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You poor bastards are in the right place if you have questions about any of the Infinity Engine games. Some people here are extremely knowledgeable about them and some people are just enthusiastic. Either way questions will be answered!
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Mar 31, 2023 03:40
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rojay posted:You poor bastards are in the right place if you have questions about any of the Infinity Engine games. Some people here are extremely knowledgeable about them and some people are just enthusiastic. Either way questions will be answered! I just checked and the last time I checked in with the thread was 9 years ago. I honestly remember nothing about Baldur's Gate , Baldurs Gate 2, Icewind Dale , Icewind Dale 2. Absolutely nothing. This'll be fun.
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Mar 31, 2023 03:54
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Okay. Got this done sooner than I thought. Time to finish the BG1 novel. Chapter 25 starts with Abdel having a nightmare. He wakes up, still in the cell with Jaheria, but there's someone else there. Can you guess who it is? quote:“You don’t smell very good,” he said, forcing a weak smile. Yep, Korak's back, and he's here to save the day. How he managed to get into the dungeons, let alone Candlekeep doesn't seem to get an explanation. I can't imagine ghouls are very stealthy, and even if no one saw him, the constant odor that book makes note of seems like it would have tipped someone off. Jaheira says to Abdel that there's the possibility that dopplegangers could have infiltrated Candlekeep as well, and it's possible Tethtoril might be one (I've never been clear if the denizens of Candlekeep you meet in the tutorial were killed and replaced by dopplegangers, or if the dopplegangers you fight just stole their appearance. I've always assumed it was the latter). Korak disappears for a moment and returns with their gear, which includes the pass stone, and they make their way into the catacombs. quote:“This one must have been important,” Jaheira whispered. The sound of her soft voice echoed through the narrow passageway like a drawn-out hiss. She motioned with the dagger to a niche in the catacomb wherein sat an ornately carved mahogany casket. There was a brass plaque carefully nailed to the side but tarnish and cobwebs made it illegible. Above the niche was a shield on which was painted an elaborate coat of arms that Abdel didn’t recognize. Well, that's the end of Korak. I kind of feel bad for him, but I suppose he's in a better place now (i.e. someplace that's not this book) Abdel and Jaheira run from the zombies, and manage to find a way out. Chapter 26 begins with scene between Sarevok and Angelo, who here is a duke in charge of the Flaming First, rather than an officer (he's also described as being a half-elf, rather than being human) The two are in Angelo's apartment in the ducal palace, discussing Abdel and Jaheira. We get this exchange, which is worth noting: quote:“I believe so,” Angelo answered, then changed the subject abruptly in an effort to hurry Sarevok’s departure from his home. “My command of the Flaming Fist is secure. This Abdel of yours, and his woman, are known and wanted in this city. I don’t suppose you can tell me how you got this information?” Yep, the Shadow Thieves get a name drop here.  And this will actually be a plot point in the BG2 novel, surprisingly.The two talk about the war, with Sarevok saying that once he's named Grand Duke (I dunno if the rule of Baldur's Gate is divided into Duke and Grand Dukes or not), he'll purge the city of anyone from Amn. The section makes clear that Angelo is not really keen on the war, and is not a co-conspirator. Angelo's apartment is also apparently decked out with all sorts of expensive decorations, which are detailed. quote:Sarevok smiled, and Angelo managed to look away casually, as if he weren’t terrified of that grin. He crossed the big room to the fireplace, his feet whispering over the rug he’d had brought to him from Shou Lung at the cost of so many gold pieces they had to be conveyed east by magical means. The decorations and furnishings in this room could buy a small city, and Angelo took great pride in his varied collection of artifacts from the four corners of Toril. He took the poker from next to the fire—heavy mithral from the dwarven mines of the Great Rift—and prodded the fire absent-mindedly. quote:“I fear needless war, yes,” Angelo replied. He turned away and looked at the portrait of himself that hung above the fireplace. The artist had done an admirable job with Angelo’s long, thin, vertical features. The duke kept his goatee trimmed to match the portrait, though current fashions were passing it by. The painting, unlike the man, still showed a trace of the warrior he once was. He met his own stare and felt like withering from it as much as from Sarevok’s. 'Enough to buy a hundred children'?  Switching back to Abdel and Jaheira, they've successfully returned to Baldur's Gate, but suspect they're being followed. They make their way to the ducal palace and approach the guards, saying they need to speak with Eltan, but they're told that Eltan is dying. Jaheira recognizes one of the guards as being Julius, but another guard identifies them as being 'the Shadow Thieves', and after a brief scuffle, Jaheira runs off, soon followed by Abdel. Abdel goes looking for Jaheira. He finds her, as well as the person who's been following them: quote:“Don’t do that!” she said, too loudly, then flinched again when Abdel put a hand up to silence her. He turned around and looked up at the balcony. The stranger moved up onto the stone rail and stepped off, falling what must have been fifteen feet and landing as softly as if it had been an inch. It was a woman, short and thin of frame, dressed in a close-fitting black garment unlike any Abdel had ever seen. Chapter 27 begins with Abdel and Jaheira outside of the Blushing Mermaid, waiting for the guards inside searching for them to leave. Once they do, they enter through the side. They find Julius inside, very drunk and depressed, as he's been demoted back down to footman (something he had feared earlier when he was first introduced). quote:“Julius,” Jaheira said, having to just hope he could understand her. “The guard at the palace told us Eltan is dying. What’s been going on here?” A woman then enters the tavern, announcing that Eltan has died. quote:“Dawn breaks over a sad city,” the bartender said, his voice gravelly and loud, “for Grand Duke Eltan is dead!” Julius gives directions to the duo, and it leads them to the back of the ducal palace, where they observe the healer (who's actually a doppleganger) morph into a different form. They try to follow the doppleganger, but lose track of it. Tamoko appears again. She reveals to them how she is Sarevok's lover, and that she can point them towards written evidence they can use to clear their names and stop the war, but under the condition that they not kill Sarevok, to which Abdel agrees. Chapter 28 opens with the three having just eliminated a group of doppelgangers in the cellar of a manor. Tamoko fishes a key out of the mouth of a doppelganger, which opens a chest containing scrolls that they use to clear their name. Then Tamoko disappears, Batman style when they glance away for a second. quote:The chest was heavy, and Abdel was tired. He carried it a long way through the streets of Baldur’s Gate and brushed aside Jaheira’s offers to help. They had decided their course of action in the cellar, and they were both more than a little nervous. Abdel got the feeling Jaheira wanted to say something to him, and he felt like he should say something to her. They settled on small talk. You know, you might say that in the game, it's pretty dumb that Sarevok had a diary where he wrote down all the ill deeds that he did. However, it's not as dumb as finding documents that prove your innocence, and instead of taking the ones you need, or putting them all into sack, you instead heft the entire chest with you through the city! Abdel and Jaheira talk about Tamoko's relationship with Sarevok, which leads to... quote:“She might be able to…” Abdel started to say, but Jaheira just tipped her head to one side and smiled, knowing what he was going to say. Abdel and Jaheira turn themselves in to Julius, who escorts them to Angelo. Also present in the room is Sarevok, and while Abdel doesn't recognize him (since he hasn't actually seen him up to this point), he does notice him. They present the evidence, and make mention of Sarevok's name. Once they do, Sarevok responds by immediately casting a lightning bolt spell. Abdel goes to attack him. quote:Abdel thought of Jaheira, then his promise to Tamoko, and his fingers relaxed just enough that Sarevok managed to push him away and to the side, almost breaking Abdel’s neck in the process. As he rolled onto his back, Abdel could see two guards—one of them Julius—rushing to put out a fire. The fire was burning on Jaheira’s chest. OH NO! Jaheria's dead! How could they have-- it's fine. She gets resurrected in the next chapter. Chapter 29 - We're in the home stretch, everyone! Abdel, along with Angelo and a group of Flaming Fists, are pursuing Sarevok in the sewer/catacombs. quote:Thanks to Sarevok’s own, nearly compulsive, record-keeping they’d been able to find the entrance to the subterranean labyrinth of old sewers and catacombs the doppelgängers had been using to infiltrate nearly every corner of the city of Baldur’s Gate. All the tunnels led in one direction. As Abdel tossed aside the dead doppelgänger, he peered into the murky darkness and somehow knew they were close, but didn’t know exactly what they were close to. The group splits up at a point, and Abdel starts heading down a passage, only to run into Tamoko. quote:She drew her strange curved sword as fast as anyone Abdel had ever seen draw steel. Her eyes blazed at him, but Abdel couldn’t tell what she felt at that moment. She was injured. Her black silk clothes were stained a darker black. Abdel knew as much by the smell as anything that she was bleeding, and bleeding badly. A trickle of blood was running down the right side of her face from under her black hood. She was breathing heavily, and Abdel saw her fighting not to stagger as she advanced on him, one pained step at a time. We cut to a short scene of Jaheira getting resurrected, then back to Abdel continuing his pursuit. There's no Undercity present, but Abdel enters a chamber that's basically supposed to be the Temple of Bhaal. quote:The space was enormous, and though Abdel was no engineer or miner, he couldn’t imagine what was keeping the ceiling—and what must have been two hundred feet or more of earth and bedrock above it—from falling in. The rows of stone pillars that lined each of the long sides of the rectangular chamber looked more ornamental than practical. Carved into the stone of the pillars and the walls alike were scenes of unimaginable horror. Screaming faces of men, women, children, and beasts leered out at Abdel, their faces frozen in a moment of pure agony—the moment of traumatic death. Only an artist who had visited the deepest pits of the Abyss could have carved such faces. So begins the final battle. Abdel and Sarevok duke it out, while the cultist fights with the Flaming Fist. Eventually, Abdel manages to hit Sarevok's sword hard enough that it breaks, and that gives him an opening to knock Sarevok down and finish him off. quote:Sarevok’s sword burst into shards of glittering black steel, and Abdel didn’t waste a heartbeat. He brought his foot up high into his half-brother’s chest and stomped him down like a bug. Sarevok bounced when he hit the floor, his armor clattering in protest. As he came down on top of Sarevok, Abdel spun his broadsword in his right hand and reversed the blade, so he was stabbing down with it. The tip of the blade plunged through Sarevok’s armor. Abdel twisted it up to gouge the man’s neck and almost punctured the skin before he hesitated, sweating, panting, bleeding. All the anger, and all the emotion, and all the regret, and all the uncertainty rushed out of Abdel in a torrent. And with that, the BG1 novelization comes to a close. I'd say that the ending is sudden, but that's how the game ends as well. Sarevok dies, and that's it. No denouement to find in any version. Overall, I'd say that most of the really terrible stuff is in the first half of the book, whereas the second half (or last third) isn't as bad. I don't know if it's because you become acclimated to all the differences by that point, or if the book just manages to become slightly decent by that point (the BG2 novel is kind of the same way). I'll try to start typing something up for BG2, but I might not get it up until Saturday. EDIT: Oh, and since I said I was going to save it for a separate post, here's that scene with Xan and the orc. quote:Xan rubbed his aching forearm. Letting the orc beat him at arm wrestling was as painful as it had been productive. He was in the process of buying the orc a drink, but the ugly creature who called himself Forik was already talking. 
Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Mar 31, 2023 |
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Mar 31, 2023 04:09
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Do the enhanced editions have controller support on pc? I want to play them on my steam deck.
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Mar 31, 2023 04:18
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I saw that Planescape: Torment was also on for $5 so got that too. Who wants to CD swap in TYOOL 2023?
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Mar 31, 2023 04:23
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Although its not Infinity , I did buy Pillars of Eternity 2 and am looking forward to that. I'm not so sure if I'm ready to sink my time into Baldurs Gate and Baldurs Gate 2.
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Mar 31, 2023 04:28
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RandolphCarter posted:Do the enhanced editions have controller support on pc? I want to play them on my steam deck. No.
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Mar 31, 2023 07:00
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Hollismason posted:Although its not Infinity , I did buy Pillars of Eternity 2 and am looking forward to that. I'm not so sure if I'm ready to sink my time into Baldurs Gate and Baldurs Gate 2. The Pillars of Eternity thread is also still quite active if you have any questions. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3856099
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Mar 31, 2023 07:16
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Okay i'm coming around on some of these EE companions now that i've run into Baeloth, the man is so  .SoD having so few of my main BG1 party returning has made me have to adapt to a new party comp which is neat, so i take Viconia as my cleric and whew boy i thought Branwen was on the low side for strength here comes Vicky with only 10, only being able to use small shields and no plate! I"m using my Fighter/Mage MC, Safana,Corwin,Viconia,Edwin and Baeloth so my party is quite a bit less fighter heavy than i got used to but i have so much more magic! It's a neat change of pace tbh.
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Mar 31, 2023 07:28
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The Shame Boy posted:Okay i'm coming around on some of these EE companions now that i've run into Baeloth, the man is so If you give her a potion of strength she can wear plate and won't take it off after the potion runs out, same with bigger shields. You'll have to do the potion trick again if you ever want her to use another set of armor though.
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Mar 31, 2023 07:32
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Skwirl posted:If you give her a potion of strength she can wear plate and won't take it off after the potion runs out, same with bigger shields. You'll have to do the potion trick again if you ever want her to use another set of armor though. She can wear Ankheg Plate as well which will give her a solid ac
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Mar 31, 2023 08:04
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Skwirl posted:If you give her a potion of strength she can wear plate and won't take it off after the potion runs out, same with bigger shields. You'll have to do the potion trick again if you ever want her to use another set of armor though. Ginette Reno posted:She can wear Ankheg Plate as well which will give her a solid ac Inventory management is a huge pain on the console versions so i sadly have missed the opportunity to give her the set that Branwen was wearing when she left, but i did at least get all my wands and potions and what not out beforehand!
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Mar 31, 2023 08:09
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RandolphCarter posted:Do the enhanced editions have controller support on pc? I want to play them on my steam deck. Sadly, no. They worked out full controller support for the Switch port, but couldn't be bothered retrofitting it to the pc version.
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Mar 31, 2023 08:15
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rojay posted:You poor bastards are in the right place if you have questions about any of the Infinity Engine games. Actually, I have one: Is there anyway I can disable the UI changes made by Dragon Spear?
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Mar 31, 2023 12:50
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FishMcCool posted:Sadly, no. They worked out full controller support for the Switch port, but couldn't be bothered retrofitting it to the pc version. That really sucks
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Mar 31, 2023 13:49
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RandolphCarter posted:That really sucks I used it so that I could do smoother camera moves with a controller, when making a(n unfinished) trailer for our Neverwinter Nights persistent world server lol. Goddamn I am a nerd, ffffffffuuuuuu
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Mar 31, 2023 14:33
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Played through the tutorial, started the main game rolling an elf ranger, stats per below. Seem decent enough? (Not sure why I have a -4 dex penalty with an 18 dex but) Literally at the beginning, told to get geared to leave. Got a dagger and sword since affordable, figure I can get a bow along the way. I forget whether I need to get food to take along with me or if this game isn't that details oriented.
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Mar 31, 2023 16:13
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If you're wondering about your Armor Class being listed as -4, remember that in D&D 2e and earlier, the lower your AC was the better, with negative AC being the best. The way it works is that each character has a THAC0 (To Hit Armor Class 0) number that they need to match or exceed with a d20 roll to hit their target, and the AC of their target is added to this roll (resulting in negative AC lowering the roll). iirc the To Hit number visible on your sheet is just an adjustment to your THAC0 from ability scores (in your case no modifier)
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Mar 31, 2023 16:25
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Bilirubin posted:Played through the tutorial, started the main game rolling an elf ranger, stats per below. Seem decent enough? No need to worry about food or anything like that but you will have to make sure to rest (do it when out of magic spells on your mages or when your characters start to complain about being tired) and since you're a ranger you have to always pick good dialog options otherwise you lose your ranger abilties.
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Mar 31, 2023 16:26
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Slashrat posted:If you're wondering about your Armor Class being listed as -4, remember that in D&D 2e and earlier, the lower your AC was the better, with negative AC being the best. ah poo poo, forgot that. Been way too long since I last opened that players manual
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Mar 31, 2023 16:33
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Ranger is a bad class, but if you arent using any mods to make the game more difficult it shouldn't be a problem.
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Mar 31, 2023 16:46
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Finnish Flasher posted:Ranger is a bad class, but if you arent using any mods to make the game more difficult it shouldn't be a problem. Eh, Ranger is fine. The free dual-wield pips are nice and other than that you're basically a slower-levelling Fighter with a few spells. Not great but not horrible by any means.
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Mar 31, 2023 17:00
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Bilirubin posted:Played through the tutorial, started the main game rolling an elf ranger, stats per below. Seem decent enough? You may want to max out your strength, the best longbows require a high strength to use. Intelligence doesn’t do anything for a ranger, the game doesn’t factor it into dialogue choices at all, so you can take the points from there.
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Mar 31, 2023 17:03
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you can easily beat the game with that character, do not worry about minmaxing
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Mar 31, 2023 17:05
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I wasn't sure if the games would work on my laptop so I bought Baldurs Gate 2 and Baldurs Gate for PS4 since it was 20 bucks plus I can lay in my recliner and play them.
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Mar 31, 2023 18:09
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Jay Rust posted:you can easily beat the game with that character, do not worry about minmaxing Really what I was after, thanks. Just playing through on normal mode. If it had been super bad I'd reroll. In order to max strength I would need to restart, which isn't horrible at this point, except I would likely do an elf fighter-mage-thief triple class if I did that. Normally I play a half elf fighter-mage but thought I would branch out this time.
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Mar 31, 2023 18:33
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Bilirubin posted:Really what I was after, thanks. Just playing through on normal mode. If it had been super bad I'd reroll. In order to max strength I would need to restart, which isn't horrible at this point, except I would likely do an elf fighter-mage-thief triple class if I did that. Yeah you'll beat the game no problem. Bg1 you should probably focus on shooting your longbow, its going to be very effective. Then in bg2 you are able to boost your strength more easily and go into melee. You'll get some spells in bg2, the ones that increase your survivability should be prioritized. Level 1 spell called armor of faith is good as it reduces elemental and physical damage, which is more of a reason to go into melee. In bg1, the best ranged weapons are a crossbow and a shortbow, longbows are unfortunately crap in the sequel (in the sense that other weapons have better stuff going on). Finnish Flasher fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Mar 31, 2023 |
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Mar 31, 2023 19:18
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The shortbow / longbow split kind of sucks because BG1 there is no good shortbow until you actually get inside the city. Then BG2 if you put points into longbow in BG1 you were a sucker.
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Mar 31, 2023 19:51
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I like the tweaks method of combining both bows into one proficiency type. Also bastard/twohanded swords and daggers/short swords. Makes them more viable.
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Mar 31, 2023 20:03
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I have no idea why they didn't put good longbows into bg2 or tob. I guess longbows had a long history of being considered overpowered in bg1. They did nerf ranged weapons a lot with bg2 and ammunition too. The best ranged weapons in bg2/tob are ones that use their own ammunition (Firetooth, Gesen, etc). There's an interesting quirk (maybe bug, but even mods dont fix this) with those weapons. So if you use ammo with Firetooth instead of that ammo replacing Firetooth's it just adds the damage on to the base Firetooth ammo. That makes ranged weapons that use their own ammo hit insanely hard if you also equip ammo with them. The one caveat here is if you do equip ammo into one of these weapons it will use the enchantment level of that ammo, and on some enemies that can be a problem as there's not a lot of high level ammo out there. But for those enemies you can just unequip the ammo and use the auto generated ammo which typically has a high enchantment level. Play an Archer with Firetooth and equip Kuo Tuoan bolts (2d6 damage) into it. Marvel at the disgusting damage you put out.
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Mar 31, 2023 20:07
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cheesetriangles posted:The shortbow / longbow split kind of sucks because BG1 there is no good shortbow until you actually get inside the city. Then BG2 if you put points into longbow in BG1 you were a sucker. Non-archer rangers can only specialize so they can get shortbow specialization by the time they're in BG2. I would probably throw another point in longsword at third, then one in shortbow at 6 and in bg2 throw that last specialization point into shortbow at 9, because you likely won't be getting the really nice shortbows before then. As for the strength being too low for compound longbows, I'm pretty sure the strength potion trick I said about armor will also work for longbows as long as you keep it in your quick weapon slot.
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Mar 31, 2023 20:12
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Bilirubin posted:Really what I was after, thanks. Just playing through on normal mode. If it had been super bad I'd reroll. In order to max strength I would need to restart, which isn't horrible at this point, except I would likely do an elf fighter-mage-thief triple class if I did that. Your character has decent Dexterity so they will be good with ranged weapons (bows in your case?) all through-out, and ranged weapons are pretty loving great in BG1 and BG2 too. The talk about not having great long bows in BG2 is warranted in the sense that there's some fantastic flail, axe and other assorted close combat weapons around as incredible loot  , but that does not mean your character is in any way impeded from finishing the games as is. And again, if you get stuck somewhere, I'm sure this thread can brain-storm you out of it.
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Mar 31, 2023 21:06
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RandolphCarter posted:That really sucks It does, but I would also wonder why anyone would prefer controller over mouse & keyboard.
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Apr 1, 2023 00:10
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JustJeff88 posted:It does, but I would also wonder why anyone would prefer controller over mouse & keyboard. Playing on Steam Deck is the obvious application. Though I recall someone was doing that anyway so I imagine there are decent custom Deck layouts available.
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Apr 1, 2023 00:34
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Ginette Reno posted:I have no idea why they didn't put good longbows into bg2 or tob. I guess longbows had a long history of being considered overpowered in bg1. They did nerf ranged weapons a lot with bg2 and ammunition too. Adventurer's mart sells Strong Arm +2, a composite long bow +3/+3 which is better than the BG1 composite long bow +1 or long bow of accuracy, but it requires 19 strength. Still wouldn't use it over the tuigan short bow +1 with its free extra attack.
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Apr 1, 2023 01:03
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Rappaport posted:Your character has decent Dexterity so they will be good with ranged weapons (bows in your case?) all through-out, and ranged weapons are pretty loving great in BG1 and BG2 too. The talk about not having great long bows in BG2 is warranted in the sense that there's some fantastic flail, axe and other assorted close combat weapons around as incredible loot Yeah I have points in longbow (two), longsword (one) and dagger (one). Starting out getting the longbow would have spent most of my gold so I got a sword and dagger at the Candlelight Inn, although likely I could have just used the staff until things started dropping. Whatev Skwirl posted:Non-archer rangers can only specialize so they can get shortbow specialization by the time they're in BG2. I would probably throw another point in longsword at third, then one in shortbow at 6 and in bg2 throw that last specialization point into shortbow at 9, because you likely won't be getting the really nice shortbows before then. Thanks for these suggestions, very helpful!
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Apr 1, 2023 01:25
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docbeard posted:Playing on Steam Deck is the obvious application. Though I recall someone was doing that anyway so I imagine there are decent custom Deck layouts available. I had not thought of that.
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Apr 1, 2023 02:26
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Suspicious posted:Adventurer's mart sells Strong Arm +2, a composite long bow +3/+3 which is better than the BG1 composite long bow +1 or long bow of accuracy, but it requires 19 strength. Still wouldn't use it over the tuigan short bow +1 with its free extra attack. yeah there's Longbows that are usable but man it's hard to go that spec when there's Taralash, Tuigan Bow, Firetooth all of which are accessible almost immediately in bg2.
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Apr 1, 2023 02:49
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Okay, I lied. Let's start covering the BG2 novel now. Chapter 1 Our book begins with Abdel Adrian returning home to Candlekeep, being greeted by Tethtoril and...Imoen! Yes, Imoen finally shows up! quote:“Imoen,” Abdel breathed, meeting the slight girl’s hasty embrace. “Imoen, you’ve grown into—” Abdel then wonders, 'Hey, where's Jaheira?' and then Imoen starts morphing into some kind of horrifying creature. Turns out that this is actually a dream. Abdel wakes up, chained to a wall, in some sort of jail. quote:He blinked his eyes open and saw a man enter the cell. He was short and fat, with a stinking abundance of body hair thick with sweat around the black leather straps of his simple girdle and harness. There were tools hanging from the straps, most of which Abdel didn’t recognize. The strange man met Abdel’s gaze and smiled, revealing a single tooth hanging yellow and jagged from his upper gum. The man’s beard was uneven, broken by a rough burn scar that did nothing to add attractiveness or even character to his round face. Oh, excuse me. It's a dungeon, not a jail. And Booter here is the DM, who's going to ask Abdel to join his game of Apartments & Accounts. Actually, no. He's just here to torture Abdel. quote:“Who is your boss?” Abdel asked again as Booter pulled the poker out of the hot coals and dragged it across Abdel’s chest. He screamed, smelling his own skin and hair burning and feeling every popping blister and seared inch of flesh in a pain that was almost a living thing on its own. His scream drowned out most of Booter’s answer to his last question, but Abdel was sure he heard the man say “Shadow Thieves.” Yes, Abdel is not being held by Irenicus, but rather the Shadow Thieves. We then switch over to Jaheira, who's been locked in a cage. Jaheira recollects how they were captured (they were walking the streets of Baldur's Gate when they got jumped, and it's implied that Irenicus was there to oversee it), and it cuts back briefly to Abdel getting his fingernails yanked off with pliers before that chapter ends. Chapter 2 The chapter starts back with Jaheira, still stuck in her cell/cage. If you're wondering why Jaheira doesn't just use her druid powers to escape, this is actually addressed in the opening of the chapter, as Jaheira is gagged, and unable to call upon anything that might help her escape. There are two others with her, also trapped in cages. The first: quote:One of the others was an odd, stocky, well-built man with long red hair and a patchy orange beard. He had apparently taken some kind of small rat or large mouse as a companion. Jaheira looked at the babbling lunatic with a mix of fear and pity. She wasn’t afraid that he might harm her or try to take advantage of her—they were in separate cages after all. No, Jaheira was afraid that she might end up like him. Would she be locked away, restrained, told nothing for so long that her mind, like this poor fool’s, might unravel? Yes, this is indeed Minsc. This was one of three things I remember reading about this book in the past. Minsc is in it, but he has red hair and a beard, which....I have to wonder how that happened. I know now that these books were based on pre-production material, but unless BG2 was conceptualized at the same time as BG1, wouldn't they've had Minsc's appearance on hand for reference? It's not like there was another portrait of a man holding a hamster. Was the idea that Minsc would've grown hair between games, but Bioware knew that no one would accept Minsc if he was a red-head? Anyway, the second prisoner: quote:“A fine group we have here, yes?” the second prisoner asked her, obviously noting her discomfort with the red-haired man. “The silent rodent, the madman, me, and you.” Yep, it's our favorite bounty hunter, Yoshimo. "Fleet of foot, and all that." (Question: I can't remember for sure, and I can't seem to find reference to it, but didn't the script name for Yoshimo's betrayal have some really goofy name) The door to the room opens, and in walks a jailer, carrying Abdel over his shoulder. However, Abdel manages to break free. quote:She wanted to scream his name but could only moan tightly under her iron chin strap. The jailer stopped and shifted his weight onto one foot, and Jaheira’s eyes went wide at the sudden burst of motion. Abdel’s hair was what she noticed first. Long, black, and matted with what looked like sweat and blood, it whipped up over his back. His set, determined face followed just as fast. The jailer started to fall backward at the sudden shift in Abdel’s considerable weight, and Abdel pulled his shoulders back, bringing his chest away from the jailer’s hairy shoulder while kicking his feet forward. The effect was to send the fat jailer tumbling onto his ample rump, while Abdel came solidly to his feet in a puff of dirt, rat droppings, and straw. Abdel frees the three. Jaheira, now ungagged, is able to cast a heal on Abdel. Yoshimo introduces himself, and they try to determine where the exit is. quote:“Do any of you know the way out of here?” Abdel asked. "Magic is impressive, but now Minsc leads! Swords for everyone!" They follow Minsc, who stops occasionally to ask Boo which direction they should take. They come to a room filled with orange crystals (which I'm guessing is supposed to be the room where you meet Aataqah the djinni). In the room, a battle's going on between what I assume are the Shadow Thieves and Irenicus' men (they're all described as wearing black clothing). quote:Jaheira called on Mielikki, closing her eyes just after seeing the still naked Abdel rush forward to meet the charging assassins. She took a tiny sprig of tree root she’d pulled from the wall in the chamber of cages and secreted under her torn, sweat-soaked blouse. The root grew in her hand, and she smiled at the feel of it in her palm. In no more than two heartbeats it was a sword of polished wood with a gleaming blade that showed its razor sharpness. Oh yeah, Abdel is naked. quote:You will learn the price of your failure, you…” a harsh male voice shrieked above the melee, the rest of his obviously enraged statement lost in the echoes of steel on steel. Abdel charges into what I think is a Stinking Cloud (it's just described a green cloud). He looks back to see Jaheira getting knocked out. quote:“Abdel!” a woman’s voice screamed at him, thin and weak. Yes, Imoen is here, for real this time. She got captured separately from Abdel. Honestly, I have to think Candlekeep must have some kind of lovely service entrance with a broken door lock that all the villains are aware of. There's a magical explosion that causes the room to start collapsing. Abdel tries to go after Imoen, but Minsc stops him, pushing him out of the path of a attacking enemy. Amn soliders then enter. quote:Soldiers wearing tabards Abdel immediately recognized as Amnian were flooding into the chamber from doorways the sellsword hadn’t noticed before. In the smoke, screaming, and confusion, Abdel couldn’t tell who was who, and neither could the soldiers, who just took on everybody in the place as they came in. Chapter 3 begins as such: quote:Even a lesser vampire is strong enough to break a human’s neck. This was proven three times in a single minute as two of Bodhi’s thralls protected her from the rushing advance of the guards. So here, the Shadow Thieves tasked Bodhi and Irenicus with capturing Abdel and Imoen, instead of the other way around. Also, again we have a reveal of who our villains are almost right out of the gate. Granted, we're introduced to Irenicus from the very start of BG2, but Bodhi didn't actually appear until Chapter 3, with her being hinted at with the vampires running around Athkatla at night before that. Bodhi's carrying Imoen off (by the hair, somehow). This is happening at the same time Abdel sees Imoen, though Abdel does not see Bodhi. quote:“Imoen!” a solid, deep voice called from somewhere in the confusion, and Bodhi looked up to find the source of the voice.  Uh...anyway, Bodhi's shown as being extremely strong, where she manages to take out two of the Amnian soldiers with ease. She finds the knocked out Jaheira. quote:ore skilled Shadow Thieves. They fought over the prone form of a young woman—the one who had been captured in Baldur’s Gate with Abdel. Bodhi and Irenicus have a telepathic link, I guess?  We return to Abdel, who gets hit by some archers, and he hits his head as he falls to the floor, which knocks him out. He awakes later, still accompanied by Minsc and Yoshimo. quote:It can’t be, Abdel thought. They were pulling me away from Jaheira and… Same old Abdel. Always plotting to kill people who mildly inconvenience him. Yoshimo's found a way out. Abdel wants to return to where Jaheira fell, but Yoshimo tells him the passage back is blocked, and Abdel is not equipped to fight (remember, Abdel is still naked). quote:Abdel clenched his teeth to bite back an angry response. He hated more than anything to admit it, but the Kozakuran was right. Yoshimo nodded and turned back into the dark passageway. Abdel got up and followed him, having no better idea which way to go. This is something that kind of irked me: the book constantly refers to Yoshimo as 'the Kozakuran' instead of just, well, 'Yoshimo'. I get that in writing, you want to use different words/synonyms to keep things varied, but typically when you see someone referred to by their nationality, it's because their name or true identity is unknown, and we need a way to identify them in the meantime. Instead, it's used in the same way that Abdel is referred to as 'the sellsword'. Speaking of, something that came up towards the end of the book that greatly entertains me is taking all the instances of 'sellsword' in these novels, and mentally replacing it with 'dumbfuck'. For example: quote:“It’s all right, isn’t it, Boo?” the red-haired man muttered over and over as Abdel unlocked his cage. The big dumbfuck was obviously taken aback by the prisoner’s mad demeanor. Getting back on track, they manage to find a way up into a warehouse. In fact, Abdel recognizes it as the warehouse he guarded with Kamon (the guy who later tried to assassinate him at the start of the BG1 novel). He knows that they're in Athkatla, and they head out into the city quote:Abdel tried a number of different hand postures, various walks, or a combination of both to try to cover the fact that he was walking down the street stark naked, but eventually he just had to resign himself to the fact that, regardless of where he put his hands, he was walking down the street stark naked. See, BG2 didn't need a mod that removed the opening dungeon. It needed a mod that made it so you had to navigate Irenicus' dungeons and the streets of Athkatla completely nude before you could start any quests. Anyway, I'm going to stop here for today. Things are already pretty drat wild, but believe me when I say that as we continue on, things are going to go into overdrive.
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Apr 1, 2023 03:42
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Max Wilco posted:Bodhi and Irenicus have a telepathic link, I guess? I'm not going to actually look it up, but I'm pretty sure there is just a spell that would let you do this in pnp.
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Apr 1, 2023 04:01
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