Baldur's Gate 2 Companions Grading

Today, we’ll go through the joinable companions for Baldur’s Gate II and the Enhanced Edition. Very similar to my video on the Baldur’s Gate I companions except these companions are a little bit better and more developed.
Tell me how much you think a character should be an A character instead of a B character in the comments below... I live for that! So good!!!
08:48 Imoen
10:44 Aerie
13:55 Anomen
17:50 Cernd
19:58 Dorn
22:55 Edwin
26:15 Haer’Dalis
30:27 Hexxat
33:58 Jaheira
37:42 Jan
42:23 Keldorn
47:58 Korgan
53:11 Mazzy
56:13 Minsc
59:44 Nalia
01:02:51 Neera
01:05:27 Rasaad
01:08:35 Valygar
01:11:44 Viconia
01:14:43 Yoshimo
01:18:34 Sarevok
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[@ps6704]

They missed a trick not making Hexxat a Shadowdancer

[@Redjoy123]

Completely agree! She would have been a great Shadowdancer, but I get why they didn’t do that. They wanted players to play as Shadowdancers and not just rely on companions for that.

[@paperodelgiappone]

I think Nalia is an A tier like Imoen, true her thieving skills are not good, but nothing a potion or a glove can’t fix. Her family ring is her real value (50% fire res and +2 to all saves if I remember correctly). Jaheira in unmodded game cannot reach 100% physical resistance unfortunately because Earth Elemental Transformation doesn’t give dmg resistance. Only scs token does. Amazing guide btw!

[@ScorpionTDC]

Agreed on Nalia. On a strictly min max level, I think she’s a bit stronger than Imoen actually. Her thieving skills are enough to cover the bare minimum (get a ring to boost her find/disarm traps, give her a few knock spells as a backup, and have some options of master thievery and she’ll get cover your thief reqs), and her ring is better than any ring Imoen will get, and almost any ring in the game. I actually enjoy her personality more too but can see why someone wouldn’t and that’s pretty subjective

[@danbourlotos5188]

Good video. Keldorn's personal quest was likely one of my favorite, regardless of how simple it was, and really drives home the issues I have with 2e paladins. Something that gets overlooked a fair bit is that with Aerie, her priest spells can be used with the spell sequencers. Super handy for a variety of situations, both early on with the normal sequencer/contingency and then later with spell trigger.

[@Redjoy123]

That is true, Spell Sequencers are awesome, especially for Aerie. I think Keldorn is a good character that I would have liked to see be a bit more useful as a companion. At high levels, he is pretty good at being the "No Magic Allowed" guy. But yes, his personal quest is one of the best in the game, that and his banters are pretty good.

[@travishartzler9155]

Keldorn's a 1 trick pony, but it's an amazing trick. Anytime I play without an inquisitor on my team, I miss it.

[@Niko_R]

That gnome from Pathfinder... (you mean Regill, right?) He's nowhere near edgelord Dorn, much closer to evil version of Vhailor from PT or that blue general from Tyranny, forgot his name. Both Dorn and Hexxat deserve an F rating only bc of their personalities and writing, so cringey they are.

[@Redjoy123]

I think his name was Graven Ashe (thanks Wikipedia!). I immediately like him even more, I feel like that's a good way to write an edge lord: cruel but lawful and imperious. Personality wise, also agree with you on the cringiness of Dorn and Hexxat. I will say that Dorn CAN be useful but Hexxat is a lost cause.

[@Niko_R]

Original companions can be excessively wordy in general, whiny like Aerie or condescending like Jaheira, but they mostly possess some individual charm (as far as game characters can). Romances in video games are ridiculous, but Beamdog launches that concept to another level, when Dorn offers you to fight him naked after couple of days adventuring. Pretty sure he would bang you in Halls of the Radiant Heart, right on the pile of corpses if guards weren't alerted already.

[@Redjoy123]

@@Niko_R Yeah, I feel like Rasaad has a decent voice actor but is a terrible character. Neera is obnoxious but can have a power spike in the late game. The Beamdog characters are really lackluster

[@beansnrice321]

I never saw Minsc as intended to be a tank. I always saw him as an off-tank/vanguard. The idea being that he was there to protect the back line in case anything breaks through the ranks to assault his witch. He starts with a long bow but switches to melee only when a monster closes. He actually works well to pull aggro off of Dynaheir. The hole thing about him being a ranger makes sense as a player who wanted to be able to talk to his own hamster and picked the class with innate charm/talk to animals. Also, early dnd didn't have animal companions yet. So Boo and Minsc are actual friends. lol. I even get the impression that his low defense and low intelligence and rages are all linked in-game as CTE. lol.

[@Redjoy123]

Yeah, any time he has a morale failure, he goes berserk rather than running away. Honestly, I actually would have loved it if Boo was similar to a familiar in that he's a specific little summon who can run around doing things like picking pockets, scouting out enemies, going after their eyeballs, sucking eggs, things like that.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

@@Redjoy123My favorite thing about Minsc in Baldur’s Gate 3 is that you can finally have him summon Boo. Familiars in that game aren’t overly impressive but it just feels right for Boo to be fighting alongside Minsc.

[@nielsleot7039]

True but rangers are the second weakest class after monk.

[@DJ-yo9oi]

Agree with a lot of this, but I would make an S- tier and put Anomen, Nalia, Imoen, and Aerie in it. Edwin and Jan to me are the top 2, no question, especially if we're considering Throne of Bhaal. Nalia shouldn't be a tier below Imoen. Her thieving skills are very easy to work with by using potions, gear, and/or spells like Knock. More importantly, you get her well before Imoen. For most players, Nalia will always be ahead of Imoen in XP (and not by an insignificant amount). Her ring is also quite good, mostly for the saving throw bonus. And at the end of the day, she's still a mage. She can still cast Haste, summon Mordy swords, stop time, drop 3x Horrid Wiltings, be immune to damage, etc. I also think Cernd is underrated. The trick is to just ignore the shapeshifting - it is too lackluster without the mods. If you do that, you have a solid divine caster with Fire Elementals/Bears that hit like a truck, Insect Plague (top tier spell in SoA), Nature's Beauty, and healing. If you think of him that way, his stats are fine. Viconia is overrated. Anomen is the best cleric, bar none. Wisdom casting penalties aren't actually implemented, so her WIS advantage over him amounts to a few low level spells that don't make a difference in the grand scheme of things. What really hurts her is being pure class. Anomen can roid up with DUHM and Righteous Magic, equip two flails, and wreck face. She's a caster Cleric, but the Cleric spellbook favors buffing and bashing (and for the offensive spells, Anomen can cast them just as well). She does have a bit of a niche because of her MR, but if you really want someone to beat down a mage, it should be Keldorn. I'd bump Dorn up slightly to B. Poison weapon is very good, and his aura is useful for parties with several casters. Just my opinions.

[@Redjoy123]

I dig it, thank you for sharing! I think that the Mage/Thief combo works so well for BG2 and maybe Nalia shouldn't be quite so low as how I put her. That being said I do think that of the three in mind (Nalia, Jan, and Imoen), as a character, I find her obnoxious and oblivious (often saying "How is exploring this dungeon helping the needy?" when we're trying to save HER FAMILY HOME!!!). Imoen certainly isn't perfect, losing her for a solid bit of the game is rough (though, my solution would be to have her match her Mage XP to what Yoshimo would have if you took him with you and matching to the protagonist if Yoshimo isn't with the group). Even with losing Imoen for Chapters 2 and 3, I still prefer her to Nalia (even with her ring). No question though, Jan is superior. Anomen > Viconia gamewise BUT Viconia > Anomen characterwise, maybe I ranked her too high but she is excellent. Not quite so sure about Dorn but I should use him more often to get used to him.

[@da2pacalypse]

I never used Anomen but another KZbin I watched highlighted what makes him so good. For one, I didn’t know a dual class like him can reach grand mastery in weapon. I didn’t know how powerful flair of ages could be with its slow. His spells can makes him a juggernaut tank. He actually doesn’t become evil if you fail his quest. He either can become lawful good or chaotic neutral I believe. Now the wisdom bonus I would think would be useful but actually 16 wisdom only give him a couple bonus level 1 or 2 spells. What’s interesting is if you fail his quest he stays neutral and is immune to unholy blight.

[@Redjoy123]

Yes, next playthrough I do with Anomen, I'm definitely going the CN route

[@jackhughes124]

Not putting Nalia in S tier is insane. She's essentially a full-blooded mage (the best class in the game) who can wield bows and occasionally pick locks, with great stats to boot. She's also the best good-aligned spell caster in the game and can reach high level mage spells at the same pace as Edwin and way way quicker than Aerie, Jan, Imoen and Haer'Dalis, all of whom you've listed as higher. Her ring is better than most rings you get in the game, having a permanent ring is better than a permanent necklace (Edwin) as you only get one necklace slot. Plus you can pick her up right at the very beginning ensuring that she will be multiple levels higher than Imoen when you finally get her back multiple chapters later AND with a fully kitted spell book compared to Imoen. Her personality can be grating but I find flawed characters endearing and well written in this game, the fact that you've not bumped Anomen down a tier because of this same logic is mad, lol. Plus her personality matures and adapts in Throne of Bhaal.

[@Redjoy123]

I may have been a bit harsh in putting her so low (a LOT of that is her personality and the weird scripting to comment on "wasting time" when we are doing HER quest!), but I think it's a competition between which full Mage is best between Edwin, Imoen, and Nalia. Imoen has the major issue that she's not in the game for the most formative part of the game. She's good but has major issues keeping up item and levelwise. Edwin does get the extra spells and a very good specialization BUT does lose out on Divination spells. Nalia gets bonuses to her resistances and thieving skills, but someone could say that anyone could get those resistances without the ring. I am not sure if I agree that I'd put her in S Tier, but she should have been higher. When I do the "Companion Rethink Video" sometime in the future, I'm happy to place her higher.

[@jackhughes124]

@@Redjoy123 Her signet ring is a better version of a ring of protection +2, if you give her another fire resistance item she can be healed by fire damage. The main reason why I suggested S tier is because Mages are inherently S tier by design. She also has no conflicts with anyone and in the many, many games I've run she is a fantastic Mage when paired alongside Edwin. Also I know this isn't important now but Imoen was meant to die in Spellhold (tbf Imoen wasn't meant to exist in BG1 either) which is why Nalia exists at all, she was meant as a literal replacement with more of a RP trope personality. She's also voice by Grey DeLise who voiced Skie (possibly the initial inspiration for Nalia) and Vicionia, so I am biased based entirely off of that, ahaha.

[@Redjoy123]

HAHAHAHAHA! I can't fault you on that 'Grey DeLise bias'! I know that Imoen was a character tossed on in BG1, I wasn't aware that she was supposed to die at Spellhold but it does make sense for a fairly gritty story. Plus, I can't imagine losing your soul is very good for your health. I think the next time I get to BG2 with a non arcane caster, I may aim to take both her and Edwin (though I absolutely love Jan as well, so I might take him as a third arcane caster and main Thief).

[@Francois424]

YES, it's here !! Little late today but I'll be watching this slowly. Thanks !

[@Redjoy123]

My pleasure! These grade videos are a lot of fun and I love debating people about how wrong I am in the comments below!

[@Francois424]

@@Redjoy123About halfway into the video. Hexxat was what we needed early on... An extra bag of holding in "Dragomir's Respite", and a good thief to replace Imoen since (barring Jan) the other options are really bad or OKAY at best. The fact you can get hear super early is a huge plus, and she's not a goodie too shoes (tho with minimal management you can keep your reputation around 15... On that I agree with you, the rep thing is annoying, I think there's a mod to prevent them leaving, might be worth looking into it for your next BG2 playthu). I'm surprised about the micro-management complain, but then again I played lots of Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Thief/Mage and Fighter/Cleric/Mage, so I am used to removing/putting back armor A LOT during a session... At last until/if I get that elvan chainmail. What really annoys me about thieves in BG2 is that pure thief is almost always a waste of XP. I'd rather have a Fighter/Thief or Fighter/Thief/Mage as you only need so much points for traps/locks and stealth - and there's lots of good items for those in BG2 on top of it. Since most ppl do not mind installing mods that change things, I would recommend going in EEKEEPER and just change her up to like Fighter/Thief/Mage. It makes her FAR more useful as she can now take the job of identifying (and putting non-identified items into her bag of holding), is much better at fighting as well and can still backstab. Also, if she dies, she turns to mist and is reborn the next morning, so she makes a superb scout which is pretty forgiving on mistakes. Yeah that would mean even more micro-management, but I don't think there's a single other Fighter/Mage/Thief in the game so she's even more unique if you change her. Also do not forget that yes, many quests are outside, but you have many which are inside too, even more later down the line once you get to Spellhold. So it adds up. As far as her quest goes, I don't remember. But I am about to start a BG2 playthru (just finished B1 a few hours ago) and I intend to take her again with the aforementioned changes I will make to her. Honestly I would strongly suggest you try her long-term , but plan your party accordingly. If you do not modify her to be triple class, then yeah she sucks -- She still makes a good scout, still resurrect every day and still have great stats... But pure thief is so insanely boring and Underpowered at high level. IMHO. Ok back later to continue the video.

[@AndrewRussell-dz8zy]

Faldorn's not in S tier *snorts in druid fanboy*

[@billbarstad360]

Hexxat's quests are good for lots of xp. I tend to bring along a berzerk thief or wizardslayer thief, but Hexxat could fill that spot. She can be a good decoy because you don't care if she gets killed; she'll be back after you sleep. Having a great thief compliments having two great spellcasters, and I like the HLA's. And she's the only evil character who isn't obnoxious.

[@Redjoy123]

That's really good to know, though I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of her due to the micromanagement of the cloak, I can respect a companion who gives juicy XP.

[@gingergreenmashups]

she is the definition of obnoxious ☠️

[@Redjoy123]

@@gingergreenmashups Sad but true

[@ScorpionTDC]

@@Redjoy123Artisan Corner has a QOL Cloak of Dragomir fix to avoid the microing, but Hexxat is still Hexxat and she’s pretty easily the worst written and acted character IMO (and what I prioritize most), so yeah.

[@Redjoy123]

@@ScorpionTDC Yes, that QOL Cloak sounds nice but I agree, it's not enough for me to want to have her join the party.

[@trinketmage8145]

I feel like to do this perfectly you need to have different lists. One for how much you like them, and one for how strong they are. Trying to mesh the two criteria together is where all the dissonance comes in. Also, yes, Korgan is A tier. That he's slightly soft against Fire Giants in SCS doesn't stop him from being amazing in every other encounter.

[@Redjoy123]

@@trinketmage8145 I get that, I suppose the reason why I included both criteria on the same list is to emphasize that this is a very subjective list. I’ve had a lot of great suggestions on which companions go where and, honestly, I don’t think any of them are really wrong. Maybe I would have a big issue if folks seriously put Rasaad in A Tier or put Edwin in C Tier, but if someone plays on SCS and nails it with Rasaad then they are way better at the game than me (which actually would include a lot of people who play BGEE SCS)! I actually like meshing the two pieces together just because I feel that it gives all aspects of the game (both the gameplay and the companion writing) the same level of respect. I get the argument for Korgan and/or Keldorn should be a A Tier, I find that even against SCS Trolls or Mages I have to pretty much have an IV of healing potions right into their arms. But this is as much my user error as it is on them.

[@notalefty999]

Jaheira is a decent warrior that gives you access to some very handy druid specific spells and at least in the SoA level range is barely worse than a pure druid at casting. Even just as a warrior, with a strength item, she is decent at both melee and tanking. She has a lot of character specific content. Her portrait was heavily nerfed from BG1 unfortunately.

[@PahaLukki]

Your S-tier list added with Mazzy would make a great party for a PC Inquisitor wielding carsomyr. Just give gesen short bow to mazzy, firetooth to jan, staff of magi to edwin, flail of ages to anomen (maybe with defender of easthaven), and then have viconia spamming skeleton warriors and using the best sling you can find. Actually you could swap viconia with someone else like Korgan to get the berserk immunities. Then your player character could basically be anyone, like a pure class Priest of Talos or something wack. But being a better inquisitor yourself than Keldorn, and not having Edwin conflicts, really is a strong path, since you can literally dispel anyone. The only issue is hard melee in Throne of Bhaal. It is a bit boring, you'd need a stalker or cavalier with armor of faith, dual wielding defender of easthaven with hardiness HLA on. Or a barbarian dual wielding easthaven.. I have never done that, but that's what I have read, and it gets a bit boring when people say there is only way to go through ToB. I have only done ToB on sorcerer with project image spamming skeleton warriors, and Valygar backstabbing with celestial fury and crom fayer offhand.. It was a great duo.

[@kenawyn]

Great list! Very similar to how I would have ranked them. The only differences: - Anomen (*): If you play without IWD-spells then he is a solid A With IWD-spells installed he is possibly the strongest companion, S+ - Haer'Dalis (*): If you play without IWD-spells, then Anomen cannot tank as well and this makes HD valued more. With the bard stuff, and dispelling he can be your main tank, S- If you have IWD-spells installed, then Anomen can be your main tank, bruiser, buffer and off-healer. This makes HD less needed, A - Yan (*): If you like to use Mislead cheese or exploit traps, then Yan is S+ If not, then he suffers from split XP progression :(. Getting spells later hurts, which is somewhat mitigated by him being an illusionist. Then again, as an illusionist he cannot cast necromancy spells. Finally being a lower level mage his buffs are easily dispelled. On the upside he has access to detect illusion which is a very strong ability. He has all the tools to be a solid A - Nalia (A): her thieving skills are comparable to Imoens and she comes with an amazing ring (fire res+50, +2 save). If you go to Spellhold early then Imoen might be better, but if you do quests first then Nalia is superior, since Imoen gets locked to 1.25mill XP when you pick her up, which is painfully behind. In most good aligned parties I would take Nalia, because I usually solo until 1.25mill XP and only then gather my party. - Viconia (A): I don't like evil clerics, because destroying undead is better than controlling them. She also has limited combat utility - needs both a strength item (to wear better armor) and the con belt (to stay in melee). I would have rated her B, if not for her Magic Resistance, which allows her to tank spells. Solid A - Aerie (B+): suffers from similar issues as Yan. She cannot be your main cleric or your main mage :(. Her niche is that she can use triggers and contingencies to quick cast cleric spells. She can also off-tank if needed, but her class combination and weak stats make her better suited as a healer or disruptor. She is also a poor buffer, since her spells are easily dispelled. B+ - Mazzy (B+): don't get me wrong, she is amazing, but as a kit-less fighter, she lacks the tools to survive in melee. Therefore she is best used as an archer, and having access to grandmastery in shortbows she is pretty good at it. The only issue is that archery is not as good as it was in BG1. B+ - Neera (*): If you don't mind to reload then she is S+. Since I mostly play no-save no-reload runs, she is my least favorite character. An unlucky surge yeeted my ass back to Candlekeep so many times... so lately I never take her, F-

[@notalefty999]

Haer Dalis is a great tank and an OK damage dealer. He does get moderate bonuses with weapon specialisation and resistances, but his stats are a bit mid. He is also a useful buffbot in TOB. I would say he requires more micro than I care for for a non main character.

[@ryanj.3556]

Opening this video and seeing the number of companions here after only having played BG3 is so completely jarring lmaooooooo

[@Redjoy123]

Yeah, BGs 1 and 2 really did spoil us on the number of options. The downside is that, without mods, the companions don't have a single spot where they can be grabbed or swapped in or out.

[@da2pacalypse]

I use a lot of mods but the best one I found in the past couple years is called artisans house rules. It adds specific race bonuses like weapons bonuses to different races but my favorite add on is expanding weapon styles so you can increase styles to grand mastery. I think originally sword and shield just increased arrow deflecting but with the mod it improves AC and missile deflection

[@Redjoy123]

Yup! I've used Artisan's Kitpack, but I haven't used the house rules. Maybe I'll give it a shot sometime?

[@notalefty999]

Imoen is a great character strength wise if you are prepared to rush spellhold, but otherwise, is hurt enormously by how far she lags experience wise, particularly as her class depends a lot more on level than say, a warrior, with mages continuing to gain important spell slots well into late TOB. I preferred her in BG1 than 2. Also, her portrait is way hotter.

[@groanhammer282]

Nice vid. Cernd was my least fav companion in vanilla but I use the SCS mod for shapwshifting + entropy shield from IWD spells makes him probably the best early game tank for planetars. Jaheira will surpass him after HLA's but he's still strong. Korgan is A-tier for sure, just make sure to put him backline when healing and throwing axes. Mazzy cant compete with his damage output, especially late game. You also forgot to mention Sarevoks Deathbringer assault which procs quite often and adds up during the game. You also interestingly ranked clerics above druids even though you said druids are stronger

[@Redjoy123]

I like the idea of having Korgan in the back with Throwing Axes later on. I will say that I think that Mazzy has quite a bit of support for folks compared to others, I just find that, when she's in melee or at ranged combat, she always lives longer compared to Korgan until you get to the Hardiness and Critical Strike HLAs

[@mikedeck8381]

Another area where Sarevok stands out is using Soul Reaver. Really makes a difference In some tough battles but helps him out in general

[@mikedeck8381]

If your playing insane scs your going to prefer spellcaster over fighters on that version of the game. From what I see of it you buff up your party with spells before big battles the outcome is pretty much the same as if you were playing core without all the buffs. Most of the fighters types struggle until they get hardiness and they level up enough for armor of faith to be noticable. You could actually argue Dorne is the best because he ends up getting Draw Upon Holy Might, Righteous Magic, etc.

[@hedley775h9]

good job bro! all the best for you

[@Redjoy123]

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed it!

[@notalefty999]

Agree on Anomen. Its a very powerful multiclass, wisdom honestly does not matter much at all and with the strength to use the heaviest armour, high health and able to buff up to 16 dex with DUHM, he is a great tank and with 5 star in a decent range of weapons, able to achieve 25 strength and the extra 1/2 attack per round from fighter, he is a great damage dealer. At low levels, you will notice the missing spell slots compared to Viconia, but it will not matter at all by mid to late SoA. His superiority as a fighter will matter a great deal.

[@bendobson2771]

My Fav Party for my Druid that I'm playing is Me Jan Imoen Edwin Viconia and Hear'Dalis But that is cause I'm a roleplayer but for Power play it would be Jan Jaheira Edwin Anomen and Aerie. Great vid!

[@Redjoy123]

Thank you! Yeah, Jan and Edwin are very nice for arcane casting while having some combo of Viconia, Anomen, Jaheira, and Aerie does wonders for the rest of divine casting. With those companions, being a Fighter or Thief never feels easier.

[@bendobson2771]

Yeah they are my fave classes to play as you literally cannot get a better mage tham edwin and you dont have to worry about wisdom or intelligence

[@notalefty999]

Sarevok is just crippled by his placement, but otherwise a fantastic character, particularly if you dual to mage and can be arsed to farm XP somewhere (you can afk with autoattack with ranged weapons on the walls of Saradush or savescum Lum the mad). After regaining his fighter levels, a dual class mage Sarevok is godly, but this is basically a non starter if you dont cheese experience somehow. Also, you dont get to play him for any of the best content and I often dont finish TOB due to the drop in quality. He also isnt strictly a basic fighter, its just his bonuses are not clearly indicated. He can randomly stun enemies are just delivery massive damage with deathbringer assault.

[@martynsoogen7464]

heheheh an hour and half of BG2 analysis yes plz

[@Redjoy123]

And just on the Companions!

[@LeonItsMe]

You forgot to mention you can change Sarevok alignment, i found him stronger than Minsc with the right items.

[@Redjoy123]

Absolutely agree, I like Sarevok more than Minsc, XP differences aside.

[@notalefty999]

Korgan is a great character. He takes no more damage than any other pure warrior. On higher difficulties and in TOB levels, you cannot really tank with any pure warriors, but they can tank just fine in SoA. 15 dex is only +1, but the heaviest armour, shield and enrage bonus to AC, coupled with great health, saves and immunities makes him as tanky as any pure warrior in the game. He also has great proficiencies and is a great damage dealer.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

BG2 is a great game but I hate that it killed off so many of the BG1 companions. Starting Baldur’s Gate 2 and realizing half of my party was just gone forever really soured my first playthrough.

[@mikedeck8381]

Have to agree that Dorne, like the other EE characters is poorly written and annoying frankly. On the other hand all fighter types are vulnerable in SOA until the end of the game when they start getting hardiness and in the case of Minsc, Valgar and Dorne they start leveling up as spell casters. In Dornes case you can get him the constitution belt, the defender of easthaven early and that helps. Loads of people don't like him and Minsc, that's fine but don't let that effect how you grade them because they are both more than passable as far as fighters go. Hexat is also not terrible, personality aside but the execution was terrible. She needs to be an assassin, you need to be given the choice to play her as a human or a vampire, she needs to start with a lot of really cool gear so you have a reason to choose her over Jan for party thief. Jan is a spellcaster and he gets a lot of stuff that buffs his thief abilities off the bat. There should be more penalties for carrying a vampire in the party. How can you go into a temple with her? That's hallowed ground. She should immediately suffer damage and every priest or guard should turn hostile. The Radiant Heart should send out hit teams against you. The Shadow Thieves should consider her to be a plant who will try and Aran if the party can get her close enough and refuse to do business with the party or take the 15,000 gold and then try to kill the party when they enter the guild to meet Aran. Have to agree with some people who say that Beamdog missed a lot of opportunities.

[@Redjoy123]

I love the thoughts on Hexxat! I like the options of taking a powerful option for a character or party but being limited in their interactions with the world around them. A very interesting tradeoff! I know what you mean with the fighters (Dorn, Minsc, Valygar, Keldorn, and Korgan), the HLAs (particularly Hardiness and Critical Strike) are game changers but they have to suffer a lot to get there. If I were a smarter man, I would grade the Fighters on one curve, grade the Rogues on another curve, grade the Arcane casters on yet another curve, then grade Divine casters on a final curve. There's obvious overlap (Anomen, Jan, and Jahiera) but they fit particular roles.

[@alexssain]

Minsc at c is wild

[@Redjoy123]

@@alexssain Well, yeah. Alas, his stats aren’t great and the Ranger class can be a lot better. If he were a Berserker or a Barbarian then he’d be great

[@da2pacalypse]

Another House rules optional feature adds experience tomes to temples which you can buy or steal. If for example your hero meets an experience point prerequisite, they can use the tome on a lower level character to scale that character’s xp to a higher level. So character you’d normally rate lower cause you pick them up late and they’ve fallen behind; this is how you’d get around that. Plus you could probably dual class a character at a low level and then use a tomb and speed them to a higher level

[@Redjoy123]

I could see that being useful, particularly for BG1. It would be nice if the companions joined at similar XP like BG2. There have been many times when I did the solo work for a character before Chapter One, then pick up some companion who is stuck at 32k while I'm at 60k or 70k or so (by cheese and soloing).

[@notalefty999]

Edwin is very good at what he does, has a good quest and I like his personality.

[@LG-tm8hh]

Wilson is life. Plus, I find it so funny that you have the option to bring a literal bear on this high level adventure with you.

[@Redjoy123]

"Only YOU can prevent forest fires... now let's go retake the Throne of the Murder God."

[@dtt719]

It’s worth it to do the quests with each of the Beamdog companions. They all have great items. You can dump them right after

[@billbarstad360]

With Hexxat I sleep 21 times between quests and get them all done at once. That way her portion of xp is kept to a minimum, and she's hardly outside at all.

[@Redjoy123]

I’d say that’s a good way to do it. Just spend a week chillin’ at the CC with Minsc and Korgan, waiting for Hexxat to peep up about her need for her assistance.

[@MarkofWisdom]

@@Redjoy123 I will say that a faint note in hexxat's favor is something that is often mentioned in divine spell lists discussions about the spell call lightning-a good chunk of Shadows of Amn is spent indoors/underground, heavily limiting the use of the call lightning spell, but also inversely giving hexxat a fair amount of time to actually use her full stats without needing the nerf cloak or waiting until dark. She's still not really very good as a solo thief class, but she at least can get some use and be useful

[@jamolotl]

Nalia sorta reminds me of twitter activists

[@Redjoy123]

So true... there's a great dialogue between Nalia and Mazzy that's pretty cool in that they're both "Good" but one is clearly more realistic and the other is Nalia.

[@billbarstad360]

I saw a site online that has the comments for Jaheira's romance listed. It says that you can get the romance to move if you let the game sit in suspended animation for an hour, and it seems to work. I saw another comment say that if the romance freezes, you can make it move with eekeeper, but that's not my thing.

[@Redjoy123]

Yes, I believe that the timer is on as long as you have the game on, even on pause. If you want to go through the romances relatively quickly, pick up your "target" (shuddered at that word choice... sorry internet), then put the game on pause and do something for an hour or two (or more), then come back and unpause, then the next romance dialogue may start (depending on circumstances). There are some romance dialogues that start in particular conditions like after resting or in certain areas (dragons' lairs are very popular spots to hear about their woes).

[@Liednard]

Great vid! I understand better why I had such a bad time with Hexxat and Rasaad... moreover: Their questlines kept breaking!! I had to redo the final fight in Rasaad's FOUR times, and could never finish Hexxat because her ghost spawned in an inaccessible corner of the map - she never returned...

[@eldetpacko7401]

With rogue rebalancing installed, you can make Korgan immune to crushing (fire giants do crushing) and missile damage via itemization. Hardiness + Roranach's Horn + Abishai Hide + Defender of Easthaven for crushing, and then you can toss in the belt of Inertial barrier for missile. Admittedly, most of the mitigation doesn't come until late SoA, but by ToB, where the damage enemies put out becomes truly insane, you CAN get around Korgan's survivability issues vs physical damage with proper gearing.

[@Redjoy123]

Yes, yet another reason for me to ACTUALLY INSTALL Rogue Rebalancing! I facepalm everytime I start then realize "Wait a tic... did I install RR?"

[@RBXROCK]

I'm having a he'll of a time find mods and installing them right, I supposedly installed sos... I don't see much of a difference

[@notalefty999]

Nalia is a much more convenient to acquire but ultimate somewhat weaker than Imoen. She cannot really fulfil your lockpicking/trap disarming without faffing around a lot with gear and buffs, whereas Imoen can. Otherwise, they are extremely similar, with her having worse lore and better carrying capacity.

[@notalefty999]

Keldorn is very gear dependent, but unmodded at least, the dispel and truesight abilities are extremely useful. The lost abilities really dont matter that much in the SoA level range. Once the caster level is sufficiently scaled, yes, armour of faith and DUHM are a big deal. With gloves of dexterity, he can achieve around -10 AC which is fine for SoA. Also, Carsomyr is good in SoA. It is true that he fades in TOB. Disliking Drow is quite rational in the setting. He is also not particularly bigoted. He does not hold being a Drow against Drizzt and will side with him if you attack him. He intervenes when the beggar is being harassed. He admonishes Anomen for disapproving of not killing the thief when requested to do so by Maevar. There is a difference between being stern and holding justifiable prejudices and being an unreasoned bigot.

[@Brendanvio]

I know Keldorn’s a bit of a one trick pony, but if you are willing to invest a strength belt and the brawlers gloves on him, you fix a lot of his issues as a fighter. He’s hard to leave out of a good party in my view, as are Jaheira and Anomen (Who truly has one of the most insufferable personalities of any companion in the BG series)

[@Redjoy123]

Yeah, I think Keldorn's recovered a bit in my mind (even though he still needs quite an investment). Anomen had to be made insufferable because of his powerful class combo and spells, he's phenomenal and goes very well with Keldorn at keeping Keldorn alive. Jaheira is pretty good too but also needs quite a bit of time (though not as much investment as Keldorn needs).

[@Kuroo39]

I used to romance viconia cuz her voice and vibe was hot but then I used the Imoen romance mod and never looked back (custom portraits for everyone ofc)

[@Redjoy123]

It's basically between the "hurt me more!" to the "don't open the door!" relationships!

[@zinderax9827]

If you put newra in b teir i dont think you have played neera at full power because she can spam reckless dweamor over and over again and once you get imp chaos shield you almost never get a wild surge

[@notalefty999]

Dorn loses his main appeal from BG1 as his strength is no longer that important with the amount of strength gear. Con is honestly not THAT important. 18 hp is not nearly as important as to how often you are getting hit. The paladin spellbook is actually quite good at very high levels and when you can buff to 25 Strength and 23 Dex, he is pretty solid. Poison weapon is a great interrupter through stoneskin and is a moderate damage buff. Obviously it doesnt help much with protection from magic weapons.

[@RBXROCK]

Wilson is impossible to keep alive.

[@Redjoy123]

Yeah, so are familiars in raw, harsh combat. AND familiars don't take up a party slot.

[@notalefty999]

Dont have much experience with Cernd, but the base shapeshifter is pretty naff. There are a significant number of important enemies he cannot hit as its not considered +4 and also its just not very powerful as the greater werewolf form is nowhere near the power of an actual great werewolf. Also, the druid levelling is fairly ridiculous. In the SoA range, he only gets one 7th level slot over Jaheira which is absolutely not enough to offset her being a decent fighter. Obviously the spell slots skyrocket at 3 million, which means he becomes much more powerful a caster than Jaheira for a very long time in the TOB experience range.

[@notabannedaccount8362]

Why BG3 for not THIUS MANY compaoinions?!

[@Redjoy123]

This is for Baldur's Gate 2. I'm the one human on earth who hasn't made his way through all of BG3... shame on me.

[@notabannedaccount8362]

@@Redjoy123Minthara is a treat. So unapologetically Drow.

[@Redjoy123]

She always seems... disappointed in me and my character. Probably because I carve up Bards who want to join our merry band and then chat with squirrels or puppies or something like that. Viconia had a similar reaction, but I wasn't able to chat with as many puppies in Athkatla.

[@adrianhurt1809]

About Cernd..I played with him only once on core difficulty and I remember him being shapeshifted into werewolf basically the whole time..😅 In this form he is actually pretty good frontline fighter :)

[@Redjoy123]

Yeah, especially with the SCS, the Warewolf Token is very good, but I just have a tough time with his ability scores (a 9 in Dexterity really kills me! Well... kills him...)

[@MrSilverFishes]

Yeah, I would put Hexxat at C Tier and I would put Korgan a bit higher. Hexxat isn't as bad as Rasaad, her quest gives very good XP, and she gets the "essentially free bag of holding." I agree with you on the micromanagement, but since she's mostly going to be in the dark with thief stuff anyways, it's just something to deal with for that cloak. For Korgan, yes, he gets hurt a lot but that's the point. I'm happy to put money into that healing potion fund for him, along with some regeneration or resistance items, AND his berserk ability, he's good to go! I disagree with you on Edwin. He's/She's hilarious. You are objectively wrong. That being said, good list! Love these videos!

[@TDurdenArt]

Rasaad in F tier. Totally not surprised, haha

[@Redjoy123]

If he were a Level 1 character in a 5th Edition D&D game, he'd be fine. 3rd Edition ain't got time for your attributes of 14s and 16s

[@notalefty999]

Mazzy is clearly worse than Korgan. Her proficiencies are awful. If you arent an archer (as in the kit), you cannot be effective with any ranged weapon other than slings and throwing weapons. The damage is anaemic. Short sword also sucks. At least in EE, she can equip sword and shield whilst having the bow which was not true in the basegame, but nonetheless, you will need about 20 levels to correct her proficiencies to actually use a decent weapon type with 5 pips and the corresponding weapon style. Korgan with the sewers throwing axe will blow her out of the water in terms of ranged damage, let alone the dwarven thrower and his selection of melee weapons are far superior. Also, his enrage is vastly better than any of her abilities and his stats are better also.

[@notalefty999]

Viconia has the notable advantage of being a total babe, though with how they butchered Imoen and Jaheira's portraits, she doesnt have stiff competition, but poor competition notwithstanding, she is still hot. Nice dex and MR is handy if not dependable, but low strength means she needs strength gear to equip decent armour and 1 APR means she is never going to be a great damage dealer. Also, whilst control undead can be fun, killing them is usually a lot more convenient. Her superior wis score to Anomen is significant at the start of SoA, but is pretty meaningless later on and I would certainly prefer the fighter dual class. I do like her personality, but she did once blueball me. There was the romance conflict dialogue with her and Jaheira with my elf character, I assumed she was therefore interested in my, picked her over Jaheira and then... nothing. Bitch.

[@thepainsight]

If you are taking Sarevok in TOB it's would be either RP reasons or because others died. Sadly he's just too far behind experience wise by the time you reach TOB except if you cap SOA experience before HLA.

[@Redjoy123]

An excellent point. Very sad because bringing him along absolutely makes sense for the story.

[@YllibD]

Hexxat children of the night at higher levels shadows are great mage minions with A shit ton of spells, just saying

[@oodo2908]

Minsc is ok with the Justifier kit and enabling stealth in heavy armor. And make sure Keldorn teaches him self-control then his rage is ok.

[@Redjoy123]

Yeah, I have him with the Rashemi Berserker kit from the Artisan's Kitpack and he's not bad. A bit tankier than plain Ranger but he still eats it... a lot.

[@oodo2908]

@@Redjoy123 I honestly think that an encoded thing. Black Isle people are funny like that. That's the whole reason he's a dumbass. He couldn't make ranger without minimum first, but he got beat up so bad and lost his prerequisites. But he's such a good guy he kept code. I think he's meant to get beat up. Cause real life is like that. These Black Isle games are deep, man. His berserker strength is a lot more than usual. For some reason, I started a game as Half-Orc Wizard Slayer with 20 strength and 20 con (because of books) and Minsc didn't stay crazy in Berzerk. I never seen that before. He would actually quit killing us.

[@dtt719]

If running with IWD spells I feel like Aerie really unlocks once you get the higher level sequencers. Spells like prayer and recitation have fairly long cast times and being able to have them go off instantly at the start of the fight is pretty awesome.

[@Redjoy123]

I like that!

[@michaeljaysutherland1016]

any chance for a siege of dragonspear companions grading in the future? while i admit ive personally never used the new ones over the returning ones, you generally dont see anyone talk about them much if at all, so im curious.

[@Redjoy123]

So I can’t say I’ve had a huge amount of exposure to them but I guess that I’d generally say that they’re all decent for classes and class combos Corwin and Vaughn are both good classes and have stats that complement them, I’ll say A for both of them. For Glint, he’s a Neutral Good version of Tiax and I like Tiax so A for him too. From what I’ve seen, M’Khiin is a beefed up Shaman, but to be fair I haven’t used her much so I’ll say B out of my own ignorance.

[@toprak3479]

Keldorn and Nalia need to go up one tier, Korgan needs to be low S tier above Viccy, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION

[@XXXKruszakus]

I do not think Anomen gets Hardiness - as I recall, he gets the cleric HLAs, as he dualed from a fighter to a cleric.

[@Redjoy123]

You are correct (apologies if I misspoke and said he did, he wouldn't because he would get the Cleric HLAs), I think the focus for Anomen was that his buffs act perfectly for making him a tank with spells like Armor of Faith, Divine Protection, and many others. Alas, Hardiness was not one of them.

[@Francois424]

Mazzy became one of my favorite characters... After I installed the "No Race Restrictions version" mod. So what I did with her is then dual-classed her into Thief (so Fighter9 -> Thief). Normally reserved for humans only (the 2nd edition is AWESOME but it needs a lot of house rules to reach it's full potential !) and I did not want any other Thieves in my party until the end-game. And I did exactly as you suggest, put that bow on her and let her rip. I would always take her with me unless I am playing my "Artemis Entreri" build (which is same thing, fighter9 -> thief/assassin). She's such a great character to have around. By the way, if you do another LP of BG1/BG2, you could allow yourself to "rework" party members after they join to make them how YOU'D like them to be. Any of the non-personality flaws, you fix them. I'd be curious to see how your final party ends up looking like in both games, once you reworked your companions ;-)

[@Redjoy123]

I really like Mazzy, she’s grown on me, mostly because she’s a good group member but isn’t a pushover. Frankly, I would like to see her as a Paladin, which is how she’s designed to be, but Fighter to Thief is an interesting choice (maybe role play it that she’s more of an Investigator than an actual Thief). I don’t mind using editors like EE Keeper or creating my whole party and I might do a run with the latter (four Fighters who dual class at Level 9) but for these videos I either try to keep it as close to original game as possible or be completely transparent with the mods I use. I spent a LONG time being a bit too dependent on EE Keeper to create The Ultimate Unstoppable Party and this year, since making these videos, I’ve been trying to shake that (even with all of the imperfections and A LOT of player deaths).

[@Mavarok284]

1) I really do not understand what is your issue with druids :P In my opinion, Jaheira is S tier and Cern is A tier. Jaheira gets: Specialization in scimitars, plate armor, armor of faith, ironskin, hardiness, and earth elemental form. She is the tankiest character in the game. On top of that she has a lot of buffs, removals, AND the 5th and 7th plague spells that immediately win some battles. Cern, although not as strong, has way more spells, and his shapeshifting form makes him an incredible tank. 2) Although I like Viconia, I do not think she is S tier. Especially when not considering SCS. She has high amount of AC, which is unreliable, low hp, and although she has MR, she can easily die from spells (unless you drink and MR potion, but that can be dispelled as well). Vicky can become tanky with SCS because of entropy shield and divine protection. Also clerics do not have good offensive spells. Anomen is a different case, because he can put 5 points into flails and hammers, which make him essentially a fighter with full cleric spells. That is why I agree that Anomen is S tier. 3) Korgan should be way higher. He is immune to most crowd control effects, and he has the best HP and the best saving throws in the game. Also, he has the highest physical damage in the game, while having a decent AC. Just give him Hardiness and Defender of East haven. 4) Personally I wouldn't rate Minsk and Dorn lower than Joshimo. Early on Dorn is weak, however, he gains access to armor of faith and draw up on holy might. With SCS he even gets divine protection and entropy shield. This means that eventually Dorn can have incredible hight stats and damage reduction. Likewise, in ToB Minsc also gets ironskin. 5) I think Wilson should be in the list :P

[@Redjoy123]

I really like Druids, but I also really like Fighters. If you were to create a Fighter, would you like their stats to be Strength: 18, Constitution: 15, Dexterity: 13? Probably not, but Cernd is basically that except being a Druid. Cernd's class isn't bad, it's his stats that are lackluster. If his Dexterity were higher (16+) then he'd be considerably better. I can see Jaheira being S Tier, but I'd also like to see her stats a bit higher too. If I were to JUST take ToB into account, she'd probably be S Tier. However, the multi-class takes a bit to get there. But I love these comments, nitpicking between an A or an S tier. Point taken on Vicky, especially with my point about Cernd, but I'd say that Viconia has the natural MR, the additional AC, support provided with low level spells, and better character development. She makes up for her low Constitution with a decent capabilities. I do agree that Anomen is better. Korgan, Minsc, and Dorn pick up in strength later on in the game, but they have to deal with Fighter HLAs which are good but not great. Yoshimo never sees his HLAs, but he is great if you aren't obsessed with XP. The point I made with Yoshimo was that he was split between being a A tier character if you don't obsess over XP and an F if you do.

[@notalefty999]

Not really a fan of Aerie. She cannot replace a pure mage and she is barely passable as a main healer. The difference in high level cleric spell slots between her and a pure cleric is enormous. Also, cleric mages are not particularly complimentary. You can only cast either a cleric spell or a mage spell, not both at the same time and there are very few situations where it is a significant advantage to be able to have the same character cast both.

[@exantiuse497]

Aerie is a jack of all trades. She can heal and do defensive cleric magic as well as offensive arcane spells, she is an awesome tank with her access to both divine and arcane protection spells (by far the tankiest character in vanilla since she's the only character with access to both the cleric self buffs and dispel protection via protection from abjurations), and she can deal passable physical damage with appropriate self-buffs. She isn't the best at healing, buffing, spell slinging or physical damage but she's passable at all of that, on top of being the best tank. It is very easy to find a place for her in any team IMO A bit of a side note, but Aerie is the only character aside from custom created ones that can cast Wish at 18 Wisdom without needing the potion of insight (16 base, +1 from machine of lum the mad, +1 from ioun stone). She unlocks 9th level spells awfully late but it's nice not having to feed her potions in case you need an emergency wish

[@notalefty999]

@@exantiuse497 With the default spell selection, there is no cleric spell which significantly improves tankiness for a mage, and simply having access to more mage spells makes a pure mage the superior tank. Her melee potential is always going to suck because her APR is so low. Wish is very niche and even with max stats is not reliable. With as few spell slots as she gets, you probably aren't slotting a single casting of wish. If you don't make your own character for the purpose, then you are better off giving neera a potion and spamming nahal's reckless dweomer to fish for the result you want. At the end of the day, if you take Aerie, you still need a pure mage and you will probably want another pure cleric also (dual classes can alternatively fill this role). Someone is then going then going to have to handle thievery and you then have 2 slots remaining for your party. And to repeat, you really dont gain much from having the same person cast both cleric and mage spells, unlike say a fighter thief where you no longer need another thief but now have a competent fighter, or a fighter mage who is far tankier by virtue of being a mage whilst still being a very capable warrior. Being a cleric/mage just makes you bad at both.

[@bobforeman8924]

Dang! Putting Korgan under Valygar was a bold move! lmao

[@Redjoy123]

I like to live boldly... wait a tic, no I don't. I live cautiously and stupidly passive.

[@General-Gauder]

Every Mage should be S Tier, i can't understand how you put Nalia, Imoen and especially Neera not in S Tier, Wildmages are one of the best classes in the game. The Thief Levels of Nalia and Imone are totaly irrelevant, in fact they have more HP as a true mage so i can't see why you put them not in S Tier, Ok you can't pick Imone up before Chaper 4 there fore you could mabe put her in A Tier but all the other Mages are S+ Tier

[@notalefty999]

I never want to invest a in a character I know wont stay, so Yoshimo is a no for me. I don't find trap gameplay all that fun and otherwise, pure thieves are hard to justify over Jan or Imoen.

[@notalefty999]

Minsc is somewhat undertuned. Mechanically, he is somewhat weaker than Dorn and Dorn is not a powerhouse.

[@notalefty999]

Valygar is solid, but unspectacular. Decent but not amazing class, nice starting gear and decent stats. Bland character though.

[@oreganoregan5947]

pounce on that...............................😶

[@notalefty999]

Jan is functional, but his personality falls flat for me. His writing just isn't funny. Compared to a comic relief character like Shale in Dragon Age or even Nenio in Wrath of the Righteous, he crucially lacks genuine wit to his writing. Its just silliness without any intelligence. Imoen is much better if you can grab her early, but he is by far the most convenient option for a permanent thief if your main doesn't fill the role. The bruisers are cool at low levels, but higher levels, just encumber you for no good reason.

[@nielsleot7039]

Honestly it annoys me that Minsc isn’t a barbarian.

[@Redjoy123]

AGREED! 1000%

[@julienclement3704]

You're too goody two shoes for me. But i gave you a like for the video.

[@Redjoy123]

A goodie-two-shoes who will be willing to take nice items from innocents (by force if necessary). You should watch my hardcore runs. That being said, being a goody-two-shoe leads to more XP, which is a HUGE design flaw

[@felixzahner495]

Aggree on this ranking.

[@steady2wheels]

No Wilson?

[@Redjoy123]

Nope, too many arkoudaphobiacs out there, I don't want to disturb them (not the Arkoudaphiliacs... they have a different game for THAT kind of business!).

[@notalefty999]

Neera is has terrible writing. Not that any of the genius level intelligence characters are very convincingly written in this game, but she is definitely the worst written of the bunch. Its also just a grating personality. If you just want a pure mage, she is the best non evil option. Reckless dweomer gives you a lot of flexibility, inbuilt benefits of improved alacrity and a lot more effective high level spells. If its not ironman, its very powerful.

[@bobforeman8924]

hell yea bro

[@Redjoy123]

Hells yeah indeed!!! Bring on the dream parties!

[@mikefur3957]

Cool video. My only mainstay companion has been Viconia. Iv'e done maybe half a dozen playthroughs since 2000 or whenever this came out. I typically play Rangers or Thieves. I think I tried a bard in there somewhere. I didn't even realize there was a Monk companion. That's too bad he sucks. I remember using a Monk in IWD 2 and it seemed fine. But then again, I would just reload if he got one shot. My current party is myself Human Fighter/Cleric, Viconia, Jaheira (because she is basically Viconia lite), Jan (cuz best thief NPC), Neera, and supposedly last spot is for Heir 'dalis but he seems to be missing from my game. He is nowhere to be found after doing the planar prison. I guess I should just take Airie? Or anyone has any other ideas?

[@Redjoy123]

Weird about Heir Dalis, he's a fantastic companion. He's not at the playhouse? Aerie is good, especially with Stoneskin combined with Divine Spells, she's pretty powerful if you know your spells!

[@mikefur3957]

Yeah the whole lower part of the playhouse is empty.... I think what happened is that he died somehow before he rejoined my party before or during the rescue. He was already missing when the boss bard or w/e whisked them all away to greener pastures. Aerie does seem like a good fit, however I kind of wanted a pure class because my levels are already pretty diluted in this party. I don't particularly care for any of the fighter NPC's. I agree with you with Korgan is the best of them however still pretty flawed.@@Redjoy123

[@notalefty999]

Rasad is terrible, but I would prefer a monk to a pure thief. His stats are shit, his personality bland and monks are not very good and his kit is even worse. Also, he doesnt have the faffing around with that bloody cloak. At least monks are somewhat better in BG2 than BG1.

[@RBXROCK]

Im needed to stay strait theif.

[@Redjoy123]

I played straight thief for one of my playthroughs (with Basil), it was okay but I was mostly doing so for demonstration purposes.

[@RBXROCK]

@@Redjoy123 Imoen I like strait, .no good strait theifs in bg2 but yoshimo, and you loose him.

[@Redjoy123]

@@RBXROCK Yoshimo is a Bounty Hunter. When you say “straight thief“ do you mean one class and not dual class?

[@RBXROCK]

@@Redjoy123 Yes.

[@Redjoy123]

@@RBXROCK Aaaaah, okay, that makes sense. Apologies for my confusion. It is a shame about Yoshimo but I feel like having another Thief companion could work as long as they weren’t human. Then again, the same was true for BG1, which had Alora, Safana, and Imoen, along with the other multiclassed thieves.

[@notalefty999]

Spot on with Hexxat is awful. Terrible writing, terrible class and incredibly faffy messing around with equipping and unequipping the cloak.

[@MarkofWisdom]

warning to readers-lots of spoilers for most of the characters, in case that's something you care about Anomen-easy F rank because of his personality. I don't care how good he is mechanically as a fighter/cleric dual (definitely S rank), he is *that* bloody obnoxious and irritating. I'll just make a bloody fighter/cleric dual if I want one, which, admittedly, is actually a solid idea since the class combination is one of the better ones in the game, especially in durability. I also hate that his quest is forced failure-no matter which option you pick, you're wrong-if you think it was the obvious evil business rival that killed his sister and anomen acts on it, surprise! It was actually 2 completely unknown and never before mentioned random underlings of his father that did it. If you tell him to let the law handle it, then guess what-it *was* the obviously evil and guilty business rival that did it, and now his father also went and got himself killed by him I also notice Wilson is missing-sadly he'd be an easy F rank as well since he is awful and a complete joke character since he can't use any armor, and I think can't use any potions aside from basic healing stuff, and has horrible AC, though that can be handled with mages casting ghost/spirit armor on him. Cernd-I think he's probably a B tier, lower end though-the level 5-7 druid spells are nuts and bring him to that level on their own, and as a solo class druid he'll get those high level spells sooner than multi class druids like jaheira. His role is more as caster, especially support caster and summoner-summoning elementals, especially greater ones, is really dang good. He misses out on the elemental transformations for himself, and unless modded the werewolf forms suck, but even as pure divine support caster he's a pretty solid NPC. The stupid long level gap between druid levels 14 and 15 really make him suffer in late game SoA though, but once he's past that hurdle he'll be back in force as a really good support caster, but the stupid druid EXP curve makes his dispel magic really suck late game since even if druid level 15 is equivalent to like a level 20 other class, he's still only level 15 and casts as level 15 for his spells, so dispel magic on him (and other druids) really suffers since most enemy mages are higher level than you on average, and the lower level number druids suffer really ruins their ability to cast dispel magic reliably Imoen- A tier makes sense, just wish she was around for chapters 1-3, since narratively it doesn't make sense for you to wander around and explore with her when you'd actually have the chance to in Chapter 6 to do stuff you skipped in chapter 2. I usually take her if I can and have a soft spot for her. Aerie-A makes sense here too. Extremely versatile support caster with both divine and arcane spells, and while it takes her a while to get the really high level stuff, the low tier stuff she gets access to early on is still phenominal for support caster. She's a sweet girl, but her romance is really a series of therapy sessions for her....still, she does eventually get better Dorn-laughable murderhobo lunatic, F tier for me. His BG1 quest isn't great, but is tolerable, but his BG2 and ToB quest are laughably stupid evil-he should definitely be chaotic evil at this point, not neutral evil. If there were ways in his BG2 quest to get around the stupid evil murder crap that's forced, then doing his quest and doing the result where he ends up a fallen blackguard could actually be an interesting story beat-he gives up the power he gained from his patron, but gets his freedom back. His ToB quest is also pretty ridiculous, but at least you can do peaceful/dialogue options to avoid most of the possible fights in that (though if you do the fights, being able to put Saemon's name on the holy hitlist is pretty bloody amusing). His ending is pretty dumb though, especially if you don't do the 'he forsakes his patron and loses a good amount of his power' option, since he somehow gets taken down by a solo bounty hunter, multiple times, and then is executed after one of the escape attempts. Edwin-another F/S rank for me-I loathe his personality, but he is the definitive best pure mage in the game, bar none. Only neera (or wild mage charname) comes close, and that's only late game when she can leverage wild magic more consistently and can use the reckless dweomer to cast any level spells with a level 1 slot with pretty high consistency. Also an evil character that I boot after doing his quest so I don't have to bother with the stupid reputation management for evil characters Haer'dalis-I can see him being low A or high B, but low A is probably better since he has access to arcane magic. I rarely take him, but do think he is a solid party member. I think the aerie/him side romance thing ends with Aerie dumping him since he refuses to commit to a long term relationship Hexxat-F character, S items-the early bag of holding you get from her quest is excellent, but her entire quest is just...why? You're introduced to her with her *murdering* the party member you'd actually hired, right in front of you, and then both her and her quest somehow not expecting you to immediately put down this murderous vampire, let alone not giving you the chance to intervene and prevent her from killing Clara-that would have been a nice alternate thing for them to allow, but no, even paladins don't immediately turn on her/she expects they won't immediately turn on her. The stuff you get from her questline is excellent though, no question about that, and the dragomir's respite alt skin bag of holding you get from her is something you keep even if you boot her from the party (as bizarre as that is, since her coffin is in it). There's a glitch where you can sometimes accidentally take the coffin out of the bag, and gets stuck in your inventory and I don't think you can drop it, and it weighs like 1200 or something, so that's a game over on no reload if it happens (but I think it'd be fair to reload that since it's a glitch that broke the attempt, not an actual failure/death on the player's part). A unique use she has for hardcore runs is that she's basically immortal/immune to permanent death, so you can use her recklessly and if she dies you just pick up the gear she drops, chuck it in the bag of holding, and she'll revive after your next rest and is ready to go again. So she can be a safe, reusable sacrificial meatshield if you need one, even on hardcore runs.

[@MarkofWisdom]

(continued since it seemed to throw errors if the full comment was posted in one message) Jaheira-I'd rank her as top A, or low S. She is a phenominal tank and support caster, basically perfect availability, and she's actually even better than regular druid's since she has her unique harper's call spell that acts as a discount raise dead, which druids otherwise don't get access to. Jan-high A/low S, he loses points for me because of his personality. I've never been fond of the gnome idiocy/clown gimmick, and he's a really bad offender. Still, the incredible utility he provides can't be ignored, and if you need thief utility and want support arcane casting, he's a top tier character. I do have a soft spot for his ending, since he does get a sweet ending after it all Keldorn-low A/high B. Solid character, neat to have a grizzled veteran character who is competent, I feel sorry for him for his family situation (and don't like that the 'good' ending is getting him to forgive his wife's cheating). I agree with your view on inquistors-they're 1 trick ponies (even if their trick is quite good) and can truly just shut down enemy mages, but that's the only thing they have going for them. If only they had divine casting so they could cast stuff like armor of faith.... His ending at least is pretty dang badass and fitting for him. Korgan-he could be A rank from his class and grandmastery with axes, but his personality grates on me, and as an evil character you have to coddle him with reputation to prevent him from deserting. I've never taken him for long, but have heard a lot of his banters are pretty entertaining, especially with people like mazzy who gives him grief back. Mazzy-A. I have a soft spot for her, and really think they should have broken the rules and let her be a paladin. Still, grandmastery in shortbows is phenominal. Getting to her can be annoying though since I think the area she's in can be pretty annoying/difficult to get through. Minsc-yeah, poor guy is C rank, but I do love him. Dual wielding secondary DPS is his best role, but he absolutely should not be used as an actual tank. I usually take him since he's a hoot, and try to have him use crossbows or longbows Nalia-B sounds right. She's super obnoxious in SoA and is a well intended upper clown, but in ToB she's actually matured and become a better and more well rounded person. Her only having 4 levels of thief and putting skill points in pickpocket rather than open locks/detect traps makes her a failure of a thief and unable to actually truly fulfill the thief role, but she can use thief potions to get stuff for thieving needs if you truly need her to (like nicking the ring of regeneration from ribald) Neera-3 rankings for her-A/S, F, and ....C/F-A/S rank in runs that allow reloads, F for hardcore runs because of inconsistency, and C/F personality since she's still an obnoxious ungrateful brat like in BG1, but I don't think she's quite as bad as she was in BG1. Haven't done a run with her in a while though, so not sure if she ever grows out of that like nalia does in ToB, or if she stays forever in spoiled child mode. Rasaad-poor guy is in the F tier for good reason. He's still a pretty good/upstanding guy and a good personality, but his class and stats drag him down so much...even the game hates him, with 2 of his 3 endings (his regular ending and romance ending) end with him getting offed for really stupid reasons, and the only one where he lives has him end up in a sort of isolation. His regular ending truly takes the cake (even though the romance ending also screws a female charname over by having her somehow killed during his epilogue), since he returns to his temple, and they freaking kill him when he won't leave after they exile him-finding out that he refused to kill any of the monks that were trying to kill him, and that at least one of the people that declared him a heretic and exile was a dark moon spy. Selune allowing him to be killed is just....why? It's so, so dumb. Valygar-B seems right, he's a solid ally and has a good defined role which he does competently, but I rarely keep him for long after doing his quest. Viconia-high A/low S, excellent divine support caster, but she is extremely frail with her low constitution, though it can be mitigated somewhat with the belt of fortitude, and her own spells. Also has the handicap of evil character reputation management to prevent her from having a tizzy and running away, which is only mitigated if you do her romance and get her to change to true neutral Yoshimo-B, really wish they didn't kill him off partway through the game, and he dies before he can really take off with thief high level abilities, especially the ranged maze bounter hunter trap. Still, at least he does give a really hefty chunk of EXP if you take his heart to an ilmater temple. Sarevok-A/B rank, though very limited in time of use. His flexibility is incredible and can stay a fighter, dual to thief or mage, and his deathbringer assault is a really, really nice thing when it goes off, which makes more of a difference in LoB mode with super inflated enemy HP values. Being able to redeem him is a really neat touch, though I rarely take him for the entire ToB segment. I think he might be best in a hardcore run to act as a fill in/subtitute character for a character that dies, with I think the only role he can't really do is priest-so if any particular character gets gibbed and you have no other replacements, sarevok can probably fill that role very competently

[@bobforeman8924]

My powergaming tiers S tier: Korgan and Edwin. I take them every playthough no matter what class the main character is. A tier: Haer'Dalis, Jaheira (I take jaheira a lot), Anomen (I take a lot), and Jan. Rarely, but sometimes I will take these guys, you could call it B tier. B tier: Mazzy (good physical damage and bows), Imoen (good but you get late, and she is behind in xp), Viconia (good cleric but no offense, and squishy), Neira (godly, but i dont like wild surges), Keldorn (dispel really good, I wish he could do a bit more), Yoshimo (I like dual classing him to fighter and giving him grandmastery), Nalia (pretty good, has a nice ring), Aerie (actually really powerful, but takes too long to cast all the pre buffs. Should probably be ranked higher), Sarevok (ToB is too late ). Everyone else seems to have no niche that is not just better filled by a different member to well round a team. Maybe Hexxat is okay, I never tried exploiting her invulerablitiy.

[@bobforeman8924]

You can throw Cernd in b tier too. He is probably the weakest of the b tiers.

[@Redjoy123]

Interesting, I've always had a lot more luck in keeping Anomen alive than Korgan in most fights, BUT the Korgan/Edwin "wrecking crew" is pretty damn good together as long as you set up that IV to keep Korgan from being blasted to oblivion.

[@RBXROCK]

Keldorn is op with gauntlets. Sit back, zap zap.... Boring but lol

[@SmiertelnaFuria]

Jansen in S tier -_________-

[@Redjoy123]

True facts