BG I & II: Electric Boogaloo

[Anonymous No.4860656]

Baulders Gate I & II are on sale ($5) for the Steam Summer sale. As someone who is vaguely interested, is it worth it, or did I miss the train two decades ago when I didn't have a job and life to get in the way of devoting countless hours into vidyas?

[Anonymous No.4860684]

>>4860656
Sure. Although if you don't have that much time, and you don't mind skipping the backstory of protag, you can jump right into BG2. BG2 is just better and more richer in every sense compared to 1. BG1 is ok, but it feels basic compared to 2 so it gets a lot of flak.

So yeah, if you don't care too much for story, just go read up some short synopsis of BG1.

Oh and if its the EE version, just ignore all the new content/characters, its ass/meh for the most part.

[Anonymous No.4860686]

Such menial tasks.

[Anonymous No.4860792]

First time playing BG1 and imo is just for nostalgia purposes so they can play BG2.

I might find the time to finish it since I just hit the town of Baldur's gate but I'm not too satisfied with the story so far.

[Anonymous No.4860798]

>>4860792
Stick with it, it gets better.

You might get more out of it if you're familiar with AD&D's Forgotten Realms' lore.

[Anonymous No.4860804]

>>4860798
Unfortunately I'm playing the Enhanced edition so the only person that talks in the party is Neera.
Viconia decided to fuck off because my PC is too nice

[Anonymous No.4860807]

>>4860804
>>Enhanced edition

You have my sympathies.

[Anonymous No.4860813]

>>4860807
Boy do I need it. Is there any worthwhile mods for BG2? Is that meme mod Saerileth ported over to enchanced ?

[Anonymous No.4860818]

>>4860813
Nah, every content mod out there sucks major dick. Unless there's some qol improvements I haven't heard, there's literally zero reason to mod BG2 EE. Nostalgia retards like get ass mad about EE and pretend modded vanilla is better, so please don't fall for their autism.

[Anonymous No.4860826]

>>4860818
Thanks again, also When do I dual class Imoen. I think she can be both thief and mage, I'm currently maxing out her lockpicking (maybe stealing) before dual

[Anonymous No.4861437]

Jesus.

>playing Enhanced Edition
>dropping Viconia and keeping Neera

There really isn't any helping you.

[Anonymous No.4863019]

Beamdog is a guilty of a number of different crimes. Here are the major ones.

1. The Enhanced Editions are essentially a collection of free mods that had existed for nearly twenty years. Beamdog gathered them all up, slapped "Enhanced Edition" on it and resold it as a new product. There's very very little in the Enhanced Editions that wasn't already out there, and most of it is stuff you don't want (like obnoxious character outlines).

2. The games didn't sell so well and the originals were still far outselling them, even twenty years after their release, so Beamdog had EVERY digital distributor stop selling the originals and ONLY sell the Enhanced Edition. If you want to buy a digital copy of the originals now, they're "bundled" into the Enhanced Edition. Now these scumbags can claim sales from people just wanting to buy the originals as their own.

3. The infamous 600+ bugs on launch. The game is still riddled with bugs (as even a perfunctory glance over their forums show) but the fact that it took nearly two years for them to get a game that had been working fine for 20 years to reach playability after launch is telling of their wild incompetence.

4. This is where we get to the ones that really piss people off. Beamdog couldn't just remaster the game, they had to fuck with the content too. New dialogue for existing NPCs like Jaheira, Viconia, Safana, Kivan, et cetera was written in to make the characters more progressive and leftist friendly. Beamdog shills will argue that "adding content isn't changing content XDDD" but it is when the new content changes the core personalities of the existing characters. This is in addition to adding a slew of their own LGBT (hitherto there were none in Baldur's Gate) NPCs, all flooded with OP attributes and magic items to encourage people to play them despite their cancer.

5. Siege of motherfucking Dragonspear.

[Anonymous No.4864179]

>>4860656
>>4860792

I agree, BG1 is not that great of a game. The story in BG1 is also so basic that you can watch the intro cinematic for Shadows of Amn and not be lost at all.

BG2 has better graphics, better soundtrack, better quests, better dungeons, actual dragons, better characters including a much better villain, more classes and skills to work with, etc., etc. Even though I like PS:T more than the BG games, BG2 is the best representation of D&D ever in a video game.

[Anonymous No.4864207]

>>4863019
>hitherto there were none in Baldur's Gate
Wasn't Shar-Teel a lesbian?

[Anonymous No.4864209]

>>4863019

I remember this game being perfectly playable online shortly after launch, we used to play a lot online with my brother. Then after a year or year and a half one of updates fucked up multiplayer in a way it became unplayable (basically player who joins the game gets kicked every few minutes unless it's a lan game). They still haven't fixed it to this day.

[Anonymous No.4864215]

>>4860656

BG1 is great, though frustrating in the first couple hours.

BG2 is possibly the greatest PC RPG of all time

[Anonymous No.4864564]

>>4863019
wow. i had no idea how bad it really was. also.. in the pic you attached:
> [we tried to address that]
depressing revisionist cucks with an incredibly high onions diet.

[Anonymous No.4864578]

>>4864564
Wait did onions become onions? How did I miss that one?

[Anonymous No.4864607]

>>4864207
Going from 1 to 7 is still a 600% increase in representation. There's being progressive and then there's pushing an agenda.

[Anonymous No.4864670]

>>4864207
No. Man-hating warrior woman, whose whole plot is about being dominated by a stronger male, but not LGBT.

[Anonymous No.4864875]

The second still holds up as one of the greatest RPGs of all time, and then after you'll probably be curious enough to go back and try the first.

[Anonymous No.4864876]

>>4864207
Nah, she just hated men.

[Anonymous No.4864892]

>>4860804
There's a mod to give BG1 NPCs banter similar to how it is in BG2.

>>4860818
There are still plenty of good mods, many compatible with EE. Rogue rebalancing, unfinished business, SCS.

[Anonymous No.4865537]

>>4863019
As a shameless homosexual commie, this is really fucking stupid. Just leave the game alone, or have the changed/extra content as selectable. Do these guys want to be hated by every fan?

[Anonymous No.4865927]

The first BG is pretty fucking horrible desu, the second game is better in every way

[Anonymous No.4866628]

>>4865537
They probably don't care if fans hate them or not.
So long as they make money and get props from other commies.

[Anonymous No.4867039]

>>4863019
based pasta poster to the rescue !

[Anonymous No.4867202]

>>4866628
>sanctimonious liberal identity politics is equivalent to advocating an alternate mode of production
I want this meme to die desu.
Why do you "muh SJW" idiots always have a 10 year old's understanding of politics?

[Anonymous No.4867224]

>>4867202
1. If a meme isn't simple enough for everyone to understand it then it won't catch on at all.
2. And in any case the difference between a modern liberal dividing folk by race and an old school Russian Bolshevik looking only at social class is hardly a substantial one. Certainly the two are similar enough in terms of motive and method to warrant the same pejorative.
3. If you want a more thorough answer then take that shit to /pol/. This is shitting on Beamdog thread, not a shitting on Nalia one.

[Anonymous No.4867231]

>>4867202
Seriously commies are way worse.

[Anonymous No.4867234]

>>4867224
Lmao, have you talked to any actual Leninists? They hate liberals more than anyone else. Stop talking about things you're completely clueless about. If there's a form of politics that's most despised by the mainstream media, it's worker organisation and any kind of anti-capitalism. It's easy to shill for social equality when you have no stake in the real game, economics and geopolitics.

[Anonymous No.4867250]

>>4867234
>Lmao, have you talked to any actual Leninists?
I've been on a college campus so yes.
Leninists only hate Liberal in the same way Bloods hate Crips. They're both anti-freedom. They're both for theft and murder. They both label their enemies as fascists. They just want their own gang to win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxIbq7HkalQ

[Anonymous No.4868682]

>PC is Gnome Fighter/Illusionist
>party is Aerie, Viconia, Haer'Dalis (completed Aerie's romance dialogues before adding Haer so I won't get cucked), Mazzy, and Jan
>everyone is between levels 11 and 13
>doing the Windspear Hills dungeon
>get to Firkraag
>take Firkraag's offer to leave peacefully and kill Conster separately
>go back to kill the dragon
>line up my three mages beyond the range of sight
>cast seven cloudkill spells on Firkraag
>scout out how much damage that did him before reloading to finish him for real
>he only went down to "badly injured"
>have Viconia and Aerie summon five skeletons
>have the skeletons attack Firkraag
>have Jan cast greater malison (which got resisted anyway), then have all three mages spam magic missile
>skeletons die almost immediately
>manage to finish him off, but Viconia died and Aerie resurrected her after the fight

Is there a better way to fight dragons?

[Anonymous No.4868850]

>>4868682
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baQ-xWANpyI
Watch as Xan 1v1's a dragon to obliteration.

[Anonymous No.4868853]

>>4868850
Wait fuck, I mean Edwin.

[Anonymous No.4868873]

All the bitching and moaning about what's wrong with the game, which one was better etc... everyone misses the fact that at least it's only $5 for two good games

[Anonymous No.4868892]

>>4868873
yes but its on steam. STEAM...you know what that means? that means its shit. im not buying that. if it was $5 gog or mobile id jump on it

[Anonymous No.4868962]

>>4868682
I just killed Thaxll'ssillyia with a lot of buffs, fire elementals and breach to dispel the resistances, and sent my fighter with Champions strength to fuck his shit up. I'm new at this and this post helped me a lot.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/258273-baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn/50025845#5

[Anonymous No.4869125]

>>4868682
>Always Breach away the dragon's defenses so that your meleers can do damage
>Cast Lower Resist / Greater Malison package, perhaps in a sequencer, to lower the dragon's defenses. Lower Resist stacks.
>On some weaker dragons like the one in Suldanesselar in Chapter 6, you can even insta one-shot them with Chromatic Orb or Finger of Death once you bring down their defenses.
>Spread out to avoid AoE damage.
>Use equipment like Flail of Ages to deliver stuff like slowing effects on hit.
>Use your consumables and items with at-will daily effects like Vhailor's Helm. Two Fighter/Illusionists dual-wielding strong weapons will bring him down quickly, and you can even swap the weapons on the original character so that, for instance, your Simulacrum can keep whacking the target with an utility weapon
>Get Resist Fear
>Skeletons aren't particularly heavy summons, against Firkraag in particular I'd recommend Fire Elementals, yes they won't hit him too hard because he's of their element but you want them to soak up damage rather than dish it out.
>Hasted Meleers will shatter through Stoneskin very fast simply by punching the dragon.
Overall I think that most dragon fights are simple tank and spank, you just have to stack up on buffs and debuff the enemy, then whack them.

[Anonymous No.4869368]

>>4868962
Man, I went into the game completely blind, not even knowing a thing about about D&D and not having the internet to get me up to speed either. Now here y'all kids are now have decades of guides immediately available. Not saying my experience back in the day was better, or anything. Just marveling at the difference.

There's no way you'll end up with an endgame party of Half-Orc Wizard Slayer Protagonist, Minsc,Valygar, Imoen, Nalia, Aerie for example.

[Anonymous No.4869631]

>>4869368
>There's no way you'll end up with an endgame party of Half-Orc Wizard Slayer Protagonist, Minsc,Valygar, Imoen, Nalia, Aerie for example.
But that's a pretty okay party. Wizard Slayer is kinda crummy, but the whole thing should still nip the challenge in the bud, even with mods like SCS or Insane.

[Anonymous No.4869981]

>>4869631
Aww, you're sweet.

[Anonymous No.4870118]

>>4869981
I just think there's really no way to fuck up a party composition in BG2, the NPCs are all fairly exceptional with above-average statlines and good kits. That, and most of your power in BG2 comes from broken items you find.

[Anonymous No.4870603]

Can I borrow this thread to ask about a couple problems I'm having with BG Tutu?

[Anonymous No.4870617]

>>4870603
No, of course not, that would be ridiculous and retarded.
Proceed.

[Anonymous No.4870645]

>>4870617
Danke.

So I'm running BG Tutu using the stand-alone instal, created with ISOs of BGTotSC and GOG's BG2 Complete, in case it's relevant; I'm having a problem with Scripts. Specifically, my PC's script won't work properly. If I set it as Wizard Aggressive, Defensive or Control, she just attacks in melee; if I set it as Sorcerer Berserk, she'll cast Charm Person at the first enemy, regardless of what it actually is, then default to melee. I'm sitting on four casts of Magic Missile and one cast of Armor, and she's just completely ignoring them. I'm wondering if it's a problem with Tutu, since I can't remember having a problem with either BG1 or BG2. No idea what to do about it. NPC scripts all seem to be working ok, even other Mages'.

On a different note, I'm wondering how hard it would be to set up Tutu for use with a gamepad. One stick for screen scrolling, one stick for mouse cursor, trigger for pause, etc.

[Anonymous No.4870653]

>>4870645
Well, shit, man, this is kinda not within the purview of my expertise as I have never ever used customizable party scripts. Preferred to micro.

Have you tried downloading eSeries? Maybe these will work?
http://www.gibberlings3.net/cirerrek/

[Anonymous No.4870663]

>>4870653
I haven't tried them yet, but googling earlier this afternoon led me down that avenue as well, so I probably will if I can't find a solution in another couple hours.

I'm not totally opposed to the micromanaging, especially if it's just one character, but it makes it hard to spam out those stacks of MM since I don't use auto-pause. I guess I could ue my keyboard for more than the occasional spacebar press, since I think I can just use numpad for casting anyway?

[Anonymous No.4870714]

>>4870645
>gamepad
>>>/v/catalog

[Anonymous No.4870718]

>>4870714
Sorry I'm not part of the M+KB masterrace. I like being able to recline while I play, and my current desktop setup doesn't really allow for that.

[Anonymous No.4872439]

>>4868892
who cares

[Anonymous No.4872443]

>>4870645
Scripts are always a little iffy for me. I've always set my casters to default ranged attack and then micro. Works better this way anyways and you'll get better mileage and enjoyment because it'll force you to think tactically about the combat. BG has a lot of great tactical combat that you can sink your teeth into.

[Anonymous No.4872448]

>>4869368
Yeah man, I'm a little amazed I made it all the way through to the end in the past when I first played them when they were new.

[Anonymous No.4872451]

Who's your waifu?

https://www.strawpoll.me/15997369

[Anonymous No.4872454]

>>4872451
Wasn't Aerie a little retarded?

[Anonymous No.4872462]

>>4872454
I think they were shooting for naive or cloistered, given her upbringing as a slave / carnival freak.

[Anonymous No.4872470]

>>4872462
Naive is a good term, she always seemed really innocent to me

[Anonymous No.4872805]

>>4872454
>>4872462
>>4872470
A cute moment in ToB is when she initiates sex and goes all assertive "I'mma show you a reaaaal good time".

In general, in ToB, most characterizations have been mellowed; Nalia goes a little bit less preachy, Imoen gets some cool lines to highlight her sense of humour, Aerie is a bit more tough, Viconia's ice-cold heart melts.

[Anonymous No.4874018]

>>4872805
I think that's good - gives the characters some depth

[Anonymous No.4875240]

>>4872451
>no Imoen
Shit poll. Whiny McWhiner, Sloppy Seconds and Miss Wears the Pants are not desireable options.

[Anonymous No.4875901]

>>4875240
Cool incest vibes man

[Anonymous No.4876474]

There's a lot to like about most of the romances.

Jaheira's is the longest and most involved. From her working through her grief over Khalid and eventual acceptance, to interference from the Harpers, you get a few unique items throughout the romance, and even cameos with Elminster. Given she's a canon companion, I've always felt like she was the 'default' romance.

Viconia's benefits from being the only companion where you can actually redeem her from evil through the romance AND the only evil romance, so it works for both sides of the alignment spectrum. It also helps that like Jaheira, she was with you from the first game.

Aerie is probably the weakest of the three. Her romance subplot isn't scheming Harpers, Lloth Handmaidens or the like, but a love triangle that's very easy to mess up and end up with her cuckolding you for Haer'Dalis. Still, hers is the only one that wins you an actual child in-game over it. So there's that.

There's really no reason to romance Anomen, not that you even could since he's a guy and you men don't play female characters, right?

[Anonymous No.4876516]

>>4876474
>Given she's a canon companion, I've always felt like she was the 'default' romance.
Too bad it's also the most notoriously buggy romance that kinda asks of you to trigger certain sequences in a correct order or you might miss a flag and either trigger it through CLUAConsole or get stuck.
>There's really no reason to romance Anomen, not that you even could since he's a guy and you men don't play female characters, right?
I don't create avatars of myself in a fantasy world, I create OCs.
Anomen has a fun perk in that his romance path diverges depending on whether he fails or obtains his knighthood. If he fails, he gets to come to terms with it and becomes a somewhat well-grounded, if not slightly cynical, man who does want everything to be the best for both of you.

[Anonymous No.4876770]

>>4876474

I played a female dwarf noble to romance Zevran in DA:O, but Anomen is a shit romance option.

[Anonymous No.4876785]

>>4876516
>I don't create avatars of myself in a fantasy world, I create OCs.

[Anonymous No.4876863]

>>4876785
It's not really a question of pride, although I suppose it was worded a little funnily.
But generally I replay my favourite RPGs a lot, and every character I make in them, I try to make as different and diverse as possible to see what kinda story they can tell, rather than creating various idealized versions of myself. It's just that. It also makes MMORPG character creation more fun to do that way, since I don't have to worry if the idealized elf male is a reflection of myself.

[Anonymous No.4879347]

This game had a suspicious lack of Dwarven romances. Every other race had their option, but nothing for Dwarves. There really wasn't any good reason that Mazzy couldn't have been a shortie romance option.

[Anonymous No.4879935]

>>4879347

David Gaider thinks female shorty race romances are equivalent to pedophilia, which was his excuse for not having any in Dragon Age.

[Anonymous No.4880001]

>>4876474
See, I always thought that Aerie was the default canon romance, seeing as how most players will do that easy circus quest just as soon as they're out of the gate. Plus she's easily the simplest one to navigate. Jaheira I just always saw as the grieving surrogate aunt.

[Anonymous No.4880005]

>>4872454
Yeah, she's mentally a child still.
So everyone that went with her is a pedo.

[Anonymous No.4880008]

>>4879347
What would Mazzy's be like anyway? She's basicly already devoted to her church.

[Anonymous No.4880042]

>>4880008
She is also grieving for Patrick.
I'm going to assume it would be some hurt/comfort cute stuff, and Korgan would pull the Haer'Dalis on you, except Mazzy would just put him down herself.

[Anonymous No.4880046]

>>4880042
Let's not beat around the bush here. He'd straight up attempt to rape her. The event would trigger when you're camping for the night and would mostly likely end with one of the two dead.

[Anonymous No.4880110]

>>4880046
Korgan actually has a soft spot for Mazzy and I don't think he would attempt to do so. Just because he's evil doesn't mean he's stupid. Korgan respects Mazzy as a fighter and I have no doubt that he knows that if he tried something he'd die, whether during the deed or in the aftermath, and Korgan is definitely a pragmatist.
Being evil doesn't mean you can't have respect for certain people. Korgan manages to form a bond of mutual respect with Keldorn of all people, after all.
If a Mazzy romance mod came out with what you propose, I'd filter it to the same tier of disgust as most other 99% mod schlock based on this scene alone. It's just in poor taste and fairly OOC.

[Anonymous No.4880903]

Why do romances in modern RPGs suck so bad? They seemed more intriguing in BG and BG2. Probably just nostalgia?

[Anonymous No.4882296]

>>4860656
OP here; just an update— the summer steam sale is just about over, and nothing here I read made me think $5 was worth it (not that it was anons prerogative to convince me). I think at this point of my life I'd rather just read a book than sit through a gigantic retro rpg dnd slog.

[Anonymous No.4882493]

>>4882296
If there's any game that deserves to be called overrated, it's Baldur's Gate 1/2.
Not even deserving to be called an RPG when there's barely any RP in it desu.

[Anonymous No.4882525]

>>4882493
>Not even deserving to be called an RPG when there's barely any RP in it desu.
No computer RPG is capable of rendering in any "RP".

[Anonymous No.4883760]

Posting here because why not. I installed Planescape since I haven't played it since it came out. There's a community patch for all IE games - should I install it? There's plenty of changes to gameplay which you have to approve one by one, and since I didn't know what any of them meant I didn't use them.
So what should I do? Use them? Use only some them?

[Anonymous No.4883928]

>>4882493
>>4882525
You'll find Roleplaying videogames a lot easier to understand if you loosen your sphincter a bit on the definition of the word.

>>4880903
Maybe. I think the romances in BG2 are pretty terrible (are there even any in BG1?). I have never seen a "romance" in a WRPG not be awkward and unnatural.

[Anonymous No.4883980]

>>4883760
It depends man. I've played it a few times so I'd be interested in a new experience if it were me. I've heard good things about the EE version of the game, I imagine it probably has some of those fixes that you're talking about.

[Anonymous No.4884050]

>>4860686
Oh, alRRRRRight!

[Anonymous No.4884142]

>>4880008
...all four of the existing romances take place with a character that has levels in a priest class.

[Anonymous No.4884234]

>>4884142
...shit, i never realized that

[Anonymous No.4884674]

>>4883760
>There's a community patch for all IE games
which one would that be?

[Anonymous No.4885090]

>>4884674
Probably the fixpack or one of the tweakpacks.

[Anonymous No.4885115]

Did the update for bg2 on android make the game blurry for anyone else? Or was it just me?

[Anonymous No.4885127]

>mfw skeleton warriors are more powerful than demi-liches and pre-hell Irenicus

[Anonymous No.4886476]

>>4884142
Mind blow.

[Anonymous No.4886680]

>>4864179
>BG2 has better graphics, more classes and skills
Tutu is how BG1 is supposed to be played. BG2 has nothing over it in this department.
>better soundtrack
No.
>better quests, better dungeons
Especially the quests. Biggest thing it has going for it.
>actual dragons
Is that supposed to be a pro?
>better characters
And all of these better ones come from BG1. Romances are pitiful.
>a much better villain
Nothing special about him. The voice maybe?

Meanwhile it has a shitty disjointed world and the combat becomes progressively worse until the full level dnd in ToB where it's just absolute unblemished ass.

[Anonymous No.4886715]

>>4886680
>And all of these better ones come from BG1.
Korgan, Keldorn, Valygar, Mazzy, Jan and Haer'dalis are all BG2 original characters. Mechanically, in BG2, every NPC is useful and there's no blatantly shitty one.

[Anonymous No.4887541]

>>4886715
Cernd is pretty useless without mods.

[Anonymous No.4887679]

>>4886680

By graphics I also meant art design. BG2 gives you the underdark, Suldanessallar, and in general a lot more varied and more interesting locations. It's not just about pixel count.

>Tutu is how BG1 is supposed to be played
I don't see how playing BG1 like it's BG2 is an argument for BG1 being better.
>actual dragons
In a video game based on a franchise that is called Dungeons and Dragons? Yes, I would say it's a pro.
>nothing special about Irenicus
Sarevok sends some weak ass assassins after you, then mostly just sits on his ass while you BTFO the Iron Throne. Irenicus is constantly present to mess with you which makes the chase feel like an actual chase. Is his backstory and motivations retarded? Sure, but from a gameplay perspective he's a much more engaging and fun villain.

[Anonymous No.4887758]

>>4887541
He's not useless but he's definitely shitty.

[Anonymous No.4887852]

>>4887541
>>4887758
Call Woodland Being (pocket healer that you don't have to waste druid slots on casting and who doesn't eat XP!) Nature's Beauty (AoE Blind with no saving throw!), Insect Plague (shuts mages down hard!), Iron Skins (combined with the ludicrous amounts of AC that Greater Werewolf receives Cernd is actually a really good damage sponge) and all the variations of Elemental Summoning, including the one at HLA, make druids worth it. Cernd isn't the best optimized Druid and would be much better as a Totemic or Avenger, but he is by no means useless. Druids transition into late game much more graciously than Clerics do, I'd wager. Of course, Jaheira is overall a better NPC.

[Anonymous No.4887976]

>>4887758
This. Cernd is probably as bad a Druid as you can conceivably make one. Poor stats, worst kit available, and the NPC's personality is one note and grating. But by sheer virtue of how powerful his class is, you could never really call him useless, as: >>4887852 demonstrates.

For my money, the most useless characters are the ones who have heavy overlap with other, better characters.

Take Imoen vs Nalia. They have identical stats on the three that matter most - 18 Dex, 16 Con, 17 Int. But Nalia has fewer Thief levels, worse skills, lower Charisma (Imoen's 16 is enough to be the "face" for the party) and is subject to reputation restrictions. In just about every way she's a worse clone of Imoen.

[Anonymous No.4888692]

>>4887976
>
Take Imoen vs Nalia. They have identical stats on the three that matter most - 18 Dex, 16 Con, 17 Int. But Nalia has fewer Thief levels, worse skills, lower Charisma (Imoen's 16 is enough to be the "face" for the party) and is subject to reputation restrictions. In just about every way she's a worse clone of Imoen.
Has a nifty ring that you don't have a reason to replace for most of the game, unlocks a decent questline, is available from Chapter 2, can still do most of the barebones Thief jobs that is the minimum necessary (although later she needs some help from items) and it still doesn't change the fact that Nalia is still a fucking Mage, which is an extremely powerful class no matter how you spin it. Nothing also says that you couldn't run both her and Imoen in the same party if you were inclined to pack heavy artillery. Sure, Imoen is probably better in most cases, but Nalia's "heavy overlap" doesn't really make her useless.

I wrote >>4887852 and I maintain there's no useless character, the overall power level got hiked way the fuck up from BG1, and the BG2 NPCs all manage to fill in some useful niches.

About the least mechanically desirable character I can think of is Minsc, and he still has the versatility of being able to wield whatever you give him pretty much (can dual-wield, can wield a greatsword, etc., he's just versatile with little to no prep needed), still has above average stats and becomes a battlefield god with just some imbues like everyone else, especially with HLA. His effective replacement is Sarevok (also a character associated with a greatsword and exceptional strength except with a much better base character class) but Sarevok comes in ToB.

[Anonymous No.4890871]

>download scs
>no wizard in your party? get a load of this crowd control
>only 1 wizard in your party? get a load of these spell protections
>2 wizards in your party? get a load of these contingencies recasting those spell protections
>2 wizards, one druid, one assassin and a paladin? get a load of these liches with t i m e s t o p s
>killed the lich? get a load of these rakshasa that are completely immune to your dispels and are immune to +3 weapons and level 8 spells or less and have 5 attacks per round and come in trios and also love to cast incendiary cloud and cloudkill
>my mod doesn't cheat btw :)
I understand balancing the entire mod around spellcasting but forcing you to cheese your way through any fight at all is really fucking infuriating. If you want a "vanilla+" experience i'd recommend installing SCS without upping the spellcasters AI and upgrading only the dragon fights. Vampires, illithids, beholders and ESPECIALLY the motherfucking rakshasa all force you to cheese one way or another.

[Anonymous No.4890949]

>>4863019
>hitherto there were none in Baldur's Gate
Edwina?

[Anonymous No.4890965]

>>4890949
Is not a transsexual. Edwina was a man who's body was unwillingly cursed into a female form by Netherese magic. A transsexual is someone born one gender and through mental illness, identifies as the opposite gender- IE Mizhena. Edwin's curse and the cursed Girdle of Femininity and Masculinity are good examples for why issues like gender dysphoria wouldn't exist in a universe like the Forgotten Realms. Identify as a woman? Magically change your gender and have a functioning womb and all. Identify as a lizard? Polymorph away.

[Anonymous No.4891003]

Man I'm right at the end of BG1 and these fights fucking suck. Sure do love my party being wiped out in two rounds due to constant arrow of detonation spam!

[Anonymous No.4891080]

>>4891003
>Not wearing your enemies down with near endless waves of summoned skeletons.
You have only yourself to blame.

[Anonymous No.4891104]

>>4891080
I'm playing a cleric of lathander. Roleplay prevents me.

Also I'm playing tutu and I thought there was a cap on summons in the BG2 engine.

[Anonymous No.4891107]

>>4860656
they call it baldur's gate because balding boomers play it

[Anonymous No.4891141]

>>4891104

recruit and romance Viconia, the roleplay works out because you can convert her to true neutral instead of neutral evil through the power of your holy lawful good dick

[Anonymous No.4891159]

>>4891107

>being a zoomer on a board for retro video games

[Anonymous No.4891182]

>>4890871
Illithid are easy, liches aren't bad either, beholders can fuck right off forever though. Rakshasa aren't immune to level 8 spells though, and a bunch still hit for some weird ass reason.

[Anonymous No.4891187]

>>4891182
>I've made the most annoying enemy in the game able to steal the only item that makes fighting them not feel like dragging your dick through broken glass
>i try very hard not to cheat though

[Anonymous No.4891192]

>>4891187
>Tfw you know exactly what this anon is talking about
Still better than that dog shit tactics remix.
>Irenicus literally strips you butt naked in hell because its not fair you have so much cool stuff so the fight starts with you running to pick it up
It's like kubranaxxramus

[Anonymous No.4891247]

>>4891141
You know, I'm playing a dwarf, so I would have to mod the game to do romance. I wasn't planning this, but I like that idea enough I think I'm gonna do it. Thanks for the idea, anon.

[Anonymous No.4891303]

>>4891003
Oh boy I sure do love a final boss that has a wizard that can literally just instant kill you if you're below level 9.

That isn't challenging. It's literally just "lol go grind"

[Anonymous No.4891312]

>>4891303
Even on insane he can't instakill you, what are you talking about?

[Anonymous No.4891320]

>>4891312
https://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Death_Spell

He literally uses this spell.

[Anonymous No.4891353]

>>4891320
What mod are you using? I've played this shit for years and never once seen him use death.

[Anonymous No.4891367]

>>4891353
No mods, my guy. Well, I was installing the tweak pack for my BG2 game, but I cancelled it, and I doubt it would have added anything like this.

Doesn't matter, though. Figured out how to bypass the wizard even appearing, and kicked Sarevok's ass. Onto BG2

[Anonymous No.4891375]

Viconia is a nightmare to romance, because she is so explosive and it's not easy to predict what will attract or repel her.

this also makes her the most realistic of the three though

[Anonymous No.4891407]

>>4891375
Still the best one though, Aerie is whiny and grating (but actually not that bad once ToB hits) and it's terrifying how Jaheira doesn't even wait for Khalid's body to cool before jumping on your dick. I unironically think Imoen should be an option.
still doesn't change the fact that, like in almost all games, the romances are awkward as fuck

[Anonymous No.4891423]

>>4891407
Just like old times! Well, except for the torture, and all...

[Anonymous No.4891440]

>>4891303
Familiarize yourself with the Death Ward spell. There is no "I win!" spell in D&D, everything has a counter.

[Anonymous No.4891478]

>>4891407
Jaheira goes through a long mourning phase and an even longer conflicted phase. The fuck game did you play?

[Anonymous No.4892042]

>>4891478
This. Jaheira has far and away the most romance script checks and she goes the longest of all romances before actually becoming involved with the player.

CHECKS
1- snaps at charname for no reason
2- talks about mourning khalid
3- talks about her torture and khalid's death
4- nightmare about khalid dying
5- chats with charname about being divine-blooded
6- another nightmare about losing khalid
7- talks a bit about her past
8- talks about balance / druid and harper shit
9- more khalid mourning
10- talks about scars over losing khalid
11- more talk about charname's divinity
12- bandits kidnap Jaheira- charname needs to sacrifice himself to save her
13- Harper calls Jaheira out of party
14- Jaheira returns and calls you to the harper hold
15- fight off the harper ambush - need to request Jaheira remain with group
16- small talk
17- indecisiveness about killing the harpers
18- talk about druidism / divinity
19- mourning harper decisions
20- harper appears and threatens Jaheira
21- Jaheira being depressed
22- Jaheira worrying she's lost neutrality by grouping with charname
23- jaheira feels a bad omen
24- smalltalk
25- talk about torture from Irenicus
26- check to ensure friendship
27- discussion about bhaalspawn nature
28- more of 27
29- Harpers appear and pronounce death sentence on Jaheira
30- Jaheira leaves party, Elminster visits the group
31- Jaheira cheerful, charname flirts but not reciprocated
32- Harpers attack again
33- Jaheira upset about more harper death
34- reflecting on Harpers being in the wrong
35- Jaheira apologizing for being cunty
**36- Jaheira admits to have feelings for the player and makes her first move romantically**
37+- other stuff happens, meet Elminster again, get magic items, etc etc

Anomen and Aerie only have like 20 checks total, with romance being started usually about 10 checks in. Viconia has more than them but quite a bit less than Jaheira and also starts her romance very early in.

[Anonymous No.4892153]

>>4890871
>I understand balancing the entire mod around spellcasting but forcing you to cheese your way through any fight at all is really fucking infuriating. If you want a "vanilla+" experience i'd recommend installing SCS without upping the spellcasters AI and upgrading only the dragon fights
That's exactly what the mod author recommends you fucking tard. Read the fucking instruction manual before installing.
Not to mention that I've seen people win the augmented SCS fights with solo martials so I guess you just need to git gud

[Anonymous No.4892637]

>>4863019
BG EE sold 700k on recent Steam leak. I don't know about you but that's pretty crazy for a quick rehash.

[Anonymous No.4892646]

How many of you have tried the Eclipse party mod (Solaufein) in Baldur's Gate 2? Time Stop every few rounds and they are immune to your Time Stop.

[Anonymous No.4892649]

>>4891407
I know many women who became widows and got a new husband soon after.

[Anonymous No.4893445]

>>4892042

>Jaheira worrying she's lost neutrality by grouping with charname

Was True Neutral the most autistic D&D alignment ever? What kind of sick fuck actually believes not only that good and evil are inherent forces in the world, but that they have to be equally distributed?

>"Oh no, somebody found a cure for the plague. I'd better go rape a child."

[Anonymous No.4893484]

>>4892637
>game is popular, an absolute classic
>the EE comes out after a bulk of RPGs marketed specifically as being Baldur's Gate-inspired come out from prolific companies in the last few years
>remake is hyped everywhere
>original games were shut down
>EE is marketed to these same oldfags as the "new and improved version with everything working smoother"
>chief arguments include QoL stuff (with the asterisk that you can mod that QoL stuff in), new content (which is also mod-tier) and that it works on newer systems (the originals also do, but people don't bother to check that usually)
>Beamdog removes the original retail copies from GoG and adds BG to Steam
>in the eyes of the general public, Beamdog are saviors of a lost classic that desperately needed an update
Of course it sold well. Returning players, people who learned of how amazing the game is through word of mouth (and it's now modernized and shit!) or people who decided to buy a 4th copy of Baldur's Gate, as well as people who want to support more rehashes like this, have spoken with their wallets.

[Anonymous No.4893519]

>>4893445
>What kind of sick fuck actually believes not only that good and evil are inherent forces in the world
I mean, it's true. Good and evil objectively exist in D&D. That's why Detect Evil is capable of pinging evil characters, for instance, or that there are entire spells devoted to protection against certain alignments, and there are also weapons like The Equalizer.

[Anonymous No.4894070]

>>4893445
It was less alignment and more about Harpers / Druidism, organizations devoted to balance.

[Anonymous No.4894313]

VITA
MORTIS
CAREO

[Anonymous No.4894763]

>>4894313
Haha he's using the necromancy cast dialogue while posting in a dead thread.

[Anonymous No.4894815]

why are the harpers such massive asshole cunts who all need to die screaming?

[Anonymous No.4894837]

>>4894815
The Harpers are like a mix of Illuminati and like, a really snooty book club.

[Anonymous No.4894959]

>>4893445
Neutrality was just perceived in a shitty way, and tied to the druidic "philosophy" which used to be utterly ridiculous in 2nd edition.
Since they could be LN/NN/NG/NE/CN in later editions druids aren't so retarded anymore.

But when you think about what each alignment really represents, True Neutral is the most common-sense and reasonable one in D&D. Neutral characters are described as people who don't devote their existence to altruism or preserving life but are tied to others via personal relationships. Let's not forget that Good isn't just being a nice guy in D&D, it literally means sacrificing yourself to protect and preserve the autonomy of others.
In contrast, a farmer who protects his family and wants to live a comfortable life is True Neutral ; someone devoted to his faction/city/nation is neutral if he doesn't value "goodness for its own sake".

I think that originally Good was probably meant only for heroic characters, while the lesser mortals like us are neutrals, but it later got connected with the second meaning of neutral, the druidic "muh balance" and schizophrenic evening out the score between good and evil actions.

[Anonymous No.4894963]

>>4894959
Not him, but you're glossing over the difference between Neutral and True Neutral.

Most people are indeed Neutral; their ideological convictions, whatever they are, aren't strong enough to push them into another category, which yeah, is almost everyone we know on contemporary Earth. That is your stereotypical farmer dude.

True Neutral is something much different. True Neutrals actively and very consciously think the notion of "neutrality" is the most desirable one, and work to maintain it. (In a manner that is usually extremely schizophrenic).

[Anonymous No.4894973]

>>4894963
That's wrong, though.

Neutral/Neutral encompasses BOTH my farmer dude and the commited druid who seeks neutrality as a strict philosophy. That's where the whole confusion comes from, since both meanings are quite different personalities, but the same alignment. Similarly, Chaotic Neutral encompasses people who are totally insane, and someone like a rogue who isn't commited to evil and does whatever he wants.

>A neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. She doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. >Such a character thinks of good as better than evil-after all, she would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, she's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way.

>Some neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run.

[Anonymous No.4895007]

>>4894973
>Neutral/Neutral encompasses BOTH my farmer dude and the commited druid who seeks neutrality as a strict philosophy. That's where the whole confusion comes from, since both meanings are quite different personalities, but the same alignment.
They are not the same alignment in D&D 2E, and your quotes from http://easydamus.com/trueneutral.html seem to be extremely dishonest, given how you omit the part that destroys your position.

>The "true" neutral looks upon all other alignments as facets of the system of many things. Thus, each aspect--evil and good, chaos and law--of things must be retained in balance to maintain the status quo; for things as they are cannot be improved upon except temporarily, and even then but superficially. Nature will prevail and keep things as they were meant to be, provided the "wheel" surrounding the hub of nature does not become unbalanced due to the work of unnatural forces--such as human and other intelligent creatures interfering with what is meant to be. Absolute, or true, neutral creatures view everything which exists as an integral, necessary part or function of the entire cosmos. Each thing exists as a part of the whole, one as a check or balance to the other, with life necessary for death, happiness for suffering, good for evil, order for chaos, and vice versa. Nothing must ever become predominant or out of balance. Within this naturalistic ethos, humankind serves a role also, just as all other creatures do. The may be more or less important, but the neutral does not concern himself or herself with these considerations except where it is positively determined that the balance is threatened. Absolute neutrality is the central or fulcrum position quite logically, as the neutral sees all other alignments as parts of a necessary whole. This alignment is the narrowest in scope. (1)

[Anonymous No.4895624]

>>4894815
It's basically baked into them
>wow, inventing something? gotta kill them and destroy their inventions
>someone trying to not be a city state? better arrange for that city to get destroyed

[Anonymous No.4895835]

You must gather your party before venturing forth.
You must gather your party before venturing forth.
You must gather your party before venturing forth.

[Anonymous No.4895928]

>>4895835
There's a mod to silence this. There's also one to make it so you can transition even if your party is elsewhere, but you can sort of abuse this, so it's not ideal.

[Anonymous No.4895989]

>>4890965
>Edwin's curse and the cursed Girdle of Femininity and Masculinity are good examples for why issues like gender dysphoria wouldn't exist in a universe like the Forgotten Realms.
I've heard this before but it sounds like complete bollocks. Your average shit covered peasant isn't even going to know about sex-changing magic. Mental illness exists in FR, absolute nobodies are not going to have access to magic items or creepy pervert wizards who perform these spells, so trannies are perfectly believable, though I still don't want to have to see them in games.

[Anonymous No.4896145]

>>4868682
the last time I played through bg2, I saved him for last and it was so easy I was disappointed

i remember the dragons being hard, but this time around they were a cakewalk

I think playing underrail has done that to me; everything else feels way too easy now.

[Anonymous No.4896301]

>>4895989
Average shit-covered peasant? What're you playing, Ravenloft? This is the Forgotten Realms. I defy you to find a hamlet in that game without a Mage high enough level to start polymorphing people around. FR is as high fantasy / high magic as a setting can get.

Hell, the Siege of Dragonspear tranny is a Fighter 7/ Cleric 10 with about 10k worth of equipment.

[Anonymous No.4896621]

>urge to start yet another BG2 run
>remember the underdark
>urge immediately gone

[Anonymous No.4896758]

>>4896621
Play Evil, go to Underdark late, murder Adalon instead of doing her quest and simply leave. You get a nifty armor out of the deal, too.

[Anonymous No.4896994]

>>4896621
Who doesn't like the Underdark? You can find Balors, Drow Matrons, Elder Beholders, Mind Flayer God-Brains, Silver Dragons, etc. They finally tune the difficulty up and give you some fun.

[Anonymous No.4897078]

I find the quests and storyline in the Drow city to be a bit tedious, although the climax is fun when the multiple double-crossing unwinds and the Demon gets such a kick out of it all.

Also the Beholder area is kind of boring apart from the ambush at the entrance. Othewrise yeah I think the Underdark is great.

[Anonymous No.4897276]

>>4896994
Underdark feels like a prison.

[Anonymous No.4897483]

>>4860684
Kill yourself.

[Anonymous No.4897720]

>>4897483
Seems like a pretty reasonable opinion to me, what rustled your jimmies?

[Anonymous No.4897848]

>>4897078
>>4896994
The biggest problem, at least to me, is that about half of the stuff in the Underdark, most notably the Beholders and the Illithid, are stuff that's trivial to defeat if you know what you're up against and took the appropriate precautions, and extremely difficult to defeat if you don't have stuff specifically geared to beat them. That sort of hit or miss play just I dunno, it's boring when you win and mostly encourages you to run away and hide and rest until you have the right spells to completely unhinge them.

[Anonymous No.4897957]

>>4896301
Yeah FR is an effective videogame setting for this reason.

>>4895989
Probably more relevant is the whole notion of what transgender even means is foreign to the setting. The existence of girdles and gender-switching magic and whatnot are just clues that reinforce this. The modern transgender meme and all its language is just that: a modern fad. Gender dysphoria is certainly a valid possibility for the setting but if you were going to do an honest, setting-appropriate portrayal of such a character you would imagine what how their life would have progressed had they grown up in that setting with that condition.

Even if they didn't wind up doing a magical sex change, the odds that someone in Forgotten Realms would just happen to use language in exactly the same manner as a modern SJW is zero.

BG certainly has some tongue-in-cheek elements and not every character behaves in a perfectly setting-appropriate way. But in those cases, the 4th wall breakage usually has an obvious and easily-accepted excuse such as "it's funny." The excuse for having a character talk like a modern tranny using SJW language is: the writer is an SJW and wanted to force the narrative into the game.

[Anonymous No.4899651]

plant a blade in yer innards i will

[Anonymous No.4901760]

behold: the best baldur's gate game

[Anonymous No.4901984]

>>4899651
I SERVE THE FLAMING FIST

[Anonymous No.4902671]

>>4893445
>What kind of sick fuck actually believes not only that good and evil are inherent forces in the world
Imagine being this fucking stupid.

[Anonymous No.4902748]

>>4901760
Not retro.

[Anonymous No.4902897]

Are they going to make icewindale 2 ee?

[Anonymous No.4903549]

My respect was so low for SoDomy that I would only play it on my phone but the bullshit still manages to scream at you at 7680x4320 8k UltraHD

[Anonymous No.4903730]

>>4902897
thankfully they lost the assets of it.

[Anonymous No.4903805]

>>4902897
no thank god

[Anonymous No.4904734]

>>4903549

My one playthrough of the non-enhanced BG series was as a goody two shoes so I never picked the "there better be a reward for this" or "I require compensation for this" options. Do you actually get better rewards or do the NPCs just bitch about what a heartless and evil person you are?

[Anonymous No.4905869]

Why is Kivan so based?

[Anonymous No.4906961]

It's definitely worth it. You don't need to play all day every day. I played BGI original for the first time recently and chipped away at it every few days or so for several months. There's a bit to learn at first but it's one hell of a computer game. Definitely not worth MISSING