plea for NPC review help

[Throrgrim]

he he, i am making a NPC page for my website. now i have played with most characters except for the following:
keldorn
mazzy
haer'dalis
Jan (only for a time)
viconia (only for a time)
Cernd (only for a time)
edwin (only for a time)
can everyone give me ratings (A+ being the best and F- being the worst)and a review. add a personal opinion about each one. either post it here or email me. please do a fair review as it is for my site. dont say things like:
"i dont like Haer'Dalis cos he tries to nick my chick Aerie. he sucks."
in my opinion that is not a fair review. u get the picture, so any help will be appreciated.

[9_1_6]

I'm really sorry for not putting comments... but i can give you grades...

[img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

Keldorn A+
Mazzy B+
Haer' dalis C+
Jan B
Viconia B
Cernd D+
Edwin A++++++++

[LennonCook]

Keldorn - the *only* NPC Paladin in the game. And he just happens to have Dispel Magic and True Sight insta-castings lots of times per day. Give him the Holy Avenger and watch alot of monsters FLY. Good tank, with some necesary spells.
His character is rather well developed, so his only real drawback is his poor Dex. That can be fixed with the Gauntlets of Dexturity.
Rating: B

Viconia - The best Cleric in the game bar maybe your PC. Good stats, Excellent Cleric, decent tank. Her main drawback is that you can`t have her in the same party as Keldorn for too long. You loose 2 rep having her in your party, but that can be worked back on very easily.
Also a romance option for a Male PC. Well developed character, a romance that realy gets you trying to understand her. A must for any party that doesn`t have Keldorn.
Rating: A

Cernd - His kit is bugged. His character is poor. His spellcasting abilities are attrocious. His personal quests (not including Trademeet) don`t get you anything special, don`t go anywhere, and aren`t very well thought out.
Only real purpose I found for him was to demonstrate the ridiculousness of the number of societies we had in this forum a few months back.
Forget he exists.
Rating: F

Edwin - The best mage in the game, and he knows it. Excellant character, excellant mage. *Very* funny quest.
Get him. You *won`t* regret it.
Rating: A+

Haer'Dalis - Good kit, hopeless stats for it. Some of his poetry is good, but that`s about it. Get him as a secondary mage, maybe.
Oh, and don`t have him in the same party as Aerie...
Rating: E

Jan Jansen - A mage/thief. How original. BUT, he just happens to be the only NPC M/T who levels in the thief class. Get him as a primary thief, and a secondary mage. If you need a primary mage and secondary thief, go with Imoen instead.
Beware of his jokes
Rating: B

[ 12-25-2002, 05:29 PM: Message edited by: LennonCook ]

[whodoyouthinkyouare]

Keldorn- A+ (Awesome Tank)
Haer'dalis- D (If you only have SoA), A (Once you have the Enhanced Bard Song HLA)
Jan- A (If you don't have Yoshimo in party), C (If you have Yoshimo in party)
Viconia- A+ (Awesome Cleric, once you get her a strength enhancing item, such as the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength)
Edwin A+ (Best Mage, ungodly amount of spells, he actually ends up with too many)

[SecretMaster]

Anomen-A+

For good parties, he is a must. A top notch cleric who can really dish out damage thanks to his part fighter, he is like a dream come true. When you give him Crom Faeyr and a good plate armor, you'll be pleasantly surprised, and the beauty about him is that if you need a fighter in battle, he's right there, if you need a healer, there he is. Haven't played the romance with him yet. If you also choose the 'good' way of his quest, he gets the a great enhancment to his abilities. Top Notch.

[Sir Galefin]

uh oh.... an anomen freak. He is actually pretty good if you can live wiht his constant whining adn goody twoes attitude.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Minsc (A+) One of the best tanks in the game and definitely the best dialogue. Be sure to take full advantage of his "two-weapon fighting style". I gave him Crom Fraeyr in one hand and cheated in a 2nd Hammer of T-bolts for his off-hand. He did some serious "Butt-Kicking for Goooodnessss" after that.

Jaheira (A) Good healer (not great, but good enough). Some very handy druidic spells as the party advances. Call Lightning and Insect Swarm have turned the tide in several battles. Romance option with some good side quests, but terribly bugged. Also provides decent back-up as a fighter.

Imoen (B) It's very tempting to automatically return Imoen to your party after Spellhold. After all, that's all you've been concerned with up to this point. But I found that Nalia is actually a better mage by the time you get Imoen. Neither of them have outstanding Thief abilities, so it comes down to personal preference here.

Nalia (B) Offers a chance to gain a Fighter Stronghold, but she doesn't have to join the party for that to happen. Advances well as a mage but her thief skills are pitiful. There is a patch available to make her a Romance Option, which would make her much more interesting. She held her own in battles with her spellcasting ability and did very well after getting the Staff of the Magi.

Aerie (B+) Great selection of spells, but slow level advancement due to being multi-classed. Not great in battle, but very handy to have all those extra mage and clerical spells available. Also offers Romance option with implications that carry over into ToB. I would REALLY like her if she ever got her wings back.

Korgan (A+) Best pure tank in the game. Grandmastery in axe and lots of hit points. Can stand toe-to-toe with most monsters when properly equipped. Only drawback is the Chaotic Evil alignment. Don't let your cleric cast Holy Smite around him. He would be a huge asset to any Neutral or Evil party.

Keldorn (A) He is as good as Korgan is bad. Good character development and storyline. Adheres well to Lawful Good alignment. The Holy Avenger certainly adds to his prowess, but Minsc still deals out more pure damage with his dual-hammers. The Protection From Evil that Keldorn offers comes in very handy, along with the Dispel Magics and minor healing abilities. Good enough to hold his own in almost any party.

Valygar (B) I love rangers and Valygar is a good one. The Stalker abilities are nice, but I never had much luck when I tried to Backstab with him. He needs better weapons and should definitely exploit the two-weapon method also. Not as good as Minsc for pure "in your face" damage, but works well as an advance scout for the party. An essential component for the Mage Stronghold. Also have to at least "interact" with him for the Ranger Stronghold.

Yoshimo (A) Yeah, I know he won't stay around unless you cheat...but he is worth cheating to get. His thief abilities are the best in the game and his traps will make short-work of some very tough enemies. I would definitely consider "cheating" him back into my party.

Jan Jansenn (C) A decent character, but a poor replacement for the thief skills of Yoshimo. Spellcasting is decent, but Nalia, Imoen, and Aerie better. Gadgetry weapons are an interesting touch, but not as good as most of the more fundamental items. Still, he is your only Thief option after Yoshimo.

Anomen (B) Good fighter and a better cleric. After he passes the test of knighthood, he becomes even better. A very important addition to your party when facing undead. His attitude and dialogue are nerve-wracking (to say the least), but you can always turn your speakers off.

Viconia (C+) Haven't played her myself, but most people consider her the best cleric in the game. If you aren't concerned with the evil alignment, she could make a great addition to the party. Plenty of healing spells to go around and decent fighting capabilities too (from what I understand).

Edwin (C+) Everybody seems to think he is the best mage in the game, but I personally despise him. I've never played him and I've never missed him. I don't have much use for Enchantment spells and I found his spell selection in BGI to be far too limited for my tastes, so I haven't given him any more chances in BGII. Nalia, Imoen, and Aerie were more than adequate to meet my spellcasting needs. However, I will be playing him in my next party, so I may return and amend my evaluation of him.

Mazzy (C) Very good with a bow, but not that great in melee. Makes for an entertaining alternative to the pure tanks and has some good skill to back it up, but still much weaker than Minsc, Korgan, and Keldorn. However, there are plenty of items available that could offset her weaknesses.

Haer'Dalis (C) Same as Mazzy. Makes for an excellent back-up character and has some nifty fighting abilities. With his bard skills, he isn't great at any one thing, but he is pretty good at many things (and there are several items available to boost his skills). Decent back-up character, but not a front-line fighter by any means.

Cernd (D) I simply see no reason to add Cernd to the party, other than out of curiosity. Far too many restrictions on a class that is already severely limited. Wouldn't recommend him for anything after finishing Trademeet.

[Zarr]

Originally posted by LennonCook: Cernd - His kit is bugged. His character is poor. His spellcasting abilities are attrocious.

I agree Cernd is probably the weakest NPC in the game but I'd hardly call his spellcasting abilties attrocious, he has 18 wisdom which means he has alot of spells! It is his armour class that is bad and therefore he is difficult to keep alive if you want him to cast spells and not shapechange into werewolf form that's his problem. Just my two cents [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Mahlennacht]

Keldorn: A
Once he gets Carsomyr he is godlike; Free Action (with his Firecam armor) is unfair if you have Webs - lots of True Sights & hi-lvl Dispels; he has so many Detect Evils I used them all the time for pre-recon & as a viable excuse to kill 'neutrals' who would otherwise become enemies only when spoken to [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] The voice set has a lot of character to it - good acting job

Mazzy: A-
Acquire an arrow-generating shortbow like Tansheron's or Gesen's and she can deal heavy ranged damage every battle; I always thought she had the most attractive voice as well even though it came from a halfling

Haer'dalis: B-
Never was able to use his combat abilities with any great effect, even with the Spins, and always seemed to get hurt more than the rest of us; yah yah, it'd probably would help a lot if you get him Tensor's, but you have to wait for him to level up to that point; functioned more as a backup mage in my party - not really into struggling actors anyway, still he definitely wasn't useless

Jan: A
Anecdotes are great reading, great trap finder/setter, lockpicker, and excellent secondary mage

Viconia: A
Outstanding cleric, OMG she's sexy as hell, the only slight disadvantage (apart from personality problems with Keldorn) is a tad weaker thac0 than Anomen, however she has 19 Dex and can rock from distance with a good sling, once you bump up her strength with an item; also I prefer to explode undead rather than control them

Cernd: B-
Not very strong, but he has the most druid spells, and can conjure what Jaheira cannot - earth elementals - if you're into them; hell, just use him for the role if your party is called "Greenpeace" or "PETA", ie Minsc / Val / Jah / Cernd

Edwin A
If you want power magick, then Edwin is the one; with Staff of Magi & Vecna Robe he is scary; so what if he can't cast Identify - Edwin would rather blow up things than ID objects anyway. I thought his quest was the funniest, and his comments rival Minsc & Jan for hilarity; drawback is he and Minsc don't see eye-to-eye

I guess I found something interesting in every NPC, even if they're not powerful, they can all still be interesting & worthwhile to try