12 replies to this topic

[CaleyM]

I've played through the entire game once, with my Sorceror MC, Yoshimo, Jaheira, Aerie, Imoen, Nalia and Misc and Mazzy. It seemed like the strategy boiled down to distracting the enemies long enough with fodder to get off a Double Cheese Deluxe with the MC, resurrect. Yoshimo seemed to have the worst offense and the worst defense. I'm about to start a new game without a sorceror, planning to pick up Korgan and Viconia for RP this time. I made an Archer (for called shot), a wild mage (for funnies) and I can't decide whether I should use a Monk, Thief->Mage/Cleric, or Fighter->Mage/Cleric. If I use the Monk, I can spot traps and run summons over them. If I use a Thief dual, I can get some extra XP from disarming and not have to sleep/heal frequently from trap damage. Because thieves seem to have no combat strengths, I'm wondering whether it is worth using a party slot on it, especially when I don't want two of any class. Also, because I was considering taking Edwin as the only other evil recruit for RP, I'm wondering how viable it would be to use a pure Conjurer for melee DPS.

1. Archer (Half-Elf)
2. Wild Mage (Elf)
3. Thief/Monk?
4. Viconia (Drow)
5. Korgan (Dwarf)
6. Edwin? (Human)

I just the need the party to be unusual, but not too crap to finish the game.

Another idea: a party of, say, 6 Illusionists. I'm thinking it would be funny to make gobs of clones and not have any proper damage spells.

Any other ideas for funny parties that can beat the game?

Edited by CaleyM, 20 July 2010 - 10:01 PM.

[CaleyM]

Is werewolf form useful throughout the game? My sorceror couldn't hit a single thing in ToB using poly.

This is an evil NPC only party I'm making for the next run. Psychos only. Prickmedainties need not apply. I decided to drop wild mage for Edwin. I'll save the monk for a solo later. The Refinements HLA's make monk a Wong Fei Hung type and the portraits mod has a Jet Li portrait to go with it. Once Upon a Time in Amn? What are the best SoA+ToB evil NPC mods, aside from Valen?

Edited by CaleyM, 21 July 2010 - 09:57 PM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Is werewolf form useful throughout the game? My sorceror couldn't hit a single thing in ToB using poly.

Well, it depends on what other mods you use... as there's a few Were restorations that should give you good enough stats... but that's... cheating.

What you could do is to have "heavy rock band"... 6 bards with different kits. Kit mods like RogueSwitch, Chanter, etc make the game easier as you do not need the Thief or the Cleric, although the kits cannot replaced the classes, as they need their own strategy, but they can do the job somewhat well. Or course getting in to the melee might be a bad idea...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 22 July 2010 - 01:14 AM.

[CaleyM]

It seems Ninde and Valen are mutually exclusive.

[Ipsissimus]

Well, you could just cheat Ninde in, if you wanted to.

Oh yeah, and Sarevok should be in every evil party.

Perhaps try this:

PC as fighter/mage or blade
Viconia
Edwin
Yoshimo/Tiax (instead of Imoen)
Korgan
Kido/Sarevok

Should be an interesting party, at the least.

[Zyraen]

IF I may add, a stealth-able-at-will party is very fun to play for most of BG2.

To this end, I would recommend Reaver Kit (the catch-all that can do Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Thief) for the PC. This sweet baby levels up as a Thief, levels a mage at one less level, and has Fighter Thac0 and bonus hitpoints, along with Cleric spells auto learnt into spellbooks, and up to x7 backstab.

For the others, Fighter/Thief and Mage/Thief and Ranger are all awesome. IF you feel a need, take a Ranger/Cleric, otherwise just take a pure Ranger. One vanilla mage / sorcerer / whoever gets by using Staff of Magi.

So you probably would have
PC - Reaver or Fighter/Thief
Ranger - Minsc or Valygar. I recommend Valygar very strongly, backstab ftw
Thief/Mage - Imoen or Nalia in Stealth Gear, or if you really must (UGH...) Jan
Mage - Edwin or possibly Aerie so that you're not without any Cleric.. oh wait, Reaver casts Cleric spells...

I can't recall if Korgan can be dualled to a Thief.
Kelsey is also an amazing Sorcerer to have around.

===============================

Right now I'm having a blast with this party...

PC - Reaver
Kiyone - Archer
Kova - Mage/Thief
Aerie - Cleric/Mage (with Staff of Magi)
Imoen - (soon to be rescued)

PS : if you have a non-spellcasting, backstabbing char with UAI, be sure to buy **every. single. Mislead** scroll you come across. obviously if you have a spellcaster load up on Misleads. Alternatively, cast Simulacrums with Restoration scrolls on themselves, restore them and then you get a duplicate backstabber. Or if you're high level enough, you don't need to, although you could equip a Sword that adds +1 Backstab Factor along with Crom Faeyr in offhand, and then Simulacrum. No need to Restoration, trust me you backstab hard enough.. oh and if the Simulacrum has a Mislead scroll? oops I said too much now...

[CaleyM]

IF I may add, a stealth-able-at-will party is very fun to play for most of BG2.

I had 4 casters in ToB. Every fight I went in with 4 invisible and div immuned projected images with on-hit mislead contingency. Some special fights were a bit tricky because you can't plant the real caster far away. Otherwise it was stupid easy. The only place I got stuck was the Ravager, where I eventually ran out of spells because it wasn't giving message any message about immunity to lower resistance. I had to google that and reload. It's annoying when you have so many spells going on and you don't get messages about what happens to them.

[CaleyM]

I started as an elf and just realized that Viconia is not into elves. What would I change in Shadow Keeper to make it doable?

ViconiaRomance 100586
ViconiaRomanceActive 1

Should I just switch to half-elf?

[Dakk]

To this end, I would recommend Reaver Kit (the catch-all that can do Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Thief) for the PC. This sweet baby levels up as a Thief, levels a mage at one less level, and has Fighter Thac0 and bonus hitpoints, along with Cleric spells auto learnt into spellbooks, and up to x7 backstab.

From your own (I take it:)) readme:

Hidden Uber Kit - Reaver Kit (Convenience)
An uber kit that can do all the functions of a Fighter, Thief and Mage, and to some extent, of a Cleric and Druid. It advances as a Thief so its pretty quick. [...] With this Character, you don't have to worry about Party Composition anymore, just take whoever you want, when you want.

The Reaver is a wildly unbalanced, uber Kit that should provide gaming enjoyment and fun to anyone who wants to replay BG2 SoA without bothering about party balance and composition. Generally speaking, the Reaver is a class that is able to perform all of the functions of a Thief, Mage and Fighter, and to some extent, those of a Cleric and Druid as well.

I think fair warning should be provided, as the OP seems to enjoy challenges

Edited by Dakk, 27 July 2010 - 01:11 AM.

[Zyraen]

Good point I had thought it pretty obvious that it was Over Powered, but I guess it should be indicated lol.
BTW, from experience, it would seem that a Solo Reaver is somewhat EASIER (not Harder) than when managing a Party while the PC is a Reaver. Not sure what gives...