In non-enhanced Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Detect Evil was actually useful. It had unlimited range, so it would let you know exactly how many evil creatures were on the map and what they were called. I used the spell a lot back when I wasn't very familiar with BG1's wilderness areas to see how many enemies were worth fighting and to get an idea of how many encounters there were in the area. There was one game when I wanted to have Shar-Teel join the party but I didn't remember where she was (I'd found her once before so I knew she was in a wilderness area and I knew she was evil), so I went to a bunch of areas and cast Detect Evil in each one until I found Shar-Teel. Too bad the spell isn't that good anymore.
I don't think its common knowledge to the majority of newer players, but personally for meta purposes, I prefer to have Shar-Teel in my party because of Angelo - I prefer him killing Flaming Fist(and eliminating his position of power) to break us out over digging our way out of the compound. Angelo, when push comes to shove, isn't entirely evil. *nod*
Marl is actually a pretty good fighter. He's got 18/92 strength, 16 dexterity, 17 constitution, and 44 health (with his constitution bonus). For a level 4 character that is pretty darn good. Players should be happy Bioware never gave him a sword.
The way damage info was displayed in the original non-enhanced Baldur's Gate 1 was much less descriptive: it didn't say who dealt the damage nor what type of damage it was. However, there was one feature it did have that the EE damage descriptions don't: it indicated how much someone healed when they got hit by attack whose damage type they had more than 100% resistance to. If, for example, Branwen cast Resist Fire/Cold and Protection from Fire on herself and then got hit by a fireball which she healed 7 hit points from, the damage description would say:
@elminster: Sounds like Marl has a great life as an adventurer ahead of him.
Yea but I bet a lot of players kill him for the XP
I bet even more spare him because that gives even more XP.
I'm actually tempted to do a Marl run, where I play as Marl becoming an adventurer after he gets talked out of a fight by a wandering adventurer, only to find out that he is a Bhaalspawn.
@elminster: Sounds like Marl has a great life as an adventurer ahead of him.
Yea but I bet a lot of players kill him for the XP
I bet even more spare him because that gives even more XP.
I'm actually tempted to do a Marl run, where I play as Marl becoming an adventurer after he gets talked out of a fight by a wandering adventurer, only to find out that he is a Bhaalspawn.
Yea to be honest when I wrote that I forgot his class gets changed to innocent now. I was thinking the old cheesetastic way of talking him down and then killing him
There are several hidden containers in the walls of Suldanessellar. Most of them don't really have anything special in them, but they are somewhat hard to find unless you already know about them. I didn't find out about them until recently.
There are lots of small and sometimes difficult to find containers throughout the game. Just recently I have discovered this container in the Windspear Hills:
Did you know that mundane spells have different descriptions in BG and Ps:T?
Some examples: Armor (Conjuration) BG - By means of this spell, the wizard creates a magical field of force that serves as if it was scale mail armor (AC 6).
Ps:T - Physical attacks shall be better thwarted as protection is granted to those who have none.
Blindness (Illusion/Phantasm) BG - This spell blinds its target.
Ps: T - How frail is the body when it depends upon its eyes! When sight is removed, things become harder to hit, and the sufferer becomes an easier target.
When I realised it I thought "man, even the spell descriptions in Torment are well written!"
Apparently Ajantis can randomly decide to attack any evil member of the party... even if it is Charname. If this happens, however, all you need to do it tell him to stop.
Did you know that if you thoroughly clear out the temple area below the Thieves Maze (which I've just done for the first time ever) before fighting Sarevok in the final battle, you can find the Magma Bulwark +2 plate mail (AC1, wt 20)? Just a shame it's too bloody late in the game to be of any use whatsoever.
We all know that the NPC companions in Baldur's Gate 1 have special quotes if you click on them enough times. However, while most of them have 4 of these, Yeslick only has 3.
The lock on that container in Durlag's tower that contains the lever is weird. Instead of it being open permanently once you try to open it with the key, it is open as long as you have the key. If you open it, lose the key, then try to open it again, it will be locked. This means is that if you put the key in the container, you will be forever unable to open it again. If you do this without taking the lever out, you will be unable to finish most of Durlag's Tower.
Isn't this the standard behavior for all containers that require a specific key? You can see the same effect if you want to access Mae'Var's strongbox in BG2 after dropping the key or putting it into the strongbox. Not sure if this is intentional, a bug or a design flaw.
In EE, Chill Touch and Ghoul Touch both strike as +6 weapons, and will therefore deal damage and disable the target through Stoneskin and Mantle spells. Flame Blade is nonmagical and can therefore deal damage through Stoneskin and PFMW. But all three are blocked by Minor Globe of Invulnerability.
In addition to their paralyzing attack vampiric wolves heal themselves by 10 HP every time they land a hit on something. Truly they are the most dangerous wolf out there.
While in Baldur's Gate EE you can have any charismatic NPC talk to a salesman and get a discount, in Icewind Dale EE it will always be the party leader's charisma taken in consideration, no matter who talks to the salesperson.
The only solution for it is nominate your most charismatic NPC the party leader before shopping.
Did you know Taugosz Khosann (the leader of the Blacktalons) is a level 8 fighter in Baldur's Gate. However, in PnP he is level 11. He's also supposed to have 18/94 strength as opposed to the 18/43 strength he has in BG.
Did you know Ardenor Crush (the leader of the Chill) was once a human but was later reincarnated into the body of a hobgoblin. The Chill's initial objective as a group was to get revenge on the group that did him in (which he did, much to their surprise). On top of Gauntlets of Ogre Strength he is also supposed to have an amulet that allows him to summon a nightmare once each day which lasts 8 hours.
Fire Seeds in EE can be made permanent by dropping them on the ground before resting. Any class can use them, even Kensais and Cavaliers, despite the seeds being missile weapons.
They only do 2d8 damage apiece, with a save for half, but they have an area effect and the damage strikes as a level 6 spell, and the seeds count as +6 weapons. They are very excellent at disrupting enemy spells.
On-hit effects apply to Fire Seeds. You can hit an entire enemy group--or your own party--with Poison Weapon, Called Shot, Power Attack, or Deathblow.
EDIT: They're flagged as darts, but they don't set your APR to 3 and don't benefit from proficiency points.
Comments
Maybe this is common knowledge but I had no Idea. I was clicking through dialog on my iPad and did a double take.
Branwen - Damage Taken (-7)
I'm actually tempted to do a Marl run, where I play as Marl becoming an adventurer after he gets talked out of a fight by a wandering adventurer, only to find out that he is a Bhaalspawn.
Some examples:
Armor (Conjuration)
BG - By means of this spell, the wizard creates a magical field of force that serves as if it was scale mail armor (AC 6).
Ps:T - Physical attacks shall be better thwarted as
protection is granted to those who have none.
Blindness (Illusion/Phantasm)
BG - This spell blinds its target.
Ps: T - How frail is the body when it depends upon its eyes! When sight is removed,
things become harder to hit, and the sufferer becomes an easier target.
When I realised it I thought "man, even the spell descriptions in Torment are well written!"
You can also see a moose and squirrel together in one of the cages in Waukeen's Promenade.
During our multiplayer run the pally tried to detect evil and it didn't detect Korax.
The only solution for it is nominate your most charismatic NPC the party leader before shopping.
They only do 2d8 damage apiece, with a save for half, but they have an area effect and the damage strikes as a level 6 spell, and the seeds count as +6 weapons. They are very excellent at disrupting enemy spells.
On-hit effects apply to Fire Seeds. You can hit an entire enemy group--or your own party--with Poison Weapon, Called Shot, Power Attack, or Deathblow.
EDIT: They're flagged as darts, but they don't set your APR to 3 and don't benefit from proficiency points.
Arrows of Detonation
Flasher Master Bruiser Mates (party friendly)
Scorcher Ammunition
Frag Grenades
I don't think this was one of your more astounding revelations in this thread, @Tresset!