Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Average Manatee]

The one thing that might work well enough is to do something like Fighter/Mage and then apply the Archer kit. You won't get ranger spell casting but you should still get the +1 AB/Damage per 3 levels I think. If you wanted to do the same with Fighter/Mage that has inquisitor kit, you'd get their abilities and they have no spell casting to lose anyway. You won't be treated as a paladin or ranger by NPCs you meet though, AFAIK.

Not sure what Shadowkeeper is capable of, I use Near Infinity. I'm quite certain of the extents of infinity engine modding since it lets you see the exact save file lines. I know Shadowkeeper is a lot less detailed so it might not have all options available that I'm talking about.

 

[Grunker]

I use Near Infinity.

Oh look at you, mr. Tough Guy

 

[Average Manatee]

I just remember Shadowkeeper bugging the fuck out at some point like 15 years ago, and I used Near Infinity to mess around with debugging mods anyway, so I switched over to that for save editing. Dunno if it still does that, and it was probably some esoteric mods or something poorly supported like IWD2 that I was screwing around with anyway.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

In general, Shadowkeeper can go further than modding in many cases, though even it can't multiclass Paladins.

With Shadowkeeper, you can effectively multiclass 2 kits even if the title doesn't display properly. If you go to the final tab (I can't remember what it's called), you can edit the character's properties and flags. For example, I made a Wizard Slayer/Avenger in this manner. I also did a Wild Mage/Cleric of Talos. Lots of stuff. I believe you are correct about paladins though. I don't think I ever got that to work. I think in part because of the GUI.

 

[Average Manatee]

In general, Shadowkeeper can go further than modding in many cases, though even it can't multiclass Paladins.

With Shadowkeeper, you can effectively multiclass 2 kits even if the title doesn't display properly. If you go to the final tab (I can't remember what it's called), you can edit the character's properties and flags. For example, I made a Wizard Slayer/Avenger in this manner. I also did a Wild Mage/Cleric of Talos. Lots of stuff. I believe you are correct about paladins though. I don't think I ever got that to work. I think in part because of the GUI.

That shouldn't be possible, unless you are directly applying the kit effects ontop of the CRE. You'd have to re-do that every time you leveled up then (too icky for me). You could have as many kits as you want though if you did that (e.g. Fighter/Mage/Thief with Dwarven Defender, Berserker, Archer, Assassin, and Wild Mage kits)

 

[Grunker]

I just remember Shadowkeeper bugging the fuck out at some point like 15 years ago, and I used Near Infinity to mess around with debugging mods anyway, so I switched over to that for save editing. Dunno if it still does that, and it was probably some esoteric mods or something poorly supported like IWD2 that I was screwing around with anyway.

I've used Shadowkeeper for years as a replacement for Level1NPC which is outdated, and for that, I've never experienced bugs. It resets NPCs to level 0 and let's me change everything just fine, so I'd imagine it can do everything else relatively bugfree as well.

 

[Grunker]

In general, Shadowkeeper can go further than modding in many cases, though even it can't multiclass Paladins.

I think in part because of the GUI.

I'm pretty sure I read on G3 that it's due to classes being hardcoded. So rather than a multiclass being a combination of Fighter and Mage, it's an actual class in and of itself in the IE, called Fighter/Mage. Though I suppose that you could call that "because of the UI."

 

[Average Manatee]

I'm pretty sure I read on G3 that it's due to classes being hardcoded. So rather than a multiclass being a combination of Fighter and Mage, it's an actual class in and of itself in the IE, called Fighter/Mage. Though I suppose that you could call that "because of the UI."

I'm not sure if its hardcoded to the point of being unmoddable, you might be able to add a Paladin/Mage multiclass. But it'd be far easier to just make a Cleric Kit that has reduced spell casting, better THAC0, expanded weapon proficiencies, and paladin special abilities and then you could dual that Cleric Kit to Mage. Though if you wanted all Paladin kits to be options you'd have to do that for each of them.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

With Shadowkeeper, you can effectively multiclass 2 kits even if the title doesn't display properly. If you go to the final tab (I can't remember what it's called), you can edit the character's properties and flags. For example, I made a Wizard Slayer/Avenger in this manner. I also did a Wild Mage/Cleric of Talos. Lots of stuff. I believe you are correct about paladins though. I don't think I ever got that to work. I think in part because of the GUI.

That shouldn't be possible, unless you are directly applying the kit effects ontop of the CRE. You'd have to re-do that every time you leveled up then (too icky for me). You could have as many kits as you want though if you did that (e.g. Fighter/Mage/Thief with Dwarven Defender, Berserker, Archer, Assassin, and Wild Mage kits)

I did not have to reapply every level-up. It would carry through normally once modified. There were limitations though. Getting the extra-spell slot if dual-classing to a specialist mage was challenging. I recall having to build the character backwards. Specialist mage, apply new racial template, then apply multiclass, then apply class features. Something like that. I made a Wizard Slayer/Assassin that way, even if it displayed as Fighter/Assassin. I think. This is from memory over a decade ago. There was very little I couldn't do with Shadowkeeper.

 

[agris]

Level1NPC which is outdated

How so? If you unlock the combos with EEtweaks, they’re available.

 

[Rosey]

BG1 is a master class in learning to cheese the infinity engine. Having only 6hp and kiting ogres like it's fucking starcraft is also an experience nobody should miss.

 

[Grunker]

Level1NPC which is outdated

How so? If you unlock the combos with EEtweaks, they’re available.

It technically works, but it doesn’t function properly with EET/SoD. So you’ll have to use it multiple times, can’t use it for SoD and it might break things. I find it easier to use Shadowkeeper these days

 

[bloodlover]

Update on my playthrough: I ended up making a dwarf berserker with mostly the same party I had in BG2 back in the day. Things were rather rough at the start with low hp and shit gear, lots of kiting was done. I finished the mines easily though (I was expecting something similar to Black Mountain mines from Arcanum) and in the process found some nice gear. Speaking of gear, do items stop breaking at some point, especially now that the situation in the mines has been fixed? I found some nice +1 weapons and I wouldn't like to have them break in the middle of combat; as it stands I have to carry extra items with me all the time.

Quests are a tad cliche but I really enjoy doing them, especially after the epic stuff that I went through in NwN HoTU. I did fail Marianne's quest though since I failed to keep her husband's letter...

 

[NecroLord]

Update on my playthrough: I ended up making a dwarf berserker with mostly the same party I had in BG2 back in the day. Things were rather rough at the start with low hp and shit gear, lots of kiting was done. I finished the mines easily though (I was expecting something similar to Black Mountain mines from Arcanum) and in the process found some nice gear. Speaking of gear, do items stop breaking at some point, especially now that the situation in the mines has been fixed? I found some nice +1 weapons and I wouldn't like to have them break in the middle of combat; as it stands I have to carry extra items with me all the time with me.

Quests are a tad cliche but I really enjoy doing them, especially after the epic stuff that I went through in NwN HoTU. I did fail Marianne's quest though since I failed to keep her husband's letter...

Only normal items break, and killing Mulahey in the Nashkel mines won't solve the problem.
Shouldn't be much of an issue, since you will find some very nice magic gear.

 

[razvedchiki]

the ones that break are the non magical ones, once you get a +1 (or a masterwork i dont remember) you are ok.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Update on my playthrough: I ended up making a dwarf berserker with mostly the same party I had in BG2 back in the day. Things were rather rough at the start with low hp and shit gear, lots of kiting was done. I finished the mines easily though (I was expecting something similar to Black Mountain mines from Arcanum) and in the process found some nice gear.

Surreal reading that someone played Arcanum before BG. I remember Arcanum scratching my BG itch back in the day.

Speaking of gear, do items stop breaking at some point, especially now that the situation in the mines has been fixed? I found some nice +1 weapons and I wouldn't like to have them break in the middle of combat; as it stands I have to carry extra items with me all the time with me.

As the others told you, using magic items instead stops it. None of the named or good gear will break on you, and there's no item breaking once you get to BG2 (or Dragonspear, iirc, if you have that).

It's only an issue for the early game, since you'll be drowning in +1 and +2 weapons and armor very soon.

Quests are a tad cliche but I really enjoy doing them, especially after the epic stuff that I went through in NwN HoTU. I did fail Marianne's quest though since I failed to keep her husband's letter...

Quests are definately more down to earth than many of the following D&D titles. Even BG2 kept things pretty grounded at the start, all things considered.

 

[bloodlover]

Would it be too late to dual Imoen at level 6? I am not exactly sure what is the level cap in this game and if I missed my window. I am really keen on keeping her around but pure thieves seem to be meh; idk how traps are here but in BG2 I recall that having a thief for disarm was sooooooooo valuable.

 

[NecroLord]

Would it be too late to dual Imoen at level 6? I am not exactly sure what is the level cap in this game and if I missed my window. I am really keen on keeping her around but pure thieves seem to be meh; idk how traps are here but in BG2 I recall that having a thief for disarm was sooooooooo valuable.

I tend to dual her to Enchantress when she maxes Find/Disarm Traps.
Coran can be a good backup Thief, but you have to go to the Cloakwood to get him.

 

[bloodlover]

I met him and while he does have better stats and would probably make a more valuable team member, Imoen is my girl from back in the day and I really want to keep her around bcz of that.

 

[NecroLord]

I met him and while he does have better stats and would probably make a more valuable team member, Imoen is my girl from back in the day and I really want to keep her around bcz of that.

Why not keep both?
Coran is the best archer in the game, archery is very useful in Baldur's Gate (less so in Baldur's Gate 2, however).

 

[bloodlover]

I suppose I could give up Minsc or Kagain, I don't really need three frontliners and the former is in the habit of dying a lot. That can also be my awful positioning skills ofc.

 

[Chippy]

bloodlover Is this your first playthrough? You should play it and fail a lot before getting spoliers here, but if it is your first playthrough you'll need a thief to find and disarm traps for a certain dungeon. You can try to rely on spells but I wouldn't recommend it.

Thieves can be awesome. Suppose it depends on your playstyle, but the thief just waiting for that backstab or used in combination with a a cleric/wizard party member can be pretty powerful.

 

[cretin]

BG1 is a master class in learning to cheese the infinity engine. Having only 6hp and kiting ogres like it's fucking starcraft is also an experience nobody should miss.

I never understood why kiting big enemies like ogres is considered "cheesing". They're slower than PCs but are deadly in melee range -- how should you fight them? Seems to me the intended and rational tactic is to kite them with ranged weapons.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Cast Command on them, make them drop and attack them. Just use your tools.

 

[NecroLord]

BG1 is a master class in learning to cheese the infinity engine. Having only 6hp and kiting ogres like it's fucking starcraft is also an experience nobody should miss.

I never understood why kiting big enemies like ogres is considered "cheesing". They're slower than PCs but are deadly in melee range -- how should you fight them? Seems to me the intended and rational tactic is to kite them with ranged weapons.

You use whatever strategy is appropriate for defeating a monster.
At 6 hp, even a damn housecat can be a serious threat to your robe wearing Mage ass.