broadbandmink said:
The one problem that puts me at a loss with these games is party composition. I personally get the impression that one is sort of supposed to create a character that complements whatever companions one may encounter. This was, in my experience, not much of a problem in BG1, but could get decidedly more severe in BG2 if one had made a character of a specific class with a certain alignment which inadvertently filled a role in the party some recruitable character of like alignment already had covered.
Actually, the opposite is true. Illustrating with Mass Effect as a simpler example, there were 6 classes and 6 companions, one of each class. Which class the player chose for Shepard, the two companion spots could be filled by whichever best complemented the player's choice.
So too with BG, but on a larger scale and with more nuance. Whatever class your Bhaalspawn is, you will find five companions to complement them. If you make them a thief, don't worry about Nalia or Yoshimo. If they're a paladin, don't pick Keldorn (and don't pick Anomen whatever class your PC is
). There are so many companions of different class/alignment that any role can be filled.
If you break party composition down to the "holy trinity", something I hate to do but it serves to illustrate here, then you can kinda subdivide companions up by role somewhat. Jaheira, Viconia, Minsc, Keldorn or Korgan can make excellent tanks. At the same time the gents in that line up also make even better DPS warrior types. Aeria and Viconia can heal well with other advantages. Aeria is a walking spell machine and Viconia, as mentioned above can wear full plate/shield.
Honestly, whatever you choose for your PC, there will be a party that suits. And not only that, an opportunity to have a unique stronghold in BG2 unavailable to other classes. Each party composition will have different banter and party interaction, based on alignment (and player actions) and romance potential.
I mentioned above the only gaps I felt there were were for mage and thief in BG2. The choices are either not great or have "issues" so it having a dedicated PC of either class would be a huge benefit to a party. Other than those two, every base is well covered.
