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Playing Multiplayer alone

The first time I played BGII years ago on my mac i made a party of my own creation and added a couple NPCs as i journeyed through the game. This allowed me the chance to play a monk, sorcerer, paladin character all on one play through. Will BGIIEE still allow me to create my own party like this? Thanks for reading.

Comments

  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    edited January 2014
    Yes.

    Edit: But u'll obviously miss out on a lot of NPC interactions and quests, and won't be able to access any of the new Enhanced Edition content, which is associated with the new NPCs.
    jackjack
  • hippocrateshippocrates Member Posts: 2
    Thank you Heindrich. I do realize that but when i did it with the first version years ago i carefully mapped out a way to take turns having each NPC in my party so i could engage in their interactions and quests. Of course i was not able to do evert possible interaction, but i did get just about every quest. I am fairly geeky and enjoyed plotting out how i would achieve this. I am curious, if i keep 2-3 slots open for NPCs why would i not be able to access any of the new EE content? Or did you just mean i need NPCs in my party to access that content (which my plan will allow). Thank you for your time and assistance.
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    A lot of NPC quests (and this applies for both EE content and original content) requires that the NPC hangs around in the party for quite a long time. The romance content is an obvious example, which is spread across the entire game, from Chapter 1 to Throne of Bhaal. This is not limited to just romances.

    For example I never got to see Nalia's quests, even though I had her in my party for the De'Arnise Keep, and had the Keep as my Stronghold. Similarly I never got Keldorn's quests, or Mazzy's.

    I haven't actually tried out the EE characters in BG 2 yet, but I know that their quests, romance or not, are also spread over the entire game, and they only progress by having the NPC with you, so I never got to try Neera's quests in BG 1, even though I had her for a short time in the party.
  • SkaffenSkaffen Member Posts: 709
    Most of the old BG2 characters quests will only give you XP / minor magic items. Practically all content and areas are accessible without any of them in the party (of course you miss out on the interactions which sets BG2 apart from e.g IWD). But the new characters bring in new content and areas which are only accessible if you have them in the party. Some can be pretty much rushed through if you want to, for Hexxat mostly you have some quite long timers between quests.

    Note: Some of the new content is still quite buggy and looking for workarounds here will invariably involve spoilers. But some of it us quite good and challenging (I especially enjoyed Rasaad who is my favourite new NPC as well).

    I'd recommend keeping 1-2 slots open for NPCs. Akso keep in mind that with a custom party the game will be quite easy.

    An alternative: with EEKeeper you can edit savegames and customize the normal NPCs to fit your expectations. Changing weapon proficiencies on Mazzy, adding a kit etc. are quite common and that way you still have the interactions and more of a challenge (if you keep yourself to minor edits ahd not boost all stats to 18.... :) ).
  • LathlaerLathlaer Member Posts: 475
    When it comes to new NPC's, Neera and Rasaad are quite easy to do. When you meet Neera for the first time, just take her to the Refuge, talk to everyone and start doing the quests. Once you do the Promenade part and return, you can reform your party.

    Same with Rasaad — no time needed. After you recruit him, just go to the Gates of Athkatla. His quest will be triggered immediately. Then you can get rid of him.

    Both of their quests start relatively soon in ToB (after leaving Saradush), so there won't be much time after you summon them in Pocket Plane.

    I don't know about Dorn, though. Never had him for long, to evil for my taste.
  • SkaffenSkaffen Member Posts: 709
    Dorn in Soa needs to hit level 12 for his second quest to trigger (first you can do immediately) so you need to have him around at least some time to level. I don't know what level he is if you pick him up really late fir the first time, don't have a savegame handy to check if he starts at 12 if you go to him only after underdark. But he's really stupid-evil in any case.
  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    If you're using multiplayer to create a party here's a tip. Once you start the game in multiplayer, move the file from the multiplayer folder in your gane directory to the single player save folder. This way you don't get all the character arbitration nonsense each time.
    jackjackTwoWayFinesseenqenqabacus
  • enqenqenqenq Member Posts: 499
    or delayed pause reactions
    Skaffenelminster
  • abacusabacus Member Posts: 1,307
    edited February 2014
    I do this for about half my runs... Usually because I come up with 2 or 3 cool character concepts and can't be bothered to run parallel games. It works fine, as long as you know how to trigger various npc quests.

    Edit: @Corvino 's workaround is good... However it doesn't let you use a little exploit I would occasionally use where you swap in a custom built character for a particular battle... Berserker vs Kangaxx or an Inquisitor vs any particularly tough Mage... It's straight cheating, but it really helped when I was still fairly noobish.
  • SkaffenSkaffen Member Posts: 709
    @abacus Think of it as sports and you bring in the specialist team :)
    Heindrichjackjackabacuselminster
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