Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[SwiftCrack]

I play with a sleep spell that wakes up on hit.

Sue me.

 

[DragoFireheart]

In all honesty if I wanted a dedicated mage I'd make my PC either a Sorcerer or a Wild Mage. I mostly keep mages around for Breachs and Haste/Improved Haste so my Dwarf Berserker can crush stuff into goo.

Project Image + Spell Immunitity: Divination is hilariously overpowered.

Still though, who will use the Flail of Win if my PC isn't a Fighter of some kind? Choice choices.

 

[Melcar]

I don't like the sound effect the FoA does. Sounds like a damn toy or something.

 

[DragoFireheart]

I don't like the sound effect the FoA does. Sounds like a damn toy or something.

True popamole.

 

[SwiftCrack]

I don't like the sound effect the FoA does. Sounds like a damn toy or something.

*woosh*

*thunk*

 

[UglyBastard]

I like Celestial Fury way more than FoA, its permastun is just broken.

 

[Melcar]

I always like IWD weapons more. BG weapons always seemed rather bland.

 

[Rake]

 

[UglyBastard]

I always like IWD weapons more. BG weapons always seemed rather bland.

BG2 has some pretty cool stuff like Carsomyr, Crom Faeyr, Celestial Fury, Staff of the Magi etc.
BG1 weapons were the worst though (like almost every other item). A blank +2 weapon was the most crazy shit one could imagine. It didn't even break after hitting a Kobold a couple of times. Epic!

 

[DragoFireheart]

I like Celestial Fury way more than FoA, its permastun is just broken.

You prefer a weeboo fucking shit-thingy over one of the most glorious Flails of all cRPGs?

Celestial Fury

Something dumb generic lines about Kara-Derp Samurai and self-cutting emo shit.



Flail of Ages

This flail has been in the care of Lord Arnise for some time, a relic of his adventuring youth. It has been kept disassembled, the individual pieces stored in separate locations, and only used in the direst of emergencies. Lord Arnise was likely concerned about the powerful magic that the weapon radiated when compiled, and rightfully so. A trail of destruction has followed it through history, leading straight back to the original owners. The flail was the creation of the warlike Rakshasa, a race of vengeful spirits that crave human meat, and used as an adaptable weapon that could suit any battle. During a particularly violent hunt the flail was lost, only to be returned when they used their affinity for magic to locate its powerful aura. They discovered that the weapon had found its way into the hands of a great human warrior, and the battle that followed was truly splendid. They have since used the item as bait countless times, 'losing' it again and again. Powerful items gravitate towards powerful people, and powerful people yield the most glorious battles.

Wasn't that an interesting history?

Also:

Blunt > Slash
Guaranteed elemental damage > 5% chance (for mage interrupting)
Troll killer > Non-troll killer
Slow with NO SAVE > Some stun that anything relevant will resist
Can be upgrades in ToB > no upgrade
Manly weapon with rich Lordly history > weeboo shit.

 

[UglyBastard]

Last time I checked, mages didn't cast while permastunned, so I guess the interruption doesn't really matter. It also stuns through protection from magic weapons and all the other defspells.

You have a point about the barbaric maiming of your opponents with a flail though, I'll give you that.

 

[agris]

I think you mean 'Blades' are cool, fuck bards.

Haer'Dalis can be made to work, but the need for constant micromanagement is a big drawback. Eventually it gets really fucking annoying to see his chunks spray around every time you forget to babysit him, and you start to wish you had a beefy character instead (Sarevok, Korgan) that you could just tell to go over there and kill some people kthx.

Bard level curve + flame arrow. Oh and stoneskin, haste, potion of fortitude and tenser's. I usually take Haer'dalis, despite the wonky dialogue, because with the right gear and spells he's pretty beastly.

 

[Stokowski]

Does no-one remember he has Offensive Spin?

 

[SwiftCrack]

Yeah, both spins are the reason why blades rock.

The only thing that sucks is that the bard combat song doesn't level up.

 

[MrMarbles]

Yeah, both spins are the reason why blades rock.

The only thing that sucks is that the bard combat song doesn't level up.

If we're talking endgame damage output this is taken care of by the HLA Enhanced Bard Song. Combine with Use Any Item for Vhailor's and you can let his Simulacrum do the singing while he kills more stuff. If you play with few party members (or do Watchers Keep) the HLAs come into play in SoA.

 

[SwiftCrack]

Yeah, both spins are the reason why blades rock.

The only thing that sucks is that the bard combat song doesn't level up.

If we're talking endgame damage output this is taken care of by the HLA Enhanced Bard Song. Combine with Use Any Item for Vhailor's and you can let his Simulacrum do the singing while he kills more stuff. If you play with few party members (or do Watchers Keep) the HLAs come into play in SoA.

Intense bard knowledge right here.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

you can also let the illusionary image of the mislead spell do the singing, bonus point: you stay improved invisible while the image is there, just park it somewhere far away from possible dispells

 

[Xeon]

Question about FMT class, Is the Time Stop spell a spell you can memorize and use or is it part of the High Level Ability? I read that FMT can't get HLA mage spells but there is a mod that enables that or something so I am kinda wondering if I should install it. If it makes any difference my magic is pretty much an amplifier to my melee role if that makes sense. barely use any attack spells, just support spells like shield and skin and Improved Haste.

Another question is about Boots of Speed, I thought in BG2 the boots gives a hasted state but I am only getting the faster movement so is that normal or is it possible that one of the mods changed that?

I am playing on an Original version of BG2 with the an imported character from BGEE. several mods are installed like Fixes (all), Tweaks (some content, tweaks & cheats), Widescreen, UB (all), 1PP and HQ music.
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I think I am almost done with all available quests in chapter 2 and about to go to to chapter 3 for the first time. Playing on Core difficulty since first time playing anything beside pure melee class. Greater Whirlwind is pretty great. I used it against the Dragon in the Temple Ruins and it probably took half of its health in a single use. Really strong stuff man, the dragon still manged to heal but was still pretty strong attack.

Items for PC: Robe of Vecna, Bracer AC3, Helm of Balduran, Ring of Acuity/Wizardy, Sewers Cloak, Boots of Speed, Belt of Inertial Barrier, Flail of Ages +3, Shield of Balduran/ War Hammer Vs Giant and I just got the Ring of Gaxx. If there is any recommendation on items please suggest, I am not that sure about the Ring of Acuity/Wizardy and I don't have that good of an amulet yet, at least I don't think I found one that seemed useful for an FMT build.

I kinda don't know how I manged to damage the second stage of the Gaxx guy but somehow one of the summons I think probably managed to kill it. I am also wondering if the Nishruu summon is good against Liches or mage classes more importantly, from the description it sounds pretty great against mages but I don't want to waste it if its not that good on my PC mage.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

- time stop is a lvl9 spell
- there are other mage HLA which are extremely powerful though like Improved alacrity, Summon Planetar, dragon breath - losing those as a F/M/T hurts
- boots of speed give only the movement bonus, no other benefits of haste
- greater whirlwind is utter shit, it sets your attacks per round to 10, improved haste can do that too (it doubles your attacks per round, so a dual-wielding warrior with a off-hand weapon that grants an additional attack like Belm for instance, can have even more than 10 attacks) , except it lasts a long time
- for a f/m/t I guess the Staff of the Magi should be pretty swell, you can become invisible at will and it can be used to backstab, not to mention the other boons it provides
- demiliches require +4 weapons to damage them
- nishruus are very good against enemy spellcasters, just have another one memorized for re-summoning it when the lich uses deathspell, or absorb the deathspells with some other summons and only then summon the nishruu, prepare a deathspell of your own to deal with summoned Mordenkainen's swords though

 

[Xeon]

Man, I don't even have a 7 spell slot yet so will probably be a long ass time until I get Time Stop. Will look for the mod to install HLA for mages.

I have the Staff of Magi but my PC doesn't have any points in staff, only War Hammer and Flail and 2 weapons style mostly. For the rest of party aside from Jaheira everyone mostly only use Slings +2 or a bow. Viconia rise Undead Warriors and Animals to help against a lot of mobs or mages because of their resist magic ability. I think I sold Belm, will try and buy it back.

I saw a video of the Turn Undead ability and how it kills Undead but when I use it with Viconia the Undead turn friendly for a little bit instead of dying. I don't understand that, is it because of a special kit or a drow ability or something? Its still really effective and prevent me from being pressed too hard but I am kinda wondering. Keldorn also kept panicking in the Unseeing Eye dungeon whenever Undead showed up and Viconia Turned Undead.

Thank you very much.

 

[Lilura]

- boots of speed give only the movement bonus, no other benefits of haste

Boots of Speed are bugged to round up fractional ApR, actually. That was probably fixed in unofficial patches and EE, though.

- greater whirlwind is utter shit, it sets your attacks per round to 10, improved haste can do that too (it doubles your attacks per round, so a dual-wielding warrior with a off-hand weapon that grants an additional attack like Belm for instance, can have even more than 10 attacks) , except it lasts a long time

You can't have more than 10 ApR. And it takes more than dual-wielding with an off-hand +ApR weapon - you also need Specialization, the +1/2 attack from level 7 and 13, and the Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization. GWW is good when wielding two-handed weapons, soloing warriors, and/or using the Grandmastery fix. What makes Improved Haste the choice over GWW (other than duration) is that each of the 10 attacks can be criticals, using Critical Strike.

- for a f/m/t I guess the Staff of the Magi should be pretty swell, you can become invisible at will and it can be used to backstab, not to mention the other boons it provides

You can't backstab with the Staff of the Magi because thieves can only backstab with weapons they can naturally wield without UAI.

 

[MrMarbles]

You can't backstab with the Staff of the Magi because thieves can only backstab with weapons they can naturally wield without UAI.

He probably means it can be used to position yourself for a backstab, just switch weapons at the last second for the actual stabbing, to Staff of the Ram or something.

 

[MicoSelva]

I saw a video of the Turn Undead ability and how it kills Undead but when I use it with Viconia the Undead turn friendly for a little bit instead of dying. I don't understand that, is it because of a special kit or a drow ability or something? Its still really effective and prevent me from being pressed too hard but I am kinda wondering. Keldorn also kept panicking in the Unseeing Eye dungeon whenever Undead showed up and Viconia Turned Undead.

Evil clerics at higher levels take control of the undead (instead of killing them like good and neutral clerics do).
As for causing fear in the paladins - I did not know it was actually implemented, but yes, it does work that way too (evil clerics again). But you do not fight many paladins in the game, so it is not very useful, and having both Keldorn and Viconia in the party is somewhat unusual.

 

[Xeon]

I had Keldorn join the party while doing the Unseeing Eye quest because I thought he was connected to it but there wasn't much banter like the Mazzy and Shade Lord dialogue, Viconia and Keldorn started bickering with each other during the quest so I did his personal quest before they decided to fight and he left for good I think. I might have missed his banter with Anomen if I decide to do his quest.

Thank you.

 

[DragoFireheart]

So what's your preferred method for killing Beholders?

There exists the Shield of Balduren, but it's exceptionally cheesy and unsatisfying.