In my past couple playthroughs, I’d been trying to build my companions in a way that fits their character. You know, from a story POV, not in-game. I’m about to replay the game, and I wanna build them right this time. It’s kinda hard, so I’m curious to any insight and perspective anyone may have. In short, I want us to discuss how we imagine the companions would fight, specifically the OC ones. MotB also wanted but not required, SoZ unnecessary but appreciated. MoW also appreciated, but I only finished that campaign once, so I don’t remember all that much. If your ideas for their builds include prestige classes, that’s fine too. It’d just depend on the character. Anyway, I’ll start with my own thoughts:
Khelgar Ironfist
This one’s pretty easy and straightforward. Our boy Khelgar loves charging in, taking hits and dishing them back out. His weapon of choice is obvious in his dialogue, namely his fists, though in true combat, as per his build, he seems to prefer using his dwarven waraxe. In all my playthroughs, I always gave him full plate armor and a tower shield. Now, I feel like that’d realistically hamper his speed, specifically the shield, since someone did a video on plate armor and it didn’t seem to affect mobility all that much. For his fighting style, he’d obviously just charge straight in and hack away at everything that moves. Maybe he’d try to keep his distance a little against bigger and more dangerous opponents, and maybe he’d eventually learn to think a little before charging in. But overall, he fits the definition of a tank perfectly. That’s all I got on him.
Neeshka
This one’s kinda tough. I know she’d put priority on her thieving skills, but I’m not quite sure about her in combat. I don’t know if she’d be willing to dedicate herself to more formal and disciplined forms of training to be a skilled combatant, especially since she likes to avoid fights altogether. She’s obviously sneaky, but I can’t get quite a read on what kind of combat style would be her. Same goes for the kind of equipment she’d use.
Elanee
Also unsure with her, though she kind of seems to fit a spellcaster role better than a frontline combatant’s. I feel like she’d be the support spellcaster, casting healing, defensive, and offensive spells most of the time, and transforming to aid the frontal fighters. That’s about as much as I can think of, I still wonder about her choice of gear.
Qara
You’d think she’d be as straightforward as Khelgar, throwing fireballs left and right, basically doing nothing but blast and burn and blast and burn and blast and burn and blast and burn. Some lines, though, make me wonder if she has an at least above average intellect that lets her strategize a little and knows well enough to utilize non-offensive spells at times. I dunno if she’d keep her staff if given the choice, but I guess it’s standard issue for all primary spellcasters.
Grobnar Gnomehands
Yeah, I’ve barely any idea. I can tell he’d come up with songs on the spot to buff the party, not sure about debuffing the enemy, and I know he’s a genius at machinations and alchemy, but beyond that, I can’t really imagine him fighting. He uses a shortbow, but I can’t really put a finger on his level of skill with it. I also can’t figure out what kind of spells he’d normally use.
Casavir
Pretty straightforward and simple. He’s a more skilled and intelligent fighter than Khelgar, so I can easily imagine him using a shield, especially since he already has one. He’s also already built with a warhammer, which gives him the fighting style of a generic paladin. He’s disciplined, well-trained, skilled, and can utilize healing magic and blessings in the middle of battle. I’m kind of unclear about some details, but I think I can see the gist of it for him.
Bishop
Not so very hard either, especially with how much he talks about sticking things with arrows. A typical ranger. Sneaky, alert, deadly with a bow, resourceful, tactical, prefers to fight from a distance but is well-versed enough in CQC to handle himself if danger came close. Bishop’s a scout through and through, and it shouldn’t be difficult for anyone to imagine how he’d fight.
Shandra Jerro
I always built her just like Khelgar, since I never had that much background on the classes, until now. Last time I played, I noticed how the game recommended me to style her for using 2 shortswords. That, combined with her high dexterity, make me think she might be a more agile and mobile kind of fighter (no pun intended). She’d be quick in her strikes, agile in her movements, and fight kind of like a ranger up close but more focused on the techniques and skills. I’m not fully clear on how she’d fight, and I can’t put my thoughts into words much, so this is the best I can say.
Sand
You’d think he’d be a generalist wizard instead of a transmuter, seeing how he likes to gather knowledge and power from all sources. He’s obviously a cautious and tactical kind of combatant. He’d very much keep himself as far away from the actual fighting as possible but would throw in spells that would work just right depending on the opponent. He’d want to analyze his opponent first before making any rash decisions, maybe even try and draw information out of them before the fight and observe the battle as it happens. I dunno what he’d use as a weapon, though. As an elf, he can use a longsword, and I remember making the dumbest mistake possible back in my first few playthroughs and giving him 1 in each hand. Now, I dunno if I should give him one at all. Even with Iron Body, I don’t think he’d want to get his hands dirty.
Zhjaeve
… Yeah no, not even getting into it, 'cuz I still barely know anything about the githzerai, and she doesn’t seem to be a very proper one anyway.
Oh alright fine, I’ll try. Um… she’s a cleric, so she’s the main healer… And… since she has the domain of Magic, she’d have skill in the Art, thus a proficiency in buffs and debuffs… And… um… she also has a spear…?.. And she can equip heavy armor…? Can’t imagine her in plate armor, though… And… yeah, that’s it.
Construct
Literally anything you command it to. Its description points out, though, that it’s agile, so it’d hit with the force of a tank, but move with the grace of an elf. I can’t tell much more than this.
Ammon Jerro
Poor guy got nerfed so badly by his granddaughter. I don’t know much about the warlock class either, but I can imagine him as a magical knight, especially with the intro. He knows how to swing a blade pretty will, and at the same time, he’d throw balls and rays of mana in his opponent’s face along with whatever spells that’d help him. He doesn’t wear armor, but it’s not difficult to imagine him in some.
I’ll do MotB later. For now, I wanna play me some NWN2 finally, after what’s like, 2 weeks of modding and preparation.
And I’d get him into hammer specialization, if there were a plausible reason he’d switch from his dwarven waraxe to a warhammer. It makes sense after he gets the Hammer, but not before.