Legit PvP Duels - SoA

cLogik

Rules:
NO CHEATING, SCRIPTING, or HACKING!
No Wand of Wonder
No Imprisonment
No Time Stop (Although Limited Wish is allowed)
No Protection from Magic scrolls
Stackable item limits: 5 potions per slot, 5 scrolls per slot, 10 charges per wand, and 20 per ammo (arrows, bolts)
No more than 9 Tree of Life nuts total (not just per slot).
ONLY items that can be obtained through a single completion of the game (I.E. only 1 Ring of Gaxx, a Girdle of Frost Giant Strength OR a Crom Faeyr- not both, etc.)
No ToB Gear!! Using EE Keeper to fund your character is fine, but know what gear belongs to the SoA era versus what gear belongs to the ToB era.

Character cannot exceed the 2.95 Million Cumulative XP limit - This inherently deems that there shall be NO ToB abilities/disciplines used

Games will have ALL permissions enabled for all users to allow vision of equipment changes and character statistics.
Games will be hosted on "Core Rules" ONLY. Any sway to one side or the other creates further imbalances for one class type over others.
Games will have a dedicated host character that should not be attacked (Host will have 2 characters - 1 to duel and 1 to host). This keeps the game running in the event that the host is defeated in the duel.


I will be hosting pvp duel games every time I'm on. If you would like to host games as well, please do, but enforce these rules please.

ryuken87

What's the rules on prebuffing? And limits on pausing?

cLogik

none and none. I will countdown if I host a game, though it is really only a formality - as casting invisibility in some form or fashion will provide you all the time needed.

cLogik

Pausing should be a last resort, even as a caster. Remember that both parties can pause and un-pause the game.

calidus

Would love to see some videos, or at least reports on these

cLogik

calidus said:

Would love to see some videos, or at least reports on these

I wish I could give you some too, unfortunately, I'm not getting any response. I made this post and hosted games for days with only one or two takers.
I remember way back when I used to play on Gamespy there was a significant number of people that would host pvp games daily. We had clans and tournaments. Lots of fun. A lot of things you learn about the game mechanics that you won't learn by just going through the game as well.

Maybe BG2 EE just hasn't been out long enough for people to feel confident and fighting another player, I dunno.

Heindrich

I've been playing a great RP-focused game with a few other forumites, and I started a tradition of ending every session (after the final save) by throwing a fireball at my comrades, which was quite lethal since this is BG1.

After my first strike, everyone now ends each session with a massive intra-party free for all, it's hilarious and great fun. I can no longer just win with a fireball cos everyone has more hp to survive a Wand of Fire blast. The last 'arena of death' in Thalantyr's Tower was won by our company Dwarven Defender, who slew the Fighter/Thief Charname in single combat, after also taking down Thalantyr's golems, who killed my Sorcerer, who killed Thalantyr with a fireball, and our company bard by paralysis + Magic Missiles. Ah... what a glorious mess!

However... I personally don't find PvP particularly appealing in a more formal/competitive setting. I would be forced to build a min/maxed cheesy character, and victory depends on what spells/items are banned. I think it could be fun, but it's not an inherently balanced scenario/game for PvP.

cLogik

That sounds so awesome! If I could get on and play on that game every time, that would be so much fun. I know what you mean though, it doesn't seem like it would be a good game for pvp. However, it's actually a lot of fun and very good.

I remember when Nat_Blaze, who was widely regarded as the best, finally set up a fight with Overmage. Overmage was this guy who people talked about like he was unbeatable. He had a half-orc Barbarian that apparently was undefeated. Yet, never once over months of playing, did I ever see him actually duel anyone, he would just host games. There were only talks of him from the"old days" as if he was some sort of legend. So when they made an open game for everyone to watch, we all rushed in to get a spot in the game as spectators just to see the fight. Of course Nat won, but I just remember the excitement behind the fight, it was like going to watch your favorite prize fighters.

As I remember it, the rules I listed at the top were the standard and common knowledge at the time. I forgot to add in, only items that can be obtained through a single completion of the game (I.e. only 1 Ring of Gaxx, etc). Really not that many items to ban. Other than wand of wonder and protection from magic, really no other overpowered items exist.

I'm not sure what you mean by cheesy character though... powerful perhaps? There is definitely a handful of set classes and class combinations that are simply better at pvp than others. That's not to say that other classes won't work, but you wouldn't bring like a pure fighter, monk, or barbarian to fight a swash fighter. They are just at a severe disadvantage and should undoubtedly lose.

cLogik

Wow!! I just found this with a google search of "Vamp Clan BG2" (The clan that Nat_Blaze was in). http://www.angelfire.com/rpg/ubgc/roster.html#BORG - Brings back a lot of memories, I remember almost every person listed in here. I'll be honest, the knowledge of the game seemed so vast back then. From reading around on these forums, it was far more so than it is now - 12ish years later. People took great pride in understanding the game inside and out when it first came out.

I suppose I feel like sharing this just to prove that it really was a real thing and I'm not making it up. I know a lot of it is talking about scripting and hacking but there was a significant number of people who also participated and practiced "legit" dueling, which strictly followed the rules I have listed.

cLogik

I made a couple videos of some theoretical pvp fights. A few people messaged me with questions on what a BG pvp fight would actually look like and I know others who just can't quite picture it. So these are just quickly put together to give an idea. It has a lot more pausing than would normally take place, just to simulate a separate person controlling each side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EXt9LSmvUg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYeqKAKLdQ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqkp5g7P8rE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSdzkn3pidQ

Kaltovei

I was actually the best back in the day on GSA (went by Neo/Hikari, of BD...that clan list on that site is really outdated and from the very beginning of the game, there was at least a dozen more clans other than the ones listed later on), beat Nat and pretty much every single clan that existed single-handedly lol

We all played for quite a few years, and I'm surprised there are people on this forum that actually remembers those days. What was your name back then and which clan were you in? Hard to believe it was over a decade ago now.

There was quite a few more rules for legit PvP as well...wonder if I still have the listing. I'll check and see if I can get some people together for old time's sake, though everyone will definitely be out of practice lol. I did keep all of my characters though...at least a few hundred of them. Found ways to make almost every class viable, though Swash/Fighter was by far one of the best.

cLogik

[EM] Lord_Chaos = ) And yeah, it seems like there isn't anyone on these forums that remembers those days except for me. Unfortunately, hardly anyone has shown any interest in dueling.

CrevsDaak

I'm the Lord of Chaos!!
Maybe some day......

broonofmidori

2 wild mages dueling... Who would get the first cow.

Malitias

I think I would give it a shot. But he's not on a very high lvl.

FatalApocalypse

Dude that's way too many rules for something like duels.

Just say 'no mods allowed' and the rest is fine lol

Argent

Ah, the good ol' gamespy days. I often reminisce on the community for BG2 back then and remember quite a few friends/enemies I once had :P ... I was the clan leader of RoB back then. I was super young, but very dedicated to the clan aspect around the game. I would often times sit and chat and watch the BD shenanigans unfold, rather than play the game!

Grum

Sounds like fun! I would certainly run a monk though. 76% MR standard. +10% from hell trials, +10% gax, +10% from either lum the mad or an amulet, depending on whether you can do the keep.

100% MR. Go with the Dark Moon for detect illusion and some nice defensive buffs. An instant win against all spell casters, and can still go toe-to-toe with fighters.