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Verification on melee reach weapons

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Please verify this for me. The melee reach weapons (you can attack in melee one circle farther away) are Staff, Spear, Halberd, and Two Handed Sword?

The (solo no-reload) adventures of Norgath, dwarven Bounty Hunter of Candlekeep

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With @semiticgod's exciting Spiders hunting after Melissan, @OlvynChuru's Jester continuing his pacifist mass murdering ways, and @bengoshi's archdruid Yahiko still going strong, I felt the need to try my hand again at an ambitious solo adventure. My other, more roleplayed run with a custom party is still in progress (and will be updated sometime soon I hope). In order not to confuse both journals, I decided to make a separate thread for this run. Besides, who knows what good not journaling the current run in a thread called We're All Doomed might do. ;)
Here is Norgath:
image
As I said, this is going to be an ambitious run, i.e. one that includes metagamimg. However, whether I want it or not, I always incorporate some roleplaying in my gaming, so it would be foolish to expect myself to behave differently this time. I have particular difficulty doing evil things with good characters, much more so than doing good things with evil characters. Therefore Norgath's Lawful Evil alignment is convenient. It allows him to do evil things (such as the Assassinations mod quests in BG2). At the same time his lawfulness and his calculating mind (note the excellent mental stats) ensure that his good actions make some sense to me as well. The physical stats are optimized for survivability purposes, with 19 CON, 20 with the Tome, minimizing the penalty to saves vs death when the Claw of Kazgaroth is equipped. CHA is a bit of a dumpstat, though I could have gone all the way to 2, and optimize INT and WIS. With 7 CHA (after the Tome), Norgath will just be an almost stereotypical blunt, surly Dwarf.

The most important mods I'm playing with are Ascension, QuestPack with its revised Hell Trials, Song & Silence, Rogue Rebalancing, SCS I and II (v21), Wheels of Prophecy, and aTweaks. Besides those, Thalatntyr's Item Upgrade in BG1 and Weimer's Item Upgrade in BG2 allow Norgath to get some items upgraded by Thalantyr and Cromwell respectively. Assassinations, Back to Brynnlaw, and Sellswords offer a couple of new adventures in SoA. Finally, I'm using a number of tweaks from BG2Tweaks and BGTTweaks that facilitate different aspects of gameplay. Most consequential are the Un-Nerfed Thac0 table, maximum HP at level up (but also max HP for all enemies), and importation of gear from BG1 into Irenicus' Dungeon.

Multi-Class / Dual Class backstory?

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Hello there,
just wanted to know what exactly the reasons are (were) why humans can only dual class and why non-humans only have the ability to multi class?

Is there a special backstory for that (history of the Realms) or is it just to make humans a little more distinct from the other classes?

BG/SoD/BGII v. 2.4 - what will it add/change?

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Guys,
do you know/what do you think version 2.4 will brong?

Will 2.4 better integrate SoD with BGI&II?
Is there any chance they will change some plot points, cutscanes or ending in SoD?
Maybe new chars, quests, items?

Barbarian vs Dwarven Defender

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The differences between these two classes have been discussed years ago, but I don't want to resurrect those threads just to make this one point.

The Barbarian's job is to charge ahead and reliably do a lot of burst damage. This is why he gets increased movement speed and nigh-unstoppable rage. He can't do his job if he just gets backstabbed to death by the opponents he runs past, so he gets immunity to backstab; he also can't do his job if he's frail, so he gets damage reduction abilities. But his job is not tanking, it's assault, everything else follows from that. Both classes are good both on offense and defense, but they're optimized for different jobs, so you can just choose on that basis--assault or tanking?

What's Tamoko's patron deity?

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Heya!
Guys, what the game shows us is that Tamoko is a priestess, and probably serves a deity that approves Sarevok's actions. Who do you think it is?

Tailoring clothes with magic properties

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So lets say I have a Thief/Mage that wants to wear mage robes- but because of their typical length, they're a bit difficult to sneak around in.
Would tailoring the robes for a more appropriate length mess with the magical properties of the robe at all?

For reference, this is a Robe of the Neutral Archmagi that she'd be getting tailored.

Issue 1 of a Community Made Magazine

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This is the first issue of a new community run magazine for the IE games. This issue includes IE mod highlights, custom 5e rules, an Interview with Beamdog's very own @Elminster, a lengthy review of the game Tyranny, as well as, art, creative writing and ramblings of other community members.

All submissions and work for the publication was done on a volunteer basis, as we attempted to get the first issue out before Christmas (we failed miserably). It is our gift to you, for making this place an amazing collection of talented individuals and personalities.

I would like to thank @O_Bruce, @God, @Lord_Rumfish, @Vallmyr, @semiticgod, @Anduin, @typo_tilly, @Nonnahswriter, @JuliusBorisov and @Trent_Oster for making this project possible.

This is also just the beginning. We are currently working on our second issue for the community as I type this. We would love to hear your feedback, thoughts and suggestions for this project as we move forward. This includes a name for the publication. We are open to and encouraging suggestions and will have a poll to choose the name out of the best suggestions. There will also be a prize for the winning submission, but it might just only be one of @Nimran's .

If you have a question, idea, or would like to help us out for upcoming issues, please just message @JuliusBorisov or I through the forums.

We hope you enjoy this magazine as much as we enjoyed making it for you.

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came

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My first thought was, he lied in every word, that hoary cripple, with malicious eye askance to watch the working of his lie on mine, and mouth scarce able to afford suppression of the glee that purs'd and scor'd its edge, at one more victim gain'd thereby. What else should he be set for, with his staff? What, save to waylay with his lies, ensnare all travellers who might find him posted there, and ask the road? I guess'd what skull-like laugh would break, what crutch 'gin write my epitaph for pastime in the dusty thoroughfare, if at his counsel I should turn aside into that ominous tract which, all agree, hides the Dark Tower. Yet acquiescingly I did turn as he pointed: neither pride nor hope rekindling at the end descried, so much as gladness that some end might be. For, what with my whole world-wide wandering, what with my search drawn out thro' years, my hope dwindled into a ghost not fit to cope with that obstreperous joy success would bring,--I hardly tried now to rebuke the spring my heart made, finding failure in its scope. As when a sick man very near to death seems dead indeed, and feels begin and end the tears and takes the farewell of each friend, and hears one bid the other go, draw breath freelier outside, ("since all is o'er," he saith, "and the blow fallen no grieving can amend;") While some discuss if near the other graves be room enough for this, and when a day suits best for carrying the corpse away, with care about the banners, scarves and staves, and still the man hears all, and only craves he may not shame such tender love and stay. Thus, I had so long suffer'd in this quest, heard failure prophesied so oft, been writ so many times among "The Band"--to wit, the knights who to the Dark Tower's search address'd their steps--that just to fail as they, seem'd best. And all the doubt was now--should I be fit?

So, quiet as despair, I turn'd from him, that hateful cripple, out of his highway into the path he pointed. All the day had been a dreary one at best, and dim was settling to its close, yet shot one grim red leer to see the plain catch its estray. For mark! no sooner was I fairly found pledged to the plain, after a pace or two, than, pausing to throw backward a last view o'er the safe road, 't was gone; gray plain all round: nothing but plain to the horizon's bound. I might go on; naught else remain'd to do.

So, on I went. I think I never saw such starv'd ignoble nature; nothing throve: for flowers--as well expect a cedar grove! But cockle, spurge, according to their law might propagate their kind, with none to awe, you 'd think; a burr had been a treasure trove. No! penury, inertness and grimace, in some strange sort, were the land's portion. "See or shut your eyes," said Nature peevishly, "It nothing skills: I cannot help my case: 'tis the Last Judgment's fire must cure this place, calcine its clods and set my prisoners free." If there push'd any ragged thistle-stalk above its mates, the head was chopp'd; the bents were jealous else. What made those holes and rents in the dock's harsh swarth leaves, bruis'd as to baulk all hope of greenness? 'tis a brute must walk pashing their life out, with a brute's intents. As for the grass, it grew as scant as hair in leprosy; thin dry blades prick'd the mud which underneath look'd kneaded up with blood. One stiff blind horse, his every bone a-stare, stood stupefied, however he came there: thrust out past service from the devil's stud! Alive? He might be dead for aught I know, with that red, gaunt and collop'd neck a-strain, and shut eyes underneath the rusty mane; seldom went such grotesqueness with such woe; I never saw a brute I hated so; he must be wicked to deserve such pain.

I shut my eyes and turn'd them on my heart. As a man calls for wine before he fights, I ask'd one draught of earlier, happier sights, ere fitly I could hope to play my part. Think first, fight afterwards--the soldier's art: One taste of the old time sets all to rights. Not it! I fancied Cuthbert's reddening face beneath its garniture of curly gold, dear fellow, till I almost felt him fold an arm in mine to fix me to the place, that way he us'd. Alas, one night's disgrace! Out went my heart's new fire and left it cold. Giles then, the soul of honor--there he stands frank as ten years ago when knighted first. What honest man should dare (he said) he durst. Good--but the scene shifts--faugh! what hangman hands pin to his breast a parchment? His own bands read it. Poor traitor, spit upon and curst! Better this present than a past like that; back therefore to my darkening path again!

No sound, no sight as far as eye could strain. Will the night send a howlet or a bat? I asked: when something on the dismal flat came to arrest my thoughts and change their train. A sudden little river cross'd my path, as unexpected as a serpent comes. No sluggish tide congenial to the glooms; this, as it froth'd by, might have been a bath for the fiend's glowing hoof--to see the wrath of its black eddy bespate with flakes and spumes. So petty yet so spiteful! All along, low scrubby alders kneel'd down over it--drench'd willows flung them headlong in a fit of mute despair, a suicidal throng: The river which had done them all the wrong, whate'er that was, roll'd by, deterr'd no whit. Which, while I forded,--good saints, how I fear'd to set my foot upon a dead man's cheek, each step, or feel the spear I thrust to seek for hollows, tangled in his hair or beard! --It may have been a water-rat I spear'd, but, ugh! it sounded like a baby's shriek. Glad was I when I reach'd the other bank. Now for a better country.

Vain presage! Who were the strugglers, what war did they wage, whose savage trample thus could pad the dank soil to a plash? Toads in a poison'd tank, or wild cats in a red-hot iron cage--the fight must so have seem'd in that fell cirque. What penn'd them there, with all the plain to choose? No foot-print leading to that horrid mews, none out of it. Mad brewage set to work their brains, no doubt, like galley-slaves the Turk pits for his pastime, Christians against Jews. And more than that--a furlong on--why, there! What bad use was that engine for, that wheel, or brake, not wheel--that harrow fit to reel men's bodies out like silk? with all the air of Tophet's tool, on earth left unaware, or brought to sharpen its rusty teeth of steel.

Then came a bit of stubb'd ground, once a wood, next a marsh it would seem, and now mere earth desperate and done with; (so a fool finds mirth, makes a thing and then mars it, till his mood changes and off he goes!) within a rood--bog, clay, and rubble, sand and stark black dearth. Now blotches rankling, color'd gay and grim, now patches where some leanness of the soil's broke into moss or substances like boils; then came some palsied oak, a cleft in him like a distorted mouth that splits its rim gaping at death, and dies while it recoils. And just as far as ever from the end, nought in the distance but the evening, nought to point my footstep further!

At the thought, a great black bird, Apollyon's bosom-friend, sail'd past, nor beat his wide wing dragon-penn'd that brush'd my cap--perchance the guide I sought. For, looking up, aware I somehow grew, 'spite of the dusk, the plain had given place all round to mountains--with such name to grace mere ugly heights and heaps now stolen in view. How thus they had surpris'd me,--solve it, you! How to get from them was no clearer case. Yet half I seem'd to recognize some trick of mischief happen'd to me, God knows when--in a bad dream perhaps. Here ended, then, progress this way. When, in the very nick of giving up, one time more, came a click as when a trap shuts--you're inside the den!

Burningly it came on me all at once: this was the place! Those two hills on the right, couch'd like two bulls lock'd horn in horn in fight, while, to the left, a tall scalp'd mountain ... Dunce, dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, after a life spent training for the sight! What in the midst lay but the Tower itself? The round squat turret, blind as the fool's heart, built of brown stone, without a counter-part in the whole world. The tempest's mocking elf points to the shipman thus the unseen shelf he strikes on, only when the timbers start.

Not see? because of night perhaps?--why, day came back again for that! Before it left, the dying sunset kindled through a cleft: the hills, like giants at a hunting, lay, chin upon hand, to see the game at bay,--"Now stab and end the creature--to the heft!" Not hear? when noise was everywhere! it toll'd increasing like a bell. Names in my ears of all the lost adventurers my peers,--how such a one was strong, and such was bold, and such was fortunate, yet each of old lost, lost! one moment knell'd the woe of years. There they stood, ranged along the hill-sides, met to view the last of me, a living frame for one more picture! In a sheet of flame I saw them and I knew them all. And yet dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set, and blew: "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came".

Against all odds (Tymora be praised, or be damned !!)

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I decided to create this thread so you can tell about the time you were REALLY lucky or unlucky, that time when, even though all odds were stacked one way, something else happened. Be it a total WIN or total FAIL, please, do tell us what Tymora made you go through, for the best or for the worst...

I will obviously start.

TYMORA BE DAMNED : I once lost a no-reload sorcerer to a phase spider in Candlekeep catacomb. Not really unlucky, you say. Well, I was actually fully buffed for the Prat fight : Shield, Mirror Image, Improved Invisibility, Stoneskin, etc... you get the point. So, the only way the phase spider could hit me was with a critical. That critical also went through all Images and I then failed my saving throw. Granted, sorcerer don't have great saving throw vs poison, but these are buffed up by Improved Invisibility, so a chance at saving is possible. Just drink a antidote you say. Well, I just had used a spell, a mere magic missile to help my front liner - who actually dispatched these spiders in no time - so my aura was clouded. In SCS, the poison is nasty : it drained my Charname's health real fast and couldn't do anything (this one was on me though, not on Tymora). I paused to see my options, but my cleric didn't had Remove poison learned... Who needs Remove Poison when you have a ton of antidotes ? Now I know... I unpaused, only to see that dreaded Reload screen appear.

I never took the time to calculate the odds of that happening, but they are at least less then 1%. That's some real unlucky stuff...

TYMORA BE PRAISED : Killing a Vampire Wolf with a level 1 party with no enchanted weapon. I crossed the dreaded beast in the second area under Beregost (before arriving to Nashkel), after killing the hobgoblins in the ambush. When the beast appeared, I decided to try my luck. I then went on to kite it : the wolf followed my Charname while Imoen was emptying the wand of Magic Missile on it (I play with IR, so wand of MM actually has three missiles, not only one). After emptying the wand, the wolf was at Near Death, but not dead... Having no other options, I decided to flee, when the group crossed a few kobolds. My team took them down only to find a scroll of Burning Hands in the loot. Khalid took it (he was a fighter/mage in this install), and casted it in front of him. At the exact time the spell was cast, I passed right in front of him, the dreaded beast still following me. The fire took it down and I was unscathed. 2000 xp for that weak, weak group. Not only did I managed to find a scroll to finished it off, but the wolf was not able to touch me once; it was able to land one or two attack againt me, but missed. If wolf managed to land only one hit, it would have healed itself, making it impossible to kill, even with the Burning Hands scroll. Tymora be praised !!

Now, your turn.

Saving te Duke eltan

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I think I did something backwards. When I returned to Baldur's gate after doing the tales of the sword coast. I am arrested, got out of that but I can't get back into Flaming fist to save the Duke. Every time I try 1/2 my party gets killed. I do not know how far to go back or if I should just stat over. I really do not want to do Durlags tower again. I also killed the assassins in the under cellar because they attacked me. What do I do now. Just let the Duke die?

Do you think Beamdog should use/develop a more modern engine?

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I'm not against IE (or the updated IE), but it does have limitations. What say you?

Are there ever any Beamdog sales?

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I purchased BG:EE, BG2:EE, IWD:EE straight in pre-orders on Beamdog and am using their client to download those. I'm missing BG:SoD in my library (though I did play it and finish it *wink wink*) but would like to buy it anyway for completion purposes.
Now the games are also available on Steam and GOG pretty much for a steal of a price some of the times. However, I would rather not have more copies across more platforms and would like to buy SoD straight from Beamdog, if possible. Will there be any sales for this client too or am I going to shell out the full twenty anyway at some point?

As it might happen with how things are going forward, instead of giving twenty to Beamdog, I'll buy the whole EE collection for the same price as just SoD elsewhere... Which is kinda shameful.

All the banter mods - which ones are compatible (in terms of Role-playing)

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(Ok, so maybe not quite ALL the banter mods, but just, you know, the more popular ones.)

Long-ish post warning: tl;dr at the end!

A bit of context, I've been fighting and had just recently given in to the urge to re-start my BG2 EET game so that I can change my mod set-up and experience everything from the beginning. It took me a while to get used to the BWS for mods (I'm still more comfortable with manual installation, but I digress). I was tempted to include these banter mods in my next setup:

Banter Pack
IEP Extended Banters
Imoen Friendship
Viconia Friendship
Mazzy Friendship
Sarevok Friendship

I know that the IEP banter pack and the Friendship mods all belong to IEP project, and as such I assume they are all compatible with each other (compatible not just in a coding sense, but also in that the dialogues from these mods will not seem contradictory or awkward). But I don't know what to make of Banter Pack - the IEP extended banter was, according to the mod description, designed to work with Banter Pack; however, I don't know if there is anything from the Friendship mods that conflict (again, in a role-playing sense) with BP.

Normally I'd just assume that there wouldn't be any problem. But I read the BP description and apparently, they included 4 (FOUR!) alternative epilogues for Sarevok! I presume this has something to do with the banters themselves (i.e. players' responses affect the epilogue outcomes). I dug around a little more and found one o the four epilogues from BP:


http://home.arcor.de/varana/BantherPacks ToB.txt

@100=~Sarevok wasted little time building the cult of allegiance he promised his departed sibling. Among the war-weary survivors of Amkethran and Saradush, he found those willing to swear their lives to the newborn celestial power, and those less eager but fearful of losing what little they had left to the wrath of Sarevok and his patron. It was amidst the still-choking rubble of Saradush that Sarevok ordered the first temple to the glory of be raised, and the city became the holiest of destinations for followers.
Sarevok raised 's banner and acted with single-minded purpose on a crusade of conversion. He conquered Westgate and gave control to the church, and even Baldur's Gate endured a costly siege at the hands of Sarevok's zealots.
As the ultimate student of Bhaal's legacy, Sarevok personally selected and trained the elite bishops of the new worship, and appointed a man named Glennaro to the position of High Bloodpriest. A blacksmith, Glennaro had no previous religious experience apart from bellowed curses, but Sarevok admired the man's capable cunning. He presented Sarevok with a replica of his signature armor when petitioning for the position, winning over the son of the Iron Throne.
On the tenth anniversary of 's ascendance, Sarevok called for a jubilee and pilgrimage of the faithful. Saradush, rebuilt again in the image Sarevok dictated, would rock with worship and praise for the hero of Baldur's Gate and inheritor of Bhaal's legacy, culminating in a powerful sacrifice of blood at the Font of Bhaal. Glennaro had grown powerful beyond the dreams of men exploiting the bond Sarevok's guidance had afforded him with , but it was not enough to satisfy him. He intended to funnel the powers of the jubilee not to , but to himself, draining 's essence through the Font. Sarevok had anticipated such treachery, and tortured two of Glennaro's men to learn the secrets.
The opportunity stirred long-suppressed desires in Sarevok's soul, and as much as the man he had become wished to remain loyal, the man he was took over. When he confronted Glennaro on the day of the sacrifice, he demanded a partnership in the endeavor. But Glennaro had underestimated the energies involved, and as the blood of the faithless poured into the Font and he spoke the fateful words, the powers released were far too strong for the devious pair to handle, and as 's raw energies poured forth, the people of Saradush were burned where they stood, and the buildings crumbled from foundation to rooftop in a hellish display. For the second time in a decade, Saradush was laid waste, and the rivers turned to a soup of ash and blood.
In the end, Sarevok remained a slave to his ambitions. Just as they had once before, those ambitions destroyed him, along with countless others. How gravely this betrayal harmed the ascendant is beyond the capacity of mortal storytellers to know--but those who knew say had survived many hardships and heartbreaks in the past, and would, at any cost, endure.~


It's reasonably well-written in my book; however, I really just don't have the stomach for this sort of ending - I'd much prefer the original epilogue. More importantly, I'd like to avoid this ending just because it's weird since I plan to have my Charname slowly reaching a difficult, and somewhat bizarre reconciliation with Sarevok (it seems apt enough, since the events that occurred in the fallen Bhaal temple in SoD has shedded much light on Sarevok's... problems. Although he will probably never be forgiven for the murder of Gorion, the irony is not lost on Charname that, had Gorion encountered and rescued Sarevok from the temple ages ago, Sarevok would not have been exposed to the influences of Rieltar and might grow up into a normal kid, not unlike like Charname of Candlekeep or Imoen, under the tutelage of Gorion).

Having said all that, I suppose the most germane questions are (also TL;DR):
1) Without further spoilers/with minimal spoilers, can anyone tell me if there are alternative Sarevok Epilogues from BP that is compatible (Role-playing wise) with Sarevok Friendship + IEP Extended Banter?
2a) If all the Sarevok epilogues from Banter Pack share a similar tone, can I still get the original Sarevok epilogue with BP installed?
2b) What if I have Ascension epilogues as well? Which ones would take precedence?
3) In a similar vein, will I get confusing/strange/immersion-breaking dialogues from Banter Pack and any of the other Friendship mods in the IEP project?
4) If the answer is yes to either of the above two questions and I'm forced to keep only one set of mods, which set of mods offer the most fun?

Thanks everyone!

Favorite Familiars on Bards

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So I got the urge to play some more Baldur's Gate after the longest time, and since I'm also in a Bard mood from my other game playing, I made a Bard, though a plain Bard, which is unlike me (I usually go for Skalds or Jesters.)

Naturally, I will grab the Find Familiar scroll, learn it, and have my familiar. Being Lawful Neutral, I'll get my personal favorite of those available to a Bard, the ferret.

What's your favorite familiar to have with your Bard (of any bardic stripe, naturally.)

Fighting Duels vs Armies

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Last night I just beat IWD2. And today I was thinking about it, and how different it felt from BG2. In IWD2, there really weren't any boss fights. You didn't go up against single wizards who were covered in spell protections. You went up against wizards surrounded by allies, many of whom hit pretty hard. It was weird in the sense that I felt like tanks and mages were both equally needed. Tanks to keep enemies back, mages because there were just far too many to kill. And enemy mages always tried to disable you.

What really made me smile though was the final fight. High level summons kept coming in. Imagine my surprise when my barbarian found a mage hiding behind a wall, summoning nonstop. A mage with no protections who was easily cut down. A very nice touch.

But what the game didn't have was a 1 vs party fight. Which BG2 has in droves. Sure, IWD2 has 1 dragon...but it is so ridiculously overpowered. And not in a tactical sense. There weren't any spells/protections to remove. It just teleports around murdering you.

BG2 had liches, dragons and mages out the wazoo. Many of whom could quite easily take down a full party that wasn't prepared.

I suppose the best way to describe it: IWD2 was a frantic mess, which often meant being surrounded by hard hitting enemies. You had to make a line and hold it.

BG2 felt more tactical in the sense that you had to find a way to actually do damage against big hitters while staying alive.

----

I think on the whole I liked the combat in IWD2 better. Call it the dwarf in me, but having my Charname dwarf (fighter/paladin) with his shield holding back a horde of enemies (next to a single-class human paladin with a shield), while a barbarian swings away from the rear with a great sword, a rogue shoots a bow (at enemy casters), a cleric heals and a mage desperately does AOE spells...it felt good. As if though everyone had a job to do, and the job was needed.

But that's just me. Anyone have a different take on it? Which type of combat do you like better and why?

Alpha Baldur's Gate Builds, Any Exist?

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Does A Pre-1998 Launch Version Of Baldur's Gate Exist Somewhere? Those Prototype Gnolls Would Be Great Extra Content..

Any Insight, Anyone?

An Alpha / Beta Build Would Be A Crazy And Amazing Find.. Also Don't Pirate, Buy Official Products.

A new beginning by David Gaider

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I've come across this entry by @David_Gaider several hours ago.

"It’s been a year and a half since I stopped blogging at Tumblr.
According to many folks there, I was driven off by a group of fans from Tumblr’s rather rabid social justice crowd — which is not to say everyone from Tumblr is rabid, or that everyone interested in social justice is rabid, but some of them certainly are and that does indeed make it rather unpleasant to have a conversation in their vicinity about anything which potentially intersects with their interests. And so be it? They have a lot to be angry about, and it was pretty clear my clumsy attempts to engage with their constant questions were only making them angrier. Stepping back from that was better for them and certainly better for me.
More than that, however, it had been four months since I’d left the Dragon Age team to work on a new IP for BioWare — a fact which hadn’t yet been announced at that point, but which made continuing my blog less rewarding than before. I’d worked on Dragon Age for ten years, after all, right from the setting’s creation up to the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014, and that’s all anyone really knew about or asked questions about. Yet Dragon Age was behind me. I couldn’t talk about my new project, but I was also far less invested in talking about Dragon Age — especially with people who would continue to hold me responsible for a project I no longer had any influence over.
I suppose the first question would be “why didn’t you just turn off the ‘Ask a Question’ function?” I had written articles about game writing, after all, so why not focus solely on that? That’s true, but the blog had become a purely Q&A thing, and I can safely say my interest in talking about the craft with folks had reached a low point. So I felt it was better to just walk away.
As it turned out, my feeling of dissatisfaction was more fundamental than that. I’d left Dragon Age because I wanted to try something new, but after a year on the new project I realized that wasn’t doing it for me either. I was considering something radical (for me): leaving a place I’d worked at for more than 17 years.
Leaving Bioware
There was a narrative after I left with which some journalists became rather enamored, and that was the notion of BioWare as some sinking ship with creative folks abandoning it left and right. The list of said creatives was always rather small compared to the total, but hey — it made for an interesting story, right?
Let me be clear: it wasn’t them, it was me. BioWare is a fantastic place to work, and I still consider the people there a kind of extended family. All the negative things I hear about other game development companies never really seemed to apply there. Yet that was part of it: I’d only heard about those other companies. Perhaps the grass is always greener and so on, but I was starting to feel that working at one company for my entire career just wasn’t cutting it. I wanted to try something new, I wanted more control over what I was doing and, even more than that, I wanted to work on something different.
As it turned out, different — not necessarily something new — was the key. I began my game writing career working on Baldur’s Gate II, and thus it amuses me to no end that I ended up going to a company which (so far) is known for updating and expanding Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II and other Infinity Engine games. I ran into Trent Oster at my gym, and he planted an idea in my head from which I just wasn’t able to escape. Considering there wasn’t really any place for me to go at BioWare, I had no choice but to take the plunge. If people want to read that as some kind of indictment of my former employer, go right ahead. They still have plenty of creatives who will do just fine without me, even if I’m missed.
Well, I hope I’m missed. A little. After 17 years, one’s ass leaves a considerable imprint on the chair, you know? And my ass is not small.
Onwards and…Upwards?
I wish I could talk about what I’m doing at Beamdog. I really, really do. My eagerness to shout it at the world kind of crawls under my skin and makes me crazy. “What are you working on now, Dave?” someone will ask me. “Shut up!” I reply and run away, arms flailing in the air.
Then they smile smugly and say, “Oh, I know what you’re working on.” And I have to let them walk away being all knowing-like even though they’re completely wrong. They can’t know. Biting my tongue has never been my strong suit.
So I suppose that’s why I’m here. As Creative Director at Beamdog, I’m busy building up a new narrative team and forming a narrative design pipeline at a place which hasn’t really had that before, so I’m thinking a lot these days about the craft of writing games and the entire process. Thus, since I can’t talk about my project, I can talk about that. Maybe I’ll opine on other things related to the gaming industry along the way, but it’ll mostly be that. Maybe nobody will be interested, but after spending a year in Pre-Production on the BioWare project only to move onto Pre-Production here…I need to actually write something or I will go goddamn crazy. It was either a novel or this, and I chose this. For now. We’ll see how things proceed."

Thanks for sharing, David!

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Kiel the legion killer unlimited casting cure light wounds [Solved]

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Hi everyone! I'm not sure if this is a bug or as designed, but These guys are giving me headaches. I'm soloing with a F/T, and every time I managed to bring one of those guys to Near Death, the other three heal him immediately, and it seems there is no ending of their healing spells.

How do I kill these guys?

BTW they seem to be able to see through invisibility, but do not attack. They simply follow me wherever I go.
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