Yet another bleeding BG thread *sigh*

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Jamski
All WeiDU mods are compatable

That's actually not true, but they're certainly a lot more compatible than other mods. For example, Spell50 and Ascension will only work together if you install Ascension first, and I'm sure there are others which won't work together properly at all.

As I lay abed I considered the problem of Cloudkills, and there are a few points that I think are worth mentioning:

- Liches are really slow, which doesn't help with the whole escaping from Cloudkills thing. How about altering LICH.ITM to give them a speed boost and make them as fast as everything else.

- My mages script might not cause mages to go hostile if they are Cloudkilled by the player before their feet circle goes red. I can fix that, but only at the expense of them going hostile in the event of other damage being inflicted on them by non-party members. On reflection, that wouldn't really be a very high price to pay.

- Wands of Cloudkill desperately need to be nerfed. At least they should be made unsellable so you can't recharge them, and I think I'd prefer it if they were changed to an entirely different spell. I'd like Zone of Sweet Air (don't you think that fits the graphic better anyway?), which would then allow enemy mages to carry Wands of Zone of Sweet Air (the script could create them for all mages of sufficiently high level, with 2 or 3 charges) and at least have a chance to cancel Cloudkills, and other such spells, and kill two birds with one stone (or perhaps just one really big bird with one stone).

[Dis]

how do you recharge wands? I have never done it in Baldur's Gate.

[Jamski]

Sell them and buy them back

-Jam

[Skanky Burns]

Is that the official way?

[Jamski]

Umm... yes actually, there's no other way to do it.

I made the fatal mistake of starting a new game of Icewind Dale today... there goes some more time... I always liked the first chapter - its so straightforward undead bashing

-Jam

[Dis]

does anyone know if the ease of use pack can be installed at any time. Will it apply to saved games?

Before in Baldur's Gate I never had a character with so many profiency points in bows (I had paladins and rangers who could not get more than 2 points). I have a fighter with 4 points, and he goes through arrows like crazy. And I finally got missile weapons selected for my mages after turning level 6. That way they can do something when not casting spells, and they won't go up and start attacking monsters with daggers and quaterstaves. I hate that. Too bad mages can't use crossbows.

anyways the ease of use would help. My PC goes through arrows very fast. And I only have 4 points in bow. I'd imagine 5 points will add another 1/2 attack right? He'll go through even more arrows.

[Dis]

disregard the above post, it works.

whew, this is so much easier. why didn't I do that before.

I didn't realize you have the option of not installing some of the cheesier components like the XP cap remover and the all happy NPC. Those didn't seem like they weren't in the spirit of the game.

But stacking items doesn't really alter the difficulty of the game, just makes it less of a pain in the ass

[Jamski]

Hence the name "Ease of Use"

There's one for every IE game except PS:T, but its not really needed for that one, and they're so handy to use.

You've found the true advantage of a pure fighter in BG1 - getting 5 * in bows is lethal

-Jam

[duke o' york]

Diss, all my mage characters use slings. Sure, they don't get a very good strength bonus, but at least they get to fire stuff at the enemies. Often enough to kill kobolds and other rubbish creatures.

Sparrowhawk, I bought the BG1 collection 3 CD pack from an associated retailer on Amazon.co.uk, and it comes with a CD that contains .pdf manuals for BGs 1 and 2, the add-ons, both Icewind Dale games and (I think), something else as well. So if you buy just the one BG game then you won't need to get your hands on the other manual too. Although you can't read it in bed, which is what first annoyed me.

I can't contribute to the scripts debate because I'm a coding n00b. However, I can update you with the story of my virgin trek through the lands slightly south of Baldur's Gate.
My party is now Mildred, Jaheira, Kivan (welcome back ), Coran, Branwen and Imoen. I am enjoying the flurry of arrows that spike the heck out of my enemies every time they so much as turn red, and have had some fun. I went back to the Gnoll stronghold where I swapped Kivan for Dynaheir and sent Minsc in on his own to try to get him killed. In the buff. Hmmmm..... Well, the eighth gnoll got him, but only after he had knocked out seven using his bare hands. It was a shame to see him go really, after that wonderful exposition of the noble art.
Because I had duelled Imoen, then I couldn't open all of the chests in the bandit camp, but I can go back with Coran and see what there is to be had. Fortunately I still had Minsc

Spoiler:

to open the chest with the lightning trap and go to chapter 4

.
I killed loads of dodgy druids by accidentally choosing the wrong option, but got lots of exp for it, and am now ready to go into the second area of Cloakwood forest. There are lots of spiders about, and I'm beginning to wish that I hadn't chosen skellingtons as my racial enemy. I got Kivan back at level 6, which was nice, but haven't remembered to look at what thief skills Coran has.

[Qilue]

[SIZE=1]
I killed loads of dodgy druids by accidentally choosing the wrong option, but got lots of exp for it, and am now ready to go into the second area of Cloakwood forest. There are lots of spiders about, and I'm beginning to wish that I hadn't chosen skellingtons as my racial enemy. I got Kivan back at level 6, which was nice, but haven't remembered to look at what thief skills Coran has.

Don't worry about the Druids, later in the game, you'll discover you didn't really make a bad choice.

As to the favoured enemy, there's such a variety of enemies in BG1 that is doesn't really matter what you choose.

[duke o' york]

Yeah, but spiders poison you (well, earlier in the game they do), which is a pain at early levels.
Jaheira now has an AC of -5.
Full plate, helmet of defense, dexterity of 18 and other magic items for defense.

[Dis]

Originally posted by duke o' york
Diss, all my mage characters use slings. Sure, they don't get a very good strength bonus, but at least they get to fire stuff at the enemies. Often enough to kill kobolds and other rubbish creatures.

Sparrowhawk, I bought the BG1 collection 3 CD pack from an associated retailer on Amazon.co.uk, and it comes with a CD that contains .pdf manuals for BGs 1 and 2, the add-ons, both Icewind Dale games and (I think), something else as well. So if you buy just the one BG game then you won't need to get your hands on the other manual too. Although you can't read it in bed, which is what first annoyed me.

I can't contribute to the scripts debate because I'm a coding n00b. However, I can update you with the story of my virgin trek through the lands slightly south of Baldur's Gate.
My party is now Mildred, Jaheira, Kivan (welcome back ), Coran, Branwen and Imoen. I am enjoying the flurry of arrows that spike the heck out of my enemies every time they so much as turn red, and have had some fun. I went back to the Gnoll stronghold where I swapped Kivan for Dynaheir and sent Minsc in on his own to try to get him killed. In the buff. Hmmmm..... Well, the eighth gnoll got him, but only after he had knocked out seven using his bare hands. It was a shame to see him go really, after that wonderful exposition of the noble art.
Because I had duelled Imoen, then I couldn't open all of the chests in the bandit camp, but I can go back with Coran and see what there is to be had. Fortunately I still had Minsc

Spoiler:

to open the chest with the lightning trap and go to chapter 4

.
I killed loads of dodgy druids by accidentally choosing the wrong option, but got lots of exp for it, and am now ready to go into the second area of Cloakwood forest. There are lots of spiders about, and I'm beginning to wish that I hadn't chosen skellingtons as my racial enemy. I got Kivan back at level 6, which was nice, but haven't remembered to look at what thief skills Coran has.

well I'm caught up with you. Actually I passed you. But I'm done for the night, I'll be on vacation too, so I won't be playing. I have cleared out the entire cloakwood area, and am about to enter the mines.

[Jamski]

Yeah... if you'd asked before I would certainly have put spiders on the "favoured enemies" shortlist, up there with humans and [/spoiler]doppelgangers[/spoiler].

Nice party anyway - you should have no problems with chapters 4 --> the end, as long as you remember to use the magic arrows as you can't take them with you to BG2 Remember - "acid arrows" and "arrows of detonation" are the best friends a man/halfling/elf/etc can have

-Jam

[duke o' york]

What's the difference between arrows of poison and arrows of biting? The biting arrows say that they've got poison on them. Or is that a lie?

[Skanky Burns]

Nice work there with the spoiler tags.