Getting to the end of BG:EE so that I can move on to SoD - help needed

xzar_monty

I'm sure there are lots of experts around, but I suppose @elminster and @Dee, in particular, might be able to help (although the latter could be too busy, which is fair enough).

Very briefly put, I would like to get some help so that I could finish my game of BG:EE already and move on to SoD. Can I use the Console to do this?

Here's the deal: I tried BG back in the day but found it awful (simplistic quests, story all over the place, logical inconsistencies abound, hardly ever any reasonable dialogue options, too much aimless walking around). However, I *loved* BG2, it's the best game of all time for me. I'm very enthusiastic about SoD, and I bought BG:EE just to get the backstory. But I have found it a real struggle to get through BG:EE - it's simply not a good game. I have played fair and square up to this point and have just left the Candlekeep Catacombs, which means that I should next go to Baldur's Gate and face Sarevok (I checked this from a Walkthrough, having got totally bored with the game). I understand there's rather a lot yet to be done, but is there any way I could simply move my party to the Undercity map and get to the Sarevok fight? If I do that, will anything "break"?

My party of Charname (berserker), Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, Viconia and Baeloth is at approximately level 7, so I should be able to deal with Sarevok. If not, that's my problem. But how could I get to him as quickly as possible?

the_sextein

I think you can import your savegame into SOD and start the game where you are currently at XP and equipment wise. You could always add a little XP if you wanted to with EE Keeper. I don't know if you can skip directly to the under city to fight Mr. S though. You probably can but I personally don't know how.

namelesstwo

actually, if you`re already left Candlekeep there`s really not much left. if you know what to do, it should`nt take you more then 20-30 minutes to get to the Undercity.

Diogenes42

Hello friend. With the introduction of Story Mode you should be able to rush through what is left of the game pretty quickly. It sets the Strength of all your part members to 25 and makes it so they can't die, you can just rush around and clobber every group of enemies without bothering about tactics. You can turn off Story Mode at any time so don't worry about it permanently affecting your game.

xzar_monty

@namelesstwo: Is it really that quick? Ok, that sounds promising. Maybe I will do that after all.

Frankly, some of the writing in BG is just... not good, let's leave it at that. When I entered the city of Baldur's Gate, I very quickly ran into someone who said that "Even though you've only been in the city for a few days, etc." and I thought: Hang on, how does he know that? Also, I've only been in the city for three hours, tops. D'oh.

Purudaya

Remember that you can import any save into SoD – you should be able to make a level 1 character and import her right out of Winthrop's Inn if you want to (not that I'd recommend it). My first runthrough was with a level 6-ish party and I did fine in SoD. If you already know how BGI ends, I don't see any reason to go through the Sarevok fight if you don't want to.

JuliusBorisov

@xzar_monty This is what you can do:

activate the console

install https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/49645/book-of-legal-possibilities-preparation-for-sod#latest by @Abel

create a character, give him XP C:SetCurrentXP("161000")

Get items as @Abel suggests

C:MoveToArea("AR0125") and kill everyone with CTRL+Y

xzar_monty

@bengoshi: Thanks. Much appreciated.

I quite like the "final battles" (particularly the modded and therefore rather challenging ones in BG2:EE), so I probably won't resort to CTRL+Y.

Abel

Also, you don't even need a Final-save. You can import to SoD from any type of save (tested it myself)!
You can even directly buff/equip your character(s) from SoD if you don't mind the pre-leveling and Bhaal innates assignment.

Sylvus_Moonbow

You're not far off, and as brave warrior @namelesstwo (huh. There is also a namelessone) mentioned.

You'll be guided easily by an NPC near Sorcerous Sundries to get the direction going. You're about three skips to making your way to the final battle, and much of that is just gathering information with a combat or two between.

If you already have Siege of Dragonspear installed, you'll jump right into its introduction at the end of the final battle. It's seamless and continues onward from there.

Travel safe brave warrior @xzar_monty, and may you continue to find adventure, fortune and fame in your travels!

xzar_monty

@Sylvus_Moonbow: Apparently so (I check a walkthrough more thoroughly). Initially, I didn't realise I was so close to the end.

And thanks for that final statement! :-D

rapsam2003

xzar_monty said:

simplistic quests, story all over the place, logical inconsistencies abound, hardly ever any reasonable dialogue options, too much aimless walking around

There have been a LOT of QoL changes that make this kind of stuff easier to handle. Yeah, you're still stuck with the basic-ness of BG1. But, for example, now...rather than flipping through the journal in a unorganized manner, you have a journal inspired by modern RPG implementations.

Roseweave

I never actually finished EE, debating whether or not to start a new game or carry on from where I was(it's been like 2 years lol)

Diogenes42

Roseweave said:

I never actually finished EE, debating whether or not to start a new game or carry on from where I was(it's been like 2 years lol)

You can never go wrong starting a new run through the series my friend.

moody_mage

Push on and finish it. You've done most of the hard work. Just a couple more areas and you are at the final battle.

You can then check it off as 'finished'.

Mikey205

Ye you are basically done, although since you're at the right point it might be worth doing ToTSC content. In particular Durlags Tower is great. For me ToTSC is very cool because you can see the transition in terms of quest structure and dungeon-design to BG2. If you want to venture forth though then you haven't too much left (and some of it is v entertaining).

Mikey205

Roseweave said:

I never actually finished EE, debating whether or not to start a new game or carry on from where I was(it's been like 2 years lol)

I'd suggest a new run, too much gap there (I can't keep going if it's been like 2 weeks gap lol). The content for the new NPCs isn't amazing, but definitely worth a run-through. Rasaad has new areas that look decent. The new interface makes the experience feel fresh (positives and negatives).

Roseweave

I like my Laverne Cox druid though tho lol. I might just reload from an earlier save. Thing is I'll probably start to remember a lot of stuff as I'm playing it as it puts me off. I can't really replay things. Super mega ADHD and a weirdly specific long term memory.

How does this expansion work - do I have to finish the run before playing it? Do I have to have the expansion, then start a run through BG then the expansion?

Diogenes42

Roseweave said:

I like my Laverne Cox druid though tho lol. I might just reload from an earlier save. Thing is I'll probably start to remember a lot of stuff as I'm playing it as it puts me off. I can't really reply things.

How does this expansion work - do I have to finish the run before playing it? Do I have to have the expansion, then start a run through BG then the expansion?

You can import an old character or save at any point in Baldur's Gate EE and they will transfer over. You can also make a brand new character and jump straight in and it will give you some appropriate gear and party members to start with. I hope this helps friend.

mf2112

Import kept stripping my containers. I couldn't get load to work until I finally thought to copy the 0000002-Final Save folder from BG:EE\save to BG:EE\sodsave. Then it loaded perfectly, actually replayed the last movie from BG and then went right into SOD. All containers perfectly intact.