Attempting to finish Baldur's Gate for the 7TH TIME!

[visions]

I usually do Nashkel Mines at around level 2. I've never used mods however.

 

[Revenant]

I always go to Nashkel before doing any side quests, so I'm usually there at level 1-2. However, if you did the side quests, I think it is entirely possible that you are at level 5.

Fighting a lot of random encounters can raise your level as well... Winter wolf grinding comes to mind.

 

[Cynic]

hmm, damn should have just gone and done it now it's going to be a cakewalk

 

[waywardOne]

Well, XP for new levels tends to double, so unless you grind basilisks you should be plateauing now. If you just want to drop a level or two across the board, Shadowkeeper is your friend.

 

[Cynic]

I didn't really grind, just did all the side quests. But yeah probably will plateau now. I might just up the difficulty to hard if it gets too easy.

 

[Cynic]

What the fuck I just found Xan and he doesn't offer to join, just takes the Moon Sword and runs I ought to murder his ass

 

[octavius]

What the fuck I just found Xan and he doesn't offer to join, just takes the Moon Sword and runs I ought to murder his ass

He's Neutral, right? You probably have too high Reputation for him to offer to join you.

 

[Melcar]

What is your rep? He is neutral, so if you are too "evil" or too "good" he will not join, or something like that.
Oh yeah, when I first played the game it was with a non-TOSC, non-patched version, which had this nifty bug with Protection from Evil where individual casting would stack. I was cool sending in my hasted Paladin with his -30 AC and near unbeatable saves.

 

[DraQ]

I always hated rep system in BG.

For example, we have someone like Kagain, who is generally lawful evil and loves his golds more than everything else apart from maybe beer. High rep should make the fucker content for purely selfish reasons because people like you, are more inclined to give you stuff and give you better prices, therefore more golds, but fucking no.

I could understand if good options were genuinely selfless while evil options genuinely selfish, but BG has typical biowarian choices, so the alternative usually boils down to doing shit for free and receiving +3 item of awesome even from some piss-poor faggot, and doing it for price and receiving some pocket lint in exchange.

 

[Melcar]

Nothing prevents you from killing that piss-poor faggot and taking that +3 item of awesome thought.

 

[DraQ]

Nothing prevents you from killing that piss-poor faggot and taking that +3 item of awesome thought.

But it still should be the other way around:

Stupid good: do it for free and earn insubstantial stuff like gratitude and rep that may halp you, even financially in the long run, but is still inferior in terms of materialistic rewards.

Non-stupid good to non-stupid evil: do it for reward, much less gratitude, substantial material rewards.

Stupid evil: just slaughter them and take their stuff regardless of whether you did it or not and whether you asked for reward or not.

 

[Jaesun]

I always hated rep system in BG.

For example, we have someone like Kagain, who is generally lawful evil and loves his golds more than everything else apart from maybe beer. High rep should make the fucker content for purely selfish reasons because people like you, are more inclined to give you stuff and give you better prices, therefore more golds, but fucking no.

Agreed. That always struck me as retarded.

 

[laclongquan]

I thought the script created the items on your inventory and not transfer the item from questgiver's to your inventory. Therefore killing them is pretty much pointless

 

[Melcar]

Most NPCs had the items with them, so you could just pickpocket or kill most of the time.

 

[Hegel]

I always hated rep system in BG.

For example, we have someone like Kagain, who is generally lawful evil and loves his golds more than everything else apart from maybe beer. High rep should make the fucker content for purely selfish reasons because people like you, are more inclined to give you stuff and give you better prices, therefore more golds, but fucking no.

I could understand if good options were genuinely selfless while evil options genuinely selfish, but BG has typical biowarian choices, so the alternative usually boils down to doing shit for free and receiving +3 item of awesome even from some piss-poor faggot, and doing it for price and receiving some pocket lint in exchange.

That's why you should get the virtue mod. Given it doesn't work that well with BGI (I can understand losing virtue for killing stray dogs, but why the hell killing bandits should be a villanous act? I assume they think bandits are just the byproduct of bad social enviroment). Although it works ok with just Baldur's Gate II.

 

[DraQ]

I can understand losing virtue for killing stray dogs, but why the hell killing bandits should be a villanous act?

Sounds horribly lame, actually, given that BG doesn't really give you options like accepting the yield or chasing enemies away (well, it does have morale, but since your party members will just autoattack if AI is enabled, the enemies revert to default behaviour after a while and morale change itself is uncertain and may need some enemies to be splattered first, it doesn't really qualify).

 

[Hegel]

It's a BG2/ToB only mod, but the big world install adapted it to run under the BGI portion as well, that's why it really turns out to be something lame during the first portion of the saga. In BGII you're awarded virtue points for solving quests in a good way, virtue and reputation are different variables. So you can have an evil party with high reputation and low virtue.
Accordingly, you're either chased by bounty hunters or evil wrongdoers.

 

[Shadenuat]

I don't remember Xan being so picky, actually, neutral characters are the most tolerable to reputation in BG series, I think. They can bitch about "We must strive for balance!", and most of them don't like full renegade, but I don't ever remember them running away, and I tend to carry polar opposites a lot (like Xan and Alora, Edwin and... everyone, etc.). There are specific pairs which can't be separated and hate some specific characters on a note of personal vendettas (harpers vs. zentarims, Viconia vs Ajantis, Dynaheir vs. Edwin), but I think that's it. Heck, Jaheira and Branwen are TN's, and will complain constantly if your rep is 19+, but they won't leave.
If you somehow run out of mages (and you can get Minsc killed and remove him from party for Dynaheir to stay), you can always make one from your little sis, anyway. There are a lot of thieves in a game.

 

[Melcar]

Imoen looks hotter in mage robes anyway.

 

[DraQ]

Viconia vs Ajantis

Isn't Ajantis prone to go total zealot on anyone evil?

Also, is there any truth to the claim that Xan is a pretty effective Ajantis damper?

 

[Pelvis Knot]

If you talk to him before getting the moonblade, he will join you, if you already have the blade he wont. Or the other way around.

 

[Melcar]

If you have 19-20 rep, Xan won't join no matter what. Same with evil rep (5 and below I think). Adjantis and Xan can get into some discussions but they won't kill themselves and/or leave. Of course, I only remember trying that combo once, so I can't say for sure.

 

[Cynic]

Hmm I tried talking to him before and after getting the Moonblade and he left both times. Kind of shit. Also if you talk to him after you have the blade and he leaves, he fucking takes it from you. I just dropped it on the ground and talked to him then he ran off and I picked it up again. I guess I will sell it.

 

[octavius]

Hmm I tried talking to him before and after getting the Moonblade and he left both times.

You are doomed if you do and doomed if you don't.

 

[Melcar]

It sells for 1GP I think.