BG2 Best Charac

7/23/2019 BG2 Best Charac

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I have given this a lot of thought and played the game MANY times with different

characters.

What is the best character? (asuming a fresh !" char.# $ and best party combination? y

%best% I mean a char. that could be used as a & player party char. as well as a char. that

could best any other char. in your party and who wor's (meshs# well with your party.

irst you have to reali)e that the game is party oriented* i.e. you should play with the

characters that come your way (and that you li'e and want to 'eep#. Why? $ because

otherwise you will miss out on many +uests and overall immersion in the game (versus

going it alone & player style#* and of course because it is M,- easier than & player style.

You will need a character that complements your other characters in your party. /ead

through the list of characters in the boo'. or a cohesive unit (that wor's well together# you

must first consider your alignment (and your parties alignment#* primarily !ood 0s 1vil.

Most of the creatures you will be 'illing will be evil* although evil can certainly 'ill evil* it

ma'es a bit more sense to choose neutral or good. 2erhaps more importantly is the issue of+uesting (where you earn most of your e3p. points#. Almost every +uest in the game is

oriented toward a good char. (e3cept for the bohdi +uests 4 human s'in armor#* i.e. doing

good deeds. Your reputation toward N2-5s goes up with certain +uests* and if it is up to high

$ evil characters start droping from your party. 6he increased reputation is 01/Y nice to

have at the highest ("7# level because you can buy things for 879 less than you normally

could (at the various merchants#. Additionally* an evil cleric cast spells that only hurts good

characters $ which is useless in the game* however a good cleric can cast some devistating

spells to all those evil opponents in the game.

/ationally then* we choose a char. that is neutral or good. Additionally we do the same thing

for the other char.5s we will 'eep in our party (for that cohesive unit#.

ut hey* some of the best char.5s are evil: $ ;organ* is prob. the best fighter in the game*

1dwin is prob. the best mage* and 0icona is prob. the best cleric. ut loo' a little closer at

these char.5s. 1ach of them are pretty much useless at anything else but there chosen class

(w<out magical items#* and most of the choicer magical items you won5t get untill your

pretty deep into the game (and you need to get a good party to get them#. ;organ can5t do

any magic and can5t specali)e in ranged wepons (=; because you need at least one good

tan'#. 1dwin 4 0icona are useless at melee (low hp 4 low str.# and neither are very good at

ranged (missle# wepons* this really suc's in a combat situation because they are forced to

rely primarily on spells (which run out fast#. (6here are other reasons also.# (,nfortunetly*

0icona is the only really hot chic' $ great voice too.#

>on5t fret about loosing those evil char.5s* there ust not worth it. 6here are plenty of more

balanced char.s in other alignments. owever* you will need to loo' at those other char.s

(primarily class# to decide what yours will be.

2erhaps the most important class is the cleric<druid. 6he simple fact is that for most of the

game you will need at least one healer (healing potions are nice but they cost money* ta'e



up space* run$out* and can be difficult to find in the +uantity you need#. ealing potions are

really best when used during melee* and if possible this is the only time you should use

them. After your done ta'ing down an opponet you will prob. need to be healed* so you can

battle the ne3t opponent (which is sometimes around the ne3t corner* literally#. If I

remember correctly the char.s (non$evil# who have healing abilities are Amoen* Aerie* and

@aheira. (I5m discounting the rangers because it ta'es too long in the game for them toheal.#

Amoen has some %+uests%* so you might want to include him at least for a small part of the

time. e is also a possible love intrest for the ladies. is prob. is that he is a 2/I-;

personality wise (and can5t stay long in a party with ;eldorn.# =n the plus side a clerics hit

dice scales very similarly to a fighter (meaning he can do melee 4 magic#* unfortunetly he

didn5t really ma3imise his fighter class he dualed to cleric.

Aerie* is ust about useless for anything but magic (w<out magical enhancements#. 6his

means that if you use her you will ust be using her for magic and hiding her from monsters

(a couple of hits and she5s dead#. 6hat said though* she is an awesome ag$=$Bpellsoffensivly and defensivly. (I can5t thin' of any more important char.* other than your own*

during the first Crd of the game#. Bhe is also a love intrest if your char. is male (which can

be troublesome w< the bard in your party#.

@aheira* isn5t bad in melee (but not good#* she isn5t great with ranged wepons (darts#* but

she has some e3tra healing spells as well as the offensive swarm spells higher in level. er

personality isn5t to swift either though* she treats your character li'e a toddler (when you

could prob. smite her ass into oblivion#* she also has a voice that I instantly thin' of as

coming from a di'e (very butch sounding# $ which I didn5t care for. inally* w<out removing

the e3perience point cap* she is stuc' at a ma3 of level & for the game.

What this means (in determing your class#* is that either you should have " of these C

char.s in your party (in a D party# or your char. should be a cleric and you should have & of

these char.s. (or & player party reasons your player should be a cleric.#

A theif is also a very important class for detecting traps* but this can be acomplished

magically (and you can force many loc's open with high str.#.

Ne3t you should thin' about the dynamics of combat and your class. (/emeber* to have the

%best% char. we want a char. that can do it all $ this pretty much means that your char.

should be a cleric of some sort.#

-ombat is composed of C offensive maneuversE melee* missle* 4 area effect. You want to be

able to do all C fairly well. Melee is almost always with wepons (using a spell where you

need to touch a monster during combat is insane unless you have stopped time or have

fro)en them in some other manner#. Missle is with wepons and magic. Area 1ffects are

usually with magic. =f the three* Melee is overall the most important but you will usually

need a healer<potion. It is usually preferable to use either Missle or Area 1ffect because you

are minimi)ing you ris' of being hit.



6he idea when using wepons is to hit as often as possible. Fow 6A-7* haste<boots of

speed* and dual$wielding all facilitate this. With missles $ this is why people say that the

6ongien bow and Fight -rossbow of Bpeed are superior to their larger higher$damage

bretheren* they hit more often because they fire more often.

-lass routesE

Multi$class char.s arn5t bad (and +uite nice at the end of the game for continuation to throne

of bhaal w< e3perience point cap removed.# 6he prob. is that early on they are wea' and

they don5t advance +uic'ly* and the e3perience point cap is a complete 'iller on these

char.s. 6hese char.s will really only get you through the game on a & player scenario (with a

ton of saved games $ meaning you will be 'illed a lot#.

Bingle class char.s e3cept cleric and druid suffer from the inability to heal w<out potions.

Bingle class char. really don5t ma3imise there full potential either.

6he best single class character is the lade 'it bard. e is good with dual$wield* has a

deffensive and offensive capability (and the offensive is better than a ;ensai5s ;ai ability#.

e has some thieving ability 4 the highest Fore. e has bard song capability (very nice with

the harp of pandemonium#. e is also a very good mage (not as good as a real mage

relative to level#. ,nfortunetly he can5t heal. If we were to remove his missle wepon

capability* I would say dual$wield ;atana5s (Bword of the eavens $ awesom stun ability but

subect to a save* 4 Bword of Gerth $ for A- bonus of " and e3tra spells.# 6he problem here

is that their is already this char. class in the game (aler >aelis#.

My pref. is for a dual classed char.*(as it is for many others as well#. 6o properly dual class

you will need to be human and you will rely on you other party members right after youdual$class (this can be hell for a bit if your going the & player route if you don5t play the

game right#. (6o play the game right for the & player you will need to boost your e3p. points

with the non$combat +uests.#

A lot of people suggest that the best char. class is the ;ensai fighter 'it to Hth level dual

classed to a mage. 6his is an e3cellent char.* however there is a better dual class to$mage.

(No* it isn5 a -leric dualed to a mage#. If you go the route of dualing to a mage the best is

the Bwashbuc'ler theif 'it to &7th level dualed to a mage. 6his gives you theiving s'ills*

dual$wield wepon capability* several bonuses to A- (I thin' its $C at level &7#* and the ability

to use ranged wepons. With the thief you can also use armor* blac'dragon scale being the

best (though you won5t be able to remove the armor to cast spells during combat $ whichisn5t as bad as it sounds because you can always move out of combat range and then

remove the armor and come bac' and spell5em#. 6here are only two things your missing out

onE ;ai ability (which doesn5t last long enough# 4 6A-7 reduction (which is the biggest

negative#. =ver all this combination is prob. the second best in the game* but again you will

not have the healing spells* and therefor you should have two of the char.s previously

mentioned (If I were choosing I would go for the two ladies for the simple fact that ;eldorn

is one of the best char.s and you can5t have Amoen and ;eldorn in the same party for long.#



If you choose this class then go all C slots filled in dual$wield catagory and & slot in

longswords or & slot in daggers* and & slot in short bow and & slot in single wepon.

A I! prob. w< a mage class is that you don5t get as many spells (the amount you can use

b you sleep relative to your level# as you do with a cleric (paticularly if your a cleric and

you have & wisdom#. 6he other more obvious is the lac' of armor while in combat w<magical abilities retained. 1lven-hain D& will wor'* but only a A- of (the only way to get it

early on is to go the ohdi route and 'ill Aron Finval#. Bpells li'e Bpirit Armor will wor' (but

they cut down on the amount of spells you can use at that level $ which really B,-;B#. =r

of course you can go w<out armor at all which doesn5t wor'.

IM=* 6he best class is a erser'er fighter 'it to &7th level dual classed to a cleric. Why not

ust have a single class cleric? 6here 'its aren5t great* but more importantly you are missing

out on advanced wepons speciali)ation 4 reductions in 6A-7 (&7th fighter level does this

the best#* and greater strength ability scores. Bpend " slots on dual$wield* two on hammer*

and three on flail you dual class. 6hen* when you become a cleric but have lost you

fighter s'ills untill &&th level* you will spend your slots onE & for staff* & for sling* & for singlewepon* and I thin' & for shield bonus. ,pon &&th level you are allowed to spend slots

cumulativly on your previous areas of speciali)ation. At &&th level you get another slot to

spend $ place it in the dual$wield for the ma3 of C* then as others come along place them in

ammer 4 lail untill eventually in 6hrone of haal you have 8 in each. 6W* clerics can5t

use stabing<sliceing wepons* but the two best melee wepons in the game are usable by a

cleric (not a druid#. 1ventually you will dual$wield the -rom aeyr and the lail of Ages. You

can get the lail of Ages fairly early in the game and their is a good D&<D hammer (in the

same +uest#. Nothing really needs to be said about the -rom $ its virtues have been

mentioned all over the place. 6he lail of Ages has some 01/Y nice things going for it that

most people don5t fully appreciate. irst of all it is a DC wepon which is =; but not great $ in

that there are a few nastys that need more to hit (;an!a33 4 Adamite !olems#. owever*even if it does no damage as a DC wepon it will often still do damage from Acid* ire* 4

-old. M,- more importantly it has a chance every hit that it will slow the monster W< N=

BA01 (this means that the worst monster can be slowed because there is no save#. (6here

will also be e3tra heads for the lail in the 6hrone of haal.# 6he shield bonus you spent

while a cleric will add to your use w< the Bhield of armony (when you get it in 6rademeet#

$ the shield is good for preventing mind control when you need it (e3cept for Btun#.

(=bviously you stow away the hammer and go with the lail of Ages untill you have the

-rom assembled.# Which brings us to why the erser'er is such an awesome 'it* when you

1nrage (beyond the combat bonuses# you are immune to ust about everything (including

imprisonement 4 stun#. 6his is ideal for those hard$to$'ill monsters $ you summon up your

immunity w< 1nrage and then you pummel the crap out of them with your dual$wieldhammer and flail D haste<boots of speed* hiting as much as you can to 'ill them 1nrage

wares off. (You will loo' li'e a windmill of destruction.# 6W* you won5t be suffering w<out

the -rom aeyer because your "nd level spells will be well stoc'ed with the 2ower of =ne $

which can dramatically boost str.* con.* 4 de3..

=ther pluses to this dual class include that you can use any type of armor to drop that A- to

really low levels 4 use helmets (paticularly the red dragon armor which is non$magical



therefor allowing the use of other e3tra magial A- reducing devices such as the D" ring of

protection#. >on5t thin' that wearing a helmet is all that usefull?* then as' yourself thisE

what is better than & person dual$wielding the -rom aeyr and the lail of Ages? AnswereE "

people dual$wielding the -rom aeyer and the lail of Ages by using the elm of 0ailor

(double your pleasure double your fun w< Bimulcrum once a day#. You also !ate at Jth level

(that a mage doesn5t get untill Hth level# and the very hot ire Btorm. You have all mannerof defensive spells (much better than a wi)ard#. You can raise the dead 4 heal. You can

have a lot more spells by using Wonderous /ecall. And you have perhaps the most usefull

offensive spell in the gameE oly Bmite w< damage that scales with the caster5s level (by far

better than cloud'ill# $ one of the nice things about this spell is that you can fire it near your

party and have no one inured because no one in you party is evil. inally* you don5t have to

learn spells.

Bo* what are the negatives? -an5t use slicing<piercing wepons. -an5t go beyond prof. in your

only ranged wepon (the sling# $ (it5s to bad you can5t use the dwarven thrower hammer#.

Your currently limited to Jth level (6hrone of haal will prob. chg. that#. You don5t have

6ime Btop. You only have >ispel Magic to try and remove magical defenses. You don5t haveMirror Image (which is unbelievably powerful in !"* but won5t be in 6hrone of haal#. You

can only detect traps (not disarm them#. You can5t pic' loc's (only force them#. 6hats about

it.

When your rolling<allocating your ability scores get this (a beser'er<cleric#E

str. &<H& or better (don5t settle for less#

de3. &

con. &

int. &7 or better but it really isn5t that important

wis. &

cha. C (when you want to improve this score you will slip on the ring of uman Inffluence $located in the -ircus<Arie +uest#

With time spent (a lot# rolling I achieved (w<out cheating#E

&<H8

&

&

&

&

C

(this is when it pays to have a utility to cheat li'e Bhadow;eeper $ you can roll scores

(w<allocation# li'e this* but why spend the time? @ust use Bhadow;eeper* but don5t givehigher scores than this $ otherwise you really are cheating#.

6he best partyE

My erser'er<-leric

;eldorn

aer5>alis

Nalia



Imoen

Aerie

I5ll say something a bit about ;eldornE e is a bad$ass. 6he true Mage Blayer 'it in !" is

an In+uisitor 2aladin (especially when used w< -arsomyer#. W< >ispel Magic at twice his

level he can drop the protections off a lich and then wittle him down to si)e with the sword.If the liches start getting uppity and multiply via Bimulcrum then he can ma'e the twin

vanish with 6rue Bight. When its time to drop the ,ndead $ put A)uredge A3e in his hand

and watch him pop vampires li'e a bad )it from C7 feet away. >o you want to waste some

monsters w< out getting hit? $ have a mage throw a Web and then have ;eldorn go in with

his reedom armor and cut the monsters down to si)e. >on5t let him go home to his family*

have him turn in his wife instead (I 'now* nasty thing to say for a good char.* but he is

worth it.#

BG2 Best Charac

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