Throne of Bhaal.... Ultimate Adventure Party

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You can hide in shadows with the Bladesingers Chain. That is, if it really matters to you if you can hide or not.

...except for Keldorn killing Viconia.

 

Well I usualy use alot of mods so that wouldnt be a problem.

 

If we're talking powergaming I wouldn't tag any NPC's along. I'd create all six myself..

-Kensai/druid: Dualed to druid at lvl 9
S: 18
D: 17
C: 15
I: 03
W: 17
Ch:18

A very powerful character, indeed. With Grand Mastery in Quarterstaff and two points in two-handed weap fighting, and the boots of speed, shes becomes very lethal! With Barkskin and bards song, she has an AC of -10.

-Kensai/Mage: Dualed to mage at lvl 9
S: 18
D: 18
C: 14
I: 18
W: 10(9 after dream sequence in Spellhold)
Ch: 10


This guy's just awesome! with the robe of vecna and dakon'zerth's blade, he cast's most spells immediately, meaning that he can cast while in-combat so fast that his opponents want have time to disturb him. With the rope of vecna, plus points in single weap. fighting, he has a base AC of -5; toss in a spirit armor and a bards song to achieve a total of -14 AC!!!

-Berserker/Mage: Dualed at lvl 12
S: 18
D: 13(Gauntlets of Dex'll do the job)
C: 17
I: 18
W: 10
Ch: 10

My char has grand mastery in long sword, though, you should consider war hammer instead in order to get Croem Fayer. I guess you could lower his str, and depend on strength enhancing spells/potions instead, but I like my frontiers to have a good base str.
With Spirit armor and bards song, you'll get an AC of -12(That is with the gauntlets of dexterity).

-These guys are my frontiers. All spell casters, all
having Grand Mastery in each their own weapon. Buff up, cast haste, and watch 'em suffer! They kill at extraordinary high speed, my kensai/mage and berserker/mage both have different spell breaching magics(pierce magic, breach, etc.), making them able to 'dispel' virtually any form of magic shielding, and quickly attacking afterwards. I have yet to find the mage who had just the slightest chance against 'em.
My Kensai/Druid has some AC enhancing spells, but mostly does it in healing and summoning. The good 'bout this is that I can quickly heal my frontiers without having to wait for my cleric to run up to them, thus without endangering weaker party members.

-Bard: Skald
S: 18
D: 12
C: 17
I: 13(Not that high, I know, but the song is also her main purpose)
W: 10
Ch: 15

Her sole purpose is to sing her songs. though, she has a point in two-handed sword and two-handed weap fighting so she can fight, if needed to.
Cast Stomneskin and other AC enhancing, damage resisting, and illusionary spells(mirror image and the likes), place her behind the frontiers, and use bards song.
The low dex gives her a bad AC, but stoneskin should be enough to keep her unharmed.

-Cleric
S: 13
D: 18
C: 18
I: 10
W: 18
Ch: 10

She has three purposes, and her main purpose is to be the main healer, and reviver of my group. Though she seldom walks into the midst of combat to heal characters(I have my Kensai/Druid to do that), then it is her who heals the party afterwards. Her secondary purpose is to summon and casts party benefiting protection spells(Bless, chaotic commands, and the likes). Her third purpose is to be a ranged fighter. With the sling of Everard she is deadly. When buffed by bards song she gets an AC of -13, making more than capable of going toe-to-toe if needed be.

-Swashbuckler(An Elf,only non-human in the group):
S: 15
D: 19
C: 16
I: 16
W: 10
Ch: 10

You might ask, 'why as Swashbuckler, when he gets no backstabbing multiplier?'. Well, first of all, I don't like backstabbing, I prefer to just go head-to-head without all the sneaking'. Second of all, I'm not that fond of ranged weapons, I'd like to have all my characters capable of fighting melee. I know it's always good to have missile weapons to back you up, therefore I make ranged weapon based characters, but they are all capable of fighting melee.
This guy is very good when given a crossbow or bow. He is the char with the third highest amount of killed monsters in the game I'm currently running; though that's probably 'cus of the frontiers who had to wait until they got their fighting skills back. I have specialized him in opening locks, finding traps, and picking pockets. No points in stealth or move silently!
With Bards song he has an AC of -11!

- When I say that this party rocks, I mean it! They kill so fast that most mobs won't even know what hit 'em.
fx. They killed Firkragg in about 1-2 minute(s) without going cheesy, at all. I just buffed up all my frontiers, placed them around the wyrmling(including the bard) so that i wouldn't be able to take out all chars with it's wing buffet, thus always being occupied by a melee fighter or two. As soon as he turned red, I had all my mages, and the bard, cast lower res on him(didn't want to bother with the magic res. trick, kind of cheesy to methinks), and charge. Before he had a chance to do anything, he was already down to injured. Then I simply just charged at him with all my manpower. He did get to throw one wing buffet, though it didn't change anything, and only one character did actually take any damage from him. When my frontiers returned from their current state of fatigue, they made short process of him.
I had also found that liches was the slightest problem for these guys. Just haste 'em, and start charging. The Lich will for certain cast protective magics, but with my frontiers being mages and all that wasn't really a problem.


Only addition could be to replace the Swashbuckler with a kensai/thief...

 

This was the party I used in one of my older BG2 run-throughs.

PC, Blade
-In my humble opinion, one of the strongest kits in the game.

Haer Dalis, Blade
-Two Blades in the frontline is a dangerous combo. Charging enemies would initally find themselves pelted by Two Skull Traps each doing 20D6 damage. Those that survive would have to deal with two buffed Blades - each has Globe of Invulerability, Blur, Mirror Image, Stoneskin, Fireshield, Protection from Magic Weapons, Polymorph: Self, Spell Immunity: Divination and Mislead(Contingency). As a standard, one is using the Kundane and the Flail of the Ages , the other is using the Scarlet Ninja-To and the Celestial Fury. Depending on what they are fighting though they can alternate between several other weapons and use Offensive Spin/Improved Haste to maximize its effect. Both are wearing the best gear they can use courtesy of UAI so there are alterations from time to time, depending on what seems "best" for a particular fight. Both can cast Melf's Minute Meteors for ranged attacks. Both have Enhanced Bard Song - so somewhere in the back the images created by the Mislead spell are granting the party +8 THAC0, damage, and AC, among other bonuses like MR and immunity to certain enchantments like stun. Both can hit their enemies with LVL 40 Flame Arrows and Remove Magic at will, among other "simple" spells. (Flame Arrow's damage is capped at 20, but the number of "arrows" created isn't)
Tenser's Transformation comes to play only when they are hard pressed - ie, so they get double hp, etc.
Yes, I am a powergamer.

Jaheira, Fighter Druid
Another fighter will not be missed, and one that can practically render enemy mages useless is a blessing. The unique spells of the Druids blend eleganlty into the field of battle, much unlike the violent wizard spells - with Storm of Vengeance I don't have to worry about my Mages getting killed by an errant Fireball. The LVL 7th spell Nature's Beauty is irreplaceable, and the same is true with Earthquake. Jaheira can also cast summon spells and, more imporantly, Iron Skins and Spiritual Armor. As if she weren't powerful enough by herself, she gets affected by the Enhanced Bard Songs as well. She dual wields the Spectral Brand and the Belm, and wears the heaviest armor the party.

Aerie, Mage Cleric
-Few will disagree that Aerie is one of the best support NPC's around. As a cleric she keeps the group intact with Defensive Harmony, Chant, Remove Fear, Bless and Mass Cure. As a Mage, she places cleric spells in sequencers and contingecies, and occasioanlly fires off disabling spells off and ADHW's.

Nalia, Mage Thief
-Her thieving skills aren't that great, but they are functional. She can use Bows and makes an effective archer with Enhanced Bard Songs.

Ewdin, Mage
-Together with Nalia, Mage Stuff. Destroy the world with Dragon's Breath, ADHW's, Timestops, Comet, Wish-Rests and etc. kind of stuff.
He carries around the Staff of the Magi, and mostly keeps to himself.

[ March 22, 2005, 18:56: Message edited by: Scythesong Immortal ]

 

Wow, SI, do Bard Songs really stack on top of each other?

 

Yes, they do.

 

That's really cool. I never knew that!

 

It has been some time since my last post... Anyway. Here's my ultimate party. You must know that I don't use any modes. So...

1. PC- Hyperion - male elven Sorcerer.

I've finished solo with this guy. Sure, he's weaker when in a party, because he doesn't level up that easy. Anyway, when you're about finishing SoA, he becomes very powerful.

2. Korgan - male dwarven Fighter

The Fighter. He is the best fighter you can have around. He can tank like nobody else and has the greatest saving throws to do it. Great HP, very low AC. Get him Axe of Unyelding +5 and another magical axe and you have a mean killing machine.

3. Viconia - female elven Cleric

She is the best healer in the game. Having a 65% magic resistance is more than nice, and with the right equipement you can hit 100% and that's very important.

4. Jan Jansen - male gnomish Thief/Illusionist

Jan is a good thief, not better than Yoshimo anyway, but... His illusion spells help him as a thief and comes in handy for the party from time to time. Anyway, a thief in BG 2 is a "must have", so this is why I choose him.

5. Keldorn - male human Inquisitor.

There are two reasons why I like him (or any other Inquisitor for that matter; but since there are no other Inquisitors in the game... oh, well). First, he can wield one of the best weapons in the game. Having a NPC with Carsomyr +6 (+50% magic resistance) is no small thing. Second, he has the best version of Dispel Magic, a very nice spell to have (my Sorcerer usually uses Remove Magic, so it's nice having Keldorn around if one of my party members is disabled). A decent fighter overall.

6. Seravok - male human Fighter
or
Edwin - male human Conjurer

This depends. If I want a more direct aproach, I choose Seravok. If I need another spellslinger (I don't use Jan for this) as a back up for my Sorcerer, I choose Edwin. Both are the best at their job.


So this is my ultimate party: 2/3 wizards (Hyperion, Jan and Edwin - if needed), 2/3 fighters a.k.a. tanks (Korgan, Keldorn and Seravok - if needed), the best healer in the game (Viconia - with the highest number of priest spells - WISDOM 18 - and the lowest AC - DEX 19 - no other NPC can have that ), a very good thief (Jan Jansen), multiclass, with the posibility to increase his thief stats, not like other dualclass (Imoen or Nalia). I think this is the ultimate party.

 

If you don't use mods then Keldorn and Viconia won't get along very well.

 

Keldorn and Viconia kept killing each other when I had them together.

 

Why not the worst party ever?

Nalia, Mazzy, Cernd, Jan, Anomen and me (a Beastmaster)

Oooh, I'll have to go home and try that one right away... well soon anyway.

 

::applause for Beren's party::

I like that one dude. I've done very similar myself, except I like Minsc dual-weilding (Axe of Unyeilding + Crom Faeyr > Ravager).

 

I know Keldorn kills Viconia if you don't have any mods... There is a way to avoid it. Save/Load. Yeah. This is how I do it. When the dialogue between them starts (the one followed by the fight), I reload. Sometimes it happens again, sometimes not. Just reload.

[ March 25, 2005, 13:46: Message edited by: Hyperion ]

 

SI, I like how your party handles business.

I just beat ToB and I already want to dive right into another play through.

I like casting spells, lots of spells, so I can't see myself picking anything else but fighter/priest.

SI, just a few questions..

I like your mislead/bard song combo and want to try it out in battle for myself, but is it more powerful than Project Image/Stoneskin/Tenser's Transformation?

Also, these last questions are for everyone..

I find myself having lots of good weapons that no one has need for. Soul Reaver collected dust, as well as Runehammer and Crom Fayer. And also, Jaheira never really gets a powerful weapon for herself without sacrificing her defensive capabilities. Ixil's Spike +6 is powerful, but her AC penalties for not carrying a shield costs her to expend a lot of potions/heals in battle or waste spell slots on Iron Skins.

There are to my knowledge five Boots of Speed. Is there a sixth, so your party can be in permanent haste? I had to settle for Jaheira wearing the Grandmaster Armor, even though it further prevented her from improving her AC with better armor.

PC - Skie - Flail of Ages +5
Keldorn - Carsomyr +6
Minsc - Ravager +6
Haerdalis - Celestial Fury +5, Spectral Brand +5
Jaheira - Water's Talon +4 (weak)
Edwin - Staff of the Magi

Is this the optimum setting for weapons? I still think I'm missing something.

Also, isn't two mages overkill? I find myself overpowering enemies with Edwin alone, although it would be fun and tempting to have two mages in the party raining down Comets and Dragon's Breath on foes.. too bad the major boss battles almost always have high magic resistances.

 

Why not do both?
I don't rely on Tenser's too much since it prevents my Blades from casting spells, and only use it when I'm sure my enemies have been stripped of their protections. I also keep Mislead as a Contingency and manually cast Stoneskins so that my characters have them on all the time.

I like micromanaging so many weapons in my game usually get used at some point or another. Doesn't matter whether the character is proficient on it or not - I'd just have him/her dual wield Kundane/The Scarlet Ninja-to/Belm (+Improved Haste/Whirlwind) to offset the attack speed loss and conjure up an image with one of my Blades so that the Enhanced Bard Song negates the proficiency penalties.

You can give her the Spectral Brand so she can do lots of damage with Greater Whirlwind even while wearing a shield, and give Haer some other weapon (he has two stars in Short Swords and Long Swords, so you might consider picking a weapon in those categories).

I remember there are two in SoA. You can get a third by killing Renal Bloodscalp after the Asylum, iirc.

I carry around two mages so I can cast as many different spells as possible. ie, I cant be bothered to have Edwin cast Wish since his LVL 9 slots are for mass-destruction spells only.

 

Since i'm playing BP-BGT-NEJ-DOTSC i feel an increased loyalty to my cellmates ar CI and always stick with them, the decisions is therefore who would the 2npc's be and making my PC fill any gaps.

1. Protagonist - Lasok - Sorcerer
Still unable to solo without a sturdy tank and is fairly slow to develop in a large group but devestatign at highlvls and cloned. Tiring trying to stop him from running into melee when not looking. Preferable to edwin in many situations + the good gear is taken.
Robe of vecna & staff of magi.

2. Minsc - Rasheman Berserker
Strong, tough and good to laugh at (even after several years) perfect tank.
Reaver+6

3. Jaheira - Fighter/Justifier
Bane of all enemy mages with insect plague & competent backup fighter with
Water talon & shield of harmony.

4. Viconia - Priestess of Shar
pure healer & backup fighter & with HLA spells compliments mage mass destructions.
Crom fayer & shield of reflection.

5. Imoen - Charming Rogue/Mage
Essentially a pure mage with a some theif skills, designed to compliment the pc with disabling/defensive spells at low lvl and mass damage at higher.
Gesen bow & best elven chain available.

6. Korgan - Berserker
Superb front line fighter when dualling axe of unyielding however
...subbed out of...
Sarevok in ToB
Far more interesting character and with the improved items mod can wield Soul Reaver+6. mmmmm a corrupted carsomyr, hence not using keldorn.

 

Well...my ultimate ToB party was:

PC - F/M/C weilding Staff of the Ram +6, Robe of Vecna, Ring of Gaxx, and TONS of other super elite items.

And thats IT!

Solo rules.

In the end he had a WIS of like 21 or so, not sure. 18 Dex...but that doesn't make a diff.

He COULD get 25 STR for upto 20 rounds per cast of Righteous Magic...and he had 3 of those memorized.

And then he also Improved Haste for 7 attacks per round...8 with the Gauntlets of Extraordinary Weapon Specialization. Or if he didn't feel like it...just summon some Devas or Planetars...or just cast Time Stop and beat the crap out of everything!

I forgot to mention, I had the XP cap remover installed but still...it was GREAT fun.

 

LoL, Faraaz you should start playing the game with parties again. Soloing can get pretty boring if you powergame too much. ^^
Ascension is something else though. I'm soloing Tactics and Ascension (although I plan to take on the Eclipse party as well) at the moment and things just went from moderately difficult to very challenging. (Solaufein + Improved Bodhi)
I once soloed Tactics and it wasn't much of a challenge, but that was the older version. The new one is a real pain.

Throne of Bhaal.... Ultimate Adventure Party.
A solo is definitely the ultimate adventure, once you think about it. But sometimes it's much harder to keep an entirely party alive in ToB, especially on insane.

 

@Scythesong: Well mate, I'm taking a crack at a SORT of party format for my next run through. Its a F/M/T (SK'd to Kensai), Jaheira (SK'd to Berserker/Druid) and Imoen (SK'd to Conjurer/Thief).

Its pretty fun so far...especially because the effective characters in my party, counting the multiclasses are 6, so its like playing with a full party...only, I'm taking only my lil sister and my girlfriend along!

But its getting boring pretty quick...so I'm thinking of ditching this run and starting up an Archer with GM in Crossbows...that way all the heavy duty work is done by the NPCs...sort of FORCING the party to earn their keep. I love doing this, mostly because in my games, my PC tends to do ALL the work, and the NPCs just hang around sucking up the XP.