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Watcher's Keep: Aesgareth Always Wins?

theOtherGuytheOtherGuy Member Posts: 19
in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
He always wins the 3rd one by drawing "Wheel." Is there no way of winning?

Comments

  • milanmmilanm Member Posts: 27
    There is, after you've won 2 games for the Spectral Brand and Wish scroll, kill him and take the Deck, then just pull the Throne and you've won.
  • CherudekCherudek Member Posts: 73
    He always wins the third round. However, if you bet for the sceptre gem on the first or second round and win, he'll refuse to give it to you and will attack.
    That would count as a win by default... plus, you get his card deck after killing him. ;)
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    The house always wins.

    You can play the third round, get Emperor for the week-long mind shield and then refuse to pay. He'll attack you and then you can "win" the deck from him.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    ^
    That happened to me, he do not gives a very hard battle, he is easy to kill.
    Also, you don't always win, there are VERY small chances of winning, but they are, so tiny :P
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    I don't remember WK very well. I know what the Deck of Many Things does, but I'm not sure what happens *before* you get it and I can't seem to find a decent description.

    If you get effects from the deck while gambling, are they the same as the others? I'm wondering if you can possibly get Wish, Spectral Brand *and* +1 main stat or if you have to choose between them.
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    The gambling game is a predetermined set of effects. I think there are only two possibilities for every round. The only nice one is "Emperor"... the other effects don't matter and you're just playing for the prize.

    The deck has a completely different set of choices, including the +1 main stat, etc.
  • bbearbbear Member Posts: 1,180
    edited December 2013
    Here is the link for the possible draws after you obtain the deck of many things.
    http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/Walkthrough2/items/deck-of-many-things.php

    The best possible outcome is to obtain:

    1st: Ruin (party loses all gold).
    Preferably after you completed all your shopping needs. It took me 10+ tries to receive one of the "bad" draws and the only other alternative is imprisonment at save -4. You have to wait until the underdark to get a freedom scroll.

    2nd: Star (+1 main stat permanently)

    3rd: Moon (+10 hp permanently)

    There are some other notables. Key gives you a Ring of Protection +3. Jester and Sun gives 50k to user and 300k exp to party, respectively. Comet grants +5% fire resistance permanently. Skull lets you fight a demi-lich that can only be attacked by +5 weapon (I believe that this is the ONLY monster in BG2 that requires +5 weapon to hit).
  • theOtherGuytheOtherGuy Member Posts: 19
    milanm said:

    There is, after you've won 2 games for the Spectral Brand and Wish scroll, kill him and take the Deck, then just pull the Throne and you've won.

    LOL. Yeah, it just felt bad killing him. He was so nice.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    bbear said:

    Here is the link for the possible draws after you obtain the deck of many things.
    http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/Walkthrough2/items/deck-of-many-things.php

    The best possible outcome is to obtain:

    1st: Ruin (party loses all gold).
    Preferably after you completed all your shopping needs. It took me 10+ tries to receive one of the "bad" draws and the only other alternative is imprisonment at save -4. You have to wait until the underdark to get a freedom scroll.

    2nd: Star (+1 main stat permanently)

    3rd: Moon (+10 hp permanently)

    There are some other notables. Key gives you a Ring of Protection +3. Jester and Sun gives 50k to user and 300k exp to party, respectively. Comet grants +5% fire resistance permanently. Skull lets you fight a demi-lich that can only be attacked by +5 weapon (I believe that this is the ONLY monster in BG2 that requires +5 weapon to hit).

    I actually prefer Donjon on my first draw; you can save against the Imprisonment effect but may have to reload a few times. As for the third draw, 10hp may be useful for some classes, but I usually go for Throne which gives 1M exp divided amongst your party.
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    edited December 2013
    Yeah the 10 HP vs 1 million XP is a bit of a hard choice. On the one hand you want to improve your character, but on the other hand a million XP is probably going to give you the largest improvements overall.
    nano said:

    The gambling game is a predetermined set of effects. I think there are only two possibilities for every round. The only nice one is "Emperor"... the other effects don't matter and you're just playing for the prize.

    The deck has a completely different set of choices, including the +1 main stat, etc.

    Thanks!

    Looking forward to playing WK again in the EE. Only played it ages ago. In my playthroughs back then, I played it as intended (no reloading). The effects can be pretty harsh sometimes :)
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    Interesting to see people's preferences. To me, there's not even a choice between 10 HP and 1M XP points. XP points win no matter what class I'm playing. 10 HP is not much.
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    There's no doubt in my mind that the 1 million XP is the best choice, but some of us can get a bit obsessed with optimizing our characters.
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    @kaffekoppen: I have noticed, yes. It's been quite an astonishing thing to see here on the forums.

    Frankly, I don't see the point, because the game is easy enough with any combination of characters. Not a piece of cake, but certainly doable. Excess optimization looks like needless tinkering to me.

    To me, the story line has always been the most important thing, and the only reason I'm playing BG2EE is the new characters. I've rather enjoyed them, so far.
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    I just find it fun, always have. I'm still enjoying the story.
  • LathlaerLathlaer Member Posts: 475
    Oh, and if you play Deck afterwards, don't read too much into online solutions. I have yet to find one which will be 100% true as to the effect of previous draws on the next ones.
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    @kaffekoppen: Yep, nothing wrong with that. The game does allow for an awful lot of approaches.

    The one it doesn't allow, in my opinion, is a genuinely evil one. If I were to play evil, I'd start by destroying both the Shadow Thieves and Bodhi's guild for trying to manipulate me, but that's not just possible.
  • Aron740Aron740 Member Posts: 153
    xzar_monty said:

    @kaffekoppen: Yep, nothing wrong with that. The game does allow for an awful lot of approaches.

    The one it doesn't allow, in my opinion, is a genuinely evil one. If I were to play evil, I'd start by destroying both the Shadow Thieves and Bodhi's guild for trying to manipulate me, but that's not just possible.

    You can do that? Just side with Bodhi, take out the thieves and later down the road get your revenge on Bodhi :)
    All you need is patience
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited December 2013
    Aron740 said:

    xzar_monty said:

    @kaffekoppen: Yep, nothing wrong with that. The game does allow for an awful lot of approaches.

    The one it doesn't allow, in my opinion, is a genuinely evil one. If I were to play evil, I'd start by destroying both the Shadow Thieves and Bodhi's guild for trying to manipulate me, but that's not just possible.

    You can do that? Just side with Bodhi, take out the thieves and later down the road get your revenge on Bodhi :)
    All you need is patience
    I agree. I believe that the most potent, interesting kind of evil isn't the person that immediately slaughters everyone in their path...it's the patient one, who smiles at you and goes along for the moment, until you cease to be useful or convenient. Then they let you see the hidden needles and feed on your stunned horror. And smile again.

    Edit: Hmm. I guess that's more of a Neutral Evil than Chaotic Evil. Different strokes. :)
    Post edited by [Deleted User] on
  • DarkchanterDarkchanter Member Posts: 13
    I think it's terrible. Can't even win the first round. Waste of time, really.
  • ParaspriteParasprite Member Posts: 22
    edited July 2014
    bbear said:

    Here is the link for the possible draws after you obtain the deck of many things.
    http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/Walkthrough2/items/deck-of-many-things.php

    Considering I got "Sun" as a first draw and "Balance" as my second (does nothing, deck disappears), I don't think that list is completely accurate anymore.

    Edit: Never mind, I double-checked DOMTdraw and it was 1... so I must have accidentally saved at some point without realizing it. That being said I found a different guide which seems to explain it a bit better:
    http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgateii/strategies/deckofmanythings.php
  • NokkenbuerNokkenbuer Member Posts: 146
    I won the first two draws after multiple reloads. On the third draw, I assume Aesgareth always wins, since even after multiple reloads he drew the same card (and I drew the same two cards). It may be possible to win, but in the end I don't think it matters. From what I heard, it'll just force him to attack you rather than having the choice (though I killed him anyway). Despite my mild guilt at being a "poor sport," I killed him and looted the gear, including his Deck of Many Things.

    If you read the walkthroughs and combinations for the Deck of Many Things, you'll notice that you have to pull at least one bad draw by the third use in order to have a chance at pulling the "THRONE" card, which rewards the party with 1,000,000 experience. Assuming you're taking the cheesy reload-until-you-get-what-you-want way, I found that while it states that the "RUIN" card, which disintegrates all your gold, is considered the least damaging "bad draw," the other "bad draws" in the first round is preferable, including the disintigration or petrification of the character and eternal imprisonment. Why? If you drink a Potion of Magic Shielding beforehand, which causes all your saving throws to automatically be successful, you can successfully Save vs. Disintegration, Petrification, and Imprisonment. That way, you can keep all your gold and still be able to roll for the "THRONE" card.
  • TaedivienTaedivien Member Posts: 3
    It looks like there's been a few changes to the deck, Donjon no longer seems to allow you to get Throne. Whenever I get that over Ruin as my first draw my third card always comes from the no bad cards list now. Ruin Still allows you to get Throne, as does Void from the second draw. I wasnt able to get magician to see if that still triggered Throne. I am wondering if Euryale counts as a bad draw now though. I may have to go back and test to see at some point since I still have a save i can go back to.
  • faeriehunterfaeriehunter Member Posts: 7
    edited October 2014
    I did some testing of the Deck of Many Things earlier today, and was able to get Throne after a Donjon draw just fine (tested on version 1.2.2030). However, I think I know why you thought there were changes, @Taedivien. You see, I looked at some of the programming behind the Deck with NearInfinity, and found out that the online guides that @Parasprite and @bbear linked to aren't entirely correct. The list for the third draw when one or both of the first two draws resulted in a "BadCard" (that is: Donjon, Ruin, Void or Magician) should also include Comet and Erinyes, making the list of possibilities as follows:

    Skull
    Throne
    Moon
    Fool
    Comet
    Erinyes

    Which in practice turns out to be no different from the 'third draw, no BadCard' list aside from Throne replacing Talons.

    From the looks of it, the online guides got confused by the fact that there were ten possibilities programmed for the third draw:

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",0)
    RandomNum(6,1)
    SKULL

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",0)
    RandomNum(6,2)
    MOON

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",0)
    RandomNum(6,3)
    TALONS

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",0)
    RandomNum(6,4)
    FOOL

    RandomNum(6,5)
    COMET

    RandomNum(6,6)
    ERINYES

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",1)
    RandomNum(6,1)
    SKULL

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",1)
    RandomNum(6,2)
    THRONE

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",1)
    RandomNum(6,3)
    MOON

    Global("BadCardDrawn","GLOBAL",1)
    RandomNum(6,4)
    FOOL
  • GloomfrostGloomfrost Member Posts: 271
    edited October 2014
    Thanks for the research gang.


    So how does this sound?


    The First Encounter

    1st draw:
    You:
    Strife* - Gambler is Slowed - 3 points

    Him:
    Triumph - 1 point

    2nd draw:

    You:
    Guile - Summons 6 assassins to play with - 2 points

    Him:
    Defiance - 2 points


    3rd Draw:

    You:
    Emperor - Permanent Mind Shield - 5 points




    The Second Encounter

    First draw (random):
    -Donjon* (Imprison user, save at -4)

    Second Draw (if first draw was a BAD card):
    -Star (Get +1 to one stat, depending on class

    Third Draw (Bad card happened sometime along the way)
    -Moon (+10 hp permanently)







    sound do-able for these choices?
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