What NPCs for an evil party in ToB?

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I finally got to ToB with my evil Berserker 5/Cleric X Zeckul. My party in SoA was the following:

Korgan - a strong dedicated fighter, essential as a tank. I'd use Keldorn but with us he'd soon lose his Paladin status.
Jaheira - Mainly for Insect Plague and, later, Greater Elemental Summoning; also for the Harper Hold series of quests which is very interesting. She is rather good-aligned, but I don't mind. It's her problem if she wants to stick around.
Jan Jansen - Because I need a thief and a 2nd mage. I could have switched to Imoen in Chapter 4, but I wanted to see what content Jan has. He's very entertaining to say the least, although not having Imoen in the group causes us to miss on some content.
Edwin - Main mage, should need no explanation.
Viconia - Romantic partner, great to have in Underdark, very good cleric although I am better than her at that role.

So, in ToB I'd like to take Sarevok because, well, he's Sarevok and thus insanely cool, and I suppose he must have a lot of interesting things to say. The logical choice would be to kick Korgan out, but is Sarevok comparable to Korgan? Korgan can use a shield (Sarevok is entirely specialized in 2h-weapons), he can berserk many times per day which is very strong, he has excellent THAC0 and can optionally dual-wield: I've given him proficiencies in long swords so he dual-wields an axe and the Equalizer right now. It kicks ass.

So anyway, I'm undecided for Korgan vs Sarevok.

Then, Jan Jansen vs Imoen. They're both similar builds - Jan is the better thief, Imoen is the better mage - so it's just a matter of personality. I don't like Imoen much, but maybe she gets more interesting in ToB? Jan Jansen is still fun for his crazy rambling, but it gets a bit old too.

As for Jaheira, I don't like her at all really, but throughout SoA, her druidic abilities have been essential. Especially Insect Plague, and now her Greater Elemental Summoning is just kick ass. Does she retain her usefulness in ToB?
And if we do replace her, who shall take the role? Cernd is not an option, we murdered him in SoA and we can't even summon him to the pocket plane. I really don't know who should replace her if we kick her out.

I'd kick Viconia out if it wasn't for the romance; with me as a better cleric and fighter, I have a hard time finding use for her in battles except for support healing, or the occasional dual meteor swarm.

Keep in mind I don't care much about my party member's alignements, as for me being evil means I take companions for their usefulness, not their moral ideals. I can contemplate taking Keldorn in if necessary. I could put my Holy Avenger to use. But at this point I'm listening for suggestions.

Thanks!

 

I'd drop Jaheira for Sarevok (and pump proficinecy points into halberds) -- either her or Viconia. I think both are extremely useful (and powerful) in ToB but Sarevok is awesome. You have plenty of spellcasting firepower with Jan Jansen (although he really is best with Minsc and Keldorn) and Edwin -- Jan will give plenty of support with spiked traps in conjuction with spells and Use Any Item always comes in handy. Korgan is excellent, especially if you put Crom Faeyr (or Angurvadal +5) in his off hand, and having two tanks just makes life easier.

 

The thing about having both Korgan and Sarevok is that I'm a Berserker/Cleric myself, specialized in War Hammers, so we end up with three tanks, which kinda dilutes the item pool. Also it's a bit of a missed opportunity for a different type of character, as we all fill the same role.

Anyway there's no perfect choice it seems, but thanks for the suggestion. I'm tempted to try Imoen this time, at least to see what happens with her in the story.

 

Berserker 5/Cleric X is not a tank in ToB. You will fit in that role ... poorly.

 

Another vote for dropping Jaheira. I'm doing an evil run through right now, and I ended up taking me (evil Human Berserker), Korgan, Edwin, Jan, Viconia, and temporarily Yoshimo. I'll go through with 5 after Spellhold, and pick up Sarevok in ToB. As stated, while her druid specific spells are nice to have, you don't need a third divine caster.

Yes, you'll have 3 tanks, but there really is no shortage of items if you put one iota of planning ahead into it. You have Sarevok, who is going to be using two handed swords, and probably halberds if you sink his later proficiency points into that. Korgan does axes, but even if you give him some points in two handed fighting, the most likely second weapon you'd pick is war hammers, as he already has a point. Besides, unless you plan on giving Crom Faeyr to your PC or Viconia, someone is going to want to use it.

Regardless, Korgan is going to have more proficiency points than he knows what to do with, and there are a host of one handed swords out there you can give him in his offhand.

The more I think about it, you may have been better served dual classing into a druid instead of cleric (although then you couldn't be evil). Viconia gives you a ton of cleric spells. Korgan and Sarevok are better fighters than you. Jan is a better choice than Imoen because he's a better thief, and you already have your arcane casting covered very well by Edwin - Jan only needs to be a backup mage anyway, so may as well take the better thief skills.

Strange as it may sound, the most superfluous member of the party may be ... your PC. A rather dubious accomplishment to be sure, but what does he really bring to the table? Not as good of a fighter as the other two options. Yes, he gets a lot of cleric spells, but by ToB, you usually have all the cleric spells you need if you have either Anomen or Viconia in your party (and you have Viconia). Heck, the more I think about it, even if you wanted to play evil, you would have been better served as a multi-classed fighter cleric rather than a dual classed one. You'd get more HLAs.

 

If you are looking for other options, there are many NPC mods out there with TOB content. I would suggest searching the NPC Mods listed on this site and also the Pocket Plane, Gibberlings3, The Black Wyrm's Lair, The Chosen of Mystra and Spellhold Studios for starters. There are literally dozens of NPC mods out there. Here are the Neutral and Evil modded NPCs that I am aware of that I think would fit into an evil party....

Alassa - Evil Thief
Angelo Dosan - Evil DC F/M
Ariena - Evil Pit Fighter
Callisto - Evil Berserker
Fade - Neutral F/T
Ghareth - Neutral DC F/M
Hessa - Evil Thief
Iylos - Evil Monk(TOB Only)
Kiara - Evil Monk
Kido - Evil Jester
Kindrek - Evil Berserker(Roc-Half-Ogre Race)
Miriam - Evil Vampire Thief
Neh'Taniel - Neutral Judicial KNight(Wraith!)
Ninafer - Neutral F/M
Ninde - Evil Necromancer
Rylorn - Evil Blackguard of Cyric
Sarevok - Evil Fighter
Silverstar - Evil Assassin
Solaufein - Neutral F/M
Stivan the Hunter - Neutral F/T
Therrin - AL ? - Fallen Stalker
Tiax - Evil C/T
Tsujatha Melalor - Evil Necromancer
Valen - Evil Vampire Thief
Vanim - Evil Assassin
Worgas - Neutral Wild Mage
Xulaye - Evil Drow Assassin/Mage

 

My PC uses Crom Faeyr + Flail of Ages. Korgan uses a +3 axe + the Equalizer. My best sword for Sarevok right now is Soul Reaver which isn't that good. Any specific weapon suggestions for Sarevok?

A multi-class fighter/cleric would have been stronger in ToB, but weaker in BG1 (berserk is almost OP in that game) and for most of SoA as well. I looked at the saga as a whole rather than just plan for ToB. So it was a conscious decision to sacrifice end-game power for early-game power. Especially since the point of the character originally was for a Let's Play of BG1 and I wasn't sure I'd ever use him for BG2 and ToB.

My PC is much better in every respect than Viconia, so if I'm superfluous then I'm only 2nd most superfluous. I do want to see the end of the romance though, so I keep her for RP reasons.

How? I get:
- 2x Berserk per day for instant immunity to level drain, any paralysis/mind affecting spells, maze, etc.
- Draw Upon Holy Might pretty much at will, so basically STR = DEX = CON = 25 as needed
- Armor of Faith for 5% + 1%/level = ~30% damage resistance
- As good an AC as any fighter, high dex + any armors + shields
- Shield of the Archons for self-immunity to spells

In terms of damage output I'm definitely behind high-level fighters because of the lack of fighter HLAs and the slower THAC0 gain, (although still quite respectable) but as a tank, I'm quite kick-ass I think.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I don't use fan-made content out of principle.

 

The Silver Sword for Saverok. Shift to Gram as a +5 weapon and then to Ravager +6 when you can.

 

Thanks. I hadn't noticed the Silver Sword had a chance to slay on hit, it's pretty cool. By the way does it have anything to do with the Silver Sword of Gith in NWN2? It is a silver sword and it is stolen from the Githyanki.

Anyway, I've settled for:
- Korgan
- Sarevok
- Viconia
- Imoen
- Edwin

I'm aware Jan is more useful than Imoen, but Imoen is my sister and she makes it clear she has an important role to play when I kick her out, so I'll keep her for RP reasons, as this is first time I play ToB.

Anyway so far so good. And so far I'm a WAY better tank than either Korgan and Sarevok, who go down surprisingly fast in melee. And that's with me dual-wielding while Korgan has a shield that gives him +4 AC.

 

Between the vorpal qualities of the Silver Sword (and eventually Ravager) and the Deathbringer Assault, Sarevok is awesome. Just realize some enemies cannot be hit by a +3 weapon (so you'll shift away from the SS for those).

 

Unless you are fighting golems - which Crom Faeyr can kill with a single hit - the optimal setup would be switching those weapons around and having the FoA as you main hand weapon. You get additional flail heads in ToB, and FoA will be a +5 weapon before long. The slow enemies hit by weapon is invaluable, and once fully upgraded it actually will out-damage Crom Faeyr. Fully upgraded, its damage is 1d6+6, +2 acid, +2 fire, +2 cold, +2 electrical, +2 poison damage. Of course you still want to equip Crom Faeyr as your offhand weapon - the strength increase to 25 offers +7 to hit and +14 to damage, and affects both weapons. Just saying your optimal damage output when fighting anything that's not a golem is FoA as your main hand weapon.

Soul Reaver is servicable. The only 2-handed sword you'll find in ToB is Gram, as T2B mentioned. Ravager is great if you invest additional proficiencies in halberds. That said, any of the two-handed weapons have a +6 version available in ToB. Ravager has a chance to kill on hit, but the other choices have stuff going for them as well. The Staff of the Ram +6 is huge damage. 1d6 + 12(!) + 1d4 piercing damage is pretty much top end. 15% chance to stun (no save), although no insta-kill affect. Finally, there's a spear Ixil's Nail that also is +6, although it doesn't have uber damage or the insta-kill affect, and therefore, IMO, is the weakest of the choices. So go with the Silver Sword against anything that can be hit by +3 weapons or less, and then add your additional weapon proficiencies to the two-handed weapon of your choice (either halberds, quarterstaves, or spears), and pick up a +6 weapon in ToB.

Does the romance continue in ToB? I thought it was pretty much done in SoA.

 

All romances continue in ToB.

 

What is the real benefit of being evil in BG? I mean, you get to do some fun stuff like killing Nalia's arrogant Aunt, and you keep more money, but as your reputation drops, you pay more at the stores and if it gets low enough, you keep getting attacked by guards. Who wants that? I haven't crunched the numbers, but I would imagine that the increased prices will eat up the money that you supposedly save by being evil.

Educate me!

 

There is no benefit of playing evil other than to increase the challenge of the game. It was obviously designed for a good protagonist. I guess you can build the Big Metal Unit if you're evil. And you get to be a bastard to the druids. And you get to side with Bodhi and wreck shop on the Shadow Thieves, including killing the shadow master. But here's the thing: there's also not a lot of actions you can take during the game (if you exclude the slaughter of random civilians) to lower your reputation.

I'm playing an evil party right now, and I'm finding it challenging to keep my reputation under 10. There is no real "evil" way to complete most quests. There's the Trademeet quest, the Buried Alive quest, and the Adalon quest that can be done an evil way, and that's about it. My party did not suffer a loss of reputation in working for Bodhi or destroying the Shadow Thieves guild.

You can try to RP it and say your character is just doing it for personal gain, but most quests are only completed by doing it the good way, and usually getting a reward for it that includes a reputation bonus. With the exception of the druid stronghold, none of the other strongholds include an evil option.

 

You get to loot people's houses while playing in character. It's a role-playing game: it's enjoyable to do things you wouldn't do in real life, including highly illicit actions.

The game is heavily skewed in favor of good characters, but an evil character doesn't necessarily despise doing good actions if they are profitable. It's possible - and fun - to play from a purely selfish and greedy perspective. If someone doesn't reward you properly for your services, petrify them or something. Shouldn't have any problem maintaining a low reputation that way.

Personally, though, I don't even try to keep my reputation low as an evil character. It doesn't make sense: why would anyone want a low reputation? Good reputation is a valuable asset just like good strength or intelligence. Everyone wants high reputation whether their motives are evil or not.

It's just a retarded mechanism in the game which makes evil NPCs complain about high reputation - and notice how silly their complaints are ("we're wasting time, let's go behead some children instead!") - so I tend to metagame around it.

And evil clerics. It's so enjoyable (and non-sensical) to double-cross all your faithful.

 

The cleric stronghold is the Unseeing Eye, right? What's the evil option?

 

Oh, OK. I had misinterpreted his statement. I thought he meant that there was an evil way of doing the Unseeing Eye quest. I knew that there were evil options if you worked for the Temple of Talos. I thought he was referring to an evil way to obtain that stronghold. AFAIK, there is only one way to complete that quest.