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Cythereal posted:Oh, God. Don't tell me you're playing that mod I've heard about that lets Irenicus join the party and you can have a quasi-romantic relationship with him. Syvishtar, Angelo, Sarevok, Irenicus, Balthazar, and Bohdi WILL defeat Melissan together! Then she will join us too. Then we'll go after the other gods.
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Dec 6, 2011 04:54
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Wait you can get Bodhi to join you outside of that segment of Tortured Souls? I actually think having a god mode BG sequel would be really neat although it would have to be in a different genre.
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Dec 6, 2011 04:58
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Vorgen posted:Syvishtar, Angelo, Sarevok, Irenicus, Balthazar, and Bohdi WILL defeat Melissan together! Pretty sure you can't get Bodhi and Balthazar together in Ascension, unless some other mod changes that. I like going for an all-Spawn final battle throwdown, with the PC, Imoen, Sarevok and Balthazar against the Five. Possibly including Longer Road Irenicus since you give him a spark of your essence. pokie posted:I actually think having a god mode BG sequel would be really neat although it would have to be in a different genre. *Finishes BG2, loads up Black and White*
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Dec 6, 2011 13:06
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Funnily enough its been ages since I've actually seen the first dungeon from BG2 simply because I always have Chateau Irenicus installed. Basically a magical bard teleports you out of the first dungeon with all the XP and money that you would normally get. To be fair it is designed for people who have played BG2 to death though.
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Dec 6, 2011 13:51
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Miss Hime posted:Funnily enough its been ages since I've actually seen the first dungeon from BG2 simply because I always have Chateau Irenicus installed. I kinda like the first dungeon. It really fills in Irenicus' character in a way nothing else can.
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Dec 6, 2011 15:29
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Vorgen posted:I kinda like the first dungeon. It really fills in Irenicus' character in a way nothing else can. I kind of agree with you; there's some terrific character stuff in there (Ellesime's room is amazing), but if you've played the game 4-5 times, it's just a tedious slog.
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Dec 6, 2011 20:13
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I agree. The first dungeon is awesome. It has the most diverse environment of all the dungeons and a bunch of cool little encounters. I aplyed through this game like 10 times now but never got tired of it. The only dungeons I hated are the stupid mazes from BG1 like Ulcaster and Firewine since they were a bitch to navigate and made no in-game sense. Who the hell builds their magic school's basement as a maze of narrow tunnels?
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Dec 6, 2011 22:56
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Fake Update: Since I create the Let's Play minute by minute as I play the game, whenever I die I have a bunch of stuff that I have to delete going back to my last save. Well instead of deleting it I've been saving it up to show off when I don't have enough time to make a real update. So here it is, the first installment of alternate reality leaves off the multiverse tree. Sometimes I have nightmares. I see what could have been, what might be, what may yet come to pass. I have tried to ignore these memories; I have tried to suppress them. I have tried to cry them out; I have tried to scoff at them. Nothing has worked. So, instead, I will write them down. These visions. Not memories. Not memories!! I refuse to fall for that delusion of my subconscious mind again. --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. --- I send Imoen out ahead to see what's going on. She reports kobolds ahead.  I really feel like my Wild Horde has not gotten out to play quite enough as it should, so I stride forward to summon them upon my foes.  Despite their assault, the bunnies are set freeee!  I brace myself for a counter-assault, and in face many burning arrows fly out of the crowd and at me. But then the soft caress of the Weave greets me, and I immediately close my eyes in sweet, sweet slumber.  Someone heals me, but I do not care who.  I dream of bunnies walking on water, and Minsc shouting down evils.  Minsc moves slowly in my dream, and his cries go unheeded.  I sense everyone focusing their attacks on the shaman. I remain on the ground. Several of us are hit with painful arrows.  Then the kobold shaman does something that none of us expected. He summons two creatures behind Xzar!  As Xzar and Imoen's magic missiles fly towards the kobold shaman, two Hobgoblin archers spring up into existence behind Xzar, summoned by the kobold!  Finch gets hit hard with arrows, and she is almost dead. With the Boots of the Forgotten Ones on she speeds to the back of the cave to heal. At the same time, Minsc makes some headway in the gibbed kobold department.  Then my rabbits are unsummoned and the battlefield becomes more fluid.  So many things are happening at once. Mur'neth is trying to help Xzar with the hobgoblins, Minsc is getting poisoned by someone, and I am finally awake again. I try to cast Blade Shower.  Then the world fades to black and darkness overtakes us all. Gameplay note: Game crashed. --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. --- The trip to the surface is uneventful. However, on our way back to Nashkel proper we are waylaid by enemies. We hear the disgusting gurgle of a ghoul behind us.  But it seems that the real enemy was just using it as bait, because as soon as we attack it hobgoblins fire at us from all directions!  We are injured, exhausted, out of spells, and one of us is dead. I think our only option right now is escape. I call my Wild Horde to give us some cover and try to tell my party members to run north.  It works so amazingly well as a tactic that I decide to stick around and see what will happen.  We quickly murder the one lone hobgoblin that didn't go in for our ruse. I decide to try to make things a little easier down south by casting Grease.  It actually works! The magic does my every whim! The puddle of grease appears just as the rabbits disappear.  With half the hobgoblins fallen down and unconscious, Haiass and the rest of us make short work of them. Haiass slips a few times himself, though.  Then the world froze. Gameplay note: Crash again. --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. --- We find ourselves in the middle of what looks to be a desert. We're not safe yet. There is not much to do but poke around and try to find out which way we should go to get out of here. Imoen does a quick circle around the cave mouth to scout the immediate area while invisible. She finds some interesting rock formations...  She stops scouting when she finds a party of orcs.  She comes back to report her findings and we agree to follow her to kill the monsters. When we reach them, Xan immediately rushes into combat while Xzar and I cast Armor, something we should have done already. But while casting the spell, yet another horror befalls my eyes.  Mur'neth, his hands glowing from some sort of spell, moves in to attack the orcs as well. But he is... unsuccessful.   Poor sod, takin' the dirt-nap so soon.Imoen reveals herself standing next to the orcs, her hands held together at the wrist and spread wide in the manner that I remember Dynaheir taught her. She lets loose a brilliant sheet of flame!  The orcs look unimpressed. I think we might be in over our heads here. It's time we left this place. I summon my Wild Horde to give us time to escape!  I successfully make my way out of the crowd, and as we run away the explosions begin.  As the Gatewarden taught us, we stop and prepare a volley some distance away at the first orc that comes into sight. An orderly retreat is a survivable retreat is what he always said. When we see the first orc, Xzar screams out a battle cry!  When the orc's friends do not immediately show up, the single volley becomes a second stand. I'm even able to heal myself a bit.  It's a good thing I did, because this orc hits like a Minsc!  Xzar, Imoen, and I pull out all the stops. We all cast Magic Missiles. well, technically. All except for me. I cast Rhialto's Random Missiles, and zero missiles come out. drat that Rhialto!  As I try to fumble for my Ring of Energy, the orc takes out Haiass.  Damnit, the ring is still drained! The orc turns towards Xzar, and all looks lost. But finally, Imoen takes him out.  This is bad. This is real, real bad. We're 3 men down in the middle of the wilderness with no way to know even where we are. We probably won't be able to carry all the equipment of our fallen comrades, much less any of the loot that we were trying to get out of here. What are we going to do? I try to count our assets. We are two mages and a thief against whatever comes. Imoen can carry 50 pounds, Xzar and I 120. No other orcs coming after us means that the bunnies probably killed the rest of them. Maybe we can salvage this. Oh, no. That is not the case. They're just stupid.  We retreat fast enough so that the orcs don't see us. We have to recover our party's equipment! Ok, ok. I still have a Horror and three Dweomers. I could try to summon another Wild Horde. That seemed effective enough last time.   poo poo poo poo poo poo  Imoen had apparently switched to the 5 Fire Arrows that she had found on kobold coprses, and shoots one right into the face of the leading orc.  It doesn't really matter though, because there are still two more of them.  Imoen tries to make a move to grab some fallen comrade equipment, but the orc archer hits her with some kind of cold arrow.  With no other options left and the possibility of being shot in the back very real, Imoen does the only thing she can do, and gives the Orc Archer her biggest smile. It works!  Then my body is twisted and mangled beyond all recognition as the cold steel of axes bite into my flesh frighteningly easy. I only feel fear for two and a half more seconds, and then I don't feel anything at all. --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. --- We retreat fast enough so that the orcs don't see us. We have to recover our party's equipment! Ok, ok. I still have a Horror and three Dweomers. I could try to horrify them.  I see them raging, Horror is not going to work. Imoen has another plan, though.  It doesn't work either. drat ragers, never listen to reason or fear. I try to call another Wild Horde unto me.  There is a spectacularly amazing explosion of magical energy all around me, and then our weapons begin to glow with a mocking light. Does that mean the Weave wants us to melee? I try, but I just can't bring myself to stand against those huge monsters with their gigantic axes.  But that gives Imoen enough time to flash her best smile and blow a kiss to the non-raging orc archer. It works!  The orc archer is carrying some kind of ice arrows. He hits his former comrade in the back. Score!  I taunt the raged orcs and keep running, trying to lead them around in a circle with the archers inside. Imoen scores a hit with a fire arrow she picked up off a kobold corpse!  Another successful strike from our new orc buddy gives me hope that we will see this through! Time seems to have slowed and I feel like I can pay attention to every tiny little detail on the battlefield.  Finally, as the orcs change their target to Xzar and he runs away, Imoen drops one with an arrow to the back of the neck.  The final orc chases me around and around, and takes arrow after arrow. When he turns to chase Xzar I decide that I'll risk reaching for another Rhialto's Random Missiles through Nahal's.  Gameplay note: I never knew Xzar quoted Hannibal Lecter. Huh. What happens next is... unfortunate.   With no other option, and in order to save my friends, I enter melee with the orc. And a few seconds later his axe enters melee with my brainmeats. --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. --- Oh, no. That is not the case. They were just too far away to help their friend. My Wild Horde went up against them once, it can go up against them again!  No, that's not quite what I wanted... Gameplay note: Holy poo poo is that going to be permanent?! I feel extremely tough all of a sudden. Ok, lets try this again.  No, no, not like that! Who does the weave think I am, Edwin?  Why... is... the... rain... suddenly... falling... so... fast...? And... what... is... this... in... my... pocket...?  I... think... it... best... to... wait... for... the... meteoric... rain... to... stop... Eventually the time slowing wears off, and I can think at a normal speed again. I am almost at my wit's end. Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, except for leaving me with a rare gem and feeling like I'm in the best shape of my life, has been entirely unhelpful. My ring is drained, Xzar's spells are too. Imoen can't even cast Invisibility. Rhialto's book is drained, and I can get no help from him. I beg Imoen to hide and get ready to backstab someone. It is our only move left. She says that it'll be easier if she isn't wearing the studded leather armor, and takes it off. Then, fingering her Ninja-to, she looks for a shadow to hide in. I inch forward slowly, hoping to get into sight range of only one of the orcs. Xzar raises, then lowers, then raises his bow. He's obviously nervous. Both of the orcs see me and begin to rage. They remind me of Minsc when they do that. Why did we let him go? We could seriously use his expertise right now.  In order to slow the orc down for Imoen, Xzar and I both enter melee with our staffs. Imoen appears out of a winkle of twilight and shoves her ninja-to into the orc's back, but then frowns.  We all scatter and try to get in position for Plan C. The orc has other ideas about that.  I die screaming out a long "Nooooooooooooooooooo!" --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. ---  Imoen goes scouting. She disappears from our sight, and we worry constantly. At least I do, I have no idea what Xzar is thinking about.  She is gone a long time. I'm almost certain she is dead.  I'm just about to give up on her and rush off in a suicidal fury charge when I hear her call for help. We rush over to see what's going on. One of the orcs is running away from the other two!  Then begins a macabre dance, in which we try to shoot the orcs from afar with our bows while getting them to chase me, the only guy without a bow.  I feel that every moment in this fight is crucial for my very survival.  Xzar is concentrating admirably on reality here.  Imoen isn't doing half bad herself.  Our new orcish friend also chips in.  I could never do without Imoen.  While running around like a mad chicken I am able to stop by the corpse of Xan and retrieve his equipment and what he was carrying of Finch's.  I could possibly use a sling and these Sunstone bullets against our foes! Then I have an even better idea. I draw the Flame of the North myself.  Gameplay note: Some kind of strange feedback interaction between a wild surge and the Flame of the North's frost aura.[i] I stop, and I take my stand. I feel like shouting at the beast, but I do not know what I would shout. You Mell Not Fast just doesn't make sense. Imoen comes through for me at the same time, killing one of these horrible monsters.  And even though the other is barely injured, I feel like we have a chance to win this. Being wreathed in coldflame is exhilarating. I laugh in primal exhultation when the orc reaches through the blue tongues and strikes me, as I see him burned as well.  I just drink one of the Elixirs of Health that I got from the corpse of Mur'neth and keep going. That is, until the orc kills me in one blow, and I fall do the ground, surprised. --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. --- Open area, powerful enemies, unprepared? Oh, sounds like it's time for the Wild Horde to appear!  As the bunnies of doom pop into existence, Imoen lashes out with some Magic Missiles against an enemy I hadn't noticed to the south of us. I tell everyone to run east towards the temple.  It is a good thing we ran east, because some evil-feeling energy rains down on where we were. It catches Imoen and Dynaheir, who are furthest behind. We seem to just barely get away as the enemies get distracted by the rabbits. I tell everybody to keep running. The bunnies will probably not last very long against enemies this powerful.  Unfortunately, Dynaheir can't hear me, because she's dead. We reach a safe distance and, with a moment's respite, begin casting some defensive spells. Bjornin mutters a protection from evil prayer, while Branwen gives him Aid. Imoen gulps down a potion while I cast Armor.  We hear bunny-centered slaughter to the east, but also the cries of some enemies.  Then, in a moment of respite.   *A single white blossom rests on her palm. Branwen looks at it thoughtfully, then approaches you and attaches the flower to the collar of your cloak.* For luck, Syvishtar.The gesture is only appreciated if it doesn't interfere with her spellcasting rhythem. We're in battle woman! The grizzled paladin touches me then, and I am filled with the warmth of protection.  Aid and protection, protection and aid, the spells go round the circle as bunnies die behind us.  A moment later, when the enemy rushes towards us, we stand ready.  Or maybe not?  Bjornin reaches for the Flame of the North.  Then the world cracks and blackness rushes forth. --- Trunk and branch, twig and leaf, Memory is a reality thief. ---  Dynaheir gets struck and stunned, however. I don't think she's going to make it.  She doesn't. And I am Silenced.  Stunned.  Sliced.  Blinded.  And barely manage to make it away!  I find my companions buffing nearby. Bjornin throws me an Elixir of Health and I manage to gulp it down right before I am Held.  Branwen heals me anyway, bless her Viking heart.  Bjornin also protects me from evil, and Haiass too.  A golden battleaxe appears in Branwen's hand,  and soon she begins to look quite angry as well. It is just in time. It must be hard to tell who to attack when everybody's in armor and carrying melee weapons. Imoen still manages to throw some Magic Missiles at the guy casting spells.  My buddy Imoen is perfection!  The dwarf gets a serious hit in on Branwen.  But Bjornin returns it with interest.  But then there are skeletons, and Morvin drinks a heavy potion.  Imoen sprays fire over the melee fighters, just like Dynaheir taught her.  The battle becomes too chaotic, and I simply lose track of what is going on.  Everybody dies.  They save me for last.
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Dec 7, 2011 16:07
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That's a lot of crashing. You think it's the BWP's fault? I vaguely remember hearing that it was buggy.
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Dec 7, 2011 18:05
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It's reasonably buggy, but I get way fewer than 1 crash per hour for sure, so it's not a big deal. It's the other bugs that are annoying. E.g. when I got to Spellhold, Imoen wasn't there and the door out of the dungeon (the big head) wouldn't open after it said it opened.  . Thankfully there are cheats for that.By the way, Vorgen, do you know if there are any places besides underdark where Freedom is useful (the 9th level spell)?
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Dec 8, 2011 00:05
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Boneless Jogger posted:That's a lot of crashing. You think it's the BWP's fault? I vaguely remember hearing that it was buggy. Its hard to say what's causing it. It might have been that I only had allocated 1gig of memory to the virtual machine during those times. Aside from those crashes I haven't seen any more lately. pokie posted:By the way, Vorgen, do you know if there are any places besides underdark where Freedom is useful (the 9th level spell)? It would be useful after you fight someone who uses Imprisonment and they imprison some of your party... like fighting kangaxx the demi-lich. But I don't know of any other quest-related places where you can cast Freedom. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Dec 8, 2011 |
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Dec 8, 2011 00:12
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Cool, thanks. I just ran into the illithid layer in underdark and it's loving impossible. I guess it would be fine if I had the usual cheese of Mordenkainen's sword, but I don't. I have a fighter with AC -17 but they kill him in a few hits anyway. How on Earth? The feedback for their attacks seems off as some of my chars just died without being targeted by anything as far as I can tell. It's infuriating. Any tips?
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Dec 8, 2011 01:38
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pokie posted:Cool, thanks. I just ran into the illithid layer in underdark and it's loving impossible. I guess it would be fine if I had the usual cheese of Mordenkainen's sword, but I don't. I have a fighter with AC -17 but they kill him in a few hits anyway. How on Earth? The feedback for their attacks seems off as some of my chars just died without being targeted by anything as far as I can tell. It's infuriating. Any tips? They suck the brains out of you, lowering your INT. If your INT reaches zero then you die, no matter how low your AC is or how many hps you have. From what I remember they enjoy confusing and dazing and other things, so you can protect against that with the divine spell Chaotic Commands. You still have to worry about their int-based damage though, so try to hold or daze or incapacitate them in return to keep them away from your low-int players. Alternatively, have your high-int mage tank them  . There's also a helmet that you can use I think that protects against illithid brain-sucking. Not sure though.Also you say Mordekainen's sword cheese, but throwing waves of summoned creatures at them is a valid tactic, whether its elementals, gibberlings, or summoned swords.
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Dec 8, 2011 02:30
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I am aware of Int drain. I killed many a dragon via Time Stop +shape Change into Illithid, eat its brains combo. But they have to hit you in melee with their face tentacles to actually suck out the brains. I was tracking my fighter's progress and his int was fine. He would just up and die. This was especially true of my mage who wasn't even in contact with a mind flayer at the time. The same thing happened to some summons I tried. M's sword used to work great since it's immune to weapon damage, int damage and mind effects. Anywho, after much reloading I beat them using improved haste on my low AC fighter and using choke points and not killing their umber hulks so that I could crush one mind flayer at a time. The I got like 200,000 xp killing the brain since it keeps summoning adamantine golems and takes forever to kill.
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Dec 8, 2011 02:45
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I dunno what to tell you man. Maybe someone was using Finger of Death or something? I just realized that I might lead a full party into the Underdark and then emerge alone, if at all. So many ways to get gibbed down there...
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Dec 8, 2011 03:00
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Vorgen posted:I dunno what to tell you man. Maybe someone was using Finger of Death or something? I'd recommend doing the Ust Natha stuff fast and leaving the Illithid and Beholders for later. You can always go back to the Underdark in Chapter Six if you want.
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Dec 8, 2011 03:04
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Nope, not finger of death - I was tracking the feedback messages and there was nothing going on there. It was weird. Ah well, 'tis over now.sebzilla posted:I'd recommend doing the Ust Natha stuff fast and leaving the Illithid and Beholders for later. You can always go back to the Underdark in Chapter Six if you want. Wait, you can? I thought you could never go back.
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Dec 8, 2011 03:28
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pokie posted:Wait, you can? I thought you could never go back. Pretty sure there's nothing to stop you wandering back through the Underdark Exit if you feel like it.
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Dec 8, 2011 03:38
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sebzilla posted:Pretty sure there's nothing to stop you wandering back through the Underdark Exit if you feel like it. But wouldn't that be sequence breaking?
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Dec 8, 2011 04:33
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Brainamp posted:But wouldn't that be sequence breaking? I don't see why.
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Dec 8, 2011 04:35
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sebzilla posted:I don't see why. Maybe it just feels like it.
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Dec 8, 2011 04:39
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This was something I tested a few times back in the day: The only areas you can't return to are Brynnlaw, the sea battle, The Sahuagin City and Chez Irenicus. You can walk right back in the way you came out.
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Dec 8, 2011 11:24
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AJ_Impy posted:This was something I tested a few times back in the day: The only areas you can't return to are Brynnlaw, the sea battle, The Sahuagin City and Chez Irenicus. You can walk right back in the way you came out. I don't think you can get back into Ust Natha after you've finished that quest line, but I could be wrong.
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Dec 8, 2011 11:32
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sebzilla posted:I don't think you can get back into Ust Natha after you've finished that quest line, but I could be wrong. You can go back there, but you are no longer disguised. It turns violent.
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Dec 8, 2011 11:36
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AJ_Impy posted:You can go back there, but you are no longer disguised. It turns violent. Oh cool, I thought the doors stayed locked.
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Dec 8, 2011 12:04
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Has anyone tried Jan's Extended Quest? I can't seem to find the shipment in the docks? By the way, Underdark should be fine for you, Vorgen, as long as you don't go there with a level 11 party like I have. Local merchants sell M.'s sword spell so illithid lair should be doable and that was the only very tough part for me. pokie fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Dec 9, 2011 |
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Dec 9, 2011 07:40
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pokie posted:Has anyone tried Jan's Extended Quest? I can't seem to find the shipment in the docks? If I remember correctly, it's in one of the containers near Cromwell's house. It's been a long time since I played Jan's quest though. Edit: Try the containers right at the entrances to the docks too. gwendibley fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Dec 9, 2011 |
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Dec 9, 2011 12:08
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^^^ Nah, I tried every drat container on the map again  .Thanks for the tip but I couldn't find the desired object in any of the outside containers at the docks. It's quite annoying. I might load a backup save tomorrow and replay it up to this quest just to make sure it triggered right. I had some nasty quest glitches in Underdark like Phaere's dialog being interrupted and her not giving me fake dragon eggs - I had to advance the quest via the console and edit eggs into my inventory. Also when you are supposed to rescue Phaere with Sola from mind flayers, Sola got himself killed before I could reach him. I guess that teaches me not to leave invisible pit fiends running around. I had to teleport to him to save his butt. pokie fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Dec 10, 2011 |
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Dec 9, 2011 12:20
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sebzilla posted:Pretty sure you can't get Bodhi and Balthazar together in Ascension, unless some other mod changes that. Balthazar will only join a lawful good PC if they make a great argument about why he should join them. Bodhi will only join an evil PC if they also make a great argument. I'm pretty sure there's a spell of Change Alignment in the high-level cleric spell list. At least there was in the Darkest Day. We'll have to see.
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Dec 10, 2011 09:23
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Yep, there is a similar spell sold around Waukeen's Promenade. There are also boots (sold in Nashkel) that change you to the opposite alignment. By the way, Vorgen, you mentioned that we could come back to BG1 from BG2, I think. How is that possible? Do you use that teleport spell or something like that? I definitely can't travel there overland.
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Dec 10, 2011 11:17
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 Midsummer, 1369 There was something I remember other monks saying back in Candlekeep. It was "May you live in interesting times." Then they'd laugh as if they had just made a huge joke. I just thought they were weird then, but now I think I'm starting to understand the joke. My life, as it currently stands, would probably make for a decent story to read about in a book. But living it is not so fun. I'm losing count of how many times people have died around me, whether fighting on my side or against me. Why do I, of all people, see so very much death? Edwin asks me where the Adventurer's Robe is that he was wearing. I direct him to the mule. But then he says its not there. I look myself, and realize that Dynaheir was wearing it when she died. And we just left it there, along with the Teddy Bear of Protection! Man, that was days ago! Those mercs that jumped me undoubtedly looted that stuff. I don't have anything else to say, so I just shrug and give Edwin the scroll I bought for him. I act like it's nothing. Maybe he'll be secretly impressed.  He better be. I've given him the only level 2 spell he knows.  Gameplay note: I think getting Mirror Image is the point at which mages start to become better than fighters in every way. Multiple images that fake people out so that they couldn't hit you if they tried? It works every time. And Edwin can re-cast it 3 times so he's pretty much untouchable. I give Jaheira the scimitar we've been saving for her. She just looks at me as if I'm crazy. She says she prefers the crossbow and can we please get her some more bolts. So we stop by Thunderhammer Smithy yet again. I sell the scimiar.  Then as I'm standing there, trying to figure out what to do next, Imoen shows me a green ring on her palm. I look at it as if it was an alien artifact. Why is she showing this to me? She clears her throat, and I look at her. She tells me it's Joseph's. Oh. Right.  We should probably return that. We pull Bjornin away from admiring the Sukien Holy Armor and start on our way to Nashkel yet again. Gameplay note: The paladin-only EQ for sale here and at the Song of the Morning temple is one of the big reasons why I wanted to bribe Bjornin to join us. There are no other paladins until we get to Amn.   The city changes, but the fools within are always the same. On the way we are ambushed by a pack of wild dogs. Fearing the worse, both Edwin and I panic at the same moment and quickly flash in some Mirror Images.  Branwen completes a desperate prayer to her god, and we feel the rhythm of the Chant course through us. But when all the dogs are dead, and our mule wanders back over to us from where it had been avoiding the fight, all is quiet.  Some days must be good days, right? They can't all be ambushes of overwhelming numbers and ferocity. Can they? We keep on down the road.  When we arrive it is dark. The entire journey took 12 hours. I wish we had horses. Joseph's wife's house is locked. We will have to spend the night at the inn and try again in the morning. Why is it that Imoen always seems to just disappear whenever we enter an Inn? Does she have to really go or something?  Edwin suddenly yells out "Yes! I get it now!" We try not to look at him directly.    Gameplay note: Edwin can re-cast Mirror Image 4 times now. Good luck hitting him, mercenailures!  The next day, we walk down the length of Nashkel's fine street to Joseph's wife's house. On the way, we see that fat guy Oublek again, and stop to chat.   What bounties are currently unclaimed? Our captain of the guard is still on the loose. Keep your blade ready if you get anywhere near him. Very dangerous, he is. There is also a bit of foolishness with a local artist named Prism. Stole a couple of emeralds, he did. We seek their return, though Prism's fate is of little concern.I look at Imoen, by my face and cock of my eyebrow asking her if we still have Prism's emeralds. She shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders a bit. It must have totally slipped our minds to turn them in instead of selling them for cold, hard cash. This captain of the guard is worth looking into, though. At Joseph's wife's house...  We found this Greenstone ring, but I'm afraid we think he's dead. He's... he's dead. My Joseph is dead. We're very sorry for your pain. Here, have this ring to remember him with. Thank... you. Thank you for bringing me the news.As we all smile and make conciliatory noises, I realize that I have never seen this woman before in my life. I am insane.   You are a valient companion. Don't let these foolish thoughts deceive you. I thank you for your encouragement, but these cursed itches and irritations of doubt will not leave me alone. As we travel, I find my condition harshly and horribly reminding me of some weakling princess, born in an ivory tower: you have saved me, befriended me, and now my mind softens and oft wanders to the thoughts of hearth and family instead of my hammer and helmet. 'Tis disconcerting. Thinking of hearth and family is not a sign of weakness, Branwen. The most fearless of soldiers are those who fight for their hearth, and home, and the loved ones. Syvishtar, 'tis not an ordinary doubt. My future course and fortune depend on whether I am resolved to be stalwart or resigned to become soft. Will I recover my former self again, or will I fade and mellow, like a mountain does when it diminishes to a hill? *sigh* Um, nevermind.I am completely baffled by this whole conversation. It is totally outside my experience growing up in Candlekeep. I do not know what else to do... *remain silent*We walk out, and I decide that we should try to hunt down the former captain of the guard, Brage. But I do not know where to look for him. I decide that we should just explore the wilderness areas around Nashkel and we must eventually run into him. Besides, I feel like I don't know this area nearly as well as I should. I choose a direction mostly at random, and we set off!  When we reach a significant-looking area, we stop. Something tells me that we will find important things in this part of the forest. Probably because it has a name - Fire Leaf Forest. Strangely enough, though, Haiass is nowhere to be seen. We wander through the trees for a while until we meet a man in yellow robes.  And who might you be, old man? Well... well, welcome. I am so happy to see anyone but the undead moving about in the area! I am Ordolath and I atke my sabbaticals here... You know, sometimes it's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Baldur's Gate... That's all really nice, but what in the nine hells do you want from me? Nothing special, friend, hehe. It was my poor fortune that made me forget my candle when preparing for this trip. Without my candle I am not able to write in my diary or read my books. The nights here are very dark... You just can't imagine what that means to such a book-lover like me! So I have an offer to make you. If you will spend a few days to help me and bring me my little wax treasure, I will reward you as best I can! And do not believe the reward will be a poor one! Apart from 1000 gp, I can offer you a precious item that I'm sure you will like... So? Would you help me? Sounds interesting, tell us where can we find your house so we bring you that... candle. Excellent! From the first time I saw you, you appeared to be trustworthy! My house, young friend, is in the northern part of the Gates, not far from Northern Ward. It is a white house behind the blue mage-tower. You can't miss it. Well, please hurry. I will be awaiting your return impatiently. See you soon!This guy must have been out here for a long time if he doesn't know that Baldur's Gate is closed and nobody can get in or out. Oh well, I'll make a note of it and hope to remember his house by the time I finally get into that city, if I ever do! We continue to walk around, searching for anything out of the ordinary. A little kid is out of the ordinary, way out here!   'Scuse me? I ever so sowwy to bother, but could you help me? I've lost my little dog and I can't find him. He's probably ever so scared right now. Certainly little one, I would be glad to aid you. How will I recognize him? You will? Oh thank you so vewy much! I just know he'll be alright now! Poor Rufie isn't used to strange places an' people. You're sure to know him when you see him, cuz he's just the cutest little thing. Here, take this as well. His favorite chew-toy it is. He'll know you're a friend if you have it in your hands. Thank you so much again! This looks strangely familiar...  Wow, I wonder if the dogs will look the same, since the toys look the same! A few minutes later, we come across some kind of cliff face in the forest.  We can't seem to find a way around, so we have to take another route. And it's a good thing we do, because otherwise we wouldn't be able to meet the fastest dart thrower in the west!  I have no desire to fight a pair of idiots, nor am I going to give you any of our money. Get lost. HEAR THAT ZAL! Seems they don't take you seriously. Guess it's time to show what for, huh? Sorry guys, but you're in for a world of hurt. Edwin starts off with a very strong showing.  But the fastest dart thrower in the west has a bead on me, and I begin to feel it!  Bjornin makes sure the tide of battle is in our favor.  Gameplay note: Every time Bjornin hits someone he gets 6 damage. I'm almost certain it is because of his spear Revenger. But since he has 50 hit points I consider it to be an acceptable trade-off. Branwen's Chant takes effect just as Imoen hits Zal with some missiles of her own - magic ones!  Edwin follows suit.  And Branwen finishes him off.  Finally, some bandits that were easy to kill! I'm so relieved.  She likes 'em so much, she can carry 'em. We give her Vax's and Zal's scalps. Vax has some very interesting equipment on him.  There are fifty of these poisoned daggers!   Was Vax some kind of idiot-savant ninja? Zal was certainly trying to be the fastest dart in the west.  And he had five of these...  And one of these...  Strangely enough he also had a really amazing spear.  I feel like these guys should have put up more of a fight than they did. Oh well, no biggie. I give the spear to Bjornin and pack the rest of the stuff away on the mule. They will certainly be useful to some of our buddies back in the Jovial Juggler. There is one more thing - a pair of boots. But Finch's glasses don't seem to be able to identify more than three things per day, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow before we can find out what those do. With that in mind, and darkness falling around us, I realize that we should make camp. So we do. When it is time to hit the blankets, Branwen asks me something.  Yes, ever since Gorion died, and I was forced to fight for my dear life. I am used to nightmares, Branwen, do not worry. 'Tis awful. I see how these deaths twine into your dreams and wear you down.HOW DID SHE KNOW?! Mayhap a sleeping draught... No, Branwen, no sleeping draught will help. These are visions, not dreams. You sound so sure, Syvishtar. So be it. but you need only to ask for my help, should you change your mind.If only I truly was sure. We sleep, and I do not dream. Not this night. The next morning, I am awakened by the sound of northwoman laughter.  Imoen also has a chance to check out the boots in the morning, and yells in delight at what she finds.  Hmmm, Branwen already moves fast with her Boots of the Forgotten Ones. Who else in our party needs to be speedy and swift? Imoen says she prefers her Spider's Boots of Stealth. I think I will take these. I need to be able to run out of danger and far enough away to cast a spell. I put them on, and then Branwen and I run ahead of the rest of the party, scouting everything faster than I have ever moved before! I am proud to stand among such strong warriors.We begin our day's patrol yet again. What we find this day defies all explanation.   Why would an xvart, a kobold, and a tasloi be wandering around calling themselves Larry, Darryl, and Darryl? See Darryl, I told you these guys were the wrong generation!And then they walk off. And so do we. Later, there are some abandoned huts, overridden with wolves. Perhaps Larry, Darryl, and Darryl used to live here but were driven out by the ferocious beasts?  We all started off by casting varying amounts of Magic Missiles at them.  But I don't feel like I can help out in melee until I cast Mirror Image.  Not that I need to...  The last one is taken out by a barrage of missiles.  There is nothing else to do, since none of us have a skinning knife. We keep patrolling. Later, to my eternal torment, we find more hobgoblin archers.  Since they all decide to attack me, I decide to attak all of them in return.    The key is in the sweeping motion. We mop up the survivors.    That was a lot eaiser than I remember it being before. We might be actually learning from our mistakes here. I find the 'great outdoors' to be chaotic and dirty. It needs a shaping will to slap the beasts into proper order. I wish I could spend more time in the forest. It feels so alive. I don't like the way this group is turning out. Better leadership might help.Maybe if we had more fighting and less wandering around I wouldn't have to hear so much useless crap from people. We do more wandering and find more wolves.  Again, Bjornin is the man to take care of business.  They are not a threat. We eventually make our way over the stream and into some more forested areas. It is there that we find Rufie. He attacks Edwin for some reason, but calms down when he sees me carrying his chew toy.  He follows us as we walk around, so we take him towards Albert.  We are interrupted by a strange woman, though.  Who are you, and what do you want? I am Sendai, of the noble merchant house of Argrims, foremost family in Amn. Delgod, Alexander and I have come out here to hunt game. Though perhaps you would make for better sport. I assume you would have no problem with this?Oh no, not again. More mecenaries? What kind of monster would hunt his fellow human like a wild animal? Of course I was not serious. What I said, I did in jest. You with your barbarian mentality would of course misconstrue my meaning. Sure lady. We'll be going now. Goodbye peasants. I wish you luck on your journeys, you'll probably need it.Oooookaayyyyy. Moving on, we finally get Rufie back to Albert. The reunion is heartwarming.  Awww, the little boy has his dog back...  What in the...  nine hells? Literally!? I have no earthly idea what that just was. But it gave us a Black Opal.  Not too bad for a demon's fetch quest. I think we've got this area pretty much figured out, but before we go there's something that was tickling the back of my mind. There was some kind of hole near that old guy, wasn't there? We go back to check. Yes there is!  And in it we find the scrolls that Vax and Xal were talking about!  The scrolls are of Chromatic Orb and Cloudkill. Cloudkill is quite interesting!  As a level 5 spell, I won't be able to cast it for quite a while, unless I get really lucky with Nahal's Reckless Dweomer. But of course I will try. The Chromatic Orb I give to Edwin. Look at him, with almost as many level 1 spells as Xzar! These little magelings that follow me around are so cute.  With everything patrolled and everyone spoken to or killed, I can officially declare the Fire Leaf Forest to be safe from bandits!  Vorgen fucked around with this message at 13:30 on Dec 18, 2011 |
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Dec 10, 2011 14:02
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I just spent the last day catching up with the thread and have to say you're doing a fantastic job! BG 2 Is one of my all time favorite games but I never gave the original much of a chance. I always found low levels in games like DnD tedious but you've turned it into something very entertaining. I do have a question; do your companions keep their levels and skills when you port it over to BG 2 or will Imoen always be a thief/rogue for example.
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Dec 10, 2011 16:33
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Vorgen posted:"May you live in interesting times."  Aww, too bad about the teddy bear of protection. I also wondered if Revenger was cursed or something. Guess it's "or something", then.
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Dec 10, 2011 17:29
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vilkacis posted:I also wondered if Revenger was cursed or something. Guess it's "or something", then. It is cursed. If I remember right, it's actually from the unmodded game and is a very powerful weapon by unmodded BG1 standards, but with the caveat that it's cursed and hurts the wielder with every blow.
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Dec 10, 2011 17:34
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It appears to be a modified form of the original game's Backbiter, but I don't know if it replaces it or if they co-exist.
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Dec 10, 2011 17:56
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Toes posted:I just spent the last day catching up with the thread and have to say you're doing a fantastic job! BG 2 Is one of my all time favorite games but I never gave the original much of a chance. I always found low levels in games like DnD tedious but you've turned it into something very entertaining. I do have a question; do your companions keep their levels and skills when you port it over to BG 2 or will Imoen always be a thief/rogue for example. I'm pretty sure that the companions that stay companions for the BG2 portion of the game keep their stats and skills. Imoen, Jaheira, and Minsc most definitely. A lot of these people won't join with us again after we go to Amn, or if they do they show up as bit parts only.
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Dec 10, 2011 18:25
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That demon freaked me right the gently caress out the first time I ran across him.
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Dec 10, 2011 21:22
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Man, you didn't fight the Amnian berserker party for good loot? I'm guessing you tried and failed a few times. They're a pretty tough bunch.
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Dec 10, 2011 21:57
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Vorgen, is there any particular reason you want that paladin armor? BWP scatters armor with AC -1 like like wind does autumn leaves. VVV Hehe. Btw, have you played the mod that summons an army of enemies to Umar Hills and has you protect Minister Lloyd against them? They all seem to be epic level and summon multiple planetars. It's really really bad. pokie fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Dec 11, 2011 |
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Dec 10, 2011 22:44
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Olive Branch posted:Man, you didn't fight the Amnian berserker party for good loot? I'm guessing you tried and failed a few times. They're a pretty tough bunch. No, I was trying to roleplay it. Syvishtar isn't quite yet at the point where he will aggressively start fights with people. pokie posted:Vorgen, is there any particular reason you want that paladin armor? BWP scatters armor with AC -1 like like wind does autumn leaves. Its solid gold. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Dec 11, 2011 |
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Dec 11, 2011 03:51
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