In the original games, if you recruited him past a certain experience threshold, he would come with a point already in longswords, but it was otherwise impossible to put the point there.
When the Enhanced Editions changed it so that you'd recruit them and they'd have the experience for you to level them, rather than already being pre-levelled, that obviously made this an impossibility, so they put that little workaround in so that the second pip in longswords would not be lost forever.
Or rather, you mean that the original version came with specialization in longswords already if recruited at high enough level. The creature files are still there, just not used in favor of the new joining XP triggers.
HAER10 is the version you always get in the EE. 2 dots shortsword, 2 dots two-weapon, one each dagger and dart.
HAER11 (level 11, 400K XP) has the same proficiencies as HAER10.
HAER13 (level 13, 800K XP) adds proficiency in longswords, presumably from the level 12 point.
HAER15 (level 15, 1200K XP) improves that longsword proficiency to specialization.
HAER19 (level 15, 2500K XP) is the version you get in ToB, and still do if you recruit him from the Fate Spirit. Same proficiencies as HAER15.
The spell that applies the proficiency change even has a "BD" prefix - short for Beamdog, and used in various EE-only resources not tied to the new companions. Yep.
Did you know that even if you normally do saga runs, it's perfectly okay to start out in BG2 if you don't feel like going through BG1 and SoD first?
Mostly I say this because it's probably something I need to know, but the idea of a non-saga run just feels weird to me, even if BG2 is what I'm truly interested in.
When fighting Shandalar's daughters for their artifacts, if you kill Helshara, Ithmeera may try to talk to you (she may be interrupted by her combat scripts though, and just keep casting spells at you). If this succeeds, she will be so grief stricken over Helshara's death that she will stop fighting and give you the artifacts without any further fuss.
That if you kill Aldeth after helping him there is no loss of reputation. You will have to fight both him and another fighter both of whom give you a reasonable amount of experience and they are not over-powerful.
In the unlikely event that liches actually run out of spells, they also have a fairly nasty melee attack. It does 1d10 piercing damage and strikes as a +4 weapon and will paralyze for 5 rounds if a save vs. spell is failed. But this is not the main point of my post here. One particular type of lich, the Elemental Lich, has a slightly different, and much more dangerous, melee attack. Instead of paralyzing its victims, the melee attack of the Elemental Lich will force them to save vs. death or be killed outright one round after being hit.
That if you have a reputation of 20 when you enlist an evil character you don't need to worry about them leaving due to your high reputation UNLESS you lose reputation as it is only when your reputation increases that you have a problem.
That if you have a reputation of 20 when you enlist an evil character you don't need to worry about them leaving due to your high reputation UNLESS you lose reputation as it is only when your reputation increases that you have a problem.
That if you have a reputation of 20 when you enlist an evil character you don't need to worry about them leaving due to your high reputation UNLESS you lose reputation as it is only when your reputation increases that you have a problem.
They knew you were a stand-up guy going in.
Until you're not.
Now you're just another hypocrite...
Of course, if you enlist certain evil characters you automsatically lose reputation.
Losing reputation doesn't necessarily mean that you're a hypocrite. It just means that you have been confused or dominated, or that an item has made you go berserk like Brage. Of course the general populace would be unaware of that even if your god is aware.
Did you know ... that there's a secret treasure in Hexxat's last SoA quest?
In the corridor with the spike field and the statues, there's something that looks like a chest but can't be interacted with. Just decoration? No. It's a real chest, but you have to do something special to activate it.
Specifically, you have to activate the mage statues. Use Stone to Flesh on one of them:
That will wake up all of them; you only need one instance of the spell or scroll. Then kill them. Once all eight of the mage statues have died (four at one end of the hallway, four at the other), the chest activates:
Your reward: boots of elvenkind and some random treasure.
Now, there's a caveat. If any of the mage statues dies in stone form - like in that first picture, from a fireball I used to kill some of the warrior statues - the chest doesn't activate. You have to wake them all before you kill any of them. Those pictures are not in continuity with each other; there's a reload between them.
Veterans might know that, but I, to my shame, haven't realized this until now:
Hold Monster can affect the "Person" type as well, if they get into the spell's AoE. Here is a screenshot showing the Nymph casting Hold Monster on Ziatar, and a Cultist Mage next to Ziatar getting Held because of the spell.
On a side note- Yes, that is a Cyberpunk 2077 party in BG.
Hold Monster can affect the "Person" type as well, if they get into the spell's AoE. Here is a screenshot showing the Nymph casting Hold Monster on Ziatar, and a Cultist Mage next to Ziatar getting Held because of the spell.
On a side note- Yes, that is a Cyberpunk 2077 party in BG.
Hold Monster can also be cast directly at humanoids, no? I think "Hold Creature" would have been a better, more descriptive name for the spell.
Yep, this is what I meant. I didn't realize "Hold Monster" would hold humanoids and always assumed you need 2 spells for 2 enemy types (well, more than 2, if you count "Animals"). Hold Monster holds everything holdable, except for Undead - for that you need Hold Undead.
Veterans might know that, but I, to my shame, haven't realized this until now:
Hold Monster can affect the "Person" type as well, if they get into the spell's AoE. Here is a screenshot showing the Nymph casting Hold Monster on Ziatar, and a Cultist Mage next to Ziatar getting Held because of the spell.
On a side note- Yes, that is a Cyberpunk 2077 party in BG.
back in the vanilla bg 2 days, hold monster use to hold anything, even undead
its still a good spell now, but was an absolute killer in vanilla
Both the 2nd edition campaign setting and Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast suggest that the servers in the Friendly Arm Inn may actually be iron golems under some kind of illusionary disguise.
- More intruders have approached the bar, master.
- Not "intruders", we call them "guests" here, how many times do I need to repeat that?! *grumblegrumble* Stupid old constructs...
The Isabella and Ikros quest can be made a lot more straightforward by casting skulltraps to the left of the encampment during the day. The wolves will then get killed as you awaken from sleep. There could be one still alive if you don't place them well, but I have recently used this tactic in a number of battles, the four warders, the BG1 final battle and suchlike and it really simplifies things. It's strange that I haven't considered this tactic in the past. It can be used for any battle where the enemy turns up at a scripted time.
Isabella and Ikros can be killed without reputation loss. That surprised me!
Just wondering if there is a drawback to killing them. e.g. do they turn up later in the game?
The Isabella and Ikros quest can be made a lot more straightforward by casting skulltraps to the left of the encampment during the day. The wolves will then get killed as you awaken from sleep. There could be one still alive if you don't place them well, but I have recently used this tactic in a number of battles, the four warders, the BG1 final battle and suchlike and it really simplifies things. It's strange that I haven't considered this tactic in the past. It can be used for any battle where the enemy turns up at a scripted time.
Isabella and Ikros can be killed without reputation loss. That surprised me!
Just wondering if there is a drawback to killing them. e.g. do they turn up later in the game?
About the killing without reputation loss: I don't remember the exact circumstances, but when the vampire appears they urged me to attack him quickly, and there was an option to hear his (the vampire's) side of the story first, and then Isabella and Ikros attack you without further discussion. Not for siding with the vampire, just for considering to hear him out. So they're definitely not innocent.
Comments
When the Enhanced Editions changed it so that you'd recruit them and they'd have the experience for you to level them, rather than already being pre-levelled, that obviously made this an impossibility, so they put that little workaround in so that the second pip in longswords would not be lost forever.
HAER10 is the version you always get in the EE. 2 dots shortsword, 2 dots two-weapon, one each dagger and dart.
HAER11 (level 11, 400K XP) has the same proficiencies as HAER10.
HAER13 (level 13, 800K XP) adds proficiency in longswords, presumably from the level 12 point.
HAER15 (level 15, 1200K XP) improves that longsword proficiency to specialization.
HAER19 (level 15, 2500K XP) is the version you get in ToB, and still do if you recruit him from the Fate Spirit. Same proficiencies as HAER15.
The spell that applies the proficiency change even has a "BD" prefix - short for Beamdog, and used in various EE-only resources not tied to the new companions. Yep.
Mostly I say this because it's probably something I need to know, but the idea of a non-saga run just feels weird to me, even if BG2 is what I'm truly interested in.
I, for one, like both of them equally. I won't believe I am alone in this.
You're not. I actually prefer BG1.
They knew you were a stand-up guy going in.
Until you're not.
Now you're just another hypocrite...
Of course, if you enlist certain evil characters you automsatically lose reputation.
Losing reputation doesn't necessarily mean that you're a hypocrite. It just means that you have been confused or dominated, or that an item has made you go berserk like Brage. Of course the general populace would be unaware of that even if your god is aware.
It shows my lack of observation that I didn't spot it earlier.
@Wise_Grimwald What ever gave you that idea?
Bats aren't bugs.
Calvin & Hobbes rule!
In the corridor with the spike field and the statues, there's something that looks like a chest but can't be interacted with. Just decoration? No. It's a real chest, but you have to do something special to activate it.
Specifically, you have to activate the mage statues. Use Stone to Flesh on one of them:
Now, there's a caveat. If any of the mage statues dies in stone form - like in that first picture, from a fireball I used to kill some of the warrior statues - the chest doesn't activate. You have to wake them all before you kill any of them. Those pictures are not in continuity with each other; there's a reload between them.
Hold Monster can affect the "Person" type as well, if they get into the spell's AoE. Here is a screenshot showing the Nymph casting Hold Monster on Ziatar, and a Cultist Mage next to Ziatar getting Held because of the spell.
On a side note- Yes, that is a Cyberpunk 2077 party in BG.
Hold Monster can also be cast directly at humanoids, no? I think "Hold Creature" would have been a better, more descriptive name for the spell.
back in the vanilla bg 2 days, hold monster use to hold anything, even undead
its still a good spell now, but was an absolute killer in vanilla
- Not "intruders", we call them "guests" here, how many times do I need to repeat that?! *grumblegrumble* Stupid old constructs...
Isabella and Ikros can be killed without reputation loss. That surprised me!
Just wondering if there is a drawback to killing them. e.g. do they turn up later in the game?
About the killing without reputation loss: I don't remember the exact circumstances, but when the vampire appears they urged me to attack him quickly, and there was an option to hear his (the vampire's) side of the story first, and then Isabella and Ikros attack you without further discussion. Not for siding with the vampire, just for considering to hear him out. So they're definitely not innocent.