How many hours have you put into BG2? Do you prefer it to BG1? Thinking about starting a new game...still don't think I've explored 40-50% of the game after playing it so many times all these years
>>4064463I finished the game at 194hours.Both are kinda mid, BG1 has better balance and level design, but BG2 has better characters and story.Both didn't age well, the duology of Fallout is better.Baldur's Gate 2 isn't even the best RPG of its year, not even the 2nd best. Very overrated.
>>4064472Thank you for your service.
>>4064472>Baldur's Gate 2 isn't even the best RPG of its year, not even the 2nd best. Very overrated.Which is it then?
>>4064463>How many hours have you put into BG2?easily over 2,000+ hours spread across 20+ years>Do you prefer it to BG1?only slightlyI prefer the low-level wilderness atmosphere of BG1 compared to high level city adventure BG2if BG2 had a collection of rural maps before the major side quest areas, then it would be better than BG1, hands down
>>4064463BG2 is vaaaaaaastly better than BG1.BG2EE is the definitive version because it addresses all kind of technical issues on modern machines. It's ok if you don't like the companions the Enhanced Edition introduces, they're absolutely completely optional and I don't think they're particularly bad anyway.There are many many mods for BG2EE, and I recommend Spell Revisions at the very least.
Finished both (+DLCs) a couple weeks ago. Vastly prefer BG1 though, for a lot of reasons. Chapter 2 in BG2 is everything wrong with the game, plus the story outside of the last chapter or so is so weak.Drag to play; BG1 mechanically is inferior in a lot of ways, but from start to finish it is a great adventure.
>>4064463When I played it around 2002), we didn't have hour counters, kids.And yeah, BG2 had the romances and high level bling and involving protagonist story, and dual wield, but I feel biggest nostalgia for the old one. Also Beamdog fucked up the "enhanced" edition badly.
>>4064659I feel similarly about it. Having a town map with 6 location and then stuffing all quests into it, so that you basically know that every house = quest (and if not, it's a cut quest), was a bit meh. I still loved it but that was a letdown.For that reason, I can't hate the initial dungeon. At least it's a sprawling area with stuff.
>>4064463>How many hours have you put into BG2?A lot. I've played through the game a bunch of times, including some multi-player campaigns with friends.>Do you prefer it to BG1?I sort of get why some people feel otherwise, but I think BG2 was a big step up from the first game. I played through BG1 once and have never felt like revisiting it. I also liked Icewind Dale more than BG1, for that matter.
>>4064663>BG2EE is the definitive version because it addresses all kind of technical issues on modern machines.You can get the GOG versions working on a modern machine in minutes, in 16:9 aspect ratio resolution of your choice. The EEs add new bugs to the original games because Beamdog is incompetent, they add a bunch of stupid new magic items for no reason, and they add extremely cringe new companions.BG1 in particular suffers from being shoehorned into the BG2 engine, since it was never balanced for kits or weapon styles, and the BG2 engine changes the way many spells and items work.>It's ok if you don't like the companions the Enhanced Edition introduces, they're absolutely completely optional and I don't think they're particularly bad anyway.Disagree.
Beamdog is based, I would have never have played these if not for them. They’ve gotten like fifteen years of undeserved hate because of pol schizos
>>4064463I don't remember if it was BG1 or 2 but me and my friends put in an ungodly amount of hours trying to set up multiplayer before we gave up, long long time ago. It was a buggy mess and a subpar experience multiplayer experience once you got it running.
>>4065123>subpar multiplayer experienceWhen "You think you want it, but you don't" rings true
>>4065131>Only one person can see the dialogue, but game pauses for everyoneI don't know, I think there are a lot of things that could just work better
>>4065145Maybe could, I'm no programmer. Buuut I don't think Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 on the whole makes for a good multiplayer experience. That doesn't filter 90% of friends.
>>4065158The multiplayer mode works great. Assign control of all the slots to yourself and roll a custom party then copy the save to the single player folder, boom.
Once I started playing a fighter/mage in this game I can't go back to anything else. Whether it's a berserker mage dual or a fighter/mage multi. Anyone else like this? Spellcasting makes the game more interesting plus you get to bash skulls in. And arcane spellcasting is way better than divine spellcasting. I tried fighter/cleric and fighter/druid but abandoned those playthroughs mid-way realizing I'd rather just be a fighter/mage.
>>4064818>nuh uh!nope
>>4065131I've played it multiplayer but it's a very different experience than playing it single-player. The real-time-with-pause behavior of the combat engine makes it extremely difficult without a group of people who are very very dedicated to the game.
Just finished replaying BG1 (first time was in late 2000s) and damn this game is ass.>maps are either copypasted forests where you spend most of the time clearing fog of war or claustrophobic mazes not suited for your party size>pathfinding is retarded which is really annoying considering importance of positioning, your retards can't even hold formation when walking through an open field>even on second playthrough planning proper party composition is a pain in the ass considering how many niggas only show up in the city>most spells are just casually saved against by anything that warrants using them>dogshit vancian magic system combined with absolute yee yee ass spell roster mostly consisting of shitty buffs you're supposed to stack in obscene amounts BEFORE combat>respawning enemies and random encounters on the road wasting your time>80% of combat is just whiffing autoattacks>all the math that matters is hidden from you>busted ass retarded fake real time with "turns" and "rounds">whenever traps are involved you're better off savescumming thanks to retarded cooldown, Durlag's tower is particularly obnoxious with its trap spam>the absolute AIDS of Baldur's Gate's layout>retarded reputation systemI wonder If I'm gonna have patience to play through BG2 this time, on both of my previous attempts I dropped shortly after leaving Irenicus's rape dungeon.
>>4066438>your retards can't even hold formation when walking through an open fieldOh man if even only this was corrected it would be such an improvement. Too much of the game is babysitting.
>>4066438>all the math that matters is hidden from youStopped reading here
>>4065428What does it matter when you have a 6 man party? Main character could be any class and you'd still have enough micromanaging.
>>4064472When BG2 came out, it was amazing due to the sheer scale and graphics. Such RPGs haven't come out often.But sure, it's only something that you do 1-2 times. D&D is just not great for roleplaying.
>>4064463Like 600, bg1 is kinda nice if you wanna turn off your brain and just get through it imo but bg2 has the actually good gameplay, desu modding it is half the fun to me I must've installed it over 10 times in the last 6 years
>>4065107All Beamcuck did was get the license then strongarm the community into making unofficial patches "official"
>>4067919>spoiled entire game before even playing itzoomers really have a brain rot
>>4067952I mean why not, the gameplay is shit so he saved himself the hassle of slogging through a mediocre crpg.
>>4067967>gameplay is shityou are clueless and should stick to watching youtube instead of discussing something you have absolutely no idea about
>>4067967>>4064472Since yall are saying BG sucks, what do you actually recommend instead for old school RPGs? And I've played Fallout 1, it was pretty good.
>>4067919>Zero. I have watched 100 hours worth of retrospectives, reviews and other shit about it though!This isn't believableThe problem with anonymous forums, everyone can just make up shit
>>4069789dude people are bored and I, too, sometimes catch myself watching long ass videos about games that I actually should play instead of vicariously and lazily watch someone else play it (and spoil it) for me.
>>4069803Wow really that's crazy haha
>>4069783These guys are faggots, praising Fallout which has much shittier and boring gameplay than BG1 and 2, especially with the SCS mod installed.
>>4069995Correct opinion alertI can accept saying Arcanum and Divinity and shit is better, but anyone saying Fallout is better is a straight up liar
>>4069995>>4070065So Enhanced Edition vs the originals, what do you recommend?
>>4070262The enhanced editions are garbage. Added new bugs, awful new companions, needless magic items, and fucked up the game rules by cramming the first game into the second game’s engine, which changes the way items and spells work, and imbalances it by adding class kits and weapon styles that were never in the first game.
>>4070424it also removed original art like sounds, sprites, loading screens and all the fucking animated scenes FFSIncredible fuckery from the stupid company that did the PoS edition.
I dropped the first game after Imoen called me a queer.
>>4069783Avernum
>>4071515>anon dropped the game because the main romance option flirted with himYou can’t make this stuff up
>>4071515you sound like one.
Can BG2 please fuck off and stop interrupting me with dream cutscenes, companions' small talk and quest NPC jumping me in the middle of a street. There are even random encounters in the city now, what the fuck.
>>4072656>There are even random encounters in the city now, what the fuck.They're not actually random. They only trigger once each.
Both expansions are kinda meh.
>>4071515devs were being cute with that line. despite everyone and their mother knowing what a queer was in the 90's, they still opt'd to use the old definition to describe something that is "weird, odd or peculiar", which had fallen out of use by the end of the 1800's.
>>4074435Bradbury used it in Fahrenheit 451 in 1953
>>4074447he/they knew what a queer was in 53, too.
>>4074435What world do you live in. Queer is still used for peculiar today. Now gay has fallen out of use.
>>4071515Should have told her a story about trollops and plugtails, queer fellow.
>>4064463not enough and yes because better spells and levels but bg1 story was great as well, also more exploration availability.
>>4064463Also played the original so you can add a couple hundred hours probably
>>4064612companies have bots now. it just wants you to buy and play BG3.
>>4064612IWD, JA2 and Dude Sex, if we accept pseudo-RPGs.
>>4109630>IWD, JA2 and Dude SexEveryone I know who played BG2 back in the day played and liked these too, and everyone I know who played these back in the day played and liked BG2 too
>>4064463are there any speech checks in BG1?
>>4109668Not really. NPCs do have an unfavorable, neutral, or friendly reaction to you based on your reputation and charisma, but it doesn’t really change much and I can’t think off the top of my head of anything in particular you can get locked out ofThere’s a paladin in the city who will “detect evil” your party and either attack or let you pass
>>4070262Baldur's Gate 1: play the original, do not play EE. This is because EE adds classes and mechanics that BG1 was not designed for. which ruins the experience of playing the game. Baldur's Gate 2: play EE, not the original. despite what people on this board may say. EE only stabilises and improves QOL for BG2. the gameplay experience of the original is completely preserved. the only appreciable difference is the new characters, who you can simply ignore - don't speak to them or recruit them, it's fine. BG2 is incredible by the way.. it's THE best CRPG ever made.
>>4109677You get better quest rewards for having a good boy reputation + party leader with high Charisma. Also, some quests are only available to good boys and some only to bad boys.
>>4109696>EE only stabilises and improves QOL for BG2. the gameplay experience of the original is completely preserved. the only appreciable difference is the new characters, who you can simply ignoreIt also adds dumb bugs that didn’t exist before, and dumb new magical items too. The shitty new NPCs alone are enough of a dealbreaker.
>>4109740>It also adds dumb bugs that didn’t exist before, and dumb new magical items too.Any examples where actual gameplay is affected?
>dumb new magical itemshttps://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/New_items_in_Baldur%27s_Gate_II:_Enhanced_EditionAs I understand from that article the items in question can only be obtained if you bother with their new companions and its a common sentiment on this board to avoid them like the plague.But I'm still interested if there are any bugs left after more than 10 years since release, because I don't think I encountered any in my last playthrough.
>>4064463a couple. I had fun and I'll play it again if I can stop playing the dark savant trilogy
>>4109696>the only appreciable difference is the new characters, who you can simply ignore - don't speak to them or recruit them, it's fine.They are intrusive enough to warrant modding them out.
>>4109765Summoned elementals having brain damage is one new bug I'm aware of and encountered in my game.
>>4109696>Baldur's Gate 1: play the original, do not play EE. This is because EE adds classes and mechanics that BG1 was not designed for. which ruins the experience of playing the game.also the company "remastering" it threw away lots of art assets from the game, loading screen art, menu art, ALL MOVIE CUTSENES
>>4064463261 hours, never finished the game, always get exhaustion with it by the time I start Chapter 5. Never even touched ToB. I'm not joking when I say it has too much content. I feel tired thinking about playing it again and trying to push through.BG1 is exhausting for a different reason. It's a lawn mowing simulator until getting to Baldur's Gate, and then the game immediately changes its priorities. Hidden artificial timers diminish the ability to explore the Sword Coast. Numerous party members without any real character to them means there's no reason to not create your own party from the start. The entire final act of BG1 is an angry GM pissed off at you for some inexplicable reason. The biggest strategy of BG1 is Web/Stinking Cloud, ranged weapons, and the Rest button. Then again, BG2's biggest strategy is Sequencer, Haste, Time Stop, and Greater Whirlwind abuse.They're dogshit for different reasons. I love them.
>>4114823>Hidden artificial timers diminish the ability to explore the Sword Coast.I can’t think of a single one off the top of my head except the geas quest (admittedly lame)>Numerous party members without any real character to them means there's no reason to not create your own party from the start.Thats a feature not a bug, unironically
>>4114825I can think of two instances off the top of my head. The first is that Jaheira, Khalid, Mortaron, and Xzar will leave your party and cannot be found in-game again if you take too long getting to Nashkel. The second is that the elf ranger, whose name I cannot recall at this time, will leave your party if you take too long getting into Cloakwood, which is Chapter 5. That character can be recruited into your party in Chapter 2.
>>4114823>261 hours, never finished the game, always get exhaustion with it by the time I start Chapter 5. Never even touched ToB.>Greater Whirlwind abuse.Some completionist shit right there
>>4071523Man. I like Avernum just as much as the next guy, but it's not really a showstopper.
>>4114837Everyone I talk to about my shituation says that the game gets easier once HLAs are available because of stuff like Whirlwind. I haven't had an opportunity to try it. I don't know if I will ever get around to it, either.
>>4109745Power creep is too much. The game is easy enough. There's no reason you need to have access to so many god-tier items in the 1st chapter.
>>4114843>game gives you 4 potions of thievery and access to fences right from the start>you can literally buy everything from dierdra, ribald, and jovul before doing anything in ch. 2>"Power creep [in EE] is too much."
>>4114842>Everyone I talk to about my shituation says that the game gets easier once HLAs are available because of stuff like Whirlwind.What is your "shituation"?
>>4114849I get burnout after leaving the Underdark, leave for 3-6 months, then come back and go, "What the hell was I doing? Oh, my journal has THAT many open quests? Fuck this, I better just restart..."
>>4114850And everybody responds to that with "the game gets easier once HLAs are available because of stuff like Whirlwind"?
>>4114853Yes, all two of them.
>>4114850You should do all the quests prior to the Underdark.
>>4114857Even killing Firkraag for Carsomyr??
>>4114857If you do that Imoen will be behind in XP though. I didn't even do every quest there is last run and she was several hundred thousands XP behind because the initial recruiting boost only goes up to 1250000.
>>4064463i've played it several times over the years. i beat the main campaign once, never beat tob, usually i burn out around irenicus's manor. classic rpg of my life time period.
>>41149751. Save a ton of scrolls for her to read 2. Open up Shadowkeeper, sum your party’s XP together, then divide it equally
>>4114986Literally me, lol. I usually burn out at the elven tree city.
>>4114975>Imoen will be behind in XPNon-issue, all you need for her to be is a trap whore. Your other 5 companions can carry the weight because, if you took Yoshimo to Spellhold, you are already used to having a trap whore fill up a slot in your party. The worst thing you can do for your game's pacing is starting Chapter 5 and going back to Athkatla to do the Copper Coronet slave quest.
>>4115097>implying anyone would ever use Yoshimo
>>4115102His heart is worth 200,000 xp and he's a guilt-free swap for Imoen. I take him despite knowing the plot.
>>4115102He is the only single class Thief in this game. Even if unnecessary they still bring some utility beyond mere trap disarming and lock picking. Detect illusion basically saves you from having to cast True Sight against all these lame mages with Mislead.
>>4115117Set Special Snare is also a solution to quite a handful of problems throughout ch. 2, too. He's not my favorite character, not by a long shot, but he's very useful throughout. Who else am I going to use as my party's thief? Nalia? Jan??
All the world is blind to our passingT. my best bro Yoshimo
>there're scum itt who don't release keldorn from their service to go home and be a family man
>>4115116>His heart is worth 200,000 xp“Face it: You’re Actually Neutral Evil” from the IWD2 adventurer’s guide
>>4115127>Who else am I going to use as my party's thief? Nalia? Jan??Yea, I always did Jan, or Nalia -> Imoen
>>4115144He specifically begs for Ilmater to preserve him before he does what his geas compels him to do in Spellhold. You taking his heart to the Temple of Ilmater so the priest there can save Yoshimo's soul is an objectively good action, with the priest praising Yoshimo for enduring his suffering.
>>4115127Jan is a great addition to most parties and his only real flaw is the cringe dialogue.
why are there three (3) mage/thief party members in bg2
>>4115154Turnip hating scum
For me? It's Neutral Evil Human Assassin 21 / Fighter 30.
>>4115149> He specifically begs for Ilmater to preserve him before he does what his geas compels him to do in Spellhold. You taking his heart to the Temple of Ilmater so the priest there can save Yoshimo's soul is an objectively good action, with the priest praising Yoshimo for enduring his suffering.You’re not doing it because you give a shit about any of that, you’re metagaming it so you can get a chunk of XP out of it.
>>4115229I'm lawful good, blow it out your ass.
Today I learned to assign the script so that my assassin automaticslly enters stealth at all times. So much better for gameplay, always ready for that stealth strike.
>>4115230>I'm lawful good, blow it out your ass.You already explicitly stated your motivation: to gain XP. You made no mention of his suffering or his soul until you were called out.Would you still take him if instead of being mechanically rewarded with a valuable resource, your main character lost 200k XP, or lost permanent stat points, etc, “because it’s the right thing to do?” Doubtful.>I'm lawful good, blow it out your ass.lol, lmao even
>"everyone but me on 4chan is the same person"Schizo behavior. I'm not going to reduce myself to your level.
>>4115251>"everyone but me on 4chan is the same person"If you weren’t that anon, you wouldn’t have felt offended by me calling him neutral evil, and you wouldn’t have responded with “I’m lawful good, blow it out your ass”.Like I said: face it, you’re actually neutral evil. Many such cases.
okay but seriously how the fuck am i supposed to understand dual classing intuitively
>>4115584It's a feature that's so dumb it's almost annoying.Actually I got annoyed thinking about how poorly it was implemented. Meta gamiest shit ever. Should have never been in the game.
>>4115584You really aren't, which is why people still argue about which level is optimal to dual-class, and which classes it's okay to dual into and out of. I understand it mechanically, and I understand the principle behind it, but it's such a hostile feature for the average person it's a wonder why it existed in the rulebook in the first place.
>>4115608>>4115620>if you wanna dual you gotta get your second class 1 level over your last class"right">and to dual in the first place you need minimums in certain stats"right">and the point of dualing is so you can use a class kit from one class for cool combos"right">so all you gotta do is check the experience tables, check each class' level up tables, check each kit's level up benefits, check each class' restrictions, make sure you allocate your proficiency bonuses correctly or else you softlock the game, and also remember that if you take too long to dual class you won't be activating your first class again until the final boss fight of tob, provided you noticed each class levels up at different rates and you weren't stupid enough to dual out of fighter at level 24's 4mil xp because it's "halfway" to the 8mil xp cap into mage because mage can only get to level 20 with the remaining 4mil xp"what"
>>4115245You're talking to two different people. I'm the original xpfag and I'm Chaotic Good at best.
So is the trick to do two-weapon fighting and use daggers?
>>4115691Bows are the play if you're powergaming. But you're picking Wizard Slayer so you're already going full RP.
>>4115691wizard slayer will never not be funny to me when berserker and barbarian can get immunities to both arcane and divine magic and 1-shot casters
>>4115691A good idea. Weapon speed is an overlooked stat I think.
>>4115700Let's not forget the inquisitor which destroys mages
>>4115718I had that keldorn guy for one fight where he failed to dispel the enemy but succesfully dispelled my main guys stoneskin who then got skinned alive and game overed. Bye bye, keldorn, I hardly knew ya.
>>4115736I hope that whatever's going on in your life that makes you this desperate for attention gets resolved in your favor soon.
>>4115760What's this outburst then? You replying to a wrong post?
>>4115770Praying for you right now, li'l bro.
>>4115772Well... Thank you for the prayers
>>4115620>it's such a hostile feature for the average person it's a wonder why it existed in the rulebook in the first placeWelcome to D&D. Shit like this gradually got less retarded over time, but certain elements persisted all the way into 3rd edition, including things like feats that were intentionally designed to be bad just to punish players who picked them without doing the maths.
>>4115785>3eI remember. CoDzilla. Pun Pun. Illithid Savant. Beholder Mage. Inspector Gadget. Batman Wizard. Thrallherd. Librarian Archivist. It's why it's hard to fault 5e mechanically. I can understand the hatred for 5e's culture, but hating 5e's mechanics is something I haven't been able to wrap my head around.
>>4115785>including things like feats that were intentionally designed to be bad just to punish players who picked them without doing the mathsName three.
>>41157961. Toughness is the most iconic one. Seems decent early on when you have jack shit for HP, especially if you're playing something like an elf wizard, but in reality is one of the most useless feats in the game.2. Overly specific stuff like Weapon Specialization and similar feats (including, arguably, the entire Ranger class with its favored enemy nonsense) is infamous for its "either the DM specifically caters to your character, or you just wasted a feat" effect. 3. Almost anything related to two-weapon fighting is infamously bad math in 3e.I could also go into class and race mechanics which heavily punished you for making certain choices (like fucking ECL). Ironically, the famous Drizzt archetype was literally one of the worst possible characters you could make in 3e, because he's a Drow (shit racial ECL) Ranger (shit class features) who dual wields (shit damage output).
>>4110685they also cut EAX out for some retarded, inexplicable reason
>>4115794>I can understand the hatred for 5e's culture, but hating 5e's mechanics is something I haven't been able to wrap my head aroundImo, some of its design choices are somewhat sympathetic reactions to the number bloat of 3rd ed (like trying to reduce the number of magical items and the +1/+2/+3 etc treadmill), and to simplify the math at the tabletop to make play quicker, but so much of it is just incredibly stupidOne, "bounded accuracy" inherently increases relatively the variance of the dice, and decreases relatively the ability of the player to influence the outcome. Leads to feeling swingy and random which isn't a good feelingTwo, advantage and disadvantage are insanely huge since they square the probabilities involved, which is far more than the player stacking a couple +1sThree, the default is to take the same cookie cutter standard array as everyone else, and min-max your stats to fit your chosen class, instead of the more organic roleplaying approach of rolling your stats in order and then choosing a class that you qualified for. Much soul was lost thereFour, feats are now an optional rule (lol) and they conflict with ability score increases. Most of the feats are dogshit anyway, and 99% of characters just pump their damage stat to 20, which is boring and stupidFive, I dislike how cheesy dips are encouraged, classes lose their flavor and theme and just become blocks of features to fit togetherSix, atheist paladins and clerics is retarded, paladins in general are retarded in fifth edition and are just le burst damage class, fuck it why not mix paladin and warlock together while I'm at it, smite with my fucking warlock spell slots like some faggotSeven, Slimy DoomI could go on but it just sucks. I tried to not be a grog and give it a fair shake and played a couple campaigns but I just don't like it.>t. started with 2nd ed
>>4115963Everything you posted is correct and I was so hyperfixated on magic concentration that I forgot 80% of players probably use rpgbot or whatever to build their character and force the DM to accommodate them rather than building their character around the DM's story.Damn.
>>4115973Concentration isn't a terrible idea. in principle, reducing the prevalence of magic items and trying to make them rare and meaningful is reasonable. I just think of fifth ed as largely being a mixture of "good intentions, poor execution" and "retarded intentions" unfortunately.
>>4115989I can agree with both, especially the former. There's nothing wrong with trying to make the game snappier, but when it takes years for the edition to update when using a digital model, that's not just poor execution, that's an executioner missing the next so completely they give their victim a hair cut. UA also makes it clear how little playtesting is actually going on in R&D. How long did it take them to try and fix ranger again?
>>4065123I got it bg1 working mostly fine with a friend although we did accidentally figure out how to dupe items so we got all the stat tomes for both of us, we went into bg2 but didn't play much of it.The connectivity wasn't the best, I forget the exact issues but there definitely were problems.
>>4115963That's too short of a list of the problems with 5e, but it's at least a necessary and concise list of some of the biggest ones.Life protip for the noobs in here: there's literally thousands and thousands of other RPG systems. You don't have to use D&D. You just fucking don't. D&D isn't a good RPG system, and it's crucially important for nooblets here to understand that D&D is a terrible system for actually playing the type of game that D&D claims it is.Once you understand that D&D only continues to exist because of Hasbro's unlimited budget for marketing and brand recognition, you are liberated to play literally anything else. And you will find a better system that does what you want better than D&D does. I guaranfuckingtee it.And once you do... you, too, will gatekeep access to your play groups by vetting applicants with questions about how they feel about D&D.
>>4115794None of the meme bullshit "builds" were ever used in actual play. Because anyone who actually plays the game understands the concept of a social contract, and they're there to actually play the game. Not assemble bullshit for no constructive purpose or just to piss off everyone else at the table.And apparently it bears mentioning that most of the builds you named actually aren't even legal. They require the GM to reinterpret rules very directly against their plain grammar and intent, or they are just literally flat out illegal according to any possible RAW.So, again, none of those memes ever happened in actual play, and there are many reasons for that fact.And no one even uses 3.0 anyway because 3.5 and PF1e both exist and are just objectively the correct version of the 3.X framework. No one has any reason to use 3.0. It'd be like using the alpha version of Minecraft. It has no content and isn't even a finished product. It's literally not feature-complete, and obviously an alpha version will have bugs.It's pretty disingenuous for you to even bring up 3.0, frankly.
>>4115807Assuming you would survive the first level is one of those chestnuts spoken by fools who have never actually played the game. You have only heard about D&D by reading the shittiest forums on the internet, and it shows.
>>4115807Just so you know, TWF with sneak attackers is infamously game-breakingly powerful in 3e. You really don't know what you're talking about, anon.
>>4115807>Drizzt was one of the worst possible characters you could make in 3eonly if you follow the retarded default rules and build him as a Fighter 10/Barbarian 1/Ranger 5 instead of a Warblade 6/Dervish 10
>>4116198>NOOO HOW DARE YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION NOW I HAVE NO MORE ARGUMENTS SO I'LL JUST MAKE SHIT UP!lmao>>4116199>muh sneak attack>puts a single skeleton in your path>>4116210>b-but if you use this specific powerbuild using nonstandard classes from supplemental materials instead of something that actually make sense it becomes playable!Literally proving my original point.
>>4116195>None of the meme bullshit "builds" were ever used in actual play.You're totally right, nobody has ever played a Druid.
You simply don't understand, I am entitled to play a dragonwrought kobold paladin 3 / sorcerer 4 / abjurant champion 5 /sacred exorcist 8 and it is the DM's responsibility that I have fun
>>4116195>Not assemble bullshit for no constructive purpose or just to piss off everyone else at the table.This is radically different from my experience playing tabletop D&D. There's always that one guy.
>>4064463BG2 is not that much better than BG3change my mind>overall, same terrible writing>BG2 has more exploitable combat which deludes people it's better, but RTwP>BG3 has fair-er combat but it takes millions of hours due to cancer animations
>>4116262I notice you said there's only one. Did you notice that the rest of the group is not that one guy, and they refer to him as "that one guy"? In a derogatory sense. He's not welcome. His type is well understood for the disruption it causes. He is explicitly and specifically anti-game.You didn't really think about what you were about to say, you just wanted to be contrarian.
>>4116221Druid was not in the list of bullshit in the quoted post. So you're shifting goalposts.
>>4116220Don't get upset when you lose an argument, anon. It's not a good look.
>>4116220Immunities and various puzzle monster mechanics are part of the conceit of the genre. There are no classes or builds in the game that can deal with every monster. That's why you're part of a team of players.
>>4064463I'm trying BG2 with a fighter heavy party and the game plays itself 90% of the time. Perhaps a "no fighters allowed" party for the next playthrough.
>>4116766>the sandwich-heavy portfolio pays off for the hungry investor
how does one deal with haveing lawful good players in their group?
>>4115807>1. Toughness is the most iconic one. Seems decent early on when you have jack shit for HP, especially if you're playing something like an elf wizard, but in reality is one of the most useless feats in the game.>2. Overly specific stuff like Weapon Specialization and similar feats (including, arguably, the entire Ranger class with its favored enemy nonsense) is infamous for its "either the DM specifically caters to your character, or you just wasted a feat" effect.>3. Almost anything related to two-weapon fighting is infamously bad math in 3e.>I could also go into class and race mechanics which heavily punished you for making certain choices (like fucking ECL). Ironically, the famous Drizzt archetype was literally one of the worst possible characters you could make in 3e, because he's a Drow (shit racial ECL) Ranger (shit class features) who dual wields (shit damage output).The initial claim was that these things were "intentionally designed to be bad just to punish players who picked them without doing the maths", which is a bold claim. You were asked to name three examples. You named three examples of things that you believe are mechanically weak and poor choices from an optimization standpoint. For one, you're neglecting that this is a roleplaying game and the player is expected to make choices from a roleplaying in-character point of view. Perhaps my character takes weapon specialization because every day he open-palmed his greatsword training VHS. Perhaps I'm playing a ranger because I think rangers are cool and I want to pretend I'm like Legolas or Aragorn or whatever. Perhaps I'm a weeb and want to LARP like I'm dual wielding a katana and a wakizashi and I'm teleporting behind you. But that's besides the point."This was intentionally designed to be bad, as a punishment" is not at all the same thing as "this thing isn't that great". Lern 2 roleplay.
>>4117222Next you're going to tell me that you base your BG2 party around the alignment of your companions even beyond Good/Neutral/Evil, rather than their form and function.
>>4117242>Next you're going to tell me that you base your BG2 party around the alignment of your companions even beyond Good/Neutral/Evil, rather than their form and function.Naturally. It's the only way to play.Two games ago, I did solo paladinLast game I played, I had a a custom party of four, paladin, fighter/cleric, fighter/thief, mageIf I played again, it would be paladin, Minsc, Keldorn, Anomen, Aerie, Nalia -> Imoen
>>4117222https://web.archive.org/web/20080221174425/http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mc_los_142Trap options were built in.
>>4109630>IWD better rpg than BG2what the fuck are you on about?
>>4117382There's a lot of retard contrarians on vrpg
>>4117242that LN party is looking stacked as fuckthe TN and CN parties are looking like a fucking nightmare
>>4117331Point conceded. Why didn’t you just post that to begin with?
>>4117493NTA but that's fairly widespread knowledge. I'd imagine that most people who know about 3.X design also know about the philosophy behind it.
>>4117501To be honest, I have seen that article before, saw the title was "Ivory Tower Game Design", rolled my eyes, and dismissed it as pretentious garbage without reading it. Having read it, really all I learned was that Monte Cook was a faggot.
But can you really call yourself a Bee Gee fan if you haven't even finished at least 3 runs on Ascension+SCS+Insane +Ironman (no saves, no reloading, if you die you must start over from the first Baldur's Gate even if you're at the end of ToB)?'bet none of y'alls is a real Bee Gee.
>>4117661>memorize everything about every encounter in the game>pray for good RNGEasy peasy
>>4117661>solo sorcerer with all the good spellsEZ
>>4117701Tips for a sorcerer?
>>4117661I'm fine with not being a real fan if that means playing good games instead of a mix of overrated mods for spergs.
>>4117661>Ascension+SCS+Insane +IronmanNone of those things sounds fun on their own, much less combined. The game would devolve into cheese and abusing exploits, rather than simply playing “the game, but harder” as intended.>But can you really call yourself a Bee Gee fanYup. Played all these games when they came out, couldn’t tell you how many times.
>>4064463I have BG2 it imprinted in my brain.
>>4114846A bit slow aren't you. EE forces the expansion, thus the Collector Edition merchants on you. Regular SoA doesn't have this problem.
>>4117899Bonus merchants weren’t in ToB, they were in vanilla SoA and could be toggled on by editing filesCan’t speak for EE tho
>>4117694>pray for good RNGYou get turned into mini sausages within seconds via a Fire Giant even with the minimum possible AC.>>4117712>None of those things sounds fun on their own, much less combined.They merely make the game balanced, other than the double damage that you take. Even on the hardest difficulty in the original game, your enemies are gimped by not having their full arsenal of abilities available.
>>4117927>>pray for good RNG>You get turned into mini sausages within seconds via a Fire Giant even with the minimum possible AC.Pray that your disabling spells landOr did SCS make them immune
>Were the life of a child not at stake, I would say leave these mad gnomes to their own devices and forbid them from ever reproducing again.Sir Anomen of the Most Based Order of the Radiant Heart
>>4117927>They merely make the game balanced, other than the double damage that you take. Even on the hardest difficulty in the original game, your enemies are gimped by not having their full arsenal of abilities available.It’s overcorrecting in the wrong direction, imo. I haven’t played Ascension (it makes the final ToB boss much harder, I believe?) but I have played through BG1 with SCS and I did not enjoy it, and skipped it for BG2.IMO my favorite difficulty settings are something like fair, even rules for both players and enemies, with extra abilities and extra number of enemies, but not stat boosts/cheats. And imo SCS goes far too far in scripting cheesy bullshit with the expectation that the player is also abusing cheesy bullshit as hard as they can. I don’t play that way and it simply makes the game tedious and unfun, imo.
>>4117908>Bonus merchants weren’t in ToBWrong. They were added in ToB Patch v26498.
>>4118052>They were added in ToB Patch v26498They were in the original release of SoA, before ToB came out.
>>4117927If SCS did only what it advertised, then I would be on board, but it takes way too many liberties and it is one giant mess of a mod. All I want is AI improvements. I don't want faster bears, or nerfed Inquisitors, or a different spell book or monsters that are jacked up beyond belief. Just give me an AI upgrade in a mod that takes a literal second to download and install. It is a sin against humanity that the only AI buff for our great and dearest BG2 is so loaded up with bloatware.
>>4118055Nice try, fucker. Sure they were, yet they weren't unlocked unless you had the CE CD. ToB unlocked them.
>>4117874quality AI slop for once
>>4118052>>4118055>>4118062Perhaps this confusion comes from the different bonus merchants, the one in the copper coronet and the one in the adventurer's mart
>>4118061I've read SCS readme, IIRC it allows selecting which parts you want installed
carsomyr or purifier
>>4118108>Perhaps this confusion comes from the different bonus merchants, the one in the copper coronet and the one in the adventurer's martIt's possible that I am conflating the two. I just remember for many years enabling them with a component in the gibberlings three tweak pack. It lumped them together as "the bonus merchants" but I think you are correct, they came from different sources. One was a preorder bonus from a certain retailer, and one was from the "collector edition" or similar. I didn't have either the preorder or a special version of the game, the small mod in the tweak pack enabled both merchants even in a plain ol' vanilla copy of SoA.
>>4118108>>4118112All I know is that Balduran's Shield completely nullifies the entire challenge of the Unseeing Eye quest and basically anyone who doesn't cheese the game's economy to immediately get Edwin his Robes of Vecna is fucking retarded.
>>4118114You can sneak past the beholders, or probably use a scroll of magic resistance, so who cares about the shield
>>4118110But the mod is not modular that way, though. You can't only install the AI tweaks because not everything SCS does is compartmentalized under the options toggles.
>>4117874I... unironically love that. It really captures the style of 2e as such a late '80s punkgoth rock countercultural subculture.
Personally, all I'm using for BG2 is>Ascension>Unfinished Business>Spells Revised>CDTweaks, to taste>Skip Chateau IrenicusAnything else is masturbatory. I won't criticize women if they get the Valygar and Haer'Dalis Romance mods, however, but technically those are masturbatory, too haha ;^)
>>4118111>carsomyr or purifierCarsomyr is cooler. You can dual wield purifier + foebane in ToB and it's pretty good, but not as cool.
>>4118133>Spells RevisedI'll have to check this one out. BG2's spellbook is littered with weak/soon obsolete spells
>>4117990Um no actually you just tank with your mages because the class is fucking OP. Once you realize that its smooth sailing no matter what mod and difficulty you set up to make the game more "fun"
>>4118165Please, anon, don’t be silly. Tanking is for serious classes. The mage can sit in the back with a sling, occasionally chucking pebbles. After the battle, they can cast a couple identifys.
>>4118096>>4118132Well, if you don't mind quality SLOP, check this out.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvZxxoicYLA
>>4118183>tfw ywn go to a drive-in theater circa 1983 and see this kino on a huge screen while munching on popcorn in the bed of your shitty beater truck
>>4118175>Tanking is for serious classes.Bardbros where you @, we got a job to do
>>4117990See >>4118165 he got it.>>4118175>Please, anon, don’t be silly. Tanking is for serious classes. The mage can sit in the back with a sling, occasionally chucking pebbles. After the battle, they can cast a couple identifys.Hilariously delusional. I bet you think your epic monk is super duper OP and can tank everything and dish out mad damage while at it.>meanwhile, on normal difficulty (all the mods mentioned above)>instantly turned to mini sausages because he can't even wear a fucking helmet
Can anyone here honestly and earnestly defend the bard class in BG2? That shit is so fuckin' ass...
>>4118317Wait, you think bards are bad? Hilarious!
>>4118317>does_he_know.png
Anons...BG2 enjoyers...I would like to share my quality AI slop video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvZxxoicYLA&t=2s
>>4118328Fuck, wrong thread. Sorry.Double coffe.
>>4118328you already did
>>4118317They are a poor man's Figher/Mage. The Blade kit especially can get some decent APR. Bards level up fast so their spells are stronger compared to mages, but that comes at a cost of never unlocking spells higher than level 6.
>>4118330Too much caffeine. Sorry.I have coffee addiction relapse.
>>4118333roll a coffeelock
>>4118317Bard Song makes your strongest dudes even stronger and give a shitload of useful immunities at high levels, level 6 spells are enough to cast Improved Haste and they automatically level pickpocket so your thieves don't have to. If that's not enough they also get thief trap HLAs and Use Any Item for le ebin cheese.
>>4118332>They are a poor man's Figher/Mage.They are a roleplayer's choice. Fighter/Mage is a 12 year old kid's Bard
>>4118140Meh. Every spell is useful if you aren't an autistic powergamer. The game isn't that tough. You really don't need to min max and if you do, then it makes the game unfun. That mindset is how you get players who think the only way to play is using mods.
>>4118400Read the descriptions of the spells Sleep and Spook, and tell me what differences you notice.
>>4118317Your question reeks of scarcity mentality, although I admit that may be something I've picked up from your post due to the nature of this website. Songs, arcane spells and thievery in a single class package is reason enough. Wands and scrolls and thief pots are a big deal. UAI is an even bigger deal. Higher level spells is pretty dang good, too. Shit, I'd even go out on a limb and say having naturally high charisma on a character is worth it if only to lubricate one's immersion whilst maneuvering the world. Some perceived notion that another class or class combo "is better" so Bard "is bad" is literally retarded and completely incongruent with the genre. You get an entire six character slots for your party. Four is a sweet spot, yet it's still three more than one, which is the industry's self-imposed standard.
>>4118405You must be 18 or older to use this site, kiddo. If you can't read, then you doubly don't belong here.
>>4118341>They are a roleplayer's choice. Fighter/Mage is a 12 year old kid's BardI really like using bards in parties, buuuuut, what kills it for me in BG is that I like to use them to replace the thief’s slot, and they don’t get traps and locks skill, only pickpocket (which I never use), so it totally kills them for me.
>>4118414>I like to use them to replace the thief’s slotWhy?
>>4118438For flavor. They’re a flexible and useful party member that can do a little bit of everything. DEX skill monkey for locks and traps, buffing party members, little spellcasting, little light armor fencing style fighting.My ideal comp is paladin/cleric/bard/mage, for a twist on the classic fighter cleric thief mage.
>>4118442..But why does bard need to replace the thief?paladin/cleric/thief/bard/mage
Yo, I guess I'll play BG2EE, can you guys help me finalize on some stuff?Namely which class to roll, I want to bring Anomen, Keldorn, Jan, and maybe Jaehira (dunno about the 6th member).I'd sorta like to try a Thief class kit, or just simply something that gets UAIWhat would you suggest?
>>4118449Because what I care about from the thief is handling the traps and locks, and when the bard can handle the traps and locks, then I don’t need a thief.Besides that, it depends on how many party member slots we’re talking about. I was specifically referring to the classic four archetypal roles.
>>4118470Assassin or one of the bards.
I just can't not play paladin. I can't not impregnate Aerie. I can't not release Keldorn from my service.I... I just can't...
>>4118814>non-virgin paladin
>>4118814>paladin>having sex?????
>>4118815>>4118816Keldorn has a wife and kids
>>4118820he was cucked did you even play the game you retard
>>4118814>racemixing with elves*fallen paladin*
>>4118821that nobleman who was boning his wife wasn't the father of the daughters though
Aerie is an incel fantasy. Jaheira is sloppy seconds.Viconia's where it's at.
>>4118825Viconia got spit-roasted by a human farmer and his son
>>4118827Based, I love sluts
>>4118827Viconia got spit roasted by me and my bro Keldorn and the rest of the angry mob
>>4118842>Jan cooks some turnips over Viconia's charred corpse
>>4118815>implying
You know how most RPGs are rushed out the door because the team has way too many ideas? BG2 feels like the team just had way too many ideas because HOLY SHIT is this game frontloaded with side quests.
>>4118825>Aerie is an incel fantasy.Why so, mademoiselle?
being serious how do you guys use minsc? i dont like putting him into heavy armor but apparently thats what youre supposed to do with him?? but hes a ranger who can use composite longbows so...
>>4119021Giving mister 18/93 STR a longbow just because his class can use it, that's just trolling yourself. He's for whacking people with two-handed swords.
>>4119021In Baldur's Gate 1, he's just another composite longbow user.In Baldur's Gate 2, he's a glass cannon type dual wielder, who is kind of hard to use because there's no good early maces. You can give him lilarcor I guess. He isn't very good in 2.
>>4119027>Has Armor of Faith, Hardiness and can equip Defender of Easthaven for a total of 85% physical damage resistance>glass cannon
Even when you add the original disc version of the game, which I played multiple times, versus the original BG 1, which I never beat or played much, I think I've played more BG 1 and actually like it more now. BGEE doesn't have the crippling flaw that made me hate the game originally (truly terrible pathfinding). It is a short, open ended RPG that is incredibly fun to play Ironman. 2 is still great, but it is a little too long.The duo used to be the uncontested best RPG saga ever, but now it is them or Wrath of the Righteous depending on my mood.
>>4064463The only reason I play these days to try out modsSome have original areas that look like they could have been part of another official expansion
>>4119006Someone call the whaambulance. There's too much stuff to do in the fun game.
>>4119021Rangers are excellent. Minsc is extra excellent. Superb proficiencies, great special ability, super adaptable and a heart of gold. I use him to scout, to accompany other stealth units in an ambush, to frontline, to backline with his bow, etc. If you have Keldorn in your party with Minsc, then Keldorn will teach Minsc how to use his rage ability without losing control. It's worth it to do this even if you let Keldorn go afterwards.
>>4119033Gotta pump those numbers up, son. Those are rookie numbers. Somehow I did that years ago because I haven't touched BG2EE in a long time. I shudder to think how many hours I have on BG2: SoA.
>>4119021>being serious how do you guys use minsc? i dont like putting him into heavy armor but apparently thats what youre supposed to do with him??Heavy armor and a two-handed sword.
>>4118183this is actually good, holy shit
>>4119041what mod is that from?
>>4119430The game is 8-10 hours long depending on whether I want to do Watcher's Keep or not and I pretty much succeed the Ironman 100% of the time. I will of course replay the game, but it is probably never hitting 1k.
>>4119688>The game is 8-10 hours longAre you measuring in decahours
>>4119716Do you just keep clearing areas of xzarts and hobgoblins after hitting maximum level?I also don't do crap like werewolf island in a typical game.
>>4119732honestly I autistically clear everything every time and BG1 takes 80h tops for a single run, 100h for BG2 + ToB
>>4119732I thought you were referring to BG2 since you mentioned Watcher’s Keep. I’d peg BG2 at a solid 80 hours. Depends how you play though, I tend to be a thorough completionist. I would never grind enemies (I generally try to clear each area exactly once and once only) but I would go through every area and do every side quest that fits with my characters roleplay, and do every dungeon. Dunno how long a full run of BG1 would take but I’d guess maybe 50-60 hours including the expansion and Durlag’s
>>4119871That's because I'm retarded and said Watcher's Keep when I meant Durlag's.Probably because I've played it more recently.
>>4064463Probably a few hundred hours over two decades, same with BG1.BG1 is better overall. BG2 has better combat and encounters/"bosses"
>>4119615Crucible
>disadvantage becomes pointless the moment you explore the chapter 2 tutorial dungeonwas it good game design handing out azuredge that early in someones playthrough? even celestial fury takes some fuckin effort...
>>4120150>>disadvantage becomes pointless the moment you explore the chapter 2 tutorial dungeon>was it good game design handing out azuredge that early in someones playthrough? even celestial fury takes some fuckin effort...I've solo'd BG2 + ToB as a cavalier, and I never used a throwing weapon, because it's clearly an exploit that goes against the intended spirit of the class, likely because the way item restrictions are coded by the game is just "not usable by [alignment] or [class], and they didn't want to prevent you from being able to use a hammer or axe in melee.Don't be a pussy faggot who cheeses just because you aren't prevented from doing so by the game.
>>4120152shut up bitch i will lay my hands on you
>>4120152wouldn't a thrown axe count as a ranged weapon? it's -4 to rolls penalty when you are in a melee range
>>4120169>wouldn't a thrown axe count as a ranged weapon? it's -4 to rolls penalty when you are in a melee rangeIt does count as a ranged weapon, but the cavalier kit, whose entire downside is "no ranged weapons", is not prevented from using it (imo an oversight by the devs, or a bug)
I absolutely despise myself sometimes.>spend an hour in the character creation screen>close gameEvery single fucking night with this shit...
>>4120198It's not even like NWN though with a gorllion feats and prestige classes
>>4120198It gets better when you reach game knowledge zen and realise your stats don't matter apart from CON>STR is easily fixed with a belt from the shop>DEX is easily fixed with gauntlets from the unseeing eye quest, if you even care about AC that much instead of mage tanking>CHA is easily fixed with the ring from the circus quest>WIS literally doesn't matter for 90% of the classes in the game, and its extra spell slots cap at 4th level spells for realistic wisdom scores (need 21 for a 5th level slot)>INT matters for mages and being above 10 so you can tank two ilithid hits without being gibbed, but it's easy to pump it on character creation if your character needs itYou also don't "need" all these stats to be fixed. The game is plenty beatable with natural rolled builds.
>>4120203True zen is mentally replaying each major battle with all possible party and equipment combinations, thereby no longer needing to actually boot up the game to enjoy playing the game via your mind's eye.
>>4117874Kek, really brings out what a clusterfuck them meeting must have been, the fugliest ever autist aura farmer and mad vampire slut, they probably stopped talking much
...they're siblings you dummy...
Assassin, or Shadow Dancer?
>>4120319Sh*dow D*ncer is EEslop, so Assassin.
Is the expansion to BG1 any good? It was called Tales of the Sword Coast or something. I finished the main game some years ago (I think I used BG TUTU to set it up on my Windows 7 toaster) but never played its expansion. Always wanted to do a wild mage run
>>4120319>>4120321Shadowdancer is the only reasonable way to leverage backstab. Assassin can't one-shot anything at any stage in the game. With Shadowdancer at least you can continue to backstab during combat to help make up for the fact that you have a thief taking up a party slot. In fact, it's possible to abuse enemy AI to solo many (not all) encounters, though it can take a while to do so.
>>4120325Shut up, retard.
How in the FUCK do I run BG1 and BG2 on a modern machine if I don't want the EE versions?
>>4120323It's alright. I don't like Durlag's Tower as much as other people do, but werewolf island is fun.
1 dude with at least d10 health and using plate and a shield1 dude who can (eventually) cast 7th level priest spells1 dude who can (eventually) cast 9th level arcane spells1 dude who can detect and disarm traps, and pick locks1 dude who just fucks around1 (You)
>>4120173>but the cavalier kit, whose entire downside is "no ranged weapons", is not prevented from using it oh I get that, it's just if you played solo and you tried to use it you'd have to kite all the time to avoid the -4 penalty
>>4120332You specialize in at least axes to throw Azuredge/Klogarath and then you specialize in bastard swords to use Purifier and you just switch between them when an enemy gets into melee range. That's the exploit.
>>4120203You can also just chug a potion when fighting illithids. >>4120325This is misinformation. Backstabs one shot all sorts of things. It is an inconsistent option and falls off hard, but is very strong at mid level for any class that can use it.Shadowdancer is overpowered in BG1 and bad in BG2. Poorly designed EE class.If you do want to play assassin though, make sure to google the fix that reverts assassin poison to the original version. EE fucked assassin because they borrowed the poison mechanics for the blackguard, then nerfed the entire mechanic because they felt it was OP on blackguard. Poison is what makes assassin stand out, not backstab.
Is there a point in training ranged weapons on classes that have additional movement speed (barbarian, monk)?
>>4120342Which game? In BG1 it is the perfect ability. Free boots for kiting. In BG2, when are you ever going to bother shooting with those characters?
>>4120342very high STR with a sling is nice in BG1
IWD 1&2: EE or classic?
>>4120347People will say that EE makes IWD "too easy" but I don't know, the kits make building a party more interesting and more fun. I say EE.I can't in good faith recommend ever playing IWD2. Worst infinity game by far. Much worse than Dragonspear.
>>4120347just go with EE despite what tryhards saymany mods also work on it, like spell revisions and tweaks anthology
>>4120347IWD 2 does not have an official EE, btw
does anybody use kit mods?this seems pretty powerful using single weapon style for crits
>>4120345>In BG1 it is the perfect ability. Free boots for kiting.BG1 did not have barbarians or monks
>>4120347>IWD 1&2: EE or classic?IWD1 EE got fucked up in the same way that BG1 EE got fucked up, it was shoehorned into a different version of the engine it wasn’t designed for, which changed the way many spells and items workedIWD2 “EE” is a tranny mod that adds a bunch of bloated bullshit and homebrewed added garbage
>>4120327GOG classic versions play fine
>>4120355Added by both BGTUTU and EE I think
>>4120381Its serviceable. Just needs a widescreen mod (links on pcgamingwiki). BUT there is one thing that annoys me and I haven't found a way to fix it. The music just breaks so often and stops playing and the only way to make it play again is to quick save.
>>4120384>Added by both BGTUTU and EE I thinkYes, since both use the BG2 engine (which is when barbarians and monks were added)
>>4120384He's trolling. Even before EE, people were frequently using Tutu.
>>4120386>Just needs a widescreen modI use a low-resolution LCD (1440x900) and 800x600 on fullscreen looks great. Just like playing in old days!
>>4120388>making factual statements about games is now “trolling”The absolute state
>>4120333noted, yeah that seems pretty broken
>>4120490It isn't broken though because Cavalier is about as fair and far from broken as possible.
half orcbarbarianchaotic evil19/18/19/9/9/9two handed weaponstwo handed swordsoh yeahits gaymen time
>>4119021>being serious how do you guys use minsc?In BG1 you give him a longbow. In BG2 you kick him out of your party to bring Anomen or Korgan instead.
>>4120572>just enough INT to use green scrollscheeky
>>4120572Why wouldn't this work?
Question for BG2 chuds: normal difficulty or core rules?
>>4120830Because it's not a true CHARNAME build>Candlekeep would never tolerate a chaotic evil individual>being a barbarian raised in Candlekeep makes absolutely zero sense>barely literate INT score of 9... in Candlekeepbeing a buff out the ass half-orc is the least problematic part
>>4120869Normal, because you're going to save-scum anyways, you fucking degenerate.
>>4120869Normal because guaranteed scribing is based
>>4120879>core rules>only one (1) scroll of Stoneskin in IWD>quaff a potion of genius on fighter/mage before scribing>failedfuck me
>>4120879It's actually cringe because there are spell book limits and it's possible to use Yoshimo +4 Potions of Thievery right at the start of Chapter 2 to rob Galoomp blind. If every spell is successfully scribed to Nalia/Jan/Edwin/CHARNAME, they would immediately bloat their spell book and negatively impact getting 7th through 9th level spells.
>>4120884You could just not cheese, and there are already INT-based spellbook limits to discourage scribing every random spell
>>4120893You could also just not cheese by not playing on Normal. Funny how that works, isn't it, you faggot?
>>4120896>playing on Normal>cheese
>>4120869Core. "Normal" is an easy mode.
>>4120490>>4120494The cavalier (the ur-paladin) is required to basically be lawful stupid dialed up to 11. He's required to be proficient with sword and lance, always wear the fanciest armor he can, gets a free horse, and must always beeline to charge and duel the biggest baddest motherfucker on the battlefield, mano a mano.His to-hit bonuses are for lances, swords, and mounted weapons like horseman's mace.>The Cavalier cannot attack an opponent at range if he can instead charge ahead and attack him in melee or jousting combat. Therefore, he cannot snipe on enemies with a bow or crossbow; he cannot use a polearm from behind a shield wall. He has to be on the front line, meeting his foes face-to-face.>In any combat, the Cavalier must attack the enemy who is the biggest and most powerful-looking. If he's held up by lesser troops, he must dispatch them as quickly as possible and then get to his "real" opponent.>He must always have the highest-quality armor he can afford. As he goes through his early experience levels, if he has the money, he'll constantly be selling his old armor and buying the next most protective set of armor. His goal is to have a set of full plate armor; the next step down from that is field plate, then plate mail, then bronze plate mail, then banded or splint, then chain, then scale or brigandine, then ring or studded. And to him, magic bonuses don't mean as much as the type of armor: He prefers a suit of ordinary field plate to a set of banded mail +5. The DM must rigorously enforce this limitation on the character if the player is inclined to ignore it.It completely goes against the spirit of the class to try to cheese the system. The DM would rightly punish such a player.
>>4120869"Normal" lowers damage from enemies.Core is normal.HOWEVER classic rules have some pointless random mechanics like rolls on scrolls and HP on levelup.If you don't want to bother with it, there is probably an EE mode for that.
>>4121364>HP on levelup.There is a toggle in settings for that, at least. >>4120803>In BG2 you kick him out of your party to bring AnomenActual downgrade in terms of combat prowess. APR is everything.
>>4120900>>4121364Specialist Mages are supposed to have an easier time scribing spells they specialize in, while they're penalized against scribing spells they aren't specialized in. If you play on any setting where scribing is always guaranteed, then you are cheesing the game by removing the penalty associated with specialized mage classes. It's really that simple.
>>4121503>you are cheesing the game>by playing on the setting called Normal by the developers of the game
>>4121364Baldur's Gate 1 is balanced around hp on levelup. Enemies don't do very much damage.
>>4121503You're right, that's definitely the same thing as drinking 4 potions and stealing 600,000gp worth of scrolls at the start of the game
>>4121503What a mechanic for enchanters with nothing past spell level 5Spell scribing was shit, and thankfully the devs realized it
>>4120869I play on normal for the guaranteed scribing and HP. The lowered received damage also serves to make all companions more viable, and I don't have to sweat about it too much. Though I don't think the difference is that noticeable between normal and core (beyond guaranteed scribing and HP rolls)
>>4121129I have never used the ranged exploit on cavalier because the class makes obvious sense as your melee tank.That said, that's some sort of player's option and everything there is conditional or also doesn't apply in Baldur's Gate.The point is that Cavalier has nothing overpowered in their kit so having a game engine limitation bug that lets them use throwing axes is whatever.
Doing another run of BG2 again... Hopefully I'll get further than chapter 5 this time. Doing LE monk this time. Really digging it so far, but we'll see how long my interest stays considering how often I dip out.
>>4122119I don't get why you think it's so insurmountable. All you have to do is play the game until it ends.
>>4122187I get bored! The gameplay loop is only so interesting after the first couple of hours!!
I dug deeper into BG2's spells and gradually became disillusioned. What a waste of time it was, lol. Hundreds of spells seems interesting at first, but turns out to be bloat and bad design.I don't mean to be harsh towards the developers, it's an early RPG and AFAIK they were tied to D&D for better or for worse.
>>4122906You might as well share the highlights of your research with us so it won't be a total waste anon
>>4122906Don't agree. Variety makes when you get access to a spell matter as well as discovering which ones are best.
>>4122906This is why Spells Revised exists.
>>4122906For me, it’s>identify>magic missile>grease>web>fireball>haste
>>4122927Arcane:1st: Identify, Magic Missile2nd: Blur, Knock, Mirror Image, Resist Fear3rd: Dispel Magic, Haste, Slow4th: Confusion, Greater Malison, Improved Invisibility, Minor Sequencer, Stoneskin5th: Breach, Chaos, Lower Resistance, Spell Immunity6th: Death Spell, Pierce Magic, True Sight7th: Finger of Death, Limited Wish, Spell Sequencer8th: Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Spell Trigger9th: Comet, Time StopDruid:1st: Armor of Faith, Cure Light Wounds2nd: Resist Fire and Cold, Slow Poison3rd: Cure Medium Wounds, Dispel Magic, Protection from Fire4th: Death Ward, Neutralize Poison5th: Chaotic Commands, Insect Plague, Iron Skins, True Sight6th: Conjure Fire Elemental, Heal7th: Aura of Flaming Death, Greater Elemental SummoningCleric:1st: Armor of Faith, Cure Light Wounds, Remove Fear2nd: Draw Upon Holy Might, Hold Person, Resist Fire and Cold, Silence 15' Radius, Slow Poison3rd: Cure Disease, Cure Medium Wounds, Dispel Magic, Holy Smite, Protection from Fire, Remove Paralysis4th: Death Ward, Neutralize Poison, Protection from Evil 10' Radius5th: Chaotic Commands, Flame Strike, Greater Command, True Sight6th: Bolt of Glory, Heal7th: Aura of Flaming Death, Finger of Death, Greater Restoration, Summon (Fallen) Deva, Sunray
>>4120336>EE fucked assassin because they borrowed the poison mechanics for the blackguardNope. They made poison scale with level, which is accurate to the original game manual, and is now balanced for BG1 too.EE hating is insane tranny behavior
>>4122906the issue with your reductive opinion is that as you progress in levels the set of useful spells changes, specifically towards and during ToB where damage dealing spells are much less effective than crowd control and debufs, and conversely in druid/priest book you want more buffs and elemental protections or straight up melee nullifiers like iron skin
>>4122953>EE hating is insane tranny behaviorcertified retard post
I'm not saying there isn't a time and place to use Dire Charm or Clairvoyance, but I am saying Dispel Magic and Haste are the be-all/end-all of BG2 combat.
Having a hundred spells, half of them named after the wizard that made them, is immersive. Having 4 optimal spells, which are the only options, feels video gamey, like you are playing league of legends.
Reminder that it's mandatory by law to at least once do a Kensai/Mage run.
>>4123085I have never played kensai. Dual class is beyond lame.
>>4123085Fuck no, I'm not doing that shit. Dual-classing is the most metagaming bullshit ever devised. I'd rather start as a Fighter/Mage or even Fighter/Mage/Thief than ever be a Kensai/Mage.
>>4123067>I am saying Dispel Magic and Haste are the be-all/end-all of BG2 combat.Both are shit spells in BG2 and very good in BG1. In BG2 Haste was ruined by adding fatigue to it and Dispel Magic will often fail to actually dispel anything unless casted by an Inquisitor.
>>4123106Which fights are you in where Haste ends mid-combat? Which fights are you in where you don't have Keldorn equipped with Carsomyr?
>>4123106To be fair, haste is supposed to actually age you 1 year. Pool of Radiance properly implements this.
>>4123108First off, I don't roll with goody two shoes paladins. Second, it doesn't matter to me if it ends mid combat or not, I don't like resting often and especially mid dungeon. Its immersion breaking.
>>4123123So you don't use Berserker's Rage, right?>>4120152Berserker can't use missile weapons and the devs intentionally gave Korgan throwing axes on his recruit. It's not an exploit. It's an intentional design. You're a retarded faggot. Suck my balls, fag.
>>4123117Yup, it’s supposed to be rare and powerful with obvious downsides so that you don’t spam it in every fight as an I win button
>>4123132Enrage downtime doesn't last that long and its only on one guy. Besides, its mechanically different from fatigue.>>4123201At the same time Improved Haste doesn't even have any penalties and its complete game changer in comparison.
>>4122936Good list except it's missing Blind, Emotion:Hopelessness, Symbol:Stun, Chain Contingency and Nature's Beauty.
the less i have to prebuff and can just watch the cool effects happen the better
>>4123479Chain Contingency is kino because you can put 3 offensive spells in it and cast on enemy sighted, so you can instantly open a fight with like 3x Horrid Wilting or something even cheesier
>>4123132>HURR THEY MADE THE DWARF WARRIOR SPECIALIZE IN AXES DURRThe berserker isn't prohibited from using missile weapons, only from taking proficiency in them at level 1.>he may not start out play having a proficiency in a ranged weapon (no thrown axes or knives, no bows or crossbows, etc.). The Berserker lives to destroy things in hand-to-hand combat, so he cannot start play with any sort of ranged weapon proficiency. He can learn others during the course of the campaign, if he and his DM wish to allow it—but it's a little out of character for the Berserker.By contrast, the cavalier, as part of his thematic class concept, and to partially balance the mechanical benefits of the class, is explicitly given "special hindrances" which include>The Cavalier cannot attack an opponent at range if he can instead charge ahead and attack him in melee or jousting combat. Therefore, he cannot snipe on enemies with a bow or crossbow; he cannot use a polearm from behind a shield wall. He has to be on the front line, meeting his foes face-to-face. (A Cavalier could conceivably shoot an opponent with an arrow to stop that opponent from killing an innocent person; that doesn't constitute a violation of his code. But he couldn't shoot the enemy to protect a friend if his friend is fighting that enemy honorably... even if his friend is losing.)The entire point of the cavalier is to play as lawful retarded, a paladin cranked up to 11, that jackass who will break ranks to charge the fire giant and lay down the gauntlet to duel him.>In any combat, the Cavalier must attack the enemy who is the biggest and most powerful-looking. If he's held up by lesser troops, he must dispatch them as quickly as possible and then get to his "real" opponent.It's absolutely exploiting an engine limitation (there's just one "axe" proficiency) to stand back and throw an axe as a cavalier, which violates not only the rules, but the thematic class concept.You are low IQ and spiritually brown.
>>4123773That's a lot of words to announce you swallow semen.
>>4123773Who cares lol. Cavalier is just useless bloat like most of the added kits in BG2.
Do yourself a favor and stop suffering with vanilla spells>https://gibberlings3.github.io/SpellRevisions/for example, Clairvoyance, which is useless on subsequent playthroughs, become a decent spell:>This spell grants an unnatural perception of things to come. Once Clairvoyance is cast, the caster receives instantaneous warnings of impending danger or harm. He becomes impossible to surprise and cannot be backstabbed. In addition, the spell gives a general idea of what action might be taken to best protect oneself, granting a +2 insight bonus to AC and saves vs. breath. The effects last for 2 turns, and cannot be dispelled.
>>4124138shill your mod somewhere else nerd
>>4124163it was released 18 years ago and predates the enhanced editions, but still receives updates
men will unironically look at this and hear her say this and think "WIFE"
>>4124285>neuron activation
>>4124285Always hated how much Viconia looks like my sister, if she had dark skin and silver hair. Grey DeLisle was my earliest voicefu.
>>4124289She does have a pleasant voice. Aerie too. It's a shame the game wasn't fully voiced.
>>4124289>>4124290serious question has anyone ever found jaheira attractive
>>4124290>It's a shame the game wasn't fully voiced.Disagree. This era of early 2000s RPGs (see also: Morrowind) had the perfect amount of voice acting. Enough for characterization and personality, and crucial lines for emphasis, while still expecting the player was literate and could read through faster than he could listen.Full voice acting is a plague on the genre, from limiting the script size, to ballooning production budgets, to dumbing down expectations.
>>4124285>teases you>gets mad when you look
>>4124291Not me, but I can see the appeal.>>4124314Disagree.
>>4124314I agree with this wholeheartedly.
>>4124314Agree. Not EVERYTHING needs to be voiced. But it's all good since AI generated slop will soon make this discussion moot
>>4124376cringe
>defeat the party in the guarded compound with celestial fury>forget about the traps around the stairs and fucking dieaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
>>4124285MUH DIIIIIICK
>>4124285If men would stop porking fatties and uggos women today would all look like Viconia... Instead, they're all obese and hideous yet still act like they're entitled to my affections... Stupid cunts...
>>4125174>Instead, they're all obese and hideous yet still act like they're entitled to my affections... Stupid cunts...This poster is DEFINITELY constantly fending off the unwanted advances of women on a daily basis.
Doing the Planar Sphere quest right now and I'm getting my ass kicked by the demon I'm supposed to get a heart from. Fire resistance isn't enough. I'm being straight-up bodied by this dude. I'm gettin' demon dicked over here.
>>4125331What level are you? That's typically one of the last quests I'd do in the game. For that guy you just want to improved haste your fighters and chop him up quickly.
>>4125355PC: Lv. 10 MonkValygar: Lv. 9Viconia: Lv. 10Anomen: Lv. 10/7 C/FEdwin: Lv. 11Jan: Lv. 10/11 M/TThe only reason Anomen and Jan are in the party right now is I'm waiting for Anomen to get called to the Hall and fail his test, and I'm waiting for Jan's quest to trigger.
>>4125331Anomen's summoned skeletons do pretty well against them
>>4126092Thanks, but I already cleared it via >>4125355's haste rush idea. Moving on to d'Arnise Keep now, still waiting on Anomen's quest to resolve and Jan's to start. Edwina still hasn't gotten her first visit from the Red Wizards yet... These in-game timers are fucking with me.
>>4066438>>4119033>pathfindingthere has been recent development and pathfinding got fixed with mod nowhttps://github.com/zach-hopkins/bg-pathfinding-redux
Priest of Helm/Lathnder 14 dualed to thief (thief HLA are cool)ORStalker 9 dualed to cleric ?
>>4127538Strongly recommend dualing a kitted cleric at 11/16/21 to get the most out of the kit. Being a low-level thief in BG2 is incredibly dangerous but at least Yoshimo/Jan/Imoen will be able to open locks and find traps for you. For Stalker you should at least wait until Lv. 12 to get free Haste.Regardless, thief's UAI will be much more useful than trying to get backstab criticals with clubs/quarterstaves with Stalker/Cleric, though. You can get Staff of Rhynn very early and eventually Staff of the Ram, but the health and APR bonuses from Stalker will be minimal compared to the higher backstab modifiers from Cleric/Thief. You gotta decide if low-level druid spells in Stalker are worth more than Thief skills, though.
>>4127542Thank youI thought lvl 14 cleric to start dual so I can get 7th lvl spells, how much extra catch up will be if I switch at lvl 16?
>>4127546A Lv. 16 Cleric needs 1,800,000XP. A Lv. 17 Thief needs 1,540,000XP. This means you won't be able to activate your Cleric class during SoA (its XP cap is 2,950,000) unless you're using the Enhanced Edition.
>>4127538>Priest of Helm/Lathnder 14 dualed to thiefThese are both extremely stupid and thematically nonsensicalDual classing was a mistake
>>4125371>Monk
How are Acifer's story mods? Call of the Lost Goddess and Throne of the mad God look really good.
>>4127542>roleplaying?
>>4064818You can't disagree about whether the companions are optional. That's just not up for debate. They are opt-in. If you don't like them, don't play with them. One does have to wonder how you know whether you like them, though. Unless you're admitting here and now that you haven't played with them because you have the choice about whether to play with them, and you only formed your opinion on them based on bullshit you saw in a cesspit of toxic negativity like 4chan?The EE doesn't have any bugs and hasn't had any for many years. Because it received robust support including patches for quite some time after its release.And it's rather important to note that the EE fixed a lot of bugs in the base game.And made possible many kinds of mods and far more elegant mod design due to externalization of so many things. So the EE is just fundamentally a more expanded and debugged version of BG2, that's also not up for debate it's just verifiably true.You've been caught bullshitting about something whether because you don't know what you're talking about or whatever reason.
>>4125371.... That's rather low level to be doing the Planar Sphere quest... if you're still trying to get the heart from the demon, that means you haven't even fought the final boss of the dungeon yet. If you think the demon's fire damage is bad, just you wait.For the record, the Planar Sphere is considered the hardest dungeon / quest in the game for good reason. And it's not even a close contest. Breach is just insufficient for the mages in there.
>>4119033As someone who was definitely on the BG2 fan team for decades, Wrath is better. A lot better. Deadfire deserves an honorable mention in this miniature hall of fame.
>>4128017>I only put a few turds on your plate>They’re opt-in turds. You literally can’t refute that. Just don’t eat them if you don’t like them.>How did you even decide that you don’t want to eat turds? Rather closed-minded of you. You might really like them.>I bet you didn’t even decide that for yourself. It sounds like toxic negativity. You must just be parroting the opinion of others.
>>4128039Except for video games being nothing like feces on your plate, and not only because optional characters existing doesn't contaminate and poison you or the rest of the experience that you're still choosing to consume.But that hyperbole and wild conflation tactic probably works well on whatever playground in the shithole country with a famously awful education system you live in. There aren't many such to pick from, but I do grant that there are a few so I shouldn't just guess, but the fact you're behaving that way while speaking English is a dead giveaway. All the alternatives scrub their shitty anuses with sand held in their bare hand, and they hate English-speakers so much that it's unlikely you'd be from there. But there is still a possibility remaining, because you're apparently obsessed and familiar with eating feces.Anyway, here, let my civilized country's sense of social etiquette substitute for your country's lack of progress: you were dismissed a while ago, and far more politely than you warranted. Stop talking. You're done here.And learn how to aim the bidet at your shit-spewing holes, please, because the more of you flushed from your mothers' cunts, the better the world will be.
>>4127623What do you want him to roleplay as? A retard? Dual-classing is inherently anti-roleplay.>"but imoen--"Is locked as a Lv. 7 Thief with only 95 in Open Locks and 85 in Find Traps, which makes her dependent upon using up a ring slot for Ring of Lock Picks/Danger Sense or using Potions of Perception or Master Thievery just for her to do the most basic of Thief tasks. If the dev team postponed her dual-classing to 8, she would've had enough skill points for both AND an extra hit die AND an extra proficiency point. Instead, she's sub-optimal, unable to progress to be a better thief like at least Jan can do. More importantly, Jan being an Illusionist/Thief multi-class makes sense for who he is as a character. Imoen becoming a mage is asinine and done purely from a metagaming standpoint, and it was implemented INCORRECTLY. The XP cap in BG1 is 89,000XP. Thieves can get to level 8 in BG 1 for 70,000XP. BG2 starts the player off at 89,000XP, which also means a Thief PC starts at level 8. Why the actual ass is Imoen dual-classing at level 7 when her doing it at level 8 lines up with the mechanics of the BG1/BG2 XP limit and start? Why is she a mage anyways? Because magic is strong? Because Jon is a mage? Because she has high intellect? It added nothing to her character. It just makes her a dogshit annoyance. No fucking wonder everyone wants to prone-bone that bitch because the only thing she's good for is rape-meat.
>>4128024I've now played as much Wrath as nearly both BG games combined, despite it being much newer. And while I'm playing it, it is definitely my new favorite. Unbelievably good game.However. They aren't directly comparable. BG1 is like 10 hours long. If BG2 being like 60+ hours long is a little much, Wrath's 100 hours is exhausting. Something to be said about a short, replayable game with perfectly responsible controls (I don't find Wrath playable in real time, only turn based).
>>4128130The world isn't ready for my opinion but I'd rather have a game that can be finished in weekend but also be highly replayable than one huge sweeping epic that takes dozens of hours to do once. Depth > length.
>>4128130I disagree about whether they're comparable. And in fact, you yourself directly compared them on the basis of the most superficial thing about them: typical play length duration.They're stories, anon. You can compare movies. You can compare books. You can compare songs. You can compare games, anon.It's ok to compare apples with oranges. They're literally both round, tart fruit.The point of comparison isn't to prove that things are identical. It's to consider the meaning of the ways in which they are different.In that sense, the fact that they're unlike each other in some respects is the entire fucking point.
>>4128134A game you finish in ten hours can't have depth by definition, anon.
>>4128140Ten hours with your mom would offer lots of depth and tremendous replayability.
>>4128134Length isn't inherently good or bad, depends on the pacing. Baldur's Gate is short, and ends about when you're feeling things should wrap up. Part of what makes it amongst the elite.
>>4127614monk pc vs balthazar is kino thoughbeithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Y9GqwB6MY
>>4128142I doubt it. Not only could you never experience the full depth of her gape with your tiny shrimp dick, anyone who would want to repeat the experience is someone whose opinion does not matter about literally anything.
Dual classing is fine on the tabletop when your ability scores are determined by 3d6. When players can just keep rolling totals and allocate how they see fit, dual classing is cheesy bullshit.>"Why yes, my Invoker dual classed to cleric for purely RP purposes and definitely NOT to give -2 saving throws on Bolt of Glory and Sunray!"
>>4128157>Dual classing is fine on the tabletop when your ability scores are determined by 3d6. When players can just keep rolling totals and allocate how they see fit, dual classing is cheesy bullshit.This. Much of the sovl was lost with "just pick your class and whatever stats you want". Your rolls limited what you were allowed to pick.
>>4128157>>4128158doesnt a 3d6 give a average of 10.5who the fuck wants to play a fighter with 10 strength you retardsi guess no one could ever be a paladin tho thats kinda cool
>>4128159The mechanical strength of paladins was intended to be balanced by being a relatively rare class due to the minimum stat requirements, yes.>who the fuck wants to play a fighter with 10 strength you retardsTurn your monitor on, retard.
>>4128158>>4128160This is why for BG1, I keep my total at 75, and in BG2, I keep my total at 83. 75 points to divide is from Player's Skills and Powers. I choose 83 for BG2 because BG1 has 8 ability manuals. Even though 3 of those 8 manuals are for Wisdom, since I can't gen a character in BG2 with an ability higher than 18 without racial bonuses, I justify not needing to put all 3 points in Wisdom since my hypothetical BG1 Fighter would've been imported with 19 Strength.
>>4128159>who the fuck wants to play a fighter with 10 strength you retardsI've done low STR fighters before. You still get plenty of damage from grandmastery and it makes it more logical to specialise in bows unless your DEX also sucks shit. The difference between 10 and 18/01 strength is only -1 thac0 and +2 damage, and the difference is even lower if you don't compare to a perfect triple-six roll. Plus, mages can cast Strength to temporarily boost you up if you need the carry allowance or those extra couple of points of damage/THAC0, and in the endgame it ends up being a nonissue anyway because of STR belts / gloves.
>>4128157>>4128158I'm fine with dual-classing if it's something a player does as late as possible. Seeing someone do Fighter 21 / Mage 22 is pretty interesting, but we know players don't do anything like that. Usually it's, what, Kensai 10 / Mage 30? Berserker 14 / Thief 39? Assassin 9 / Mage 31?
>>4128381People dual early because if you're dualing late you might as well just run a multiclass
>>4128388I play mage / cleric because I want to play a mage / cleric. You play kensai / mage because you're a power gaming munchkin. We are not the same.
>>4064472>Both didn't age wellhow?
>>4065123>>4065757These games weren't made for multiplayer, you stupid faggots.
>>4128464>These games weren't made for multiplayerWhich is why they went to the incredible effort of making online (not just LAN) multiplayer for them, supporting a full party.
>>4128516NTAThey were single-player games that also had multiplayer support, but were not designed and intended to be played in multiplayer.
>gives you a quest to kill a red dragon for a +5 weapon in chapter 2shit game design desu
>>4128888>>gives you a quest to kill a red dragon for a +5 weapon in chapter 2It's the fourth and final stronghold quest for a paladin: go forth, battle the evil wyrm, and earn your badass sword. it's about as thematic as it gets, and you're not intended to beeline it or do it at low level (multiple anons in this thread have suggested intentionally leaving Firkraag for after the Underdark to preserve some pacing and challenge for the late game.The fact that the game doesn't prevent (you) from ruining the game for yourself, because you're probably a faggot who does shit like abuse exploits to cheese the fight instead of fighting like a noble knight, is a skill issue on your part.
>>4128888It gives you a quest to rescue the guy's daughter. Killing Firkraag is optional and can be done at any time later.
>played through Baldur's Gate 1 for the first time a few years ago (not a BG3 tourist) as someone who doesn't really play CRPGs>game was fucking incredible, didn't use guides, tried my best to get into the mind of my little halfling thief dude and roleplay/act in character>a good 100 hour long campaign>loved every last second of it>could never really get into BG2 despite multiple attempts, always drop it 5-10 hours in>don't even know why, probably attribute it to burnout or some shit
>>4128022explain to the class the proper order to do the companion quests in please
>>4127473Holy fuck this is so smooth feeling by comparison, it's amazing. Thanks anon.
>>4128516>supporting a full party.Yet, the MAIN character is one (1) and if he dies it's game over.
I didn't know Viconia fucked fat old men for money...
>>4129416SEX-OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
>>4129416this is why aerie is best grill
>>4128017>The EE doesn't have any bugs and hasn't had any for many years.
I think it was a mistake playing monk for my first run in BG2. Quivering Palm one-shotting dragons has NOT prepared me for ToB. I spent two hours on the Yaga-Shura (Ascension) fight because I didn't know that there are AoE spells beyond Stinking Cloud and Web.
What is the rogue experience like in BG1 and 2?
>>4137334why play rogue when you already have imoenare you a retarded
>>4137334Mediocre BG1Giga backstabs and lategame trap cheese in BG2
>>4137335I like sneaking around and I've never played BG1 or 2.
>>4137350Serious answer extrapolating upon >>4137346:In the AD&D rules, thieves have thieving skills, which are picking pockets, opening locks, finding/disarming traps, moving silently, hiding in shadows (yes, stealth is governed by two separate skills), detecting illusions, and setting traps. These skills are improved through skill points, which are given by leveling up. High dexterity and certain racial bonuses contribute to higher default thief skill values.Having said all of that, in BG1, you can eventually gain a total of 200 skill points. Unless you bring along another thief character, you won't be able to realistically raise both open locks and find traps to 100, which are two of the most important skills in both games. This also means that you won't be able to realistically raise move silently and hide in shadows, skills which require 200 points EACH to have fully effective stealth, which means you won't be realistically backstabbing anyone anytime soon. In BG1, your possibilities are putting points into opening locks and having another thief find traps, or doing vice versa, and both of you using short bows, or finding a mage, having them learn Knock to open locks, and having the other thief find traps so you can do more thief-like things.In BG2, you get access to significantly better gear and have more skill points to distribute, which makes you a significantly better thief. You can go the assassin route for huge backstabs, you can go the bounty hunter route to cheese fights with Set Special Snare, or you can go unkitted, use Swashbuckler, or multiclass if you'd rather remain functional with open locks, detect traps, and detect illusions.>"what about picking pockets?"It's incredibly unreliable and you're better off abusing Potions of Master Thievery for picking the pockets of named NPCs and stealing expensive items from stores. However, it makes a great skill dump if you've maxed out the other skills you're interested in using.
