I gave in to the temptation and got BG 1 n 2 EE. I had played BG1 a looong time ago ,and some of BG2.

My first question is, although some "companions" are great in BG1, I want to build my own party of 6, using the EE kits. Is this possible?

My initial thought on party composition:

Human Priestess of Lathander or Tyr
Human Kensai
Dwarven Defender
Elven Archer
Elven Assassin
Gnome Illusionist

I generally prefer my rogue / assassin to be ranged attacker but it is pointless in BG 1 n 2 right? Coz Backstab is only ffor melee, there is no such thing like sneak / death attack like in NWN....

Many thanks.

pd

I don't know if they changed this in the EE, but the original can be started in multiplayer mode (that doesn't mean you have to be playing with someone else, only that you can), giving you the option to create the full party.

I'm pretty sure Maighstir is correct, and that you can start a multiplayer game, and roll all the characters yourself.

Personally, I prefer a party size of 4. More experience for everyone, but still a pretty good sized skill for the various skills needed.

Many thanks, does anyone know if we can start with the kits? Or assuming you cannot in BG1, can you transfer the BG1 party of 6 to BG2 and there "adapt" them with the new kits (assuming one has the pre-reqs)?

EDIT: also, i downloaded BG EE 1+2 normally thru the GOG website (there was a bunch of patches too) BUT i turned off the comp b4 all was dl....

So, i decided to delete all and restart thru Galaxy, did I do sth that could make installation malfunction? thx....

Last but not least, does anyone advise on a good and simple to use "portrait adapter", i meean i hv a bunch of portraits on .tga formats from NWN (some from IWD adapted to NWN) that I love... thx again.

EDIT PIAF: they just finished dl, and when i started multiplay BG1 (just to see if the kits were there) they were yes at character gen. Now i didnt actually start anything coz its late, but i bbelieve as u guys say: if i somehow start multiplay, generate characters with kit and do NOT engage in actual multiplay, then I will have a party of 6 with kits right from the start.

I suggest you install both BG1 and BG2 (use whichever as you have already paid to support conartist beamdog) then install BigWorldSetup which is a giant mod which adds both games together and adds a load of content. Then you start a game in multiplayer and you can add each of the characters. Do note however you would miss out on a fair bit of the content as a lot of missions are tied to companions, so it might be worth having a party of five to allow to bring in npcs. Also note, a party of 6 is way over the top. Game is balanced for a party of 4, however battles will be more interesting if you go for a party of three (chars can have multiple roles with dual or multi classing) or for the real challenge go solo (thief and sorcerer is possible). With 6 your will just walk over everything until near the end or one of the really powerful creatures.

Exactly. It is built that way because everyone connected needs to control at least one character (that "at least" is important, you can very well be only one player controlling all six characters), so you cannot be more than six players. In the original, at least, you cannot join a game that is in progress, but have to join before the multiplayer session is launched (which can start with a loaded savefile), so you shouldn't worry that someone'll join in the middle of your game..

In the original it was technically possible to create a full party of 6 at game start by making a multiplayer game and then having the other players disconnect (or something like this). In the EE version they changed it so you can create full party at start without any of that shenanigans.

You didn't need other players in the original, even for the character creation, but could run a multiplayer game entirely on your own.

This is how I usually ran the game, in order to get around the fact that the singleplayer game unpauses when you enter your inventory (the multiplayer stays paused).

wow thanks all!

can all the characters i create in my party (4. 5 or 6 members) and that finish together BG1 be transferred to BG2? Are they stored automatically as playable characters for BG2`? How could it be done?

Yes, in the character screen you can export your characters, and then on character creation you can import them. They are stored as files, so you can copy them, back them up etc.
If your playing BigWorld Setup (or BG Trilogy or Tutu) these all combine both games, so you effectively just run into the second game without needing to jump between them. Not sure how "Enhanced" versions handle this.

I fully endorse tutu. And pretty much any WIEDU mod for the original edition. I ran a tutu install for YEARS. And it is some good stuff. The new EE isn't... bad per se. But it doesn't give you much that tutu and other similar mods don't and it does lose mod compatibility with other mods that work with tutu. So the choice is yours. the WEIDU mods take a little setting up (not a ton, but it's not just click and go), but IMO they're totally worth it.

I have a question regarding Kensai Proficiencies points overall... When in character creation i chose Greatsword (even if there are other better, this is more like a RP thing), BUT completely forgot abt Fighting Style and did NOT put anything on 2-H weapon .... instead I chose Bastardsword, coz well, the option for 2-H weapon and other styles are down the list and not immediately visible.

So right now I see ++ for each weapon. What is the max he can go?

I really wanted to get maximum for Greatsword and the style 2-H, but I think the points are gone right? Isnt the max 5 pts each?

thx

PS: btw, reason i wanna "saves this aspect is that right early when re-rolling dice at char gen, i got the fabled 18/00.... so it is a perfect max...

your max is two points in 2H weapons + 5 points in greatsword (twohanded swords)
... don't get Dragonspear from gog if you want to keep your characters into bg2 as a start to finish story but otherwise you should be fine.

oh so it is 7 pts in total to distribute among weapon AND style.... thx!
Now I have to see at what levels i receive pts to invest in each.

thx!