Most useless cRPG companions.

[Sykar]

I do not know what kind of build you had, but my time master/master orator just buffed his 5 companions via Tempus Fugit, gave the dog Haste and watched Virgil and the rest of the band murderize the shit out of every enemy in the game.

 

[CHEMS]

Man, Arcanum was my first true proper cRPG, i played every build i can think of, and when not for the lore i just dump Virgil in the isle of despair just for the lulz. Arcanum has the most interesting companions, but Virgil just fucking pisses me off so goddamn much.

 

[Sykar]

Not sure I was ever pissed off at any companion. Bored or disappointed for sure. Never pissed though as far as I can remember. Hell, I have recruited Flo and Gumpy in Jagged Alliance and they are pretty shite.

 

[CHEMS]

How can you not?

Hey mr living one, i'm just gonna die like a bitch all the time and yet i'm gonna roast you when you ocasionally miss, i know i'm here to protect you, but you gotta ressurect me again because i've spent all my stamina casting major healing on magnus, oopsie

Just Virgil things

 

[Sykar]

 

[CHEMS]

On almost any playthrough i get the companions: Geoffrey, Torian Kel, Franklin Payne

In light of recent humiliations, it is a honor to be joined by men

AND NOT FAGGOT-ASS PANARII COCKSUCKERS LIKE VIRGIL, HE SHOULD FUCKIN' DIE!

 

[notpl]

Stats in bg2 do basically nothing and there are items that set them to whatever level you need, companion power just boils down to their class kit. They're all good. Worst one mechanically is probably... I don't know, Minsc? His kit is terrible and he loses a quickslot due to his insufferable joke/gimmick.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Jan Jansen for example ranks fairly low, but thanks to him being a mage/thief that will eventually reach level 9 spells

You need 18 int to get 9th level spells. That means he needs two permanent Int increases in order to get there. I think you can get one of those points from the machine, but I'm not sure if you can put the second point on him through the deck.

 

[oscar]

As mentioned Arcanum has no shortage of crappy companions. The dwarf wizard (who might be an interesting challenge run for a PC), Jayna, Franklin Payne (who comes equipped with an elephant gun he's not strong enough to wield), Virgil. Some of them (like Virgil) are well-written enough with excellent voice acting that I tend to keep them anyway. Probably exacerbated by the OP companions you can easily get like Sogg and Mutt. Not like the game is challenging anyway so you might as well pick companions you find interesting.

 

[Sykar]

Jan Jansen for example ranks fairly low, but thanks to him being a mage/thief that will eventually reach level 9 spells

You need 18 int to get 9th level spells. That means he needs two permanent Int increases in order to get there. I think you can get one of those points from the machine, but I'm not sure if you can put the second point on him through the deck.

You won't get to level 9th spells until TOB where you can get the golden Ioun stone in Saradush for another +1 int. There are also intelligence potions that will let him scribe scrolls.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Stats in bg2 do basically nothing

Depends on which stat and what part of the game you're in. CHA is just shop prices and reaction modifiers for dialogue. So not that important except for the character that does all the talking because he has the highest score. WIS is just bonus spell slots.

It helps a lot to have high states like 18/91+ or 19 when starting for STR to help with melee THAC0/melee damage or DEX to max AC/ranged THAC0 so fights are easier, especially if you can't get the gloves or belts yet. Though this advantage isn't so significant as you get to higher levels in the later chapters (though +6/+7 melee damage still helps a lot). More HP from high con helps too.

Then there's the caster level requirements, if you want level 9 spells, there is no choice but to have 18+ INT. You need 16+ to cast level 8 and so on. So it certainly matters there. After 19 INT, it doesn't though.

and there are items that set them to whatever level you need, companion power just boils down to their class kit.

Yes. If they're a caster, or caster/thief, caster/fighter dual or multi, then they can be quite strong. If not, then they're weak and should be avoided after chapter 3.

 

[lukaszek]

Jan Jansen for example ranks fairly low, but thanks to him being a mage/thief that will eventually reach level 9 spells

You need 18 int to get 9th level spells. That means he needs two permanent Int increases in order to get there. I think you can get one of those points from the machine, but I'm not sure if you can put the second point on him through the deck.

You won't get to level 9th spells until TOB where you can get the golden Ioun stone in Saradush for another +1 int. There are also intelligence potions that will let him scribe scrolls.

18int was for scribing, casting was fine while being under?

 

[notpl]

Jan Jansen for example ranks fairly low, but thanks to him being a mage/thief that will eventually reach level 9 spells

You need 18 int to get 9th level spells. That means he needs two permanent Int increases in order to get there. I think you can get one of those points from the machine, but I'm not sure if you can put the second point on him through the deck.

No, you don't, don't be silly. You need to chug a cheap potion to scribe level 9 spells, and then your intelligence doesn't affect the casting in any way whatsoever. Did you really think Edwin was the only party member in BG2 capable of casting level 9 spells?

 

[jackofshadows]

Plot moving forward and you reincounter him in some basement?
Watch him die like a bitch and after being brought back he's even gayer than before.

Why the fuck is a supposed ex bandit badass such a pushover bitch? I fucking hate Virgil. Also scratch that about him being the biggest bitch boy in Arcanum, he's the biggest B I T C H B O Y in all cRPGs.

Well, don't forget you can sorta heal him from gayness by walking the dark branch. To be fair, even though his VO changes, it changes not for "evil" but rather for ever annoyed so your point still stands. With at least one exception though, always cracking me:

 

[NecroLord]

As mentioned Arcanum has no shortage of crappy companions. The dwarf wizard (who might be an interesting challenge run for a PC), Jayna, Franklin Payne (who comes equipped with an elephant gun he's not strong enough to wield), Virgil. Some of them (like Virgil) are well-written enough with excellent voice acting that I tend to keep them anyway. Probably exacerbated by the OP companions you can easily get like Sogg and Mutt. Not like the game is challenging anyway so you might as well pick companions you find interesting.

Virgil is great. Has a cool backstory.
That's the thing with Virgil. He is a "support/heal bot" type character. Depending on your build he may or may not be useful. Still,great voice acting and backstory(which gets even more interesting after T'sen Ang...

 

[Sarathiour]

Jan Jansen for example ranks fairly low, but thanks to him being a mage/thief that will eventually reach level 9 spells

You need 18 int to get 9th level spells. That means he needs two permanent Int increases in order to get there. I think you can get one of those points from the machine, but I'm not sure if you can put the second point on him through the deck.

As pointed out, you're not supposed to get level 9 before ToB, and ToB straight out remove this rule.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

wait what, there's over an hour of virgil voiceovers in arcanum?

 

[notpl]

Jan can also polymorph-backstab for the highest non-bhaalspawn single hit damage in the game. Little dude fucks.

 

[Sykar]

He also has an army of flying monkeys that carry Uncle Gerhardt's tunrip to glory!

 

[NecroLord]

Virgil is actually a pretty good companion for a magic centred party. His background explains that he was not some tough street though, just a petty thief. His main failing is the weak AI script that does not check for technical aptitude. That though is not a failing of Virgil but of Troika for being too lazy to let the AI check for that and estimate whether it is even worth it trying.

He was also a murderer.
"I stole,I lied and even killed with no thought for morality or consequence".

 

[Sykar]

Virgil is actually a pretty good companion for a magic centred party. His background explains that he was not some tough street though, just a petty thief. His main failing is the weak AI script that does not check for technical aptitude. That though is not a failing of Virgil but of Troika for being too lazy to let the AI check for that and estimate whether it is even worth it trying.

He was also a murderer.
"I stole,I lied and even killed with no thought for morality or consequence".

Right, still he probably stabbed some sleeping bum and robbed him of his valuables. He was certainly not a professional assassin.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Jan Jansen for example ranks fairly low, but thanks to him being a mage/thief that will eventually reach level 9 spells

You need 18 int to get 9th level spells. That means he needs two permanent Int increases in order to get there. I think you can get one of those points from the machine, but I'm not sure if you can put the second point on him through the deck.

No, you don't, don't be silly. You need to chug a cheap potion to scribe level 9 spells, and then your intelligence doesn't affect the casting in any way whatsoever. Did you really think Edwin was the only party member in BG2 capable of casting level 9 spells?

Thanks. Now I have an even lower opinion of BG2 and bioware than before. I never even tried abusing Bioware's lack of effort in the second game in actually implementing the rules. I've never even tried abusing this lack of proper implementation of the ruleset in BG2 since it never even occurred to me to waste time testing something that's not even supposed to happen in the first place. I also don't read guides or look up exploits to use. If I ever know about one in any game, it's because I stumbled upon it and I never stumbled on this one.

You see, according to the AD&D rules, INT scores are required for spellcasting. Characters with lower than 18 INT shouldn't even be able to prepare spells of 9th level or higher. This is supposed to mean unless you can find enough permanent/semi-permament bonuses, Edwin is supposed to be the only companion able to cast 9th level spells by default. It's also supposed to mean that given the limited amount of INT bonuses that endure through rests in game, you are supposed to according to the actual AD&D rules only get up to two other companions if using Jan or Aerie (not both) to cast 9th level spells. The only way to get four characters who can cast level 9 spells is supposed to be giving only one bonus each to Imoen, Nalia, and Sarevok with Aerie and Jan left with only level 8 spells.

Here's the table from the 2e player's handbook as presented in the AD&D Core Rules 2.0 CD.

 

[Zed]

At least bad NPCs early on in RPGs can be meat shields or something.
But having a subpar NPC join late in a game is pretty bad. For instance, Skie Silvershield in BG1. She joins way too late. Damn shame, because she's a babe.

 

[Humbaba]

Me and Sarathiour have gay sex. Have I mentioned that I'm a low functioning autist?

Daily reminder that I have beaten the game 3 times on core, while Sarathiour barely got through it once on normal and Desiderius put me on the ignore list because I pointed out how absolutely useless his advice is and that he rendered the Wrathfinder thread utterly unreadable thanks to his double and triple postings. Long story short, I'm the only one here who knows what he's talking about. inb4 negative ratings from either of the two homos.

Plus, I very much actively aggressively took a huge dump on Sarafag in shoutbox because he took a shot at the king and missed, so Autisterius should maybe learn what passive aggressive means but then again autists can't really grasp social interaction now can they.

 

[Apostle Hand]

safiya