Which classes you prefer for BG1? And what kind of classes NPCS you encounter? I'm thinking about a fighter or a cleric but not decided yet

My favorite class would definitely have to be a druid. There not that great in the beginning of the game, only for things like healing. But as soon as you hit lvl 7 you get shapeshifting, as soon as you run out of spells like summon lightning, animals, etc., you can change into a wolf and join the fight with your tanks! They also can use scimitars which I think is pretty cool. Some people think that clerics are better but as soon as they run out of spells there done for, so are mages but at least there spells do damage before hand.
My favorite NPC's are:
Tank: Kaigan(sp?): Don't like the personality but 16 str and 20 con is nothing to scoff at!
Mage: Xzar: He's just so dang funny! With the ring of wizardry he is a formidable mage.
Overall fighter:Ajantis: Protection spells, Lay on hands, 17 str and 16 con, Lay on Hands
Healer: Viconia: Good personality, 19 dex with a prof in missle weapons, and she's a drow! She only has 15 wis but there are enough tomes in the game.
Archer: Coran:I only put him down because he has a good personality and 20 dex. You get him too late in the game IMO. I would put down Imoen but he has 20 dex compared to 18.

<font color="cyan">This question is possible the most asked on the BG1 forum.

In the two games I have played recently, I have been a human fighter (chaotic neutral), and a halfling theif (lawful evil).

The fighter was good, but if you are torn between fighter and cleric go cleric. I believe them to be much more fun!Although when I was a fighter, I didn't tink it to be boring or anything, as some people say!

Its a hard question to answer honestly, because you get a feel of all classes by the NPC's you use.

Once an NPC is in your party, it is in effect your character, the only difference is they can leave or die.

I believe that all classes are good, if they are used correctly.

Fave NPC's (well, they are not my fave's, but most commonly used)

Tank: Khalid/Minsc
Archer:Kivan (with long bow of marksmenship)
Healer:Jaheria
Mage :D ynaheir
Theif:Imoen</font>

Here, try this link for descriptions of NPCs.

http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/bg/encounters/npcs/

You'll want a balance of skills, inlcuding fighting, thieving, mage spellcasting and priest spellcasting (including healing).

I'm not sure how much knowledge you have about the game, but I'll assume it is relatively little rather than a lot...

As for what class to choose for your main character, every class can be played well so this really does ultimately boil down to a matter of personal preference. The game favors the pure fighter class--you can become very powerful as a plain old fighter. Dual classing is also an excellent option for thief, mage, and cleric because it gives you more powerful fighting skills than if you played a pure thief, mage, or cleric: you can start out as a fighter, gain several weapons proficiencies, and then dual class to the new class. Of course you have to start all the way at the bottom of the new class and won't get your initial class skills back until you reach one level higher in the new class than your level in the original class. Only humans can dual class.

Some of my favorite classes:

mage (if a specialist a Conjurer)

fighter-thief (I like dual class best, but an elven multiclass is also fun--you just won't be able to earn as many weapons profs)

dual class fighter-cleric

multiclass mage-cleric (half-elf only; here weapons profs don't really matter, so multiclass is probably better than dual class; although if you dual class I know you can specialize as a mage and I'm not sure if you can as a multiclass)

I take a look to the stats of NPC's, isnt 15 str (khalid) and 17 (ajntis) too low for a fighter? Minsc (my favourite companion in bg2) sounds good to me and also I noticed that there isnt any PURE mage? strange..also there isnt any good cleric I'm thinking about to play fighter dualed to cleric or fighter/mage.. thank u all for your knowledge and sharing

Minsc wearing the gauntlets of dexterity and Shar-Teel (without those gauntlets--her natural dex is 17) are going to be doling out the most damage in melee. I like equipping these high strength fighters with a two-handed sword. I wouldn't worry about not getting a huge amount of HP on level ups for either of them (Shar-Teel's Con is 9 and Minsc's is 15--HP level ranges are 1-10 and 2-11, respectively). If your fighters are well armored and protected with priest spells for the major battles they will be fine. Shar-Teel is evil, though, so she will leave if your rep goes above 17.

Since she is a fighter, Shar-Teel can gain high mastery (grandmastery with thr XP cap removed) in a weapon (sword is the best choice, IMO) whereas Minsc will only get two profs per weapon. Minsc, on the other hand, can stealth since he is a ranger.

Khalid's strength is on the low side for a fighter, which means for major fights it will be wise to find a way to temporarily boost that stat if you're planning on using him as a melee fighter. You can do that by having a mage cast the Strength spell on him, or have him drink strength potions (which will pile up after a while). Eventually you can equip him with gauntlets that raise his strength.

Ajantis has excellent strength but poor dexterity. He would benefit from the gauntlets of dexterity.

[ 02-03-2002: Message edited by: Lemernis ]</p>

Man, I can't believe someone up there said Druids are a good idea. Not only that, but they dissed Clerics!! Druids miss out on just about every important Cleric spell, in exchange for what? Goodberries? They can only wear leather armor and up, so their armor class will suck. They can barely use any weapons, and unless you pickpocket or cheat and kill Drizzt, there are no magical scimitars at all until Durlag's Tower. Shapeshifting by be accomplished by the Cloak of the Wolf, and its really not all that great. Clerics are just all around better, better fighter, better armored, better spells.

If you want the absolute best, IMO, go for a Half-Elf multiclass Ranger/Cleric. I'm currently bringing one all the way through TOB. They get all the Druid and Cleric spells, plus the extra proficiencies when I get to TOB, and the stealth, and racial enemies, and higher hit points. One of the best characters.

I prefer a specialty mage class. Right now, my fave is an Invoker.

You should just pick what you like and go from there as any character you make is capable of completing the game.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Katherine:
I prefer a specialty mage class. Right now, my fave is an Invoker.

You should just pick what you like and go from there as any character you make is capable of completing the game.<hr></blockquote><font color="cyan">Mine too, as Dynaheir is an Invoker</font>

So there's nice mages and thieves around? Ranger/Cleric sounds good but but not fighter/cleric? what makes ranger/cleric better than fighter/cleric? and for grandmastery it sets thaco +3 damage +5 and additional attack or it justs sets thaco +2 damage +3 like in bg2? dont misunderstood me I'M not a powerplayer I'm just wondering..

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Zoltan:
So there's nice mages and thieves around? Ranger/Cleric sounds good but but not fighter/cleric? what makes ranger/cleric better than fighter/cleric? and for grandmastery it sets thaco +3 damage +5 and additional attack or it justs sets thaco +2 damage +3 like in bg2? dont misunderstood me I'M not a powerplayer I'm just wondering..<hr></blockquote>
If you take your ranger-cleric to BGII, you can use both cleric and druid spells.

thanks.. and for weapon choice? which is more enjoyable and better? I mean you know there's lots of warriors npc's and if all of them are specialized in 2-handed it's better for your player character to specialize in a different type of weapon. I'm thinking about Imoen as a thief but if there's a fighter/thief it will be much better, as a mage dynaheir sounds interesting there's two fighters in my mind; minsc (with gaunlets of dex) and khalid (gaunlets of str) as a cleric I dont think that there's any like that I want so it looks like I'll play a cleric..

If you really want a cleric NPC then go with Branwen.

Khalid and Jaheira are part of an NPC duo that the game does not want split up. There is a trick however to splitting NPC pairs, if you don't mind fudging a roleplayed approach to the game. You can split them by putting Jaheira inside a building that you don't have to go inside of again, and then remove her from the party (you may want to move well down the street before you do this as insurance). From a roleplaying perspective it is hard to imagine those two splitting up. Jaheira is a ballbuster but she wouldn't leave Khalid, nor abandon her mission. Up to you though, obviously, players do split NPC pairs in BG1 all the time. If you want Khalid as a fighter in your party and do decide to strictly roleplay the game, then the fighter-druid Jaheira would be your healer. Of course that doesn't mean your main character can't be a cleric or fighter-cleric.

My fav class has to be the paladin (Cavalier in BG2) because they get a really good healing spell, and turn undead which gets ridiculosly powerful at high level.
somebody said earlier that the thought invoker was the best mage class and i have to argue, cos invokers dont get any conjuring spells like acid arrow, flame arrow, monster summoning etc. The miss out on even better stuff in bg2

My party was:
Me (paladin)
Minsc (ranger)
Branwen (Cleric)
Imoen
Dynaheir
Xan

I know xan is useless, but he's is a mage, and i like having two mages :-P

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Zoltan:
thanks.. and for weapon choice? which is more enjoyable and better? ...it looks like I'll play a cleric..<hr></blockquote>

If you're going to play a cleric definitely choose blunt and missile weapons and equip initially with a mace and sling. An enchanted quarterstaff soon becomes available. And there's also a great enchanted hammer you can pick up early very in the game. If you nose about for quests in Beregost perhaps you may stumble onto it. (Or if you want the spoiler for the hammer let me know and I'll post it).

If you decide to play a fighter type, then bow and large sword are the most practical choices, given their abundance in the game and the number of them that have enchantments.

If you want try something a little more offbeat I think axe or blunt is probably your next best bets re: both effectiveness and availability of enchanted weapons.

If you have a high strength/dex character it can be kind of fun to have him or her using throwing axes (although these are heavy and reduce the character's carrying capacity for loot) and a battle axe.

Spear and spiked are the most poorly represented, although there is eventually a halberd +2 and spear +3. The best you're going to get for spiked weapons is a flail +1.

Dark Side is another story, however. In that add-on you get a great selection of all weapons types. Some of the new weapons are overpowered, but still it's nice to be able to get a kickass flail for a cleric or club for a druid, etc.

Thanks for your advices I'll play a cleric (hammer&mace proficiencies) will have 2 fighters, one in 2-handed other one in longswords, the rest is Dynaheir,Minsc and Imoen.

Khalid&Jaheira OR Minsc&Dynaheir?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Zoltan:
Khalid&Jaheira OR Minsc&Dynaheir?<hr></blockquote>

Do Minsc & Dynaheir. You need at least one mage (though you could always dual class Imoen over to mage, since she has a high enough Intelligence).

Minsc and Dynaheir would be my choice.

It depends. If have another mage go with Kahlid/jah, but if you have another cleric/druid, go with Minsc/dynaheir. I actually perfer Khalid to Minsc from a fighting point of view.

I like Imoen most. She is Thief only, but with Algernons cloak she can complete the whole game alone. But every thief with that cloak can do the same.

<font color="cyan">Coran gives Imoen a run for her money, he is a lethal archer!!!

Which is nice!</font>

Yes he is. But i dont like that he comes in play so late in the game. I have not that heart to kick Imoen and take Coran. Even if he is better. I think a lot of perfect NPCs come in play very late (Cloakwood, Baldurs Gate).

What I've missed most about coming back to BG from SOA is the NPC quests. The NPCs are very much along for the ride and don't have an awful lot to do themselves (Minsc excepted).

Your choice of NPC is based solely on their abilities, I personally like to play with a thief as my char and this time through I intended to drag along Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Minsc and Dynaheir. Stupidly, Dynaheir got herself killed [img]smile.gif[/img] so I found Kivan and dualled Imoen slightly early.

I've found that Khalid (with max stars in Long Sword) and Gauntlets of Ogre Power is my top fighter. Kivan has a THAC0 of 4 with long bow. Everyone else just stands around watching [img]smile.gif[/img]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by antonius:
I've found that Khalid (with max stars in Long Sword) and Gauntlets of Ogre Power is my top fighter. Kivan has a THAC0 of 4 with long bow. Everyone else just stands around watching [img]smile.gif[/img] <hr></blockquote>

Yes, Khalid with 4stars in Long Sword is my best fighter too. I heard that Kivan could have THACO -1, but I dont know how this can be done. In my game he has THACO 6, but Im just in BG now, so a little bit more to the end of the game.