Baldur's Gate: The Thread

[Winthur]

Does Kelsey's Romance get ended if you drop him from the party, like the Vanilla Romances? My party is a bit Mage heavy at the moment and I could use the party space. It would also give me a bit of a breather, since he is very talky and comes on a bit strong.

AFAIK you can cheese it by having your romance interest enter a secluded room you don't go to too often (say, Jansen's house), removing him from the team and coming back for him to ask "Are we really splitting up?" then you say "No, stay".

[Sylthia]

AFAIK you can cheese it by having your romance interest enter a secluded room you don't go to too often (say, Jansen's house), removing him from the team and coming back for him to ask "Are we really splitting up?" then you say "No, stay".

I suppose that might have to do, cheesy though it is.

On another note, I always seem compelled to uncover every single dark spot on a new map, even if I know there's nothing there.

[Kish]

Now I'm sad this quest didn't make it to the game because that would be a really good buff to Minsc and make him more competitive, with his own niche. Oh well, at least he's versatile.

If the quest had been completed in the unmodded game, what the reward for it would have been is unknown.

Does Kelsey's Romance get ended if you drop him from the party, like the Vanilla Romances? My party is a bit Mage heavy at the moment and I could use the party space. It would also give me a bit of a breather, since he is very talky and comes on a bit strong.

The only romance that ends instantly if you drop the character from the party is Jaheira's--though the other characters start a "you better invite me back soon" timer. I don't think Kelsey does any of that.

The biggest problem I have with Kelsey is that he has no real justification for being with you; he's the only character who wishes he wasn't an adventurer.

(Smaller, but still big, problems include "desperately hits on every human or half-god woman in sight" and "the Kelsey/Imoen epilogue, which is unavoidable if you take both of them all the way through the game and don't romance Kelsey yourself, alters a playful epilogue reference to Imoen having founded a dashing thieves' guild to a morality tale about how Thieves Are Bad, meaning all members of the thief class, not limited to people who steal.")

Answering questions from way back in this thread, if Anomen becomes Chaotic Neutral, he attacks Aerie when she's trying to offer him sympathy for having failed his test. He'll also attack Keldorn. No one else attacks Aerie, though she'll demand Korgan goes or she goes (probably something to do with his bragging about committing rape...) and if they're ever in the party together from 24 hours after Aerie gave her him-or-me ultimatum, she'll leave the party, the game, and your life.

Anytime you have a male PC, Aerie, Jaheira, and Viconia will fight for his affection.

Not exactly true. It won't happen if you have a male dwarf, half-orc, or gnome PC, and if your PC is a full elf only Aerie and Jaheira will fight for his affection.

[Winthur]

Not exactly true. It won't happen if you have a male dwarf, half-orc, or gnome PC, and if your PC is a full elf only Aerie and Jaheira will fight for his affection.

Aerie likes gnomes and Viconia romances half-orcs. The only race that's out of luck is dwarves.

[Kish]

I hope you're not under the impression that contradicts what I said.

(Hint: It takes two to fight over someone.)

[Morty]

The monks' speed increase is nothing but a minor nuisance in BG2, I find. It makes little difference in combat, but it causes Rasaad to keep running ahead of the party.

[Sylthia]

The monks' speed increase is nothing but a minor nuisance in BG2, I find. It makes little difference in combat, but it causes Rasaad to keep running ahead of the party.

You tend to get the same thing with Boots of Speed.

[Morty]

Which is why I usually don't wear them, yeah. But I can't turn off Rasaad's speed boost. Then again, maybe I could, with EEkeeper?

[Sylthia]

Which is why I usually don't wear them, yeah. But I can't turn off Rasaad's speed boost. Then again, maybe I could, with EEkeeper?

You probably could, or else make everybody else just as fast.

[Shekinah]

As much as I want to play the enhanced Baldur's Gate games, Steam and I don't really get along too well. It's a shame, Garrick is my favorite character.

[Sylthia]

Does anyone know if the EE NPC side-quests need to be started before going to Spellhold? I'd like to play the game to completion, but I'm ready to go get Imoen.

Also, does anyone know of a way to keep the Evil NPCs from leaving with high rep other than lowering to rep, either than EEKeeper or otherwise? There's the Tweakmod, which claims to have a "HappyPatch", but it doesn't seem to have a good link to download it.

[Calemyr]

Does anyone know if the EE NPC side-quests need to be started before going to Spellhold? I'd like to play the game to completion, but I'm ready to go get Imoen.

Also, does anyone know of a way to keep the Evil NPCs from leaving with high rep other than lowering to rep, either than EEKeeper or otherwise? There's the Tweakmod, which claims to have a "HappyPatch", but it doesn't seem to have a good link to download it.

You can find a lot of good mods (for any infinity-based game) at Pocketplane.net, including the BG2 Tweak Pack under "BG2 Rules and Tweaks". The happy patch does work in both EE games.

The actual link for the Tweak Pack is here. Not everything in the mod is applicable, but enough of it is that it's well worth using if only to have higher stack capacities (arrows in particular benefit greatly from this) and such.

[Morty]

As much as I want to play the enhanced Baldur's Gate games, Steam and I don't really get along too well. It's a shame, Garrick is my favorite character.

You can get it from Good Old Games as well, or straight from the developers' website.

[Calemyr]

You can get it from Good Old Games as well, or straight from the developers' website.

Yeah, I got my games straight from BeamDog and haven't had a problem with it at all, unlike Good Old Games, apparently.

[Sylthia]

You can find a lot of good mods (for any infinity-based game) at Pocketplane.net, including the BG2 Tweak Pack under "BG2 Rules and Tweaks". The happy patch does work in both EE games.

The actual link for the Tweak Pack is here. Not everything in the mod is applicable, but enough of it is that it's well worth using if only to have higher stack capacities (arrows in particular benefit greatly from this) and such.

I tried clicking on the "Download" link, but that just redirects to the forum. Then when I go to the download link there, it just brings me back to the first page. It's an endless circle.

And also my first question. Do the EE NPC quests need to be started before going to Spellhold?

[Calemyr]

I tried clicking on the "Download" link, but that just redirects to the forum. Then when I go to the download link there, it just brings me back to the first page. It's an endless circle.

And also my first question. Do the EE NPC quests need to be started before going to Spellhold?

I don't think they need to be started before Spellhold, I just think they can't be started while away from Amn. Since I don't know for sure, however, take that with a grain of salt. I usually take the time to gear up, so I get most of their quests done before I leave. (I mean, from the Scion's perspective, Imoen is at least safe and Irenicus is contained. Taking the time to ensure you survive the assault seems wiser than running blindly in.)

[Sylthia]

I don't think they need to be started before Spellhold, I just think they can't be started while away from Amn. Since I don't know for sure, however, take that with a grain of salt. I usually take the time to gear up, so I get most of their quests done before I leave. (I mean, from the Scion's perspective, Imoen is at least safe and Irenicus is contained. Taking the time to ensure you survive the assault seems wiser than running blindly in.)

Dorn will definitely wait until after Spellhold, if I do it at all. The level of concentrated evil is a bit much for me, at least in this playthrough. I can't imagine my avatar doing that.

Neera, I might do ahead of time, but I'm not a fan of Wild Magic.

[Morty]

Hmm. Now I'm considering replacing Branwen with Jaheira after all. Her writing isn't bad, but a little dull. Jaheira can be tankier than Minsc, Rasaad or my "skirmisher" Bhaalspawn (AC is getting less important, but I decided the kit can't wear helmets), and she ought to be able to handle healing duties anyway. The problem is that the Flail of Ages will go to waste, but it's not such a big deal.

[Sylthia]

Hmm. Now I'm considering replacing Branwen with Jaheira after all. Her writing isn't bad, but a little dull. Jaheira can be tankier than Minsc, Rasaad or my "skirmisher" Bhaalspawn (AC is getting less important, but I decided the kit can't wear helmets), and she ought to be able to handle healing duties anyway. The problem is that the Flail of Ages will go to waste, but it's not such a big deal.

I'm sure you can find another Flail Candidate. Thankfully, just about everyone can use Flails.

Jaheira, also has access to Insect Plague, which is an "I Win" button in BG2.

[Morty]

Well, bugger. I forgot Restoration isn't on the druid's spell list, apparently. Which means I'll have to rest before fighting the vampires in the Windspear Hills, and throw a Negative Energy Protection on someone.

[Sylthia]

Well, bugger. I forgot Restoration isn't on the druid's spell list, apparently. Which means I'll have to rest before fighting the vampires in the Windspear Hills, and throw a Negative Energy Protection on someone.

I forget, can they cast it off of scrolls?

[Morty]

Everyone can cast if off scrolls. Unfortunately, I don't have any, and I'm knee-deep in vampires.

[Winthur]

Everyone can cast if off scrolls. Unfortunately, I don't have any, and I'm knee-deep in vampires.

You can attempt tanking them with skeletons, if you have Animate Dead (or just plain summons would work, but ordinary summons will likely succumb to the vampires' mind spells) and preferrably someone to scout out the area beforehand. Then just keep your distance.

[Sylthia]

I like how the Cowled Wizards do nothing about the roving vampires terrorizing the streets, but gods help you if you try casting Magic Missile.

[Morty]

Hmm. Are there any ways to permanently raise someone's Wisdom in BG2? Jaheira could really use some.

I'm also wondering if I want to head to Watcher's Keep before leaving for Spellhold. There's some good stuff to be had there, but it'd be a little weird to just leave Demogorgon chilling there while I disappear for weeks.

[Sylthia]

Hmm. Are there any ways to permanently raise someone's Wisdom in BG2? Jaheira could really use some.

I'm also wondering if I want to head to Watcher's Keep before leaving for Spellhold. There's some good stuff to be had there, but it'd be a little weird to just leave Demogorgon chilling there while I disappear for weeks.

I think there is a machine in Watcher's Keep that can raise Wisdom as well as the other stats by 1 point if you enter the right combination. Apart from that, there's always Shadow Keeper.

[Thialfi]

Wow! Did they really upgrade the Firkraag fight? I can't seem to even touch him this time. My party is 10th to 12th level. I have Neera spam secret word on him and I still can't get through his defenses before he burns through my summoned minions and then wastes the party. My main character is a paladin, so beating him is pretty darned important. I'm tempted to cheese the encounter a bit, especially since the dragon never seems to miss my paladin's -10 armor class. If Firkraag can cheat, so can I.

When I played the game over a decade ago, I never included Aerie. That was a mistake. Her verbal sparring with Jaheira was delicious. I am sorry it is now over since they made me choose between them.

I quickly grew tired of Hexxat, but Neera continues to be awesome. I can't hear "I sense great evil, fabled treasure, terrible danger, and probably some spiders" often enough. Ah crumbcakes! is she a great character that kinda controls chaos. Her voice actress needs more work.

[Sylthia]

I probably won't take Hexxat through subsequent playthroughs, but I'm making an effort to take most of the new characters in EE. She also grants access to early Bag of Holding, which is a major plus. I need a pack-mule.

[Kish]

My main character is a paladin, so beating him is pretty darned important.

You don't have to fight him the first time you meet him in his dragon form, you know. Including as a paladin.

[Morty]

I think there is a machine in Watcher's Keep that can raise Wisdom as well as the other stats by 1 point if you enter the right combination. Apart from that, there's always Shadow Keeper.

There is, but that skirts uncomfortably close to cheating. I guess I'll just keep her Wisdom as it is.