Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week?
zerofk@lemm.ee 6 days agoJust one mod, to add more portraits to speaking NPCs.
I’m a sorcerer (dragon disciple) and I’ve got Minsc, Jaheira, Jan (just picked him up to replace Yoshimo), Aerie, and Nalia.
In BG1 I had two rules: no evil or lawful characters, and no male characters. I did that just for fun after I noticed 5/6 were female and I had a certain belt.
I don’t think I’ll be able to follow the same rules now if I need s good thief and a warrior. Besides, Aerie is lawful but too cute to let go. I do seem to have a surplus of wizards though.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 6 days ago
If you’re ever doing a second playthrough I highly recommend the Tweaks Anthology, which has some fixes and tweaks to companions that I think are just improvements. Specifically “Happy Patch - NPCs can be angry about reputation but never leave” and “NPCs Don’t Fight” are two that I highly recommend, as it lets you do mixed-alignment parties without people eventually killing each other or leaving, and the mixed alignment groups have some of the best inter party dialogue and funny banter in the game. Both Edwin and Viconia are very iconic characters, and the Viconia romance is particularly popular. Though I think the Jaheira romance is also pretty great.
As I’m sure you’re starting to notice, the class distribution among the available companions is not the most diverse, which is unfortunate. I usually recommend Yoshimo for a first playthrough as he’s a great guide around Athkatla and has some story connections, but Jan is of course very entertaining. Nalia is probably my least favourite of the original cast actually, but even she does have her moments.
You didn’t say whether you’re playing the Enhanced Edition or the original game, but presuming it’s EE I would also advise against using Neera, Dorn, Rasaad or Hexxat on your first playthrough. They are all written by Beamdog and inserted with the Enhanced Edition, and don’t fit neither the vibe nor the writing standard of the original cast in my opinion.
zerofk@lemm.ee 6 days ago
Thanks for the info! I am indeed playing the EE. I quite liked Neera in BG1, but we’ll see how it goes. And yeah Nalia is a bit grating already.
As for Yoshimo, I kind of messed him up by putting all points in traps, which meant he sucked at opening locks. After Imoen was taken I had no-one to open harder locks. Although with the amount of mages I could go for Knock… Jan’s burping is annoying me already.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 6 days ago
Jan is definitely a divisive character, people tend to either love him or hate him. I think he has some really funny dialogues but I can see why some people find him annoying. He gets bonus points if you use him alongside Anomen as he constantly mocks him. A lot of people hate Anomen for being a pompous ass, but the trick is to use him in a chaotic and/or evil party where he is constantly the butt of everyone’s jokes.
How many points did you sink into it? Traps are actually super powerful in BG 1&2 and should not be underestimated. You still don’t need more than a score of 100 in it, though. The Special Traps you get as Bounty Hunter are also super strong. Not only are they AoE, but they can be thrown instead of placed at your feet. This means you can scout ahead in stealth, then back off until the enemy is just inside the fog of war and then throw the trap right at them. This makes Bounty Hunter a very potent kit.
Thieves level up fast so you should get more points soon, and there are some potions and items that buff thievery skills for locks and traps. You can also use both Jan and Yoshimo if you like and dump Nalia.