Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[Dorateen]

So far this game is a lot more brutal than Pools of Radiance, but not in a good way. I am currently taking on a beholder in his lair along with his minions.

This adventure was fairly open exploration, after the initial starting town. That is, you can choose which location to have your party visit next, without heavy-handed direction. It is possible to go to the area you're talking about too soon, and then it can be quite brutal. I recall doing that first, and it was tough, but felt so rewarding making it out of that area alive.

Not the best of the Moonsea tetrology, but still ranks up there.

 

[PetrusOctavianus]

I decided to brush off this game and give it a whirl, since I hadn't knocked it out yet and the CRPG Addict is currently playing through it on his blog. So far this game is a lot more brutal than Pools of Radiance, but not in a good way. I am currently taking on a beholder in his lair along with his minions. Every time I run into spellcasters area of effect spells get slung back and forth on both sides until someone is made dead. It was fun and interesting the first few times, but the spellcasters are now following the same tactic in each battle. Somehow Pools of Radiance and even the FRUA modules pull off making things much more interesting throughout their entirety, while this one is just alright.

The key to fight spell casters is to make sure you damage them all with spells or wands before the can cast spells on you.
As for Beholders they are only dangerous at close range. The Slow spell has a range of 8, I think. Beyond that Beholders are completely harmless, and with a movement rate of only 3 they are easy targets for archers. Also, the AI is piss poor in the Gold Box games; in the older ones enemies won't even cast area effect spells if they can't target it on one of your guys. So if you start a fight invisible Beholders and most spell casters won't be able to target your characters.

 

[Foehammer]

Hi guys,

I'm replaying the goldbox series in dosbox. I was reading jaylittle's advice (on another thread) on the goldbox series re dual-classing mage/rangers, etc. but also wanted to take characters from PoR all the way through to PoD - a problem given there are no rangers in PoR.


A compromise was to complete PoR with three characters (figher, mage, cleric) and then add 3 rangers from Curse onwards.


Completing PoR with three characters was great fun; and surprisingly easy (using Cluebooks and characters with maxed out stats via Modifying at lvl 1). The game was also quicker to play, as many encounters were scaled to my smaller party. I hired a Robber (lvl 3 thief) form the training hall for a few missions, and had Dirten, Skullcrusher, Genheeris for some quests too.

My question is - are Curse, SotS, PoD completable with three characters? If I need (as I expect I do) 6 characters for the last battle of PoD, should I start with 6 characters in Curse?

Anyone else tried completing the gold box series with <6 characters?

 

[octavius]

Anything is possible.
But three characters means three less characters among whom to distribute items, and less tactical options in combat. You will also hit the XP level caps much faster.

 

[Foehammer]

Yea. I'm thinking maybe introducing a new character per game

PoR - 3 characters
Curse - 4
SotSB - 5
PoD - 6 - because it's so hard

 

[octavius]

Yea. I'm thinking maybe introducing a new character per game

PoR - 3 characters
Curse - 4
SotSB - 5
PoD - 6 - because it's so hard

Curse can be hard too. Especially the second area you visit.
I think only PoR scales encounters to your stats and party size.

 

[Moribund]

Now this is in the gold box thread. God this shit is fucking retarded. We can discuss every retarded word of JE sawyer and other retards trying to sell shit in painful detail but anything interesting gets shuffled off into the appropriately labeled garbage bin.

To answer your question you will get into level caps very quickly, and after that it will get very hard. To complete everything including the optional beholder area in curse you really need to have a full party. You can use hirelings in POR so you don't have to worry too much.

If anything the last one is a bit easier simply because you can have a level 39 ranger/level 40 mage that's almost like a party on his own. And level 39 cleric/level 40 mage etc.

Also remember you can add and drop characters any time.

 

[octavius]

Damned, the FRUA and Dungeon Craft community forums are gone: "This site has been suspended."
Jaesun, do you know anything about this?

 

[Fowyr]

If I need (as I expect I do) 6 characters for the last battle of PoD, should I start with 6 characters in Curse?

Last three-part battle is hard. But it pales in comparison with Dave's Challenge.

 

[Jaesun]

Jaesun, do you know anything about this?

Someone probably forgot to renew the site, that's probably the cause but I don't know for sure.

 

[octavius]

And then the FRUA forum was back.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Ok, I just went through all the messages on this particular thread and this linked one: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/gold-box-games-full-run-through.30733/

I played Pool of Radiance with an all demi-human party: Dwarf Fighter/Thief and a mix of elves and half-elves to make a cleric/mage, fighter/mage/cleric, a and three fighter/mages. Pool of Radiance was a breeze with this party, though I did have to fight the last boss a couple of times before winning with a couple deceased party members. I then brought those characters into Curse of the Azure Bonds and ran into problems due to slow level progression and level limits. Also, I took whatever hit points the game rolled up for me at each level without reloading if I wasn't satisfied with the die roll. This resulted in me having a demi-human party with relatively low hit points into the final battle. I died countless times before shamefully cheating by using an editor to bump my characters hit points up by about 30-40 hit points each and refighting the battle. Which was stupidly unnecessary as I forgot I had the Dust of Invisibility.

Now I'm playing Secret of the Silver Blades with a brand new all human party, except for my dwarven fighter/thief that is. The others are a paladin and four rangers. I dual-classed two of the rangers into magic-users and they are each 4th level now. A third is now dual-classed as a fourth level cleric. Once the magic-users get area of effect spells, I'll probably make my fourth ranger into a third mage. Right now batlles are tough due to enemy spellcasters and area of effect using monsters, but levels for the dual-classed characters are coming quick and we are surviving due to the casual use of wands we have been given, found, and looted. But we can't sleep to restore spells without poison-wielding assassins interrupting. They've managed to kill two of my party members so far, which is not a big deal since I can have them raised from the dead at the local temple. The problem is that doing so has resulted in permanent constitution loss. I also seem to not be able to sleep safely at the inn since it lacks the option to do so. I can only tip buy drinks and listen to rumors in there. Is there a safe place to sleep in this game? I'm planning to try to sleep at the old man's place who keeps telling me stories, if no one else is sure of my options.

 

[mondblut]

The others are a paladin and four rangers.

WUT?

"Too many rangers in party". There can't be more than 3.

 

[octavius]

The Mayor has a room for you at the city hall, IIRC.
Also, the church where you first met Vala may be restable.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The others are a paladin and four rangers.

WUT?

"Too many rangers in party". There can't be more than 3.

No, read again. I already dual-classed three of them into mages and a cleric. Once I get them levelled high enough they'll be ranger/mages and a ranger/cleric. I am now considering dropping my fourth ranger, going with a cleric, dual-classing him to mage, and having him eventually become a cleric/mage. Thoughts on this idea.

This will mean I'll have three mages wearing armor to take on Pools of Radiance and one cleric with some druid spells. I'll also still have a fighter/thief and Paladin. Am I going too light on spell power?

Octavius, thanks!

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Still playing Secret of the Silver Blades, though taking my time trying to build up my party. The three rangers that I dual-classed to two magic-users and a cleric are now at level 6 in their new classes and are beginning to make a huge difference on the battlefield. The cleric hold persons humanoids or joins the melee against monsters, while the two magic-users use stinking clouds to start, followed by magic missiles and fireballs depending on the opposition. I want to dual-class my fourth ranger, but she is helping to hold the line with the dwarven fighter/thief and paladin and I will have to wait until one of my other dual-classed rangers gets to a high enough level to wear armor again. Alternatively, I'm thinking of keeping her a ranger since she does have some druid and magic-user spells, and dropping the dwarf for a cleric that I'll dual-class to magic-user. That way I'll have a magic-user that can help with healing and with cleric hold person slots. I'm still debating about this, but as long as I still feel I need three people able to hold the front line, it's not a pressing issue.

I just liberated the well after fighting three different dragon encounters: against small ones, then middle-sized, and finally an ancient red dragon. I had initiative and surrounded the ancient dragon so it couldn't use its breath weapon against all of us. I then had my dwarven fighter/thief read the protection from dragon breath scroll, but unfortunately it only works on one character. Luckily, the dragon attacked the dwarf with its breath weapon on its turn. We killed it in two rounds after using a combination of melee attacks and magic missile spells. Kind of anti-climatic, really.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Oh, and while searching for this thread on google, I came across this discussion on the Bioware forums:

RPG codex is Trolling our forums: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6777563/1

I'm just a DA2 fan, I don't understand why we keep getting spam threads from them. Do they have nothing else better to do? Why aren't the mods doing anything about it? How would RPG codex like it if we spammed them?

They would like the traffic. It is like the same couple dozen guys over there, complaining that no RPG has been good since 2d sprites and Gold Box games.

That's a very good idea OP - let's create lots of accounts, and then start threads on rpgcodex about how great DA2 is. That should take the fight to the enemy quite effectively.

It's RPG codex.. a forum consisting of a few dozen ridiculously bitter people still living in the 90's, who all have shrines dedicated to Chris Avellone and consider Bioware and Bethesda to be The Enemy. If EA can't control a little forum spam from these people, then the mods need to be fired asap.

Now, I don't think that we were trolling them to that extent, but maybe we need to ask The Brazilian Slaughter to investigate.

 

[octavius]

Still playing Secret of the Silver Blades, though taking my time trying to build up my party. The three rangers that I dual-classed to two magic-users and a cleric are now at level 6 in their new classes and are beginning to make a huge difference on the battlefield. The cleric hold persons humanoids or joins the melee against monsters, while the two magic-users use stinking clouds to start, followed by magic missiles and fireballs depending on the opposition. I want to dual-class my fourth ranger, but she is helping to hold the line with the dwarven fighter/thief and paladin and I will have to wait until one of my other dual-classed rangers gets to a high enough level to wear armor again. Alternatively, I'm thinking of keeping her a ranger since she does have some druid and magic-user spells, and dropping the dwarf for a cleric that I'll dual-class to magic-user. That way I'll have a magic-user that can help with healing and with cleric hold person slots. I'm still debating about this, but as long as I still feel I need three people able to hold the front line, it's not a pressing issue.

Did you dual class all your rangers at the same time?
When I played I only dualed one of my ranger, and it wasn't until Pools of Darkness I really needed the fire power of several mages.

I just liberated the well after fighting three different dragon encounters: against small ones, then middle-sized, and finally an ancient red dragon. I had initiative and surrounded the ancient dragon so it couldn't use its breath weapon against all of us. I then had my dwarven fighter/thief read the protection from dragon breath scroll, but unfortunately it only works on one character. Luckily, the dragon attacked the dwarf with its breath weapon on its turn. We killed it in two rounds after using a combination of melee attacks and magic missile spells. Kind of anti-climatic, really.

Dragons have poor saving throws. Stinking Cloud, Fumble and Hold Monster works very well even against the largest dragons.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

octavius , No I dual-classed only three of them. Still have a straight ranger, fighter/thief dwarf (named Happy!), and paladin. I'm dropping either the ranger or fighter/thief later. I think I'll drop the dwarf and go with a cleric, get him from 8th to 9th level, then dual-class him to a magic-user so I'll have three high-level armor wearing, range weapon-using magic-users and a cleric for Pools of Darkness along with a spellcasting ranger and paladin to back them up.

Ancient dragons were a greater threat in Baldur's Gate because they allowed them to use high-level buff spells and special attacks. Neither video game allows dragons to fly and avoid melee attacks entirely, which is where most of my dealt damage has come from so far.

 

[octavius]

octavius , No I dual-classed only three of them. Still have a straight ranger, fighter/thief dwarf (named Happy!), and paladin. I'm dropping either the ranger or fighter/thief later. I think I'll drop the dwarf and go with a cleric, get him from 8th to 9th level, then dual-class him to a magic-user so I'll have three high-level armor wearing, range weapon-using magic-users and a cleric for Pools of Darkness along with a spellcasting ranger and paladin to back them up.

I used a Fighter/Thief and a single class Ranger myself. The F/T was rather useless in the final area of PoD, but was very useful for backstabbing humanoid enemies and Drow in earlier areas.

Ancient dragons were a greater threat in Baldur's Gate because they allowed them to use high-level buff spells and special attacks. Neither video game allows dragons to fly and avoid melee attacks entirely, which is where most of my dealt damage has come from so far.

The Gold Box games were very limited in what abilities monsters could have, and monsters like dragons and liches were not very scary. The IE games were a huge improvement in that regard, and the dragons in Baldur's Gate 2 are actually scary with all their abilities. They couldn't fly, but at least they could use their wings to damage the party.

 

[Jaesun]

The last time I played, I actually played PoR/CotAB/SotSB with single class characters.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Update: Still playing Secret of the Silver Blades, but I dropped my dwarven fighter/thief for a human cleric. She's not as good a fighter, but I gave her gauntlets of ogre power and put her up in the front row along with my ranger and paladin. She is at 8th level right now, and I'll have her go up to 9th level for the extra spell level and hit points before dual-classing her to a magic-user. She already has more hit points than my dwarf did. The three rangers I dual-classed to magic-users and a cleric are all at 8th level now, so one more level and they'll be able to wear armor again, as well as wield swords and bows. My party is beginning to curb stomp the opposition. I just took out two more dragons in this maze-like dungeon and they revealed two more portals. I now have the option to fight the wizard's guards and probably the wizard himself in town, and I might do so since his guards are from the Black Circle, and I've been fighting those guys in the dungeon. Guilt by association. I made sure to purchase a scroll and two wands of magic missile from him first, though. I might try to buy another wand if I have the funds before taking him on since my cleric could use it when she goes dual-class to magic-user.

We are handling the encounters pretty easily now, though the assassins still show up no matter where I rest when in town, so I found it safer to rest in the dungeon instead of facing off against their poison daggers. I don't like how when I kill them I can take their armor, but the game won't give me their daggers as loot. I'm sure I could find a use for those.



The game is fun, and I find myself putting Ultima Underworld on hold instead of splitting time between the two. But Curse of the Azure Bonds was better, and it doesn't come close to the awesomeness of Pools of Radiance.

 

[octavius]

It's always a little sad to hear about Fighter/Thieves getting booted, but at least you're ditching him for a dual class Cleric/Mage. Last time I played the Pool series I found my Cleric to be the least useful one in combat, at least in the last game.

 

[Erebus]

Last time I played the Pool series I found my Cleric to be the least useful one in combat, at least in the last game.

Clerics just don't have many good combat spells in GB games. Hold Person is great, but only at low level, when foes don't have good saving throws. Blade Barrier does a lot of damage, but it's very short range is a real problem. And Flame Strike sucks.

 

[octavius]

Last time I played the Pool series I found my Cleric to be the least useful one in combat, at least in the last game.

Clerics just don't have many good combat spells in GB games. Hold Person is great, but only at low level, when foes don't have good saving throws. Blade Barrier does a lot of damage, but it's very short range is a real problem. And Flame Strike sucks.

Also, Blade Barrier often have no effect in the round when it is cast, and it takes up a precious lvl 6 slot, "competing" with the Heal spell.

So a dual classed Cleric is much preferable in the long run, but a single class one is very useful in the two first games in the series.