BG2: SoA Questions from a first time player

Sensei · Post by **Sensei** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:17 pm

Hi everyone

Playing BG2: SoA for the first time and I had a few questions - hopefully you can provide some tips on. Thanks

My party consists of:

me (kensai/mage) level 9/13
Minsc
Jaheira
Aerie
Mazzy

and now

Imoen (just rescued her from spellhold - going through the asylum dungeon at the moment)

Aerie - has all the good mage gear (staff of the magi, rings of acuity, robes of V, amulet of power etc) - and I like her as my major spell caster (with me as both mage and melee destroyer depending on who I am fighting)

With me and Aerie playing the major spell casters - the question is how to play Imoen - now that I have rescued her? I don't have a ton of extra spell scrolls to make her catch up with me and Aerie and besides that the both of us manage very well along with Jaheira doing all the arcane stuff.

How to better use Imoen? (she was at level 11/7 mage/thief - when I rescued her) Tips/Ideas - thanks.

Right now Imoen is being used in this way:

I gave Imoen - all the good wands (I like to use wands extensively to make room for other spells - wand of fire, fear, cloudkill, lightning, paralyzation, monster summoning and assorted summoning staffs and equipment).

Also using her as a mage that blinds, holds, charms, dominates, grease and distracts all the monsters - with fear, confusion, stinking cloud etc (does stinking cloud effect the entire party or just enemies?) - web spell, and to make her the information mage with farsight, wizard eye, as well as the mage to dispell illusion - with glitterdust, oracle etc and in a pinch a few area spells.

I was also thinking of using her as a scout (being a thief) but she has a horrible THACO - so I can't make use of her back-stabbing ability really.

Had Jan in Chp 2 - and he was fun to have around - great thief - played him to the fullest with him pickpocketing lots of people - even got the ring of Gaax by stealing it (and just left the lich in the basement - can't seem to kill him - it says 'near death' and he can't cast spells anymore) - - BUT I sadly dropped Jan - as I knew I would get Imoen back once I rescued her - and now that I have her back - kinda of stuck with how to play her - not a great thief (like Jan) not a great mage (like me or Aerie) and her dialogue so far is not as amusing/interesting as Jan's was but she is my 'sister' and I did come all this way to rescue her.

On a side note - I wanted to try to create an all female party - but sadly there are not enough NPC women warriors in SoA - no one can take the place of Misnc (already have Mazzy as my archer) - and none have amusing dialgues as Jan. And yes I like Aerie - although Jaheria is a bit annoying with the "balance speech" she makes once in awhile), could not really stand Nalia (so got rid of her) and Viconia was fun but in a good party with high rep it was hard to keep her (always threatening to leave and when I tried the Paladin (kheldon) he eventually killed her -I was SO SHOCKED when they started to fight and I could not stop it -- so no getting her back.)

On another note:

Cool - found a Bag of Holding - I was wondering if the game had one. Too late now (sort of) - I left all unnecessary stuff back at the sphere - only carried the needed essentials - but it should be cool having one now to stuff things in.
(My scroll cases are full of protection scrolls (green ones), restoration and heal scrolls and the odd (greater)summoning spell and pierce magic scroll).

Question about weapons:

I've read some of the posts in the forums about weapons - I have celestial fury - although I can not make the most of it ( I have only 1 point in it compared to 4 points for longswords). I have the holy avenger (carsomyr) - but no one can use it, could not get Belm (since I killed the mercenaries before getting the wish quest or even the wish spell), got the staff of the magi (very lucky - battled each individually and the fiend killed the lady mage for me). No one in the group can use flail of ages effectively (I use it to fight golems when needed) - I do have the mace of disruption, kundane and daystar. The Defender of E flail - have it as off hand weapon for Misnc. How useful are the power weapons that are available - do i really need them?

Question about Armor class versus two-handed fighting. Misnc - right now has a choice between -11 AC or -9AC (while fighting with 2 weapons) - is it better to have a lower AC or to fight with both hands to get more attacks ( he has 7/2 when fighting with both hands.)

Another question - this one concerning Mazzy - love the halfling - she is the best archer in the game - what would you have for her melee weapon - the short sword is okay - but what do you think of a secondary melee weapon that does a bit more damage - staff, halberds, mace, hammer, flails, hammers and or spear? She has the staff of striking at the moment to fight monsters that require blunt weapons to hit.

A question about spells - contingency - is it possible to change how the contingency spell should be activated after setting it already - I set it for 50% of HP - but with Improved invisibility, spirit armour, stone skin, improved haste (gives me 8 attacks) and other clerical and druid buffs and everyone fighting - I never reach a point of 50% so it never activates. And with the duration at 1 day/ level - that is a long time before it ends.

A question about resistance - for example its says 20% resistance to slashing - does that mean that 20% of the damage from slashing weapons is negated automatically?

One last one - any tips on using a familiar effectively - most of the time it just sits in my bag.

Thanks in advance.

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:40 pm

There are more females available, as mods you can add to the game. Fade is a thief, and Chloe is a kensai. Auren Aseph is a fighter. Of these, the only one I've personally tried is Chloe: her stats are over the top, but this is easily fixable using Shadowkeeper, the standard BG2 editor. Her dialog was excellent, very much in the flavor of the game. I've heard good things about Fade, and nothing about Auren. Though the fact that she's up to version 6, actively in development, and being hosted at the Gibberlings Three, leads me to have considerable hopes for her.

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:15 pm

Sensei wrote: With me and Aerie playing the major spell casters - the question is how to play Imoen - now that I have rescued her? I don't have a ton of extra spell scrolls to make her catch up with me and Aerie and besides that the both of us manage very well along with Jaheira doing all the arcane stuff.

It depends on your play style. Imoen is a very effective wizard; if you enjoy employing magic at every opportunity, another fireball hurler can be very handy. And, it sounds like the tactics you have utilized now are good ones, with her. She makes a decent thief in the game, particularly if you keep some potions of master thievery around. However, if you find that you do not need her in those roles, it might make sense to dump her or another of your casters in favor of a fighter type. I prefer having more tanks, personally. But, they certainly aren't necessary.

Sensei wrote: On a side note - I wanted to try to create an all female party - but sadly there are not enough NPC women warriors in SoA

You certainly could get by with an all-female party of Bioware NPCs. Mazzy is not the best tank in the game, but she and Jaheira can serve that role for you. Properly equipped or buffed, Viconia and Aerie can be formidable front-line types, as well as clerics. Similarly, Imoen and Nalia are potent casters. However, Fable listed several player-created mods that introduce new female NPCs to the game. One he left out that is very popular is the paladin mod of [url="http://www.gilalion.com/saerilethmod.htm"]Saerileth[/url], for good PCs. Likewise, [url="http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=140&Itemid=107"]Keto[/url]introduces a female bard to the game. She's one of the best designed and voiced NPCs I've tried.

Sensei wrote: How useful are the power weapons that are available - do i really need them?

They are fun, powerful weapon that are, by no means, necessary to beat the game. You'll be fine without using them. There are many powerful weapons in this game.

Sensei wrote: Question about Armor class versus two-handed fighting. Misnc - right now has a choice between -11 AC or -9AC (while fighting with 2 weapons) - is it better to have a lower AC or to fight with both hands to get more attacks ( he has 7/2 when fighting with both hands.)

Personal preference, really. Either approach is fine. If you find he's dying quickly, go with the higher AC. If you find that you want extra damage, keep him dual wielding.

Sensei wrote:Another question - this one concerning Mazzy -what would you have for her melee weapon - the short sword is okay - but what do you think of a secondary melee weapon that does a bit more damage

Again, this comes down to personal preference. If you find a nice melee weapon that Mazzy can use and has proficiencies in, by all means utilize it. There are many good weapons scattered throughout the game, after all. It might make sense to train her to utilize weapons that no one else in the party is using. For instance, there are some very nice halberds in the game that often go untouched. Alternatively, if no one is using any of the nice two-handers, train her to use those.

Sensei wrote: A question about resistance - for example its says 20% resistance to slashing - does that mean that 20% of the damage from slashing weapons is negated automatically?

I think that's right.

Sensei wrote: One last one - any tips on using a familiar effectively - most of the time it just sits in my bag.

Certain familiars can be used in a scout capacity if you're patient and careful. Unfortunately, for the most part, the familiars are just little toys that sit in your bag giving you a few extra hit points.

Sensei · Post by **Sensei** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:37 pm

A few more questions

Hi

Thanks for the replies.

One more question - when I use minor spell turning / globes of invulnerability or another of the spells that seem to activate a energy shield around my character can i still use melee weapons?

I tried going through a door before and I could not get through - so does that mean no melee combat with some kind of spell turning activated?

Do i need Imoen to complete SoA - it sounds like I can dump her - would it be better for the story line to keep her with me? Are there any quests /story lines after leaving spellhold that require her? And if I do release her - how do I go about getting a new 6th character?

You guys mention mods - would I have to import the character to replace? or wait until I got back to Copper Cornet to get a new character?

The Bag of Holding - really does not hold that much - around 20 items - not exactly a very big bag of holding - a bit disappointed.

Is the smith back at the Docks the only person that can make the Gesen Bow work? Because it seems I am not going to get back there for a long time.

I've read a bit about the Slayer in the forums - just a question - can i choose not to transform in the game and still defeat everyone? Has anyone tried it?

My characters tend to rather poor in the gp department - and the 50% discount for high rep - is quite nice to have - if I lost 2 reps for each Slayer change - I'd be hunted down and hated very quickly i think.

IF - no one besides me and the party is aware that I change into the Slayer to defeat an enemy (becoming a monster to defeat a worse monster) do I still lose 2 reps points - with just me (and the party) and the monster i am destroying?

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:16 pm

Sensei wrote:Hi

One more question -
Only one?

...when I use minor spell turning / globes of invulnerability or another of the spells that seem to activate a energy shield around my character can i still use melee weapons?
Yes. There's only one spell that prevents you from using weapons while remaining active and where you are, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere. (And that's buggy, if I recall correctly. Poison damage gets through.)

I tried going through a door before and I could not get through - so does that mean no melee combat with some kind of spell turning activated?
No. What door was it, specifically?

Do i need Imoen to complete SoA - it sounds like I can dump her - would it be better for the story line to keep her with me? Are there any quests /story lines after leaving spellhold that require her? And if I do release her - how do I go about getting a new 6th character?
Whether you wish to keep Imoen with you is entirely a matter of how you choose to roleplay it. It certainly makes a cetain degree of sense to keep someone whom you've known since childhood and who suffers from the same affliction you do, but there may be other, pressing reasons you've created in character design that mitigate these.

As for having a 6th character, you should find one. There are plenty. We can provide a list, if you'd like, but as the game is new to you, you might enjoy it a lot better running into them. It's up to you.

You guys mention mods - would I have to import the character to replace? or wait until I got back to Copper Cornet to get a new character?
You're not replacing a character, but adding new ones. The question should be, will the new party NPC be there in an ongoing game, or do I need to start a new one? -And the answer is, you don't have to restart. At least one party NPC is to be found in Irenicus' underground condo, so you'd miss her if you already left (because you can't go back), but none of the others I can think of.

The Bag of Holding - really does not hold that much - around 20 items - not exactly a very big bag of holding - a bit disappointed.
There are mods that expand that bag.

Is the smith back at the Docks the only person that can make the Gesen Bow work? Because it seems I am not going to get back there for a long time.
Yes.

I've read a bit about the Slayer in the forums - just a question - can i choose not to transform in the game and still defeat everyone? Has anyone tried it?

Absolutely. It just makes matters easier. At the extremely OOC cost of reputation. ("Hey, Martha, I just gotta quiver while selling that magic missile spell! Guess somewhere in the world the that Bhaalspawn turned into the Slayer! Wow, I sure don't like him much, anymore!" )

My characters tend to rather poor in the gp department - and the 50% discount for high rep - is quite nice to have - if I lost 2 reps for each Slayer change - I'd be hunted down and hated very quickly i think.
There are many opportunities to raise your rep through concluding some quests. In addition, you can tithe at temples and raise your rep.

IF - no one besides me and the party is aware that I change into the Slayer to defeat an enemy (becoming a monster to defeat a worse monster) do I still lose 2 reps points - with just me (and the party) and the monster i am destroying?

See above. Ridiculous, isn't it? Maybe the monster you're fighting is using semiphore flags to signal somebody to pass the information along?

kmonster · Post by **kmonster** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:17 pm

Mazzy is actually the best tank in the game (halfling saving throw bonuses, 18 dex, str can be raised easily). Have her dualwield for maximum damage if you don't need her archery skills, kundane (a short sword obtainable during the Haer'Dalis quest) is a great off hand weapon since it grants an extra main hand attack. You can also have her use a shield if you need more defense.
Minsc actually the weakest NPC in the game, you don't need to keep him or Imoen if you don't want to, you don't need 6 party members to be effective.

Belm can be obtained without the limited wish quest, just visit the area without a reason.

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:47 pm

I believe he was talking about the Djinn in Trademeet. Yes, you can still get them by accepting High Merchant Logan Coprith's quest and following it. Through it you'll be able to go to that area.

Unbuffed Mazzy may me a good tank, but I think she pales in comparison to a buffed Haer' Dalis or any spell caster.

rbeverjr · Post by **rbeverjr** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:19 am

I have to agree with Crenshinibon concerning the value of fighter-mage types (including blades) as tanks. Even the poor THAC0 and rate of attack can be forgiven considering that the blade can be almost invulnerable (as long as his spells last). Monsters in the unmodded game make poor targeting decisions and may continue to bang ineffectually on a protected blade (Protection from Magic Weapons).

Kmonster has a good point. You can probably search on Mazzy to discover my past post on her. I used her once. I think I let her wield Kundane and Crom Faeyr. She was quite the fighter! On the other hand, the big S in ToB and Korgan also have merit. I personally like Korgan's crusty nature as a counterpoint to the idealistic goody two shoes expressed throughout the game by the good aligned characters.

Sensei · Post by **Sensei** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:50 am

Hi thanks for all the responses

[quote="fable"][quote="Sensei"]Hi

Only one?

Yes. There's only one spell that prevents you from using weapons while remaining active and where you are, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere. (And that's buggy, if I recall correctly. Poison damage gets through.)

No. What door was it, specifically?

Just a regular door at an inn - the room doors.

Got to the Underdark - and those Drows are quite a pain - while they can't really hurt me but it takes forever to beat them. The ambush by the bridge took about 10 minutes to defeat those guys - they just don't go down. Of course taking a look at their armor and MR - not too surprising -- I really would like to avoid fighting these guys in groups in the future. Going to have to think of a new strategy to defeat them.

Just a question for anyone about drow strategy - has anyone tried using 'false dawn' to defeat the Drow - if you think about it they can't really stand the sunlight - so it should have some effect on them, maybe? then again maybe not....

Just made a deal with the white dragon - should be fun to try playing evil for a bit as a disguised drow. :mischief:

Something a bit odd - the spell imprisonment - says "range - 'touch' "- so that means the caster must touch me - but the character was quite a distance from the caster and she still got imprisoned - is that correct? How far do I have to be to avoid this spell? And more importantly where can I buy a scroll for one - would make defeating some of the bad guys soo much easier

rbeverjr · Post by **rbeverjr** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:41 pm

Don't expect false dawn to help vs drow.

White dragon!? You are evil! (It's supposed to be a silver dragon.

)

Imprisonment is probably not a good spell in the unmodded game. You will lose loot unless you cast freedom and kill it. Then you may get XP a second time, if I recall, which is unbalancing. Expect imprisonment to work as a touch spell for the characters. The only time I remember it not working like that is with demiliches. Their ranged imprisonment ability is called Trap the Soul.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:58 pm

the spell takes its time, its sufficient if the caster "touches" you at the beginning of the spell, he does not need to stand at your side all the time

you informed yourself pretty well for your first time to play this game