TucoRamirez Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 Hello, good sirs, you may have heard of me, if you haven't, that's okay too. I have a few questions for you BG vets. Some of the questions require an indepth knowledge of the game's workings, and mods, so I understand if I get very few responses to the post. I also apologize for the size of the post, but that's just how the dice roll. I would like to ask the following: 1. Is there a limit to the number of hits per round one can make?(5?) 2. Are there any mods that are not listed below which you might believe are compatible with my current setup?? 3. Are there any mods listed below which will make my game NOT work in some areas? 4. Any good mods that just make the game harder in general? 5. What are the best mods for removing xp caps as need be? 6. Do you like my party concept? 7. Do you like my classes concept, and would it corrupt the game to have NPCs change their class makeup? 8. Can I acquire a HLA ability twice, and use it twice a day? 9. Is it 'okay' to have certain classes have 3 int and 3 charisma(Minsc for example) 10. Any advice on the following plan? I intend to start a new game of Baldur's Gate 1: TotSC with BG1Tutu and other mods, and proceed to import those characters in the successing game, Baldur's Gate 2: ToD. I do NOT intend to use BG Trilogy. I intend to go through Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, with the two expansions. In my journeys I am not against cheating to get what I want. Either by passing a part that is corrupted by modding/otherwise, cosmetic changes(portraits), editing character stats because I don't want Minsc to be a ranger, etc. I do not, however, want to make the game easy, in fact, I would rather it be more difficult than ordinary. For Baldur's Gate 1: TotSC| I intend to use the following mods(in no particular order): 1. Baldurdash's Fix packs. 2. Baldurdash Language text update. 3. Dudley's fixes. 4. Dudley's tweaks. 5. Some form of xp cap remover. 6. BG Tutu conversion. 7. Tutu tweaks from g3. 8. The Grey Clan addon. 9. Harder BG1 Patch. 10. Firewalker addon. 11. heart of fury. 12. ease of use. 13. dragon mod. 14. vault mod. 15. Child of Mystra forge mod. 16. NPC addon that adds banter... I'm hoping that I will be able to play every aspect in the game succesfully with these mods here, but due to the nature of the modding process, I realize the difficulty in this. If anyone has encounters of conflicts, please, let me know. For Baldur's gate 2: ToB| I intend to use the following mods(in order of display): 1. Baldurdash's Fix pack. 2. Big Picture Mod, which includes the following: Tortured Soul, Shadows of Soubar, The Darkest Day, Ascension. 3. Never Ending Journey. 4. Freedom Reign, 5. Reign of Virtue. 6. Redemption. 7. Weidu Item upgrade(Cromwell/Cespnar upgrades more items) 8. Kelsey 9. Banter Packs V4. 10. Ajoc's Minimod. 11. Munchmod. 12. Kensai Ryu's Brown Dragon. I'm hoping that I will be able to play every aspect in the game succesfully with these mods here, but due to the nature of the modding process, I realize the difficulty in this. If anyone has encounters of conflicts, please, let me know. My party Me. Imoen. For lockpicking/trap disarming Minsc. For boo. Keysel(From mod/addon) I would like to use him for the novelty of using an add-on NPC. Does he really have more content than other NPCs that come with the game? Until I get him in BG2, I'll use Viconia, although she has a much darker personality than my other players, I don't care if they don't!!! Dynaheir For a mage. Ajantis For a paladin. The reason I chose this party was for usability(fighter/fighter/fighter/thief/cleric/mage), as well as dialogue storyline. I do not know, but I think this would represent a good amount of excellent dialogue. If you have any suggestions as to another party combination(I intend to keep this party throughout the entire game, filling in the holes as needed(collecting party, people dissapearing, etc)) One thing that I wish to do is use an editor to custom make each character's abilities. I do not want them to change balance wise, but I would like to alter their classes and what not. My class, Kensai Thief. 1. Should I specialize in Katanas? 2. Is it 'okay' 3. How hard will it be to hit the limit with this template?(including every kind of spell assistence IE: haste items/spells/etc. Will I hit the speed limit(if any)? I believe I read that there is a total of 90 points that you can get by rolling dice, if I can't get that much, then I will shave off points in this order -> intelligence/charisma, but still attempt to retain 18's in str/dex/con/wis. (90 points total) 18 strength 18 Dexterity 18 constitution 9 Intelligence 18 wisdom For Resists 9 charisma I intend to start off as a Kensai, I would like to specialize in Katana's. At some point in time I would like to dual class to a thief, so that I gain the backstabbing ability, as well as the 'Use All Item' HLA, among other things. With an XP cap removed, I would like to gain the best effectiveness of my classes as possible, this means waiting until the best time to dual class them, without having to worry about running out of XP for the second class to get some of their abilities. The obvious limit, of course, is the amount of xp that can be gained in one run through the games. Taking that into account, I'm not entirely sure when I would want to dual class my kensai to a thief. I want him to be mostly fighter, to be a frontline warrior doing the most damage. I do not intend on using him to open locks/ set traps/disarm traps, etc. But I would like him to be able to use the USe All Item HLA from the thief. If I'm not mistaken, I will aquire whirlwind at level 14, and greater whirlwind at level 15. Is it possible to say, level to 16, and get greater whirlwind again, therefore being able to use it TWICE a day? Imoen's class, Thief dual classed Mage or cleric. 1. Is a thief neccesary in BG1 or BG2, to break open locks and detect traps and such??? Her original path was pretty good, and I need a thief for stuff. I intend to use her for only thief like things(open locks etc).. I'll probably end up dual classing her as a mage, or maybe a cleric. Minsc's class, Berserker or monk. Minsc was somewhat of a dilemna to me, he was a ranger, yet his 'lore' was to use a two handed sword. To fill in the need for a 'tank', I think I might just make Minsc a berserker. One dilemna I'm running into is how am I able to best transform Minsc into a tank. My options appear to be: Berserker Barbarian Monk... Since I know very little about monks, they're somewhat of a question for me. With the nature of leveling, will minsc become a very good tank later on if he becomes a monk? Can I dual class Minsc(as a monk) with a thief later in the game, and also get the use all item ability? Dynaheir's class, mage. I have absolutely no good idea of what to do with her. It would be fun to make a wild mage, if I were to make a specialist mage, I would probably go conjurer, or maybe invoker. I would probably use imoen for my 'utility' spells. Ajantis is somewhat of a wild card. I was thinking about getting the archer, Kivan, instead, so I'm not sure what to do with him... Any suggestions? I thank anyone who can, for their help. I don't want to mess up later, which is why I'm spending so much time on the beginning of my BG life. Link to comment
Andyr Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 Hello, good sirs, you may have heard of me, if you haven't, that's okay too. Welcome! I'm told it's a reference to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, but I don't recall it. Only seen that once. Firstly, how many times have you played the games? If this is the first, I'd recommend using no mods or cheats. 1. Is there a limit to the number of hits per round one can make?(5?) I believe it is 5, yes. 2. Are there any mods that are not listed below which you might believe are compatible with my current setup?? There are many, many mods - depends on what you're after. The ones you've listed, as far as I know, should play fine. Note though that you should use the Tutu Fixpack, too, and install that right after Tutu. Also, TutuTweaks here at G3 has an XP cap restorer to the SoA/ToB value. 4. Any good mods that just make the game harder in general? Wes Weimer's Tactics mod makes some things a lot tougher, though you may find some parts a little frustrating. 8. Can I acquire a HLA ability twice, and use it twice a day? Some. Generally, most of them except the Cleric/Druid and Wizard ones. 9. Is it 'okay' to have certain classes have 3 int and 3 charisma(Minsc for example) Depends on who you ask. Personally I try to avoid min/maxing stats. A character with 3 INT would likely be even less of a conversationalist then Minsc. My party I'd suggest you need a Cleric, especially in BGII. Viconia's a good choice in both games. About your stats, you don't really need to have 18s in almost everything. But hey, it's your call. Perhaps one way to make the game harder would be not to make an uber-powerful PC? Imoen's class, Thief dual classed Mage or cleric. 1. Is a thief neccesary in BG1 or BG2, to break open locks and detect traps and such??? I always try to have one, yeah. Minsc's class, Berserker or monk. Why not leave him as a Ranger? He wouldn't fit Monk at all, in my opinion. Can I dual class Minsc(as a monk) with a thief later in the game, and also get the use all item ability? Not unless you edit his class and/or stats. Dynaheir's class, mage. I have absolutely no good idea of what to do with her. Why not leave her as an Evoker? Ajantis is somewhat of a wild card. I was thinking about getting the archer, Kivan, instead, so I'm not sure what to do with him... Leave him as a Paladin, or make him a Cavalier? It strikes me that if you want to change all your NPCs you might be better off creating them from scratch in a multiplayer game to start off with. Link to comment
Domi Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Andyr here did a marvelous job But here are a few more points for your consideration. Take them with a garin of salt however as I am not the best efficiency in the game type, rather an enjoy the game one. I thank anyone who can, for their help. I don't want to mess up later, which is why I'm spending so much time on the beginning of my BG life. I'd want to strat with a bold statement: you will not screw up with playing BG1 or 2; I promise, no matter what class you play or what is your party composition. It is playable pretty much for any character. So my advice is - go with the personaity first and foremost and do not be afraid of replacing NPCs. majority of them will stay put. But keep in mind that some of them have urgent quests (Minsc, Kivan) and will leave the group rather quickly if you do not do their bidding. Group composition wise, in BG1 (and it is only my opinion) I would suggest Kivan instead of Ajantis, since the way your group is composed it is lacking archery aupport and he is superb. Also if you intend to use Viconia they will have a lot of dialogue via BG1NPC mod. Note on dialogue in BG1: BG1 do not have a lot of dialogues - maybe half the characters do initiate the dialogue with someone else and none with PC outside join-in and quests, so that was the reason to do BG1NPC mod. In BG1NPC mod, if you want to find out who is the most talkative NPC and whom s/he talks the most - please refer to this thread: http://forums.spellholdstudios.net/index.php?showtopic=3858 it is slightly out of date, but it only means that dialogue number increased since. Side notes are: -Replacing Imoen with Coran or Alora later in the game is a very good idea, since they are better thieves -Xan is an interesting alternative to Dynaheir; If you do go along with Dynaher, her original Invoker kit works very well. - Branwen would be my preference over Viconia in BG1. Not sure if you meant Kelsey (Kelsey?) - if it was Kelsey he is an excellent NPC, and his content is a bit more than some Bio's NPCs, and a bit less than others. He is especially nice to a female PC. Just like in BG1 any memebr of the NPC cast can be developped into a super-hero, so again - go with the personality. - I'd agree with Andyr on not having low intelligence - in practical terms it reduces your character's ability to find his way around when walking. Link to comment
BevH Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 One thing I might add here, and I don't know if Tutu changes this, but several of the NPCs come in pairs - and leave in pairs. Hence, if you have Minsc, then you also have Dynaheir. And you can't kick out one or the other - they'll both leave. I agree with Domi than Xan is a good choice for a mage. If you are interested in a romance, then don't go with low INT. I don't believe you can "legally" dual a monk. It's generally a good idea to have a thief in the party. Although with spells, you might be able to get away without having one. And I agree with Andyr, if you're going to monkey around with the NPC's stats, then you would do just as well playing a multi-player game and creating all the characters yourself. My party in BG1 was: PC (cleric) Imoen Jaheira Khalid Minsc Dynaheir I've had other party compositions, but this is the one I used when I finally completed the game. Link to comment
TucoRamirez Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 If I use a multiplayer game, and make new characters, don't I forfeit all of the dialogue/extra quests that comes with having NPCs in my party? Link to comment
BevH Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 If I use a multiplayer game, and make new characters, don't I forfeit all of the dialogue/extra quests that comes with having NPCs in my party? Yes, this is true. Unless you have the required NPC in your party, you won't get the associated quest. You could do just 5 characters and leave a spot open to rotate NPCs in and out. Link to comment
Idobek Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 For Baldur's Gate 1: TotSC| I intend to use the following mods(in no particular order): 1. Baldurdash's Fix packs. 2. Baldurdash Language text update. 3. Dudley's fixes. 4. Dudley's tweaks. 5. Some form of xp cap remover. 6. BG Tutu conversion. 7. Tutu tweaks from g3. 8. The Grey Clan addon. 9. Harder BG1 Patch. 10. Firewalker addon. 11. heart of fury. 12. ease of use. 13. dragon mod. 14. vault mod. 15. Child of Mystra forge mod. 16. NPC addon that adds banter... Well order is important here so here is a list better ordered list with comments on compatibility. On BG1 install: 1. Baldurdash's Fix packs. 2. Baldurdash Language text update. 3. Dudley's fixes. 4. Dudley's tweaks. I think you will be alright with these. 5. Harder BG1 Patch. 6. Firewalker addon. Not sure about these two, I think they'll probably be okay though. 7. CoM Forge Fine. There is also a BG1 Adventure mod, which in fine CoM tradition, is actually a store. 8. BG1Tutu Run this now. On BG2 install after Tutu has run: 9. Tutu Fixpack 10. Tutu Tweaks 11. The Grey Clan 12. The BG1 NPC Project All good. Do not use: Heart of Fury Ease of Use HoF doesn't work with Tutu and Tutu Tweaks if far better than EoU. I've not heard of the Dragon Mod and I'm a little dubious about the Vault. SirLancelot has other thoughts "here." Link to comment
Andyr Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Your welcome. for the record, the party I often play BG1 with is me, Xzar, Montaron, Edwin, Viconia and Garrick. Sometimes I swap one or two arounf for Quayle, Xan and Tiax. Link to comment
Domi Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Cannot resist: My favorite BG1 patrty is (I am trying it now and I love it to bits so far): PC (F scald - romancing Coran), Kivan, Coran, Xan, Faldorn, Yeslick Link to comment
Tameon the Dragoon Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 I must recomend you download Unfinished Buisness, a mod for Baldur's Gate 2. It's quite a lovely mod that adds all the loose ends to BG2, including a quest for your very own Minsc! I love it. Hmmm...you seem to have alot of BG1 mods...I believe there's enough of unmodded BG1 to keep the average gamer entertained for quite awhile, and so many mods just kinda makes it...blech...It's my personal belief (not saying this should be for everyone) that Tutu, Tutu Fixpack, Tutu Tweakpack, BG1 NPC Project and the Grey Clan would be enough modding for BG1. My party? Well, if you must know... Me (Tameon, the Neutral Good Figther/Cleric (I'll never Dual-Class again) Half-Elf), Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Imoen and Tiax. This was before the BG1 NPC Project, and I didn't have Tutu (Tutu hates me ). Edit: You probably shouldn't specialize in Katanas, though. Only if you really want to. BG1 + Katana specialization = Unhappy gamer . Link to comment
TucoRamirez Posted June 9, 2004 Author Share Posted June 9, 2004 New questions: 1. Are there any item editors for BG2? (Upon finding out about the Sentient Sword(Lilarcor), I decided I 'needed' it. However, to make things proper, I 'needed' it on my main character. However, since my main character needs katanas, I've decided to change the Lilarcor into a katana). 2. If I do exactly what the Big Picture mod suggests, and do not install any other mods, can it be expected that my game will run as flawlessly as a vanilla install of BG2?(or better with Baldurdash) 3. A Kensai, I believe, gets a 1 extra THAC0 and damage bonus per three levels he gains. Does this end at 20, or continue on?(and then where does it end?) 4. I have a few questions about the HP levels one gets when dual/multi classing. Now, I read about the AD&D rules, that for the first 10 levels, fighters get 10hp per level, and thieves get 8. I also read that multi classed characters will have their hp cut in half. This means that a multi classed fighter and thief will have 80hp at level 10! Where as a simple fighter would have an hp of 100 at level 10! Is this true? IT also may mean that if I were to dual class a fighter to thief at level 10, then level the thief up to level 10, he would have 160 hp!! How can this be right? How does it work if not this? Amendments: 1. Decided to go the multiclass pathway, and use SK(shadowkeeper) to edit my avatar to make him Kensai/thief multiclass. This also allows me to play an orc, though that does make the multiclass thing even more of a cheat. Makes more 'roleplay' sense to me though, since Tuco is usually a barbarian/orc type character in games. 2. Decided to use Minsc as a berserker in BG1, but in BG2, make him a Monk(with SK) 3. Decided to specialize in scimitars or maybe longswords in BG1, then use SK to change it to Katanas in BG2. 4. Decided to tone down a few of the mods, to prevent spending 80 hours on BG2 to only find an unaccomplishable thing due to mod conflicts. They are still a gamble to me, I, of course, want the most content in my gameplay experience, but a game-breaking error in the latter stages of the game could cause me to simply quit, it's not as easy to fix as Morrowind. 5. Decided to use the following as my party in BG1: Me Imoen Minsc Dynahier(changing her to 'wild mage' for fun) Viconia Kivan (Making him an archer) 6. Decided to use the following as my party in BG2: Me Imoen/Yoshimo Minsc Viconia Kelsey Kalgyar(sp, I'm making him an elven archer) 7. In ToB I intend on kicking out Kalgyar and inserting Saverok instead. If by ToB my unlock/trap detect skills are good enough, and I don't need imoen, I may opt to kick her out instead, we'll see how good archers are compared to imoen. Link to comment
kreso Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 New questions: 1. Are there any item editors for BG2? Near Infinity is easy to use. 2. If I do exactly what the Big Picture mod suggests, and do not install anyother mods, can it be expected that my game will run as flawlessly as a vanilla install of BG2?(or better with Baldurdash) My suggestion would be to skip on many mods, mostly they'll break your enjoyment. OP equipment, characters leveling up 2 fast etc. I'd reccomend (if it's you first playthrough) BG1 NPC Project. It's amazing. Blends flawlessly in game, and some dialogues are even better than NPC banters in BG2. Skip Gray Clan, it's highly tactical. 3. A Kensai, I believe, gets a 1 extra THAC0 and damage bonus per threelevels he gains. Does this end at 20, or continue on?(and then where does it end?) It ends at +13 to THAC0 and damage at level 39. 4. I have a few questions about the HP levels one gets when dual/multi classing. Now, I read about the AD&D rules, that for the first 10 levels, fighters get 10hp per level, and thieves get 8. I also read that multi classed characters will have their hp cut in half. This means that a multi classed fighter and thief will have 80hp at level 10! Where as a simple fighter would have an hp of 100 at level 10! Is this true? IT also may mean that if I were to dual class a fighter to thief at level 10, then level the thief up to level 10, he would have 160 hp!! How can this be right? How does it work if not this? Fighters roll 1D10 + constitution bonus for HP. They can get from 1-15 HP per level. Thieves roll 1D6 + constitution (max 2 bonus) - they can get 1-8 HP/level. Multiclass would get in between 1-12 HP/level. (assuming max 19 constitution). After level 9, fighters gain 3HP/level, and thieves 2. 2 . Decided to use Minsc as a berserker in BG1, but in BG2, make him aMonk(with SK) Using SK might break your game. 3. Decided to specialize in scimitars or maybe longswords in BG1, then useSK to change it to Katanas in BG2. There are mods which add magical Katanas in BG1. 5. Decided to use the following as my party in BG1: Me Imoen Minsc Dynahier(changing her to 'wild mage' for fun) Viconia Kivan (Making him an archer) Try Level1NPC mod. That might be a far better solution than SK. As for party composition, my favs (BG1 NPC project banters-wise): Tiax Kivan - sad music, sad story, and makes killing Tazok incredibly enjoyable Xzar & Montaron - BG1 NPC makes these two epic PC Stalker Garrick or Faldorn BG2: Korgan Imoen Minsc Xan mod for BG2 Kivan for BG2 PC Priest of Talos Link to comment
jastey Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 kreso - the thread is 9 years old! Link to comment
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