Planning a good playthrough - which npcs should I take?

[Morgoth]

Good party. It will be 
me (ranger/cleric)
Imoen (thief/mage)

then I'm totally undecided about who else to take. Any suggestion about custom npc mod too?

For a vanilla party I was thinking about:
Me,
Imoen,
Minsc, 
Aerie
Jaheira (more for her personal quest, than anything else)
What about the sixth?

I would say Yoshimo in BG2, Sarevok in Throne of Bhaal.

Totally undecided. Any custom npc mod for good that you would suggest? Was thinking about Neh'taniel - any other npc mod worth having?


 

[morpheus562]

You're not going to need 3 divine characters in a party (you, Aerie, and Jaheira), and I personally believe more than 1 is overkill. Valygar and Mazzy have fun interactions, and Keldorn is a must-have for me in my good playthroughs. Another wild card is Haer'Dalis, who can help out your arcane-light party.

For me, personally, with the MC and Imoen & Jaheira requirements, I would do something like:

• MC (Cleric/Ranger)
• Imoen (Thief->Mage)
• Jaheira (Fighter/Druid)
• Keldorn (Inquisitor)
• Haer'Dalis (Blade)
• Dealer's choice of Valygar, Mazzy, Minsc, or Sarevok

[jmerry]

There's nothing wrong with having several divine spellcasters in the party; you can always choose different spell choices. Aerie points you toward a back-line support caster, who mixes in some attack spells and includes divine spells in her sequencers. Your protagonist looks to be a front-line warrior with plenty of self-buffs. Jaheira's a front-liner too, but she doesn't have the cleric self-buffs so she focuses on spells that she doesn't have to cast in the thick of combat - open a battle with an Insect Plague or True Seeing, cast a Death Ward or summon a nymph in advance, heal afterward.

So your initial suggestion is perfectly fine. It absolutely works. And it just doesn't line up with how I'd ever build a party, so I can't offer much advice. There's no theme there; it's just a bunch of characters who are vaguely on the same side.

[InKal]

Protagonist - Champion of the Silver Flame (mod) very nice and easy to play kit, very good passives; large sword **, heavy armor max, sword on board max, conditioning max if possible, Balduran set (mod)

Minscy (would recommend Warhulk + Fume Great Sword, Stone Great Sword - that tranquild walk of peace is the best cheese ever!

Aerie (Sword Dancer of Selune, use EENPC enhanced by Subtledoctor, one of the best BG mods ever in my opinion)

Jan Jansen (Jan Extended Quest Mod) or Nalia (Darnise romance is good if you can stand very LOUD music theme)

Keldorn or Ajantis (mod) if you want romance (must play as woman in both cases) for all that is holy take Ajantis!!

Mazzy (All Things Mazzy mod)

[Morgoth]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:28 PM, morpheus562 said:

You're not going to need 3 divine characters in a party (you, Aerie, and Jaheira), and I personally believe more than 1 is overkill. Valygar and Mazzy have fun interactions, and Keldorn is a must-have for me in my good playthroughs. Another wild card is Haer'Dalis, who can help out your arcane-light party.

For me, personally, with the MC and Imoen & Jaheira requirements, I would do something like:

• MC (Cleric/Ranger)
• Imoen (Thief->Mage)
• Jaheira (Fighter/Druid)
• Keldorn (Inquisitor)
• Haer'Dalis (Blade)
• Dealer's choice of Valygar, Mazzy, Minsc, or Sarevok

Thanks. The point about mazzy is interesting. I Find valygar to be on the same league as Cernd as for personality. So I'm actually unsure.

If I had a way to have Jaheira dialogues all at once concerning her quest, I wouldn't take her.

On 2/15/2024 at 9:07 PM, jmerry said:

There's nothing wrong with having several divine spellcasters in the party; you can always choose different spell choices. Aerie points you toward a back-line support caster, who mixes in some attack spells and includes divine spells in her sequencers. Your protagonist looks to be a front-line warrior with plenty of self-buffs. Jaheira's a front-liner too, but she doesn't have the cleric self-buffs so she focuses on spells that she doesn't have to cast in the thick of combat - open a battle with an Insect Plague or True Seeing, cast a Death Ward or summon a nymph in advance, heal afterward.

So your initial suggestion is perfectly fine. It absolutely works. And it just doesn't line up with how I'd ever build a party, so I can't offer much advice. There's no theme there; it's just a bunch of characters who are vaguely on the same side.

11 hours ago, InKal said:

Protagonist - Champion of the Silver Flame (mod) very nice and easy to play kit, very good passives; large sword **, heavy armor max, sword on board max, conditioning max if possible, Balduran set (mod)

Minscy (would recommend Warhulk + Fume Great Sword, Stone Great Sword - that tranquild walk of peace is the best cheese ever!

Aerie (Sword Dancer of Selune, use EENPC enhanced by Subtledoctor, one of the best BG mods ever in my opinion)

Jan Jansen (Jan Extended Quest Mod) or Nalia (Darnise romance is good if you can stand very LOUD music theme)

Keldorn or Ajantis (mod) if you want romance (must play as woman in both cases) for all that is holy take Ajantis!!

Mazzy (All Things Mazzy mod)

I will think about Ajantis, thanks.

 

I wonder if Kivan too would be a good choice, considering that having my main being a cleric means that I can get the good ending for him and Deheriana. One has to wonder.