Should I bother with Throne of Bhaal?
Ballad
Member Posts: 205
So I'm currently going through my first ever playthrough of the Enhanced Editions. After 250 or so hours of meticulous, completionist gameplay, I've made it through BG, ToTSC, SoA (including Watcher's Keep) and am now in the Grove of the Ancients, about to embark on the final stretch of the trilogy, AKA the Throne of Bhaal.
The problem is, I am really not that thrilled about the prospect of carrying on. Though I've played through vanilla BG2 a gazillion of times, I've only ever finished ToB once and, from what I can recall, it was little more than a glorified hack'n'slasher, hopscotching from one epic hullabaloo to the next, like IWD2 on steroids. Furthermore, I have SCS installed and while it really spiced up the game until mid-SoA, I started to get really fed up with it towards the end, when even the most minor mageling would unleash the same, absurdly powerful combination of prebuffs and contingencies, forcing me to either cheese or power game like crazy. Knowing that in ToB mages are even worse... well, let me just say that it currently seems about as much fun as a neverending migraine attack.
Nevertheless, a part of me would like to finish the whole trilogy and experience the new content, if only once. As I'm unable to make up my mind, I'm asking you to make the decision for me. Shall I go on and finish what I started or call it quits here, content with having saved Suldannessellar?
The problem is, I am really not that thrilled about the prospect of carrying on. Though I've played through vanilla BG2 a gazillion of times, I've only ever finished ToB once and, from what I can recall, it was little more than a glorified hack'n'slasher, hopscotching from one epic hullabaloo to the next, like IWD2 on steroids. Furthermore, I have SCS installed and while it really spiced up the game until mid-SoA, I started to get really fed up with it towards the end, when even the most minor mageling would unleash the same, absurdly powerful combination of prebuffs and contingencies, forcing me to either cheese or power game like crazy. Knowing that in ToB mages are even worse... well, let me just say that it currently seems about as much fun as a neverending migraine attack.
Nevertheless, a part of me would like to finish the whole trilogy and experience the new content, if only once. As I'm unable to make up my mind, I'm asking you to make the decision for me. Shall I go on and finish what I started or call it quits here, content with having saved Suldannessellar?
- Should I bother with Throne of Bhaal?54 votes
- Yes, go for it.55.56%
- No, spare yourself the tedium.  5.56%
- Play it, but do uninstall SCS's improved mages component38.89%
Post edited by Ballad on
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Comments
But ToB, while a bit hack and slashy, does have it's good points, and gives a finale end to the trilogy. Personally, I can't bear to skip it- it feels like watching all but the last twenty minutes of a movie. It's the finale and all that. You may not love it, but you probably owe yourself at least one playthrough of it. It finishes off your romance, explores Imoen and the ToB exclusive companion a bit, and lets you meet around nine of your wonderful siblings and inevitably come to blows with the majority of them. It's amusing enough.
If you are using one of the new characters (and you only get the new content if you are using one of the new characters) then they have quests in ToB that you can look forward to, but ToB itself really hasn't changed from what you remember of it.
Nobody has mentioned it but you can also install BP Ascension. That at least fleshes out ToB a bit.
IIRC, SCS had some components relating to the major ToB fights such as 'Improved Final Villain', 'Improved Sendai's Enclave' and 'Improved Abazigal's Lair' - are these the ones from Ascension or SCS originals?
My only problem with super enhanced boss fights is that though I'm not playing no/minimal-reload as such, I find that having to reload ad nauseum really breaks the suspension of disbelief for me. On top of that, I don't recall any of the big ToB fights being particularly fun or stimulating. I don't know why; there's just something about forced boss fights that makes me rebel on the inside.
@Juris, I believe this is exactly what I will end up doing. I really hate having to read through 25 lines of "Mage X: Spell Y (Cast Previously)" at the start of every fight. I've always thought it a bit unfair, because, as far as I know, those are all scriped spells and don't use up the mages spell slots. Besides, I very rarely cast short duration prebuffs before combat anyway, so fair game.
Ok i just saw I basically repeated what @elminster said. Funny we voted different :-D
Anyway, Sendai, Draconis, Abazigal, and Balthazar were scarily easy. No one died in any of them.