Newbie Questions

Eadaii · Post by **Eadaii** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 1:32 pm

Hi. I'm fairly new to the game. Just looking for suggestions in organizing a party. Its better to have NPCs of similar alignments, I think, because if they're totally different no one is happy with their reputation. So, that thought in mind, I've organized parties based on alignment. Just looking for imput, if some of the parties would be really weak, or really boring, or anything:

Good Party
1.Keldorn or Mazzy-btw, you find both in stronghold areas, but do they care if you don't complete the quest connected to that area?
2.Minsc or Valygar-does Valygar care if you don't do the Sphere Quest?
3.Aerie
4.Imoen
5.Nalia

Neutral Party
1.Anomen
2.Jaheira
3.Cernd
4.Haer-Dalis
5.Jan
Note: Is it just me, or does the party look a bit weak?

Evil Party
1.Korgan
2.Sarevok
3.Viconia
4.?-Are there any plugins that add evil rogues as NPCs?
5.Edwin

TRODTROD · Post by **TRODTROD** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 1:36 pm

neutral party is very weak physically

TROD.

Thrain · Post by **Thrain** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 2:03 pm

you would say that. But Ano can survive pretty well as a tank with his fighter levels and there are loads of arguments as to why Jaheira makes a good tank. Just wait til she gets level 5 spells. Ironskins on a frontline fighter mmmmmmmm

Stats. · Post by **Stats.** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 3:40 pm

First off i think making any party based on alignments is boring, cuz then your party members dont fight amongst themselves...wheres the fun in that?

Your nuetral party looks a bit weak but i think it should survive quite well with cernd and ano.

And the NPC's DO care whether you dont do their quest...they might leave your party if you dont.

TRODTROD · Post by **TRODTROD** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 5:03 pm

[QUOTE=Thrain]you would say that. [/QUOTE]

i suppose you're right. Nah i used Anomen for a full game and he was perfectly fine, but i didnt use him as a tank, more of a utility man really

TROD.

Eadaii · Post by **Eadaii** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 5:48 pm

I'm thinking of just creating a part of "best" characters, no matter the alignment, and just hope that they don't rip each other apart. By "best" I mean best at what they do, and interesting to have in the party.

And about the quest bit. . . I know that characters will leave if you don't do their quest, but I wasn't sure whether the Planar Sphere Quest was Valygar's quest, or just an option, or whether the Unseeing Eye quest was Keldorn's and the Umar Hills was Mazzy's.

FireLighter · Post by **FireLighter** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:17 pm

Keldorn i THINK will leave if you dont complete his quest, mazzy doesnt really have a quest associated with her so she wont.

Ekental · Post by **Ekental** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:23 pm

Keldorn's quest triggers iff you go into his house, else it never ever occurs. (This is NOT the unseeing eye quest but the unfaithful wife one), Keldorn has nothing to do with the Unseeing Eye quest.
Valygar's quest can be done with or without him, though you DO need his blood if you plan on going without him (which means you have to kill him, you can't just get a little vial of it with a needle)
Mazzy has nothing to do with the Umar Hills quest other than she manages to get herself and party involved in the quest and such, you don't need her to finish it off, though she does have her own little subquest.

Eadaii · Post by **Eadaii** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:40 pm

I know you need Valygar one way or the other for the Planar Sphere, but does he care if you don't do it? I don't plan to do the stronghold quests right off the bat, so I'm wondering which NPCs don't care about any sq, and will stick around while I do miscellaneous stuff, and NPC subquests.

Ekental · Post by **Ekental** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:54 pm

[QUOTE=Eadii] I know you need Valygar one way or the other for the Planar Sphere, but does he care if you don't do it? I don't plan to do the stronghold quests right off the bat, so I'm wondering which NPCs don't care about any sq, and will stick around while I do miscellaneous stuff, and NPC subquests.[/QUOTE]
First, Valygar just sticks in your party till you do the quest. So for all purposes, it doesn't matter if you do his quest or not I believe
Keldorn, the disgustingly virtuous pally that he is, happens to be in the sewers fighting a great evil (Pallys are ALWAYS fighting a great evil)

None of the NPCs actually need you to do their quests, they don't get up and leave if you don't do it. As long as you say you'll check it out they'll be content to remain in your party for eternity, never realizing the a child of Bhaal might lie. (Or any normal guy, for that matter)

As for the stronghold quests, you can only do ONE, dependent on your class (unless you dl the hack for doing ALL the stronghold quests of course)

The only NPC quests you might want to do immediately are those that affect your party ATM, like Jaheira's curse lowers her stats till you violently dismember her curser

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:55 pm

[QUOTE=Eadaii]I know you need Valygar one way or the other for the Planar Sphere, but does he care if you don't do it? I don't plan to do the stronghold quests right off the bat, so I'm wondering which NPCs don't care about any sq, and will stick around while I do miscellaneous stuff, and NPC subquests.[/QUOTE]

You only need Valygar to actually open the Planar Sphere. He didn't fit into my party dynamic this time around, but I didn't want to kill him either, so I briefly dismissed Aerie, just long enough for Valygar to open the sphere. To return specifically to your question though, I have never experienced a problem with Valygar wanting to leave my party if I have delayed completing the Planar Sphere quest. I recommend doing it however, IMO it is one of the more enjoyable stronghold quests.

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 10:06 pm

IIRC, Nalia will leave for her keep if you take too long in going there. That happened to me once, I think.

In the neutral party, both Jaheira and Anomen fit more into the good party. (In a good party, the "right" thing to do would be to keep Jaheira)

Jan fits everywhere.

moltovir · Post by **moltovir** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:22 am

Neutrals can be with any party, either of good or evil alignment. That's why they're neutral after all

. And, making alignment-specific parties is just boring.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 6:49 am

Guys, the new player who started this thead wants your comments on any of three given party's strength, not about whether you approve of ethically aligned parties. Please keep the comments on subject. Thanks.

moltovir · Post by **moltovir** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 7:32 am

The first party is strong, altough i would take Anomen instead of Mazzy, and Jaheira instead of Aerie. Nalia and Imoen are both great mages, and Anomen is a good fighter and a wonderful cleric. Aerie as a cleric is good, but Anomen can profit from the bonuses like Draw Upon Holy Might, which are useles to Aerie. Also, Anomens alignment changes during the game, so he might fit better with the good party. Playing this party, i would make my main char a fighter-type (fighter, barbarian, paladin, ranger,..)

The neutral party is physically weak in the beginning of the game, but you have to see that as a challange, not as an obstacle. However, Jaheira and Anomen can be good tanks with decent equipment, and they can benefit from their defensive druid- and clericspells, making them remarkably stronger imo. Cernd is a good choice, especially when he reaches lvl 13: then he has the ability to polymorph into a greater werewolf, which has good resistances, an insane regeneration and high attributes, making him a good frontliner. Haer'Dalis' offensive spin can also be very powerful in the hands of the right player, but his low constitution requires a lot of babysitting. The only problem i notice is that the party has no good mages, and a good mage is required to fight the harder battles (breach and pierce magic are a necessity), so your main char will have to be a mage/sorcerer.

The evil party is wonderful. Korgan and Sarevok are amazing fighters, Viconia is a top cleric, and Edwin is one of the best mages available. I dont think there are evil rogues, so your main char shall have to be one (fighter/thief perhaps). There are not enough npc's to make an evil-only party, so you will have to take a neutral npc with you as sixt member, like Jaheira, Haer'Dalis or Cernd.

Thrain · Post by **Thrain** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 8:33 am

regardless of what her alignment says, Jaheira is NOT a true neutral character, she blatantly errs on the side of good. Haer or Jan fit best into evil parties (or ANo once he's failed his test)

Eadaii · Post by **Eadaii** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 9:29 am

About NPCS-I guess Nalia is the only one who will leave. I hope Korgan won't, as my party isn't ready yet for his book quest (got killed down there), but he's a really useful character to have around when you're just starting out.

About Parties-Maybe it is more interesting to have your characters fight (I admit I'm curious to see Viconia and Keldorn in the same party in ToB, as evil clerics can turn paladins), but I think playing a good or evil party would be fun too. Neutral maybe not so much, since some of the characters probably are neutral in thinking, and thats kind of boring. I think I'd rather use the neutral characters to fill in holes in the good or evil parties. Not sure I could put up with Anomen and Keldorn in the same group for that long, but I created two groups that I will probably end up using. As it is, I've restarted, so I have a bit to go before I can create a party.

Although, as Fable said, I'm interested in which party you think will be strong/weak/boring/interesting, (as I still am with these parties), I'm also interested in what characters in general you found to be most useful. Keep in mind that my main char. is usually a fighter/thief or mage/thief.

In the first party, I would use Keldorn and Mazzy as fighters, Anomen as a cleric, Imoen as my rogue, and Aerie as my mage. What do you think?

In the second party, I would use Korgan and Sarevok (I have no clue who to use as fighter until Tob when I get Sarevok. Any ideas?), Viconia as a cleric, Haer-Dalis or Jan as a rogue (but I'd be a half-rogue, so I could use other neutral characters in that spot-maybe Cernd, so I have a cleric and a druid.), and Edwin as a mage. What do you think? I think this party would probable the most fun to play.

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 11:51 am

[QUOTE=Eadaii]In the first party, I would use Keldorn and Mazzy as fighters, Anomen as a cleric, Imoen as my rogue, and Aerie as my mage. What do you think?

In the second party, I would use Korgan and Sarevok (I have no clue who to use as fighter until Tob when I get Sarevok. Any ideas?), Viconia as a cleric, Haer-Dalis or Jan as a rogue (but I'd be a half-rogue, so I could use other neutral characters in that spot-maybe Cernd, so I have a cleric and a druid.), and Edwin as a mage. What do you think? I think this party would probable the most fun to play.[/QUOTE]

In your first party, Immy makes a great main mage. Aerie is a bit redundent, as if you're a mage yourself she won't measure up, and you already have a cleric...though the extra magic really won't hurt much (plus, I love magic-heavy parties...Aerie's ability to put cleric spells into Sequencers is awesome). If anything, drop Aerie for either Jaheira (druid spells plus another fighter), Minsc (great tank alongside Keldorn), or even just leave the spot blank (exra XP for everyone). You could pick up Sarevok when you get to ToB, too. Also, if you want, drop Mazzy for Minsc, too, though I can see the ideals behind this mostly paladin-ish party.

In your evil party, you can make a fighter/thief as a backup tank to Korgan, up until you get Sarevok. I'd take Jan, if anything, for extra mage support.

Ekental · Post by **Ekental** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 11:58 am

[QUOTE=Nightmare] Aerie is a bit redundent, as if you're a mage yourself she won't measure up, and you already have a cleric...[/QUOTE]
Dunno about, Aerie is great support regardless of whether or not you have a mage or cleric in the party. Some people like to turn her into a tank with buffs, but that seems to go counter to what she's there for, which is magic support in every way (though it's true that she's always a bit behind in magic, but she DOES get both pools of magic to draw on)

Eadaii · Post by **Eadaii** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 1:20 pm

Well, I was thinking about putting Edwin in the first party, as no one can beat him as a mage, and as he's the only single class mage, and he'll be available anyway since I'm doing the thief guild quest. Hmm, maybe I'll do that and just pray the paladins don't rip him to shreds (or vice-versa),or maybe I'd use the evil party instead . . . Say, does anyone know if the paladin party leaves or anything if you choose Bodhi?