Back in the saddle...

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

I didn't wanna do it, but I can't resist. Gonna go ahead and play
through the BG saga (BG1, ToSC, BG2, ToB) all over again for the third
time now, taking one character (and the pantaloons) the whole way from
lvl 1 to lvl 30 or whatever you end up as...

My only problem is, I've always played as a straight mage (no
specializations), and really can't imagine playing BG as anything
else. What other class would be a good experience? Keep in mind,
things like going as a thief will make Imoen useless (at least in
BG1/ToSC, unless you duel-class her early on) and that I can't play as
a monk or kensai or wild mage or any of the other classes not
available in BG1. I'm also gonna try it as a female this time, since
i've always been a boy mage.

Also, I'll need party ideas. I've always taken the "main" NPCs, like
Imoen, Jaheria, Minsc, Viconia, etc... Might be interesting to try a
completely different party.

BTW, I was always very attracted to Imoen, and felt bad when I found
out we were related. However, since our common blood is divine, I
wonder if it would still be possible...

I haven't played any BG about a year, and I can still hear her voice.

"Heya! It's me! Imoen."
"Getting out alive, I am. There's nothing for me here now."
"Mutton mongerin riff raff."
"Yer all buffle headed."
"Poor sod, taking the dirt nap so soon."

I loved that little red-headed pixie thief. Still do.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

bm3719@ark.ship.edu (Bruce Miller) wrote in message news:<ebe9bd61.0406210526.133053d@posting.google.com>...


> I didn't wanna do it, but I can't resist. Gonna go ahead and play
> through the BG saga (BG1, ToSC, BG2, ToB) all over again for the third
> time now, taking one character (and the pantaloons) the whole way from
> lvl 1 to lvl 30 or whatever you end up as...

Some

Spoilers

Ahead

Yall were warned

>
> My only problem is, I've always played as a straight mage (no
> specializations), and really can't imagine playing BG as anything
> else. What other class would be a good experience? Keep in mind,
> things like going as a thief will make Imoen useless (at least in
> BG1/ToSC, unless you duel-class her early on) and that I can't play as
> a monk or kensai or wild mage or any of the other classes not
> available in BG1. I'm also gonna try it as a female this time, since
> i've always been a boy mage.

I think the ranger/cleric is a very interesting and powerful class.

However -- and its a big however -- if you are really role playing and
want to do the whole pantaloons thing then it makes sense to be evil.
Evil in the sense that whenever you have dialog choices in the game
you really need to choose the evil path in order to get all the pieces
and solve the pantaloons enigma.

Ok, so if you wanna be evil then rangers are right out. Personally I
loved the fighter/mage/thief. It was very hard at the start of BG
until I was above 11 hp, which took forever. You could be that with
an elf or half elf.


>
> Also, I'll need party ideas. I've always taken the "main" NPCs, like
> Imoen, Jaheria, Minsc, Viconia, etc... Might be interesting to try a
> completely different party.

If you are evil, may I suggest Viconia, Montaron, Edwin, Shar-Teel,
and Kagain. If you are not quite so evil, you can lose Montaron and
keep Imoen. Or if you are a fighter type then you could lose Kagain
or Shar-Teel and keep Imoen if you want to. Nice thing about Imoen,
if you are role playing I can see her sticking with you, she's pretty
easy going.

>
> BTW, I was always very attracted to Imoen, and felt bad when I found
> out we were related. However, since our common blood is divine, I
> wonder if it would still be possible...

I think there is a romance mod in BG2 but don't know if it was ever
completed.

>
> I haven't played any BG about a year, and I can still hear her voice.
>
> "Heya! It's me! Imoen."
> "Getting out alive, I am. There's nothing for me here now."
> "Mutton mongerin riff raff."
> "Yer all buffle headed."

My personal favorite.

> "Poor sod, taking the dirt nap so soon."
>
> I loved that little red-headed pixie thief. Still do.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

phaenar@yahoo.com (Phaenar) wrote in message news:<8ed67a56.0406211137.8d7d1e6@posting.google.com>...
> I think the ranger/cleric is a very interesting and powerful class.
>
> However -- and its a big however -- if you are really role playing and
> want to do the whole pantaloons thing then it makes sense to be evil.
> Evil in the sense that whenever you have dialog choices in the game
> you really need to choose the evil path in order to get all the pieces
> and solve the pantaloons enigma.

I always played Netrual Good or Lawful Neutral. By doing the silver
pantaloons quest, I just wrote it off as a momentary lapse in my
normally good ethics (who in their right mind could resist such a
tempting prize anyway?). Viconia always seemed pleased.

> If you are evil, may I suggest Viconia, Montaron, Edwin, Shar-Teel,
> and Kagain. If you are not quite so evil, you can lose Montaron and
> keep Imoen. Or if you are a fighter type then you could lose Kagain
> or Shar-Teel and keep Imoen if you want to. Nice thing about Imoen,
> if you are role playing I can see her sticking with you, she's pretty
> easy going.

Edwin is a must, since I've never taken him and he's one of the best
NPC mages there is. Montaron is a possibility (though I'll have to
kill Xzar in order to get him alone). Shar-Teel annoys me, but might
be more agreeable wearing the Girdle of masculinity/femininity

As for alignment, a little evilness will keep things interesting, but
I don't want to keep it just about the minimum, as everything at the
store will be prohibitively expensive 🙁 8 or so might be ok though.

> My personal favorite.

Imoen: ... A journey, eh? I never get to travel. Wish I could go with
ya. Yep, I really wish I could. Yessir. Really do.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

"Bruce Miller" <bm3719@ark.ship.edu> wrote in message
news:ebe9bd61.0406210526.133053d@posting.google.com...
> I didn't wanna do it, but I can't resist. Gonna go ahead and play
> through the BG saga (BG1, ToSC, BG2, ToB) all over again for the third
> time now, taking one character (and the pantaloons) the whole way from
> lvl 1 to lvl 30 or whatever you end up as...
>
> My only problem is, I've always played as a straight mage (no
> specializations), and really can't imagine playing BG as anything
> else. What other class would be a good experience? Keep in mind,
> things like going as a thief will make Imoen useless (at least in
> BG1/ToSC, unless you duel-class her early on) and that I can't play as
> a monk or kensai or wild mage or any of the other classes not
> available in BG1. I'm also gonna try it as a female this time, since
> i've always been a boy mage.
>
> Also, I'll need party ideas. I've always taken the "main" NPCs, like
> Imoen, Jaheria, Minsc, Viconia, etc... Might be interesting to try a
> completely different party.
>
> BTW, I was always very attracted to Imoen, and felt bad when I found
> out we were related. However, since our common blood is divine, I
> wonder if it would still be possible...
>
> I haven't played any BG about a year, and I can still hear her voice.
>
> "Heya! It's me! Imoen."
> "Getting out alive, I am. There's nothing for me here now."
> "Mutton mongerin riff raff."
> "Yer all buffle headed."
> "Poor sod, taking the dirt nap so soon."
>
> I loved that little red-headed pixie thief. Still do.

You need to try BGTutu. "BG1Tutu is a project which automatically converts
the resources in a Baldur's Gate, or Baldur's Gate + TotSC install to the
BGII engine."
That means you could play as a stalker, monk, wild mage, etc. all the way
through. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I've heard good things about
it. Be sure you also get the newest updates.
BG1Tutu - http://www.pocketplane.net/tutu

As to which class to play, I'll disagree a little bit with Phaenar's
advocacy of the fighter/mage/thief. When I tried it, my character wanted to
do everything. I wasn't using my other party members. Also it takes a long
time to level up. It would be a good choice if you want to solo.

I like to play bards and rangers, particularly the stalker kit.

Good luck,

Cyn

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

"Cynthia Crise" <CynCrise@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:<VUIBc.13649$OB3.3787@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...
> You need to try BGTutu. "BG1Tutu is a project which automatically converts
> the resources in a Baldur's Gate, or Baldur's Gate + TotSC install to the
> BGII engine."
> That means you could play as a stalker, monk, wild mage, etc. all the way
> through. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I've heard good things about
> it. Be sure you also get the newest updates.
> BG1Tutu - http://www.pocketplane.net/tutu

This opens up many new possibilities!!! I had almost settled on
Cleric, but now I'm back to the drawing board...

> As to which class to play, I'll disagree a little bit with Phaenar's
> advocacy of the fighter/mage/thief. When I tried it, my character wanted to
> do everything. I wasn't using my other party members. Also it takes a long
> time to level up. It would be a good choice if you want to solo.

I agree, duel-classes are pretty cool, but TRIPLE classing might be
taking it a little far 😉 Not only that, there's only a specific
amount of XP available in BG1... and I won't be very good at any of
those things when I'm ending the game at level 3 or 4 or so in each of
them.

> I like to play bards and rangers, particularly the stalker kit.

Bards don't seem like they'd be all that useful... But, they could
have fun role-playing possibilities An Evil Female Bard would have
some personality by default, I'd assume...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

"Bruce Miller" <bm3719@ark.ship.edu> wrote in message
news:ebe9bd61.0406210526.133053d@posting.google.com...
> I didn't wanna do it, but I can't resist. Gonna go ahead and play
> through the BG saga (BG1, ToSC, BG2, ToB) all over again for the third
> time now, taking one character (and the pantaloons) the whole way from
> lvl 1 to lvl 30 or whatever you end up as...
>

Yep, I just did it, mainly to get the Pantaloon quest finished. You'll
be amazed how many bits you still find you missed the other
umpteen times through.

I started with BG1 back in January and finished with the big
fight in Throne of Bhaal a week or so back.

I still never managed to get anyone pregnant (ho hum) 🙂

--
Edward Cowling - London - UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

"Bruce Miller" <bm3719@ark.ship.edu> schreef in bericht
news:ebe9bd61.0406211915.78ac4f95@posting.google.com...
> phaenar@yahoo.com (Phaenar) wrote in message
news:<8ed67a56.0406211137.8d7d1e6@posting.google.com>...
> > I think the ranger/cleric is a very interesting and powerful class.
> >
> > However -- and its a big however -- if you are really role playing and
> > want to do the whole pantaloons thing then it makes sense to be evil.
> > Evil in the sense that whenever you have dialog choices in the game
> > you really need to choose the evil path in order to get all the pieces
> > and solve the pantaloons enigma.
>
> I always played Netrual Good or Lawful Neutral. By doing the silver
> pantaloons quest, I just wrote it off as a momentary lapse in my
> normally good ethics (who in their right mind could resist such a
> tempting prize anyway?). Viconia always seemed pleased.
>
> > If you are evil, may I suggest Viconia, Montaron, Edwin, Shar-Teel,
> > and Kagain. If you are not quite so evil, you can lose Montaron and
> > keep Imoen. Or if you are a fighter type then you could lose Kagain
> > or Shar-Teel and keep Imoen if you want to. Nice thing about Imoen,
> > if you are role playing I can see her sticking with you, she's pretty
> > easy going.
>
> Edwin is a must, since I've never taken him and he's one of the best
> NPC mages there is. Montaron is a possibility (though I'll have to
> kill Xzar in order to get him alone). Shar-Teel annoys me, but might
> be more agreeable wearing the Girdle of masculinity/femininity
>
> As for alignment, a little evilness will keep things interesting, but
> I don't want to keep it just about the minimum, as everything at the
> store will be prohibitively expensive 🙁 8 or so might be ok though.
>
> > My personal favorite.
>
> Imoen: ... A journey, eh? I never get to travel. Wish I could go with
> ya. Yep, I really wish I could. Yessir. Really do.


Spoiler warning...

I loved Kaigan in my evil party... with his 20 con, 100+ hp and boots of
speed it was a real tank that gained hp's during the quests...

'for the love o' money'

 

[a]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

Have you checked out BGT?

http://mymod.teambg.net/bg2/bgt/


On 21 Jun 2004 19:59:26 -0700, bm3719@ark.ship.edu (Bruce Miller)
wrote:

>"Cynthia Crise" <CynCrise@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:<VUIBc.13649$OB3.3787@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...
>> You need to try BGTutu. "BG1Tutu is a project which automatically converts
>> the resources in a Baldur's Gate, or Baldur's Gate + TotSC install to the
>> BGII engine."
>> That means you could play as a stalker, monk, wild mage, etc. all the way
>> through. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I've heard good things about
>> it. Be sure you also get the newest updates.
>> BG1Tutu - http://www.pocketplane.net/tutu
>
>This opens up many new possibilities!!! I had almost settled on
>Cleric, but now I'm back to the drawing board...
>
>> As to which class to play, I'll disagree a little bit with Phaenar's
>> advocacy of the fighter/mage/thief. When I tried it, my character wanted to
>> do everything. I wasn't using my other party members. Also it takes a long
>> time to level up. It would be a good choice if you want to solo.
>
>I agree, duel-classes are pretty cool, but TRIPLE classing might be
>taking it a little far 😉 Not only that, there's only a specific
>amount of XP available in BG1... and I won't be very good at any of
>those things when I'm ending the game at level 3 or 4 or so in each of
>them.
>
>> I like to play bards and rangers, particularly the stalker kit.
>
>Bards don't seem like they'd be all that useful... But, they could
>have fun role-playing possibilities An Evil Female Bard would have
>some personality by default, I'd assume...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

bm3719@ark.ship.edu (Bruce Miller) wrote in message news:<ebe9bd61.0406211859.139f992d@posting.google.com>...
> "Cynthia Crise" <CynCrise@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:<VUIBc.13649$OB3.3787@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...
> > You need to try BGTutu. "BG1Tutu is a project which automatically converts
> > the resources in a Baldur's Gate, or Baldur's Gate + TotSC install to the
> > BGII engine."
> > That means you could play as a stalker, monk, wild mage, etc. all the way
> > through. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I've heard good things about
> > it. Be sure you also get the newest updates.
> > BG1Tutu - http://www.pocketplane.net/tutu
>
> This opens up many new possibilities!!! I had almost settled on
> Cleric, but now I'm back to the drawing board...
>
> > As to which class to play, I'll disagree a little bit with Phaenar's
> > advocacy of the fighter/mage/thief. When I tried it, my character wanted to
> > do everything. I wasn't using my other party members. Also it takes a long
> > time to level up. It would be a good choice if you want to solo.
>
> I agree, duel-classes are pretty cool, but TRIPLE classing might be
> taking it a little far 😉 Not only that, there's only a specific
> amount of XP available in BG1... and I won't be very good at any of
> those things when I'm ending the game at level 3 or 4 or so in each of
> them.

If you play the critical path, sure you'll miss a lot of XP.

But if you have Tales of the Sword Coast, the XP cap in BG is 161,000.
My fighter/mage/thief ended up at about 5th-6th level in everything.
It's not bad.

In BG, XP is there for the taking. There's no limit due to frequent
respawning. There are a few wilderess areas where you get high value
respawns. The eastern edges of the world map all have pretty tough
monsters worth lots of XP. And some of the shore maps have Sirines.
My favorite is the Cloudpeaks where you can hunt winter wolves for
decent XP and even better money on each pelt: talk to the shopkeeper
in Nashkel.

>
> > I like to play bards and rangers, particularly the stalker kit.
>
> Bards don't seem like they'd be all that useful... But, they could
> have fun role-playing possibilities An Evil Female Bard would have
> some personality by default, I'd assume...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

phaenar@yahoo.com (Phaenar) wrote in message news:<8ed67a56.0406241850.13b07250@posting.google.com>...
>
> If you play the critical path, sure you'll miss a lot of XP.
>
> But if you have Tales of the Sword Coast, the XP cap in BG is 161,000.
> My fighter/mage/thief ended up at about 5th-6th level in everything.
> It's not bad.

Nevertheless F/M/T doesn't seem my style... a little to far-fetched to
be plausible in my roleplaying experience. Would be perfect if I were
solo-ing it or going at it with a party of 2 or 3, though. My opinion
of this may change later, however...

> In BG, XP is there for the taking. There's no limit due to frequent
> respawning. There are a few wilderess areas where you get high value
> respawns. The eastern edges of the world map all have pretty tough
> monsters worth lots of XP. And some of the shore maps have Sirines.
> My favorite is the Cloudpeaks where you can hunt winter wolves for
> decent XP and even better money on each pelt: talk to the shopkeeper
> in Nashkel.

In BG, the best place to powerlevel is the cave where the flesh golems
spawn (it's along the coast somewhere). I don't do this however, since
farming XP like that completely breaks with role-playing. That kinda
play reminds me of typical MMORPG play where people spawn camp bosses
and herd mops to be slaughtered with area effect spells. In that case,
I might as well just bust out the character editor and add a few 1000
XP, skipping the formalities. :|

Hunting winter wolves is more realistic. I hadn't thought of that one.
I may do that once or twice if I need a few extra XP or GP...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

"Bruce Miller" <bm3719@ark.ship.edu> wrote in message
news:ebe9bd61.0406260958.3eea47d0@posting.google.com...
> phaenar@yahoo.com (Phaenar) wrote in message
news:<8ed67a56.0406241850.13b07250@posting.google.com>...
> >
[snip]

> Hunting winter wolves is more realistic. I hadn't thought of that one.
> I may do that once or twice if I need a few extra XP or GP...

I never thought of it that way, but you have a point. It's something your
character might well do if they are short on funds.

Cyn

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

bm3719@ark.ship.edu (Bruce Miller) wrote in message news:<ebe9bd61.0406260958.3eea47d0@posting.google.com>...
> phaenar@yahoo.com (Phaenar) wrote in message news:<8ed67a56.0406241850.13b07250@posting.google.com>...
> >
> > If you play the critical path, sure you'll miss a lot of XP.
> >
> > But if you have Tales of the Sword Coast, the XP cap in BG is 161,000.
> > My fighter/mage/thief ended up at about 5th-6th level in everything.
> > It's not bad.
>
> Nevertheless F/M/T doesn't seem my style... a little to far-fetched to
> be plausible in my roleplaying experience.

Well, the f/m/t is really a staple of D&D way back to 1st Edition, and
probably earlier though I wouldn't know. Elves live a long time, and
tend to be flighty -- dabbling in all sorts of things -- as opposed to
being rigid disciplinarians. The original idea is that they learn a
lot of things, which limited their ability to excel in any area. Of
course, 2nd Edition increased those level limits so as to make them
virtually irrelevant.

Is it really so hard to imagine a fantasy character able to use a
sword, pick a lock, and cast a spell, though not nearly as well as a
specialist of equivalent experience?

> Would be perfect if I were
> solo-ing it or going at it with a party of 2 or 3, though. My opinion
> of this may change later, however...
>
> > In BG, XP is there for the taking. There's no limit due to frequent
> > respawning. There are a few wilderess areas where you get high value
> > respawns. The eastern edges of the world map all have pretty tough
> > monsters worth lots of XP. And some of the shore maps have Sirines.
> > My favorite is the Cloudpeaks where you can hunt winter wolves for
> > decent XP and even better money on each pelt: talk to the shopkeeper
> > in Nashkel.
>
> In BG, the best place to powerlevel is the cave where the flesh golems
> spawn (it's along the coast somewhere). I don't do this however, since
> farming XP like that completely breaks with role-playing. That kinda
> play reminds me of typical MMORPG play where people spawn camp bosses
> and herd mops to be slaughtered with area effect spells. In that case,
> I might as well just bust out the character editor and add a few 1000
> XP, skipping the formalities. :|

I was not even suggesting power leveling. I did all the areas once,
except for winter wolves which was for money more than experience.
What I am saying is that even with a tri-class character there is
sufficient experience if you explore every area in the game.

Very first time I played BG I don't think I even got as far east as
the Firewine ruins. The bandit camp was about it. After Nashkel and
some exploring in the cloudpeaks I just headed back up the coast, did
those areas, then I went on to Cloakwood and Baldurs Gate City, and
once there I felt close to Sarevok so I pursued that avenue without
delay.

But if you explore all that's there on the world map, you'll have no
issue with the experience levels, even with tri-class characters.

One of the things I really like about Baldurs Gate was there was a lot
to do just on the main path, and a lot to explore at your option. It
seemed a lot less so in BG2 because most BG2 areas are tied to quests.
But in BG there was just a lot of wilderness.

>
> Hunting winter wolves is more realistic. I hadn't thought of that one.
> I may do that once or twice if I need a few extra XP or GP...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.baldurs-gate (More info?)

My party actually had to do this... but hey! We were young and needed the
money!

DH

> [snip]

>

> > Hunting winter wolves is more realistic. I hadn't thought of that one.

> > I may do that once or twice if I need a few extra XP or GP...

>

> I never thought of it that way, but you have a point. It's something your

> character might well do if they are short on funds.

>