I think you should not spoil anything - the experienced players know that already - while for a newby to even know about "not available in the end" is a blow and would lead to not using him at all. Personally, this was a very surprising twist for me in the game and I don't regret taking Yoshimo with me. I think every new player should have an experience of this kind - the memories are long and fun. Besides, you always have a chance to substitute him for Imoen after - that - happens.
So, I advice not to tell anything about his future at all and concentrate on Yoshimo's tactics and abilities.
I'm still thinking on it. In any case the guide is being written pretty fast. I've finished Hexxat and Neera as well as probably half of the original characters. I'm hopeful it can be up by sunday. For the record I won't be talking about their individual quests and I will be sure to strategically [ spoiler ] tag any of the...revealing... facts about Hexxat.
You may be damned if you do and damned if you don't concerning Yoshimo. Those who are new to the game may cry out in dismay at a spoiler that cannot be undone. Those who are veterans of the series will be aghast at such meta knowledge being selectively removed.
I recall looking up an NPC guide for BG2 prior to having played it. Upon reading the summary of Khalid I was literally blown away by a certain revelation. I wished I could have undone that moment, unread the words I had just saw. To have experienced it in game would have been so much better, so much more memorable. I was kicking myself for days.
You could try to BS around Yoshimo. Strongly hint that another thief wouldn't be amiss or something. It might throw veteran players off if they don't get why you're saying that though.
As someone else said, they do get imoen back, so at least they aren't screwed over completely. Just might have to take her along for a decent portion of them game when they maybe weren't really planning to.
I think I know what I'm going to do. Thanks everyone for the advice about Yoshimo
Good news! Steam version should be out in like 13 minutes. So I can finally start working on the guide outside of making these word documents. Sunday release may be premature though but we will see.
I went through Cernd's again and added a lot of stuff. One nice aspect of writing this up has been the need to rethink how to play certain characters.
Anyways I've run into a snag it seems. Steam's spoiler tag system doesn't seem to want to hide portraits. So that kind of ruined my plans for one character hehe.
I think for the time being I'm going to leave it in. At the moment I have this message "*SPOILERS BELOW: DO NOT SCROLL OR READ BELOW THIS POINT UNTIL AFTER GOING THROUGH THE TOMB OF DRAGONIR* " with a fair bit of spacing afterwords. (something like this)
Basically I think I'm damned if I do include it and damned if I don't.
Well... it's meant to be a comprehensive guide to the NPCs of BG2:EE. Just put a SPOILERS on the title and go forward with it - even if you used Clara's portrait, you'll still have to discuss Hexxat's abilities (at which point people could intuit her "true nature" anyway)...
Gotta say that the greatest thing about this game from the perspective of writing up an NPC guide is the fact that you now can just put in "C" instead of "CLUAConsole". It sounds trivial but its sooo nice.
I'm looking forward to it too. One of the most important things for me will be to find out what levels can NPCs in BG2:EE have based on your Charname's level and what proficiencies they have on those levels. This will help me greatly to build the party I want.
Regarding Hexxat, with the experience I've got from talking to some Devs before posting an update on the thread about her, I think it's better to use her starting portrait (the one in the screenshots before the game release), her starting proficiencies etc and then point to the fact that not far in her quest you'll be able to find an item to increase her stats significantly that can be used in-doors and during certain times outdoors. This is a good way not to spoil hugely in the guide.
@bengoshi: Agreed, but he'd also have to mention Hexxat's abilities (ie: Blood Drain, Children of the Night, Domination) - although I suppose one way around that would be to discuss the effects without the titles, ie:
"Hexxat has three abilities:
1. She can drain 1d4 CON from enemies 2. She can summon creatures once a day 3. She can cast Domination once a day"
I'm looking forward to it too. One of the most important things for me will be to find out what levels can NPCs in BG2:EE have based on your Charname's level and what proficiencies they have on those levels.
Yea I probably won't include weapon proficiencies at various levels. At most I'll do their basic level in SoA and then their ToB starting level. In the case of an NPC like Cernd I really don't have the room (arbitrary word/space limit). I barely have enough room in his case to include a mention of Regeneration!
Hexxat gains an additional domination spell at levels 14 and 24.
@Bengoshi to give you an idea of how little room I have with Cernd I just realized that if you pick Cernd up at level 13 he has more health (80) than if you pick him up at level 10 and level him up (68). Its the same with level 12 (74). I can't find room for any of this!
At the moment I'm just putting in a recommendation to pick him up at 13.
Update on BG2EE NPC guide. Basically everyone but, Rasaad, Sarevok, Valygar, and Viconia are done. Valygar and Viconia should be a pretty straightforward write up. Sarevok will probably take the most time because of his dual class options. I won't have everything done by tonight but hopefully I can post it by tuesday.
Did I say tuesday?...I meant tuesaturday....yes tuesaturday. The new day of the week that I just invented.
Anyways the guides done. I'm just going to do one last final check to make sure I didn't miss anything major...like stats or proficiency points...and then I'll publish it tomorrow (saturday).
Comments
So, I advice not to tell anything about his future at all and concentrate on Yoshimo's tactics and abilities.
I recall looking up an NPC guide for BG2 prior to having played it. Upon reading the summary of Khalid I was literally blown away by a certain revelation. I wished I could have undone that moment, unread the words I had just saw. To have experienced it in game would have been so much better, so much more memorable. I was kicking myself for days.
Make sure to mention his ability to dual-class to Fighter, I know *somebody* out there must do it. :P
As someone else said, they do get imoen back, so at least they aren't screwed over completely. Just might have to take her along for a decent portion of them game when they maybe weren't really planning to.
Good news! Steam version should be out in like 13 minutes. So I can finally start working on the guide outside of making these word documents. Sunday release may be premature though but we will see.
Anyways I've run into a snag it seems. Steam's spoiler tag system doesn't seem to want to hide portraits. So that kind of ruined my plans for one character hehe.
Basically I think I'm damned if I do include it and damned if I don't.
Regarding Hexxat, with the experience I've got from talking to some Devs before posting an update on the thread about her, I think it's better to use her starting portrait (the one in the screenshots before the game release), her starting proficiencies etc and then point to the fact that not far in her quest you'll be able to find an item to increase her stats significantly that can be used in-doors and during certain times outdoors. This is a good way not to spoil hugely in the guide.
"Hexxat has three abilities:
1. She can drain 1d4 CON from enemies
2. She can summon creatures once a day
3. She can cast Domination once a day"
Hexxat gains an additional domination spell at levels 14 and 24.
At the moment I'm just putting in a recommendation to pick him up at 13.
Anyways the guides done. I'm just going to do one last final check to make sure I didn't miss anything major...like stats or proficiency points...and then I'll publish it tomorrow (saturday).