POLL: Preparing when you know your enemy

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It is for the players who aren't playing BG2 for first time.You are entering a room and you know there is a dragon\lich\balor etc. in that room, because you have played before.Do you prepare your weapons and spells for that room and buff before entering it or just enter it like you don't know anything.
I just enter and don't buff before,because it is roleplaying.If my character doesn't know anything,it means I don't know anything

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 38 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Preparing when you know your enemy (38 votes.)

Preparing when you know your enemy (Choose 1)
* I get ready for it,damn the roleplaying - 37% (14)
* I don't get ready for it,because it is roleplaying - 13% (5)
* It depends on situation - 50% (19)

 

More often than not you have to fight as soon as you enter a room. Also BG uses a lot of spawn traps. And there is no way for you to avoid them. if it were possible for my thief to scout ahead, I wouldn't prebuff.
But if you are role playing you would assume that the Rouge would have gone ahead, staked out the place and warned you about what you are about to face. So yeah, I generally prebuff.

P.S. If you were role-playing, you would never get CF nor the ElvenCourt Bow.

 

I always prepare, it's more or less automatic. But when my party stalks ANY dungeon, they normally have some buffs, like Chaotic Commands, Resist Fear and Protection from Evil 10' radius, so it's not really essential to buff any more.

And with dragons, it's pretty clear that you're going to face a dragon, even if you roleplay. When you enter the lair, well... it's obvious.

 

Honestly, there are plenty of situations your "pinnacle of the humanity" intelligent and wise characters are going to know what they're up against.
I mean, they're usualy way above your own (about 11 wis & int ) mind capabilities, not to mention they live in Forgotten Realms and are adventurers.

It should be reasonable to expect them to notice things like a big hole to the ground bearing big claw marks and burns.
Or a coffin in a room with an "evil presence". Really, they live off their knowledge to anticipate things.

@Shrikant
Gratz, new gem
btw, what do you mean by not getting CF or elven court bow when roleplaying?

 

Depends on the character I play and who is in the party.

I used to use spells on my party when I first played the game whenever my character would suspect something (Which would be quite often for some characters or very little for others)

Sometimes if I didn't have a party following my naïve characters around they'd be long gone

Same goes for the pacifist cleric

So I usually buff my characters when they get into dungeons and renew the spells shortly after they wear out unless I run out of spells or don't think they are needed. I try not to let the other times I've played affect my current games.

 

Yeah,every experienced adventurer in Forgotten realms know that coffins can contain liches or other undeads. But for example,there is a secret room in the inn in City Gates. Nobody can guess there is a lich in there. But if you prebuff before entering the secret room,it is cheesy.
But when you are going to Vampire Guild,you would prebuff because your character knows his\her enemy. Or you can feel there is a dragon arond. Prebuffing in the situations like these aren't cheesy, I think. Or before fighting with Jon,you can prebuff.
But playing without prebuffing is more amusing...

 

Think about it this way.

An adventurer in the forgotten realms, particularly a child of bhaal, is going to be used to danger around every corner. Preparing to be attacked before entering an unfamiliar place is not an unreasonable precaution for someone who's been constantly attacked for much of their life.

If you mean preparing for a specific kind of monster when the exact nature of the danger isn't clear from the area, then yes, that's cheap.

Trying to get through the whole game without ever prebuffing isn't roleplaying. It's foolishness. No adventurer would last long in the FR if they did that.

 

I just walk right on in and get ready to fight.

 

Yes, prebuffing before for every unexplored room gets veery boring, and when I know I´m off to fight Firkraag I sometimes equip my dragonslayer sword even before I see him. Even more ridiculous, my party members always have some kind of weapon equiped and spell triggers at the ready, even when they are in their own stronghold. I just don´t bother with the roleplaying of scouting already known places and putting away your weapons away when the fighting is done.

Even more so, when I plan to rest I don't have my characters remove their full plate armor, some forms of roleplaying are just too boring to bother with.

 

It depends on how strong the foe will be; if it's bog-standard monsters, then I likely won't prepare. If it's something quite nasty, then I prepare away. No way would I walk into a room which I knew had something severe in it without making adequate preperation.

 

I usually have components of Tactics installed, which pretty much requires that you prepare in advance. But I agree that, in principle, pre-buffing is pretty cheesy (other than some obvious exceptions such as Stoneskin/Iron Skin, which lasts for 12 hours).

 

Thanks Gothmog•
The Sphene was damn ugly.

Well there is really no reason for you to be entering homes at random within the city to look for adventure. You would probably get into trouble with the authorities and an adventurrers life is hard enough already. So if you are role-playing you wouldn't go into the slavers compound, and that means no CF.
And when you are hoping to get to the dungeon as fast as you can to save Nalia's dad you wouldnt spend time dealing with a bunch of golems to get a snazzy hammer or bow.

Ofcourse, both arguments are void if you are playing a really evil charecter

 

Nope
I do not prepare I Rush the room with my fighters and begin casting spells with the casters (rush with keldor and misck and begin cast with the other i play usualy with a Mage )
And if there is talking with the creature your buffs will take out ...

 

Great question. One of the most annoying aspects of this game is that it pretty much does require your characters to have a supernatural knowledge of what is in the next room in order to defeat it. And not only just the next room, you have to know to keep that anti-beholder shield because you know you are going to do the Unseeing Eye Quest. To take it a step further, you also have to psychically know that the Celestial Fury katana is in the Guarded Compound before you even start the game and this is why your character has proficieny points in that weapon type even though it is a rare Eastern weapon.

These are the sorts of reasons why this game is SO much better the first time through and why you should never read a walkthrough before playing. Playing for a second time is always going to be a bit "staged".

But then again, it is only a game, so what does it matter?

 

Well, then, you should try to plan your character out before you start the game if you are so worried about roleplaying it.

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I didn't know about the balor in the underdark with the whole gnome thing, but miraculously one chromatic orb from my main character bard killed it.

This doesn't mean that I don't support pre-buffing in situations where danger seems probable.
I maintain that for a Child of Bhaal that is almost anywhere unfamiliar, not to mention the UD.

 

Killed the balor with a chromatic orb? I want to congratulate your luck!
As for the question, I play tactics mode in İNSANE difficulty so if I don't buff/protect myself for rping, I will die very quickly and it is not fun! Even with tons of buffs and protection spells, contingencies you can still die pretty quickly in those conditions.
However, I seriously encourage everybody to play Tactics mod. It is fun!

 

ditto. My first time through I had a hell of a time killing that bastard since most of my part would be paralyzed or in fear.

I don't prepare "special buffs" but usually before I enter what looks like a big fight, I cast the basic buffs like haste. I usually only cast area-effect buffs and rarely cast character-specific ones.

 

Umm, the Balor actually had %90 magic resistance and has a saving throw versus spell: 8!

Now, your chromatic orb had only %10 chance of effecting him in the first place, and even it affects, with its +6 bonus to save, balor will save if he rolls a 2 on d20!

So, your chromatic orb affected the Balor with %10 chance, and unlucky Balor rolled a 1 on D20, (%5 chance!) and died!!!

So, it is NOT impossible but...plain hard!
I really want to congratulate your luck now!!!

 

Would Lower Magic Resistance work on Baalor's? Is there anything it doesn't work on?

 

I think Lower Resistance will work on Balor, no reason for it not to work. It can't work on some enemies who has total spell immunities such as Lich(immune up to 5th level) Demilich (immune to all) Demogorgon,(I am not sure but was he immune?) or a mage that protects itelf with Spell Immunity:Abjuration.