Using cursed items
ATigersClaw
Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 161
Like the title states, I'd like to know your personal opinion on which of the cursed items in BG1 are worth giving a try.
I'm not just looking at it from a powerplaying perspective but also from a roleplaying one to which of these items improve the gameplay experience.
I came up with this topic because I just found the cursed spear "Backbiter". What do you guys think about it?
I'm not just looking at it from a powerplaying perspective but also from a roleplaying one to which of these items improve the gameplay experience.
I came up with this topic because I just found the cursed spear "Backbiter". What do you guys think about it?
0
Comments
And for the cursed sword of berserking...I don't like chunking my own team. It's the same problem that I have with Minsc's ability. Losing control isn't 'good.'
I much prefer the cursed armor found in icewind dale.
I tried using the berserk sword a few times, I think it's fun but I haven't actually tried beating the game with it. It's probably doable, but too much of a ''pain in the ass'' outside very simple combat situations.
Definitely a lot of fun to be had with cursed items overall though, so I like them.
The problem with some cursed items is that they provide no benefit and there is no way to apply them to npcs in a sneaky manner. So they are largely just fluff to be sold to lucky aello (spelling?)
It delivers pretty good damage but sucks your gold.
I have never tried any cursed item really, I just sell them. I would like to have cursed items where sometimes the benefits outweigh the negatives. Could make for some interresting gear setups.
On a side note, has anyone tried Raging or Berserking before drinking from the Goblet. I'm wondering if those are additional workarounds.
The Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity is a handy utility, especially for wild mages who have the unfortunate tendency to swap gender from time to time. Also useful in a number of situations where gender makes an actual difference.
Elander's Gloves of Misplacement and Bracers of Binding both make doing harm to another quite difficult. This is very nice if you want additional challenge. Then, again, some don't really approve of violence (Eldathyn and Ilmateri come to mind) and might even find wearing those items somewhat desirable from a roleplaying perspective.
The Ring of Clumsiness is great if you want to play a character somewhat akin to Discworld's Rincewind. A wild mage/thief with 75% spell failure is borderline useless as a spellcaster, halved stealth skills make him a poor scout and halved dexterity nearly disqualifies him in both melee and ranged combat as well. This obviously forces rather unusual behaviour and tactics. Surprisingly fun, believe me.
Last but not least, the scrolls. The Cursed Scroll of Petrification is a nifty way to get rid of an unwanted party member (funny if said party member is Branwen). The Cursed Scroll of Weakness sets strength to 5 for 6 hours, really great if Charname's strength is actually lower. The Cursed Scroll of Clumsiness is even better, though, as it sets Charname's dexterity to a whopping 9 (!), with the slight disadvantage of being under the effect of Miscast Magic. Both of those are extremely valuable for a Charname that was turned into a squirrel somehow.
Playing a "straight" game, the only cursed items which I find worth using are the Big-Fisted Belt (there's always someone in my party who benefits greatly from that) and the Claw of Kazgaroth (depending upon who's in my party, but there's usually someone who'll benefit from it).
Sometimes I even find it worth carrying the Claw through into BG2ee (instead of the Helm of Balduran).
In addition, this exploit allows you to bypass alignment restrictions on items. For example, if you have an evil character, equip the HOA, equip Twinkle, equip GMF, remove curse, and you'll retain your evil alignment while keeping Twinkle equipped.* You can switch between Twinkle and your other weapons, but if you click on it on the inventory screen or try to move it, you *will* lose it. As long as you avoid it on your inventory screen, have fun.
* Not sure why, but when you have alignment restricted items in your inventory when you attempt this exploit, the HOA and the GMF behave differently in that the HOA switches your alignment but the subsequent equipping of the GMF reverses it back. This is why when you attempt this with alignment restricted items, you don't have to perform this exploit twice (once to switch to good and another to switch back, or vice versa).
It's the one that turns you into a zombie, but I'm pretty sure they changed the description at some point, so now it only makes you look like a zombie.
Near as I can tell there's no benefit to it though. Plus it doesn't say so in the description but it makes you walk slower, so it's super annoying. Even if you wanted to wear it all over the place looking for any interesting zombie dialogues it would just be a hassle to be constantly lagging behind the group like that.
Kiel's morning star is brilliant if used properly - there are some threads in the past on the forums on getting the most out of it. As an item though, takes a lot of effort to find in the game. (Brage's cursed sword works in a similar way and is easier to find).
Both the Claw and Morningstar are unique items in the BG series and can be imported with a character into BG2, under certain conditions.
You just give it to Minsc, stand back and let him do his thing. As long as you don't get too close it's fine.