GameBanshee Forums

Hello all,

I only just installed BGII again after not having played it for an extremely long time; at the very least a year, probably a year and a half.
So, I want to start over, single-play, and I'm wondering about NPC's. Protagonist doesn't matter too much, and can be any human, elf, or half-elf to suit the rest of the party.

Some guidelines:
Jaheira is a necessity; I just like her too much. This is why I want a human, elf, or half-elf as well - the romance.
Imoen and Viconia are two characters I'm very fond of as well. The temporary replacement for Imoen doesn't matter too much.

This is it. Some recommended attributes would be nice as well - as I've said, it's been a long time. Thnx!

EDIT: SoA only; you can try and convince me to play ToB, and I'd like to, but I simply don't have it...

How bout playin' with the dead?

How about an Elven Necromancer/Cleric as your protagonist. concentrate on charisma, intelligence and wisdom, strength; dexterity and constitution can be aquired through divine and/or arcane methods. Make sure his alignment is neutral evil or chaotic evil to take advantage of the undead rebuking ability. The undead have many appearances throughout the game.

I've played the Undead Hunter class before. The undead combat bonuses are very handy especially the immunity to level drain. This class is considered Paladin but I don't think this class can be lawful so you won't be able to use Corsomyr. You also don't get the lay on hands ability.

Jan Jansen with Haer'Dalis make quite the pair. They take careof all your thieving abilities. Haer'Dalis is quite the pickpocket and Jan never seems to fail at disarming traps. They are both capable in combat as well as there arcane spell casting will come in very handy.

So that makes five. Keldorn with Corsomyr is good stuff but Viconia does not get along with him all to well. Korgan gets along alright with Viconia, and Korgan is quite the Berserker. Perhaps you can use the sixth spot to play all the rest of the NPCs in the game.

J

Thnx for the reply! Nice to see some people still take the time to answer the question probably most asked on these forums.
But...
1/ Elves can't be Necromancers
2/ Specialist mages can't start out as a multi-class.
3/ Undead Hunters, like any other Paladin, can only be Lawful Good.
Still, I always did like Jan, although I never used Haer'Dalis before. Maybe something to try. Well, thnaks for the response anyway ! I'll wait for some more, and than I'll see.

I often use Immy, Jaheira and Viconia as well. A pretty well-balanced party would be

You, Swashbuckler
ToB-guy, Fighter
Jaheira, Fighter/Druid

Imoen, Thief/Mage
Viconia, Cleric

At the beginning you'll have all but arcane spellpower, which you can be without. A swashy and Jaheira is enough combat power, especially since you'll gain levels fast as you only have 3 characters.

As I see it, a well-balanced party with both sufficient combat power and spell power. And yes, 5 is enough, if not more than enough.

Since you aren't going through ToB, and have no access to ToB characters, I have a suggestion. Most parties I've played with have been more effective when overbalanced toward melee or arcane casting. A well balanced party doesn't work as well for me.

Since you have Jaheira, Imoen and Viconia in your party, you can pretty much go either way on the party. I would use either Minsc and Korgan with you as a fighter-type, or Haerdalis and Nalia with you as a wizard. Jahiera makes a great low-AC character, Haer makes great bait so you can concentrate on casting damaging spells.

This is what you will want to go through the game :

- 2+ "Tanks" to absorb damages, and deal some too!
- 1+ "Healer" (Cleric or Druid)
- 1 Thief (One is a must... two is just to add power to your party (Backstabs, set traps, etc.)
- 2+ Mages, since you will want a magic damage-dealer and a buffer (Haste, Imp. Haste, etc), de-buffer (Dispel Magic, Breach, etc.) and disabler (Hold Person, Slow, Chaos, etc.)

So far, you have :
- Jaheira (Healer/Tank)
- Viconia (Healer)
- Imoen (Thief/Mage)

You need :
- A thief *pre-Imoen*
- 1+ Spellcaster
- 1+ Tank
- To choose the PC's class

What I would suggest to add :
- Jan (Thief/Mage) or Yoshimo (Thief) and then switch to Imoen at Spellhold.
- Nalia (Mage), Edwin (Mage), Aerie (Healer/Mage) or Jan (Thief/Mage)
- Minsc (Tank), Korgan (Tank), Anomen (Tank/Healer) or Mazzy (Tank)

The choices I would make are the followings :
- Thief *Pre-Imoen* : Yoshimo (for Story's purpose)
- Spellcaster : Edwin (Evilish PC), Jan (Neutralish PC) or Nalia (Goodish PC)
- Tank #2 : Minsc (Goodish/Neutral PC) or Korgan (Evilish PC)

Now, let's see what we have :
- PC (?)
- Jaheira
- Viconia
- Yoshimo -> Imoen
- Edwin, Jan or Nalia
- Minsc or Korgan

You might want to add a frontliner/half-frontliner, since you'll want Jaheira to cast spells during combat too. A Fighter/Mage could be a good idea, since it can absorb a fabulous amount of hits without being too hurt (Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Blur), and can always mislead in case of serious injury. A bard (Blade or Skald) can do the same too. A Fighter/Mage/Thief will give you even more versatility, introducing hit-and-fade tactics (backstabs using invisibility spells, etc.). You could also add magic power to your party by being a mage or a sorcerer. If you haven't tried a Stronghold (Class Quests), try a new one!!!

[POSSIBLE SPOILERS about Strongholds : Highlight to reveal]
Stronghold / Class (Including Kits and multi/dual-classes)
- Temple / Clerics
- Radiant Order / Paladins
- Planar Sphere / Mages, Sorcerers
- Keep / Fighters, Barbarians, Monks
- Ranger's Cabin / Rangers
- Druid Grove / Druids
- Thief Guild / Thieves
- Theather / Bards
[/POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

Just telling you what I will choose if I were you

Wizard slayer: I don't know why but the game is about killing wizards and mages Jon irecius is also a mage so it is pretty handy that the main character is a wizard slayer..killing jOn will be pretty and if you have tob install within 5 mins he will be dead along wif his demons

Jan jansen:he should able to provide you wif all the thieving skills that come really handy wif all the traps and locks around

Viconia: What i like is the romance with the main character and also she is a cleric quite useful in healing your party


Keldorn: Just becuase he can use the Corsomyr a good fighter too

that make 4 but in tob i will choose 6

Thanks for the advice; quite useful too. SP101, I suspect the 'story purposes' concerning Yoshimo are about recovering some exp., as well as not having to kick out a character for no reason when you recover Imoen? I'd usually go for Jan, on funny alone, but that's one character I can remember having previously used in every single game, so maybe it's time for a change; Yoshimo it is. For the same reason, I think Nalia will make it over the other 2; Edwin just seems annoying. Although, he is single-class. Any pro's or cons on both? Minsc seems a nice duo with Jaheira as well, and at least as good a fighter as Korgan.
PC? Fighter/mage seems good enough. Any additions? Thanks

EDIT:
1/ By the way, does anyone know an xp-cap remover?
2/ How do strongholds work for multi-/dual-class? Do they get 2? 3 maybe ?

Possible SPOILERS below






@Mortal : Keldorn and Viconia will fight... eventually... so it isn't a great Idea to have both in your party.

@Incertainty :

Yoshimo is part of the story... that's my reason from bringing him. The exp gained this way is only a little bonus. Yoshimo brings a new alternative route to enter spellhold (the "I'm crazy" one). When I don't want to play with him, I just keep my 6th character slot empty, because I don't like to drop a character in spellhold to recover Imoen. I have, too, over-used jan, so I enjoy going to Brynnlaw with Yoshimo in my party.

Nalia will do fine as a mage. I believe she can reach the same level as edwin (but she doesn't get the +2 spell/spell level bonus because of Edwin being a Thayvian Wizard (Thayvian Amulet + Specialist), so she will have fewer spells). Anyway, being a dualclassed thief/mage makes her able to use short bows, wich is a good advantage. She will also progress pretty fast as a Mage, gaining access to higher level spells quickly, unlike Aerie and Jan Jansen. The only thing I don't like about nalia, is that she's a pale copy of Imoen (Imoen being a decent thief at least, while nalia doesn't have enough skills). You might want to choose Edwin for this reason, and since he's a great mage, he could be useful (he'll always have more spells than any other mages in the game, that's for sure!).

Minsc will do good job as a Tank. Good damage-dealer/receiver, he's your best bet. Before though combat, use his low-level druidics spells (gained from being a Ranger) such as Armor of Faith (10-15% bonus to physical resistance can be a life-saver) and Remove Fear.

The PC choice is good (Fighter/Mage), but if you plan to go through Shadow of Amn only, you might want to try out a dual-classed character, since low levels (roughtly lvl 1 to 10) needs only a bit of exp to level up. A Fighter dual classed to a mage at level 9 (Profiency point gained, no more hit points dices after lvl 9) will be a real killed. You could also add a kit for a greater result (Berserker will give you various immunities/bonus while raging, while a Kensai is a real killing machine, and combine well since a Fighter/Mage won't wear armors anyway (this dual-class can still wear robes!).)

1/ By the way, does anyone know an xp-cap remover? 2/ How do strongholds work for multi-/dual-class? Do they get 2? 3 maybe ?

1. Do a quick search for either Baldurdash or Ease-Of-Use mod. These two will add an xp-cap remover.

2. You only get one, unless you install a mod that change this rule (Ease of Use changes it ). You get only the first one you accept! (There's a bug involving the fighter and the mage stronghold... wich you can pick both. not sure how it's working though).

Good luck!

@Mortal : Keldorn and Viconia will fight... eventually... so it isn't a great Idea to have both in your party.

I've had the two in my parties before, and as long as my rep stayed average, there were never any problems. It's also possible to use a mod that removes violent disagreement between party members.

[QUOTE=Incertainty]EDIT: SoA only; you can try and convince me to play ToB, and I'd like to, but I simply don't have it... [/QUOTE]Can't you still get it somewhere? After all this time, I'm sure it's not very expensive (at least here in Holland it isn't). As far as add-ons go, ToB is one of the best I've seen. Not only as far as the story is concerned, it also adds a new kit, the Wild Mage, which is one of the nicest kits I've played. It would suit your new party.

@SP101:
Don't Edwin and Minsc eventually kill each other? Seems like I'll have to pick Nalia. Or is there a way to prevent this?
I think I'll go for the Kensai/Mage. Any advice on attributes? Of course I'll need 17 INT, but what should I max out when starting; physicals, or 'mentals'?
Thanks for the mods. I'll go for an unmodded game first, though.

@Coot
They still sell it in the Netherlands? ToB on it's own? I'm from Belgium myself, Kempen, so occasionally I visit Breda or Roosendaal, those parts... Any recommendations as to where I might find it? Thanks!

I've seen it on occasion, together with SoA or apart, at Dynabyte, Dixons or at some of them smaller gameshops we have here in Rotterdam. Even if you had to buy it with SoA, prices are not very high - although I don't remember how high exactly.

K, thanks. You got any idea on what to max out? That's something I've always wondered about characters with multiple classes - physical or mental attributes?

If you still want to go with a fighter/mage, dex, con and int are the stats you'll want to be high. Str is important too, but easier to enhance in SoA.

I haven't seen ToB in the Netherlands yet. I have seen it in on line shops for about 30 Euro, but I haven't been willing to shell out the dough yet.

On the other hand, I live in de Achterhoek. It doesn't get further away from the cities than me. Anyhow, back to the topic.

Kensai/mage, great choice. I'd switch over at level 9.
Attributes: barely passable strength, there's strength enhancers early and often. High dexterity, mid-high constitution. Con isn't important if you never get hit, but just in case, it should be higher than nothing. Max intelligence, mid-low wisdom, more than 10 charisma (for romances if you do those).
I've never seen Edwin kill Minsc, but I only combined them once, so I'm no authority.

Ok, I've got my game running right now, and managed to roll out a truly beautiful set of statistics. As a Kensai (minimum STR 9, 3 everything else) I currently have 63pts. to divide . Currently, I'm still in character creation, dividing my points, but I don't think it's going to get much better than this. STR 18/74, DEX, CON, INT 18, WIS 10 and CHA 5 (going for Ring of Human Influence, which should be acquired early enough, no?). At this moment, though, any points can still be redivided, so if anyone has any suggestions, working from these points... Boost my WIS? Boost my CHA so I can use other rings?

You're surely not telling us you rolled that up naturally? Because if so, it's an amazing bit of luck. When you decide to take up riverboat gambling as a career, please, give me a call.

Don't change anything, in any case. If you want to powergame, you've created a wonderful character for it. The ring does appear early, and with various others items you should become superhuman early on.

I did roll that up naturally... after spending a good half hour pressing 're-roll'. These stats have got to last me a long time, so why not spend a little time on them? So the wisdom shouldn't be higher? If the wisdom can be raised, what items can do it?

Wisdom is only useful for clerics, druids, and getting a good roll with the genie lamp spell. If you're playing anything else, don't worry about it.