Wole bunch of newbie question PLEASE ANSWER

[Player Offender]

Ok guys, this place seems to have a bunch of BG2 gurus, and i need a bunch of help, so heres a bunch of questions

1. Is Cernd any good? The diea of a shapeshifter seems kinda cool. But are the werewolf and great werewolf forms good at all? Can he cast spells while in werewolf form? Are his spells any good?

2. In the damned Jahiera romance, it seems like theres always SOMETHING that wont work. For example, the first time i tried i got the locket, did curse quest, then did the Xzar/montaron quest, then did the first harper call quest, then it died. absolutely died. then my second time around i thought maybe i jsut wasnt giving enough time, so i did all of the above mention jahiera romance things first thing out of irenicuses dungeoun, but the first call to mee thte six harpers hasnt come, and i have alrady done like 4 in town quest, done trademeet, umar hills, darnise keep. And if somehow i DO get that first harper call, if i go to the insane asylum iseland before i get the next call, will my romance be screwedc cause we cant return? Im getting so tired of this im considering just screwing over all my effort and redoing everythin for my 5th or 6th time, and jsut romance aerie instead. Oh also i have Tob installed, so all the old bugs with the romance are fixed.

3. Are monks any good? what about wild mages? bards? I want my main guy to be a interesting class.

4. I was considering romancing Viconia in another game, but someone told me its inevitable that if you do she will dump you, but stay in party later on. Is this preventable? If it is, which romance is more fun, the Aerie or Viconia romance?

5. Im the kinda guy that likes to run into battle blazing and screaming like a crazed wombat. So i want to make a party thats almost completely warriors, cause i ahte having to keep a bunch of people in back, then make them run like pansies if a monster gets near them. So i want to know what chracters are best to cram in all those utility neds like cleric/mage/theif.

6. You know how each class has a stronghold? Can you ahve jsut one stronghold per party? Like, if I have a warrior, a druid, and a cleric, can i own darnise keep, the druid grove, and a temple at the same time? Or once i take one do those others become unavailiable?

7. Who are the best fighters? i know korgan rocks, but for 2handed sword whos better, keldorn or minsc? Is Haerdalis worth anything? I tried him but between his horrible HP and bad thaco he seems really bad. Am I just using him wrong?

8. If i have a theif in my group, or a theif mage, whatever, should i equip them with a sling or bow and put them on ranged AI, or should i put them on the theif AI that hides them and tells them to go backstab?

9. Traps seem worthless. Are they actually good if you use them right?

10.When should a bard play his song in battle?

Ok guys thanks SO much for actually reading that, id REALLY appreciate it if you answered some of the questions, if not all.

For your fighting style I think a monk would work good. I have a monk in 1 of my parties and once he/she got some levels under his/her belt he/she really began to kick ass.

Sometimes I like to go into combat screaming too, so I put my thief on the script where he/she attacks when enemy is sighted or when other party members are attacked.

Right now I have a multiplayer game where I was switching the main character around. I have the sphere with my sorcerer and moved my theif to the main char. Renald Bloodscalp told me I would get a guild if I investagated...blah blah. so I would say you could you can have more than one. I haven't completed all the tasks to get it yet, but I went back to the sphere and they were talknig to my thief like she was my sorcerer.

[Aelia Jusa]

1. IMHO no, he's very weak. Greater werewolf is good, but not worth it.
2. Get the Improved Jaheira Romance patch and be prepared to use CLUAConsole since its very buggy. The romance runs on real time not game time so just leave the game running for a while to get the next dialogues.
3. Don't know, you can only be a wild mage in TOB (I think?).
4. Viconia will dump you but it gets better in TOB. Don't know which is better, but Aerie's is very easy and not buggy; good for beginners.
5. Aerie is good as a mage/cleric, Jan as a mage/theif. But they're multi. Imoen is good, she has enough thieving and is a dual mage so can cast more spells than Jan.
6. Only the protagonist can have a stronghold, so just one per party.
7. Keldorn is the only one who can use the best 2-handed sword in the game, they get the same amount of proficiency.
8. Depends what weapons you've got, how many real fighters you've got, and who you're fighting. A thief/mage should definitely have a ranged weapon and stay out of most melee. Depends how you play.
9. Don't know.
10. Whenever you need a boost and you don't need him to cast spells etc.
Hope I've been helpful

[Player Offender]

THanks for the asnwers. If anyone else has ooinions though, please post them as well.

So now after this info, im thinking making the party
Monk
Keldorn
Anomen
Aerie
Imoen

But I want one other warrior type charcter in my group. WHo do you suggest?

Theres minsc, but i already have keldorn, the two-handed sword wielder

theres mazzy, but for some reason i jsut dont like her, but if shes good i might take her

Id without a doubt do korgan, but him and aerie will kick each other out

i guess theres haer dalis, but i dont know if hes any good. betwen his low HP and thaco i cant stand him, but he might be good if someone tells me what to do with him.

theres jahiera, but after spending a total of maybe 10 hours of failed games romanicng hjer, i dont think i ever want to see her face again.

you told me cernd is worthless
is valygar any good? i know nothin about him.

[waverider]

valagry , now i took him in partu hes good but you can t give him a shield because hes good with spear and bow that i a bommer on him ....


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am a surfer i like it to ...

[Player Offender]

I had an epiphany today.
Since my goal is to make a party with the most melee fighters i could, with the fewest weak people i had to keep safe in the back, i kept gettings tuck ont he fact that since i wanted at least one character to romance easily i would ahve to have aerie and viconia, but they are both weak, so i mihgt as well take the one with teh ebst spells, aerie

so i figure if she covers my clerical and mage utility spells, i just need a theif
now for that i would have to add imoen, whos very weak. so is jan. and yoshimo leaves you later on. all of them are characters i would need to keep in the back.

SO i was looking for a solution, and it popped up.
Swashbuckler. They appear to be almost a replica of a fighter, except with fewer proficientcy points, lesss weapon selection, and having all the theiving skills you need.

SO say i did instead
me (swashbuckler)
keldorn
anomen
valygar
aerie

then who else? i need another warrior, but preferably one that does not ahve the same fighting skills as these people mentioned above.

[fredthemasterofpuppets]

I suggest you to replace Anomen by Viconia.
She's far better Cleric than Anomen, you can have a Romance with her, and even she's evil, you'll be able to change her alignement in Throne of Baal.
Moreover, with a strengh enhanced item, she rocks !

[Robin, Thief of Hearts]

Swashbuckler = excellent idea.

You have little need of stealth with a swashbuckler, freeing up 2 skills - Hide and Move Silent. Focus your initial points in the utility areas of disarm Trap and Lockpick. Once you get these to around 100 each, you'll handle most any lock or trap in the game, and it becomes time to develop the most powerful thing the swashbuckler can do - Set Traps.

As a focused fighter type, Swashbuckler characters develop faster than regular Thieves as they have less skills to use. And, they stand up better in a brawl.
The only thing is you have to sacrifice Backstab.

I agree Viconia. Does kick ass with strength mod. I cant remember where I got it but she is wearing a belt of strength that puts it at 19. You can keep her back and use missle weapons untill you find it. Plus her and korgan work well in a party together. If you still want to use him

[Player Offender]

I already got aeire to romance, plus anomen is still a very good cleric, and he can hold his own in combat, which viconia hasnt been able to in ym experiences.

SO now iv started my game, but iv stumbled upon ANOTHER problem. After keldorn forced me to return to his home, and i did the quest, now he says hell help me rescue imoen then hes gonna return home for good!
WTF!?!?!?!?
Have i had him in my party for absoltuely no reason? Do i need to go get minsc back in my party? After i rescue imoen is there some way to keep him back in forever?