Need party advice

[Psah]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the gamebanshee forums, but i've been an active reader for quite a while now and it's been of great help so far!

I just finished Bg1 and imported my character to BG2 and i've been having tons of fun so far, but I have some difficulties deciding on what NPCs I should use in my final party.
In BG1 my party looked like this:
PC(fighter)
Branwen
Xzar
Imoen
Coran
Kivan

I really liked having 2 great archers and one not so great(Imoen). This party fit my play style very well. Now in BG2 my party looks like this in the end of chapter 3:

PC(fighter, dual classed to cleric now)
Minsc
Jaheira
Edwin
Yoshimo
Keldorn

I like the characters, but it's too melee-based for my taste and I'd like 1 or 2 good archers. I'm using Minsc as an archer now, but i'm sure Mazzy or Valygar would be better for the task? Also, is it possible to have Edwin and Minsc or will they go at each other at some point inevitably? I would like to keep Edwin as he is the(or is he?) the only pure class mage in the game. Any advice would be appreciated, even if it's not about archers.

[Sannom]

Well, I can only say that Mazzy is indeed a better choice than Minsc, since she is basically made for ranged combat with a short bow! She is not an Archer, but she is the closest thing to it that a Fighter can achieve. If memory serves, Valygar is more done for melee, since he has a sneak attack.

Nalia could make a decent "pure" mage, if you want to stay on the Good side. And she won't quarrel with Minsc.

As a matter of taste, I always prefer Jan Jansen to any other Rogue in that game : he fulfills the utilitary role of a rogue well enough, and he adds a little bit more of a magical punch. But hey, Yoshimo is good too.

Keldorn, Minsc, Jaheira AND your character, I think you should let go of one of your decent melee character and take a second arcane spellcaster.

So here is what I would do, a minima :

take out either Minsc or Keldorn and take Mazzy in. Keep Minsc if you like funny and damage. Keep Keldorn if you like big weapons and damage.

For a little bit magic, take out Yoshimo and take Jan Jansen in. But that's all about your personnal taste. And Yoshimo is better at ranged attacks. So I think it will be a "no".

If you want two good archer and one not so good... well, the obvious : make your character an Archer and take Mazzy and Yoshimo. To complete, take either Anomen or Jaheira for healing duty and decent melee, Minsc or Keldorn for big melee, and a wizard (Nalia or Edwin).

[Thrifalas]

PC(fighter, dual classed to cleric now)
Minsc
Jaheira
Edwin
Yoshimo
Keldorn

I like the characters, but it's too melee-based for my taste and I'd like 1 or 2 good archers. I'm using Minsc as an archer now, but i'm sure Mazzy or Valygar would be better for the task? Also, is it possible to have Edwin and Minsc or will they go at each other at some point inevitably? I would like to keep Edwin as he is the(or is he?) the only pure class mage in the game. Any advice would be appreciated, even if it's not about archers.

First of all, archers are worthless in BG2. With the commonly found Boots of Speed all of you warriors will frontline the enemy in no time. A pure-class NPC Archer can be useful but once again, there are a lot of better fighter classes.

Edwin is not usable together with Keldorn, Valygar or Minsc in the long run. While Edwin isn't the only pure-class wizard, he is by far the best because he has 3 (!!) extra spells each level. On the other hand, Keldorn is the best pre-ToB warrior so it's a hard pick.

It eventually ends up in what you are going for. Powergaming or not.

[Psah]

Thanks for the replys

I suppose I'll let Edwin go then and pick Nalia. If archers aren't that awesome anymore, I guess I dont have to switch out any of the others. That's a relief as I've grown quite fond of my party story wise.

I'll have to think about that Yoshimo/Jan switch. Another mage sounds like a good call, but I really like Yoshimo as character(he talks a lot more than the others). The same reason I'm keeping Jaheira

[jouke1988]

Originally Posted by Psah

Thanks for the replys

I suppose I'll let Edwin go then and pick Nalia. If archers aren't that awesome anymore, I guess I dont have to switch out any of the others. That's a relief as I've grown quite fond of my party story wise.

I'll have to think about that Yoshimo/Jan switch. Another mage sounds like a good call, but I really like Yoshimo as character(he talks a lot more than the others). The same reason I'm keeping Jaheira

I would let Yoshimo go, and pick up Jan. Also you could switch Nalia for Imoen after chapter four because imoen is a much better mage then Nalia. Also Yoshimo will disband your party after you to Spellhold

If I were you I would take Minsc, Valygar, Imoen, Jan and Anomen. These are the best characters according to me, the only challenge you have is your cleric problem. You could switch Valygar for Jaheira but she is pretty weak according to me!

[galraen]

Also you could switch Nalia for Imoen after chapter four because imoen is a much better mage then Nalia

No way is Imoen a better mage than Nalia, in fact due to the fact Nalia will almost certainly be higher level than Imoen when you meet her again it's the other way around.

The stuff about Yoshimo should be wrapped labeled a spoiler by the way.

[jouke1988]

Originally Posted by galraen

No way is Imoen a better mage than Nalia, in fact due to the fact Nalia will almost certainly be higher level than Imoen when you meet her again it's the other way around.

I disagree, I think you should take Imoen with you because a real roleplayer would do that! It is your sister!

[Thrifalas]

Originally Posted by galraen

No way is Imoen a better mage than Nalia, in fact due to the fact Nalia will almost certainly be higher level than Imoen when you meet her again it's the other way around.

Possibly, but Imoen have sufficient thief skills to open locks/disable traps which can be used to free up a thief slot. Nalia doesn't. And as already mentioned, she is also the second most important playable character after the protagonist and if it's his first way around he definitely should chose her over Nalia.

[Jordoo]

Spell casting in BGII is what Archery was in BGI especially Arkane casting. Once you get the hang of using the different spells to max effect fights that you used to think were difficult suddenly become so easy that your whole party comes through unscathed. Spells are as overpowered in II as ranged combat was in I. I remember haveing Kivan and Coran in my party and dropping most of the badies before my Tanks could even engage. I will say that after playing BGII I have a much better understanding of how to use even the lower level preist and mage spells and when I do play BGI I usually limit myself to one high powered archer and have alot of fun using my casters.

[galraen]

Originally Posted by jouke1988

I disagree, I think you should take Imoen with you because a real roleplayer would do that! It is your sister!

That doesn't alter the fact that by the time you end up in SH Nalia is almost guaranteed to be a better mage than Imoen.

As for role-playing, there are many reasons why finding and reuniting with Imoen may not fit in with the protagonists plans. If, for example, the protagonist is a self-centred warrior type then keeping in with the wealthy landowner may well be far more appealing than re-uniting with the annoying brat you were forced to grow up with. Or if Imoen died in Baldur's Gate, then you may well decide that the woman you meet in Chateau Irenicus is a fak, she looks nothing like the Imoen you knew for strarters, as well as being a differen class etc..

However, to reiterate, the original post was to correct false information about Imoen being a 'much better mage' when in fact she's inferior.

I also as it happens disagree about archery being useless in BG2. It certainly isn't as dominant as it was in BG1, but having an archer or two at the back is far better than everyone trying to bundle through a doorway at the same time. They are also useful when fighting trolls, nice to have someone firing acid arrows to finish the blighters off. Dispelling arrows also can be very handy at times.

[Revan1993]

Perhaps you could just take characters who can switch between achery and melee combat, such as Mazzy or Valygar.

[galraen]

Originally Posted by Revan1993

Perhaps you could just take characters who can switch between achery and melee combat, such as Mazzy or Valygar.

Excellent suggestion, Minsc can fit that bill too. Also don't forget other missile weapons, Daggers, Axes and Hammers (if you have a Dwarf) shouldn't be overlooked. With Korgan for example you get two for the price of one with his axe skill, shame he can't use Azuredge.

[Jordoo]

I really don't use ranged weapons much in BGII. I usually have my spellcaster using some sort of launchers usually the ones that don't need amo but only during the unimportant battles. Other than If I have Fighter type using a 2handed weapon they will have either a crossbow or throwing axe that is very rarely used.

[Pellinore]

First time through: take Imoen and Yoshimo for both role playing and overall experience.

[CFM]

Originally Posted by Pellinore

First time through: take Imoen and Yoshimo for both role playing and overall experience.

I second this sentiment. If this is your first time through the story, you really need to take Imoen and Yoshimo.