Nordom vs Fall-From-Grace

[vitamin]

I can have only one more NPC with me (before going to Ravel's Maze) and need to decide - is it gonna be Fall-From-Grace or Nordom? I must say that, at first I wanted to go for Nordom because I read that he's a good fighter. And since my TNO is a poor one, I would welcome him with open arms. But as I was fighting my way up to reach him in Modron Maze, I started to wonder - who's gonna be more useful in the end? What do you think guys?

[Darion]

Depends on your overall party-setup. But Grace is not without whoop herself.
And I generally prefer her over the Cube.
Annah and Dak'kon are with TNO!

[T2Bruno]

There are four npc with a special cut scene at the end (if you figure out where to look) -- Morte, Dak'kon, Annah, and Falls-From-Grace.

[Montresor]

Morte has no cut scene at the end; the four with cutscenes are Annah, Grace, Dak'kon and Nordom.

[Shoshino]

I never found Nordom to be much use, fall-from-grace is a healer, far more useful.

[T2Bruno]

brain fart ... Nordom. Morte has a ... different role in another part fo the ending (as does either Ignus or Vhallor).

[vitamin]

But guys, please give me some better reasons than final cutscenes. BTW, whoever voted for "both" - could you please tell us why? I guess, you must value Nordom more than Ignus - am I right?

[Montresor]

I voted "Both". I prefer Nordom over Ignus for his story value, the fact that you can upgrade him considerably through dialogue, and the fact that he isn't mad as a hatter. Nordom and Fall-From-Grace contribute to the in-party chatter, Ignus mostly tags along, hissing to himself.

[T2Bruno]

Take whichever companions you want. In general, if the designers made a special ending for the characters they also put other things in the game to make the characters more interesting.

You have to decide what characters are the most interesting for you.

[vitamin]

@Montresor - Yes, Ignus isn't talkative person for sure, but the way he hisses... it's pure poetry, is it not? And regarding Nordom (thanks for the tip on upgrading him), I'm not sure but he seems to be only optional character in this game. I mean, this hole Modron Maze is an extra location and can be skipped as there is no quest that would lead in there. I learnt about it thanks to you guys, and only after that, I decided to buy that Modron Cube from Vrischika.

@T2Bruno - You are probably right that I should choose NPC's that I like most but because it's my first playthrough, I would like to pick those who will be more useful and more connected to the story. And as we look at NPC's relations to TNO, I think that only Morte and Dak'kon are must-haves because you can tell it straight away after first talk with them. Annah is a mystery, and the whole rest seem to be only an eye-candy. BTW, it's really beyond me, why would Nordom have special final cutscene?

[T2Bruno]

You'll have to wait until the end to see ... everyone has something (depending on your actions).

[Taluntain]

Ignus and Vhailor are the least developed NPCs, make of that what you will. Personally, I wouldn't take either for the first playthrough.

[vitamin]

I know I'm a bit fussy but how many people would discover Modron Maze playing this game for the first time? I mean, you just can't overlook Ignus, while Nordom is so well hidden that it's really hard to even learn about his existence.

Anyway, I decided to get Fall-from-Grace on board. Let's hope she will be helpful.

[jsaving]

If you are lawful good at the end of the game, Grace provides hope in a way no other party member does or can. That alone makes her a worthwhile addition to the party in my view.

If you are looking for party members who best connect to the story, the odd man out would clearly be Nordom. Vhailor, Ignus, Morte, and Dak'kon all have important ties to TNO that are gradually revealed over the course of the game, while Annah and Grace can develop important ties to TNO over the course of the game.

Of the characters who either have or will develop ties to TNO, Ignus is in my view the easiest one to leave behind. The reason is that his revelations are less tied to influence/morale than the others, which means you can learn most of his backstory as soon as he joins the party, provided you have made the proper "preparations" beforehand and are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to "learn" from him. Bring him into the party briefly, learn what he has to "teach," and then leave him behind. Don't worry about lacking closure with his character, because you'll eventually receive it in one way or another.

So overall, even though Grace doesn't add much combat heft to the party, she's worth taking over Nordom and Ignus.

[vitamin]

Thank you jsaving for your post. I've just finished the game and would like to ask about a few things that you brought up. Regarding Grace - yes, she is useless as a fighter but her healing spells are very helpful and saved my ass a couple of times. But as it comes to ties to TNO - I'm not sure, but I guess you meant love - am I right? BTW, that hope you mentioned - is it maybe when she says: "I will find you again, no matter where..." at the end? (unfortunately, I didn't manage to become lawful good, even though I really tried)

And as of Ignus, I kept him till the end, and can't say that I was very surprised that he turned his back on me. But to be honest, I don't know why actually? TTO said something about revenge and that's it. Does it mean that I overlooked some important source of information on his past? And one more, I'd appreciate it very much, if you could elaborate a bit more on these "necessary sacrifices to "learn" from him".

And Annah for last - I must say that I'm disappointed in her. I kept her only because of her thieving skills (to open locked containers to be exact) and those chats with Morte and Grace. Also I hoped to learn something more about her past and any connections with TNO (in his present and past incarnations) but there were none provided later in the game. Or did I miss something again?

[T2Bruno]

Ignus attacks a good (or near good) TNO -- whether you had him with you or not. You need to be a mage to learn from Ignus -- you can read more about it if you seach for a walkthough on the game.

I really like Annah -- she can become a very proficient fighter and has even killed the demon from Moridor's Box (sp?) by herself. You really don't learn much more about her but you can (semi) romance her -- if you kiss she becomes more resistant to some damage. IIRC, the trancendant one makes sure to point oout the tiefling fought with particular passion (or something like that).

[vitamin]

I really don't know how you managed to do so? I mean, Annah (and also Dak'kon) was always the first to get killed in Carceri (excluding both Grace and Ignus). BTW, this location was a pure nightmare for me. It took me some hours to get through this map without loosing any of my NPC's. And I was so disappointed with the fact that I couldn't deal with all these creatures. Trying to fight with them always resulted in quick death of at least one of my companions. Also Ignus's spells were utterly useless. To beat this map, I had to run like hell and avoid any fights.

Anyway, back on topic - just one more thing regarding Grace. Is she the only person that can uprade Morte and knows about his real identity?

[T2Bruno]

You upgrade all your companions. The upgrades to Dak'kon really boost him a lot.

[Taluntain]

vitamin, you should read a few of the guides here on SP. I've got a feeling that you missed a lot on your fast playthrough.

[vitamin]

@T2Bruno - I'm not sure but I guess those upgrades to Dak'kon are available only for TNO who learnt magics - am I right? And in my case it was impossible since I played as fighter.

@Taluntain - I'm guessing that you're referring to Carceri. Yes, it was very fast playthrough I would say (not that I wanted that kind of style of gameplay - just had no other choice) but I managed to talk to key persons on this map. So I think I didn't miss that much there. BTW, I was almost sure that after restoring law and order to this location, I would become lawful good at last. But somehow I didn't.

[T2Bruno]

vitamin -- TNO can learn to be a fighter, thief, and mage in the same game. It's usually quite advantageous to do just that so you can get the most out of your npcs (the extra hit points and skills don't hurt either). Just make sure you hit 7th and 12th levels first in the class you want to be best in.

If you've really hit the side quests, expanded your npc's abilities, and generally explored the game to get familiar with the combat and magic system; both Carceri and Curst are challenging but not run-through-or-die difficult. You were probably a bit low on levels when you went there and without the power-ups for your team you were severely outmatched -- you get most of the expeience in the game by doing quests (I rarely mine for xp's it's just too boring) so I think you may have missed a lot of the game.

[vitamin]

Regarding TNO being multi-class character - I don't quite see the point of such approach. It is because I cannot be great in all three classes - only so-so in every class. Besides, if I explore all classes in one playthrough, what's the point in playing the game for the second time?

And as it comes to side quests - I think I completed 90-95% of them (excluding the evil ones of course). But can't really tell if I was low on levels. IIRC, when leaving Sigil for Ravel's Maze I was on 11th - is it low?

[T2Bruno]

You can be mediocre in two classes, great in one, gain 20+ hit points, boost your npcs with significant ability score increases and have an overall better game experience -- all for paltry ~500,000 experience points (two fighter levels).

[vitamin]

Hmm... I'll have to think it over before playing second time. Maybe you're right after all...