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So I've finally picked up BG2:EE again after ignoring for about four months. I'm in Chapter 5, and I've already gotten the eyestalk quest item from the beholder dungeon. Should I try to do the Kuo-Toa and Mind Flayer dungeons as well? I breezed through most of the Beholder dungeon just fine with the help of the Shield of Balduran, but the other two I imagine will be a lot harder. I'd like to try to get the weapon parts for Crom Fayer and the Equalizer, but I imagine that both dungeons have some pretty difficult fights, and I'm wondering if it's worth the effort. Another thing I wanted to ask about: One of the Elder Orbs in the beholder dungeon casts a spell called Imprisonment, which traps a character and removes them from the party. I ran into the spell before with the wizard you free from that sphere in the main Underdark area. The only two direct countermeasures to the spell I've read about are to either cast Freedom after they're trapped, or to use Spell Immunity: Abjuration. I don't know if you can find either of those spells in the Underdark, or if I have people who can cast them. Is there another way to avoid Imprisonment?
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Aug 17, 2016 05:11
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Suspicious posted:None of Jaheira's content requires you to romance her, even the OP amulet at the end of the Harper subplot. *Not* romancing her makes everything happen quite a bit faster, actually. Yeah I had her in my party I beat the game with a few months ago and didn't romance her and the Harper plot seemed to move pretty fast. Don't you get more xp if you romance her though? I thought you got a massive xp bonus for completing that romance, but maybe I'm wrong. It's been so long since I've finished it. Max Wilco posted:So I've finally picked up BG2:EE again after ignoring for about four months. Yes, do the other dungeons too, but you may want to wait until after you finish the Drow quest line to do them as there is a timer on finishing the quest you're on right now. But you will want to do the other two dungeons for the xp and other loot pieces if you want to use Equalizer/Crom Faeyr. If you have a Berserker, their rage ability makes them immune to Imprison. You can also use scrolls of protection from magic to get immune to it, but there's only so many of those in the game. Spelltrap may work too (staff of magi lets you cast it 1/day), but I can't remember if it does or not. Imprisonment is an rear end in a top hat of an ability though but fortunately most enemies don't use it so you don't have to worry too much. The ones that do you can generally cheese with a Zerker or protection from magic scroll as long as you're careful about saving those for such occasions. Ginette Reno fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Aug 17, 2016 |
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Aug 17, 2016 05:13
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Max Wilco posted:So I've finally picked up BG2:EE again after ignoring for about four months. You'll be dropped at the end of the Kuo-Toa dungeon on your way to the surface, and they're relatively easy to deal with. The Mind Flayers are a bitch and a half- be ready to deal with their magic resistance and resurrect tanks who get their brains eaten. As for countering Imprisonment without those spells, you'll just have to kill the caster real fast. It's a bitch of a spell, but I think only the Elder Orb and Kangaxx use it in SoA. EDIT: I think Berserk Rage guarding against Imprisonment was actually a bug that was removed in BGII:EE. Kavak fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Aug 17, 2016 |
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Aug 17, 2016 05:21
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^ Doubtful because the berserker's rage protecting from imprisonment is in the kit's description. The duergar merchant at the bottom leftish of the main Underdark map sells scrolls of freedom. If your wizards aren't high level enough to cast level 9 spells yet (they probably aren't), you can have them cast freedom from the scroll itself by putting it in one of their quickslots. The scrolls aren't *too* expensive, at least compared to other level 9 spells. Ginette Reno posted:Don't you get more xp if you romance her though? I thought you got a massive xp bonus for completing that romance, but maybe I'm wrong. It's been so long since I've finished it. Yes, if you romance her your PC gets 100,000 quest experience when she gets her amulet if your reputation is at least 15 IIRC. This is the only benefit of the romance. Personally I don't think it's worth it because you lose her for the second Bodhi fight so she misses out on a ton of experience, and Jaheira badly needs it. Suspicious fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Aug 17, 2016 |
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Aug 17, 2016 05:28
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Suspicious posted:^ Doubtful because the berserker's rage protecting from imprisonment is in the kit's description. I don't have anyone with the Berserk ability unfortunately. The Imprisonment thing isn't really too big of a deal; I just ran into it, and I was curious how to circumvent it. I wasn't planning on taking on Kangaxx so hopefully l won't run into between now and the end of the game. Should I try to take on Deirex, though, before I leave Ust Nautha? The Lich battles always sound pretty challenging, and I try to steer clear of them.
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Aug 17, 2016 06:12
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Slayer form is also immune to imprisonment, although you unfortunately can't use it for very long. I don't remember if the drow city lich uses imprisonment.
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Aug 17, 2016 06:41
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Suspicious posted:Slayer form is also immune to imprisonment, although you unfortunately can't use it for very long. I was planning on using Slayer at least once or twice to try and keep my Reputation from getting too high (which would cause Edwin to leave), so that works. Looking at the walkthrough on Sorcerer's Place, Deirex does cast Imprisonment when you enter, but it sounds like it's a scripted event that sends you to another area; you just have to go back again and fight him proper.
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Aug 17, 2016 06:50
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Max Wilco posted:I was planning on using Slayer at least once or twice to try and keep my Reputation from getting too high (which would cause Edwin to leave), so that works. If you have someone who can use azuredge and your pause fast enough when you enter the room, you can launch a ranged attack before the script kicks in. Which has a pretty good chance to kill the litch before it gets its protections up.
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Aug 17, 2016 14:41
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Jaheira seems really cool with you breaking a Zhent thief out of a Harper base- didn't the canon party fight Zhar and Montaron and knows exactly what their deal is? How is a good aligned roleplayer or anyone doing the Jaheira romance supposed to decide to do that quest? The Harpers are stupid but on their face are supposed to at least nominally be good guys.
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Aug 18, 2016 07:02
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Does Hexxat have much content after the Dragomir crypt part? She seems pretty mediocre. Not sure I should keep her. And Nalia joined me and wants me to go to De'Arnise Hold. I don't feel like doing that quest any time soon. How long is it until she leaves me to head there herself? And after she leaves me to go there, can I just go there when I want to and have her join me and complete the quest at that point?
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Aug 18, 2016 10:43
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Kavak posted:Jaheira seems really cool with you breaking a Zhent thief out of a Harper base- didn't the canon party fight Zhar and Montaron and knows exactly what their deal is? How is a good aligned roleplayer or anyone doing the Jaheira romance supposed to decide to do that quest? The Harpers are stupid but on their face are supposed to at least nominally be good guys. I've always kinda liked this about the BG2 story actually- every character but maybe a Lawful Good one could justify doing things like this for the hope of reward because they'd be desperate to get the money to free Imoen. And for the Lawful Good people there's always the ignorance excuse, when I first played BG2 I had no idea who the Zhentarim or the Harpers were, so the PC might not either.
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Aug 18, 2016 12:14
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BadAstronaut posted:Does Hexxat have much content after the Dragomir crypt part? She seems pretty mediocre. Not sure I should keep her. Hexxat suffers from the ills of being an unkitted thief in Baldurs gate, which is pretty much the worst thing any character can be providing you're not doing trap cheese. If I'm running Hexxat I'd at least turn her in to a shadow dancer via EE:Keeper or dual/multi class her.
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Aug 18, 2016 12:34
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fong posted:I've always kinda liked this about the BG2 story actually- every character but maybe a Lawful Good one could justify doing things like this for the hope of reward because they'd be desperate to get the money to free Imoen. And for the Lawful Good people there's always the ignorance excuse, when I first played BG2 I had no idea who the Zhentarim or the Harpers were, so the PC might not either. So of course I have to play a Cavalier  . To be totally fair I'm justifying Korgan's quest by being completely tanked, so maybe I'll use that excuse next time, or do it in late in Chapter 2 to avoid the timers on the other quest. Doesn't explain Jaheira's nonchalance with the whole thing, though.Another odd thing is that it doesn't seem to have much to do with the quests that follow. Galvarey has a great excuse to Imprison you for working with the Zhentarim, but he doesn't mention it in his spiel. Do the Harpers later on mention it?
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Aug 18, 2016 13:06
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Kavak posted:Jaheira seems really cool with you breaking a Zhent thief out of a Harper base- didn't the canon party fight Zhar and Montaron and knows exactly what their deal is? How is a good aligned roleplayer or anyone doing the Jaheira romance supposed to decide to do that quest? The Harpers are stupid but on their face are supposed to at least nominally be good guys. I don't know if she's really cool with it. She's a bit cautious about it and tells you to be careful. Anyways it's not like you have to kill anybody to free Montaron so I doubt it's a big deal to her. Or maybe she's in on it  fong posted:I've always kinda liked this about the BG2 story actually- every character but maybe a Lawful Good one could justify doing things like this for the hope of reward because they'd be desperate to get the money to free Imoen. And for the Lawful Good people there's always the ignorance excuse, when I first played BG2 I had no idea who the Zhentarim or the Harpers were, so the PC might not either. It's entirely possible to just not do quests too. A common one any good character should have a problem with is the Renal Bloodscalp quest line. I just can't see any justification for murdering Reyic Gethras at Edwin's behest. Sure he's a Cowled Wizard and is therefore an rear end in a top hat, but it's still murder. I almost always tell Edwin to just gently caress off unless I'm playing an evil character because I see no justification for it. I miss out on 10k gold and easy xp so it sucks but welp gotta roleplay at least a little right.
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Aug 18, 2016 13:53
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Ginette Reno posted:I don't know if she's really cool with it. She's a bit cautious about it and tells you to be careful. Anyways it's not like you have to kill anybody to free Montaron so I doubt it's a big deal to her. The ways of the Harpers are quote:It's entirely possible to just not do quests too. A common one any good character should have a problem with is the Renal Bloodscalp quest line. I just can't see any justification for murdering Reyic Gethras at Edwin's behest. Sure he's a Cowled Wizard and is therefore an rear end in a top hat, but it's still murder. I almost always tell Edwin to just gently caress off unless I'm playing an evil character because I see no justification for it. I miss out on 10k gold and easy xp so it sucks but welp gotta roleplay at least a little right. The only good Cowled is a dead Cowled.  Still I skipped that quest for similar reasons- the Shadow Thieves are the Ted Cruz to Bodhi's Trump, and Alternatives rocks for giving me the "Kill them all and let the gods sort them out." option. It seems like Bioware was considering more options as well- There are "Powerful groups" in Athkatla that aren't the Shadow Thieves, and the Cowled Wizards are so heinously corrupt that I can't believe that you wouldn't be able to just buy Imoen's freedom for enough money or favors. Hell, at the end of the Mage stronghold quest the guy is acting like they've already lost control of Spellhold, so maybe that was going to be an alternate route at some point.
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Aug 18, 2016 15:34
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Kavak posted:The ways of the Harpers are Well the Shadow Thieves are definitely still the better option between the two for a good character. I mean Bodhi is a literal monster preying on everyone. The Shadow Thieves engage in terrible poo poo, but they aren't as directly harmful to overall life. They're like the Mob, whereas Bodhi is a serial killer. But the Bloodscalp quest is optional, so I see no reason to work with the Thieves any more than I have to to save Imoen. More options is always nice I suppose, but I'm not sure who else would have made much sense. The Cowled Wizards are notoriously insular, so I can't see them letting you in. Maybe they would just because they're curious why Irenicus wants you, but it might not even be clear to them that Irenicus is interested in you. And who else could help? The Paladins have no way of knowing where the Asylum is. The Council of Six probably doesn't even know because the Cowled Wizards are given a great deal of autonomy.
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Aug 18, 2016 15:49
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Aren't the Shadow Thieves involved in slavery? I recall that from running the guild, although I think you have the option of not doing it. Same for kidnapping people for ransom.
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Aug 18, 2016 16:17
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FastestGunAlive posted:Aren't the Shadow Thieves involved in slavery? I recall that from running the guild, although I think you have the option of not doing it. Same for kidnapping people for ransom. Yes, and murder, and probably every other stereotypically money making thing you can think of. But they still function somewhat in the fabric of society and aren't just a direct threat to everyone like the Vampires are. Aran Linvail basically tells you that when you sign up. He's like well this may surprise you but believe it or not we're actually the good option here. Of course he's a lying rear end in a top hat who conceals a lot of what he knows to you and almost certainly realizes that Saemon is going to betray you but y'know Bodhi is pretty bad.
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Aug 18, 2016 16:21
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Ginette Reno posted:More options is always nice I suppose, but I'm not sure who else would have made much sense. The Cowled Wizards are notoriously insular, so I can't see them letting you in. The Cowled Wizards will stand aside and let you rain fireballs down on the marketplace with if you cough up 5000 GP first, so a prisoner can't be worth more than 15 or 20 grand. Maybe it's just the ludonarrative problems between how they work in the game and how they're written. Ginette Reno posted:And who else could help? The Paladins have no way of knowing where the Asylum is. The Council of Six probably doesn't even know because the Cowled Wizards are given a great deal of autonomy. If the asylum's existence is an open secret (Jan and Jaheira both know it exists, just not exactly where), I can see the top authorities of various groups knowing the location- Alternatives has you work under the table for the Chief Inspector and the Lathanderites. Also, Brynnlaw's not directly controlled by the Cowls, so pirates and sailors could easily spread word of it.
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Aug 18, 2016 16:23
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Kavak posted:The only good Cowled is a dead Cowled. If you kill Valygar for the Cowled Wizard dude in the government district, then ask about Imoen and Spellhold, the magister tells you directly that they'd be happy to release Imoen for you, but Spellhold has gone silent and they have no idea what's happening there.
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Aug 18, 2016 18:42
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I'm on Chapter 3 as a Fighter/Cleric, doing Cernd's quest in the druid grove. I've just dropped Anomen for Cernd. Other than the thing where I urge him to go to the magistrate as opposed to seek revenge, is his further quest worth playing? Not really sure who I should have as my party, as it is currently: Minsc Nalia Jaheira Cernd Yoshimo I'm feeling like I am light on pure magic... is Jan a better option than Nalia? Once I have finished De'Arnisse hold, is there much reason to keep her around? When is it that Yoshimo betrays me - I'm really only keeping him around for basic thief stuff and for that part of the story. Based on the above, anyone want to recommend a party? Is there perhaps an Enhanced Edition new character or two worth adding?
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Aug 19, 2016 18:03
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BadAstronaut posted:I'm on Chapter 3 as a Fighter/Cleric, doing Cernd's quest in the druid grove. I've just dropped Anomen for Cernd. Other than the thing where I urge him to go to the magistrate as opposed to seek revenge, is his further quest worth playing? Nalia is fine. Jan is probably better, but if you like Nalia feel free to use her. Yoshimo betrays you in Spellhold, and he's worth keeping around for that because if you loot his heart and turn it into a Priest of Ilmater in Chapter 6 you get a massive 100k xp. Anomen is a powerful NPC but since you're a F/C it's fine to leave him. And you don't really need more than one mage in your party so Nalia (or Jan) are fine for now, and once you get Imoen back to replace Yoshimo she's a mage as well.
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Aug 19, 2016 18:31
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BadAstronaut posted:I'm on Chapter 3 as a Fighter/Cleric, doing Cernd's quest in the druid grove. I've just dropped Anomen for Cernd. Other than the thing where I urge him to go to the magistrate as opposed to seek revenge, is his further quest worth playing? Yoshimo betrays you right before you get Imoen back, who is a decent mage/thief and better than Nalia IIRC The consensus seems to be that Cernd is one of the weakest recruits, though I've personally never played more than his quest with him. Aerie becomes a magic monstrosity later on in BG2/TOB; Jaheira can buff up to a beast-tank. Jan Jansen is a decent NPC, but his banters really divide opinion. I've only tried the wild mage from EE, and she's fun if you don't mind the quirks / reloads from wild surges.
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Aug 19, 2016 18:32
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BadAstronaut posted:I'm on Chapter 3 as a Fighter/Cleric, doing Cernd's quest in the druid grove. I've just dropped Anomen for Cernd. Other than the thing where I urge him to go to the magistrate as opposed to seek revenge, is his further quest worth playing? Yoshimo Betrays you in Spellhold, immediately before you get Imoen back, helpfully freeing up a spot on the roster for her If you have Jaheira I wouldn't keep Cernd around, if you're okay with having an evil dude in the party grab Edwin, or grab Neera the Wild Mage added by the EE. I haven't used her before, but according to other people she's the least annoying of the EE characters.
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Aug 19, 2016 18:35
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Skwirl posted:Yoshimo Betrays you in Spellhold, immediately before you get Imoen back, helpfully freeing up a spot on the roster for her I'll second this. I like having a druid in the party for certain druid-only spells (note that I've never played a pre-nerf ranger/cleric), but I can't say that there is a need for two unless, maybe, your PC is an Avenger druid with a fair number of offensive mage spells in his repertoire. I like a caster-heavy party with a bit of everything. If I had to pick my "Fave Five", I would probably go: Jaheira (druid + great tank, if kind of annoying) Anomen (Levels as clerics, fighter levels make him a force in combat, is a total ponce) Jan (Hilarious, gives you a thief option, backup spellcaster. good with a crossbow) Edwin (Best mage in the game, snarky rear end in a top hat who gets what's coming to him) Another pure tank: Keldorn has a great dispell, Korgan is a beast but evil, Sarevok once you get to ToB This combo works for just about any choice of PC class.
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Aug 19, 2016 18:45
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Does Minsc not have any quests or unique content? And where is Dorn?
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Aug 19, 2016 19:08
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BadAstronaut posted:Does Minsc not have any quests or unique content? He has one, but it's cut content that has to be restored by mod. It's probably the best cut quest, I think they only cut it because the bonus he gets from it was hard to program. Temple District, by the Order of the Radiant Heart.
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Aug 19, 2016 19:11
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BadAstronaut posted:I'm on Chapter 3 as a Fighter/Cleric, doing Cernd's quest in the druid grove. I've just dropped Anomen for Cernd. Other than the thing where I urge him to go to the magistrate as opposed to seek revenge, is his further quest worth playing? Well, Jan is literally the most powerful class in the entire game, so yeah he's a better spellcaster. There is no real reason to keep her, her thief level is too low to be any use and she's just a normal mage, admittedly mages are super powerful. Unless you are really in love with Minsc I'd drop him for Jan, he's not really doing anything for your party. I prefer playing with lots of mages personally. A lot of people seem to love Anomen for some reason, so if you liked him so far then do his quest. I can't stand him. Washout fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 19, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 19:58
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Washout posted:A lot of people seem to love Anomen for some reason, so if you liked him so far then do his quest. I hate him more than any other character though. I thought he'd get better after his trial, but he stays the same rear end in a top hat in dialogue. Eh, someone's gotta fill the Cleric slot, and he's got fighter levels and isn't evil. What makes Jan better than a pure or Dual-Classed mage? Illusionist locks him out of a school (Granted it's not super useful) and he'll advance slower than the others.
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Aug 19, 2016 20:30
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Kavak posted:I thought he'd get better after his trial, but he stays the same rear end in a top hat in dialogue. Eh, someone's gotta fill the Cleric slot, and he's got fighter levels and isn't evil. He's a specialist mage with a pretty decent THACO and can use all the equipment in the entire game once he gets use any item. Even a Kensai/Mage or Kensai/Thief can't do all the shenanigans that he can manage. A F/M/T can do the same things he does, but with many fewer spells and at lower levels than he would be in the same part of the game. Gnome Ill/Thief is also the easiest class to solo the entire game with.
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Aug 19, 2016 20:53
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Jan's ridiculous, it's true. Only character even close is Keldorn, largely thanks to Carsomyr. Aerie is pretty bananas in ToB only because of the nonsense you can get up to combining cleric / mage spells in sequencers and time stops and such like. She can also wear Vhailor's Helm right from the get-go which allows some serious shenanigans.
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Aug 19, 2016 21:09
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So why is minsc not a good fighter/tank option? What do I have to do to get Jaheira to be the tank everyone describes? She's currently got the lowest armour class in the party, but not much in the way of attack power. I think I'll swap out minsc for Jan, and I've just dropped Cernd for Rashad and going to try do all his bg2 content.
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Aug 19, 2016 21:24
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Minsc is fine, he just lacks some of the perks that other tanks have. Korgan has a superior berserk and axes are really strong in this game. Keldorn is an Inquisitor, the most overpowered melee class in the game, and also gets exclusive access to Carsomyr, hands down the best melee weapon in the game until Throne of Bhaal. Minsc won't drag the team down or anything, he's just not quite as optimally built as those two.
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Aug 19, 2016 21:30
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BadAstronaut posted:So why is minsc not a good fighter/tank option? What do I have to do to get Jaheira to be the tank everyone describes? Iron Skins makes her even more untouchable and Insect Swarm is the best way to shut down enemy mages. For attack power you can specialize her in Spears and get her The Impaler, or for sheer hilarity boost her fire resistance and have her wade into a crowd of enemies with the Club of Detonation. Air Skwirl fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Aug 19, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 21:30
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Would be nice if Iron Skins and Insect Swarm weren't competing for for the entirely too few level 5 slots Jaheira gets.
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Aug 20, 2016 06:38
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So, once I have lifted her curse, do I need her hair anymore? Is there some safe place or container I can dump quest items I think I am done with? Also, where can I find a potion case? Taking up a lot of inventory slots, they are...
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Aug 20, 2016 07:57
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Nah the hair's of no use anymore. Every container in the game is a safe place to leave things. I personally use the table near the door in the Copper Coronet. Sister Garlena outside the Watcher's Keep sells a potion case.
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Aug 20, 2016 08:21
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You cannae get better than the stability stone skins provide.
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Aug 20, 2016 14:30
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Do the new NPCs that come with the EE do much to fill the role gaps in BG2? I remember BG1 had plenty of NPCs to go around for almost anything, but BG2 had an almost comical lack of roster-fillers to go with it's heaping helping of fighter-types and clerics. Specifically I remember like three different thief/mage hybrids but Edwin was literally the only "I'm a mage" or "I'm a thief" type character. Well, except Yoshimo. Is it so much to ask for a good aligned kit mage or any kitted thief, or even a fighter/thief or something? I remember one time being driven to use shadowkeeper to turn Imoen into an Assassin. That was pretty fun actually.
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Aug 20, 2016 14:58
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Chomp8645 posted:Do the new NPCs that come with the EE do much to fill the role gaps in BG2? I remember BG1 had plenty of NPCs to go around for almost anything, but BG2 had an almost comical lack of roster-fillers to go with it's heaping helping of fighter-types and clerics. Specifically I remember like three different thief/mage hybrids but Edwin was literally the only "I'm a mage" or "I'm a thief" type character. Well, except Yoshimo. Is it so much to ask for a good aligned kit mage or any kitted thief, or even a fighter/thief or something? There's a wild mage and an unkitted pure class thief. But honestly a pure thief isn't that useful.
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Aug 20, 2016 16:45
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