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Oh idk i don't let the AI cast spells
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Aug 25, 2023 19:52
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drat, I forgot how much I liked Alora. What a crime that she never shows up in the later games. Her rabbit's foot is utterly broken and amazing too.
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Aug 25, 2023 20:36
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BG1 - Chapter 7 I finished off just about all the quests I could think of before finishing Chapter 5. I've now reached Chapter 7, after a harrowing time in the last part of Chapter 6 where after a boss fight near the end of the dungeon, every time I tried to rest after that I got attacked. It was ridiculous. I've retrieved the documents from the Iron Throne and the Invitation from the undercellar. Is there anything else I should do at this time? Ulgoth's Beard, the tower, or should I just beeline for the end? I've also been told that Duke Eltan is dead, although he was only "sick" a short while ago. Is that because I did stuff in the wrong order? I have saves and can try again. Is the Siege of Dragonspear worth playing, or should I go to BG 2 without doing it? (I'm not bothering with the Black Pits.) Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Aug 25, 2023 |
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Aug 25, 2023 20:54
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Durlag's Tower is definitely worth doing. It's one of the best dungeons in the series.
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Aug 25, 2023 21:28
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I've never played Siege of Dragonspear, but I don't think anyone here who has has said they regretted it.
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Aug 25, 2023 21:38
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:BG1 - Chapter 7 I think someone already said this upthread (Skwirl?), but you can, if you want, to go through the main campaign up until the door to the very last hide-out of the big bad, turn back, and do the "DLC" content that you find in Ulgoth's Beard. And yeah, Durlag's Tower is the best dungeon in the game series, but it's also balls to the wall hard so watch out. Great loot though. The island quest is a bit less... Interesting, or fun. Not the ice island one, that's at least short, there's another island thing.
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Aug 25, 2023 21:43
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I just finished Durlag's tower. It's always good fun. My favorite bit about the final boss though, is Lol wand of paralyzation lmao even. I win. I'm probably gonna skip Werewolf island, though. I'm kinda done with the game. Been playing for a lot of hours and I'm ready to try out Siege. Gonna go slap down Sarevok and being Siege. Being a Bard I'm actually really excited to try out all those Bard goodies. May even keeper some of the items in BG2 if they don't transfer over, for shits and giggles.
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Aug 25, 2023 21:49
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Duke Eltan can't die. You took him to the harbor master as part of the main plot and he's recovering there. I literally don't think there's any other way to finish that quest, and it's part of the main questline. You're fine.
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Aug 25, 2023 22:10
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Arivia posted:Duke Eltan can't die. You took him to the harbor master as part of the main plot and he's recovering there. I literally don't think there's any other way to finish that quest, and it's part of the main questline. You're fine. I don't think I'm that far, actually. What I did after coming back to BG was walk into the Iron Throne HQ, talk my way up get some documentation, then went into the Undercellar Brothel and killed the assassins and got their invitation, which points me to the Ducal manor. But it's good to know that I can continue without reloading, I guess.
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Aug 25, 2023 22:16
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I don't think I'm that far, actually. What I did after coming back to BG was walk into the Iron Throne HQ, talk my way up get some documentation, then went into the Undercellar Brothel and killed the assassins and got their invitation, which points me to the Ducal manor. But it's good to know that I can continue without reloading, I guess. Oops, my apology then. You should, in that case, keep going through chapter 7 until after you've finished up at the Ducal palace. Afterwards is an obvious moment that the real final dungeon is coming, and that's when it's good to peel off and do the other stuff. But do save Duke Eltan!
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Aug 25, 2023 22:18
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gently caress the main villain just ran down these stairs to his hideout, let's chase him and end this once and for all OR we can gently caress around the region for a few months and see if we can find some cool caves with treasure in them, and THEN come back to these stairs
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Aug 25, 2023 22:38
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Oh right. I forgot about the follow-up to Durlag's. Now I remember the frustration. I was mixing up the two big fights. Seriously, gently caress that fight. Doesn't help that the stationary cultists have like AC of 200 and the stupid demon casts hold person like every other second. Glad i had enough potions to stop that nonsense but keeping up with healing was a pain in the rear end. Lowering it down to easy mode for the extra 6 to hit was extra helpful too.
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Aug 25, 2023 22:42
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I'm kind of dreading getting up to that fight with maxed out difficulty in SCS, so far my party has been ripping through everything, but there comes a point even with uncapped XP when the power curve slows down and you really need to pull out all the stops. Unrelated, but I found the journal of Elmonster on the internet archive, possibly one of the first let's plays from around 2003 of someone attempting a solo make playthrough of BG2. It's a fun read. https://web.archive.org/web/20180831184353/http://www.baldurdash.org/journal.html
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Aug 25, 2023 22:58
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Jimbot posted:Oh right. I forgot about the follow-up to Durlag's. Now I remember the frustration. I was mixing up the two big fights. Seriously, gently caress that fight. Doesn't help that the stationary cultists have like AC of 200 and the stupid demon casts hold person like every other second. Glad i had enough potions to stop that nonsense but keeping up with healing was a pain in the rear end. Lowering it down to easy mode for the extra 6 to hit was extra helpful too. A shame the weapon at the end of that second questline is such a disappointment considering what you have to fight to get it.
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Aug 25, 2023 23:57
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Jimbot posted:drat, I forgot how much I liked Alora. What a crime that she never shows up in the later games. Her rabbit's foot is utterly broken and amazing too. Curse of the NPCs that don’t show up until the end
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Aug 25, 2023 23:58
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I've enjoyed Siege of Dragonspear quite a bit, whenever I replay BG now I include it in the playthrough. It has a bit of a different approach to encounter design compared to the original games, a lot more managing big groups of enemies. I think the writing is decent, better than the quests Beamdog inserted into BG1/2, although it's not crazy good.
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Aug 26, 2023 00:10
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Jimbot posted:Oh right. I forgot about the follow-up to Durlag's. Now I remember the frustration. I was mixing up the two big fights. Seriously, gently caress that fight. Doesn't help that the stationary cultists have like AC of 200 and the stupid demon casts hold person like every other second. Glad i had enough potions to stop that nonsense but keeping up with healing was a pain in the rear end. Lowering it down to easy mode for the extra 6 to hit was extra helpful too. If it's the fight I'm thinking of, you need to focus on the big bad. I can't remember all the buffs required but death ward and haste are helpful. As are area of effect spells to take out the chaff. You can also pop in and out with one character, I believe, unlike most area transitions where you must gather your party before venturing forth.
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Aug 26, 2023 00:13
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Unfortunately, that was my line of reasoning but the big bad explodes out of the immobile cultists and you have to do that fight again and it happens each time. I wouldn't be so bad if the cultists weren't the most well armored beings in low level D&D history, lordy lord. Agannazar's Scorcher helps a lot but it's still slow enough that you have to run around the arena with the dumb thing in tow.
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Aug 26, 2023 00:18
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Jimbot posted:Unfortunately, that was my line of reasoning but the big bad explodes out of the immobile cultists and you have to do that fight again and it happens each time. I had it backwards, didn't I? You need to kill the cultists first. Jesus it's been a while. Still fireballs and potions of explosion etc. are good for that. And I think that's why I remembered popping one or two characters in and out - to cast/throw fireballs. Now I feel like I'm forgetting something else, though... Sorry.
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Aug 26, 2023 00:23
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No worries. I burned the guy down. It took a few reloads but I got them. Was uncharacteristically hard for a fight in BG1. Like I said, if the cultists weren't so hard to hit the fight would have been more manageable.
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Aug 26, 2023 00:46
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It's a dumb gimmick fight really. I suppose it's fitting as an end of expansion pack fight, but I didn't really have the patience to puzzle out the clues on how to deal with the gaze attack. I just looked up the fight solution after a few attempts.
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Aug 26, 2023 01:06
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Aec'Letec's paralyze, silence and death gaze all allow for a save. Potions of magic shielding make saving throws automatic and they last 30 rounds. The stairs back up aren't a "you must gather..." transition and he won't follow. Someone's about to die? Upstairs they go. With the usual potions of giant strength and heroism, oils of speed, etc. he should be chop suey pretty fast. His defenses aren't great and your magic shielding buffs completely neuter his gimmick.
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Aug 26, 2023 03:21
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Pierre McGuire posted:I've enjoyed Siege of Dragonspear quite a bit, whenever I replay BG now I include it in the playthrough. It has a bit of a different approach to encounter design compared to the original games, a lot more managing big groups of enemies. I think the writing is decent, better than the quests Beamdog inserted into BG1/2, although it's not crazy good. I still find the final fight of SoD one of the hardest in the series. I've only done it three or so times, but it requires many reloads. Definitely up there with the dragons and the liches and the twisted rune.
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Aug 26, 2023 03:43
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I've started SoD and it feels pretty seamless. You hear the years on the returning VA but beyond that, it's like stepping back in time to 1999 and playing a second Baldur's Gate expansion.
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Aug 26, 2023 03:57
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Pierre McGuire posted:I've enjoyed Siege of Dragonspear quite a bit, whenever I replay BG now I include it in the playthrough. It has a bit of a different approach to encounter design compared to the original games, a lot more managing big groups of enemies. I think the writing is decent, better than the quests Beamdog inserted into BG1/2, although it's not crazy good. Jimbot posted:I've started SoD and it feels pretty seamless. You hear the years on the returning VA but beyond that, it's like stepping back in time to 1999 and playing a second Baldur's Gate expansion.
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Aug 26, 2023 04:20
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DisgracelandUSA posted:I still find the final fight of SoD one of the hardest in the series. I've only done it three or so times, but it requires many reloads. Definitely up there with the dragons and the liches and the twisted rune. In the elevator tower to the final SoD fight, you can safely rest as much as you want before the climb. You will be attacked 3 times on your way up, with 3 generous pauses in-between, giving you time to heal, yes, but also cast your long, medium and short duration buffs respectively. Up top, Bel-what's-his-face is a joke as nothing attempts to dispel or debuff you and he sure as poo poo can't handle 3 warriors with giant strength, heroism, speed and whatever else you throw on (protection from evil 10' is nice). Hephernan literally dies in 2 hits. The fight was not designed with a rested, fully buffed party in mind.
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Aug 26, 2023 05:16
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I really, really, really wish I had tried to rest on the lift and also thought about the long/medium/short buff idea instead of buffing before going up, forgetting there's fights on the lift and just how it crawls to the top. I hear that a way to trounce the last boss really quickly is to have a superbuffed Corwin with arrows of the void turn him into an enormous demonic pin cushion which I'll have to try on my next run, since I'll be playing a good/neutral bhaalspawn next time around.
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Aug 26, 2023 08:59
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Jay Rust posted:gently caress the main villain just ran down these stairs to his hideout, let's chase him and end this once and for all This persists even in BG 3!
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Aug 26, 2023 10:27
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Suspicious posted:In the elevator tower to the final SoD fight, you can safely rest as much as you want before the climb. You will be attacked 3 times on your way up, with 3 generous pauses in-between, giving you time to heal, yes, but also cast your long, medium and short duration buffs respectively. I couldn't even cast all my buffs on the elevator. Hephernan + Demon is a lot easier than Caelar + Demon, but the raining fire stuff requires a lot of micro and does a lot of damage if you mess up. DeadButDelicious posted:I hear that a way to trounce the last boss really quickly is to have a superbuffed Corwin with arrows of the void turn him into an enormous demonic pin cushion which I'll have to try on my next run, since I'll be playing a good/neutral bhaalspawn next time around. Corwin definitely makes the fight easier, but corwins a fuckin cop.
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Aug 26, 2023 14:18
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Torquemada posted:This persists even in BG 3!
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Aug 26, 2023 17:33
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If you get to close to the tavern, the game essentially starts the event. I headed upstairs and freed the woman on the left, she ran off with her entourage. Then through the door opposite hers, with the lying down guy, open the door in the corner that leads to the front of the building and get him through it.
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Aug 26, 2023 17:46
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I really like the itemization in SoD - how there are baseline bonuses and then more specialized or situational ones. So some items would benefit certain classes or races but if you have neither you still get something out of it. It's long past that now but it would have been awesome if they went through both EE games and did that sort of thing for the items in them. It makes them so much more fun and interesting.
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Aug 26, 2023 22:05
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Dr. Quarex posted:I dunno I played through Act One twice in early access and finished it in final release last week and I have still not actually figured out how to keep everyone in the burning tavern from being dead when you get there In BG3? Don't long rest after you get within range of the inn to trigger commentary on "hey there's a loving fire nearby". Resolve the situation first. That simple.
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Aug 26, 2023 22:08
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Captain Oblivious posted:In BG3? Don't long rest after you get within range of the inn to trigger commentary on "hey there's a loving fire nearby". Resolve the situation first. That simple.  my pet theory is there is a timer when you get close to it or something, since I always do the Karlach/abandoned toll collector area first and that is pretty close? Actually it makes you long rest again for whatever reason when transitioning to the mountain pass, so that was two long rests then. I realize this is not exactly on-topic. Fortunately I always have other thoughts about Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 Was Gullykin unfinished or just kind of underwhelming? I remember being so excited about a village of halflings and then basically like 1.5 of them have personalities and you CANNOT EVEN BUY HALFLING GOODS
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Aug 27, 2023 03:37
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Gullykin was probably just underwhelming. BG1 doesn’t feel like a game with a lot of unfinished content to me, it’s just sparse in a lot of parts. Gotta give BioWare some leeway when they were reinventing the genre and all that.
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Aug 27, 2023 03:57
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I just finished TotSC and I'm so glad I saved Durlag's Tower for last. The other two areas the expansion offered were pretty good but that tower's basement is just sublime. I did get stumped a couple times by the puzzles and had to peak at a guide, though. All that's left is the main questline now since I cleared every area and possible sidequest in the base game (well, up to and including Chapter 5 anyways).
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Aug 27, 2023 04:04
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Arivia posted:Gullykin was probably just underwhelming. BG1 doesn’t feel like a game with a lot of unfinished content to me, it’s just sparse in a lot of parts. Gotta give BioWare some leeway when they were reinventing the genre and all that. It was 1998. It was pretty massive for that time. I don't think they were trying to pack the game full of deep content, but rather just show as much of the sword coast as they could. Kind of a different design philosophy from what we get now where if an area exists it needs to be packed full of content.
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Aug 27, 2023 04:06
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I suppose that makes sense, and is probably a fairly good justification for name-dropping a bunch of different stuff; they obviously had no idea the game was going to become The Most Important Game, they just wanted to throw in everything from the Forgotten Realms that they could justify given the location and timeline. I am sure the first time I explored Gullykin I was totally overloaded with stuff to sell and was just mad about the lack of a place to do commerce with the tiny folks. Though I would be surprised if there were any other like defined communities in the games that are less fleshed-out than that one (yes I know I will immediately get like five responses with better examples; I will say abandoned villages do not count!)
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Aug 27, 2023 04:22
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Isn't the priest in gullykin a merchant?
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Aug 27, 2023 04:25
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Genthil posted:I just finished TotSC and I'm so glad I saved Durlag's Tower for last. The other two areas the expansion offered were pretty good but that tower's basement is just sublime. I did get stumped a couple times by the puzzles and had to peak at a guide, though. You're not done. Go back to Ulgoth's Beard for one more fight.
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Aug 27, 2023 05:26
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