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So I check this forum every day, nothing's happened in a while, and I refuse to believe that people have stopped playing the game so I thought I'd tell everyone what I'm up to BG2 wise. After dabbling in ToB, patches, fixes, power builds, I think I've finally got there.

I created a party from scratch (it's what it's all about isn't it?), from a completely roleplaying point of view. Pure vanilla BG2:

William, human, male, neutral good, cleric.

Aphisse, human, female, chaotic good, thief.

Balthazar, human, male, cneutral good, mage.

I've decided that dual/multi classes are cheesey. I've decided that kits are cheesey, I've decided that fighters are cheesey. So after some paper D&D research, I came up with those three classes. So far I've found that I've no damage coming from anywhere - my mage is built as a 'gandalf' type character, with alot of white and blue spells. Cleric is built almost as an anti evil paladin, with lots of healing/combat/defensive spells, and my thief is built for stealth and nothing else (she has a con of 10 or something, as does my mage.)

So I've really stripped the game down to its bones, and after only the first part of the slavers quest, I'm loving it! I have to bypass enemies occasionally, and really use the skills of all the part members. I mean really, where's the enjoyment in sending a fighter into the thick of it, and what IS a bard?

Be interested to hear everyone elses views on this way of playing the game.

Bards are the Swiss army knives of BG2. They can tank, and use a wide variety of items and tactics (actually all items once they get high enough in levels). Personally I don't think it gets any better than Haer'Dalis because of his Tiefling bonuses, but a PC Jester can be awesome too, just with slightly different tactics.

I like your party though because it presents a way to be tactical without having to install mods, which I can certainly understand even though I prefer tactical mods myself. Your cleric can actually become a tank if buffed properly, and so can your mage at higher levels with Tenser's Transformation + Black Blade of Disaster and some other blue spells. Once your thief gains UAI, he can use the Spell Immunity: Divination + Mislead combo via scrolls to backstab repeatedly in quick succession (Improved Haste!). Given that you're only using three characters, they should be able to use TOB abilities pretty quickly, probably before you even reach Chapter 5.

I disagree with Haer beign a better bard (blade) than a PC would be. Simply put : Hell bonuses. If one played through BG1, then you also have some 19's in atributes. With this beign said, blade-bards are very nice characters, and you would consider them overpowered too. I am surprised however, that you did not add sorcerers and mages to the top of "overpoweredness" chain

As for

I refuse to believe that people have stopped playing the game

well.. i for one am done with BG2.

Stworca wrote: i for one am done with BG2.

Nobody is ever truly done with BG2...

@Will Sanders,
I think your party looks very interesting, do keep us updated!
I've occasionally thought about doing something similar, but I like BG2 for its party banter, even if I have heard it more times than I can remember.

dragon wench wrote:Nobody is ever truly done with BG2...

Bah! I guess i may be back in a few months / years, when some new stunning mods are released. But since my guide is sticky now, i can safely vanish

Stworca, shame to hear you're not playing anymore! Nice to see you're still on the forums though.

Yeah, I do quite like blades, and the are very useful, but I think that they can be a little bit of a one man army (at higher levels anyway).

I'm enjoying my current playthrough more than any I've done before because the characters are my creation (my babies!) and are individually weak. I have to use "the skills of all my party members" as well as not being "afraid to use limited use items like potions and wands" (he he, those loading screens).

Every spell has to be a possibility, every cranny a potential backstab haven, every buff considered.

Cheers to you, Will. Using your imagination to make the decade-old Greatest-Game-Ever into a fresh experience. You are an inspiration.

As long as this world has PCs and electricity, Baldur's Gate shall live Forever!

dragon wench wrote:Nobody is ever truly done with BG2...

If developers had bothered enough during the past ten years to make decent enough RPGs, I think people would have been 'done' with it. As it stands we had to wait for Dragon Age. And even that didn't really top the BG series too well, as I hear.

Agreed. BG2 will ALWAYS be the ultimate in fantasy roleplaying. Dragon Age is a disgrace.

Actually, I really like Dragon Age; unlike NWN I think it is a worthy successor to the Baldur's Gate series. In some ways I actually found it *better* than BG2. For one, although there is a smaller cast of recruitable NPCs, each one has a well-fleshed out personality and back story, which is far better than just a handful of interesting NPCs and a large number who are rather boring. There is no equivalent to Cernd in Dragon Age.

However, to keep this thread on topic... I think the reason BG2 is still played to the extent it is owes everything to the modding community. Mods for the game keep it fresh and interesting. Ultimately I think it are the mods that give BG2 a lifespan DA:O will never enjoy. Not because there aren't mods for Dragon Age, but because it is more difficult to mod since most people now expect voice acting. While I feel the voice acting was excellent in DA:O, I don't like it in video games because it consumes too many valuable resources, limits the imagination and story possibilities and negatively impacts mod-making.

For a long time I had an old computer that did not allow me to run newer games... so I played titles like BG2 many, many times. This would not have been possible without the modding community and I have always been grateful.

Personally, I think it's the memories associated with the game. I alwyas return to the series due to nostalgia, no other reason. As for mods, personally I practically never use them and even though I've played every class to death and explored every part of the game to the point of memorizing it, I still return to it.

Dragon Age was fun, yes, but something is missing in it, thought I really can't put my finger on it. I want to say "atmosphere", but I'm not sure enough.

willsanders84 wrote:Stworca, shame to hear you're not playing anymore! Nice to see you're still on the forums though.

I do not for a moment believe that Longshot is finished, there are always challenges to beat in BG.