First play: NPCs

Remove all ads!

I'm a long date fan of the BG series and I'm playing PS:T for the first time... first of all I have to say HOLY ****, THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME! I'm really surprised at the quality of this game!

From now on, spoilers.

So... I took a long time before I added any NPCs to the party besides Morte, simply because I didn't find them. When I found Dak'kon I was already at level 7, and he came at level 3/3 so I think he's supposed to be found in the beggining.

Now I have TNO, Morte, Annah and Dak'kon, and I'll get Fall from Grace. The thing is... while a great part of the fun is the fact that I didn't know anything about the story, quests, etc (while in BG I just can't be surprised anymore), I did found out one spoiler beforehand: the fact you find Vhailor in a prison somewhere and if you have 5 NPCs by them you have to give up on one of them forever.

So my doubt is more about the opinion of other players. Story and roleplay wise, which NPCs are worth having? Should I get Fall from Grace or Ignus? Or both, and give up on Vhailor? I'm inclined not to get Ignus, since I'm playing TNO as a mage, but then again, so far he seems promising, with what Drusilla told me and all.

Damn, I wish I could have more than 5 NPCs

Well, what do you think?

EDIT: Erm, also... what's this about factions? What can be gained by joining one?

 

Vhailor doesn't appear until very late in the game really. I wouldn't worry overmuch about losing the other NPC if you decide to take him, unless you left a load of sidequests till the end you'll hardly even have the time to regret it.

I'm not sure how much you know about the seventh NPC. He's available earlier than Vhailor but is still later than the ones you found above. I don't think it'll spoil things by saying he's found in the random dungeon. Make sure to leave one NPC outside when you pick him up, if you've to boot someone out of the party to get him then you'll lose them. If you decide you don't want him then you can get rid of him once you're out of the dungeon and take the original person back.

I'd definitely keep Morte, Dakkon, Annah and Grace. As you're a mage Ignus is less tempting, though you should at least keep him till you found the others. Make sure to do his conversations and get his spells for yourself. Vhailor and the seventh are personal choice, if you prefer them to Ignus use them. I didn't use Vhailor myself. The 7th is great in combat but probably the least significant to the story. My game got wiped just before the end so I can't say that for sure.

The factions can give one or two small bonuses and a few sidequests. I only joined one as that made sense to me but it is possible to finish one and then move on to the next if you want.

 

Nordom was great. His conversations with Morte, Annah, and Grace are priceless. As a slight spoiler, Morte, Annah, Falls-from-Grace, Dak'kon, and Nordrom have special end clips.

IMO both Vhailor and Ignus were boring.

 

Nordom is fun to have around, and I always take him, but it is the only NPC without real connections to TNO's backstory, iirc. Great fun in conversations, though.

Morte and Dakkon are my favourites, followed by Nodrom, then Annah and Grace.

Vhailor is definitely worth meeting - gives a very nice snippet of a previous TNO's set of mind, but I don't usually keep him in the party. There are reasons.

I tend to not use Ignus too, but OTOH, a number of people I know adore him and use him often. Give him a spin if you have an empty slot in the party, but he is a rather single-minded individual, so to say. (You could for example use him around Sigil, decide if you like him or not and act accordingly.)

As Déise mentioned, Vhailor appears rather late in the game.

Save and experiment tactics might be best.

 

Thank you all. Allow me to share with you the feeling of bewilderment and fascination this game has gotten in me. I believe I am in love.

I just got to the outlands, right after Razel's maze, and have opted for myself, Morte, Annah, FFG and Dak'kon. I actually killed Ignus after he started to threaten me, so he kinda of took the decision for me At least I learned all I could from him before that.

One thought about the game. Unlike the BG series, in Torment money seems to actually be a problem! At least I never find myself with enough commons in my purse to buy what I want, and had to rely on Annah's pickpocket on several ocasions, especially for scrolls (and the clothes at the tailor). That way I can save the money for those neat tatoos. But still...

 

Just be careful if you get a godlike charisma Affects buy/sell prices in a really bizarre manner.

It's nice to see someone having so much fun with the game. I got an email from Amazon saying it had been dispatched to my home address... I'm not home for another week!

The Curiosity Shop has a lot of items that are more interesting than they might appear. If you get an item that represents someone or something else, be careful how you use it. If it's modelled after something you've seen before, try asking them about it.

 

Yeah, I got quite a few interesting things in the curiosity shop. I'll look the rest of them when I get back to Sigil. Don't know how much longer will it take though. Something tells me I'll only get back there at the end of the game.

I just got to Carceri. Talk about being in trouble.

I have two more questions...

First, are there any vendors in the game who'll buy scrolls from me?

Second... I'm finding some battles to be quite hard, actually. Baator was no easy task, and even the guards at Curst's prison were dealing a lot of damage to me real fast. I thought maybe my level is too low? TNO is a level 14 mage now, but the rest of the party is mostly level 9/10 (only FFG is level 11 IIRC)... And the fact that the game has no armors makes it hard to keep your AC low. I have to opt between give all my frontliners a medium AC score or give just on of them a good one.

EDIT: oh yeah, and I got Vhailor! Creepy fellow...

EDIT 2: Ack! I'm using Power of One and it's reducing my strenght instead of increasing it. Is this a bug or just some weird magic law from Carceri?

 

If I remember, Power of One sets your strength to a specific number (18 to everyone affected?) so could easily reduce your strength effectively as it changes it in a set fashion.

Will have PS:T when I get home so can check very thoroughly for you

 

Yep, Carceri screws up some of your spells. Nasty place. Normally the maximum Strength score Power of One can give you is 21.

 

Yeah, everything is alright again. It was indeed a Carceri thing. Now I'm back on Sigil, rich (bought all tatoos I wanted), sold my scrolls at the curiosity shop, and managed to level up quite a lot while on Carceri.

Thanks again.

 

Whoa, I never knew Carceri messed with your spells. Does it happen in Baator too?

And I almost always just bring Morte, Dak'kon, Annah, Grace and Vhailor.

 

I agree, though I never had much time for Ignus. Annah, FFG, and Morte are a must.

 

you killed Ignus? I just am wondering if he still would appear in the end to fight you if he was killed. or would then Vhailor come against you (as he does if you play an evil NO). and would he come if you never freed him?

To stay on topic: I always travel with Morte, Dak'kon and Annah. Ignus I just squeeze for his spells, sometimes I take also Vhailor, or Nordom. Fall-from-Grace usually keeps dying because she tends to rush in front before I can prevent that, so I leave her behind.

does anyone go the evil path with the wererat's book and sell NPC's as slaves? I once was tempted, then left it as TOO evil (besides the NPC's are useful as such), even when I played an evil NO.