Replaying Baldur's Gate 2: The Finale

[Knight1172]

Hey.

Well, as you can guess, I'm replaying Shadows of Amn, a game I have owned since I was a mere 9 years of age. It has been my gaming bane since then. The furthest I've ever got is Spellhold, and not through difficulty have I been dissuaded, but by convenience. Life, Exams, other Games (Screw you, Bioware, and your time-sink of a franchise!) and Girls (The fabled creature!) have dragged me away, but as I come nearer and nearer to the Summer Holidays, I'm going to play through this bad-boy, get Throne of Bhaal off Amazon and murder that fool too.

But I need help, compatriots!

I've just now returned from escaping Irenicus's Dungeon; a major point. It means I'm more dedicated to this game than any other. If Mass Effect had started out with something like that as a starting mission, I'd have 35 bloody hours of my life back.
My character is a Human Wizard Slayer, called Dagworth. I like to sort of play my characters as brutal professionals with a temper, so he's True Neutral; he does what he's told, he upholds the law and he really, really hates Wizards.

But here is where I come to you, fellow readers of The Escapist, to quiz you on exactly what the flying monkey excrement I should do next. Boo cries out for me to venture into the Circus Tent, but Aerie makes me want to strangle Kittens, and my Fighter cannot use magical items, besides armour and weapons (That never made much sense to me!).
Or perhaps I should venture to the Copper Coronet and recruit the dear, but staunchly cliched, Nalia?

Your opinions, I wish them.

 

[Cenequus]

Nalia's quest might be hard without mages,I'd stick with doing the quest for the amn thieves mainly now since they are very fighting orientating.Plus you'll find some nice weapons. After that,right before going to Spellhold I'd do all the world map quests I can including killing Firekraag.Also the first floor of the Tower.nice fighter weapons to be had there.Then Spellhold->Underworld is pretty linear still very fun.

 

[The Madman]

Bleh, Nalia. Bleh, Aerie. I'm not a big fan of either of them, though truth be told Aerie is a ridiculously useful sort to have around with her particular list of skills. Surprised there isn't more love for her considering how infatuated with Tali a lot of people seem to be.

I'd recommend just playing the game and going with the flow however. Baldur's Gate 2 has a cast of 16 recruitable companions, not all of whom always get along but all of whom are ridiculously fun and one of the best parts of the game is just throwing companions together and seeing what happens. You might be surprised! Sometimes what you'd expect to happen happens, the evil and the good don't get along. But sometimes? Well, I've played through the game a number of times now and continue to find new things.

If you enjoy the inter-party banter of Mass Effect elevator rides or idle chatter in Dragon Age: Origins, you'll absolutely fall in love with BG2's cast and constant banter.

And since there are so many companions (In comparison to every Bioware rpg since anyway!), if you find you don't like having one around... well, ditch em and recruit someone else. Annoyed by Aeries constant crying? Abandon her for Viconia, although having Viconia and Aerie in a group together makes for some amazing dialogue. Don't like either of em? Hey look, it's Cernd, he can heal too. Not fond of his preachiness? Keep Jaheira around from the intro, I rather like her actually myself though others don't. And the only reason to ever recruit Anomen is if you're playing an evil female character, simply because it's possible to utterly ruin the unlikable twits life.

Hell, this being your first playthrough there's a whole slew of characters you might never even meet. Keldorn, the most badass Paladin in gaming history, you might never encounter. Edwin, the most hilarious mage, is surprisingly hard to find if you don't know where to look. Haer'Dalis involves a lengthy and completely optional and easily missed quest-chain just to be introduced to (Though he kinda sucks anyway, so whatever!).

So just play the game. But if I had to choose between Nalia and Aerie... Aerie. I dislike Nalia, though she's got a nice castle her stats suck and she's neither a good mage nor a good thief, there are better and more entertaining options out there including Imoen. Plus if you put evil companions into a group with Aerie they often gang up on her for verbal beatdowns, which can be endlessly entertaining.

And simply because I like linking it: