Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Lonely Vazdru]

A question of my own: I have a character that got double-mazed. Yes, I've never seen that happen before. She got mazed but still got hurt by enemy spells even though she wasn't visible on the map, then the bad guy casted Maze on her again. She stopped taking damage but after waiting for ages, she's still Mazed - and with 19 INT and 19 WIS, she should return very quickly. I don't have Freedom scrolls with me and since she's a player created character, if I dismiss her, she's gone for good. And I'm stuck in Spellhold anyway. Wat do? Just leave the game running for six hours, hope for the best?

Sticky situation. I have never encountered it but you could try using Dalekeeper to put a freedom scroll in your inventory.

 

[Norfleet]

Are you letting the mages to buff at all? If so, then yeah, the difficult is only slightly above vanilla, when it comes to mages. Especially in BG1 parts, where it's very easy to backstab or just focus-fire an unbuffed wizard to death without him/her managing to cast a single spell.

Makes sense to me. That's sort of the entire point of backstabbing. "No matter how subtle the wizard, a blade through the chest will really cramp his style.". If it's not a long-duration always-on buff that you can afford to cycle for 100% uptime, you would only bring it up when combat is about to occur. If you are assassinated in your chambers without warning, then it wouldn't be up.

A question of my own: I have a character that got double-mazed. Yes, I've never seen that happen before. She got mazed but still got hurt by enemy spells even though she wasn't visible on the map, then the bad guy casted Maze on her again. She stopped taking damage but after waiting for ages, she's still Mazed - and with 19 INT and 19 WIS, she should return very quickly. I don't have Freedom scrolls with me and since she's a player created character, if I dismiss her, she's gone for good. And I'm stuck in Spellhold anyway. Wat do? Just leave the game running for six hours, hope for the best?

I'm thinking this is a case of "oops, you broke it.". At this point you've managed to do something that breaks the game. You can either hack your way out of it, and hope your fix doesn't cause more problems later down the line, or you can reload to before you broke it.

 

[Xenich]

1. The games from that era and before were designed for people who already familiar with AD&D systems. For those who were not, there was a manual (yes, people used to read and study the rules of a game before they started playing it back then. /gasp) explaining all of the systems/mechanics of the game.

2. Another common aspect of sequels to games back then is that they expected you to know the game, story and systems from the previous title. That is, they don't waste their time trying to teach everything over again to a player who was too lazy to play the previous title or read the damn manual.

3. You will also notice that you have a limited number of memorization slots for spells which requires you to be selective each time you change them out. It would be expected that you read those spells before you memorized them and so were already knowledgeable about uses.

So, some basic advice.


1. Read the manual
2. Start at the beginning of the series, if you don't at least know the rules and understand the details of the story from the previous games.
3. It is understandable, games have conditioned such poor habits these days, but try not to play the games with the retard attitude of todays gamer generation. You will hate every classic game out there if you do.

 

[hoverdog]

Are you letting the mages to buff at all? If so, then yeah, the difficult is only slightly above vanilla, when it comes to mages. Especially in BG1 parts, where it's very easy to backstab or just focus-fire an unbuffed wizard to death without him/her managing to cast a single spell.

Makes sense to me. That's sort of the entire point of backstabbing. "No matter how subtle the wizard, a blade through the chest will really cramp his style.". If it's not a long-duration always-on buff that you can afford to cycle for 100% uptime, you would only bring it up when combat is about to occur. If you are assassinated in your chambers without warning, then it wouldn't be up.

All mages from Cloakwood onwards have Stoneskin set up, so backstabbing won't work.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Yeah, Stoneskin lasts for 8 hours, so it is logical for enemy casters to have it on 24/7. And you can still backstab them - you won't kill them but you will go far in taking the Stoneskin off and that's before they start with the Globe of Invulnerability and Protection from Arrows and Protection from Magical Weapons stuff.

As to my Maze problem, I left the game on for four hours. Didn't do anything, so I quit. Will have to reload to before I fought that annoying "warden" at Spellhold (SCS makes him fantastically insane in power - two Time Stops anyone?).

 

[octavius]

Are you letting the mages to buff at all? If so, then yeah, the difficult is only slightly above vanilla, when it comes to mages. Especially in BG1 parts, where it's very easy to backstab or just focus-fire an unbuffed wizard to death without him/her managing to cast a single spell.

Makes sense to me. That's sort of the entire point of backstabbing. "No matter how subtle the wizard, a blade through the chest will really cramp his style.". If it's not a long-duration always-on buff that you can afford to cycle for 100% uptime, you would only bring it up when combat is about to occur. If you are assassinated in your chambers without warning, then it wouldn't be up.

All mages from Cloakwood onwards have Stoneskin set up, so backstabbing won't work.

Besides they will usually start casting Detect Invisibility once they smell sweaty little backstabbers.

Personally I always used the option to only have enemy spell casters pre-buff with long (8 hours or more) lasting spells, and insteed increase difficulty by removing cheese like Balduran's Shield.

 

[Seari]

Cloak of Non-Detection

 

[GarfunkeL]

They still pre-cast stoneskin. Thanks for the help, I guess I'll only use buffs at the start of combat(except long duration ones).

Well that's clearly a bug, so if you don't mind using cheats to fix it, you can use the console to spawn a scroll of freedom:

CLUAConsole:CreateItem("SCRL9Z")

Thanks bro. Because it FUCKING HAPPENED AGAIN, though to a different character this time. I really hope this is a bug introduced by SCS2 and caused by the cut-scene mechanics in Spellhold. Seems so.

 

[Xeon]

I finally finished completely. Man, I never got the choice to change Saravok's or Veconia's alignments. which kinda sucks since I was really looking forward to that.

ToB Ending and Watcher's Keep Related

I did both ending with accepting the power or turning mortal. Accepting the power kinda sucks for a romanced Jaheira I think but its much better for a romanced Viconia, Turning mortal kinda sucks for Viconia but its alright for Jaheira. It was pretty much the same ending for both Imoen and Saravok.

I beat both of the last bosses of ToB and Watcher's Keep, Watcher's Keep was legitly too which was pretty funny, I only wanted to see what kinda of boss he will look like since I planned to seal it and yea it was kinda easy, Saravok died but he still got the exp I think so no loss. I was already buffed up from dealing with the third seal and I think I did a good job at buffing or something. Final boss of ToB I used VentilatorOfDoom's fantastic advice on the last stage and yea that made it so easy and that's pretty much the only reason I was all pumped up to see the other ending right away.

I think I will play a solo run some time in the future and I kinda want to make it Kensai/Mage/Thief or something like that because of the armor restriction with magic. I could probably also change the rule to allow magic use while wearing armor but having -20 or something AC while firing magic is probably too OP and might spoil the game even for me.

I also would like to add the Ascension mod for extra content and changes I think and maybe a better AI or something like that, nothing masochistic but a little challenge to balance the Kensai change in the FMT class I think and to spice up the game a tiny bit. I would also add Max HP on level up and No exp cap, and the HLA change for FMT class. I don't think I will add botomless bags since I think I would get a lot of money just from selling a few magic items and buying stuff for only one guy, kinda pointless to hoard items I might never personally use.

Oh and I think I might use the CTRL+8 cheat for the attribute because hey I just beat the game.

 

[Baardhaas]

I think I will play a solo run some time in the future and I kinda want to make it Kensai/Mage/Thief or something like that because of the armor restriction with magic.

Without mods/shadowkeeper you can’t create a kensai/mage/thief, vanilla is restricted to fighter/mage/thief or kensai and then dual class to mage or thief. It would be a ridiculous overpowered build at higher levels though. Maximum proficiencies in all weapons, Kensai armor class, thac0 and damage bonuses combined with the thief’s use any item HLA, you could wield any weapon and wear any armor. Your backstabs would go well in to the 100 damage. Add to that the full array of mage spells and you’ve really got a maximum cheese build.

Oh and I think I might use the CTRL+8 cheat for the attribute because hey I just beat the game.

Yeah, you’re creating a character with no limit in tactical options and with no weakness. I’m betting you’ll quit before you’re halfway through SoA.

How about a Cleric/Thief? You’ll get a fairly decent Thac0 and hitpoint progression. Excellent buff, protection and summon spells. You can cast sanctuary and still use your thief abilities. Backstabbing is limited to staves and clubs, but synchs well with draw upon holy might. Plus you’ll be blasting undead to bits left and right. The level 7 spell 'shield of the archons' functions as a powerful spell deflection, works against Irenicus cloning spell in Spellhold btw.

 

[Xeon]

Yea, I kinda don't know much about Kensai aside from it being a fighter and doesn't have to wear armor, I think I googled an FMT build with a good AC or something awhile ago to see how people use the class and one of the posts suggested to change the fighter part to a Kensai build since it suits mages or something but like you said it was overpowered or something.

I love Clerics, I watched an LP with a Cleric/Druid run and I learned how to use them a little more properly I think and yea Branwen in BG1 and Viconia in BG2 were kinda the best members I think. Raise Undead worked pretty well up to the end of SoA and some of the spells are pretty great too. Thiefs I kinda only use them for traps and stuff like that, I don't think I ever used backstabbing. Kinda takes too much work for that.

For difficulty I am going to use mods so I hope that helps and if that doesn't help spice things up I can always quit and play again some other time with more appropriate build or mods or something.

 

[Delterius]

A question of my own: I have a character that got double-mazed. Yes, I've never seen that happen before. She got mazed but still got hurt by enemy spells even though she wasn't visible on the map, then the bad guy casted Maze on her again. She stopped taking damage but after waiting for ages, she's still Mazed - and with 19 INT and 19 WIS, she should return very quickly. I don't have Freedom scrolls with me and since she's a player created character, if I dismiss her, she's gone for good. And I'm stuck in Spellhold anyway. Wat do? Just leave the game running for six hours, hope for the best?

Is this what it feels like?

 

[MrMarbles]

I love Clerics, I watched an LP with a Cleric/Druid run and I learned how to use them a little more properly I think and yea Branwen in BG1 and Viconia in BG2 were kinda the best members I think. Raise Undead worked pretty well up to the end of SoA and some of the spells are pretty great too. Thiefs I kinda only use them for traps and stuff like that, I don't think I ever used backstabbing. Kinda takes too much work for that.

If you like clerics and want a fun build, try Ranger/Cleric. Because of a bug (that has now become a feature), ranger/clerics (with most versions of bg) get access to druid spells and therefore more versatility. Insect swarm/plague to counter casters, Armour of faith/Defender of Easthaven/Hardiness combos for 85% damage resistance, tons of Iron Skins w/ wondrous recall, Call woodland Being for healing, Fire Storm that ignores magic resistance, there are a lot of options for soloing.

 

[MicoSelva]

How about a Cleric/Thief? You’ll get a fairly decent Thac0 and hitpoint progression. Excellent buff, protection and summon spells. You can cast sanctuary and still use your thief abilities. Backstabbing is limited to staves and clubs, but synchs well with draw upon holy might. Plus you’ll be blasting undead to bits left and right. The level 7 spell 'shield of the archons' functions as a powerful spell deflection, works against Irenicus cloning spell in Spellhold btw.

You cannot backstab with blunt weapons - not in vanilla BG2 at least. Maybe mods change that.

 

[Seari]

You're wrong, you can backstab with any weapon a thief can use.

 

[MicoSelva]

You're wrong, you can backstab with any weapon a thief can use.

Actually it seems we were both wrong - it can be a blunt weapon, but it must be a weapon thief can use and be one-handed, so clubs should be ok.

As for backstabbing with staves - I have tried that recently and it does not work.

 

[MrMarbles]

You're wrong, you can backstab with any weapon a thief can use.

Actually it seems we were both wrong - it can be a blunt weapon, but it must be a weapon thief can use and be one-handed, so clubs should be ok.

As for backstabbing with staves - I have tried that recently and it does not work.

It works for some. Many people try it with the Staff of Magi and think it doesn't work, but that is because the staff is restricted to mages. Staff of the Ram works just fine.

 

[Xeon]

try Ranger/Cleric.... there are a lot of options for soloing.

That makes it so I would not have any way to detect traps and disable them right? You have to endure all traps the entire game or is there an item or a spell similar to the Mage's familiar spell to work as a thief?

Sorry, I think the class for the LP I watched was of Ranger/Cleric and not Druid/Cleric. My bad, The guy did use shields of fire or Electricity to endure the damage before falling to the trap. is that the only way?

 

[MicoSelva]

As for backstabbing with staves - I have tried that recently and it does not work.

It works for some. Many people try it with the Staff of Magi and think it doesn't work, but that is because the staff is restricted to mages. Staff of the Ram works just fine.

Ok, I will try it out when I have the chance.

 

[hoverdog]

try Ranger/Cleric.... there are a lot of options for soloing.

That makes it so I would not have any way to detect traps and disable them right? You have to endure all traps the entire game or is there an item or a spell similar to the Mage's familiar spell to work as a thief?

Sorry, I think the class for the LP I watched was of Ranger/Cleric and not Druid/Cleric. My bad, The guy did use shields of fire or Electricity to endure the damage before falling to the trap. is that the only way?

Detect Traps is a 2nd level Cleric spell. You can use summons to absorb the damage caused.

 

[MrMarbles]

try Ranger/Cleric.... there are a lot of options for soloing.

That makes it so I would not have any way to detect traps and disable them right? You have to endure all traps the entire game or is there an item or a spell similar to the Mage's familiar spell to work as a thief?

Sorry, I think the class for the LP I watched was of Ranger/Cleric and not Druid/Cleric. My bad, The guy did use shields of fire or Electricity to endure the damage before falling to the trap. is that the only way?

Summons won't trigger the traps. Another way is to skip the faggotry and just tank the damage. Physical damage can be removed with Iron Skins, and elemental usually isn't heavy enough to make a difference.

 

[Delterius]

What? Since when do Summons not trigger traps?

 

[Xeon]

Yea, I am almost pretty sure that summons don't trigger traps, There are places with archer enemies that stand close to traps to target the thief and when I tried sending summons, the traps didn't trigger.

Example place, Nashkel mine with a bridge and the Kobold archers stand a little bit after the trap and the Thief maze at the end of BG1. there are several traps right next to an archer Skeleton Warrior IIRC. I only tried to use summons at those locations but it didn't trigger them so I think they don't work but I am not completely sure.

 

[Seari]

There's a mod out there that changes it so that summons do trigger traps.

 

[GarfunkeL]

If your 2nd run will be full party, get SCS and SCS2 for increased challenge. SCS2 is also Ascension compatible.

If you plan to do a solo run, get the mod that makes it so that both summons and enemies can trigger traps and removes the summon cap from BG2.

Do not install bottomless bags because it has a very high chance of crashing the game. The more items there are inside a container, the more likely it is for the scripting system to crash.