76 replies to this topic

[Cal Jones]

Heh, well, he's non-judgemental (unless you happen to be a mage, but then if the PC is a mage he's actually cool about it). He's not holier than thou; he doesn't talk in horrible flowery romance olde English or witter on about serving gods and being all self-righteous. He's also about the only non-evil NPC who doesn't throw a sh*t fit when you take Sarevok with you. Even if I have a mainly evil party, then I'll take Val because he is just cool with it.

Going back to BG1 and my general dislike of mages in that game, I've taken Edwin for the first time and found him actually very useful (especially if given that ring of wizardy from outside the Friendly Arm Inn...it's very hard to find but it's there).

[SirLancelot]

The party i have taken along the most is the following:

PC
Valygar (but i'mt tired of him)
Yosh/Imoen (Imoen just for the plot or Mirrabo romance)
Keldorn (i think i won't play with him again) -> Sarevok
Minsc (but in BG2, i can't stand him anymore)
Edwin (mainly because gaming reasons and some hilarious banters.i think i won't play with him again)

Other joinable NPC's i use to "hire":

Mazzy (wow! am i the first who mentions her?)
Aerie (the sweetiest thing), Viconia (the hottest thing), Jaheira (the pain in.. i mean, unfortunately, she has the most complex and diverse romance)
Nalia
Korgan (just for the comical relief)


Joinable NPC's that bore or offend me enough to discard them:

Cernd (I swear, i ALWAYS try to give him a chance, but...)
Jan (i don't find his turnips tales funny at all)
Anomen (never play a male character with this guy at your side!! He's simply too annoyingl!)
Haer-Dalis (No HD, i repeat, i'm not your raven, freak!! No, don't read a poem fragment *again* Your poems are too filled with ravens to my taste! And so on..)

[arguskos]

I just realized I haven't responded to this thread yet... I already thought I had too. >_> I must be crazy or something...

Anyhoo, Bioware parties:

BG1:
Charname (typically a fighter/mage, but sometimes other mage combos or straight mage... I like mages)
Minsc
Dynaheir
Jaheria
Khalid
Yeslick (though I typically take Ajantis till I can get to Yeslick. I also feel bad leaving Ajantis in the mine to die when I switch him for Yeslick. Does anyone else feel bad about leaving NPC's to die in the mine?)

I just like taking the pairs of NPC's, esp since I tend to fiddle with their classes thanks to Lv. 1 NPC's, so that Jaheria is a straight druid, Khalid is a fighter/mage, and Minsc is a berserker. Also, the Dynaheir romance from BG1 NPC's is enjoyable too.

BG2: I vary a LOT, so I'll just give my current party (sans the mod NPCs I'm using)
Charname (fighter/mage)
Keldorn
Mazzy
Aerie
Anomen
Yoshimo (I just reached spellhold, and haven't gotten Imoen yet, though I am about to...)

I don't usually take Mazzy/Aerie/Anomen/Yoshimo, but figured I'd do the whole "Champions of Light and Goodness" thing this runthrough.

My last, far more... morally questionable party was the following:
Charname (also, fighter/mage)
Korgan
Edwin
Viconia
Cernd
Haer'Dalis

On a mod related note, I tend to like Xan, Tsujatha, Kelsey, Biddekelorak (funny name), and Fade. Just sayin'.

-argus

[Cal Jones]

Evil person! Heh. If I'm taking Yeslick I'll have only five characters at that point so I never have to leave anyone in the mine. I never take characters temporarily in BG1 - once they're on the team, they stay!

[MrToughGuy]

I have certain preferences in NPCs, though the only constant is I always have Imoen in my party (when available), and I don't think I've ever dropped her, except for when I was tinkering with something. My PC's class rarely affects who I take (I've played as pretty much everything but a Cleric or Druid...there's enough of those to choose from). Anyway, I divide my NPCs into categories:

BG1:
Always - Imoen
Preferred - Alora (though she usually only stays until Imoen gets her thief skills back after dualling), Coran, Dynaheir, Eldoth (he's funny, but I only keep him until I finish his quest), Jaheira (unless I'm going Evil), Minsc, Montaron (I like his dialogue as well, but he dies too easily), Shar-Teel (a good tank if I'm going Evil), Viconia.
Rarely - Branwen (usually only if I've not taken Vicky or temporarily dumped Jaheira), Edwin, Faldorn (sometimes I take her, but only for the Cloakwood Mine, where she usually gets herself killed ), Garrick, Kagain (he's a temp until I find a better melee tank), Khalid (he never proves very useful in my games for some reason), Kivan (I find him to be rather dull), Safana (usually a temp for Imoen's lost thief skills), Tiax, Xzar, Yeslick (usually just for his quest).
Never - Adjantis, Quayle, Skie (mediocre skills, and the last thief in a game loaded with thieves), Xan (I've never understood his appeal).


BG2:
Always - Imoen
Preferred - Aerie (my preferred romance partner, though I'm trying out several mod romances at the moment, so she's in and out), Jaheira (she used to be a staple in my groups, my trusted lieutenant. Lately, I'm trying new people and often drop her after a while), Korgan (love his personality, his conflicts with Aerie prove troublesome at times), Viconia (I love her HLAs, but sometimes I'd prefer a good cleric's turn undead ability).
Rarely - Anomen (I never used him, but I recently changed his portrait and gave him another shot. He worked out pretty well, so I'll probably take him more often now), Edwin (too many mages in this game, odd man out usually), Jan (I tried him a couple times, but he seemed underpowered by the end and basically had to hide in a corner while I fought Improved Irenicus), Minsc (good ol' standby, but I prefer Korgan in this game), Nalia (I like her with her romance mod installed, otherwise, she's just not as good as Imoen), Sarevok (he's amusing, and if I have a spot, I'll take him), Yoshimo (he used to be my best friend after Imoen, but lately I sub him out more than Minsc).
Quest only - Cernd (lately I don't even take him at all), Haer-Dalis (same thing, I rarely take him at all any more), Keldorn (it's hypocritical to fix up his home life, then drag him away immediately), Mazzy (I have trouble making her effective), Valygar (he's dull, and not as able to take front line duty as I'd like).

Edited by MrToughGuy, 15 July 2008 - 09:30 PM.

[Cal Jones]

Mm, what I've found with Val is it really depends how you use him. I used to have him switch between spear (there are some really good spears in both SoA and ToB) and bow (as it's too much hassle to swap bows and then dual wield weapons) and found him alright.
Last game I didn't have him use bows at all. I just gave him Celestial Fury and Belm and he just chewed everything up. He had the highest kill count for much of the game.
I've come to the conclusion bows are pretty crappy, especially in the later stages of the game. I'll use them with Yoshimo and Imoen, but I'd rather my fighters just used melee.

[arguskos]

I've come to the conclusion bows are pretty crappy, especially in the later stages of the game. I'll use them with Yoshimo and Imoen, but I'd rather my fighters just used melee.

I agree, save for with my squishies. Every character of mine carries a ranged weapon (just in case) and my wizards tend to use one as their main weapon, to use on mooks that don't deserve spells, and to use when out of spells or against a magic-resistant foe.

As for Valygar, I like him with dual-wielding katanas, such as Celestial Fury and Sanchudokku (Kurosian's katana) or Fury and his family sword (a pretty decent weapon actually).

-argus

[Discordia]

minsc/valygar/sarevok
keldorn
viconia/anomen
edwin
yoshimo/jan/imoen

i usually start off as kensai and dual at 13 to mage, i then sometimes kick edwin and replace him with one of the first row, at least till i caught up to reactivating my kensai (making him the uber tank while the other two slash away from behind)

if sorcerer or wild mage

minsc
valygar/sarevok
keldorn
viconia
yoshimo/imoen

i have to say though that i start in bg1

and dual imoen only once she reaches lvl 10 (or the highest i can make dualing her just before leaving the dungeon, and cheating her the rest of the experience she got since her last lvlup as per cluaconsole)..as a swashbuckler, dual wielding katanas...celestial fury and dakkons zerth make for a nice combo for any thief/mage

so anyway...

bg1 party

minsc (as barbarian, per lvl 1 npcs)
dynaheir (as sorceress, per lvl 1 npcs)
viconia
imoen (as swashbuckler, per lvl 1 npcs)

(yes thats right, only 5, gets more xp since there are no quests in bg1 that get you a fixed xp amount for every party member...besides, with the additional experience gained from reading scrolls and opening locks and disarming traps you advance pretty fast throughout the ranks...
btw, viconia gets all wisdom tomes (making her an almost epic 21 wisdom) and imoen gets the dex manual...later to be increased further by lums machine...

btw, anyone happen to know when or if a thief gains an additional attack per round?

Edited by Discordia, 21 July 2008 - 05:00 PM.

[Amaurea]

Mm, what I've found with Val is it really depends how you use him. I used to have him switch between spear (there are some really good spears in both SoA and ToB) and bow (as it's too much hassle to swap bows and then dual wield weapons) and found him alright.
Last game I didn't have him use bows at all. I just gave him Celestial Fury and Belm and he just chewed everything up. He had the highest kill count for much of the game.
I've come to the conclusion bows are pretty crappy, especially in the later stages of the game. I'll use them with Yoshimo and Imoen, but I'd rather my fighters just used melee.

I had forgotten about Belm! I've got Val dual-wielding katanas in my current game--Celestial Fury and his family blade. I'm going to have to make my way over to Trademeet next time I fire the game up.

[wonnimchunha]

Funny, I am at odds with most everybody

ALWAYS

Edwin
Jan

USUALLY

Aerie
Imoen
Sarevok

NEVER

Jaheira
Nalia
Mazzy


I never tire of turnip jokes......

[Klorox]

Anything with Aerie, Jaheira and Jan. One of my most fun parties is with those 3 and an Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief. I absolutely love multiclassed characters!

Smaller (4 person) parties work better for me as well.

Edited by Klorox, 23 July 2008 - 07:00 AM.

[Feal Thas]

My party is driven by my Pc's alignment.

In BGI, if good:

PC, Imoen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Ajantis, Branwen (if my PC is a thief type, I drop Imoen and add Kivan, if a Paladin, I drop Ajantis and add Yeslick, if a Ranger, I drop Minsc and add Xan and if a Cleric, I drop Branwen and add Kivan)

if neutral:

PC, Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Xan, Branwen (I sometimes take Garrick, depending on my PC class)

if evil:

PC, Monteron, Xzar, Viconia, Shar-Teel, Edwin (if my PC is a mage type, I drop either Xzar or Edwin and add Kagain - if a thief type, same with Monteron - if a Cleric type, same with Viconia).

In BGII, if good:

PC, Anomen, Minsc, Keldorn, Jan, Nalia (that is basically it - though I sometimes modify it a little based on my PC class and switch one of the others for Arie, Valygar or Mazzy)

if neutral:

PC, Jaheira, Jan, Nalia, Anomen, Haer'Dalis (sometimes I swap Valygar in, depnding on my PC class)

if evil:

PC, Korgan, Jan, Edwin, Viconia, Anomen

So in BGII, I never take Yoshimo and almost never pick Imoen back up and almost always take both Jan and Anomen. Jan is a very good thief and is a good secondary mage and Anomen is simply the best cleric in the game (due to his combat abilities combined with his clerical spells).

[Hide and Seek]

BG2:

My human PC, with a longsword or two.
Aerie, with Crom Faeyr and the shield of Harmony.
Imoen, with Gesen Bow.
Minsc, with Lilarcor.
Jaheira, with Water's Edge+3 and the Sentinel Shield.
Keldorn, with Carsomyr (usually dumped for Sarevok).

[Alain]

I love using the "forgotten" characters in BG1. My typical party is usually something like.

Skie
Eldoth
PC
Faldorn
Kagain
Quayle

They're even better with BG1NPC installed.

[Vicen]

Haha those 5 have got to be the least popular

[Hombre Gato]

Whichever combination of characters come to a commitment of completing eighty eight percent of the game before the blasted viruses of warez compel me to format my hard drive.

[Beetle]

My PCs are always part-fighter (fighter, ranger, paladin or fighter/druid usually).

For BG 1 I use one of these two Bioware parties (but now I can't go without Finch or Indira):
Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Branwen, Xan
or
Imoen, Kivan, Ajantis, Minsc, Dynahier

For BG2 it's usually Jaheira, Minsc, Anomen, Aerie, and rotating/Yoshimo/Imoen. Valygar, Viconia and Mazzy are the first three off the bench (though I have to use Sporeboy's alterate Mazzy portrait - I can't handle the medusa hair). I rarely use Korgan, Cernd, Jan or Keldorn and have never gone past Spellhold with Edwin or Haer'Dalis. Nalia only lasts past her stronghold if I'm playing her romance (ppg) or have Auren.

Edited by Beetle, 10 August 2008 - 10:45 AM.