Baldur's Gate Beamdog's Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 Enhanced Editions

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

CF also does elemental, +5 electrical. It has 13 AVG base damage, FOA+3 has 10.5 , FOA+5 has 19.5. In your example of 22->25 STR CF would get a boost of -3/+4, which would put it miles above FoA3. Carsomyr5 is 11.5+5 vs CE for reference.

CF is also neat in that wielded in the main hand it has 2h weapon range.

I agree with you that "hurr durr 25 STR" sounds bad since you can easily hit 25 STR with buffs, but even without it the stats on the weapon are legit, it's basically a one handed 2h.

Good points, I'll admit I forgot about the electrical damage and extra range for CF. So I am selling it short - maybe it's not overrated.

However, I'd still contend that FOA is better, because 33% chance of no-save, MR-bypassing slow is really good. Despite doing less damage, the ability to slow the most dangerous, and usually most difficult to debuff, monsters in an encounter is a consistent lifesaver.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I dual wielded CF with FoA when I played warriors. Smashing pumkins.

 

[Dzupakazul]

CF is a good main-hand for the bonus electrical damage on every hit and overall high damage, but it contends with FoA for that spot, especially since you often default to give the blunt weapons to your clerical types due to their weapon restrictions. Off-hand Crom is just a stat-stick, but 25 STR is easily achieved for the same clerical types who covet it by just casting DUHM and related buff spells, and Fighters either don't need permanent 25 STR to destroy trash or can simply imbibe a Strength potion. CF / FoA in a combo doesn't really do either weapon justice, because of how off-handers work. You're better off with FoA / Belm OR CF / Belm (or Kundane) throughout SoA and once GWW / IH are common place you do something like CF / Hindo's Doom or FoA / Defender of Easthaven, because off-handers are best for providing extra utility; if shields provided the kind of utility weapons do in this game, it'd actually be worth it to go sword & board, DoE is a better defensive item than any shield in the game. You generally try not to put heavy-hitters in the off-hand unless you're something like a solo Fighter who already has access to GWW and is gated by available weapons. Runehammer makes for a better off-hand because of its resistances and active abilities, for instance (which include a brief strength boost).

 

[oscar]

So what's the consensus on the best go-to for someone wanting to do a full first time playthrough? Enhanced? Original? Some mish-mash of mods?

 

[AwesomeButton]

I'd say original + fixes, if you want to experience what people experienced in 1998/9.

The EE is contaminated.

 

[CptMace]

Original if you want to be limited to 20 projectiles per stack and lose your temper on inventory management.
Either EE or modded. The first option has the advantage of being installed all at once, and the notable disadvantage of being tainted by questionable new content. Some of which is unavoidable, like meeting Neera or Dorn.
Small advantage, small disadvantage. It's pretty much the same fucking experience, really.

 

[octavius]

First time: original + Widescreen mod.

 

[abnaxus]

Crom Faeyr is indeed overrated... at least until it ends up in Korgan's offhand.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Sorry, but only crybabies complain of the need to manage their inventory in an RPG. You are trying to frighten players with what is a core mechanic of the genre, it's absurd to read this.

 

[CptMace]

I didn't complain nor cry when I played through BG original. It's just a very notable difference between EE/modded and original, and the overall QOL varies a lot between EE/modded and original.
Now when you played it modded and could stack 200 arrows instead of 20, it's very - very hard to go back to the original version. Because having to refill projectile slots after every two fights, dear AwesomeButton, isn't proper inventory management - like deciding what to carry with you and what to drop- , it's just busy fucking work which requires no thinking of any sort.
Damn you reacted like I asked for an auto-sorted infinite storage option, what the hell man.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I was referring to the other bit, the implication that anyone would lose their temper if they have to manage the inventory. I've heard this argument too many times and you got to be the drop that overflows the cup.

 

[Parabalus]

So what's the consensus on the best go-to for someone wanting to do a full first time playthrough? Enhanced? Original? Some mish-mash of mods?

If you had no prior contact with IE games install BG:EE and enjoy it, no mods needed. For BG2 you can consider basic stuff like SCS.
Afterwards you replay the non-EE versions and circlejerk here just how much better they were.

 

[Theldaran]

First time go in modless. Choosing between the original and EE is choosing between two different sets of bugs and game-breaking situations. At least original BG2 was mostly OK.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Yeah, if you've never played BG2, go with original and only install Fixpack and Widescreen mod. The former fixes few bugs that might happen that can be annoying, though BG2 is surprisingly bug free for its size. Widescreen mod is pretty essential with modern resolutions and monitors. Of course, if you really want the original experience, play on 800x600 resolution on a 15" CRT monitor and swap CDs because your hard drive doesn't have enough space for a full install.

There is no reason to touch the EEs.

 

[oscar]

I'm mechanically familiar with IE games just never really gotten beyond the first hour and a half of all of them. I don't really care about 'purism' either but if the EE has flat out broken lots of shit and made some questionable decisions which edition stands superior right now?

 

[CreamyBlood]

I like inventory management. It makes me decide things and gives me something to do during my down times.

 

[Incantatar]

I never liked the widescreen mod. It makes everything so tiny and you can barely make out all the sprites details and animations.

Inventory management in BG1 is a hassle but what shouldn't be forgotten is that it made the game a lot more difficult because there was no pause in inventory. Cheesy tactics like using the Greenstone Amulet with the whole party mid fight were almost impossible.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I never liked the widescreen mod. It makes everything so tiny and you can barely make out all the sprites details and animations.

It looks just good enough at 1360x768 on my 4K display, so a good value for a 1080 display should be around 1280x800.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I'm mechanically familiar with IE games just never really gotten beyond the first hour and a half of all of them. I don't really care about 'purism' either but if the EE has flat out broken lots of shit and made some questionable decisions which edition stands superior right now?

Good things about EE:
- instant QS and QL
- quick loot button

Both are great QOL improvements.

Bad things about EEs:
- visual changes are questionable at best, wtf/10 at worst
- all added content is offensively horrible
- bugs

Now, these games are nowhere near as bugged as they were on release, when they were completely broken. However, when you encounter a bug it can be pretty bad. Just as an example, in my last playthrough of BGII EE as a Blade I couldn't keep my "keep", choosing the dialogue option would cause ctd with 100% reproduction rate. It is also worth noting that the rate at which they're patching the games is "hilarious" and you can bet your ass every patch will introduce new, possibly serious bugs.

Verdict: EE is imo worth it for IWD only (but it has serious bugs too). For BG going with original + fixes and possibly widescreen is a sound choice.

 

[sullynathan]

Couldn't continue with siege of dragonspear. 2 hours in and it was pretty boring. Rolled a new character instead. I'm finding leveling up is much easier when you know what you're doing. I gained 2 levels just beating basilisks with the friendly ghoul in one of the maps, something that didn't happen in my first playthrough.
Fighter/mage two weapon dual class isn't going as expected. I didn't factor in that I can't cast spells with armor which sucks ass and with two weapons, my chance to hit enemies is really low.

 

[oldmanpaco]

What I liked about the EE was the option for my male Mage/Berserker to complement Dorn on his muscles and then give him a back rub.


No homo.

 

[Theldaran]

I'm mechanically familiar with IE games just never really gotten beyond the first hour and a half of all of them. I don't really care about 'purism' either but if the EE has flat out broken lots of shit and made some questionable decisions which edition stands superior right now?

Depends. For example, in original BG1 mages put on Mirror Image and they were as good as untouchable (until you dispelled it or killed the copies). In EE Mirror Image has been touched to play like it's supposed to, but other things have, once again, made mages difficult.

In EE you can easily get hidden items that are potentially game-breaking, turning it into a breeze. Or at least, they give considerable advantage. But, it's your option to take them or not.

In EE some fights felt a bit dumbed down. Though in original IE games, mages had the quirk of killing themselves with their own area spells more often than not.

Mostly the appeal of BG1EE is bringing it up to par with BG2, but then you miss the original flavour of it, which was quite distinct. Anyway, there are other ways to play BG1 as BG2 (namely mods).

 

[Delterius]

Sorry, but only crybabies complain of the need to manage their inventory in an RPG. You are trying to frighten players with what is a core mechanic of the genre, it's absurd to read this.

who the hell is frightened by 'this can be a bit of a bother and here are two ways of fixing it'

 

[AwesomeButton]

Sorry, but only crybabies complain of the need to manage their inventory in an RPG. You are trying to frighten players with what is a core mechanic of the genre, it's absurd to read this.

who the hell is frightened by 'this can be a bit of a bother and here are two ways of fixing it'

I'd answer but I'd very quickly be accused of derailing the thread.

 

[Theldaran]

By the way, I'm assuming that when people talk of the EE, they talk about the 1.3 beta.

Version 2 and up are terrible beyond description. I can't manage to put them to run at 60 FPS, and they destroyed the visuals with things like outlines. The diary was also fucked up, at least when I tested it. And the character sheet is more like character shit.