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Why Not Do A New Infinity Engine Game?

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That's My Question To Beamdog. I know NWNEE has just been released and Everyone at Beamdog is working on making it Better with new patches ect.... But there are lots and lots of People Like myself who still Enjoy and play the Infinity Engine Games.I understand it has to be something People would want to play and buy, And the Engine is Old and very difficult to work with ect..... I heard all these arguments but I Still believe if Beamdog ever decided to do a BG3 or IWD3 Infinity Engine it would be a HUGE Success!!!!! Or better still A completely New Forgotten Realms D&D adventure.Trent The Fans of the Infinity Engine Games deserve a Brand New Game.

Exploits, Tricks, and Nonstandard Tactics

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This thread is here to document all of the glitches, exploits, tricks, and other assorted tactics that people have discovered over the years. Mostly I want to document the weirder tricks, the ones that the average player wouldn't encounter in their first one or two or five playthroughs. The list is divided into EE and pre-EE/pre-update tricks.

If you've found a special trick you're proud of, let me know and I'll add in a new entry. Even if you weren't the first to discover a trick, but just found it independently, go ahead and bring it up! And if you happen to know where the trick was first mentioned, please give me a link so I can add it in. And if I made a mistake somewhere, let me know and I'll correct it.

I'm sure many of the older tricks will never have confirmed authors, but I'd like to have citations for as many of these tricks as possible. I'll put "Unknown" in front if there's a list of people who discovered the trick, but it's not clear who was first.

These are the tricks that are possible in the most recent versions of the game (that is, the latest updates to the Enhanced Edition).

Shadowdancer Trick, documented here
Author: @Grum
Brief Description:

You can maintain invisibility indefinitely as a Shadowdancer by manipulating the stealth timer. Use Hide in Plain Sight, then click Detect Traps (or any other button) without actually breaking invisibility. After 6 seconds pass, you will be able to use Hide in Plain Sight again, but you will still be invisible. This allows you to go invisible, wait 6 seconds, backstab, and then go invisible again without ever exposing yourself to attack.


Wand of Lightning Trick, discussed here
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

The Wand of Lightning in BG2 (but not BG1 or SoD) fires 6 lightning bolts with up to 6 different targets. You can duplicate the effects of any on-self spell or item by targeting the caster with all 6 lightning bolts, then immediately ordering the character to cast the spell in question. Instead of firing 6 lightning bolts, the character will cast the spell 6 times while only using a single spell slot. This only works with spells that are on-self by default, like Sunfire and Mordenkainen's Sword; not Fireball or Animate Dead.

This can also be used with any quick item: choose 6 targets with the Wand of Lightning, then go to the inventory screen and swap the Wand of Lightning for another item.

If you use to turn pages in the Book of Daily Spell, you'll get 6 copies of the next page, allowing you to duplicate the book (unless you hit the Burning Hands page on the first try).

As @sluckers has noted, it's also possible to use the Wand of Lightning trick to target things from all the way across the map by dedicating one of the six targets to a container or item on the ground.


Scorcher Loop, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

You can multiply the effects of an Agannazar's Scorcher spell (or a Lance of Disruption in IWD:EE) by having two mages cast (Minor) Spell Turning and then casting Agannazar's Scorcher from one to another. The spell turning effect will bounce the scorcher multiple times until it is exhausted. Spells in sequencer strike as a single spell, so putting three scorchers in a Spell Sequencer and combining it with two mages with Spell Turning will deal about 800 damage. Wands of Fire also work.

The spell is extremely party-unfriendly, and both mages will suffer fire damage if they are not immune (note that MGOI will block the damage, but also cancel the loop).

The Ring of Energy will also work, but only in the vanilla games, as EE has made the Ring of Energy's damage a level 0 effect.

In IWD:EE, you can actually lower enemy fire resistance using the level 3 priest spell Protection from Fire, which sets fire resistance to 80%.


Death Ray Zorcher, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

You can multiply the effects of the scorcher loop even further by combining it with the Wand of Lightning Trick. Have two characters chain-cast Spell Turning using the Wand of Lightning trick and either the Spell Turning page of the Book of Daily Spell, or a Spell Turning scroll. Then have a third character cast Agannazar's Scorcher across both of them. The loop will strike 10,000 times over several rounds, enough to kill any enemy that is not immune to fire or level 2 spells. Testing killed Adalon in Legacy of Bhaal mode in just over a second.

This can also be done by using the Reflect Magic HLA from the Wizard Slayer Rebalancing mod.


Lingering Song Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

In Icewind Dale 2, the Lingering Song trick lets a bard's song continue for 2 rounds after being activated. This allows you to repeatedly click the bard song icon and stack the effects of any song while the game is still paused. The effects scale infinitely, except for the damage bonus from the Ballad of Three Heroes, which is capped at +20.


Mislead Backstabs
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Any character under the effects of Mislead is considered constantly invisible for the purposes of backstabbing. Thus, a Misled character can backstab multiple times in a single round, so long as the target does not turn around.

Also, if you send the Mislead clone to a safe place (Maze does not count), enemies will not be able to kill it, and so your Misled character will remain completely undetectable, except to enemies who naturally see through invisibility like liches, demons, and dragons, for the duration of the spell.


Clone Quick Items Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Clones from spells such as Project Image and Simulacrum, or items such as Vhailor's Helm, can use any quick items the caster had equipped at the time of casting. Any items the clone uses will not use up charges on the original character. This means you can use rare items such as Protection from Magic scrolls once per day for every casting of Simulacrum or Project Image. Protection from Magic scrolls can be used on enemies to disable spellcasting; they work very well on the many enemy mages of BG2.


Clone Traps
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

The trap limit of 7 traps per map does not apply to clones. Project Image and Simulacrum clones can lay an unlimited number of traps on any map.


Clone Summons
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

The summon limit of 5 summoned critters per map does not apply to clones. Project Image and Simulacrum clones can summon an unlimited number of critters in any area. This also allows you to summon multiple Devas or Planetars, bypassing the celestial summon limit of 1.


Clone Innate Abilities
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Clones can use any innate ability the caster possesses at the time of casting. A level 10 clone may still use all of the original level 20 character's HLAs, and a character under the effects of Polymorph Self or Shapechange will generate a clone that can also use those shapeshifting abilities. If a Project Image clone shapeshifts, it can even attack while shapeshifted, which Project Image clones are not supposed to be able to do.


Spell Trap Trick, documented here
Author: Unknown, @semiticgod (Black Blade of Disaster part only)
Brief Description:

Spell Trap can be used to gain an infinite number of spells per day by using level 9 effects against the caster. A Project Image clone can cast level 7 and level 9 spells to restore the original caster's spells. For a Simulacrum clone to be able to do the same thing, it would have to be level 18, which means only a level 35 mage (impossible without removing the XP cap) could do the same using Simulacrum instead of Project Image. Black Blade of Disaster also strikes as a level 9 spell for each hit.


Limited Wish-resting
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Wild Mages can use Nahal's Reckless Dweomer to cast Limited Wish. Limited Wish allows a caster with high Wisdom to restore spell slots: 1 spell for each level from 1 to 4. If the Wild Mage has no empty level 4 spell slots, it will restore a level 3 spell slot instead. With no empty spell slots, a single Limited Wish, generated from a single Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, can restore 4 level 1 spells slots, allowing a Wild Mage to cast spells indefinitely, provided it does not suffer a wild surge that breaks the loop.


Talk-blocking
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Clicking on a neutral character will cause the character to turn to you and wait for you to speak with it. It will not take any other action for several seconds even if you order your character to do something else, so you can click on neutral characters to prevent them from talking to you, or even prevent them from defending themselves when you attack them.


Import/Export Trick, documented here
Author: Unknown, @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:

In multiplayer mode, you can duplicate items by exporting a character with, say, Celestial Fury, then dropping Celestial Fury, going into Character Arbitration, deleting the character, and importing the character you just exported. The character will have an extra copy of Celestial Fury and can pick up the original from the ground. This can duplicate any item besides containers and quest items, as they cannot be exported.


Ferret Smuggling
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

A ferret or cat familiar can pickpocket party members. If you use it to pickpocket the Rift Device, you can smuggle it out of the sewers without triggering the instant death script and then talk to the familiar to give it back to you. This can also work with drow equipment, which is supposed to disintegrate when you leave the Underdark, but the game does not check the ferret or cat's inventory for the items; only yours.


Fire Seed Trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

Weapons that use area-effect projectiles can apply on-hit effects to more than one enemy at a time. This bypasses weapon immunities and all forms of spell protections. Thus, a character can use any of the following weapons:
1. Flasher Master Bruiser Mates (which are completely party-friendly)
2. Fire Seeds
3. Arrows of Detonation
4. Scorcher Ammunition (which strikes twice, as it uses the Agannazar's Scorcher projectile)
5. Frag Grenades
to apply any of the following effects:
1. Wizard Slayer spell failure
2. Power Attack
3. Smite
4. (Greater) Deathblow
5. Poison Weapon
6. Called Shot
to any group of creatures, provided the initial target is not immune to the weapon (throwing a Fire Seed will fail against a mage with PFMW active, but it can hit the mage if you target a nearby character without PFMW).


Infinite Maze Trick
Author: @Alesia_BH, @Alesia_B_H
Brief Description:

A Bounty Hunter can Maze an entire group of enemies using a level 21 Special Snare. This allows the Bounty Hunter to set additional traps while the enemies are gone. When the enemies return--usually one at a time--they will immediately trigger any traps the Bounty Hunter has lain since the first Maze trap. This can be done as long as the Bounty Hunter still has Maze traps.


Lightning Bolt Loop
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

A Lightning Bolt spell can bounce off of both the Cloak of Reflection and the original version of the Cloak of Mirroring. By deleting the Cloak of Mirroring's file in the override folder and restoring the original version, which reflects rather than blocks spell damage (may not be possible in EE), or by using the Import/Export Trick to duplicate the Cloak of Reflection you can bounce a Lightning Bolt spell or Wand of Lightning charges between two party members indefinitely. You can even dedicate multiple charges and add extra lightning bolts to the loop, making it stronger.

Testing has found that the loop can be canceled accidentally due to positioning problems. Testing has also suggested that it is possible to make it impossible for the loop to ever be re-created in a single save game.

It's also possible to bounce a Lightning Bolt spell or wand in a reliable path by pointing it directly north or south in close quarters, as lightning bolts bounce directly backwards if cast north or south. This can be used to reliably hit a single target about 5 times in a narrow hallway. But the EE version of the lightning bolt projectile may behave differently.


Fog of War Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Some enemies will not react if they suffer damage when the player's characters or summons are not in sight. Thus, you can cast Fireball or Cloudkill and so forth without the enemy ever reacting.

I believe this is much less likely to be possible in EE, and should never be possible in a normal SCS install.


Sunfire Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Spells cast on self ignore magic resistance. Thus, a Sunfire spell, which is cast on self by default, will bypass magic resistance on nearby targets, allowing you to deal fire damage to golems and other magic-immune critters.

According to @SpaceInvader, this no longer works for Sunfire in EE, but it still applies to other spells.


Quick Save Trick, documented here
Author: @Arctodus
Brief Description:

Loading the game resets the aura and stealth timer of all party members. By quick-saving and then quick-loading, you can cast multiple spells or drink multiple potions within the same round, provided that you are not in combat. This can extend the lifespan of short-duration effects, or allow an Archer to stack Called Shot effects right before combat begins.


Blind Thief Trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

Thieves cannot hide or set traps when enemies are near. However, this only applies to the thief's field of vision. A blind thief has a restricted field of vision and can therefore hide in plain sight like a Shadowdancer or even set traps in the middle of combat, provided that no enemies are directly next to him or her.

Before EE, thieves could hide when blind even when enemies were near, but not set traps. But this may be a testing error.

Combined with the blind thief trick, you can also save or even rest in the presence of enemies, though combat must have ended.


EE Shapechange Trick, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

In EE, it's still possible to grant a character permanent access to any of the wizard shapeshifts. Basically, you have to shapeshift into the form you want just as the spell's duration is running out. Shapeshifting takes 1.2 seconds, and both spells take tens of rounds to run out, so the timing is difficult (shapeshift continuously to count the rounds). This won't work with the Amulet of Power or Robe of Vecna, and is easier if your character is slowed. The Flail of Ages, Ardulia's Fall, or a jelly attack from another mage can all slow your character.

The way it works is that shapeshifting removes and then restores your shapeshifting abilities, but the spell itself removes your shapeshifting powers, without restoring them, after x number of seconds have passed. But if you shapeshift after x-1 seconds, you will begin the shapeshift before you lose it, and complete it after the base spell attempts to take it away, which restores your shapeshifting ability.

This has limits, however. If you use it to gain permanent access to ogre form via the Polymorph Self spell, you can't gain permanent access to spider form, also from the Polymorph Self spell, without losing the ogre form. This is because the Polymorph Self spell removes the ogre, jelly, flind, spider, wolf, brown bear, and black bear shapeshifts all at once, but you can only carry one of them past the spell duration. Likewise, you can't get permanent access to both Iron Golem and Mind Flayer form, since they both come from Shapechange. You can, however, get an Iron Golem form from Shapechange and a spider form from Polymorph Self.

Before EE, there is a simpler method involving killing the character in question (see pre-EE section below).


Pet Basilisk Strategy/Basilisk XP Loop
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

You can charm a basilisk using Algernon's Cloak from BG1. If you cast Protection from Petrification on the basilisk after charming it, you can use the pet basilisk to clear out Mutamin's Garden much faster than missile weapons, especially in Legacy of Bhaal mode.

You can also gain even more XP than would normally be possible in Mutamin's Garden using Stone to Flesh scrolls. After clearing out most of the area, charm a Lesser Basilisk (approach from behind and flee if it doesn't work), cast Protection from Petrification on it, and then have it petrify a Greater Basilisk. Then, before the Lesser Basilisk can attack again and shatter the Greater Basilisk, order it to stop and use a Stone to Flesh scroll on the petrified basilisk. You can then re-petrify it for another 7000 XP for every Stone to Flesh scroll you have. You can buy 19 scrolls from the temples at the Friendly Arm Inn and near Beregost for a total of 38 even before you reach Baldur's Gate (where even more scrolls are for sale). It's by far the fastest way of gaining XP in BG1, and requires little money and virtually no risk.


Fire Giant XP Loop, documented here
Author: @Gallowglass, @Caeria
Brief Description

By placing archers close to the walls of Saradush and either use the vanilla game's Guard function or apply the right AI script, you can get your archers to shoot at Fire Giants just beyond the walls, out of sight, and get XP for every kill at no risk.


Summoned Demon Behavior
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:

Summoned demons ignore the summoning limit. Normally, summoning multiple demons will cause them to turn against each other, but casting Protection from Evil 10' Radius will get them to ignore each other and concentrate on your enemies instead (though they still won't get you XP for their kills).


Invincible Level 1 Tanks, documented here
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:

Level 1 characters cannot die in one hit unless they have 14 HP or higher. Level 1 characters who only have 1 HP therefore cannot die from damage, as the game cannot reduce their HP to any fraction of the total.

This isn't fully reliable, however, and occasionally a level 1 character will die after taking repeated hits.


Black Raven Monastery Trick, documented here and here
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:

In Heart of Fury mode in Icewind Dale 2, you can give your entire party HoF-style bonuses by saving and then loading while one of the characters is in one of the chambers in the monk trials at the Black Raven Monastery. When you reload that save, everyone but the character taking the test will have +10 to all stats, +12 to all levels, and triple HP plus 80 on top (and maybe some AB, AC, and save bonuses). Characters with levels about 24 or so will also be able to level up one last time, adding about 230 levels to any class they currently have no levels in. It's generally best to choose rogue or monk for this last level up, as these classes grant 230d6 sneak attack damage for the rogue and 50 SR, +10 AC, and Stunning Blow and Quivering Palm abilities with save DC's over 100, granting a 95% success rate for each one.

There is no way to make these bonuses stack.


Resilient Sphere Trick, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

Barbarian rage makes the Barbarian immune to opcode 185, the opcode that makes Otiluke's Resilient Sphere paralyze its target. Barbarians can get the defensive benefits of Resilient Sphere while still being able to attack. Testing found, however, that the Barbarian didn't always get all of the benefits; only some.


Remove Curse Trick, documented here
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:

Remove Curse can be cast on enemies with cursed items, who will immediately drop the item. This can be used to weaken characters such as Kontik, Brage, and Smaeluv Orcslicer.


Universal Stealth Trick
Author: @Iroumen
Brief Description:

By mapping stealth to a hotkey, any character can attempt to hide in shadows, though characters who are not thieves, rangers, and monks will have poor stealth scores.


Armored Casting Trick, documented here
Author: @Gotural
Brief Description:

Mages wearing armor can still cast spells if they do so via a hotkey.


Extra Speed Weapons, documented here
Author: @Artemius_I
Brief Description:

In the most recent version of EE, throwing daggers can be dual-wielded provided that the throwing dagger is kept in the main hand. Since throwing daggers grant +1 APR even when used as melee weapons, they function as additional speed weapons alongside Belm, Kundane, and the Ninja-to of the Scarlet Brotherhood.

Before EE, there was another speed weapon: the Shadow Thief Dagger, which you can only get by siding with Bodhi and opting for the "unseemly task" for your second assignment, and which you can only keep by returning to Bodhi to report that you spared the target's life. The Shadow Thief Dagger (STD) sets your APR to 2 rather than increasing it by 1, so it's especially effective in the hands of Project Image clones, but it gets no Strength bonus. However, unlike other speed weapons, it is nonmagical and can bypass PFMW.


Hexxat Stun Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:

Hexxat is immune to nearly all disablers except for Power Word: Stun. The effect interferes with her mist form script, so you can hit her with PW: Stun while she's wounded and she will remain stunned but still invincible thanks to her MINHP1 item.


Potion of Power Trick, documented here
Author: @Arctodus
Brief Description:

If you drink multiple potions of power, the HP bonus, if not the THAC0 bonus, will stack indefinitely. Warriors can get hundreds of HP this way, though the bonuses can be dispelled, and Potions of Power are rare. This should be cumulative with the Wand of Lightning trick.


Fatigue Removal
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:

Kicking an NPC out of the party and bringing them back in will reset their fatigue to 0.


Killing without Losing Reputation, documented here
Author: @bobveng

You can kill a character without losing reputation by using a cursed scroll of monster summoning on them. You can also charm them and make them kill themselves with offensive spells, though not all characters have such spells. This can let you avoid reputation loss when killing characters with valuable items such as Firebead Elvenhair, Ordulinian, Noralee, Dushai, and Shandalar's daughters.


Slayer Change Trick for EE, documented here
Author: @semiticgod, @Grond0

By combining the Potion of Power trick with the Quick-Save trick and the Item Duplication trick (and perhaps also the Wand of Lightning trick to speed things up), you can boost your HP above 1500 in the ~7 rounds in between the beginning of Slayer Change and the 1500 magic damage that instantly kills you at the end. You have to have 20 or more Potions of Power (or even more, if you're not using the Wand of Lightning trick), probably via item duplication, and you need to be near an area transition.

Begin Slayer Change, enter the new area to force the game to auto-save, then load the auto-save. Drink a Potion of Power, force another auto-save by entering the next area, and load up the auto-save again to refresh your aura, allowing you to drink another Potion of Power. If you drink enough potions before the end of Slayer Change, you'll survive the 1500 damage. You will therefore be able to sustain the Slayer form indefinitely.


Reform Party trick, documented here
Author: @semiticgod

You can temporarily kick characters out of the party to get enemies to ignore them at critical times. Certain spells like Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Slow, Greater Malison, and Dragon's Breath will have no effect on neutral critters, so if you kick out a party member before such a spell is about to hit, the spell will fail completely. Enemies will also avoid attacking neutral critters, which means you can get party members out of dangerous situations merely by booting them from the party. The enemy will ignore them until they rejoin the party. If you turn the main character invisible and remove everyone else from the party, you can walk the whole group right past any number of enemies in complete safety while only using a single invisibility spell or potion or Protection from Undead scroll.

Single-target and non-party-friendly spells will still hit, however, as will arrows in midair. This means that the Reform Party trick can't rescue party members from all dangers. A character who dies while outside the party cannot be resurrected, so it's not wise to use this trick when a character is close to death.

Unlike other escape options, the Reform Party trick can be done at any time, regardless of aura, even when the whole party is disabled, or even during an enemy mage's Time Stop spell.


Item Swapping for Disabled Characters, documented here
Author: @Pantalion
Brief Description:

In the IE games, you cannot access a disabled or charmed character's inventory, but EE allows you to add items to their inventory, if not remove them. However, you can force a disabled character to let go of an equipped item if you replace it. For example, if you need to land an Arrow of Dispelling to cure a feebleminded party member, but they have the Boots of Avoidance equipped and therefore have +5 to AC vs. missiles, you can use an extra pair of boots to remove them and make it easier to land the Arrow of Dispelling.


Spell Trigger Trick, documented here
Author: @histamiini
Brief Description:

You can prevent offensive Spell Triggers from breaking invisibility simply by choosing the caster as the target. Since the game considers spell triggers to be single-target spells, they don't break invisibility when cast on self. This allows you to launch three Death Fog spells, say, without ever becoming invisible.


Nazramu Gold Exploit, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief description:

If you have 20 reputation and 20 Charisma, you can repeatedly sell items to Nazramu and buy them back at a net profit because his buy and sell markups are so close together. Fully-charged Wands of Monster Summoning have the highest value and are therefore the fastest way to gain gold using this trick.

This is also possible with the Temple of Sekolah in BG2, unless an update closed the exploit.


Tear of Bhaal Trick, documented here
Author: Anonymous, @gorgonzola
Brief Description:

You can duplicate the effects of the rewards from the Hell trials in Shadows of Amn by dropping the Tear of Bhaal right after activating the door to Irenicus. Normally the tear is removed from your inventory, but the game can't delete it if it's on the ground. You can then pick it up again and repeat the process, gaining the bonus once again. This works up to five times, at which point the door opens. You should only have a single Tear of Bhaal in your inventory when you do this.

As long as you keep track of which Tear of Bhaal is from which trial (they all look alike), you can pick and choose which bonuses to duplicate.


Shadow Altar Trick, documented here
Author: @histamiini
Brief Description:

The Shadow Altar in the Shade Lord's lair summons Shadows every 4 seconds, each of which is worth 420 XP. Shadows are level 4 (16 in LoB mode) and a cleric can instantly kill them using Turn Undead while hiding behind invisibility. You can hasten the process by casting Improved Haste on the Shadow Altar, at which point it will spawn a new Shadow every 2 seconds. Unlike other XP loops, this requires almost no input from the player.


The list of still-functional tricks continues on this post.

You can find the list of pre-EE and pre-update tricks here.

What IE game is the "most balanced"?

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For starters, by "balance" I mean which game offers the most consistent level of difficulty from start to finish. Some games might be harder than others, (Dark Souls, for instance, I'd argue is exceptionally difficult and also very well balanced). In a balanced game, some parts might be more difficult, some parts might be less, but by and large nothing will be extraordinarily harder or extraordinarily easier than the rest of the game.

@ThacoBell and I got a little sidetracked in the "Nerf the Ammo Belt" thread discussing game balance. And while we were taking the thread way off course, I think it's still a discussion worth having. I'll copy over some of the off-track discussion from the other thread to get started, as well as lay out my case.

2.5 patch question

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If I create a character or characters now, in anticipation of the new patch being released, and then save the beginning of the game in Candlekeep with that character, will the save work in 2.5 with all of whatever new fixes and features?

Or, should I wait until it's released, and then worry about creating a new character?

BG2-Do you side with Bodhi or the Shadow Thieves?

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I want to know which group you side with in the first half of BG2, and why~

Underdeveloped Storylines: Which Sidequest do You Think Deserved More Love?

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There are several fascinating minor characters and sidequests in these games. I often wish some of the really minor quests received more love from the creators.

For example, the fallen paladins in the Bridge District really piqued my interest. It seemed like the second in command, Reynald de Chatillon, really regretted falling out of favor with his god and the Order. The regret he had for breaking his vows was clear from the dialogue, and I wish the quest was more in depth so that you could actually infiltrate them and learn about their motivations rather than just kill them. There was potential for a redemption storyline, or an alternative outcome where you could let them go.

I wish it got the same amount of love as the Mae'Var quest.

How about you guys?

How can I change wizard/cleric spells to innate using nearinfinity?

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Making a planetouched ice themed knight character but when adding abilities to it they go straight to the magebook which is inaccessible to fighters and paladins namefly fireshield blue and Ice storm. Tried to go the fighter/mage route but the moment the char leveled up all the spell levels reset to lvl 2. Anyone know how to modify wizard spells to work as an innate ability would?

The most mods you've had installed at one time?

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Back when the IE games were first released, I was often curious about mods, but was too intimidated by/unfamiliar with computer technology to actually try any.

With the release of the EEs, though, I've been trying my hand at mods for the first time, and now I routinely scout these forums and elsewhere for any mods that will keep my latest playthroughs seeming lively and original.

I'm currently mulling over an upcoming playthrough of BG2 with about 20-25 various mods installed at one time (mostly added NPCs, with a few romances). To me, this sounds like an insane amount of mods to have installed at one time, but given my comparative inexperience at using mods, I wondered if perhaps a number like that is actually just par-for-the-course for many of the veteran mod-users here?


Beamdog and the Future of Mobile RPG Gaming

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With the release of SOD on mobile marking the last title in the IE series where code is available (no hopes for IDW II) – and seeing that Beamdog will not be releasing NWN on mobile, would this indicate a general move away from that market for new products?

I would certainly be disappointed in this – since (due to work / lifestyle etc …) I am mobile gamer about 75% of the time.

It also seems that significant RPG titles from other publishers (POE, Tyranny, TTON etc) are too “hefty” to make it onto the mobile platform ? So - for mobile RPG gamers, the outlook seems bleak. (SpiderWeb Software being the 1 exception)

As a customer that has bought almost everything you guys have published, I just wished to express my ongoing interest in your mobile offerings. They are my most played titles on IOS as really very little out there compares to them.

Hope you’ll stick in there and give us more quality offerings on Mobile in the future ….

Imoen portrait with Melissa Disney's face

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I'm hoping to find a bigger (EE) sized version of this portrait,
image

Anyone happen to know where it may have originated (i.e.: a mod or portrait pack) and if a bigger size exists?

Thanks in advance.

How many hours do you have in the Infinity Engine?

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I was recently looking at the Steam store's review page for all the Infinity Engine games, and I noticed that the average playtime is around 50 hours. I thought it would be fun to have a thread for users to compare their play times throughout the Infinity Engine games. I'll start out with my (somewhat embarrassing) times:

Baldur's Gate: 311 hours


Baldur's Gate II: 719 hours (Thanks to EET, I mostly play Baldur's Gate in Baldur's Gate II)



Icewind Dale: 179 hours



Planescape Torment: 44 hours



That's a grand total of 1,253 hours I've wasted away in the Infinity Engine over a period of six years (that's 2.3% of those six years!). To be fair, these games are my go to time killer.

I'm anxious to see if my times are indeed as crazy as I believe them to be :D

Race restrictions for classes explanation

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So, was there any logical/lore explanation why in 2nd Edition which BG uses some races can't pick certain classes/multiclasses? Like why elves can't be Clerics/Mages or Bards, Halflings can't be Clerics/Thieves or Mages, etc?

Grum's Magnificent Trainwreck - RP-No Reload Attempts

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Part 1: Leaving Candlekeep

--------------------


"Again!"

The young dwarf grunted as he was pushed back a step. An older, grayer dwarf snarled as he swung again with his axe.

"Ye call yerself a dwarf? Eh?! Ye weak livered son o' an elf!"

Another blow came crashing down on the shield. The younger dwarf grunted as he planted his feet, using his low center of gravity to keep himself from being pushed back again.

"Oh? So ye're a gnome now, is it?"

The axe fell again. His arm was getting tired. It was getting harder to hold it against the constant blows.

"Ye make me sick! Ye rat bastard. Ye know what I do to-"

Suddenly, the dwarf surged forward, using his shield to hammer a blow into the older dwarf's face. The gray haired dwarf roared in pain as he was pushed back a step himself. The younger dwarf swung out with a hammer, but it was easily batted away.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/grumbaki/Baldurs Gate/IMG_0772.png

The young dwarf, Durak panted as he held the hammer in front of him, ready to swing again. No more than twenty winters old, he was a beardling by any dwarf's standard. An oddity, all things told. While many a shield dwarf grew up within the confines of a human settlement, very few were ever actually raised by a human. For Durak, his foster father was the mage Gorion. A wise, gentle man, Gorion had taken the young dwarf in long ago and over the objections of Ulraunt. While he did all he could to be a father figure, Gorion was still a mage and a man of books. Knowing that young Durak would never follow in his footsteps, he instead shared his training with two others.

Where Gorion did his best to impart a love of knowledge on the young dwarf, Reevor took on the role of a combat master. The old dwarf took to it with relish, treating the beardling like a soldier from his far away clan. Durak was raised in the traditional art of the dwarven defender, to use hammer and shield as if though it were part of his body. In this, he excelled beyond Reevor's wildest expectations. There was a strength in the dwarf that far surpassed his years. He grew up as strong as an ox and as tough as any dwarf had a right to be. Even at the young age of twenty, he was a hearty as a dwarf with a full beard. The more promise that Durak showed, the tougher Reevor became. If it were not for the influence of Gorion, the older dwarf might have truly done his best to break the youngster, just to see if he could. As is, he merely pushed him as far as he reasonably could while still being welcome in Candlekeep.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/grumbaki/Baldurs Gate/IMG_0794.png

Looking at the panting Durak, Reevor had to admit to himself that he was just as tired. Moreso, if he was honest with himself...something he certainly didn't have a mind to be.

"I thought I told you to clean the rats out of this building yesterday, already. Hop to it! Get in there!"

With a nod, Durak did just that. Hefting his hammer, he went to the dire task of using his hammer to clear out a rat infestation, without breaking anything of value. Reevor stood aside as he watched the beardling charge in, a look of pride and jealousy in equal measure written on his face. He knew that Durak would be leaving soon, something he had complained long and loud for ever since he was 'saddled' with the burden of training the beardling. He could hear the sound of the hammer falling and 'squeaks' from within. "I'll miss the wee bastard", he thought to himself.

When Durak came out, a smile not quite hidden from his face, Reevor grunted and tossed him five gold crowns.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/grumbaki/Baldurs Gate/IMG_0795.png

"Ah yes, kill them like the rats they are! A glorious battle unlike this world has ever seen. Here's five gold pieces. Don't spend them all in one place."

With that, a smile truly did break across Durak's face. "Aye! Thank ye!" Reevor knew that the gold would turn to ale soon enough. He successfully fought back the smile.

"Well, what'yre ye waiting for? Ye going to keep Arkanis waiting, ye faerie fondling nitwit?"

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/grumbaki/Baldurs Gate/IMG_0790.png

This led Durak to Arkanis' forge. Arkanis was another of his tutors. Where Reevor had taught him the art of dwarven combat, Arkanis had taught him of the forge. It was something that Durak didn't quite take naturally to. It seemed to Arkanis as if though the art of killing ran in the beardlings' blood. His great flaw was that he always swung his hammer as if though he were to kill something. But he did his best, Moradin knew that. So Arkanis toiled away, doing all he could to temper the beardling the dwarven way - with a hammer in hand and an anvil before him.

When Durak came in, he found Arkanis talking animatedly to Deder. One of Arkanis' good friends, Deder was another one of Durak's closest companions. A source of levity in a life full of books, hammers and anvils. It was rare to see the halfling look serious. Durak came to a halt and looked at the pair uncertainly.

"What's the matter? Am I late? I dunnae think I'm late..."

Arkanis looked at Deder and then shook his head.

"Nay, ye're nay late. But...ah, fook it! Lad, ye're leaving. An' shut it when I'm talking, ye hear? Master Gorion says that it's nay safe here for ye. Moradin knows why, but he's told ye to pack up ye belongings an' get to him now."

"But...what? Why? How could it not be safe here? This place is a fortress-"

"Oi! Did I nay say shut it? Look, keep ye shield there. Nay ye worry about Reevor, I'll explain it to him. Now, one last thing. Ye're to get ye arse o'er to the priests' quarters. I've got me war-hammer there. I want ye tae have it. Nay that smithin' hammer ye've been swinging around." He reached over and pulled the light hammer out of Durak's confused hands.

Arkanis then reached out and put a calloused hand on the beardling's shoulder. "Ye take me hammer, an' ye do me proud. Ye remember, that e'ery time ye swing it, ye remember that there best be a reason on why ye're swinging it. Ye dunnae dare disgrace me hammer, ye understand."

"I under-"

"Oi! I said shut it." Deder looked away, suddenly finding something interesting on the wall to look at. "Not get out o' here. An' the next time I see ye...fook it. Jus' go."

Hesitantly Durak nodded, and then ran off. He spared one look back, and was gone.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/grumbaki/Baldurs Gate/IMG_0778.png


When Durak got to the priest quarters, he opened the door and found a hooded man waiting for him. He was sitting in a chair, fingering a dagger.

"Oh goodie goodie! I've gone and found ye first! You are the ward of Gorion, no doubt?"

"I am. What can I do for ye?"

...

Durak was shaking. He looked down at the man's body. He had grabbed the nearest thing at hand - a priest's quarter staff. It was covered in blood. The man had come at him with the dagger. ready to take his life. He wasn't ready for how quick the dwarf was...or how strong. Neither was Durak, truth be told. He reached down and tapped at the man. He didn't move. Slowly he started to accept it. He had just killed someone. Durak thought back to what Arkanis had said. That it wasn't safe here.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/grumbaki/Baldurs Gate/IMG_0781.png

He went and retrieved Arkanis' hammer. He held it in his hands. It felt right. This wasn't a tool for smithing. It wasn't for creating. It was for destroying. It was a tool of death. He stared at the body of the would-be assassin. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but for someone reason it just felt right in his hands.

With that, Durak ran from the quarters, leaving the body lying there. He hoped that Parda wouldn't find it. He didn't know what the kind hearted priest would think if he saw something so gruesome lying there. But at that moment he didn't want to think about that. He just hoped that someone like Hull or Fuller would find it first. They would dispose of it quietly. He hoped, as he ran. He had to find Gorion. Durak didn't understand why this was happening, why someone would want him dead. But he knew that he had to leave.





Minsc berserk state vs Rigid Thinking

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Minsc's berserk state protects against Feeblemind. But does it also protect against Rigid Thinking?
Not according to the description, but this seems weird given that it protects against Feeblemind.

Wild Surge Issue 9 - Chickens

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Killing Trolls with Damage-over-time Acid Spells?

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I was on the second level of Dragon's Eye with my solo Dragon Disciple. Naturally I was using damage-over-time acid spells, namely Melf's Acid Arrow and Vitriolic Sphere, to deal with those pesky trolls. Now this is where I noticed something strange.

Before I begin, let me tell you that my DD is on level 10, so that means Melf's Acid Arrow will last for 4 rounds, while Vitriolic Sphere will last for 5 rounds at most. So first I'm injuring the trolls to a "Near Death" condition with Skull Traps and Magic Missiles, before landing the Acid spell. Strangely enough, after the troll goes unconscious, the acid spell does not do any more damage even though its duration is not completely over yet. Now that makes me waste another precious spell slot to cast a second acid arrow to finish off the troll after it goes unconscious.

Now my question is: Is this the intended behaviour? Or am I doing something wrong? That is, if I cast an Acid Arrow on a troll just before it goes unconscious, will the damage not continue after it has gone unconscious (even though the spell's duration is still left)? This is confusing me...

Note: I've posted this in the General Section instead of the IWDEE section, because it's more of a general gameplay question about the IE games. :)

Near Infinity

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Sorry to start a new thread about this wonderful little tool, but I am having a heck of a time determining what the newest available version is and where to get it from. Could someone point an itinerant Bard in the proper direction?

Must... find... this... Sarevok... portrait... NOW!!

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image

If ANYONE out there has a larger (EE-sized) version of this portrait in his or her possession, PLEASE do not deprive us of it any longer!!

Wish for future BD games: Gold inlays in swords and magical tattoos

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Most ancient people were religious, superstitious and LOVED flashing their social status.

If you look at noblemens swords and other weapons and clothing and bodies etc you will gold inlays in swords, jeweled pommels, etchings in the sword blade (often done while forging, so that the etching are actually BEHIND another layer of iron, making it not wear off with use, as etchings added afterwards with hammers will), extremely decorative helmets and armor (supposedly, according to some of the sagas viking chieftains even had wings (but not horns) on their helmets because of some religious symbolism, but sadly, no such helmet has ever been recovered), 7 meters (!) of cloth in a pair of pants, teeth that were hollowed out and gems chiseled into the cavity and, of course, lots and lots of tattoes. It was also common to have someone carry your banner AND some even went as far as to carry a banner in their left hand instead of a shield!!!

Some of these were to show off, others to pay respect to some deity or another, but most of them were actually to help you survive battles. A modern man may find this perplexing, but remember that, yes, the ancients were superstitious, so they honestly believed a gold inlay would make them less susceptible to catching arrows. And in a sense, they also were, because a false sense of confidence will make you better at performing, psychology stuff. Not to mention, Indian tattoos containing low dose snake poison induce antibodies against the toxin, making you immune to snake bites. And all of this in a world without magic. I know modern weapon smiths and medieval weapons practitioners on youtube and for some reason also historians argue plain blades are the best, but these people simply do not understand the extent to which the ancients were superstitious!

Imagine then, the magical decorations that would run rampant in a world with magic. I would even go so far as to call the lack of decorations in the BG saga unrealistic, considering. Yes yes, the graphics were not up to date then. But they are now! I think the KOTOR crafting system is one of the best (and NWN and Divinity: Original Sins and the Witcher 3 among the worst), allowing you to change the handle, egde of your blade, etc. I think a future game should incorporate a system similar to KOTOR, where you can change the pommel gem etc for different powers. You could also chose body modifications for different powers. Thus, you can FIND (but not craft) amazing gear, and then modify said gear with amazing decorations, foregoing the time wasting crafting system of the games I mentioned earlier. When it comes to crafting, less is definitely more, and to much makes you lose interest very quickly.

This way, it still becomes about questing rather than excessively complicated and ultimately boring crafting to get the best gear, but in excess of finding the best sword, you then need to find the best pommel gem, and edge overlay, and...

Content from Siege of Dragonspear in BG II:EE (Poll)

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One of the most pleasant Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear features is the new companions. All of a sudden we haven't seen the final part of their stories, as it remains unfinished. We suppose the necessity to continue their stories do exist. Just imagine this variety of new interesting quests and romances becoming possible! Some people like Corwin, others (and I personally) like Caelar, and I do want to know what happened with her and others. The possibility of their integration into the main plot of BG2 exists on the level of discussion. That's why we want to find out your own point of view. Should new companions gain the opportunity to be presented at BG2 as well as other characters? Or, at least, some of them? Tell your own thoughts.
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