Ilithium - Spoiler

[davfrahen]

I want to get the ilithium and the substitute, but I`ll have Keldorn in my party. Is there any way I can get him to keep his gob shut when I do the switch?

[dragon wench]

Could you try removing him from your party just before you return to Sarles, and then picking him up again once you've done the deed and reported back to the Temple?

[Luis Antonio]

I dont know about this area but... cant he be kept outside?

[Blucher]

Also, can't the real Illithium be dropped on the ground before talking to Sarles? NPCs can see in your packs, but they can't see what's in front of them on the ground.

[VonDondu]

If I recall correctly, you can keep the real illithium if you drop it on the ground before you speak to Sir Sarles.

Incidentally, the Saerileth NPC mod provides a second source of illithium ore so you can be truthful and faithfully provide Sir Sarles with his illithium ore (like a Lawful Good character should) and still be able to create the Improved Mace of Disruption. The second supply of illithium ore is available from a merchant when you do one of the special Saerileth-related quests.

[davfrahen]

Thanks for that. I`ve always been reluctant to leave Keldorn in case he runs back to his moaning wife!

[VonDondu]

I checked the dialogue files a while ago, and here's what I found. If you have the real illithium ore in your inventory, Sir Sarles will take it when he first talks to you. It doesn't matter whether Keldorn is in your party; you won't be able to keep it. If you don't have the real ore in your inventory but have the alloy, you have several dialogue options. The first option is to tell Sir Sarles that you couldn't get pure illithium but you have an alloy that might serve his purpose. He will be offended and refuse to take it. The second and third option are essentially the same. You can offer him the alloy and act as if it's the real thing. If Keldorn is in your party, he will say he can't permit you to deceive Sir Sarles and he will tell Sir Sarles that it is not the real thing. Sir Sarles will be offended and give it back to you. If Keldorn is not in your party, Sir Sarles will look at the alloy and notice that it is smudged, so he will realize on his own that the alloy isn't pure. He will take offense and give it back to you.

As you can see, it doesn't really make any difference whether Keldorn is in your party. If you give Sir Sarles the alloy, he doesn't need Keldorn to tell him you're a weasel; he can figure that out on his own. The important thing is whether the real illithium is in your inventory when you speak to Sir Sarles. If you drop the illithium ore on the ground, you can pick it up after you talk to Sir Sarles and keep it.

[Philos]

Slightly off topic but perhaps not too far

VonDondu, since you mentioned checking the dialogue files and I have on occasion seen others mention doing that, my question is:
How is that done?

I typically don't mess with game files but my curiosity has been peaked with the BG dialogues.

Thanks!!

[VonDondu]

I don't look directly at game files, and I don't edit them. I use a resource viewer called Infinity Explorer, which is a little program that presents all of the game file information in an easy to use index. You can download it at: Infinity Explorer

There is also a program called Near Infinity. In my opinion, it's not as easy to use, but it has more capabilities. For example, you can listen to sound files (character voices and music and so forth) and you can also edit game files to a limited degree (which can be very risky).

The dialogue trees are listed according to the code for the first character who speaks. For example, the code for Sir Sarles is CSSARLES. "CS" notes that he is part of the Cleric Stronghold quest, and "SARLES" of course is the character's name. When you click on Sir Sarles inside the game, he is the first one who speaks. If you haven't talked to him before, the game checks a value called "TimesTalkedTo"=0 and you see the first dialoge. After you have talked to him, the game makes a note of that, and the next time you talk to him, the game assumes you are doing his quest to retrieve illithium ore. The game checks whether you have the ore or the alloy in your inventory and sends you to the appropriate dialogue. Global variables can be altered by dialogue scripts depending on which options you choose. It is much easier to look up specific dialogues if you know the creature codes you're looking for. For that purpose, I use Shadowkeeper to look up creature codes (among other things), which makes things a lot easier.

[Monkyboy]

Create the Mace first

Why don't you just create the mace first? Then you don't have to worrie about loosing your metall because it's a part of the mace....

[es-0]

i always thought it was odd that you use 200 pounds of ore to make a mace that weighs 9 pounds

[saywhat]

u can allso just give him the real ore, thereby completing the quest and gaining max xp, and then summon a pit fiend to kill Scarles.... then loot the ore and go make the mace.....

[Zain]

you can pickpocket it back, right? thats how i always did ti

[saywhat]

nope pickpocket doesn't work.....