Playing Classic RPGs

[Guest 2091327]

Lmao It's XP rain, XP!See what I meant?Those basilisks can be faced in two ways:-1 suicide mission: go destroy them with your entire party, in melee attack, fighting more than once at a time. If you succeed before they petrify you all, say you're a damned lucky man-2 normal mission: grab antipetrification scrolls, protect the entire party, use range attack only. If someone happens to be petrified, undo the spell with a Stone into flesh scroll (or whatever is called in the game). In this last case, killing basilisks is a joke and you also gain tons of XP How do you survive the spiders ambush without disarming traps? I remember that quest very well Anyway, disarming traps depends on your DEX score just like unlocking. Yes is the same icon of unlocking (the infinite sign). INT is for discovering devices (traps) and secret doors.

I just walked straight into the first trap actually. Have never come across a trap in open terrain before, so didn't even have on trap detection. That's also because I attack with the whole group all the time, which annoyingly puts off trap detection on the thief.Thankfully I noticed it looked like they petrified me. So I removed some spells and put in 2 protection from petrification. Cast it on my hero and let him go in alone. He could take the damage actually, and once they were locked onto him I let the other party members attack from afar. It worked quite well. Until the mage of all people decided to run into the middle of battle. I don't understand why that happen when I select them all and order to attack the same creature. She was set on sling too, so shouldn't be storming in like that. But I digress. It worked quite well actually, and we killed off 2 greater basilisks and a handful of "smaller" ones. 3 people levelled up. Great XP I'm starting to see the advantage of having more mages, that's for damn sure! Which will be even more true in the future I guess when probably everybody are messing us up with spells, poisons, petrification, being invisible and all sorts of crap. The downside to petrification spell is that it doens't last terribly long, and I can't put it on all members (not yet anyway).

 

[vilgefortze]

Keep melee units running around in circles and kill basilisks off from a range. Preferable magical attacks. Only melee units will be petrified. Use stone to flesh to convert them back.And yes..I am laughing. It's raining XP bro. Why are you complaining. Gnolls and kobolts? really? INT=perception, spottingDEX= general manual quickness and skill, ie: picking locks, disarming traps..etc.

 

[secondchildren]

@PangaeaDid you disable the AI? There's a small icon at the bottom right of the screen. It looks like a lantern. Disabling that allows the full control on the party. Otherwise, members answer to their script. You can change the script from their charsheet.

 

[Guest 2091327]

Is there a way to permanently turn off traps? I absolute HATE to be in cellars and crap like that with narrow hallways littered with traps. Walking two steps with a thief, waiting five seconds, and then walking two steps again for an hour is not my idea of fun. In addition, in Ulcaster Dungeon at least, there are piles of dangerous animals which mean I have to run tog get distance, but the NPCs get caught on walls and whatnot so vampyric wolves get their way with them.Will there be more and more of these kind of suckfest missions later in BG1 and BG2?Not sure I can be bothered with such snailing. It's probably faster to save every 10 seconds and run around normal, then reload every time an NPC gets retarded on a wall or runs into a trap.

 

[Guest 2091327]

@PangaeaDid you disable the AI? There's a small icon at the bottom right of the screen. It looks like a lantern. Disabling that allows the full control on the party. Otherwise, members answer to their script. You can change the script from their charsheet.

I have actually. It's been off since about the start. So I always order them around.

 

[secondchildren]

Is there a way to permanently turn off traps? I absolute HATE to be in cellars and crap like that with narrow hallways littered with traps. Walking two steps with a thief, waiting five seconds, and then walking two steps again for an hour is not my idea of fun. In addition, in Ulcaster Dungeon at least, there are piles of dangerous animals which mean I have to run tog get distance, but the NPCs get caught on walls and whatnot so vampyric wolves get their way with them.

No, you can't. I know it's annoying. Use Mastering stealing potion or raise Imoen's skill to detect. If you let her go, hide in the shadows, and left your party back, she can detect and disarm any trap in a few sec.

Will there be more and more of these kind of suckfest missions later in BG1 and BG2?Not sure I can be bothered with such snailing. It's probably faster to save every 10 seconds and run around normal, then reload every time an NPC gets retarded on a wall or runs into a trap.

Well it's quite common having traps in dungeons. Later on BG1 there are not so much. In BG2, yes. And it's better you'll have a good thief with you ;-)

 

[Guest 2091327]

No, you can't. I know it's annoying. Use Mastering stealing potion or raise Imoen's skill to detect. If you let her go, hide in the shadows, and left your party back, she can detect and disarm any trap in a few sec.

I already have her Find Traps on 100 (and lockpicking on 80). Will mastering stealing potion help then? Imoen is pretty crap with hiding in the shadows, so it often fails. But I can give it a try I guess.

Well it's quite common having traps in dungeons. Later on BG1 there are not so much. In BG2, yes. And it's better you'll have a good thief with you ;-)

So there will be a lot of this stuff in BG2? That's really bad news. It may be 'realistic' but it's annoying as hell! To such a degree I'm not sure I can be bothered. The traps are annoying enough, but it's even worse with the retarded NPCs who can't even walk-run in a corridor to get away from wolves and others who snap at their arses. "Normal" dungeons is one thing, but these mice mazes were absolutely horrible. Is that the kind of "dungeon" the game will throw at us increasingly often?Hoped there was a trainer or something that would disable these things, or show them without needing a thief standing in the same spot for a few seconds. I love the story and so forth, but I hate stealth missions (in all games) and snailing along like this is not my cup of tea at all. Sorry for the rant, but I truly hate "features" like this. It doesn't take skill to pass it. It takes luck with not accidentally walking the thief a step too far, or having NPCs caught on walls or not running where they should. And a whole lot of patience which I don't have for this. And saving every 10 seconds and reloading a LOT. Despise it. This is the start of the game all over again. Only worse.Sorry for the rant, but I need to get out some frustration with this. Blasting AC/DC to the paint comes off the walls help too!

 

[secondchildren]

Thumb up. Rant and frustration are allowed and accepted But if you don't learn how to deal with that issue, defitively BG and DnD world is not for you. The game requires planning, strategy and a looooooot of patience. As I've said powerplaying needs work.Plus dungeons commonly have that nasty thing called trap inferno. That's why we like D&D If Imoen detecting stat is 100 traps have no secrets for her. I said using the Mastery Thieving potion for anything regarding rogue's job. Hide in the shadows included. There is invisibility ring and non detection cloak, both useful for a thief. A thief with those items may step on a mage's back and stab him in a sec. If she fails in hiding shadows the first time, try again until she succeed. I've always wondered how in this world a thief with hiding stat at 100 could possibly go concealed even at open air at midday. But in BG you can! You haven't visit the Firewine dungeon yet, right? well "that" is a maze Anyway in BG2 I don't remember similar mazes (except than the beholder's lair). I only remember two of the most nasty/awesome dungeons. Full of traps, wicked creatures and riddles... omg so much fun!And remember that vampiric wolves are 2000XP worth. Less nasty now?

 

[Guest 2091327]

Thumb up. Rant and frustration are allowed and accepted But if you don't learn how to deal with that issue, defitively BG and DnD world is not for you. The game requires planning, strategy and a looooooot of patience. As I've said powerplaying needs work.Plus dungeons commonly have that nasty thing called trap inferno. That's why we like D&D

Maybe it simply isn't for me. Apart from the beginning when I kept dying all the time, I have liked the game. Huge areas that are diverse, many different enemies, different strategies required for various enemies, and so on. But these trap-infested dungeon mazes I don't like one tiny bit. So if that's what I'll see more and more in the game, and as I move over to BG2, then I'm not sure it's for me. "Trap inferno" sounds like an absolute nightmare! ((

If Imoen detecting stat is 100 traps have no secrets for her. I said using the Mastery Thieving potion for anything regarding rogue's job. Hide in the shadows included. There is invisibility ring and non detection cloak, both useful for a thief. A thief with those items may step on a mage's back and stab him in a sec. If she fails in hiding shadows the first time, try again until she succeed. I've always wondered how in this world a thief with hiding stat at 100 could possibly go concealed even at open air at midday. But in BG you can!

I have bought the armour that gave +15% hides in shadows. Money was piling up so I figured I'd fork out for it even if it didn't really give me a lot. But haven't come across any of those rings or cloaks yet.

You haven't visit the Firewine dungeon yet, right? well "that" is a maze Anyway in BG2 I don't remember similar mazes (except than the beholder's lair). I only remember two of the most nasty/awesome dungeons. Full of traps, wicked creatures and riddles... omg so much fun!And remember that vampiric wolves are 2000XP worth. Less nasty now?

I've been to those ruins actually (I missed the Ulcaster ruins at first so went back today). They were a nightmare and was arguably an even worse maze, but for some reason I didn't find it as frustrating and infuriating as the Ulcaster one. Maybe because there weren't really any dangerous enemies (bar the mages etc at the end), so it didn't matter all that much if people got stuck on walls. Sometimes they went in the totally wrong direction or stopped moving though, which was annoying. I've got nodes on a very high number, but I'll squeeze it up a lot more and see if it helps. Any recommendations on modern machines for cache and nodes?2000 XP is good (I did kill him, but lost an NPC or two to retardedness) but it's the annoyance itself that is wanting me to scream at the screen. LMAO! No, strike that. Which is causing me to rant at the screen Another annoyance is that there is almost no field of view in the maze. So poor Imoen will have to run for her life with a vampyric wolf or whatever a step behind her.Why couldn't it be called Outdoors and Dragons instead? Riddles sounds like fun btw, but all the traps can shove themselves up a dark "alley" Oh well, I'll give it another go and see if what happens. But right now I need to blast some Iron Maiden on full tits to get me over a nasty loss in football today.. Also, that Khark guy was one hard son of a bitch. I'm not sure if I was wearing down his shield or wasting wands, but I used one and a half wands of lightning on him, half an amulet of missiles, a couple of fireballs, called a lightning, you name it. I threw all I had at him. Probably went though a handful of light wound spells and almost 10 healing potions too. In the end I did put him on his back, but boy oh boy what a tough fight it was. Both my mage and Hero was down to 1 HP at some point. First my mage, then the hero later as he needed to get Karkh's attention. Was actually a little disappointed with "only" 3500 XP and what he dropped. That was without doubt the toughest fight I've been in.I read afterwards somewhere it was best to just go out of his field of view and wait to his shield wore off, so I guess I just wasted a lot of firepower on him. Oh well. Got him on my own at least. That is something That's the kind of action I like though. Trying to figure out mages and hopefully learning what spells to use and so forth. Not tip-toeing in a dungeon infested with traps and wild animals that pick off my NPCs that get caught on a wall or in a corner.

 

[secondchildren]

Ah yes! the Ogre magi at Firewine Bridge. I remember. The trick is run away just after he cast his own protection and then stay away from him for a looooog time. I don't remember how long but it's.....long!After that time, the protection is over. So you can come and kick him the @ss at once.About BG and dungeons:I don't know, maybe you got used to different kind of games. Games with lots of action and less strategy. DAO is one of them (though a bit strategy there can sa your @ss a lot). BG requires time and patience. Remember that the very first gameplay (whatever the game is) is alway a pain in the back. Mostly, because you don't know the game, the mechs, the tactics, the rules. My first playthrough in BG was a sufference too. Same with DAO. It went so bad in DAO that I almost left and wanted to play no more. But then I learnt and my second running was certainly much better. You have to accept this anytime you play a new game. To me BG has no secret any more. That doesn't mean that I c annot die. Simply I can deal with it easily. I'm sorry you have so much trouble in Ulcaster and I know it can be frustrating. But I tell you: this is definitly a minor evil. I mean traps are annoying but not much. There even worse issues, like almost invulnerable foes, dragons, powerful mages and liches. There are vampires (BG vampires can be very annoying), demons, elementals, genies, golems..... I don't wanna scare you. I'm simply saying that there are more reasons to bump your end up. Remembere that you can always skip that mission and search for another one. If there's one good point in BG is the wide open world and open chances to gain XP in many ways. You can also go directly in Cloackwood. When you'll reach Baldur's Gate City you'll certainly have more fun. Really. Is not like wandering in different wild areas, spotting random enemies, being attack everywhere, making all fed ex missions. In the city there is much more. To me Cloakwood was a joke. Mages in BG are not so good, they have poor protections. In BG2 you can call them... walking nightmares! You can find a Cloak of Non-Detection in Cloakwood forest. It's the same area where you'll find Coram and Aldeth and the druids. I don't remember where is the Ring of Invisibility in BG. Maybe was the expansion ToSC (???)But there are potions of Invisibility. They work the same. Haven't you try them?

 

[Guest 2091327]

Ah yes! the Ogre magi at Firewine Bridge. I remember. The trick is run away just after he cast his own protection and then stay away from him for a looooog time. I don't remember how long but it's.....long!After that time, the protection is over. So you can come and kick him the @ss at once.

That's what I should have done instead of "wasting" a lot of wand power. It was still a fun fight though. He sure was hard. I know for next time. By throwing all that stuff at him, did I wear down his protection btw, or is it one of those that simply won't go down unless I know what spell to use against him?

About BG and dungeons:I don't know, maybe you got used to different kind of games. Games with lots of action and less strategy. DAO is one of them (though a bit strategy there can sa your @ss a lot). BG requires time and patience. Remember that the very first gameplay (whatever the game is) is alway a pain in the back. Mostly, because you don't know the game, the mechs, the tactics, the rules. My first playthrough in BG was a sufference too. Same with DAO. It went so bad in DAO that I almost left and wanted to play no more. But then I learnt and my second running was certainly much better. You have to accept this anytime you play a new game. To me BG has no secret any more. That doesn't mean that I c annot die. Simply I can deal with it easily. I'm sorry you have so much trouble in Ulcaster and I know it can be frustrating. But I tell you: this is definitly a minor evil. I mean traps are annoying but not much. There even worse issues, like almost invulnerable foes, dragons, powerful mages and liches. There are vampires (BG vampires can be very annoying), demons, elementals, genies, golems..... I don't wanna scare you. I'm simply saying that there are more reasons to bump your end up. Remembere that you can always skip that mission and search for another one. If there's one good point in BG is the wide open world and open chances to gain XP in many ways. You can also go directly in Cloackwood. When you'll reach Baldur's Gate City you'll certainly have more fun. Really. Is not like wandering in different wild areas, spotting random enemies, being attack everywhere, making all fed ex missions. In the city there is much more.

I've never been the shooter kind of person, so it's not that. I've played strategy games before. I do like this one so far overall, it's just that those trap-infested dungeon mazes were a solid pain in the neck. Thankfully I'm done with Ulcaster now. I'm crossing my fingers I won't come across something like that in a while...This being my first playthrough I obviously don't know the game mechanics as well as most, particularly as it's my first "proper" D&D game. I liked DAO at first, but it got boring with a million enemies everywhere, doing the same routines all the time. Didn't even finish one playthrough. At some point I simply stopped playing and never went back to it.Sure sounds like there will be a lot of very dangerous and hard enemies as the game progresses. Think I'm fine with that though. It's not really the strategy stuff I don't like, it was the snailing around in the maze. Coming up against mages is actually something I enjoy, as it's different than the usual routine of hailing arrows at stuff. I'm trying out various things. Some are horribly inefficient and others work very well. Slowly learning I guess.Thanks for the positive words about the city. Now I have something to look forward to there. Will be interesting to see what happens when I get there. Not least how the story unfolds. Because the game is so big and open it's easy to get a little disconnected with the story when not progressing it for a while. I'm just sort of wandering about, clearing out maps I haven't been to yet. So that's a feather in the hat for the Witcher. Their mix of open and closed world worked very well I thought. All characters are up to level 6 now, except multi-classed Jaheira who are still 5. So think I will head over to Cloakwood and see what nightmare will greet me. Forked out 16,000 for the mage robe in High Hedge, which lowered AC by 2 points. Don't think there is anything left buying now to improve equipment.

To me Cloakwood was a joke. Mages in BG are not so good, they have poor protections. In BG2 you can call them... walking nightmares! You can find a Cloak of Non-Detection in Cloakwood forest. It's the same area where you'll find Coram and Aldeth and the druids. I don't remember where is the Ring of Invisibility in BG. Maybe was the expansion ToSC (???)But there are potions of Invisibility. They work the same. Haven't you try them?

Hmm. So you don't think Cloakwood was so hard? I'm getting mixed signals here Haven't tried the potion of invisibility actually. Haven't felt like I've needed it. But to be honest I have little idea when to use the potions. I just keep storing them up for future use, but 'never' use them. No wonder I have problems with inventory space. Fired up the game, and the potions take up over two full persons 5 Absorption32 Healing6 Antidote2 Magic Protection3 Hill Giant Strength4 Heroism1 Mirrored Eyes6 Oil of Fiery Burning4 Oil of Speed4 Invisibility1 Stone Giant Strength1 Frost Giant Strength1 Cloud Giant Strength1 Perception1 Cold Resistance1 Fire Resistance1 Freedom1 Agility1 Explosions3 Stone Form1 Fire Breath2 Magic Blocking2 Fortitude1 Insight1 Genius1 Invulnerability1 Strength2 Power1 Defense1 Violet Potion1 Red PotionIf you wouldn't mind helping me get rid of a lot of stuff, which of these are worth keeping and what can I sell?All probably have their use in certain situations, but which do I absolutely need, and what is basically just extra baggage?

 

[secondchildren]

It's my pleasure, mate! First, just a few answers:About DAO: you lost nothing at all if you didn't finish the game. Really. Same old story: you gain some more talents, your mages gains new awesome spells, you learn how to use combo. Same bunch of foes, tons of foes any time. At the end there's the Master boss, the Archdemon, definitively easier than any other dragons in the game. Just one little surprise before the end of the story, but nothing more. You become a hero...all hail the hero...etc. Boooring.About the ogre magi: okay, I have to check the guide coz I admit I don't remember how it worked. Basically, he is protected by a Minor Globe of Invulnerability. If you has some good dispel magic enchantments, you could get rid of it easily. But as far as I remember Dynaheir has not that magic. Jaheira's dispel doesn't work, coz it's a area spell. Indeed the dispel I'm talking about it's a "target" enchantment. Its symbol is whirl. And now, about the potions, I would sell:-Absorbing potions-Heroism (never used and no idea how it worked)-Mirrored Eyes (you don't need any more)- Invisibility potion (only if Imoen is good enough in hiding. Otherwise, keep them)- Stone Giant Strength, Frost Giant Strength, Cloud Giant Strength...etc: give just on these per warrior\ranger\rogue. I mean the fighters. You can keep just those which give you higher points, Cloud if I remember well. The other ones, just sell.-Perception-Cold Resistance, Fire Resistance-Freedom: this is useful if you drink it before you've been entrapped by Entangle, Web etc. -Agility: maybe useful in some occasions. I always sell.-Stone Form-Fortitude-Insight (though it maybe useful for Jaheira, for example)-Invulnerability-Strength-Power-Defense-Violet, Red Potion

 

[vilgefortze]

...About DAO: ...... Boooring....

Keep saying that in public and soon not even I will be able to save you.

 

[secondchildren]

...About DAO: ...... Boooring....

Keep saying that in public and soon not even I will be able to save you.

Oh dear!

 

[Guest 2091327]

Thanks a lot for that thorough run-down Imoen has poor hiding abilities, so I can keep the Invisibility potion. Just in case. Heh. And if I also keep the Giant Strength potions for use with warriors, I am left with these.32 Healing6 Antidote2 Magic Protection6 Oil of Fiery Burning4 Oil of Speed4 Invisibility3 Hill Giant Strength1 Stone Giant Strength1 Frost Giant Strength1 Cloud Giant Strength1 Explosions1 Fire Breath2 Magic Blocking1 GeniusThis is much more manageable. Will be nice with some inventory space again On DAO; I did like it at first, when I got used to the unusual controls. But the more I played it the more stale it became. Each battle was a slash and spell fest, and rather chaotic. Could never make proper sense of the automation of NPCs either, which meant a whole lot of pausing, and still they ran into places they shouldn't be. In the end I grew bored with the whole thing, and the story wasn't really enough to keep my interest. Nice to hear I haven't lost out on anything by not finishing it. I'm of course still early in the Baldur's Gate story and universe, but so far it seems to be more diverse and the story is more interesting.

 

[vilgefortze]

On DAO; I did like it at first, when I got used to the unusual controls. But the more I played it the more stale it became. Each battle was a slash and spell fest, and rather chaotic. Could never make proper sense of the automation of NPCs either, which meant a whole lot of pausing, and still they ran into places they shouldn't be. In the end I grew bored with the whole thing, and the story wasn't really enough to keep my interest. Nice to hear I haven't lost out on anything by not finishing it.

Honestly. DAO wasn't that bad. I must say I enjoyed it to a certain extend. The story wasn't bad. But the implementation left a lot wanting. If you talk to more people and get more and more information out of them, the picture slowly begins to take shape and...well...you might enjoy it.There are games that you will lose interest midway, but if you persevere to the very end, you might actually want to play it once more, or a couple of times more to see what might have been done differently. DAO isn't a graet game, but it's at least worth 1 complete playthrough.

I'm of course still early in the Baldur's Gate story and universe, but so far it seems to be more diverse and the story is more interesting.

And to think I might have had a teensy hand in Pangaea playing this game at all....*tears in Vilgefortze's eyes*I bet secondchildren is quite close to tears (of joy) as well

 

[Guest 2091327]

Hehehehe. So much time has been lost to that game now. Damn you all! It is great though. Wish I was into that kinda games (or games for that matter) when it came out. I suppose Dune 2000 came out about at the same time. I remember playing that quite a lot. Fun game it was too, and sometimes very difficult due to getting stormed right off the bat.Did game companies put more energy into making quality games before, or would that be looking at the period with rose-tinted glasses?Just seems like today it's more about pumping out a new version of a game to get money in, a bit like with new cellphones. Toss it on the market and see how it does, with too little testing and quality control. There are so many games now where the users are basically beta testers for the first months (assuming the developer even bothers to fix bugs).

 

[vilgefortze]

Did game companies put more energy into making quality games before, or would that be looking at the period with rose-tinted glasses?

Show me another Planescape Or BG and I'll say it's only the glasses.I believe TW has it in it to rank among the best. And I'm not saying it here because its the TW forum. I said the same thing in the Bioware forum and got flamed to hell for it.

 

[secondchildren]

DAO isn't a graet game, but it's at least worth 1 complete playthrough.

That is true

And to think I might have had a teensy hand in Pangaea playing this game at all....*tears in Vilgefortze's eyes*I bet secondchildren is quite close to tears (of joy) as well

Honestly I'm totally melted

I believe TW has it in it to rank among the best. And I'm not saying it here because its the TW forum. I said the same thing in the Bioware forum and got flamed to hell for it.

My Jedi perception senses that Bioware forum is a bunch of fanatics or similar. They do disturb the force. And I don't like it.@PangaeaAbout Imoen, a little tip (we're a family of cheaters, right?): just raise her Hiding skill next time she levels up. In BG city there's a little funny quest for a guild.....Next step will be: BG2, NWN and Planescape Torment. Yea!

 

[Guest 2091327]

I believe TW has it in it to rank among the best. And I'm not saying it here because its the TW forum. I said the same thing in the Bioware forum and got flamed to hell for it.

That I find very hard to believe. I mean, I only got flamed to hell and back for not posting all the tiniest details of my specs when wondering why the hell all the characters in Mass Effect suddenly looked like they had smallpox. Such a friendly mob over there... They should move to Egypt. I hear Mubarak is hiring.

About Imoen, a little tip (we're a family of cheaters, right?): just raise her Hiding skill next time she levels up. In BG city there's a little funny quest for a guild.....Next step will be: BG2, NWN and Planescape Torment. Yea!Next stemp will be: BG2

Thanks for the tip. I figured I'd put more points into lockpicking as it's on 80. I don't need more than that?Calling it cheating is a little harsh though. Tipping off more like it It's not like we're using a trainer with God-mode or some crap like that.I'll try to get through this game at least, and then move over to BG2 if I still have time. The next months will be quite busy though, so not sure how much more gaming I'll be able to put in. Or should put in.Have sold off some stuff now and gone into Cloakwood. The 2nd area was filled with traps, and it was sheer luck I didn't hit the first one. But throughout the whole level I didn't hit one trap, which was nice. SPOILERS!!!Went into the Dungeon, and what a dungeon it was! Must admit I was probably very lucky, cause the first thing I did was to throw a web behind the big fat dude in the middle, hoping to catch the spiders before they all ganged up on us. That didn't work. Then I hit a fireball behind him to injure him without doing us any harm. Little did I know there were piles of creatures over there who took a good bit of damage from all this. So with Lady Luck on my side, everybody survived with flying colours Moving over to the SW Cloakwood area now, wondering what will face us next..... At least XP is shooting up nicely.Is it normal to face the Wyvern on the transfer from Cloakwood 2 to Cloakwood SW? That one quite surprised and worried me, but thankfully it went fine.END SPOILERS (for now.....)