[Taco Magus]

jan! thats his name!! lol i had a brain fart while trying to figure out what fable meant in another post lol
i dont think i woulda got nalia anyways....shes a little....strange(cant think of a better word)...

[Phantom Lord]

If your PC is f/t you won't need a second thief, in fact you can go for a 4-member party (f/t. f, c, m). Small parties can be pretty powerful, especially with ToB installed .

[Taco Magus]

hes a single class fighter not thief/fighter. i was getting annoyed having to take off his armor everytime i wanted to lickpick/disarmtrap, and pickpocket

[Phantom Lord]

There are some pretty cool thief armours later in the game. You can use bracers until you'll find one.

[Taco Magus]

Im terrible. I went to pick up jan then relized i couldnt have korgan(hes my favorite char)and edwin. so i remade myself into a fighter/thief dual-weilding katana/warhammer
so now it will be:
Me: Fighter/Thief
korgan
Minsc
Anomen
Jaheria
Edwin

[Phantom Lord]

Well, in that case my advice would be to drop Anomen and Minsc. You won't need them. They'll just slow down your development.

Concerning your weapon choice: Staves for the PC are worth thinking about (Staff of Magi / Staff of Ram are all you'll ever need and you can buy Staff of Rhynn +4 early in the game). You still can give Crom to Korgan.

[Taco Magus]

should i pick up viconia?

[Phantom Lord]

IMHO Viconia is better than Jaheira.

Korgan, Viconia and Edwin fit together pretty well, and if your PC's alignement ain't "good", everything is perfect. There's one more fitting char waiting in ToB, so you can play SoA with 4 and ToB with 5 party members. With ToB installed, you'll level up very fast this way and can get your hands on special abilities already within SoA. But don't do WK too soon or things will get boring - there's simply too much XP to get there.

[Taco Magus]

WK?

[Taco Magus]

Ive never played an all evil party before...it was just
semi-evil. how will this affect all my heroics im gonna be doing?

[VonDondu]

Taco Magus, with all due respect, you need to make up your mind and stick with it. It was easy for me to do that, because I intended to replay the game from the very start. I figured that if I wanted to try something different, I could do it the second time around.

There's something about character development that you need to keep in mind: you can't do justice to any of the classes if you only play through half the game with them (or less). Sometimes, even if you're frustrated with them, you need to give them a chance. It will pay off in the end.

If you have a multi-class character and you feel like he isn't advancing fast enough, then you can reduce your party size, even if it's just temporary. A Fighter or a Fighter/Thief can easily solo Chapter Three if you side with Bodhi. For the more difficult quests, you should recruit some help, even it's just temporary. For example, if I were "soloing" the game, I would take an extra Fighter with me to Nalia's Keep, and I would take a Mage with me to Windspear Hills. I've never taken the view that you HAVE to have any particular number of members in your party. You can tailor your party to fit the quest at hand. (Keep in mind that if you're involved in a romance, you don't ever want to dismiss your romantic partner.)

You could also try a dual-classed character instead of a multi-class character, such as a Berserker dualled to a Thief. You'll miss out on the Fighter's high level abilities in Throne of Bhaal, but your character will be very effective in combat and advance more rapidly as a Thief.

I highly recommend a multi-class Fighter/Thief, a Swashbuckler, or a Berkerker dualled to a Thief. The available NPCs can provide any other skills you need along the way.

If you want to play an Evil party, then the three Evil NPCs all make great party members. Just keep in mind that if you're not playing a Thief (or some combination), you might have to recruit Jan or Yoshimo (both Neutral characters) for your thieving needs. You could even drop off Jan or Yoshimo at Spellhold and let Imoen join your group. She's good enough as a Thief to handle most of your thieving needs, plus she's an effective Mage. If you play Throne of Bhaal, you should also consider recruiting the new NPC, who is an awesome warrior.

Ty to keep your party balanced in terms of skills. You need one or two "tanks", a thief (or some combination), a Mage (or some combination), and a Cleric (or some combination). Look at it this way. I've played the game (quite successfully) with a Cleric/Ranger and Imoen (a Thief dualled to a Mage) plus an extra Fighter I recruited for Throne of Bhaal. They had all the skills I needed. If your group has those same skills, divided among whatever party members you have, then you'll be able to handle any of the quests.

[Taco Magus]

*cries* i feel so guilty for not letting minsc and boo not come with me! i dunno if i can live with myself! *wipes the tear off his crak and starts crying again*

[Indra]

There's something about character development that you need to keep in mind: you can't do justice to any of the classes if you only play through half the game with them (or less). Sometimes, even if you're frustrated with them, you need to give them a chance.

I totally agree. I've restarted the game 8 times in the last 3 weeks, trying to find a char I like. I usually get to the Planar Sphere and Lvl13 before abandoning them. But now I've installed smarter mages and tactics and have a PC I think I finally like..touch wood.

Taco Magus, you should add F/M/T to your list of options. My fav current party is F/M/T, Viconia, Korgan and Jan. The F/M/T is obviously very versatile, using Hide in Shadows and Move Silently he can be an incredible good tank/Scout (or you could just be a Stalker and forgot about being a F/T). Also, if you're playing a Fighter Multi Class, and are taking Korgan, you might want to use Swords exclusively and give War Hammer to Korgan. By the time you get Crom You will do almost as much damage with Celestial Fury, Belt of Hill Giant Strength and Belm/Kundane in off hand as Korgan does with an Ax and Crom. Plus if you play a thief multi class/ Stalker, you cannot wear heavy armour so you won't be a front line tank.

i feel so guilty for not letting minsc and boo not come with me! i dunno if i can live with myself!

There is one strong argument for taking Minsc with you, simply because no one else can use the Flail of Ages effectively. If I wanted a full party, I'd take:

F/T or F/M or F/M/T (Bladed Weapons)
Minsc (FOA and Mace of Disruption)
Korgan(Any Ax and Crom)
Viconia (Unmatchable Cleric. No one comes close..)
Edwin (Or Imoen after Spellhold)
Jan (if not F/T, or as main mage in Athkathla till Spellhold. Can ditch after underdark)

Mixed party, everyone gets along with one another, 5 chars so level up faster (Edwin and Minsc DO NOT. So your choice..), Uber Weapons. You will streamroll SOA/TOB on core. Hmm..almost tempted to pick up Minsc again...but no, Improved Torgal..
..I think I'll pass..

[Phantom Lord]

WK = Watcher's Keep (pretty cool ToB addon dungeon accessible from both SoA and ToB)

Playing evil doesn't affect your heroics too much if you don't want too, you're only driven by greed instead of goodness - but your actions remain your own business, as well as your reasons.

[Taco Magus]

does ToB add new cities or something? im a lil confused

[VonDondu]

When you install Throne of Bhaal, two things happen. First of all, your startup menu changes and gives you the option to play Shadows of Amn or Throne of Bhaal. You can think of them as two separate games. Throne of Bhaal is like a sequel to Shadows of Amn. Second of all, the expansion also modifies Shadows of Amn. The experience cap is increased to 8 million points, and new abilities are available for high level characters. There's also a new area accessible to Shadows of Amn called Watcher's Keep, which is a very well-done dungeon crawl. Watcher's Keep is also accessible when you play Throne of Bhaal. Athkatla, Umar Hills, Windspear Hills, etc. are not accessible from Throne of Bhaal. Throne of Bhaal is made up entirely of new areas, including a pocket plane which serves as your stronghold. The stores in the new areas sell +3 and +4 weapons (and +6 weapons are available as quest items), which should give you some idea of what the combat is like.

[Taco Magus]

Originally posted by VonDondu
When you install Throne of Bhaal, two things happen. First of all, your startup menu changes and gives you the option to play Shadows of Amn or Throne of Bhaal. You can think of them as two separate games. Throne of Bhaal is like a sequel to Shadows of Amn. Second of all, the expansion also modifies Shadows of Amn. The experience cap is increased to 8 million points, and new abilities are available for high level characters. There's also a new area accessible to Shadows of Amn called Watcher's Keep, which is a very well-done dungeon crawl. Watcher's Keep is also accessible when you play Throne of Bhaal. Athkatla, Umar Hills, Windspear Hills, etc. are not accessible from Throne of Bhaal. Throne of Bhaal is made up entirely of new areas, including a pocket plane which serves as your stronghold. The stores in the new areas sell +3 and +4 weapons (and +6 weapons are available as quest items), which should give you some idea of what the combat is like.

Thats exactly the things i wanted to know thx Vondondu

[VonDondu]

My pleasure.

[bullions27]

Eventually you'll exhaust all possible options and you'll have to turn to kit editing for fun. For example, picture a Paladin kit with the ability to cast spells like a Priest, but without the trivial Wisdom bonus. Carsomyr + Righteous Magic = Fun

[Taco Magus]

My Currtent group is working much better now.
Myself fighter/theif
Korgan
Jaheira
Edwin
and Viconia

heh gotta love when jaheira making fun of the female edwin LOL
Viconia is just twisted.