Another v5 game thread, Another v5 game by a new guy on the block Options

[Mithlean]

I've been playing DnD roleplaying games for years on and off in between other things. I finished bg2 without mods a long time ago and after i finished nwn with expansions and nwn2 i thought about checking out bg2 again with mods. After trying out lot of things i ended on a thread talking about the advantages and disadvantages of IA vs SCS vs others mods. After reading up on the forums i thought I'd give IA a whirl and got sucked in. I love a challenge and been looking for something like this for a while.

I played a few times through chapter 2 and 3 with a variant of party's some with all multiplayer chars and some with BG2 NPC's. I've read up the forums alot and i know about the vagrant extra q's or the solo mage kit quests but after trying them out i decided they weren't for me atleast not for my first run. So i created a new party and decided to throw around my quest order at the start a bit for some extra challenge and to pick up one or two BG2 NPCs. And after a few days playing i thought why not write it up give people another perspective from a new kid but with a slightly different approach. This is the first time I'm doing something like this so if you have any suggestion for the game or the writeup either way feel free to let me know, constructing criticism is appreciated.

Party:
Protag - Gnome F/I - I love these guys especially in IA since you need a good tank and this guy can do it all... ATM he's +++ Two weapon ++ short sword + flail + axe
Multi 1 - Human Riskbreaker - A really interesting kit, and i don't mind the babysitting early on. ATM he's +++ Two weapon ++ club ++ longsword
Multi 2 - Dwarf Cleric of helm - I'd like Anomen here for his nice shield upgrade... but i can't stand him sorry. ATM she's + in most blunts
Multi 3 - Elf Wild Mage - I never tried one out and thought I'd see how it works even tho it might mess with some tactics if the roll goes wrong. WON'T! use her to wish (10 wisdom) or anything cheesy with reckless deomer.
Multi 4 - Elf Sorc - Well the basic buffbot / debuff with some damage thrown in. Will be replaced with Imoen, can't do it without her.
NPC slot - Mostly filled by Keldorn for a 2h specialist sometimes Jan steps in for the occasional pickpocket spree. And maybe other NPC's to do their quests not sure yet.

All expect priest are lawful good, i've progressed a bit into Chapter 2 and I'll sum up my progress and quest order so far short if anyone would like me to elaborate I'll of course do that.

I've started with Dungeon be gone to leave CI, also a side note for new people who want to use DbG also... Do not make 6 Multiplayer NPC's, if you don't get Imoen in the party the teleport guy won't show up! Ofcourse you could make 5 take Imoen wait for the autosave kick Imoen and remake the group adding a 6th NPC but I'm not sure how that would work with the mod Sikret would have to reply to that.

After that i went for the circus, completed didn't talk to the guard sold and bought my reputation to 14 guard taking it to 15. Headed to the slums did the Gaelen thing, walked to CC whilst dispatching of some annoying duo who stopped me. I picked up Nalia's and Firkraag's quests like usual. Then i left and went for the Temple district (yes you heard me) to pick up Keldorn and some quests, knowing that Suna Seni would be waiting for me I picked up the Cleric stronghold quest, Sir Charles and Fallen paladin quests. I went into the sewers and grabbed Keldorn and headed for the 2nd and then 3rd level. Everything went smooth until I hit the Big eye himself who was extremely hard to kill even with the rod and all. I accepted the cleric stronghold and then left the temple district to meet the dreaded encounter. All in all it went great although i almost lost my Riskbreaker due to my bad micro that put him in the thick of it I learned my lesson though.

After that i went and did the usual unmodded quests building my bankroll and reputation mostly. I accepted the rogue stronghold as its a semi nice source of income and i don't need the sword (i won't cheese it for cash but i like the encounter you get in Waukeens) Keldorn complained but my high reputation helps shut him up fast. As soon as i hit 19 reputation (bridge district helps allot) i went for Umar hills, i did the minor quests there and picked up Valygar's body. After that i went to Trademeet did the genies and druid stronghold that got my cleric a nice shield and got me to 20 reputation. I bought the blackblood club from the merchant and went back to the city. There i did the beastmaster encounter and hendrak getting me a nice +3 club and getting me ready to trade in 2 of my +3 clubs for a +4 one. I left Keldorn at the paladin camp for a bit while doing some pickpocketing with good old Jan. I forged my Treefolk and got back Keldorn. After that i went to Windspear Hills and cleared the first level including Tazok (except for Samia / some guardian fellas). That's about as far as i got so far from now on i'll give a bit more information etc.

So far ->
F/I --- 9/10 --- 30% --- Coin Golem ---- Wielding mostly 2 enchanted weapon shortswords (2 spells no cheesing) going for FoA and frostreaver axe for him soon.
Risk --- 10 --- 32% --- Bone Golem ---- Wielding Treefolk and a +3 club
Cleric --- 11 --- 7% --- Gaal --- Wielding a Flail +1 and Harmony shield or Shield of the Lost (depends on encounter)
WildMage --- 11 --- 8% --- Mae'var --- Wild surges so far had no real impact on battles unless you count making my party and enemies uncontrollably belch during both the Suna Seni and Tazok encounters.
Sorc --- 11 --- 4% --- Hareishan --- Mostly buffing interupting and debuffing.
Keldorn --- 10 --- 15% --- Coin Golem --- Wielding Cleric staff +3 or his sword or a Halberd +1 depending on what i need.

I'm thinking about where to go now, maybe shadow jailor and 1st floor, maybe help out nalia or get my insane talking sword and clear the slavers. But at the moment I'm leaning towards helping out Nalia since i think it would be a nice challenge.

Also if you think the Wild Mage can help me make the game too easy let me know please. If i am heading toward the keep i could change her for Nalia although that would put me in a crappy position concerning the expensive and good scrolls i bought for her. I know i can control myself easily and not use any cheesy tactics with the wild mage but i cant control her wild surges which could be really good... or really bad. Besides i doubt the wild mage will give much more benefit then Nalia's ring does.

I have one question this go to spellhold before a certain level. How does that work with multiclass characters like mine? should i just watch my riskbreakers level make sure hes below 15? I don't wanna make it to easy so I don't want to wait till my prot is 13/14 orso if that is possible. But I'd like to squeeze in as many encounters as i can so i can see them at the level they were meant for.

[Mithlean]

Seems to be unable to edit since I'm still a visitor (or maybe I'm just missing the button somehow) so I'll make a new short post for the rest of the keep. Clearing it went pretty smooth no real mayor problems or reloads until i hit Tor'gal. Short recaps below.

Glacias:
SPOILER!

Pretty straight forward didn't use any magic here just relied on my F/I tanking while my Riskbreaker and Keldorn ripped him apart. I do think i missed picking up some nice potions though since he drank about 7 or 8 during the fight.

Keep Viper:
SPOILER!

Another real easy fight thanks to my nice F/I tank and some insane crits by the Riskbreaker this kit really shines vs low AC mobs like the Viper and later the rats in Lilarcor quest

Now for Tor'gal I needed a handful or reloads but no more then 3 or 4.
SPOILER!

I went for another mellee heavy approach which worked wonders since my riskbreaker had gotten level 11 just before so he could improved haste himself. I had my F/I tank the golem and Tor'gal while my riskbreaker and Keldorn made quick work of the two trolls (their haste was eating up my mirror images too fast to keep them alive). After that we killed off Tor'gal who did manage to get 1 Storm of vengeance off but not much more. Finishing up the Golem was easy.

A really really annoying thing which first appeared in this fight tho is.... Paladin turning... I'm really wondering atm what I was thinking picking up Keldorn instead of just creating a barbarian or berzerker for the job of 2h specialist... Because him running around like a headless chicken for 80% of the fight didn't help. I don't know how many more cleric fights I'll come across but for a moment i was really considering remaking my game since I didn't release misc and killed valygar already, so replacing Keldorn is virtually impossible.

After i finished up the keep an accepted it from Nalia I payed off my 15k to the shadow thieves and did Aran's first two quests
SPOILER!

Again the F/I did a great job tanking both Gracen and the vampire bride (along with AoP which helped).

Went to the slums and for the Lilarcor
SPOILER!

The greater crawler was easy with my F/I with freedom tanking and both Keldorn and Riskbreaker under improved haste beating on him. Same for the rats who ate some nice crits from the riskbreaker again (start seeing a trend here... ). The lover was easily dispatched by having my wild mage cook up some long swords to fully exploit his vulnerability with the riskbreaker, whilst F/I just tossed the +3 axe from the keep in main hand.

Then i had to help out a mate with some work for classes so i couldn't get to the slavers compound yet will update tomorrow.