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Does the EE tweak difficult at all? I'm honestly more interested in playing through BG2 as quickly as possible, and I really don't want to fight an enemy more than once. Is the game still blisteringly difficult.
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Dec 23, 2013 22:23
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Radio Talmudist posted:Does the EE tweak difficult at all? I'm honestly more interested in playing through BG2 as quickly as possible, and I really don't want to fight an enemy more than once. Is the game still blisteringly difficult. No, not directly anyway I don't believe. It adds some really strong new NPCs whose quests win them some pretty amazing items, plus you can use kits in BG1. If anything it's probably slightly easier, though longer with the added content. Personally I don't find unmodded BG to be terribly difficult if you're familiar with the encounters and especially the magic system. You'll definitely do some reloading but if you've played through the saga in recent memory I can't imagine it would be "blisteringly difficult." Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Dec 23, 2013 |
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Dec 23, 2013 22:31
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Factor_VIII posted:3E did have some spells cost XP or have expensive material components (the latter was admittedly also present in 2E) as a way or regulating their use. XP might not be so good in my opinion since the whole party or other PCs might benefit from a spell so it's unfair to burden the caster (e.g. it's unfair for a Wizard to lag behind the party in levels if he uses Wishes to raise the Fighter's strength). I think that the Pathinder approach of simply having some spells cost money is a good mechanism. The GM can control the money a party gets and the players can share the costs and decide on whether to spend money on spells or on gear. I would always be concerned about regulating the raising of stats, though. 3rd ed isn't as pissy about it as 2nd was, but raising stats to superhuman levels can really shatter a game system that's already kind of broken. I'd be really worried about some group having a Monty Haul campaign and spending all of their funds on making the barbarian as strong enough to bench-press an entire fleet of warships.
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Dec 23, 2013 23:23
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Pellisworth posted:No, not directly anyway I don't believe. It adds some really strong new NPCs whose quests win them some pretty amazing items, plus you can use kits in BG1. If anything it's probably slightly easier, though longer with the added content. Dorn is such god mode that he makes the game quite a bit easier simply because he isn't a lovely NPC like most of them are. (Tiax, the mage/cleric with something like 10 wisdom and 10 intelligence)
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Dec 23, 2013 23:49
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JustJeff88 posted:I would always be concerned about regulating the raising of stats, though. 3rd ed isn't as pissy about it as 2nd was, but raising stats to superhuman levels can really shatter a game system that's already kind of broken. I'd be really worried about some group having a Monty Haul campaign and spending all of their funds on making the barbarian as strong enough to bench-press an entire fleet of warships. Casters can raise their casting stat to equal amounts, but at high levels enemies have really high saving throw bonuses, so the difficulty to save against their spells never becomes too high. Edit: That carrying capacity value might seem big, but the monsters that barbarian meets may well be even stronger. In 3E, a Great Wyrm Red Dragon has a base strength of 45 without any wishes or stat-boosting items (and you'd expect such a wealthy and powerful creature to have such things). Even with this basal strength, the dragon has a carrying capacity of 307200 lbs. (Being a Colossal quadruped gives it a x24 multiplier to its carrying capacity.) Factor_VIII fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Dec 23, 2013 |
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Dec 23, 2013 23:51
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oswald ownenstein posted:Dorn is such god mode that he makes the game quite a bit easier simply because he isn't a lovely NPC like most of them are. Yeah, Dorn in particular is a total boss throughout BG1 and BG2. Neera and Rasaad are both pretty solid and really come online in BG2. Neera is probably still not as good as Edwin, but she's certainly a fun and completely adequate replacement. Edit: Yeah, monks are weak early on, but Rasaad's Sun Soul abilities and unique gear make up for that a little. His stats aren't terrible, all told I think he's a stronger NPC than most of the old BG1 characters, though that's not saying much. Both him and Neera become powerhouses in BG2, though. \/\/\/\/\/ Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 23, 2013 23:57
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Pellisworth posted:Yeah, Dorn in particular is a total boss throughout BG1 and BG2. Neera and Rashaad are both pretty solid and really come online in BG2. Neera is probably still not as good as Edwin, but she's certainly a fun and completely adequate replacement. I thought the Monk was supposed to be total garbage in BG1 because of how lovely monks are at low levels?
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Dec 24, 2013 00:28
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rope kid posted:It may also have been incredibly effective against people wearing mail. In one of those medieval weapons shows they found that the flail was pretty worthless in most situations and not at all a good combat weapon
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Dec 24, 2013 00:31
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oswald ownenstein posted:I thought the Monk was supposed to be total garbage in BG1 because of how lovely monks are at low levels? They are worse than a Berserker or Kensai at levels 1 and 2, but catch up around level 4 or so. If you can hold on, their Stunning blow more than makes up for it.
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Dec 24, 2013 00:41
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oswald ownenstein posted:In one of those medieval weapons shows they found that the flail was pretty worthless in most situations and not at all a good combat weapon They needed to find more heads for it i guess.
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Dec 24, 2013 00:45
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oswald ownenstein posted:In one of those medieval weapons shows they found that the flail was pretty worthless in most situations and not at all a good combat weapon
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Dec 24, 2013 00:46
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Excelzior posted:They are worse than a Berserker or Kensai at levels 1 and 2, but catch up around level 4 or so. If you can hold on, their Stunning blow more than makes up for it. Monks also level pretty quickly, and you don't really want anyone except a fatty dedicated tank like Kagain wading into extended melee combat at those very low levels. Just give Rasaad a ranged weapon and have him plink away, melee when safe.
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Dec 24, 2013 00:50
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Does BG2 enhanced edition change the first dungeon at all? Do you still wake up with Jaheira, Imoen and Minsc regardless of your previous party choices?
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Dec 24, 2013 01:17
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For BG2:EE I imported character instead of importing save so that may make a difference but I got the standard lineup at the start.Pellisworth posted:Yeah, Dorn in particular is a total boss throughout BG1 and BG2. Neera and Rasaad are both pretty solid and really come online in BG2. Neera is probably still not as good as Edwin, but she's certainly a fun and completely adequate replacement. I will never drop Neera, she summoned a pack of squirrels at the exact moment my entire party failed their saves against Hold Person in the fight with Mullahey in the Nashkel Mine, he then proceeded to run around caving in squirrel skulls until my party recovered with no-one lost. (Of course she's also sunburst/fireballed herself to death, but that's just what you get)
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Dec 24, 2013 02:00
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I dual classed my Swashbuckler to a Fighter/Thief at level 15. I finally hit level 16 on the fighter and it seemed to be worth it. The only thing is that, while I can search for traps, I can't disarm or unlock anything despite the button being there. Is this a bug or did I totally lose that ability? If I click on disarm it just does nothing. Doesn't give me the cursor or highlight the button.
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Dec 24, 2013 02:22
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Dragonrah posted:I dual classed my Swashbuckler to a Fighter/Thief at level 15. I finally hit level 16 on the fighter and it seemed to be worth it. The only thing is that, while I can search for traps, I can't disarm or unlock anything despite the button being there. Is this a bug or did I totally lose that ability? If I click on disarm it just does nothing. Doesn't give me the cursor or highlight the button. Are you wearing armor heavier than studded leather? You can't use thief skills while wearing heavier armor types. edit: Dragonrah posted:I forgot about that. I'm dumb. Ok, I can get rid of Jan, I just need to remove my armor each time....that sounds annoying....hmmmm Nah. There are magical leather armors that are nearly or as good as plate. The Shadow Dragon Scale, for example. Use something like that if you don't want to dick around with switching armors all the time, you'll at most miss out on a point or two of AC versus wearing the best plate. Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 24, 2013 02:29
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Pellisworth posted:Are you wearing armor heavier than studded leather? You can't use thief skills while wearing heavier armor types. I forgot about that. I'm dumb. Ok, I can get rid of Jan, I just need to remove my armor each time....that sounds annoying....hmmmm
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Dec 24, 2013 02:33
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Dragonrah posted:I forgot about that. I'm dumb. Ok, I can get rid of Jan, I just need to remove my armor each time....that sounds annoying....hmmmm Kill the Shadow Dragon, that's pretty boss armor and should work. Are you evil? there's another pretty baller armor for evil thieves (evil anyone, but it counts as leather so it's great for thieves). Air Skwirl fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 24, 2013 03:36
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THS posted:Does BG2 enhanced edition change the first dungeon at all? Do you still wake up with Jaheira, Imoen and Minsc regardless of your previous party choices? No, yes. The only thing carried over from BG1 is your character sheet, basically. And pantaloons.
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Dec 24, 2013 03:39
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Another real life vs D&D thing that I thought was humorous is that there wasn't any such thing as Studded Leather because such a thing would be completely worthless. Maybe rivets for fixing some kind of backing plate or bonings, but there would be absolutely no point in putting studs in leather.
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Dec 24, 2013 04:16
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oswald ownenstein posted:Another real life vs D&D thing that I thought was humorous is that there wasn't any such thing as Studded Leather because such a thing would be completely worthless. Isn't this more or less what the description of the armor in-game says? I thought the idea is that it's basically metal armor pinned to a leather shirt. Baldur's Gate posted:Studded leather armor has little in common with normal leather armor. While leather armor is a hardened shell, studded leather armor is soft and supple with hundreds of metal rivets affixed. The rivets are so close together that they form, a felxible coasting of hard metal that turns aside slashing and cutting attacks. The soft leather backing is little more than a means of securing the rivets in place.
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Dec 24, 2013 04:53
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Factor_VIII posted:3E did have some spells cost XP or have expensive material components (the latter was admittedly also present in 2E) as a way or regulating their use. Every decent wizard ends up carrying a bag full of batshit and sulfur, and a whole loving backpack of tiny crystal cones. gently caress that noise, we always removed spell components in 2E. It was just more poo poo everyone had to keep track of and constantly writing/erasing that wore out your character sheet. VodeAndreas posted:(Of course she's also sunburst/fireballed herself to death, but that's just what you get) She summoned a pit fiend on us and against a level 3 party a pit fiend is pretty tough.
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Dec 24, 2013 05:05
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I have been playing BGIIEE that I acquired via steam. Has anyone been playing that and if so, have you encountered an issue with your characters gaining new hitpoints when leveling? I made a fighter and made sure I had 18 Constitution; I just hit level 9 and it is only granting me 3 hitpoints even though my minimum should be 5 (+4 from CON plus a die roll of 1).
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Dec 24, 2013 05:09
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Mickey McKey posted:I have been playing BGIIEE that I acquired via steam. Has anyone been playing that and if so, have you encountered an issue with your characters gaining new hitpoints when leveling? I made a fighter and made sure I had 18 Constitution; I just hit level 9 and it is only granting me 3 hitpoints even though my minimum should be 5 (+4 from CON plus a die roll of 1). At level 10 you stop rolling for hitpoints and I believe stop getting a Con bonus. Instead you get a flat rate: 3 for warriors and barbarians, 1 for mages and sorcerers and 2 for everyone else
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Dec 24, 2013 05:13
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Skwirl posted:At level 10 you stop rolling for hitpoints and I believe stop getting a Con bonus. Instead you get a flat rate: 3 for warriors and barbarians, 1 for mages and sorcerers and 2 for everyone else  Really?  2nd edition I completely forgot about that. And yeah it was level 10, not 9, so that is definitely it, yikes. Thank you.I was re-reading this page and reading the following reminded me of something: Pellisworth posted:Personally I don't find unmodded BG to be terribly difficult if you're familiar with the encounters and especially the magic system. You'll definitely do some reloading but if you've played through the saga in recent memory I can't imagine it would be "blisteringly difficult."
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Dec 24, 2013 05:17
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Wouldn't a mace also be really easy to learn? I imagine with Swords you'd have to learn how to swordfight, parry, and be able to determine what areas to pierce. Spears would require knowledge of formations/how to use your base/weight to hit weak points. Even twohanded weapons would require learning pivots/how you use your own body to increase force in blows. Maces, clubs, and sticks all function under the "beat them until he stops twitching" school of thought. Anybody could pick up a mace and know exactly how to kill a person with it, no other questions asked. When the character presumably can't get much combat training because they are so busy healing/praying/other clerical duties, I could see why they'd go in with maces.
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Dec 24, 2013 05:37
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Rookersh posted:Wouldn't a mace also be really easy to learn? I imagine with Swords you'd have to learn how to swordfight, parry, and be able to determine what areas to pierce. Spears would require knowledge of formations/how to use your base/weight to hit weak points. Even twohanded weapons would require learning pivots/how you use your own body to increase force in blows. Maces, clubs, and sticks all function under the "beat them until he stops twitching" school of thought. Anybody could pick up a mace and know exactly how to kill a person with it, no other questions asked. Traditionally spears were the weapon of choice for pretty much everyone. They're not hard to figure out, you hold it and stab a dude, the reach meant you could fight in relative safety. The short range of a club or hammer would mean you'd have to get closer, that would mean you would have to be keen on the finer points of melee fighting. Really, rpgs are not realistic because 90% of folks would be armed with spears or other pole arms. Those who weren't would soon be dead. Seriously, there's a reason spears and spear derivatives were so popular in every culture, they're awesome. But, it's a DnD RPG, trying to make sense of it is a fools errand. MegaGatts fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 24, 2013 05:57
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oswald ownenstein posted:In one of those medieval weapons shows they found that the flail was pretty worthless in most situations and not at all a good combat weapon I've never really thought about it before but is the idea that they were used to wrap around shields?
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Dec 24, 2013 06:04
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Ratios and Tendency posted:I've never really thought about it before but is the idea that they were used to wrap around shields? Yeah it could fling around shields, but the real issue was the short range and you had to spin it up to do any real damage. It also couldn't really be used defensively, unlike shields/axes/etc.
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Dec 24, 2013 06:17
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ReWinter posted:Isn't this more or less what the description of the armor in-game says? I thought the idea is that it's basically metal armor pinned to a leather shirt. 'Studded leather' didn't really exist though. Brigandine was a type of armor that had metal plates sandwiched between leather and held in place by rivets (studs), but the idea that you would put enough studs in a piece of leather to somehow make it useful is absurd.
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Dec 24, 2013 06:24
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ReWinter posted:Isn't this more or less what the description of the armor in-game says? I thought the idea is that it's basically metal armor pinned to a leather shirt. Maybe, but that description appears to have been written for something other than what it was attached to. Studded leather armor ingame, both icons and rendered, literally is just leather with periodic metal studs. This is also borne out in the mechanics (bards can cast spells in studded leather but not non-elven mail). A lot of D&D is just dumb in general. Druids can't use metal swords but can use scimitars because ~reasons~*. *Reasons: Gary Gygax has said that scimitars look kinda like sickles, if you tilt your head a certain angle. E: VV yeah, I should probably stop posting when tired. Mea culpa. tirinal fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 24, 2013 06:35
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tirinal posted:Maybe, but that description appears to have been written for something other than what it was attached to. Bards can't cast in any kind of armor, including basic leather (aside from Elven Chain), unless you're using one of those spell failure mods; in which case they can cast in anything, but the heavier the armor the greater the chance of spell failure.
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Dec 24, 2013 06:59
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While I'm doing a couple play throughs of BG2 I noticed that there isn't a lot of armor variety for pretty much everything except for chest and ring slot. I wish there was a way to add some more variety to it.
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Dec 24, 2013 07:56
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Azuth0667 posted:While I'm doing a couple play throughs of BG2 I noticed that there isn't a lot of armor variety for pretty much everything except for chest and ring slot. I wish there was a way to add some more variety to it. BACK IN THE DAY it was already special if a game had more than two sprites for your character. Since the characters were hand drawn you had to pay somebody to do a full set of positioning and animation for every armor variant which got old quick.
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Dec 24, 2013 10:24
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Skwirl posted:Bards can't cast in any kind of armor, including basic leather (aside from Elven Chain), unless you're using one of those spell failure mods; in which case they can cast in anything, but the heavier the armor the greater the chance of spell failure. Thieving abilities is probably what he was going for - bards can't pickpocket in chain, and similarly fighter-thieves are restricted when wearing anything heavier than studded leather.
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Dec 24, 2013 10:43
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peak debt posted:BACK IN THE DAY it was already special if a game had more than two sprites for your character. Since the characters were hand drawn you had to pay somebody to do a full set of positioning and animation for every armor variant which got old quick. One of the things I kind of hoped for was that EE would introduce 3d-models for characters, but given the amount of stuff in the game it is a relatively big project. Maybe someday gemrb will get support for it.
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Dec 24, 2013 10:52
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tirinal posted:Studded leather armor ingame, both icons and rendered, literally is just leather with periodic metal studs. This is also borne out in the mechanics (bards can cast spells in studded leather but not non-elven mail). Really? I could swear my bard can't cast in IWD unless he has no armor at all. What did I do wrong?
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Dec 24, 2013 11:06
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Furism posted:Really? I could swear my bard can't cast in IWD unless he has no armor at all. What did I do wrong? There's elven chainmail armor that allows your bard to wear armor and still cast spells. Thanks to the somewhat randomized loot system in IWD though it's possible to never see it on your playthrough.
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Dec 24, 2013 11:14
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Bards got casting in light armor in 3.5 which IWD2 ran under so that's maybe what you were thinking about?
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Dec 24, 2013 11:46
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Zilkin posted:There's elven chainmail armor that allows your bard to wear armor and still cast spells. Thanks to the somewhat randomized loot system in IWD though it's possible to never see it on your playthrough. Is it explicitly written that it allows bard to cast spells? Because if it isn't, I might not have tried it on the Bard. The semi-random drop systems means that's it's supposed to drop in a particular area (but not always) right? Where would that be?
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Dec 24, 2013 12:02
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