BG II - newbie thoughts

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Have you run from another dragon fight yet or did Arya have the guts to face this one?

If she didnt I reckon the elves would appreciate a nude female human running around trying to save their city.

 

I reckon anyone would love a nude female human running around. Maybe it's just me...

 

Huh? A nude female?

Well, we did fight our first ever dragon but it was a bit of an anti climax. The dragon blew Arya all the way across the screen, then Minsc whacked it with the silver sword and it died instantly.

Actually, this game seems to have become a lot easier since Haer Dalis started playing his harp. Maybe that song does have a big effect.

Anyway, we got all the relics and got into the palace. Spent AGES trying to figure out what the heck to do in there until eventually found the way to open the staircase.

So we ran around killing those giant aphids and then got ready for climactic battle with Irenicus. It was pretty tough - Haer Dalis died and at one point, Viconia was the only functioning character so she ran away then summoned some skeleton warriors to tie Jon up for a while before some of the others recovered. Minsc now has a cool 'Whirlwind' ability which is pretty damn useful and he used that to hack Jon up eventually.

But - what a swizz! Somehow, he's still not properly dead and the game still isn't over because now we're stuck in some sort of underground hell place. Man!

 

GREAT thread!

I've been too busy to frequent the boards much, so I completely missed this thread until now. What a great read.

HB - I hate your dragon fighting though. First time around I did the dragons after Underdark, because I could ,no problem there except the one you just wacked in one hit cost me several reloads and quite some heartache.

Still, you're on the the final stretch of SoA now, so keep it going. New thread for ToB?

 

Arya couldnt give in to this dragon anyway. Minsc without Boo just isnt the same.

Be careful what decisions you make now HB. These tests could change your, err Arya's, life permanently.

 

Something I should have mentioned about the bard song earlier is that it is bugged in favor of the player. Scythesong Immortal was trying to pin down exactly what it really does do, but I have anecdotal evidence in support. The bugged results seem to be somewhat erratic, but it can make your group pretty close to invincible from time to time.

Even if it didn't, a permanent +1 to all would be a pretty nice advantage. But there's no doubt that the song gives a lot more than just that.

 

Rude. Arya started the game with 18 Dexterity but now it is down to 16 after that Bhaal dream sequence and now these Hell tests. Now her already shakey AC is even worse.

 

I thought it was 17 after the Keep sequence with Imoen and Sav? When did it go down to 16!?!

I wouldnt worry to much about the AC as its gonna be pretty usless by the time you get to ToB anyway, the only thing your going to be relying on is your ability to backstab etc...

 

They giveth (original BG) and they taketh away (BG2)!

You've got Viconia though. I'd give her the best equipment in order to make sure she had the best AC possible and use her as the party tank, but maybe you're already doing that?

Haer'Dalis can be a good second tank with "Defensive Stance" and some spells.

Do you have Ilbratha? It's perfect for Arya.

Btw, have you tried casting Spirit Armor on Arya yet? What did you think - better or worse than Barkskin?

 

I have a Kensai in my game and I always used barkskin for big battles, works a treat

 

I think you can forget that barkskin and spirit armour real soon. 3,080,000 as a thief must be nearly here... and we all know what you get then

 

Well, HB doesn't. It's his first time through. I don't know if he'd consider this a spoiler, but ease up just in case.

 

Fair point. Was trying ever so hard not to spoil... In my defence it is in the manual.

 

It went down to 16 after she took the left hand door in order to save Minsc in Hell. It's not so much the AC, but that she is now a different person to what she was when she started the game. Dexterity was her main thing.

The Barkskin / Spirit Armour debate is moot because neither Nalia or Haer Dalis have Spirit Armour memorised.

Never mind, she is now immune to normal weapons (!) instead after collecting all those Bhaal tears (plus some other benefits but that seemed to be the coolest one). And, despite being a good character and helping everybody along the way, she now has a reputation of 8 (disliked), after she turned into the Slayer in a last ditch effort to finish off Irenicus when everyone else was either incapacitated or dead (Haer Dalis - for the second time).

So, there it is. I assume that we are now into the Throne of Bhaal stuff because that must have been the end of the original part with all those movies of Irenicus getting eaten by demons.

Haer Dalis chose the right two times to die because he managed to get resurrected both times for free and has now had his XP boosted from 400,000 up to 2.5 million (but seems to have lost all his cool gear). Viconia has also been boosted from 2.1 million up to 2.5 million. I guess that must be the minimum you are allowed to have for this section. Arya has about 3.3 million XP.

So, five characters have been dumped in a lonely looking forest. I wonder what happens from here...... I wonder how long it will take to get that reputation back up to something decent..... I wonder if I will manage to get to the end before I get tempted to start again with all those new character ideas I've thought of.......

 

Yay !!! Congrats !!!

You'd better begin a new thread, though.

 

Congrats! Arya defeats Irenicus in Hell! (And she might just get the chance to pick up her long-lost love Anomen in the near future; anyone care to guess whether the romance will still be active? Any NPC will be bumped up to 2.5mil XP)

Pity about HDs gear; I guess you could have had someone pick it up after he died and before the end of SoA...

Out of curiosity, which new ideas are these?

 

Things I'd like to try out in future games (if I ever get there):
- Viconia romance
- Jaheira romance
- Aerie romance
- Sorcerer
- Barbarian
- Ranger / Cleric
- Jester
- Skald
- Solo character
- Cernd
- Mazzy
- Korgan
- Yoshimo
- Trademeet
- Kangaxx (he is so important, his name's on the Sorcerer's Place T-Shirt but I never even met him)
- That damned super paladin sword

But enough of that! I still have this expansion to finish!

 

If a charecter dies in hell, the stuff left on the floor is not automatically picked up. Some one else must do it before Irenicus kicks it and then his gear becomes part of their inventory.

If you have money to spare, and I dont see how not, you can always go to a temple and donate money to raise your reputation. The highest you can get to this way is 16 IIRC.

Arya got HLAs yet? What did you pick?
ToB . . . new thread.

 

IIRC, turning into the slayer in hell takes a particularly heavy toll on your reputation. Since there are no witnesses in hell, I can only assume that it must leave other traces, such as, say, horns, which impact on how the good citizens of FR react to you.

That's alot of future games, HB; you are hereby promoted to "Splunge-in-Training"!

 

NICE ONE!

...now on to the expansion