Party formation question, potentially spoilerish.

[Russ]

I am cruising through Chapter 2, doing all manner of side quests (just a smidge too weak to drop a certain infamous beastie, we get him to near death every time, and then we fall apart), and have just finished the Planar Sphere quest. Valygar is less than satisfying in terms of interaction with the other characters, though his skills are fairly useful in the party (Party otherwise consists of ftr/mag/thf -- thieving skills specialized to locks, traps and illusions, minsc,jaheira, aerie, mazzy). I am shortly to dive into the sewers to go after the eyeless and haer'd. quest, and am therefore curious: any suggestions on who to bring into the party? I have not yet done the trademeet quests, but have already adventured with Cernd and would prefer keeping him out for now.

Although I recruit for necessary skills in the party, I'm not a power gamer of any stripe, so what +50 Items of Death(tm) I can give them is pretty irrelevant . I have Minsc tanking, Jaheira healing and occasionally stepping in, while Aerie and Mazzy provide fire support. We are a ranged, tactically-oriented party with an emphasis on focused missile fire where possible (the main character being a fighter, we're organized according to how a fighter thinks). Valygar's role has been essentially to provide missile fire and pro-active flank defense for the party.

In terms of skills provided, therefore, both seem pretty compatible with the basic makeup of the party, and I'll be right there in the sewers where I can pick up either one w/o sacrificing the "what are we doing now" quotient. Are there personality issues that are more interesting one with the other, or some other issues that would militate strongly towards one or the other?

tnx.

[daan]

NPC's that might help you :
Keldorn : Paladin, one of the best tanks in the game, when equiped with dexterity boosting items.
Edwin : THE best mage of SoA, only a self-played sorcerer would match his power

I myself would go for the mage though, you seem to be lacking there ..

Mazzy = good fighter + great archer 1.0 fighter
Minsc = good fighter 1.0 fighter
jaheira = good druid / backup fighter, potential tank with 0.5
champion's strenght and Harm 0.5 fighter / 1.0 healer
aerie = medoicre healer/mage 0.5 mage / 0.5 healer
you = fighter 1.0 fighter

So you got 3.5 fighters, 1.5 clerics and 0.5 mages

Mages are quit important, and Edwin is the best mage around.
He IS evil however, and WILL fight with Minsc, but you can deal without Minsc very easily, since keldorn is a much better fighter.
I'd say, dump aerie and put in the real mage, dump Minsc and put in keldorn ...
Keldorn sometimes has problems with Edwin, he never fought in my game though, if things get hot, just kick Edwin out, and get him in the party again after a while, he should be fine then.

Hope this helps

[daan]

WELCOME TO THE BOARD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BALROGBANE]

Dump Minsc and get Korgan

Dump Aerie and get Edwin

However Keldorn is the only person who can use Carsomyr!

[Russ]

Uh, guys, you seem to be missing the point. My main character is a triple-class, also a mage. He's a swiss-army-knife adventurer.
This is a good party, and Edwin and Korgan were not included in that list for a reason. They're both amusing, but they're both jerks. If I were playing an unpleasant, solipsistic main character, that wouldn't be an issue.

The question was not "which character combination in the game will make my party the most powerful," but rather "given that I am This Party (that's why the long discussion), and about to be able to pick up either Keldorn or Haer-D., and getting rid of Valygar, which of the two would you recommend? As explicitly stated in my question, which magic items they can use is NOT an issue in terms of making this decision.

[ 11-09-2001: Message edited by: Russ ]

[daan]

sooorryyyyyy, guess i was a little eager to show off my ,
substantial i might add > , knowledge ...
So, Keldorn or haer'dalis eh ?
As said before, Keldorn is your basic fighting paladin, who upholds all that is good. He has high magic resistance (once wielding carsomyr) and he's a very pleasant guy to be around.

Haer'dalis, i never had in my party, but i've hear a comment or two ..
Hear'dalis WILL die freguently, due to his low HP, further his magic-abilities are not very good. He is usable as a backup-mage though, (the mage that removes the spell-protections and lowers resistances).
I dont know about how he is in the party,
spoiler
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but he will attack YOU, if you have a romance with aerie, he's a bit flammable there. After all, he does have demons blood in him.
However, i've also heard that "blades" can be very powerfull, i guess its how you handle them. I suppose having Haer'dalis in your party gives it a nice "flavor", after all, he's a cool NPC, nice background-story. Keldorn's story's a bit more plain. Looking at POWER only, keldorn is your choice. Haer'dalis requires more "finesse", a delicate calculating touch ...
Hope this helps a little bit more

[AcePylut]

If you're going through for the first time... I'd go with something like this...(where all party members are made by you)

1 dwarf beserker (primary weapon = axes) the 19 constitution offsets the barbarian human hit points (sortof)
1 Elf Sorceror (my main character - 19 dexterity helps - and it's great to not have to memorize spells)
1 fighter (grand master of the cross bow) - dual to mage
1 fighter (grand master of the long bow) - dual to mage
1 fighter (shortbow) - dual to thief
1 fighter (2 weapon specializer - proficient in flails and hammers) dual to cleric.

You have =
5 fighters (2 tanks - the beserker and the Cleric)
3 mages (very very powerful)
1 Cleric (need healing, and good tank with Crom Faeyr)
3 great archer types
1 dwarf type (good resistance to magical attacks)
1 thief (you need a thief to disarm traps and open locks and pickpocket Ribald for that ring of regeneration)

Also - when you start out your fighters, they'll get the percentage bonus on their strength... take your time when rolling and you'll get a lot of high strength bonus characters

the downfall is that you rise in level slower because you're spreading exp around to 6 people. The upsight is that when you dual, you'll rise in your dualled class pretty quickly. I scribed about 50 spells from scrolls and my first fighter that was dualled to a mage rose to level 5 without even firing a shot!!

[OmegaKiller]

Hey, cool it Russ! You ask a question, expect to get answers that you dont want. You will get many helpful answers and no so helpful ones. The skill that you need, is the ability to throw out the ones that you dont need and keep the ones that you do! The more you snap at people like that, the less eagerly that will help you with future problems.

anyways here is my two cents worth:

Get Keldorn (oh how I hate him!. I prefer two true tanks in my party. Him and minsc are are very "compatabile" Also you can make Keldorn amost impervious to any type of magic if you get the right type of items

Keep Mazzy: She is the best archer in the game and can provide frontline skills in a clich.


Keep Jerhoria (I prefer viconia because of her cleric ability)

Keep Arie because she is a decent mage/cleric

The yourself.

This party formation will provide a balance between your tanks and ranged attacks. Also you will have decent (not great) clerics and mages.

To further advance your group, you would need to get some evil party members. I would first get vicona (best cleric in the game with a strenth enhancing items) and drop Jeharia.

Drop Arie and get Edwin. Best mage in the game. However if you do, expect problems between him and Minsc. If you choose Edwin, I would get Korgan for my other tank.

If you feel your weakness is your theiving ability (finding traps, disarming them etc) drop Arie and pick up Imoan. (later in the game) Or you got with Jan.

There are no "perfect" parties in SOA. No matter who you get, you will have some weakness.

My party consists of

Half-orc beserker
Korgan
Viconia
Harr-d
Imoan
Edwin.

My main character is the best tank for soa (bia i know) with korgan chipping in. I have the best two mages in the game in edwin and Imoan with harr d taking a role sometimes.

My weakness is my cleric. I would have prefer viconia would have been of a good aligment so she can destroy the undead instead of temporairy turning them. Also, if she gets in trouble (like she did when I faced the drizzit scum bucket) that can be a problem.

In the end tho, it is up to you. You are the one that makes the shots.


OmegaKiller

*I am the final death

**The Destroyer of the Keldorn Order

[Mitro Jellywadder]

Russ,

Welcome to the board. Quick question. Do you have a romance going currently between any of the female members? I might have missed it, but I don't recall you stating the sex of your character. If you do, then that might influence your decision on who to take.


Haer Dalis' is fun to roleplay because he is so fragile. He's kinda like your character, except he has the blood of a fiend in his ancestry instead of a god. From a roleplaying standpoint, maybe they relate to each other. He's just fun to have in the party. Haer being a blade makes him a little better than he looks.

Keldorn is the ultimate paladin. If he was around King Arthur, he'd have a seat at The Round Table. He has some cool stories to tell about knights and paladinhood. He's a well rounded fighter.

[ 11-09-2001: Message edited by: Mitro Jellywadder ]

[Ares]

Forget HarrD. never had Mazzy. Get Keldorn instead of Valygar unless you want to use Celestial Fury. Keep Aerie (she is sooo good). Minsc is awesome as a fighter plus he has range abilities [img]smile.gif[/img] . Jaheria is ok as a druid/healer. But i would get Anomen as your healer (annoying personalty but he cool).
This is my party usually

Me (maxed lvl fighter)
Aerie
Minsc
Anomen
Keldorn
Cernd - Jahera

I find Imoen completly useless, along with Jan and Harrd.

note : if you cant understand..dont blame me [img]smile.gif[/img]