Perfect party for a BGT, no-reload playthrough

[MrMermaid]

I know, I know, it's the age-old question. But I think it gets a little more complicated when you add in the above extra factors, alongside the Item Upgrade, SCS, Tactics (bits of) & SCSII mods. Any ideas?

My planned outline is the following, for an evil/chaotic party: (I'm gonna use SK to edit some kits into my multi-classers)

--Sorcerer (Elf, Str 9, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha as high as possible)
Max Int & Wis for Wish spell (eventually..), in SoA will be wearing standard mage/sorc gear: Robe of Vecna, Amulet of Power, Sorcerian Ring, Ring of Gaxx.

--Anti-Paladin [Tactics mod] (Half-Orc, Str 19, Dex 18, Con 19, Int max poss, Wis 15, Cha 17)
One bad-ass mofo, dispel on hit, eventually wielding Unholy Avenger.

--Barbarian (Dwarf, Str 18 90%+, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 11+, Wis 10+, Cha 10+)
Dwarf for shortie saves, eventually wielding Axe of Unyielding and Crom/Defender of Easthaven, will give him all Con bonuses so it should peak at around 22-23: monster HP (200+) & saves + physical resistance at 80% or so = what’s this blue fly resembling Abazigal the dragon?

--Berserker/Mage (Elf, Str 18 90%+, Dex 19, Con 17, Int 16+, Wis 9+, Cha 9+)
Berk for combat bonuses, Mage for tank/buff abilities, pretty basic set-up really. Eventually wielding Improved Celestial Fury [IU mod] & Sanchuudoku.

--Fighter/Cleric (Human, Str 18 90%+, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 11+, Wis 18, Cha 9+)
Dual at 2nd level just to grab some decent profs in hammer & flail, eventually wielding Flail of Ages & Runehammer.

--Fighter/Assassin (Halfling, Str 17, Dex 19, Con 18, Int 16+, Wis 9+, Cha 9+)
Backstabbing bad-assery from Fire Giant Girdle, Quietus [IU mod: Dagger + 4, increases backstab multiplier by 1]; throughout BG1 will be using long bows & poison weapon. Thief skills go primarily into lockpicking and finding traps then later set traps, as there are plennnny of potions from SCSI/II for invisibility/backstab.



This, I think, is my ideal party. I’ve played through all the games separately, lately started using Tactics & SCS & love them (it actually becomes challenging again), so I have a pretty good idea of how to plan for the major battles, & I think the above team should hold up under any unexpected encounters as well. The hardest bit will be the first few parts of BG1, until my sorc can stoneskin, as before then he’ll be fresh meat for any enterprising enemy archers (Black Talon Elite, etc.).

What do you guys think? Any changes you’d make? Please post your own ideal party if you'd like! All advice/chit-chat welcome.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Anti-Paladin from Tactics mod, eh? What other kits are included in that mod?

[MrMermaid]

Weimer also put together a fighter kit called Generic Archer, I think it combines the ranger kit Archer with the ability to get GM in any ranged weapon. Haven't actually tried it out! What do you think of his mods? I would find this Anti-paladin class a bit over-powered in an otherwise vanilla game, but using it with Tactics (which let's admit is pretty cheesy) makes it a bit of a fairer game. It comes as a fighter kit though, so it advances using the fighters' XP table instead of pallys'.

[SlickRCBD]

Originally Posted by MrMermaid

--Fighter/Cleric (Human, Str 18 90%+, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 11+, Wis 18, Cha 9+)
Dual at 2nd level just to grab some decent profs in hammer & flail, eventually wielding Flail of Ages & Runehammer.)

Given that you are dueling at level 2, I see no advantage of a fighter/cleric over a ranger/cleric. If you take a Ranger/Cleric you should be able to get druid spells as well as cleric ones after gaining 4th level spells. I might be wrong, in which case you might want to wait until you get your first spell before dueling.

For that matter, a berserker/cleric could be better than a ranger cleric. You lose specialization in slings, but gain the berserker rage ability, which makes you immune to charm and imprisonment. You can take specialization in the flails and hammers, dual to cleric, and put your first proficiencies in slings and dual wielding. You'll endure a few levels of hiding in the back and throwing rocks at the enemy (while casting spells), but since you dualed at level 2, you'll get your fighter levels back really fast.

[MrMermaid]

Originally Posted by SlickRCBD

Given that you are dueling at level 2, I see no advantage of a fighter/cleric over a ranger/cleric.

Technically true, but traditionally you don't find rangers siding with selfish, evil and generally nasty individuals. (The best kind of team, eh?)

Originally Posted by SlickRCBD

For that matter, a berserker/cleric could be better than a ranger cleric. You lose specialization in slings, but gain the berserker rage ability, which makes you immune to charm and imprisonment. You can take specialization in the flails and hammers, dual to cleric, and put your first proficiencies in slings and dual wielding.

Berserker/cleric is certainly much more feasible as far as my roleplaying is concerned, and I'm not sure why I haven't thought of it already. Advice duly noted, and I think that may be an alteration I will keep. Thanks!



Slight change of plan concerning the barbarian, after consulting the playithardcore tables and discovering that 21 and 23 Con give exactly the same HP bonus! I will now give both permanent Con bonuses to the anti-paladin, and the barbarian will eventually take the Improved Human Flesh and Axe of the Unyielding (both giving an extra Con point each). This also works out well w.r.t. the shorty saving throws, as 21 = 6 x 3.5 giving a 6 point bonus, which is no different to that from a 23 Con.

Man, I'm looking forward to this now! Just waiting for my exams to finish and my new laptop charger to arrive. Have you guys tried out any of the extra areas/quests mods, and if so are there any you would recommend? I want to go quite lite in that respect, but wouldn't mind incorporating a few of the better ones.

[SlickRCBD]

Another thought is that you might want to consider the Kensai kit for your fighter/mage. I can't recall if this is because of a mod or not, but on my game, while a kensai->mage can't wear the elfin chain mails or bracers, you can wear robes including the Robes of the Archimagi and the Robe of Venca. It might give more variety than two bezerkers, while costing just a little AC. Of course, if you intended to give the fighter/mage the robes instead of the sorcerer anyways, then you lose nothing.
I DO have a mod that lets a single-class Kensai or monk wear the traveler's robe, the adventurer's robe, the knives' robe, and the robes of elemental resistance (fire, cold, electricity) so this might be that same mod's influence.