Baldur's Gate

Wait. Trilogy?

When did this happen?

so, I'm trying to see how powergamey I can get with making Korgan a super tank. So far, he's rocking -11 AC, completely immune to fire and poison, half damage from ice and lightning, 25% less damage from acid and magic, and when beserking he's immune to all forms of crown control, including Imprison. Not to mention the fact that he hits like a truck! He is a mage killing machine!

The only thing that can stop him is the mage going invisible...but that's what Keldorn and his True Sight ability is for!

edit: the Trilogy is Bauldur's Gate, Bauldur's Gate 2, and Throne of Bhaal.

edited 7th Sep '11 1:38:46 PM by Blissey1

I thought Throne of Baal was an expansion pack?

well, it is. But its so awesome that you can't just lump it in with BG2. Thus trilogy.

edited 7th Sep '11 1:52:06 PM by Blissey1

BG 2 and To B combined are my favorite gaming experience ever. The only other RPG I had ever played was Fallout 2 and I knew absolutely nothing about D&D rules going into BG 2. I knew nothing about the events of the first game either and just kind of randomly jumped into it. It was fantastic, the story, the characters, and writing was top notch if you ask me. Not to mention the sheer scope of the game, and the different number of classes and specializations. Changed the way I play and experience games forever.

I just started a game in a way that 'I don't pick up Imoen'. This'll be a first and I wonder what changes will I cause.

So I decided to give up on BG1 and skip to BG2. Definitely a Surprisingly Improved Sequel. Not only does it take more than a finger poke to kill me, it is much better written and there seem to be less Fetch Quests also.

edited 12th Sep '11 5:58:58 AM by lrrose

I do believe the trope you are looking for is Even Better Sequel, good sir.

seriously though, BG 1 does have a tighter learning curve, purely by virtue of starting at level 1 by yourself where you have no abilties/gear to work with and some of the opening battles really come down to the RNG and knowing the game. Like the wizard who attacks you at the Friendly Arm In. If you din't pick up Xar and Montaron(or are a mage yourself, and know to cast Protection from Fear at the beginning of the fight, then you're kinda SOL.

Alternatively, if you want to cheese things up, there are ways to start the game off rocking some full plate mail and a weapon of your choice. Just go to that house with the tutorial where they give you a full party, take everyone's equipment, export your character, restart the game, import your character, and viola! The early game is a lot easier!

That wizard wasn't the problem.

The problem was when, en-route to the Friendly Arm Inn, a got a random encounter with a bunch of bandits and half-ogres. My party consisted of me (a mage), Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron, all of whom were very squishy.

ah, went afoul of the RNG then. That's why it auto-saves before going to a new area! In both the first and second games, you'll have to get used to saving and re-loading the game. a lot.

edited 12th Sep '11 9:58:44 AM by Blissey1

Yeah, the early game of BG 1 is pretty stupid at times. It usually involves giving all your party members ranged weapons and kiting a single enemy around for five minutes while you take pot shots at it. And mages will constantly wreck your shit because all your saving throws are terrible. And sometimes your characters can get randomly struck by lightning for massive damage if you're outside while it's raining. I like to think that last one is the developers' little practical joke on the players.

Or you could just turn the difficulty down until your level 3 or 4. But that's cheating! :P

IIRC the developers in the BG 2 manual explicitly admitted they had no real clue as to what they were doing when they made the first game, it was mostly a case of throwing a few feasible ideas together and seeing how it worked. They did enough right to make the second game more a case of refinining the formula and various elements thereof than changing it outright, which is why the second game is superior.

First game using second's engine though with certain rules of each cherrypicked through Tutu though = heaven (first game's summoning rules, second game's stack numbers for ranged weapons, etc).

Do I sound like a bastard when I ditched Imoen in Spellhold? Minsc called me out for it...

I've tried the 'convert BG 1 to BG 2 engine' patch. But for some reason, it has some sort of glitch that my characters won't fully go to the destination, they suddenly stop after 1 to 3 steps.

Though sometimes I wished they would remake the Bhaalspawn saga with Dragon Age engine...

edited 12th Sep '11 6:34:03 PM by ChrisX

So, where I need to go after solving Nashkel problems?

Did you read the letter in Mulahey's possession? Go to the west-most inn in Beregost, and talk to the guy on the second floor.

It's not just a simple patch, if you're using one that claims to be one then it's wrong. It's a total gameoverhaul, consisting of a huge number of files. I think Pocketplane.net has Tutu.

Question: that broken weapon that you always get from one of the duerger right at the start of BG 2, does that ever become significant in any way? Or is it just there for flavor?

It was meant solely as a Shout-Out to the iron crisis in the first game, you can drop it if you want.

Not significant.

Question, how many things in the games are based in D&D universe?

Everything? It's *mainly* Forgotten Realms (since that's where it's set) but it brings in a couple of other settings as cameos too. (Halflings from Dark Sun, a few Planescape thingies, etc.)

^^Oh, thank you. I've been wondering that for years. (Years in which I never played the first game, obviously.)

There's a fair amount of original content, though. None of it is contradictory to Realms canon, though. Hell, I think the games provide more info on the Sword Coast region than all the P&P supps ever did.

So, what I have to do in Durlag Tower?, I looted everything and killed everyone there, now what?