Helm of Opposite Alignment

Noloir

Aside from the obvious change in alignment does the HoA have any practical uses when developing chars? For Instance, would it be able to turn a Priest of Talos into a Cleric/Ranger and the like?

Tresset

All it does is change alignment. The only things that this would affect are things like dialogs and scripts that check for alignment.

The helm wasn't ever obtainable in the game without cheating or exploiting until it was added to the Demonknight in BG1:EE. I suspect it was an idea thought up by the original devs of the game and it was scrapped for whatever reason. Because of this the only planned alignment changes are plot related and pretty much a one shot thing. This means that, since there was no planning for an item that changes alignment, there is also no planning for any special effects of alignment change beyond what was planned for the plot. I would recommend being careful with your use of the helm as it may have unexpected/buggy effects on your game.

That said, I myself did use the helm in my blackguard run to change some of the outcomes of certain dialogs and encounters.

Korbu

I wonder if the Alignment change from it can be used to make an otherwise "Good" Cleric gain the ability to control undead with Turn Undead. Good Clerics can destroy undead. Evil Clerics can control them. If i remember correctly, Neutral Clerics just make undead run around in fear with Turn Undead (which is why i pretty much never use Neutral Clerics).

Tresset

@Korbu Both good and neutral clerics' turns function the exact same way to my knowledge. The power of turn undead is based on the cleric's level vs. the undead's level. If the good or neutral cleric has a level much higher than the undead's level then it will be destroyed. If the good or neutral cleric is not high level enough to destroy the undead then it is frightened instead. The evil cleric has a slightly harder time controlling undead than the good or neutral cleric has destroying the same undead.

Disclaimer: Turn Undead is a mechanism that is hidden from me so I do not know exactly how it works. The above insights are based solely on my own experience and experimentation with the ability, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

To answer your question though, the helm can reverse the function of turn undead if put on a good or evil cleric.

gorgonzola

An other interesting effect of the Helm when turning undeads is related to the paladin turning of the evil clerics. If you have both a pally and an evil cleric in the party every time the cleric use his turn undeads the pally gets incapacitated, using the helm the problem should be avoided (I did not test it).

I don't know if the helm is a possible protection against the clerical spells that damage characters of opposite alignment, like Unholy Blight, did anybody test it?

Wise_Grimwald

A piece of information about the helm. With vanilla ToSC it was possible to get it by killing the demonknight at the top of the tower. You had to stop his spells working using a Protection from magic scroll or Otiluke's resilient sphere. Then the spells got changed and it was no longer available, though deleting the spell from the override folder should have made the spells work properly again. I didn't test this as the helm wasn't that useful. It was however the only helm that a true druid could wear.

I think that it could be used my mages as well and thus you could wear one of the free archmage robes even if you were good.

gorgonzola

Maybe another possible use of it can be when leveling up. Would be funny to choose a planetar or deva and then, next level, with the helm choose the other one. Also this is not tested by me.

Wise_Grimwald

One minor effect would be that you wouldn't be attacked by the paladin in BG.

Wise_Grimwald

Tresset said:

All it does is change alignment. The only things that this would affect are things like dialogs and scripts that check for alignment.

The helm wasn't ever obtainable in the game without cheating or exploiting until it was added to the Demonknight in BG1:EE. I suspect it was an idea thought up by the original devs of the game and it was scrapped for whatever reason. Because of this the only planned alignment changes are plot related and pretty much a one shot thing. This means that, since there was no planning for an item that changes alignment, there is also no planning for any special effects of alignment change beyond what was planned for the plot. I would recommend being careful with your use of the helm as it may have unexpected/buggy effects on your game.

That said, I myself did use the helm in my blackguard run to change some of the outcomes of certain dialogs and encounters.

You could get it in vanilla ToSC by casting a spell on the demonknight at the top of the tower to stop him teleporting away. In my experience it was necessary to cast the spell twice, though it might have been possible doing it once if you were more skilful than I. I think that otilukes sphere and protection from magic were the spells that worked. Changes were then made to the spells though I could never understand why.

scriver

I remember getting it as well, but I don't think I ever bothered to kill him at the top, so I must've got it from him at the bottom.

Wise_Grimwald

scriver said:

I remember getting it as well, but I don't think I ever bothered to kill him at the top, so I must've got it from him at the bottom.

He didn't have it at the bottom, at least not in my game.

ThacoBell

Wise_Grimwald said:

scriver said:

I remember getting it as well, but I don't think I ever bothered to kill him at the top, so I must've got it from him at the bottom.

He didn't have it at the bottom, at least not in my game.

I ran Durlag's Tower just yesterday. The Demon Knight did drop the Helm at the bottom of the dungeon. I'm running the latest PC version.

Wise_Grimwald

ThacoBell said:

Wise_Grimwald said:

scriver said:

I remember getting it as well, but I don't think I ever bothered to kill him at the top, so I must've got it from him at the bottom.

He didn't have it at the bottom, at least not in my game.

I ran Durlag's Tower just yesterday. The Demon Knight did drop the Helm at the bottom of the dungeon. I'm running the latest PC version.

That will be the EE version. In EE they changed things. It wasn't there originally. The devs may have changed things because of complaints that changes made in the original game made it no longer accessable.

ThacoBell

Wise_Grimwald said:

ThacoBell said:

Wise_Grimwald said:

scriver said:

I remember getting it as well, but I don't think I ever bothered to kill him at the top, so I must've got it from him at the bottom.

He didn't have it at the bottom, at least not in my game.

I ran Durlag's Tower just yesterday. The Demon Knight did drop the Helm at the bottom of the dungeon. I'm running the latest PC version.

That will be the EE version. In EE they changed things. It wasn't there originally. The devs may have changed things because of complaints that changes made in the original game made it no longer accessable.

Ah, I assumed we were talking about EE.

Wise_Grimwald

Can understand that, but having played first vanilla and then Tutu for years, and EE for just three months, I still think primarily of Tutu and then secondarily of EE.