Protection from Magic Weapons, etc. while your other Mage memorizes Death Spell (or Death Fog), True Sight, and maybe Improved Haste for your other party members. When it comes to 8th level spells, it's nice to have double the number of Horrid Wilting spells. When it comes to 7th level spells, Project Image creates a clone that can cast spells but it can't physically attack. You definitely want your second Mage to use it, but I don't know how often you want your Kensai/Mage to use it. Maybe you'd prefer to have your Kensai/Mage cast Mordenkainen's Sword a couple of times before going into battle and use Spell Sequencer (you can make some spells bypass your enemies' magic resistance by targeting yourself) while your other Mage casts Project Image and empties the clone's spellbook and quick slots. Your spell selections depend on your own playing style, of course, but hopefully you see my point. A second Mage lets you concentrate and specialize.

You also need a Thief who has basic thieving skills to replace Yoshimo. So naturally, I recommend a dual-class or multi-class Thief/Mage. Either Imoen or Jan would be a good choice. I'd probably choose Imoen because she can reach higher levels as a Mage than Jan. (That offsets the extra spell per level he gets for being a Specialist Mage, and she can cast more higher level spells than he can.) She doesn't talk much after you rescue her from Spellhold, so it doesn't matter if you find her annoying. On the other hand, Jan can set traps and he gains High Level Abilities from the Thief pool (e.g., Use Any Item and Spike Trap), and he has funny dialogues, including some memorable dialogues with Minsc, Anomen, and Keldorn.

When your characters reach high levels, Minsc will actually be the weakest member of your group if you play your party members to their maximum potential. Anomen is underestimated by most people, but if you buff him up properly (Draw Upon Holy Might, Righteous Magic, Armor of Faith, Protection from Evil, etc.) and take advantage of his Turn Undead ability, he can out-fight just about everyone else with the exception of your Kensai/Mage. Jaheira is also a very powerful warrior and should not be underestimated. She can cast Ironskins and she has some nice summoning spells (don't you like having five party members who can summon Devas/Planetars?), and her insect spells are devastating to enemy spellcasters. Nature's Beauty is so powerful, it's almost cheesy, and her High Level Abilities are wicked. Keldorn's special abilities (Dispel Magic and True Sight), low saving throws, Carsomyr, and Summon Deva ability give him many advantages over Minsc. When you get to Throne of Bhaal, you could replace Minsc with the new NPC (give him the Ravager halberd). If you keep Minsc in your party, don't forget to use his Ranger/Druid spells (Armor of Faith, Doom, Resist Fire/Cold, Call Lightning, Summon Insects, etc.). Either way, you'd have three warriors in your party (Keldorn, Jaheira, and Minsc or the other guy) who can cast Hardiness, Whirlwind Attack, Deathblow (have Jaheira cast it in combination with Fire Seeds), and Critical Strike (have Jaheira cast it in combination with Energy Blades), and you'd have one of the most powerful parties imaginable.

I can't think of anyone else to add to your party unless you favor someone's personality or personal quest. I agree that you shouldn't add Edwin, Viconia, or Korgan to your party, and none of the other NPCs besides Aerie (Mazzy, Valygar, Nalia, Cernd, Haer'Dalis) has any special advantages over the ones you have already selected.

[Klorox]

I say you just keep on as is until you can add back in Imoen (you already know Yoshimo leaves, so Imoen can be your thief then as well).

If not, your party is missing a Thief, which leaves only Jan (he's awesome) and Nalia (she stinks as a Thief, and I hate her personality) as your choices.

[Katoya]

Now What?

VonDondu and Klorox,

Thanks for your replies.

So I decided I wanted to add Jan to my party. I took a quick trip to pick him up before going to kill the Red Dragon and he would not talk to me. I am a little foggy on this but I think he spoke to me before but I told him that I did not have any time.

Now what?

Is there a way to get him to talk that does not require some special program or editing?

If not what is the simplest way?

[AvatarOfLight]

How did you open all of the locked doors and chests?

Well I showed you my party and there's plenty of knock. I played sorcerer and paladin mostly, who could knock/bash pretty much everything. Traps are a pain, but in games like Icewind Dale you can just have your cleric stock up on detect traps and walk around em or have your fighter/paladin/monk set them off.

[Jedi_Sauraus]

You can consider Nalia or even better Imoen for thieving,If you can stand them. Jan makes a good option if your in need of an extra mage, but I wouldn't have him as your primary arcane caster.

IMO don't go with Jaheira just for a 1 time 100k powerup it's not really essential. She does get powerfull dual wielding scimitars and makes a good tank because of Iron Skins.

She has one drawback, and that it her lack of clerical abilities.they come in very handy the first part of the game and are still moderatly usefull for later on.