[X] My Assistant

[Lopov]

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.

[SubRosa]

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.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 8 2014, 07:06 PM

[Acadian]

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.

[SubRosa]

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.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 9 2014, 12:49 AM

[Renee]

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?

[SubRosa]

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.

[Renee]

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.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Aug 9 2014, 03:20 AM

[SubRosa]

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

[Lopov]

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.

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.

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.

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.

[SubRosa]

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.

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.

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.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 9 2014, 08:01 PM

[SubRosa]

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.

[Renee]

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.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Aug 10 2014, 01:11 AM

[SubRosa]

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.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 10 2014, 02:14 AM

[Acadian]

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.

[Lopov]

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.

[Renee]

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.

This is not a game to play dead is dead like Oblivion. It just is not made that way.

Yeah but...

[SubRosa]

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.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 10 2014, 08:12 PM

[Acadian]

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.

[Lopov]

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.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Aug 10 2014, 08:28 PM

[Renee]

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.

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.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Aug 12 2014, 11:20 PM