Baldur's Gate: The Thread

[Feytalist]

Finished BG1 proper last night. I have a question: Has anyone beaten Sarevok "legally"? By which I mean a straightforward fight, with no summon-blocking or fireball-spamming or whatever other cheesy tactics.

I ask because I realised something; the boss fights in BG2 are much easier in a straight-up contest. You can buff your party to godly levels and soft counter other spellcasters without much problem. But Sarevok is hard. He chopped down my tankiest tank in like 3 hits. I basically had to fill the map with summons and spam magic missile till he dropped, just like I always do.

[Drasius]

Finished BG1 proper last night. I have a question: Has anyone beaten Sarevok "legally"? By which I mean a straightforward fight, with no summon-blocking or fireball-spamming or whatever other cheesy tactics.

I ask because I realised something; the boss fights in BG2 are much easier in a straight-up contest. You can buff your party to godly levels and soft counter other spellcasters without much problem. But Sarevok is hard. He chopped down my tankiest tank in like 3 hits. I basically had to fill the map with summons and spam magic missile till he dropped, just like I always do.

Just once. I did use summons, but only as an additional source of damage as Hasted Khalid/Minsc/Jahiera & mirror imaged PC/Imoen/Dynaheir managed to tank a few hits each before being swapped out to heal and redirect agro onto someone else along with strategic use of invisibility potions if he wouldn't disengage. IIRC, they were all in the single digit HP range when he went down, as their portraits were all fully red. He would never focus the summons if a character was available, and I wanted not to Cheese it for one. Never Again. That was also the run where I ran through Ascension with a proper role playing only party, no cheese, no out of character knowledge, "realistic" highly limited resting (ie, no resting in spellhold, no 2 hour workday) etc. Also, Never Again.

IIRC, Sarevok is lvl 17 or so, and is basically hitting you on a 4 even when you're completely decked out in the highest/lowest AC gear you can manage, but he can manage a run of misses. This was back in the original BG1 though, so I'm not sure if it's changed much since then. I can't remember if he lost or gained 100% magic resistance with the expansion, but I think he's got it with the EE version. It's a rude shock for any mage not packing multiple Flame arrows, I'll tell you that much!

But yes, the BG2 fights are childs play compared to Sarevok once you know how magic works. Ascension does a reasonable job of restoring the fights to an acceptable level of challenge if that's what you're looking for.

[Winthur]

I've often found Minsc's ranger bonus and proficiencies in BG2 to be oddly useful. Get the mace of disruption and another good mace and let Minsc beat merry hell out of any undead you find. I prefer him with a two-handed sword, of course, or a longbow, but the guy is just nicely set up to have that as a low-cost third option and he can really rock it when the foes are undead.

This. To me, Minsc's greatest asset is that he's a very versatile NPC, which says a lot for someone who's a single-classed human beatstick. He has exceptional physical stats and a lot of different proficiencies. Considering that grandmasteries are heavily nerfed in release BG2 and that Minsc can easily become anybody in your team, from your token katana wielder to classic Lilarcor fighter to Flail of Ages bearer, depending on how you spend his other points, and he still can use a longbow very well, that's pretty awesome. And he doesn't even scale that badly into ToB: even though he kinda gets overshadowed by Sarevok, he still can easily GWW a greatsword or a halberd, which is really all that matters.

Also he's just wonderfully designed as a beginner's NPC. Racial enemy: Vampires (and you will end up fighting them anyway), can easily use the great, guaranteed early game weapons like the Chaos Blade and Lilarcor, has a blunt weapon proficiency against enemies who care about that kinda stuff, etc.

[Morty]

It appears I missed my chance to get the Spectral Brand scimitar. This is less than ideal, since Belm is nice and all, but it's just +2, so Jaheira can't scratch some enemies. I guess one of the more powerful clubs or quarterstaffs will do.

[Calemyr]

It appears I missed my chance to get the Spectral Brand scimitar. This is less than ideal, since Belm is nice and all, but it's just +2, so Jaheira can't scratch some enemies. I guess one of the more powerful clubs or quarterstaffs will do.

After returning from Spellhold, the AdventureMart near the circus has secondary store with a simple +4 quarterstaff. That's really all you need in a pinch. The Spectral Brand is pretty darn nice, though - especially because it's upgradable. If you can jump back to an earlier save without losing too much, it's well worth it, but it's not at all vital as the +4 staff is all you need when Belm can't cut it.

[Sylthia]

I no longer feel guilty about ShadowKeepering myself gear if I "miss" it.

[Seharvepernfan]

I don't want to derail any convo's, but does anybody know where I could find a gallery of these?

[Morty]

After returning from Spellhold, the AdventureMart near the circus has secondary store with a simple +4 quarterstaff. That's really all you need in a pinch. The Spectral Brand is pretty darn nice, though - especially because it's upgradable. If you can jump back to an earlier save without losing too much, it's well worth it, but it's not at all vital as the +4 staff is all you need when Belm can't cut it.

I'm already in Throne of Bhaal, and I have a few weapons that Jaheira can use. It's just a shame I missed that scimitar.

[Sylthia]

I don't want to derail any convo's, but does anybody know where I could find a gallery of these?

You could try screenshotting them and copying them that way. Sorry, I don't know if that helps.

[ComatosePhoenix]

Wild mages, terrible for roleplay Great for computer games.

Still haven't gotten anywhere close to finishing the game. haven't even made it to baldur's gate and i find myself goofing off on sword coast with my chaotic evil wild mage. My party is Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Kivan, and Xan. murdering my way through swords coast hobgoblin population when I spy 3 sirens lurking in the bottom corner. they turn invisible so I fall back to regroup and the encounter that fallowed was absolutely absurd.

I opened with sleep since some of them were still partially invisible no wild magic gimmicks yet and one of them falls. The others were pelting me with poison arrows so I manage to rush one with Jaheira and Khalid, of course Khalid gets dire charmed, so I have Xan charm him back. I manage to bring the siren down to near death then Khalid gets confused and wanders off. he ends up murdering Safana at the bottom of the map. Luckily I wasn't planning on recruiting her.

I finish off the first siren with the Larlock's minor drain ability. then try to cast a chromatic orb at the second.
WILD SURGE: POLYMORPH.
the mostly harmless spelless siren is turned into a hasted white dire worg with an armor class of -2 and a thac0 of 10.

I figured I would have to reload but I tried to play it through the third siren had woken up and still had arrows so i tried a nahal's wreckless dwemner to chromatic orb it.
WILD SURGE: PETRIFY
Instantly killed the third siren.

I fled around the map thinking that since Khalid had been wandering around the map he still had 40 hitpoints left. so I tried luring the siren-worg to him. it worked the polymorph spell faded about halfway through but everyone else in the party was either out of spells or on single digit hit points.

I won in the end.Khalid the badass Duel weilding bastard swords eventually stopped being confused enough to hit the siren, but not before murdering a worg, 4 hob goblins, and some tesli.

best fun I have had in a while.

[Sylthia]

Wild mages, terrible for roleplay Great for computer games.

Still haven't gotten anywhere close to finishing the game. haven't even made it to baldur's gate and i find myself goofing off on sword coast with my chaotic evil wild mage. My party is Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Kivan, and Xan. murdering my way through swords coast hobgoblin population when I spy 3 sirens lurking in the bottom corner. they turn invisible so I fall back to regroup and the encounter that fallowed was absolutely absurd.

I opened with sleep since some of them were still partially invisible no wild magic gimmicks yet and one of them falls. The others were pelting me with poison arrows so I manage to rush one with Jaheira and Khalid, of course Khalid gets dire charmed, so I have Xan charm him back. I manage to bring the siren down to near death then Khalid gets confused and wanders off. he ends up murdering Safana at the bottom of the map. Luckily I wasn't planning on recruiting her.

I finish off the first siren with the Larlock's minor drain ability. then try to cast a chromatic orb at the second.
WILD SURGE: POLYMORPH.
the mostly harmless spelless siren is turned into a hasted white dire worg with an armor class of -2 and a thac0 of 10.

I figured I would have to reload but I tried to play it through the third siren had woken up and still had arrows so i tried a nahal's wreckless dwemner to chromatic orb it.
WILD SURGE: PETRIFY
Instantly killed the third siren.

I fled around the map thinking that since Khalid had been wandering around the map he still had 40 hitpoints left. so I tried luring the siren-worg to him. it worked the polymorph spell faded about halfway through but everyone else in the party was either out of spells or on single digit hit points.

I won in the end.Khalid the badass Duel weilding bastard swords eventually stopped being confused enough to hit the siren, but not before murdering a worg, 4 hob goblins, and some tesli.

best fun I have had in a while.

You have better luck than me. Neera healed Sarevok during the last battle on my most recent playthrough.

[ComatosePhoenix]

I ain't that lucky, My character is permanently bright orange and most of the scripted encounters have been ruined by my magic missiles turning into sphere of invulnerability.

[Kish]

It appears I missed my chance to get the Spectral Brand scimitar. This is less than ideal, since Belm is nice and all, but it's just +2, so Jaheira can't scratch some enemies. I guess one of the more powerful clubs or quarterstaffs will do.

Ixil's Nail.

[Sylthia]

I ain't that lucky, My character is permanently bright orange and most of the scripted encounters have been ruined by my magic missiles turning into sphere of invulnerability.

Funnny, something similar happened in my current tabletop Pathfinder game.

[Feytalist]

But yes, the BG2 fights are childs play compared to Sarevok once you know how magic works. Ascension does a reasonable job of restoring the fights to an acceptable level of challenge if that's what you're looking for.

I tried Ascension once, actually. It was not fun. Makes it too difficult, I think. It turns out I don't actually want the combat to turn into a game of hyper-chess



Finished TotSC. The Demon Knight in Durlag's Tower is so much easier to beat. Despite being fully magic immune as well. At least he's not insta-hasted, and if you can survive his dispel/fireball combo, you're basically set. Now it's on to BG2.

[Winthur]

I tried Ascension once, actually. It was not fun. Makes it too difficult, I think. It turns out I don't actually want the combat to turn into a game of hyper-chess

It's too easy without Ascension, just 2x Harm to win.

Finished TotSC. The Demon Knight in Durlag's Tower is so much easier to beat. Despite being fully magic immune as well. At least he's not insta-hasted, and if you can survive his dispel/fireball combo, you're basically set. Now it's on to BG2.

Did you fight Aec'Letec?

[Sylthia]

Just once. I did use summons, but only as an additional source of damage as Hasted Khalid/Minsc/Jahiera & mirror imaged PC/Imoen/Dynaheir managed to tank a few hits each before being swapped out to heal and redirect agro onto someone else along with strategic use of invisibility potions if he wouldn't disengage. IIRC, they were all in the single digit HP range when he went down, as their portraits were all fully red. He would never focus the summons if a character was available, and I wanted not to Cheese it for one. Never Again. That was also the run where I ran through Ascension with a proper role playing only party, no cheese, no out of character knowledge, "realistic" highly limited resting (ie, no resting in spellhold, no 2 hour workday) etc. Also, Never Again.

IIRC, Sarevok is lvl 17 or so, and is basically hitting you on a 4 even when you're completely decked out in the highest/lowest AC gear you can manage, but he can manage a run of misses. This was back in the original BG1 though, so I'm not sure if it's changed much since then. I can't remember if he lost or gained 100% magic resistance with the expansion, but I think he's got it with the EE version. It's a rude shock for any mage not packing multiple Flame arrows, I'll tell you that much!

But yes, the BG2 fights are childs play compared to Sarevok once you know how magic works. Ascension does a reasonable job of restoring the fights to an acceptable level of challenge if that's what you're looking for.

Level 17? Jeez, no wonder you need cheese to win that fight. That's about double the level you can legally attain in BG1.

[Cheesegear]

Level 17? Jeez, no wonder you need cheese to win that fight. That's about double the level you can legally attain in BG1.

That's why it's called a 'boss fight'.

[Feytalist]

It's too easy without Ascension, just 2x Harm to win.


Did you fight Aec'Letec?

Eh, there are a surfeit of cheese methods anyway. The fun is in using all of them

Yeah, I did. A bit more difficult, but not hugely. A couple of stacked Cloudkills did most of my job for me.


Now I have to figure out what to put my Weapon Skill points in.

[Drasius]

Urgh, I had a stalled BG2:EE game a while back after importing from a BG1 run. After recently re-reading one of my favourite stories, the bug to get back into some D&D bit and I fired up the launcher only to find all my saves are gone from both BG2 and BG1. So disapointed.

[ComatosePhoenix]

all my saves are gone from both BG2 and BG1. So disapointed.

Hey, think of it as an excuse to roll up a new character.

Meanwhile I finally made it through the bandit camp and found myself fireballing innocents at the friendly arm inn just so I got horror as a special ability rather then slow poison.
Then there is something mildly humorous about donating the possessions of the person you murdered to the church to keep the guard off your back.

[Feytalist]

Huh. I'm somehow finding BG2 less fun than BG1. I've done some slums and dock quests, and the De'Arnise Keep, which is not the most interesting quest in the world I guess. I should do the Planar Sphere next. That one's always fun.

I did try to take on the City Gates lich waaaay too early though. That was good for a laugh.

[Drasius]

Hey, think of it as an excuse to roll up a new character.

Meanwhile I finally made it through the bandit camp and found myself fireballing innocents at the friendly arm inn just so I got horror as a special ability rather then slow poison.
Then there is something mildly humorous about donating the possessions of the person you murdered to the church to keep the guard off your back.

I didn't want to make a new character for the 32nd time, I was enjoying this one.

[Miscast_Mage]

I didn't want to make a new character for the 32nd time, I was enjoying this one.

You could try and recreate the character in Shadow/EEkeeper, giving roughly the same amount of xp, items and stats, maybe? It's a bit of a jury-rig, though. Sucks that that happened to your save.

[Calemyr]

Something odd just happened to me, and I'm trying to figure out if it's a consequence of a mod or a change in the engine.

In BG1 I recently got the Bracers of Death (AC 6), but at this point I've got Archmagi robes for my mages. So I put it on Rasaad... Apparently Rasaad's monk AC is now a bonus rather than actual armor, meaning that it stacks with bracers. This seems to be a game changer to me, as it turns a decent damage dealer with poor armor into a decent damage dealer with very good armor and makes Rasaad something other than a joke character kept for plot rather than actual combat prowess. In BG2 he's going to be an untouchable god of death, isn't he? (I mean, of course he is, he's a monk, but good grief!)

I'm playing it on my phone, so I don't have a lot of modding capacity for it. I do have some minor mods, though, like a good chunk of BGTweaks. I don't think there are any mods that would reclassify a monk's AC, but I thought I'd check. And if that is actually a patched change, I thought I'd point it out.

[mangosta71]

The Ease of Use made a lot of things stack that didn't before, and I think a lot of the functionality of that mod got imported into the base EE. I don't think that monk AC stacked with bracers in the original version.

[Calemyr]

The Ease of Use made a lot of things stack that didn't before, and I think a lot of the functionality of that mod got imported into the base EE. I don't think that monk AC stacked with bracers in the original version.

No, they absolutely did not stack in the 2000-era games. Monks could glean a little benefit from bracers (or Keldorn's armor) until their AC surpassed it and then it was just there to fill in space. I don't think they initially stacked in EE, either. BGEE Rasaad was initially a really pathetic offering, but brought more story to the table than any non-EE character.

[Morty]

The Spins on my Fighter kit feel a bit redundant with the HLAs. I keep trying to use Offensive Spin with Critical Strike, but it never seems to work right. This is a problem I didn't anticipate.

[Cespenar]

In BG2 he's going to be an untouchable god of death, isn't he? (I mean, of course he is, he's a monk, but good grief!)

In ToB they were hitting my -10 AC characters so often that they could as well wear cardboard armors. That's one of the reasons why Kensai/Mage and their Mirror Image/Stoneskin/Blur/Fireshield/Stuff combo work so well.

[Winthur]

In ToB they were hitting my -10 AC characters so often that they could as well wear cardboard armors. That's one of the reasons why Kensai/Mage and their Mirror Image/Stoneskin/Blur/Fireshield/Stuff combo work so well.

This is the truth, by ToB you aren't going to ever give a heck about your AC, it mostly just looks nice but resistances and other boni trump AC by that time.