Baldurs gate - how should I start. - Page 13

Jamski · January 15, 2004, 20:22

Tell me, I've been looking since July

-Jam

centrifuge · January 15, 2004, 20:26

Well, I'll go back to where I got it, and see if I can find another one, if so I'll cut you a deal.

Jamski · January 15, 2004, 20:34

I'll post you whatever you pay in dollars, but in euros, so the difference in exchange rate pays the postage. How's that for a deal?

I think 1 euro buys $1.19 or something ...

-Jam

centrifuge · January 15, 2004, 21:13

Well, if I can find it, I'll see what shipping will cost and then we can go from there. It's definitely a long shot though, but it's worth a shot. I'm thinking that shipping will actually be at least $5, however. When I was shipping gifts over the holidays, I almost spent more to ship then what was spent on the gifts.

Jamski · January 16, 2004, 04:10

Well, if the shipping costs $25 I'd still pay, 'cos I ain't paying $100 on Ebay and then shipping as well...

-Jam

lord of the mark · January 16, 2004, 10:49

Ok, ive dealt with the Cloakwood mines, but havent yet

Spoiler:

i lost Imoen in the bottom level, and would like to resurrect her and then come back for the loot. But its not clear to me if i exit without

Spoiler:

if i can return and still

Spoiler:

later.

I understand that money becomes less of an issue once i enter BG city, so if necessary i will just take out what loot i can manage. (I now have about 5000 GP, but resurrecting Imoen will cost about 1000, and im running short on magic arrows - I know many have more gold at this point, but ive stopped routine stealing from innocents, and i tend to resurrect lost party members, using reload only when i lose my PC, or most of my party)

Traianvs · January 16, 2004, 11:31

iirc, you can't do what you want to do there

duke o' york · January 16, 2004, 11:40

Can I just say that I love your little spoiler quotes, and would like to know how to do them, but am a bit confused that all of the quotes in the post above say exactly the same thing!

Oh, and Jam:

Planescape

Have a look on e-bay and good luck! It seems to be far more cheaply available in German if that's any good to you.

centrifuge · January 16, 2004, 11:54

Quote:

Originally posted by duke o' york
Can I just say that I love your little spoiler quotes, and would like to know how to do them,

[SPOILER] your text [\SPOILER]

except switch the \ for a /

Jamski · January 16, 2004, 12:32

Quote:

Have a look on e-bay and good luck! It seems to be far more cheaply available in German if that's any good to you.

Well, I have BG1, BG2, IWD2, and NWN in German, so I could probably cope

-Jam

centrifuge · January 16, 2004, 12:43

Quote:

Originally posted by Trajanus
iirc, you can't do what you want to do there

you can as long as you leave before

Spoiler:

lord of the mark · January 16, 2004, 13:45

Quote:

Originally posted by centrifuge

you can as long as you leave before

Spoiler:

Oh, yeah, i already did that

Spoiler:

but then I lost Imoen AGAIN

Spoiler:

So thats why id like to get to FAI or Beregost, sell stuff, including the Wyvern heads, resurrect Imoen, giving me one more carrier, (even if a weak one).

But it looks like if i leave without

Spoiler:

which seems to be important to advancing the plot.

centrifuge · January 16, 2004, 14:42

I can only suggest that you take advantage of all of your open slots, meaning the ring slots, necklace, missiles, quick items etc. and drop any thing that's unnecessary, such as non-magical arrows and whatnot.

Jamski · January 16, 2004, 14:54

Quote:

which seems to be important to advancing the plot.

You can leave it un-done and still progress as long as you "got the baddie"

-JAm

lord of the mark · January 16, 2004, 15:07

Quote:

Originally posted by Jamski

You can leave it un-done and still progress as long as you "got the baddie"

-JAm

well seeing as im good alignment, id like to do it. Dont need any rep gain or XP's though. Any other reason to do it?

centrifuge · January 16, 2004, 16:14

Jamski, I went to see if they had another copy of PS:T, unfortunately they didn't.

I could ship you a copy of Mahjong classics V , however

Some good news, I finally picked up NWN, it's the gold edition and includes SOU

I'm not going to start it until I finish Soulbringer and PS:T, however.

Jamski · January 16, 2004, 17:27

Quote:

Some good news, I finally picked up NWN, it's the gold edition and includes SOU

Excellent. Now simply NEVER PLAY the module that comes with the game (well, maybe do the prologue to learn the controls)

There's about 10,000 other modules to download, and at least 1,000 of those are WAY better than the original campaign. (Actually the OC isn't soooo terrible, unless you compare it with BG - its just unimaginative, but cleanly made)

-Jam

Jon Miller · January 20, 2004, 02:15

just started BG2 with a freind of mine

am playing a human wild mage

when can I Dual Class?

when should I dual class?

Jon Miller

Jamski · January 20, 2004, 03:56

Quote:

am playing a human wild mage

Whoops.

Quote:

when can I Dual Class?

I don't think Wild Mages can. Not sure, noone ever plays them.

Quote:

when should I dual class?

As any mage character - never.

If you MUST have a dual class mage, then start as a fighter(or kit), thief or cleric. That's how to dual class a mage.

-Jam

Jon Miller · January 20, 2004, 04:17

yah

I know

but I wanted to play a wild mage

I actually looked it up

they can't dual class

jsut like the barbarrian, paladin, ranger, ect

can a monk dual class? it seems like they would be cool to dual arround level 20 (to like a mage)

jon miller

Marid Audran · January 20, 2004, 05:14

This Baldur's Gate journeyman log has gotten out of control. 380 posts and not buried yet! A testiment to the strength of this enduring IE game.

To celebrate, I even replayed my old copy and recently happened upon Baldur's Gate. After a profitable sortie at the Silvershield estate, and summary decompressing at the Elfsong Tavern, I've finally aquired the party feng shui I've labored long to achieve:

Nanami (Female Elf Diviner)
Shar-Teel
Yeslick
Kivan
Eldoth Kron
Skie

A motley crew if there ever was one. They can't decide on what ale to drink, let alone what ethos to persue. Bliss.

Quote:

Originally posted by Jamski

True. IWD2 has the best game engine of the IE games too.

Its not about the story - its just hack'n'slash. IWD was the response to complaints that BG1 was too freeform, only let you make once character and didn't have enough combat.

-Jam

I was pretty hostile towards IWD1 when I first played and completed it. It seemed very much to be Diablo for the AD&D set, and the lack of civilization and human interaction was a major grievance with me.

I warmed a little more to it upon replays because I adopted a different attitude (unique party compositions and experiments with soloing/duets). The way I capsule-ize it:

Pros: Gorgeous artwork, spell animation. music, (superior to both BG1 and BG2 IMO), fearsome beastiary, and first IE game that allowed us to relish high-level PCs. Some nice provisions were made for bards and climate-appropriate touches for druids. Adventuring locales have a nostalgic, "classicist" feeling to them harboring back from yet olde AD&D days. The first time I saw a drow my heart lept up in my throat.

Cons: Total linearity; little practical replayability. Ultimately a pretty, but shallow dungeon-crawl. The amount of combat is enervating; character interaction is minimal. Dungeons are sadistic with the amount and placement of traps. Mage scrolls are a tad scarce (one fireball scroll in the entire game!!). Because your party is custom-tailored I wasn't particularly attached to them. Packaged soundsets were quite dull and had none of the personality of BG1 joinable NPCs. Players spoiled by BG2 party banters can just forget it.

Addendum: This is a personal quibble, but I thought it was the totally wrong design decision to pit a low-level party in the Vale of Shadows. Raiding tombs isn't fun when the hordes of undead are resistant to most of the useful low-level spells, slashing/piercing weapons, and your cleric is too inexperienced to "turn" skillfully.

Icewind Dale 2 has superior mechanics with the 3E D&D rules and better writing, but the combat fatigue was still a major problem for me (even earlier than in the first game). By the time I cleared the ice palace (with the help of a walkthrough because it was getting painful) I was about ready to quit! The game picked up a bit from Chapter 3 onwards but in role-playing spirit doesn't have anything on Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Fallout, or Arcanum. Icewind Dale feels more like work than play compared to other IE games.

Drogue · January 20, 2004, 07:04

Wow, since I showed BGII to my girlfriend, she's gone and bidded on eBay for a copy

And there was me thinking she was already perfect

NeOmega · January 20, 2004, 09:27

I quit playing Icewind Dale. I have really no desire to play it right now. The battling was fun, but it felt like I kept asking "Why am I doing this? To get cool stuff?" I miss the personality of party members. I especially miss the party member specific quests ala BG II, most of all I miss lots of stores, magic shops, and blacksmiths. I have tons of cash, and nothing useful to spend it on.

I needed to get working on my mod anyways. Perhaps in a year I'll pick up planescape, or Fallout.... but my friend just got FF XI online, and it looks like alot of fun.....

lord of the mark · January 20, 2004, 10:07

ok, my level 6 party has been in BG city a while now.
we've explored from the east to the northwest, across the upper city, and now the harbor - havent entered the southwest, or the estate in the NW corner (is that silvershield?) Had fights in a couple of taverns, including a really tough ogre, ventured briefly with success into the sewers. Minsc got petrified in the warehouse, we're coming back to him with stone to flesh scroll. Plan to use a knock spell to get the item at the tavern on the boat. We have lots of gold (about 10000) and have bought lots of magic arrows and bullets, and a few spells, and healing potions.

Drogue · January 20, 2004, 10:48

Sounds good

Yes that is Entar Silvershields estate. All parts of Baldur's Gate seem to have something interesting in them. Make sure you look everywhere.

Jamski · January 20, 2004, 14:59

Quote:

can a monk dual class? it seems like they would be cool to dual arround level 20 (to like a mage)

Nope

Drogue - Your girlfriend is unbelievable. I can only get Mrs Jamski to play Nethack, and that's it.

-Jam

lord of the mark · January 20, 2004, 17:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Drogue
Sounds good

Yes that is Entar Silvershields estate. All parts of Baldur's Gate seem to have something interesting in them. Make sure you look everywhere.

does the sequence matter much - are there some side quests i should do first?

Drogue · January 20, 2004, 17:31

The Entar Silvershield quest. Short answer, yes, but do the side quests first. There are many side quests. I'm can't remember how many are actually essential to the game, but there is a lot of fun to be had in the city

Drogue · January 20, 2004, 17:35

Quote:

Originally posted by Jamski
Drogue - Your girlfriend is unbelievable. I can only get Mrs Jamski to play Nethack, and that's it.

I showed the the flirt pack I got ages ago (very cute dialog between romance and PC that you can initiate), and she liked that, but the other day I was chatting and she just mentioned she was trying to buy it. She thought it sounded like fun

And Monks dual classing would be sillily easy. A Kensai/Mage is almost too good, a Monk to a mage would be silly. However Monks get much better with levels, Kensai's don't to the same extent.

Jamski · January 20, 2004, 19:01

The flirt pack is REQUIRED IMHO for BG2.

I love some of the converations between the NPCs.

Actually, reading this thread today makes me want to start a new game... Hmmm, perhaps as an Assassin, with Airie as my only partner? Or as a Cleric/Thief with Edwin? Hmmm... suggestions welcome.

-Jam