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[Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition] PC version ETA Nov 30

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Posts

  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Xan
    0avF5BrY

    Elf Enchanter

    Portrait unchanged (as most of the mage-looking Elves in the portrait pack I have look way too badass to suit Xan), Xan was a big factor in my plans for this playthrough. I was originally going to edit him fairly extensively with Level 1 NPCs, changing him from an Enchanter to a Figher/Mage and taking his way-too-high 16 CHA and dialing it down to 10, putting it into his extraordinarily low (7) CON instead. This backfired a bit, as I later discovered that his Moonblade, like some of the unique character-specific weapons in BG2, has hidden stat requirements - one of which, of course, was 16 CHA. I couldn't, in good conscience, leave his CHA high while bolstering his CON, so I decided to switch him back to a plain Enchanter, but I left him with a point in Single-Weapon Style to throw him a bit of a bone. Right as I began to resign myself to keeping Xan as a mage who does little more than cast a bunch of Sleep and Charm spells, I found a couple pieces of equipment that really got him to shine and realized that while he couldn't cast Magic Missile or Fireball, he could still cast Mage Armor, Dispel Magic, Horror, Slow, Haste, and a whole lot of other really good spells that aren't direct damage. Armed with that knowledge, Xan quickly transformed from a frail, whinging mage who does little more than cast Sleep and Acid arrow into a fairly badass melee support character, a single True Strike spell away from having the best THAC0 in the game while swinging the best weapon in the game.

    The NPC Project does less for him than it does for most others. Due to his fairly infamous personality, it's largely "more of the same". Lots of sulking, whining, and proclaiming doom and gloom (he frequently pipes up with dialogue-spewing villains proclaim that they're going to smash our heads in), but with a couple deeper moments when he would talk with Callic about Evereska and his duty as a Greycloak. His personal quest gives him a moment of badassery to shine, confronting slavers who were hauling elven maidens off to the Amnish underground slave markets. I definitely look forward to having him in my party in BG2.

    The gear makes the Elf, so they say, and Xan is no exception:

    Moonblade
    ADm5iDh6

    Unchanged by Item Revisions. Honestly, it doesn't need to be. It can only be used by Xan, requires his default stats to wield, and he is expected to be swinging it using Mage THAC0. IR doesn't even bother to update its description text to say it uses a BG2 weapon proficiency (it's supposed to be Dagger, but in my game is Long Sword due to Level 1 NPCs changing it to fit Fighter/Mage. Xan can equip no other Long Swords, so there's no real balance lost by tossing him * in Long Swords to avoid penalties due to lack of proficiency).

    Robe of the Battlemage
    RSspkHNL

    This is the one piece of gear that changes everything when it comes to Xan. Formerly the Robe of the Good Archmagi and altered by Item Revisions seemingly with him in mind, it addresses every single one of his shortcomings: the naturally poor THAC0, his low HP, and his inability to wear armor. The fact that it gives a straight-up AC bonus instead of setting your AC to a value (like normal armor, bracers, and such) is a huge boon. Combined with some good bracers, Items of Protection, and buffing spells, he also becomes surprisingly resilient.

    Boots of Avoidance
    4My0ZeF6

    Another crucial piece of equipment for Xan, as robes and bracers lack the innate "hidden" bonus to missile AC that real armors have. With his fairly low health, he becomes a prime target for archers using the SCS AI to intelligently pick their marks, so these boots greatly increase his survival rate.

    Cloak of the Shield
    OvNVy7OY

    A late-game item, but also extremely useful for Xan. Heavily modified by Item Revisions, it acts as a permanent Shield spell, setting his AC to a low value like armor and bracers do, while also giving him even more bonus missile AC. The immunity to Magic Missiles is gravy, though SCS AI will "know" he's immune to the spell due to its item scanning scripts and thus never cast it on him.

    Amulet of Metaspell Influence
    syvDapET

    Also significantly changed by Item Revisions, it's a much more generalist caster item instead of being a "meh" Mage necklace. It helps keep Xan free to cast spells if Quayle, Garrick, and Yeslick are silenced.

    Quayle
    oGFjZC9z

    Gnome Cleric/Illusionist

    Portrait also unchanged. I mean, what can top that hat? It just fits the character too well. Quayle, like Xan, Garrick, and Yeslick, is another character I've never used in BG1 before. Moved to the Nashkel Carnival from Baldur's Gate by the NPC Project to let you use him earlier, he's a good bit more useful than I honestly expected him to be. More of a Mage than a Cleric (I tossed him +4 WIS to throw him a bone; it only nets him two extra level 1 spells), most of his Cleric spell slots were taken up with pure healing, leaving Yeslick (and Jaheira when she was in the party) to handle most of the divine buffing duties.

    What I did not expect, however, was how insanely, brutally annoying he is. From how Aerie talked about him in BG2, I expected him to be wise but maybe eccentric, not Mandark from Dexter's Laboratory. It was a constant struggle to keep from kicking him out and replacing him with someone like Dynaheir. He occasionally had amusing banters with other party members, but they tended to be more of the same: "I'm smart [but not really], you're dumb, and I'm going to constantly say so." I can't see myself ever using him again.

    As such, I gave very little care or thought as to his gear:

    Arla's Dragonbane +3
    rZc6pSge

    The only real weapon he used, for what little he used it. A weapon very obviously more suited to BG2 (being that there are no dragons in BG1), it replaces the Sling +3 found in Durlag's. The movement rate bonus is nice, and pretty much the only reason I had it on him.

    Robe of Arcane Might
    OcfnnpNN

    Replaces the Robe of the Evil Archmagi, and is actually an extremely nice robe. Sets your AC to 5, like the Cloak of the Shield, plus the increase to caster level is something I haven't seen before. It really helps Quayle get better mileage out of Magic Missiles quicker and really helps his survivability.

    Rings of Wizardry and Holiness
    tLsT4bPUAfurh47h

    Both unchanged from vanilla, and both do what they say on the tin. Most of the extra spells given by the Ring of Wizardry were devoted to Magic Missile for some general-use damaging.

    --

    EVERYONE ELSE

    These are the party members I either used only temporarily until I got ahold of the final crew listed above, or characters I used in previous BG1 playthroughs using at least the NPC Project.
    Imoen
    ytkXuA7z

    Good ol' Imoen. Same as she ever was, the NPC Project gives her a lot of dialogue and keeps her pretty peppy and cheerful. She'll also take the spellbook of the mage you kill at the Friendly Arm Inn, giving her in-character motivation to start down the path of magic. She'll also talk to the various mages in your party, asking for magical advice mainly from Dynaheir and Xan, but also a little bit with Quayle and Xzar. I imagine she'd also talk to Edwin about it. She's also a favorite among modders for changing into different Thief kits, usually Swashbuckler, but the Rogue Rebalancing Swashie only gets its THAC0 and damage bonuses using melee weapons, so I usually opt to leave her as a plain Thief.

    Xzar
    Pv1GIvqz

    Portrait also unchanged, partly because his normal one fits him so well and partly because I have yet to use Xzar for more than a couple hours of playing time. From the amount I've used him, most of his inter-party banters usually involve being weird and twitchy, bickering with Montaron, and having creepy bipolar conversations with Imoen. That said, he's not a bad mage, both in stats and his Necromancer specialty. I imagine he'd provide a bit more details on the Zhentish side of things as the plot progresses.

    Montaron
    piDF9hGN

    Frequently underrated, Monty is one of my favorite characters. Evil surly halflings are rare, and his interplay with Xzar is fun. As a Fighter/Thief, he's basically the melee equivalent of Coran, with all the fun that entails. If you use him and have Rogue Reblanacing installed, the upgraded Short Sword of Backstabbing +3 will be extraordinarily useful in his stubby hands. He doesn't get as much dialogue love from the NPC Project as most others from what I've seen, though. Fits with his character, but is a bit disappointing.

    Eldoth
    ohtSoofP

    Last of the unchanged portraiteers for the same reasons as the others, the Project moves Eldoth from some random spot deep in Cloakwood to the forest one screen south of the Friendly Arm Inn. I personally switched him to a Blade, which fits his stats a bit better. Greasy as a motherfucker, Eldoth is scummy but entertaining. The best interaction I saw from him was him suddenly professing his undying love for a suitably creeped-out Imoen, and the conversation quickly revealed that he was simply trying to wheedle out the rare tome he assumed she had on hand to buy her way back into Candlekeep. I didn't keep him for long, but I imagine he'd be fun in an evil party, especially if I "rescued" Skie later in the game.

    Khalid
    txWhvDeJ

    Poor, poor Khalid. Though he's always a competent fighter (there's arguments to be made for changing him to a Fighter/Mage; I didn't do this), he was overshadowed by Callic and later Minsc in pretty much every way, at least until he got ahold of the combo of the Item Revision-modified Vampire's Revenge and Cloak of the Wolf, which gave him one last big hurrah before being replaced for good with Yeslick. As for his banters, he's pretty much smitten (and completely whipped) by Jaheira, though there are hints every now and again that their marriage isn't as emotionally fulfilling as it should be, setting the tone a bit for BG2. He tries (and largely fails) to act as a surrogate parental figure in place of Gorion, and is constantly teased by Imoen.

    Jaheira
    MCv88Y0K

    Although a bit weaker overall due to Item Revisions stringently limiting her equipment choices (no metal armor, which means no helmets... though Ankheg armor is acceptable), she's still a very good character. I personally switched her to ** in Scimitar using Level 1 NPCs and plan to make her dual wield if I use her in BG2, but she works just as well with Quarterstaves, which get a lot of love from IR. Most of what was said about Khalid also applies to Jaheira, though she tries to be a motherly, guiding figure for Imoen, who will have none of that nonsense. She's suspicious of Dynaheir, but they eventually come to an understanding and even a bit of a friendship.

    Kivan
    M21OqAO4

    Still extremely powerful and essentially wins the game by himself if you turn him into an Archer kit. The NPC Project doesn't do too terribly much for him, though he will make Tazok's bandit camp much more difficult by outright attacking him, causing the whole camp to descend on you. In SCS, this is essentially suicide. Though I've used him extensively in the past, I never even talked to him this run. Didn't want the temptation.

    Minsc
    I0PIiwzV

    It's Minsc. Everyone knows Minsc. With the NPC Project he still does Minsc-y things, says Minsc-y stuff, and has Minsc-y conversations with the party, usually with Imoen, Dynaheir, and Quayle, and usually involving Boo. If you love Minsc (like most people), he's better than ever. If you are kind of Minsc'd-out (like me), it's a bit tiresome. If you thought Minsc was completely stupid, this won't change your mind. I used him a fair bit this playthrough, though.

    Dynaheir
    hlfvtqoM

    As always, a great mage. Not quite as good as Edwin (whom I haven't actually used in BG1 for some reason), but better than Xzar. Item Revisions' new robes and altered cloaks only make her better. She's also romanceable for male PCs. Slow and bittersweet, it gives the male protagonist of a "canon party" that much more motivation in BG2. I didn't use her this game since, like Kivan, I'd be too tempted to just keep her around.

    Branwen
    g3lZRRiv

    A very solid Cleric, though a bit less flexible in battle than Yeslick. I've used her quite a bit in previous games, and she usually ends up equipped nearly identically to Yeslick, but with the Ring of Holiness and a good mace. Also romanceable by male PCs, it's a bit more fulfilling of a romance than Dynaheir's, but you have to really work at it, and it's easy to offend her and end the thing. Her biggest problem, however, is that she's very Neutral, and will bitch ceaselessly if you're above 13 reputation. It's quite annoying.

    Alora
    jnMQ2ljl

    Another character I never used until this run, she's moved from Baldur's Gate down to Gullykin, so I let her tag along for the Firewine Ruins in place of Imoen and found her surprisingly cute and fun. She's excruciatingly peppy, quotes Ren and Stimpy, and is generally an adorable change of pace, provided you can stand her personality. Mechanically, she's pretty much identical to Imoen, except without the capability of dualing to Mage later on. Doesn't have a lot of banters with party members, though she does poke fun at Xan a bit and likes Garrick's generally upbeat nature.

    Ajantis
    K28sm5ZD


    He's a Paladin. As a bastard sword and shield-using Paladin, the Lawgiver +2 mentioned way back in the Item Revisions rundown is essentially the only weapon he ever needs, and you can pickpocket it from the Merchant League guy in the first Cloakwood area. All told, he's an extremely capable fighter, but since he's a Paladin, he's also extremely boring. Duty, honor, blah blah blah. He may have some interesting dialogue in a more sinful party with Coran, Eldoth, Tiax, and others, but in the good-aligned parties I tend to have him in, he's quiet and dull as a stone. Toss him in a party with Kivan, Imoen, Dynaheir, and Branwen and you may as well be playing BG1 sans the NPC Project.

    --

    THE GAME ITSELF
    The modded-out game starts pretty much like it ususally does, with inept Candlekeep assassins, deadly bears and wolves, the Friendly Arm Inn mage who either crumples in a single backstab from Montaron or will mop the floor with your party, sidequests, team-building, etc. and so forth. Things begin to get interesting in the Nashkel mines, where Kobold spawns are increased dramatically, and it's not uncommon to be facing swarms of 20-30 of the things. Kobold Commandos are still the deadliest of the bunch and due to the SCS AI will try their level best to kill mages as quickly as possible, which they usually succeed at. Mulahey, the half-orc Cleric boss of the place isn't all that rough, though if you try to be Mr. Nice Guy and give him a chance to surrender, he'll call a second wave of reinforcements.

    The sidequest areas on the bottom half of the map are pretty much the same as they always are, though the BGT-modified random spawns on the maps themselves can vary between being horrifically brutal (the 2x Ogre Berserker, 2x Ogre, 3x Half-Ogre, 1x Ogrillon fight springs to mind) and completely trivial (a wolf, a gibberling, and a skeleton). The hardest of the fights - against the sirines on the coast - is rendered largely moot through Callic berserking and Minsc either using his own Enrage or slapping on the Cursed Sword of Berserking +3. The various assassin fights from here on are also mostly randomized, with one of the two fights that you normally have just outside of the Nashkel mines happening instead when you least expect it, like back in Beregost going to confront Tranzig. I never ran into the Amazon fight, oddly enough.

    The Ulcaster Ruins were weird. The very nicely-rewarding Wolf of Ulcaster fight SCS does inside the ruins isn't that hard and very manageable if you have a Cleric with Remove Fear or a Skald like garrick to keep its once-per-round Fear from doing anything. Icharyd, the undead knight topside, was a complete pain in the ass. Hits as hard as Sarevok, calls for help with a bunch of Kobold Commandos, and then time-shifts the fight to nighttime which strips all your buffs and exhausts you, on top of constantly spamming Call Lightning. A tremendously difficult fight, and all you get out of it is 4000 XP split six ways and a Masterwork Flail.

    Tazok's bandit camp is where the next big spike in difficulty occurs and, like the SCS-ized Drow city in BG2, you're meant to do what you came to do and then beat feet the hell out of there, rather than wipe out the place. Steal Hakt's Long Bow of Marksmanship, go into Tazok's tent, fight off the pretty tough boss party there, grab what you need from the tent, nuke Taugosz who accosts you just outside, quickly loot him, and fucking run. From this point on enemies will start toting lots of potions, mages begin packing contingencies and sequences, and battles become longer and more resource-draining in general.

    Cloakwood is frighteningly difficult if you install its component in SCS, with every single spider in the place capable of spamming Web over a wide area instantly once every round. If you also have Item Revisions, the Boots of Speed lose their "immunity to web" bonus, and since you're almost guaranteed to not have wide access to Potions of Freedom, the Ring of Free Action, or the spell Freedom yet, your best bet is to send in a couple very hardy meat shields to draw webs while everyone else pelts spiders at range until you can get into Centeol's hive and grab the Spider's Bane sword. Or, you can do like me and not isntall that component because god damn fuck those buffed Cloakwood spiders. Centeol herself is interesting, since in her original unused dialogue she talks about her backstory and how she was cursed to that form by Jon Irenicus (yes, that Irenicus). In the NPC Project Xan, if in the party, will sigh, tell her that she's only under a simple polymorph curse, and restore her to her original form. She will be so blinded by joy that she'll run off, exclaiming that she'll make Irenicus hers this time for sure.

    The Cloakwood Mines are largely the same (the Iron Throne party led by Drasus topside is brutally difficult, one of the hardest in the game), though it's possible for SCS's Call of Help AI to empty the entire second level of the mines on your location right at the start of the floor, but other than that it's not too bad. Davaeorn essentially killed himself by teleporting straight into my waiting party (which I was not expecting), so I quickly beat him senseless.

    The city of Baldur's Gate is usually where I begin to lose interest in the game, so I plowed through most of the sidequests as quickly as possible, getting Balduran's cloak and helmet, getting poisoned and doing the cure for that, doing the Thieves Guild sidequests, Coran's quest, Razmaith's tower and freeing the Nymph, and all that jazz. Then I shuffled off to do Tales of the Sword Coast.

    The Ice Island maze was my first stop, and it was a pain in the ass. Mages, mages, mages all the fucking mages. So many Globes of Invulnerability and Shadow Doors, ay ay ay... Yeslick actually died halfway through when he got hit by four ankhegs at once, but I eventually managed to clear the place and get out. Balduran's Isle was... actually very easy. The werewolves and wolfweres posed surprisingly little threat, despite the island being buffed, and the wolfwere boat was only dangerous due to its cramped quarters leaving it possible for Garrick and Quayle to be left too exposed as they went up stairs. The Kaishas fight at the end of the island was completely skipped (she gives no loot and only 400 xp, so it's not worth the effort), and Selaad back in Ulgoth's Beard was a bit of a pushover, even for a mage.

    Durlag's Tower, however, was pretty fun even though it took forever by virtue of every fucking thing being trapped, requiring Coran to stare at every hallway, container, painting, moose head, and bundle of sticks until he found the deadly traps. The Demonknight at the end wasn't as bad as I expected, with Callic and Yeslick tanking, Coran loosing arrows, Quayle nuking, Garrick singing, and Xan debuffing before meleeing. I didn't break the mirror to spawn copies of the party, since I knew from prior experience that it's basically suicide: the clones of your party are now perfect clones, with copies of your inventory and memorized spells. It would have been a massacre, and not one in my favor.

    The fights upon returning to Ulgoth's Beard were brutal. Heavily-improved cultists, many of them assassins and Fighter/Mages ruined me the first try, but I managed to muddle through the second. The subsequent fights were much less annoying, and the fight against Aec'Lectec was decided in the very first moments when I nuked down the cult leader with lightning wands as the fight began.

    From then on it was pretty smooth sailing through the plot until I got to Sarevok, which I've already gone into great detail about. In BGT, you actually get free reign of the Baldur's Gate map to finish up whatever you want, like taking Sarevok's Sword of Chaos for a spin in an uncleared Durlag's Tower if you skipped it. Duke Belt then sends you to Amn to deliver a letter to the Council of Six imporing them to not mobilize their army and that Baldur's Gate does not want war when you're ambushed by the Shadow Thieves and captured, leading you straight into Baldur's Gate 2.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • ShapeshifterShapeshifter Pants Optioanl Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    How many of you guys killed Drizzit in BG1 all the time for his gear?

    Going so far as to make your a character exactly like him and naming your self the same as him was fun as well.

    Shapeshifter on
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  • RamiRami Registered User regular
    These install orders should all be put in the OP because it's such a pain when you forget.

    Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
    sig.gif
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    It's not a perfect install order since I'm not entirely sure what order I should be doing Level 1 NPCs, Xan, and the two Tweak Packs in, but everything up to and including SCS II should be an ideal install order for those things.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    How many of you guys killed Drizzit in BG1 all the time for his gear?

    Going so far as to make your a character exactly like him and naming your self the same as him was fun as well.

    I usually just picked his pockets for his swords.

  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    You can't dual wield in BG 1, as far as I can remember, so you can't really be Drzizt. Also, aren't scimitars counted as short swords, or something terrible like that?

    1208768734831.jpg
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    I think the good one (+5 Defender, actually just a +3 with +2 AC bonus) counts as a longsword - 1d8 +3 damage, large swords proficiency.

  • TIFunkaliciousTIFunkalicious Kicking back in NebraskaRegistered User regular
    holy crap i made this thread 2 years ago

    the notifications are blowing up

  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    Kicked the evil twins. Picked up Minsc and stormed the Gnoll fortress for my final party member. Having invested my gold in the AC of three front line fighters, it all went rather well as the Gnolls could barely touch me.

    MhCw7nZ.gif
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Kicked the evil twins. Picked up Minsc and stormed the Gnoll fortress for my final party member. Having invested my gold in the AC of three front line fighters, it all went rather well as the Gnolls could barely touch me.

    Yay! Butt-kicking for goodness!

  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    Korodullin's post scares me with the amount of homework I will need to do to learn how to play this game.

  • TIFunkaliciousTIFunkalicious Kicking back in NebraskaRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    was talking about the wrong post, carry on

    TIFunkalicious on
  • BasilBasil Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Korodullin's post scares me with the amount of homework I will need to do to learn how to play this game.

    Aw, it ain't so bad. Well, 'lessin you decide to go for scs on your very first attempt, which will either make you a man among men or cause you to wake up three weeks later in a strange bed with the sheets soaked in blood and fluids liberated from a backed up garberator.

    Between the verbose spell descriptions and some trial and error you'll do fine. Eventually.

    Basil on
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  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    Korodullin's post scares me with the amount of homework I will need to do to learn how to play this game.

    He's not playing basic Baldur's Gate.

    1208768734831.jpg
  • DockenDocken Registered User regular
    korodullin wrote: »
    It's not a perfect install order since I'm not entirely sure what order I should be doing Level 1 NPCs, Xan, and the two Tweak Packs in, but everything up to and including SCS II should be an ideal install order for those things.

    Ok... Wow those changes sound amazing... Actually I think I am going to reinstall too... I think I agree with you - those changes are huge and enhanced won't be good enough if they are not incorporated!

  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    Docken wrote: »
    korodullin wrote: »
    It's not a perfect install order since I'm not entirely sure what order I should be doing Level 1 NPCs, Xan, and the two Tweak Packs in, but everything up to and including SCS II should be an ideal install order for those things.

    Ok... Wow those changes sound amazing... Actually I think I am going to reinstall too... I think I agree with you - those changes are huge and enhanced won't be good enough if they are not incorporated!

    I don't know if modpacks that are described as mixed bags but generally more positive than negative would really be dealbreakers if they're not in, especially Item Revisions. They sound like mods for altering gameplay to taste rather than fixing things that are broken in the base game.

  • balerbowerbalerbower Registered User regular
    i've started baldur's gate ii countless times and never got past the second chapter (never got around to actually breaking imoen out)

    it's not that i don't enjoy the game, i just get so intimidated by the scale of the game. it's so fuckin huge. i get inflicted by a weird anxious/nervous feeling and just stop and uninstall

    then i reinstall a few months later and feel the same way over again. it becomes a vicious cycle. somebody help me.

  • DockenDocken Registered User regular
    Fair... But one thing I loved about BG was the Mage combat, plus the banter. Those changes massively affect those two points, plus being able to use kits in BG really grabs my interest...

  • CatshadeCatshade Registered User regular
    balerbower wrote: »
    i've started baldur's gate ii countless times and never got past the second chapter (never got around to actually breaking imoen out)

    it's not that i don't enjoy the game, i just get so intimidated by the scale of the game. it's so fuckin huge. i get inflicted by a weird anxious/nervous feeling and just stop and uninstall

    then i reinstall a few months later and feel the same way over again. it becomes a vicious cycle. somebody help me.

    I used to feel this way, but I managed it by compartmentalizing the game by playing it district-by-district. e.g.: Explore and finish (or at least initiate) all quests in the Promenade first, then move on to the Slums and do the same, then to Harbor, etc.

  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    There is exactly one quest in BG2 that is time-limited. So unless you're a Paladin, you can just take your time.

  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Korodullin's post scares me with the amount of homework I will need to do to learn how to play this game.

    He's not playing basic Baldur's Gate.

    Correct. Also bear in mind that I'm not even that good at Baldur's Gate, I've just been playing it for twelve years. You can't help but pick up some tricks and knowledge along the way.

    And the best resource to use to actually learn to play the game? The best resource to turn turn when you're unsure of how something works and need a reminder?

    The manual. They're occasionally incorrect, but by and large the manuals for both games are extremely detailed and very informative. Among the best game manuals ever.

    Of course, Dan Simpson's guides on Gamefaqs don't hurt either.

    Orogogus wrote: »
    Docken wrote: »
    korodullin wrote: »
    It's not a perfect install order since I'm not entirely sure what order I should be doing Level 1 NPCs, Xan, and the two Tweak Packs in, but everything up to and including SCS II should be an ideal install order for those things.

    Ok... Wow those changes sound amazing... Actually I think I am going to reinstall too... I think I agree with you - those changes are huge and enhanced won't be good enough if they are not incorporated!

    I don't know if modpacks that are described as mixed bags but generally more positive than negative would really be dealbreakers if they're not in, especially Item Revisions. They sound like mods for altering gameplay to taste rather than fixing things that are broken in the base game.

    This is also very true. I would not recommend many mods (or any, beyond some basic bugfix/tweak stuff) to someone who hasn't gone through at least BG2 once or twice. I have a special install checklist I made that details what I do and don't install from each mod I use, because installing every component from every mod is utter insanity. I pick and choose like crazy, and will usually err on the side of making things a bit easier or fun for me than making things harder or more challenging.

    With that said, it's about time for me to jump into BG2, and once again I have to agonize over party composition because I am a sad, broken person.
    Callic will be dualing over to Cleric very soon, so I'll have to have a sturdy melee specialist to take his place. A good backstabbin'-heavy Thief to take advantage of the Rogue Reblance goodies would be nice as well, though none exist in default BG2, so I may load the game up in Multiplayer and toss in a custom-made Thief to join us. Xan will be joining us as soon as I can get him as well. As mentioned in the recap, I'm a bit Minsc'd-out so I'll probably turn to someone like Keldorn to be my heavy hitter; his True Sight charges would be an immense help as well. I'm considering having either Jaheira or Aerie along for a romance (I'm not overfond of Aerie's romance, personally, but she's a Cleric/Mage who isn't Quayle, so...). Mazzy would also be a very welcome ranged specialist who can be extremely flexible in her party role.

    So possibly a party of:

    Callic
    Jaheira
    Xan
    Mazzy
    Aerie (or Jan)
    <backstabby custom Assassin>

    My biggest worry with this party setup is the dearth of thieving skills. I'd be extremely light on them due to the Assassin's penalty to thieving scores... but Rogue Rebalancing and Item Revisions do have some very nice items out there that greatly boost thieving skills, so that could easily shore up any deficiencies. Maybe use Yoshimo in place of Mazzy until I get her and stick with Aerie as my second Mage? Though, on further thought, someone's spellcasting is going to be extremely redundant due to the sheer number of spell slots Callic is going to end up with, and it's either going to be Jaheira or Aerie. Likely Aerie due to stiff competition for Cleric-related gear and having to split Mage gear with Xan. I'll probably go with Jan in that case.

    There is exactly one quest in BG2 that is time-limited. So unless you're a Paladin, you can just take your time.

    There's actually several, but they're usually pretty explicit and obvious, and usually related to your Stronghold. The biggest one I can think of that's not Stronghold-related is
    Jaheira's curse, where she can bite it if you don't finish the quest within a certain time limit.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • BasilBasil Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I'm tempted to take my old Icewind Dale party into SCS BG and just demolish everything forever.

    Barbarian/something, fighter/cleric, cleric, sorcerer and a thief/mage made up an army devouring wrecking crew. I enjoyed that party a lot. Total overkill once they all got their spell levels, though. I dragged them through TOEE and had a blast, bugs and all.

    Basil on
    9KmX8eN.jpg
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    I'm personally thinking of using Veronica and changing her to an Assassin/Cleric multi so my main doesn't have to go partial thief.

    Also, try the Alturnatives mod if you can koro. Makes getting to Spellhold so much more fun.

    // Steam: VWinds // PSN: vagrant_winds //
    // Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I've never heard of Alternatives, and it does look quite interesting.

    But I can tell just from looking at it that it won't be compatible with Rogue Rebalancing due to the rather significant changes RR makes to the very questlines Alternatives is designed to alter.

    I have bookmarked it for a possible try in the future, though, especially if the Enhanced Edition is compatible with currently-existing mods, like Beamdog is wanting to do.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    I'm pretty sure it does work with RR. At least I'll test it my run through.

    // Steam: VWinds // PSN: vagrant_winds //
    // Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    Let me know if it does. I'm pretty happy with my mod setup right now and really don't want to have to go back in and peel back more layers of mods just to install one to allow me to do Chapter 3 a bit differently, but I'd be happy to try it in a future playthrough if I decide to make a character who would object to the "lesser of two evils" you have to choose between. Callic is a generally good guy, but a saint he is not.

    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    Are there any vendor sold magic items that a really worth searching out in BK1? The thought of blowing all your saved up cash on something that gets obsoleted in the next enemy drop isn't a great one.

    Also I'm not very up on 2nd Ed. D&D rules. If you aren't a spell caster and your class allows it, is there any reason not to throw on the full plate armour? The item descriptions certainly don't mention anything about encumbrance (beyond the inventory weight limit of course).

    MhCw7nZ.gif
  • TommattTommatt Registered User regular
    Have they mentioned if saves will work in this enhanced edition? I started a playtbrough awhile back, and could never get tutu or BGT trilogy to work. So I started plain old BG1 + expansion. Then my DVD drive crapper out and only works some of the time. Have considered downloading the game off GoG, but then this got announced.

  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Are there any vendor sold magic items that a really worth searching out in BK1? The thought of blowing all your saved up cash on something that gets obsoleted in the next enemy drop isn't a great one.

    If you have someone who can make use of it, the Light Crossbow of Speed sold by the smithy in Beregost is incredibly nice. The mage robes Thalantyr sells in High Hedge (just west of Beregost) are also really good. Basically the only things you should avoid blowing a bunch of cash on are longswords, shortswords, and war hammers, since you can find +2 versions of all three weapons fairly easily. Everything else is fair game.

    Also I'm not very up on 2nd Ed. D&D rules. If you aren't a spell caster and your class allows it, is there any reason not to throw on the full plate armour? The item descriptions certainly don't mention anything about encumbrance (beyond the inventory weight limit of course).

    By default and unmodded, if you put armor on a magic user that can wear it, and the armor doesn't say otherwise (without mods no such armor exists in BG1, and it's incredibly rare even in BG2), it completely disables arcane casting for that character until the item is removed. So a Fighter/Mage in full plate can't cast, but a Fighter/Cleric could just fine. Same goes for thieving skills: a Fighter/Thief in anything above studded leather will have their thieving skills disabled until you remove the offending armor.

    Oh whoops, I completely misread that. If you're not using Item Revisions then no, there's no reason not to toss plate on anyone who can wear it, barring weight issues due to low STR of course. Fighter/Thieves get their thieving skills disabled in armor heavier than studded leather though.

    korodullin on
    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • DeaderinredDeaderinred Registered User regular
    Tommatt wrote: »
    Have they mentioned if saves will work in this enhanced edition? I started a playtbrough awhile back, and could never get tutu or BGT trilogy to work. So I started plain old BG1 + expansion. Then my DVD drive crapper out and only works some of the time. Have considered downloading the game off GoG, but then this got announced.

    i doubt it, saves are flakey at best, normal bg1+totse saves probably wont work on bgee due to it being the bg2+tob engine modified.

  • Vi MonksVi Monks Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Tommatt wrote: »
    Have they mentioned if saves will work in this enhanced edition? I started a playtbrough awhile back, and could never get tutu or BGT trilogy to work. So I started plain old BG1 + expansion. Then my DVD drive crapper out and only works some of the time. Have considered downloading the game off GoG, but then this got announced.

    i doubt it, saves are flakey at best, normal bg1+totse saves probably wont work on bgee due to it being the bg2+tob engine modified.

    Actually, they've said they're trying to make sure saves can be transferred. No definitive word yet though.
    I'm personally thinking of using Veronica and changing her to an Assassin/Cleric multi so my main doesn't have to go partial thief.

    Also, try the Alturnatives mod if you can koro. Makes getting to Spellhold so much more fun.

    I'm pretty sure Viconia would flay you alive for calling her Veronica. :P

    Vi Monks on
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    Damn phone typos.

    // Steam: VWinds // PSN: vagrant_winds //
    // Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
  • ApostateApostate Prince SpaceRegistered User regular
    Well thank god for Shadow keeper. My dual class thief/cleric had his thieving abilities reset to minimum (with no points to allocate) when the cleric class leveled over it. That would have sucked otherwise.

    Also the archers are coming into their own. There are still an occasional baddie that I can't hurt with arrows but I think the problems I had earlier were more because I didn't have a large number of magical arrows and may have been tangling with some stuff a little beyond my level.

  • DeaderinredDeaderinred Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Vi Monks wrote: »
    Tommatt wrote: »
    Have they mentioned if saves will work in this enhanced edition? I started a playtbrough awhile back, and could never get tutu or BGT trilogy to work. So I started plain old BG1 + expansion. Then my DVD drive crapper out and only works some of the time. Have considered downloading the game off GoG, but then this got announced.

    i doubt it, saves are flakey at best, normal bg1+totse saves probably wont work on bgee due to it being the bg2+tob engine modified.

    Actually, they've said they're trying to make sure saves can be transferred. No definitive word yet though.

    if true then it probably would require a save game converter due to the way the world map and stores are handled in save games, a converter like the one that came with totsc

    Deaderinred on
  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    Chapter 1 of BG2 complete, Chateau Irenicus.

    Largely unchanged in SCS 2, since I didn't install the "more difficult starter dungeon" component because I always want to finish this place off as quick as humanly possible. I brought in a custom Multiplayer Assassin, so lemme give him a quick introduction:

    Shapiro
    8Nd6d5UB

    Shapiro DeWitt, master stabber and totally not one of my old 3rd Edition pen-and-paper characters (*cough cough*). Got some really good stat rolls, and I dumped some of his Charisma without a second thought for some bonus Int to use wands along with some buffer against Mind Flayer melee attacks. With points in Short Swords, Cross Bows, and Single-Weapon Style, he'll be really good at one thing: killing shit really quickly. Enemy mages will hate him, since Assassin poison, like the Wizard Slayer's cumulative spell failure chance, bypasses things like Stoneskin. That is, if the Assassin's 7x Backstab multiplier doesn't kill them outright. He's got one or two more levels' worth of stealth skills left before he can safely go for other goodies like setting traps or detecting illusions, so he won't be doing much lock-breaking or trap disarming for a long while. That's fine though, Jan or Yoshimo will more than suffice.


    Though while I said that Chateau Irenicus was largely unchanged, it wasn't completely unchanged. Mephits are more annoying, and their breath abilities seem a bit harder to save against. The optional vampire at the end is much more difficult to kill for the extra bonus xp, as she'll use an instant-cast Shadow Door to hide and run away before turning into her mist form to escape. Other than that, it's pretty much business as usual.

    I did make an ever so slight error in judgement when I installed one of the components of BGT Tweaks, however. I read the "Import More Items into Shadows of Amn" component like it would just flag more things to be brought over with similar restrictions on number of things you can bring at once like in the normal game. Nope, it brings fucking everything, including stuff in bags of holding and on different characters. Full Plate +1? Check. Ankheg Plate Mail +2? Check. Both the Ring of Wizardry and the Ring of Holiness? Check and check. I ended up just taking the two rings, Balduran's Cloak, and Semaj's Cloak*, the last of which is a brand new item introduced by BGT. BGT also upgrades the plain Ring of Protection +1 you get from "Koveras" in Candlekeep in BG1, but for some reason it didn't work for me; not a big deal, since it's a Ring of Protection +2 with 5% magic resistance, and I have enough powerful magic items already. Of course, the Chain Mail +3 and Helm of Balduran that are always imported by default were taken as well. A more powerful start to be sure, but your minds would boggle at the enormous pile of loot I left behind.


    *Semaj's Cloak
    NUyFNwB2

    A pretty interesting item, and fairly powerful. It acts like a permanent version of a slightly weaker Blur spell with some spell resistance added on. Completely useless in BG1 unless you wait to do the Tales of the Sword Coast stuff after killing Sarevok, but could definitely find some use in BG2. There aren't very many characters who can equip the thing, though, which sort of curbs its power a little.

    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • DockenDocken Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Question; if I didn't install item revisions, but installed everything else, How would that work out for me? Would it make things easier?

    Docken on
  • themightypuckthemightypuck MontanaRegistered User regular
    Damn I love the Assassin kit. My thief seems so lacking by comparison.

    “Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.”
    ― Marcus Aurelius

    Path of Exile: themightypuck
  • RamiRami Registered User regular
    So because I started my game in multi for a custom party, I wasn't able to make use of dungeon be gone :cry:

    Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
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  • korodullinkorodullin What. SCRegistered User regular
    Docken wrote: »
    Question; if I didn't install item revisions, but installed everything else, How would that work out for me? Would it make things easier?

    Define "everything else".

    Item Revisions technically makes the game a little harder, given that it nerfs some of the more overpowered item setups like the Staff of the Magi with its permanent invisibility or the original Carsomyr with its guaranteed dispel magic on hit with no save or the original Flail of Ages that did each special elemental head's damage each hit for incredibly insane damage. But other things get buffed a bit to compensate, so it's not insurmountable or anything.


    Also, for anyone who uses BGT to play BG1+BG2: If you use the Baldur's Gate 2 Tweak Pack from Gibberlings Three, DO NOT INSTALL THE COMPONENT TO SPEED UP BG2'S INITIAL IN-GAME CUTSCENES. At no point in any compatibility list is this mentioned (I had to find it out via forum searching), but that component WILL break the special custom-made BG1 -> BG2 transition BGT uses until you remove it.

    ZvOMJnu.png
    - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
  • DockenDocken Registered User regular
    Sorry "everything else" = everything else you listed on your custom install list last page that you are currently playing with.

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