Least recruited npcs

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Most picked NPCs to least picked in descending order:

Imoen
Haer'dalis
Cernd
Mazzy
Viconia
Minsc
Anomen
Edwin
Aerie
Jaheira
Korgan
Nalia
Yoshimo
Keldorn
Jan

 

I don't like druids, so they're not for me. Nalia is just annoiying and I don't like Imoen that much. Jan I haven't tried. Don't like them dual/multiclass casters that much (except for protagonist and Aerie)

 

Nalia: too damn screechy and annoying
Anomen: same
Mazzy: same
Valygar:why is he even there?
Cernd: same
Haer'Dalis: same
Viccy: too damn attached to Jaheira
Aerie: same
Yoshi: BETRAYER!!

I generally have an NPC for his/her quest then drop them.

May be I'll do an evil side with Korgan, Viccy, Edwin and Jan soon.

 

Klorox > One can never have to many mages in the party
I dont use spells much in regular fights. I´ve played enough times to know when I need spells. So most of the times I use slings and shortbows on my mages. (Shortbow on Nalia and Imoen, sling on Aerie). And if I make a mage as PC I probably go with daggers or staves and just use stoneskin when needed. So basically my party often go without a real tank as I dont consider Minsc to qualify for the Tank "title".

 

Most recruited (the others perhaps are least recruited):
Imoen
Viconia
Anomen
Nalia
Minsc
Aerie
Keldorn

 

Aerie: Stays in the party for exactly as long as it takes to find a Cursed Scroll of Petrification.

Anomen: Yeah right. Maybe if I could have my character KILL myself.
P.S. See above. Anomen has a glorius future as a pigeon toilet.

Cernd: I'll occaisonally take him through his quest.

Haer Dalis: Never, never, never. I just can't stand the guy.

Nalia: Usually I'll take her through her castle before dumping her. This time, I kept her after that. I was suprised at how good she was, nowhere near as annoying as all of the above. However, I was playing evil, and so she was just a placeholder untill I got Edwin.

Mazzy: I don't know why. I really like her, I just never seem to take her for some reason.

 

I have never picked up Haerdalis, Viconia, [snip], Jan, Mazzy or Edwin. I use characters almost everyone else eschews, Minsc, Keldorn, Nalia, Aerie and Anomen. I have completed all but every quest in the game, and I get to Irenicus so powerful that I rush over him and his minions without using any of the most famous tricks, such as "fake talk" tactics. With this bunch, alongside my own, a dual-class fighter/Thief (12/50 after completing Throne of Bhaal, importing him from BGI and TOSC)I found no serious match in the game nor the expansion. Four warrior-types, plus two mages, a snare-setting thief-Even without the special traps, normal ones are very useful-, a cleric who can wield the Crom Faeyr with five slots on Warhammer because he was a fighter, a cleric who has defensive and healing spells(aerie) a cleric with offensive spells(anomen) a defensive and spell-breaking mage(aerie) an offensive mage(nalia) a Thief able to defend himself and clean out a dungeon almost singlehandedly, a paladin wielding a Two handed Sword +5 and the amusing and combat-effective Minsc. Besides, Nalia can reach INT 18 with the proper equipment, and Stats don´t determine the effectiveness of a character, Anomen with the Crom Faeyr is a rather awesome sight, for instance and beforehand he doesn´t make much nor as a cleric or a fighter. There are better combinations, for sure, but every character is useable. Merry Xmas to everybody!

[ToB NPC removed. Please go read the forum descriptions, no ToB material is allowed in this forum.] -Tal

[ December 11, 2003, 21:34: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

"Haer - he's a Blade and has special resistances and can get ** in short and long sword."

I've always played with both the latest patch and Baldurdash installed, and I've never seen him with two stars in longsword; he just always comes with two in shortsword when I pick him up. As a test I tried leveling him up with CLUA, but I could never give him more than one star in anything, including longsword. Is it that if you pick him up later at a higher level, then maybe he comes with the extra longsword proficiency? My inquiring mind wants to know!

 

The NPC's I can't stand:

Anomen takes the cake. He's an idiot. I don't care what his abilities are, I just can't stand his personality.

Haer what's-his-face. I hate 2E and 3E bards. Poorly thought out class, in my opinion. H.D. is a special case of a character with a bad class that has been given a lot of poor dialog. Sometimes I pick him up just so I can kill him when he hits on Aerie.

Edwin. Yes, he's a "bloody good" mage, I'll grant that. Probably the best in the game. But he's also poorly written. I usually play characters that have high wisdom and intelligence, yet no matter what my stats are, my dialog options make me sound like an uneducated twit when I talk to him. Plus he's lawful evil, yet willing to betray Maevar. Not a great role-playing character. Once in a while I'll take him along in the hopes that he'll get himself killed. When he does, I'll carry around his decaying body for the rest of the game in order to justify "borrowing" his amulet via Shadow Keeper, but usually I can't be bothered. Normally he pisses me off so greatly that I kill him during the thief's quest instead of following his orders.

 

I have had every NPC in my party at some point in time- some lasted longer than others, however, and some will never be used again!

I don't like Cernd. And I tend to play thieves, so I have no need for Jan the short and annoying. I usually dump Minsc upon exiting Chateau Irenicus too. And I dont like Edwin.

 

I always have Minsc, that's the only person who goes with me from the very beginning till the very end. I never have Haer - I think he is absolutely useless, also never have Edwin because of Minsc, and Korgan - he is too rude. Usually I had Jaheira for romance, but this time I am using Vic for the first time and pretty happy with her. Also I don't like Aerie, though I have had her before. The rest of the NPCs come and go with their quest.

 

Bards are never useless, especially Haer. It's either you don't know how to use them, or you just don't care, since they're among the most useful classes around.
Poorly thought of class? Probably, that's why the developers never suspected it could get so overpowered.

As for Nalia, did it ever occur to anyone that she has the best choice of starting, usable spells around? That the ability to wield thief weapons is already worth its weight of the loss of spell slots? That she's one of the most useful addition to any party early on? That Imoen isn't there 'til later chapters? That by the time you get Imoen she'll be more powerful anyway? That given all possible situations Nalia is as good as Edwin?
Not to mention she has a mage model instead of a thief's? That she has a ring that works like a mini-ring of Gaax and a powerful assortment of skills you can take advantage of within the first 2 hours of gameplay?
She is an incredible NPC, well thought of and if you can just stop thinking of Imoen for once, worthy to be in the game in her own right.

 

I cannot use Nalia. I tried, but once she said 'How is this helping the poor?' in her own Keep, I booted her.

I've never used Cernd, Mazzy, Haer, Edwin or Korgan, but next time through I intend to mix it up a bit.

 

I guess it's is wrong to say about any NPC that he or she is "absolutely" useless, so I apologize for sayi it about Haer. It really depends on your playing style. I mean my main pleasure in the game is to get in the middle of a big fight and hack everybody away with pure physical strength of Minsc and my main character who is usually a Fighter or a Paladin (plus Keldorn or Valygar). So I really severy little use for a skinny whinny bard who adds nothing to my WWE-style party - bunch of big guys and one or two pretty girls for romantic purpose.

 

That's right. But let me stress my point that Haer is NEVER useless. What's the point of being a Jack-of-all-Trades if you're useless at any trade?

Sadly, this isn't usually the case. Haer suffers because few know how to use him properly, like Jaheira and Nalia. (though in the case of Jaheira, more people are getting better acquainted with her every day, for obvious reasons )

Only a few Bards are whiny.
Haer Dalis certainly isn't, given his personality and background. He's an example of how Bards can be played aside from a stereotype which is hardly practical and downright impossible (not to mention hardly typical at all, ironically).
Forget Bardic implementation in 2E and 3E, because if that's what you want then get NWN or ToEE. The D&D versions may not be the same, but their implementation of Bards is.

 

Aerie.
When I first played BGII:SoA, I picked her up. She is a very interesting and smart character, and effective member of the party at high levels. I liked her very much (my character had fallen love with her; good dialogs). I finished ToB with her as well.

Later, when playing BGII+ToB again and again, I had never picked her up because she is too weak (low HP) and [snip].

And let's not disguise the truth, there are better characters to fill that party member slot.

[Considering this is the SoA-only forum, how she performs in a specific ToB battle is irrelevant.] -Tal

[ January 01, 2004, 23:23: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

Korgan: Absolute bastard and since I'm usually some type of fighter I never need him.

Nalia and Jan: Why play with these two when I can simply take Imoen?

Cernd: Weak NPC and undevelopped character.

 

Minsc - drives me nuts
Jan - same reason
Aerie - took her once, that's enough
Nalia - too annoying

Beyond that I think I'll take almost anyone if they quite my needs.

 

Korgan - his alignment is the largest reason behind it. I normally have too many fighter types as it is. Could also be that I don't much care for dwarves.

Valygar - since most of my characters are spell casters of some sort, his opinion of magic rubs me wrong. Only use I have for him is for the Planar Sphere and he doesn't necessarily need to be alive for that.

Imoen - if Nalia were never available, or if she bit the dust, I'd probably use her. Actually, I'd probably take Jan first. I send her on her way once rescued.

Mazzy - largely because I normally have too many fighter types already. I've tried using her as a ranged fighter, but I wasn't too impressed.

Jan - I have Nalia and she is a much better mage than Jan. I love his interactions and do try different party combos to see what he says to them. Otherwise, I leave him to his turnips.

Yoshimo - why waste all that experience? Admittedly he was well written but after the first time, why bother?