"Go for the eyes, Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!!!"

[andraste]

Grief is a funny thing; I have been dealing with mine by playing Baldur's Gate for a week solid. There is something incredibly soothing about splattering pixel monsters all over the place.

I'm into the srs biznes end of the game, just about to hit Candlekeep, with all my characters maxed out in level. I'm considering whether I want to install Tales of the Sword Coast - I've not done it so far because it nerfs Hide In Shadows big time - but I think I'd rather deal with Saervok and move on to BSGII. Only my copy is in a shed at my parents' place, three hours drive away. Does anyone in town have a copy of BSGII/Throne of Bhaal I could borrow for a while? I doubt I'll finish that in a week, especially since I now have to get back to actual schoolwork.



I haven't played BSG in years; when it first came out I played along with my brother - who created the PC, since it was his Christmas present - and I've never finished it on my own. Last time I tried to do the Gnoll stronghold too early because I picked up Minsc as soon as I saw him. This time around, I have discovered the simple joys of being a tank, such as not dying every ten minutes. Even if you keep your caster PC well back from the action, one stray arrow and you have to reload. My 7th level Paladin currently possesses the ridiculous armor class of -6, 75HP and a ring of free action. Needless to say, not many things can hurt her.

I have settled on a party of Ajantis, Yeslick, Quayle, Imoen (dualled to 7th level mage/3rd level thief) and Kivan. I'm going to try to replicate this formula to some degree in BSGII, as I have discovered that I love having two Paladins up front - tanks who can cast Protection From Evil and heal themselves in the heat of battle are awesome. Kivan is in the back on archery support, and has over a third of the total kills in the party. (The rest of us seem to be there to soften up and distract enemies so he call pick them off with a well-placed shot.) I guess I'll use either Minsc or Valygar as my archer in BSGII, unless I use the mod that adds Kivan back.

I have decided I'll have to install a mod just to get a decent NPC mage. The only pure mage spellcaster in BSGII is Edwin, and he and my girl Imuniel would not get on. Leaving the Evil Red One aside, there are three thief mages in the game, which is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, thief mages are great, but in what universe is three of the sixteen available NPCS being off the same multiclass combination a good idea? I will take one of them because I need a thief and Yoshimo is sadly not long for this world, but not more than that. This problem is especially maddening when the game keeps trying to force Imoen on you. (It was even more frustrating with my brother's own thief mage as a PC. In the end, Imoen suffered a tragic and untimely death ...)

I think I am going to install Xan, as I played through much of BSG1 with him and was sad to see him go when I got to the city in Chapter Five. Quayle is a much more well-rounded caster in that game, so I felt compelled to swap out the gloomy elf in spite of the fact that I find him hilarious and Quayle drives the rest of my party insane. The mod that adds Xan to BSGII gives you options about his class, though, so he no longer has to be an Enchanter! I think I will make him a wild mage for the hilarity value.

Comments

[adn-heming.livejournal.com]

*waves* I've got one---I haven't played it for a while probably shouldn't be anyway. =)And yay---am happy to see a Baldur's Gate nut on my f'list.

[andraste]

And yay---am happy to see a Baldur's Gate nut on my f'list.

I'm sure there are many of us out there! One of the most awesome computer games of all time.

[adn-heming.livejournal.com]

Would you like to borrow it?

[nomadicwriter]

Oh, God, I used to love Baldur's Gate. (Although I never fully completed it; I lost heart a bit when the save file for my best game ever somehow got corrupted after about 70 hours of gameplay.) I still have it installed on this computer, actually. But I must resist seeking out the disks, or else my productivity on my novel is going to take a serious nose dive.

Ah, the fond memories of saving after every single damn battle, and reloading, reloading, reloading, every time my characters got splattered.

[andraste]

Oh, God, I used to love Baldur's Gate. (Although I never fully completed it; I lost heart a bit when the save file for my best game ever somehow got corrupted after about 70 hours of gameplay.)

Yargh! That's awful. I am obsessive about saving constantly in many different slots.

I still have it installed on this computer, actually. But I must resist seeking out the disks, or else my productivity on my novel is going to take a serious nose dive.

It is a horrible time sink, indeed.

Ah, the fond memories of saving after every single damn battle, and reloading, reloading, reloading, every time my characters got splattered

There are actually people out there who enjoy a challenge that don't reload if someone gets killed, and instead go and find some other NPC to fill the slot. I can only think that they don't hang out with a lot of mages, at least not for long ...

[nomadicwriter]

I did replay it after I lost the save and got as far as Candlekeep, I think, but for some reason I never got beyond there. Maybe that was when I moved out to go to university. I stole the Baldur's Gate disks and took them with me - priorities! - but the save files would have been on the home computer. (Dear self. Stop thinking about playing Baldur's Gate. You are already burning every second of not-particularly free time marathoning episodes of Alias. Finish the last three seasons and we'll talk.)

I wish they could release a Baldur's Gate type game on one of the consoles. (I don't care which one. I would buy it just to play that one game, dammit.) It seems like BG was one of the last proper party adventure games and after that everybody went to first-person 3D hacking and slashing. Which is so much less fun. I played Dark Alliance on the Gamecube, which was basically a stripped down version BG with a single character instead of a party, and it was okay but not quite the same. I really hate how all the old-style party RPGs have gone out of fashion with the emphasis on realistic 3D graphics over everything.

I guess the non-saving people are all hardened Nethack addicts. I love that game, but damn, you do have to get used to getting down to level 25 of the dungeon with all the gear you could possibly ask for and then dying of something really stupid like eating too much. It's the most evil dungeon-crawler of all time. I think I will literally cry if I ever finish it.

Less talk, more fight!

[innle.livejournal.com]

OMG OMG OMG.

Xan! We never knew about his mod for BGII, I will have to tell my bro. He loves Xan beyond the telling of it, to the extent that if he ever gets custom number plates he wants XAN 007. We are such dorks. We even refer to any underpowered, depressed assault on foreign territory as a 'Xan charge' to this day.

I never had Xan in my party because he couldn't do Magic Missile, aka my favourite spell ever. *sadface*

I finished Neverwinter Nights 2 on the weekend -- it is basically BG/BGII on CRACK. Also, my current character is a paladin (instead of a ranger or a mage) and it's the first time I have ever felt the paladin love -- I blame the fact that all the NPC paladins I can remember (except Keldorn in BGII) were GIANT WANGS OF ANNOYINGNESS, OMG. But why did I never know about Lay on Hands or Turn Undead?? Made of win.

And YES, WTF is up with all the thief/mages in BG?! Begabbers! Just pick a class!!

. . . Um. Yes. Sorry, I got so excited to see this post that I possibly got a bit carried away.

(I'm glad BG is working for you as a coping mechanism.)

In conclusion: BUTT-KICKING FOR GOODNESS!

Re: Less talk, more fight!

[andraste]

Xan! We never knew about his mod for BGII, I will have to tell my bro. He loves Xan beyond the telling of it, to the extent that if he ever gets custom number plates he wants XAN 007. We are such dorks. We even refer to any underpowered, depressed assault on foreign territory as a 'Xan charge' to this day.

Ahahahaha. "Onwards ... to futility."

I never had Xan in my party because he couldn't do Magic Missile, aka my favourite spell ever. *sadface*

I took him along mainly because my brother always had Minsc and therefore Dynaheir, except when he was evil and had Edwin instead. (My brother's evil party was so evil they KILLED DRIZZT DO'URDEN.) I did miss magic missile, but he has taught me to love Charm Person and Dire Charm. Whenever we ran into yet another group of assassins, Xan would put the whammy on a couple of them, and we would all stand there and laugh while they killed each other.

I finished Neverwinter Nights 2 on the weekend -- it is basically BG/BGII on CRACK. Also, my current character is a paladin (instead of a ranger or a mage) and it's the first time I have ever felt the paladin love -- I blame the fact that all the NPC paladins I can remember (except Keldorn in BGII) were GIANT WANGS OF ANNOYINGNESS, OMG.

Ajantis' more irritating character traits are moderated in a party where everyone except Quayle shares his Good alignment and he doesn't have much to complain about. (Quayle drives EVERYONE nuts. I kind of want to put him in a party with evil gnome Tiax and see what happens.)

He does retain two annoying habits, though. The first is declaring that every single place we go has a 'sense of evil' about it - gee, Ajantis, thank you for pointing that out. I never would have been tipped off by all the things trying to kill me. The second is his tendency to announce "I cannot stand about for idle coversation. As a Knight of the Realms, I have many duties to attend to!" I wouldn't mind so much, except he has been known to say this IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLE. What, killing kobalds isn't enough?

Still, I have got used to him *g*. My Character/Ajantis/Kivan = OT3 of pointy death.

But why did I never know about Lay on Hands or Turn Undead?? Made of win.

They are great abilities. I am considering playing Neverwinter Nights II one of these days; does it have a group dynamic like BG? I gather you only got one companion in the first game, which doesn't interest me as much.

And YES, WTF is up with all the thief/mages in BG?! Begabbers! Just pick a class!!

The annoying thing is, if they'd made Nalia a mage and Jan a thief - or vice versa - then many players would probably have been happy to have Imoen around later in the game, instead of sending her on a lone mission against a Beholder.

. . . Um. Yes. Sorry, I got so excited to see this post that I possibly got a bit carried away.

It's OK, I get over-exited about this game too! Like Minsc!

In conclusion: BUTT-KICKING FOR GOODNESS!

Jump on my sword, evil! I won't be as gentle!

[bride-of-lister.livejournal.com]

I looked up public transport for tomorrow and if you want I know a good route that involves catching the 10:59 am or 11:35 am 250 bus towards La Trobe University from Flinders Street and then getting off at the Aldi.(With a short but slightly confusing walk) I've taken this route a few times and if we get lost then it can be all my fault. XP If you're interested we can catch the same bus and have some conversation! ^^