Sup everyone,
I'm going to play through this game and Throne of Bhaal after having beaten the original Baldur's Gate about a year ago and I'd like some tips on good classes to make my main character and what party members to use. I'm going to play a mainly good-guy character, maybe a Paladin or a mage or something, and a mostly-good party but other than that I don't know much else.
I'd like to play through as much of the game as possible in one go and do most of the sidequests and see the most story possible. So I want to keep in my group the most plot-important characters, which from browsing forums I think would be Minsc, Jaheira, and Yoshimo/Imoen. I've played for a couple hours just messing around but already I've decided that I can't use Aerie, she just drives me crazy.
But from what I can see keeping these three guys and adding a Paladin main character leaves me with only two spots to have basically all of my magic and have temporary characters for their own sidequests, and I don't know if that's enough room for that kind of stuff. I should probably have my main character try and fill the magic gap but I'm more of a roleplayer than an uber-powergamer.
So basically I'm wondering if it's possible to strike a balance between being able to see as much of the important plot and dialog as possible and causing a bunch of damage in combat. And what kind of main character class would give me the best shot of having a lot of plot-important characters in my party and still being able to play through most of the game.
Main character class/party selection help!
You don't have to play the perfect game, most players who finished it didn't even understand the rules properly.
You can beat the game with any party, you can even solo it with any class.
Regarding "being able to see as much of the important plot and dialog as possible", most NPCs have little sidequests, but you won't miss much if you play without NPCs at all. It's really not worth keeping annoying companions who destroy your roleplay feeling for weeks just because they might trigger a 5 minute quest.
If you are greedy for everything you could select a 5 person party for SoA and use the 6th slot for NPC swapping. NPC quests have usually a time trigger, you can add them to the party, remove them and when you add them again for a very short time the quest will start.
At the beginning of ToB when all the sidequests are over you will get a new NPC for your party, just don't do Watcher's Keep in SoA or the XP balance will be screwed.
I wouldn't go for the NPC sidequests, I'd rather try being able to experience all the spells and other options the programmers had developed, like the extremely powerful HLAs only thieves and bards can use.
If you play a paladin use a kit, all kits are stronger than the plain paladin.
Minsc doesn't have a sidequest and is the weakest NPC, so keeping him doesn't fit to both of your goals.
If you want to make sure you get all of the sidequests you'll have to use a spoiler, nuisances can destroy big sidequests, and if you aren't spoiled you might not even know that there was one.
So use a walkthrough -or better all walkthroughs-, read them and be a robot, don't play the game, work through it step by step.
For the best gaming experience I recommend the following:
Create your paladin kit, try to max out dexterity and constitution (if you can't have 18 in both lower one to 8) , dump wisdom, it's useless.
Forget the spoilers you read about BG2, just play. Decide the NPCs you take based on sympathy when you meet them. Don't bother about little things you might miss or battles which might be harder. You'll have achieved something more valuable.
If you get stuck you can ask for spoiler-free help here.
You can beat the game with any party, you can even solo it with any class.
Regarding "being able to see as much of the important plot and dialog as possible", most NPCs have little sidequests, but you won't miss much if you play without NPCs at all. It's really not worth keeping annoying companions who destroy your roleplay feeling for weeks just because they might trigger a 5 minute quest.
If you are greedy for everything you could select a 5 person party for SoA and use the 6th slot for NPC swapping. NPC quests have usually a time trigger, you can add them to the party, remove them and when you add them again for a very short time the quest will start.
At the beginning of ToB when all the sidequests are over you will get a new NPC for your party, just don't do Watcher's Keep in SoA or the XP balance will be screwed.
I wouldn't go for the NPC sidequests, I'd rather try being able to experience all the spells and other options the programmers had developed, like the extremely powerful HLAs only thieves and bards can use.
If you play a paladin use a kit, all kits are stronger than the plain paladin.
Minsc doesn't have a sidequest and is the weakest NPC, so keeping him doesn't fit to both of your goals.
If you want to make sure you get all of the sidequests you'll have to use a spoiler, nuisances can destroy big sidequests, and if you aren't spoiled you might not even know that there was one.
So use a walkthrough -or better all walkthroughs-, read them and be a robot, don't play the game, work through it step by step.
For the best gaming experience I recommend the following:
Create your paladin kit, try to max out dexterity and constitution (if you can't have 18 in both lower one to 8) , dump wisdom, it's useless.
Forget the spoilers you read about BG2, just play. Decide the NPCs you take based on sympathy when you meet them. Don't bother about little things you might miss or battles which might be harder. You'll have achieved something more valuable.
If you get stuck you can ask for spoiler-free help here.
"Minsc is the weakest NPC"
Wow. I strongly disagree. He's both very funny and doesn't need a STR enhancing item to do respectable damage in melee. Later on, with some enchanted hide armors, he can do some scouting as well.
Jaheira is a great character to have for your first run through the game. She's very powerful, she's got a very long, ongoing sidequest (it bumps it's way into the story from time to time, while you're doing the main quest), and you can grab her at the very beginning of the game.
My goals were similar to yours when I first started playing, and this is the party I went through the game with. YMMV:
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist
Jaheira (Fighter/Druid)
Minsc (Ranger -- very high STR)
Imoen (Thief > Mage)
Keldorn (Paladin)
Aerie (Cleric/Mage)
As kmonster pointed out, you don't need an uber powerful party to have success. The above party is far from perfect, but it worked for me. Different players have different playing styles. Mess around for a few days and decide what you like before commiting to it.
Wow. I strongly disagree. He's both very funny and doesn't need a STR enhancing item to do respectable damage in melee. Later on, with some enchanted hide armors, he can do some scouting as well.
Jaheira is a great character to have for your first run through the game. She's very powerful, she's got a very long, ongoing sidequest (it bumps it's way into the story from time to time, while you're doing the main quest), and you can grab her at the very beginning of the game.
My goals were similar to yours when I first started playing, and this is the party I went through the game with. YMMV:
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist
Jaheira (Fighter/Druid)
Minsc (Ranger -- very high STR)
Imoen (Thief > Mage)
Keldorn (Paladin)
Aerie (Cleric/Mage)
As kmonster pointed out, you don't need an uber powerful party to have success. The above party is far from perfect, but it worked for me. Different players have different playing styles. Mess around for a few days and decide what you like before commiting to it.
"A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives."
-- Jackie Robinson
Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-mênu!
-- Jackie Robinson
Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-mênu!
My first ever game I played as an Elf Mage with Minsc, Jaheira, Nalia, Aerie and then the final place taken by either Yoshimo or Imoen. As others have said, you don't need a uber-party to be able to complete all the important parts of the game together with all the non-npc related side quests, as well as quite a few npc side quests. One of the best things about BG2 is the sheer number of NPCs to choose from meaning you can replay the game and it will be slightly different everytime. Don't worry about trying to do everything in one game. You can do all the main stuff no matter what your party is and trying to do every npc quest in the same game (in my opinion) can be a lot of hassle which can lead to frustration. I find it far more enjoyable to just go for a party that suits my PC and every run through try new classes and hence new npcs
FunkyBob,
I'd suggest considering a Thief PC, perhaps a Fighter/Thief or Swashbuckler. The big advantage of carrying a thief sort of PC is that you never have to worry about having a good thief in your party. You never have to worry about "giving" Yoshimo all those XP or whether Imoen is a good enough thief, etc. And if you have a Ftr/Thf MC or dual class, or a swashy, you'll have a fairly potent warrior as well as a strong character in the thieving skills.
As for NPCs, I'd suggest initially trying to build your party around a core of 4 or 5 characters (including your PC). For a good party, Jaheira is a definite keeper. Minsc is a solid tank, but I tend to find him a bit annoying after a while. I tend to like taking Anomen, in spite of his annoyingness, because he's such a powerful tank/cleric combo. And my #1 mage preference is Nalia.
So, between a Ftr/Thf or Swashy PC, Jaheira, Anomen, and Nalia, you end up with all the important roles covered, and you can pick and choose the other 2 NPC slots to your heart's content. Of course, you'll likely want to leave room for Imoen, so she'll probably simply take the slot that you use to shuffle in and out NPCs that you've taken to get their quests.
In my most recent party with a female elven Ftr/Thf PC, I ended up going thru a LOT of NPCs for various reasons. I let Minsc stay dead. Jaheira ended up in some sort of endless dialogue loop, so I booted her, rather than give up on the game. I picked up Valygar to only do the Planar Sphere and Cernd to do the Druid Grove (because Jaheira was long gone at this point). I picked up Haer'Dalis, of all characters, because Anomen permanently left the party, and I just wanted a warm body in the 6th slot before I picked up Imoen.
With a few exceptions, you can shuffle quite a few of the NPC's in and out of the party while continuing to go on your various missions. And for the most part, even the weakest of those NPCs won't really affect the overall power of the party if you have a strong core party. Cernd, who I tend to regard as rather weak, was only along for the ride in the Druid Grove, which I cleared while one of my core tanks, Mazzy, was caring for her ill sister. And for the most part, the only useful thing I had him do was challenge Faldorn at the end of the Druid Grove "mission". (Of course, he's such a wuss that I had to reload and semi-cheese this victory, by buffing him up with ImpInvis, prior to the challenge, for him to beat Faldorn.)
Just settle on a core of 3 or 4 NPCs, plus your PC. Rotate thru the other NPCs as you see fit. And don't be afraid to continue adventuring, if you have to temporarily lose one of your core NPCs.
I'd suggest considering a Thief PC, perhaps a Fighter/Thief or Swashbuckler. The big advantage of carrying a thief sort of PC is that you never have to worry about having a good thief in your party. You never have to worry about "giving" Yoshimo all those XP or whether Imoen is a good enough thief, etc. And if you have a Ftr/Thf MC or dual class, or a swashy, you'll have a fairly potent warrior as well as a strong character in the thieving skills.
As for NPCs, I'd suggest initially trying to build your party around a core of 4 or 5 characters (including your PC). For a good party, Jaheira is a definite keeper. Minsc is a solid tank, but I tend to find him a bit annoying after a while. I tend to like taking Anomen, in spite of his annoyingness, because he's such a powerful tank/cleric combo. And my #1 mage preference is Nalia.
So, between a Ftr/Thf or Swashy PC, Jaheira, Anomen, and Nalia, you end up with all the important roles covered, and you can pick and choose the other 2 NPC slots to your heart's content. Of course, you'll likely want to leave room for Imoen, so she'll probably simply take the slot that you use to shuffle in and out NPCs that you've taken to get their quests.
In my most recent party with a female elven Ftr/Thf PC, I ended up going thru a LOT of NPCs for various reasons. I let Minsc stay dead. Jaheira ended up in some sort of endless dialogue loop, so I booted her, rather than give up on the game. I picked up Valygar to only do the Planar Sphere and Cernd to do the Druid Grove (because Jaheira was long gone at this point). I picked up Haer'Dalis, of all characters, because Anomen permanently left the party, and I just wanted a warm body in the 6th slot before I picked up Imoen.
With a few exceptions, you can shuffle quite a few of the NPC's in and out of the party while continuing to go on your various missions. And for the most part, even the weakest of those NPCs won't really affect the overall power of the party if you have a strong core party. Cernd, who I tend to regard as rather weak, was only along for the ride in the Druid Grove, which I cleared while one of my core tanks, Mazzy, was caring for her ill sister. And for the most part, the only useful thing I had him do was challenge Faldorn at the end of the Druid Grove "mission". (Of course, he's such a wuss that I had to reload and semi-cheese this victory, by buffing him up with ImpInvis, prior to the challenge, for him to beat Faldorn.)
Just settle on a core of 3 or 4 NPCs, plus your PC. Rotate thru the other NPCs as you see fit. And don't be afraid to continue adventuring, if you have to temporarily lose one of your core NPCs.
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fable
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I've played with most of the party NPCs in the game at one time or another, as well as several NPC mods. There's frankly no bad team you can make up. Some party members are more strategically challenging, which is why I've enjoyed Nalia, Cernd, and Haer'dalis: each of them is excellent, but has to be handled carefully.
If you're doing a first run through, though, I would make sure you have the basics of tank-fighter/thief/cleric/mage covered. Beyond that, you're on your own. Every party you create will simply handle things a bit differently.
And if you want a very different gaming experience, try the NPC mod, Valen. She takes much further the idea of party members occasionally making choices for you, but that's the idea--if you enjoy playing evil.
If you're doing a first run through, though, I would make sure you have the basics of tank-fighter/thief/cleric/mage covered. Beyond that, you're on your own. Every party you create will simply handle things a bit differently.
And if you want a very different gaming experience, try the NPC mod, Valen. She takes much further the idea of party members occasionally making choices for you, but that's the idea--if you enjoy playing evil.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
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BlueSky
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Take some hints from all the replies above: look through some old threads and make up your own mind, its more fun that way. My first playthrough I used a tank as my main character, filled up the other slots and did the swap out tactic to do most side quests...but like mr_sir has said, it can be a little distracting to try to do all the side quests...I suggest that you choose your main, fill out your party as you see the storyline play out, and make your decisions about side quests as they pop up. I then tend to go back and replay with variations to complete the side quests that I missed on first try.
I do not intend to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death"-anon
BlueSky, I think that there are ways to go thru quite a few NPCs without having to go out of your way to do an NPC shuffle, simply because you want to do all the NPC side quests.
As I mentioned in my previous post (and most of us already know), some of the NPCs will want to take little mini-vacations from the party. At this point, you have the choice of either just killing time, waiting for their NPC to return or you could pick up a temporary, replacement NPC and go on another "mission", and return to pick up your "regular" NPC when that mission's over. Doing this may not keep the "replacement" NPC in the party long enough to trigger their side-quest, but it should be long enough to get a feel for the NPC, particularly if you've never played that particular NPC before.
Letting an NPC stay dead is a good way to justify moving on to a new NPC.
And sometimes an NPC will simply leave your party, never to return, and that will force you to get a replacement.
I do agree, however, that having a party of 5 and intentionally using the 6th slot to rotate thru the other NPCs for no other reason than getting their side quests can get to be a pain. At least with the methods I describe above, you can go thru a number of NPCs in a more realistic, roleplaying justifiable manner that will allow the flow of "your" story move along more smoothly.
And I have to admit that it was a bit interesting having to deal with some of the unexpected situations, like when Anomen quit the party and I was left with only Aerie being my party's only healer thru the rest of SoA and ToB. I was actually a bit surprised that she ended up being up to the task. And feeling somewhat forced to use Haer'Dalis for a while was interesting. I suppose that I could have picked up an evil NPC, but I was trying to avoid that in my previous party.
I think that it can be rather fun and interesting to go thru a number of different NPCs, as long as you can find a way to do it in an unforced, roleplaying sort of way.
As I mentioned in my previous post (and most of us already know), some of the NPCs will want to take little mini-vacations from the party. At this point, you have the choice of either just killing time, waiting for their NPC to return or you could pick up a temporary, replacement NPC and go on another "mission", and return to pick up your "regular" NPC when that mission's over. Doing this may not keep the "replacement" NPC in the party long enough to trigger their side-quest, but it should be long enough to get a feel for the NPC, particularly if you've never played that particular NPC before.
Letting an NPC stay dead is a good way to justify moving on to a new NPC.
And sometimes an NPC will simply leave your party, never to return, and that will force you to get a replacement.
I do agree, however, that having a party of 5 and intentionally using the 6th slot to rotate thru the other NPCs for no other reason than getting their side quests can get to be a pain. At least with the methods I describe above, you can go thru a number of NPCs in a more realistic, roleplaying justifiable manner that will allow the flow of "your" story move along more smoothly.
And I have to admit that it was a bit interesting having to deal with some of the unexpected situations, like when Anomen quit the party and I was left with only Aerie being my party's only healer thru the rest of SoA and ToB. I was actually a bit surprised that she ended up being up to the task. And feeling somewhat forced to use Haer'Dalis for a while was interesting. I suppose that I could have picked up an evil NPC, but I was trying to avoid that in my previous party.
I think that it can be rather fun and interesting to go thru a number of different NPCs, as long as you can find a way to do it in an unforced, roleplaying sort of way.
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BlueSky
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Thanks for the hints, Crucis;
But I usually tend to follow main storyline on first playthroughs and save sidequests for my re-plays...tend to do this no matter what the game I've noticed...I roleplay rather than powerplay and get caught up in the storyline.
I also tend to not use walkthroughs until after first play, unless of course, I'm hopelessly lost...:laugh:
But I usually tend to follow main storyline on first playthroughs and save sidequests for my re-plays...tend to do this no matter what the game I've noticed...I roleplay rather than powerplay and get caught up in the storyline.
I also tend to not use walkthroughs until after first play, unless of course, I'm hopelessly lost...:laugh:
I do not intend to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death"-anon