Return to the Sword Coast

Also, didn't feel like having a disc version of BG2, so I bought it off GOG. Waste of money? Probably.

dragoniguana wrote:

Also, didn't feel like having a disc version of BG2, so I bought it off GOG. Waste of money? Probably.

I did the exact same thing. It may be a waste but getting rid of the CD check is pretty useful.

If you're going for Tutu make sure you use Easy Tutu (I've posted a link above). It's really convenient and straightforward and you will be able to keep your BG2 installation separate (BG1 can be unistalled once you're done with the installation of Easy Tutu).

Question for the night: If G3.net is down, where do I get the widescreen mod?

dragoniguana wrote:

Question for the night: If G3.net is down, where do I get the widescreen mod?

Bad news. If it doesn't come back your best chance is to use google to find mirrors on mod sites and if that fails I can pack and upload them for you.

Anyway here is a link for the widescreen mod:

http://www.moddb.com/games/baldurs-gate-ii/downloads/widescreen-mod-v305-by-the-bigg


I haven't played much yesterday but Kiu's romance with Branwen is over. His reputation drop after killing Shandalar (assault was worth 6 points) terminated it. I decided to let Imoen go to the Friendly Arm Inn since she wasn't that useful and recruited Shar Teel to replace her (since she can be dualled as a Thief but I will wait for her to get to level 7). I've considering getting Safana instead since I haven't had her in one of my parties for ages.

I may get rid of Viconia. I really like her but she has been around so long I would like some novelty in this game so going for BG1 only NPC that I haven't played much is a nice change (Alora is another option of course since she has been relocated to Gullykin).

There is also Kagain who can be fairly decent in a fight if I give him the gauntlets of Dexterity.

So many options...

I'm thinking Kiu is trying to come up with a fairly good band of adventurers to take down Tazok and not necessarily looking for "nice" people anymore.

In which case Garrick may have to be replaced as he is a bit of a coward.

An evil cleric would be nice. Too bad I don't have access to the Dreadmaster class, but I can symbolically play a DM.

I am missing my BG1 CDs, though. I will dig them next time I visit my mother. I do, however, have BG2 so I will build my PC. Stay tuned.

Well if BGEE did nothing else it seems to have reawaken interest in Baldurs Gate. Not that much awakening was needed. This game should be gold plated and sent to the Smithsonian and other National Museums. Do we have a Hall of Fame for games?

Well, Cara, I finished modding and spent about an hour with the game last night. I gotta say: It is amazing! Unlike when I tried to play BG2, with BG1 I find myself never wanting to stop playing. It's great.

I'm glad to hear that D. So which class did you pick? Share some pictures with us! I like taking a screen of my level 1 character just to compare and get a clear picture of his progress throughout the game.

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Well if BGEE did nothing else it seems to have reawaken interest in Baldurs Gate.

True. It has rekindled my interest after I had lost patience with my last game which was jinxed (one PC died on me, then Vista failed to save configuration files and the last straw I lost my save). Starting three times in a row SoA ended up feeling too much like work.

I'm enjoying BG1 a lot and just like Dragoniguana when I start playing I can't stop.

Carabas wrote:

I'm glad to hear that D. So which class did you pick? Share some pictures with us! I like taking a screen of my level 1 character just to compare and get a clear picture of his progress throughout the game.

I chose Sorcerer. I was interested in doing a mage run. Hoo boy, were your words about low-level mages right. I spend most of my time hiding behind my party. All I have to my name at level one right now is four hit points, a quarterstaff, and three shots of either magic missile or spook.

My companions right now are Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, and Finch (who's probably my favourite). I decided not to pick up Monty and Xzar- I probably would have picked up Monty on his own, but Xzar is just a bit too insane for my character. My character is True Neutral, and I'm trying to play him as, contrary to your True Neutral character, not so much an immature guy, but more of an aloof guy, not so much interested in the big picture as what's best for him and his friends. He doesn't like the limelight. Because of that, my character tends to like having Jaheira along, and "living in her shadow", as you said.

This game is insanely difficult, by the way. And I thought Dragon Age: Origins was tough! Every encounter in this game seems to be a fight for my life. I'm absolutely loving it. There's something incredibly fun about going into a bar only to be attacked and killed, reloading a save, and getting killed over and over till you figure out the best way to go about the fight. I learned early on to save early and save extremely often.

I have played my fighter/thief for so long I think the game would feel wrong if I tried something else but if I do I think it will be a wild mage.

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I learned early on to save early and save extremely often.

Very wise. Also don't use just one save slot.

DAO is not hard. It has a learning curve but once you figure it out it becomes easy and you need mods to make it a bit challenging.

WIth BG 1 and 2 you have to be inventive at times because the game isn't holding your hand and won't prevent you from getting into a fight you may not be able to win.

There is no shame in running away to fight another day.

Kudos for going with a Mage as your main. That's ballsy for a first run.

You may have put more points in CON just to get more hitpoints. If the going gets tough you may look for a Find Familiar scroll to get a nice little boost by summoning a rabbit familiar.

Sorcerers are easy to use because you don't have to memorize spells beforehand but they have a major drawback: you can't erase spells from your spellbook in order to exchange them for something better. So the choices you make are of paramount importance! Sleep may be a good pick for low levels but it will be absolutely useless later on so you may want to skip it.

There are countless threads on the internet discussing the issue of selecting spells for a Sorcerer, I'd suggest you look through some of them for ideas (keep in mind that spell selection reflects a person's playing style) or post about your spell selection so we may help you avoid bad choices (Spook while definitely not a bad choice would probably not have been my first pick).

Wild Mages are a bit unreliable but they don't have to worry about selecting spells since they will probably end up learning them all. It's a very different type of spellcaster and I wouldn't recommend one for a first run.

Some people argue that Sorcerer are the most powerful spellcasters but I believe that once the Wild Mage is able to cast higher level spells and use Nahal's Reckless Dweomer without messing things up he becomes much more powerful than any Sorcerer.

However, if you pick your spells right a Sorcerer is much easier to handle and doesn't require much in terms of micromanagement (and this is actually nice).

I'm glad you like Finch. Make sure she doesn't get killed permanently (Kiu lost her and couldn't bring her back it was a tough moment in my game).

Haha, trust me, Cara. If i lose anyone permanently (can you lose normal companions permanently?), I'm reloading a save first thing. I did that with Final Fantasy Tactics, I did it with Fire Emblem, I did it with Mass Effect, and I will most certainly do it with Baldur's Gate.

As for the class, I just can't wait to get to level 2 to see what surprises await me there. The leveling speed in this game is ungodly slow for me.

Well I try not to reload if my main character doesn't die. I'm not doing a no reload game because it is frustrating but I'm trying to keep things interesting.

As far as getting levels... Well progress is slow when you have a full party. Besides if you haven't installed a level cap remover the XP is limited so most characters will reach levels between 8 and 10 by the end of BG1.

Kiu is currently level 8 and the game is getting a bit easier (although some fights are still presenting a challenge).

Your character's progression tends to speed up when he/she becomes more powerful and starts killing more foes and thus bring more XP.


Kiu's party consists of Branwen, Kivan, Kagain, Shar Teel and Tiax (who has been relocated thanks to the NPC mod).

Tiax is as fun as ever. I really like the gnome.

Tension is growing as the merry little band is nearing Tazok's hideout...

Ajantis replaced Tiax (a bit too crazy for this run, Kiu is True Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral). I've never used Ajantis much so since I'm trying different NPCs it's a nice change.

I've added Xan for a bit then replaced him with Indira (NPC mod) who is going to be my main mage for the rest of the game (not sure Kiu will regain his active class by the end of BG1).

Alora was recruited to clear the Firewine Ruins.

Finally Kiu ran into Coran and got him into the party to deal with his quest. Faldorn was added as a novelty (I never got to use her much either) and she replaced Branwen (since the romance "died" because of low reputation I felt I could get rid of her).

I'm considering getting rid of Coran to make room for Yeslick (I like Dwarves) Kiu is a level 4 Thief at the moment and he should be able to deal with most traps for now.

Current party is composed of Kivan, Ajantis, Indira, Faldorn and Coran (soon to be replaced with Yeslick if everything works out).

I dualled Kiu at level 9 after clearing up all areas outside Baldur's Gate except Cloakwood Mines and Durag's Tower. Since I've removed the level cap he should be able to level up (I'm not sure that it won't be a problem when importing the character in BG2 but that is not something Shadow Keeper can't fix).

dragoniguana wrote:

Question for the night: If G3.net is down, where do I get the widescreen mod?

It seems to be happening a lot lately so here is a link for mirrors:

http://www.camagna.net/g3mirror/g3_emergency_mirror.html


Kiu has recruited Yelsick and replaced Faldorn by Branwen (still quite useful given circumstances, I like Clerics as supporting characters and higher level Clerics make really powerful opponents).

So for now as Kiu is getting ready to enter Baldur's Gate after having a chat with Scar the party is made of Kivan, Ajantis, Indira, Branwen and Yeslick.

I don't have any plans regarding what to do next. There are so many things to do in this city, it won't be boring.

Carabas wrote:

dragoniguana wrote:

Question for the night: If G3.net is down, where do I get the widescreen mod?

It seems to be happening a lot lately so here is a link for mirrors:

http://www.camagna.net/g3mirror/g3_emergency_mirror.html

Haha, I already found that, but thanks anyways.

Kiu has entered Baldur's Gate and done almost everything there is to do in the city (almost). I made a mess with the Thieves Guild and ended up killing them all since they turned hostile (a beginner's mistake, Kiu was too cocky for his own good).

The party has dealt with many mages (it's becoming a habit) and that includes some pretty nice fights.

The Sewers are cleared and Kiu has finished the first two quests for Scar. I've decided to delay the next step (Marek has already been dealt with).

Now the party has gone seafaring... It's been a long time since I've played this part of the expansion so I think I will probably enjoy it a lot. I'm still undecided whether I'm going to go through all the levels of Durlag's Tower (or simply the higher levels).

I remember that tower but only vaguely remembering the seafaring adventurers. I look froward to hearing what you have done.

Well, I've been through the island pretty fast (I don't know why I thought it was much longer). Kiu has been through the Iron Throne investigation and he is now taking a break to explore Durlag's Tower (from an RPing point of view it doesn't make much sense to delay the main quest but I've decided not to skip the tower this time).

I'm not writing Kiu's story because it would take too much time and I don't have much incentive to do so. I've been taking some screens but most of them aren't spectacular. I'll invest more time on my IWD2 party (once I get started with it).

As for now being stuck in Durlag's Tower is not the most fun I'm having with this game but it's been ages so my memory of the riddles is a bit hazy.

I've completed Durlag's Tower rather quickly. I guess the fact that my party is of a higher level and the main character is a thief really helped. last time I had Coran on trap duty and it was a nightmare he needed so many potions to be able to disarm anything it wasn't so much fun.

I remembered that the last fight in Tales of the Sword Coast was hard but I didn't remember it being that hard. I got lucky after a few reloads and managed to keep the entire party (losing a character at this point would be a major annoyance).

Now Kiu is back in Candlekeep, ready for the last chapter and the final confrontation before getting started with BG2.

I have completed BG1. Kiu has reached level 10 as a Thief before the end and was able to face Sarevok as a Wild Mage/Thief.

The last battle was a bit messy, Branwen and Yeslick were killed without any hope for resurrection. At last Kivan accomplished his revenge although Ajantis, Kivan and Indira fell before Sarevok.



I don't regret removing the level cap... If some of the fights were a bit easier as a result I wasn't disappointed by the last fight with Sarevok. Especially since I gave Kiu the crossbow of speed (bolts are not as great as arrows when it comes to arrows of detonation, dispelling and the rest although I have a fondness for bolts of polymorphing).

I've loaded my final save with BG2 and freed Minsc and Jaheira but it's time for a little break.

I've completed Irenicus Dungeon. It's been so long since I've played this dungeon that I didn't remember all the little details and it was nice retrieving some of the stuff I had almost forgotten.

Kiu is level 11 now and Wild Magic is still very hazardous (but a Thief who can use Wizard's items and cast spells like invisibility for extra backstabs is a force to be reckoned with no matter how many wild surges he can get).

Yoshimo has been recruited but I didn't keep him as a Bounty Hunter since I have no use for his skills as a Thief. I've decided to dual him into a Fighter with a focus on crossbows and bastard swords as a secondary choice (being somehow the equivalent of katanas in the west). Another fighter who can shoot several bolts per round is definitely an asset to any party.

I don't think I will keep Minsc or Jaheira. I find Minsc a bit tiresome nowadays (I guess it comes from having him in almost all my games) and Jaheira is a bit too bossy for Kiu's tastes.

I will definitely be adding Angelo but I'm considering taking Aerie (despite her annoying catchphrase and whining nature) but that would make it impossible to recruit that good old Korgan. Imoen, Jan or Nalia are not interesting choices because of their skillsets (mage thief is too much like Kiu). Anomen is a character that I find interesting (especially CN Anomen, I loathe LG Anomen). Haer'Dalis is a jackass. Edwin won't fit in. Valygar is an interesting addition (I really like this character) but he is no meatshield. Viconia could be fun but she's been involved in all my games. I never really cared that much about Cernd (and I'm a big fan of druids in these games). Mazzy is a gem and I'll probably consider her for a permanent place in the party. Keldorn is too much of a zealot in my books.

I've just reinstalled BG on my computer and this time I'm giving BGT a try. The only drawback is that I have to give up on Finch (Tutu only) but I'm looking forward to a smoother transition between BG1 and BG2.

It's been almost a year since I've started this thread so I guess there is something that makes me go back to this game in December.

I've found a cool Half Orc portrait which I can use and I'm considering going for a multiclass character.

Cleric Thief is cool and I love playing thieves (staves can be used to backstab) but it's more of a support character in a straight fight (although it may get better at higher levels).

Fighter Thief could work out nicely, a bit slow early on it may pick up in the mid game.

Fighter Cleric is not as overpowered as Ranger Cleric (and probably less effective than a dwarf when crunching numbers) but it's still an interesting choice. I would miss out on thieving but it's not like there is any shortage of thieves in the BG series.

I'm torn between Cleric/Thief and Fighter/Thief. Divine spellcasting and thieving abilities make for a very reliable character, a fighter is a bit more straightforward but could take advantage of the HP bonus form Constitution and a higher number of attacks.

All in all the choice I have to make is between Cleric and Fighter. Do I want more weapon options, more attacks or spells... So many hard choices!  

Try BWP I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the tip but I prefer a smaller selection of mods. So far Trilogy looks like a decent alternative to Tutu and I always meant to give it a try to be able to compare. I just wish Finch would work with BGT.

By the way I've decided to go with a half orc Cleric/Thief. It may not be the best in terms of powergaming but it should be fun.