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I have noticed many people seem to dislike Anomen, and I can't see why? I played with him in the party from chap 2 to the end, and he was more efficient than Minsc with Lilocar when it came to killing. Plus, you need no other healer in the party! Before his knighthood, Anomen is not a good cleric, so I used him as a fighter. Because of his bad DEX and high STR, I gave him the sling of seeking (from the shop on the top floor of Gaelan Bayles(?) house - the only sling which gives damage bonus for STR) so he could keep his good shield, stay out of melee combat but still use his STR-bonus. And soon, he turned into a virtual shotgun! With the Hill Giant Str girdle he became even better, doing about 20 damage every hit.(I was lucky enough to roll 18/00 for my protagonist ranger, so she didn't really need more STR.)

As soon as he got knighted, which for me happened early in the game, he became a good cleric and so no other healer was needed. By chapter 4-5 we didn't even bother to pick up healing bottles anymore. When fighting Bodhi in the end of chap 2, he turned almost all the vampires except the named ones. In the latter part of the game, when he was Grand Master in sling, he was almost too powerful, gave many critical hits for 40+ damage, and killing off protected mages and all the liches including Gaxx with the +5 sling I used as alternative to the sling of seeking.

Also, I did not notice any irritating bragging or bad attitude in his script, maybe because my protagonist was female. He was a bit stiff early on, but soon started telling the story about his sad upbringing, and then suggesting romance. I said nope, but let him stay in the party, and after that, he didn't say much at all, he just kept hurling his deadly stones. It might not sound very glorious to kill dragons and demi liches by throwing stones at them, but truly, I'd rather say Anomen becomes too powerful the way I played him.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe i should change my mind about anomen, thanks dude

ive allways thought that anomen is a darn good npc

Some prefer Viconia, others, Anomen. I tend to go with Viconia. I'm not saying you're wrong, since everybody has their own style of play, but here are my reasons:

Viconia goes up the experience tree quicker, being a single profession cleric.

Anomen can become a good cleric (good=high Wisdom), but not until chapter 4. I don't feel like settling for less in the meantime, particularly with vampires hanging around.

Viconia's 19 Dexterity and astonishing magic resistance mean she can dodge incoming ranged and magical attacks while casting. Anomen can't. With his low resistance and 8(!) Dexterity, he's a magnet for every stone, arrow, bolt, or disruptive spell in your area.

If I want a clerical type of second string tank, I'll use Jaheira. That way, I get the benefit of that wonderful Insect Plague spell which only Druids possess (a fantastic anti-mage attack!).

Viconia can be helpful around Drows.

I like Viconia too, but since my party was good and hit 20 rep quite fast, I preferred to take advantage of the lower prices etc rather than start trying to lower my rep. (This time around though, I play an evil party, so I have Viconia now.)

Originally posted by fable:
Anomen can become a good cleric (good=high Wisdom), but not until chapter 4. I don't feel like settling for less in the meantime, particularly with vampires hanging around.

Hm...that must be depending on how you play the game. In my game, he got WIS 16 in chap 2, before I had to deal with any vampires. During the Trademeet quest, a the message about his sister arrived, we went back to town, discussed with Anomens father, before I left town (we rested once) some herald came up and said it was time for his test. Maybe it is depending on what other quests you do, I had done Umar Hills, D'Arnise Stronghold, Windspear Mills and - maybe that is what did it - the Fallen Paladin quest for Radiant Heart.

Anomen is a bit stuffy, but playing a female character I wanted to keep him along. I solved the dex/AC problem with the gauntlets of dexterity and with his high strength he now he is one of my 3 major front line fighters. The only problem I have with him is that is THAC0 is lower than a normal fighter. When he is knighted he is the second best cleric. Role-playing correctly I'm sure my PC Paladin would like a drow around anyway

Originally posted by fable:

Viconia goes up the experience tree quicker, being a single profession cleric.

This is not correct; Anomen is dual classed, so he is climbing the experience tree exactly as fast as Viconia.
Anomen has furthormore the advantage of being able to specialize (or even master) in any cleric weapon; I finished the game with Anomen swinging Crom Faeyr with 4 proficiency points...

Felix, I didn't say Anomen couldn't climb the experience tree as fast as Viconia because he was multi-classed. His dual-class status means he's lost some clerical experience at the start of his "career" to being a fighter. It will take him that much longer to recover lost clerical ground.

I don't mind putting my clerics in the line of battle, but I usually get clerics because I want 'em to cast spells. I'd rather use my tanks for that, which is why I'd never give a worldbeating weapon like the Crom Faeyr to Anomen. Not to mention the fact that his magic resistance isn't too great, and I don't like seeing a weapon of that sort out of the action or worse, turned against me.

On the other hand, I've given the Flail of Ages to Viconia. She can't easily be turned against me, or stopped by spells, and when she uses a sling, the enemy had better duck fast. Her Wisdom is high when you get her, unlike Anomen.

I'm not saying "Noooo, don't run Anomen! Gods, save him from himself!" Any of the party NPCs can meld well in a party, given a good player who understands how to optimize their advantages. But some play easier than others, and I think it can be convincingly shown that Viconia plays easier that Anomen.