Baldurs gate 2 party

[Madscientist]

I read the chrono trigger party and I thought about doing the same for BG2

 

My standard group was:

- Me (best thing was a fighter -> thief, because there was no pure thief in the game who was there for the entire game)

- Imoen (human thief -> mage)

- Minsc (human ranger)

- Jaheira (half elf fighter/druid)

- Keldorn (human paladin)

- (Sir) Anomen (human fighter -> cleric)

 

for PoE this means:

- Imoen is a human mage. You were limited to thief weapons in BG2, so she gets hunting bow and quarterstaff. To show that she was once a thief, she gets the mechanics skill. She gets high dex, int and per, which fits well to a CC mage

 

- Minsc is a human ranger. Now he has an animal companion that does the thinking for him. Unfortuanatly you cannot select a hamster. He fights was a warbow and has dump int and max might.

 

- Jaheira is a wood elf druid (sorry, she was not pale enough for a pale elf, though it would be better talent wise). In Bg2 she used weapon and shield. I have read that druids can be tanks in PoE.

 

- Keldorn is a human paladin. He is a front liner with heavy armor and greatsword.

 

- Anomen is a priest. since he was a fighter in his past, he is a priest of Magram.

 

- And finally there is me. I hope Keldorn, Jaheira and Minscs pet are enough for the front line, so I take a rogue. In Bg2 my thief fought with the draining sword (In hell, you have the choice to give it away or to kill somebody with it, name forgotten) in the main hand and chrom fayr (Hammer that gave max strengh) in the off hand. In PoE I will dual wield sabres (Though I have heard that there is a soulbound hammer too) and take steath for max damage with sneak attacks.

 

note: This is just an idea. It is unlikely that I play with them because I prefer the story companions over self made ones.

[Raven Darkholme]

"Unfortuanatly you cannot select a hamster."

I cracked up hard.

[Stargazer55]

"Unfortuanatly you cannot select a hamster."

I cracked up hard.

 

This needs to be changed right now! Obsidian devs, where are you? We need your attention immediately!!

[Crucis]

Sounds like an amusing idea.  Add the right portraits to top it off. 

 

One minor gripe.  It always struck me as odd that Minsc was a ranger, when he seemed a lot more like a "berzerker" Fighter kit (from BG2) or a Barbarian.  Nothing about him said "I really am a ranger to me".  Of course, if I was playing a BG2 themed party, I probably wouldn't even include Minsc, but that's just me.

 

Another thing just occurred to me.  If you wanted to play a BG2 themed party, maybe consider having the characters limited to the weapons they'd have been limited to in BG2, within reason.

[Madscientist]

What ???

A BG2 party without Minsc is unthinkable !

 

GO FOR THE EYES BOO !!!

[Raven Darkholme]

Sounds like an amusing idea.  Add the right portraits to top it off. 

 

One minor gripe.  It always struck me as odd that Minsc was a ranger, when he seemed a lot more like a "berzerker" Fighter kit (from BG2) or a Barbarian.  Nothing about him said "I really am a ranger to me".  Of course, if I was playing a BG2 themed party, I probably wouldn't even include Minsc, but that's just me.

 

Another thing just occurred to me.  If you wanted to play a BG2 themed party, maybe consider having the characters limited to the weapons they'd have been limited to in BG2, within reason.

In BG rangers were very different to PoE tho. Even tho you can play rangers melee, in PoE you pretty much should use them ranged. In BG it was the other way around, except for the archer subclass (which sucked hard, lol)

[Marky]

Minsc should have a bear, because Boo really is a giant space hamster.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Marky

[Sifjar]

What ???

A BG2 party without Minsc is unthinkable !

 

GO FOR THE EYES BOO !!!

 

Same you can say about Edwin.

Liked both dwarfs in 1 and 2 part.

But well, my party was always evil.. so no place for Minsc

[Crucis]

 

Sounds like an amusing idea.  Add the right portraits to top it off. 

 

One minor gripe.  It always struck me as odd that Minsc was a ranger, when he seemed a lot more like a "berzerker" Fighter kit (from BG2) or a Barbarian.  Nothing about him said "I really am a ranger to me".  Of course, if I was playing a BG2 themed party, I probably wouldn't even include Minsc, but that's just me.

 

Another thing just occurred to me.  If you wanted to play a BG2 themed party, maybe consider having the characters limited to the weapons they'd have been limited to in BG2, within reason.

In BG rangers were very different to PoE tho. Even tho you can play rangers melee, in PoE you pretty much should use them ranged. In BG it was the other way around, except for the archer subclass (which sucked hard, lol)

 

 

I'm fully aware of the differences.  It's just that nothing about Minsc ever struck me as saying "I'm a ranger".  He really did seem like just a fighter (berzerker kit) to me.

 

 

[Mocker22]

What ???

A BG2 party without Minsc is unthinkable !

 

GO FOR THE EYES BOO !!!

+1. But would it really be Minsc? No screaming "Butt kicking for goodness!" Without the crazy he's just.....a ranger.

[Madscientist]

 

What ???

A BG2 party without Minsc is unthinkable !

 

GO FOR THE EYES BOO !!!

 

Same you can say about Edwin.

Liked both dwarfs in 1 and 2 part.

But well, my party was always evil.. so no place for Minsc

 

I ended up always with max reputation, so there was no place for edwin, korgan or Viconia .

Even my evil thief was only evil so he could use some equipment.

Randomly killing and stealing to lose reputation is not something I like.

 

BG2 more or less forced you to be a hero. This is one of many things where PoE is better then BG2.

Class balance is also better in PoE. Some builds are still better than others, but (for example) there is no kensai -> mage (also called god mode )

[Crucis]

I just whipped out my old BG2 strategy guide to look at its Companion NPCs.  I'd forget that there were 16 of them, FFS!!!    So much fertile ground for a BG2 themed party!

 

Aside from the ones mentioned by the OP:  Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Keldorn, and Anomen

 

You also have:

 

Aerie (Elven priest/wizard multiclass)  Rather than trying to split the difference, maybe play her as a cipher.

 

Nalia (human thief/wizard dual class, almost entirely a wizard)  Nalia's thieving skills were so low that she barely qualifies as a thief/wizard dual class. Probably best as a pure wizard

 

Yoshimo (human thief) straight up rogue.  Probably should be more of a true "thief" than a swashbuckler.

 

Korgan (Dwarven Berzerker)  Maybe play as a fighter but with the barbarian baby frenzy talent

Viconia (Drow priest)  Probably should be a pale elven priest

 

Jan Jansen (thief/wizard multiclass) Tough choice.  Maybe just pick whichever one suits your needs.  Or play as a wizard who goes heavy on Mechanics.

 

Valygar (human ranger, stalker kit)  Probably a ranger, probably one who goes heavy on stealth.  And perhaps picks talents aimed at being played as a balanced melee/ranged character.  The downside here is that as a ranger, you're stuck with the pet, who if you don't want getting KO'd all the time, you need to spend talent point on to tough it up.  All in all, ranger or not in BG2, it might be easier to play Valygar as a PoE fighter who just invests a lot in stealth to play up the stalker angle.

 

Haer Dalis (Tiefling bard), I suppose he should be a godlike, probably moon GL as that seems the most human looking.  Or perhaps a nature GL.  (Fire and Death GL's don't seem right for this one.)  And obviously a Chanter.

 

Edwin (human wizard)  a pure wizard

 

Cernd (human druid)  ... wait, isn't he already in PoE?    Anyways, a straight up human druid.

 

Mazzy (halfling fighter)  And Mazzy sorta kinda feels like she's already in the game as Sagani.  Otherwise, Definitely Hearth Orlan.  And I could see her as either a fighter who likes bows a lot.  Or even a paladin (she very much had the heart of a paladin), since in BG2 the only reason she isn't really a paladin is due to race restrictions from the old D&D rules.  But even as a paladin, Mazzy would probably mostly prefer to be a ranged pally.

 

as for the OP's first five:

 

Imoen (human thief/mage dual class)  Probably a wizard with good mechanics skills.

 

Jaheira (half elf fighter/druid multiclass):  probably best as druid, either human or wood elf (whichever floats your boat).  Fighter with the druid baby talent?  Druid with the Veteran's Recovery talent?

 

Minsc (human "ranger"):  I'd see him as more of  a Fighter who picks the barbarian baby frenzy talent.  But I suppose you could do the same as a ranger as well.

 

Keldown (human paladin, Inquisitor kit):  Probably a shieldbearer or a kind wayfarer pally.  As an Inquisitor, he should pick paladin class talents and abilities like Deprive the Unworthy.  On the flip side, Inquisitors in BG2 weren't allowed to use Lay on Hands, which would stink big time for a PoE pally.  (I'd personally probably just ignore that little limitation.)

 

Anomen (Human Fighter/cleric dual class):  Probably a priest, who should take the Veteran's Recovery cross class talent.  And perhaps be built and played in such a way that made him feel more like a well armored "battle cleric" than a more pure caster priest hiding in way in back.  As for his deity, IMO it would either be Eothas or Magran.  Eothas if you want to play him as the nicer "Sir Anomen".  Or Magran, if you want to play him as the not so nice Anomen.

[Elric Galad]

Jan Jansen : Illusionist/Thief would fit cipher rather well.

 

Minsc : he is more a barbarian or fighter with nature related talent than a ranger. Ranger's PoE concept is too far from Minsc.

 

Mazzu : Some kind of ranged paladin

[Sifjar]

Aerie is a elven slave priest ))))

[Raven Darkholme]

 

 

Sounds like an amusing idea.  Add the right portraits to top it off. 

 

One minor gripe.  It always struck me as odd that Minsc was a ranger, when he seemed a lot more like a "berzerker" Fighter kit (from BG2) or a Barbarian.  Nothing about him said "I really am a ranger to me".  Of course, if I was playing a BG2 themed party, I probably wouldn't even include Minsc, but that's just me.

 

Another thing just occurred to me.  If you wanted to play a BG2 themed party, maybe consider having the characters limited to the weapons they'd have been limited to in BG2, within reason.

In BG rangers were very different to PoE tho. Even tho you can play rangers melee, in PoE you pretty much should use them ranged. In BG it was the other way around, except for the archer subclass (which sucked hard, lol)

 

 

I'm fully aware of the differences.  It's just that nothing about Minsc ever struck me as saying "I'm a ranger".  He really did seem like just a fighter (berzerker kit) to me.

 

His berzerk ability was really bad compared to a true berserker.

It was rather comparable to a magic debuff, than an actual positive.

As to rangers in BG:

The only other ranger was Kivan and nothing about him was saying ranger either (his pic looked like an archer, but he wasn't even good at that).

If I built a pc ranger I mostly went with ranger/cleric for super cheesy solos. (Sadly got nerfed. )

Those were always very strong melees and at least Minsc was a strong melee.

[Raven Darkholme]

Aerie is a elven slave priest ))))

Whoever could think dirty thoughts hearing that?

[Crucis]

Jan Jansen : Illusionist/Thief would fit cipher rather well.

 

Minsc : he is more a barbarian or fighter with nature related talent than a ranger. Ranger's PoE concept is too far from Minsc.

 

Mazzu : Some kind of ranged paladin

 

Minsc: probably the best fit would be a fighter with the cross class barbarian baby Frenzy talent.

 

And good suggestion on Jan Jansen.  Make him an Orlan cipher with strong mechanics skills and probably the baby sneak attack.  He is a tinker after all.  Merchant background?  A tinkerer would probably be a more apt description for him.

[HawkSoft]

But how can you have Jan Jansen without turnips?

[Stasis_Sword]

The only 2 I disagree with are the ciphers:

Aerie - She always felt like more of a priest (personality wise). Now that priests have some offensive spells I think it could work.

 

Jan - Agree on the Orlan with high mechanics, cross class sneak attack. I feel he needs to be wizard for the mirror images and closest thing to simulacrum. Also probably wielding a crossbow just because.

[Raven Darkholme]

But how can you have Jan Jansen without turnips?

Take that, turnip-hatin' scum!

[Braven]

Is there a hamster pet in the game?  Doesn't even need to be an animal companion.  There is a pet for nearly every other kind of creature in the game.

 

It would be funny if someone modded the game to include BG companions instead, along with their own dialog, conversation interjections, side quests, and such.  Would probably be quite the undertaking to do, though.  In many ways the "watcher" is not that different from the MC's role in BG.  Lot of plot similarities.  Unexpected death in the beginning triggering the start of your adventure, slowly unlocking powers and discovering your previously unknown, rare and special powers.  Running after an evil guy who knows all about who you are and responsible for said deaths.  Different world, same story.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Braven

[HawkSoft]

Different world, same story.

Different story, same journey

 

PoE has Space Pigs rather than hamsters, it saves on raw meat for the lawyers

[Crucis]

Is there a hamster pet in the game?  Doesn't even need to be an animal companion.  There is a pet for nearly every other kind of creature in the game.

 

It would be funny if someone modded the game to include BG companions instead, along with their own dialog, conversation interjections, side quests, and such.  Would probably be quite the undertaking to do, though.  In many ways the "watcher" is not that different from the MC's role in BG.  Lot of plot similarities.  Unexpected death in the beginning triggering the start of your adventure, slowly unlocking powers and discovering your previously unknown, rare and special powers.  Running after an evil guy who knows all about who you are and responsible for said deaths.  Different world, same story.

 

Similar story.  At least you don't turn into a nearly mindless killing machine of a demon in PoE.  And you're not really the spawn of a deity in PoE either.  Just some schmoe whose soul has been Awakened and is trying to stop a bad guy. 

 

But yes, the parallels are quite strong.

[Skladzien]

Minsc Should be Barbarian (for berserker rage), and where is Jan Jansen (Orian Mage with high sneak and mechanics)? Also i was trying to make Planescape team but unfortunately, no flying skulls, and winged women make it difficult (as for burning ppl i never liked Ignus).

[Sifjar]

no flying skulls

 

Wha? There is that *dude* ^_^ whos skull u can get as a pet

Edited March 10, 2016 by Sifjar