NPC's

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I'm wondering... are there many and plenty of NPC's to choose from in the game, or is it better to create your full party?


And those that are... do they talk much? Are they funny, scary, or anything? Also... any romances?

 

There are loads of NPC's. However you get five slots for your own created characters and three slots for NPC's.
There is a problem with some of the NPC's looting in ways which can cause you a headache, so check that out before picking up a new NPC.

Romances? Well, not like in BG2, but yeah there is romance... sort of.

 

You have 8 character slots in your party, not counting animal companions and the like. No more than 5 of them can be PCs. There are plenty of NPCs to fill out our party, so you can go with as few as 1 PC if you wish.

There are comparatively few NPC spellcasters (clerics and wizards), so its probably best to bring your own cleric and maybe your own wizard. Beyond that, do what you want.

 

Cool

I presume you can have 7NPC's as well, yes?

 

Among the bugs in ToEE, hireling behavior is occasionally erratic. Several of them turn hostile when dismissed. Elmo did not, but his inventory (other than money after using the Co8 FanFix patch) is inaccessible, so don't hand him anything to lighten your own load! He can became "permanently overburdened".

The pair from Inn of the Wench in Hommlet, Kobort & Tomulka, did attack the party when I dismissed them. Other players who posted their experiences on game forums have had that happen with those two and with others. Elmo didn't get upset in my game, and I haven't read of him doing so for anyone else.

(Amended: if you add his brother, Otis, from Nulb, to your party, he's probably going to attack you when he leaves, if you allowed Lareth to join; but maybe it's only if you put any sets of Robes from the Temple of Evil on. Anyway, he'll turn on you and demand of Elmo to help him.

Elmo won't attack anyone, and will remain in your party at first. When I played that scene, on the bridge going into Nulb after visiting the temple, Otis attacked Elmo after a few turns, at which point Elmo turned on the party also. I didn't like the way it was going, and reloaded to before heading back toward Nulb.)

I do find that compared to the the average from the current crop of CRPG's, the NPC conversation/ interaction provided in ToEE is mostly pretty lifeless, IMO.



[ October 21, 2003, 17:57: Message edited by: Kiwi ]

 

When Otis attacked me, I had fortunately unloaded all his arrows beforehand. I dealt nonlethal damage to Otis until he got knocked out, and then never visited the Masterwork shop again.

ToEE has the most personality-sparse characters I've seen in an RPG, and some of them are quite weak. Yet they demand "a full/3rd/half share of the loot". I find this quite intriguing. Creating your own party with a little help from some reliable NPCs seems the way to go. But it will be a pain in the ass to take too many NPCs towards the endgame, especially the looting punks.

 

Fellas, since the NPC´s harldy give you a good laugh or interesting Conversation I dont see why you take them along. Especially since they take alot of loot to.

5 PC´s is more than enough to handle the game. Atleast it should be, I´ve only played with a single Fighter so far without any bigger problems with the right tactics in battle. And I can only imagine how much easier it will be when I have 4 more characters to add to the slaughter.


So my advice, play only with PC´s.
And since the max level is 10 you might aswell go with a full party of 5.

 

(Spoiler - well maybe kind of....)

Just don't take Zert. I brought him to the moathouse, where he just walked around during the fights unable to attack anything. Hell, the monsters don't even react to his precence.

But then, I did read in a walk that he might betray the party or something....

 

I like to go with an even mix of the two. I have been waiting for the patch to get more involved, I like the possible outlook of some of the available NPC's. I like these NPC's

 

Those NPC's can really be a pain in the ass. I did have that gypsy girl, Selena or something, just because I accidentally let her join. After that King Behemoth Frog ate her, accidentally of course.
Oh, this is going to be a bit spoily, so don't read this if you don't wanna know. Selena (if that was her name) has a ring of invisibility. Quite nice, and reaaaally expensive.
After all, I did beat Neverwinter Nights without using NPC's, so this shouldn't be a problem.

 

SPOILER LINK.

the location of all the NPC's that might join your group

Press here...

[Link changed. Please don't link to other sites for what can be found on SP.] -Tal

[ November 11, 2003, 23:10: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

I find the NPC's extremely annoying, and I don't think I'll ever invite one into my party. I've heard there's a Prince you can find in the Temple, who's class escapes me, that takes no loot and is a good addition to your party. But everyone else can bite me. So let me get this straight, Elmo...you want to join MY party of 5 people and take HALF of everything we find? You MUST be plastered if you think I'm going for that. In fact, whatever you're drinking, I'd like some. Schmuck.

If it's a character I shouldn't be associating with (such as Lareth, if I'm playing neutral good), I just pound him and take his stuff.

NPC's could have really been cool in this game, but if you ask me they're more of a liability than anything. Especially since there are a few who will turn on you mid-battle, and most are loot-hogs. I'll just stick to my 5-person party and be happy.

 

Loot hogs? So you're saying they act just like pc's? Taking anything that's not nailed down...Hoarding magick and such? Sounds just like players if you ask me.

 

Exactly - and in my game, I'm all the "player" I want. What can I say, I'm greedy. Or, I just like to be rewarded for my hard questing. Either way, nobody's taking half my loot, or that cool +1 Bastard Sword, or whatever. Mine. Mine mine mine.

 

Caution, *spoilers* follow.

The only NPC I ever used was Darley, the tiefling sorceress on the plane of fire. By this point, there is no loot to speak of anyway, and all your characters should be at their max xp.

She has approx. 110 hp, 25AC (unarmoured) and all martial weapon props. She also has 7 magic missiles (read, the UBERMASTER, the only spell that can successfully take out a Balor- save Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, the single most powerful (and most cheesy) spell in the game, I call it the Hezrou killer, no it's not a bug).

If you don't like the looting, just drop her from the party before you open the chests (only one for me before I slaughtered Zuggtmoy) and then pick her back up when you have finished.

Edit: Caps given to Balor, he deserves it. He may be a push-over, but he looks pretty.