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Just caught up to this point, man this thread is amazing. Normally I can't stand to sit through screenshot LPs, but yours is quite entertaining! Now I need to reinstall Baldur's Gate and get these drat mods, gently caress...
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Dec 12, 2011 20:40
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So I just went out and bought BG1 and 2 from GoG because of this LP. I meant to play these games a long time ago but this thread pushed me over the edge. I was just looking for some opinions though, having never played the game before should I install this mod (or others?) or simply play the game vanilla at first. I wonder how many of the changes make the game outright better and how many simply give you more to do. What does everybody think?
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Dec 15, 2011 00:18
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You absolutely should play the games (nearly) vanilla for your first time. I'd recommend getting BG Trilogy or EasyTutu, since it just updates BG1 to use BG2's version of the engine without changing any of the content. Other than that, the G3 fixpack and maybe some of the convenience stuff in the G3 tweak-pack is perfectly fine.
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Dec 15, 2011 01:07
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Walrus Pete posted:You absolutely should play the games (nearly) vanilla for your first time. I'd recommend getting BG Trilogy or EasyTutu, since it just updates BG1 to use BG2's version of the engine without changing any of the content. Other than that, the G3 fixpack and maybe some of the convenience stuff in the G3 tweak-pack is perfectly fine. Basically this. I'd mostly recommend using Tutu, since while BG Trilogy is nice and what the BWP uses (It automatically moves you into BG2 at the end of BG1. Tutu just ends, and you have to transfer your character manually like normal BG1) it also is a bit more buggy than Tutu. There are a few changes to the balance due to the BG2 engine doing things different, though. Still, I'd recommend it. The changes aren't anything major anyway. Edit: BG1 Tutu does have one bug that is pretty bad though, so make sure you get the fix for it if you do end up installing it. Boneless Jogger fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Dec 15, 2011 |
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Dec 15, 2011 01:12
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I'd say throw the BG1NPC pack in, too. Especially if you're playing the games because you've enjoyed this thread. Silent NPCs are boring.
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Dec 15, 2011 01:22
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sebzilla posted:I'd say throw the BG1NPC pack in, too. Especially if you're playing the games because you've enjoyed this thread. Silent NPCs are boring. I'd say ignore this, That way you can appreciate the extra dialogue more when you play yourself.
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Dec 15, 2011 02:10
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Boneless Jogger posted:Basically this. I'd mostly recommend using Tutu, since while BG Trilogy is nice and what the BWP uses (It automatically moves you into BG2 at the end of BG1. Tutu just ends, and you have to transfer your character manually like normal BG1) it also is a bit more buggy than Tutu. Sounds fair enough, one question though. I've played ALOT of DnD both on paper and in various RPGs and I'm really bored with all the base classes as i've played them all numerous times. I see all these weird classes in this LP which I'm assuming are part of some mod. Does the vanilla game at least have prestige classes to run through or do I only get the base stuff? Is there a decent mod that just adds some more interesting classes to the mix?
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Dec 15, 2011 03:05
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Aren't prestige classes 3rd edition DnD? Either way, in straight vanilla BG you can only choose the core classes. I think tutu lets you adds in the sub-classes from BG2 and let's you change some of your companions, but I'm not sure. Just trying to get the thing to run myself, and it's been hell.
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Dec 15, 2011 03:18
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Agent355 posted:Does the vanilla game at least have prestige classes to run through or do I only get the base stuff? Is there a decent mod that just adds some more interesting classes to the mix? This is 2E, so no, those don't exist yet. You get kits instead. It's not really possible to add new classes but there is a ton of kit mods. Take a look at the mod list for links, but be aware that many of them suck. This is probably better suited to the general BG thread in Games, though.
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Dec 15, 2011 03:18
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Excellent LP. I can't stress that enough. Having said that, maybe I'm just an evil human being, but part of me wishes that we didn't abuse resurrection as much as we are doing. Death seems to be a mere slap on the wrist here. I seem to remember that it was possible to have party members irreversibly explode into tiny pieces of gore if they were hit hard enough, though I'm guessing that one of the mods removed that from the game. I wouldn't mind seeing a couple of our NPCs spontaneously disintegrate into nothingness and become unavailable, in the same way our former friends Montaron and Eldoth have. Considering we're doing this semi-ironman, the decisiveness and finality of such things appeal to me. Honestly, our NPC frat pack could use a culling. Am I alone in thinking this?
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Dec 15, 2011 08:14
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Jay Rust posted:Excellent LP. I can't stress that enough. No you're not alone, and it will happen. No mod removed the possibility for party members to explode into chunks, it's just that nobody has gotten hit hard enough for that to happen yet. But if it does, I promise you here and now on this day that I will not reload. Instead I will look forward, to a future filled with the tears of the fanboys of that particular character. As we get higher level I expect that to begin happening somewhat regularly. Lots of mages know Disintegrate, and I think if you get hit with a melee attack that takes you to a significant fraction of your hit point total in negative hit points you can't be resurrected either. Don't worry man, the day is coming. Perhaps the werewolves will be the first to chunk a mage, or the horror that drove Durlag insane will take our companions as well. Who knows? There is a disadvantage in us constantly resurrecting people, also. I'm still pretty much broke and in random dropped gear. It's something. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Dec 15, 2011 |
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Dec 15, 2011 08:27
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Explosion happens at -20 HP, so yeah it won't be long.
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Dec 15, 2011 09:32
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Jay Rust posted:Having said that, maybe I'm just an evil human being, but part of me wishes that we didn't abuse resurrection as much as we are doing. Death seems to be a mere slap on the wrist here. You've obviously never run a DND character that you loved and was blown to pieces. When that happens you're supposed give Death the old middle finger and strut out of the afterlife like a smug motherfucker.
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Dec 15, 2011 11:19
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It might have been more interesting if they had kept the rule that Raise Dead lowers the target's CON by 1 every time. It's not that much of a problem in a CRPG that only uses the stat for HP (there's a pretty long stretch where one point this way or that does nothing) but it would at least put a hard cap on how often you can do it.
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Dec 15, 2011 21:57
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vilkacis posted:It might have been more interesting if they had kept the rule that Raise Dead lowers the target's CON by 1 every time. It's not that much of a problem in a CRPG that only uses the stat for HP (there's a pretty long stretch where one point this way or that does nothing) but it would at least put a hard cap on how often you can do it. This would be great if only because itd mean Shar-Teel would be dead and buried in a ditch somewhere by now.
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Dec 16, 2011 02:50
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does that restriction also apply to Resurrection? We can buy Resurrection instead of Raise Dead from a temple, it just costs more. Also I remember in BG2 that elves could only be resurrected by Resurrection rather than Raise Dead. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
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Dec 16, 2011 02:51
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The real question is, does the temple offer Reincarnation? Because it seems like you could do wonderful things with a Shar-Teel reincarnated as a bugbear.
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Dec 16, 2011 02:57
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Vorgen posted:does that restriction also apply to Resurrection? We can buy Resurrection instead of Raise Dead from a temple, it just costs more. Also I remember in BG2 that elves could only be resurrected by Resurrection rather than Raise Dead. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. It worked like that in the neverwinter nights games IIRC.
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Dec 16, 2011 04:09
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Vorgen posted:does that restriction also apply to Resurrection? We can buy Resurrection instead of Raise Dead from a temple, it just costs more. I went and looked it up. Resurrection does bring a character back at full health with no ill effects, but instead, it ages the caster three years and incapacitates them for one day per the resurrected character's level. Realistically, with the penalties in effect, this would be something money can't buy. In the game, I guess the only difference is how much HP you come back with? Vorgen posted:Also I remember in BG2 that elves could only be resurrected by Resurrection rather than Raise Dead. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Yes, it's supposed to work on "any living creature, including elves". (Raise Dead supposedly only works on dwarves, gnomes, half-elves, halflings and humans, but specifically notes that other creatures may be allowed depending on the DM's decision.)
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Dec 16, 2011 04:29
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vilkacis posted:I went and looked it up. Resurrection does bring a character back at full health with no ill effects, but instead, it ages the caster three years. Wow, I didn't know that. But then in 2nd edition Haste ages the target by a year. So the average human BG party member would be close to dying of old age before the endgame. I think this was actually implemented in the old Goldbox games.
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Dec 16, 2011 09:58
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Vorgen posted:No you're not alone, and it will happen. No mod removed the possibility for party members to explode into chunks, it's just that nobody has gotten hit hard enough for that to happen yet. I have just played through most of BG2 with more or less the same mods as you and had nobody gibbed to death. I know that it's possible, but it hasn't happened once in the modded playthrough. The worst that ever happened was getting Gavin turned to stone and when I turned him back he wouldn't move. So I killed him and res-ed him with the rod. I have to agree that your party seems indigent due to constant res-es, however. That loots from Dark Horizons mod's aassassins alone saw me through most of BG1.
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Dec 16, 2011 10:24
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pokie posted:I have just played through most of BG2 with more or less the same mods as you and had nobody gibbed to death. I know that it's possible, but it hasn't happened once in the modded playthrough. The worst that ever happened was getting Gavin turned to stone and when I turned him back he wouldn't move. So I killed him and res-ed him with the rod. What difficulty were you on? If you aren't on Core or above there's no permadeath IIRC. Not that it's frequent anyway, but that might be the reason.
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Dec 18, 2011 04:27
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Boneless Jogger posted:What difficulty were you on? If you aren't on Core or above there's no permadeath IIRC. Not that it's frequent anyway, but that might be the reason. I never got how being gibbed or disintegrated meant the character died permanently, at least in Baldur's Gate 2. After all, even in 2nd edition you only needed part of the body to use Resurrection.
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Dec 18, 2011 04:56
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:I never got how being gibbed or disintegrated meant the character died permanently, at least in Baldur's Gate 2. After all, even in 2nd edition you only needed part of the body to use Resurrection. I thought Resurrection didn't need a piece at all, and it was Raise Dead that did. That was why Resurrection was so expensive.
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Dec 18, 2011 18:22
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 3 Eleasias, 1369 We did not find officer Brage here, and so we must needs explore more areas around Nashkel. I do not want to go back, but I think it is for the best that we head back to the Valley of the Tombs where we were attacked by those orcs the last time. I didn't see any of the tombs there, and I want to. It is going to be a 36 hour journey, though.  We decide to rest before we leave. But we are awaken from our rest by a large war party of xvarts?  Aren't these little blue bastards ever going to leave us alone? They attack our pack mule first, the little cowards!  Imoen does like Dynaheir taught her, and xvarts go down.  The rest of the little bastards fall without much fanfare.  Bjornin takes all their short swords and loads them up on the pack mule, just out of general principles.  Then we try to camp out once again before heading off, but this time the pungent smell of the grave disturbs our rest. Awakening, we find ourselves under attack by skeletons! Branwen immediately calls out to Tempus to save us. The nearest skeletons immediately begin to run away. This woman is powerful!  I don't have time to waste on the undead, so I unleash my ring once again.   Bjornin and I take the skeletons out in a few seconds. Mission accomplished.  I also load up all the skeletons' halberds and bows, also on general principles. And you know what? We're going back to Nashkel to rest. Screw this wilderness camping.  We arrive without incident. We stop by the Nashkel Store to see how much we can sell all this crap for. Adding in Revenger, the magical ninja weapons, and some other stuff we didn't need, we end up with about 1200 gold more than we started. Not bad! Hopefully we can keep up this trend of making money instead of spending it. Then we head to the Inn. Since we are going to the Valley of the Tombs, both Branwen and Jaheira memorize two Sunscorch spells each. Gameplay note: Undead get hit 1d6 points of damage +2 per level of the caster. For Branwen that's 1d6 + 8, and for Jaheira its 1d6 + 4. Nice and powerful against the abominations. It will take us two days of traveling to get back to the Valley of the Tombs. We might as well leave now.  We travel without ambushes, because the ambushes are waiting for us when we arrive!   It has been my experience, that in the matters of life and death it is always beneficial to lie. But you can be truthful with these goons, if you wish - they have this particular look about them... how should I call it? Ah, 'pawns doomed to be slaughtered momentarily.' Yes, my name is Syvishtar. What of it? That is good. My companions and I have tracked you for many days and I am to give you a message. You and your friends are to die. Your interference with the Iron Throne may have caused some minor setbacks, but die knowing that your actions were mostly futile.We are in a relatively good position, with a cliff face east of us. We run north in order to try to get some sort of choke point going.  But one of Lamalha's companions is waiting for us up here! I order everybody to keep running. We can deal with her first, but not before we're in position.  There are a lot of divine energies being released south of us. It prickles my skin.  Out of nowhere comes an Unholy Blight, hitting Bjornin a little. He seems to be only angered more by it, though.  We all begin to cast our first spells, in preparation for the fight to come. I try to summon my Wild Horde, but only one bunny answers my call. Oh no.  Bjornin turns back to us to give us some Protection from Evil, but then we see a sword protrude from his abdomen. He has been backstabbed!  Then, of all things, an orcish archer attacks our pack mule!  As both Branwen and Jaheira rush to heal Bjornin before he dies, Edwin, Imoen, and I unleash our magic missiles at the cowardly assassin who stabbed him in the back.  She doesn't look so good.  I rush in with Bjornin and my single bunny to kill the cowardly assassin, and get a few fire arrows in the chest for it. They don't seem to hurt much, though.  Edwin lets loose 3 more magic missiles at the assassin, and then a moment later complains of not feeling so good. An arrow is sticking out of his arm. I know this because I have retreated next to him to cast some protective spells.  Imoen is trying to charm the Orc Archer, but he is not charmed. Maybe her reputation is getting out?  Then, the first good thing that happens today, Bjornin finally kills the assassin who backstabbed him. She dies with a hideous cry.  I manage to cast some Mirror Images, and then charge into battle against the fire-arrow shooting woman. Bjornin temporarily retreats in order to get some healing from Branwen. And Jaheira heals Edwin.  But apparently there is a second assassin, and she makes herself known by killing Edwin. Wasted heals.  I order everyone to move north. We need to stay away from these assassin's sisters down south.  Over northeast of us, Imoen has decided to use another tactic on the orc archer.  Then she goes for Magic Missiles to the face.  At the same time, over with the main party, Bjornin gets hit twice with the unholy taint of both Zeela and Lamalha's evil gods.  He responds stolidly, with a good solid hit on Telka. I tell Jaheira to heal him.  Not quite sure what to do now, I reach for a Cloudkill in my reckless fashion.  The magic twists in my hands, turning against me, and instead invades my whole body, trying to twist it. I resist, but I feel weak. Oh, so weak.  And the world is large. Oh, so large. Where are my nuts?  Branwen is under attack, but manages to heal herself despite that.  Jaheira also heals Bjornin. He definitely needed it.  After beating down the orc archer some more, Imoen tries to charm him again. This time it works!  I reach for Rhialto's spellbook and cast out a Horror at our enemies. It scares at least one of the bitches. Imoen and her new friend come in to back us up with a concentrated assault on one of the spellcasters too.  Jaheira is hit with yet another Unholy Blight. We can see that she can't really withstand it.  Then Lamelha Silences me and Bjornin. I am a squrrel, I have no attacks, I can't even lift my staff anymore, and now I am silenced? What can a rodent do?  Thankfully, Branwen is not silent. She prepares to respond with her own Silence. Bjornin is the only one doing anything of lasting significance on our side.  Then Elka, coming late to the party, hits Branwen with a fire arrow and kills her.  Imoen throws Burning Hands on one of the casters, but it doesn't seem to do much. At the same time, Jaheira panics and begins to run.  Imoen throws one of her healing potions to Bjornin and enters melee with Zeela.  Elka takes out the frightened and running Jaheira next.  I may be four inches tall right now, silenced, weakened, and out of spells, but there is one thing I still have, and as Lamalha comes into melee range of me I hold it in both of my paws and use it.  In reponse, Zeela does what is probably the most effective thing she could do - she puts Bjornin to sleep.  And then Elka kills him.  Imoen loses heart and begins to run away.  I panic and clamp down on something, anything, whatever can help me now. My tiny paws scratch a rock and I grab it, use it, do SOMETHING with it. Anything! I don't want to die! I feel myself being torn away, and then peace. Silence.  Shaundakul's sanctuary? We made it? In combat? Imoen is still frightened, and runs around the confines of the small area. At least she tries ... but we are both slowed, so her movements are both comically lethargic and frantic at once. The orc friend didn't make it. I guess the magic knew the charm was only temporary. It's probably for the best. The orc probably wanted to die gloriously in combat anyways.  I want to say that all our friends are dead. I want to scream out. I want to ask the gods and the demons both why such people are hunting us... but I can't. Because I'm a squirrel. Instead, I chitter in pain and madness. But even then I chitter in silence, and slowly, for I am both Silenced and Slowed. Eventually, Imoen stops running around in a mad attempt to find safety. Eventually, I return to my normal shape. Eventually, I feel the last grips of hostile magic leave me, and Imoen, and we are safe. Relatively. The corpses of four of our allies lie in the real world, though, and our enemies wait for us there. So this is really no safety at all, but a small rest from one danger. If only I knew enough magic to whisk us away to safety forever. Haiass is not even here. That must mean he fell during the fight. I didn't see him fall, though. I wonder how that happened. My poor wolf has been throwing himself at mine enemies without a second thought for a long time now. I check the pack mule's saddlebags. There are a few potions that we can use. The Potion of Magic Protection, 50% resistance to all magic, could help us. Also, the Potion of Mind Focusing which raises Imoen's dexterity and intelligence could work in our favor too. And then there is always the Flame of the North. I draw it and put it on my belt. We will rest here as long as we need to, in order to recharge my ring and spellbook. I will pick the right spells to go against our foes. We will teleport back in and kill them all. I discuss this quietly with Imoen. This sanctuary seems to make us always speak softly. Her normally cheerful face is grim. When I tell her things, she nods. She knows what she must do. And I know what I must do. We sleep. We prepare. The tiny little bit of Mulahey's soul that I kept with me proves to be the best advantage we have. After sixteen hours of rest, we are both fully healed.  Another 8 hours of rest and I can feel both Rhialto's spellbook and the ring are recharged. I wonder if I can get any insight from Rhialto. I open his spellbook.  HOLY poo poo! Study the spellbook for a while, and see if you can learn something new. You spend some time, browsing through the book. You found something of interest. Try to learn the spell "Gymlainac's Lightbend." You try to learn the spell, but it's too difficult, you need more experience in the art before you can learn it.I continue to study the spellbook for a while, but I do not find anything there. We will have to do it with what we have available to us now. We cast our spells, we drink our potions, and we get ready to return to the fight. Zeela is there waiting for us as soon as we return. I summon my Wild Horde, and Imoen prepares to backstab. Just like the plan.  Then we run north, just like the plan. Imoen gets hit with an Unholy Blight on her way over there, but she survives.  North of us we find Telka, and Imoen does for her in two seconds.  The bunny chain-explosion goes off, and my mule is caught in the blasts along with the enemy. He barely gets away.  The enemy advances upon us and I give the bitches two more sets of bunnies to play with.  Unfortunately, Imoen doesn't make it out.  The horror wrought by the bunnies is quite entertaining.  When they come for me, I take one of them out immediately.  Telka takes another one out for me.  I retreat once more, as far as I can go, and then cast a spell through Rhialto's Spellbook that I had never cast before - Gymlainac's Lightbend. I hope it is enough.  Me and Telka go into melee against Elka.  She runs away because she doesn't like to melee. Lamalha tries to Hold us, but only gets Telka, because of my heightened magic resistance.  I have one more trick up my sleeve, and so I use it.  And then it's down to running and gunning.  Desperately I search through the dead bodies on the battlefield to find something helpful. I find some extra healing potions and a magical staff.  I run to Imoen's body to get Finch's Glasses of Identification to find out what the quarterstaff does. I am not disappointed.  With my Boots of Speed and this quarterstaff of slowing, I should be able to melee these fools to death. Oh, but with this Composite Long Bow +2 I should be able to range them to death!  I just need a few minutes to prepare.   Actually, I just had another idea. I was inspired to it after I was unable to hit anyone with this awesome bow. I could just take all the stuff and make a run for it. Leave my mule in this place. It could work.  Oh, yeah, it could work!   Get hit with a couple of arrows, just drink a healing potion!  And it doesn't matter that you've got a huge pack of worgs after you after you went too far to the east, you can just outrun them all!  And then when you have run around and collected all the equipment from all the dead ones, and then put it on your mule, you can just relax in your pocket plane until you fully heal yourself!  And then, when you're good and ready, you can go back to Nashkel and resurrect everybody no problem!  Why didn't I ever think of this before? Gameplay note: This was an extremely difficult fight. I died many times. But I didn't want to abandon all this loot to the ravages of time. So I finally managed to squeeze out a stalemate here, after many deaths.  Don't forget to stop and sell equipment first! Gotta have money to resurrect the people who died for you! Yay, the temple!   Before resurrection, we have 2350 gold. Afterwards, we have 25 gold, and that is after selling the amazing darts we got from those bandits. I am a horrible leader, and a horrible person. We rest for a full day and then some in order to heal everyone.  Then it's back to the Jovial Juggler, to try to heal the pain and loss that everyone has experienced. Ha. As if. We are even ambushed on the way! But I left all of our equipment in the mule, and do not want to take it out. We just run.  We make it without incident. I have never failed everyone I know as spectacularly as I just have. I have no hope, really, of winning now. I just have to survive until the inevitable end. What poor fools will I take with me?  Please wait here. I have no room for you right now.    Our paths must run apart for a while. If I should need your help again, though, we should rendezvous at the Jovial Juggler in Beregost. I will chafe at the inaction, but I am deeply in your debt. Return soon to this war priest. Very well, I accept under the terms of our agreement. (Best to humour them, they're not bright enough to understand the arguments against the idea.) Yes, O omnipresent authority figure. Well sure. I won't get into any trouble while you're gone, no sir.I have failed them all, and their empty words fall off my back like rain off the back of something that does not get wet easily, like a waterproof marmoset or perhaps a weasel.  You'll not "suffer" long if you keep up that attitude. Get in step Kagain, we've business to attend to. Straight to the point, I respect that. Let's go. Khalid, a successful group needs to be light and small, and not everyone's skills can be used at once. I need you in the party... but I must ask you to travel without Jaheira. W-w-without Jaheira? B-b-but... Well, Gorion said we should help you - if this is what you really w-w-want. I doubt very much whether this is wise, Syvishtar. But this is your group to lead, for better or for worse. Tymore be with you, Khalid - we will meet again soon.  Until I settle accounts with Gorion's murderer, it will never be over. I hope, Syvishtar, that this won't d-degenerate into a b-bloody-minded quest for vengeance. Revenge is motive enough for me! I see. Then I must accompany you as b-best as I am able. I would tend to agree. Perhaps we should rejoin and continue on our way. A wise choice. Lead on. Sure thing! Sorry for having kept you waiting. Welcome back! I sell 3 bandit scalps to her for 75 gold, bringing our grand total up to 100 gold. Now I just have one problem... how am I going to get Gavin from the Song of the Morning Temple with those mercenaries waiting for me there? Vorgen fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Dec 22, 2011 |
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Dec 18, 2011 20:35
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I warned you about those Amazon sisters, bro. I told you, dog. Jeez, at level 1-3 they just wiped the floor with you. Those magical darts of theirs are brutal.
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Dec 18, 2011 20:50
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Aww, Imoen died. Guess she had to leave the party at some point. Boring coward's way: Maybe you can buff Syvishtar, get him a bow and lots of arrows, drop everyone but Kivan from the party, and kite them to death one at a time? Make sure you cast invisibility on them so you can get into a good position so you'll aggro only one. Memorize a lot of magic missiles or something so you can interrupt spells like hold person and chaos. Course they might have magic resistance. This might work with more people but I've noticed that kiting is quite difficult with more than 2. Brainamp posted:I thought Resurrection didn't need a piece at all, and it was Raise Dead that did. That was why Resurrection was so expensive. From looking at the AD&D 2e player's handbook, Raise Dead requires a fully intact body (any parts missing are still missing upon raising) and Resurrection doesn't say it requires any body, but it does say at the bottom that resurrection chances should be lowered if little to no remains are available. Yes, resurrection chances! When you get raised, you have to roll a d% to see if you survive. Your target is based on you constitution, so a person with an "average" 10 con needs to roll a 75 or lower. If you fail, you are dead, dead, dead and can only be raised by direct interference from a god. The main difference between the spells is that Raise Dead can only raise someone who has been dead for 1 day per caster level, whereas resurrection can raise someone who has been dead for 10 years per caster level. Which means you have to get the body to a cleric quickly, because unless you're good friends with the cleric or do a quest for them you won't get them to sacrifice 3 years of their life for any amount of money, unless you go to a cleric of some god of money I guess.
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Dec 18, 2011 21:51
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^^^^^^^^ Cool, my thoughts were on the right track. Also, I wish you had won and stayed a squirrel for a while.
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Dec 19, 2011 00:34
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Brainamp posted:^^^^^^^^ Unfortunately as a squirrel I was immobile, because I could only hold 5 pounds. If I hadn't teleported myself away I would have died. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Dec 19, 2011 |
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Dec 19, 2011 00:35
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Doesn't the sanctuary cost experience points to use, or am I getting things terribly mixed up?
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Dec 19, 2011 02:49
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It does, and jumping back and forth like that cost me a bunch of xp. I'm not exactly sure how much. I guess I could compare saved games with Shadowkeeper.... In my save right before I go to the Valley of the Tombs, I have 12,360 xp. In my save where I am back at the Jovial Juggler, I've got 12,307 xp. So the whole encounter was a net loss of 53 xp, even though I killed all but 2 of the amazon sisters.
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Dec 19, 2011 03:19
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So how are you finding a wild Mage so far? It seems really bad when you get done over like that but I guess you'll eventually hit a good streak with it. Also, this rotation of characters seems really detrimental to you as a player, as you're spreading the experience really thin. I've only played bg2, but do you expect you'll ever hit areas where your party is just too low level to get through? I remember reading the sword coast addon being especially tough.
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Dec 19, 2011 07:46
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Actually I kinda like it. It makes the game that much more challenging. I had to come up with the mule-in-pocket-plane idea to survive this fight without totally losing all my equipment, and I'm actually pretty proud of that. I also killed more amazons with just me and Imoen than with the whole party, which is also pretty cool. I've soloed most of this game before already as a warlock, and anything is better than trying to survive as a solo cleric before getting skeletons and Glyph of Warding. (Incidentally, did you know that skeletons are immune to Glyph of Warding and if you throw it into a melee mob of them and your enemies only the enemies get zapped? It was a lifesaver then and it soon will be again!) There's also the fact that some people complain that there's too much xp in this game and you can end up summoning planetars to go up against Kalah in Waukeen's Promenade, one of the first areas of BG2. By spreading the xp around generously I'm making sure that I'm not going to get overpowered and that the game will continue to be challenging for pretty much ever. Finally, it makes for good drama. Syvishtar's not evil, so if he ends up just solving problems by throwing the bodies of his friends into meat-grinders over and over again because he has no real choice and can't die himself then we have a SAW-like situation here and quite frankly I'm happy with telling that kind of story  .Edit: Speaking of good streaks with wild mages, there are wild mage-specific robes and a wild mage-specific staff that augment your wild surge table rolls so that you get pretty much positive results every time. Once I get those I will be unstoppable. I'll be casting meteor swarms and storms of fiery vengeance using level 1 spell slots and I will be like unto a god. A god of murder, even.
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Dec 19, 2011 08:25
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More like a god of modder. 
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Dec 19, 2011 19:48
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It also should be noted that wild mages weren't in the original Baldur's Gate and you started at a higher level in BG2. The higher level you get as a wild mage, the less likely wild surges will happen and if they do, they generally will be more favorable surges. As you'd expect they're easier to use at higher levels because of that.
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Dec 20, 2011 04:09
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 11 Eleasias, 1369 Today marks the 100th day since I left Candlekeep. I wonder if I should have a party? Perhaps I could kill everyone around me in an orgy of violence, to commemorate the days of violence I now find myself party to? Or I could just wait and it'll probably happen for me. Gameplay note: Ok, we need to equip people! And we have some new equipment to deal with. Our encounter with the amazons wasn't entirely fruitless. First we have the Cloak of the Shield:  Immunity to the spell magic missile and protection from regular missiles too? I'm definitely taking that. We also find a second Helm of Glory. Great, since we have two tanks two Helms of Glory are entirely necessary.  The other two things we get are a short sword +2, the Composite Long Bow +2, and the Bonebreaker staff, which I have already shown. I equip the Bonebreaker staff, and Rose gets the Short Sword +2, and Kivan gets the Composite Long Bow +2. So in the end, Kagain gets a Plate Mail, a Helm of Glory, one of Thorfinn Hauskluniff's magical axes, a Medium Shield +1, a Ring of Protection +1, the Girdle of Bluntness, and Thorfinn Hauskluniff's boots.  Khalid gets a Chain Mail +1, the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, a Helm of Glory, a regular longsword, the Shield of the Falling Stars +1, and holds the Flame of the North in reserve, just in case.  Kivan, the level 2 badass in the group, gets some Studded Leather armor, normal bracers, 23 Arrows of Fire +1, 30 Arrows of Dispelling +1, the Composite Long Bow +2, the Dragon Scepter, and Imoen's Ninja-to +2 in case he needs to hide. He also gets Imoen's Spider's Boots of Stealth and Imoen's Artifact, too, to better help with hiding and dexterity-related issues. Hopefully Imoen's artifact will work on other people. He also gets the Ammo Belt so that he can reload his ammo if necessary.  Rose, the level 3 superhero, gets the Short Sword +2, 7 Darts of Wounding, and Algernon's Cloak. I also bought her some regular darts and a buckler. She says that leather armor chafes her, and she can't cast her one known spell with it (Larloch's Minor Drain) so I leave her unarmored. As an idea, I lend her my Bracers of Defense, since they don't noticeably help me in any way. Hopefully she can just sing songs behind our lines and be okay.  And then, of course, there is me, level 4 and commanding bunnies to aid me at any time, wearing the same things I'm always wearing. An Adventurer's robe, Silvershield's Fibula (although it doesn't do anything), and the Ring of Energy. On my feet are Boots of Speed, and on my back a Cloak of the Shield. I am wielding both the Serpent Shaft and Bonebreaker, and on my belt is Rhialto's spellbook, a Stone of Recall, and some healing potions. I also hold Haiass's leg bone and the Boots of the Forgotten Ones for when we find Gavin.  That's it then, we're ready. It's time to be off. I've got an idea to get Gavin without running into those mercenaries...  When we arrive at Small Teeth Pass, I tell everyone to make camp. We'll use this place to circle around, go back and approach the Song of the Morning Temple from the east, so as to avoid bounty hunters. But when we try to sleep, we are awakened by the stink of gnoll, heavy in the air. We thank the gods that we woke in time to reach for our weapons.  Kivan takes out the first one while I'm still trying to cast Armor.  Kagain takes out the second, and then we are safe again. Not bad for the scrub squad.  You know, I think I'll give Kagain the Shield of the Falling Stars. He deserves it more. We try to go back to sleep again... but are interrupted after just 4 hours.  This time Kagain kills both the gnolls, gibbing the second one into unidentifiable chunks. Good going dwarf!  No matter what we do, we just can't get enough sleep. Kivan kills the next flind that shows up, and does for his friend too. That makes Kagain have some sort of dwarven epiphany.    Finally, I guess the monsters in the area had their fill, so we are able to rest fully in the night and wake up refreshed, ready to begin the second leg of our detour.  When we arrive at the Song of the Morning Temple, it is night.  We think the best thing to do is to sneak around north of the outcroppings and then to go into the back entrance of the temple, so we set out in that direction. There are some hobgoblins that menace our path, and so we engage. We can definitely take hobgoblins.  Unfortunately as we close in on the hobgoblins we also notice some worgs to the north.  Kivan draws first blood.  When the dread wolves and the vampiric wolf join the fight, I wonder if there isn't some god directly opposing my actions.  I summon my Wild Horde and instruct everyone to retreat to the south.  The wolf pack makes short work of my admittedly small wild horde, so I summon another for them to chew on, and repeat the process.  When I see one of the mercenaries from our previous ambush approaching from the west, I decide that it is time to go. The forces of evil are apparently sieging the Song of the Morning Temple.  But I haven't given up on Gavin yet. We can break this siege, we just have to approach from the right direction! If we go to the Larswood and then turn around, we could approach from the north and perhaps make it to the temple before evil does!  We reach the Larswood and prepare to make camp after our 16 hour journey. But after bedding down for the night, we are only asleep one hour before the harsh voices of bandits awaken us from our sleep.  Khalid takes first blood this time, then Kivan and Kagain in quick succession.  Then Kivan again, and all is done. Compared to the mercenaries assigned to hunt us down, these bandits are pushovers. Once we get Gavin we should come back here and go scalp-hunting. Kivan takes the scalps with a relish. I remember what he said about his wife. This is personal with him. I hope it is also good for his soul. We try to sleep again, but again we are interrupted after just one hour.  The bandits don't even get a shot off before one of them is dead to Kivan's first arrow. Khalid rushes to get into position to fight the second bandit, only to see him fall to Kivan's second arrow.  As we chase one bandit around the map, Kivan takes out a third with his third arrow.  And I manage to take out the last one with my staff!  At least I got one kill. Kivan is a machine. We all stand there for a moment, looking at Kivan's kills. I open my mouth to say something, but he stops me. There is a time for talk; this is not such a time.Ok then. We try to sleep once more. This time we make it all night. No more bandits want to die, eh? We keep to our plan and make our journey back to the temple area the next day.  But during the journey we get turned around somehow, and lost for a few hours, and when we finally realize where we are we have wound up south of the temple.  But since there are no vampiric wolves, hobgoblins, or mercenaries trying to kill us right at this moment I consider it a net gain. I make a beeline for Gavin with all the power of my Boots of Speed. Halfway there, I see Molkar coming at me from behind a tree.  I tell everyone else to hang west and give Molkar a little somethin' to play with.  Gameplay note: I honestly don't think I could survive without Summon Wild Horde and my Stone of Recall. For all you guys saying things are OP, I'm dyin' out here! Things start explodin', but I keep hustlin'.  Everyone else just tries to stay away from the mercs...  ... while I finally make it to Gavin.  The nearly weaponless,  and spell-less,  Gavin!  Would you be patient just a little while longer? We will go soon. Of course, Syvishtar.In fact, that is the very next thing we do, because a magically-enchanted and evil dwarf runs straight at us from the south just then!  I will speak with my companions. I would not dare refuse such a quest, but I will not commit to it without Syvishtar's approval. Even so, I trust he will see the urgency of this request. I most sincerely hope so. As this quest is likely to be perilous for you and your companions, you may use your discretion as to the best time to begin. I urge yo not to delay too long, but I would not send you to your slaughter. Now, my son, how may the temple assist you today?Why is there never an option called "Save my rear end from the dwarf chasing me?" We don't require any help at the moment.Actually, we do, but I don't think Keldath would understand.  We run out the east exit. I call back for Gavin to try to keep up, and I high-tail it for the rendezvous point. When I get ambushed by a worg pack halfway there, I know deep down in my soul that some divine entity hates me. Probably the god of wolves.  When I reach the rendezvous, the rest of the party is there too, but Gavin is lagging behind even the worgs. We fight to delay, since the magical dwarf is still following him.  Like the dogs they are, the worgs fall for the bait eventually. But I have an idea about the dwarf...  I had thought to ambush and kill the dwarf while he is alone, but I quickly have to rethink my plan when I see that his is not quite alone after all.  We exit stage south instead.  Gameplay note: Whew! I never had such an exciting NPC pick-up and quest start before in my life! If I was smarter I would have kept the Boots of the Forgotten Ones in my bag and handed them to Gavin, then we could have zipped around the map without a care in the world. Silly me though I put them on the mule while looting bandits. We still got away though so no lasting harm done. As soon as we are safe within Beregost city limits, I direct Gavin to the mule. He equips himself with some good old-fashioned platemail, the Helm of Ethical Insight, a Sling +1, and the Boots of the Forgotten Ones. He also takes out the herbs we picked up in Nashkel. Says he likes their scent. I also hand over Haiass' bone and ask him to work his magic on it. He obliges with a smile. You'd almost think he was glad to be back in my murderous company.  How's my good wolf? Want to play? Here, boy, get your toy! Good wolf! (Haiass chews his little toy oand then returns next to you and wags his tail. He seems very happy.)There is nothing else to do then but get out of the rain and go rest at the Jovial Juggler.  We sell 8 bandit scalps and collect 200 gold. You know what we're gonna do? We're gonna go to the Larswood and hunt us some bandits! Gameplay note: Gavin has become substantially more powerful since the upgrade. Just look at his first level spellbook:  The new spells he picked up are Armor Melt, Bane, Cause Light Wounds, Divine Favour, and Entropic Shield.  Finch tried to use this against Mulahey, but it was resisted. It's definitely a boss-killing spell.  Bane, conversely, is a minion-killing spell. Use it right before I cast Horror and the fight is over, but probably only works on low-level enemies. I'm not sure if the last word of the description is supposed to be a pun or just a misspelling.  I'm not quite sure why Gavin has Cause Light Wounds now, but here it is. 1-8 damage on a touch attack. These touch attack spells I rarely use, for mages or clerics.  I really like spells that grow in power with levels. They will always be useful. Imagine this at level 18, +6 to attack damage in melee for 1 turn. Powerful stuff. Would be even better on a paladin  . And this spell, this is a beautiful spell. If Gavin wasn't our only healer I would have him memorize six of these. There are so many ranged attackers in this portion of the game that it's almost worth not having heals just for this. But as things stand, I have him memorize 6 Heal Light Wounds and 5 Goodberries. Now that Gavin is level 3, the goodberries heal 2 hit points each, and at 5 goodberries per cast and them lasting 24 hours, Gavin can build up quite a stash of healing berries over time. It's better than casting Aid, the other level 2 healing option. We sleep the night, and when we wake in the morning Gavin is already casting Goodberries. He says they will be good for later. I count 25 of them.  Then we set off to hunt us some bandits!  But it is not bandits that we find.  "PHASE SPIDER!!!" I shout, and everybody tenses for battle. I go for my Wild Horde instinctively. Gavin screams.  With my wild horde cast, I order everybody east.  But some of us aren't fast enough before the chain reaction begins.  It is all over too fast, but the spider looks Injured at least.  Kivan hits it with a Fire Arrow.  I recklessly throw out a Chromatic Orb. Surprisingly, the Weave doesn't put up a fuss with it.  Then Khalid, of all people, slices the foul beast in half.  Gameplay note: 700 xp for that one spider! I hope we get more. But even after combat is over, Haiass keeps taking damage, so he must be poisoned. Both Gavin and I rush over to heal him. Gavin seems quite surprised that I can do that. I ponder how to tell him what has happened to me.  A few heals later, and he's fine. We make camp, and go to sleep. But during the night we are attacked by a giant spider!  The spider fires a web at Gavin but he brushes it off so incredibly frantically that it doesn't stick [He saved vs spells]. Khalid takes this spider out too with a quick thrust of his sword.  Gameplay note: 225 xp! We finally make it the night, and awake to lightning and rain. Gavin passes out the day's Goodberries, I cast Armor, and we begin our hunt. Gavin and I have to be careful not to get too far out ahead of everyone else. The thing we find first is another giant spider.  It casts a web on me and I am held.  That's not so bad, but on the next attack it poisons me.  I am unable to do anything but feel my life slip away. It is disconcerting. Kagain is the one to kill this spider.  Gavin does his best to keep healing me but the poison is working faster than he is. I would panic but I can't move.  Just as I feel as though the race is lost, I regain control of my limbs and gulp down the one and only antidote that we have in our party. I just barely make it.  Ok, so giant spiders can be quite dangerous, even after they are dead. Gavin is going to have to prepare for this. He will have to replace two Goodberry spells with Slow Poison, and hope that it is enough. I gobble down quite a few Goodberries next. My mouth is stained purple. We try to make camp and rest for the night, to give Gavin time to pray to Lathander for new spells, but we are interrupted again!  This time the spider webs Gavin. I realize that if he poisons Gavin there will be nothing for us to do but watch him die!  I order all the melee to rush to stand in between Gavin and the spider. They do, but all that happens is that Khalid is poisoned instead of the priest.  At least he can move around and drink healing potions. I wonder if two will be enough for him. I revert to an old standby of mine - Azragan's through Nahal's. I get an Entangle out of the whole deal.  I try to pull everybody off of the spider to let Kivan take care of it, since it is entangled, but at the last second I just see an opening and I have to take it. The spider dies under my Serpent Shaft.  The spider is dead, but his poison remains. Khalid drinks both of his own healing potions, then starts on Kagain's. Gavin is still paralyzed.  Gavin comes un-paralyzed just in time to give Khalid his last heal. Hopefully that will give Khalid time to drink his last healing potion and ride out the poison.  Only time can give us the answer now. Why do I always put myself in these positions of watching my friends die?  With absolutely nothing else to do, and no options to take, we can do nothing but stand by and watch Khalid succomb to the poison. It is so goddamn frustrating.  One more friend to mourn. I need an ale.And here I thought we were going to merrily hunt bandits all day. poo poo. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Dec 22, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 17:41
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I agree with Gavin. The little blood-sucking devil on your thigh says, "Stay away from spiders, for they shall be your party's doom. Always keep at least 2 antidote potions in the party at all times 
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Dec 20, 2011 18:26
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I presume the goodberries wouldn't have helped?
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Dec 20, 2011 18:33
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From the description, the Helm of Glory is clearly supposed to be a unique item. So what's our policy on duplicates?
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Dec 20, 2011 18:57
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Wow, I never remember poison to be such a problem. Oh well, I'm not exactly sad to see Khaleid dead because he is one of my least favorite characters. On another note, are there any other buttered up (see: bribed) characters who are getting close to 'join party' levels?
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Dec 20, 2011 21:04
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