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Posted by: SubRosa Jul 2 2014, 04:46 PM

With the Enhanced Editions to Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 now out, and Gog.com having sales on both the originals and the Icewind Dale games, it seems like a good time to create a thread about our old friend the Infinity Engine.

I have Icewind Dale 1 from a long time ago, but never got too far with it back then. Other games like Diablo II and Star Trek Elite Forces caught my attention, and the old school D&D ruleset of Icewind felt too cumbersome for me. I tried installing ID1 again a few weeks ago, but could not get it to work on my Windows 7 box. So I finally broke down and bought it and ID2 off of Gog.com a few days ago. While I was at it, I discovered that Steam had a sale on the Baludur's Gate Enhanced Editions, so I bought those two. I wound up getting all four games for under $20.

I decided to start at the start, so so I rolled a toon to pwn Baldur's Gate 1. Terra started out as a regular Ranger, and I experimented with her using dual swords and a longbow. I found I liked the bow better, and thought about restarting her game to specialize as the Archer subclass. But I found https://eekeeper.sourceforge.io/, and instead I used it to change her class and move around her proficiency points a bit.

So far BG1 has been a blast. I still think the old school D&D rules are cumbersome and clunky. Especially where magic is concerned. I hate that memorizing spells business and having to rest to be able to cast them again. I much prefer mana point systems for mages. But gripes aside, it is still a good game, even after all these years. It feels a lot like the original Fallout rpg in its look and feel - the same isometric view and sprites. BG1 just has more party members and the D&D rules.

I have been using BruceVayne's soundsets in Oblivion for years, and many of them are BG characters. So now it is a kick to finally hear them in their original settings. I especially love Imoen and Viconia's voices. From "Good on you if you saved the day!" to "Nightsinger, give me power!". So far those are my two favorite NPCs as well. I loved Minsc in the tutorial, but have not found him yet - he's clear across the map from where we start!

My current gang is Terra (the PC), Imoen, Viconia, Neera (she's a new EE added NPC), and Kagain. I am a little light on the muscle, and am looking for another good melee fighter. I'd like to hire the new half-orc NPC Dorn, but I have not gotten the encounter where it happens yet. OTOH, the team is strong in ranged attacks, and when we all focus our fire on one target we can usually kill it on one round. Unless it is a boss. So fights against ordinary critters often consist of mowing them down before they can even reach Kagain.

So far I am not thrilled with Neera, but for now she is the only mage in town. I'd like to hire the new Drow mage the EE edition added, but he doesn't appear until 5th level. It is funny, my party seems to be going to the evil end of the spectrum. Maybe I should use EE Keeper to change Terra from Neutral Good to Neutral Evil!

Posted by: Callidus Thorn Jul 2 2014, 07:03 PM

Well, I've fired up Baldur's Gate again. I've taken a few attempts at completing this in the past, but I've never managed to get as far as the actual city of Baldur's Gate

But, at least it lets me plan my party:

Callidus (No surprises there ) Elven mage/thief
Jaheira (Khallid is going to have an unfortunate "accident" )
Kagain (You just can't kill this guy, he's part troll)
Viconia (Damn useful, and funny as hell when in a party with...)
Kivan (Expert archer)
Imoen (She's going to become a conjurer later on)

I had a lot of sucess with this party on my last run, setup in the T formation: Jaheira, Kagain, and Viconia up front as a wall for the other three, all of whom carried bows.

So far... I've just rolled up my character, and dived into shadowkeeper to change his appearance, because I prefer him to look like a mage than a thief. So he looks like a human mage, despite being an Elf

Posted by: Lopov Jul 2 2014, 07:06 PM

@SubRosa

If you don't mind spoilers:



Kagain is a blast, he was also a member of my mostly evil party years ago, it's a shame they didn't bring him back in BGII, because many NPCs return in BGII. I don't remember the details but IIRC he regenerates health because of very high constitution.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 2 2014, 08:40 PM

I love Kagain. He's the archetypical crotchety old Dwarf. I put him in platemail, and he's built like a brick shithouse. He is almost as fun as Khelgar from NWN2.

I finally made it to Nashkel. There I recruited Minsc ("The squeaky wheel gets the kick!"), and found the Ankheg Platemail in the fields. I gave the armor to Minsc, since the green fits a ranger, and as a front-liner, he seemed like he would probably need it. Especially seeing that he does not use a shield. Now we are on the way west toward the Gnoll stronghold, to rescue Dynahair. I think I will give Neera the boot then, and try out Dyna.

I have also already modded the game (a few nights ago in fact), to change Viconia's portrait to one with greyish skin, like she has in BG2.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 2 2014, 09:16 PM

Who needs a shield when you've got a miniature giant space hamster? Minsc and Boo.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 2 2014, 10:33 PM

Is there any difference between playing a Good character and an Evil one? I know there is a Reputation stat, and that the Evil characters will bolt from your party if it gets too high, and the Good ones will leave if it gets to low. But is there really an Evil path to quests as opposed to a Good one?

Posted by: Acadian Jul 2 2014, 10:49 PM

BG I is a long time ago, so I'm going partly by BG II. A low rep stat will hurt your ability to get good deals in town. At lower ranges, some merchants may not even deal with you. At even lower ranges, guards, soldiers etc will attack you. As far as quests, there are some choices you can make in how to do them. Ultimately though, you're on a train to kill the Big Bad - he'll want you dead whether you're good or evil.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 2 2014, 11:04 PM

Just to see what it is like, I created Scáthach, a Lawful Evil Elf Kensai. http://i.imgur.com/7Rablgg.jpg. I think I'll use EE Keeper to give her a katana to start with, since I have no idea where to find one in BG1.

I also found http://www.moddb.com/games/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition/addons/super-ultimate-portrait-pack-zip for the Enhanced Editions, with hundreds of new portraits. Scáthach's portrait is from there.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 3 2014, 12:20 AM

I know the last time I played BG II, I was able to import a clipped screenie of Buffy's face and bring in her 'Innocent' voice set. That is a great portrait of your kensai!

Posted by: ghastley Jul 3 2014, 02:36 PM

My recollection of the good/evil thing was that the games are heavily biased towards the good player. A totally evil party won't be able to buy/sell anything, or stay at inns. Camping out all the time isn't viable, because of the frequency of interrupted sleep, and its effect on spell recovery. The attacks by guards etc. on evil characters isn't offset by any less attacks by anyone else.

Mixed parties break themselves up, as conflicting characters won't work together. I don't recall if there any points where the story-line is actually blocked for the evil player option, but that's possible - I never got far enough with an evil character to find out.

I got the impression that the evil recruitable characters were there to be used as short-term solutions to specific problems, You'd have them join, use their special talents to solve some quest situation, and then let them leave again (or leave them dead when they're killed). You'd want to play as a core party of three or four good characters, with a variable addition of "evils" to go that way. They often come in pairs, and you'd need both for stability.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 3 2014, 08:32 PM

So far Scáthach's game has been going rather well. I was worried at first about the Kensai's inability to wear armor. But going with an Elf - with the Dexterity bonus - has definitely helped. Between the 4 point bonus from her Dex, the Kensai's 2 point AC bonus, and another 2 point bonus from the Single Weapon proficiency, Scáthach started out with an Armor Class of 2. A +1 Ring of Protection found early on got that down to an AC of 1. That is a point better than Kagain in plate mail and a medium shield. Only Viconia has a better AC, with a -1 (wearing spint mail and a small shield).

Yesterday Scath made her way to the Friendly Arm Inn, and temporarily recruited Jaheria and Khalid for the extra muscle. I left Montaran and Xvar alone. Those two get on my nerves. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilIsCool after all, and those two are not. Viconia was added soon after. She quckly proved her worth by practically putting down the Ogre Girdle Thief single-handedly. Jaheria got whacked by the spiders in Landarin's Beregost house, and I did not bother to pay to get her raised. I recruited Kagain shortly after, and then gave Khalid is walking papers (but this time I remembered to take all of his stuff first! ).

So now Scath's party consists of Kagain, Viconia, Imoen, and Neera. I found a ring that doubles the number of spells wizards get. I think it might only be the 1st level ones. But it has proved very valuable. I have been getting better with Neera too. I got rid of her staff and gave her a sling, to keep her from running up into the fight. Her chromatic orb can be devastating, so can her color spray. The trouble with the latter is not hitting the party with it too!

It wasn't easy, but managed to do the same for Scath. I found a 'Sassy' voice from http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/563-pc-soundsets-osxlinuxfull/. The sound files have to be in a .wav format, so naturally the pack has them all as .obb files. So I had to convert them all. Then I had to rename them all. I found found that BG1, as 10 Custom voice slots left open. So rather than editing any .2da files, you can just rename your files Custom0a, Custom0b, and so on. Then just copy them to the Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition > Lang > en_us > sounds folder. After that is appears as Custom0 in the voice selection menu. If anyone reading wants to create a new voice set for BG1EE, you need the following files:
XXXXXXXa.wav : Battle Cry
XXXXXXXb.wav : Becoming Leader
XXXXXXXc.wav : Tired
XXXXXXXd.wav : Bored
XXXXXXXe.wav : Badly Wounded
XXXXXXXf.wav : Selected 1
XXXXXXXg.wav : Selected 2
XXXXXXXh.wav : Selected 3
XXXXXXXi.wav : Action Acknowledgement 1
XXXXXXXj.wav : Action Acknowledgement 2
XXXXXXXk.wav : Action Acknowledgement 3
XXXXXXXl.wav : Being Hit
XXXXXXXm.wav : Dying
XXXXXXXn.wav : In Forest
XXXXXXXo.wav : In City
XXXXXXXp.wav : In Dungeon
XXXXXXXq.wav : Daytime
XXXXXXXr.wav : Nighttime
XXXXXXXs.wav : Rare Selected 1
XXXXXXXt.wav : Rare Selected 2
XXXXXXXu.wav : Rare Selected 3
XXXXXXXv.wav : Rare Selected 4
XXXXXXXw.wav : Reaction to Party Member Death

XXXXXXXa.wav would be Custom0a, and so on. Your second voice pack would be Custom1a and so on, etc...



It definitely does seem to be geared toward the Good side. But it doesn't seem that hard to keep your reputation up high enough to avoid people attacking you on sight either. You just have to do a few quests to get Rep points. Usually that means big experience point rewards too. Scath returned Joia's ring. It didn't net her any money, as selling it would. But OTOH, Joia "paid" for it with a hefy amount of xp, which is worth more than gold. It also bumped up her Rep a point. You have to kiss a few babies in between stealing their candy. It has worked for politicians for millennia.

At the moment I am thinking long term for party members to be Dorn and Kagain for tanks. Viconia has the cleric spot sewn up. I will try Edwin on as a wizard, but I'd also like to give http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Baeloth_Barrityl a try too. He looks cooler. That would leave Imoen as the only Good character. I don't want to lose her, because I love her voice.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 4 2014, 02:37 AM

Ahh, this is really a good idea. I have Baldur's Gate on my old computer, I think I got it from Gamestop.com, actually. It was my 2nd PC game. I was really into it for about a month, and then I got distracted. By the time I returned to BG, I couldn't get it to work. Then I got into Arena, and then Oblivion ....

I do want to give BG another try at some point, though. I need something other than Elder Scrolls. I might have to start all over again with the install.

It's a fun game for me, as a former table-gamer. I know what you mean about the spell memorization part; when we table-gamed, we primarily used a different system of rules from a gaming company called The Fantasy Trip (TFT), which has been out of business since the early 90s. The way TFT does it, I believe spells used up Intelligence or Strength instead of the way DnD does it. We did use DnD to 'enrich' our gameworlds, though. DnD has a heck of a lot more creatures, friends and foes in its encounter tables. More rules to flesh out environments, more potions & spells, that sort of thing.

Like I said, I'm glad you're doing BG. Maybe I'll join you.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 4 2014, 03:13 AM

Scathach and company have been roaming around east of Beregost. While in the Temple area they came across a pack of dread wolves, worgs, and vampiric wolves that were particularly difficult. http://youtu.be/1E1JbJeq2VA It is a little small, but that is what you get for an old game. I have it on the highest resolution possible.

D&D was my first table-top RPG, back in the misty dawn of time my teen years. Back then it was AD&D, and there were no 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th editions yet. The people I gamed with used the rules as a basic framework too, then added on a lot of house rules. The magic system was the biggest difference, as we used a system where you got a number of mana points per level equal to your intelligence (or karma points equal to your wisdom if you were a cleric). Every spell had a certain mana or karma cost. So you could keep casting whatever spells you wanted, until you were out of mana/karma. Then you had to wait a certain amount of time to get those points back. I think it was 1/3rd your total every 8 hours. So after a day you got it all back.

But I moved on from D&D after a few years, to games like Marvel Superheros, West End's Star Wars (this is before it got turned into a d20 system game), Champions/Fuzion, Call of Cthulhu, and my favorites: Shadowrun & Earthdawn. Then after a long time I joined a bunch who were doing Earthdawn, and they wanted to try out D&D again. By then it was the 3rd Edition. I thought it was alright. A big improvement over the old AD&D I started with. Especially with all the perks. Though I still liked other games better. It is funny, because D&D is definitely the most widely known role playing game there is. Yet I would say it is easily the worst of the bunch. Maybe I am being too harsh. I should just say it was definitely my least favorite of all the RPGs I played for any length of time.

But to Baldur's Gate. Back in the day it was out I was under the impression that it was a much more linear styled game. Now that I am playing it, I can see it has a wonderfully open, sandbox-styled game world. It has to be the most open-world Bioware game I have ever played. Most of their games are semi-linear, in that they start with an introductory section, or a Chapter 0. Not just the tutorial, but a first act that gets the story of their main quest going. Like the city of Neverwinter in NWN1, the Endar Spire/Taris in Kotor 1, or the character origin/Ostagar in Dragon Age Origins, etc... Then they tend to throw out about 4 or 5 different 'hubs' you can visit in whatever order you like. But you have to go through them all no matter what, and once you are done with them, there is no point going back, because there is nothing to see or do there anymore. Then once all of those are done you are ushered into the final act, which is usually shorter than the middle hubs, but big on action.

But BG is apparently from before Bioware locked themselves into that pattern. It is more like a Bethesda game, in that after the introductory act, you are tossed out into a wide world. Even though you are strongly prodded to go a certain way, and meet certain people who prod you very unsubtly to go to another certain way, you really can say "F that" and do whatever you want. Which is pretty much what I have been doing. I have also found that enemies do respawn after you clear out areas. Not all of them, but there will be critters roaming around when you go back to a place you emptied out previously. So you could just wander around grinding your toons to become uber pwnage I OWN YOU N00BS! if you want to. I think that is what really draws me. Not the grinding toons, but the open world. It really does make an excellent alternate to a Bethesda game.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 4 2014, 05:35 AM

Ha ha your mana points system almost sounds like a mod. It's the earliest version of mods.

We also had our own table-mods, one of my favorites was a system of Feudalism a friend worked up after studying Medieval Feudalism in high school. We also had rules for various drug effects (it was possible to find pot and coca leaves and alcohol, magic mushrooms, etc.). We also had a system for personality types. Some personalities were more prone towards drug addiction. Or womanizing. Or wh0ring, etc. Lying. Cheating. Looking back on it, it seems like everything we learned about the world around us (Earth, that is) could possibly wind up in our game, in some distorted way.

Interesting. See, I've never played a Bioware game before until BG on PC, did not know any of this. I tried playing Dragon Age 2 (the game a lot of ppl don't like) but it didn't really grab me, so after an hour of gameplay I took the disc out of my Ps3, and fired up Oblivion.



Yeah, buff those toons, let's go pwn some NPCs! .. Yeah, it is very open world. Bioware must have been so different back then, before they were bought out.

Just before my BG game wouldn't run any more, Lopov found a site which features cheat codes. I normally don't cheat, but one of the issues I had with BG was poison. I've never seen so much deadly poison in a game. It's not like in ES, where a poison will have very minor effects, the poisons in BG can frickiin' KILL you. A lot of enemies carry it too.

So if (when) I return to BG, one of the only Cheats I'm going to employ is a supply of Antidote potions. Because if the enemy can carry THAT much poison, I want to be able to combat this. I'll just RP it as one of my characters knows how to brew these antidotes up.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 4 2014, 05:05 PM

They are still good games. Well most of them at least. I loved the Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights games. Dragon Age Origins was decent too. But if you play one, you kind of already know how to play the others. They have the same basic UI, same 3rd person isometric view. Same way of splitting the game between tactical and campaign maps, Same point and click to move and attack, and so on. I never needed to look at the manual for DAO, as I had already knew how it worked from playing KOTOR. I never tried out DA2. The negative comments about it are so pervasive, that I would rather try one of the horde of other games out there which I have never played.

Mass Effect 1 did not do much for me. It didn't have the same cookie-cutter UI and set of game rules the other games had. But it came at the expense of gutting out just about everything that made those games interesting to play. In the end I only finished it because I wanted to see how the story worked out. The gameplay itself left me massively underwhelmed. I played Mass Effect 2 about the same way you did DA2. After about a half hour or an hour I said "F This!" and went back to playing Oblivion!




I know what you mean about the poisons! That is what killed Jaheria - spider poison. It does 2 points of damage every turn, and it never stops! Imoen got killed by a spider poison too. But I drew the line there. I fired up EE Keeper and opened up a save from just before she died, and used it to set her back to full health and turn off the poison. Unlike a Beth game where you can just turn on the healing spout until you are back up to full health, in these games healing is hard to come by. Your cleric has a couple of heals, and you might have a few potions, and that is it. So you have to save them up for when you really need them in the middle of a fight, and rest up all the time between battles.

I think i will try your idea out, and say that Viconia knows how to brew antidotes. Having once served the Spider Queen, I imagine that poison was an ordinary fact of life she had to look out for, like we watch out for cars when we cross the street!

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 5 2014, 04:19 AM

Just had a great moment. Scáthach and company were attacked by half a dozen Hobgoblins. Not too dangerous, but there were a lot of them. So I decided to lead with a color spray from Neera. One of those random, wacky Wild Magic moments happened, and instead of a color spray, she cast a fireball (a spell she does not know btw. That is what makes wild magic, well... you know). http://i.imgur.com/mB7VfUX.jpg She one-shot kills every Hobgoblin.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 5 2014, 09:09 PM

My party finally reached 5th level. It certainly takes a while to level up in this game. My guess is because experience points are divided out among the party. So the larger the party, the less xp each character gets. With that partly in mind I have been keeping the group down to 5 members. 6 people seem to get in each others way more too. I briefly had 6 when I recruited Safana. But I didn't like her voice, so I let her go before even finishing the same level I found her on.

Anyway, since I am high enough level now, I went and recruited http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Baeloth_Barrityl in Larswood. I have to say, he is a hoot!. I love his voice acting. It is sort of like Dr. Smith from the original Lost in Space, but less cowardly, more bloodthirsty. One of his battlecries is "I'm going to work out some anger on you!" So as much as I have grown fond of Neera, I decided to let her go in favor of Baeloth. So now Imoen is the only Good member of the party.

He's also damn powerful. He starts with a ring that gives him extra spells, and I gave him http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Evermemory. Now he has something like 24 first level spells he can cast. Or since he is a Sorcerer, he can cast any 1st level spell he knows 24 times.

I have to say, I am liking the Sorcerer class. Not having to memorize spells is great. It is such a pain in the rear to have to change the spells Neera knows whenever I have to identify items, rest so that she can use them, then rest again afterward so she can change back to her regular loadout. She is supposed to be able to cast any spell she knows when using Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, but I have found that is not the case. She knows Identify, and it never appears in the list of spells she can cast with it.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 5 2014, 09:20 PM

Wow, they must have done some adding and blending to BG I. Originally, the 'class kits' like Sorcerer, Archer, Kensai etc were not added till BG II. That is great news though. Yes, the Sorcerer class solves the most annoying aspects of the regular D&D mages.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 6 2014, 12:07 AM

Besides the bug fixes and upgraded screen resolution and widescreen support, one of the good things about the Enhanced Editions is that they were able to take the 'newer' things from BG2 and put them in BG1. So you can play all the special classes like Bards, Barbarians, and so forth, and all their various sub-classes. There are even some new classes, like Blackguards. As I understand it, gameplay-wise it is just like playing BG2.

You should give the Enhanced Editions a try.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 6 2014, 01:14 AM

Oh that sounds great! One of the reasons I didn't go back to BGI after II was because I got spoiled by all the gameplay improvements in II.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 6 2014, 03:08 AM

I understand that back in BG1 when you slept you did not get back all of the hit points you had lost, and how much you did get back was based upon the quality of the room you rented. But in the Enhanced Editions one sleep period either outdoors or at an inn will heal you up to full. At least so long as your sleep is not interrupted by an attack if you are outside. You can still pick from the 4 types of rooms at the inns, from Peasant to Royal, but it does not make a difference which one anymore.

There are also new NPCs to play with too, like Neera. I have to say I like the Wild Magic. It adds a lot of spice to wizardry. There is a new place called the Black Pits, which I have not tried yet. It is separate from the rest of the game world, but I understand you can export your character from there to the main game.

One of the downsides is that many of the old mods made for the original games do not work on the Enhanced Editions. Or they need a lot of work on your part to mod the mods to make them compatible. Like I had to do with that voicepack I created, or the new portraits.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 6 2014, 03:27 AM

Thanks for some of those pros and cons. When last I played BG II, I had a few mods (eg: widescreen) and had it going pretty well. I had a great editor that allowed me to tweak any of the characters (NPCs and Player Character) all around, add abilities etc.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 6 2014, 05:09 AM

The EEs have native support for widescreen displays, higher resolutions, and a lot of bug fixes. As I understand it, they took a lot of the fan made bug fixes and incorporated them. Baldur's Gate EE Keeper will let you edit your character and all of the companion NPCs, whether they are currently in your party or not. There is a spell, creature, and item browser, but as far as I can tell they are read-only. However, the character editor allows you to add or remove any item or spell to or from any character.

Posted by: Callidus Thorn Jul 6 2014, 09:35 AM

There are a couple of mods for Baldur's Gate 2; http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=143&Itemid=98 and http://www.spellholdstudios.net/ie/bgt, both of which allow you to play Baldur's Gate using the engine for BG2, giving you all the improvements from the sequel.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 6 2014, 03:09 PM

I think the reason I backed away from BG II the last time I took a TES-break to play it (maybe a couple years ago?) was because of a known bug where when you go to talk to someone you can't and get a spiel 'so and so appears busy'. Apparently the bug was introduced by the Throne of Baal expansion. There is a fix for it, but it is also known that the fix generally doesn't fix it - and it didn't fix it for me.

I think if I were to go back to BG, it would be back to II and without the ToB expansion - I didn't really care for it anyway. I know I enjoyed a couple mods to make the game look better on widescreen and an editor to tweak characters or respec them.

What I wanted was an elven no melee mystic archer (doh!) who had thieving skills. A dual classed Fighter-thief was good for bow and thieving skills but had no magic, had to be human and the melee skills were wasted. An elven archer (kit) was good but had no thieving skills. That's where the editor and some tweaks helped create what I wanted.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 6 2014, 05:16 PM

If you want simplicity I would suggest going with the Enhanced Editions. The EE natively combines the two games already, without you having to jump through a bunch of hoops to install this and that separately. They also add a little bit of new content, which you cannot get with the old games. I am not sure if they fix the "person appears busy bug". But from what I read they do contain a plethora of bug fixes from the original games. When it originally came out there were a lot of new bugs but there have been a lot of patches to fix them, and I have never had an issue when playing so far.

If you want more mods, go with BGT or Tutu. Tbh, I have not been very excited about the mods I have seen out there though. The only things I have really wanted with mods were more portraits and voices. I got an old portrait pack to work after some fumbling. Out of the voice mods out there I only found one voice I liked out of about 50 or 60. That didn't work natively in EE, but I was able to create a new voice using the sound files myself. The EE character editor has done everything I have wanted. As you said Acadian, it is simple enough to use it to give a character lockpicking and trap finding skills through it.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 6 2014, 05:48 PM

Thanks for the additional info. I'll wait until I get the BG bug again, but that EE does sound nice also.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 6 2014, 08:51 PM

As an added bonus to waiting, over time more old mods will be converted to the EEs, and more new ones will crop up for them. One thing I noticed reading opinions about the EEs is that when they first came out, many people who had tried them said you were just as well sticking with the heavily modded originals. But now that they have been out for a while, and bugs fixed, I see the opposite statements by people who own both. That you should go with the EEs.

In other Baldurdash, Scáthach and company finally made their way to the Nashkel Mines. Just before reaching them they got a not-so random encounter where they met Dorn, the new Blackguard npc introduced by the EE. As far as I can tell, to get him you have first talk to him at the Friendly Arm Inn, and then you will get this encounter when you travel from Naskhel to Naskel Mines.

So that brings the team up to 6 members again. I was thinking of cashiering Kagain now that I have Dorn, but then I noticed he has twice the hit points! I don't want to get rid of Viconia or Baeloth, as they are my sole cleric and mage support. Which just leaves Imoen. To be honest, I am not sure I really need a thief in BG1. So far there have been almost no traps at all that I have encountered. The treasure cave in the Lighthouse area is the only place I recall coming across them. There are a lot of places with locks to pick. But those are usually inside people's houses or inn rooms. Basically straight up thievery. I don't think I have ever had to pick a lock to finish a quest. I have already been thinking of dual classing Imoen since her thieving skills are not really critical. Mostly she is just an archer.

It is a real dramatic change from the Neverwinter Nights games, where a thief is a necessity. In those games traps are everywhere, and nearly every chest is locked. You would never get any loot without a thief, assuming you even managed to walk through a dungeon alive.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 6 2014, 09:26 PM

I never touched any of the NWN stuff. In BG II, you really do want a thief - but, since the levels are higher it's very easy to do that via dual or multi-class. I found that dual classing a fighter with solid bow skill into a thief worked fabulously - making a perfectly good, but very tough thief/sniper. A mage/thief can work well also.

Posted by: Lopov Jul 7 2014, 09:54 AM

Dorn looks badass, I checked his pic on the Wiki. Looks like EE adds a lot more companions that I thought, I thought that it's 2 or 3 but there are more. Also, it seems I was wrong when I said earlier in this thread that romancing isn't possible in BGI, they enabled in EE because it says that Dorn will romance the PC.

EDIT: Nope, I read things too quickly (as usual), looks like that he returns in BGII, that's where he can be a potential partner.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 7 2014, 05:11 PM

There are four new Companions: Dorn, Neera, Rasaad, and Baeloth who was originally a secret npc. But the secret about him is obviously out by now. Rasaad is the only one I have not had in my party, though I have met him. I just didn't need anyone like him. So far the three I have used have been excellent, though Neera's wild magic does come with a learning curve. It does make things a lot of fun though.

I noticed something last night about Dorn. He can carry 500 pounds, or weight units, or whatever they are called. He isn't just a pack mule, but a pack caravan!

Posted by: ghastley Jul 7 2014, 06:13 PM

Just installed BG1 on my laptop. Now I have to see if any of the save games on my old hard-drives are readable. The old dead machine that used to run it had EIDE only, and the new ones all do SATA only, so it could be tricky.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 7 2014, 06:53 PM

What you could try is putting the old hard drive in an external drive enclosure, and then connecting that to the new comp.

For s&gs I copied my portrait pack from BG1EE to BG2EE, the exact same files, to an override folder using the same path as BG1. They do not appear when I create a character. However, after I save a game and open it with EE Keeper, all the new portraits are there for me to choose from.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 10 2014, 10:26 PM

I finished the Black Pits 1 (for Baldur's Gate 1 EE). It was ok, but nothing spectacular. It is an arena-style mini-campaign. You are given a party of six characters whom you can keep or alter as you desire, the same as when you start a regular game (except you can import or change all six characters). It is separate from the regular campaign, though you can import or export characters between the two.

A note to keep in mind, the first character listed is considered to be the party leader, no matter how you might change the order later by moving the pictures around on the right side of the screen. For the entire campaign, npcs will refer to you by the name and race of that first character listed. So if you are importing a player character, or plan to export your character to the regular game, make them the first character.

There are 15 battles. You fight a battle in the arena, then return to a waiting room with merchants where you can buy new gear, potions, scrolls, etc... If your team members are killed or injured, they will be back up to full when you all appear in the waiting room. You can use the Rest function here so your mages can learn new spells. You are also given an amount of gold that you can use to buy things with.

You get a ton of experience points after every battle. I mean a ridiculous amount compared to the regular game. It is enough to go up a level every other battle. So you will end up at level 7 or 8 with every character in the party. I imported Scathach from my first save at the start of the regular campaign, and she ended up 8th level.

The battles are arranged into three tiers. The first tier battles are pretty easy. After that they get progressively more difficult. After you finish each tier, the vendors restock with newer, more powerful gear. They get +1 weapons at the start of Tier 2, and +2 at the start of Tier 3. You can also go back and refight any battle you want at any time. That is one way to grind up experience and get more money for gear if you want.

Export your character before the final battle. You can then take that character file and import the character into the main BG1 campaign if you start a new game. You start with all the experience and levels you had at the point you exported. That also includes your gear. So you can do this to start the game with a pretty uber character. Of course you will probably never level up even once in the regular campaign, considering how high your starting level will be, and how much xp you will need to make the next level.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 11 2014, 12:43 AM

This weekend. I'm getting this game on my old computer. I might have to buy it all over again, but I'm really drawn to BG again, after reading your exploits.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 11 2014, 12:59 AM

It is well worth getting. One of the best games I have played in a while. Definitely get the Enhanced Edition(s). They cost a little more, but $20 a piece is nothing compared to buying a brand new game and all of its addons.

Even on an older comp, they should run fine. I just checked, and BG1EE is only using about a fifth of a gig of memory.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 11 2014, 01:26 AM

Just out of curiosity I tried starting a new BG1 game with Scathach imported from the Black Pits. The game does not scale its monsters any differently. So the baddies in Candlekeep literally explode after one hit. The bears and wolves in the Candlekeep Coastway take a few hits before going down. But don't seem any different from when you start with a 1st level character.

I did notice that while Imoen was gaining experience points after killing critters in the Coastway, Scathach was not. So my guess is that if you import a character, you don't gain any experience until you reach the same amount you had from the Black Pits. For Scathach that is 161,000, and she needs 250,000 to hit the next level.

So it pretty much looks like if you do import a Black Pits character you will start the game quite uber, and that you will never level again.

I am going back to my regular game with Scathach, where she is about 5th level or so.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 11 2014, 02:19 AM

Imoen. I remember that name. Is Steam required for this game? .. I have Steam on my old computer, but not on the new one. I can't remember how I wound up with Steam back in October, so I'm thinking it was either from Baldur's or Sims 3.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 11 2014, 02:33 AM

It isn't required, unless you buy it from Steam! You can either buy it from Beamdog, or Steam. I got the Steam version because I found it on sale a few weeks ago.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 14 2014, 01:28 AM

See, I bought BG from gamestop.com. And I'm not sure if it's related to Steam or not. I don't remember how I got Steam on my old computer. *shrugs* It was either BG or Sims 3. But never mind. I'm going to try to see if I can get BG started.

Alright I found it. The GameStop icon. Amazingly I also wrote down my password on one of the walls in my room. I do this, ya know, write passwords on a wall near my bed. If I put them in a book, stuff will get lost. Books fall behind things in my room. I put the book in a specific place, and at some point it'll wander. Much better to write User IDs and passwords on a wall. The wall will never wander away like books do.

Hey SR, I see you are here. It's asking me to re-install, and I'm fine with that. But it's asking to put it in Program Files. Probably not such a good idea, right?

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 14 2014, 01:39 AM

Looks like the Gamestop version does require Steam. You will find out when you install it. If it needs it, it will install automagically. I didn't even know Gamestop sold PC games via download. I always think of them as a place for console games.

The Baldur's Gate Wiki has a handy http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Areas. So too does http://mikesrpgcenter.com/bgate/maps.html. Just click on the map and it takes you to the page on the area. The first site gives you more detailed info on everything in the areas. The second is nice because it has the points of interest clearly marked on them. And of course http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16497/eekeeper/p1 is your best bet for ubering up your toons...

I other news I decided to let Dorn go. I just don't like the 6 character group size. And for all that he's strong, he's kind of fragile. My other frontliners have twice the hit points. So now it is back to Scathach, Imoen, Viconia, Kagain, and Baeloth. So far I have to say Baeloth has been pure awesome sauce. Without the sauce though. He is just pure awesome. Now I know who his voice reminds me of. The Mark Hamill version of The Joker.

Scathach and crew have explorated the entire western half of the map from Candlekeep to the southern map edge. Now I am working on the last few areas in the east, with just Gullykin, Durlag's Tower, and Ulcaster to go. After that I will finally turn north, and maybe get cracking on the rest of the main quest.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 14 2014, 01:57 AM

Pretty much you are right. Now that I've been PC gaming for about 9 months, I realize how lame GameStop's PC sections are in stores. Tons of Nintendo, Xbox, and PS games, but the PC section usually only is comprised of the very top most popular games for PC. I could find Sims 3 in GameStop, but not BG, or the ES Anthology. So I've gotten in the habit of searching online for PC games.

Thanks for the links, and I can't wait to buff up my toons, grind their stats! I think last time I chose one of the pre-made character guys, but I'm pretty sure BG has a choice to roll our own toon. I forget, but I'm about to find out!

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 14 2014, 02:59 AM

You can roll your own drunks toons indeed!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 14 2014, 11:37 PM

Just got it from Beamdog. Installing now. GameStop is apparently broken. Wow 2.3 gigs.

Edit: It won't play on my old computer. DAngit. Keeps giving me crash errors. I'll try the gaming one instead, the one I got at Micro Center. I bet it'll work on there.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 15 2014, 12:22 AM

It ought to work fine on a new box. I am using the Enhanced Edition on my Windows 7 gaming rig, and it runs like a charm.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 15 2014, 02:44 AM

I tried Durlag's Tower tonight. I understand that it was one of the expansion packs for BG1. I did not like it. It has too many narrow, winding corridors. Trying to get a party of even 5 through the hallways was a pain, as the characters kept deciding to go off in different directions. I only did the outside of the tower, and the above ground levels. After that I left, and headed for Ulcaster. That is the last area left to explore south of the Friendly Arm Inn.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 19 2014, 02:49 AM

I rolled another toon for BG1 EE. Meet http://i.imgur.com/l1pAAzn.jpg, a Drow Fighter/Cleric. It was not easy making her, as the game does not allow elves to be Fighter/Clerics. So I started her as a half-elf, then saved the game, and used EE Keeper to change her to an elf. They don't have Drow in BG1EE. Viconia and Baeloth are just the Elf race, with an added Magic Resistance bonus. So I did the same with Tuonetar. I also gave her an Animate Dead spell to start with, so she can summon Darryl the Skeleton.

Finally, I took my Viconia soundset for Oblivion, and converted it to work in BG1EE. It works like a charm. I guess this means I won't be using Viconia this time around. That will give me an opportunity to try a different cleric npc, if I bother with another one at all. Since Tuonetar is a Good character for a change, I plan to try an all-good party with her. Imoeon of course, Minsc and Dynahair, and maybe Kivan.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 19 2014, 04:06 AM

Sounds neat! I don't know if BG I supports it, but a very cool character in BG II is a multiclass ranger/cleric. The big draw here is that character gets access to both cleric and druid spells. Normally the ranger only gets a limited amount of druid spells, but by multiclassing with cleric, it unlocks them all. And the ranger enhances the cleric's melee ability as well. Again, I don't know know if BG I EE will support that; BG I would not but EE seems to be a real hybrid game.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 19 2014, 05:29 AM

I was experimenting with several classes, including Rangers. But I tend to play Rangers a lot in D&D based games, so I decided to take a break from one this time around. Besides, given her name Tuonetar isn't really the woodsy type. She's more the living dead type. That is why I gave her the Animate Dead spell to start with. That extra party member helps out quite a bit in these early levels.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 19 2014, 06:27 PM

Tuonetar and Ims mosied south from Friendly Arm Inn and discovered Beregost. There they helped out/enlisted Neera, bringing a (albeit wild) mage to the group. They knocked around the town, killing spiders, surviving assassins, and the lot. Naturally Imoen burgled every house as well!

A trip west to High Hedge found Kivan. He was a bit of a flash in the pan. He died in their first encounter! It was a black bear, and he was dead before I realized it. I didn't much like his voice though, so I left him dead rather than take him for resurrection.

I find that tends to be my biggest reason for keeping or rejecting party members. What their voice acting is like. I just cannot stand Jaheria's voice, which is why I could not wait to get rid of her. The same with Safana the one time I tried her out. OTOH I just love Imoen, Viconia, and Baeloth's voices. Minsc has a really fun voice pack too.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 19 2014, 07:34 PM

Lol. Minsc and Boo are legendary! Happily, they are in both BG I and II. As are Jaheira, Imoen and Viconia. Once you someday get to BG II, there is a paladin named Keldorn Firecam; when it comes to the gritty noble heart of a knight, he is the real deal. I think, in general, they improved the personalities of the NPCs introduced in II.

I'm really glad you're enjoying the game. I know that I enjoy hearing how and what your characters are doing in BG.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 19 2014, 10:01 PM

I am still having a lot of fun with BG1. It was well worth the $10 I spent for it!

I discovered something today. Animated skeletons do not get experience points. So they make a great extra tank party member, without stealing the xp from the regular characters. They last for 8 or 9 hours, so you can summon one up at the beginning of an area and it will be good for the entire place. They don't like going through doors into new areas though. They tend to get stuck in the first side of the door, and you have to click on them and manually move them when you come back through again to get them following you once more.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 20 2014, 05:55 PM

Wow, only $10. My 'copy' cost $19.95 I think from Beamdog.

I got BG working finally on my Micro Center computer. Haven't rolled a new toon yet, but I think I'm going to go with custom class, and make some sort of hybrid fighter/mage. Gonna be a 'he', and his name will be Sir Vayor. I figure since he'll be somewhat of a 'test' that he will be surveying the gameworld.

I like the fact that it's all dice rolls. It takes a different sort of concentration than ES or FO, which means I can make a snack and eat while playing BG, or read a book or some posts. It' an easily pausable game, BG is. The action is not so immediate.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 20 2014, 06:05 PM

I got mine from Steam during their Summer Sale last month. Both BG1 and 2 EEs were $20 together.

You cannot create your own custom classes like you can in Oblvion. You are stuck with what they offer. But you can do multi-class characters, which I think is what you mean. Tuonetar is my first stab at trying that out.

Oh, and while you do roll the dice for your stats, you can rearrange them however you want with the + and - buttons next to each number. So it is a good idea to just hit the reroll for a bit until you get someone with either an 18 strength, or just a lot of points in general, and then move them around how you like them.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 20 2014, 07:26 PM

I got ya. Well I'm rolling Sir Vayor now. He's a human, class is Paladin > Cavalier. This is the classic knight type. He is Lawful Good, just like the leader of my DnD party was way back in the '80s. *shrug* This is my mindset for tablegames, always has been. I've had CG and NG and various neutral characters join the party in the past, but the leader was always LG.

I rolled his stats, and you are right, it does allow us to change various numbers. ST = 13, DX = 14, CT = 12, IQ = 14, Wisdom = 16, and CH = 17. I gave him dual-proficiency with a longsword, and chose single proficiency with mace and sword + shield.

Yeah, I'm done! Rolled my first BG toon!

EDIT: Sir Vayor is running around Candlekeep so far. I think the last time I played BG I didn't know there's several things to do here in Candlekeep, so this time I'm just having SV do a few of these. He found a book for some woman in a stack of hay, and also got rid of some rats in a storehouse. He also got some cheap armor + helmet, and a small shield. Since he's got proficiency with longswords, he got one of these, too.

*cough* I'm using the easiest difficulty. Having some fun. Time sure is flying by.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 20 2014, 07:44 PM

I hope you have fun surveying the game with Sir Vayor.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 21 2014, 02:35 AM

Today Tuonetar and company made their way south from Beregost to Nashkel, finishing several little quests along the way. At Nashkel they recruited Rasaad and Minsc, and found the Anhkeg armor. Continuing south, I left off at Nashkel Mines.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 21 2014, 03:21 AM

I recall from the original BG I that Minsc was close to Dynaheir (a mage) and had devoted himself to looking out for 'his witch'. She died between BG I and BG II per the story. Would she fit into your party? I expect Minsc will encourage you to go get her.

http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Dynaheir

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 22 2014, 03:04 AM

I am not sure what I will make of Dynaheir. I will just have to wait and see. I already have a mage in Neera, and don't think I really need a second one. If she was a sorcerer I would definitely go with Dyna. They are so much easier to use with than the other mages in D&D. It all depends on her voice as well. If it grates on me, she'll just have to go like Jaheria did. Of course I cannot just fire her, because then Minsc will leave as well. So I would have to arrange for her demise.

OTOH, I am loving Minsc. His dialogue is a hoot! He's also seriously good at killing things. So he's earned his spot on the team. Tuo let Rasaad go after today's gaming. He just wasn't measuring up. Tuonetar's animated skeleton seemed more potent in melee combat.

In other news, Tuonetar and crew 'splored all around Nashkel Mines today, but never went inside. Instead Neera brought up the subject of an old Wise Wild Mage named Adoy who might be able to help her control her magic. So Tuo packed up the team and headed east to Adoy's Enclave. That was pretty much a bust, though there was some serious killin' and a level up involved.

Now Tuo is headed west toward the Gnoll Stronghold where Dyna is being held. Rescuing her is next on the To Do list. The main quest will just have to wait its turn!

Posted by: Acadian Jul 22 2014, 03:53 AM

Neat! I'm so pleased that you like Minsc! As long as your party is basically good, he can always fit in as a heavy front liner. And you're right, his personality and dialogue is a hoot! Dynaheir struck me as reasonably competent and neither inspired nor unpleasant. As you say, check her out, then either allow her to be killed and keep Minsc or opt to keep both of them. As I said, she gets killed in between BG I and II anyway. If you play a woman in BG II and have Minsc, he will eventually 'adopt' you as 'his witch' to replace the role that Dynaheir held for him.

And I agree that Jaheira is both grating to take and not particularly useful.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 24 2014, 01:48 AM

Today Tuonetar explored the southern edge of the map from Nashkel all the way west to the Gnoll Stronghold. She and company rescued Dynaheir. I was pretty underwhelmed at first. She starts with absolutley nothing, and only knows a handful of spells. I took her back to Nashkel to buy some gear, and used EE Keeper to give her some more spells. Afterward the party headed back to the Gnoll Stronghold to finish up the critters there. We will see how well she does there.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 25 2014, 03:23 AM

Today Tuonetar and her band of merry heroes finished off the Gnoll Stronghold, and cleared out the regions around it. Dynaheir didn't really impress me. Her voice was fine, unlike others like Jahiera, but with Neera already in the party, Dyna is just superflous. I don't need two mages. Neera's wild magic makes her more interesting (you never know what you are going to get!), so she is the keeper. Since I cannot just fire her without losing Minsc as well, I had to get rid of her in a more proactive fashion. So tonight she sleeps with the fishes.

I also decided to dual-class Imoen. Thieves don't seem a whole lot of use in BG1. There are only a few places in the game with traps for them to detect, and I haven't seen any instance where you *have* to pick a lock. According to the rules, Mage was the only other class I could go to with her. So I used EE Keeper to raise her Strength to 17. That allowed me to dual her to a Fighter. After I loaded her stronger save, I dual-classed her, saved again, and opened that save with EE Keeper again and put her Strength back down to normal. So now she is a Fighter/Thief. That will give her more hit points, a better to hit roll, and allow her to use better weapons like longbows. If I can get ahold of the gauntlets of ogre power, she will be able to use a composite longbow.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 25 2014, 03:34 AM

I understand about Dynaheir. As I said, she dies anyway off camera in between BG I and II. I'm glad you have another mage you're happy with.

FYI, when you meet your pal Imoen again in BG II, she has already dual classed from a thief to a mage. Of course the nice thing about a character editor is that you can take a character that you like (personality-wise and such) and tweak them to anything you want.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 25 2014, 12:50 PM

EE Keeper sounds interesting. I might have to try getting that in my game.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 25 2014, 01:43 PM

I forget the name of the character editor that I used while playing BG II but they are neat. I changed Jahiera to a ranger/cleric and Aerie to a sorceress for example. And gave Minsc the true berserk power instead of the buggy frenzy thing that he has.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 25 2014, 02:35 PM

Yeh I tried messing with one editor I found on some website. Trying to cheat a little bit and add antidote to my party. But this editor only seems to work half way. Or maybe I'm not entering the code right. It's a typical thing though with me: I need lots of instructions (clear step-by-step) to get something working on PC, and this site's instrux are only half-baked.

Like here is what I mean... here is an example of some good step-by-step instrux, as found on a Wrye Bash website.


See that? Step by step. THAT's what I like. The BG editor page I found throws a bunch of codes up there, but no instructions, dangit.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 25 2014, 05:07 PM

It sounds like you are trying to use Shadowkeeper? - the character editor for the original versions of the BG games. I don't think that will work with the enhanced editions, because they are different. Use http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16497/eekeeper/p1, it is made for the Enhanced Editions, and has always worked like a charm for me.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 26 2014, 11:46 PM

Tuonetar, Neera, Imoen, and Minsc have succeeded in clearing out the western half of the map, from Candlekeep all the way to the southern edge. They have shifted operations east, and just stared the Gibberling Mountains in the south-eastern corner of the map. I plan to keep working around here until Imoen gets high enough level as a Fighter for her Thief skills to become usable again. It should not be too much longer, she just hit 4th level, and only needs to make 5th.

I also snapped a http://i.imgur.com/eakibPb.jpg.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 27 2014, 03:11 AM

Oooh color spray. Prrretty.

Can't get EE Keeper to work. The program opens, and it's asking me to choose which game, but that's as far as I get. I choose BG1 and nothing happens. I wonder if I am picking the right download, first of all. I'm picking 1.0.2.4 > Download, right? Not 'Mac wineskin' and not 'SFX Installer?'

I'll be playing some Oblivion in the mean time.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 27 2014, 03:31 AM

That is the same version I am using, without the SFX or Mac thing. It usually automatically goes to BG1 to me. I think it remembers it from the last session, and since I am only playing BG1, that is it. You probably have to manually tell it where your game's folder is. I had to with both games. From the menu bar up top, click on Settings -> Installation Directory. From there you can browse for both games by clicking on the Browse:BGEE and Browse:BG2EE buttons.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 27 2014, 09:24 AM

It keeps saying I have to 'reload the game resources' for it to take effect. I mean, the program opens, and I've told it to look in Program Files (x86) > Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition. I've also tried telling it Program Files (x86) > Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition > Data > 00766, because the installer seemed to suggest I try looking in a folder with a numerical sequence on it. I have no idea what 'reload the game resources' means.

Clicking the Help button .... I'm not seeing anything that says helpful. I'll be playing some TES 1: Arena in the meantime.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 27 2014, 03:13 PM

Renee, hope you get that character editor mod working - they add a wonderful dimension of flexibility to the game.

SubRosa, thanks for the screenie. I really enjoy following your Baldurventures!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 27 2014, 03:27 PM

Yes, I got it. I think I got it. Several files were scattered, I didn't realize they all have to be in one place. COOL.

Edit: wow WOW what a neat program! It's so easy to use once I got the hang of it.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 28 2014, 01:47 AM

Today's Balduring saw Tuon and company finish off all of the eastern side of the map up to Peldvale. Except for Durlag's Tower and Nashkel Mines. Imoen finally got high enough level as a Fighter for her Thief abilities to work once more - 6th level Fighter / 5th level Thief. So once they knock off Peldvale, I will take the band of merry adventurers south to finish off the mines and take a crack at the tower.

I have noticed that even with only 4 members, Tuon's party is much stronger, and higher level, than Scathach's was. I think it was because I was taking the evil option in many quests, I was missing out on a lot of experience point awards. Like with the Melicamp the Chicken quest. Scath simply dropped him off at the wizard's place in High Hedge. But Tuonetar actually stuck around and volunteered to help get him turned back to normal. There have been a lot of cases where Tuon has gone the extra mile like that, and gotten more XP. Now she is breezing through battles that had been really brutal for Scath.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 28 2014, 12:44 PM

Glad it's working well for Toon-Eater and her small band. Congrats to Imoen for getting her thiefy skills back!

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 29 2014, 01:13 AM

I can see where Imoen splitting classes with a spellcaster would be good. She is basically a rear-liner to start with, and making her the magic support as well as the occasional trap finder and lockpicker rolls two jobs into one character. That leaves an extra slot for another front-liner. Or just for one fewer character. As I have noticed - less characters in the party means more experience for each.

Today Tuonetar and company finally knocked off Nashkel Mines. They headed back north, and are about to tackle the Bandit Camp.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jul 29 2014, 03:44 AM

Toon Eater! I didn't catch this before.

Sir Vayor, Imoen, Jaheera, and Khalid (I may have spelled those last two names wrong) are exploring some wilderness. Dealing with gnolls, skeletons, and other such baddies. They have 253 gold between them all, and so far nobody's died. I may even bump up the difficulty eventually.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 1 2014, 11:18 PM

Tuonetar and company spent the last few nights exploring Durlag's Tower. I got farther this time than with Scathach. But eventually I got fed up again. I just don't like that place. Too many traps, and the hallways and rooms are just too narrow and small.

So now Tuonetar and her group are exploring Cloakwood. They just picked up Coran, and agreed to help him with his Wyvern hunt. He does not look like much, with an ordinary longbow and plain leather armor compared to the others in the bunch. But he seems to be doing ok nonetheless. A 20 Dexterity helps!

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 7 2014, 01:40 AM

Tuonetar and company explored all of Cloakwood today. After selling off the wyvern heads, Tuo parted ways with Coran. He was ok as a team member. But the crew really did not need him. So now it is back to a foursome: Tuonetar, Minsc, Imoen, and Neera. Plus Tuonetar's summoned skeleton of course. I left them on the doorstep of the hidden mine in Cloakwood.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 7 2014, 03:55 AM

Glad it's still going well. Your party sounds good!

Posted by: Lopov Aug 8 2014, 06:59 PM

Was Cloakwood forest accessible from the very start or could you only explore it after a certain point in the main quest? In the original version, these areas were inaccessible until you advanced enough through the main quest.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 8 2014, 07:04 PM

It was inaccessable until I did Naskel Mine, and then cleared out the Bandit Camp. Likewise, the city of Baldur's Gate itself was also locked off until finishing Cloakwood Mine.

Speaking of which, Tuonetar and crew cleared out the Cloakwood Mine. Then they moved north, clearing out the Farmlands and Wyrm's Crossing. Now they are in the city of Baldur's Gate, looking into this Seven Suns business.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 8 2014, 07:53 PM

I only played through BG I and TotSC one time, then got deep into BG II for several years. So I don't remember much in the way of quests and areas from BG I. I continue to enjoy the nostalgia of reading your updates as you crew progresses along. No doubt, Minsc and Imoen are the most memorable carryovers from I to II.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 9 2014, 12:42 AM

I was looking over my foursome's stats, and I noticed that Imoen has the best Thaco of the group! It is a 3. Turning her into a Fighter/Thief has made her rather awesome. Of course it helps that I recently gave her the book that boosts Dexterity by a point, to put hers up to 19.

Tuonetar and company made their way through the city of Baldur's Gate today, explored some of the sewers, and cleaned out the Iron Throne's building. Now they are back where she started, at Candlekeep.

I have to admit that I am starting to get burned out on BG though. I skipped most of the sidequests in the city, because I just want to get to the end of it now. I'll probably take a break from the series afterward, and try some other game before going to BG2. I am not sure what. Tuonetar's game in Skyrim has not been grabbing me. A lot of people are playing Fallout these days, so maybe I'll roll a new toon and jump on the radiation bandwagon. Or dust off Lonesome Dove or my Winter Soldier Callieach.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Aug 9 2014, 01:11 AM

It's hard working these older games into modern times, isn't it? .. Not that BG is bad, but that it's hard to include it if you've also got several modern games (like I do) going as well. Multiple characters in some of these other games too.

Makes me wish I had been a PC gamer back in the '90s. Without Fallout, Skyrim, and Oblivion, I would have had all the time in the world to focus on TES 1: Arena, TES 2: Daggerfall, and then Baldur's Gate, as the years rolled by. Know what I mean?

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 9 2014, 02:20 AM

Its not so much that BG is an older game. That does not really bother me at all. It is just the fatigue of it being the same game for too long. I was able to play Oblivion for years, and Rome Total War for years before that. But I have not come across other games that can hold my interest for as long as they did.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Aug 9 2014, 03:13 AM

No no, I'm not saying there is any problem because BG is old. What I am saying is in my case, I'm struggling a bit because I'm trying to cram all these different games and characters into my free time. It would have been interesting if I could turn back the clock to the 1990s again, and have played some of these older games back then. Focused all my time more casually instead of cramming.

Maybe you played BG back when it was new? ... I did not. I wasn't even gaming in those days. My gaming renaissance happened in February of 2000, when I discovered Tomb Raider on Playstation. I spent the next 7 years playing various editions of TR. Meanwhile, if I had an Xbox instead of a PS, I would have no doubt discovered Morrowind as well.

Sorry, just being a little philosophical.

To get back O/T, I last played some BG 3 or 4 days ago. It was fun. Sir Vayor, Imoen, Khalid, Jaherra, and a couple others are roaming south, trying to get to some mines so they can take care of the iron shortage somehow.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 9 2014, 04:22 AM

So many games, so little time. I know what you mean.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 9 2014, 10:50 AM

I still remember the boss battle from the Cloakwood mine as if it happened yesterday. That guy, who's in charge of the mines - Davaeorn, suddenly started teleporting all over his quarters and because my characters had commands to attack him, they followed him as soon as he teleported. But I didn't count on the fact that his quarters were trapped so there was real chaos with all traps being triggered and Davaeorn teleporting all over. Later, when I got better at gaming, he wasn't a challenge anymore.


Off-topic but there is one building in the city which devs forgot to finish so upon entering, the game crashes but maybe they fixed it in the EE.

Speaking of getting burned on BG, I played only BG series, Fallout 1 & 2 (and some Civilization and Commandos) for years when I was a teenager, one reason is because I really loved them but the other one is that my computer at that time couldn't handle any better games so I was more or less stuck with them. I can say that I spent a majority of my childhood playing just these two games. But these days I don't see myself playing BG or original FO anymore, I moved on and I prefer remembering them instead of playing them. Like Acadian, I was always more into BG II, I even played it before BG I - my brother bought it to me as a birthday present.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 9 2014, 04:49 PM

My first attempt at taking him on was all chaos like that. I think Tuonetar got killed, which forced a reload. My second time around I held the party back and sent Imoen forward alone. She decoyed his guards back toward the others without triggering Davaeron, so the party could kill them separately. Then Imoen went back in sneaking by herself and disarmed the traps. Dav spotted her, and she was disarming the last of them while he was headed toward her to attack. I pulled her back, and then Neera started flinging fireballs into his chamber. Then the rest of the party went at him, and he started his teleporting. But it was a four on one and the party was already hasted, so he never stood a chance.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 9 2014, 10:58 PM

Had a whirlwhind session today that saw Tuonetar sneak back into Baldur's Gate, deal with all sorts of betrayers, get invited to the Ducal Palace, and have the first showdown with the Big Bad. Now they are chasing him through the Thieves Guild Maze.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Aug 10 2014, 01:09 AM

Nice! My session wasn't so good. Imoen and Jaheera got killed. My fault really.

They party found some sort of graveyard. There was a mad wizard and a bunch of undead. Zombies and skeletons. The wizard made some sort of epic statement and mistook Sir Vayor for his father or something. The he started acting like he was going to do something over-the-top, so I initially had Sir Vayor & company get the hell out of there.

But then we went back. Killed one skeleton which had wandered off from the main pack. Then we got a zombie. The strategy was to lure these undead off one by one, until only the wizard was left. But at one point we got too close, and the wizard (or somebody) cast an Entangle spell, dangit. Most of the party was now entangled. Ironically, Imoen made her saving throw, so she was not entangled. But she got killed anyway! Arrgh.

Jaherra also got killed, which sucks because he is the party's only healer. Or he was. So now we're down to Vayor, Khalid, and one other guy (a Ranger) who I am forgetting his name. ... Anyway.

Enough with BG, time for a game I'm actually GOOD AT! .. I switch to Oblivion now.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 10 2014, 01:45 AM

I think I know the place you mean. It is the area south of High Hedge. Hang on to those bodies, and their stuff. You can get them raised at any temple. There is a big one in the area just east of Beregost. There's also one right beside the Friendly Arm Inn. In fact, if that was the place south of High Hedge, go the Temple east of Beregost. The priest there will give you a big reward. I think you need to take the mad wizard's holy symbol with you to prove you killed him.

Don't feel bad about things getting fubared like that. This game is just like that. 99% of the fights you will just walk through. But the boss fights will often come out of left field like that one, and kick your rear. That is why it is good to quicksave a lot. Just reload and give it another shot. This is not a game to play dead is dead like Oblivion. It just is not made that way.

I would not really be broken up about Jahiera getting killed though. I never liked her anyway.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 10 2014, 02:35 AM

I can't recall if it was a problem in BG I, but I really remember the mage fights of BG II. Those enemy mages could turn your whole party into frenzied or confused or terrorized loons!

Sorry, Renee. I never warmed up to Jaheira either. And Khaliid seemed a timid mouse just waiting for a real fighter to replace him. Lol.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 10 2014, 03:28 PM

Jaheira is annoying in BG II as well but if you piss her off in the starting dungeon, she'll leave and never return. I think that most of my characters did this.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Aug 10 2014, 03:47 PM

Thanks SR, I will take your advice about the temple beside Friendly Arm. I figure Imoen is definitely worth it, she and Sir Vayor are supposed to have some sort of past.

I like Jaheira, call me crazy. If only for the fact that Jaheira can heal the others. But I don't mind Jaheira.

Yeah but...

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 10 2014, 08:10 PM

I finally wrapped up Baldur's Gate I this afternoon. That was a big fight at the end. But a little weird, as I finished off Savelok (he sounds like a Vulcan with that name) before killing his lackeys. So I get a message that Sav is dead. Then it goes back to fighting with the other baddies. Then a message that a final save has been made to export to BG2. Then back to fighting, then the game ends.

I fired up BG2 and tried to import Tuonetar, but it could not find the final save BG1 made. I had to use Explorer to copy the save folder from my BG1 saves to my BG2 saves. Then it could find her and import her. I was a little surprised to see that she has all her levels and spells from before. I did not play enough to see if all her gear came over too.

I was expecting her stats to remain the same, but the levels to reset. Then I tried creating a new character, and found that you start out at 7th level. So it is not unbalancing to bring in a PC exported from BG1.

I am done with Balduring for now though. I think I will play a bit more of Lonesome Dove in FONV. I also have a bit of a hankering for Neverwinter Nights again, maybe I will try NWN2 after that. Eventually I will get back to BG2 though.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 10 2014, 08:22 PM

Congrats! Taking a break between BG I and II is perfect. No rush and the two games are only gently linked, and that is mostly at the beginning.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 10 2014, 08:27 PM

Congratulations on finishing BG, IMO it's one of the greatest games ever made. I don't remember the exact details but all Sarevok's lackeys are named after some of the game developers, Semaj reads backwards as James, Angelo is named after Angelo obviously and Tazok is an anagram of Kozta, which is similar to Kosta and this was one of the BG developers as well.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Aug 12 2014, 11:15 PM

Do these bodies have to be physically carried somehow? I'm in the temple at Friendly Arm and I see Imoen & Jaheira's faces are there, but they are greyish and I don't see an option to revive them. Spoke to the cleric NPC in the temple.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 12 2014, 11:24 PM

I don't think a body actually appears that you can carry. Talk to the priest and click on his Healing Tab. He will probably have three or four tabs for different kinds of services. It will be the one on the far left. At the top be things like Cure Light Wounds, etc... At the bottom of the list should be a Raise Dead option.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 21 2014, 12:16 AM

I just got back from the grocery store. The cart I had the luck of picking had a rusty wheel that just would not stop squeaking. In no time at all I was thinking "The squeaky wheel gets the kick!"

Posted by: Acadian Aug 21 2014, 12:58 AM

Go for the eyes, Boo!

Ah, hamsters and rangers everywhere - rejoice!

The bigger they are, the harder I hit!

Buttkicking, for goodness!

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 21 2014, 01:54 AM

Evil everywhere... careful not to step in any.

Posted by: Lopov Aug 21 2014, 07:48 AM

When it comes to quotes, Minsc and Edwin are my favorites, especially:

"'Edwin do this,' 'Edwin do that,' somebody get this jerk a banana!"

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 18 2014, 06:50 PM

A few nights ago I started up a BG2 EE game, importing my kensai Scathach from BG1 and changing her alignment to Lawful Neutral. I have to say, I am liking Imoen even more in this game. At least I was until the game took her away from me! That just got me ticked off. She is my favorite NPC in the series. It almost made me stop playing the game completely, and did make me stop that night.

I read up, and found that at least I can get her back, eventually. Sigh. So I spent the last few nights since escaping the Irenicus Tutorial Dungeon recruiting Nalia and Viconia. Once I got the two of them, I ditched Jaheria and Yojimbo. I cannot stand Jaheria, and Yojimbo just seemed useless. He couldn't pick a single lock in the time I had him, and never did much of anything in combat.

So now I have a solid cleric, and a decent Thief/Mage. That fills out the must-have specialties. Scathach and Minsc are both bricks. So all I need are few more sluggers to keep the enemies busy. I am thinking of maybe picking up Cernd and Valgyar for future companions. I have heard Cernd isn't all that great, but apparently there are some mods that make him an absolute badass when he shapechanges. I get the impression that the Dwarf Fighter (I forget his name) is a good tank as well, but I am not sure I want another evil character in the party.

Posted by: Lopov Oct 18 2014, 07:54 PM

So you started BG2, eh? I was curious when will your adventures in Amn begin. I played BG2 before BG1 so I didn't miss Imoen that much because I had no idea what role did she play in BG1.

The Dwarf fighter (Korgan/Kargan?) is a tank but it's difficult to keep him in a party if you're not evil. Also, he's rather demanding about his personal quest and if you don't do it in short time, he'll leave.

I had Cernd in my party but just during the related quest, I'm not big fan of druids and I never properly learned to handle druids.

Yoshimo is not really useful but he's...interesting. There's more to him than meets the eye but I won't say anything more, else it'll be too spoilerish.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 18 2014, 08:14 PM

Good on you, SubRosa! Yes, loosing Imoen is a bummer and it does take a long time to get her back. Nalia can fill her slippers in the interim. Minsc (and Boo) is a keeper of course. If you can keep Minsc and Nalia in your party with Viconia along, then you should be able to add Sir Keldorn Firecam (paladin). As I like to say about Savlian Matius, when it comes to a noble selfless hero, he is the gritty real deal. I simply love Keldorn (especially if you tweak his stats to what they should be for his class). And his 'kit' of Inquisitor is absolutely the best of the paladin kits (true sight and dispel magic!).

I agree with your assessments that Jahiera is annoying and that both Yoshi and Cernd are worthless without some serious tweaking.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 19 2014, 09:17 PM

Today the party explored the Umar Hills, and added Valgyar to the ranks. Going on the Temple Ruins, they also joined up with Mazzy Star, and defeated the Shade Lord. I find I am liking Mazzy. She is quite good with that bow of hers. Valgyar is not impressing me, so I think he is going to get cut from the team. Though I understand I do need him to get into the Planar Sphere back in Akatha-whatever the city's name is.

Now I have plenty of money. More than enough to pay off the Shadow Thieves to get at Imoen. So I am not sure if I want to do that first, or try tackling that Planar Sphere. I might do the Sphere first, that way I can sack Valgyar afterward.

One thing I am curious about. Is Mazzy a Paladin or not? Her character sheet says she is a Fighter. But she has Paladin powers like Lay on Hands, and she certainly acts like a Paladin.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 19 2014, 10:07 PM

Sounds like you're having fun!

Mazzy is a 'wannabe paladin'. The only reason she is not a paladin is because paladins must be human and Mazzy is a halfling. Talk about unfair! She'd be welcome in my order any day, for her arm is strong and her heart is pure. She's a good addition to almost any party as long as you stay fairly 'good'.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 21 2014, 01:40 AM

I am still Balduring on. I finished off the Planar Sphere the other day, and finally gave Valgy his walking papers. So far I have not replaced him with anyone.

Instead I gave the Gauntlets of Ogre Power to Viconia, along with the Flail of the Ages. I used http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16497/ee-keeper-updated-to-v1-0-2 to move around her proficiencies, to give her two points with Flails so she can use it well. That along with the Dark Mail have turned her into quite a tank. She has the best Armor Class in the bunch, nearly the best to hit, and can really dish it out with that flail. Throw in some of her buff spells like Armor of Faith, Bless, and Aid, she is something else. In the Planar Sphere, she was often the only one in the entire party who could do any damage at all, since the Golems are immune to spells, and apparently all magical and non-magical weapons. Only elemental damage enchantments on weapons could harm them.

Scathach is still the top damage dealer, and a 1 to hit Armor Class 0. Which I imagine is the best you can get. Throw in her Kai power, that makes her do maximum damage on every hit, and she can really wallop bad guys. She just picked up the Clestial Fury, which I am looking forward to putting to use. Not the least of which because it has a chance of doing electrical damage. That will give me two characters that can harm golems.

Scath's only downside is her Armor Class. At 0 it is the worst in the party. Not being able to use bracers, helmets, and other things that help armor really hurt. But I managed to find a Shield Amulet, which can get her AC down to -6. On point better than Viconia's. Of course that is when I remember to use it.

Today the party went off to see the Shadow Thieves and paid them to get into the Cowled Wizard's prison. Naturally it is not so easy as that. Scathach and company have to do some work for the thieves first. I left them at the docks, looking for Mook (how perfectly named!).

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 25 2014, 01:45 AM

I have been in the mood to play Persephone again lately. http://i.imgur.com/hjb2Gd4.jpg It was not easy creating her in BG2. I had to first create a Sorcerer. Then I used EEKeeper to dual class her as a Fighter. Since the way the game works, she wouldn't be able to cast spells when wearing armor, I made her a Kensai. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it with a Dual/Multi class character, as opposed to a Sorcerer/straight Fighter, but it worked.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 25 2014, 02:43 AM

Wow! I'll bet P-10 will be kicking some butt as a sorc / kensai! I really liked both those classes.

One thing I learned about kensais is that they can't used ranged weapons of course, but they throw things just fine. Throwing knives have the same range as arrows, while axes have a shorter max range. So my kensais always opted for throwing knives when they needed a 'ranged' weapon. There's a couple throwing knives that will come back to you after you throw them so don't have to resupply knives. Where all this came in handy was with a kensai dualed to thief. They could engage with the throwing knife from right at the edge of stealth detection (just like an archer).

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 26 2014, 12:23 AM

So far the Sorcerer/Kensai combo has worked well. Better than the pure Kensai did in Scathach's game. The Ghost Armor spell works well to help with the armor class, which seems to be the most difficult issue for the Kensais, given how they cannot wear armor, bracers, gauntlets, or helmets. Pretty much everything that lowers your armor class!

Is there a Summon Zombie spell? I know there is Animate Dead, but that always seem to bring a Skeleton. It would be nice if I could find a way to bring Darryl into the game as well.

Speaking of the game, last night Persephone made her escape from the tutorial dungeon. This afternoon she explored about the market a bit, and poked her head inside that circus tent and teamed up with Aerie. Afterward I decided to cut her though. It is just too confusing having all those Cleric spells and Mage spells in one character. I cannot keep straight what she can do. For good measure, I sacked Jaheria and Yojimbo as well.

That leaves just Peresphone and Minsc for now, kicking butts for goodness. But I am thinking a visit to the Copper Coronet will yield Nalia and Amonen, and surely Mazzy Star will be found somewhere in the near future as well.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 26 2014, 01:50 AM

Can't go wrong with Mazzy, Amoen and Nalia. I liked Aerie very much, simply because she was such a naive little sweetheart - I turned her into a sorceress and she worked much better for me. I still recommend you find and get Keldorn Firecam (beef up his stats some). He can be a really good tank with a couple nice mage-busting abilities, and a fantastic personality/noble nature. He makes a great complement to Minsc up front.

My fave class was the fighter (with 5* bow) then dual classed to thief. They can clear whole dungeons by sniping, handle traps, locks etc. We'd ignore melee and give her a 'summon' animal spirit power to use instead when it was 'hands dirty' time.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 26 2014, 02:34 AM

I never thought about changing Aerie's class. I could make her a pure cleric. That might work. I mainly picked Amonen for a cleric. He seems alright, but can be annoying, so I am not sure if I am going to keep him around. It sounds like Keldorn is a better pick than him anyway, so there might be a replacement happening there pretty soon.

I did pick up Amonen and Nalia in the Copper Coronet, and while I was at it, went exploring around the property and discovered a den of slavery and gladiatorial games. Persephone smote evil most smitily. Next up it looks like the slavers den. Though I'd still like to get to Nalia's castle, and get down to that Faery Queen with the acorns from those nice dryads in the tutorial dungeon.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 26 2014, 03:46 AM

Ahhh.

Brings back many wonderful hours of memories!

Posted by: Lopov Oct 26 2014, 08:34 AM

It brings wonderful memories back indeed.

As much as BGII is a great game in its vanilla state, a lot of content got cut and was later restored in the Unfinished Business Mod. It continues the quest from the circus as it was supposed to, and it also makes Nalia's quest longer. And it does many other things but these two come first to my mind.

Posted by: Colonel Mustard Oct 26 2014, 12:37 PM

As someone who seems to generally like CRPGs, but also as someone who's put off by having to learn reams of excessively fiddly rules, I've got to ask if the Baldur's Gate games are for me. I mean, they sound cool, but while I really liked Planescape Torment I found that I just couldn't get into it because the gameplay felt so obtuse (compare to Shadowrun Returns, a very slick, simple CRPG that I really enjoyed).

So basically, is Baldur's Gate like Planescape? Because I'm interested in buying it but I don't want to waste my money.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 26 2014, 04:44 PM

I never played Planescape, so I am not sure. I know it uses the Infinity Engine as well, and it was made by Black Isle. Black Isle also developed the Icewind Dale games, and the original Fallout games, and published the Baldur's Gate games, if that gives you something to compare by.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 26 2014, 04:52 PM

Sorry, Mustard. I've not played Planescape either so can't help compare the games.

Posted by: Lopov Oct 26 2014, 06:35 PM

I played Planescape for just a few hours but didn't like it. To me Baldur's Gate seems very different, more interesting. But I can't be fair enough because I never really gave PT the real chance.

Posted by: Colonel Mustard Oct 27 2014, 08:56 AM

Bah, you're all useless to me! Useless!

Actually, thanks for the input. I've done a bit more reading around and I think BGII just wouldn't be for me; I loved Planescape's setting but found the AD&D 2-based game system too annoying to enjoy. Seeing as BGII is based on the same engine, I think I'd probably end up losing interest as well. I think I'm going to give Neverwinter Nights 2 a go, that looks to be much more up my street. At least until someone makes a CRPG based on Pathfinder.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 27 2014, 12:55 PM

I would go for Neverwinter Nights 1 over NWN2. I thought it was the better game, more interesting at least.

Back on the Sword Coast, Persephone and company sacked Amonen, and headed over to the Temple District. There they got themselves hip deep in the sewers, hooked up with Keldcorn, and cleared out a beholder nest. Keldorn is definitely the better pick over Amonen. Now I think it is finally time to get out to Nalia's estate.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 27 2014, 02:03 PM

Yay! Keldorn! Nalia's estate is a blast, and rife with loot that should help your party muchly.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 27 2014, 05:13 PM

I was thinking that too about Nalia's Castle. I remember my time through there with Scathach that it was a veritable gold mine. I think the Gauntlets of Ogre Power were in there too. Though I might be mistaken. If I gave those to Aerie, she might make quite the Cleric Tank.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 29 2014, 03:03 AM

I have been playing BG2 for a while now and have formed some opinions on it. Especially vis a vis BG1.

One thing I definitely like about BG2 over BG1 is that I almost never get attacked while resting in BG2. Where it was almost constant in BG1. It still happens in BG2, but only very rarely. That makes me a lot more willing to rest, which in turn means I don't have to worry about conserving spells so much, and can turn the mages loose much more. I still prefer the Neverwinter Nights games in this respect though. You never get attacked while resting there.

OTOH, one thing I liked better about BG1 was the way the world was laid out in a wide open fashion. The game was laid out so you could walk from one outdoor 'level' to the next, and go all over the place at your whim. But in BG2 you start in the city, and the only way to travel to other places in the world is to first unlock them via starting the quest that takes place there. It makes the world feel much less open, and a lot narrower and smaller.

Another thing that is starting to drive me nuts is constantly hearing "My weapon is faulty!". It seems that no matter where I go, I am constantly fighting monsters that I cannot damage with my weapons, and that spells do absolutely nothing to. It looks like you need at least a +3 weapon to damage a lot of monsters. So of course those are hard to come by. Persephone is now hauling around the Flail of the Ages for a backup weapon, because it is one or the only things that can harm an Iron Golem. Thankfully the group just picked up that +5 Paladin sword for Keldorn to use. So now two members of the party can hurt things. Minsc has the Elven Court Bow, which is +3, but it never harms any of the 'special' monsters, even when using magic arrows.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 29 2014, 02:34 PM

It does take a fair amount of bean counting and knowledge to lessen frustration - especially when it comes to mage-busting.

I found any of the guides written by DSimpson http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/258273-baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn/faqsto be extremely helpful.

Oh, and speaking of mage-busting, there are four key spells with which you can bust any mage. They are: Dispel Magic, Breach, True Sight, and Ruby Ray of Reversal. Keldorn comes with both Dispel Magic and True Sight (two reasons to love him), Breach is not hard to get fairly soon. Ruby Ray is a higher level spell so you have to fumble around with the lower level spell breakers until you get it.

Lilarcor makes a great weapon (+3 2H sword) for Minsc at this point and is not hard to get in the Slums.

Overall though, I agree. While BGII is a very good game, it is rather linear and, thus, limited in how long it is fun to play the same character.

I always found the funnest portion to be from the beginning until you actually depart on the 'go fetch Imoen' piece of the saga. That is, running all around the long list of areas and quests that help you build up for that.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 29 2014, 06:00 PM

Thank you for that link! I can see a whole bunch of monster fighting tips in there. Even one to bring all your gear from BG1. I saved that to my hard drive.

Sadly, Keldorn is no longer in the group. I made the mistake of going to the government district for another quest, and the next thing I knew we were visiting Keldorn's family. The end result, he has quit paladining to be with his family. It was the only thing I could do without feeling like a total ass.

So now it is back to Persephone and Minsc as the sole bricks, with Nalia and Aerie as magical/clerical support. I briefly tried out Haire Dalis, but he annoyed me, and his bard song didn't seem to do anything. So I washed my hands of him and his 'actor' friends. At least Mazzy is still out there.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 30 2014, 05:23 PM

I found a +3 Halberd called Dragon's Bane I think, and I gave it to Minsc, along with the dragon scale armor I got off the red dragon, and a dragon helmet. It is too bad he is a two-hander, otherwise I would have given him Peridan and the dragon shield too. I used EEKeeper to move his proficiencies around to the halberd skill so he could use it better. While I was at it, I changed him from a Ranger to a Fighter, so he could take more than two dots in a skill. It is not like he really ever does rangery stuff in my games anyway.

Aerie has been turning out to be an excellent single class cleric. I had Cromwell smith her up some Anhkeg Armor and gave it to her. Between that and her enchanted shield she has an Armor Class of -8. Her Flame Strikes and Poisons can really make a difference, same with Cause Critical Wounds (that was what put the Shadow Dragon on the ropes).

Nalia is going strong too. I took the Lower Resistance spell twice with her for dealing with those pesky bosses who are immune to everything. It helps. Her Fireballs have also cleared out rooms before the rest of the party could even get their swords wet more than once.

Last night I went to the Umar Hills and picked up Mazzy as well. As always, she's a solid fighter, and a cheerful addition to any party.

I started using http://sourceforge.net/projects/gemrb/files/Utilities/DLTCEP%20V7.2d/ to edit some of the items in the game to give them a +3, so they can hurt things. So far I have only done some of the Companion's unique weapons, like Mazzy's sword and bow, Keldorn's Hallowed Redeemer, the Sword of Chaos you start with, and so on. It has been making the game a lot less frustrating.

Now that for once people are not constantly whining in my ear to go do this or that, I am thinking it is probably about time to go looking for Imoen.

I have also been using the http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index_mods_hosted_fixes_tweaks2.php so that my characters can actually try out the female romances. I only just started using it, but I think Aerie is hitting on Persephone with all her talk of sunsets.

Posted by: Acadian Oct 30 2014, 05:32 PM

That sounds great! Yes, I made Minsc a regular fighter but gave him the berserker power as well. That sounds great for Aerie - when I used her I went the opposite direction and made her a sorceress. But pure cleric sounds like it better suits your party. I always have Aerie in one way or another just because I love her personality. Although I like Mazzy, I never used her too often - only because I always had too many other characters I really wanted in my party.

If you have not done so, you can also create your own party members. They don't really have any personality beyond vanilla voice responses, but they can help fill in gaps.

Also, if you have not tried playing a monk, you might enjoy that as well. Kind of a slow starter but deadly at mid/higher levels.

Edit: Just saw your edit. Of the three women you can romance, Aerie is my fave by far.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 30 2015, 05:24 PM

http://cg-zander.deviantart.com/art/Imoen-439667893 on Deviant Art just now. Perfect to shrink down and use in the BG games, or Pillars of Eternity.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 30 2015, 06:08 PM

Oh, that does capture the thief turned mage that is Imoen!

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 28 2017, 08:15 PM

http://i.imgur.com/WRoHxqB.jpg. Again, perfect for shrinking down to use in BG, or other games like Pillars or Wasteland 2.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 28 2017, 08:23 PM

Wow, that is nicer than your previous one. Good find!

Posted by: SubRosa Jun 7 2019, 12:16 AM

https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-everything-we-know/ Larian is making it (the same folks who made Divinity Original Sin).

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Jun 7 2019, 12:24 AM

It’s got Khajiit curious, fo sho.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 23 2020, 11:53 PM

I have been tinkering with Icewind Dale Expanded Edition. I bought it a long time ago, but never got far in playing it. I have been toying with running January and the Knights of Nerddom through it. But I keep ramming my head against the obtuseness of DnD 2.0 rules. For example, I am planning on playing January as a Paladin again. So I started her as an Elf. But elves can't be Paladins. So I started her as a Half-Elf, but half-elves cannot be paladins. I was thinking Blackjack would be an ideal Dwarf Bard. But dwarves cannot be bards (apparently there is a height limit to playing a guitar?). *grrrr*

I found a mod that ports the DnD 3.5 rules to IWD and the two Baldur's games. But it failed every time I tried to install it on either Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate 1. So I just deleted it. I did find a https://github.com/AstroBryGuy/NWN2SoundSets/releases/tag/v1.0. So January and company can use the same voices I am now using for them in Storm of Zehir.

Posted by: Acadian Jul 24 2020, 12:10 AM

I sympathize, SubRosa. Trying to preserve the essence of the same character across various games - each with their own quirky rules and limitations - can be a real challenge.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 25 2020, 09:45 PM

I just discovered that Icewind Dale 2 is going to get an enhanced edition thanks to a team of modders. It will be free to download once the beta testing is finished. From what I gather, you will need to already own Icewind Dale 2, and it will essentially act as a mod for it. https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/79872/icewind-dale-2-enhanced-edition-is-here-and-the-red-chimera-group-is-looking-for-playtesters#latest

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 27 2020, 06:52 AM

I started playing the Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition. I never got far playing it before, so maybe I can finish it this time around.

I created January and her super friends - Avery, Ryo, Blackjack, Hannah, and Lucas (Lighthammer). Ok, Blackjack is not a super, but he does have a band, so he works as the team Bard. I created him as a Human, but then used EE Keeper to change him to a Hobbit. Lucas (Lighthammer), is a Half Orc Barbarian with a battle axe. Avery is an Elf Cleric of Lathandar.

I was going to make Hannah a Dragon Disciple Sorcerer, but then I found that she could not use a Longbow. I figured that since this is D&D 2.0, the spellcasters will spend 90% of their times not casting spells, and using missile weapons instead. Longbow seems like one of the best options. I was going to try doing her as a Fighter/Mage. But I vastly prefer the Sorcerer over the Wizard, since it does not have all the spell preparation nonsense.

Then I got the idea of Dual-Classing. So I started her out as a Human Fighter (since only Humans can Dual-Class). I am thinking that once she reached 2nd level I will dual class her to a Sorcerer. It will be rough for that first Sorcerer level. But once she gets to level 2 as a Sorcerer she should get all of her Fighter abilities back, including the ability to use pretty much any weapon.

January is a Paladin of course. I made her the Cavalier sublcass. The only downside of which is that she cannot use missile weapons.

So far so good. Mostly the fights have not been too bad. But there are times where one of my party gets one shot killed out of nowhere, even when fighting trash mobs of nothing but goblins. That is really annoying.

I also found the cheats for the Enhanced Edition, which are a little different from the original:

1. First edit the file called baldur.ini in the Icewind Dale - Enhanced Edition folder
(C:\Users\*username*\Documents\Icewind Dale - Enhanced Edition) - Windows 7
using a text editor like Visual Studio Code find the line:
INSERT INTO options ROWS (

And add the following in the line after it:

'Program Options', 'Debug Mode', '1',


2. Start the game and press [Ctrl] + [Spacebar] to display the console window.


C:ExploreArea()
This command reveals the entire map for the current area. Note that it doesn’t remove the fog of war; if a creature is out of your field of vision it will still remain hidden.

C:CreateCreature(“crename�)
This spawns a creature, based on its creature file name, to the center of the screen (or nearest valid point). If you’re spawning a creature you know will be hostile, you may want to pause the game before entering this command for the safety of your party.

C:CreateItem(“itmname�,##)
This spawns an item, based on its item file name, or a stack of the same item, in the inventory of the current party leader.

C:SetCurrentXP(####)
This sets the Experience Point total for the currently selected character or characters to the value noted in parentheses. Note that this sets the total, rather than adding a value to your current experience points.

C:AddGold(####)
In contrast with SetCurrentXP, this command adds an amount of gold to your party’s total based on the number in parentheses.


Without opening the console, the following commands work:
[Ctrl] + J - Move selected characters to pointer position.
[Ctrl] + R - Heal or resurrect the selected character or portrait.
[Ctrl] + Y - Kill selected monster or NPC with no EXP.
[Ctrl] + 4 - Display trigger polygons; shows traps.
[Ctrl] + 9 - Display character bounding boxes.


Area List (Icewind Dale):

AR1000 - Easthaven - Prologue

AR1001 - Temple of Tempus

AR1002 - House with Spear

AR1003 - Empty House

AR1004 - Hrothgar's House

AR1005 - Fishmonger's House

AR1006 - Winter's Cradle Tavern - Level 1

AR1015 - Winter's Cradle Tavern - Level 2

AR1007 - Pomad's Emporium - Level 1

AR1016 - Pomad's Emporium - Level 2

AR1008 - Snowdrift Inn

AR1009 - Old Jed's House

AR1010 - Scrimshanders's House

AR1011 - Warehouse

AR1012 - Torn Net House

AR1013 - Winter Wolf Pelt House

AR1014 - Strange Writing House

AR1100 - Easthaven - Chapter Six

AR1106 - Winter's Cradle Tavern - Level 1

AR1109 - Winter's Cradle Tavern - Level 2

AR1101 - Crystal Tower - Level 1

AR1102 - Crystal Tower - Level 2

AR1103 - Crystal Tower - Level 3

AR1104 - Crystal Tower - Level 4

AR1105 - Crystal Tower - Level 5

AR1200 - Orc Cave Areas

AR1201 - Orc Cave - Inside

AR2000 - Kuldahar Pass

AR2001 - Goblin Cave - Outside

AR2002 - Goblin Cave - Inside

AR2003 - Ogre Tower

AR2004 - Old Mill - Level 1

AR2005 - Old Mill - Level 2

AR2006 - Old Mill - Level 3

AR2100 - Kuldahar

AR2101 - Tower of Orrick the Grey - Room 1

AR2102 - Tower of Orrick the Grey - Room 2

AR2103 - Conlan the Smithy

AR2104 - House with Portraits

AR2105 - Townperson's House - Male

AR2106 - Townperson's House - Female

AR2107 - Temple of Ilmater

AR2108 - Oswald Fiddlebender's Airship

AR2110 - Potter's House

AR2111 - Root Cellar Tavern

AR2112 - Arundel's House - Level 1

AR2116 - Arundel's House - Level 2

AR2113 - Gerth's Equipment Shop

AR2114 - Evening Shade Inn - Level 1

AR2115 - Evening Shade Inn - Level 2

AR3000 - Vale of Shadows

AR3001 - Shrine of Auril

AR3101 - Cave - Gate Key

AR3201 - Cave - Vile Black Liquid

AR3301 - Cave - Sanctum Key

AR3401 - Cave - Carrion Crawler

AR3501 - Kresselack's Tomb Level 1

AR3502 - Kresselack's Tomb Level 2

AR3503 - Kresselack's Tomb Level 3

AR3600 - Temple of the Forgotten God Area

AR3601 - Temple of the Forgotten God - Level 1

AR3602 - Temple of the Forgotten God - Level 2

AR3603 - Temple of the Forgotten God - Level 3

AR4000 - Dragon's Eye Area

AR4001 - Dragon's Eye - Level 1

AR4002 - Dragon's Eye - Level 2

AR4003 - Dragon's Eye - Level 3

AR4004 - Dragon's Eye - Level 4

AR4005 - Dragon's Eye - Level 5

AR5000 - Severed Hand Area

AR5001 - Severed Hand - Level 1

AR5002 - Severed Hand - Level 2

AR5003 - Severed Hand - Level 3

AR5004 - Severed Hand - Level 4

AR5502 - Bridge To Labelas Tower

AR5101 - Labelas Tower - Level 1

AR5104 - Labelas Tower - Level 2

AR5102 - Labelas Tower - Level 3

AR5103 - Labelas Tower - Level 4

AR5201 - Solonar Tower - Level 1

AR5202 - Solonar Tower - Level 2

AR5203 - Solonar Tower - Level 3

AR5204 - Solonar Tower - Level 4

AR5301 - Corellon Tower - Level 1

AR5302 - Corellon Tower - Level 2

AR5303 - Corellon Tower - Level 3

AR5304 - Corellon Tower - Level 4

AR5401 - Sheverash Tower - Level 1

AR5402 - Sheverash Tower - Level 2

AR5403 - Sheverash Tower - Level 3

AR5404 - Sheverash Tower - Level 4

AR6000 - Upper Dorn's Deep Area

AR6001 - Main Cave

AR6002 - Barracks

AR6003 - Umber Hulk Labyrinth

AR6004 - Forge - Inoperative

AR6005 - Tiers Of The Dead

AR6006 - Hall of Heroes

AR6007 - Ettin Cave

AR6008 - Neo-Orog Cave

AR6009 - Orc Cave

AR6010 - Puzzle Room

AR6011 - Gear Room

AR6013 - Forge - Operative

AR6014 - Bandoth's Tower

AR7005 - Wyrm's Tooth Glacier

AR7002 - Museum Foyer

AR7001 - Museum

AR7003 - Slave Area

AR7004 - Frost Giant Cave

AR7000 - Lower Dorn's Deep Area

AR8001 - Main Cave

AR8002 - Watchtower - Level 1

AR8014 - Watchtower - Level 2

AR8003 - Gnome Mine

AR8004 - Gnome Hideaway

AR8005 - Marketh's Courtyard

AR8006 - Marketh's Palace - Level 1

AR8007 - Marketh's Palace - Level 2

AR8008 - Mine Area

AR8009 - Artisan's District

AR8010 - Malavon's Chamber

AR8011 - Great Forge

AR8012 - Broken Temple

AR8013 - Poquelin's Lair

AR8015 - Norl's House

AR8016 - Safe House


Area List 2 (Icewind Dale: Heart Of Winter):

AR9100 - Loneywood

AR9101 - The Whistling Gallows - Level 1

AR9102 - The Whistling Gallows - Level 2

AR9103 - Shrine Of Waukeen

AR9104 - Ranger's Cabin

AR9105 - The Cooper's Place

AR9106 - Cartwright's House - Level 1

AR9107 - Cartwright's House - Level 2

AR9108 - Trappers' Cabin

AR9109 - Thom Farlod House

AR9110 - Gravedigger's Shack

AR9200 - Barbarian Camp

AR9201 - Mead Hall

AR9300 - Burial Isle - Hjollder

AR9301 - Necromancer's Tower

AR9400 - Barrow

AR9500 - Gloomfrost

AR9501 - Seer Caves - Level 1

AR9502 - Seer Caves - Level 2

AR9600 - Sea Of Moving Ice

AR9601 - Icasaracht's Lair - Level 1

AR9602 - Icasaracht's Lair - Level 2

AR9603 - To The Sahuagin Temple

AR9604 - End Fight - Icasaracht

For the items list: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/256221-icewind-dale/faqs/8494 (They should work)

Posted by: Acadian Jul 27 2020, 11:43 AM

I hope January and the gang enjoy Icewind Dale. I recall playing it once through many (many) years ago.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 28 2020, 08:04 AM

I just found out that Sorcerer's cannot dual class or multiclass in Icewind Dale. I imagine the Baldur's Gate games too. If they are even in the BG games. Grrr. It will not even work using EE Keeper, as the game is hard coded to not allow it. So if I want Hannah to be able to use magic and a bow, she has to be a Fighter/Wizard.

I hate DnD 2.0...

Posted by: Acadian Jul 28 2020, 11:33 AM

I think I recall that Sorcs in BGII could not dual class either. *sigh* Ah yes, the hard wired game trope of 'If you use magic, you shall not use a bow; if you use a bow you must use a dagger. . . . ' The bane of mystic archers everywhere. The best games I've ever played in terms of actually supporting mystic archery have been Diablo II and Oblivion. Oh well. D&D and Skyland were not good. ESO is not bad but it is more like Diablo II in that much of archers' magic is derived from their bow (skills where arrows can heal, split, come down as a persistent volley, etc).

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 28 2020, 10:19 PM

Ok, I took another crack at Icewind Dale. I found a mod to help me. https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/40512/mod-small-phun-cheat-spells adds two spells. One allows the character to use any item, forever. So your mages and clerics can use composite longbows if you want (you still need to meet the strength requirement however). This spell won't show up in your inventory, it just sets your character so you can use any item.

The second is a spell to your character that gives you a full rest (recover hit points and spells) whenever you use it. It does not have a name that shows up in the interface, it looks like a multicolored egg, and it says there are two of the. When you click it, you won't see anything happen. But if you check your spell list, you will see it is refreshed.

How you get the spells is wonky. You have to use the console to add a potion that corresponds to the spell. Then you drink the potion, and the spell is added to you. You have to do this for every individual character. And the rest spell only works on the character who has the spell. So if you want to use it to rest your entire party, you have to give the spell to every character, and use it separately on each of them.

But it does seem to cover my biggest gripes in the game. So I restarted. This time Ryo is an Assassin. I plan to eventually dual class him to fighter once I level him up enough to get his Find Traps and Open Locks skills up to 100. He is a dedicated archer, using a composite longbow. Hannah is a Dragon Disciple Sorcerer, using a composite longbow when not using spells. Avery is still a cleric, but now he is using a katana (which is a two handed weapon in this game). And even though January is a Cavalier Paladin, she can now use ranged weapons. it is composite longbows for everyone!

Posted by: Acadian Jul 28 2020, 10:44 PM

Glad you're finding some workarounds. When a whole party opens up from max range with longbows, that can do some serious damage before your foes get to you!

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 29 2020, 02:36 AM

I played IWD for a while today, and had a lot more fun than I did before. So it is working out better now. When I switch the entire party to bows, it is just stunning how they mow down the monsters as they run up.

Posted by: SubRosa Jul 30 2020, 04:20 AM

Still pushing on with IWD. As I have read, it is basically a hack 'n slash, with a bare framework of a story hanging the disparate battles together. It is not as bad as Diablo, but not as deep and rich an RPG experience as say, Skyrim (and yes, you probably won't see Skyrim described that way often, but compared to Icewind Dale, it is!)

I have been enjoying the tactical side to the game. What I remember of the Baldur's Gate games was everyone running about pell mell and stabbing everything as quickly as they could. I would try to form a wall of fighters for my squishy mages to hide behind, and the bad guys would just run right around them and attack my mages anyway. But it seems to be working out a lot better in IWD. Maybe the AI is just dumber, because I can almost always prevent the monsters from reaching my squishies. Or it might just be that there is a lot of interiors with narrow hallways, where there is just no room to flank my fighters.

I am liking the Full Rest spell added by Phun Cheat Spells. It makes my spellcasters actually useful. Hannah can pretty much concentrate on just casting spells now. Though Avery still only uses a few buffs like Bless here and there. Still, I can use the Full Rest on each of them after every fight. That way they can use their magic every battle, like a real magician.

Plus, Icewind Dale is still a better love story than Twilight...

I found some more soundsets https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/38319/mods-awesome-soundsets-mods-master-thread-custom-soundsets-for-bgee-bg2ee-and-iwdee/p1. That allowed me to change around the ones I was using for Avery and Blackjack. Avery is now one of the new Sorcerer soundsets, and Blackjack is one of those from Heart of Winter that was done by Mark Hamill.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 3 2020, 06:00 AM

Still working through Icewind Dale. I am about a third of the way through the game now. I just got to Severed Hand (not a name I would have chosen if I was an elf making a fortress...)

This game really loves throwing hordes of enemies at you. You will take a step into a room, and a dozen monsters will attack you. Take another step, and a dozen more will come, another step, and... well you get the picture.

The monsters are spread out, and seem to have a short radius from which they will go hostile. Basically the fog of war around you. So you will be slugging it out in a huge battle in a large room, and there will be monsters at the other end of the room too far away for you to see. So they will not go hostile and join in the fight. Not until you walk far enough in to see them.

So what I have started doing is set up my team in one spot, and cast buff spells on everyone. Then I send January forward as a scout to get the monsters attention. Then she goes back to the party, and leads the monsters into their longbows. Rinse and repeat, each time with January going a little farther to get the next set of monsters.

Now that we are high enough level, Hannah has a fireball spell. That is also handy for just lobbing into rooms past the fog of war. I have cleared out monsters I never saw more times than once that way.


https://i.imgur.com/MydsVl1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rQqDGHf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gqLvKKH.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ECaJJFy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AFitjZ5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/V0MHYdn.jpg

Posted by: Lopov Aug 3 2020, 09:18 AM

That was my approach in the game as well. It got boring with time, especially close to the end, where you reach some Dwarven complex. My favorite location in the game was the Ice Palace, but I'm not sure if this palace is in IWD1 or IWD2. I also liked some haunted forest, where you must find your way out, it's like a maze, and you must pay attention as to where have you already been, else you might up going in circles all the time.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 3 2020, 07:54 PM

Those tactics sound wise. I recall from BG2 that is helped to have your party all together how you want them, then send a scout out to go fetch some foes for them.

Certainly no lack in variety when it comes to foes and spells in this collection of shots.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 14 2020, 06:22 AM

Yesterday I beat Icewind Dale like a red-haired gnomish stepchild. It was a grind. I am glad I had that rest cheat mod, and the cheat codes to rest. Otherwise I do not think I would have made it. I really like the rest mod, as it allows me to use my magicians like they should, as people who cast magic for a living. Rather than people who use a sling 99% of the time, and only cast a spell once in a blue moon.

I started the Heart of Winter dlc, and got a little way into it so far. I think it is meant to be played with a different group of characters. But I did it with the same team from the original campaign. I was able to import them from after the end of the original game, so they came over with their levels and items. It was a little confusing, because the original character files I made of that at first level were also there. But I got which ones were which sorted out eventually. If you start out with a first level character, the game automatically levels you up, so I think you are supposed to be something like 11th or 12th level, like the ending characters were.

Heart of Winter looks pretty small from what I have seen of the strategy guide on the GameBanshee site. I am just about halfway into the first part of Burial Isle, so still early on. I am not sure if I want to stick with it, or maybe go to something else. I have been thinking of maybe trying a more personal third-person/first person game like Fallout 3 or New Vegas instead. Or maybe even going back to January's Skyrim or Oblivion games.

Posted by: Acadian Aug 14 2020, 12:03 PM

So many games, so little time!

Posted by: Lopov Aug 14 2020, 07:37 PM

I dimly remember Heart of Winter. Actually the only thing which I remember, is that you fight some ice dragon at the end.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Aug 15 2020, 05:06 PM

So apparently in 3 days there is supposed to be some fancy to do regarding Baldur’s Gate III.

https://baldursgate3.game/

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 15 2020, 08:50 PM

So they are previewing for the preview to happen in 3 days. I love game companies...

TBH, I am not excited with Baldur's Gate 3. It is being made by Larian, so it will probably be using the same game engine as the Divinity: Original Sin games. I could not get into DOS because of how insanely hard it is to mod, and the lack of console commands.

Posted by: TheCheshireKhajiit Aug 16 2020, 05:47 PM

I’m taking the “wait and see“ approach with it. I never played the Divinity games, but if this looks ok I might check it out sometime.

Posted by: SubRosa Aug 25 2020, 07:29 AM

I beat Icewind Dale - Heart of Winter like a red-haired orc stepchild. It really was short.

https://i.imgur.com/sPC99Tm.jpg

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 10 2022, 06:32 PM

https://i.imgur.com/ERzxbOL.jpg. I made her a Fighter-Mage, something I have never tried before. So far it is ok. I am using an Armor spell to make up for the inability to wear armor. But you can carry a shield, so she is going the Longsword + Shield route.

Posted by: Lopov Apr 10 2022, 06:38 PM

Are you planning to run a party or mostly solo / just Imoen? Because with F/M the only thing you actually need is a thief, the rest is optional.

Posted by: Acadian Apr 10 2022, 08:01 PM

Neat. Fighter/Mage suits Blood Raven.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 10 2022, 08:57 PM

Lopov: I only just started the game. I did not reach the Friendly Arm Inn when I stopped yesterday. I recruited Khalid and Jaheria there. But have not done anything with them yet. I used EE Keeper to change around some of Jaheria's stats and weapons. So hopefully I will like her more this way than my past games.

Acadian: I was not sure how to create Blood Raven. A paladin was my second choice, since that is also a fighter with magical abilities. Or a Fighter/Cleric. But I have never done the Fighter/Mage before, so I thought it might be a nice learning experience. So far all I am using her magic for is an armor spell to make up for her not being able to wear armor. That and an Identify spell.

Posted by: Lopov Apr 10 2022, 09:53 PM

I've almost always edited stats in GateKeeper / Shadowkeeper, both for my PCs and NPCs. Have you ever played through the entire saga, Throne of Bhaal included? You probably have, just askin'.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 11 2022, 02:08 AM

I have been all the way through BG1 only once I think. I also did the Black Pits all the way through once. Though I have started several other games, just never got all the way done with it. Likewise, I have started BG2 a couple of times, but never finished it. I never even started Throne of Bhaal.

I use EE Keeper a lot. It is the same basic thing as Shadowkeeper, just for the Enhanced Editions. I use it to tweak the companions stats and proficiencies. Like changing Minsc from a Ranger to a Fighter, he works much better that way.

Posted by: Lopov Apr 11 2022, 09:19 AM

Black Pits is something that I've never done. I did the other two expansions, namely the Durlag's Tower and the one that takes place on some island, but I don't remember the name. It adds a village far to the north and you can sail from there.

I actually started with BG II, my brother bought me this game as a birthday present when I was still fairly young. He dislikes/d any games played from an isometric perspective but knew that I love/d them, so he bought it to me. I spent many years playing BG II only, then I moved on to BG I and lastly also to ToB. I think I've made it only two or three times from BG I over BG II and finally to ToB. BG II is still my favorite of all, also because of nostalgia. But if one prefers exploration over story, BG I is a better choice.

Posted by: Renee Apr 11 2022, 01:18 PM

I have Baldur's Gate on my gaming computer, but have not gotten really far into it. I think if I had a computer back in the '90s, and slso know about BG back then, I probably would have played it, because I had more free time in those days. But I was also prettier back then, had more of a social life than I do now! Still, I think I would have at least tried BG.

Nowadays there are too many other games competing for my gaming time.

Posted by: Acadian Apr 11 2022, 02:42 PM

Many years ago I played once through BG I, Tales of the Sword Coast and Icewind Dale. Then I found BG II and spent several years there. I did ToB once but really enjoyed just playing BG II. Eventually, computers advanced beyond BG II, it became buggy and I quit. Within the last year I spent about $4 on Gog and got BG II EE. It installed and plays flawlessly and is wonderful to have as an internet-free game.

I have the command console figured out so can use any codes I need to but I got confused reading about what I guess is EE keeper. I used to have something like that years ago and it was great. If I get back more seriously into it, I'll have to ask SubRosa more about installing EE Keeper for BG II so I can adjust classes a bit and change some of the companion classes.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 11 2022, 08:06 PM

I have a link to EE Keeper on the first page. It wasn't working when I just checked, so I updated it to point https://eekeeper.sourceforge.io/. I don't remember installing it. I think it was just you unzip all the files to a folder and run the shortcut to it. It is a pretty simple save editor, that allows you to change your stats, add or remove inventory items, and so forth.

Posted by: Acadian Apr 11 2022, 08:15 PM

Oh, thanks! As is so often the case, your threads on the games you play double as great resources.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 11 2022, 10:01 PM

Blood Raven just recruited Minsc. It is fun to hear his voice again. It reminded me that he is voiced by Jim Cummings, https://www.starwars.com/video/a-pirate-s-life.

Posted by: Acadian Apr 11 2022, 10:50 PM

Minsc is a keeper all right! As you said, I imagine he works well as a Fighter in BG I. In BG II, you might consider trying him as either a Berserker or a Level 9 Ranger dual classed to Cleric.

I did get EEKeeper installed and it looks comfortably familiar to the 'trainer' I used for BG II years ago. Haven't done anything with it but it looks promising. Thanks for your help/encouragement.

Posted by: macole Apr 12 2022, 04:02 AM

Minsc has some of the best lines ever envisioned in a game.

"A den of stinking evil! Hold your nose Boo."

and don't forget... "Go for the eyes, Boo. Go for the eyes!

Posted by: Lopov Apr 12 2022, 09:19 AM

I like the story between Minsc, Edwin and Dynaheir in BG I, though on the other side it's difficult to keep them in the same party. I kept Minsc in BG II only if he was my companion in BG I, else I'd "remove" him from the game. I once roleplayed a neutral evil Half-Orc, the entire party in BG II was composed of mostly evil-oriented characters, only Minsc was the good-aligned one. Despite constant quarrels and protests I managed to keep Minsc in the party through the entire game. I remember an event from the Underworld, where Korgan, a chaotic-evil Dwarf suggested slaughtering some innocent villagers, and Minsc protested. It was on the protagonist, that is on my Half-Orc to decide, and he sided with Minsc. Korgan grumbled but eventually got over it. It was worth keeping Minsc in the party.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 21 2022, 10:02 PM

https://i.imgur.com/LNFtYDd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xpvORBN.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pyu0veY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TSk7JK0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xqp7zjZ.jpg


On the whole I am liking the new version of the game. It comes with a lot of small improvements, and has a lot more options now that you can now turn on and off. The whole interface is a lot more readable, especially the spell books, which now have the names of each spell listed beside their icons. The map has an option to add an overlay that shows which areas are accessible and which are not, which is another ease of life thing.

However, you can no longer use the Function keys for things like quicksaving and quickloading. Beamdog says that doing so can cause bugs. I also found that my old NWN2 Soundset mod won't install on version 2.660. But I was able to make a simple soundset by hand, and it will works.

All in all it is an improvement. Currently I am planning on following with BG2EE, and I will use the updated version of that game too.

Posted by: Lopov Apr 21 2022, 10:23 PM

It's Drizzt, right? It can only be him. Now let's click on the photo...yup, I was right. for me.

I saw an ankheg the other day. Annoying creatures. Their armor is good but their pincers are sharp. Still, I avoid them, whenever I can.

I think that Siege of Dragonspear looks about the same like the updated BG EE. Are you planing to play SoD after BG I before moving to BG II, it serves as a prelude to events of BG II?

Posted by: Acadian Apr 22 2022, 12:47 AM

Wow, it's been decades since I played BG1, but I am quite current on BGIIEE. Your game and user interface looks stunningly like BGIIEE. I really had to study what you were doing to ensure you weren't playing BGIIEE in those screenshots.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 22 2022, 01:52 AM

Lopov: I don't have Siege of Dragonspear, though maybe some day I will look into it. I just have so much other stuff I have not gotten around to it yet.


Acadian: It looks like BG2EE has the same version number as BG1EE, so I think they did the same updates and improvements on both games simultaneously. Probably the same with Icewind Dale EE.

Posted by: WellTemperedClavier Apr 22 2022, 03:05 AM

I played it! Mostly it was pretty good, though I did feel railroaded at a few points (can't go into more detail without entering spoiler territory).

I actually didn't play BG until just a few years ago. I'll commit mild RPG heresy here and admit that I actually really dislike the way the Infinity Engine handles combat. To me, that sort of combat is just better done when it's turn-based. Yes, you can pause it, but that still feels like an extra hassle.

(This is probably why I like Planescape: Torment so much--it doesn't actually require a ton of combat).

Regardless, I still found the game enjoyable.

Posted by: Lopov Apr 22 2022, 01:05 PM

I quite liked SoD as well. Some things / events are predictable for those of us that've played BG 2 but there was still at least one surprising story twist close to the end.

I often joke that I've spent my entire youth playing Baldur's Gate and original FOs with occasional jumps to GTA. But the sheer amount of hours that I've invested in BG II, definitely surpasses any other game that I've played since then.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 24 2022, 05:46 AM

I beat BG1 tonight. I was worried for a little while, because I got stuck at one point. After you kill Rieltar and the other Iron Throne leaders in Candlekeep you get thrown in prison. The game just froze on that, no matter how many times I reloaded. In the end I had to skip over that completely, and after killing the Iron Thronites I had to use the console to teleport myself to the catacombs. But it worked out. *phew*

So I updated BG2 to the latest game version, and imported Blood Raven. Ready to go shadowing in Amn.

Posted by: Acadian Apr 24 2022, 01:31 PM

'Grats to Blood Raven! With BGIIEE +EE Keeper, I'm interested in what sort of a party she puts together. Specifially, how she modifies the NPCs (like Minsc as a fighter instead of ranger) to end up with a functional mix but still keeping all or mostly NPCs.

Posted by: macole Apr 25 2022, 03:54 AM

Oh my, I can't begin to explain how much I miss those character portraits.

Posted by: SubRosa Apr 25 2022, 05:11 AM

Blood Raven escaped from the Irenicus dungeon a little while ago. It has been a really long time since I have done BG2, so I had forgotten almost the entire thing. I changed things up a little with the Raven this time out, and now have her dual-wielding longswords. In BG1 she was doing a longsword and buckler. I also used EEKeeper to give her the Wizard-Slayer kit for her Fighter class. I am not entirely sure if it is applying all the Wizard Slayer bonuses. But it did add the penalties, like not being able to wear bracers. So it probably is doing the good stuff too.

I also modded Minsc again, and this time made him a Barbarian. Like in BG1, I have him using a two-handed sword. Both seem to suit him. The other two in my group right now are Jahiera and Yoshimo. But I don't know how long I might keep them. Is there a Find Traps spell for wizards? Blood Raven picked up a knock spell in the Irenicus dungeon. So if she can learn Find Traps, she technically won't need anyone with thief skills. Oh wait, even if she finds the traps, I don't think there are any spells to disarm them. So she will still need a thief after all. Oh well, I always like Nalia anyway.

I will probably go looking for Aerie next. My last time playing her I made her a pure Cleric. I might do that again, as I found the Mage/Cleric combo a bit overwhelming when it came to all the spell choices.

I also started using https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/tweaks/tweaks/, which is combination of hundreds of mods for all the Infinity Engine games. Thankfully you can pick and choose each individual mod you want when you set it up. It can take a while to do, since there are a lot. But there are a lot of things, from hiding helmets, to two handed axes, katanas, bastard swords, etc...

Posted by: Lopov Apr 25 2022, 02:51 PM

Congrats on beating BG I, you've been through really fast.

A lot of fun with BG II, story-wise is IMO the game even better than the first title.

Posted by: Renee Oct 2 2022, 06:34 PM

I returned to Baldur's Gate EE (the first one) and just finished the tutorial. Spoke to Belt and he says "You are now ready to start your adventure and will be returned to the main menu. Good luck with Baldur's Gate!"

I click End Dialog, and now I'm back at the main menu. I see buttons for Tutorial (Done), Baldur's Gate, The Black Pits and Credits.

I try Baldur's Gate, but I don't see a way to continue with the tutorial character I just rolled. In the menu I go like this...

BALDUR'S GATE
SINGLE PLAYER
NEW GAME (choosing Load Game only puts me back in the tutorial)
CREATE
IMPORT
SAVED GAME

And from here I can see the final save I made in the tutorial. I click on this, see my character in the IMPORT CHARACTER window so I click on him, and choose DONE.

From here, I am stuck in the Character Generation menu. I can choose IMPORT or START OVER, both which put me in a loop of menus. How do I actually start the game with the guy I rolled??? Or is this not possible?

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 2 2022, 10:18 PM

I have never done the Tutorial. I just started it and went through a little. There is one point where you Export your character. That saves a copy of the character and their stats, picture, and such. Basically your character sheet. Start a New Game, and where you create a new character click on Import, and you should see your character in the list (If you Exported them).

You can use this to bring your character into different campaigns, like going from BG1 to the Black Pits, or to Baldur's Gate 2, and so on. Neverwinter Nights 1 does it a lot more. It is what allows you to play the same character in all the user made modules out there for it.

If you didn't Export the character at the time go back to the Tutorial if you have a save from it, and Export them. Then it will be in the list.

If worse come to worse just create a new character right there. You can always make them exactly the same as your tutorial character. or

Posted by: Renee Oct 3 2022, 04:58 PM

Okay thanks I'll see if there is a way to Export then.

Strange that the game doesn't tell us how to do this (or maybe it did, but I just missed it). Then again, BG was made in the era during which hand-holding was not as prevalent as it was later on...

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 3 2022, 09:50 PM

In the Tutorial it tells you how to Export your character.

Posted by: Renee Oct 3 2022, 11:49 PM

So here's how to do it. In the game click on the custom-made toon character and go into Record (5th icon on the left) The EXPORT button is in the lower right.

"This will save your character to the "characters" folder in your Baldur's Gate directory. You will be able to use this character in future multiplayer games using the Import button on the Character Creation screen. Exporting a character will not remove them from the current game, nor will it alter then in any way."

And then there are 9 Filenames we can choose: 01FIGHT, 02THIEF, 03MAGE, and so on. We can't name our own Filename? Guess I'll choose 01FIGHT, since my toon is a Fighter.

Alright. Spoke to Belt, now I'm in the main menu again. Click on Single Player > NEW, and voila, there is Lord Redbeard. Not a very clver "Renee" name, but I was tired.

Thanks much!

Posted by: Renee Oct 6 2022, 01:32 PM

Lord Redbeard (the red-bearded fighter I rolled a few days ago) got pwned last night. Soon as it happened, I spontaneously honored his death. It just felt right. At the time he was traveling with Imoen, the two half-elves from Friendly Arms, and a second, somewhat annoying thief, whose name I'm forgetting.

I am honoring his falling because I feel like I got too ambitious with this game, pushing too fast into what I'm assuming is the Main Quest. But that's for another discussion, perhaps.

I really like having the one half-elf guy around ... um .. Jaheira. He's a druid. He can cast Entangle, which is pretty sweet. Problem is, when he cast the spell everybody was already in combat, which meant Redbeard and virtually all the others got entangled in those magical weeds! Only Imoen was running free at that point, since she usually stands off to the side with her bow.

Lord Redbeard got caught up in those weeds just as the party got attacked by a band of hobgoblins. Eventually, he fell. So now I'm at that point where I'm about to roll a new a nu t00n, actually more than one. I need a name for a new fighter, preferably male. And I can't think of a name!

But I thought of some cool names for other characters.

Ayn Strand -- Shaman probably, since Ayn Rand was often associated with intellectual pursuits, religion, political themes, and so on.

Faye Daway -- Illusionist

Luke Zhatkil -- Hmm, could be a Fighter.

Hmm, could be Luke. But I want a cooler name for my party leader. Maybe derived from classic Crusades/Dark Ages times.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 6 2022, 10:09 PM

Poor Red Beard. That is why I don't like web spells. They often are just as bad to you as they are to the enemy.

I was thinking you should create a Bard type character sometime named Alfred Capella, or just A. Capella for short.

Posted by: Renee Oct 7 2022, 11:41 PM

A. Capella, sweet! <>

Okay, so Entangle is a tricky spell to use, got it. Wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 7 2022, 11:44 PM

Check out the character names from the movie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186336/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0. There is a gold mine of names for you there, like Archer Bowman, Manley Battle, or Shepherd Hunter.

Posted by: Renee Oct 13 2022, 12:58 AM

Awesome, thanks hon. And here's one for you: Tonight I found this https://www.verymanynames.com/medieval-names/. At the top of the page are names which are still popular today like Matthew, Andrew, Alice, and so on.

Just keep scrolling down. Eventually the names become more obscure. Like Aelflaed, Cwenburg, and Ethelfrith.

I have a question. So I know how to export and import, but is it possible to make two characters of my own, and have them both in the same save instance? Or am I stuck with rolling with just one PC, and picking up pre-made NPCs along the way?

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 13 2022, 06:18 AM

You can only have one player character, and you cannot make custom NPCs, like new games allow you to. So you are stuck with the toon you roll, and the NPCs you meet along the way.

Posted by: macole Oct 13 2022, 07:17 AM

Aelflaed and Ethelfrith,
Now there was a fine pair.
An elf beauty and his noble protector of the peace,
(usually mete out with a mace)

Posted by: Renee Oct 14 2022, 01:20 AM

macole, absolutely!

Well I made a guy and used that site to give him a first name: Hadden, second name Nuff. Hadden Nuff. Hadden's sort of like Lord Haaf-Mersey, my Skyrim paladin. Lawful Good, Paladin, yadda yadda. For some reason, I've always liked this archetype of character when structuring a leader.

Dang though, I really want to add my own follower(s) with Hadden. I made Faye Daway, the illusionist too. I wonder if there's any mods ...

Posted by: Lopov Oct 18 2022, 07:36 PM

You're brave (and positively stubborn ) to approach the BG with the DiD, it's one of those games for me, where I wouldn't even think of reloading, if my main character got killed. I'd often OP-them form the start, but I did, because I was mostly interested in story, combat comes for me always as secondary. So are you already rolling someone new?

Posted by: Renee Oct 18 2022, 08:18 PM

How do you make your character OP from the start?

Yes I already rolled somebody new, his name is Hadden Nuff. He's still in the opening village (Candlekeep or whatever it's called). My first guy, Lord Redbeard, did not spend as much time in this village. I think he did 3 or 4 tasks for villagers and then he was off, which was really MY impatience with getting into outside the village. Little did I know we cannot go back in once we've left.

I don't mind starting over, but let's say after 3 or 4 times I'll want to get further into the game, while still playing more cautiously.

Posted by: SubRosa Oct 18 2022, 09:21 PM

Baldur's Gate has a command console, like most games. And there is EE Keeper, which is a save game editor that lets you change your stats.

Posted by: Renee Oct 18 2022, 10:07 PM

Yes, I have EE Keeper, did not know we can change play-character stats. Probably a lot of things I don't know about it. I remember using EE to give my party Antidotes, though. Seems like every other time they encountered baddies they'd poison one or more of my party!

Posted by: Lopov Oct 19 2022, 10:39 AM

Options in EE are almost limitless. You can for instance give your player a special petrifying gaze attack that turns enemies into stone. I once did a short playthrough of a beggar who'd turn people to stone. It's just an example of what can be done with the BG Keeper.

Posted by: Renee Oct 19 2022, 01:30 PM

Ha ha that sounds pretty sweet! So your beggar was like Medussa.

Well I'll just give Hadden some sort of boost to his stats, maybe start him Level 2 instead of 1. I noticed BG is similar to the table-games we used to play, in the sense that this game levels up pretty slowly. 🎲 Which I like. Because back in the day when we all rolled dice, it took a long time to level up one of our PCs, days, weeks or months, not hours. When somebody finally went up, it would cause for celebration.

Baldur's feels harder than the table-games though, that's why I want to cheat a little. With the table-games we could choose modules, https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=dnd+modules&form=HDRSC2&first=1&tsc=ImageHoverTitle. These were basically adventure books, and they were all leveled. So if most of your party was Level 3, we could choose a module which too easy, just right, or even too hard!

To me, Baldur's feels too easy sometimes, but too hard other times (especially when poison or some exotic magic gets involved). I want to at least try to level the playing field for Hadden Nuff.

Posted by: Acadian Nov 26 2022, 09:16 PM

Buffy's playing ESO every morning but currently porting over to BGII EE for much of the rest of the day.

I enjoy BGII but it does take quite a bit of party tweaking to suit me. Currently Buffy is an Archer but has a fairly full suite of Druid spells. Acadian is a L13 Fighter dueled to Thief. Minsc is a keeper and he is a Monk. Aerie is also a keeper and she's a Sorceress. Will pick up Mazzy as our other keeper soon and plan to turn her into a human Inquisitor. That leaves a guest slot that will likely settle down into Nalia and perhaps later Imoen.

Posted by: Renee Nov 27 2022, 06:22 AM

Is Acadian an NPC who can be hired or picked up? Or a custom-made PC? If he's a player-character, how are you able to get two PCs in one party?

Posted by: Acadian Nov 27 2022, 02:35 PM

Buffy is the protagonist. Acadian is a a created NPC. You can build your whole party of (max) 6 if you want. We are using in game NPCs for the other 4 party members.

Posted by: Renee Nov 27 2022, 03:23 PM

Okay, that right there. Acadian is a "created NPC". How did you do this?

Because what I want to do is roll a PC, and then add my own NPC into his party. But I've noticed BG only has pre-made NPCs.

Posted by: Acadian Nov 27 2022, 05:35 PM

It is not real intuitive. I'm playing BG II EE Shadows of Amm.

Single Player > New Game > Create your PC up to where you get Accept available at the bottom of the menu but don't click Accept. Instead, click Create Party. The next menu allows you to make additional custom party members.

Posted by: Renee Nov 27 2022, 07:20 PM

Ah, that's BG2, I am playing the first game. Maybe that's why I can't find any options

Posted by: Acadian Nov 27 2022, 07:35 PM

Aww, sorry. I played BGI first one time with expansions back around 1990 then immediately moved to BGII and really preferred it. I also tried Icewind Dale one time and went back to BGII. As modern computers got stupid about older games, I had to give up BGII. Thanks to GoG with the BGII EE and some encouragement for SubRosa, I added BGII back into Buffy's very limited lineup of ESO and BGII.

Posted by: SubRosa Nov 28 2022, 06:52 AM

I am glad to hear you are having fun with BG2 again, after all these years. I might get back to it with either January or Blood Raven someday.

Posted by: SubRosa Nov 28 2022, 09:52 PM

Renee: This works in BG1 EE as well. At the very end of character creation there will be a button for Create Party.

You can also create a party by going to the Pregenerate Character button, which is right below the New Game button. It takes you through the whole character generation. Then at the end click on Export, and pick a file name for the character. That saves the character for later. Do this for all the self-created NPCs you want.

Then when you want to start a new game, go to the New Game button, create your main character there, and as Acadian said at the end click on Create Party. It will show a list of 6 character slots, with the one you just created at the upper left. Then you can go to the other slots and pick Import, and select the characters you pregenerated before.

This is handy because it gives you plenty of time to pregenerate each custom NPC. Especially since if there is not a portrait you like, you can exit the game and go find/make one. Or if you want to exit the game to check on a rule about skills or something. Then you don't have to start completely over.


Acadian: Now you have me thinking of doing BG2EE with January as a Paladin, and bringing in a couple of friends. Maybe Okami/Ryo as a Fighter/Thief. Or as a Thief dual-classed to Fighter. All I ever use a thief for is traps and lockpicking. Once those are at 100, I don't see much need for more Thief levels. Then maybe Gadget as a Cleric. That is how I ran him in Icewind Dale.

Then maybe I could also run Aerie as a sorcerer. I never thought of running Minsc as a Monk! The last time I made him a Barbarian.

Posted by: Renee Nov 28 2022, 11:06 PM

Okay cool I'll try looking for that next time I'm playing some BG.