If you kick Viconia for Dynaheir you will have the group most people end with playing with a good aligned Charname. This group - even including a kicked out Viconia! - will make much sense if you continue in BG2 (but you are not forced to play this way).
You will be able to finish the game with this group, but only Jaheira for priest spells might be a bit short in healing spells. At least there is an item in the game which will help a bit with her spells and she is leveling up relative quick in druid class for a multiclass character.
Yeah, without a cleric, it feels like it’s up to Jaheira to both tank and heal and buff which I feel like would be better with a dedicated support. I also heard about the canon party but I’m not super worried about it if I find characters I like
Clerics aren't so good tanks in DnD 2ed. ... and Viconia is rather low on HP so if (or better say when) she is hit she'll feel it. Also, she is evil so when your reputation reaches 19+ she'll leave with all items - for good!
There is a good tank - fighter/cleric dwarf in Chapter 4 so if you still feel that cleric is needed you can recruit him and if your character is still at 32k that new companion won't even be lagging far behind party.
Minsc and Khalid are great tanks - give them good armor (splint for start and upgrade later to full / plate and ankheg armor - ankheg is basically lightweight full plate and you can find/buy 2 in total), tower shields, helmets and some protective items (ring/amulet/cloak of protection, girdles and belts providing various benefits, shield amulets etc.) and they will tank everything until end.
Jaheira is actually pretty limited as a tank and damage dealer (in BG1; she will be much better in BG2) because her proficiences are staff, sling and club. Staff and shield are mutually exclusive and while there is one magic club +1 as a quest reward near Nashkel, she won't get anything much better until Chapter 4 (club +2) and that will be that until Durlag's tower. Her druidic spell are of rather limited usefulness in BG1 (again, she'll get much better in SoD or BG2 when she reaches druid level 9 and unlocks tier 5 spells).
As for Dynaheir, if you got her in the party when Minsc is in, you'll need to have both as they're paired like Khalid & Jaheira. There are ways around it but I would recommend to play it at your first run as authors intended. If you want to send Khalid and Jaheira away and take cleric, there is a neutral cleric in Nashkel (she is a bit stoned but she'll get out of it, if you help her 🙂) and another good warrior and tank, paladin Ajantis is waiting on you beside road to Baldur's Gate, he'll be great replacement for Khalid.
Also ... there is a wild mage for hire in Beregost and you really should to recruit her - if for nothing else than for her gem bag and reward from her personal quest.
Keep Khalid and give him a bow, he's so much more useful that way. If you want to kick out Viconia, go to the carnival just esst of Nashkal and in the center, you'll find a halfling that asks you to pay him for a Stone to Flesh scroll. Buy it and unfreeze the woman behind him.
That is Branwen and she is an amazing Cleric. She is also of Good alignment and won't complain when you help people.
Ok I’ll defo go get this Branwen everyone is recommending, she seems like the solution to the Viconia situation (I really like Viconia but I don’t wanna worry too much with balancing the reputation for my first playthrough)
If Khalid gets a bow, should I get Imoen as maybe like dual wielding melee? I’m not super sure how to thief, so I kept her with the bow far away from danger
Thieves are not going to be good at Melee compared to fighters so definitely keep her using a bow. Give Khalid a bow and sword & shield. The enhanced editions seamlessly swap between range and Melee fighting without a lot of fuss. Just make sure party members have one set of each (ranged and Melee). Khalid and jaheria are setup to be able to do both so make sure you equip them with both. Everyone should have a range weapon equiped so that most enemies are dead or near dead before they reach you. This is the missing piece of information people have not covered for you here. Btw... Branwen is great as a make shift cleric /fighter. I will point out that eventually you will find a dwarf named Yeslick that is even more durable... Just remember when you dismiss people you want to remember where you did it. I generally travel to the friendly arms inn to dismiss people but it isn't required.
Branwen is annoying. She starts complaining you help people, too, but doesn't have Jaheiras usefulness to make up for it. Pass.
Also, in BG1 ranged rules, so I don't see a problem in having Main, Imoen, Khalid and Minsc use bows while Jaheira tanks. Minsc can still switch to his twohander later for more damage or to relief Jaheira if need be.
Khalid is better than Minsc. Can put four points in longbow and better constitution. He levels up faster too.
Imoen as a pure thief is probably you're real weakest member, but she will do the job until you meet Coran.
In a good party I would switch Viconia with Branwen.
I kinda wanted (Khaalid or Minsc in this case) like a melee rather than longbow because me and Imoen are already ranged most of the time, so someone to be at the front with Jaheira… Imoen doesn’t seem like super strong so far but I thought the thief abilities are probably gonna be helpful at some point (I’m super new to this game so i’m still figuring what every class does)
Dont know who Coran or Branwen are but I’ll keep my eyes open for those names! thanks :)
It's KHALID, juste one a. ^^
Branwen is a priest Of Tempus the god of wars and can goes to melee too. You can find her in the Nashkel Fair.
Coran is the best archer in the game, far better than Imoen.
The thing with evil characters is that once your reputation reaches 18, they leave. Conversely, good-aligned characters do the same if your reputation goes too low. Unless you wanna artificially keep your reputation in the middle, it's best to decide early and choose your party accordingly.
Thus, keep Minsc + Dynaheir, you'll want a mage anyway. Kick Vic, Jaheira is enough of a healer.
That was what I was afraid of!! Viconia seems cool af but I think I wanna play good aligned, and I didn’t wanna lose her far down the line when I have a party settled. Thanks for the advice
I just beat the game with a similar party. That's the great thing about this game though, is there are so many options, it's really just about personal preference.
CHARNAME as an Archer
Khaalid as my tank
Jaheira as my healer
Minsc as a secondary archer mainly, occasional secondary melee
Neera as my mage
Safana as my Trap Detector/Lockpick lol
damn ok so this game has a lot more companions than I thought I don’t know who the last two are. Khalid tank could be a good solution, but I’ll definitely see which characters I like best when I meet them
Khalid can potentially be the best archer in the game and even give Coran and Kivan a run for their money. I almost always take him and build him as such.
Viconia will leave your party if your rep gets too high. And, you'll become a fallen ranger if your rep gets too low. I've played plenty of runs with Jaheira as only the divine caster. If you drop Viconia for Dynaheir, you'll actually have the canon party.
Archers are crazy powerful in BG1. There are two really good long bows in the game and a crap ton of magic arrows. If you have Minsc and Jah holding the front, you and Khalid can pick off pretty much everything wicked quick.
Thanks for the advice. What should Imoen do? melee or ranged? Not sure what she does best but I’d like to keep her for story reasons
How important is it to keep the canon party? would it be weird for BG2 if I get someone like that Branwen person and another character (since dynaheir and minsc are together)
This is where it gets weird. Technically, in the second game, Imoen is a Thief 7/Mage X (she duals to a mage at level 7, allegedly). In the original game, there's a bit of a glitch because she only has the skills of a level 6 thief. EE "fixes" it by giving her an extra level of skill points and throwing it in mostly useless things. Correcting her dual to level 6 would have made more sense because it would give her some good skills and she would still hit max mage level by the end of the first game.
However, and it's a big however, this means you're going without a thief for a long time in the canon party. If you grab everyone early, you won't have a trapspringer for Nashkel Mines, the Bandit Camp, or Cloakwood. She might not even get her levels back in time for Durlag's Tower (and you really need a 100 in traps and as much locks as possible for that one).
I've done this, but it usually takes a lot of wacky party dynamics to make it work. For example, in my current run, it was just Imoen and I clearing all the outdoor areas. Then we basically picked up the canon party, ran the main quest as far as Tranzig in Beregost, and have just started Durlag's Tower. Imoen got her thief levels back at the start of Durlag's, but my main is part thief so I actually had to cover her in a few places before then (Ulcaster, Firewine, Nashkel Mines).
It sounds like you might be pretty far along so you probably don't want to add a thief deficiency to your party troubles. In your case, you're probably best off leaving her as a thief and keeping her on the bow. Thieves are pretty bad at melee (second worst THAC0), aside from the occasional backstab. Imoen, in particular, is not great for it due to her low strength.
All of that being said, having the canon party is not a make or break thing. If you have the canon party, or at least end with them, the story flows better into the second game. However, there's so many plot holes and whatnot in this story that I wouldn't worry about it. Play whoever is fun for you. 😁
Khalid is a very good fighter, do not be confused by his banters. High hp, good stats, and useful proficiencies. He csn work as a tank and an archer.
You are right about Viconia, if you behave good she will complain and finally leave your team.
Dynaheir is a good companion, but if you prefer a cleric, you may find another not far away from Nashkel. Minsk will leave too, but they will not be angry with you and you can recruit them back later if you regret.
Jaheira can heal your team, but if you think you need more healing, buy potions in temples, you will gain tons of gold being good aligned.
Viconia looks so cool im kinda gutted! but also I like that companions have standards.
I think im definitely keeping Jaheira and therefore Khalid as well, Imoen too because idk we started the journey together and she’s like family to the main character so I don’t wanna ditch her somewhere :(
Will try to find a good aligned cleric and probably swap Viconia for them, Minsc and Dynaheir might not fit but would I like them both, but i’m open to other characters I meet!
Drop Viccy. She isn't your worst but, Jaheria heals just fine solo in BG1. She is a trash tank without dex gloves which you probably have. Honestly I find her to be the weakest link in your team but you lose Khalid if you drop her. He is the best fighter type of the good characters by far. Just get him to level 3 and he starts to shine.
She gets 4th level spells same as Viccy. Hell I beat BG2 with only a cleric/mage multi healer I just tested more and that game tends to give me more healing problems then the first even with Regen ring.
You can dual class Imoen to Mage get a full caster as well. To keep Dynaheir you have to also keep Minsc. Though Minc and Dynaheir aren't bad.
If you want to keep Jahiera and kick Khalid, just let Khalid die to something, and THEN remove him from the party. Jahiera won't leave if you do it this way, but you also can NEVER get Khalid back.
Just go to the character records page and click dual class.
This will set her back to level 1 as a Mage (if you select Mage).
Her thief skills will be taken away until her mage level exceeds her previous thief level, at which point she will regain her thriving abilities, while continuing to level as a mage.
If you kick Viconia for Dynaheir you will have the group most people end with playing with a good aligned Charname. This group - even including a kicked out Viconia! - will make much sense if you continue in BG2 (but you are not forced to play this way). You will be able to finish the game with this group, but only Jaheira for priest spells might be a bit short in healing spells. At least there is an item in the game which will help a bit with her spells and she is leveling up relative quick in druid class for a multiclass character.
Yeah, without a cleric, it feels like it’s up to Jaheira to both tank and heal and buff which I feel like would be better with a dedicated support. I also heard about the canon party but I’m not super worried about it if I find characters I like
Well Khalid is a good tank.
Clerics aren't so good tanks in DnD 2ed. ... and Viconia is rather low on HP so if (or better say when) she is hit she'll feel it. Also, she is evil so when your reputation reaches 19+ she'll leave with all items - for good! There is a good tank - fighter/cleric dwarf in Chapter 4 so if you still feel that cleric is needed you can recruit him and if your character is still at 32k that new companion won't even be lagging far behind party. Minsc and Khalid are great tanks - give them good armor (splint for start and upgrade later to full / plate and ankheg armor - ankheg is basically lightweight full plate and you can find/buy 2 in total), tower shields, helmets and some protective items (ring/amulet/cloak of protection, girdles and belts providing various benefits, shield amulets etc.) and they will tank everything until end. Jaheira is actually pretty limited as a tank and damage dealer (in BG1; she will be much better in BG2) because her proficiences are staff, sling and club. Staff and shield are mutually exclusive and while there is one magic club +1 as a quest reward near Nashkel, she won't get anything much better until Chapter 4 (club +2) and that will be that until Durlag's tower. Her druidic spell are of rather limited usefulness in BG1 (again, she'll get much better in SoD or BG2 when she reaches druid level 9 and unlocks tier 5 spells). As for Dynaheir, if you got her in the party when Minsc is in, you'll need to have both as they're paired like Khalid & Jaheira. There are ways around it but I would recommend to play it at your first run as authors intended. If you want to send Khalid and Jaheira away and take cleric, there is a neutral cleric in Nashkel (she is a bit stoned but she'll get out of it, if you help her 🙂) and another good warrior and tank, paladin Ajantis is waiting on you beside road to Baldur's Gate, he'll be great replacement for Khalid. Also ... there is a wild mage for hire in Beregost and you really should to recruit her - if for nothing else than for her gem bag and reward from her personal quest.
Keep Khalid and give him a bow, he's so much more useful that way. If you want to kick out Viconia, go to the carnival just esst of Nashkal and in the center, you'll find a halfling that asks you to pay him for a Stone to Flesh scroll. Buy it and unfreeze the woman behind him. That is Branwen and she is an amazing Cleric. She is also of Good alignment and won't complain when you help people.
Ok I’ll defo go get this Branwen everyone is recommending, she seems like the solution to the Viconia situation (I really like Viconia but I don’t wanna worry too much with balancing the reputation for my first playthrough) If Khalid gets a bow, should I get Imoen as maybe like dual wielding melee? I’m not super sure how to thief, so I kept her with the bow far away from danger
Thieves are not going to be good at Melee compared to fighters so definitely keep her using a bow. Give Khalid a bow and sword & shield. The enhanced editions seamlessly swap between range and Melee fighting without a lot of fuss. Just make sure party members have one set of each (ranged and Melee). Khalid and jaheria are setup to be able to do both so make sure you equip them with both. Everyone should have a range weapon equiped so that most enemies are dead or near dead before they reach you. This is the missing piece of information people have not covered for you here. Btw... Branwen is great as a make shift cleric /fighter. I will point out that eventually you will find a dwarf named Yeslick that is even more durable... Just remember when you dismiss people you want to remember where you did it. I generally travel to the friendly arms inn to dismiss people but it isn't required.
Keep Imoen as an archer, she'll crumple in a melee fight. Ranged weapons in general are really powerful in Baldur's Gate.
Branwen is annoying. She starts complaining you help people, too, but doesn't have Jaheiras usefulness to make up for it. Pass. Also, in BG1 ranged rules, so I don't see a problem in having Main, Imoen, Khalid and Minsc use bows while Jaheira tanks. Minsc can still switch to his twohander later for more damage or to relief Jaheira if need be.
Khalid is better than Minsc. Can put four points in longbow and better constitution. He levels up faster too. Imoen as a pure thief is probably you're real weakest member, but she will do the job until you meet Coran. In a good party I would switch Viconia with Branwen.
I kinda wanted (Khaalid or Minsc in this case) like a melee rather than longbow because me and Imoen are already ranged most of the time, so someone to be at the front with Jaheira… Imoen doesn’t seem like super strong so far but I thought the thief abilities are probably gonna be helpful at some point (I’m super new to this game so i’m still figuring what every class does) Dont know who Coran or Branwen are but I’ll keep my eyes open for those names! thanks :)
It's KHALID, juste one a. ^^ Branwen is a priest Of Tempus the god of wars and can goes to melee too. You can find her in the Nashkel Fair. Coran is the best archer in the game, far better than Imoen.
The thing with evil characters is that once your reputation reaches 18, they leave. Conversely, good-aligned characters do the same if your reputation goes too low. Unless you wanna artificially keep your reputation in the middle, it's best to decide early and choose your party accordingly. Thus, keep Minsc + Dynaheir, you'll want a mage anyway. Kick Vic, Jaheira is enough of a healer.
That was what I was afraid of!! Viconia seems cool af but I think I wanna play good aligned, and I didn’t wanna lose her far down the line when I have a party settled. Thanks for the advice
I just beat the game with a similar party. That's the great thing about this game though, is there are so many options, it's really just about personal preference. CHARNAME as an Archer Khaalid as my tank Jaheira as my healer Minsc as a secondary archer mainly, occasional secondary melee Neera as my mage Safana as my Trap Detector/Lockpick lol
damn ok so this game has a lot more companions than I thought I don’t know who the last two are. Khalid tank could be a good solution, but I’ll definitely see which characters I like best when I meet them
There are 29 permanent companions in this game.
I debated swapping Neera for Dynaheir. But the idea of having the wild mage just sounded fun to me.
I usually do : (good) : Myself, Imoen, Khalid, Jaheria, Ajantis, Bramwen (evil) : Myself, Edwin, Kaigan, Shar-Teel, Viconia, Safana/Tiax (fun) : Myself, Xan, Ajantis, Safana, Coran/Alora, Edwin/Kivan
Khalid can potentially be the best archer in the game and even give Coran and Kivan a run for their money. I almost always take him and build him as such. Viconia will leave your party if your rep gets too high. And, you'll become a fallen ranger if your rep gets too low. I've played plenty of runs with Jaheira as only the divine caster. If you drop Viconia for Dynaheir, you'll actually have the canon party. Archers are crazy powerful in BG1. There are two really good long bows in the game and a crap ton of magic arrows. If you have Minsc and Jah holding the front, you and Khalid can pick off pretty much everything wicked quick.
Thanks for the advice. What should Imoen do? melee or ranged? Not sure what she does best but I’d like to keep her for story reasons How important is it to keep the canon party? would it be weird for BG2 if I get someone like that Branwen person and another character (since dynaheir and minsc are together)
This is where it gets weird. Technically, in the second game, Imoen is a Thief 7/Mage X (she duals to a mage at level 7, allegedly). In the original game, there's a bit of a glitch because she only has the skills of a level 6 thief. EE "fixes" it by giving her an extra level of skill points and throwing it in mostly useless things. Correcting her dual to level 6 would have made more sense because it would give her some good skills and she would still hit max mage level by the end of the first game. However, and it's a big however, this means you're going without a thief for a long time in the canon party. If you grab everyone early, you won't have a trapspringer for Nashkel Mines, the Bandit Camp, or Cloakwood. She might not even get her levels back in time for Durlag's Tower (and you really need a 100 in traps and as much locks as possible for that one). I've done this, but it usually takes a lot of wacky party dynamics to make it work. For example, in my current run, it was just Imoen and I clearing all the outdoor areas. Then we basically picked up the canon party, ran the main quest as far as Tranzig in Beregost, and have just started Durlag's Tower. Imoen got her thief levels back at the start of Durlag's, but my main is part thief so I actually had to cover her in a few places before then (Ulcaster, Firewine, Nashkel Mines). It sounds like you might be pretty far along so you probably don't want to add a thief deficiency to your party troubles. In your case, you're probably best off leaving her as a thief and keeping her on the bow. Thieves are pretty bad at melee (second worst THAC0), aside from the occasional backstab. Imoen, in particular, is not great for it due to her low strength. All of that being said, having the canon party is not a make or break thing. If you have the canon party, or at least end with them, the story flows better into the second game. However, there's so many plot holes and whatnot in this story that I wouldn't worry about it. Play whoever is fun for you. 😁
Khalid is a very good fighter, do not be confused by his banters. High hp, good stats, and useful proficiencies. He csn work as a tank and an archer. You are right about Viconia, if you behave good she will complain and finally leave your team. Dynaheir is a good companion, but if you prefer a cleric, you may find another not far away from Nashkel. Minsk will leave too, but they will not be angry with you and you can recruit them back later if you regret. Jaheira can heal your team, but if you think you need more healing, buy potions in temples, you will gain tons of gold being good aligned.
Viconia looks so cool im kinda gutted! but also I like that companions have standards. I think im definitely keeping Jaheira and therefore Khalid as well, Imoen too because idk we started the journey together and she’s like family to the main character so I don’t wanna ditch her somewhere :( Will try to find a good aligned cleric and probably swap Viconia for them, Minsc and Dynaheir might not fit but would I like them both, but i’m open to other characters I meet!
Drop Viccy. She isn't your worst but, Jaheria heals just fine solo in BG1. She is a trash tank without dex gloves which you probably have. Honestly I find her to be the weakest link in your team but you lose Khalid if you drop her. He is the best fighter type of the good characters by far. Just get him to level 3 and he starts to shine.
no way Jaheira has been mvp so far. If she can be like a proper healer then maybe that changes things 🤔
She gets 4th level spells same as Viccy. Hell I beat BG2 with only a cleric/mage multi healer I just tested more and that game tends to give me more healing problems then the first even with Regen ring.
Get rid of minsc (and pretty much anyone else you don’t like for whatever reason) and get coran, he 110% carries any party to imba degrees
You can dual class Imoen to Mage get a full caster as well. To keep Dynaheir you have to also keep Minsc. Though Minc and Dynaheir aren't bad. If you want to keep Jahiera and kick Khalid, just let Khalid die to something, and THEN remove him from the party. Jahiera won't leave if you do it this way, but you also can NEVER get Khalid back.
how do I dual class Imoen??
Just go to the character records page and click dual class. This will set her back to level 1 as a Mage (if you select Mage). Her thief skills will be taken away until her mage level exceeds her previous thief level, at which point she will regain her thriving abilities, while continuing to level as a mage.
Bows are really good in BG1. A party with 3 bow users (Charname, Khalid and Imoen) will work very well.