Valygar Lost his backstabbing Ability!

StormBringer · Post by **StormBringer** » Wed May 30, 2001 1:09 pm

I am now in Suldanessellar, Chapter 6, and Valygar is Level 17 (I think). He has been dual wielding the Celestial Fury (Right Hand) and the Equalizer (Left Hand) for some time now. He has been Backstabbing for quadruple damage with the Celestial Fury just fine. However, he got killed a few hours of game-playing ago in a battle. I just ressurected him with the Rod of ressurection and kept on playing. I noticed that he was not successful in any backstab attempts since then. Whenever he would attempt a backstab, he would just hit the creature and deal out normal damage. I just blew this off, assuming that he must of missed with his right hand swing and then connected with his left hand. No message would ever appear stating "Backstab has failed", like I have seen before; like when trying to backstab a Beholder, for instance.

Well, I just kept on playing, writing it off as missed initial swings, and then connections with a second stroke. But, it went on and on. So I tried putting some other types of weapons in his right hand, and also a shield in his left, so he would only attack with one right hand swing. I tried several combinations, and Valygar can no longer Backstab! What happened!?!? Must be a BUG? I am assuming something happened to his statistics during the ressurection, but, maybe it's something else? This sucks. I'll have to go a long way back (in save games) to find a game before I ressurected him. Does anyone have any ideas?

koz-ivan · Post by **koz-ivan** » Wed May 30, 2001 1:17 pm

if you're already in suld... i wouldn't worry too much about the backstab

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Wed May 30, 2001 1:27 pm

Valygar's backstabbing has been known to cause problems. Try bringing him down one level (ShadowKeeper, of course) and then level him back up again - this might help. Also, have you checked at the Baldurash site for a patch?

[ 05-30-2001: Message edited by: Astafas ]

Kevin Dorner · Post by **Kevin Dorner** » Wed May 30, 2001 2:30 pm

I have heard of this but haven't patched it nor even recreated it.

I've only heard of it once before.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Wed May 30, 2001 2:38 pm

Stormbringer i have made a charector and added Stormbringer on the end of his name id that ok?

StormBringer · Post by **StormBringer** » Wed May 30, 2001 7:35 pm

I have the latest fix patch, version 3.4 installed from Balderdash. That site is awesome. I even redownloaded, and reinstalled it again to see if it would fix it. It didn't. Maybe I'll try the ShadowKeeper Idea. Which brings a good point up.....I wonder if this problem could be linked to Valygar Leveling up to Level 17, and not the ressurection? I can't remember just when his last level up was. Could have been about the same time. I think his XP is still under the 2.95 Mil Cap, even though I have the Level 40 rules installed.

So, in ShadowKeeper, what exactly should I do? Make him level 16, then save the file, then reopen it and make him Level 17 again? And do this be adjusting his XP value? I have ShadowKeeper but never use it. It seems like a long shot for this to work, but what do I know? Please let me know what procedure to use within the Shadowkeper program to try your suggestion (in a little more detail). Thanks a lot for your replies.

StormBringer · Post by **StormBringer** » Wed May 30, 2001 7:47 pm

Oh yeah, craig.....I'm not sure what exactly your post is saying. Are you saying you liked my name, and decided to use it for a player-character's surname (last name), in BG2? And you are wondering if I mind?
Well, if this is what your asking (I might be misinterpreting your question), then Yes! You have no business stealing my name and using it in the game! .........hehe.....Just Kidding!!!
Truth is, I've always liked this name for role-playing games. But it's not too original. It is the name of Elric's Sword, the Melnibonean Deity. (Page 87 of Deities and Demigods book). Right now, it is the name of my Ranger protagonist in single-player BG2.

StormBringer · Post by **StormBringer** » Wed May 30, 2001 8:56 pm

Well guys, I played around a little bit since the last post. I found a save game before Valygar died and was ressurected. I took him exploring, by himself (in stealth mode), and backstabbed some creatures successfully, for quadruple damage. I turned the "AI" off, and killed Valygar with Minsc just pounding on him with a mace. I then ressurected him with the Rod to recreate the condition. I re-equipped him, and took him exploring again in Stealth mode. The situation was officialy recreated....He could no longer backstab. I tried several times, even against measely goblins, which he hit for sure on the first attempt.... no backstab multiplier. I'd say I definately found a BUG. If Valygar dies and is ressurected, he looses his backstabbing ability!

I also did the ShadowKeeper idea, dropped him to level 16, then back to 17....no effect. Also, I opened a save game when he was level 16, tried backstab successfully, then leveled up to 17; he could still backstab successfully. (this was a save game before he originally died).

I wish I could identify the 'ability' through ShadowKeeper or something, that enables him to backstab, and reset it somehow. Or, I wonder if I could export him from a save game before he died, then open my current game (where he has been ressurected), kick him out of party, and then somehow import the never-been-killed Valygar into the party? And then just boost his XP to what it should be in ShadowKeeper (The value his XP currently is in my current game). Is this a possible solution? I've never imported or exported any characters before, I'm not sure how it works?

ElvenKing · Post by **ElvenKing** » Wed May 30, 2001 9:33 pm

Just a thought, but I wonder if it has more to do with the whole Stalker kit being bugged? Have you tried creating the same situation with a generic Stalker? What if upon resurrection the game only recognizes the restoration of the ranger skills, and not specialty kit skills, since backstabbing is a thief skill? You'd have to make sure the generic Stalker was not the main character however, and left the option for resurrection.
Might be worth a try.
ElvenKing

Kevin Dorner · Post by **Kevin Dorner** » Thu May 31, 2001 8:00 am

I tried it with all manner of Valygars (all the available level CRE files) and all of them don't restore his backstab ability after he's raised. This even happens if he's raised with Ctrl-R.

I guess something in there is stripping his backstab as it wasn't updated from BG1, where only thieves could, so it's considered an extraneous effect.

I will have a more detailed look at it this evening/weekend.

[ 05-31-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Dorner ]

Kevin Dorner · Post by **Kevin Dorner** » Thu May 31, 2001 2:58 pm

This bug is now fixed and will appear in my next FixPack, which should be this weekend.

Unfortunately, it won't affect any current games with messed-up Valygars or other non-protagonist stalkers.

So, I created a set of detailed instructions (Shadowkeeper required, URL provided) in the ReadMe. Those with messed up Stalkers with no backstab can fix it, and the fix will prevent it from happening again. E-mail me if you want the fix before I post it.

[ 05-31-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Dorner ]