Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Whisky]

Personality-wise too. I remember almost stopping BG2 when I first played it back in the day and realized that Quayle was involved in that early quest. I'm convinced that him being a nice guy in BG2 was just an act so that he could unload Aerie on you and have her annoy you to death.

I was just referring to BG2 in my previous post, hence his omission.

 

[Lilura]

I'm not planning on keeping them in my party forever... But I want to know if they'll pull some shit.

Some non-recruitable NPCs will comment if you have Khalid and not Jaheira in your party or vice versa, but there is no consequence to it other than "Oh, so s/he died, too bad."

 

[Jaesun]

It is rather amusing (If I am recalling correctly) most people who re-played BG, always sent Khalid out in a battle, with no armor and had him die just to have Jaheira in the party. Which is how the canon party of BG II was selected.

 

[MicoSelva]

It is rather amusing (If I am recalling correctly) most people who re-played BG, always sent Khalid out in a battle, with no armor and had him die just to have Jaheira in the party. Which is how the canon party of BG II was selected.

I did the other way around. I never could stand Jaheira, but thought Khalid was a bro.

 

[Jaesun]

Jaheira's stats for her class are pretty good (compared to Khalid) which I assume why most people killed him.

When I do replay BG I do now use the cannon party (Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir and Imoen). Which is not the best party (power wise) but interesting to play with, and their weaknesses.

 

[dunno lah]

Khalid is an awesome tank. Most big fights like AecLetec and the demon from Durlag's Tower I won by making him take the hits.

 

[agentorange]

I use Kagan as a tank because I cannot stand Minsc, and Shar Teel as DPS melee. Think my last party was: Kagan, Shar Teel, Vicona, Edwin, Imoen (Edit: may have substituted Kivan for her) , Me (rogue).

 

[MicoSelva]

Jaheira's stats for her class are pretty good (compared to Khalid) which I assume why most people killed him.

STR 15 DEX 14 CON 17 WIS 14 are pretty average stats for a fighter/druid.
Khalid's STR 15 DEX 16 CON 17 are much better for a fighter, and he can get 5 point proficiency in large swords (may be limited to 4 points, not sure about the level limit), plus it's easy to fix his one weak point (Strength) by giving him Gauntlets of Ogre Strength.

Stats quoted from Sorcer's Place.

When I do replay BG I do now use the cannon party (Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir and Imoen). Which is not the best party (power wise) but interesting to play with, and their weaknesses.

My sister chose this party for her first playthrough of Baldur's Gate. It was funny when this turned out to be the canon party by the time BG2 arrived.

 

[agentorange]

Well that party is pretty much thrust on you if you play the game by the book. Some of the other companions are actually pretty hard to find or get into your party. I think my very first party was about the same, except I remember somehow getting Edwin to join my party permanently even though I had Minsc and Dynaheir; I had Branwen until she got blown up by the mage at the bottom of the mines, at which point I think I substituted Vicona.

 

[Lorica]

Jaheira's stats for her class are pretty good (compared to Khalid) which I assume why most people killed him.

When I do replay BG I do now use the cannon party (Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir and Imoen). Which is not the best party (power wise) but interesting to play with, and their weaknesses.

Weaknesses? There are better possible parties, especially if you roll your own, but this party's not bad. It doesn't have cleric spells, Dynaheir is an evoker, and Imoen isn't the absolute best thief, but you have 2.5 tanks, 1 divine spell caster, 1 (2 if you dual Imoen) magic users, and a thief. The PC can fill pretty much any role (I guess a cleric or fighter/cleric might be best, though I like magic users). I dunno, always seemed like a pretty solid setup. For a good aligned party, this might be the best possible--Coran, Kivan, and Ajantis are nice, but good spell casters? Xan? And anybody you have to wait to BG to get is for powergamers. If you go evil (or broad-minded neutral), yeah, a better party based on Edwin and Viconia (maybe Khagain and Shar-Teel, too) would be stronger.

What kind of flaws do you see and what would you do to remedy them? Or is that just that it hurts that that setup doesn't have the evil supermen?

 

[taxalot]

Am I the only that's playing the game with characters I like instead of min/maxing their stats ? I grew attached to Khalid. He's awkward in a fashion that reminds me a lot of RPGCodex.

 

[octavius]

Am I the only that's playing the game with characters I like instead of min/maxing their stats ? I grew attached to Khalid. He's awkward in a fashion that reminds me a lot of RPGCodex.

I usually go for a mix of fun and powerful characters.
With BG1 NPC Project installed I'd rather have Xzar than Edwin as my mage, for example. And I don't split up pairs intentionally, so with Xzar I always have Monty in the party as well. He's more fun than annoying brat Imoen anway.
Also, I tend to have many temporary members. Sefana is neither fun nor powerful, but I'll let her join in the exploration of the golem cave, for example.
In general I don't get too attached to any one character.
And I usually recruit Tiax and Quayle as temporary members just for the lulz.

 

[waywardOne]

Depending on Charname's class, i try to pick a core of 3 npcs that are a good complement; this leaves me able to take whatever as 5 & 6 according to my whims. Keeps it fun and challenging without having to worry about an optimal party.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I still find it pretty amusing, especially with someone who is replaying the games for n-th time, that people use the irritating Bioware npcs instead of creating their own party.

 

[Linden]

I think we can all reach a consensus that the most useless (and possibly most annoying) character is Haer'Dalis though.

Most annoying? Hell no. Aerie still exists.

Don't insult my first ever waifu, please.

The most useless (and boring) party member in BG2 is obviously Cernd. The only reason to have him in your party is to get access to high level druid spells... but it's not like those spells are worth it, and Jaheira will reach level 14 pretty fast anyway. After that she's just a better druid than Cernd in every way.

 

[octavius]

I still find it pretty amusing, especially with someone who is replaying the games for n-th time, that people use the irritating Bioware npcs instead of creating their own party.

Because many of the quests revolve around the NPCs?
Because one may like to try new party combos?

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Well, obviously you have much more combo-tinkering ability with your own team?

And quests for which you absolutely need NPCs in BG2 are all small, pretty pointless and of "run through 3 different maps to get one dialogue" variety.

 

[Zed]

Am I the only that's playing the game with characters I like instead of min/maxing their stats ? I grew attached to Khalid. He's awkward in a fashion that reminds me a lot of RPGCodex.

I started yesterday, and I will play and Evil party with the characters I like.
I don't like Jaheira so I killed her and only took Khalid. Killed Xzar cuz he sucks and I want Edwin. Kept Montaron because I like him and he has 2 profiency in slings (or is that Khalid?).
Anyway, I do play the party I want rather than min-max. My hero is pretty buff though. Going thief/fighter, 18/18/18/10/x/18. Will use him to replay BG2 with later. I'm even using my own custom portrait! Took me longer to create than the actual character. I'm hoping Project Eternity will allow the a similar size portrait so I can use the "same character" for that game too.
Just look at this dashing mofo: (I'll have edwin for the last spot, and then replace Imoen with whomever - probably a cleric... Vic maybe).

 

[MicoSelva]

I've played BG1 15+ times (not sure how many exactly, tbh) and I've checked a lot (and I mean A LOT) party compositions, including one with Skie & Eldoth (it was funny, in an annoying kind of way) and one composed only of short people (halflings, gnomes and dwarves). All NPCs are fun in some way, and many times I was surprised by party banter between specific characters.

I actually discovered the ability to kill one of paired NPCs by accident, while having Khalid, Jaheira, Xzar and Montaron in the party, these two pairs started first to argue and then fight (their circles turned purple and I wasn't able to control them). Only Khalid survived. Good times.

 

[Sensuki]

I usually go with Imoen, Branwen, Minsc and Dynaheir and I rotate spot #6 between Kivan, Ajantis and Shar-Teel.

I actually like Safana and Skie a lot better than Imoen but their stats are crap compared to hers. I suppose you can just Gatekeeper them up though, haha.

I actually don't think I've ever finished BG1 or BG2 with Jaheira, always booted her the fuck out (although I have done her quests in BG2).

And yeah I use Xzar and Montaron as bait to get past the Mage at Friendly Arm, and Khalid usually falls to the Hobgoblins on the same map, hehe.

 

[Whisky]

I think we can all reach a consensus that the most useless (and possibly most annoying) character is Haer'Dalis though.

Most annoying? Hell no. Aerie still exists.

Don't insult my first ever waifu, please.

The most useless (and boring) party member in BG2 is obviously Cernd. The only reason to have him in your party is to get access to high level druid spells... but it's not like those spells are worth it, and Jaheira will reach level 14 pretty fast anyway. After that she's just a better druid than Cernd in every way.

Ah, yes. I merely forgot Cernd exists. I tend to do that.

I actually discovered the ability to kill one of paired NPCs by accident, while having Khalid, Jaheira, Xzar and Montaron in the party, these two pairs started first to argue and then fight (their circles turned purple and I wasn't able to control them). Only Khalid survived. Good times.

I believe the likelyhood of that happening is based on your Charisma score. The lower it is, the more likely certain characters will brawl. I believe Kivan and Viconia can do it too and Minsc and Edwin.

 

[Lilura]

Killed Xzar cuz he sucks and I want Edwin.

Xzar has 16 Wis (scary) and opposition Illusion so is best dualed to cleric, IMO, but note that in BG2 and Tutu you can't dual specialists, how gay.

If you're going evil party then Kagain is a better tank than Khalid, if you give him Gauntlets of Dexterity, because he's a 20 Con dwarf and that gives him more HPs (15/lvl @ Con 19), regeneration and +5 to saving throws (20/3.5). Kagain auto-heals when you rest and when you travel, very convenient.

 

[Zed]

If you're going evil party then Kagain is a better tank than Khalid, if you give him Gauntlets of Dexterity, because he's a 20 Con dwarf and that gives him more HPs (15/lvl @ Con 19), regeneration and +5 to saving throws (20/3.5). Kagain auto-heals when you rest and when you travel, very convenient.

I've done exactly that
I picked up Shar Teel to act as my 2nd melee fighter.
I have Montaron as ranged, and Edwin and Branwen. I'll replace Branwen with Viconia.

I myself am still a Thief (level 4). I am contemplating going Thief/Mage instead of Thief/Fighter. I have 18 int anyway. At level 5 thief I get 3x backstab. So at that point I'll have to decide.

I'll try to finish this playthrough. But my next one will be as a good/neutral party, and I'll rush to BG ASAP to get some NPC I've never really played with before. Maybe I'll try play a bard.

EDIT: ah shit, I had 18 cha not int. Oh well :D

 

[TheRabbitsGeorge]

So I posted earlier in this thread how I liked BG1 but couldn't get into BG2. Well, I kept going, and have had an interesting experience.

I'm playin with SCSII, but had never played the game before, so it's really challenging, but very very rewarding. I absolutely loved chapter 2, and figuring out ways to beat Firkraag and the Shade Lord/His Dragon and all the various quests was tons of fun. The only one I couldn't beat was Kangaxx. I beat the two liches guarding his bones but FUCK he's hard. Chapter 2 was so awesome once I got into. So much to do and see.

Then chapter 3 came around and I was like "ok...side with the obvious villain, or the shadow thieves, who i could give fuck all about. Hmm...wish I didn't have to side with anyone, oh well", a few shitty quests later, chapter 3 was done.

Then chapter 4 came and i just fucking hated it. I hate shit like "oop sorry you're getting captured no matter what because we don't like programming multiple routes", plus i had installed the "lose your items in spellhold" which made it sooo hard, frustratingly so. But i plowed through, and the fight with Irenicus was p good.

The chapter 5, and it was more of the same kind of linear shit. It was definitely more open than 4, but still...being stuck in the underdark/Ust Natha wasn't very fun to me. I liked some of the quests in Ust Natha, namely the doublecross/egg one, since it sort of felt like some C&C (even if the "right path" was obvious).

Now I'm back in chapter 6, which is like a breath of fresh air. I think I'm gonna see how far i can get in watcher's keep before I take on Bodhi.

Game is fun though. Glad I gave it a chance.

 

[Zed]

Is there any way to install tutu without also cheating? I don't want class changes/ new classes, etc. I just want Tab object highlighting.