Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[octavius]

BG1:EE is barely a decent rpg. Barely. It's ridiculous to call it a masterpiece and a joke that it's ranked in Codex's top 20.

Well, it isn't.
It was not even relased back then.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

The obvious solution is to just solo BG 1-2 + expansions on insane as a F

ftfy

 

[Dzupakazul]

as a F

"The Living Embodiment of Paying Your Respects" is my least favourite additional class from The Darkest Day. More broken than the Morituri.

 

[Lacrymas]

virgin_newfag, you missed the point. It was never about the story or characters, or the world. The story was always C-tier schlock just to get you moving and not being able to talk to the party members is a plus in my book. They were a lot so you could change them around if someone gets chunked, people got attached to them, however, so they "blossomed" into the modern Bioware style overwritten garbage that is rarely successful. Your UI complaints can probably be fixed by mods, depending on what exactly you want, or, as a last resort, the EEs. It's about the adventure in an open world where you get to control what and when you do it in the most fundamental sense. It's not like modern open world games where the game tells you you have freedom, but you are actually in a grotesque Skinner's Box where everything is calculated to funnel you into specific activities. Yes, BG1 is unstructured and fragmentary, but all its other charms outweigh the bad. You are expecting things from it you shouldn't be and judging it based on those warped standards. Research BG1's context at release and development as well, you'll understand why it's what it is better and probably learn to appreciate it more.

BG2 is different and is already showing the abomination that Bioware would eventually become, it's kind of like being in the Twilight Zone when you play it in that context. It's not bad, obviously, it's great, but very different from 1 in some wrong places.

 

[virgin_newfag]

Lacrymas I should probably mention that I kinda rushed the game, just because moving the party around was so tedious. Maybe if I played it like an exploration game at a different pace my opinion would be different.

 

[Baardhaas]

BG1:EE wasn't a masterpiece when it came out. It was (and still is) a mediocre rpg that had good graphics for its time, and the best thing that can be said for it is that at least you had the freedom to explore a relatively large world map. If you were into old school crpgs like Wizardry, Ultima, M&M or the Goldbox games, it was popamole. It mainly appealed to mainstream gamers that leaned who enjoy a fantasy setting, i.e. people who came from playing Myst, HoMM2, HoMM3, Warcraft and Diablo.

BG1:EE is barely a decent rpg. Barely. It's ridiculous to call it a masterpiece and a joke that it's ranked in Codex's top 20.

Yeah you said that already on the previous page. Reported you for :retadred: farming.

 

[Brzęczyszczykiewicz]

Anyone knows which BG2 mod causes random encounter with seemingly infinite number of rune killers?

 

[octavius]

Look up the item code of "Rune Killer" in Infinity Explorer

Then make a .bat file like this:

mkdir change-log
WeiDU.exe --log nul --change-log ITEMCODE.CRE >change-log/change-log.txt --out change-log
pause

Place it in the main BG2 folder and run the file.
Look up the output file in the change-log folder. It should list the mod(s) that introduce/modify "Rune Killer".

 

[Brzęczyszczykiewicz]

Look up the item code of "Rune Killer" in Infinity Explorer

Then make a .bat file like this:

mkdir change-log
WeiDU.exe --log nul --change-log ITEMCODE.CRE >change-log/change-log.txt --out change-log
pause

Place it in the main BG2 folder and run the file.
Look up the output file in the change-log folder. It should list the mod(s) that introduce/modify "Rune Killer".

I'll try it in free time, but not sure if it'll help because this is something I've encountered in some other playthrough.

 

[mister_matt]

Does anyone actually go into stealth playing a thief in these games? It seems utterly pointless.

 

[Lacrymas]

It's one of only 2 ways to backstab, the other being invisibility, which is kind of the same thing, soooooo.... There's also Mislead, but that's kind of like invisibility. It also helps immensely when soloing and scouting.

 

[mister_matt]

Usually encounters I run into immediately devolve into a total clusterfuck SO FAST, and generally end fairly quickly before I get a chance to maneuver into a position where I could think about hitting the backstab button.

With the way the map fog works, and how pathfinding sometimes doesn't work and leads to you getting half the group caught on some rando set dressing, it seems incredibly difficult to use. A lot of the encounters are also forced: either thru story, or by opening a door leading to a group of baddies that want to give you a hi five without your choice in the matter.

Am I playing the game wrong?

 

[Somberlain]

Stealth is incredibly useful. It requires a bit of micromanagement but with stealth, you can backstab over and over and over again for massive damage. Especially useful against mages, after you've dispelled their combat protections and want to kill them immediately, before they cast new Stoneskins etc.

 

[laclongquan]

IF you solo, yeah. Since I always have a party to control, backstab is not a very good gameplay in BG1 for me.

Without the more advanced concept of backstabbing, allow me to bs without micromanage, I wouldnt bother with the thing.

 

[Somberlain]

I never solo and I still use it all the time. It's not particularly hard or tedious if you actually learn how and when to do it properly.

You just need to git gud.

 

[hell bovine]

Look up the item code of "Rune Killer" in Infinity Explorer

Then make a .bat file like this:

mkdir change-log
WeiDU.exe --log nul --change-log ITEMCODE.CRE >change-log/change-log.txt --out change-log
pause

Place it in the main BG2 folder and run the file.
Look up the output file in the change-log folder. It should list the mod(s) that introduce/modify "Rune Killer".

I'll try it in free time, but not sure if it'll help because this is something I've encountered in some other playthrough.

Are they rune "killers" or rune "assassins"? If the second, apparently there is a bugged infinite spawning encounter in D0questpack.

 

[hell bovine]

Does anyone actually go into stealth playing a thief in these games? It seems utterly pointless.

Not often, but yes: thief in stealth scouts ahead, sometimes with summons tagging along.

 

[octavius]

Before you have access to Whirlwind Attack or items that cast Improved Haste, a backstabbing Thief or Assassin can, if used optimally, do more damage per round than a dedicated fighter type.
So it's definitely worth it.

But of course, some enemies can't be backstabbed, others see right through invisibility, and high level mages are nearly always protected by Prot vs Magic Weapons. That spell is almost as annoying as Time Stop (although this spell does have the positive effect of making PfMW expire faster) and Horrid Wilting.

 

[Somberlain]

Pro tip: always carry normal weapons around to use against PfMW. In addition, you can use assassin's poison weapon skill or poisoned throwing daggers to disrupt the mages with Stoneskin. Otherwise, a mage with PfMW + Stoneskin is untouchable by melee until you dispel those.

 

[octavius]

Normal weapons + WW attack is a good tactic against PfMW + Stoneskin.
Or Mazzy shooting normal arrows with the Tuigan bow.
I've found that I rarely have to dispell the protections.

Enemy SCS mages are also a bit too fond of the Breach spell. What's the point in Breaching Jaheira's Iron Skins if you don't have any allied grunts to attack her?

 

[Lacrymas]

Backstabs can do tremendous damage in BG1, too, especially with staves. Cleric/Thief can very easily set up backstabs, Stealth -> Backstab -> Sanctuary -> Re-stealth -> Backstab -> Invisibility pot -> Backstab -> Sanctuary -> etc. I did 64 damage with a staff at Thief level 5, managed to solo kill the vampiric wolves in the Temple map then. Backstabs are also great at killing enemy mages in a party, the problem is the high THAC0 of single-class Thieves and the difficulty of connecting the backstab.

 

[octavius]

I refuse to backstab with staves; I can't picture it. Anyway, I thought only the Staff of the Ram or whatever it's called could be used for backstabbing.

And why waste a turn with Sanctuary? Better to run off to some shaded part and re-stalth, or just use Invisibility Potions once they become plentiful. First pair of Boots of Speed I find I give to my backstabber so (s)he can run away fast, hide and run back quickly.

 

[Theldaran]

I refuse to backstab with staves; I can't picture it. Anyway, I thought only the Staff of the Ram or whatever it's called could be used for backstabbing.

You can stab with every weapon usable by a rogue.

About stabbing with a staff, you should look at it as a sneak attack; appearing from the shadows, suddenly letting out a war cry and smashing the hell out of your brains with it.

You can stab with longswords and, I think with katanas too. Same concept I guess.

 

[Lacrymas]

It's an unexpected and sudden strike against a vital organ, tbh, it's just called Backstab due to tradition. With staves I picture it as a bash to the head.

And why waste a turn with Sanctuary? Better to run off to some shaded part and re-stealth

I don't think this is always possible, especially when soloing, unless you are cheesing the AI, I guess.

 

[laclongquan]

Backstab with staff is just like knocking someone on the back of the head with a long rod/quarterstaff. aka mugging. I dont see anything unbelievable about it.

A hit on spinal column is also nothing to sneer about~