Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[KeighnMcDeath]

He's like a demigod. He even kicks Halaster's ass around.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elminster

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elminster

https://www.realmshelps.net/npc/elminster.shtml

I can't find his 5e stats. First link has 1e-4e stats. Mystra was hus first lover, a seven sister was too. Silver fire, spellfire... psh... practically a god i guess.

 

[Ladonna]

Elminster's most notable feature was his hawk-like nose, which distinguished him since his youth,[46] throughout the years he spent as a woman,[26] and well into manhood.[47] He had a shock of stark black hair in his youth,[48] and maintained a beard through most of his years that eventually went gray in his old age.[49] El had vibrant blue eyes set under big bushy eyebrows[28] that turned blue-gray later in life.[50]

I didn't know he tried out that girdle from Baldur's Gate.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Elm likes it ALL WAYS! He's a friggin fruit loop.

 

[RPK]

Also amazing how my party has been defeating dragons left and right as if they were some low level kobolds.

Yeah, this is just another aspect of how high level D&D goes to shit. It can be sorta explained away in Pools by the fact the world has been torn asunder, and you aren't in the "real world" anymore, but usually it is just a given. Random hordes of Dragons and Vampires wandering maps, that could have wasted Phlan, Zhentil Keep, and the entire Moonsea region in a week during Pool of Radiance (where the Big Bad is a Dragon, and a Vampire is another Big Bad).

This is usually why high level campaigns got shifted to a managerial role with armies, and the odd adventure to some hell island, or other dimension. By the end of Pools and Queen your characters would be able to challenge God's.

Raistlin was level 29 when he took out Thakisis. By the end of DQK a red mage would be in the region of 33...

Well, in that case what fucking level is Elminster or whoever that old retard is in the Forgotten Realms GB games that is giving you orders in Pools?

Pretty sure there was some other old guy giving orders out in Queen too, but I can't remember his name. I remember he had a tower dungeon that you had to fight through to the top early in the game.

I need to play through these again.

When you're the self-insert of the creator of the setting, you get to be whatever level you want.

 

[Cael]

He's like a demigod. He even kicks Halaster's ass around.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elminster

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elminster

https://www.realmshelps.net/npc/elminster.shtml

I can't find his 5e stats. First link has 1e-4e stats. Mystra was hus first lover, a seven sister was too. Silver fire, spellfire... psh... practically a god i guess.

What he has is Arcane fire from his Archmage levels and silverfire from his Chosen of Mystra template. They are not spellfire exactly, but close.

He also gets +10Con from the template (3e) and a bunch of spell-like abilities and spell immunities, IIRC.

In 1-3e, he is level 32, I think.

 

[octavius]

But I did read beforehand around the interwebs that PoD is such a tremendously difficult game, and nearly impossible without tremendous cheese etc. etc... so I turned down the difficulty to Squire Novice (the lowest difficulty). I'm not sure if it was the right decision, but I will stick with it now for my first playtrough.

Dark Queen is overall harder, but Pools has the most difficult final battle of all the GB games. Having high Dex is crucial for getting initiative in that battle.
Having a single class Mage to be able to bypass Drow magic resistance is also useful.

 

[Cael]

But I did read beforehand around the interwebs that PoD is such a tremendously difficult game, and nearly impossible without tremendous cheese etc. etc... so I turned down the difficulty to Squire Novice (the lowest difficulty). I'm not sure if it was the right decision, but I will stick with it now for my first playtrough.

Dark Queen is overall harder, but Pools has the most difficult final battle of all the GB games. Having high Dex is crucial for getting initiative in that battle.
Having a single class Mage to be able to bypass Drow magic resistance is also useful.

DQK's fight in the Abyss. Fuck your magic resistance. How about NO magic AT ALL?

 

[octavius]

But that's not the final battle.

 

[Cael]

But that's not the final battle.

The final battles were nothing compared to that one...

 

[Ladonna]

Does anyone know if there are any differences between the PC and Amiga versions of DQoK and PoD? Or issues either had in finishing them? Just trying to decide which to play through each series (Not big on the shit PC sounds for the early games in each though, so leaning towards Amiga unless someone brings up some big problems).

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I didnt have POD on amiga but I did have and finish DQK on the Amiga and later PC from some archive site. Trying to think... anything different besides sound? Damn, I'd be hard to guess now without a full playthrough again. At least EOB i can say the PC ending was cut which never was patched as far as I know. You'd think dedicated shrines to GB eould have this information.

 

[octavius]

One difference is that the Ring of Electric Resistance works as it should in the Amiga version, but not in the DOS version. But IIRC someone claimed it worked if you re-equipped it right before (or during?) battle.

 

[Morblot]

Elminster's most notable feature was his hawk-like nose, which distinguished him since his youth,[46] throughout the years he spent as a woman,[26] and well into manhood.[47] He had a shock of stark black hair in his youth,[48] and maintained a beard through most of his years that eventually went gray in his old age.[49] El had vibrant blue eyes set under big bushy eyebrows[28] that turned blue-gray later in life.[50]

I didn't know he tried out that girdle from Baldur's Gate.

He didn't, Mystra changed him to a woman for a few years to teach him... something, fuck if I know. She certainly didn't act like the lawful deity her stats claim her to be in those Greenwood Elminster books.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

She prolly wanted reverse roles.

 

[ProphetSword]

Does anyone know if there are any differences between the PC and Amiga versions of DQoK and PoD? Or issues either had in finishing them? Just trying to decide which to play through each series (Not big on the shit PC sounds for the early games in each though, so leaning towards Amiga unless someone brings up some big problems).

Depending on your preference, the sound effects for the early Gold-Box games can be greatly improved by picking Tandy 1000 as your sound output in the game configuration and changing your DOSBOX configuration so that Tandy sounds are enabled to ON (leaving it on AUTO will not make this work). The sound effects in the early games then sound similar to what the Commodore 64 sound effects were, which are much better than the single voiced beeps you get in PC standard mode (which I think used the built-in speaker anyway).

EDIT:
To change the configuration file for the game, sometimes you just need to erase it (this works for Curse of the Azure Bonds, for example), and other times you want to edit it (erasing the CFG file for Pool of Radiance will make the game unable to load). You can edit the CFG file from Windows. If you see "P" (meaning PC Speaker), change it to "T," and this will give you better sound effects.

 

[pjs]

For what it's worth, I replayed the whole Krynn series again with Human Knight (switched to sword when I could keep L14, so around Lunitari tower) and 5 elves (1 F/C, 2 F/Red mages, 2 white mages). As I suspected, having only one healer was somewhat painful at times and maybe I should have switched the knight earlier to get the spells (but I wanted two attacks quickly). All dual-class fighters obtained their L14 nicely around Lunitari tower, so the rest of the game was much smoother. Two full mages was certainly also a huge (and maybe a bigger) asset, especially at the end part when the levels were already past 25 and DBFs and similar spells were so much deadlier than for example L14-L16 mages.

I think I like DKK best. While the plot is nice, the characters in COK are so weak until you have dealt with Throtl and Gargath that you have play it slowly and carefully (and/or reload often especially if the cleric gets struck down). In DKK the plot is also ok and there are a nice bunch of small side quests, also useful rewards. The play is much faster, but you still seem to get killed regularly by poisonous spiders etc. (for some reason, periapt vs poison does not make you immune either) so you can't just toggle on autoplay. DQK is way too sluggish and the mazes of lunitari, tombs of kristophan and hawbluff keep are ridiculous if you don't have the maps; the way how the "game length" was designed was not very optimal.

I replayed COK-DKK-DQK with the same setup: a human knight, 2 S/E white mages (I wanted 19 dex, mainly for the initiatives, but human would have been ok as well), 1 Q/E Fighter/cleric, 2 Q/E Fighter/Red mages. This worked rather well. If you play with Champion difficulty, you'll really need two full-class mages in DQK (in addition to half-classed ones) to cast powerful DBFs to deal mass damage and punch through the magic resistance of the most irritating enhanced draconians (sivak and bozak). Highly recommended. Based on my experience, you can live with just one cleric until (or at least close to when) the knight is able to sustain level 14 (this time around the draconian caves, if I recall).

The only major fight I skipped was the vampire lair in new aurim. A rather annoying one, if you want to avoid getting drained (always results in losing XP even after restoration because vampires drain two levels instead of just one). I suppose that with good RNG and/or using blade barrier(s) in a few strategic locations for crowd control you might have been able to pull it off without getting level drains. But as this was strictly optional, I didn't really bother re-trying too many times.

The weirdest bug I took particular note of this time was that the magic shop in Kristophan sells mage scrolls which include spells that white or red mages, respectively, should not have access to. Oops. So, if you want to cut the corners a bit with the mages, you can get some useful stuff there (for example, mirror image and iron skin could be useful defensive buffs for the white mages, globe of invulnerability for red mages).

 

[Cael]

I am currently trying to decide between the following party configurations myself:

1 knight
1 cleric/ranger
3 fighter/mage
1 mage/thief

Or

1 knight
1 cleric/thief
4 fighter/mage

The former works very well with 2 dragonlance wielders. The latter is very experimental, but have the advantage of everyone in shield and helmet. What do you guys think?

In my last playthrough, I completed DKK with about 4.3 mill XP. I wouldn't worry about multiclass mages, especially if you use GBC to keep XP instead of losing it all because of engine limitations.

 

[octavius]

Cleric/Thief...

 

[weirwood]

(I wanted 19 dex, mainly for the initiatives, but human would have been ok as well)

You need to double-check, and I'm also not sure if it's implemented in the Gold Box this way, but IIRC, 1st Edition AD&D has no initiative difference between 18 and 19 dex. Elven mages have no advantage there.

1 mage/thief

The former works very well with 2 dragonlance wielders. The latter is very experimental, but have the advantage of everyone in shield and helmet. What do you guys think?

Don't bring a mage/thief. Thieves are useful only for backstabbing, so go F/M/T for the higher strength, THAC0, and extra attacks (and armor). With the rest of your party, the slower mage progression won't matter. Cleric/thief is fun too, but really drops off in the third game. Two dragonlance wielders is a good idea, the last time I played the series, I had a dwarf fighter for this. He could soak up dragon breath and still one-shot dragons on champion difficulty.

 

[Jason Liang]

Cleric/Thief...

This is Valine's favorite class combo!

Also arguably the best class combo in Warlord: Saga of the Storm ~

 

[Cael]

1 mage/thief

The former works very well with 2 dragonlance wielders. The latter is very experimental, but have the advantage of everyone in shield and helmet. What do you guys think?

Don't bring a mage/thief. Thieves are useful only for backstabbing, so go F/M/T for the higher strength, THAC0, and extra attacks (and armor). With the rest of your party, the slower mage progression won't matter. Cleric/thief is fun too, but really drops off in the third game. Two dragonlance wielders is a good idea, the last time I played the series, I had a dwarf fighter for this. He could soak up dragon breath and still one-shot dragons on champion difficulty.

Thief is mandatory is that one part in DKK. I actually found a level 18 thief still have problems getting through there without blowing up.

Also, just FYI, a human knight at 10d10 and 18 Con still has the same average HP as a dwarf fighter at 9d10 and 19 Con and at the same level but a higher possible max HP. You get 1 extra HP per level after level 9, and that's it.

 

[octavius]

BTW, Cleric/Thief can is only viable if a Kender IMO, since they can backstab with the Hoopak. But I seem to recall that Cael is an anti-kenderist.

 

[The Limper]

1 mage/thief

The former works very well with 2 dragonlance wielders. The latter is very experimental, but have the advantage of everyone in shield and helmet. What do you guys think?

Don't bring a mage/thief. Thieves are useful only for backstabbing, so go F/M/T for the higher strength, THAC0, and extra attacks (and armor). With the rest of your party, the slower mage progression won't matter. Cleric/thief is fun too, but really drops off in the third game. Two dragonlance wielders is a good idea, the last time I played the series, I had a dwarf fighter for this. He could soak up dragon breath and still one-shot dragons on champion difficulty.

Thief is mandatory is that one part in DKK. I actually found a level 18 thief still have problems getting through there without blowing up.

Also, just FYI, a human knight at 10d10 and 18 Con still has the same average HP as a dwarf fighter at 9d10 and 19 Con and at the same level but a higher possible max HP. You get 1 extra HP per level after level 9, and that's it.

Should be +3 per level for warrior types, no?

 

[Cael]

BTW, Cleric/Thief can is only viable if a Kender IMO, since they can backstab with the Hoopak. But I seem to recall that Cael is an anti-kenderist.

Are you retarded? 1st Ed allows you to use Thief weapons.

 

[Cael]

1 mage/thief

The former works very well with 2 dragonlance wielders. The latter is very experimental, but have the advantage of everyone in shield and helmet. What do you guys think?

Don't bring a mage/thief. Thieves are useful only for backstabbing, so go F/M/T for the higher strength, THAC0, and extra attacks (and armor). With the rest of your party, the slower mage progression won't matter. Cleric/thief is fun too, but really drops off in the third game. Two dragonlance wielders is a good idea, the last time I played the series, I had a dwarf fighter for this. He could soak up dragon breath and still one-shot dragons on champion difficulty.

Thief is mandatory is that one part in DKK. I actually found a level 18 thief still have problems getting through there without blowing up.

Also, just FYI, a human knight at 10d10 and 18 Con still has the same average HP as a dwarf fighter at 9d10 and 19 Con and at the same level but a higher possible max HP. You get 1 extra HP per level after level 9, and that's it.

Should be +3 per level for warrior types, no?

Only Fighter and Paladin get +3. Knight and Rangers get +2.