Seeking advice for an old game...

[WarLocke]

Well, I've played most of the way through Icewind Dale 2 twice now (first a party of 6 that was poorly planned, then a NE Drow Sorceress who I couldn't resist doing "good" deeds with), and am still hankering for good ol' nostalgic Infinity Engine goodness, just not more IWD2 right now...

So, I'm considering reinstalling Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, since I never did finish it (got bogged down trying to do all the Chapter 2 quests before moving on with the story and then uninstalled it for some reason), but I have a few questions:

1- I don't own Throne of Bhaal. Do the changes added in TOB impact SoA (ie, should I go out and buy TOB and install the lot together?), or can I wait until after I've finished SoA?

2- Since I'm starting anew, and can't bear to play through BG1 or Tales of the Sword Coast yet again, I figure I may try one of the "new" classes for the protagonist. I'm thoroughly impressed with Sorcerors in IWD2, and heck, maybe a Monk would be a nice change of pace. Any thoughts as to using them in BG2?

3- I have no intention of soloing BG2 (although I enjoy it in the IWD games, go figure), but in the past I've mostly stuck with the Imoen/Khalid/Jaheira/Minsc/Dynaheir default party type (substitute Khalid and Dynaheir for Aerie or Jan and the NPC-of-the-day in BG2). Any suggestions for other NPCs that are especially effective or have interesting chatter and/or dialogue? I always thought Edwin was cool in BG; may have to try him in BG2 as well...

And lastly, any suggestions in general? Stuff like, "don't wake up Kangaxx before you want to fight" and such? Think I did that once, or at least woke up some lich near the beginning of the game. Got my arse handed to me, lol.

[loonygloss]

Do the changes added in TOB impact SoA (ie, should I go out and buy TOB and install the lot together?), or can I wait until after I've finished SoA?

Yes they do. You can access the new area of Watchers Keep in SoA, and the level cap is removed also, allowing you to not waste any XP over the SoA cap. But, those both come into play a fair way through SoA, so you could easily play for a while without ToB.

I figure I may try one of the "new" classes for the protagonist. I'm thoroughly impressed with Sorcerors in IWD2, and heck, maybe a Monk would be a nice change of pace. Any thoughts as to using them in BG2?

IIRC, Sorcerers are interesting, but not all that different from mages, OTOH, the first Char I played in ToB was a monk, and though they are a bit weak to start with, they turn into killing machines as they advance. In ToB, they can have up to 78% intrinsic magic res, and their hands become +4 1d20 weapons (though a very few enemies do need a +5 to hit). They also gain a lot of attacks. If you haven't guessed, I think they're great fun.

3- I have no intention of soloing BG2 (although I enjoy it in the IWD games, go figure), but in the past I've mostly stuck with the Imoen/Khalid/Jaheira/Minsc/Dynaheir default party type (substitute Khalid and Dynaheir for Aerie or Jan and the NPC-of-the-day in BG2). Any suggestions for other NPCs that are especially effective or have interesting chatter and/or dialogue?

Note: everything after here could be considered a spoiler!
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Well, I do like Sarevok, but you'll only find him in ToB. Viconia is also a good cleric, and the romance takes an interesting twist in ToB.

And lastly, any suggestions in general? Stuff like, "don't wake up Kangaxx before you want to fight" and such? Think I did that once, or at least woke up some lich near the beginning of the game. Got my arse handed to me, lol.

Uhmmm... Well, there are a lot of other such battles -

More Spoilers:

The Twisted Rune - go through a doorway in Athakatla(sp?) (The area where they've had the murders) with a rogue stone in you inventory and prepare for a BIG fight (lich, vampire, mage, etc)
Watcher's Keep - Lots of interesting things, but also lots of big fights.
Also, there are a lot of components for Cespenar to forge into powerful weapons - keep an eye out for them, and also, some can be used for one of two different forgings.

[Elric of Grans]

Hail WarLocke,

1) Get it: I don't know about others, but I start accessing things from it before I finish SoA. Besides, you may wish to consider a Wild Mage ;)

2) The Monk starts a little worse off than a Fighter, but before too long they are the most powerful in the game: a high level Monk is awfully powerful. The Sorcerer is *always* more powerful than a Mage, IMO.

3) I once soloed a F/M/T - that was very cool :P The NPCs? Well, Edwin is very cool, not only because he's a powerful mage, but also he's got some of the best dialogue. Minsc has the BEST dialogue, especially in ToB. Cernd is a nice replacement for Jaheira: I like using Shapeshifters myself :) Viconia is the best Cleric, and has some good dialogue too. I didn't much like Anomen - he got on my nerves. Keldorn is not bad, though I always choose to lose him in his quest (seems the `best' option to me). Never used Jan to be honest ;) There's another NPC is the ToB chapters: he's VERY powerful, and has some good story additions (esp. if Imoen's also in the party). I forget his name, but I don't like the Stalker: waste of a good Ranger IMO.

What do you think of IWD2? I was thinking about it, but I am not sure if it is worth the money.

[Vash]

So, I'm considering reinstalling Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, since I never did finish it (got bogged down trying to do all the Chapter 2 quests before moving on with the story and then uninstalled it for some reason)

He he...I did the exact same thing.

Let's see...who did I have in my party? You really needed only one spellcaster in the party. If your own character is not a spellcaster, then you definitely need Edwin in your party. I believe I had Jaheria as the party's cleric. I picked her over the Drow woman because I didn't want to have an evil character in the party. Plus Jaheria was half-mage as well so she wouldn't end up standing on the sidelines waiting to heal someone during a battle.

The rest of my party was chock full o' tanks. Minsc, the ranger, and the paladin (the older one...not the young jackass) were all excellent melee fighters. I remember the paladin had this awesome two-handed sword...I can't remember if he came with it or if it was a quest reward...

Although I've never gotten past Chapter 2, I have two big pieces of advice for you:

1) Don't just save often...save using multiple files! You never know if you just saved after going on a path that leads to a dead-end (more on this in the next item).

2) God...this REALLY pissed me off. If you plan on playing a mage/sorcerer, make sure that the FIRST quest that you do is your guild quest. It's that spaceship orb thing at the upper left hand corner of the section of the town that it's in (sorry, it's been a while...I've forgotten which section). The enemies in that area are scaled with your level.

The last part of the quest takes you to a sort of floating platform of narrow curved pathways. The first time I played through the game, I was at a relatively high level when I did the quest. Because of my level, the game decided to throw two or three Adamite Golems (not sure of the metal name) my way. They were immune to like everything and could only be hurt by +3 weapons (which I didn't have). You could not get out of the area unless you finished the quest. The golems were physically big so they blocked off the narrow paths so I couldn't sneak past them, get to the critical area and finish the quest. Plus if I went into the room then left the area, they'd follow me and spawn right next to me in the next room!

I had no way of killing them (god knows I tried) and I had to restart because of it. Don't make the same mistake I did!

Edit: Ack! It HAS been a while...I meant Aerie not Jaheira in my post!

[Orcin]

Hello WarLocke,

1. I think SoA is better without ToB myself. I would not buy it all, but definitely not before completing SoA once.

2. Monk, sorcerer, BAH. But you should play what you enjoy.

3. My favorite NPC's were Jaheira for the romance (it is a challenge to make it work), Minsc (obviously), Yoshimo for the plot connection, and of course Imoen (a must-have for the plot first time through IMO). I also enjoyed Nalia and Valygar's quests, and they are decent NPC's too. The most amusing dialogue comes from having Viconia and Jan in the same party. Viconia is an awesome character for her talents as well. But don't mix her and Jaheira, especially if you are considering romancing one of them.

My suggestion would be to do less of the chapter 2 stuff this time and don't worry about completing all of those side quests before moving to chapter 3. Play the plot and enjoy the story. It is a long enough game anyway. I would pick a party that you like, and do the side quests for those party members and also your own class-specific quests. That would be plenty to build up your character.

Oh yeah, staying away from liches until chapter 6 *is* a good idea.

Regards,
Orcin

[Skandranon]

1) ToB lifts the XP cap, but it's not that important. You don't need it.

2) Sorcerers and Monks are both insanely overpowered at higher levels. At lower levels the monk may need a bit of tank support up front (Minsc, Keldorn, etc.), but only at lower levels.

3) Well, aside from the obvious romance partner (if you're male, bring all three for amusing chatter as they fight over you), select allies in pairs for good dialogue. Valygar/Mazzy is a memorable combination, as is Edwin/Minsc (though this one is temporary). Jan and Minsc is great, so is Haer'Dalis and Jaheira or Haer'Dalis and Aerie (though if you're planning to end up with Aerie, Haer'Dalis is not such a good idea). Don't match Keldorn and Viconia, or Aerie and Korgan, as conflict results with someone leaving permanently or two party members fighting.

General suggestions - pick a party including one full mage, at least 1.0 total clerics, and at least 3.0 total fighters. If you're not a thief, take Yoshimo. Count multi- and dual- classed characters as 0.5 for the purpose of my cleric and fighter recommendations. (However, you can't do that with mages, because two multi-classed mages can't make up for level 8 and 9 spells).

[Mithrandir]

You've already gotten a couple replies so I'll try to avoid repeating too many things :)

2- Since I'm starting anew, and can't bear to play through BG1 or Tales of the Sword Coast yet again, I figure I may try one of the "new" classes for the protagonist. I'm thoroughly impressed with Sorcerors in IWD2, and heck, maybe a Monk would be a nice change of pace. Any thoughts as to using them in BG2?

As said, Monks are a lot of fun by the end of the game. Sorcerors are still probably better than Mages, but the difference isn't nearly as great as it is in IWD2 - scrolls are plentiful enough to support a couple Mages and there are many more spells in BG2 that are actually useful...

In IWD2 there are a small set of spells that are obviously superior, thus taking away one of the Mage's key advantages: versatility.

Barbarians aren't nearly as dominant as in IWD2 and probably a little underpowered. There are just too many incredible heavy armors and, since AC actually means something in BG2, Barbs lose a LOT of power and don't get much in return.

Any suggestions for other NPCs that are especially effective or have interesting chatter and/or dialogue?

My favorite party... EVAR ;) :

Minsc
Viconia
Edwin
Jan
Imoen

Keep Yoshimo until you get Imoen for some cool Spellhold twists. Once you hit ToB, dump Jan for the "special new NPC" :) Works best with a melee-type character and a neutral to evil disposition. I really enjoyed it for a couple reasons:

a) Although not the most powerful party, Edwin is the best Mage in the game, Imoen's Thief abilities will easily get you through the game with a couple Potions of Master Thievery (of which I regularly have 20+ by the end of the game, even when using them often), Viconia is the best Cleric/Druid in the game, and Minsc is probably only edged out by a toe in terms of best Fighter type.

B) This gives you the chattiest group by a long shot. Minsc has the best random comments and has some great interactions with Vic and Edwin. Edwin has the best side quest in the game... hands down. Vic's romance blows the other three out of the water. Jan's intergections rival Minsc's in hilarity (Jan seems to be relatively quiet in ToB though, so there shouldn't be too much regret in dumping him for the "new NPC").

Perhaps most interesting of all, the "new NPC" and Imoen have some incredibly cool dialogue by the end of ToB.

c) Being evil is just, hands down, the way to go :) You don't miss a single item (at least I didn't in my run throughs) and actually get more by going evil. The evil versions of the subquests are the best. Bodhi is 'da bomb. You get to lay the smack down on Spellhold authorities when they try to stop you ([slight spoiler]Eventually, if you beat them enough times, they come back with the most powerful Mages in their order and then if you defeat them, they never try to stop you again. w00t :) [/spoiler])

The only real complaint I have about evil is that many times doing the truly "evil" thing gets you +Rep. Example: Poisoning the Druid Grove is the rookie thing to do - it doesn't gain you anything and you have no other reason for doing it. If, on the other hand, you follow the Mayor's wishes, you gain his confidence and undying respect.

What's more evil? Poisoning some water for no reason, or worming your way into the good graces of the local authorities so, in the future, you might be able to extract a few "favors" from them... Mwahahahaha :)

There seem to be a lot of quests in the game where taking the roleplaying evil path and taking what the game considers to be the real evil path don't coincide at all... but, at least it keeps your Rep off the floor so you can keep Minsc.

Go evil: More funny dialogue. More items. More stuff to fight.


Anyhoo, I'm starting to ramble. Some other good characters to take if the above ones don't exactly float your boat:

Keldorn - Paladin, good statistics
Korgan - Best fighter in the game, quite evil
Aerie - Strong back up spellcaster (both Cleric and Mage) but about as durable as a wet napkin
Haer'Dalis - Can be annoying, but a strong third meleer and the "Spin" moves are incredibly useful
Jaheria - A bit whiney, but a very, very solid tank with Ironskins and other buffing spells (although not necessarily a stellar damage dealer or true backup spellcaster)

NPCs not to take:
Mazzy - A poor man's Keldoran with a flat personality
Valygar - A decent fighter I suppose, but I always hated his personality
Cernd - Druids just aren't that great in BG2 and even when in Werewolf form, he stinks and is even worse in terms of dialogue
Nalia - Annoying and a crappy version of Imoen
Anomen - Decent after his upgrade, but annoying and much less useful than Vic

And lastly, any suggestions in general?

*Be careful when snooping around in Athkatla's closests :) Liches and other nasties abound.

*Visit Baldurdash and DL the ToB bugfixes and the add-ons by David Gaider (a BioWare designer).

[LemmingofGlory]

NPCs not to take:
Mazzy - A poor man's Keldoran with a flat personality
Cernd - Druids just aren't that great in BG2 and even when in Werewolf form, he stinks and is even worse in terms of dialogue
Nalia - Annoying and a crappy version of Imoen

Re Mazzy: Did you not notice her Grand Mastery in bows? A poor man's Keldorn she is not. Give her a nice little bow and she'll shoot the wings off a fly from fifty yards.

Re Cernd: Note that he also gains a Greater Werewolf form that's a good deal more powerful than his earlier morph.

Re Nalia: The term I'd use is "knockoff." And I didn't even like Imoen all that much. Well, actually, I utterly loathe that stalking brat. But that's another post.

General agreement on your assessment of their personalities, though.

[o: *LEMMING* :o]

[Mithrandir]

Re Mazzy: Did you not notice her Grand Mastery in bows? A poor man's Keldorn she is not. Give her a nice little bow and she'll shoot the wings off a fly from fifty yards.

I never found ranged specialists or even ranged attacks in general to be effective at all in BG2. The monsters just move too fast and have too many HP. An ineffective bow, wannabe Paladin abilities, little dialogue, and an annoying personality? No thanks :)

Re Cernd: Note that he also gains a Greater Werewolf form that's a good deal more powerful than his earlier morph.

Even in Greater Werewolf form he still gets shredded rather easily. Plus, Druids just aren't good enough straight up spellcasters in any of the BG games to utilize him effectively in that role.

I didn't even like Imoen all that much. Well, actually, I utterly loathe that stalking brat. But that's another post.

I never understood people's dislike of Imoen. I always liked her from a "kid sister" perspective and she was also a useful character.

Plus, the rather significant role she plays in TOB makes her worth having.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;)

[bschultz]

does anyone know if the bonus disk material is avaliable anywhere? I'm talking about the extra items and merchants and such from the collecters edition of the game.

[loonygloss]

Yup, they should all be on Baldurdash, along with the other additions mentioned above.

[Skandranon]

Some more commentary, WarLocke, just because I feel Mith's position deserves a bit of a refutation.

Regarding party members, I tend to assemble ones including both Imoen and Nalia because I really like arcane magic, and the two of them both have great stats for a mage. Two mages, especially once you hit ToB, are absolutely invaluable. Nalia and Imoen annoy many people, but they don't annoy me (I can't stand Aerie, personally...). Nalia's interesting in that she has dialogues mostly triggered by locations and other people. Try entering the Hall of the Radiant Heart with Keldorn and Nalia in the party.

Cernd and Valygar have flat personalities, so it's not a good choice to pick them, really...except that Valygar is probably the best fighter in the game after Korgan (even then, if you open with backstabs, it's a toss up). Give him Celestial Fury in his right hand and his family blade or any other good katana in his left, and he rips straight through all opposition. He's better than Cernd, at least, who really does have no personality. Bring along Mazzy and Viconia and you'll get plenty of chatter from Valygar.

Haer'Dalis and Jaheira really aren't that good; Haer'Dalis is a pathetic fighter even though he literally breaks the rules for his class and kit. Bio purposely cheated HD's stats and he still bites as a fighter. He doesn't really have that much personality, either, he just speaks with a certain tone, and hell, Cernd does that, too.

Anomen is, frankly, the best cleric in the game. His personality isn't too good, his response sounds are terrible, etc, etc, but he is technically the best cleric in the game; he can grandmaster weapons and advances as a cleric, but with an extra half-attack from his fighter levels, so much that I'd say that of the dual-classed and multiclassed allies, Anomen is very close to being a full fighter even though he's a cleric. There's a romance with him if you're female. Otherwise...well, you can bring along Jan for some conversation with him. If you're evil you can have him fail his test, that changes his personality (though passing it also does; it's up to you which kind of Anomen you want).

Jan is popular because he has the funniest dialogue in the game. If you can accept having one of the worst characters in the game, bring him. I often do, because his dialogue is great fun. But objectively Jan isn't much use. Thief skills, I guess, but there's a reason there's only one full thief in the game and that's because thief skills are so absolutely unnecessary. You need a bit of disarm traps, and a bit of open lock. Oh, and Jan carries a giant load of trap cheese in ToB, but you really don't want to win that way.

[NiteFox]

Nobody has mentioned Aerie? Thank God. She's worthless in almost all ways. I can't believe I put up with her for so long until I got to Edwin. Plus why anybody would want to romance with her is beyond my knowledge.

Ah, I guess old loyalties die very hard for me. I guess I will stick with Minsc and Jaheira, though I'm not sure who I'll dump in favour of you-know-who (If I do dump anyone at all... Hey, I like being different)

At the current moment my party stands like so:

Schrau - Lawful Good human Fighter imported from BG (LG & Fighter for the maximum starting gold)
Minsc & Boo
Jaheira
Yoshimo
Viconia
Edwin

I think people are too quick to knock Jaheira when she is quite capable in several fields. First off, she's not a bad fighter. My main character is an almost dedicated tank, with pretty much everyone else capable of ranged attacks (Minsc, Viconia, Jaheira, and Yoshimo all have proficiencies or specialities with ranged weapons, while Edwin has some very good ranged spells). Early on in Athkatla there are some very good staves on sale, providing you have the cash. If you want to add some extra punch, she does have three shapeshift special abilities right from the start (Black Bear, Brown Bear, and Wolf).

Also, Entangle saved my life several times during BG, and has continued to do so throughout BG2. So what if it now entangles your own characters. That's what ranged attackers are for. Later on you can drop Entangle for another curative spell, and let Viconia deal with that job.

At the current moment, Jaheira is decked out as a curative cleric. Mass Cure, Cure Light/Serious/Major wounds, and that wonderful spell that allows you to recall to spent spells a day. Curing high-HP characters can be a PITA sometimes, but Jaheira has more than enough spell slots available to reduce this.

Plus she has one of the funniest dialogues in the game if you use her to talk to Salvanas in the Copper Coronet :)

And here's another tip. Rayic Gethras is a Cowled Wizard that you must kill to complete the Shadow Thieves quest and to get Edwin in your party. He can be extremely tough to kill, what with spells such as Sanctuary, Globe of Invulnerability, and Disentegrate. When he asks you what you're doing, tell hi that you'll leave as opposed to telling him that you're out to kill him. This will buy you some time to cast spells.

Spells such as... Oh, I don't know. Silence 15' Radius... Cheap, I know. But when you've had a party decimated about eight times before resorting to this it doesn't seem half as cheap as the spells he has at his disposal.

[Jarulf]

Ahh, BG2. Nice game. I have only played it once, although I only got the final "battle" of ToB. Still have the save game and will finnish it one day (or simply replay from start).

I bought ToB at the same time as SoA and installed both. Apart from gettin ghte bug fixes (no need to install the patch), there were as I understood it a few small changes/additions as well to gameplay. Not sure I recall them all, but one was that you could actually delete spells from your spell book if needed. Reading the manual, it tells about action feedback, that is, the text at the bottom of the screen that scrolls will tell what your characters actually do. You can also remove (if you want) the no pause on map screen. I liked that since it helped you navigate faster, especially in town and such were there is nothing new or dangerous to bump into. Some more small things. Not much but some are nice.


As for the added area, the Watcher's keep. It is reachable allready during the SoA play. You don't have to wait for the game to proceed to the actual new ToB to access it.

Without spoiling to much, it consists of several different areas of which the first 2 or so is playable allready during the SoA part. YOu can go there (and return there) pretty much at any time and when it gets to tough, just leave and come back later. After the first 2 or possibly 3 areas you really should wait until you are in ToB since you need high level chars to manage.

In addition, there is actually a few items to be bought there (without puting you into any danger so don't be affraid to visit it even with a low level char) of which I think one was a new item one that hold potions (pretty much as a bag or quiver but for potions, it is great!!!). I think there was some good weapon too but it is quite expensive.

Otherwsie it won't change the actual SoA at all as far as I know.

So yes I would definately get and install ToB before starting to play. As for the actual ToB, I liked it. It is much more linear in is play than the original but stil very enjoyable and the story continue and tie in very well.

My own playing of the game (it was right after BG 1 by the way) was in much affected by me realising I would probably not play the game more than once and thus wanting to maximise the experience so to speak.

My party selection was in part based on that. You can normally not have more than one romance going (at least not after having had it to a certain point). However, there is a download that allow you to run them all in parallell. After a while (it IS fun watching the scenese when they "fight" over you and you have to decide and such) I used the download and could thus pursue all three romaces in parallell if for no other reason to see them all out. I admit that Jaheira and Viconia are the most fun. I think Jaheira has several quests related to her too although you might get some without a romance, no idea.

That of course limited my party choices since you can't lkick out your romance. I am pretty much a fighter by heart, so picked the Paladin myself (and I like his personal quest reward although some other classes has what appear to be more fun class quests). For some reason Minsc is cool too and I liked having two good fighters. That left me with one slot to rotate between other characters to get as many quests as possible. I used Yoshimo (is that his name?) as the "main" character there, and basically let him go (and ocationally Minsc depending on what was needed) to get in other chars for quests.

Note that quests related to various chars are triggered in two ways. One is ingame delays of days. The other is actual play time delays. After a while I simply looked at some walkthrough to see what chars had quests left and how long you had to wait and such. An alternative is to dump them and then occationally go and pick them up and change area in town or so and if nothing happens, dump them again. Some quests are related to areas though so you might still miss them.

You WILL come back to the town later in the game though. And at that time you can continue to do the town quests, so don't worry about having to do them all before leaving town. It will be a LONG jurney though :) I still think you should try to do quite a few of them before leaving though as it helps having gained a few extra levels and items before leaving town.

Obviously Imoen will be back in the party later as I consider her an intgral part of the whole story.

I never tried the new character in ToB, but if I replay I will definately go with an evil party and have him as part of it (and I still get to romance with Viconia :) ).

I don't remember much to write the "don't do this" stuff. And most was of the type that I went to far into some areas too soon (in chapter 2, hard to do it later when you leave town). Just try to always have an escape rout ot of places and you should be fine. I would definately do some of the chapter two areas outisde town in a different order than the first time, but you seem to have allready played much of it no?

As a general idea I think one could manage fine with just one "tank" character in the party though. As oposed to BG1, magic is SO much mroe improtant (you won't manage withouth it, and that gets more true the more you go into the game). One usually manage fine with just one heavy tank character and a few support ones. Viconia or Jaheira for example manage well in many fights and so on, yet in important battels can cast spells. A full tank character (I had basically two, me and Minsc) can become a by stander in a magic battel at times though.

So, except for the fun of a MOnk and being a melee player, I would probably have picked a Sorcerer of the two you sugested, but it depend on what your party would look like. Minsc is one VERY good fighter by the way.

[Count Duckula]

Sorry I got to this post so late...I'm currently playing SoA for the first time myself! ;)

<< 1- I don't own Throne of Bhaal. Do the changes added in TOB impact SoA (ie, should I go out and buy TOB and install the lot together?), or can I wait until after I've finished SoA? >>

Unlike TotSC, ToB is meant to come after SoA. (Meaning, you conclude SoA, and get new stuff with your SoA pals in ToB.) People have mentioned continued romances, the higher experience cap, and some of the best weapons in BG2, so I'll just repeat them again. :)

<< 2- Since I'm starting anew, and can't bear to play through BG1 or Tales of the Sword Coast yet again, I figure I may try one of the "new" classes for the protagonist. I'm thoroughly impressed with Sorcerors in IWD2, and heck, maybe a Monk would be a nice change of pace. Any thoughts as to using them in BG2? >>

Whichever class you take, I suggest a nice mix of melee and missile fighters. If your PC is a sorcerer, take a two fighters, a cleric, an archer, and someone who can switch from melee to missile with ease. If you don't build your party as multiplayer, I suggest Keldorn, Anomen, Jan, Mazzy, and Yoshimo. If you're thinking about being a monk, you might want to switch one of those fighters for a mage. I suggest Keldorn, Anomen, Aerie, Mazzy, and Jan. Be sure to read your manual to get familiar with these classes.

<< 3- I have no intention of soloing BG2 (although I enjoy it in the IWD games, go figure), but in the past I've mostly stuck with the Imoen/Khalid/Jaheira/Minsc/Dynaheir default party type (substitute Khalid and Dynaheir for Aerie or Jan and the NPC-of-the-day in BG2). Any suggestions for other NPCs that are especially effective or have interesting chatter and/or dialogue? I always thought Edwin was cool in BG; may have to try him in BG2 as well... >>

Edwin is hands-down the best mage NPC, spell-wise. Problem is, he's evil. And he hates Minsc. Minsc, otoh, is the 3rd best tank in the game, and has great party interactions. Anomen is the 2nd best tank, as well as being a seat-kicking cleric, but most people don't like him because he's a condescending bastard. Keldorn is the only paladin in the game, taking the inquisitor kit. He's the best tank, but can be a racist bastard depending on who's in the party. Yoshimo is the sole pureclass thief (bounty hunter kit) in the game, and has lots of fun things to say, from Bruce Lee to Iron Chef. Imoen is still annoying, Jar Jarheira is still a harpy, but Viconia has improved in portrait and personality. And look at the magic resistance! Korgan is evil's answer to Keldorn, but is more neutral evil than chaotic evil. Mazzy Fentan has a grandmastery in bows, and Cernd can shapeshift into a werewolf. Aerie is the only cleric/mage you'll ever find, and there are probably other NPCs I'm missing, but I can't remember them right now.

<< And lastly, any suggestions in general? Stuff like, "don't wake up Kangaxx before you want to fight" and such? Think I did that once, or at least woke up some lich near the beginning of the game. Got my arse handed to me, lol. >>

http://www.geocities.com/sixospades/bg/bgguide.htm

All the info on BG1/BG2 you'll ever need.

[NiteFox]

http://www.geocities.com/sixospades/bg/bgguide.htm

All the info on BG1/BG2 you'll ever need.

Good site, I've used it once or twice myself.

However, if you feel like plumbing GameFAQs for some guides, you cannot get any better than those by DSimpson.

[WarLocke]

Elric:

What do you think of IWD2? I was thinking about it, but I am not sure if it is worth the money.

IWD2 is a very different beast than the BGs. To make a comparison, if the BG games were Fallouts, the IWD games would be the equivalent of Fallout: Tactics -- only not crappy. They are definitely thinner on the plot than the BGs (although it is still there, and IWD2 has more plot than the first), and concentrate on combat. IWD2 also doesn't have any of the "major-mage" spells -- Contingencies, Spell Triggers, Ruby Ray, Timestop, etc. There are no "chess game of mage defenses" type fights in the IWDs.


Mith:

Mazzy - A poor man's Keldoran with a flat personality

Idunno, it's been awhile, but I think I actually liked Mazzy's personality. Maybe I'm just weird like that -- I like Imoen and Jaheira as well.


Nitefox:

Plus she has one of the funniest dialogues in the game if you use her to talk to Salvanas in the Copper Coronet

Is this common? I've always just used the protagonist to do all my talking (even mostly in the IWDs, where since there's no central protagonist you could talk to different NPCs with varied characters and get dialogue options based on race/class/alignment); are there many instances where using an NPC to initiate dialogue makes a difference?


Count Duckula:

All the info on BG1/BG2 you'll ever need.

Thanks, am reading through it now!



Thanks for all the feedback. It looks like, since the nearest game shop is more than 30 miles away and I no longer have my own transportation, that I'll be starting BG2 without TOB, although I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to pick it up before I finish.

Since the general consensus seems to be to get 5 NPCs together and stick with them (at least that's the impression I'm getting), I'll probably do something like:

Sorceror Protagonist (I like arcane magic, and the whole "cast spells on the fly" thing has spoiled me off of Wizards, I think)
Yoshimo (replaced by Imoen)
Jan Jansen (because he's just so darned cool; replaced with "Special TOB NPC"?)
Jaheira (healer, semi-tank, love interest, and continuity hook)
Minsc (because no party is full without Minsc & Boo!)
Edwin (I like arcane magic, and Edwin is cool...)

Not so sure how that party will stack up (1.5 tanks, .5 healers, 1 or 1.5 thieves, and 3 nukers); I was mainly choosing characters I liked. I suppose it may change in the future.

[Elric of Grans]

Hail bschultz,

I got them from http://www.sorcerers.net/

[Elric of Grans]

Hail Lurkers,

Sort of a random question, but still. BGI/II are not bad games, though I do prefer the latter (if I make a handicapped character in ToSC, they struggle too much for even my liking until clvl3 - which takes forever to reach), but they became quite boring quickly: the fact the game is exactly the same every time means you do not have to play it much before you know every dialogue, every event, and there's no longer any real surprise left. I've completed ToB with a Ranger, a Thief, and a Transmuter (who could only use Alteration spells - very fun!); SoA with a Sorcerer and a Fighter/Mage/Thief (soloed). I've then made many, many other character, but they never make it past Chapter II; most do not even reach the Library in Chapter I :P

I'm sure there has to be more in the game, but I do not seem to be finding a way to get the last drops out of the rag: does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? I have tried installing the Darkest Day mod, but that didn't really do much: the new kits almost all suck big time (I'm very disappointed in the Ninja and Samurai), and I never made it to any of the new areas before the old infant mortality kicked in ;)

[Skandranon]

You can do SoA with virtually any party, but there are serious critters in ToB, some of which need a full mage and are easier with two (where tanks are useless) and one special battle where mages are worthless and you need as many tanks as you can come up with.

Oh, and Minsc and Edwin will fight. Edwin's mission in BG1 was to kill Minsc's witch, and the taunting will eventually get to the point where they'll attack each other. Pick one or the other, unless you want to find yourself suddenly short a party member at an inopportune time.