I'm considering a very tank-heavy party for my adventure through BG: SoA & ToB.

Will I have an easier or a harder time when compared to a more "balanced" party?

Here's my potential party:

Protagonist: Berserker(13) dual-classed to Cleric OR Cleric/Ranger Multiclass
Jaheira
Minsc
Keldorn
Imoen (Yoshimo 1st)

I'll add in Sarevok in ToB

The party is very tank heavy, as you can see. The only character who won't stand up long in Hand-to-Hand combat very long is Imoen, who is there for storyline purposes. She also balances out the party very well. Another advantage of this party is that it's only got 5 members, which means that I can add in all of the other NPCs for their personal quests. This has two benefits:
1) I get to experience more of the game, by seeing more banters, ect..
2) More experience points for my characters. Both by having the XP divided by fewer characters, and by having additional quests from NPCs I otherwise wouldn't use.

[ 03-14-2005, 10:19 PM: Message edited by: krunchyfrogg ]

Its disgusting easily in some bits like the D'Arnise keep, any bit were you have to fight mages will insure that your plans go to balderdash. Baldderdash I say!

Balderdash?

Rubbish. Usually used to pooh-pooh an arguement (I've been watching too much Simpsons).

Generally, the fighter heavy parties do very well in BG2, your saving throws vs. spells are usually decent enough to get away with charging in and abusing mages willy-nilly.

The party above is very similar to one that I've taken through the game quite often, you'll be fine with them. Keldorn is particularly useful for his true sight abililty and dispel magic (nice if you do get into a touch of bother with mages).

One tip, Celestial Fury or FoA against mages.

LOL! I thought you were referring to the Fixpack!

Hehe, how about both?

FoA for protagonist, CF for Minsc (But Lilaricor until Minsc has ** in Katana -- that weapon is too much fun!). :D

[ 03-14-2005, 11:48 PM: Message edited by: krunchyfrogg ]

I would take Korgan instead of Jaheira. But it all comes down to personnal taste.

This isn't just personal taste, it's party balance... This is a good-aligned party. Korgan wouldn't work.

I waltzed through Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal with an Elven Barbarian my first time through. Take my word that I didn't understand the magic system one bit (I only used offensive spells). I made it just fine, so it's certainly possible.

As Sir Degrader said, some area's in the game can be quite hard, a particular fight in the Planar Sphere for instance, but if you just keep hacking with your weapons and keep gulping down those potions then you'll be just fine, I suppose.

I LOVE tank-heavy parties. Even so, I'd consider squeezing a second arcane spellcaster for one reason: Improved Haste. The more Improved Haste casters you have, the quicker your combats will be. Improved Haste is also one of your best anti-Mage spells, since it lets you wear down Stoneskins and/or deal elemental damage via weapons through Stoneskins twice as fast, and the higher rate of attacks makes it more likely that you will keep mages continuously interrupted, even with a single point of elemental damage per hit.

Aerie is my usual secondary arcane caster, but Nalia, Jan, and Haer'Dalis all have their advantages also. (Bards do get level 6 Arcane spells.) The problem is if you want a 4-tank 5-member party, the only way to get 2 arcane casters is with a Fighter/Mage PC or NPC.

Also, with Jaheira in the party I'd lean towards Berserker/Cleric over Ranger/Cleric, simply because Jaheira will already have your Druid spells covered.

If you want to play it safe with alignments (read: don't want Korgan) and want another tank to consider, Mazzy is actually a fantastic tank with 18 dex, great saving throws, short sword proficiency which is perfect for Kundane, and can be specialized in another weapon of your choice by 12th level.

So see if this tank-heavy party looks good to you:

PC (Berserker/Cleric or Ranger/Cleric)
Jaheira
Keldorn
Mazzy
Aerie (Backup arcane caster and can do normal cleric casting while the PC cleric bashes heads)
Imoen

Or, 5-memeber 2-arcane 4-tank:
PC (Fighter/Mage multi or dualclass)
Jaheira
Keldorn
Mazzy
Imoen

* NPC INTERACTION SPOILER *
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As for Korgan, as far as I know Aerie is the only NPC he has the potential to get into a lethal conflict with. Odd as it sounds, I've never heard of Korgan and Keldorn going at it. In that party, if I were to add Korgan, I'd actually drop Minsc and keep Jaheira.

Whats the hard fight in the planar sphere? I just did it (tactics insane no less) and had a great difficulty on golems. I didn't feel like killing the two adamantites that sprang up in the control room, so I just ctrl-y'ed them. Can you blame me when I have a scimitar, long sword +1, and darts? I did kill one with my fire elementals and lots of MMMs, but jesus was that annoying...

Q:

Looking at the party I posted in my initial post here, am I better off with using Mazzy, or keeping that slot open and taking Sarevok in ToB?

Basically, who is better of the two?

Remember, dialogue and NPC interactions do make a difference in my book.

I once played a party of all Wizards (Fighter/Illusionist, Aerie, Jan, Kelsey, Nalia, and Edwin) and a party of all Warriors (Archer, Montaron, Korgan, Keldorn, Mazzy, and Valygar) at pretty much the same time. Both had their difficulties in SoA, but once they strted hitting ToB levels, I have never sliced through the game as fast as that Warrior party did. My defeat of Draconis was actually comic--there's really not much you can do when you're taking 57 hits per round. My Wizard party, on the other hand, really had some trouble at certain rough spots, like the Duergar Tunnel in Sendai's place. We were nearly forced to *sneak* our way through there, although maybe that's just because I was planning a bitchin' series of screenshots that showed 68 Orogs getting waxed at the exact same time.

The tough fight in the Planar Sphere is against Tolgerias. He uses some really nasty spells (Abi Dhalzim's Horrid Wilting, for instance) and can be a real pain in the ass when you're tank heavy.

Really? I've always thought the toughest fight in the Planar Sphere was the halfling battle. I think those shortys are tougher than the demons!

The thing about tanks is that summons can soak damage just as well, and ToB summons can do just as much damage as any tank. Of course, that's just my play-style; All frontliners are offensive, summons soak up damage, Wizards provide bombardment. I personally view the role of a tank in SoA as a very minor one.

Well, I'm about to tackle the Graveyard in Chapter 3. I've done a fair number of quests (did Korgan's and got Edwin the Nether Scroll, and did the DeArnise Keep, dipped into the sewers for Lilaricor, and still need to complete the Illithium quest (I'd like the Improved MoD).

The characters are around levels 9-10, and I have Yoshimo pushing 12 (I think Jaheira is a 12th level Druid too).

The game has been a little more challenging than the last time I played, which was with a Gnome Fighter/Illusionist. Then again, I got really cheesey in that game and pickpocketed the entire city of Athkatla. I won't let myself do that this time. I look forward to chasing Bodhi away and getting on a boat the next time I play. [img]smile.gif[/img]