Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Cael]

Melfin's Magic Stripper?

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Do you guys know which spells Edwin will cast automatically? Using BG2EE Wizard: Aggressive script, I mean.

I'm not really a magic person, I can't remember what half of the spells do. So I just want him to take care of it for me.

He loves magic missile, and will also cast hold monster, cold of cone, disintegrate, and a few more I can't recall right now - Breach? Melfin's Magic Stripper?

I'm just letting him memorize a bunch of different spells so I can see what he uses. Previously I tried loading him up with poison- and fire-arrows, but he doesn't throw them unless he's instructed to. Which is annoying.

Viconia I mainly just use for healing, which she is always happy to do without prompting. Although my homemade assassin loves going into stealth mode as soon as she starts a spell, making her waste it.

Half of the fun of BG is casting spells.......

 

[Elex]

Do you guys know which spells Edwin will cast automatically? Using BG2EE Wizard: Aggressive script, I mean.

I'm not really a magic person, I can't remember what half of the spells do. So I just want him to take care of it for me.

He loves magic missile, and will also cast hold monster, cold of cone, disintegrate, and a few more I can't recall right now - Breach? Melfin's Magic Stripper?

I'm just letting him memorize a bunch of different spells so I can see what he uses. Previously I tried loading him up with poison- and fire-arrows, but he doesn't throw them unless he's instructed to. Which is annoying.

Viconia I mainly just use for healing, which she is always happy to do without prompting. Although my homemade assassin loves going into stealth mode as soon as she starts a spell, making her waste it.

Half of the fun of BG is casting spells.......

the other half is killing spellcasters

 

[hell bovine]

He loves magic missile, and will also cast hold monster, cold of cone, disintegrate, and a few more I can't recall right now - Breach? Melfin's Magic Stripper?

That's quite the trolling considering that disintegrate or cone of cold can destroy loot.

 

[Stella Brando]

Wow, the beamdog forums are much more helpful, you guys should be embarrassed:

sarevok57
the spells a mage will cast on wizard aggresive are as follows:

vocalize
spell thrust
khelben's warding whip
power word silence
finger of death
abi-dalzim's horrid wilting
summon nishruu
maze
cone of cold
hold monster
death spell
disintegrate
burning hands
color spray
magic missile
sleep
chromatic orb
larloch's minor drain
blindness
charm person

and that's it, and that is the priority order the mage will cast those spells, if you want a mage script that isn't complete trash and actually casts spells, i made a whole bunch of custom scripts on these forums that you can download and use, and they will make your mage use way more spells, unless you are completely satisfied with the script you have now

my custom scripts can be found here:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/63928/improved-scripts-for-your-bg-bg2-playing-experience#

In other news, I gave Korgan the Cloak of Mirroring (Or is it Reflection?) - the one that has blue energy swirling around him. I then sent him against the Beholders in the underdark, leaving my other characters back at the entrance. He soloed atleast 10 of them, including some Elder Orbs and excluding some Garths, yelling "That's a skull cracker!" and "Let's have a look at them guts!" the whole time. It was probably the most astonishing thing I've seen in this game.

If you feel this section of the game is too long (I do), you can avoid most of it by simply taking the portal to the underdark, then heading directly into the western tunnels, which are right nearby. Then just fight your way to the surface. The Silver Dragon will just teleport you to this location if you bring her her eggs, she doesn't want you to know you can just walk there yourself. I guess you guys know this stuff already, I couldn't remember it clearly after all these years. I think when I was younger I most enjoyed playing chapter 2 over and over again. I would just start over with new characters, and only go rescue Imoen if I felt like it. I also wanted to skip the first dungeon.

My party (Evil Assassin, Korgan, Viconia, Edwin) genocided everything in the underdark - Beholders, Mind Flayers, Drow, Elementals, Kao Toads, even the Silver Dragon. I did the drow missions, first though. We left the gnomes alive, because they were respectful. When we got back to Athkatla, as soon as we walked into the copper coronet, Yoshimo - who was hanging out there - keeled over and died. I guess he couldn't handle his drink.

 

[JDR13]

He loves magic missile, and will also cast hold monster, cold of cone, disintegrate, and a few more I can't recall right now - Breach? Melfin's Magic Stripper?

That's quite the trolling considering that disintegrate or cone of cold can destroy loot.

Cone of Cold can destroy loot?

 

[Stella Brando]

If a frozen character is killed he will smash into little pieces.

 

[hell bovine]

Yep, same as with petrification. And also level drain, from what I recall.

 

[Stella Brando]

I'd like to put together the ultimate BRO team. The kind of likable band that can put in a days adventuring and then share some banter or a trip to the pub. The kind of team you wouldn't mind having a beer with. I'm kind of envisioning a Baldur's Gate TV show, here. Bros can be he-bros or she-bros, of course.

Definitely Invited

• Me - possibly an alcoholic Chaotic Barbarian. Open to suggestions here.
• Korgan (Melee) - an obvious choice, complains about wanting a drink when he's bored, always has a story to tell.
• Keldorn (Melee) - a bit uptight (designated wagon driver?), but he has 18 Charisma, and reminds me of Sean Connery. A hit with the MILFs, I expect.
• Mazzy (Ranged) - likeable and dependable. She has a classy accent but isn't stuck-up. Raises the tone. And Korgan fancies her.

How to cover the Thief/Cleric/Mage roles?
Should a team like this have a bard? Someone to set the atmosphere.

Not Invited:

• Aeire - Underage
• Viconia - Bitchy
• Edwin - Arrogant nerd
• Anomen - Just don't like him
• Cernd - Would probably rather be hugging a tree

Maybe:

• Valygar - I don't really get a feel for his personality.

What do you guys think?

 

[Cael]

I generally only have 1 use for Anomen, and that is to open a portal to the Elemental Plane of Bees and drop him in it.

Spoiler

Find a deserted building. Send Anomen in there. Have someone cast multiple Insect Plague or whatever that spell is in there. Close the door. Wait. Profit.

 

[Dzupakazul]

What do you guys think?

The Thief AND Mage roles are easy because Jan is a bro (his stories make Korgan laugh and he's a [turnip] beer enthusiast) and for your final spot you can add Haer'dalis because he also likes to throw down with amusing tales and wordplay. Easy peasy, you even have two capable arcanists in the party now, plus your party is melee-heavy so Improved Bard Song will be useful at HLA levels. It fits thematically and mechanically.
You don't *need* a Cleric per se, the utility is replacable with other spells, especially healing.
You could probably add Jaheira if you really wanted, but if Viconia is too bitchy for you, then Jaheira will even more so; she is witty and can bant, but that wit is dry.
If you're going for a full "bro mode" party and really need a Cleric, I'd reconsider Viconia if you just think of her as a sharp-tongued chick who dishes out bants and provides eyecandy. Romancing Viconia also generally develops her as less ice-cold.
Also, I heartily recommend advancing Mazzy as a melee character as the game progresses simply because for non-Archers, non-Clerics and non-Kensais your maximum damage output for ranged weapons kinda peters out at the end and Mazzy with a Gesen bow is kinda falling off, but she is gonna get 10~ more weapon proficiencies throughout her journey, so you can transition her to melee in ToB. She can pick up whatever weapon niche your other characters didn't, like swords of some type, or halberds.

 

[Stella Brando]

Nice. I don't know how to brofist, but I like this post. I'll definitely be considering some of these ideas. I've actually never played with a bard before.

I sometimes feel like playing the story with the "official" party... like Imoen, Minsc, etc. So I'll probably save Jaheira for that.

EDIT: Damn, I forgot, I got stuck in the Planar Prison last time. I need to work that out if I want Hi Dallas. Apparently I needed to edit Baldur.lua file so I can use the console, but I couldn't find it. Maybe I should update my game to 2.0, it may fix this issue.

 

[Mikeal]

I'd like to put together the ultimate BRO team. The kind of likable band that can put in a days adventuring and then share some banter or a trip to the pub. The kind of team you wouldn't mind having a beer with. I'm kind of envisioning a Baldur's Gate TV show, here. Bros can be he-bros or she-bros, of course.

Definitely Invited

• Me - possibly an alcoholic Chaotic Barbarian. Open to suggestions here.
• Korgan (Melee) - an obvious choice, complains about wanting a drink when he's bored, always has a story to tell.
• Keldorn (Melee) - a bit uptight (designated wagon driver?), but he has 18 Charisma, and reminds me of Sean Connery. A hit with the MILFs, I expect.
• Mazzy (Ranged) - likeable and dependable. She has a classy accent but isn't stuck-up. Raises the tone. And Korgan fancies her.

How to cover the Thief/Cleric/Mage roles?
Should a team like this have a bard? Someone to set the atmosphere.

Not Invited:

• Aeire - Underage
• Viconia - Bitchy
• Edwin - Arrogant nerd
• Anomen - Just don't like him
• Cernd - Would probably rather be hugging a tree

Maybe:

• Valygar - I don't really get a feel for his personality.

What do you guys think?

It's double funny, because despite their differences (Lawfool Good Paladin vs Chaothic Evil Warrior) or maybe due to them, Keldorn and Korgan quickly become bros.

 

[ga♥]

Yep, same as with petrification. And also level drain, from what I recall.

In the EE level drain doesn't do it.

 

[Cael]

I'd like to put together the ultimate BRO team. The kind of likable band that can put in a days adventuring and then share some banter or a trip to the pub. The kind of team you wouldn't mind having a beer with. I'm kind of envisioning a Baldur's Gate TV show, here. Bros can be he-bros or she-bros, of course.

Definitely Invited

• Me - possibly an alcoholic Chaotic Barbarian. Open to suggestions here.
• Korgan (Melee) - an obvious choice, complains about wanting a drink when he's bored, always has a story to tell.
• Keldorn (Melee) - a bit uptight (designated wagon driver?), but he has 18 Charisma, and reminds me of Sean Connery. A hit with the MILFs, I expect.
• Mazzy (Ranged) - likeable and dependable. She has a classy accent but isn't stuck-up. Raises the tone. And Korgan fancies her.

How to cover the Thief/Cleric/Mage roles?
Should a team like this have a bard? Someone to set the atmosphere.

Not Invited:

• Aeire - Underage
• Viconia - Bitchy
• Edwin - Arrogant nerd
• Anomen - Just don't like him
• Cernd - Would probably rather be hugging a tree

Maybe:

• Valygar - I don't really get a feel for his personality.

What do you guys think?

It's double funny, because despite their differences (Lawfool Good Paladin vs Chaothic Evil Warrior) or maybe due to them, Keldorn and Korgan quickly become bros.

Korgan's Evil is quite informed rather than actual, like Viconia's. Even that crazy man-hating woman in 1 wasn't really Evil.

 

[razvedchiki]

for those who have played the harder difficulties in the EEs,what extra mobs spawn with the regular ones?

 

[Melcar]

for those who have played the harder difficulties in the EEs,what extra mobs spawn with the regular ones?

In IWD at least, they are the same just MORE of them. The only difficulty increase is that you are dealing with a larger mob.

 

[razvedchiki]

asking mainly because scs latest version intergrates the difficulty slider with the mod,and the hardest difficulties have the full array of scripts.

 

[Jabber]

I don't think SCS *integrates* with the vanilla difficulty slider so much as replaces it.

That is, if your question was to what extent playing v32 SCS on insane will increase enemy spawns vs. v30 with similar options, I don't think it's connected in any way to the increased enemy spawns in vanilla insane.

Anyway, I'm playing through SCS 32 on insane at the moment and the only different I notice in spawns is the random spawns (which feel about 30% more mobs). But the random spawn module seems to have changed substantially, and the change isn't related to the difficulty slider to my knowledge.

In other news, backstab is just such a trash skill. After n playthroughs where I always play some type of fighter, I'm playing through with a thief. Specifically, an assassin. It's like playing a fighter, but garbage at everything.

If you do the math on backstab, it basically barely matches the DPS of a fighter. Barely matches IF everything works out and you are backstabbing every round. Which is super micro intensive and frequently not possible, and also totally not possible against certain enemy types.

Like a fighter with IH does 6-10 attacks per round. So even a 7x backstab isn't looking good compared to that, considering backstabs don't get a multiplier on strength bonus.

That said, it does have its moments when you land a sweet backstab... It does also at least benefit from pulling all the damage forward to the start of the round. Sometimes. Unless your dude decides to swing near the end of the round because he has 1 APR and a shitty speed factor.

You also give up the ability to be remotely competent in combat without backstabs, plus a bunch of AC and hp obviously.

I guess another issue is that I'm not looking up where the staff of striking is and so I have a garbage backstab weapon. Still though.

 

[razvedchiki]

i use backstab to kill an enemy mage before the batte starts (and before they auto buff),then i use the backstabber to chase archers or use a bow.

petty though about the difficulty slider,better versions of mobs popping up would spice up the battles.

 

[Melcar]

i use backstab to kill an enemy mage before the batte starts (and before they auto buff),then i use the backstabber to chase archers or use a bow.

petty though about the difficulty slider,better versions of mobs popping up would spice up the battles.

Last SCS version I used had the option to regulate the spawn difficulty. It still uses the hardcoded level scaling spawns (meaning the type of enemies that are available).

 

[Chippy]

Don't know how SCS handles it, but when I played the difficult x enemies only applied to the SOD expansion - not the original game. I think they had the vanilla BG2 spawning system in place, so at early levels you'd find hardly an enemy on each map, then as you levelled up and rested/got ambushed enemies would spawn to your level and you'd get more XP from that encounter that several maps worth of enemies.

So hopefully SCS has sorted out all of that shit.

 

[Cael]

I don't think SCS *integrates* with the vanilla difficulty slider so much as replaces it.

That is, if your question was to what extent playing v32 SCS on insane will increase enemy spawns vs. v30 with similar options, I don't think it's connected in any way to the increased enemy spawns in vanilla insane.

Anyway, I'm playing through SCS 32 on insane at the moment and the only different I notice in spawns is the random spawns (which feel about 30% more mobs). But the random spawn module seems to have changed substantially, and the change isn't related to the difficulty slider to my knowledge.

In other news, backstab is just such a trash skill. After n playthroughs where I always play some type of fighter, I'm playing through with a thief. Specifically, an assassin. It's like playing a fighter, but garbage at everything.

If you do the math on backstab, it basically barely matches the DPS of a fighter. Barely matches IF everything works out and you are backstabbing every round. Which is super micro intensive and frequently not possible, and also totally not possible against certain enemy types.

Like a fighter with IH does 6-10 attacks per round. So even a 7x backstab isn't looking good compared to that, considering backstabs don't get a multiplier on strength bonus.

That said, it does have its moments when you land a sweet backstab... It does also at least benefit from pulling all the damage forward to the start of the round. Sometimes. Unless your dude decides to swing near the end of the round because he has 1 APR and a shitty speed factor.

You also give up the ability to be remotely competent in combat without backstabs, plus a bunch of AC and hp obviously.

I guess another issue is that I'm not looking up where the staff of striking is and so I have a garbage backstab weapon. Still though.

Backstab with a lightning bolt. Then, come back and let's talk.

 

[Dzupakazul]

Arguably the main feature of the Assassin kit is Poison Weapon. If you're not playing the EE (where it was first also given to the martial Blackguard class and then nerfed because Poison on a potential 10 APR is pretty huge), it's a pretty fantastic deterrent to mages that you can apply at range and it passes through Stoneskin. With EE it still does the mage interruption somewhat, but the damage is much smaller. You can dual Assassin/Mage solely to hurl poisoned Melfs.

 

[Cael]

Arguably the main feature of the Assassin kit is Poison Weapon. If you're not playing the EE (where it was first also given to the martial Blackguard class and then nerfed because Poison on a potential 10 APR is pretty huge), it's a pretty fantastic deterrent to mages that you can apply at range and it passes through Stoneskin. With EE it still does the mage interruption somewhat, but the damage is much smaller. You can dual Assassin/Mage solely to hurl poisoned Melfs.

Fireball still works, with PW, right? I recall Arrows of Detonation + PW being a thing back in the day.