Quantcast
Channel: General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!) — Beamdog Forums
Viewing all 12398 articles
Browse latest View live

A few questions about BGII:EE

$
0
0
Some of you know me from the myriad of questions I had about multi-classing. Well, I am immensely enjoying my now lvl 11 F/C Multi Dwarf. My party consists of:

Korgan
Dorn
Hexxat
Edwin
Jan

So, I was wondering a few things... since I am all evil, I was wondering if the new addition to Jan in my party will have an impact on him staying with us? He is Chaotic Neutral, and we are all Neutral Evil/Chaotic Evil/Lawful Evil. Currently our reputation is 8 (Disliked).

Also, I was wondering who do you think would make a better addition to my party other than who I already have? I could pick up Viconia since she is evil, but I already have myself as a F/C so that's why I grabbed Jan even though I have a Thief and a Mage I really like Jan's ranged abilities.

Lastly, I was wondering if having 6 people (full group) will prevent me from reaching max experience throughout the game? Currently my levels range from 11/11 (me) to 14 (Hexxat). I wanted to keep my group to 4 or 5, but don't want to sacrifice any opportunity to experience side quests and banter. Plus, I enjoy the challenge of having less party members. (Currently have game set to max difficulty)

So, thanks in advance for the replies I look forward to hearing seasoned BG players opinions.

Is Blackguard overpowered ?

$
0
0
I am currently tinkering with NI, trying to create some custom kits which would spice up my next playtrough. I am currently in the middle of balance phase, so I've carefuly read trough all kits so I can compare to them. The Blackguard struck me as much more generous than other kits in bonus/malus ratio - especially when compared to other paladins. I would like to ask for public opinion about this issue.

Summary of blackguard kit:

+Lay on Hands upgraded to Absorb Health
+ Immunities to fear and level drain
+ Can control undead, like evil clerics
+ Powerful Poison weapon ability, with more uses/day per 5 levels
+ Powerful Aura of Despair ability, with good level progression
+ Can choose from wider range of alignments (CE, NE, LE - Paladin can be only LG)
- No detect Evil
- No protection from Evil (but may cast it as spell eventually).

Note: I am aware that this is singleplayer game and by no means needs super-duper balanced classes. However I still think that there is a line, which if crossed means less fun in the end.

What should overhaul do next?

$
0
0
So BG1 and BG2 now both have an enhanced edition.

We will see the inevitable patches in the coming months, but now Overhaul is drifting directionlessly in the black void of post-development uncertainty.
image

Clearly only you and I can solve this existential dilemma. So what is the answer?

Should they:
1. Continue producing large amounts of post launch content for both games of breathtaking scale?
2. Start enhancing another infinity engine game?
3. Start enhancing another D&D game?
4. Start enhancing another game?
5. Stop enhancing games, and start making their own games which they may or may not be able to enhance another 12 years down the line?
6. Start making Baldur's gate 3?
7. Start making what is basically Baldur's gate 3, but not actually called Baldur's gate 3?
8. Start making an entirely new D&D game?
9. Start making an entirely new rpg?
10. Start making an entirely new game?
11. Something else?

Help with cleric mage hlas

$
0
0
Just got my first hla on my cleric mage.

Can someone tell me if the four white ones on the bottom are supposed to be something? They have weird text in the description as you can see, it's probably a glitch due to some mods I have installed. But I'm curious if they are actually supposed to be something that was overwritten.

Adul's BG Adventures

$
0
0
Click here to read the playthrough:
Link to playthrough

This is a playthrough that I started last year which I'm picking up again. I roleplay a sorcerer with the canon party and document my adventures through a written diary and screenshots. I use the excellent BG1 NPC Project mod to add some flavor. I started playing the game in BGT, but since the last episode I'm now playing it in BG:EE. My English is not that great, so be prepared for some cringeworthy grammar.

I plan to play this to the end of ToB, and I'll be posting new episodes every week to every two weeks, as my spare time permits. I'll announce new episodes in this topic.

State of Ascension

$
0
0
Release date is getting ever closer and i cant help but wonder how fares my favorite mod. Cant imagine playing without it. And im sure many others feel the same.

Has any brave soul taken it as his/hers project to bring Ascension to bg2:ee.

Dilemmas of a Stalker/Cleric (WARNING: Postful o' Crazy)

$
0
0
So, the anxiety of going back to college and its sheer demand of documents has left me unhinged... well, more unhinged than usual at least, which is not helped by mild sleep deprivation caused by a national shortage of pericyazine, which also lefts me even more insane due to the fact that it is an antipsychotic - I am also having strange daydreams (I dreamed I had married a South Korean woman and had moved there, where I became obsessed with cooking cheesebread and throwing rice at the fireplace, as well as sleeping on a red fuzzy rug and going to a 12 story shopping mall) that seem to last for months in my head, so my grasp on what's real and what's not is nearly nonexistent, for all that matters, I might not even be posting this.
That aside, the rest of the post is likely going to have a sh*tfest of crazy going on as well, such as discussing Anna Paquin and her breasts, or wondering why Strawberry Schmier tastes so damn good when coupled with Coconut Streuselkuchen. Also, I am becoming increasingly obsessed with cheesebread and requeijão, as well as the size of Ian McKellen's genitalia and a newfound taste for the word "serendipity", which might or might not (let's hope not) also show up in my subsequent lines.

Initial crazy aside, here I go:
image
The character I am currently playing uses a portrait from PaintBG which is undoubtedly based on Anna Paquin, the perfect-breasted actress known for her roles as Rogue and Sookie Stackhouse, I even had found the actual picture it was based on, but I lost it, or maybe I hallucinated it in one of those months-long dreams... nevermind, irrelevant.

The thing is, there are a few ephemeralities I cannot quite decide on, such as who to take with me throughout BG2, which equipment do I use, etc.
So far breast goddess has alternated between the Club +1/Club +0 and the Staff Spear +2/Aule's Staff, thing is, sooner or later I'll have to decide between them, later being BG2 - both sides have pretty strong arguments: Club of Detonation +3/5 and Blackblood +3 for Clubs; too many spell-casting staves to count, Staff of the Ram +4/6 (best weapon in the game), what do you think of this? - I've restricted Tittehs' selection to Backwhackable weapons, due to the stalker backstabbing ability.
For armor, Leigh is restricted to Studded Leather and below (completely incapable of wearing other armors, in fact, not just for backstab), I've narrowed down the selection to The Night's Gift +5, Studded Leather of Thorns +6, Aeger's Hide +3 and Grandmaster's Armor +6, each has their own faults and advantages, and due to the fact that the game is extensive, I'll likely be alternating between them, but I'm still torn as to which one I should use for early-to-mid SoA, late SoA and ToB.
Bosom will also be capped at 25 Cleric, 21 Stalker, which gives me a total of 0 Thac0, 3 (4 if 25 wis) 7th circle spells and access to both Clerical And Druidic circles, although only clerical HLAs, 2/5/4/4/6 saves, 208 to 228 hit points and 13 pips.

I also have doubts over who I should take along - Melons is running through BG1 with Puff Pastry and Turkish Delight, as should be obvious from the screenshot - but for BG2, I have no idea who I should take nor how many Party Members I should have - I want to complete all of their storylines except for Cigarette Butts (and it shall be even bloodier than he hoped), who I will purge from the face of Faerûn at the first given opportunity. Will likely also romance Turkish Delight, because Rotten Absinthe is bland as hell and Rocky Mountain Oysters is disgusting. Since I am particularly attached to Puff Pastry, Pop-Tart (her cheap knockoff) will probably be dumped as soon as I get her, I also think I'll take Stinky Tofu with me until then, or maybe 'Nips because he is funnier. Pork Brains is useless despite being a large ham, and Whipped Cream is a pissy attention whore; Basils is awesome, but Melons already fits all her roles and much more, so she doesn't make the cut; Lutefisk, Blood Sausage, Rotten Absinthe, Acarajé and Poutine are all evil, so they do not likely belong with her - although Acarajé can be redeemed, so he might be a valid option (also, dual classing him to thief makes him incredibly deadly) - Lettuce and Pudding have just as much personality as their namesakes, plus Lettuce is the single most useless NPC in the game, and Pudding does not even count as a character since he doesn't have any - Cookies is a very good character and a prime candidate for my party, along with Barbecue, but they might be a tad bit overzealous for Melon's tastes - Squab talks like a complete creep and is a bit overrated - and Pepper is just as likely to blast me as the enemies, plus Puff Pastry is already a mage - Rocky Mountain Oysters is a d**kless waste of space.

Thoughts, anyone?

For the record, I'm completely unsure whether this should be off-topic or general discussion, since it actually discusses the game, but in an insane manner.

Can i do this? Is it possible?

$
0
0
Someone in another thread, mentioned that you can take an *original* baldur's gate *2* character file, and import it into Baldur's Gate *1* *enhanced edition*. My first question is this; 1) will he/she keep all items equipped, and start in Candlekeep with all the items already wearing?

My second question, is if you beat enhanced edition and import that character file to baldur's gate 2 enhanced edition. By doing this, you loose your items, because the pause at black screen at intro, no longer works. But the originals had another method of keeping your items; starting a multiplayer game with another character ( a random one you are later going to delete and replace with the one carrying the iems), pass the cutscene, and after autosave when imoen opens your cell, load game, delete and replace main with character carrying items, and finally load game. 2) Will this particular trick work in the enhanced edition of 2?

Please try to understand the situation, provide valid answer, and try to answer both questions. Thanks in advance.

TOB Final Boss, How do i win?

$
0
0
10 years later... I completely forgot how to beat the final boss.

My party

Me - Human Male, Fighter Class
Jaheira - Half-elven Female, Druid/Fighter
Sarevok - Human Male, Fighter Class
Montaron - Halfling Male, Thief/Fighter
Xzar - Human Male, Necromancer
Imoen - Human Female, Thief/Mage

The party level is around early 20's

So is it possible to take down Amalyssan with this party?

MAGES - What spells should Xzar and Imoen have in there spell book? And memorized?

CLERICS/DRUID - What spells should Jaheira have memorized?

FIGHTERS - I heard to use whirlwind attacks. When should I use them?

Best Protagonist class for party of new NPCs.

$
0
0
I have been wanting to play a party with all the new EE characters all the way through the series. I know that they are all lacking decent priest spell abilities, but I don't enjoy playing clerics as my protagonist that much. I was considering the cheesy cleric/ranger to spice up the option a bit but I'm worried that I will wind up needing cleric spells more than druid spells anyway and that my character will be needlessly multiclassed. Does a cleric/ranger hold up as the party's sole priest or are their better options?

The most annoying npc

$
0
0
Have you ever had a particularly annoying npc in your game? If so. Please feel free to vent your frustration here! :)

Help Me Become a BG Powergamer (Possible spoilers I guess.)

$
0
0
So, I've played through the game in "vanilla" and EE, from Candlekeep through to TOB. In the process, I've become a decent player, made a few strong characters and found most of the best gear. Thing is though, I've always played on Normal or Core difficulty and whilst I always find a way to win, I don't exactly breeze through the game - even now I have a LOT of restarts in any given playthrough. In addition, I've never used any mods.

All that's changing now: having seen the love for it on these boards, I've finally installed the SCS mod and I plan on playing through the saga on Insane difficulty. Thing is, at my current skill level, I'll never make it past Nashkel under those circumstances, so I need you people to help me step up from being an OK player, to being an unstoppable power-gaming juggernaut. So, I was hoping a few of you could contribute:

A spell or ability that will get me through battles in SCS Insane.

A weapon or item that you can't do without, and how to best use it.

A piece of strategic advice for taking out a particularly tough enemy.

A miscellaneous tip for overall success (which NPCs to get, somewhere to visit early or late in my adventure, something completely random I haven't thought to ask).

When giving advice, bear in mind a couple of things... one, I'm familiar with the basics of getting a strong character i.e min/maxing stats, getting all the tomes and boosts from Lum's machine, finding components for OP forged gear and so on. What I need is advanced strategies that will help me progress to the level of the best players. Two, I'm not a masochist: I'm trying to make it through the game with these settings, not do it naked, solo, at level one without resting or reloads. I'll be playing with a very high-roll character (probably a multiclass fighter/mage) and using every non-cheating (i.e no using a console program to edit in gear or take out enemies) game mechanic available to me to give them all possible advantages.

So... strike me with your blade of knowledge, wise forumites!

Help with an evil party...

$
0
0
So I've been trying to get an 'evil' party sorted and hit a few speedbumps (but refuse to restart) in that I killed Xzar so I could keep Montaron and still get Edwin... Who then left as I didn't head immediately to kill Dynaheir.
Currently there is:
Charname-Dragon Disciple (damage spells)
Kagain-No issues
Dorn-No issues
Viconia-No issues
Montaron-my thief who I'm likely going to give a Crossbow as soon as he levels up, but currently hacks and slashes with Dorn and Kagain
Xan-I'm currently using him to cast sleep etc, but am contemplating getting rid of him as soon as I can get Quayle so don't want to invest in him too much as his Con sucks...

So any advice? My main issues are Montaron and Xan I think, as they're the two I'm a bit iffy about. I'm not going totally evil, more evilish party members but am not planning on being uber heroic, so I guess Imoen is still an option if she doesn't leave if Rep drops too much?

best party for Baldurs gate?

$
0
0
When you're on a pub crawl from the elf song tavern to the blushing mermaid? And you can break up duos. I think you'd have a top night out with

Alora: a local and someone that could help out in a spot of bother (if she isn't the cause of it!)
Minsc: come on you can't go drinking without minsc
Branwen: just seems like a great person to socialise with
Coran: the world's best wing man
Kagain: every drunken pub crawl needs a dwarf

Actually with a mage npc this would make a good party

The last person I would take is xzar' you'd probably wake up in an ice bath with your feet replaced with rabbit's paws...if you're lucky

Did you know?

$
0
0
So this is just a thread for interesting things that people have picked up over the years. While most of the information has been freely available for some time, the game is big enough that you might find something you missed. If not, it's still fun to see just how much detail the developers put in.

Did you know that if you are playing an elf named Drizzt, and your reputation is under 12, Drizzt will attack you? Did you also know that if you kill the three mages guarding the skyship devices in Baldur's Gate, then Shandalar skips the 'asking' part of sending you to the Ice Island? Not surprising, given that they were his daughters. Guy is probably a bit angry at you.

Dwarves Versus Halflings, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Bilbo

$
0
0
Okay, before I go any further: Halflings are better at thievery altogether, hands-down, no questions asked.

With that said... I saw a kitpack in development a while back where one of the new thief kits was Technician, where the bonus was extra thieving points and the penalty was no backstab. Which is perfect for me as I never actually use stealth (and by extension, backstab) because there are better, more reliable ways of pulling it off for when I do actually need to be sneaky in a low level game like BG. Plus, I fell in love with traps during my F>C game (Imoen never needed spells, her traps were that useful) and decided that I wanted to play around with traps some more.

Ignoring the obvious "Why don't you play a Bounty Hunter then?" question (I will be doing a Bounty Hunter later on in the year), I'm actually going to address the real point of this thread: Halfling Thieves versus Dwarven Thieves. Does the 2 point difference in Dexterity make enough of a difference to negate the dwarf's innate bonus to basically all of the thief skills I actually use?

Again, I'm ignoring the stealth skills - the halfling wins hands down when they're considered. Even though a Dwarf would arguably have better backstab potential since you can reach 19 strength with a dwarf, a halfling can stealth more reliably and really, if you're not backstabbing (Assassin, and arguably Shadowdancer) and you're not teching (Basically every other thief ever), what are you using a thief for?

(The following all reference Play It Hardcore: the Thief entry under Classes and Kits and the Dexterity entry under Races and Stats, and all assume a trueclass thief)

Halflings get an innate +5 pickpocket, +5 open locks, +5 find traps, +10 move silently, and +15 hide in shadows, with no racial bonuses to detect illusion or set traps. +40 in racial bonuses, though only +15 if you don't use stealth.

Dwarves get an innate +10 open locks, +15 find traps, +5 detect illusion, and +10 set traps, with no racial bonuses to pick pockets, hide in shadows, and move silently. Since the dwarf has no innate bonuses to the stealth skills, the dwarf is +40 in racial bonuses regardless of whether you play stealthily or not.

Just by racial bonuses alone, the Halfling favors stealthy play while the Dwarf favors technical play. But the Dwarf's dexterity generates at 17 due to a racial penalty, while the Halfling generates at 19 due to a racial bonus (we can safely ignore the strength part of the equation - the reduction of stealth skill in a dwarf, just from the racial bonus spread, means that the Halfling will always have the higher potential damage in BG1 due to more reliable stealth (and therefore backstabbery) regardless of the 1 point strength difference.

So how much of a difference does dexterity make?

A Dwarf with 17 Dexterity has +20 open locks, +15 find traps, +5 pickpocket, +5 move silently, +5 hide in shadows, +5 detect illusion, and +10 set traps. A starting total bonus of +65, +55 discounting stealth, plus -3 AC and +2 to ranged THAC0.

A Halfling with 17 Dexterity (19 Dexterity values will be in parentheses so that I don't have to write this a third time) has +15(+25) open locks, +5(+15) find traps, +10(+25) pickpocket, +15(+25) move silently, +20(+30) hide in shadows, (and +10 find traps), with no bonus to detect illusion. A starting total bonus of +65(+120), +30(+65) discounting stealth, plus -3(-4) AC and +2(+3) ranged THAC0... unless it's a sling in which case it's +3(+4).

So while the Halfling is still numerically superior once Dexterity comes into play, which one you should use really depends on how you want to use your thief. They're equal in trap finding and trap setting and the dwarf actually has a slight advantage against mages due to 5% in detect illusion that a halfling will always have to spend 5 to match... though the Halfling is superior in basically everything else, (only by 5 in open locks, but significantly in PP and the stealths). Where a dwarf thief would shine (so to speak) is less time wasted between rests as anything with 19 con is healing fully in 8 hours anyway, and 20 con is just overkill even with a warrior class.

And with all that said, I still fully intend to play a dwarf swashbuckler as my next serious BG1 character (since I can't play a technician yet and the potential to get 5/2 APR in shortbows without sacrificing dwarven thievery shenanigans is very appealing)

(If my math or information is wrong, please correct me as I'm slightly tired and slightly braindead as I type this.)

Help request - BG:EE portraits to BG2:EE

$
0
0
Hi, could someone please give me a link to a downloadable bmp. or jpg. to the portrait in BG:EE of the cleric guy with the gold armor, gold shield, and red kerchief? I really, really like that portrait, and I'd like to eventually start a trilogy run using it.

I've heard before that I should be able to pull the portrait using Keeper somehow, but I have no idea how to do that. Bringing up the portrait in Keeper doesn't give me any copy-paste or save-as options, so I don't see how I'm supposed to use that as a solution.

If I could just get a copy of the portrait onto my computer, I could easily transfer it to BG2:EE as custom portrait.

Help, please?

Meanwhile, I still don't really understand why it would have been a big deal for Beamdog to include the new BG:EE portraits in BG2:EE.

Using EE Keeper to use your favorite BG1EE NPC Party in BG2EE

$
0
0
Just curious if anyone besides me did this?
I used EE Keeper to export two my favorite party members from the final save of BG1EE and imported them into BG2EE. Xzar and Montaron. I know the're in BG2EE already as plot related quest, But I wanted them back beyond that quest, So I waited until I finished the Harper Quest/Jaheira Romance before i imported them into my party through Multiplayer. Then save game and copy back to single player. I also extract the're voiceset from the first game and into the BG2EE override folder. Even though the BG2 NPC's don't have pyshical dialog with Xzar and Montaron. They do somehow many to piss them off... some manage to get Xzar to call them a Harlot lol

Baeloth's reaction(s) to high rep - intended or bugged?

$
0
0
I recently came across Baeloth for the first time in BG1. At that time I had 20 rep, so I didn't figure that I would be able to keep him in the party for too long, but I invited him in just to check him out. When I invited him in, he instantly "broke" from the party, then begged me to let him back in (which I did), at which point my rep lowered by 2 only after I let him in the 2nd time.

Since my rep was now lowered, I was able to re-recruit Dorn (who I had been unable to re-recruit due to my high rep). Later I experimented with how both of them would react to a rep going above 18. Dorn leaves, telling you that he can be found at the FAI. However, Baeloth still gives you the option to let him stay.

At one point, I told Baeloth to go to the FAI instead of allowing him to stay. I then followed him, then talked to him to re-recruit him. He joined, then instantly broke and walked away - then another Baeloth appeared on the original spot, begged me to let him stay (which I did), and only after that my rep lowered again.

Because Baeloth is an Easter egg, is he supposed to be able to stay in your party no matter what your rep is? Also, shouldn't your rep lower the instant you let him in, rather than having to go through the process of talking to him multiple times? - or is this "bug" done deliberately as a means of enabling him to stay no matter your rep?

A question about Hexxat's ToB quest

$
0
0
Never hurts to plan ahead: I know Hexxat's ToB quest is initiated as soon as you enter the Amkethran Inn, but can it be delayed until after both Sendai and Abazigal are defeated (but before taking on Balthazar)?
Viewing all 12398 articles
Browse latest View live