A few random newbish questions (possible spoilers I guess)

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Hello,
I'm currently on my first run and need some answers to these :
- Does the ToS expansion pack change the game significantly ? ( like ToB adds HLAs and stuffs making SoA a joke)
- I'm thinking of dual-classing Immy to a specialist mage. Which one is the most useful in BG ? Does Enchanter get any bonus at casting enchantment spells ? She's amost lv5 and only good at steath, do I need lockpicking, trap finding ? I have managed to finish the Nashkel mine without any trouble. She's been only scouting and shooting from the back.
- Kind of silly but somehow the quickload key didn't work though I had assigned everything properly in config.

That's all for today, I'll be back for more. Thanks in advance

 

It doesn't change the game as significantly as Throne of Bhaal changes the sequel. It just adds a few tweaks here and there, and sticks in a few extra quests/areas. Trap Finding is incredibly useful, if not essential. Lockpicks are handy, but not neccessary. I don't tend to multi-class her, so I'm not sure what sort of mage would work best. As a thief with a bow, she works fine anyway. I don't think the quickload key works, or at least I haven't been able to make it to.

 

Tales of the SwoardCoast Adds some minor changes, like giving more class combinations 2 weaopn slots (trust me you want it), Adding scimitars and some other minor things. But unless you go to the new areas yourself, it won't affect your game overlly much.

Yes i would recomend Trapfinding, in certain places of this game you will learn to become quite paranoid about traps.

The most common multiclas would be Illusionist i think, only looses necromancy, there is technically no necromancy spells you will have any need for in this game.

The Quickload button works, just press CONTROL + the button you used.

 

Aah, yes Ctrl_L works
As about Immy, I'll keep her as a thief then. I'm tempted to dual-class her because THAC0 15 is kinda high, she rarely hits anyone, while a lv1 mage can at least cast charm, and she gets one extra spell per slot compare to everyone too ^^

 

If you dualclass Imoen to a specialist mage at level5 or 6 she can still reach the highest mage levels. I dualclassed her at level6 to illusionist since she's better than the mages you can find but inferior to the multiclass thieves.

If Imoen is the only arcane spellcaster in your party the best specialist school is illusion, but if you have another mage or bard in the party to cast identify then choose conjurer.
The specialisation only affects the opposing schools, enchanter is probably not a good specialisation since you lose the powerful evocation spells.

Playing without thief to disarm traps can be really annoying since you'll have to use save and reload pretty often once the traps get more dangerous.

Because of that you should have another thief in your party if you dualclass Imoen. 6 thief levels are just not enough and she doesn't have any thieving skills at all during the dualing period.

There is a really powerful fighter/thief in the first new area in chapter4.

 

Oh damn, some random Eltercaps owned me party >__>
I didn't even get to see who was the azzhole that cast in a web, they come, they bite, I die
I'll be sure to throw in some horror and sleep on the next reload, I swear

Immy is now lv 6 and I'm glad she stays as a thief, just got a few good things from random chests. I wonder how long will it take if I dual-class her here, not that I'm going to.
On the other hand, Dynaheir is still lv 4 and she's quite useless, I don't like her attitude either. Does she have any banter or quest or related stuffs ? I want Viccy since we're short on healing, my party : PC gnome Fighter/Illusionist, Jaheira + Khalid, Minsc + Dynaheir.

We've managed to finish the Bandit camp, thanks to wand of fear, wand of sleep and charm. But the enemies will eventually make their save, right ? I noticed they get a lot of save vs spell 20 lately, do they cheat or what

Anyway, I'm off to the Cloadwood now, wish me luck

 

The ettercaps don't cast web, but there are usually web traps near them. That's why you need find traps.
Dynaheir doesn't have any quests related to her. I didn't like her either so I made Imoen my party mage.

Mages get very powerful later in the game, magic missiles always hit, so you always do 10-25 damage with this level 1 spell once you've reached level 9. You saw how much damage gorion inflicted with his spells.
Mirror image is also a powerful mage spell. No matter how much damage a hit would have caused, you only loose one image.
But I usually only cast strength as level2 spell, cast two of them on anyone and he'll have 18/00 strength for hours.
You'd probably also want haste as fast and long lasting as possible.

But you shouldn't get into troble if you decide to have your fighter/illusionist as only mage, you just won't be able to cast level 5 mage spells.

The game is far easier if you have a cleric in your party with 5 or more cleric levels.
I wouldn't take Viconia, she's evil and you probably want to be a hero with good reputation. You will meet the only good aligned cleric in the chapter you are currently in.
You'll have an easier time if you trade Jaheira, Minsc or Khalid for him.

 

The web is a trap set by ettercaps. There are many of these you need to watch for, even in the ambush maps!

The NPCs rarely talk to each other and only a few have 'quests' (Edwin, Minsc, Coran).

Remember, Dynaheir can't cast Conjuration or Enchantment/Charm spells. No Melf's or Summoning, and no Sleep or Charm Person. She can use wands though, if you want the spells anyway.

The enemies are higher levels along with you. That's why they're making their saves. I don't know why you don't have a cleric. You should have had one a long time ago. Personal bias on my part.

Good luck on wriggling through the Cloakwood! Personally, I hate it and ignore 70% of the fighting.

 

I think my Gnome F/I is the only one has save vs spell and save vs wand under 10, that's why I'm so confident going around with a lv1 charm spell and talking big to everyone

I have met the Coran guy, he's good but I wanna keep Minsc, Jaheira, Immy, Khalid and I need a cleric ._. Argh, so many thinkings, head hurts ~_z

Btw, I met a guy named Aldeth shampoosomething, he was apparently rich and having a quarrel with druids while hunting. I proposed a peaceful solution but those retarded tree-huggers just wanted a fight, and they had it. Bah, they should've seen me drooling at the rich guy, now he went away, he'd better repay me well next time we meet

[ February 12, 2006, 17:31: Message edited by: Minh So ]

 

I have almost said a damn big spoiler now (regarding Aldeth's future role), but let that much be enough that yes, he will repay it.

Tales of the Sword Coast doesn't add tons of new things, but I can recommend it, because:
- Its quests and battles are tough for new players, but when you will be there, hopefully you can manage it if you are careful enough. Additional content anyway, BG1, and thus fun.
- Some highly enchanted magical items are added.
- If you ever want to install BG1 mods, they usually require TotSC, especially non-Tutu BG1 mods.
- If you have hated traps, it will make you despise them even more. (If you haven't, then there will be no problems if you are careful.)

Have fun!

 

ToS isn't a massive expansion to the game, but it's more than worth getting, since it adds quite a few cool quests an items. I don't suppose it's really anything to hand-wring over - I mean, how expensive can it be to buy nowadays? I say go get it.

 

Wheew, I finished the Iron mine, Coran is really powerful now, I should've ditched him rigth after his quest, what a waste now when he has 30k exp. It just doesn't feel right to have 2 thieves in party and I think Minsc will prove to be useful later with his 18/93 str + 2H sword. Btw, Dynaheir didn't want to go alone so I had to arrange an... accident, serves her right

About Davaeorn, when I first met him there were 2 burning horrors (?) popped up from nowhere and beat us to pulps (even Khalid with -6 AC didn't survive long ). But on the next reloads they didn't appear, just the stupid mage who cast dimension door a few times, then charm, hold, monster summon which is useless against my Gnomish F/I.

Oh, on the way here we encoutered a Dryad, she repeated casting dire charm and dimension door, 3 archers and we still had a hard time chasing that b!tch. It was funny though, when we get back Jaheira was unconcious and Khalid was just staring at her angrily, somehow he managed to switch weapon to fists before got charmed
Still, we have to find a way to counter charm, and poisons as well. I can't remember how many times having trouble with hobgoblin arrows

@Dranalis : Err... it's not really a money issue here, I actually had them all already when I asked. Just wanna know the differences, that's why I didn't install Tutu right away

 

Nope, she doesn't. None of the couple NPCs leave without their partner; Khalid/Jaheira, Monty/Xzar, Miscn/Dynaheir.

You might want to check for traps around there if you play again.

 

Don't forget Eldoth/Skie!

Simple: take them out first. Charms can be disrupted, and hobgoblin archers will stop shooting and pull out their sword if you get in their face (the Boots of Speed you just picked up before the mine entrance can help with that). You shouldn't really be getting hit by those wimps at all either, if you keep formation so that they see your heavily armored characters first. Also, remember that Elixirs of Health serve a double purpose of healing 10 HP and curing poison. If you get hit and poisoned, they can save your bacon big-time.

 

In that case, there's no impediment to installing Tosc. Install away!

 

Waaai~
It's been a while, I was kinda busy and the Baldur's Gate city is sooo huge, I haven't got to do anything much aside from exploring.
On the way here we killed many ankegs but the smith at Beregost wasn't interested in the shels anymore, bummer.

While hiking the city we've done several minor quests, some of them were quite easy like stealing a telescope, investigating the merchants and now some random assasin suddenly shows up telling us "my friend Marek has poisoned you guys, you gota help me or you'll die in tenday". What bull****, do they take Bhaalspawns for a joke ? I don't even know who the heck was Marek, a little ant that I stepped on unknowingly ? Gota love the journal >__>

We met some familiar faces, Quayle and Tiax from BG2, interesting fellows. I'll be sure to have them on the next run. And Aldeth, he turned out not so bad.

Btw, do thieves get bonus to stealth when they're naked ? (the manual doesn't mention it like in BG2)

 

The Beregost smith (Tuorim?) won't buy ankeg shells if you have him make you ankeg armor.

I don't thieves get a stealth bonus when naked. Their skills should be better without armor.

You might want to find out about Merek.