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I thought BG3 handled *Massive BG3 Spoilers don't read unless you've completed the game* Jaheira and Minsc pretty well. I didn't particularly buy their handling of Sarevok. Him being in a Bhaal cult seems pretty out of character. He never cared about Bhaal, just about becoming a God. Him backsliding into that seems like a step back for him. I could buy Sarevok scheming in Bg3 to gain power but he wouldn't be a bit player in some cult, he'd be doing what Gortash or Orin or whoever was doing and try to actually lead over the whole thing. So Sarevok I'm not totally sold on. They did a great job with Jaheira though. She feels exactly how she should, and the writing feels like it matches the original character.
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Sep 10, 2023 20:43
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Arivia posted:the final fight in the basement is indeed the moment you've been saving your magic blocking potions for I just discovered that those don't actually seem to work against "Hold Person." Yay. Even buffing up well, and going in with full HP and spell slots, that guy is simply impossible to kill. He's got some kind of insane regeneration. I cannot put it down. EDIT: Oh crap, it respawns inside cultists! I've got to kill all of them first! That probably doesn't help. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Sep 10, 2023 |
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Sep 10, 2023 20:49
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I remember squatting on the stairs and dumping out huge numbers of summons for that fight just to be the target of spells so that my party was free to go hog wild.
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Sep 10, 2023 20:56
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I just discovered that those don't actually seem to work against "Hold Person." Yay. If you have any potions of Mirrored Eyes, use them. As well as the Hold Person spell, that fucker has a death gaze that starts as Hold Person and ends with gibbing the victim. Its magic resistance isn't that amazing, by the way. Highly recommend a greater malizon into horror.
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Sep 10, 2023 21:00
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I just discovered that those don't actually seem to work against "Hold Person." Yay. For Aec'Letec if you use potions of magic shielding you'll always make your save and will be able to resist both his paralyze effect and the effect that makes your party members explode and turn into ghouls. Unfortunately there's only a limited number of these and I forget off the top of my head where they're all sold. I think a few are found in chests throughout the game, a few sold or found in Baldur's Gate city as well. I want to say there's at least 5, maybe 6 in the game. I typically use these when fighting Aec. An alternative option if you can't find those is to use potions of mirrored gaze. Those will block his death/paralyze gaze, but they have a short duration so you'll want to remember to re-apply them during the fight. I like magic shielding pots for that fight because they last longer so there's less fuss about me forgetting to reactivate them and then dying to his gaze.
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Sep 10, 2023 21:02
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I sent in my main DPS character juiced up to the gills and a few summoned skellies for Aec to play with. Everyone else stayed back to support. Coran got held and the cleric somehow got in hittable range though they were supposed to stay back and summon. But CHARNAME was the Goddess of "I'm saving everything for when I really need it" and was basically untouchable by mere arch demons who doubtless lacked her impulse control with inventory. This potion and buffing excess was only exceeded by the final boss battle when I spent probably close 20-30 minutes between buffing and apportioning and quaffing every potion that could remotely be useful, in min maxed duration order. It's a good thing sound doesn't carry through fog of war so they couldn't see or hear me buffing right next to the door for half an hour. Thank you, Forgotten Realms physics. It made the fight a joke even with SCS, though without the Improved module. But also very cathartic.
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Sep 10, 2023 21:15
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The easiest way to clear most of the cultists is to send an invisible archer downstairs alone, and then run to the back of the room where you can see the cultists but not the demon, then just shoot them all dead. They won’t fight back or aggro the demon, and you can clear almost all of them without resistance.
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Sep 10, 2023 21:23
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Cloudkill has worked pretty well for me in the past, but on my last playthrough, it mostly just tickled them and I resorted to the Wand of Fire to finish the job.
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Sep 10, 2023 21:58
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If you're gonna cheese, there is only one correct play: wands of paralyzation turnabout is fair play, after all
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Sep 10, 2023 21:59
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Max Wilco posted:Something I want to ask about out of curiosity: how many people have tried beating the Enhanced Editions on Legacy of Bhaal difficulty? I see people talk about mods like SCS and Ascension all the time, but how popular/difficult is it to do a vanilla run on the hardest difficulty? I don't think anyone answered this but it's me, Ive tried legacy of bhaal difficulty. I'm perhaps not the best to ask about it because I didn't actually finish BG2, but it's not very fun imo. Even killing the most basic enemies becomes a real chore because of how much AC and HP they have. You're forced to rely very heavily on summons, which get all the same buffs as enemies, and on harder group fights I found myself basically just save scumming until I landed some crucial disables. SCS and ascension change the difficulty in a much more interesting way.
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Sep 10, 2023 22:35
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Dr. Quarex posted:I am proud of myself for figuring this out from in-game clues. I am not going to put anything in spoilers because I would not want anyone to see Dark Urge spoilers without specifically looking for them I'm still in Act 1 of BG3 (at least I think I am), so it could just be that I haven't run into a lot of major references to BG1 and BG2 as of yet, so either they're farther in, or I'm just looking in the wrong places. The only two major ones are the title screen being the Temple of Bhaal in the Undercity, and my assumption that the Dark Urge is a Bhaalspawn or something similar. Most other things like references to groups (the Flaming Fist, the Grand Dukes) or the like I'm not really counting. I'll have to pay more attention to the item descriptions I guess, because I haven't noticed anything as of yet. Dr. Quarex posted:That is actually a good point; I wrote in my Steam review of the game (written in like November 2020 mind) that anyone being intellectually honest should acknowledge Baldur's Gate 3 is the first game in the series to actually do right by the spirit of "try pretty much any goddamn stupid idea you can come up with in combat" that permeates the tabletop game, at least in my experience. But yeah if you have never really been into playing the pen-and-paper version and just love Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 for the amazing games they are, you might have basically no interest in a system where you can do absurdly stupid and often ineffective things in combat because it makes sense that they would be possible to attempt. The Divinity games, based on how I first heard them described, seemed like they were trying to channel PnP design (or games like Ultima VII, depending on who you aks) where you could do things like make use of the environment, elements, items you find, etc. I think that's what's weird about it for me: BG1&2 were praised for being good translations of 2e D&D, but I always felt like BG and the Infinity Engine games really only captured the mechanical details of it, and so BG1&2 have always felt more like an RTS with RPG mechanics under the hood. BG3 on the other hand, feels more like if you really wanted to replicate the more creative nuances of playing PnP on the table, where you can do things like toss objects in the world at enemies, have your other party members do sneak attacks on NPCs you're talking to, and generally lean in more roleplay elements. The thing is, because BG3 is such a departure from the others, it feels more like Divinity 3 than a true sequel to BG1&2. BG1&2 also seems like it has way more nuance in regards to how a lot of its systems work (though maybe late game BG3 is equivalent, and I just haven't gotten there yet). However... Dr. Quarex posted:As mentioned yes Pillars of Eternity is a good modern take on the genre, though I would actually argue that Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous are closer to the feeling overall AND prove that there actually still is a mass market for that type of game, given how well they both apparently sold. I love Siege of Dragonspear but an interquel is a hard sell as a big modern update of an old game's engine I imgine. If Beamdog had actually been allowed to make a Baldur's Gate 3, what we would have gotten would probably be not nearly as good as Larian's actual version but it would also certainly feel more like the originals since it would basically be in the same engine. I am pretty sure if you took all the same story and dialogue and locations and put them in the Infinity Engine a lot of people would not have thought it was too tonally different than the first games. I haven't played Pillars yet, but I have played a bit of Kingmaker. I brought it up in the BG3 thread when asking whether or not I should pick it up, and I was told that BG3 is a lot more palatable than the Pathfinder games, which I have to agree with. I think about how long it took me to get a grasp on BG1, whereas BG3 I think would be pretty approachable for a new player without needing to get into the fine details of how everything works. In contrast, the Pathfinder games are way, way more complex when it comes to character creation and building. Like, you seriously need an organization chart or something to make sure you don't bungle your PF character by taking the wrong feat or something. bike tory posted:I don't think anyone answered this but it's me, Ive tried legacy of bhaal difficulty. I'm perhaps not the best to ask about it because I didn't actually finish BG2, but it's not very fun imo. Even killing the most basic enemies becomes a real chore because of how much AC and HP they have. You're forced to rely very heavily on summons, which get all the same buffs as enemies, and on harder group fights I found myself basically just save scumming until I landed some crucial disables. I ask because the other day, I was reading up on BG2 stuff, and I wondered if it would be possible to take advantage of some of the OP builds (i.e. Kensai/Mage, Dragon Disciple) and certain spells (Simulacrum, and how it copies your quick inventory) and combine that all together to kind of neutralize the high difficulty of Legacy of Bhaal.
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Sep 10, 2023 23:17
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Max Wilco posted:I haven't played Pillars yet, but I have played a bit of Kingmaker. I brought it up in the BG3 thread when asking whether or not I should pick it up, and I was told that BG3 is a lot more palatable than the Pathfinder games, which I have to agree with. Kingmaker is one of the best adaptations of the 3.5E style ruleset I've played in a game. It's just mired by the most boneheaded design decisions and the worst final dungeon I've ever played. I have like 120 hours in that game and I love 100 of those hours, but hated the first and last 10.
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Sep 10, 2023 23:23
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bike tory posted:I don't think anyone answered this but it's me, Ive tried legacy of bhaal difficulty. I'm perhaps not the best to ask about it because I didn't actually finish BG2, but it's not very fun imo. Even killing the most basic enemies becomes a real chore because of how much AC and HP they have. You're forced to rely very heavily on summons, which get all the same buffs as enemies, and on harder group fights I found myself basically just save scumming until I landed some crucial disables. I've also tried lob (Mostly a vanilla run with a custom multiplayer party of 6, but with the IWD spells from SCS) and I completely agree. Its not much fun tbh, and is literally just summon wand spam forever in BG1 and SoD. The early parts of BG2 are heaven for fire elementals and skeleton warriors, and if you have IWD spells and a Druid, the fantastic Stalker spell gives you 2 shambling mounds. These are incredibly tanky and can even beat Iron and Adamantite Golems in a fight if they're hasted. It goes without saying that the HLA summons are astonishingly strong with the lob buffs. I avoided them in my run for that reason, except against Demogorgon. I was also shocked by how badly the vanilla BG2 mage AI cheats constantly, its incredibly blatant about it as well. I got bored after beating Sendai and Abazigal, it started crashing a lot in ToB. That said, it wasn't all bad, and there were some genuine highlights in the run. I found a way of petrifying the same basilisk over and over again, getting a massive boost to my XP in early BG1. Turning Belhifet into a squirrel and then one-shotting him with Magic Missile. Drizz't in BG2 actually benefiting from the lob buffs (Unlike in BG1, where he's already the strongest thing in the game by a huge margin so the buffs are irrelevant) and becoming a fantastic challenge to beat as a result, even with a massively OP party by then. Demogorgon was incredible, an actually difficult and long fight and it standing toe to toe with 6 demigods and 2 summoned Devas was amazing. It actually felt like I was fighting a genuine god. 10/10. biscuits and crazy fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Sep 10, 2023 |
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Sep 10, 2023 23:29
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Max Wilco posted:I ask because the other day, I was reading up on BG2 stuff, and I wondered if it would be possible to take advantage of some of the OP builds (i.e. Kensai/Mage, Dragon Disciple) and certain spells (Simulacrum, and how it copies your quick inventory) and combine that all together to kind of neutralize the high difficulty of Legacy of Bhaal. Some of the classes that are OP in the base game are not as good in LOB mode - magic damage in general isn't as useful because of how much HP enemies have. Your casters will be focused on disables and your melee/ranged damage dealers will be the ones that grind down the enemy HP. Inquisitors aren't as effective because enemies are all much higher level. In general the same stuff is still OP. Dwarven defender and other classes that can get to 100% physical damage reduction are great, blades are still going to be really good because of offensive spin and their ability to use wands, summon and UAI late game, thief/mage is going to be really good still if you're happy to abuse mislead and backstabs, etc. But you won't "neutralise" it really, every enemy is just an enormous HP sink so it's just a matter of whether you can be hosed grinding everything down. You'd be better off neutralising it by getting over-levelled really quickly (basilisks in BG1, soloing as many quests as you can around Athkatla at the start of BG2) etc, as well as abusing cheese like firing cloudkills from off screen, resting/spamming 100 thief traps or skull traps before starting combat, that sort of poo poo. Idk though, you've got me wanting to give it another shot some time now, taking advantage of as much cheese as I can.
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Sep 10, 2023 23:44
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Thanks for the tips. I went on a shopping trip to pick up all the potions of Mirrored Eyes I could find, and even went back to Durlag's Tower to grab any potions left behind because "I won't need all those health potions." Unfortunately, it seems like they last just one turn, and I have only 8 total, so I need to be strategic in my use of them. To that end, Does the boss's gaze attack require the character it's targeting to be engaged with him, or can the character be attacking some other enemy and still get hit with the gaze? I also discovered that the boss will respawn at full HP inside any cultists still alive, so I MUST kill all of them before finishing off the boss, which changes my strategy. I hadn't realized until someone posted here that selling wands recharged them to full, and I definitely didn't realize that they held 100 charges, I thought it would only charge them up to whatever they were at when you found them. I'll probably try spamming paralyze on the boss and hope for a lucky roll.
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Sep 10, 2023 23:58
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The gaze attack affects anybody in the room. Doesn't matter if you're attacking Aec'letec or not.
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Sep 11, 2023 00:01
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uh, wasnt Beamdog going to do a patch that brings the console controls of BGEEs to Steam Deck? and something to do with a portrait contest?
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Sep 11, 2023 00:41
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Thanks for the tips. I went on a shopping trip to pick up all the potions of Mirrored Eyes I could find, and even went back to Durlag's Tower to grab any potions left behind because "I won't need all those health potions." Unfortunately, it seems like they last just one turn, and I have only 8 total, so I need to be strategic in my use of them. To that end, Does the boss's gaze attack require the character it's targeting to be engaged with him, or can the character be attacking some other enemy and still get hit with the gaze? Do the magic shielding potion strat instead. 6 in the game, 1 found in the Cloakwood Mines barracks, 5 for sale in the big city. 3 at sorcerous sundries, 1 at the thief guild shop, 1 in a random potion shop in the SW district. They last 30 rounds and paralyze, silence and death gaze will always fail. Use the usual buffs (giant strength, heroism, speed,...) and go hog wild. You don't have to get the 6th potion in Cloakwood because you don't have to send your whole party downstairs. It's not a "you must gather..." transition.
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Sep 11, 2023 01:15
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Okay big evil demon is dead now, killing all the cultists first helped a lot. Now onto the maze, which I was about to enter... over 100 days ago. LOL.Suspicious posted:Do the magic shielding potion strat instead. 6 in the game, 1 found in the Cloakwood Mines barracks, 5 for sale in the big city. 3 at sorcerous sundries, 1 at the thief guild shop, 1 in a random potion shop in the SW district. They last 30 rounds and paralyze, silence and death gaze will always fail. Use the usual buffs (giant strength, heroism, speed,...) and go hog wild. I only had one potion of Magic Shielding, I thought I checked the potion and magic shops, but I maybe I missed them on my shopping spree. It's fine, as the one was enough.
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Sep 11, 2023 01:29
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Okay big evil demon is dead now, killing all the cultists first helped a lot. Now onto the maze, which I was about to enter... over 100 days ago. LOL. It's imperative that you hunt down Seravok and bring him to justice now that his plans have been revealed but actually it's not he'll just wait for you in the undercity as long as you'd like!
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Sep 11, 2023 03:47
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The Shame Boy posted:It's imperative that you hunt down Seravok and bring him to justice now that his plans have been revealed but actually it's not he'll just wait for you in the undercity as long as you'd like!
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Sep 11, 2023 04:03
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zedprime posted:I think it's implied Sarevok prepared the temple like an apocalypse bunker and was basically counting on his mages to eventually roll "6-6-6" on the godhood slot machine. So it's not like he had anywhere else to be. Sarevok gets increasingly nervous and snippy with his mages as the weeks pass. "I thought you said my half brother was on his way? What kind of wafer-thin loving diviner are you, anyway?" "And you! You just smudged that pentagram, you simpering tit! Do you WANT to be consumed by a glabrezu? Wait, are you... you're not... YOU'RE A GOD DAMNED DOPPELGANGER, AREN'T YOU?" WHO KEEPS LETTING THESE THINGS IN? Just because you *look* like a wizard doesn't make you one." "Motherfucking henchmen..."
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Sep 11, 2023 05:43
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The floor was actually just polished stone, the giant symbol of bhaal is just sarevok's little art project while he waits for you to turn up.
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Sep 11, 2023 05:52
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Viconia ditched me because I'm too nice but it's okay because I found Jaheira. My party is now Minsc, Jaheira and Glint in the frontline with wizard protag, Corwin and Dynaheir in the backline. I'll be happy to stick with this for the rest of Dragonspear, so long as Jaheira doesn't leave me if I don't take Khalid...
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Sep 11, 2023 07:40
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I don't think they act as a pair in SoD, she didn't even say anything when we met Khalid.
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Sep 11, 2023 08:07
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SirSamVimes posted:Viconia ditched me because I'm too nice but it's okay because I found Jaheira. My party is now Minsc, Jaheira and Glint in the frontline with wizard protag, Corwin and Dynaheir in the backline. I'll be happy to stick with this for the rest of Dragonspear, so long as Jaheira doesn't leave me if I don't take Khalid... I would highly recommend that you download the mod that turns off NPCs leaving at certain reputation breakpoints. It's not a fun mechanic to interact with at all.
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Sep 11, 2023 13:18
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Your Brain on Hugs posted:I don't think they act as a pair in SoD, she didn't even say anything when we met Khalid.
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Sep 11, 2023 13:22
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Siege of Dragonspear is pretty good! I'm surprised Beamdog hasn't made a full RPG if this is all original content.
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Sep 11, 2023 13:22
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SirSamVimes posted:Siege of Dragonspear is pretty good! I'm surprised Beamdog hasn't made a full RPG if this is all original content. As noted a couple of pages ago, it sold so poorly it had the opposite effect of killing any idea of them following it up.
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Sep 11, 2023 13:30
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Torquemada posted:As noted a couple of pages ago, it sold so poorly it had the opposite effect of killing any idea of them following it up. Following up with another Baldur's Gate expansion. They are doing their own RPG now, I think.
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Sep 11, 2023 13:34
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Arivia posted:Following up with another Baldur's Gate expansion. They are doing their own RPG now, I think. They did a bunch of remasters, some WW2 thing, and a cartoon 80's hero thing.
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Sep 11, 2023 13:52
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Hrm, I have been playing so far as reasonably good, but last night after getting home from the pub I might have, er, killed Oublek. Khalid wasn't too terribly pleased with that. Now I'm wondering whether I should go back to a quick save and repair that reputation hit.
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Sep 11, 2023 15:04
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Bilirubin posted:Hrm, I have been playing so far as reasonably good, but last night after getting home from the pub I might have, er, killed Oublek. Khalid wasn't too terribly pleased with that. You can improve your reputation by donating at temples.
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Sep 11, 2023 15:06
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docbeard posted:You can improve your reputation by donating at temples. Thanks That took me from Popular to Average, not sure how much donation it would take
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Sep 11, 2023 15:14
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Bilirubin posted:Thanks  I'm not sure if you have to do the donating step-wise
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Sep 11, 2023 15:29
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Thanks. I think I just might replay from where I messed up and save that coin. It won't be too big a loss of progress.
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Sep 11, 2023 15:42
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Rappaport posted:
note: you can, in fact, injure cops with no penalty
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Sep 11, 2023 15:58
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Rappaport posted:
Heads up that that's the BG1 original table. The Enhanced Editions use something closer to the BG2 values which are a lot higher.
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Sep 11, 2023 16:00
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Wicked Them Beats posted:Heads up that that's the BG1 original table. The Enhanced Editions use something closer to the BG2 values which are a lot higher. I did look at the wiki before posting and it still shows different lists for BG1 and BG2, but I couldn't be bothered to actually play-test this. I guess no one has gone in to edit the wiki for the EE values 
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Sep 11, 2023 16:36
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Rappaport posted:I did look at the wiki before posting and it still shows different lists for BG1 and BG2, but I couldn't be bothered to actually play-test this. I guess no one has gone in to edit the wiki for the EE values Might not be looking in the right spot. Here's the link and table: https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Reputation  EE values are on the far right. Edit - I had a minute so I did some testing in BG1 EE. Findings: -The values are accurate. -You only go up by one point at a time no matter how much you donate. If you're at 12 rep and want to go to 14, you need to make separate donations of 800 and 1,000. Donating 1,800 only gets you a single point. Wicked Them Beats fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Sep 11, 2023 |
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Sep 11, 2023 16:46
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