<span style="color: lightblue">Now that my solo Sorc has finished TOB, I am going to go through SOA and TOB with a party. My Protagonist is a Chaotic Neutral Blade, who for roleplaying reasons will not be using spells at all, or thieving abilities very often.
Again for roleplaying reasons, he is going to be dual wielding all the way through, Katanas as soon as possible. At the moment, he has a Bastard Sword + 1 and a LongSword + 1; CFury will be a priority - what else should I have equipped ??

I am definately going to install Ascencion this game, meaning Imoen and Sarevok will be in my party (if only because the readme recomends them).
So, who should the other three party members be ?? Should I have a forth for SOA ??
I am willing to install any NPC Mod bar TDD and/or Valen, and I would like to do a non-Bio romance.

I have already done the circus tent quest, and not rescued Aerie - so she`s obselete.

[ 04-20-2003, 05:45 AM: Message edited by: LennonCook ]

Eek, Lennoncook, you'll need spoiler tags there, buddy.

Originally posted by LennonCook
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- Upgrade CF to +5 with Item Upgrade.

- Sanchuuduko +4: The Acid Blade (Tactics)

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Non-BioWare NPCs are recommended here I think.

- Solaufein, after the Underdark (fighter/mage)

- Valen, chapter 2 (Vampire/thief)

- Maybe an excisting cleric? (Viccy)

Added with Imoen and Sarevok, you will have a swiss-army knife team.

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Solaufein will romance anybody (gender/class/race does not matter), and its a great romance to ;) </font>

OK, I'll help you out. Let's analyse the NPCs.

Haer'dalis: Who needs another Blade? Good for possible RP reasons though.

Jan: Half mage, half thief. A must in any game, plus it's cool to have a gnome in the party. Recommended.

Edwin: A very good mage. A possible second mage for the party.

Aerie: Half mage, half cleric. Annoying and whiney. Boring romance. Can be an effective spell caster when properly equiped (likely if you have Imoen, since she'll want armours and Aerie is free for a certain robe)

Jaheria: Half fighter, half druid. An effective array of spells, as most druids tend to have. Can bash heads with the best of them, with spells such as Ironskins and Nature's Beauty. Can also raise dead. Recommended.

Cernd: A druid, shadowed by Jaheria in almost all areas. GWW is good, but not good enough. The Shapeshifter rebalancing mod turns him into something of a god, though. Your choice - pathetically weak, or obscenely strong.

Minsc: A good tank, although not as good as many others. His choice of kit (or rather, lack of kit) betrays him. He does have Boo and some interesting dialogue, though.

Viconia: Good MR, interesting character, romance wise. Not the best cleric, and is disadvantaged by lack of a kit. I'd recommend Jaheria instead of Vikky.

Keldorn: The only paladin NPC, and therefore able to use one of the best weapons in the game. His kit gives him a number of useful bonuses, too. Give him the Gauntlets of Dex, and he's smiting in the name of Torm!

Yoshimo: A good thief, but never quite gets good enough to warrant taking. ;)

Mazzy: With the Tuigan bow, she is an excellent sniper. Halflings are cool, too. A few useful abilities. Excellent Dex. Lack of Strength can be easily compensated for. Give her Crom Faeyr and she can make a good tank. Recommended.

Korgan: A good kit choice. Massive HP. Can be a good tank. May be overshadowed by that other NPC you are going to have, however.

Anomen: Annoying. The best cleric in the game, no doubt about it. Take him if you want a cleric who can also deal some damage with a weapon.

Nalia: Overshadowed by Imoen. I recommend you don't take her.

Valygar: Can be good, especially with his backstab. Can also be a good frontliner, in the right situation. Extra spells a bonus too. Let down due to lack of personality.

Is that all of them? :D Oh well, I tried my best, as well as making some recommendations.

[ 04-20-2003, 05:41 AM: Message edited by: pcgiant ]

<span style="color: lightblue">Why ??
The only spoilery thing I posted was Sarevok being joinable - which is why I posted in the TOB forum. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I didn`t post for example, the name of the final boss. ;)

Annatar - didn`t I say I would install anyone bar TDD or Valen ?? [img]tongue.gif[/img] There`s a reason for that, too: I tried both of these at some stage, for about 5 hours gameplay (realtime)... I found none of the NPCs included in those mods to have any real character depth - or atleast none that appealed to me. So, would you recomend anyone as a replacement to Valen ??
Would Tashia be a good idea, for a "normal" romance ?? [img]smile.gif[/img]

I`m also thinking of trying to create an NPC of my own... this may be a good chance to play-test them - a Monk, maybe ??

[ 04-20-2003, 05:58 AM: Message edited by: LennonCook ]

<font color="gold">Equipment? Agreed with Annatar. If you're dualwieding katanas, Celestial Fury and Sanchuudoku can't be missed.

Party members, let's see... You already have a Blade, which I understand will be used as a warrior. That's one tank.
Anomen would be perfect for you, as to his abilities, but perhaps he won't fit too well into your group. But still, a Fighter/Cleric would be perfect for you, so I would consider him.
So far, we have:
-3 warriors
-1 cleric
-1 thief
-1 wizard
You're strong tank-wise, and all the other classes are covered, so all we really need now is your romance. Tashia is Neutral Good, so again, she might not like the course your party takes, but she will romance you. She also is a strong Sorcerer. So, if you're gonna have Imoen, you might as well have Tashia too, so she won't be the only good-aligned in your group.
So to sum up, we have:
-Blade
-Sarevok
-Imoen
-Anomen
-Tashia
...or:
-3 warriors
-1 cleric
-1 thief
-2 wizards
How about that one, Lennon?</font>

<span style="color: lightblue">Exxon - Sounds good; although maybe a bit unbalenced toward the tank side of things; and severely unbalanced in the way of "how will I put up with Anomen" [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Maybe Vicci instead of Anomen... or go completely without a Cleric, because I`ve never realy found their spells effective for my playing style...

/me raises a "Kelsey" sign.

<span style="color: lightblue">Main reason I`m thinking of Tashia instead of Kelsey for this party, is the romance... the protagonist is already created (and thus is already male), hence Aerie being dead. ;)
Also, when should I leave for Spellhold ?? How much XP does Imoen generally have ??

<font color=white> The same when she was taken captive by the Cowled Wizards, so not much... leave as soon as you can if you don't want Imoen to be 12/12 when you enter the Abyss ;) </font>