Ok, first a little background: I've read a bunch of things on the internet about BG, and I've been playing on and off for a while now, but I've never gotten past Chapter 5.

I'd like to start a new game, and go with a "Good" aligned party. Level Drain has always been a real PITA for me, so I'm going to avoid it right off with my PC.

Protagonist: Undead Hunter. I like Paladins, and this one is immune to Level Drain. :)

Keldorn: Inquisitor. It's a "Good" party, and like I said, I really like Paladins.

Jaheira: Fighter/Druid. Ok, maybe she's not listed as Good, but I think her attitude and actions lean her towards a good alignment.

Anomen: Fighter/Cleric. He fits the party well, and he's great after his upgrade.

Nalia: Mage/Thief. Awesome mage, she's not in the party for her 4th level thief skills.

Imoen: Mage/Thief. She'll be a tiny bit behind Nalia, but she's good enough at locks/traps that she can cover the thief end of the party. She also really belongs for RP purposes.


One dilema still lingering is in choosing the sex of the protagonist. I've never tried the Anomen romance, and a Paladin would work well with him. Is it really worth it, though? I've heard it can be a boring romance.

A bit heavy on fighters, in my opinion, but it looks good.

The romances aren't boring. What many complain about is that Anomen is a whiner and just a PITA (as you put it). Truth be told, all the romance characters have their issues (some more than others) but that's what intriguing about them.

Since this is a good aligned party, you should not romance Viconia. Well, there are other reasons why you should not romance her but that's due to your party's design. Jaheira and Aerie are your only options should you choose to play a male paladin.

If you have never romanced Anomen, I would suggest doing so. If for no other reason than to say that you've done it.

Who, if any, is going to fill Imoen's spot until you rescue her? If you're wanting a mage-type character, give Haer'Dalis a shot. If you're wanting to stick with a (predominantly) lawful good party, your only choice is Aerie.

I don't find having two paladins a good idea. You will only be able to wield Carsomyr with one of them, IMHO the only reason to take specifically a paladin except if you like to roleplay one. Since the only reason you mentioned the protagonist is a paladin is for the immunity to level drain I suggest you take a Barbarian or even better a Berserker. While their rage is active they are also immune to level drain next to a lot of other immunities. You won't be able to be LG but you will be able to be good. The Berserker has the advantage of a better bonus when raging and weapon mastery. The Barbarian gets damage immunity at higher levels and doesn't get winded after the rage ends.
I give this advise since I don't think you would want to replace Keldorn by somebody else.

I think I'll just put up with Yoshimo for now. I know he's not LG, but I'll meet him in the initial dungeon, and he hasn't done anything bad (yet).

Taking two paladins is not that bad. The Undead Hunter would be able to wield the Carsomyr and have Keldorn wield other very good weapons including two handed swords, spears, halberds and quarter staffs.

The Inquisitor would be a great asset for his double strength dispel and the true sight giving your mages a bit more freedom, so I would put him in as the PC rather than the Undead Hunter. This depends on whether your paladins can use the Amulet of Power which would give the immunity to level drain, from Aran Linveil (mine can but some say that they have corrected this through a patch). Then the slot that goes to Keldorn could go to Minsc or Mazzy perhaps.

Taking two paladins is not that bad. The Undead Hunter would be able to wield the Carsomyr and have Keldorn wield other very good weapons including two handed swords, spears, halberds and quarter staffs.

That's why I said to replace the undead hunter by a Berserker, he will better be able to make use of those other weapons and then you can give Carsomyr to the remaining paladin, Keldorn.

He wanted a Undead Hunter to avoid level drain.

Yep...
I can attest to how Undead Hunters just wade through the hordes of Vampires in the first part of BG2. I chose that kit for my Paladin I imported from BG1. He is a undead killing machine. Or should I say a undead re-killing machine? :hmm:

Looks like you'll be ready for just about anything.

The PC can keep Carsomyr, there are many other weapon choices for Keldorn. You can even make him dual-wield if you get him pretty early, and he'll be just as good.
Jaheira and Anomen will make excellent tanks and healers, and Jaheira can take the heat while your warriors pound your enemies.
Nalia and Imoen should round off your party's overpowered-ness.

I don't find having two paladins a good idea. You will only be able to wield Carsomyr with one of them, IMHO the only reason to take specifically a paladin except if you like to roleplay one. Since the only reason you mentioned the protagonist is a paladin is for the immunity to level drain I suggest you take a Barbarian or even better a Berserker. While their rage is active they are also immune to level drain next to a lot of other immunities. You won't be able to be LG but you will be able to be good. The Berserker has the advantage of a better bonus when raging and weapon mastery. The Barbarian gets damage immunity at higher levels and doesn't get winded after the rage ends.
I give this advise since I don't think you would want to replace Keldorn by somebody else. He wants to make it a good party and if roleplaying you can't get gooder then a Paladin. And also my Cavalier by the time he got to level 12-13 was able to resist almost anything (they have a +2 bonus to saves that it does not say in the description) and regarding the Carsomyr, you can have Keldorn wield it and have your paladin duel weilding Daystar (paladin created weapon but useable by all) with Celestial Fury (a Kara-tur made weapon) or if you choose to take a Cavalier then take Daystar with MoD for vampires and for Dragons Dragonslayer (just because it fits) and for all else Celestial fury.

I don't see why a LG character would be "gooder" then a CG or NG character. The only difference is the way they implement their good alignment.

I'm going to give the Berserker a shot, with the same NPCs.

I don't know which one I like better, but both are a different feel for me, and I'm having fun.

You could have one Paladin with the Purifier also, probably your PC.

That is not really an option since you can only upgrade either Purifier or Carsomyr since both upgrades need the Eye of Tyr and AFAIK there is only one in the game.

@ Meatdog - Unless you're playing Ascension, there is little reason to upgrade Carsomyr to +6, as the +1 is the only difference from the upgrade and your paladin is hitting everything every time unless he rolls a 1 at that point. The Purifier, IIRC, stands to gain more with the upgrade.

That is not really an option since you can only upgrade either Purifier or Carsomyr since both upgrades need the Eye of Tyr and AFAIK there is only one in the game.Didn't Tyr have two eyes?

Oh look I found the other one!

*cough* CLUACConsole:CreateItem("") *cough* ;)

Yes but you forget one thing dmc, with +6 caromsyr bypasses all weapon immunities except protection from magical weapons, also it dispels on hit which means stone skins go down to. So caromsyr +6 is an excellent weapon against mages, even better than the +5 version. Purifier probably stands more to gain from upgrade, but honestly, I dont use either that often in my games.

Argh! Now I can't decide!

I can't decide what I'd prefer to play. My party will be the same as it is above, but I can't decide whether to play an Undead Slayer (Going for Purifier, and either a shield or Two weapon fighting, using an Axe), or a Barbarian (TWF, Axes and Flails).

Hmmmm...

It's a simple choice.
Barbarian and Undead Hunter:Do you want to use Carsomyr? ;)
Berserker and Undead Hunter:How much do you hate level drain and undead-related abilities?

LOL!

I'm going to bring Keldorn anyway, and his proficiencies are already geared towards the Carsomyr. I think it's a better investment to work the Protagonist towards a different weapon. Now that the Purifier has been brought to my attention, I know what that different weapon is. :)

ON EDIT: My Protagonist is being built around 'not losing levels.' It's undoubtedly the most annoying part of the game, IMO.

Purifier is a paladin only weapon too, sorry. So make him a fighter/thief or another paladin.

I would stick with Jan but I failed to remember his alignment :rolleyes: . I think its Chaotic Neutral? Having a good theif is always hard...they are such poor characters! Anomen I admit is a very handy character. Imoen is a better theif AND mage than Nalia, gameplay wise. I personally beleive Cernd is a better Druid than Jaheira, although I enjoy her character more. Cernd has 18 wisdom, and is a great fighter when in greater werewolf shapeshift. I just recently finished a game playing with Keldorn and he is a very very handy character, you give him a dex item for his poor dex and he is a fine suplement.

BUT, then again it is all up to you :D Play the way it suits you, beleive it or not I never enjoy playing a good party :o

Ahem I forgot to edit on the Protagonist, a Paladin Undead Hunter can be very fun to play with so nothing wrong there. Nice

I played several times with a Berserker and he is the only character (except those wearing items to protect them) that never lost a level. Add this to all his other immunities in rage and there is not much that can hurt him except damage (magical or physical). Te only annoying effect he isn't immune to is the Illithids Brain Suck. And before anybody makes the comment, no, he never went out of rage before the battle ended.
If you didn't take Anomen then maybe the Undead Hunter would be a good choice because then he would add the Turn Undead ability to his immunity, but since it's weaker then Anomen's it doesn't count in his favour.
Since you have a cleric the last real advantage also disapears, which is that he can cast restoration IIRC.
So considering your party there is no reason to prefer an Udead Hunter to a Berserker.

there is no reason to prefer an Udead Hunter to a BerserkerUndead Hunters get bonus to hit and bonus to damage vs. undead, berserkers don't. Undead hunters don't get a limited number of rages per day (useful if you don't want to be resting constantly), Undead hunter can use the most overpowered item in the game...

I wouldn't usually recommend two paladins, but the one time I did it, Keldorn and my protag basically buldozed everything.

Two paladins is an awesome combo. One uses caromsyr and the other dual weilds purifier and answerer. Upgrade purifier. Anyway you can get both paladin weapons in chapter 2 as well. Its a truly horrendously overpowered combo. Very frightening.

I don't see why a LG character would be "gooder" then a CG or NG character. The only difference is the way they implement their good alignment. I don't know if this is just your opinion or if it's ignorance on the games alingments if its the latter case then go read the difference between LG, NG, and CG. IMO there's a very big difference between CG and LG but less so for LG and NG.

Please explain your point, because in the alignment text it says that they all three try to achieve good but LG thinks laws are the way to achieve good, NG thinks that good should be obtained through laws or by breaking them related to the situation and CG tries to achieve good the way they see it regardless of what others think.
My conclusion was that they all wanted to achieve goodness but their view as to how it was achieved is different.