Who do you guys use in your parties least often? Pick up to three!

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 73 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Most unused NPC? (73 votes.)

Most unused NPC? (Choose 3)
* Imoen - 3% (2)
* Jaheria - 1% (1)
* Minsc - 3% (2)
* Yoshimo - 4% (3)
* Korgan - 14% (10)
* Nalia - 22% (16)
* Anomen - 21% (15)
* Keldorn - 7% (5)
* Viconia - 8% (6)
* Edwin - 11% (8)
* Haer'Dalis - 40% (29)
* Valygar - 18% (13)
* Mazzy - 15% (11)
* Cernd - 56% (41)
* Jan - 12% (9)
* Sarevok - 7% (5)
* Aerie - 15% (11)

Nalia, Anomen and Edwin.

Interesting poll. People really don't seem to like Cernd... :D

I went with Korgan, Cernd and Jan.

Hehe, Cernd was first on my list :p
But, why do I see that Korgan, Edwin, and Viconia have a good chunk of votes? They are such powerful characters (and, except Viconia, have fun personalities), that I must assume it is because they are evil.
Interesting: So far Keldorn is the only one that has got zero votes, aside from the four NPC's found in Chateau Irenicus. I guess it just further proves the power of the paladin.

I only used Haer-Dalis once and for a very short time; he just kept a spot in the party until I could get Solaufein and then I ditched him.

Cernd: Can you say boring?
Nalia: Can you say useless?
Keldorn: Can you say Viconia-hater?

I have to say, I have played the game many times, and used every single NPC at least three times, except Cernd, who i have never used for any length of time greater than the druid grove.

Jan - really annoying
Jaheira - really annoying
Anomen - really annoying

Before writing the post, I expected to have different reasons for each. Then I thought about the NPCs, and came up with that.

Cernd. I can say 'boring', 'annoying', and 'does-not-compare.' All in one sentence. :)

Nalia. Basically the same as above, but perhaps a less annoying voice/lines, although coming very close.

Haer'Dalis. Bards are useless, and on top of that he also tries to snatch one of your romances: Aerie. Burn him on the stake. :D

I was also quite tempted to choose Anomen, but since he has the only romance for females and a rare class (fighter/cleric, wasn't it?), you cannot really say that he would be *totally* useless.

Aerie is not on your annoying list, Alavin?!
I whole-heartedly agree with you Caleb*: Nalia is useless :p

I'm surprised Viconia isn't used more, she's an awesome cleric and makes a part way decent tank with some plate armour, a sheild and a warhammer.

Edwin is annoying if you ask me, he is always complaining or talking about how powerful he is, and I've enver found him that powerful.

Haer Dalis I used in the game I am running now, and in every major fight he'd die. I've never gone through so many rods of resurrection on one character before.

Aerie, Cernd, and Haer Dalis. Those three just get on my nerves. No way will I ever take them.

Mine is a little different, I say Mazzy. I haven't used her once.

Valygar - Simply have no use for him.
Nalia - Solaufein, my Jesters and Aerie have all the magics I could ever need.
Jaheira - I think I havent taken her along even once. Just cant bring myself to like her.

Jan. I love the guy, but as I seem unable to leave Imoen behind, theres just never a place for him.

Heh, turn your heart to stone for just a second as you give Imoen the boot. After that, you kinda forget about her :p

Malovae: Nor have I ever used Mazzy. Personally, I find that if I want a fighter, there are far better ones out there (though her saving throws are quite good). I just don't feel like sending a halfling with a short sword to the front lines, nor feel like wasting a party slot by having her sit at the back firing arrows.

I've never even met Cernd so have never had the opportunity to use him. I've also never had Korgan or Edwin in my party.

Cernd, Viconia, and Valygar.

Cernd is boring, and I usually have Jaheira in my party. Viconia is an evil Cleric, and I don't like "control Undead". Valygar I've always thought was a little boring, but I just might go with him this next game.

Boo HB!
This is your first run. Wait till you see Korgan smashing his way through enemies, you will be singing a different tune :p

Yoshimo - Ever since I found out about the betrayal, I only take him for his heart.
Nalia - Even Edwin seems to be an angel compared to this whining *****. And her aunt always costs me 4 rep points :mad:
Haer'Dalis - If he calls me 'Raven' one more time . . .

Cernd & Mazzy - I just never seem to use them. Anomen might get more of a look-in, if he weren't such a tool.

It isn't that they suck and can't get the job done. Anyone who's seen a high level druid in action knows how much pain they can inflict in virtually no time at all, and Mazzy has some interesting Truesword abilities. Despite his annoying personality, Anomen is a very competent tank and healer, and the only "good" non-multi-classed priest. Minsc, Valygar and Keldorn (and even Jaheira) can handle all the righteous butt-kicking I need done in any good party, and with the exception of Keldorn, none of them are too goody-two-shoes for me. Call me a racist, but I just don't dig halfling fighters armed with short bows unless I have room for Valygar in the same party...

That said, I rarely use Keldorn. I have a problem with my "good" PC taking a man away from his family for so long - I always end up leaving him behind with his wife and kids in Athkatla rather than having him follow me all over the Sword Coast and beyond.

Minsc - Total idiot
Valygar - Useless
Cernd - Jaheira is better :rolling:

Cernd, Valygar, Mazzy. They live too far away to dump and pick up conveniently.

Valygar useless? He can dual-wield, backstab, hide in the shadows, etc and even gets some mage spells, however he has next to no personality.

Cernd has high wisdom, can shiftshape in to a greater werewolf (high strength, regenerating etc) and just kills anyone that gets in his way.

Cernd, Jan and Valygar for me, they are useless, annoying and annoying respectively.

Cernd I just couldn't get to like. Jan - sometimes I take for a time, but, hm, not good enough for a mage. Haer'Dalis I've tried and he seems ok (very good HLA song), I wanted to try him to test some of Scythesong's ideas about blades being a kickass class.
Oh, surprisingly, Korgan and Edwin never made it in my list: Korgan I honestly haven't tried, and Edwin's remarks usually lead me to kill him instead of inviting him at the copper coronet. I tend to play good parties more often than not

As this is the TOB forum I'm amazed that Haer'dalis is performing so badly. Where is Scythesong Immortal to tell you all that Blades rule!
Seriously his imp bardsong and UAI are the 2 most powerful HLAs in existance.

I voted for Nalia... poorest thief, not a great MU, irritating personality. Better NPC's no matter what your needs are.

I agree with Scythe. I cannot imagine not taking Haer'dalis with me. At first I didn't like him but he has proven himself to be very useful.

Least used:
Cernd. Boring. Useless, because I pick Jaheira over him.

Imoen: I hate her.

Naila: Hate her almost as much as I hate Imoen. She is whiny and always pisses me off.

Aerie: Too bad to have with me.

Yoshimo: Good thief but Jan is better. And Im still pissed off by his treachery.

Sarevok: My party is usualy full when I get to ToB, and his level is too low.

Mazzy: I dont like her, and I dont use archers too often.

Nalia (Personality-less de-effectivized carbon copy of Imoen)
Haer'Dalis (Bards just don't fit in my parties. They're not a fighter class, can't do thief duty, or cast as good as a mage)
Mazzy (Tied with Valygar, but I tend to use him to open the Planar Sphere, so Mazzy gets the vote. She just can't measure up (pun intended?) with the other warriors.)

Cernd- I like Jaheira and I don't need him with her around

Edwin- I'm not sure why I've never played with him; I just can't seem to get the whole evil party thing down

Nalia- she's a terrible thief. Why take her when you can take Imoen and/or Jan?

Nalia- she's a terrible thief. Why take her when you can take Imoen and/or Jan? Because she's a better wizard than Jan and you can have her longer than Imoen.

Haer'Dalis - I just can't see any reason for having bard in party.
Edwin - just one reason: he is evil.
Jan - I need only one thief and that is Imoen(the main reason I like her more is because she is also a mage).
Why so many people don't like Nalia? She is a bad thief, and somethimes can be annoying but I think that she is better mage than Imoen or Aerie.

Nalia is a better Mage, just because of the fact that if you pick her up after walking into the Copper Coronet (it's hard to avoid her!) and keep her in your party, she will undoubtedly be of a higher level than Imoen as a Mage, even if you were to run off after Imoen immediately after gathering $15,000.

Imoen has a better personality though, better stats (except in STR and WIS, two stats that don't matter much to a Mage), she fits the storyline much better, and she's not nearly as annoying as Nalia (don't get me started on Nalia's politics! -- lol!).

Imoen catches up close enough in Mage levels, and properly equipped, eliminates the need of a Thief in the party (something Nalia never will -- she's a Mage who can use a bow).

Nalia: Annoying, irritating, and when I want a half thief/half mage, I'll have Imoen.

Haer' Dalis: Used him once, didn't like him. That said, I haven't tried him since reading up on Blades, and I'd like to give him another shot.

Anomen: Pretty much the same reasons everyone else has given.

Honorable mention goes to Korgan (just don't like him), Cernd (Guess why), and Mazzy. I'm not really sure why I don't take her. I like her character and her abilities, I just never use her.

Oh, and Aerie. I hate Aerie. Actually, I usually take her and use a cursed scroll of Petrification on her to decorate my stronghold. :evil:

The only characters that I have never used are Edwin, Haer'Dalis, and Jan. Mazzy and Cernd deserve an honorable mention, though, because I have let them into my party once for a few minutes.

Never taken Edwin? I suppose some people are turned off by his initial attitude towards you (that you are useless, etc.). But, after he joins you, he's both hilarious and friendly. He's not even that evil: he manipulates people and speaks down to people, but he's not nearly as evil as Korgan (who I even don't find to be that evil. No one ever says things like "Let's kill a random commoner!")

Never taken them and never will: Cernd and Nalia.

Taken butt never will again: Anomen and Valygar

Taken and kicked to hell: Haer'Dalis

Reasoning:

Cernd: boring
Nalia: total brat, hate her
Anomen: annoying
Valygar: don't really know, just dislike him
Haer'Dalis: totally not my style, too weird.

Nalia is not very popular, is she? I had no choice but to take her if I wanted a more or less specialist wizard in my party as the other options were:
- Imoen (too missing)
- Jan (too multi-classed)
- Aerie (too multi-classed, too fragile)
- Edwin (too evil, Minsc hates him)
- Haer D'alis (too unreliable at learning scrolls)
- PC (too much of a Kensai / Thief)

Nalia is one of the most powerful characters in my party now, plus she hardly ever says anything any more, once her quests are over. And she looks cool in the Robe of Vecna.

Nalia isn't popular, but she should be used more often. Good parties would rather take Edwin into their group than take Nalia (or make their PC a magic user), which I find to be a little funny. As you've said, HB, she does a great job. It always comes back to that attitude...

Like I said earlier, she's just annoying. But she's also the most powerful arcane spellcaster for a good aligned party.

I voted for Nalia, Cernd and Haer'Dalis

Nalia for the same reasons that people have already mentioned. Imoen works great as a full class mage, and she frees up the thief slot...it's a 2 for one deal.

Cernd because I have Jahiera. I took him my first time through (I took everyone for a little bit)I can't imagine that even Greater Werewolf holds up well in ToB, that and his melee and casting are mutally exclusive. Jahiera can do both at the same time.

Haer'Dalis I have no doubt is a great character, but I've only been through the game thrice. Once as a pally, and twice as a fighter/mage. With a fighter/mage, there really isn't room for him. Plus, it just seems like alot of micro-management.

Minsc, Cernd and Haer'Dalis.
IMO none of those have anything special to offer.

For example:
- if I want a Ranger I use Valygar.
- if I want a Druid I use Jaheira.
- if I want a useless twit I have a cup of tea and wait for my senses to return.