GameBanshee Forums

As stated above, I play an Archer. I did the Sewers, the Gate mobs and then headed to the De'Arnise Keep. The lack of melee power became noticeable in golam territory; I kept Jeheira and Yoshima in the front lines as my archer fires arrows and is my archer is my main/second damage dealer, while Aerie has 30 hit points. I had to read a spoiler to get through the dogs and took me a bit of time to figure out the golems after I got the Flail (read a spoiler re charming Glacias because I could not figure out how to kill golems with my present weapons).

Playing an archer reduces my flexability a bit.

Decisions:

(1) Cleric/healer: Aerie is quite versatile with the mage spells but her low hit points is a concern. There is Viconia but I noticed she is evil. I will take 1 of the 2. (There is the paladin/clerc fellow but he seems to have too low wisdom.) Can Viconia stay on the front lines and melee as well?

(2) Thief - I have 2 on my team and I undertook to repay ransom on Inomen. I have enough or nearly enough money after doing the De'Arnise Keep. I read that I should keep Inomen as she is integral to the story line. Are her thieving skills good enough? I also read the Yoshimo leaves at some point. His banter seems better than the others. Then there is also Jan, the illusionist/mage. Are Jan's thieving skills good enough? I am trying to figure out what the thiefs are good for in battle. Not sure how backstab works. Nalia is a decent archer and I think Inomen is a decent one as well. This is good as I have trouble casting the spells in time.

(3) Mage - There aren't that many. Edwin is evil and I plan on pretty much playing nice. Imonen and Nalia are apparently carbon copies, but Nalia has worse thief skills. Then there is Jan, illusionist/mage fellow. I have to read up on what illusionists do, but I met Jan's parents and they seemed like decent folks.

Note: I have trouble figuring out when spells are needed as they run out fast or the monsters move too fast for my holds/web to stick while charm gets resisted. I use haste and harmony along with magic missile mainly, the occasional charm and web with armor/stoneskin on the casters.

I need at least 1 1 thief and at least 1 mage if Aerie stays, and I wonder if I need a backup mage type if I take Viconia.

(4) Melee - need a heavy hitter. I am thinking about Keldorn is good as he is a good character and does decent damage. I plan on getting him. My only concern is that Minsc has specialized in 2hand sword except for 1 point in mace. Who can use all the warhammers, long swords, flails etc.? (Just got a +3 Flail from the De'Arnise Keep)

(5) Jaheira - not sure where she fits. Maybe I will swap her out as needed along with Jan or Yoshima if I need a better thief.

So party looks like this:

Keldorn/other melee
Minsc
Archer (me)
Thief (likely Inomen for story line)
Viconia/Aerie
Jaheira/Jan/Yoshima

Key issue seems to be the thief, which then leads to mage discussion.

I tendd to overresearch things a bit.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

First, it is possible to finish the game with all parties. Then again, some are easier then others. A balanced group will give you the smoothest ride. Don't be afraid to mix alignements. There is no need to exclude evil NPCs cause your playing a Ranger - better you keep an eye on them and make sure they do no mischief than to have them running around loose, no?

1) Get Anomen and your problems are solved. Anomen is all the tank you need and does extremely well with FoA or CF. He blasts undead into oblivion and his WIS will be good enough (can't say more without spoilers).

2) Thanks to excellent personal gadgets, Jan has the best thief skills in the whole game. That he doubles as a mage, and a specialist at that, is no disadvantage if you get my point. So bring him in and let the stories be told!

3) I prefer to have one mage that is not multi in my parties to give me access to high level spells faster. Anyone (PC, Imoen, Naila or Edwin) will do.

4) As stated under 1, Anomen will satisfy your need of a melee character. Let him dual FoA and DoE or use the former with a shield for low AC. There are also plenty of nice cleric spells that will improve his fighting skills even further. Don't forget the Gauntlets of Dex! Should you like to use Minsc anyway (can't see why though), you could always change his profiencies with ShadowKeeper.

5) Druid spells are always nice to have around. She is also a romance interest, provides IMO the best personal quest of all NPCs as well as being an excellent Fighter. She melees very well with a scimitar or a club in one hand and a shield in the other. Let her throw all those nasty darts from a distance.

My suggestion:

1) You - Ranged Fighter
2) Sir Anomen - Cleric and melee Fighter
3) Jan - Thief and backup Mage
4) Jaheria - Druid and backup Fighter
5) Nalia (available from start) or Imoen (if you think that adds to the RPG aspect) - Main Mage
6) Anyone you like. Valygar is a nice complement if you like to backstab (I sure do). Aerie would be your choise if you like lots of spells. Mazzy is a nice Fighter, if you don't like evil Korgan, of course. Or why not get Haer'Dalis? You could also take in different NPCs in order to do all quests.

Nalia is one of the best mages in the game, but her thiefing skills are very very weak.
Imoens thiefing skills are good enough to go through both SoA and ToB.
Offcource Jan´s thiefing skills are good enough, exept for yoshimo he´s the only thief that isn´t dualed!


I would recommand as a party:

You (archer melee )
Keldorn (inquisitor melee )
Aery (Ultimate spellcaster)
Yoshimo (Later switch to Imoen) (Thief later thief-mage)
Jaheira (Spellcaster (druid spells can be very powerfull) and melee)
Minsc (also one of the good guys, and can be a very powerfull fighter when he´s dualwielding the right equipment)

You could want to trade Yoshimo for Jan, but then yoou have 3 multi/clas characters in you´re party. And Yoshimo is better for roleplaying!

Hope this helps!

My suggestion:

You (Archer)
Imoen (Decent Thief, Great Mage)
Minsc (Ranger)
Aerie (Massive Spellcaster and romance )
Mazzy (Great Fighter)
Jaheira (Devent Fighter and Spellcaster)

With this party you can do a lot of things, melee (minsc, mazzy and jaheira), snipe (you and mazzy) or spellcast (aerie, imoen and jaheira) your enemies to death.

i am actually playing an archer and although my party might not be the best choice, i suggest

archer(thats me)
minsc(good fighter if you give him lilarcor...works well with ranged weapons as well)
valygar(with celestial fury and he has bloody good armor)
aerie(mage, not really healer but some cleric stuff)
imoen(mage and also takes care of most theiving stuff)
jaheira(useful when she gets highlevel druid spells plus some melee)

hmmm... my party has 3 rangers... anyway, you dont get any of the evil ones nor loud ones... all of them can use ranged weapons, and my party uses all best items in the game

bows and heavy crossbows - archer
twohanded swords, flails, war hanmmers and maces - minsc
all kinds of swords - valygar
shields and druid-usable weapons - jaheira
slings and staff of magi - aerie
short bows and light crossbows - imoen

i got through underdark pretty easily all at level 10... also killed the silver dragon.. i dont really recommend aerie(dies all the time).. anomen might be better but too late to change that since we are all level 15's now

I suggest going heavy on melee.

Archer (you)
Minsc
Keldorn
Anomen
Nalia
Jan (replaced by Imoen later)

Playing the same thing...I was thinking more of a four character party:

You (Archer, boots of speed help will A LOT!)
Keldorn (Melee, Holy Avenger Duh)
Anomen (Melee, Cleric...Arrogent but good I'd tank him out)
Jan (Theif/Mage) replaced by Imoen

Alternatives:
Jaheira...Personally I might go with a Five party
Heir'Dalis...blade is good addition

Aerie I chose to leave out because her lack of hit points...but that was my thinking...leaving up quickly is your friend, more ability and Shadow Dragon Armor would be nice to have....well that's my 2 cents

my party on bg2 was:

me (figther)
minsc (ranger) good with lilracor and the elven court bow
jaheira (fighter/druid) i gave her a sling and the speedy scimitar you get from trademeet
yoshimo (bounty hunter)
nalia(best non-evil spellcaster) edwin is amazing!
aerie(mage/ cleric) i gave her the sheild of reflection you can buy from the adventurers mart