Time to complete: 138 hours. I could have spent more on some side quests. I think the only one I intentionally didn’t finish, but could have, was the hag fight in Act 3. It was annoying enough in Act 1. Act 3 looked to be even more annoying.
Okay, let’s go through the characters and how I used them.
Harka (Tav)
The player character. I didn’t know that you could play as “origin” characters from the start, but I probably wouldn’t have done that even if I’d known about it.
I wanted to play a non-traditional character, so I went with a half-orc cleric. I picked up Shadowheart early on and ended up sticking with her, so I went with a Barbarian (Berserker)/Rogue (Thief)/Fighter (Defense) multi-class, in that order. I ended up being able to have a really dramatic first turn. I initially speced as a Great Weapon Barbarian, but changed to Tavern Brawler Barbarian once I got the magic trident that always returns to my hand. Main gear at the end was the Gauntlets of Storm Giant Strength that set my STR to 23. I respecced to lower my STR and use those points for DEX, WIS and CON.
I had the stuff to summon the Ogres and the Flesh Golem, but never used either of them. Apparently they were tied to their content. In the final fight, I had most of the potential allies, aside from the hag.
I made a deal with Gorthak to kill Orin and then rule the world with him, but that didn’t happen. Killing all his Steel Watch pissed him off. His boss fight was the second easiest of the Chosen; Ketheric was the hardest, Gorthak second because he kept tossing bombs that we would just toss back, and Orin was a one round kill.
Once Gale could Sphere of Invulnerability, I handled most fights by sitting inside the spear, hitting people outside it. That’s how I did Gorthak’s fight, and that’s how I kept The Emperor safe while he was channeling the Tome of Karsus. As well as any other time where there were a bunch of mobs coming. Shadowheart could have her Spirit Guardians running around the outside like a chainsaw.
In the final fight, I let the Emperor eat the Githyanki prince Orpheus. I romanced Lae’zal, who was upset at this, but I convinced her to stay anyway.
Shadowheart
Kept her as a cleric all the way through. When she finished the Gauntlet of Sharr, she decided to spurn her goddess. After meeting her parents at the Temple of Grief, she decided to turn away from her destiny and worship Selune.
Astarion
Started as Rogue (Thief), multi-classed to Bard (College of Lore) at 5 and he stayed bard for the rest of the game. When he confronted his master Calzador, I had him first complete the Ascension and kill everyone, but then I loaded up the save and he just killed Calzador without continuing the ceremony. He sent his siblings and the 7000 spawn to the Underdark and after the final battle, lost his immunity to sunlight.
Lae’zal
Started as fighter and I kept her in that class the entire time, choosing the Battle Master subclass. She was my romance partner. At the Githyanki creche, we gave the prism to the priest and met our guardian in person for the first time. When we came out of the prism, Lae’zal’s goddess ordered her to be killed, which soured her on Vlaakith. When we met the Emperor and Orpheus, she vowed to follow him instead. Once I swapped classed on Harka to Barbarian, I used her less, but she was instrumental at the beginning.
Gale
I had him as a necromancy wizard, but changed to an evocation wizard because I just wasn’t doing as much necromancy as I’d expected. And I need maximum fireball.
At the end of the game, he vowed to reforge the crown and return it to Mystra.
Halsin
Saved him in the goblin camp, lifted the curse in the Shadowed Lands with him, never really used him. I had intended for him to be the tank in the party, but I didn’t go that way. He was Orin’s kidnap victim, and we did save him.
Jaheira
Surprisingly, I kept her alive through the Last Light Inn debacle, and her suicidal invasion of the Moonrise Tower, and so she came to camp. I used her as a healer instead of Shadowheart sometimes, and entirely through the Minsc quest line.
Minsc
I swapped him to Monk because I had a lot of Monk gear. I used him a little, but when I started heading toward the end game, I had to go with the final team of Harka, Gale, Shadowheart and Astarion.
Minthara
She might actually still be alive in the Goblin Camps. For a reason I don’t remember, I had turned on Non-Lethal Damage, so she might be alive again. The rest of the Goblin Camp was when I went back to have a look. I just got bored of re-killing all those goblins so I never made it far enough to confirm.
Wyll
I imagine I met him when I approached the goblin camp, but never continued inside so I guess I missed him.
Karlach
I only met her after the disaster at the Last Light Inn, and she accused me of letting all the tieflings die, so I killed her.
In a future run…
I’ve looked into Wyll’s story and it looks grim. In a new playthrough, I’d probably be a rogue/bard and take Astarion’s slot. Astarion, I would probably kill. Karlach would be tank, Gale would still be wizard, and I would stick with Shadowheart as cleric, or use a hireling until Jaheira could be hired.
Worth playing?
It’s an incredible game. There always seemed to be more than one way of doing things, and even when I thought I had really fouled things up, I was able to figure out ways to get back on track. Second playthrough, I would definitely be more careful and save more people.
Definitely worth playing, probably the best game I have played all year.
