Cloak of Balduran

Lezard_Valeth

Is it possible to get this item in BG2: EE if you imported a Final Save character from BG1 that had it equip? I've read mixed things after google searches.

Mathsorcerer

It doesn't appear to be in the import lists but you could always just console it in with CreateItem("clck05"). I added to the equipment you get in Chez Irenicus at the beginning of the game but you'll have to take it from the cold, dead hands of its current owner.

Lezard_Valeth

I don't care too much about it, so if the developers didn't want it in the game I'm not going to force it in. I just thought I read something about it being in the game if you transferred a character from BG1 that had done the quest, but I guess I read incorrectly.

Thanks for the response.

Arunsun

It is not in BG2, for balance reasons mostly.
In BG it is one of the only item that gives MR along with the archmagi robes and maybe another couple more, which makes it very good but still OK
In BG2 it is just an insanely good way to easily reach 100MR with certain classes which is utterly overpowered.

Lezard_Valeth

Arunsun said:

In BG2 it is just an insanely good way to easily reach 100MR with certain classes which is utterly overpowered.

Yeah, I could see that being a bit overpowered.

Are the Archmagi Robes still in BG2, though? I used those as well.

Gallowglass

Lezard_Valeth said:

Yeah, I could see that being a bit overpowered.

Yes, it'd make it too easy.

Lezard_Valeth said:

Are the Archmagi Robes still in BG2, though? I used those as well.

Yes. Not right from the start, but eventually you can get them in BG2ee.

Also, there are a couple more robes carried over from original BG2 which are different from the Robes of the (various) Archmagi but are competitive alternatives, plus a new one in BG2ee which is also a credible alternative, and yet another new one in BG2ee which is especially for Wild Mages. So don't worry, Mages get plenty of decent Robe options in BG2ee.

Skatan

I think one mod (maybe it's the tweak pack?) adds the cloak of Balduran to the loot dropped by Firkraag, but forgot which one. It's kinda OP to get both the cloak and Carsomyr though.

Tresset

The cloak isn't really all that OP IMO. At least not for most of the classes. I always make sure to bring it with me. I mean, come on... Is it really that much more OP than the Cloak of Mirroring or Ring of Gax for instance? Not really, says I.

Gallowglass

Tresset said:

The cloak isn't really all that OP IMO. At least not for most of the classes. I always make sure to bring it with me. I mean, come on... Is it really that much more OP than the Cloak of Mirroring or Ring of Gax for instance? Not really, says I.

On its own, no, that's true. But if you cheat it into BG2, then it's (presumably) not instead of other OP items, it's as well, so it's noticeably increasing the total amount of OP-ness in your backpack.

Mathsorcerer

Tresset said:

The cloak isn't really all that OP IMO. At least not for most of the classes. I always make sure to bring it with me. I mean, come on... Is it really that much more OP than the Cloak of Mirroring or Ring of Gax for instance? Not really, says I.

The Cloak of Mirroring is *incredibly* overpowered. I am looking at it right now and it give Protection from Spell Type (opcode 205) with a secondary type of "offensive damage", as well as immunity to Call Lightning, Glyph of Warding, Holy Smite, Unholy Blight, Skull Trap, Cloudkill, Blade Barrier, Death Fog, Fire Storm, Globe of Blades, Delayed Blast Fireball, Incendiary Cloud, Meteor Swarm, Slow, and Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting. The protection from spell type effect makes the wearer immune to blue dragon lightning breath, dragon rain, green dragon breath (not the initial breath weapon itself but the spell used to implement the damage), etc. I am not going to go through and find every spell that has the secondary type of "offensive damage", though--there are a lot of them.

Curiously, many dragon breath weapons lead off with a secondary type of "magical attack", so if you have a mage wearing the Cloak of Mirroring and they cast Spell Shield on themselves they should be completely immune to dragon breath (at least the first time).

Skatan

Tresset said:

The cloak isn't really all that OP IMO. At least not for most of the classes. I always make sure to bring it with me. I mean, come on... Is it really that much more OP than the Cloak of Mirroring or Ring of Gax for instance? Not really, says I.

I would probably say that all items that greatly increases your opportunity to gain 100% immunity vs anything is "OP" in a sense. The cloak with its 25% MR can be equipped together with many items granting added MR% to make you completely immune. If it was restricted to just a few classes who can't also wear other MR items (edit: or monks innate MR) it would not be OP, but since it can be combined with ie Carsomyr or worn by Vic, it is truly an amazing boon.

This can be applied to DR items as well, IMHO. I think it shouldn't be possible to reach 100% immunity vs any kind of attacks other than through short-lasting spells/scrolls/potions since it really screws with balance. I've done it just to try it out (dwarf paladin with shorty saves, + pala saves + carsomyr + cloak of balduran etc for negative saves and max MR), but try to avoid it since it's not my cup of tea. To each his own though.

sarevok57

i don't know if you can still do this in the EEs, but back in the good ol' vanilla days, if you imported a character from bg1 into bg2, and as soon as you started the game, pause it, ( the screen should be black and then press the "I" key) if done so correctly you should still have all of your gear on that you had when you were in bg1, if that character has the cloak, drop it on the ground, and then unpause, what happens is in bg2 at the beginning it takes all of your items away, but if drop it on the ground, then as soon as the mini cinematic goes through you just pick up your cloak off the ground afterwards and voila, cloak of balduran in the first dungeon, although im pretty sure it was intentional not to have the cloak in bg2 for balance reasons, buy hey, good AC/saves/MR is hard to come by these days for some classes and they could use the boost

Gallowglass

sarevok57 said:

i don't know if you can still do this in the EEs ...

No, you can't. That exploit was fixed from the start in the EEs.

Arunsun

@Tresset The real issue is that some classes would be blatantly OP
A Cavalier with Carsomyr, Cloak of balduran, ring of gaxx, MoLtM and hell trials have 100% MR. Add Hardiness and Armor of Faith and you also get an insane physical tankiness

If you do not want to console everything in, just see how resilient you are when turned into mustard jelly with polymorph self. That would be equivalent, with no malus.
The game is balanced on that aspect because only a couple of classes can get 100% MR, only a couple can get -20 or less AC (actually up to -24, + specific AC or something like that if optimized, though you can push it up even lower at the cost of offensive power), only few classes may reach 80-90 physical damage resistance. If you make a character that has insane resistance to everything and while keeping a good damage output, that's unbalanced, and that's what Cloak of Balduran can help you reach. Even the allegedly overpowered Fighter/Mage has weaknesses, but it is what's closest to the immune-to-everything character, and it is definitely too strong.

I mentioned the Cavalier, a F/T could eventually get the same (same build, switch carsomyr for Purifier, add DoE offhand, switch armor for silver dragon scale, and get an MR amulet), so could a blade (same build with robe of vecna, and whatever off-hand) and probably more that I cannot think of right now

Tresset

@Arunsun I am well aware that some classes would get 100MR eventually with the inclusion of the cloak, but that still doesn't make me scream "OP! OP!". There are tons of other "OP" things in the game and quite a few classes don't even need the cloak to reach 100MR (I am looking at you, monks). Besides, the vast majority of the classes I have used can't get beyond 45MR, even with the cloak, for most of the game.

Regardless of that, there is no "real issue" here as far as I am concerned. People should play the game however they want to. Heck, if you want to run around with godbow, that is perfectly fine with me. The basic purpose of any game is to have fun. People who complain about OP items always have the most simple of solutions right at hand: Don't beeping use them if you don't like them! It is your game and it is your choice how you play it. Just don't go around telling other people how they should play their game.

elminster

Personally I don't have strong feelings one way or the other on this one. I can see why Bioware didn't allow it (it would give a character like a monk a big boost). If I were to for instance include it in a mod I'd probably peg it as something you can buy in the Adventure Mart in chapter 6.

Arunsun

@Tresset do not get me wrong, I am not telling people how they should play, it is a solo game, hence everyone should play the way he/she wants to.
What I meant is that it is better for game balance that the Cloak is not in the original game. But if one wants to play with OP things there must be a thousand mods with ridiculously OP items in it. Or you can keeper them in, if they are in game files.
Just taking an example, recently I made a playthrough using the Winged's Sword, playing with a character with Planetar appearance. And I did enjoy the playthrough because of the roleplay involved in it. Really it was great. But at the same time I thought "it is far better that this sword is not available without EEkeeper, because it would definitely overwhelm every single other weapon, and it would be boring". The thing is that IMO the game is rather balanced as it is. Except Robe of Vecna and Carsomyr, there are no items that are really stronger than another of their type. There might be Silver Dragon Scale as well now though. You can pick in a wide range of weapon and still have about the same power level.
And most "OP" items still have cons. Carsomyr is just for Paladin, the Shield of Balduran trivializes fights against beholders but it comes at a fair price and is not that good against other enemies, etc...
Robe of Vecna and Cloak of Mirroring are a chicken of a different color, both make a mage/any character absolutely brutal compared to another of their class and level. And Cloak of Balduran would be in that category.
But once again if you or anyone wants to play with it, it certainly is not my call to tell "it is good" or "it is wrong". It is even available in BP2, which means you can have it in game without touching game files