Seeking advice for an old game...

[Jarulf]

Just one more thing you get in ToB but not in SoA (base BG2) I think. That is the key to press that will show all containers, bodies, items and such. It makes it SO much easier to find them all.

On the other hand, someone might call it cheesy. Personally I see nothing good about having to run the cursor over each and every pixel on the screen looking for a stash of some sort.

In summary, it is sort of like they key in D2 that let you see items on the ground, some liked going over every square in D1 looking for a possible ring that droped. I prefer the D2 system :)

[Scalefang]

I know you've probably recieved way too much information... I'm gonna throw in my 2 cents as well...

Korgan and Keldorn are a nice combo..if you can keep your rep low enough or if you pick up Korgan when you're already at 20 rep. They actually start to respect each other.

Though if I had to pick between the two...Korgan is much more fun to have around.

As for the Chapter 2 quests, I would suggest going out of town and doing those first, The De'Arneise Keep is basically a walk in the park...

I usually end up doing them all myself, good exp good items and if you decide to take Keldorn you will be facing Firkraag sooner or later. But if you're a paladin yourself don't face Firkraag till your guild asks you to.

And if you're getting bored with Baldur's Gate and looking for some Infinity Engine action, I suggest Planescape: Torment if you can find it. A whole lot more plot than BG and not as much focus on fighting. That and the "Axe of Torment" has to be one of the coolest spells I've seen in awhile.

[Whiggles]

And if you're getting bored with Baldur's Gate and looking for some Infinity Engine action, I suggest Planescape: Torment if you can find it.  A whole lot more plot than BG and not as much focus on fighting.  That and the "Axe of Torment" has to be one of the coolest spells I've seen in awhile.

I second that. Planescape Torment is one of the best games I have ever played. It trounces the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games in my opinion. It's also one of the few games I have played where graphics and audio have been close to perfect. They do so much for the atmosphere that it's unbelievable. I've never played a game that manages to be so beautiful and so ugly at the same time. What people keep mentioning in this thread is the interraction between party characters in BG2. That is what made Planescape Torment so incredible, and it really is something to behold. Truly an intellectual game.

[WarLocke]

Planescape Torment is one of the best games I have ever played.

I agree, Torment is one of the best. I own it, in fact. Unfortunately, due to an incident in college -- microwaving popcorn from the same power output the computer is using while installing a program is bad, mmmkay? -- I can't run it. I have all the registry entries saying it's already on the computer, so it won't let me install it.

I've looked at my registry a couple times since then to try and clear the pertinent entries, but I don't know enough to be confident of doing it without FUBARing everything else. :(


Anyway, back to BG2. I've reinstalled it, downloaded the official patch (I think I bought the game late enough that I had a pre-patched copy, but what the heck), then went to BaldurDash and got their bugfix pack (amazing how many bugs were listed), their Dialog.tlk replacement (supposedly just a bunch of typo and description fixes, but what the hey?), and a few tweaks.

Universal Ioun Stones (not letting Mages use them because they can't wear helmets is just stupid. Screw the protection vs crits bit)
All-Blunt Dmg Throwing Hammer
AD&D Rules Grandmastery Bonuses
Better Looking Robe of Vecna (Red & Black, baby!)

I ended up creating the protagonist as a Neutral Good Human Priest of Lathander (never have done the cleric stronghold quest, and Lathander's the only "good" choice -- Helm was tempting, though), with the following stats: Str 16, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 16 (well, he is the spawn of a god, after all B) ). Proficiencies in Sword-and-Shield, Warhammer, Flail, and (at level 9) Mace. I used Anomen's portrait since I don't have any custom ones at the moment and don't plan on ever (EVAR) letting him near me, heh.

Picked up Jaheira, Minsc, and Yoshimo in Irenicus' dungeon, then once I got out (and the Cowled Wizards ran off with Irenicus and Imoen) I headed straight for the slums, went through all the beginning-of-chapter-2 stuff, then to the government district to pick up Jan Jansen (also saved Viconia and agreed to hunt down Valygar for that annoying guy).

Then it was back to the promenade to do that circus tent and those annoying adventurers in the inn. I swear, that dwarf must have 140hp (took 40+ damage from traps and was only "barely injured", grr)!

Next stop is the slums, I think I'm going to do the Copper Coronet/Free the Slaves quests (and pick up Lilarcor for Minsc), to build up some more experience and hopefully a level or two before moving on.

My next move is somewhat fuzzy. I'm leaning towards heading to Umar Hills to start the quest there (leads to the Temple Ruins and gets me Mazzy Fentan, although I'd have to take on a dragon); or I could go to the temple district, which would set off my stronghold quest and I could pick up Keldorn (although, again, I'd end up fighting Beholders, ugh).

So, my party ends up being:

Priest of Lathander
Mazzy/Keldorn -> Sarevok
Minsc
Jaheira
Yoshimo -> Imoen
Jan Jansen

Question 1: What do I miss by not doing the Planar Sphere quest? I really don't much like Valygar, and basically planned to hunt him down (he is in Umar Hills, right?) and just warn him that the Cowled Wizards were looking for him. Screw those guys. But, since you need Valygar in your party to get into the Sphere (or possibly just his body?) I miss out on everything in there this way. <_<

Question 2: When is a good point to move on to Chapter 3? If all I need is 20,000 gold, it doesn't seem like it will take long (already have near 7,000). Should I go as soon as possible, to get Imoen back at a lower level? Or should I stick around awhile, gain another level or two, and buy some gear (that Robe of Vecna is calling me...)?

[Jarulf]

Question 1:&nbsp; What do I miss by not doing the Planar Sphere quest?&nbsp; I really don't much like Valygar, and basically planned to hunt him down (he is in Umar Hills, right?) and just warn him that the Cowled Wizards were looking for him.&nbsp; Screw those guys.&nbsp; But, since you need Valygar in your party to get into the Sphere (or possibly just his body?) I miss out on everything in there this way.&nbsp; <_<

Question 2:&nbsp; When is a good point to move on to Chapter 3?&nbsp; If all I need is 20,000 gold, it doesn't seem like it will take long (already have near 7,000).&nbsp; Should I go as soon as possible, to get Imoen back at a lower level?&nbsp; Or should I stick around awhile, gain another level or two, and buy some gear (that Robe of Vecna is calling me...)?

You will miss out on the Gauntlets of Ogre Power which in themselves can be nice and their are also part of The Crom Faeyr. There are few rings at the end too (Ring of Acuity and Ring of Danger Sense). That seems to be all I could see from a look in a good Walkthrough. There are probably many other items that are more of a "must" than those though before you leave the city.

As for chapter 3. I would say you can start it of by now. Not to spoil anything, but you will still be able to do chapter 2 stuff once you go to chapter 3. So if it gets too hard, it is not a super problem. I waited quite long though so it might be some tough fights.

[WarLocke]

You will miss out on the Gauntlets of Ogre Power which in themselves can be nice and their are also part of The Crom Faeyr. There are few rings at the end too (Ring of Acuity and Ring of Danger Sense). That seems to be all I could see from a look in a good Walkthrough. There are probably many other items that are more of a "must" than those though before you leave the city.

Ah. Hrmm. Those gauntlets would be great for Jaheira. I don't know if I want to bend my rules to get them, though--I had planned on forming a party of six and sticking with it (barring plot-related changes).

As for chapter 3. I would say you can start it of by now. Not to spoil anything, but you will still be able to do chapter 2 stuff once you go to chapter 3. So if it gets too hard, it is not a super problem. I waited quite long though so it might be some tough fights.

OK, great then. That way I can pay the thieves off first and not have to worry about buying so much stuff I wouldn't have the cash to pay them. Sounds like a plan. Umar Hills/Temple Ruins, Temple District/Sewers/Stronghold, and then on to Chapter 3! B)

[Faragon]

You know, there is a mod coming out for IWD2 which is basically the BG2 storyline.

It's like Baldur's Gate 2, with third edition rules and the IWD2 engine. :D

You can find the website about it here

[Mithrandir]

Ah. Hrmm. Those gauntlets would be great for Jaheira. I don't know if I want to bend my rules to get them, though--I had planned on forming a party of six and sticking with it (barring plot-related changes).

The way I always handled this was to pick up Valygar and kick out Jan Jansen. That way you can use Valygar to open the Planar Sphere door (it stays open forever now), kick him out, and then walk the short distance to Jan's house and grab him again.

Plus, there are no negative personality-related consequences to kicking Jan out and comming back for him.

OK, great then. That way I can pay the thieves off first and not have to worry about buying so much stuff I wouldn't have the cash to pay them. Sounds like a plan. Umar Hills/Temple Ruins, Temple District/Sewers/Stronghold, and then on to Chapter 3!

After completing everything in Ch.2 and then going on a shopping binge, it's not uncommon for me to still have 100,000+ gold... Money is definitely not a problem in this game.


A couple more random thoughts:

1) It is possible to keep Minsc and Edwin in the same party, but you have to be semi-cheesy about it. Personally, I loved em both so much that I went along with it. Basically, there's a random chance at any one point that they'll start fighting but it doesn't seem to be a Global (aka, kept across saves), so if they start fighting, just load up a previous save (I save *a lot* so this is no biggie for me ;) ) and you're home free. In the game I had the two together, I only had to do this twice. *shrug*

2) After some thought, I don't know if I would recommend a Monk for someone's first run through the game (and I see you haven't) because one of the best things about your first experience with a game like BG2 is finding and using items. Monks, although very fun characters, lose a lot of items to experiment with which is kind of a bummer for your first time.

3) All those dissing Aerie should be shot and killed. You love Aerie, don't fight it.

4) Elric: Try soloing a Wild Mage :) Once you reach a certain level, there are definitely "winner" strategies with Mages (and all solo characters) but, at the same time, the Wild Mage's... well... wild... nature really helps to alleviate that. I'm not guaranteeing it will keep you occupied for an entire run through, but it should be entertaining for at least a little bit :)

[Elric of Grans]

Hail WarLocke,

Manually edit your registery to remove all refereces to Planescape: it's not very difficult.

With what was said about getting Valygar, just drop a character AT the Sphere, and tell them to wait there. Get Valygar, return, open door, kick the idiot, get your other character back :)

Hail Mithrandir,

Solo Wild Mage? There's a cool idea :D Aye - nothing quite like casting a protective spell surrounded by innocents, and end up centering a fireball on yourself. I made a Wild Mage before, and one-hit-killed a Dragon: Reckless Dweamor on the Dragon, Finger of Death. Wild Surge? No saving throw :D Soloed though...that's very good - shame you cannot have a Halfling (Wild) Mage though, just so you look funny too :P Thanks!

[Skandranon]

Aerie is whiny and useless. Her romance is so dependent that it makes me vomit. Sorry, Mith, I really don't like Aerie.

[Faragon]

Just load up Doom, Doom and GreaterMalison into a spell sequencer. You'll learn to love Aerie :wub: Doom (clericspell) stacks with itself, so that gives a -4 on savingthrows, and it also stacks with GreaterMalison (Magespell) which also gives all enemies a -4 penalty on savingthrows. That gives a -8 modifier on the enemy's savings. Booyah is all I have to say :D

Cleric/Mages Rock. I found soloing with one easier than going through with a party of 6 :lol: Think of all the Contingency possibilities. (There are many good ones.)

[Mithrandir]

There are a couple neat "Cleric-spells-in-a-Spell-Trigger" combos. 3 Mass Cures for some instant group revitalization, 3 False Dawns for the ultimate Vampire smack down, or even 3 party-based buff spells in case you get hit with a Dispel magic mid battle.

Her romance was indeed pretty bad, but the only reason Jaheria's is really better is due to her cool Harper subplots. Viconia has the best out of the three by far.

She wasn't my favorite character ever, but she was certainly useful just due to her extraordinary number of available spells and combinations. But, as is oft the case with games like these, I think everyone will just have to agree to disagree ;)

[WarLocke]

The way I always handled this was to pick up Valygar and kick out Jan Jansen. That way you can use Valygar to open the Planar Sphere door (it stays open forever now), kick him out, and then walk the short distance to Jan's house and grab him again.

I may have to do that. I'd hate to miss out on Crom Faeyr (at the least; just killed the shadow dragon awhile ago and have the scroll for it).

After completing everything in Ch.2 and then going on a shopping binge, it's not uncommon for me to still have 100,000+ gold... Money is definitely not a problem in this game.

Tell me about it. After doing the Promenade, Slums, and a tiny bit of the Docks (got hit with that random encounter of the poisoned guy, had to take him to the Harpers) and buying the Blade of Roses and one of those Fire-dmg longswords, I left for Umar Hills with about 9k. After doing them and the Ruined Temple, I now have 34k, lol. Time to go pay off the Shadow Thieves and buy Vhailor's Helm, I think...

2) After some thought, I don't know if I would recommend a Monk for someone's first run through the game (and I see you haven't) because one of the best things about your first experience with a game like BG2 is finding and using items. Monks, although very fun characters, lose a lot of items to experiment with which is kind of a bummer for your first time.

Well... I actually restarted. I got tired of my cleric not being able to hit the broad side of the barn (too used to 3E clerics, I guess), and Jaheira seems to be plenty good for healing. So I made an Undead Hunter. THAC0 8 at level 9 = yummy!

3) All those dissing Aerie should be shot and killed. You love Aerie, don't fight it.

Umm... Aerie's annoying. Jaheira is much more attractive, and her romance is way better, anyway. B)


Just load up Doom, Doom and GreaterMalison into a spell sequencer.

Actually, I downloaded BaldurDash's fixpack, and one of the fixes was to make alot of spells nonstackable. Doom and Barkskin are the ones that come immediately to mind...


Manually edit your registery to remove all refereces to Planescape: it's not very difficult.

Eek! Don't scare me like that again... :(


Oh, and...

Mazzy Fentan rules!

Cute, sexy, great voice, awesome skills (Grandmaster in shortbows and specialized in shortswords at level 9, woot), and special abilities out the wang (2x Haste, 2x Strength, 2x Remove Fear, 2x Lay on Hands)!

Hasted she's like a midget on crack...


You know, there is a mod coming out for IWD2 which is basically the BG2 storyline.

It's like Baldur's Gate 2, with third edition rules and the IWD2 engine.

I heard about that, and it sounds great (3E is soooo much better and AD&D it's not even funny), but I thought it wasn't done? Or still looking for beta-testers, or something of the sort? Gonna have to check that link.

[TriggerHappy]

I got Icewind Dale 2 a week ago but haven't installed it yet (stil trying to make Master of Orion 3 pay for itself).

Reading the comments in this thread made me want to solo it the first time through, for a challange (and because i'd rather pretend it's Fallout 3, i like the solo vs the party approach in RPGs).

Anyone has suggestions on a character that can reasonable solo through the game on normal diffuculty? I just don't want to get stuck half way through with a fundamentally flawed character that can't progress (and restart). Or go looking for (underleveled) NPCs i long left behind.

I'd rather go with a single class character, but dual/multi class is acceptable too.

Any suggestions?

[Elric of Grans]

Hail TriggerHappy,

Soloing is great fun, though a huge challenge - especially early on. You'll find you reach the experience cap exceptionally fast too...about 1/6th of the time it normally takes, obviously ;) Class?

Single Class:

Monk - immunity to Charm is INVALUABLE, Magic Resistance VERY nice, and Quivering Palm combined with Stealth makes you an effective mage killer (you need to get them BEFORE they put their defenses up).

Thief - later able to use scrolls/wands makes them very viable. Backstabs slaughter the worst of opponents, and using Rings of Invisibility makes Backstabbing many times per battle very reasonable. You can disarm traps, pick locks, fight, and handle magi.

Sorcerer/Mage - if you can get past the early stages (no mean feat), you'll eventually have quite a viable option here. Strong with The Force are you :D

Bard - esp. the Blade class. Mage spells come in handy, and conveniently it's the first six levels that are most vital to have. Bard song goes to waste, but if you make an effective fighter it matters not (hence why I suggest Blade).

Multi/Dual class

All are viable, but I must specifically mention the Fighter/Mage/Thief. This one was MADE for soloing. Mine has about -10AC, weapon specialisation, two-weapon fighting style, 5x backstab damage, all theif skills are high (well, except Set Traps - never use them anyway), powerful spells, THAC0 not that much higher than a good fighter, and 9 attacks per round (I think) . You can handle any situation that presents itself :D Like the Sorcerer/Mage, the early part is a little difficult, but after a few major Chapter II quests you are set! I once tried a F/M/C too, but the cleric spells did not come even close to making up for the loss of theif skills IMO.

The trick to soloing is to be multi-talented, and able to use different tactics for different situations. Don't forget: this one character has to do everything normally done by six. If you want to access locked areas, you need thief skills. If you want to blow things up, or remove mage defenses, you need mage spells. If you want to take on foes in close combat, you need a low AC, low THAC0, and a decent number of attacks. If you want to heal or buff yourself, it's easiest to have access to cleric spells. The Cleric is, IMO, the easiest to replace, with scrolls/potions. A good Thief or Mage can make up for a lack of fighter skills, but it's slightly harder in those situations. A little luck helps if you lack mage spells, but this is much harder to go without. Lacking Thief skills means you miss out on much treasure (unless you wierd Crom Faer, then you have enough Str to bust open most things), and take a lot of trap damage.

My F/M/T was the most fun character I ever made. I'd be working towards getting her to the end of ToB, but I lost the portrait :( It was such a cool picture too! Nothing else would replace it, and I'm yet to remember the site I got it from.

[Mithrandir]

I'm not gonna lie to you, soloing IWD2 on normal is tough. Perhaps the only truly guaranteed solid solo class is the Sorceror... and soloing a Sor is easier on HOF than normal (summoned monsters + more XP).

The problem with soloing in IWD2 is that, unlike in 2E, 3E has a CR (Challenge Rating) for every monster that determines how much XP you get for killing it. If you're too high for the monster, you get much less and may even get none (the converse is true if you're lower than the monster).

[Note: The game, technically, also calculates CR incorrectly since it does it on a monster by monster basis instead of on a per encounter basis as in 3E. In 3E, a lvl 10 Fighter would get decent XP for fighting and killing 100 Kobolds just because there were so many of them, but in IWD2 he would get zilch for the entire battle since individually Kobolds are much, much weaker than him and it doesn't take into account the other 99.]

What does this mean?

A solo character will never be much higher up on the level scale then a full party of six because, since he is higher level, he is also getting less XP per kill. Solo characters are fighting tougher monsters (the game uses average party level, not a sum of the levels in your party, to determine encounter strength) and getting less XP for it. IWD2 already has some very tough fights for a full party of six... a single character is suicide without some very, very creative "strategery" :)

That said... Solo characters that might make it? Sorcerors. Stormlords of Talos. Morninglords of Lathander. Possibly Silverstars just because they get interesting summons. Druids would be doable.

Fighters and Barbs would just get eaten up. Wizards wouldn't be able to keep their spellbooks at pace with their spell progression. Monks would be viable at high levels but just start off to weak. And so on.

I really recommend taking 6 characters (or at least 4) with IWD2 - there are just too many cool party combinations, spells, items, skills, and feats to try out to restrict yourself to just a single character on your first run through.

[Faragon]

I've found a Drow Paladin2/Sorcerer# to be very good for solo. :D

Think of it:
- Spellresistance (Drow innate ability)
- Savingthrow bonus (Paladin ability)
- both classes use the same Stat (CHA) for their strongest points. (ST for Pal, Spells for Sorc)
- High charisma, which gives you good dialog options if you take along the conversational skills. This is also good for the Difficulty Check of the Sorcerer's spells.
- Aura of Courage (Paladin ability)

(My apologies to the mods for hitting the report post button instead of "reply" :D)

[Jarulf]

Please delete (I hate this mixed threaded and non thread system, post ended up in wrong place :( ).

[Jarulf]

I will get a new computer soon so that I can play games again (I hate this pentium 133 with win 95 :) ) and two things to play would be Planescape and reply BG2 (since you have been talking so much here).

Just wanting a few sugestions. for BG2, I will basically try out an evil party. So obvious companions are:

Viconia (had her last time, but so what, can get romance)
Edwin
Korgan

And later Sarevok of course.

So, the question is. What should I be and what should I have until I get Sarvok?

I will probably keep Minsc arround until Edwin and he fight it out if possible. If I recall correctly, Arie and Korgan had some talking although it might not turn "ugly" but he teased her if I recalled correctly.

I would like to try out Mazzy since I never used her last time, but she is good. I also need a Thief, either myself or I will go with Jan. So:

Me
Viconia
Edwin
Korgan
Jan
Rotate depending on quest, Minsc and Arie for a while perhaps.

I like Jaheira though, should I bring her as the sixth member when leaving town?

And if my own character is not a thief (if he is, I will skip Jan and use Mazzy or Jaheira for sure), what should it be based on the chars about? What do I need? I don't want to be a fighter really again.




Next, Planescap. For once I have decided to play it without reading any guide in advance or geting any information about the plot. That is, basically play it unknowing about anything to happen. I normally don't do that :)

Anyone have some general tips though (please NO story or plot spoilers). I read some on character generation and it seemed WIS was VERY important and also some for INT. Correct? I never understood if you picked class (like fighter, mage and so on) or got it as you played. Seems you should change mid game, or? In any case, sugestion for good class to pick if that is possible?

Some general advice (that doesn't tell spoilers)? So that I can enjoy it as much as possible.

[Elric of Grans]

Hail Jaruf,

I completed ToB with an evil party once: was kind of fun :D I has Edwin, Korgan, Viconia, Sarevok (no one until he arrived) and Imoen (because she never complains, no matter what your reputation). I made a thief, and dualed to mage once I had the basics I wanted in thief skills - that way I was set for everything :) The only real problem with an evil party is that, quite simply, the game was made to be played by a good-aligned party: sometimes you HAVE to do the good thing, and other times the 'evil' option is pretty lame.