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bike tory posted:But it destroys the items on them! I usually eyeball the enemy to see if I think I can get a wand of frost hit in without killing them with it. Or if they have an item I really really can't stand to lose, I won't use it on them.
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Jun 24, 2022 23:21
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bike tory posted:But it destroys the items on them! True, but in a lot of cases it's short sword and a suit of leather armour, so I'm not too bothered. Edit: Also, yes, one can use it just to soften them up. As long as it doesn't kill shot, the body is lootable. Scorcher seems similar, but the damage is pro-rated over two rounds and it's easy to accidentally set fire to a comrade.
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Jun 25, 2022 00:17
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JustJeff88 posted:True, but in a lot of cases it's short sword and a suit of leather armour, so I'm not too bothered. I quite like the potions of fire breath. They do a lot of damage. You can friendly fire your party with them but they hit so hard they're worth it sometimes. 6d10 on a failed save is a ton of damage in bg1.
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Jun 25, 2022 00:22
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bike tory posted:But it destroys the items on them! Dear Lieutenant Vai: You'll find enclosed partially dissolved slush in the amounts of 15 bandit scalps. Please send 750 gold pieces to the sirene cave along the coast c/o the suspicious thief searching for men in the bushes. Yours truly, CHARNAME.
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Jun 25, 2022 00:22
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Ginette Reno posted:I quite like the potions of fire breath. They do a lot of damage. You can friendly fire your party with them but they hit so hard they're worth it sometimes. 6d10 on a failed save is a ton of damage in bg1. Love 'em. I use them as soon as I find them. (usually on mages)
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Jun 25, 2022 00:35
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Suspicious posted:Love 'em. I use them as soon as I find them. (usually on mages) I feel like they'll go right through mirror images too. Not sure about minor globes. I could be wrong but I swear they hit pretty reliably on enemy mages even if they have defenses up. I'd have to test it more.
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Jun 25, 2022 01:13
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Supposedly if you turn gore off in the options cold damage won't destroy items any more, but I've never put that to the test
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Jun 25, 2022 01:54
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That mage in the big bandit tent? Jaheira walks right up to him and engulfs his whole universe in fire. Then I say Toasty! out loud.
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Jun 25, 2022 02:23
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Has anyone used the Project Infinity tool to install mods?
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Jun 25, 2022 03:09
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bout to give Imoen the boot in favor of motherfucking Coran
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Jun 25, 2022 03:10
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Empty Sandwich posted:bout to give Imoen the boot in favor of motherfucking Coran I like Imoen, although it stood out for me in my recent BG1 playthrough how she breaks certain parts of the story. Like when Elminster tells you Gorion gave up everything to raise you and how much he loved his Bhaal-sent baby and it's like uh, hey, Gorion adopted another kid who's standing right over there. Or when Sarevok's diary claimed that he marked you as a Bhaalspawn in Candlekeep before the game starts because of distinctive markings that he would be able to find on any Bhaalspawn, like oh, say, the other adopted child of the guy he's already interested in who's the same age as the person he just confirmed is a bhaalspawn.  I know she was a late addition to 1 and they didn't even officially confirm that she was a B-S until 2, but in a perfect world it would have been cool if she was just a little more tied into the plot in 1. Just to the extent of adding a line to Gorion's journal in his room in Candlekeep saying he barred her from coming with you at the beginning of the game to split you up to reduce the chances of you both being caught and killed. And maybe if you kick you out of your party you can hit a random encounter where she's being attacked by assassins or something.
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Jun 25, 2022 04:14
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bike tory posted:Has anyone used the Project Infinity tool to install mods? Yes. If you only install a few, like 5-10 or so, it's pretty good! Once you get up into a higher number of mods, specifically with lots of optional components you tick on or off, the program slows to a crawl, taking absolute ages between ticks. It frustrated the hell out of me. On top of that, Windows Defender thinks it has a Trojan in it, so you gotta go into your settings and deliberately exclude it from the live protection etc. I got annoyed at it and just installed the mods manually in the end. Helps if you have a general install order around to follow though.
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Jun 25, 2022 04:16
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Just out of interest, how do trade marks work with D&D and people creating their own modules or games or whatever? Is it just place names and characters or will you get slammed down for doing something with an xvart casting Magic Missile(TM) or whatever?
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Jun 25, 2022 05:32
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docbeard posted:Supposedly if you turn gore off in the options cold damage won't destroy items any more, but I've never put that to the test That would make sense - no gibbing, thawed or frozen. Ginette Reno posted:I quite like the potions of fire breath. They do a lot of damage. You can friendly fire your party with them but they hit so hard they're worth it sometimes. 6d10 on a failed save is a ton of damage in bg1. That is a lot of damage, but I have terrible hoarder tendencies. The consumable that I like are those Potions of Regeneration. Unfortunately, they are quite rare. They do a ton of healing in non-combat situations. I think that their effect should be a druid spell, about level 5, since druids don't get Heal. Fake Edit: Druids *do* get heal; is that 2e cannon? Still, it should be a spell and/or those potions should be more common.
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Jun 25, 2022 06:12
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I'm pretty sure druids have always gotten heal in 2md edition. They don't get raise dead (except Jaeheria).
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Jun 25, 2022 06:19
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Use your consumables as soon as possible as much as possible! 😈
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Jun 25, 2022 07:28
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Empty Sandwich posted:bout to give Imoen the boot in favor of motherfucking Coran Coran is the best NPC, no questions asked. Just bring him along. The BG2 mod included. He can pick pockets, he can break locks, he can untrap things.
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Jun 25, 2022 07:47
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Ratios and Tendency posted:Just out of interest, how do trade marks work with D&D and people creating their own modules or games or whatever? Is it just place names and characters or will you get slammed down for doing something with an xvart casting Magic Missile(TM) or whatever? This is generally determined by whether it is included in the System Reference Document or not. Anything in the SRD is fair game for independent publishers to use under the Open-Gaming License when making their own D&D content to sell. More information about that here: https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document
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Jun 25, 2022 08:29
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e: nvm, I was thinking of something else.
Arivia fucked around with this message at 12:29 on Jun 25, 2022 |
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Jun 25, 2022 12:26
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Giving this series another try and the games are finally clicking for me! hell yeah. Trying to keep spoilers low but I mean its an old game so How important is juggling companions? Just had Xzar and his friend leave after trying to fit Dynaheir in my party, and the next thing I feel like I should do is go pick up another pair of companions @ the Friendly Arms, which will mean kicking someone else out. Team right now is me (barbarian), Imoen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Neera. Between Neera, mainchar, and Imoen, I feel pretty ready for most things I'll encounter, can I treat the other slots as just kinda rotating guest spots? Or are there other necessary people I'm gonna run in to down the road? Quests that are especially worth doing? I checked a companion list and there are a lot... JamesKPolk fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Jun 25, 2022 |
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Jun 25, 2022 20:02
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Most companions don't have quests and the ones that do aren't really important or in depth. Might be different for the companions added in EE like Neera.
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Jun 25, 2022 20:17
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All of this assumes an unmodded game. Some companions will get vocal if you don't do something specific within a particular time frame (it will be obvious when this is happening) and will eventually leave if you completely ignore that. There are a few NPC pairs as you've already seen, that you can't (easily, there are ways) split up. There are also groupings of NPCs that don't get along and may eventually come to blows. The EE-added companions (Dorn, Neera, Rasaad) all have their own sidequests. There aren't really any 'necessary' companions, and they really just add a little flavor. SoD and BG2 are where they actually start to exhibit personalities (and questlines) of their own. Just build for what you want in a balanced party first. e. Oh, and evil companions will get unhappy the higher your rep gets and can leave when it's maxed out. Good companions react similarly to a low rep. Neutral companions get pissy but I don't think they ever leave. I also don't think Imoen will ever leave due to rep though she might get upset.
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Jun 25, 2022 20:39
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I won't lie, killing Khalid and removing his dead body from the party to separate him from Jaheira has become so routine for me that I usually just make everyone auto-attack him as soon as they join the party next to the bar inside the inn. Monstrous? Well, sure. Very time efficient though.
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Jun 25, 2022 21:06
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There's a mod for him that turns him into an archery-focused warrior/mage, which fits his... eccentricities better, in my opinion.
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Jun 25, 2022 21:13
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Randallteal posted:I like Imoen, although it stood out for me in my recent BG1 playthrough how she breaks certain parts of the story. almost her whole existence is basically a retcon, now that you mention it Rappaport posted:Coran is the best NPC, no questions asked. Just bring him along. The BG2 mod included. He can pick pockets, he can break locks, he can untrap things. I've never used him before. he's a staggering archer, but his portrait is unsettling. just finished Dorn's quest and now my f/m charname is in BG proper wearing some comfy elven chain. 
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Jun 25, 2022 21:16
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Coran's portrait is the face of a serial killer. (It's actually the face of a BioWare employee, they used a lot of pictures from there to make the original portraits.)
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Jun 25, 2022 21:50
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other official portraits of him are not much better lol this is from the cover of the WOTC Murder in Baldur's Gate module: 
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Jun 25, 2022 21:57
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JustJeff88 posted:There's a mod for him that turns him into an archery-focused warrior/mage, which fits his... eccentricities better, in my opinion. I'm of conflicting thoughts on this. On one hand, it is very easy at least to console commands in a few Tomes to make the entire cast be great, but on the other hand, it's fun seeing how you can adapt to the companions with itemization. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'd be curious, but afaik, any character is workable in BG. My main gripe is that some characters come super late, Tiax for example, and don't get their share of the spotlight unmodded.
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Jun 25, 2022 21:58
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Khalid has 15 STR, 16 DEX and 17 CON. Those are some loving amazing stats for a fighter. What's wrong with all of you....
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Jun 25, 2022 23:07
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Suspicious posted:Khalid has 15 STR, 16 DEX and 17 CON. Those are some loving amazing stats for a fighter. What's wrong with all of you.... Yeah he's a pretty good archer or tank. His dps is kinda poo poo if he melees but that's fixable with strength spell or pots or ogre gauntlets. His morale sucks but that's also fixable with Kiel's helmet or remove fear.
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Jun 25, 2022 23:23
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Suspicious posted:Khalid has 15 STR, 16 DEX and 17 CON. Those are some loving amazing stats for a fighter. What's wrong with all of you.... That's an almost identical stat line to Montaron (but with less str and dex). I definitely wouldn't call it "loving amazing". And he's tied for worst morale failure in the game, which isn't great for a front line fighter. And if I wanted an archer I'd take Kivan first. With that said, if I didn't normally play a fighter-type I'd take him more often just for lack of choice.
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Jun 25, 2022 23:27
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Even ignoring his morale failures, Kivan and Coran make for better archers. Minsc and Ajantis make for better frontliners. And let's not even begin to compare any of those with Kagain. That said, he's perfectly serviceable, really. Just worse than the alternatives for min/max purposes.
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Jun 25, 2022 23:32
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Rythian posted:Even ignoring his morale failures, Kivan and Coran make for better archers. Minsc and Ajantis make for better frontliners. And let's not even begin to compare any of those with Kagain. Coran will get +3 more thaco and Kivan will get +2 more thaco early on than Khalid thanks to 17 dex plus being an elf. Khalid only has 16 dex. However, Kivan can't get Grandmastery in bows, while Khalid can. Therefore Khalid gets an extra half attack eventually compared to Kivan, and Khalid does 3 more damage/hit with his bow eventually compared to Kivan/Coran. Khalid also will level faster than both, and get +2 more thaco than both thanks to Grandmastery bonuses which should somewhat even out the penalties he takes for lower dex. That's on top of hitting harder. Khalid be underrated imo.
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Jun 25, 2022 23:43
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I agree that he's underrated, since a pure-class Fighter can always be useful. But you need to be a minimum of level 9 to get Grandmastery, and for a fighter that requires more than the base XP cap for fighters in BG1. Khalid starts with only one pip in Longbows rather than 2, so he needs to go all the way to 12. Once you hit SoD you can pick up Corwin who's better than all of them. And this is a separate thing but worth mentioning, since it's involving magic items and that could go to anyone, but you can give anyone gauntlets of 18/00 STR or 18 DEX to cover any low stats.
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Jun 25, 2022 23:56
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bike tory posted:other official portraits of him are not much better lol The only good one I've found of him is the one in the Heroes of Baldur's Gate module and now I use most of the pics out of that one for the BG1 crew's portraits. https://i.redd.it/iwb9sv8l4qf41.jpg And someone contacted Mike Sass a while back, the portrait artist for the games and asked him if he could remember his references. It's pretty interesting. https://i.redd.it/i90flguyn4l81.jpg
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Jun 25, 2022 23:57
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Khalid also shows up at level one, when archery fighters are at their most valuable. He’s very good.
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Jun 26, 2022 00:00
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Canonically (my mod canon) Khalid is a fighter/mage and Jaheira is a fighter/totemic druid. I'm fixing God's mistakes!
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Jun 26, 2022 00:07
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docbeard posted:Canonically (my mod canon) Khalid is a fighter/mage and Jaheira is a fighter/totemic druid. I'm fixing God's mistakes! I almost always run with mods to change some NPC kits and stuff. Like Kivan being an Archer just makes sense. I mean he's got a bow on his portrait! I also like making Ajantis a Cavalier and Kagain a Dwarven Defender.
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Jun 26, 2022 00:15
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15/16/17 *is* loving amazing. I'm trying to think of a DM I know who'd let me play a 2e fighter with those stats. And it's not just the stats. You get him basically immediately and for free (no reaction check, no timed quest). Also he isn't evil so he won't whine about reputation. 15 strength lets him equip full plate unassisted. You need more melee damage out of him? Use a potion of giant strength. You know, those things you 're hoarding and never using?
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Jun 26, 2022 00:19
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Suspicious posted:15/16/17 *is* loving amazing. I'm trying to think of a DM I know who'd let me play a 2e fighter with those stats. And it's not just the stats. You get him basically immediately and for free (no reaction check, no timed quest). Also he isn't evil so he won't whine about reputation. Technically there is a timed quest (or at least Jaheira has one) but setting foot in Nashkel (you might have to talk to Bardolan but either way nbd) settles it. But yeah he's solid if you do something about his morale (and you should have Remove Fear prepped on someone anyway). I tend not to take him mostly because my favorite NPC mods tend to fill that niche a bit better than he does (even if I've modded his class). Related, don't sleep on the third level cleric/druid spell Strength of One. Unless you have someone with natural strength higher than 18/75 (and I think items that set your strength higher will work regardless) it's an amazing melee buff for pretty much every NPC. And it lasts a while too, I think.
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Jun 26, 2022 00:34
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