Who do you prefer, and for what reason?

I'm planning on putting together a good party, and I've read about Keldorn/Viconia problems. I've also read there's a way around this (I think you have to cast <i>maze</i> on Keldorn once it begins), but this could be a deal maker/breaker.

Depending on the answers to this question, I might play an Inquisitor as my protagonist, and ditch Keldorn.

On a side note, would such a move be considered redundant? I think it's pretty good advice to avoid a protagonist that is easily replaced by an NPC, but depending on the responses to this poll, I might be convinced otherwise.

my experiences with them.......

in terms of spell power they are almost identical due to both only advancing in cleric.

Anomen however can make a decent front liner with his fighter abilitys, however having just finished ToB and looking at this kill percentage it was really low compared to my other front liners. And I ended up having to ressurect him more than i should have to......

Viconia on the other hand would stay in the back and not get hurt too much. You can also romance her, and Anomen for that matter; depending on your gender.

If you take Anomen you chould prolly have another cleric as he will be tied up in the front quite often....

I much prefer Viconia from a character and ability point of view.

As clerics go, Viconia is by far the best in the game. Anomen's wisdon sucks and even if he passes his tests he still wont have as many spells as Viccy.

If you want melee power then Anomen is your man, but this is a poor reason to take him as there are far better fighters out there.

Vionia may not have the muscle of Anomen, but she can stand on the front-line and not get hurt nearly all day long. She has really low AC (dex+armor+shield) and her magic resistance protects her from most things.

Plus, her romance is great fun.

From a role-playing point of view, if you are playing good then you can still take her along as you rescued her and it is your duty to protect her.

Anomen's biggest advantage over Viconia is he can gain grand mastery in a weapon even though he only advances in his cleric level. AC-wise I think they are equal, considering you give them the gauntlets of dexterity and same equipment.

Another interesting differnece is their turn undead ability. I'd prefer Anomen's for instant death, but Viccy's is much cooler but you'll have to kill the undead yourself eventually.

Controling liches.

Anomen's biggest advantage over Viconia is he can gain grand mastery in a weapon even though he only advances in his cleric level. Really? Wow, I thought dual classing him wouldn't allow this, since he's a cleric now.

That's pretty cool, and makes him pretty damn good with the Flail of Ages.

for all intensive purposes......definately Viccy, a hottie with an attitude! ;)

Does Viconia's magic resistance stop her from recieving cure spells?

What about buffs like bless and haste?

No. She will recieve beneficial magic as normal.

As for Anomen vs Viconia, see how you use your party. If you find your party weaker in physical combat, go for Anomen. If not, go for Viconia. I take Viconia most of the time, as she will be able to cast more than enough protective spells which to me is safer than just enough(especially for chaotic commands, which I use all too often), and I love a combo of cleric's spells "doom" and celestial fury. It will lower enemy's save, so that the stun effect of celestial fury works more often.

[ December 03, 2003, 07:52: Message edited by: Skywind ]

Who you take is purely a matter of taste. Pros and cons of both characters follow:

Viconia starts with 18 wisdom, Anomen only has 12. If you guide Anomen through his test of knighthood, his wisdom rises to 16. The difference in spell casting ability between him and Viconia then becomes one third and one fourth level spell, which is not too much. Anomen has high strength, more than one attack per round and can specialize (or better) in melee weapons, so he's likely to be much more useful in combat. Viconia has exceptionally good dexterity, but her low strength means that she cannot wield flails unaided and cannot wear armour heavier than scale either. She also has a very low constitution score which means that she doesn't have too many HP. Anomen is quite irritating to have around (he may improve after he's either passed or failed his test of knighthood but I've never kept him for long enough to find out). Viconia is OK to have around, is quite perceptive but is very nasty indeed. Anomen won't fight with any other party members. Viconia, however, will fight with Keldorn (and I think she may fight with Valygar as well). If you're playing neutral or evil and want to keep your reputation down, the 2 point penalty for having Viconia in your party can be invaluable.

Quite simple..
For good parties go with Anomen.
For evil parties go with Viconia.

I thought Korgan and Mazzy were the only npcs that achieves grand mastery. Anywasy. I'd go with Viconia. She has the better wisdom and you really don't want to go through the trouble of Anomen's test for the sake of four wisdom points. Melee-wise he's a better character but there are so many better fighters out there.
Viconia can't carry much as she has a low strenght and she can't wear full plate either( or normal plate for that matter)but a belt or the gauntlets of ogre power will rectify this. She has the better turn undead ability in the sense that she can control undead, except those immune.
If your gonna play as the inquisitor i'd definately take Viconia because from a role-play point of view you can romance her and then [snip]. Anyway Anomen has that ridiculous accent.

[ToB spoiler removed.] -Tal

[ December 04, 2003, 01:06: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

Viconia of course, she is a far greater cleric.

As many have already said, it's all in what you want. For me the only time I take Viconia is when I am romancing her. Other than that, I take Anomen. My reasons are:

- one of the strongest fighters in the game
- one of the very few who can grand mastery in weapons
- as he is neutral (initially), he fits well with any party
- his banters with some of the more colorful NPCs are quite funny (especially with Jan)
- he turns undead; Viconia controls undead. I would much rather have them running away or, especially at higher levels, have them obliterated as soon as Anomen walks into a room then as a temporary ally, only to have them turn hostile

Take Viccy, just remember to use your girdle of giantstrength or braces of ogre power to offset her strength. I like her Magic resistance. Also watch out that your hero points dont go to high since she is evil

Anomen won't fight with any other party members.Sort of correct. If he fails his test, then he will attack Aerie, but both stay in the party at the time, so you could just keep ordering him to move away until he cools down.

[ December 04, 2003, 01:08: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

Anomen won't fight with any other party members. My mistake - I believe that Anomen will pick a fight with Keldorn if he fails his knighthood test. It would be worth it to see Keldorn squash him like a bug (although I've heard tell that Keldorn doesn't defend himself: true?).

In terms of ease of use, I would pick Anomen just because there are so many undead in the game, and Anomen's turn undead really chunks big time. He also gets to have ***** in maces which makes him the ideal candidate for the mace of disruption.

Viconia's biggest asset is her magic resistance and extremely good armour class. Not much use on the frontline though, she only gets 1 attack per round.

I bring Anomen whenever I like to play with raw power, and Viconia when I feel like doing tactics.
Roleplaying really doesn't matter if you're creative enough - the diversity only makes your game much more unique and enjoyable.

Anomen's fighting abilities makes him more useful whenever I need a tanker-cleric, but he's the offensive cleric type and his spells will mostly consitute self-enhancing spells and summons, so he lacks up on healing. If you want to bring him along, you might want an extra healer in case.

Viconia's the more defensive cleric type, so if you want a cleric simply because you need a healer or group-enhancer bring her along instead. She may not be a better fighter than Anomen, but she'll last considerably longer wherever she is.
Viconia's also more useful from a tactical point of view. Controlling Undead can open up a variety of special tactics that can makes some battles considerably easier, especially in certain mods with insane battles. (i.e., she was a blessing for my Beastmaster-PC party through the Sola Mod)