Mass Effect - Nitpicks #1 @ Twenty Sided

There is no "keen" property in Baldur's Gate. Also, all weapons of the same type (Longsword, Short Sword, Katana, etc) have the same base damage, so the examples would be:
-1d8+Fire
-1d8+Law
-1d8+2 VS Orcs

Don't tell me that's a hard choice, the fire wins by a mile. Sell the rest. Usually the choices are even more obvious than that, such as:
- Celestial Fury: Redicilously high damage, stun with no save, proc for even more damage. Counts as +3.
- Katana +2. No extra stuff.

Or even better:
- The Holy Avenger, Carsomyr +5: Overpowered in every possible way due to 50% magic resistance and dispel on hit (in addition to a bunch of extra stuff). Counts as +5 (+6 after Cespenar upgrades it).
- Every other sword in the game: Can't hold a candle to The Sword of Uber Overpoweredness.

After you get Carsomyr, usually in act 3 (act 5 if you can't kill Firkraag untill that point), there's no need to ever replace it with any other weapon in the game. Period.

Maylander said:

There is no "keen" property in Baldur's Gate.

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Optimizing for criticals is still there.

Maylander said:

Also, all weapons of the same type (Longsword, Short Sword, Katana, etc) have the same base damage, so the examples would be:
-1d8+Fire
-1d8+Law
-1d8+2 VS Orcs

Don't tell me that's a hard choice, the fire wins by a mile. Sell the rest. Usually the choices are even more obvious than that, such as:
- Celestial Fury: Redicilously high damage, stun with no save, proc for even more damage. Counts as +3.
- Katana +2. No extra stuff.

Click to expand...

Take an actual example, the one between Drizzt scimitars if you were naughty enough to take them.
Scimitar +3, Frostbrand (+50% fire resistance)
Scimitar +5, Defender (+2 Armor Class bonus)

The 2nd weapon would be your natural choice, but in the case you were going to fight fireball throwing mages, fire elementals or other fire stuff you might prefer the frostbrand.

Usually there were items that did a huge improvement in some areas while you could use a generic heavy-damage weapon in others.

Thing is, the AD&D system have a rather complex system when it comes to bonuses to weapons. There's really no limit what an item could give you, everything from bonudsdamage of different types, abilitymodifiers, defensebonuses etc. The option might be easy, but you must still account for whatever character you play and that's not as easy as picking the weapon with the most damage.

Maylander said:

Or even better:
- The Holy Avenger, Carsomyr +5: Overpowered in every possible way due to 50% magic resistance and dispel on hit (in addition to a bunch of extra stuff). Counts as +5 (+6 after Cespenar upgrades it).
- Every other sword in the game: Can't hold a candle to The Sword of Uber Overpoweredness.
After you get Carsomyr, usually in act 3 (act 5 if you can't kill Firkraag untill that point), there's no need to ever replace it with any other weapon in the game. Period.

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We are talking BG2 now then I assume. Good weapon for Keldorn, but you have six characters, not everyone a paladin, and the problem with all 2h weapons is that you cannot use a shield with them. Meleefighters in D&D are different depending on if they are damagedealers, tanks or partybuffers. A fighter, Cleric or barbarian do not neccessery benefit from using Holy Avenger.

theres is no way you could play mass effect without levling or switching items if you play at any level above normal. mass effect has 5 levels of difficulty (2 are not accessable in the begining) and normal is 2nd from the bottom. this is the same thing with fallout 3 which had 4 levels of difficulty and normal was 2nd from the bottom. when there are difficulties you should always strive for the most difficult especially when you have the option to turn it down at anytime. you can't say you want a challenge but also don't want to struggle with a tough game. if anything though the witcher should have had a 4th level as well since hard was difficult but could have been a bit more demanding especially for those doing a replay. personally i find the mass effect difficulty choices to be about perfect though the
insanity level is not really necessary but i do like the hardcore level which in my 2nd playthrough has given me a number of battles that i have to plan, redo, repeat to get them right--that is rewarding in my view just like having to utilize alchemy/oils on the hard level in the witcher though not as demanding as i would like.

i understand peoples possible unwillingness to increase difficulty on a game that requires "twitch" skills but you can't complain about lack of difficulty if you're taking the easy road. to me its an evolution of games wheter some are happy with that or not they do evolve. to me strategizing the skills to use in mass effect although different is still just as rewarding as me mapping out the dungeons by hand for bard's tale(s) or ultima(s) back in the day. also i even wrote down lists for what to keep when selling items in mass effect. some may see that as a waste of time, but some would see video games in the first place so i'm not going to be sold that one game mechanic is better than the other, and any optional gameplay element that exists in a game is usually a good one since for some its a fun element and others they can ignore it.

take for instance the normandy exploration in mass effect. i love space so the idea of roving around on these unique if not barren worlds enjoyting the stars and sky as much as driving up impossible cliffs and doing unintentional acrobatics. its the closest i'll get to probably that in reality which to me is a huge gameplay seller. if i were to be cynical i could say yes this is pretty lame being the first human spectre exploring worlds (in fantasy land) compared to an ex of mine being part of the engineering team that put the first rovers on another planet (in reality) and also being one of nasa's most successful programs in a generation. i however appreciate what i'm given, and in mass effect there's far more good than bad, and when that is they case i usually just shut it and enjoy.

Indeed curious, I believe a lot of comments regarding how easy it is, and how useless levelling/gear/companions are, are made by people playing on normal. Normal setting is, in fact, very easy, and you don't need to pay attention at all when making a character. This changes dramatically on the higher settings (especially the highest).

Regarding my example (Carsomyr):
This was just an example for one character. Almost every weapon type in BG1 and 2 has an "uber wep" that you never need to replace. I always plan my party with this in mind, and go straight to the various weapons after starting the game. Examples in BG1:
2H Sword (for Minsc or main character usually): Spider's Bane (the 2H sword in the forest, gives permanent Freedom).
1H Sword: The sword you get in the Prism quest, south of Nashkel (the one with cold damage).
Warhammer (usually to the party priest): From the mad guy in the forest, talks to skeletons. Has electrical damage.
Axe: The throwing axe (returns to wielder) from the guy below Candlekeep. This is only available fairly late in the game, so I tend to go for the +2 Battleaxe from the guy at the inn in Baldur's Gate first (the inn where you find Helmet of Balduran, best helmet in the game).

Etc etc etc. I can give examples of every weapon type and where to find it. No replacing required. Just like I can give you a fairly quick recipe on how to get the best weapons in Mass Effect (the S.P.E.C.T.R.E weapons, prototype stuff). Also very little replacing required.

Maylander said:

Etc etc etc. I can give examples of every weapon type and where to find it. No replacing required. Just like I can give you a fairly quick recipe on how to get the best weapons in Mass Effect (the S.P.E.C.T.R.E weapons, prototype stuff). Also very little replacing required.

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In some of the BG cases you need to determine if that weapon really is the best for that character, and obtaining them is a part of the game.

The S.P.E.C.T.R.E weapons pop up automatically once you reach a specific amount of credits, which you will eventually do if you are the kind of player that loot/sell everything.

Weapon selection in 2nd edition AD&D is pretty trivial once you've decided on the weapon type, gear selection and character building only really gets interesting in 3rd edition

Kostaz said:

@JDR
Why do you hate KotOR that much?
I can find more than 50 threads that you say how bad this game is.

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, You're definitely exaggerating just a bit Kostaz. I didn't "hate" KotOR, I just recognize the fact that it's really nothing more than a very average game by crpg standards, something that seems to be impossible for the Star Wars fanboys to comprehend. The story is the only thing I would consider slightly above average for a crpg.

Although to be fair, Bioware's standards have seemed diminished to me in recent years, ever since they started their 'console-first' development cycles. I'm really hoping they can redeem themselves with Dragon Age.