WTF are sidekicks?

[Koth]

Ok, I'll bite... in which way did I misrepresent my argument?

[Achilles]

Oh. Perhaps it’s reading comphension then.

 

I didn’t say “yours”. Nor did I say anything about “should” (though it is amusing that was your read, considering how defensive that response was).

 

*You* said that this is something people “like” and “want”. I don’t think anyone here wouldn’t just as soon have “full” companions. What actually happened though was that the devs decided to have two categories, explained what they were doing and why, and then some people agreed that this plan made sense. “Like” and “want” have nothing to do with it.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Achilles

[Tarlonniel]

Valygar and Haer'Dalis are two more of my favorites, but I haven't played without mods for them in a loooong time so they may be less interesting in the base game than I remember.

 

I would definitely go for twenty or thirty fully fleshed out, interactive, reactive companions, but that ain't never gonna happen; more likely our choices come down to "(X) fully developed companions" or "(X-1) fully developed companions and four less developed ones," in which case I'm happy to take the latter.

[Messier-31]

But it could be worse. Could be Haer'Dalis.

 

My BG2 playthrough's are cursed, because no matter what I do, can't have a proper party without The Sparrow.

[daven]

I like Cernd because his voice actor is Jason Marsden! But I never take him for too long, maybe just do his quest.

 

IN fact, I have just started BG2 again after this topic. Perhaps it's time to take Cernd, Valygar, Haer'Dalis, Mazzy... all in one party! It has never been done.

Edited March 8, 2018 by daven

[Wormerine]

IN fact, I have just started BG2 again after this topic. Perhaps it's time to take Cernd, Valygar, Haer'Dalis, Mazzy... all in one party! It has never been done.

You have no idea how many times I tried to do that. I managed to have a playthrough were Mazzy was a regular on my team. I started BG2 playthrough as well... I already doubt I will be capable of ditching Minsc, he is just too much fun.

[Messier-31]

 

IN fact, I have just started BG2 again after this topic. Perhaps it's time to take Cernd, Valygar, Haer'Dalis, Mazzy... all in one party! It has never been done.

 

You have no idea how many times I tried to do that. I managed to have a playthrough were Mazzy was a regular on my team. I started BG2 playthrough as well... I already doubt I will be capable of ditching Minsc, he is just too much fun.

 

Well, well, well.

It seems my recently finished playthrough of BG:EE+SoD was not a coincedence.

[daven]

I think this topic has been derailed into talking about BG2 but........ Yoshimo! People don't mention him enough. I always have to take him up until Spellhold. I can't NOT! Really adds to the drama, I like him he's a cool guy.

[Mannock]

I think this topic has been derailed into talking about BG2 but........ Yoshimo! People don't mention him enough. I always have to take him up until Spellhold. I can't NOT! Really adds to the drama, I like him he's a cool guy.

Awesome quest XP.

 

And he can dance on the head of a pin aswell.

[Yosharian]

 

I think this topic has been derailed into talking about BG2 but........ Yoshimo! People don't mention him enough. I always have to take him up until Spellhold. I can't NOT! Really adds to the drama, I like him he's a cool guy.

Awesome quest XP.

 

And he can dance on the head of a pin aswell.

Hai ya.

[Wormerine]

 

You have no idea how many times I tried to do that. I managed to have a playthrough were Mazzy was a regular on my team. I started BG2 playthrough as well... I already doubt I will be capable of ditching Minsc, he is just too much fun.

 

Well, well, well.

It seems my recently finished playthrough of BG:EE+SoD was not a coincedence.

Nope. Coming straight from finished BG:EE+SoD as well. My first time without Fronczewski’s familiar “You must gather your party before venturing forth”. Not quite the same but at least I don’t have to deal with dodgy translation anymore.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Wormerine

[Razorgirl]

I've been trying to slog my way through BG:EE and wow are the characters awful compared to how fascinating and well-developed they are in BG2.  Truly one of the greatest sequels ever, improves on the first in every way, and really stands on its own.  I'm excited at the prospect of Pillars 2 being the same kind of jump in narrative and character complexity and open environments.

[Yosharian]

I've been trying to slog my way through BG:EE and wow are the characters awful compared to how fascinating and well-developed they are in BG2.  Truly one of the greatest sequels ever, improves on the first in every way, and really stands on its own.  I'm excited at the prospect of Pillars 2 being the same kind of jump in narrative and character complexity and open environments.

 

That's my hope as well.

 

I played BG2 before ever touching BG1, and I had the same experience; there's a huge leap between the games.

[Yonjuro]

Mazzy also has superb dexterity, giving her great AC, lots of constitution making her tough to kill, and she's got tons of proficiency points in Shortbow and Shortsword making her a great damage dealer straight off the bat. The Wiki says she has Haste but I can't remember why she has that.

 

You can give her Tansheron's Bow, the Gesen Bow, etc and she'll just crush it.  There are some good shortswords in BG2 as well.

 

 

 

 Yes, she had special abilities consistent with her paladin wannabe status; haste, a strength buff (setting her strength to 18/00) and a party buff to remove/prevent fear. A very useful and memorable character built on a budget. 

[Yonjuro]

 

...

 

 

Kinda funny to use Mazzy as an example of a sidekick, considering she is involved in 3 quests in BG2, the most of all the companions. While Jaheira/Viconia just have romance related stuff outside their initial recruiting...

 

 

 I think it reflects the amount of developer time that went into both characters. Jaheira's story was more complicated and expensive (in terms of developer time) to write. Jaheira's content lasted for the whole game whether your character romanced her or not.

[Razorgirl]

On the topic of the thread: I personally couldn't care less about min/maxing or optimizing characters as long as combat isn't a slog or so easy it's completely boring, but I'll be real: I'm here for the companions.  The less generic and template-y and more fun and unique they are the better.  I wish companions could each have 100% unique skillsets with their own mechanics and animations distinct from those available to the PC. I'm very excited that at least they are getting unique heads this time not generated by the char creator (no more crazy eyebrows Aloth please). 

 

That said, I get people wanting to both be able to fully customize characters to their heart's content and also have the story and depth that they bring to the experience.  But this is what console commands are for! The console commands for PoE were so good, I could add any skill to any companion and edit all their attributes any way I wanted.  I ended up buffing Itumaak because I loved having him and Sagani in my party but he dropped dead instantly in every encounter in the White Marches and the sad little heal she had barely did anything.  If PoE 2 comes out with no console or no way to tweak companions, then yes, I get why people would be annoyed.

[Yonjuro]

 

 

 While Jaheira/Viconia just have romance related stuff outside their initial recruiting...

 

That's not true. Jaheira has this awesome quest in which she is cursed/poisoned and will actually die unless you resolve it in time. She also runs into more harpers and... There is more going on with her in this game than just a possible romance.

 

 

 I agree. It is not true. Someone else said this, not me.

[Yosharian]

On the topic of the thread: I personally couldn't care less about min/maxing or optimizing characters as long as combat isn't a slog or so easy it's completely boring, but I'll be real: I'm here for the companions. The less generic and template-y and more fun and unique they are the better. I wish companions could each have 100% unique skillsets with their own mechanics and animations distinct from those available to the PC. I'm very excited that at least they are getting unique heads this time not generated by the char creator (no more crazy eyebrows Aloth please).

 

That said, I get people wanting to both be able to fully customize characters to their heart's content and also have the story and depth that they bring to the experience. But this is what console commands are for! The console commands for PoE were so good, I could add any skill to any companion and edit all their attributes any way I wanted. I ended up buffing Itumaak because I loved having him and Sagani in my party but he dropped dead instantly in every encounter in the White Marches and the sad little heal she had barely did anything. If PoE 2 comes out with no console or no way to tweak companions, then yes, I get why people would be annoyed.

Yeah but using the console results in loss of achievements I believe

[Razorgirl]

 

On the topic of the thread: I personally couldn't care less about min/maxing or optimizing characters as long as combat isn't a slog or so easy it's completely boring, but I'll be real: I'm here for the companions. The less generic and template-y and more fun and unique they are the better. I wish companions could each have 100% unique skillsets with their own mechanics and animations distinct from those available to the PC. I'm very excited that at least they are getting unique heads this time not generated by the char creator (no more crazy eyebrows Aloth please).

 

That said, I get people wanting to both be able to fully customize characters to their heart's content and also have the story and depth that they bring to the experience. But this is what console commands are for! The console commands for PoE were so good, I could add any skill to any companion and edit all their attributes any way I wanted. I ended up buffing Itumaak because I loved having him and Sagani in my party but he dropped dead instantly in every encounter in the White Marches and the sad little heal she had barely did anything. If PoE 2 comes out with no console or no way to tweak companions, then yes, I get why people would be annoyed.

Yeah but using the console results in loss of achievements I believe

 

 

Ohhh...another thing I didn't notice cause I didn't care about. >.>

 

I guess that's a conundrum for some hardcore peeps then.  May have to wait for mods if you want fully 100% customizable story companions.

[Boeroer]

Modding Deadfire is a lot easier and straightforward than modding PoE.

 

Also, the functionality of the console in Deadfire is even better than in PoE (judging by the beta).

[daven]

After contemplating everything in this topic, I conclude that sidekicks are a good idea. Sometimes you just want to bring along some characters who have a bit of banter and interject sometimes but not be too in depth and throw walls of text at you. Should every companion be one of your life long soul mates? Someone who's just along because of some mutual convenience can be potentially interesting, or at least not a hassle.

 

The thing I mainly dislike is the term 'sidekicks'. The definition is 'person's assistant or close associate, especially one who has less authority than that person.' This doesn't seem to be what they are describing with them. but I guess that's just semantics.

[Achilles]

After contemplating everything in this topic, I conclude that sidekicks are a good idea. Sometimes you just want to bring along some characters who have a bit of banter and interject sometimes but not be too in depth and throw walls of text at you. Should every companion be one of your life long soul mates? Someone who's just along because of some mutual convenience can be potentially interesting, or at least not a hassle.

 

The thing I mainly dislike is the term 'sidekicks'. The definition is 'person's assistant or close associate, especially one who has less authority than that person.' This doesn't seem to be what they are describing with them. but I guess that's just semantics.

Quick! Think of a word that describes someone who hangs out with you all of the time, but isn’t a friend. “Companion” is already taken.

[Blades of Vanatar]

 

After contemplating everything in this topic, I conclude that sidekicks are a good idea. Sometimes you just want to bring along some characters who have a bit of banter and interject sometimes but not be too in depth and throw walls of text at you. Should every companion be one of your life long soul mates? Someone who's just along because of some mutual convenience can be potentially interesting, or at least not a hassle.

 

The thing I mainly dislike is the term 'sidekicks'. The definition is 'person's assistant or close associate, especially one who has less authority than that person.' This doesn't seem to be what they are describing with them. but I guess that's just semantics.

Quick! Think of a word that describes someone who hangs out with you all of the time, but isn’t a friend. “Companion” is already taken.

First word to come to mind is Bit..

[Faustus2]

 

After contemplating everything in this topic, I conclude that sidekicks are a good idea. Sometimes you just want to bring along some characters who have a bit of banter and interject sometimes but not be too in depth and throw walls of text at you. Should every companion be one of your life long soul mates? Someone who's just along because of some mutual convenience can be potentially interesting, or at least not a hassle.

 

The thing I mainly dislike is the term 'sidekicks'. The definition is 'person's assistant or close associate, especially one who has less authority than that person.' This doesn't seem to be what they are describing with them. but I guess that's just semantics.

Quick! Think of a word that describes someone who hangs out with you all of the time, but isn’t a friend. “Companion” is already taken.

 

 

Comrade

 

 

 

Actually, daven has a great point imho.  The term "sidekick" is off-putting.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Faustus2

[Tarlonniel]

Modding Deadfire is a lot easier and straightforward than modding PoE.

 

That's good news; I like monkeying around with dialogue files if they're in plain text. And I hope someone figures out how to make custom sidekicks. With the BG2 voice sets.

 

Return of Minsc!