This is probably really dumb, but it hit me when I was playing BG1 again, and I started to wonder. I was wondering about party formations and with the NPCs you have available, which PC class fits in with everything the best. See, in BG1, there were no decent clerics for a good aligned party. Vic and Tiax were evil, and Branwen was neutral, no fun, and complained too much if your rep was at 20. Meanwhile there were a couple good mages (Dyn, Xan (actually, he kinda sucked), Garrick would make a good backup), two really good thieves (Imoen and Coran), and a lot of great fighters (Minsc, Ajantis, and Kivan). Meanwhile, in BG2, Anomen is a really decent cleric, as well as Vic (and including in the PCs plot as a romance), however, there aren't really any decent mages. Except for Nalia, they're all multiclassed, and Nalia is like the Brawen of BG2, a whiny pain in the ass.

So what am I saying? Maybe a cleric is probably your best bet for BG1, then dual over at 9 or 13 for BG2 to a mage, and you can still max out your mage levels (-1 if you dual at 13). What you have is a really good supportive cleric (can cast up to level 5 (dual at 9) or 6 (dual at 13) spells, and turn undead) while still having a killer mage. Your thoughts?

And yes, I have too much free time.

Um..

1! Xan is an awesome character. Give him time.

2! Edwin IS the best Mage NPC. Your protagonist can't even be better than him!

Xan is a matter of personal choice...and he's an enchanter, which isn't all that great...not to mention, he's a downer. I thought elves were supposed to he happy, not a bunch of manic depressives...

Yeah, Edwin is the best, but he's evil, so I wouldn't bother with him. Besides, I'd be curious as to how a dualed cleric/mage would fare against him...

The fact that he has a great dialogue, and some interesting turn of events, makes Edwin the perfect character for any group. What I meant was the 'Mage spells-only' characterization. No other Mage can get +2 spells.

For a good aligned party though, would I have to do evil stuff to get him in my party. Also, won't my party eventually turn against him and try to kill him? I'd like to pick up all the NPCs if I could (I play a 5 member party and use the 6th slot for whoever to get their quests), but the evil ones could cause too much trouble. I took Korgan and I barely got done his quest before a huge fight broke out between him and someone else in the party.

>Yeah, Edwin is the best, but he's evil, so I wouldn't bother with him

I find it odd that you said that since you talking about viconia who is also evil. plain and simple edwin is hands down the best mage in the game.
Anyways your point is well taken. There is a significant drawback to most all of the mages. And anomen is soooo good you almost have to have him hehe

...You don't actually HAVE to do evil things to keep evil characters like Edwin - just keep your reputation under 19 and he'll stay with your party - but he WILL pick a fight with Minsc... [that was a real dilemma for me 'cos I like Minsc's goofiness but Edwin's magickal abilities were too good to resist, so I had to send Minsc packing]

If you're going to try every NPC, I think you could get away with it if the problem NPC's don't stay in your party too long. I found that you can often avoid an inter-party fight by reloading to some point before the fight... that is to say, these critical fights appear to be a bit randomized in regards to when they occur.

What is this??
Edwin more powerful than a protagonist??
NEVER! I am a sorcerer and I could take Edwin out like the selfish git he is.
SPOILER DOWN BELOW ABOUT WHAT EDWIN DOES WITH THE NETHER SCROLL!!!
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He uses it to turn into a woman!!!!!

To be fair though, I find that that my party tends to be 50% evil anyway, coz evil npc's kick ass!! Best fighters best makes... et all

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The REAL Minsc/Boo double act .....


Platinum Fighter of ALSB

What about Yeslick? He was a good aligned Fighter/Cleric I think!

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Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

Epona of The Laughing Hyenas
Proud winner of the 'Most Useless Post 250 Has Ever Seen' Award 2001. "I'd just like to thank my friends and family, without whom none of this would have been possible..."