Vote...please?

p.s. As for me it's Imoen, Viconia and Jan.

Imoen is alright and you need her for her theiving skills after chapter 4. Jan Jensen kicks more ass then audley harrisson. He rules with spells and theiving skills.

I've never had vicconia in a party before.

Nalia is my most overated character she has lame spells and lame theiving abilities. She couldn't even open all the locks in the room in the docks. (the one with lots of doors and you have to open each one and they all have gold in)

Welcome to the site. Now, what do you mean by that question. It kinda confused me.

Overrated?
hmm as in which ones are no good?

Imoen and Nalia are both the same to me
Dual Class thieves with their thief skills stopped too early for me

Viconia is a good Cleric and a laugh too

I admit Jan is better than Nalia, but he is just an illusionist, and has a really irritating personality, so I always have Nalia in my party, except for certain places in TOB.Jaheira needs a real strength boost to be a decent fighter, but if you get her a strength belt and the gloves of dexterity, as well as a good shield (Dragon scale) and that cool +3 club you can pick up in Trademeet, she gets better. Haer'Dalis gets my vote for The NPC Least Likely To Be Found In My Party.

Minsc and Jaheira
People keep on saying they good
Only use i found for them is start with at least 2 kills in the start

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Rikard_OHF:
Minsc and Jaheira
People keep on saying they good
Only use i found for them is start with at least 2 kills in the start<hr></blockquote>

LOL! You don't get EXP for killing them though :D

Jaheira is indeed a bit overrated, as she's not tough enough to be a real fighter and is only half a druid compared to Cernd.

When by overrated you mean greatly praised despite having serious disadvanteges I'd say Edwin is overrated. Sure, he has an amazing arsenal of spells, but he's no good at doing anything else.

Nalia is not overrated in that definition, simply because she simply is no good (BTW, the doors in the docks increase in the level you need to open them. For the last door you'll need an 'open lock' of 100%. Small wonder she can't open it ;)

Heh, I always love this debate.
Jahiera is an interesting choice. People either seem to love her or hate her with no in-between. If you get the right gear on her, you can get her armor AC down to -12. The only other NPC whose AC can be lower in my experience is Viconia whom I have gotten to AC -13. Give either of them a belt for strength and good weopons and sheild, and they "Tank" with the best of them. Your character will get hit more than they will [img]smile.gif[/img]

most overrated? ah, id hafta say Minsc. annoying piece of crap, isnt really that good... i prefer to make a ranger myself so that i dont have to use him at all...

yoshimo all the way. worthless, worthless, worthless, and you all know why. if you dont, you will find out later on in the game.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by The.Relic:
Heh, I always love this debate.
Jahiera is an interesting choice. People either seem to love her or hate her with no in-between. If you get the right gear on her, you can get her armor AC down to -12. The only other NPC whose AC can be lower in my experience is Viconia whom I have gotten to AC -13. Give either of them a belt for strength and good weopons and sheild, and they "Tank" with the best of them. Your character will get hit more than they will [img]smile.gif[/img] <hr></blockquote>

ALL characters except Mages can get AC below 13 in BG2
It's just making sure you give then the goodies
But Jaheira is so freakin useless
She was the one i least liked in BG1 so i always killed her to get khalid

Minsc, sure he's a great laugh at ffirst but after playing the game three times with him you dread hearing his voice again, he's a standard fighter in hand to hand but being a ranger he cant compete with Korgan or another certain person who likes his swords big and his armour spiky.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Legolas:

When by overrated you mean greatly praised despite having serious disadvanteges I'd say Edwin is overrated. Sure, he has an amazing arsenal of spells, but he's no good at doing anything else.
<hr></blockquote>

Ever noticed that Edwin happens to be a Mage? Mages have amazing arsenals of spells and aren't good at much else, something for sorcerers and specialist mages, they aren't tanks, they aren't thieves, they're just guys with tons of spells.

With all due respect Rikard, I beg to differ. You and I have both been playing this game a long time. And you can't get all NPC's but Mages AC's down to -12 because I have tried them all with various combinations and they just can't do it due to other magical eqipment. I always play a Kensai now, and the maximum I can get with him is a AC-2 with cloaks, rings and Ioun stone for helm, because he can't wear armor or use a shield.
I can understand if you just hate Jaheira and I respect that. But if equiped right she will out "Tank" any NPC. With a good sling she is excellent at range. She can fire off summon spells before the party egages offering up that much needed cannon fodder. She can Bless, Chant, Aid and Defensive Harmony which has turned the tide in the initial stages of battle many a time. And she can heal if needed during combat and after. She is one of the most useful and versatile NPC's in the game.

Minsc with ease. I think hes okay, but not great, Jaheira AND even Viconia have tiwce as many kills as him, hes just not very great (I just use him beacuse thy other alternitves for tanks are Keldorn and 2 paladins is to many, or Korgan and I just hate little migits) People say hes funny But i dont think so I think hes a ranting moronic fool. I also just dont like rangers, theyer abilites dont offset there inability to put 5 stars in weapon spealization.

Your main character. He's got a party for a reason. Try soloing from the start and you'll die without any serious preparations or plans.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by The.Relic:
With all due respect Rikard, I beg to differ. You and I have both been playing this game a long time. And you can't get all NPC's but Mages AC's down to -12 because I have tried them all with various combinations and they just can't do it due to other magical eqipment. I always play a Kensai now, and the maximum I can get with him is a AC-2 with cloaks, rings and Ioun stone for helm, because he can't wear armor or use a shield.
I can understand if you just hate Jaheira and I respect that. But if equiped right she will out "Tank" any NPC. With a good sling she is excellent at range. She can fire off summon spells before the party egages offering up that much needed cannon fodder. She can Bless, Chant, Aid and Defensive Harmony which has turned the tide in the initial stages of battle many a time. And she can heal if needed during combat and after. She is one of the most useful and versatile NPC's in the game.<hr></blockquote>

<font color="acdcfc">
Braches of DEX gives you
Armor -5
Cloak of protection +2 -7
Ring of gaxx -9
ring of earthcontol -10
ioun ston -11
shield -12

easy enough</font>
<Font color="red">
K.</font>

[ 11-06-2001: Message edited by: Konfuzed and Zany ]</p>

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Lifetime:
Your main character. He's got a party for a reason. Try soloing from the start and you'll die without any serious preparations or plans.<hr></blockquote>

So will the NPC's lifetime
if you don;t give them support

Hmmm..

Using personality as a factor I think is moot since its subjective. Like the NPCs in the game- if we judge them by personality most likely we will send someone to their death intentionally to shut them up.

That said- I have yet to find a character that is useless. Remember back in the Pen and Paper days many characters where created for the 'fun' factor. For their idiosyncratic qualities instead their ability to quickly dismember a troll.

If we see it that way its hard to argue what character is really useless. So far I am using a Paladin, Korgan, Viconia, Har Dealis (sic?), Edwin and Jan.

I finished the game with Minsc, Anomen and Valygar last time.

I am enjoying Viconia's high level turn Undead skill.
Har Dealis Improved invisibility, Melodic Chain and Offensive spin, double wield swords combination is deadly.

And I have found other NPC with their own particular quirks and strengths. Espcially HarDealis- I had him in my first game and he got rocked, until I noticed that the Melodic chain substantially increased his AC and allowed him to cast his mage spells. The offensive spin with improved invisibility is a ridiculous combo.


I think the debate will go on forever. Probably that is how the game designers wanted it to be. Each NPC has a flaw.

Minsc Is highly overated. Korgan and Even Valygar are just as good. Keldorn is far better.

Most underated. Cernd as he is a character ive just started using and his ability to change into greater werewolf is phenomenal. His spell casting abilities are superb. And he says crazy things. Unlike Jahera who complains all the time .

This IS a fun and interesting thread. I agree that ANY NPC can be extremely valuable or totally useless - depending on your personal preferences and how you outfit them.

It also depends on your gaming style and strategy. Back in the Pen-&-Paper days, I was playing a thief in a 12-15 level dungeon. We had some fighter and ranger "tanks" and even a mage with a Staff of the Magi. They all ended up getting caught in a trap while I was scouting ahead of the group.

Had I NOT been playing a thief, our entire party would have been lost. I used my Thieving & Stealth Skills to avoid all the enemy soldiers (we were inside a fortress) until I was finally able to find the party members and revive them.

If I had been playing a "tank" I would probably have been killed before I ever reached the party and all of us would have lost a character that night.

Bottom Line - Everybody is useful in one way or another.

Going back to our original question, I personally like Edwin - I think he would make the PERFECT magic missile to toss at Demagorgon.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Konfuzed and Zany:


<font color="acdcfc">
Braches of DEX gives you
Armor -5
Cloak of protection +2 -7
Ring of gaxx -9
ring of earthcontol -10
ioun ston -11
shield -12


not to mention the staff of the magi-14
even better, heh heh
easy enough</font>
<Font color="blue">
K.</font>

[ 11-06-2001: Message edited by: Konfuzed and Zany ]<hr></blockquote>

:eek:

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Morgan_Corbesant:
yoshimo all the way. worthless, worthless, worthless, and you all know why. if you dont, you will find out later on in the game.<hr></blockquote>

Yoshimo isn't worthless. You forgot the 200,000 exp :D .

Confused and Zany, the list is impressive, but not all characters can wear all of those items at one time. Spend some time with each character and you will find that out. Different character types have limitations as to what kind of magical equipment they wear, as well as conflicts regarding other magical equipment they are wearing. What is good for one or some does not apply to all.

This sort of thread has no true answer and only serves to cause some people to just bitch

Every char has good and bad points and I think you have to play through the whole game with each char before you can really say they are good/bad

Saying they are crap cos the voice annoys you isnt really valid for saying the char is useless

If you put points into different skills and swap weapons around, chars can be very different

I will use Minsc as an example.

Armour of Hart: Base AC set to -2 AC
Gauntlets of Dextrity: -4 AC bonus, -6 AC
Sentinel Shield: -5 AC bonus, -11 AC
Ring of Gaxx: -2 AC bonus, -13 AC
Ring of Earth Control: -1 AC bonus, -14 AC
Helm of Balduran: -1 AC bonus, -15 AC
Cloak of the Sewers: -1 AC bonus, -16 AC

Lalalala... ...

The thing is, what Jaheira can wear, any other tank can wear as well. Jaheira and Viconia do not have any AC bonuses that others cannot get.

[ 11-07-2001: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]</p>

Why bother which one who is best?

If you play with the best party possible, how hard is it to finish the game then? Wel, just solve each quest and whack/spell/snipe your way through.

Play with a lousy set of characters to make it more difficult [img]smile.gif[/img]

Bracers of Dex doesn't give AC-5. It gives the normal Dex 18 AC bonus, which depends on your natural Dex.

True enough, Tarox, but in 200+ gaming hours, the voice can really get to you. Edwin, Par excellence