Questions from a returning BG'er!

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Hello all! I have recently picked up playing BG2 agian after beating it about 3 years ago and have been browsing these forums for a few days reading up on things I have long forgotten.

Even after reading numerous posts however, I still find that I have some questions that I hope you guys can help with.

First off, I keep reading about this "Mazzy" character. I certainly don't remember having he/she in my party 3 years ago, although my memory is a bit fuzzy and was wondering where do I find "Mazzy"?

Second, I can't really remember clearly where I picked up Edwin last time, I think it may have been the docks? But I am not entirely too sure.

So far in my game I am in chapter 2, got the stronghold from the De'arneis (sp?) quest, and am working on the firkagg quest in windspear hills. Well, with my current party and level Firkagg seems pretty impossible (My char is a wild mage, then I have Minsc, Yoshiro, Jehiera, Arie, and Anomen all currently around lvl 10) I was wondering if I maybe have ventured too far ahead for my parties level? Thankfully the dragon doesn't seem to worried about fighting me as he lets me just leave after killing his mageling pet.

So, any tips or answers to these questions will be greatly helpful for finding my way through this game agian without wondering around like a chicken with my head cut off I know there are walkthroughs but I don't like to follow the game like a book THAT much.

Thanks in advance,
New member #81458915

 

Welcome back!

Spoilers ahead....


You pick up Mazzy during the Ranger's stronghold quest. She's locked up inside the Temple Ruins.

You pick up Edwin during the Thieve's stronghold. He's on the third floor of Mae'var's guildhouse.

Firkraag is scripted so you can do the Windspear Hills quest at any level...if he's too advanced for your party, he pretty much invites you to come back later and kill him then.

 

Thanks

I imagine I can do the ranger and thief stronghold quests both in chapter 2 around my level? Much like the fighter stronghold I have just recently acquired?

 

Yeah, Mazzy is in the general vicinity of the Umar Hills.

Don't count on ever finding Edwin as I have never managed to find him. He's very elusive.

You can easily get by without fighting Firkraag (I've never fought him). It can be argued that it makes sense NOT to fight him anyway (but plenty of people will get all excited and disagree with me on that)

 

@HB, never found Edwin? Hm, I will have to investigate, I have always found him on 3rd floor of Mae'vars guildhouse.

As for having Mazzy and Edwin in same party, wouldn't that cause alignment problems? I mean Mazzy is almost a Paladin. I don't know, I have never used Edwin in BG2, only BG1.

Qustion: if you have dual classed character (ie F/T) can you get both strongholds?


As for fighting Firkraag, I've done it both ways.

 

Level 10 mages can kill the Firkraag.

Just cast Remove Fear and increase everybody's fire resistance to %100 via potions, scrolls, and spells. Chaotic Commands is nice for his mind-effecting spells.

Then unleash a few Lower Resistances on the dragon from your mages while your summons and tanks keep him busy. Fire Elementals are great fodders!

Then, once you lowered his resistance at least three times, unleash what you have got!

COMBO:Greater Malison+Chaos:Unless he rolls a 13 or better in his save vs spells, he will be confused. His script will be gone. No more wing buffets, breath weapons, or spells.

Breach is handy. But your tanks will not be able to hit his AC anyway.

Simultaneous magic missiles from 2-3 casters kick his a**, and a wand of lightninging will hurt him pretty much and quickly too! Then again a wand of frost will prove to be deadly, but you have a chance to turn him into ice cubes and spoil the loot.

 

Don't put too much stock in HB not finding Edwin; he's only on his second play.

Nope. They're fine.

Some, yes. The fighter stronghold is the only one that doesn't check to see if you already got a stronghold, so you can get a different stronghold and then go to de'Arnise Keep to grab that one as well. But having the fighter stronghold in addition to another one is an exception; you cannot have any other combination without a cheat or mod.

 

Ease of Use allows you to have ALL strongholds. Neat!

Then I remember a mod-in progress which would give NPCs the corresponding strongholds. Though it never made it I guess. A shame, it could prove to be fun!

 

Actually you are only registred as member #9600

 

Hmm, may I ask why? Seems to me if you kill him you get loot and xp, if you don't kill him do you get more later on or something?

Also, do you get more xp by playing on Insane difficulty? I've been looking at thetruths post about his solo cleric, and I sure don't remember getting that much xp in that undead area!

 

Because you don't have to kill him to complete your quest. Some characters would see that as reason enough not to kill him, either because they don't kill unless they have to, or because they think it foolhardy to risk their lives unnecessarily.

 

Ah, yea that's true. Also depends how much your party cares about restoring the name of garren windspear, and slaying an evil foe. So far his wing buffets are the only thing really cramping my style, but I think I'm getting the hang of the fight (although I may need to kick the difficulty back down to core AD&D rules for this one)

 

You'd think so, but no. You get absolutely nothing for not killing him. It only makes sense from an RP perspective of avoiding an unnecessary (and likely hard, depending on your level and tactics) fight.

No. thetruth is playing with multiple difficulty-increasing mods, which typically give out gobs of XP and uber-items to compensate for the increased difficulty.

 

I seem to recall that if your a Paladin you don't want to kill him right away because it will screw up your stronghold quests a bit. But it's been a long time since i've played a Paladin myself.

 

If your PC is a pally, don't kill Firkraag until The Order asks you.

You forget that HB does not snoop around in the game like us. You have to snoop and go in houses uninvited to find quests, items, etc.

 

@starwalker:
Yeah, but I was talking about not killing him at all, as in ever. Paladins should definitely wait.

@Shizzo:
After re-reading some of this, I have a question. Two things you said didn't quite mesh. You said in your first post that your character was a wild mage, and then said later that you'd gotten the fighter stronghold. ... You can't. Your character has to be at least part warrior for Nalia to even offer it to you after you clean out the keep. How did you manage that?

 

Ease of Use mod, multiple stronghold attachment.

(Only things I use in ease of use are the stronghold mod, and infinite ammo stacking because I'm lazy)

 

Hmm. I wasn't aware that allowed illegal matches. Meh, whatever.

 

I LOVE this idea! I sure wish someone would come through with that. Before I discovered mods and Ease of Use, I used to SK my way into all the strongholds...not because I'm greedy (well, not ENTIRELY), but because I thought it was a rip-off that, say, the Ranger's cabin wasn't awarded with my Kensai Mage when Minsc was standing right next to him! It's not like the PC did everything on his own! (Well, unless you're thetruth )

What adventurer worth his salt wouldn't jump at the chance to kill an evil red dragon?

Sure, for lots of stuff, but with all of the stronghold quests, you get invited to participate (by Firkraag, Delon, Raelis, Torgelis (sp), a cleric in the Temple district (which one depends on your alignment), that goon from Trademeet at the City Gates, and Nalia). The thieve's quest is a little tricky if your not a thief AND you don't have Yoshimo. Otherwise, either Yoshi or Gaelen will tip you off... and if neither of those applies, the guard at the thieve's guild will still invite you in.

You MUST get Edwin! His quest is an indispensable part of the game!