My Party

[Spike]

I recently started a new game as an Undead Hunter.

I didn't want a big party because I wanted to gain levels fast, so how does this party look?

Me, Undead Hunter - Tank with minor cleric spells

Anomen, Fighter-Cleric - Tank with good cleric abilities

Thats who I have so far, then I am thinking of one of the following-

Nalia
Jan
Imoen

Who do you think would work best with my party?

Imoen is good but you have to wait until Spellhold to get her.
Nalia is good and I can get her early.
Also Jan is the best theif of the three and has infravision, but his magic isnt as great.

Who do you think I should use?

[Demis]

If you what to have Imoen with you and keep a small party is good to have Yoshimo until you free Imoen. But if you are not planning on taking Imoen both Jan or Nalia will prove good enough members though Nalia in dual and she is limited to her current thief skills, but can become greater mage that Jan and you can afford to buy a few potions to boost her skills when needed.

[UserUnfriendly]

jan is it...with TOB...

he comes with items that are seriously artifact quality, his goggles, for example, have teh ONLY blindess immunity in whole game.

he is multi, so if you get him early and keep him safe he becomes a GOD at high levels...

use any item and str belt and he can use holy avenger...if you use it, have him with soul reaver or the wave.

he misses out necromancy, but thats what edwin is for, right???

5 spike traps will whack any creature in game, including the imprisoned one....

have him cast project image or simmy and this will bypass map limits of 7 quest traps per area, and I whacked imprisoned one with 20 spike traps...it died so fast it was sick...

the cheese effects are just too good...oh did I mention he can get to be the best thief in game???

[Spike]

I chose to add Jan to my little trio. Its working well, i just freed Nalias keep.
The only problem I have in my group is the lack of women.

[Dezarond the Red]

Jan is totaly rocking, his thieving abilities are ok but really good with his nice little trinkets, and his spells are enough to do some damage if neaded..... and he has cool colors.....yea thats all

[samcu]

If you like thieves, definitely Jan, causing he is the only NPC that can improving the thieving skills. While there are only so many skills to master in thieving, he can also cast low level spells which makes him a handy play to have. If you take the cap off, he will be awesome (but then who isn't).

His cons are that he levels too slow and he is not a melee charcter.

[moonbunny]

me personally, if you're not already in a multi-player game, i would restart your game in a multi-player and import your character and make a thief/mage. i've had Jan in my party before, and i didnt really like him. he isnt all that powerful. Nalia is alright, but her thieving abilities arent that great. you can always get rid of it once you get Imoen...

[Astafas]

Originally posted by moonbunny
i've had Jan in my party before, and i didnt really like him. he isnt all that powerful. Nalia is alright, but her thieving abilities arent that great. you can always get rid of it once you get Imoen...

I disagree - Jan grows very powerful as he levels up. He's a better mage than most multis because he's specialised (extra spells). He's a better thief than most multies because of his personal gear.

[Kaitsuburi]

I like Jan quite a bit myself too. He's quite quirky and cool. If you can wait enough (and preferably remove XP Cap and/or take him into ToB) he becomes really rather powerful. Use Any Item is such a great ability IMHO!!

[Leonardo]

@Spike

A note about small parties: You level up pretty fast, actually faster than what the game was supposed to be. You became too powerful too quickly, which can lead to some parts of the game being less of a challenge (taking away half the fun with it). If you take a 5 member party from the beggining and complete every quest before going to Spellhold, you will max out at the XP cap in the Underdark. A three member party will probably hit the cap before Chapter 3!
<spoiler>
If you have ToB installed, the high level abilities will really unbalance SoA.

[felonious monk]

Originally posted by samcu
If you like thieves, definitely Jan, causing he is the only NPC that can improving the thieving skills. ...

um...what about Yoshimo ?

[nephtu]

Let's just say, Yoshimo has a bit too much Heart.


Bwa ha ha, I'm sooooooooo evil. Spoiler below
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Yoshimo will betray you in spellhold, and you'll end up killing him & carrying his heart around 'till you can get back to town(Got my bag of holding all sticky now....ick) It's a poignant little sub-plot, but means Yoshimo is not in for the long haul.

[lompo]

Originally posted by Spike
I chose to add Jan to my little trio. Its working well, i just freed Nalias keep.
The only problem I have in my group is the lack of women.

Why don't you change Anomen with Jaheira: you will still have a good fighter (actually a better one) and a spellcaster (same healing capability, Anomen can achieve higher level but some druidic spells are great) and you can have a romance and the personal quest of Jaheira is way better than Anomen's.
Just my 2 cents.

[Astafas]

Originally posted by lompo


Why don't you change Anomen with Jaheira: you will still have a good fighter (actually a better one) and a spellcaster (same healing capability, Anomen can achieve higher level but some druidic spells are great) and you can have a romance and the personal quest of Jaheira is way better than Anomen's.
Just my 2 cents.

I agree with you (although I would prefer taking them both). However, in my parties, Anomen has always been the better fighter of the two (as long as he gets the Gauntlets of Dex, at least). With:

*** in Dual Wielding
***** in Flails
FoA and DoE
Holy Power
Draw upon Holy Might

he is nothing short of amazing!