Such a guide for BG2EE could be approached under the guise that the player now has a good understanding of the rule set, and at least a passable knowledge of spells. As such it would not require as much detail in regard to strategies. Unlike BG1EE players now have strong characters with various skills to call upon. Player ability shall now come into it. There can also be separate guides for spells and enemy types.
This could thus allow for a similar guide where a summary of information on each NPC can be gathered. All while maintaining the irreplaceable insight from an experienced player. Your summary on Garrick is one of the best I have read. He is perhaps the least favored NPC in the original game, and as a result of that is often relegated to two sentence summaries, centered around avoiding him at all costs. That is unfair to the player, because as you so eloquently explained, he can be a capable character if utilized correctly.
I never realized Mark Meer voiced both Rasaad and Baeloth til this guide. Now I want to do a party that uses those two plus Dynaheir so the Majority of my group is Commander Shepards.
I agree with @RnRClown, a BG2EE guide would be cool, and would be doable if you don't approach spellcasters with the same specificity you do in this guide. You could always make a separate segment where you talk about spellcasting in general to highlight some useful spells.
I think you are right in general that the NPCs in BG2 are a bit better statted such that there aren't any who are maligned to the degree Garrick is, but some of them have foibles that might benefit from attention. E.g., how to use Nalia as your party thief (ring of danger sense, ring of lock picks, potions), how to get the most benefit out of Cernd's werewolf form and high level druid spells, Mazzy as archer vs. Mazzy as melee fighter, why Haer'Dalis is better than his stats would make you think, and so on and so forth.
oh forgot one thing about kagain. besides his huge tank potential he has also natural regeneration due to his high constitution - traveling between areas will always heal him to 100%. His natural regeneration is also useful between battles. Maybe this is not much but still it's worth mentioning
Just a suggestion, how about including each NPC's special ability (eg Yeslick's dispel or Edwin's amulet) in the summary at the top? Something like what the wiki does. I know you discuss it in the body but it'd be nice to see at a glance what makes them unique.
Just a suggestion, how about including each NPC's special ability (eg Yeslick's dispel or Edwin's amulet) in the summary at the top? Something like what the wiki does. I know you discuss it in the body but it'd be nice to see at a glance what makes them unique.
Yea I had thought about doing that. I guess at one point I decided not to as I figured all these listings were getting a little too long, but as long as its just a short mention I guess it won't really matter.
Ahh what the hell I've started writing up a guide for the original BG2 characters. Not the EE characters just the original ones (I'll start writing the EE characters sections post-release). Earliest I'll be able to post anything will probably be in a few weeks.
What can I say I couldn't resist preaching the greatness that is Cernd to the masses
In Ajantis' guide you say "There isn't much point in getting more than a second point in Two-Handed Weapon Style" pretty sure you meant to say "There isn't much point in getting more than a single point."
@mackos Hehe I was going to leave this here for a few days and then move it to walkthrough/strategies. I just didn't get around to that second part...until now
@bengoshi I added in Buckley's Buckler. I was getting it mixed up in my head with Kiel's Buckler but since you basically can see it if you check the Friendly Arm Inn inventory out it makes sense to add it. Its not something that is crucial for Yeslick in any sense but its probably worth a mention at least.
I was unaware that Yeslick can now be recruited at a later date. That's most helpful. The update to Alora and her lucky rabbit foot is fantastic. I have never considered Alora because of how late she appears, but this guide may have changed that.
I was unaware that Yeslick can now be recruited at a later date. That's most helpful. The update to Alora and her lucky rabbit foot is fantastic. I have never considered Alora because of how late she appears, but this guide may have changed that.
I wasn't sure how to go about phrasing it correctly but it should be noted that the luck bonus that she gets from her rabbits foot won't increase her damage rolls beyond what she could do from a max damage standpoint. So say she would do normally 1d6 damage with an arrow. Her luck bonus makes it more likely for her to do 6 damage but by itself it won't cause her to do 8 (6+2) damage.
So what do people think about this? I'm working on the BGIIEE NPC guide and thinking about Yoshimo.
The way I figure is that a lot of people buying it on Steam are going to be new players. On the one hand I don't want to spoil the fact that
he won't be around for the full game
on the other hand I don't want to forgo that information in case people (particularly evil/neutral parties that didn't pick up Hexxat) have based their playthroughs around him being their thief.
I may just recommend that players new to the game take him but still say that he won't be around for the entire game. I can maybe justify saying he should be taken because he provides helpful banters (like about the thieves guild and other things) that would be helpful particularly for new players.
Comments
Now that either sounds positively filthy or like something from the Care Bears or Kingdom Hearts.
This could thus allow for a similar guide where a summary of information on each NPC can be gathered. All while maintaining the irreplaceable insight from an experienced player. Your summary on Garrick is one of the best I have read. He is perhaps the least favored NPC in the original game, and as a result of that is often relegated to two sentence summaries, centered around avoiding him at all costs. That is unfair to the player, because as you so eloquently explained, he can be a capable character if utilized correctly.
I think you are right in general that the NPCs in BG2 are a bit better statted such that there aren't any who are maligned to the degree Garrick is, but some of them have foibles that might benefit from attention. E.g., how to use Nalia as your party thief (ring of danger sense, ring of lock picks, potions), how to get the most benefit out of Cernd's werewolf form and high level druid spells, Mazzy as archer vs. Mazzy as melee fighter, why Haer'Dalis is better than his stats would make you think, and so on and so forth.
overall a really good guide the best npc guide I can remember certainly
Edit: and I've proven myself a buffoon typist! Fixed!
Thanks
Just a suggestion, how about including each NPC's special ability (eg Yeslick's dispel or Edwin's amulet) in the summary at the top? Something like what the wiki does. I know you discuss it in the body but it'd be nice to see at a glance what makes them unique.
What can I say I couldn't resist preaching the greatness that is Cernd to the masses
The way I figure is that a lot of people buying it on Steam are going to be new players. On the one hand I don't want to spoil the fact that
on the other hand I don't want to forgo that information in case people (particularly evil/neutral parties that didn't pick up Hexxat) have based their playthroughs around him being their thief.
I may just recommend that players new to the game take him but still say that he won't be around for the entire game. I can maybe justify saying he should be taken because he provides helpful banters (like about the thieves guild and other things) that would be helpful particularly for new players.