Baldur's Gate II Questions

Hello,

Playing through KB:AP has given me the bug to finish up BG:II since I never got more than 15 hours or so into it and I have a few questions.

I have the ToB expansion set and was wondering if I need to play through SoA first or if I can just start with ToB.

Are there any mods that are generally recommended? My monitor does 2048x1152 so it would be nice to play at that resolution if possible with a mod.

Is anyone aware of any glaring issues playing on Windows 7 x64?

Thanks for any help!

Edit: Almost forgot, I have always usee a Kensai with specialization in katana as my main. Has anyone else used this combination and have any advice to offer? I know there are precious few katanas in the game (from the in game warning) but it always struck me as a rewarding class to play.

I can answer one of those questions... you CAN play ToB without having to play through the main game.

Curious though, why wouldn't you want to?

It's such a fantastic game and 15 hours is barely making a dent. I think I put about 80 hours into it and I didn't even do all the side quests.

Yeah, I guess I should explain that, what I meant to say was if I start with ToB will I miss any of the SoA content. Sounds like I will, so thanks for that

Definitely play through SoA first, you would be missing one of the greats crpgs ever made if you didn't.

Yes, definitely play through SoA. And BG1.

For your resolution, there is a widescreen mod.

EasyTutu moves the BG1 game into the BG2 engine, making it much more enjoyable (no more slow walking speeds!). All of the kits and so forth that BG2 introduced are added in. So you can take your Kensai through the entire saga (though you'll probably have to look for mods to add in any Katanas into BG1).

You can of course add new kits and NPCs to the game, though I've only added in kits, and then only to BGTutu.

There's actually a group working on putting BG2 into IWD2's engine (and thus the 3E mechanics). Not sure how far it is, since I can't find my IWD2 discs.

I had started BG2 fairly recently after my BG1TuTu run. The latter needs more mods and stuff. For BG2 I used and recommend the following:

1. Final patch, obviously.
2. BG2 Fixpack — Lots and lots of bugfixes.
3. BG2 Tweaks (works for BG1Tutu as well). I only installed Cosmetic Changes, Content Tweaks and Joinable NPC Tweaks; I left out Rule Changes and Convenience Tweaks/Cheats.
4. Widescreen Mod, I don't use it for actual widescreen, but to set the resolution to 1024x768. Text remains readable and the fog of war is just inside the gameplay window, which is about perfect. This is of course personal preference, but you don't gain anything by setting the resolution higher than that, on the contrary. Text spans across the entire window making it hard to read, everything becomes really small etc.

Install in that order. Be sure to read the Readme's. The fixpack, as well as the tweaks, come with a setup-executable that lets you choose which components to install and activate or deactivate. It's fairly straightforward.

To clarify on the SoA and ToB portions — your character in Shadows of Amn starts at 161.000 experience points. ToB continues the story of SoA and your characters start at 2.500.000 exp or so (the cap in SoA). You can import a savegame from the end of SoA into ToB, I think, so … yeah, start SoA first.

Oh, and yeah, in case you never played BG1, follow azraelck's advice and then the first link in this post for BG1TuTu goodies.

Awesome, thanks a lot for all the tips. 1024x768 does seem to be ideal, when I had it set to 2048x1152 it was absolutely ridiculous

Picking up from my last game which was, indeed, SoA. It's a little sketchy but the journal and other reading materials are filling in the gaps for the most part. Last save was 16 days and 7 hours so there's not a whole lot to catch up on.

It's amazing how well this game can suck me in after all this time. Looking forward to finishing it up over the next month or so.

It isn't really amazing; it's a quality game. I'm looking forward to Icewind Gate getting done, and being able to play BG/BG2 through in 3E mechanics. ToB might be a bit much for that engine though, due to the HLA's.

If you need some recommendation for mods, I suggest you try out quest pack and unfinished business. UB restores some of unfinished quests or storyline and quest pack adds loads of quests (obviously) so you get quite a bit more exp and loots before you move on to ToB. I also love some NPC mods but I won't recommend any here since it really depends on personal taste when it comes to NPCs. But if you decide to get some NPC mods, do get Cross Mod Banter Pack. This way you get interactios between mod NPC-mod NPC.

Cthulhufan said:

Awesome, thanks a lot for all the tips. 1024x768 does seem to be ideal, when I had it set to 2048x1152 it was absolutely ridiculous

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What size monitor are you playing on? I found that even 1024x768 was too high for me, as it made some details too small. That was on my old 19" CRT though, I haven't tried it on my new monitor.

azraelck said:

It isn't really amazing; it's a quality game. I'm looking forward to Icewind Gate getting done, and being able to play BG/BG2 through in 3E mechanics. ToB might be a bit much for that engine though, due to the HLA's.

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I have a hard time imagining BG 1/2 with 3rd Edition rules, and I'm not even sure that would necessarily be better.

I can. Rather than the absurd THAC0 rules, it's a much simpler to-hit system that anyone can easily understand. Instead of some things being lower = better, others higher = better, it's all consistent across the board. Characters are no longer limited to strange racial limitations; multi-classing makes sense, and is much more versatile. You can more easily create the character you want, rather than be forced into whatever the 2E rules allow, or try and hack together a kit to do so.

The games themselves would remain essentially unchanged, only the character development and combat. Both of which are much improved in IWD2 over BG1/2, IWD, etc...

I liked some of the limitations of the 2ndE rules, especially the weapon limitations of certain classes, although I agree that 3rdE is an improvement overall. I thought the multiclassing was a bit too open in 3rdE.

Not sure which of the billion characters was my "main" but how about something like this. He can 1shot any boss in the game using his traps and backstab for over 400 damage with his feats on. edit: and, of course, being a thief he can "use magic device" and wear gear - unlike a normal kensai

Race: Human
Alignment: True Neutral
Gender: Male

Dual-Class
Class: Kensai Level: 24 XP: 4000000
Class: Thief Level: 28 XP: 4774547

AC: 6
THAC0: 0
Total Hit Points: 164

Ability Scores
STR: 18/00
DEX: 18
CON: 16
INT: 18
WIS: 3
CHR: 3

Thief Skills
Open Locks: 200
Find Traps: 130
Pick Pockets: 25
Move Silently: 120
Hide In Shadows: 120
Detect Illusion: 0
Set Traps: 200
Backstab Damage: x 5


Spell Book
Level Spell
1 Critical Strike
1 Greater Whirlwind Attack
1 Kai
1 Pocket Plane
1 Power Attack
1 Set Exploding Trap
1 Set Snare
1 Set Spike Trap
1 Set Time Trap
1 Slayer Change
1 Smite
1 Whirlwind Attack


and some item ideas (what he's wearing atm i think)
Inventory
Quantity Item
1 Angurvadal +5
1 Belt of Inertial Barrier
1 Book of Infinite Spells
1 Boots of Speed
1 Celestial Fury
1 Cloak of the Sewers
1 Daystar
1 Deck of Many Things
1 Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise
1 Grandmaster's Armor +6
1 Helm of Balduran
1 Helm of Charm Protection
1 Hindo's Doom +4
1 Portal Key
1 Potion of Extra Healing
3 Potion of Superior Healing
1 Protection from Cold
1 Ring of Gaxx
1 Ring of Regeneration
1 Rod of Resurrection
1 Scepter of Radiance
1 Thieves' Hood
1 Vigil Stone
2 Wardstone
1 White Dragon Scales


Pretty hard guy to roll up but the best thief i could think of.

JDR13 said:

I liked some of the limitations of the 2ndE rules, especially the weapon limitations of certain classes, although I agree that 3rdE is an improvement overall. I thought the multiclassing was a bit too open in 3rdE.

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Weapon limits really didn't add much other than nothing. The spell failure tables for the armor made more sense than straight restrictions did.

The open multiclassing is the strongest part of 3E. Being able to actually make a character as you want it, rather than forced into certain roles, or gimping level gain rate for a multi-class.

Well to each their own, I thought it was a bit ridiculous that you could be a Mage\Thief\Monk\Fighter\Cleric.

I like the 4thE a lot better in the way you can only be one "class", but can learn feats from others.

Yes, you could. You'd also die very quickly.

It is possible to mix that broad a range of skills in real life as well; just you'd need 36 hours a day to become effective at them. And really, Multiclassing in 3e was redundant, as the quickest way to a broken, overpowered character was straight wizard, cleric, or druid; with a sorcerer coming in at a distant but respectable 4th.

I have the 4E core 3 books, but still haven't got around to reading them. So I have no clue on how that works.

azraelck said:

I have the 4E core 3 books, but still haven't got around to reading them. So I have no clue on how that works.

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I don't play pnp D&D so I've only read about the 4thE rules, but I really like what I've seen so far. I hope we don't have to wait too long for a crpg based on them.

I was never completely clear on the differences between 3.0 and 3.5.

The differences between 3 and 3.5 aren't much. Basically, it's rebalancing of many things; like the Ranger. I have the core 3.5 books too.

I don't have time to play pnp, barely enough to get into a few crpgs. And then, only if my OT at work is lower than normal, and I get my weekends off.

JDR13 said:

I was never completely clear on the differences between 3.0 and 3.5.

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The difference is .5, duh!