How will SoD affect item transfers to BG2ee?

Gallowglass

Question to devs: can we have some advance word about this, please? ... since it may well be relevant to what we do when finishing off current BG1ee runs preparatory to BG:SoD.

As experienced players will be aware, most of a party's equipment is not carried forward when a completed game of BG1 is imported into BG2, but there are certain specific items which do carry forward (if they're carried by the protagonist, not other companions).

It has already been confirmed that the whole BG1ee party (and presumably all of the equipment it is carrying?) will be importable into BG:SoD, but does that mean that if we want to carry forward some specific items to BG2ee, then we have to make sure that those items are in current inventory for both the final battle of BG1ee and again for the end-scenario (whatever it may be) of BG:SoD? Or will BG:SoD allow us access to our stores of spare equipment from BG1ee, or offer duplicates of all the transferable items, so that we needn't bother carrying them into the end-BG1ee battle?

Of course most of the transferable equipment isn't of much lasting value in BG2, and some of them are duplicated in BG2, so most of those items don't really matter. However, there are a few items which remain relevant all the way to BG2:ToB ... obviously the Golden Pantaloons, but also (for example) the Claw of Kazgaroth can remain pretty useful (for some character classes) right to the end of the saga (yet isn't available in BG2 except by bringing it forward from BG1), and a couple of the weapons recently added to the transferable item list (by the v1.3 patch) are also useful for quite a long while in BG2.

Those of us who have BG1ee runs which we're not immediately continuing into BG2ee, but instead putting on hold to await the release of BG:SoD, are affected right now by how BG:SoD will handle this issue. It'd therefore be helpful if the devs could release some advance information on this particular point.

Ammar

Since it would most likely only affect new items I do not see how this would be possible without spoiling them. So I would prefer that info not being out there.

Do we need to plan anything in advance? Did not knowing about importing to BG 2 spoil our enjoyment of the original game? I do not think so and personally am happy of not being able to metaplay for once.

Gallowglass

Ammar said:

Since it would most likely only affect new items I do not see how this would be possible without spoiling them.

I don't want spoilers about new items, I agree that we should discover those for ourselves.

What I'm asking about is the mechanism for existing transferable items about which we're already aware, such as the Golden Pantaloons and the Claw of Kazgaroth. Will we now need to carry it in the protagonist's inventory at the end of both BG1 and SoD in order to get it in BG2? Or will any party member's inventory now suffice at the end of BG1? Or will we be able to access our BG1 stash from SoD and therefore not need to carry those items at all in the end-BG1 battle?

It's not a big deal, but I've just now finished a BG1ee run (which I'm not planning to continue into BG2ee until after going through SoD), and I realised whilst I was preparing to face Sarevok that we don't know how SoD will affect the mechanism for carrying equipment forward. I think the devs could tell us how the process will now work, without giving away anything about new items.

Ammar said:

Do we need to plan anything in advance?

Of course we don't "need" to plan these details in order to enjoy the game. However, since only a few items can be carried forward, and since a couple of those are quite useful items, I'm sure that many of us like to be able to plan for it. YMMV, but some of us quite enjoy planning a run.

cmk24

My assumption is any inventory will be fine at the end of BG:EE (full party is imparted), but not stashed anywhere else (we already know most BG:EE maps will not be assessable in SoD).

JuliusBorisov

As I see it, there will be two possible transfers:

1) BGEE (without SoD) -> BG2EE (because not everyone will have SoD)
2) SoD ->BG22

For the first transfer I don't expect any changes in the rules.

For the second transfer I expect that the process will need items at the end of SoD, without taking into account if Charname had them against Sarevok or not.

We know that the party with all their items will be transferred to SoD from BGEE in the ToB style, so the items on Charname in particular in the battle against Sarevok shouldn't matter for the SoD->BG2EE transfer.

As for whether we'll need items on Charname in the end of SoD, or they could be in inventories of other party members, we'll see.

Gallowglass

@bengoshi, @cmk24 - yes, that would make sense. But confirmation of this from the devs would surely not give away anything secret about SoD, so I'm hoping that one of them might step in and give us The Word. @Dee, perhaps?

justfeelinathome

I personaly think that a very interesting question was raised here.

Also, I think it's quite possible, that there will be new items to import into BG2 EE (alas, I have no proof for that). What I would be interested in would be, if said hypothetical items take up the import slots already in the game (one of the two of them, weapon and miscelaneus) or if there would be one/two new slots for those items alongside your classic ones. The Devs would have to be aware of a possible power creep in this second case. I wouldn't mind the creep, though, since it gives players an additional reason to play (and buy...) SoD.

Gallowglass

justtravelinthrough said:

... import slots already in the game (one of the two of them, weapon and miscelaneus) ...

Actually there are four "import slots" at present: one for an armour (Mail of the Dead +2 by default, although I more often take Fallorain's Plate +1), one for a miscellaneous item (the Helm of Balduran by default, although for some builds I take the Claw of Kazgaroth instead), the Golden Pantaloons as a separate import slot of its own, and the new option (patch 1.3) to take a weapon as well (default dependent upon class, but I'm finding the Sling +3 or the Burning Earth +1/+2/+3/+4 to be quite useful choices).

But I'm not meaning to quibble, and I thank you for your support in raising the question.

PK2748

Where is the list of weapons? Didn't see it in the patch notes and haven't moved a character recently

justfeelinathome

Right, I didn't count the Pantaloons as a distinct slot, since there's no choice involved. But I definitely forgot about the armor slot, even though I always make sure to have the chainmail +3 (sells best and is a nice interim for low strength chars like Viconia) on CHARNAME. ^^'

JuliusBorisov

@PK2748 Download the patchnotes from here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/37811/baldurs-gate-ii-enhanced-edition-1-3-release/p1 and you'll see the list. Also, have a look on this: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/37637/now-when-the-weapon-transfer-is-available-what-would-your-choice-be/p1