You be the driver:
I'm starting SoA with ToB installed an no mods (mac version). Have done Copper Coronet, Sir Sarles thingie, Fallen Paladins, de'Arnise Hold, Trademeet and just completed the Druid Grove.
Current party: me (Kensai), Jaheira, Keldorn, Aerie, Nalia, Cernd (though the loser is about to get his marching orders on account of being rubbish).
Where should feel my righteous biffery next?
Where next?
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boo's daddy
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I'd start thinking about going to Spellhold at that point. But I would try to finish up the incidental quests in Athkatla:
do the various Harper/Jaheira quests
investigate the inn at the City Gates
you can visit the Guarded Compound in the Temple District and watch Garrick outside the Radiant Heart headquarters
plunder the crypts in the Graveyard and do the minor quests there (one will lead you to the Bridge District)
go to the Bridge District and do the various short quests (the murders, the man in red, the lich, the Twisted Rune, etc.)
if you watch the play at the Five Flagons Inn, you can embark on a lengthy quest
then go meet Renal Bloodscalp and do his quest, then choose your side in the guild war
When you get back from Spellhold, there will be several major quests left to do, which will reduce the linearity of the game and let you adventure with Imoen if you want her to be your party member. The major quests include: Lord Jierden's quest (he's at the Copper Coronet), Delon's quest (he's in the Government District, where you can also meet Jan and Viconia), Valygar's quest (you'll meet him in Umar Hills), and of course the usual Chapter Six quests. Watcher's Keep is also an option, but I'd wait until you finish Shadows of Amn before you go there.
do the various Harper/Jaheira quests
investigate the inn at the City Gates
you can visit the Guarded Compound in the Temple District and watch Garrick outside the Radiant Heart headquarters
plunder the crypts in the Graveyard and do the minor quests there (one will lead you to the Bridge District)
go to the Bridge District and do the various short quests (the murders, the man in red, the lich, the Twisted Rune, etc.)
if you watch the play at the Five Flagons Inn, you can embark on a lengthy quest
then go meet Renal Bloodscalp and do his quest, then choose your side in the guild war
When you get back from Spellhold, there will be several major quests left to do, which will reduce the linearity of the game and let you adventure with Imoen if you want her to be your party member. The major quests include: Lord Jierden's quest (he's at the Copper Coronet), Delon's quest (he's in the Government District, where you can also meet Jan and Viconia), Valygar's quest (you'll meet him in Umar Hills), and of course the usual Chapter Six quests. Watcher's Keep is also an option, but I'd wait until you finish Shadows of Amn before you go there.
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boo's daddy
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Aye-aye cap'ns
I resolved to return to the city, but stopped off at the Hold to see if they had raised any nice taxes on account of me having narey two coppers to rub together. Sadly, the cupboard was bare.
Arriving in the City, Cernd suddenly announces that he's got a wife and kid he abandoned in the Promenade. Nice; he's a deadbeat as well as a loser.
Aerie gets a message from her uncle, which sounds promising: something about some extra-planar activities. She also seems to have turned her needy affections towards Keldorn, which is a relief, but he lets her know that he too has a family he left behind to go a-wandering.
God, it's like living in Eastenders.
I resolved to return to the city, but stopped off at the Hold to see if they had raised any nice taxes on account of me having narey two coppers to rub together. Sadly, the cupboard was bare.
Arriving in the City, Cernd suddenly announces that he's got a wife and kid he abandoned in the Promenade. Nice; he's a deadbeat as well as a loser.
Aerie gets a message from her uncle, which sounds promising: something about some extra-planar activities. She also seems to have turned her needy affections towards Keldorn, which is a relief, but he lets her know that he too has a family he left behind to go a-wandering.
God, it's like living in Eastenders.
[QUOTE=boo's daddy]Arriving in the City, Cernd suddenly announces that he's got a wife and kid he abandoned in the Promenade. Nice; he's a deadbeat as well as a loser.
Aerie gets a message from her uncle, which sounds promising: something about some extra-planar activities. She also seems to have turned her needy affections towards Keldorn, which is a relief, but he lets her know that he too has a family he left behind to go a-wandering.
God, it's like living in Eastenders.[/QUOTE]
That's what gives the NPCs "character".
In BG1, all they did was whine and complain, and that was supposed to give them "character".
Did you stop by Keldorn's house in the Government District? You might look for Cernd's family in the Promenade while you're at it to avoid having to go back and forth a lot. You can get the experience for Cernd's quest before you dump him from your party.
That raises the question of whether you want to replace Cernd or leave your sixth party member slot open. You might want Imoen back in your party when you rescue her, or you might be interested in someone else. In my own case, I recruit a lot of the NPCs temporarily--that is, I let them into the party but don't intend to keep them permanently. While they're in my party, I do their personal quests, so when I kick them out, I figure we're even.
You should also get a message about the funeral for Nalia's father very soon if you haven't gotten it already.
The message from Aerie's uncle concerns the actors at the playhouse in the Five Flagons Inn. If you go there, you can watch the play I mentioned earlier. You'll get a chance to meet another NPC who can join your party (and who I happen to find rather interesting). Be aware that it will lead to a rather difficult quest. Make sure you take some +3 weapons. At least there's one NPC in the game whose problems aren't so mundane.
Aerie gets a message from her uncle, which sounds promising: something about some extra-planar activities. She also seems to have turned her needy affections towards Keldorn, which is a relief, but he lets her know that he too has a family he left behind to go a-wandering.
God, it's like living in Eastenders.[/QUOTE]
That's what gives the NPCs "character".
In BG1, all they did was whine and complain, and that was supposed to give them "character".Did you stop by Keldorn's house in the Government District? You might look for Cernd's family in the Promenade while you're at it to avoid having to go back and forth a lot. You can get the experience for Cernd's quest before you dump him from your party.
That raises the question of whether you want to replace Cernd or leave your sixth party member slot open. You might want Imoen back in your party when you rescue her, or you might be interested in someone else. In my own case, I recruit a lot of the NPCs temporarily--that is, I let them into the party but don't intend to keep them permanently. While they're in my party, I do their personal quests, so when I kick them out, I figure we're even.
You should also get a message about the funeral for Nalia's father very soon if you haven't gotten it already.
The message from Aerie's uncle concerns the actors at the playhouse in the Five Flagons Inn. If you go there, you can watch the play I mentioned earlier. You'll get a chance to meet another NPC who can join your party (and who I happen to find rather interesting). Be aware that it will lead to a rather difficult quest. Make sure you take some +3 weapons. At least there's one NPC in the game whose problems aren't so mundane.
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boo's daddy
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Spolers Ahoy
(Yes, I'd actually already been to Keldorn's house. I can only presume he has early-onset dementia and decided to tell Aerie about it all over again. She's very tactful and didn't slap him once.)
Well, Cernd has been reunited with his kid. Turned out he was with some bloke called Deril who it seems killed his ex but apparently is very well-connected with the cops. Just what I need: heat from the Filth.
However, i seem to have suffered no ill effects from disembowelling Deril and his mate (ye gods, these dual-wielding Kensais are killing machines: we had his protections down and his guts on the floor in about 2 rounds). I must say it warmed my goodly heart to wave Cernd off to his new life of wiping snot and scooping poop. All's well that ends violently.
(Interesting comment about vacant NPC slots.) I reckon I need some thieving skills, and though it's my intention to dual to thief eventually, Yoshimo's the man and we swing by the Copper Coronet and find him slumped over a pint of grog moaning about the dullness of his life. Pretty soon he's back to his chipper old self and smelling rats left, right and centre (personally I think he just needs to bathe a bit more).
We get mugged by some Thugs on the way to the Harpers' hideout; pretty soon we're seeing the "Thug: Death" dialogue. Passing on, I ponder upon the difference between a "Thug" and a "Ruffian". I do hope I don't run into any "Scallywags" or "Ne'er-do-wells"
(Yes, I'd actually already been to Keldorn's house. I can only presume he has early-onset dementia and decided to tell Aerie about it all over again. She's very tactful and didn't slap him once.)
Well, Cernd has been reunited with his kid. Turned out he was with some bloke called Deril who it seems killed his ex but apparently is very well-connected with the cops. Just what I need: heat from the Filth.
However, i seem to have suffered no ill effects from disembowelling Deril and his mate (ye gods, these dual-wielding Kensais are killing machines: we had his protections down and his guts on the floor in about 2 rounds). I must say it warmed my goodly heart to wave Cernd off to his new life of wiping snot and scooping poop. All's well that ends violently.
(Interesting comment about vacant NPC slots.) I reckon I need some thieving skills, and though it's my intention to dual to thief eventually, Yoshimo's the man and we swing by the Copper Coronet and find him slumped over a pint of grog moaning about the dullness of his life. Pretty soon he's back to his chipper old self and smelling rats left, right and centre (personally I think he just needs to bathe a bit more).
We get mugged by some Thugs on the way to the Harpers' hideout; pretty soon we're seeing the "Thug: Death" dialogue. Passing on, I ponder upon the difference between a "Thug" and a "Ruffian". I do hope I don't run into any "Scallywags" or "Ne'er-do-wells"
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Deadalready
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boo's daddy
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Feeling rather smug at having gouged the Unseeing Eye without resting, and only Aerie snuffed by the Eye's Death Spell, I nearly screwed up royally. I'd bedded down for a night in the bowels of the Lower Reaches; with Jaheira's Harper's Call memorised, Aerie would be back to life in the morning with only a sore head and a totally mashed body to worry about. Whoops! We get jumped by a Gauth, my Kensai gets held and Jaheira's down to 2hp before she downs it. PHEW! That was nearly extremely inconvenient.
Don't you hate it when a character cops it and drops all their stuff hidden behind some object? Poor old Aerie was standing about in the scud for ages while I painstakingly swept the shadows for her kit. Keldorn was denting his plate mail and Nalia had to give him a Cone of Cold so he'd remember his wedding vows. (Or at least the "faithful" part, if not the "honour" nor "stick around and not abandon you to scrape a living out of dirt" part.)
Since then, I've done a bunch of Temple, Bridge and Dock-related quests, per recommendation. Planar Sphere was a hoot; if only Fire Elementals could go up levels I think mine would be considering dualling to +3 Combi Boiler by now. That bard was angling to join us but twittering idiots seem to be ten a penny in my party so no room for another.
But again I find myself with a dilemma. Ultimate plan is to dual to Thief, so I assumed I should wait until I have done so before completing the Mae'Var guild quest. I've taken off to Umar in the meantime, and checked out some loot from the d'Arnisse hold stronghold on the way.
There seems to be some ambiguity on the searched threads as to whether you can take another stronghold if you've dualled. So, my questions are: can you take another stronghold after dualling, and if not (as now seems likely), is there any other benefit of being a Thief when you complete the Shadow Thief quests?
Hope that made sense
Don't you hate it when a character cops it and drops all their stuff hidden behind some object? Poor old Aerie was standing about in the scud for ages while I painstakingly swept the shadows for her kit. Keldorn was denting his plate mail and Nalia had to give him a Cone of Cold so he'd remember his wedding vows. (Or at least the "faithful" part, if not the "honour" nor "stick around and not abandon you to scrape a living out of dirt" part.)
Since then, I've done a bunch of Temple, Bridge and Dock-related quests, per recommendation. Planar Sphere was a hoot; if only Fire Elementals could go up levels I think mine would be considering dualling to +3 Combi Boiler by now. That bard was angling to join us but twittering idiots seem to be ten a penny in my party so no room for another.
But again I find myself with a dilemma. Ultimate plan is to dual to Thief, so I assumed I should wait until I have done so before completing the Mae'Var guild quest. I've taken off to Umar in the meantime, and checked out some loot from the d'Arnisse hold stronghold on the way.
There seems to be some ambiguity on the searched threads as to whether you can take another stronghold if you've dualled. So, my questions are: can you take another stronghold after dualling, and if not (as now seems likely), is there any other benefit of being a Thief when you complete the Shadow Thief quests?
Hope that made sense
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fable
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I remember reading that you could have the fighter's stronghold if you took it before you dualed to a mage, and went for the Planar Sphere; but that may be fixed, either in an official patch, or Baldurdash.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
I don't think you get extra rewards for completing the quests, but Kensai/Thiefs are really good characters: you can use Bracers and armor and even spell scrolls when you hit high level and choose 'Use Any Item', and backstabbing with a kensai's fighting abilities (and probably even Kai activated) is just... Ouch.is there any other benefit of being a Thief when you complete the Shadow Thief quests?
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Deadalready
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[QUOTE=Devilock]I don't think you get extra rewards for completing the quests, but Kensai/Thiefs are really good characters: you can use Bracers and armor and even spell scrolls when you hit high level and choose 'Use Any Item', and backstabbing with a kensai's fighting abilities (and probably even Kai activated) is just... Ouch.[/QUOTE]
Actually if you complete the Shadow thief - headquarters part as a whole you'll get the guildhall for your own but miss out on the shortsword of backstabbing. If you decide that you don't want the guild (or just can't get it) you'll get the short sword instead.
Actually if you complete the Shadow thief - headquarters part as a whole you'll get the guildhall for your own but miss out on the shortsword of backstabbing. If you decide that you don't want the guild (or just can't get it) you'll get the short sword instead.
Warning: logic and sense is replaced by typos and errors after 11pm
Spoiler
, it has yet to return
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Cuchulain82
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Re: Deadalready
Re: Devilock
Re: Fable
When I last played through a Kensai/Theif, I had both the fighter's and theif's strongholds. I don't know about the Planar Sphere specifically, but it should be similar, right? I don't remember if this was before or after a patch.
I think the Hidden Rune is a good next step. Expecially if you decide to go Kensai/Mage- you will be set.I think all the quests including the Hidden Rune and the rest can be done quite nicely. It all boils down to whether you're willing to simply wait out some of the lengthy and annoying durations of them.
Re: Devilock
As for Kensai/Theifs, you can't go wrong. Much time and space has been devoted here to this topic, but if you haven't tried it yet then you should. I play on a Mac as well, and now that ToB is out... Good Golly! My party was a murder's row, also because my Kensai/Theif had 19 str/dex/con from BG1. Carsomyr, armor, bracers...110% destructionKensai/Thiefs are really good characters: you can use Bracers and armor and even spell scrolls when you hit high level and choose 'Use Any Item', and backstabbing with a kensai's fighting abilities (and probably even Kai activated) is just... Ouch.
Re: Fable
When I last played through a Kensai/Theif, I had both the fighter's and theif's strongholds. I don't know about the Planar Sphere specifically, but it should be similar, right? I don't remember if this was before or after a patch.
Custodia legis
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fable
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[QUOTE=Cuchulain82]When I last played through a Kensai/Theif, I had both the fighter's and theif's strongholds. I don't know about the Planar Sphere specifically, but it should be similar, right? I don't remember if this was before or after a patch.[/QUOTE]
Almost certainly before. There was a bug that let you get all strongholds before the patch. Afterwards, I think you had to use a special mod, and I know it was buggy, because I tried it, once.
Almost certainly before. There was a bug that let you get all strongholds before the patch. Afterwards, I think you had to use a special mod, and I know it was buggy, because I tried it, once.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
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boo's daddy
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D'oh! Had to apply a patch to get to Umar Hills, so presumably have scuppered my chances of taking the Guild stronghold too. I'll have a go at the Twisted Rune fellas when I get back from Umar.
Though Jaheira has just gone walkabout, so I'm feeling a bit under-healered and maybe that should be IF not WHEN There was me offering all my worldly goods to stop her being kidnapped and she takes off anyway with some random Harper. Women. At least you know where you are with a hamster.
Thanks for all your suggestions and help.
Though Jaheira has just gone walkabout, so I'm feeling a bit under-healered and maybe that should be IF not WHEN
There was me offering all my worldly goods to stop her being kidnapped and she takes off anyway with some random Harper. Women. At least you know where you are with a hamster.Thanks for all your suggestions and help.
Shouldnt u go to the Harper HQ in the docks district looking for Jaheira?
[QUOTE=boo's daddy]D'oh! Had to apply a patch to get to Umar Hills, so presumably have scuppered my chances of taking the Guild stronghold too. I'll have a go at the Twisted Rune fellas when I get back from Umar.
Though Jaheira has just gone walkabout, so I'm feeling a bit under-healered and maybe that should be IF not WHEN There was me offering all my worldly goods to stop her being kidnapped and she takes off anyway with some random Harper. Women. At least you know where you are with a hamster.
Thanks for all your suggestions and help. [/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=boo's daddy]D'oh! Had to apply a patch to get to Umar Hills, so presumably have scuppered my chances of taking the Guild stronghold too. I'll have a go at the Twisted Rune fellas when I get back from Umar.
Though Jaheira has just gone walkabout, so I'm feeling a bit under-healered and maybe that should be IF not WHEN
There was me offering all my worldly goods to stop her being kidnapped and she takes off anyway with some random Harper. Women. At least you know where you are with a hamster.Thanks for all your suggestions and help.
[/QUOTE]-
boo's daddy
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boo's daddy
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boo's daddy
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Spoilers
Well, we trounced the Umar Hills and Jaheira returned. Nice friends she's got. Or rather had.
Anyhoo, a couple of issue arose on which I'd be interested in people's views:
1) In fighting the Shadow Dragon, I duly summoned a bunch of skellies and an air elemental, which lasted precisely one nanosecond befroe being dispatched, presumably by death spell or some such. Any suggestions of ways to avoid this? How about summoning one, then bringing others in later? (My ass was saved by Lower Resistance and MMx8)
2) Goddam it! I keep losing stuff. A gem bag chock full of goodies (including Rogue Stones and Beljuril) and now my lovely Drinker sword have all gone walkies.
It's tempting to point the finger at Yoshimo spending it on booze in the Copper Coronet, but the only actual cause I can think of is Chaos.
Thaxythingmy did me with a Chaos spell (necessitating a quick Web to stop me from wiping myself out), as did one of those Harper dudes, so maybe I sprayed them around the room/s at this time.
I thought that sort of thing only happened with Fear; any thoughts? Are they gone forever or will I find them if I trawl the scenes of my humiliation?
thanks and squeak!
Well, we trounced the Umar Hills and Jaheira returned. Nice friends she's got. Or rather had.
Anyhoo, a couple of issue arose on which I'd be interested in people's views:
1) In fighting the Shadow Dragon, I duly summoned a bunch of skellies and an air elemental, which lasted precisely one nanosecond befroe being dispatched, presumably by death spell or some such. Any suggestions of ways to avoid this? How about summoning one, then bringing others in later? (My ass was saved by Lower Resistance and MMx8)
2) Goddam it! I keep losing stuff. A gem bag chock full of goodies (including Rogue Stones and Beljuril) and now my lovely Drinker sword have all gone walkies.
It's tempting to point the finger at Yoshimo spending it on booze in the Copper Coronet, but the only actual cause I can think of is Chaos.
Thaxythingmy did me with a Chaos spell (necessitating a quick Web to stop me from wiping myself out), as did one of those Harper dudes, so maybe I sprayed them around the room/s at this time.
I thought that sort of thing only happened with Fear; any thoughts? Are they gone forever or will I find them if I trawl the scenes of my humiliation?
thanks and squeak!