Been through the game once, looking for advice

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 10:21 pm

I somehow managed to make it through to the end of the game once. I think it was mostly luck. Anyway i missed a lot of the content, finished in 57 ish days ingame. I rushed cause a. wanted my divine soul back, and b. Thought if i didn't hurry I might fail the quest or the game or whatever. I have a feeling that like in BG1, everything ingame is "urgent," but you can take your sweet time here and there. What things are important to finish ASAP and where do you have time to spare? I'm trying the game again and i'm delaying ch2 by not paying the shadow thieves (playing a good party so not gonna side with bodhi). Doing all the quests I can to see what content I missed. One thing i noticed is some items dont drop all the time, like the druegar in the starting dungeon with the nymph acorns drops the mail of the dead only some of the time, not all the time, whats up with that? Took a look and the pantaloons enigma and all i get in the picture on the wall is a dagger +1 and maybe some other junk.

anywho let me babble on something else.

Party. Having trouble contructing a party. I prefer to make 4 of em myself and leave 2 for 2npcs. however Imoen generally fills one of those slots permantly. After some thinking that would be alright because if i quest b4 i save imoen then very few npcs are needed after that, if any. can i do that?

I usually play a sorc, who can be powerful and useless at the same time. Do I waste a magic missle here...or save it for the next battle? Can you sleep to much? just cast away and not worry about it or be careful not to waste spells? My elven sorc All but took out the shadow dragon herself at level 12 or 13. mirror image/lower resistance x4/ dmg spells/recast mirror image as needed. few pets and other party members were just running around distracting the dragon once in a while, and minsc prolly dealt the final blow.

Jaheria is a ***** and no where near as good as Anomen, Minsc is comic relief and his stupidity often gets the party in trouble. Any thoughts? Trying to keep them in the party cause people say they are great but I hate them. Jaheria wont stop harassing my main char with her stupid problems. I finally told her to shove it in the dialogue and she called me cruel =P

Thoughts on these npcs?

My wizard Slayer was a dissapointment, his wizard slaying skills sucked ass at level 15 or 16 or 17 or whatever he was.

Archer was pretty good to start but later lacked killing ability.

Anomen is a fabulous NPC, Sunray, Healing spells, blade barrier....i tossed a cloak of mirroring on him and he took out the entire beholder dungeon in the underdark single handedly.

Imoen- good for story line, decent thief

Valygar- Dont like him very much but never got rid of him after planar sphere, which i didnt follow up on, didnt do any of the related quests.

All and all i guess im just confused, im to tired to babble on anylonger so if you actually read all of that thanks, respond if any thoughts come to mind

Thanatos · Post by **Thanatos** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 12:24 am

There's no time limit on the game as far as I know. It's just that if you wait until you've done all the sidequests before you depart for Spellhold, you mind find it a bit easy.

I've never played a multiplayer party before. I tend to either play solo or with a full party of NPCs. If you just play with one or two, you miss a lot of the banter between the characters throughout the game. Plus, there are quests for each NPC, and you can romance some of them.

You can ditch Imoen at any time. She's just a disposable plot device

. I actually left her in the maze the second time through the game. Muahaha.

Minerva · Post by **Minerva** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:35 am

@Forgotten: Welcome to GameBanshee.

In your first game, did you play the multi player game, or main character+5 NPCs? I recommend to try 4-5 NPCs with different combination (and different main character) for a few times, because it's always different.

Experiment after that.

I prefer creating 3 of them myself (and always play 6 members party). NPCs aren't perfect, but I like the interaction between them.

I know Jaheira doesn't have high Wisdom nor Strength for the perfect Druid or Fighter, but don't compare her with Anomen. Druid and Cleric are totally different in the game. I like having one of each (regardless the sub-class, single/multi/dual, NPC or not) for different use.

Personally, I hate Anomen's arrogance and "You remind me of my sister" chats. He's less irritating when I played male character, but most of the time I play female and, as being female myself, his pick-up lines are annoying!

I like Valygar; He's great scout and can do huge damage with Celestial Fury and Strength enhancement (with Belt). And, unlike Minsc, he doesn't start shouting while hiding in shadow...

Minerva · Post by **Minerva** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:48 am

Originally posted by Forgotten
Took a look and the pantaloons enigma and all i get in the picture on the wall is a dagger +1 and maybe some other junk.

You need to import a character WITH pantaloon (Bronze, I think) from BG1 to find it in BG2.

Graeye · Post by **Graeye** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 6:58 am

NPC's

If you play as a sorceror, I would suggest Minsc, Anomen, Keldorn and Jan and then add Imoen when you rescue her. Minsc, Anomen and Keldorn make good up-front fighters; Jan is the best thief in the game and can throw a few spells, as well; Anomen provides healing and you (and Imoen) are the casters. You will have one empty slot early in the game for Valygar, Nalia, Korgan, etc. to complete their individual projects.

Btw, Jan + Mercykiller ring + 12 big traps = Melissan is toast.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 8:04 am

ty

Thanks guys and keep em coming. I played 3 of my characters + 3 npcs.

I don't think i'm worried about the end being to easy, I had to beat the final Irenicus by waiting out his spell protections, and send in pets to kill ALL his spells. in the end he had nothing but his melee attack. not even a true sight.

I missed a good many of the good items which I want to see, and if the game gets to easy ill turn up the diff (have it at standard AD&D rules atm, middle setting). I don't play on the easy settings unless i dont have a clue what is going on, but I played BG1 so im all set.

Minerva · Post by **Minerva** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 8:29 am

The most important advice is: Play as many times as you like.

Mirk · Post by **Mirk** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 8:34 am

a fun way to go for the second time is to use a char you never liked, i did it with a paladin, and a bard.

other thing, if you don't want to miss on NPC interactions, is to change their classes via ShadowKeeper, thus enjoying the new classes AND the NPC stuff. this might be considered cheating, but hey, it's up to you. I did somrthing like this once, after i got tired of my 5PC+1NPC boring party. gave all the NPC something that goes well with hteir personality (made Minsc a beserker, Valigar a wizardslayer, gave Mazzy ***** in slings instead of bows, etc). works pretty well, actually. i even thnk there's a mod somwhere that does exactly that, no SK.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 11:12 am

Fwiw.. (minimal spoiler)

My advice can be summarized as this:
Play a class you like, with NPCs you like

If you don't like an NPC, don't have them in your party! All the NPCs have their merits and weaknesses, and I have yet to be convinced there is an optimal party choice overall. You don't NEED any specific class to finish the game, though it's easier if you have a reasonably balanced party. I also felt rushed the first time through, but most of the quests have no time limit unless a specific one is spelled out - and most of those are in Ust Natha. NPCs will nag you if they want things done. You can only do the Pantaloons quest if your character came from BG1, where you get the Gold Pantaloons, and, of course, you must have ToB installed to finish it. Finally, if Ilyich isn't wearing the mail of the dead, it'll be in a chest nearby. Most drops are consistent, except for random level X scrolls & gems.

I just played my LE Dwarf Fighter Cleric right through BG1/TotSC/SoA/ToB. Jaheira was in the party from Day 1 to finish, and Minsc was in as soon as we hooked up...though Jaheira had to invite - he said his hamster didn't like me

All the rest changed over time - Imoen was in untill she gets kdnapped, then never again. The final party was Me, Jaheira, Minsc, Jan, Valygar and Edwin - in order of joining. The party never changed once Edwin joined, late in Chapter 2. During the whole adventure, however, I had Xar & Montaron, Dynaheir, Khalid, Aerie, Nalia, Cernd, Mazzy and Keldorn all in the party at various times.

My first BGII play through was a Wizard slayer - I screwed him up completely - with Aerie, Jaheira, Minsc, Nalia and Imoen/Yoshimo/Imoen, and I've also done a female Kensai/mage with Jaheira, Minsc, Anomen (as the romantic interest!), Viconia and Jan. As you can probably tell, I like Jaheira and Minsc pretty well.

Some NPCs just seem to not fit some players - lots of people love Korgan as a melee - I have no luck with him - it seems like two gibberlings could eat him whenever he's been in my party. Some people hate Anomen, I kind of like him, and his story is rather poignant. Anyway, it's good if you can stabilize a party you like reasonably early in the game, so you all level up together and you can ensure skills, spells, etc. are to your liking, but, on the other hand, it was kind of fun the last time to roll through a lot of the characters in BGII to do their specific quests.

Also, don't forget you can get the happy party mod to negate conflicts, if you choose, and there are some very cool NPC mods, like Tashia, Kelsey, Solaufein, Valen, etc.

Pardon the rambly answer, I hope this helps.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 4:51 pm

it does

NPC mods? valen can be in ur party?

Thanatos · Post by **Thanatos** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:14 pm

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~weimer/bgate/

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 6:21 pm

Yes

Valen can join with the mod, as can Solaufein with his mod. Both are pretty powerful adds, by all accounts. There are other NPCs available (see the reference crossroads sticky thread) if you want to tweak your party.

You can also modify NPCs with Shadowkeeper - turn Minsc into an assasin, Edwin into a Sorcerer, whatever you like. You can even hack your PC, make one like the infamous Bun bun (a Kensai Sorcer with Beholder abilities), if cheese is your taste.

NB - I have done NONE of these, my grand total cheat was CLUAing an extra Varscona and some healing potions in BG1. Maybe next time through.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 10:05 pm

mods look interesting but also like cheats. Ill pass.

Ieo · Post by **Ieo** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 10:31 pm

I wouldn't say all mods are like cheats - since cheats traditionally make gaming easier, while Weimer's Tactics Mod makes things more difficult. Likewise, the NPC mods mentioned don't necessarily cause game imbalance with an overpowered party addition (e.g. Solaufein is powerful, yes, but his quests are very difficult too). Pick and choose, perhaps...

As for party makeup, all I can say is .. listen to more interaction.. and take your time going through nooks and crannies of the game.

(p.s. - feed Anomen to a dragon, muahaha)

Thanatos · Post by **Thanatos** » Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:34 am

(p.s. - feed Anomen to a dragon, muahaha)

Hear hear!

Better yet: let him be imprisoned by kangaxx, and leav'em there.