Party for SoA/ToB

[Jelboo]

Last time I completed the game ( SoA and ToB) with Anomen, Jan, Jaheira, Minsc, Imoen and Sepphire ( me ) ...

But now I'm going to try something quite different. I am planning to get rid of Yoshimo and Jaheira, so there's me and Minsc, and get Kivan of Shilmista. from the mod. Then I need some spellpower and some thief power. ( my char's a Fighter/Cleric ) ...
so erm... which chars prove quite good to have or should I really take someone like Jan again? ( mage and thief, handy )

[Cerek]

So you are taking two Rangers (Minsc and Kivan) and a Fighter/Cleric PC.

The first obvious need is for arcane magic spells. But you will also need a thief to detect traps and pick locks and you'll need a second cleric to help with healing. On that basis, your choices are....

Aerie - provides good assortment of mage spells and also adds extra clerical spells to your own.
Anomen - provides extra fighting skills and back-up clerical skills. Also very good at Turning Undead.
Jan - Mage spells and the only NPC that actually advances as a thief.
Nalia - advances more quickly as a mage than Aerie or Jan, but doesn't offer any help with thieving skills.
Kelsey - Mod Sorcerer. Pure mage spells.

Given the makeup of your party and your choice of Kivan and Minsc, I would suggest adding Anomen and Aerie. That will give you FOUR fighters to protect Aerie until she becomes the powerhouse she is capable of and provides 3 clerics for the group. One of you can handle Detecting Traps and Minsc can just bash open any locks you encounter.

You might add Jan to into the mix if you want the mage spells and advancing thieving skills. In that case, I again recommend Anomen to augment the fighting power and clerical needs.

So my recommendation for your group is...
PC (Fighter/Cleric)
Minsc
Kivan
Anomen
Aerie or Jan

Nalia is another option. With the first four above, you have enough fighter power to protect any other NPC. She will gain decent power as a mage and can either stay or go once you rescue Imoen (depending on whether you want to keep her or not).

[Magness]

Jellboo, Cerek, I'd make the following suggestions.

Cerek is pretty close to what I'd suggest. I'd suggest filling in the 6th slot temporarily with someone until you rescue Imoen.

Anomen is great, but do you really need another fighter/cleric, since your PC is a ftr/cleric? OTOH, he's actually a pretty darned good tank.

The problem is that you need to build a party that fits your combat style. My combat style is melee first with spellcasting in support. (The opposite being, melee tanks being the bodyguards of the spellcasters who act as the primary killers of the party.) And that being the case, I tend to have parties that are strong in melee. (My last party was Fredryk (me, a swashy), Keldorn, Anomen, Jaheira, Nalia, Imoen (who replaced Jan).)


I'd probably suggest taking Minsc, Anomen, Kivan, Nalia, and Jan. And you could dump either Nalia or Jan after you rescue Imoen. I'm not a big fan of Aerie. Some people love her, others do not.

But from a roleplaying perspective, having Aerie in the same party as Minsc and Anomen would be very fun. (I won't spoil you, if you haven't already heard.)

[Jelboo]

My combat style is also mostly offensive... 3 with missile weapons, three with melee weapons...

Thanks for the tips. About Imoen... I'm not so sure about her either. I rarely used her as a thief, Jan did everything.
I did find Anomen good. So what about this. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

- Me, fighter/cleric, for the clerical spells and the frontline warhammering.
- Minsc, for the frontline and the bow ( he's good with it if you give him the time [img]tongue.gif[/img] )
- Kivan, another ranger who will be at the back with a bow, rarely in front
- Aerie, for the clerical and mage spells and the banters with Minsc and the important role in the Kivan mod plotline
- Jan, for the humor, the thieving skills and the mage spells
- If I add Deheriana here, I will have Yoshimo, and then Imoen, and then Deheriana... although I will miss Imoen. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I'll just wait and see what seems best for me. Thanks all!

[Xen]

I would add one thing: go with C/R instead of F/C. It's more powerful. It has more spells.