Hey, Im gonna go through BG2 and TOB again with a full multiplayer party. Ive already gone through with almost every combination of NPCs and I want to see how I do in a multiplayer party. I will be playing it on insane difficulty (easy for level ups up to lvl 9) and I have all the Improved enemy patches for ToB. Here is what I have so far:

Paladin - dont know what kit, wont be using missile weapons no matter what. Will use carsomyr.

kensai-theif - dual class at level 12 either dual weilding long swords or katanas (or both) or using staves (backstab with staff of the ram!!)

ranger/cleric - multiclass, will eventually dual weild flail of the ages +5 and crom fayer. gets lots of spells :)

sorerer - or possibly some other type of mage, mebbe a kensai/mage. Just for spell support, will probly use staff of magi.'

I will also have 2 other chars, here are the things Im thinking about:

monk - never tried one, heard their really cool

archer - for support, tuigan bow and quiver of plenty just sounds too good to be true.

some other tank - I donno why, I just like tanks, would prolly use 2h swords, halberds or spears(I just love the impaler spear)

everyone please post their comments and tell me what would work better and what would be more fun etc etc. I am really looking for info on what 2 chars I should use for my last 2 and what other combos would be better than what I have set already. Ive heard some things about swashbuckler/clerics umm, Im kinda confused as to how and why this would be good but Im open to anything.

last thing is who should be my main char, what stronghold is the best, and I will import one of my old BG1 chars for that guy so he will have better stats than the rest (or if its the monk or sorcie Ill just add the stats) because of the tomes.
thanks,
--FenixStrife

1. Well, the obvious thing to say is that, if you will want to continue you romance from SOA, then you only have one more available slot as your "main squeeze" will take up slot 5.
2. The second thign to consider is whether or not you will want to pick up Sarevok in TOB... In that case, either slot 6 is gone, or you will need to swap him out with an earlier slot.
3. Also, you need to consider whether or not you should leave slot 6 open as a "rotating door" for SOA in order to pick up all of the quests/subquests you can for the experience. (Then again, you know this - and - it won't hurt you if you plan on picking up Sarevok in TOB as he is not available in SOA.)
4. Stronghold wise, I feel the fighter stronghold is the best as it probides free money all game long and is one of the easier ones to obtain early on. This means that you kensai would be the main character. Of the other class/stronghold combinations your first four slots offer, I would go with the mage stronghold. Just personal preference there due to my perceptions of in-game aggravation costs (do me know or lose your stronghold) vs. in/end game benefits ratio.

Overall, it looks like you want a powergaming, tending towards hack-n-slash party (IMHO), so maybe finishing all the quests and subquests is not a game goal... On the other hand, if I am incorrect with that assumption, then you really need to look at how you are going to obtain credit for completing some of the NPC related quests - Valygar, Jan, etc...

Well, good luck. Enjoy.

I will be going for a fully player created party, with the possible exception of sarevok who is a total badass. and I will leave that slot empty for all of SoA and use it to complete the NPC related quests (cernd, valygar etc)but that still leaves me one more slot for another char. Ive heard that the paladin stronghold gets you some good items. but I guess the fighter stronghold sounds really good too.
--FenixStrife

try out a barbarian or better a monk

as for the swashbuckler/cleric combination ...it just rocks!

it's perfect i dont know but i love it , you get your swashbuckler to lvl 10 or 12 with all prof slots on two weapon

since clerics dont use edged weapons , no backstab will be no problem
equip him/her with runehammer and crom faeyr or any other combination and that was it!


my char has main hand anmd off hand below -25 if i remember well

and her ac is -17 :)

i tell you try it
it's a machine that kills, disarms traps and heal!!!

Definitely have an archer, I played one through SoA and ToB and he was a killing machine! Even in SoA I had such low THAC0 I was hitting everything. Get a mage to cast Improved Haste on you and you will be a machine gun!

Forget about Tuigan Bow though, go for long bows for the extra range and damage... Elven Court Bow and Heartseeker in SoA then the Taralash in ToB.

Also, in ToB spend all your high level abilities on Greater Deathblow, you will be surprised how many enemies in ToB are less than level 12. All the drow in Sendai's enclave, for example, were dropping like flies with my archer and Greater Deathblow. Don't bother with Whirlwind Attack as Improved Haste does the same thing for much longer.

Well, first of all for your Pally, make him an cavalier if you aren't gonna use missiles.

For your socerer, watch the spells you pick because, of course, you cannot learn them from scrolls... major disadvantage. So be careful which spells you keep.

Monk, good choice! Monks are strong for a party!!!

Kensai-Thief, good choice, but I would duel class them at level 14.

No further comments. Sorry.

the sorceror and the kensai/thief are two of the coolest characters to play, and you'll clean house with just those two =)

As for the paladin kit I thorougly agree to Shadow Goddess: Cavalier is the way to go since he has the ability to cast spells (don't underestimate that, spirit armor and draw upon holy might are awesome) and receives boni when fighting demons and dragons (there are plenty of both in ToB) and his remove fear is very handy.
(Spoiler: The pally stronghold quest gives you the lightest full plate mail +2 in the game.)

IIRC your dc kensai-thief receives a full 3rd melee attack when you dual him at lvl-13 ;) and as long as you don't use *blunt* staffs for *backstabbing* it will be a self-respecting and honourable char.

Archer is excellent, monk, sorcerer and dc ranger-cleric sound great to me (btw - how about a halfelf mc one ?). I'd rather give him a good long or crossbow rather than a shortbow for range and damage. The manabow is excellent enough with the quiver of plenty. If you go for shortbow - be consequent and choose gesen's or tansheron's bows.

How about a dc fighter-mage as a semi-tank and additional combat spellcaster?

IMO
the most powerful party consists of:

1) a gnome multiclass illusionist/thief
gnomes can have a 19 intelligence (which eliminates the limit on number of spell in your spellbook). Gnomes are also the only ones that can specialize in a school of magic and multiclass. The school of illusion is one of the better school (the only really decent spells you give up are horror, skull trap, animate dead, wilting horror and wail of the banshee; of these horror, animate dead and wilting horror were really the only of these spells I ever used, the sorcerer will be casting the horror and wilting horror while the ranger cleric will be casting the animate deads). Give him Zakon Derth's blade (maybe a second weapon or a shield) and put him in that really cool elven chain. On top of all that, this fellow becomes a formidable thief.
I would use this fellow as my main character simply due to the convenince of having a thief and mage in my number one position (besides how often does a gnome get together with a drow/halfelf/winged elf).

2) an elven sorcerer
You need a full fledged mage type in your party and this is the way to go. Give this guy a robe of vecna and staff of the magi and he can shoot off dragon's breaths like a machine gun. Sure the limited number of known spells kinda sucks but your illusionist/thief can learn all but a hanful of spells.

3) a human monk
This guy rocks. I have this guy scouting out traps in dungeons and don't usually bother with getting back-up when he runs into stuff. This guy doesn't need anything but an ioun stone, the gauntlets of crushing make thins guy pretty formidable.

4) a half elven multiclass ranger/cleric
All the Cleric and Druid spells (I've noticed that this guy tends to get the elemental princes more often than normal clerics, but that may just be me). Let this guy dual wield the crom faeyr and the flail of ages then put him in the best armor you can find.

5) a dwarven multiclass fighter/thief

Can you say assassinate and whirlwind attack equals 10 backstab attacks per round. This guy is one of your front line fighters.

6) and a floating spot for npc quests.

I personally like Jaheira from apowergaimng perspective but Aerie isn't bad.


With this rainbow coalition party you have one full on mage type (the sorcerer), a pretty powerful backup mage (illusionist/thief), access to cleric and druid spells (the ranger/cleric), two thieves, three people who can detect traps (fighter/thief, illusionist thief, and the monk can also detedt traps), three fighter types (ranger/cleric, fighter/thief, and the monk), and a floating spot for npc quests and then whichever npc you like best (I'd probably go with Jaheira or Aerie for the romance, Viconia stops being important when you have a ranger/cleric in the group).