The Underdark or Elven City?

CBdragon1 · Post by **CBdragon1** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:02 pm

Any thoughts on which path to take following the Asylum? It looks like the Underdark has more treasure, but the Elven City looks cool as well.

werebeargoddess · Post by **werebeargoddess** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:05 pm

If I remember correctly, you go through the Underdark first, then you come out into this forest that leads to the Elven City.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:16 pm

When you come to a fork in the road...

I think you've confused Suldanesselar (the Elven city - not accessible from Spellhold) with the Sahaguin City, which is available. I'd go to the Sahaguin City if I were you.

Cheers!

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:23 pm

Definitely go to the Sahaguin City. From there you will eventually reach all the other places anyway. Consider it as a profitable detour....

estaze · Post by **estaze** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 4:46 am

Go to the Sahuigan City first, and make sure you get the cloak of mirroring. From there, you are also able to go to the underdark

TRODTROD · Post by **TRODTROD** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 4:57 am

[QUOTE=dragon wench]Definitely go to the Sahaguin City. From there you will eventually reach all the other places anyway. Consider it as a profitable detour....

[/QUOTE]

damn right, more levels, more stuff

TROd.

Luther · Post by **Luther** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:45 am

You know, this question is posed so much, why the hell did the designers even make this an option? Why would they give the players the option to skip an entire painstakingly made level plus the cool ship battle? Just don't get it.

werebeargoddess · Post by **werebeargoddess** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:07 pm

[QUOTE=Luther]You know, this question is posed so much, why the hell did the designers even make this an option? Why would they give the players the option to skip an entire painstakingly made level plus the cool ship battle? Just don't get it.[/QUOTE]

I dunno why they didn't make it necessary to go there. I somehow skipped the whole Sahaguin part when I played through Baldur's Gate 2, but from the sounds of it you can get a fair bit of experience and stuff from it. I can't understand it either.

Aqua-chan · Post by **Aqua-chan** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 12:08 pm

[QUOTE=Luther]You know, this question is posed so much, why the hell did the designers even make this an option? Why would they give the players the option to skip an entire painstakingly made level plus the cool ship battle? Just don't get it.[/QUOTE]
The entire point of the series is to allow the player to have some sort of control over the game. You had the option to either trust Seamon Havarian or blow him off and take the portal. If you're role playing a more practical, skeptical person you will take the Portal rather than just jumping a ship for the man that screwed you over just a few days before. A more forgiving person would go with Havarian. It's all a matter of RP perspective.

VonDondu · Post by **VonDondu** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:28 pm

[QUOTE=Aqua-chan]The entire point of the series is to allow the player to have some sort of control over the game. You had the option to either trust Seamon Havarian or blow him off and take the portal. If you're role playing a more practical, skeptical person you will take the Portal rather than just jumping a ship for the man that screwed you over just a few days before. A more forgiving person would go with Havarian. It's all a matter of RP perspective.

[/QUOTE]
Very true. However, IMHO, the portal should malfunction and take you to the underwater city before you reach the Underdark. It's just too good to miss.

Aqua-chan · Post by **Aqua-chan** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:47 pm

[QUOTE=VonDondu]Very true. However, IMHO, the portal should malfunction and take you to the underwater city before you reach the Underdark. It's just too good to miss.

[/QUOTE]
And I agree with you. I love the Underwater City (And the Spectator Beholder - when I encountered him for the first time in ToB I had no idea who he was because I had skipped the Sahuagin City). But sometimes it can be like Irenecus' dungeon - one of those aggrivating things that you want to avoid if you want to hurry along with the main plot. I haven't always gone to the city because of the running back and forth when I could be getting closer to Irenecus and ToB, though it's a nice interlude if you've got the time and the patience.

Bloodstalker · Post by **Bloodstalker** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 3:50 pm

I always got to the Saguin City...leave everyone dead.....go to Underdark....leave everyone dead.....It's two areas worth of free killing

Aqua-chan · Post by **Aqua-chan** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 4:29 pm

[QUOTE=Bloodstalker]I always got to the Saguin City...leave everyone dead.....go to Underdark....leave everyone dead.....It's two areas worth of free killing

[/QUOTE]
Do you even bother going to Adalon for the disguise?

Bloodstalker · Post by **Bloodstalker** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 5:55 pm

[QUOTE=Aqua-chan]Do you even bother going to Adalon for the disguise?

[/QUOTE]

yes. What's your point?

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 7:12 pm

The Spector Beholder rocks.

VonDondu · Post by **VonDondu** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:14 pm

[QUOTE=Aqua-chan]And I agree with you. I love the Underwater City (And the Spectator Beholder - when I encountered him for the first time in ToB I had no idea who he was because I had skipped the Sahuagin City). But sometimes it can be like Irenecus' dungeon - one of those aggrivating things that you want to avoid if you want to hurry along with the main plot...[/QUOTE]
The nice thing about the underwater city is that there are several different paths you can take. Unlike Irenicus's dungeon, there's more than one "right way" to get out of there.

The thing is, once you're out of Spellhold, you have two choices: you can either follow the critical path, which is more or less linear, or you can take a break from the critical path once in a while and do some sidequests (if you didn't already do all of them in Chapter Two). The first time I played the game, I missed a bunch of sidequests because I was fooled into thinking that I HAD to get the Lanthorn back to the elves as soon as possible "or else". There's the matter of my character's life being in danger, you know. The next time I played, I found out that there's really no pressure; you can travel and mess around all you like.

The Underdark is a nice adventure, but once you're there, you're STUCK. Sometimes I wish I had the choice to leave it for a while and come back when I really felt like finishing it. Spellhold is pretty much the same, except for the fact that it's my least favorite place, for a variety of reasons. As a result, if I'm going from one place where I feel trapped (Spellhold) to another place where I feel trapped (the Underdark), I enjoy a lighthearted interlude (the underwater city) where I can mess around and have a few good laughs.

However, if you enjoy keeping the pressure on, by all means do so.

Booted One · Post by **Booted One** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 12:59 am

go to the saguin city with saemon (nicest guy in the game). He gives you the best anti dragon sword blade in game. Silver Sword=Dragon Dead.

the cloak is good too.
PS:I thinkYou can return to the island after killing bodhi through a glitch where you talk to Aran again and he asks you if you ready to leave. if you say yes you are taken to the ship. didn't play it past that because my only save after bodhi's demise was audosave didn't want to rekill bodhi.

Shadrach · Post by **Shadrach** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:49 am

<rant>
I was unimpressed by the Silver Sword. Only has a vorpal hit a quarter of the time, *AND* they get a saving throw! Did the Githyanki only sharpen one side of the blade? What's going on? Very slow, to boot... speed factor 9!

The ToB vorpal weapons, however, make up for this. They have less of a chance to kill, but no saving throw. Sheesh.

You ask for a little head-rolling, and what do you get? Disappointment!
</rant>

Ekental · Post by **Ekental** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:19 pm

ToB should have better weapons as your party's levels are higher. BG had pretty bad weapons compared to BG2, and BG2's weapons sucked compared to ToB, so it's no suprise that the vorpal blade isn't as good as the Vorpal Halberd thingy (Forgot name) and the Axe of Unyielding.
That said, the only thing that is really worthwhile in the sahuagin city is the Cloak of Mirroring, and possible the +2 AC cloak
Other than that, skippiing the city isn't important to the game, which I think is why it is optional