GameBanshee Forums

Is it just me or are th evil NPC's far better than the good NPC's???

Korgan vs Minsc or Keldorn
Vicconia vs Aerie
Edwin vs Nalia

(btw why does Edwin get so many spells memorized???)

Well firstly i think edwins amulet or just his character is why he gets all those spells i mean he travels alot and gets to know people (shadow thieves) so his availability to magical tomes would be preety high (it only takes one skilled thief to break in to candlekeep and stel a few books)

and yes the bad ones are better than the good ones but i take the good aligned characters because its more of a challenge and besides viconias a hoe anyway...go aerie go.

First, welcome to GameBanshee!
Edwin is for sure the best mage.
Although Viconia's charcter is better than Aerie's and Certainly better than Anomen's, (you'll find that no one in these forums likes that arogent idiot) Anomen could become a good fighter with the right equipment.
Korgan is a great fighter, but both Minsc and Keldorn could become just as good, and better.
Slight possible spoiler if you don't have ToB
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Sarevok is the best fighter in the BG series.

Edwin has so many spells cause he is a conjuror(specialist mage). He cannot learn spells from the school of Divination that means he leaarn spells like True sight.

Anyway Korgan is better then keldorn or minsc. Everyone is keeping Keldorn cause he is the only NPC that can use Carsoymr Korgan is the best NPC tank in SOA until you reach TOB when you get Sarevok

Next up, Aerie or Viconia. I like Aerie cause she has mage spells. I always use her as a backup for my other mage. If you already have 2 mage or have a really powerful one then use Viconia. Viconia really shines in TOB when the number of lvl 7 spells she gets really goes up.

Lastly Edwin is 2 times the mage that Nalia is. If I want thief/mage, then I would rather go with Imoen. 1 think to take note is edwin can't use true sight so better get a backup mage who can

Originally posted by Morlock:
<STRONG>...Certainly better than Anomen's, (you'll find that no one in these forums likes that arogent idiot)...</STRONG>

Actually, you're mistaken. There is/was even a female funclub of Anomen's, started sometime around spring IIRC. And there are some guys who like him too, myself included. He may be somewhat arrogant, but sure is both knightly and a damn good cleric (after passsing his test, at least). Compared to Vic, Anomen has several advantages, mainly due to his previous fighter class. In addition to that, his ability to actually turn undead (great for all those nasty vampires) makes him my first choise as cleric.

Power-wise Anomen is the best cleric. His fighter levels give him nice combat edge over Viconia (and I feel that BG favours the tank-heavy party); although this takes a small XP edge off his cleric abilities, this becomes less and less significant to the point of being negligible as he gains XP and levels. Also good/neutral clerics have access to certain evil-busting spells like Holy Smite; most of the enemies you fight in the game are evil. I don't like Viconia because she continually insults me and everyone else in my party, even during romance. Anomen is not as rude, and just imagine if he was female with romance possibility...

It took me some time but I finally am warming up to Nalia. She may not be the mage that Edwin is but her thief-like stats are very good. She's a lousy thief (lvl 4) but in combat she's much better than Edwin, meaning you can use her in different ways than Edwin. She can use a bow which is a big plus. And unlike Imoen, she's available through the entire game.

Viconia can use the Crom Faeyr. That, combined with her Cleric-abilities and her high magic resistance, makes her much tougher than Aerie - IMHO.
Also, from a roleplaying point of view, Viconia is the most interesting NPC, with the most depth.

Doesn't Korgan get better saves than Sarevok?

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Coot ]

Originally posted by Coot:
[QB]Viconia can use the Crom Faeyr.
QB]

Well, so can Aerie. But I prefer Viconia, too.

@Morlock, Like Astafas, I also like Anomen. I've been keeping him in my party until I can get Imoen.

Originally posted by Johnny:
<STRONG>Also good/neutral clerics have access to certain evil-busting spells like Holy Smite; most of the enemies you fight in the game are evil.</STRONG>

Uh...my Viconia has Holy Smite. She just has to be careful to cast it far enough away from her. My Anomen also has Unholy Blight(?) or whatever it is called that's basically the exact opposite of Holy Smite.

<STRONG>I don't like Viconia because she continually insults me and everyone else in my party, even during romance.</STRONG>

I had Viconia all through BG1 and have been wanting to romance her ever since then. Her insults don't annoy me, I got used to'em in BG1.

For the most part, I play a good team; but I don't pick my team members based on allignment. The team I plan on using once I retrieve Imoen is Elysia Moonstar(me, CG Archer), Minsc, Jaheira, Imoen, Aerie, and Viconia. One thing about having NPCs with contrasting allignments and such, you get some interesting NPC interaction.

Originally posted by Johnny:
<STRONG>Power-wise Anomen is the best cleric. </STRONG>

@Johnny, are you sure you mean that? If you said that he was more versatile, or stronger, or a better tank, I could understand it, but as a cleric, I don't think so. Viconia's Wisdom is 18; Anomen's, after he passes his test, only rises to 16. And Viconia's Dexerity is 19, which, along with her natural dark elf resistance, means she's more likely to get her spells off without missile or magical interference.

Originally posted by fable:
<STRONG>@Johnny, are you sure you mean that? If you said that he was more versatile, or stronger, or a better tank, I could understand it, but as a cleric, I don't think so. Viconia's Wisdom is 18; Anomen's, after he passes his test, only rises to 16. And Viconia's Dexerity is 19, which, along with her natural dark elf resistance, means she's more likely to get her spells off without missile or magical interference.</STRONG>

I agree with Johnny here. OK, as a cleric Viconia gets a few bonusspells that Anomen won't get. And her MR is very nice, too. But over all Anomen is a powerhouse, thanks to:

1) Lower THAC0
2) Highter Strength
3) Possibility to Grand Master
4) Turns undead "properly"
5) More HPs

His low Dex can be fixed with a girdle (as can Viconia's Str in all fairness).

I guess it all comes down to what you think make a cleric. IMO, a cleric is much more than just the clerical spells - I want my cleric to stand in the frontline as well as providing back up.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm a huge fan of Vic. However, when it comes to usefulness, I hold Sir Anomen second only to Jan.

[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Astafas ]

Aerie is NOT a cleric, youre missing the point if you think of her as a cleric at all!! she is in fact a spell blasting power house second only to my pc, a seriouly mutilated sorceror kensai, hacked almost beyond recognition.

Aerie needs a good set of cleric spells, of the offnesive and few defensive variety memorized, and all the spell triggers and sequencers you can get. you use aerie to cast fast and very nasty cleric spells rapid fire, flooding the enmey with so many undead and demonic specific spells it gets disrupted in seconds. her triple triggered bolts of glory does serious damage to demons, kills most out right.

viccy can be equipped with skin armor and other items to give her seriouly high magic resistance. but her turn undead is just not as good for me, though I have experimented with both aerie and viccy turning undead at the same time and its only marginally better, I thought viccys would convert the ones that aerie didnt blast. no such luck, though I still have some experiments with repulse undead to try.

anomen soulds quite possible, if you can get him grand mastery in say staff and use staff of striking and later staff of ram. but he is such a git, I usually give to jaheira.

korgan is good, but imho, keldys paladin abilities are not just limited to holy avenger, but think also on eht dispell magics and the immunity to charm and hold. very very useful and savvy has a big flaw... at low levels he is seriouly vulnerable to domination charm family. he needs helm of charm immunity right away!!


Im getting to really appreciate mazzy, her grand mastery in short bows really is good. got her with taheron bow, so far she has disrupted many mages.

Thanks for the welcome and your replies.

First of all, i havent played the evil way and im not going to either, it was just an observation from looking at character stats.

I havent seen Sarevok (except from that little run-in in BG1), hes ToB, i only have SoA.

Char_Aznable: No, being conjurer only gives 1 bonus spell for each level, and Edwin has MUCH more than that. With rings, he can have 11(!) level 2 spells.

About Anomen, he is annoying and will not make it into my party.

About who is better Anomen or Vicconia, come on, that has to be Vicconia!

She has 65% Magic Resistance, thats alot, and while for a party tanks are by far of the highest value, the most dangerous enemies are always the spellcasters, because they can Stun, Hold, Confuse, etc etc, those tanks.

The role for Viccy is to support from a distance, not to be the tank. With Minsc en Keldorn (and/or possibly your own character) in front, who needs some half-tank like anomen.

@Scorpius

Maybe you should try Anomen out for a while before saying anything more...

who said i havent, just because im new to the forum doesnt mean i play this game for the first time

All i said is that the advantages you mention are only better when comparing Vicconia with Anomen 1:1, and not who would be of the greatest asset to a party.

Current party:
Me (Inquisitor)
Minsc
Yoshimo (Will be replaced by Imoen)
Aerie

Drop Yoshimo, take Jan. You should invest in one person from the start.

Originally posted by Scorpius:
<STRONG>About Anomen, he is annoying and will not make it into my party.
</STRONG>

You said it. You apparently find him so annoying he won't make it into your parties.

Morlock:

basically, youre right, but i want to keep my party down to 4 members this time (and a temporary 5th for some NPC quests), with always one thief. indeed i could go Jan all the way instead of Yoshimo, and Imoen later on, but i want Imoen back in my team, simply because i think she is important enough in the story to keep her around.
(why rescue someone to dump her right away , so its roleplaying reason mainly )

astafas>> note the small difference where i say party and you make it parties... no i was talking about my current party.

clear logic, how would i know he is very annoying without having him had in my party????

Originally posted by Astafas:
<STRONG>Actually, you're mistaken. There is/was even a female funclub of Anomen's, started sometime around spring IIRC.</STRONG>

Ah, someone remembers us

To think it all started with a little thread titled 'Anomen'

As to him being 'annoying', well he's a lot easier to take when he's romancing you. Also, it's just plain fun to mess with him. I usually tell him I'm just there to have fun to get him all huffy before telling him I'm for 'the good' and he can join us.

Heh, I knew Astafas was gonna interfere this Anomen-mocking. As I would have too, if he just hadn't made it first Compared to Viccy, Sir Anomen is the better one, hands down. In my humble opinion, of course. His warrior abilities make him a lot more useful, at least with my style. On top of that, I like his personality very much. He's just like a young squire knight should be. Arrogant, yet just and honorable. Keldorn, on the other hand, is a very traditional aging, experienced knight. I just love those two.