Stopping at Infinity: Baldur's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale, Planescape:Torment.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Stopping at Infinity: Baldur's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale, Planescape:Torment.

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Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

So I'm firing up Baldur's Gate for the first time, my only other IE experience being Torment, and I just roll up a random character to try out the mechanics. After some fiddling I make Bela Skull-Cleave, halfling fighter, 17 STR, 18 DEX, 18 CON (with lovely WIS and INT and middling CHA, 10 or something) and a proficiency for long swords and bows.

I just spend some time walking around Candlekeep. I've heard horror stories about these games, and I suspect I'm in for a rough time once combat starts.

I run into my first fight, some assassin in a random building, he comes at me with a dagger, I poke at him with my sword once, and he loving explodes into a shower of blood and meat :stare:

# ¿ Dec 17, 2013 08:06

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 03:40

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

As someone who just jumped into BG1, that multi-class and dual-class bit threw me as well. Honestly, a lot of this poo poo seems incredibly arbitrary (why can't rangers be evil? why can't Mondaron as a fighter/thief use bows, but my pure fighter PC and pure thief Imoen can? why is Khalid so terrible?) but I'm having fun all the same. I played pure vanilla BG1 for a few hours, then out of curiosity checked out BGTuTu, and holy poo poo why did I waste my time playing the other way. I mean, just the slightly faster movement speed and larger screen enhance gameplay so goddamn much.

Anyway, since I'm still fiddling around in what I presume is the early game, I have some questions:

1)Am I just missing an enormous amount of sidequests or does leveling take a long loving time? Jaheira popped like ten minutes after I found her, and my PC (again, just a standard human fighter) literally didn't hit Level 2 until I killed the final guy in the Nashkel mines.

2)I got what I considered lucky and five minutes in on my re-rolls I was able to get 18 in every stat but Wisdom, which I dropped all the way to 3. Are there 'safe' dump stats that you can basically make crippling low or will this gently caress me later? This seems like the kind of game that will arbitrarily gently caress me later.

3)Seriously, is Khalid just lovely or am I using him wrong? He's died more than any other character at this point. A goddamn kobold one-shot him!

4)On a similar note, everyone talks up Minsc is being a powerhouse baller but he's died almost as much as Khalid, and I put my best stuff on him. Is this just a case of low-level D&D coming down to one-shot criticals or am I missing some key elements?

5)Why do I keep getting spells and equipment that give me free infravision? I have two party members that literally just have it and it's not terribly interesting. Is there some hidden benefit to infravision other than 'guys glow in the dark' that I'm missing?

6)You seriously have to savescum to get a good level-up? I didn't even notice at first, but when I died and reloaded my PC hit 26 HP instead of 19 HP. This isn't even a question, just, what the gently caress, Gygax?

7)Since I'm tinkering around with BGTuTu anyway and playing a straight fighter is vaguely dull, is it worth it to start over and go paladin or ranger? I'm a little intimidated by being a mage because I don't understand half the 2e rules and don't know which spells are garbage, but even places where I'd think they'd have a guide laying out the pros/cons of each class just say stuff like 'play as a basic human fighter trust me' or 'go half-elf fighter/mage everything else is garbage' etc etc. Help a brother out here, guys who have soloed this game several times!

Wolfsheim fucked around with this message at 08:56 on Dec 23, 2013

# ¿ Dec 23, 2013 08:53

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

So I restarted BG1 after installing BGT and only played a bit thus far on a paladin inquisitor who is already leaps and bounds more fun to play than my fighter was. Along with all the vast improvements though, is it just me or did they make Jaheira and Khalid worse; why is he now specced for dual-wielding bastard swords? And are there really enough bastard swords in the game to justify that being a specialization at all? And why does she come with a club?

Also, are there any easy ways early on to get items identified? I've yet to find the spell anywhere, and paying a hundo each time is tedious.

# ¿ Dec 26, 2013 10:03

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Wait, so neither INT, WIS or CHA has any effect on sorcerers in BG? Seriously? :stare:

And on a side note for my current playthrough as an inquisitor; is the minimum 13 WIS actually used for gameplay purposes or is it just weird flavor restrictions along the lines of all rangers being good-aligned and halflings being barred from half the classes?

# ¿ Dec 26, 2013 23:56

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

So I just rolled into Nashkel with my paladin, and this time when I dropped Xzar and Mandaron instead of just making some pithy comment and standing in place to be recruited at a later date, that rear end in a top hat wizard straight-up threatened me and they both stormed out of the inn. Is this because I was playing a lawful good character, but went true neutral the first time?

Also, he stole my girdle of gender swapping :mad:

# ¿ Dec 27, 2013 11:09

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

How viable are swashbucklers for BGT? I kinda like the idea of a hooded halfling duelist who uses long swords (and early on, slings) but I dunno if I'm just gimping myself that way.

I was playing another melee fighter type but I found it kinda boring so I'm hoping maybe swashbuckler will give me a thief that can stay in the game? I dunno, is this a bad idea?

# ¿ Jan 2, 2014 22:47

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Yeah, you literally just add /portraits into the main directory and drop the files in there. Kind of a bitch to find stylistic matches though, since even between BG1 and BG2 they look pretty different.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2014 01:21

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I gotta say, BG1 definitely gets better once you get a few levels. After dicking around with the character creator for over a week I finally settled on an elven ranger, and even at Level 3 I'm already unable to be hit by like 3/4 of the enemies I face. The grill stronghold was basically me and Minsc storming into the fray, exploding every other gnoll into chunks with reckless abandon while the rest of the team stood back and plinked away with slings and arrows.

I do have a question about party placement, though; I grabbed Minsc's wizard friend so he would stay, but decided to keep Branwen and drop Jaheira (primarily because at the same level she has access to way more spells, plus she seems a little hardier in battle) since I didn't want to give up Imoen, my only thief. Now I have an empty slot, but should I add Edwin? He seems like the type to start a conflict with Minsc, or to abandon the party because I keep helping people and gaining popularity. I was also thinking of just trying to make it through the Nashkel mines with five people and grabbing that one mopey wizard at the end, or maybe even picking up Garrick just to have the extra support. Are these bad ideas?

Also, can I come back later if I want to pick Khalid and Jaheira back up? I kinda left them on the bridge to the gnoll stronghold. Same with Xzar and Montaron in the Nashkel inn, but I doubt I'll be using them again anyway.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2014 10:47

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Hey, still early game, just trounced the Nashkel mines jerk and now I'm milling about the wilderness doing sidequests and exploring. It's kinda funny that the mine boss fight took one try and was pretty easy compared to the ambush topside, which had me reloading like a dozen times (and even then, I couldn't make it through without Minsc getting his poo poo wrecked every time).

Kind of a newbie question, but how do I deal with vampiric wolves? None of my ranged weapons work, and when I try to walk up and hit them with any of my +1 or +2 melee weapons they incapacitate and then murder me. They also don't seem affected by hold person, sleep, or any of my other tricks. I know BG2 is all about resistances and all, but this is a party of Level 3 and 4 scrubs we're talking about :saddowns:

# ¿ Jan 7, 2014 21:04

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Suspicious posted:

Vampiric wolves will still spawn during the day, somehow. They're also undead so sleep, hold and stuff like that won't work. Damage spells will hurt them just fine, though.

Buy some +1 arrows and bullets. Have someone kite them around while the rest of the party is filling them with said magical ammunition. Easy 2000 xp even for a level 1 party.

At Level 1 the cost of even a few +1 bullets and arrows is all of your gold, though? Doesn't seem worth it.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2014 01:44

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Playing BG1, just completed the bandit camp and ran into a fuckton of ankhegs at that farm west of their camp, but can't turn In any of the shells to that blacksmith anymore? Is this a glitch or a feature? And if so, doesn't that render the goddamn heavy things useless?

Also stumbled into Viconia, but is it just me or are her stats pretty weak compared to Branwen? She can't even equip the higher end armors or shields due to her ridiculously low strength, and I don't see how her high dexterity would help all that much? Or am I using her wrong?

# ¿ Jan 9, 2014 09:38

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

caleramaen posted:

Unless you have a mod that sends them to an inn they stay in the area you kicked them out in. They'll be at the tavern in Nashkel, the Jovial Juggler in Beregost or at the friendly arm if you have the mod. If you don't have such a mod installed you might be kind of screwed. You might be able to use CLUAConsole:MoveToArea("OH1000") to get to the area though.

Edit: It might be C:MoveToArea("OH1000") for BG:EE.

I've been doing this manually every time I swap someone out so I can remember where they are, which leads to a lot of backtracking and inventory shuffling. I may just need this mod.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2014 09:06

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Was getting a bit tired of all the samey wilderness is BG1 and gave Icewind Dale a shot. So far I'm having a lot of fun; building the party from the ground up is surprisingly addictive, and I even found myself editing the pre-gen biographies to setup a little story about how the whole group are buddies via circumstance :3:

First of all, it's loving gorgeous. Every little hamlet and shop I entered was so richly crafted compared to every other IE game I've played it's gonna be hard to go back. Graphically it's the Skyrim to BG1's Oblivion, especially when you consider the picturesque snowy tundras vs. generic grassy plains/forest.

I was also surprised at the dialogue as I remember most people saying it's pretty dry, but so far the little conversations you can have are far more robust than that of BG1. It's not quite PST or anything, but it's nice to have multiple responses that aren't just good/evil/wacky, and several people have even acknowledged that I'm a bard, which is a nice touch. I also thought it was cute that, if you keep talking to the townpeople about rumors, they'll keep piling on problems; the first guy mentions goblins and orcs, the second throws in wolves, the third adds on giants, etc etc.

And just to verify I didn't gently caress myself, here's my current party makeup:

else

someone

Everyone has maxed DEX and 16/18 CON depending on whether or not they're fighters. Are any of these huge mistakes or am I pretty much good to go? I considered a ranger but I figured the paladin, F/T and F/M are enough. I've only tried combat a little bit and got two-shot by like eight orcs coming at me at once in a cave, but I'm not sure if that's a byproduct of Level 1 D&D or me actually making bad decisions.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2014 13:11

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I have to admit, playing Icewind Dale after mucking about with BG1, it was pretty overwhelming the way I'd enter a room and be bum-rushed by a dozen enemies, but throwing out a web (or a tangle or whatever) and then just peppering everything with projectiles is a little too good compared to every other strategy.

Currently fighting through some kind of lizardfolk cave, dying quite a bit (mostly by blindly rushing ahead) and having a blast. About midway through the undead tomb in the Vale of Shadows I realized there was no reason for my bard to wear armor, since she stands at the back anyway, and basically realized I'd been denying myself a second arcane caster.

And speaking of bards, is there any reason to pickpocket? So far like one in ten people has an item at all, let alone anything worthwhile.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2014 07:18

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Piell posted:

Also, how did Gorion raise you if you're an elf, you'd be like 100 years old at the game start

I don't know how wizards work in DnD, is it like other fantasy where one of sufficient power can extend his lifespan? I mean, if you want to hand wave away inconsistencies a bit.

It is funny to think of a half-orc raised in Candlekeep just reading about barbarians and thinking "gently caress yeah!" though.

Also, playing IWD and mucking around Dragon's Eye, just had my first taste of wraith, sword and phase spiders :gonk:

# ¿ Jan 20, 2014 21:10

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

More IWD chat, is there a more reliable way to take on trolls? If I encounter one or two of them I can pepper them with arrows to knock them down, then either my halfling F/T swinging his +1 flailing short sword can finish them, or (oddly enough) my paladin with his +1 long sword of confusion, but there are like thirty of them concentrated in that one area of Dragon's Eye, and I can't use the fog-of-war trick because the motherfuckers actually hunt me down even if I've yet to uncover their area, and they're accompanied by wraith spiders, and in that one bit there's a bunch of spell casters with them...Jesus Christ man :gonk:

# ¿ Jan 21, 2014 17:54

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

It's going to be hard to go back and actually beat BG1 after the loving crazy encounter designs in IWD. I'm still in the Dragon's Eye dungeon, down to the, like, sixth level or something, fighting through yuan-ti, and every room I enter has a problem that has to be tackled differently, with different combinations of traps, archers, melee and mages. Even the mages can't be relied upon to act the same way; in some rooms they cast normal spells, but in other eight of them all cast strength buffs on themselves then bum-rushed my party. Granted, either summoning a half-dozen monsters or just throwing web/entangle followed by that thorn spell on a choke point to incapacitate and slowly wheedle enemies down is almost cheating, but it's fun all the same. Whoever said druids are baller was so right, and now that I've found the right combination of robes and magic items to give my F/M decent AC, the guy's holding his own on the heels of the paladin. It's pretty exhilarating, though exhausting at times.

Also regarding the yuan-ti, I thought it was a nice touch that talking to the fake priest with my bard I just got the spiel about them being men of peace, but when I was talking to them later with my paladin the only dialogue option was to immediately call them out on seeing their evil auras or some poo poo, immediately initiating combat. This game is more reactive to the party than I anticipated, and now I almost wonder if clerics/mages/etc get unique dialogue and choices too.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2014 08:50

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I finally plowed my way through the rest of the Dragon's Eye in IWD1. After the gauntlet of various challenges to get to her, the dungeon's boss (with the crazy unpronounceable name) was pretty easy; party kicks it one room away in that torture chamber, the paladin (who's wearing those boots that double your movement speed) tells her to eat poo poo, then runs back to the torture room chamber while the druid casts entangle followed by that thorny attack in the intermediate hallway. It stopped most of her minions in their tracks, and then I pretty much threw all the undead, beetles and low-level monsters my casters could conjure up to wear her down before the paladin, F/T and F/M moved in to stab her to death. She tried conjuring cloud kill but I just moved everyone back ten feet, then she tried raising some low-level zombies and skeletons so incredibly pathetic they couldn't even reliably land a hit on my completely unarmored bard.

After I got back to town I sold off anything my party wasn't using and ended up with a little over 30k gold. I bought that sash with permanent blur and slapped it on the paladin as I can imagine it'll only help his tanking, and also picked up the unique pointy hat for my halfling F/T, making him look like a tiny viking

Any other wondrous items I'm overlooking before moving onto the next leg of the journey?

Also, I can't believe they literally made me slowly walk all the way back out of the entire six-level dungeon, for gently caress's sake.

Wolfsheim fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Jan 25, 2014

# ¿ Jan 25, 2014 10:53

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I'm having fun with my halfling F/T in IWD, but I literally only pump the trap-finding and lock-picking skills and use him as a fighter otherwise, which means no real sneaking or backstabs. He can't tank as well as my paladin, but I can't help but think a straight-thief would be objectively worse regardless.

# ¿ Jan 26, 2014 00:14

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Still playing through IWD1 and I'm up to the bit in Dorn's Deep where you fight the lich. I gotta say, it's pretty satisfying to walk into a room with a dozen wights, ghasts and other undead waiting (and an infinitely respawning amount trickling in) and just laying waste to them while cutting my way through to the boss, especially considering how much trouble they gave me early on in the first two dungeons.

Also, my bard finally got that song that regenerates health, and suddenly the amount of time I spend juggling healing spells and resting was cut substantially. Thanks, bards :toot:

# ¿ Feb 2, 2014 11:07

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I'm thinking of trying a new party out in IWD1, and I have a couple of questions about IE combat in general:

-I rolled with a F/M that seriously seemed to fall behind by the endgame; couldn't wear armor to tank, and spell progression was slow and underwhelming. I was wondering if a T/M would be more suitable, since thieves level so quickly and that way I wouldn't be kidding myself with trying to melee with this guy? Or maybe even a gnome thief/illusionist?

-Is a pure fighter better than a paladin? Aside from lazily throwing on protection from evil, I found myself rarely using his other abilities. Who am I going to use detect evil on anyway? Everything is trying to kill me regardless.

-I feel like the game wants you to play as a druid, given the over-arcing plot, but all the shapeshifting (and anything involving melee, really) felt pretty underpowered. Would a F/D be a better choice, and would I still get the same dialogue options/etc?

-Speaking of Druid spells, was the R/C thing a bug or a feature? I feel kinda scummy using what may be an obvious exploit, though it's kinda murky. Did they keep it in the BGEE?

# ¿ Feb 14, 2014 22:02

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I took a break from IWD because my team was getting absolutely wrecked in that late-game dungeon where you track down the last four bad guy badges, and I didn't have the fortitude to build a new crack team of adventurers to start fresh.

So I've picked up Torment again, grabbed all the various patches and UI mods/etc, and I will say I definitely appreciate it a little more after playing the other IE games. It's cute how the Nameless One uses embalming fluid and bandages instead of stuff like healing potions, and it feels more rewarding to carry on conversations instead of BG's normal response/threatening response/completely over-the-top wacky response bits. I do wish they didn't use that awful CGI for all the portraits and such; Torment being the storyteller, it would've been more appropriate to see the BG-esque rendered character pseudo-paintings. I guess it was the late 90s though, when people loved that poo poo.

I do have a couple of early game questions though;

-I downloaded a mod that gave you the ability to wear the dust men robes outside of the mortuary (not for gameplay reasons, I just like the way they look), but as far as I can tell the only way to get them is to kill one of the dust men. The trouble is there seems to be no way to stealthily kill a dust men without setting the alarm off; I tried to snap one of their necks in conversation, but since I'm rolling with the suggested 18 WIS/16 INT/12 CHA, my DEX is pretty low. Is there any other way to get one without then killing my way out of the mortuary?

-Is there 'safe storage' in Torment, such as in other IE games, where I can pretty much designate a specific barrel or bookshelf as I place to dump all my loot? I don't want to get rid of all my notes/etc, I don't know if any of it will be useful later :ohdear:

# ¿ Feb 18, 2014 21:11

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

scamtank posted:

1. You could join the Dustmen. They don't know you busted out of their morgue. Talk to Emoric in the Gathering Dust Bar and do his quests. A dirty PS:T secret is that you don't need to permanently commit yourself to any one faction, as long as you're alright with giving up faction perks when you leave.

2. I can only guarantee the Sensate dormitory in the Wards, but try the Open Tomb in the Mortuary square. It's curiously calm in there, you can even rest the night.

I've actually joined them when I played through a bit of the game previously, but I don't remember actually getting any robes out of the deal. I just don't want to run around in only a loincloth the entire game

# ¿ Feb 18, 2014 23:10

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

scamtank posted:

I meant that Emoric sells them, you bonghit.

He actually doesn't! I discovered this earlier tonight, having completed the final task to join the dustmen. Maybe you'd had it added with a mod? I did discover a workaround, though; shivving one of the random dustmen in the mortuary and proceeding to run like hell when the alarm goes off. Everything trying to kill you resets when you leave, so if you just make a mad dash towards the exit you won't have to kill anyone else.

Anyway, I just got to the bit where the Lower Ward opens up, which is right around where my first PST playthrough fell by the wayside, so now that I'm semi-competent with the game mechanics I'm interested to see where this goes. I was surprised at how much I missed the first time in the catacombs, too:I had no idea about the little sealed room at the back of the drowned chambers where the Nameless hid all those notes to himself; I seriously went all :aaa:

when I got to "Don't trust the skull." Also, is there a quest where I'm actually supposed to see what's up with the Silent King? Many-As-One told me to kill him, but that seemed like the kind of obviously evil and short-sightedly dumb choice the game seems to frown on the player making.

And because I'm stupid and didn't even realize Dakkon was a potential follower for like the first five hours of PST (but without spoiling anything too overtly) are there any easy-to-miss party members I should be on the lookout for now that the Lower Ward is open? Combat-wise, Annah is pretty bad and Dakkon isn't much better, so after TNO burns through his tiny spell list Morte is really the only one holding his own.

Also, it's hilarious how Cloud Kill works in this game. INSTANT DEATH :unsmigghh:

# ¿ Feb 21, 2014 11:02

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Aratoeldar posted:

As I posted earlier, there is a Dustman on the third floor of the mortuary that you can kill through dialogue choices without raising the alarm bell. Bonus: You get a memory back for snapping the Dustman's neck.

I didn't have high enough dexterity when I tried this, I'm afraid, and after you become a member that dialogue option is no longer available. Still, stabbing and running worked anyway.

Also, does the dustmen neutrality thing mean I will really no longer be attacked by any undead? Kinda seems too good to be true, and it makes me wonder how the mausoleum would've played out if I'd held off on it.

quote:

The only way I was able to see the Silent King. I had to first talk to Hargrimm and then Stale Mary.

Hargrimm's quest chain was easy enough, it didn't even occur to me there was an alternate option (other than killing everything between you and the exit, anyway). Maybe I'll look into it when I replay PST as a pure fighter (I'm not actually going to do this).

# ¿ Feb 21, 2014 20:38

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

GreatGreen posted:

Is there a mod for Baldur's Gate I and II that will isnta-rest your party until everybody is healed and all spells are recharged after every fight in a dungeon? Having to rest three times in a row after every fight and click past the resting movie is a bit tedious.

Didn't they add rest until healed? I forget. I liked the way they tweaked it in IWD where, if someone was at like 2/50 hit points, you would just rest sixteen hours instead of eight and they would be fully healed. It was at least a little less immersion-breaking than a guy squatting in one room of a cave for four days straight to recover from a particularly bad critical hit.

Also, some random PST questions, mostly about the janky combat:

-Is it worthwhile to switch classes back to fighter to implement those unused weapon proficiencies? Even as a magic-user I find myself wading into melee quite a bit, because TNO has no ranged weapon options and spells still run out pretty quick, even at higher levels.

-Similarly, should I bother pumping DEX once I've gotten both WIS, INT and CHA up there? Seems like it'd be useful no matter what.

-Does Dakkon kind of suck, or am I just using him wrong?

-I know the game lets you join whatever faction you want, but is there a specific order/timing to it I should be utilizing to avoid problems? I'm concerned that the second I leave the Dustmen I'm going to run into another dungeon chocked to the brim with undead :ohdear:

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 21:14

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Rookersh posted:

Going through the Icewind Dale series again, trying to make a thematically consistent party. ( I got to some snakeman temple as a kid, somehow savescummed my way through it, then gave up at the end of the chapter. )

Currently thinking of going Fighter/Barb/Cleric/Sorcerer/Ranger/Rogue. Am I going to be setting myself up for any sort of longterm failure? Or should that party get me through the game alright?

I haven't tried IWD2 yet, but half those classes don't exist in the first game if you're talking about playing through both. I had pretty good success with Paladin/FT/FM/Cleric/Druid/Bard though I'm a bit stuck on the last dungeon. All the AoE stuff the caster types can throw out simultaneously is obscene, though if I were starting over I'd probably skip the FM, who ended up being pretty underpowered by the endgame.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2014 20:16

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I liked my bard a lot in IWD. Pretty bad in combat, so I just kept her out of armor and either casting spells or singing. She was also the party face when dealing with merchants (18 CHA), kept me from having to burn through identify spells, and saved me from having to dump any of my thief's points into pickpocket for the half-dozen times it's actually useful.

If I were to start over I'd probably go M/T instead of F/T though, because he always lagged behind my paladin in melee combat, and taking off my plate armor multiple times per dungeon to disarm traps was incredibly annoying.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2014 20:55

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

JustJeff88 posted:

I played BG1EE last fall and had a CN Blade. I never gave a thought to him having a Familiar until I tried to have Edwin summon one and the game reminded me that only the main character can use that spell. That's what reminded me that "Hey, my main dude can cast any wizard spell in the game... eventually" and I had him call up a cat, who was a handy scout for parts of the early game. Now he's just adorable and stays in my bard's inventory.

I can see your point about the ferrett, though. It's hard to put points into pick lock when it's mostly optional and used sparingly. Bards are great for that, but if you don't have one then a ferrett could really feel a niche. Too bad they can't drink potions.

Is it worth it to actually roll with a bard as your PC in BG? They seem ridiculously gimpy compared to rolling a straight Fighter, Mage, or even a multi classed F/M.

I mean, I loved my bard in IWD, but mainly for not having to waste time with identify spells for all the +1 arrows I was tripping over.

Wolfsheim fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Apr 24, 2014

# ¿ Apr 24, 2014 23:30

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I was debating grabbing them if they went on sale, but you guys aren't exactly giving glowing recommendations. Are the three new companions worth ditching the relative stability of just playing BGT with a widescreen mod? Is there anything substantial added otherwise? I ask because I just started BG1 again and before I get too far in wonder if I should just make the leap to BGEE.

Also, now that I have a better understanding of the game in general, some random questions:

-Outside of the fact that the plot foists them on you, is there any reason to keep Khalid and Jaheira? Khalid is absolute garbage, and Jaheira's fighter class seems to just slow her leveling down instead of giving any substantial combat benefits.
-Is it viable/worthwhile to start the game as a mage, choose the Familiar and Identify spells but then immediately dual to fighter like a level later? Seems like combining the fighter's high hit points with the familiar's bonus could be potentially lucrative, and Identify is more so I could roll with Edwin without the hassle of not having it.
-Why the hell did they hide both a companion and a shop in a completely nondescript building facing away from the player in Beregost? I didn't even know he existed until my current playthrough! And he's literally the only companion with regenerating health too, making him a million times more useful than any of the other early-game companions.
-Which is better long term for fighters; two-handed weapon style, two weapon style or sword and shield?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2014 03:38

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Jabor posted:

The whole gimmick being a mage is that if you can survive level 1 (which takes a lot more xp than most other classes) with poo poo hp, poo poo thac0, poo poo weapons, no armour and virtually zero spells, you get paid off in spades later on. Struggling through level 1 mage and then going into fighter instead is a really bad plan.

That's why I asked, it seemed like I was missing something obvious :shobon:

# ¿ Jun 29, 2014 04:36

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I actually ended up getting both (so cheap) but I do notice some lag (I am playing on a very basic machine with a pretty old graphics card) which is surprising since I didn't think they would touch the actual graphics much? I dunno. Should I not be running it in windowed mode?

I like the UI layout but I kinda wish they would've kept the original fonts. Whatever basic serif typeface they're using looks straight out of a word processor. Also, what's the deal with the new character options? Just running a character through the opening scenes of both BG1+2 I noticed that each one seems to offer new voices and portraits, but different ones for each game? What? Why?

# ¿ Jun 29, 2014 21:45

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

verybad posted:

Actually, your plan wasn't that bad. Getting to level 2 isn't THAT difficult, especially as a mage since you can just mostly roll through levels ~1-5 with sleep. It's not worth doing it just for the familiar or identify spell, but for the access to mage only equipment though. The real downside to your plan is that you're not going to be able to pick a kit for your fighter class, but getting scroll casting and the ability to use wands is easily worth the trade-off. So by all means, pick a specialist mage class of your liking, roll stats for a fighter, get sleep + whatever (I recommend blind, it's op) as your first two spells, dual class when you have the chance and have fun.

Don't ignore your spellcasting ability (sleep & blind are very useful level 1 spells - sleep for killing large packs of trash monsters, blind for taking out spellcasters/other tough enemies out of the fight) and remember to use scrolls. If you're not saving a spellscroll for someone else to memorize, or for some specific purpose, just throw it in your fighter's quickbar and cast it at the first gibberling you see.

If this is a BGEE only run, you should try to max out your longbow proficiency, with extra points going into whatever back up melee weapon you like. Your initial mage proficiency point is probably best spent on daggers.

It honestly sounds like more trouble than it's worth, especially because I would want to carry it forward into BG2EE. Now toying with the idea of playing a blackguard; the benefits don't seem as baller as inquisitor, but the idea of playing an evil paladin and rolling with an all-evil crew is appealing. Do blackguards still get to wield the game-breaking paladin-exclusive sword in BG2 you guys always talk about?

# ¿ Jun 30, 2014 21:44

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Yeah, it wasn't until I was in the final dungeon in IWD that I learned that I missed out on receiving one or more elven chainmails in that one elven tower, which would have made my bard get the poo poo kicked out of her substantially less (not that she was a frontliner anyway, but IWD had a habit of having enemies come at you from behind at the worst times). RNG :argh:

# ¿ Jul 10, 2014 06:33

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I'm setting up a new playthrough of Icewind Dale because I never beat it on my now-defunct PC, and BGEE is giving my woefully outdated graphics card some issues. The first GameFAQ document I browsed for general tips suggested a team of five F/M/Cs and one F/M/T, which isn't important, but I thought it was hilarious that someone was autistic enough to think that was a good party composition. Anyway, here's what I'm thinking:

Half-elven fighter/druid - I figure this would make a good party leader due to the (seemingly arbitrary) high CHA requirement. Last time I used a bard but kept having to switch them out (because having them lead the charge into a dungeon is a terrible idea) which got annoying. The fighter bit is for general hardiness and to bypass the druid's mediocre armor restrictions.

Human fighter - I'm thinking of dumping proficiencies in large swords, because if BG taught me anything, the best late-game weapons will probably be large swords. Or is switching to great swords worthwhile? Lawful evil for kicks.

Human paladin - Because unlike BG, my previous experiences with IWD is that hacking through everything is the best strategy due to limited spellcasting options. And it's less boring than just having another fighter.

Human cleric - Every party needs one! Any reason this guy shouldn't be chaotic neutral? The idea of a roving, neutral priest is vaguely hilarious to me.

Elven thief/mage - Rolling two weak support characters into one! Also lets the mage at least shoot arrows instead of being restricted to slings. And unlike a fighter/thief, you don't have to stop and take off his good armor every twenty feet to disable another trap. Also considering a gnome illusionist/thief but unsure if the INT boost is better than the DEX boost.

Human bard - secondary spellcasting support, free identifying for most items, and those baller late-game bard songs. Proficiencies in crossbows and halberds, just so someone is using them (and the ability to stab things while hiding behind the fighter may be situationally useful).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

# ¿ Jul 15, 2014 22:42

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Ginette Reno posted:

You just gotta learn how to aim that web spell so it hits the enemies and not you. Web/entangle is probably my favorite tactic even before I have access to freedom of movement gear. I use that tactic in every infinity engine game because it's so damned effective. Just scout ahead with a stealthed or invisible character and then lure enemy groups into ambushes with entangle/webs. Then you can pick them off at your leisure with ranged weapons or nail them with area of effect spells like fireball.

A key to being effective with spells like web is to scout so you know what is coming and can plan the timing of using those spells. And later on like Sweart Gliwere said you can use the freedom of movement spell (4th level cleric/druid spell) in order to make your own party members immune to web and entangle. Then you can just tard your meleers in and not even worry about it.

There are also some rings that give freedom of movement and in bg1 there is a two handed sword that gives that attribute.

Having played through a good chunk of IWD: throwing web, entangle, then that Druid spell that causes spikes to come out of the ground for tiny amounts of ongoing damage while you just pepper enemies with arrows and have your tank melee anything that makes it through was the best option in at least 80% of the game's encounters.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2014 01:20

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I know it's not exactly IE, but is Temple of Elemental Evil worth playing? I just realized I bought it for like $1 during GOG's last winter sale.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2014 19:45

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

GuyDudeBroMan posted:

Pretty sure you have the cannon party. Nice!

Too bad the canon party is terrible

Khalid is worthless and Jaheira's fighter half seems to do her no favors. I would drop them for Viconia and...I dunno, that evil dwarven shopkeeper with 20 CON? The guy with 20 DEX who asks for help killing wyverns in Cloakwood? Literally anyone is better is than Khalid is what I'm saying.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2014 19:29

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

I don't see how anyone can stand to use Ajantis with his stupid doughy face awkwardly crammed into that helmet in his character portrait. You stay on that roadside, Ajantis! You stay there forever!

# ¿ Jul 29, 2014 04:07

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 03:40

Wolfsheim: Dec 23, 2003; "Ah," Ratz had said, at last, "the artiste."

Kubla Khan posted:

Sure, I can kiss him on the neck, or kiss him passionately, but I can't kiss him passionately on the neck? Way to drop the ball, modders.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2014 05:25

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Stopping at Infinity: Baldur's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale, Planescape:Torment.

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