NPC tactical analysis (real long)

UberJason · Post by **UberJason** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 2:46 pm

Hi all,

I’ve been reading a lot of threads recently that have gone into some detail about the different strategic uses of the NPC’s in the game. What I really enjoy about BG2 is the tremendous variety of strategic options it offers and how they can all play together to make a different gaming experience every time I play. One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed about the way people relate to the game are the “what is the best NPC?” and “rate the NPC” threads. I find that this line of reason misses the rather obvious point that NPC’s only work as well and as intelligently as the player is able to use them.

I have played through the game a few times and have formed my own opinions on the NPC’s, and I would like to create a primer for how to use the NPC’s in BG2 to the maximum tactical effect. In any case since I may be biased in my rating I would like to see if any of you feel differently about how NPC’s may be used, and comment on any omissions I make.

To start I rate every NPC based on three separate criteria, which for the purposes of this I will define as: Tank, Artillery and Support. Tank is simply the ability to draw damage and withstand punishment. Artillery represents the ability to deal out substantial damage at a range. Support is a bit more nebulous, I gauge that as the ability to repair or prevent damage from occurring to the rest of the group. I rate ability (from worst to best) as none, weak, average, good, superior.

Keep in mind though, with proper equipment, any charcter can fulfill almost any role in the group, you could give Keldorn the gloves of Dexterity a few proficiency points in Shortbow and have him stand in the back row plunking away at enemies. I doubt that would be the most efficient use for him, but it may be a fun option!

So let’s take a look at the NPC’s based on this criteria:

Aerie:
Tank: None to Weak
I suppose you could give her the girdle of fortitude and have her memorize all defensive spells and stick her in the front, but even then she wouldn’t have a lot of hit points or be able to do much but stand there.

Artillery: Average to Good
Can use slings when not spellcasting, but I find the slings the weakest of the missle weapons. Mage spell ability is adequate and if you can get her a sequencer she can sequence Mage and Cleric spells, which opens up a host of weird tactical options. (Anyone every sequence three holy smites?)

Support: Average to Good
Cleric spells prvide much needed healing, and can help the party defensively nicely. To be honest most of the high level Cleric spells are not that great, so you could probably get by with just Aerie and a druid of some sort as healers.
Anomen:
Tank: Average
Fighter background gives him good hit points and he’s decent with some melee weapons. There are better tanks out there though…

Artillery: Average
Give him the sling with the strength bonus and he can be a fairly effective ranged attacker. Some Cleric spells can be used as attack spells.

Support: Good
He levels well as a cleric, (and can get better if his quest is done properly). Turn undead ability is best in the game (I prefer outright destroy to Viconia’s joining.)

Cernd:
Tank: Weak to Average
In human form he sucks as a tank, but as a werewolf he will do in a pinch.

Artillery: Weak
Some druid spells do ranged damage, but not much, sling limitation with limited specialization a problem.

Support: Good to Superior
Druid spells can be very, very useful. Insect plague is probably one of the three best spells in the game and only him and Jaheira have access to it. In addition the healing is nice and Summon Fire Elemental is one of the better summons in the game as well. I would tend toward using him as a dedicated spellcaster.

Edwin:

Tank: None to Weak (see Aerie)

Artillery: Superior
He is the best NPC spellcaster in the game. Period.

Support: Average
Liberal use of summon spells can save the party a lot of heat, and he can cast a lot of them!

Haer’Dalis:
Tank: Average
Defensive spin used properly can tie up melee attackers for a while. The real problem here is the low hitpoints…

Artillery: Weak to Average
Access to some low level mage spells can be useful, but there are many, many better spellcasters.
Support: Average
High Lore, Bard song, and the use of certain items (notably that confusion harp, which can be useful in certain circumstances…)

Imoen

Tank: None to Weak

Artillery: Good to Superior
Access to all mage spells and extra spells make her a good spellcaster. She can also use a shortbow, making her somewhat effective when not casting spells.

Support: Average
Thief skills are adequate to get you by a lot of traps… Indispensable if not a thief or not using Jan.

Jaheira

Tank: Good
High hit points, low AC. A few better ones, but not many…

Artillery: Average, some druid spells, but can gain specialization in slings, making her use of them much more effective.

Support: Good. Druid spells, see Cernd.

Jan
Ah, the much maligned Mr. Jansen. I’m not sure why people dislike him so much, he is one of the most tactically flexible units in the whole game.

Tank: None.
Lack of access to high level protection spells, low constitution and strength. If oyu stick him in front you are crazy.

Artillery: Superior
I know I am going to get some arguments on this, but I give him superior because he is able to adapt to almost any ranged situation and can be effective in every battle from a distance. Flasher bruiser mates stun almost anything, and while crossbows have a low ROF, they have a variety of interesting and useful ammunition. Put a point in shortbows and you can give him Gesen’s or Tasheron’s and have him plunk away when not doing anything else. A decent mage to boot!

Support: Good.
Best thief in the game. Highest find traps and locks, and gets better over time. Automatic detect invisibility with items, can cast invisibility on himself for sneaking.

Keldorn

Tank: Good to Superior
Lot’s of hit points, can wear any armor his little heart desires. Carsomyr.

Artillery: Weak
Could shoot some crossbow bolts I guess. may be useful in specific situations.

Support: Good
True Sight and Dispel Magic are terrific.

Korgan:

Tank: Superior
Most hit points in the game, any armor, rage makes him immune to lots of things.

Artillery: Average
Surprisingly, if you arm him with a throwing axe he can do a fair bit of damage from a distance. Useful in some specific situations.

Support: None

Mazzy:

Tank: Good
Ok constitution, great dex, low AC lots of hit points.

Artillery: Good to Superior
Five stars in shortbow makes her a demon when she finds the rith one!

Support: Weak, a few special abilities, nothing to write home about.

Minsc:

Tank: Good to Superior
Good hit points, can wear any armor.

Artillery: Weak to Average
Proficiency in long bow makes him OK, but he is such a good tank…

Support: Weak See Mazzy

Nalia:

Tank: None to Weak (see Aerie)

Artillery: Good
There are better mages, but she’s overall not bad and can advance to a pretty high level.

Support: Weak:
Can access some good summons, but can’t cast enough to make them really useful.

Valygar:

Tank: Average
Can’t wear good armor makes him very annoying to use as a tank. Deals out nice damage though, especially with Celestial Fury.

Artillery: Average
You could give him some specialties in longbow I guess…

Support: Weak

Viconia:

Tank: Average
Can wear good armor, but low Constitution a real hindrance.

Artillery: Average
Slings only, but a few cleric spells could be useful in this capacity.

Support: Superior.
Best cleric in the game hands down. Lot’s of healing and party enhancing spells.

Yoshimo:
Tank: Weak
Low hp and lack of armor makes this problematic.

Artillery: Good
Traps and shortbows.

Support: Good
Thief abilities very adequate.

Some thoughts:

I find it’s easiest to play with a balance of Tanks, Artillery and Support, and very difficult to play with a preponderance of only one. It can be fun to make parties up that specialize in two of the three areas, and can lead to some interesting and different gameplay.

In any case I’m curious to see how your views on the tactical analysis of the NPC’s may differ…

Cheers,

UberJason

Bruce Lee · Post by **Bruce Lee** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 3:33 pm

I think that Yoshimo dispite his ... is a very good character. Those special traps can really get you out of trouble.
Nice run down of the characters I must say. I agree with most things although I find haer'daelis a better than average character. Infact he is a very useful character.

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Proud member of the Brotherhood of the woods.

Vyeres · Post by **Vyeres** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 5:54 pm

I concur with Bruce Lee about H'D: He becomes more useful when you know how to use him. In my game his pluses are:
* High level magic missles (good for dragon killing)
* Can tank like no other with offensive spin + stoneskin + protection from magical weapons + tensers transformation.
* He reaches a high level so spell effects and lore are high.
* He can use the dwarven thrower.

This still probably only puts Haer'D at Average, but he is far from a worthless NPC.

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 7:18 pm

Don't underestimate any mage's tanking capabilities with the Polymorph and (especially Tenser's Transformation spells.

Cloak · Post by **Cloak** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 10:19 pm

I agree with most of your ideas about the NPCs, however I disagree with you on Valygar.

IMHO, I think he is one of the best NPCs. Its true that his AC may suck at first, but with the right eq he is deadly. Just have him duel wield Katanas( his, and Celestial Fury).

Plus, Valygar can wear the drow plate mail when in the underdark. as a result, his AC goes to -10 at least. This makes him an ideal tank.

Garcia · Post by **Garcia** » Thu Apr 05, 2001 1:18 am

@UberJason :EEK: that is a long post!!

I must agree with one of your last sentences that the balance in the party makes it easier.

My favourite constellation:

Tanks : 2
Cleric : 1
Thieve : 1
Mages : 2

There are the two tanks to take and give all the main damage (one won't do, not well anyway)
They make time and room for the 2-3 mages to do their stuff.
The cleric for the healing and some other strong spells that the mages lack.
Thief very handy and a great luxury for the party.

Kovi · Post by **Kovi** » Thu Apr 05, 2001 2:04 am

I found this analysis very interesting. I like both the roles of Tank, Artillery, Support and the generic ratings (like weak, average, good). I also like the idea not to consider specific equipments, but I think with such framework we rate the classes rather then the NPCs, like this:

Any high level (or dualed to mage/cleric) warrior can be a good tank.
Any high level warrior can be good in artillery (ranged weapons).
Any high level (pure or dueled to) mage can be good in artillery (mage spells).
Any high level spellcaster can be good in support (summon/support spells).
Any rogue can be average in support.
Any mid level warrior can be an average tank.
Any mid level warrior can be average in artillery.
Any mid level mage can be average in artillery.
Any mid level spellcaster can be average in support.
If (multi/dual class) character get two "average" rating for the same role that aggregates to a "good" rating.

Of course this doesn't take into consideration the specifics of the NPCs (race/stats/weapon proficiencies/abilities). But with the right equipment and the use of additional weapon proficiencies almost all of them can be used well in their base roles. A smoother rating of NPC's can be done by comparing them to each other in the given roles assuming specific equipment, added weapon proficiencies (or even dualing).

[This message has been edited by Kovi (edited 04-05-2001).]

UberJason · Post by **UberJason** » Thu Apr 05, 2001 7:54 am

Thank you all for your comments!

A few things. I acknowledge that any magic-user and especially Haer' Dalis can be effectively used as a tank with the proper spells. The thing is that I don't believe this is the most efficient use of them. Spells wear off and unless you want to rest between every battle, this can become tiresome. In additon the amount of spells you have to memorize to tank effectively is relatively large, those spell slots would probably be far better utilized on offensive spells.

To be honest haer' Dalis is the NPC I have played with least, so I will take your points on his consideration. Note that I am not trying to say he is below average... Every character can be effective if used properly.

As for Valygar tanking... Legally Drow plate mail can only be used in the Underdark, so everwhere else he's stuck with a relatively high AC. He can tank... There are just better ones available.

UberJason

Kovi · Post by **Kovi** » Thu Apr 05, 2001 3:43 pm

A dual Fighter/Mage needs only Tenser's trafo, while a dual Warrior/Cleric needs Holy Power + Rightous Magic (or Draw Upon Holy Might).
Such self-enhancements can be cast 4-5 times a day. And the dualed spellcasters are very versatile and can cast other spells as well.

mizuno · Post by **mizuno** » Fri Apr 06, 2001 5:01 am

a fighter(any sort, incl. ranger)/ mage or cleric shouldn't naturally need any spell to make them a tank. with spells, they are demons. but spells wear off quite easily, cos a lot of mages will throw out some dispel magic to your party.

UberJason's idea are not bad at all, i agree to most of the coments of the NPCs.but anyway, with the best use of any NPCs, any of them could be effective, it really depends on your style of playing.

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Mizuno is a Proud Member of the Brotherhood of the Woods

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Apr 06, 2001 8:27 am

a fighter(any sort, incl. ranger)/ mage or cleric shouldn't naturally need any spell to make them a tank. with spells, they are demons. but spells wear off quite easily, cos a lot of mages will throw out some dispel magic to your party.

Just because enemy casters can dispell your effects doesn't vitiate the need for spelled up tanks. You can't legitimately kill dragons, liches, or mindflayers without spells. (Well, invisible stalkers will take out the last, but I'm talking about party members dealing with these critters.)