After finishing a solo for the umpteenth time with a Mage/Cleric, I've decided to try and brave the game with a party.

I've chosen the following NPCs:

Keldorn (uber dispel and Carsomyr)
Edwin (primary mage)
Imoen (secondary mage and thief...Yoshimo till then)
Jaheira (romance and secondary tank)
Korgan (tank)

Now...you may notice that I've got a very melee heavy party. This is intentional, because I'm ALWAYS playing spell casters, and soloing to boot, so playing a melee party should be a refreshing change (I hope! :) )

Now...I cannot decide which class to pick as my PC. I do realise that this has been done before, quite a few times by myself as well! But I just wanted to have this particular party be really good. So...lemme know.

Your PC should be a Cleric type because you don't have a cleric. If you're melee heavy then you can be a fighter/cleric multi or dual, your choice! I'd chose the multi Fighter/Cleric for the Cleric and Fighter's HLA's.

You can go with a normal Cleric and get all the cleric lvls and get a HUGE priest scroll.

If you want ALL priest spells be a Ranger/Cleric.

Ehh...I dunno.

Melee clerics are a bit gay to play. Besides, I've got enough options for melee already. Not to say its not a good option though...Ranger/Clerics kick ass! :D

However...keep the ideas coming. :thumb:

Nah, Jaheira should be able to do all healing job's just fine... A second Archer type would might be a good idea, an Archer (Ranger) would indeed be devasteting with the tugian bow(?), well anyways the bow that gives 3 extra attacks per round...
A Ranger Cleric as you yourself mentioned, is also a good idea. Ranger/Clerics are devasteting. You could also make either a Kensai(orBersker)/Thief or an assasin for a kick-arse backstabber...
An Kensai(or Berserker)/Mage could also be an option, if you find yourself low on Arcane powers (which you shouldn't after you pick up Imoen).
A Bounty Hunter Thief if you want a mean trap setter would also do fine. The Blade has a lot of oportunities, and can be devasteting if played correctly... Or you could also make one of my personal favorite builds: the Fighter/mage/Thief... This guy is also very mean, and whether you want to go melee or use him as archer is up to yourself. :rolling:

Fighter/Mage/Clerics are mean too, they have fighting skillz, mage skillz and cleric skillz. A F/M/C is great if you feel you need more magical peoples. I usually take 3 mages with me.

Bards are cool too! Part Fighter, Part Thief (PICKPOCKETS!!! :D I LUV THAT SKILL!), and part Mage. Jesters can be good you just need to know when to play your mini harp thingy. Olimikrig told you about the Blade. I personally love the Skald best. Bards use any item is like kick a$$. Oh and if you want make a Bard and call her/him Mad Harping Cow

You can use a Cleric/Thief for thief skillz and cleric skillz. Use Any Item is what i'm thinking of here. It's funny seeing a Cleric using a Two-Handed Sword or Spear.

An addition to HBSoF's 'Use any Item' comment: Assasins with Carsomyr = OUCH! 1d12+5(6) x 7 backstab multiplyer, and possible poisoned... MR, Dispel on hit, need I say more! This weap in the hands of an assasin is soo much fun. :eek:

Melee clerics are a bit gay to play.WTF is with the gay references around here?

BTW, you could play a C/R with a sling.

@Olimikrig: Won't work. Carsomyr is unusable by thieves, and hence, is "Weapon unsuitable for backstab"...according to BG2 atleast...

If not...I'd prefer Staff of the Magi... :evil:

I'm liking the Archer option...but it gets redundant after a while I'm assuming. You are never very important in the big fights, and picking off Goblins from a mile away isn't very heroic! :p

Blades...they're very good but I've played them like 8-10 times! Solo! There's nothing new left about them.

Bounty Hunter...yeah, that sounds good. Can halflings romance Jaheira? :D

I'd stick a cleric/mage in there for spell sequencer high jinks, extra healing and party buffs. If you dont want a pure spellcaster, consider a scout/special ops type character, perhaps a cleric/thief or a stalker.

You can always use a Multi-Classed Mage/Thief for wizardry and thievery.

Fighter/Mage's are also good, equip the Fighter/Mage with the Robe of Vecna and they're ready to fight.

FIghter/Thieves are cool too!
Use Any Item plus Carsomyr+6 plus Greater Whirlwind Attack plus Two Handed Weapon Style plus 2 Stars in Two-Handed Sword= DESTROYER OF WORLDS!

@ Faras

is "Weapon unsuitable for backstab"...according to BG2 atleast...:doh: Of course you cannot use it for backstab....
But it is still devastating in the hands of your assasin :p , and staff of Magi would do the job just fine :p But I would prefer a weap like Celestial Fury for backstabbing...

I suggest another cleric and take some of the healing load off Jaheira. But then, I dislike dying. :lol:

Take a cleric with one of the kits. A C/R is very nice and the one I played with Keldorn was hilarious! Keldorn had a higher Turn Undead ability than my PC! :p C/T would also be interesting as a supplement to Imoen/Yoshimo. Backsmacking [tm] with a staff, more traps, better pickpocketing and UAI HLA - who needs more?

If you don't want much of a spellcaster or fighter, maybe try one of the ranger kits. Archers make fantastic snipers. Or play a monk, which is sort of a fighter, but in the early stages it'll be fun trying to stay alive. ;)

That would be hilarious! Backstabbing with a 2-Handed Sword. You could probably dual weild the Crom Faer (off hand so you get 25 Strength) and the Sword of the Mask/Celestial Fury (main hand) and backstab like that.

Definitely a C/T; TIAX RULES ALL!!! :lol:

You do realize Keldorn is going to have a problem with Edwin, don't you?

@Felinoid: I'm counting on it! ;)

I've got the Happy Script which comes with Ease of Use installed, so I'm looking for some volatile NPC interactions! :evil:

How about a Sorcerer? Its been AGES since I played one...

@ Everyone who suggested a healer...I don't need one. I only ever use Clerics for buffs and debuffs anyway. Potions are all I need for healing. That and resting... :)

Sorcerers are cool. You can be the Primary Sorcerer of your team. So you don't need a priest/priestess? OK Jahiera can do that job just as good as a Priest/Priestess.

OR you could be a Fighter/Mage/Thief and be a support Fighter, Mage, and Thief xD But i guess that would be too much jobs.

Sorcerer should be your PC. They're like cool.

Monks are cool too! Monks have about 2-3 thief skills. They also can get Quivering Palm if I remember correctly which is cool. Monk's have very mad punching skillz.

Barbarians are just lovely. They can wear up to Splint Mail (or was it chainmail?) BUT they get Barbarian Rage. They can take 2 stars in a weapon. and i can't remember anything else about them.

What? Not my fault it was like a year ago since i last considered being a Monk, barbarian or sorcerer because I always start from BG1 and you can't pick those in BG1.

*EDIT* If I remember correctly Barbarians can get resistances to slashing, crushing, piercing, and missle weapons at lvl 11. Barbarians are immune to backstab. AND they move 2 points faster then the usual character.

Barbarians fail to get grandmastery. They're damage resistance isnt very significat even at lvl 40 when playing on insane, and requires equipment and/or HLAs to supplement it, which can be done WITHOUT the orginal resistances in any case.

Hmm...Sorcerer is looking good. Then I can drop Edwin as I don't want too many mages in the party...Imoen and the PC can be good enough.

However, this opens up a slot (or two) in the party!

Getting rid of Edwin means I can take another NPC!

How would Haer'Dalis be? From Chapter 6 onwards, he'd be a beast, what with Spike Traps, Improved Bard Song, spellcasting at high effective level etc.

I'm a bit leery of taking him as I'm not sure how much fun he is while interacting with other NPCs.

Also, I'm thinking of dropping Korgan, taking Minsc along and SK'ing him a bit to tidy up his proficiencies and ability scores to allow dual-classing to Cleric.

I know its cheating, but I couldnt care less. Even though I'm playing a party, I'm still a power-mongering soloist at heart! :evil:

Opinions?

Haer'Dalis can be a great melee fighter and he can be a mage-ish (up to lvl 6 spells) for a while if you want more mystical powers of destroying enemies.

taking Minsc along and SK'ing him a bit to tidy up his proficiencies and ability scores to allow dual-classing to Cleric.
LMAO! I can see Minsc worshiping his hamster Boo right now. I CALL UPON BOO'S GODLY POWERS! xD

Anyways That should work since Minsc can still be a tanker. Keldorn is going to the front with Jahiera and Minsc right? Or are you giving Keldorn a bow and arrow to hunt his foes down? Minsc will be a Ranger/Cleric of Boo (sorry but i must call Minsc a Cleric of Boo ^_^) and will lose some tanking powers and Jahiera loses some tanking powers cause she's multiclassed so Keldorn will get lotsa melee powers.

I have that. I SKed Minsc right out of the cage and dualled him. He already regained his abilities before getting to chapter 2. Jaheira n Minsc, 2 guys with stoneskin will rock.
By the way, its not Keldorn and Edwin but Minsc and Edwin who can't stand each other. Keldorn reserves his hatered for the Drow babe Viconia.

The Archer is good. Very powerful early on and not entirely useless later on. 9 attacks per round without having to bother about being targetted.
I prefer to give this guy LongBows since they do extra damage.
An SKed HalfOrc Kensai/Thief is even better. Imoen/Yoshi can handle all the traps so you can concentrate on backstabbing.
I don't think you should take a spellcaster since you want to do something different this time around.

By the way, its not Keldorn and Edwin but Minsc and Edwin who can't stand each other. Keldorn reserves his hatered for the Drow babe Viconia. Actually, Edwin will go off on Keldorn at some point, and they will duke it out. It's part of a banter. And if you're going to boost Minsc's WIS, don't forget to blast his INT for balance.

@Faraaz:
Haer'Dalis has bird nicknames for everyone. Give him a shot, and if you don't like him you can get him shot. :evil: There's also the infamous banter with Jaheira that'll have you LYAO.

[ October 02, 2005, 20:17: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

i would go for a R/C or a monk?

very good fighters and the best mage killers!

NO!!! NO monks!! :eek:

Heh...I can't stand them.

@HBSoF: Cleric of Boo?? ROFLMAO! :D I like that VERY much indeed! Yeah...I think I'll take Haer'Dalis along.

You need a cleric for more than just healing. Restoration, Remove Fear, Protection from Evil, Chaotic Commands and a few others are very useful. Sure, Jaheira and Edwin (or even scrolls I suppose) can cover some of these but not all.

Which is why I'm taking Minsc along and Sk'ing him up. After all, we need a Cleric of Boo in the party!! :D

As of now...I'm wavering between Archer and Sorcerer...keeping my current party in mind, who is more crucial? Keep in mind I'm not taking Edwin along anymore.

Just my $.02, but I would suggest a Mage/Thief. You will need the extra spell power if you are dumping Edwin and you have no thief abilities till you pick up Imoen. It looks to me like what your party needs is more thief power.

I would go with a multi M/T, but a dualed Swashbuckler or Bounty Hunter to Mage is also a very viable alternative.

If you don't want a M/T multi, then take the Sorcerer over the Archer, you will need the spell power as, without Edwin, you will be mageless until you recover Immy.

I've decided on a Sorcerer finally. Just got Haer'Dalis and Keldorn from the Temple Sewers, and after this, I'm going straight to the Docks, doing the quests for Linvail, then its off to Spellhold to get my second mage. They're all at lvl 10 still, so hopefully, Imoen will be the same level when she joins.

So far...its pretty easy! Keldorn just casts a Dispel if there's a mage around and everyone beats on everyone else. My sorcerer is yet to cast spells other than just Skull Trap or Breach. But I reckon the balance will shift towards the spell casters towards the middle to end of the game. :) Thanks for all your comments folks!

I know you're asking what PC to play as, but seriously, why would you want Korgan in the party the minute you can get Sarevok? :) :D

because korgan AND sarevok make an excellent tag-and-tanking team. sarevok with the ravager + 6 and korgan dual wielding axe of the unyielding + 5 and crom faer + 5 (including true grand mastery) are unstoppable. i tried it, completed ToB last friday with those two in the party. what a slaughter!

BTW, there's a strong argument to Korgan being more powerful.

He's got better saving throws, and since you've had him for so long, you can mold his proficiencies however you'd like and he'll almost definitely be on a higher level than Sarevok.

@Klorox:
:heh: As I recall, someone made a rather strong argument for Sarevok being more powerful. It went something like this:

Korgan - Berserker Fury
Korgan - Attacks Sarevok
Sarevok - Attacks Korgan
.
.
.
(blah blah blah, they wail on each other)
.
.
.
Sarevok - Deathbringer Attack
Sarevok does 100+ damage to Korgan
Korgan - Dead

I'd say that last line says it all. :D

Last time i took Sarevok he could only do 200 damage with Deathbringer Attack.

Now if only Deathbringer was a special ability you could cast then.... :evil:

But 200 damage might not kill Korgan. Korgan might be able to get over 200 HP and Sarevok might just do stuff like 1 damage, 2 damage, 5 damage.

If and only if a DB assault triggers. It's random, and bosses are immune to it.

I'm not saying Korgan is better vs. Sarevok anyway. I'm saying Korgan is better in a party than Sarevok.

I'm not saying Korgan is better vs. Sarevok anyway. I'm saying Korgan is better in a party than Sarevok.i'll second this, when i reached the pocket plane, korgan was lvl 24, sarevok lvl 18 (okay, got his lvl-up instantly). i didn't tarry along, i only finished all the quests available in soa, and left watcher's keep for tob. but sarevok is sooo much fun with his battle skills and his banter with jaheira and viconia (who scares him :D ).

I like paladins - Cavalier are good. If I were you, though, I would get a Fighter/Thief. Back up thief abilities and the extra spell abilities.