What cheats do you use, if any?

SirBundlesofJoy_1912

Howdy,

I just joined this forum, so forgive me if I have posted something that has already been discussed.

For those of you who use cheats, what do you use?

I always play with this as my party, all pre-generated characters.

Krina Navratil - Female Human Undead Hunter
Mazzy - Female Halfling Fighter ("lifted" from the same char in BG2)
Moonarrow Wickberry - Male Elf Fighter
Benno Burkhardt - Male Gnome Illusionist
Vali Randa - Male Human Thief
Sir Dragoslav Krul - Male Human Cleric

For cheats, I always give my characters Boots of Speed, Rings of Regeneration, Bags of Holding, and tons of Identify scrolls to my mage.

I use the Boots of Speed because the characters move so slowly without them. I like the Bags of Holding because you can stuff them full of junk, and pass items from one character to another, in case they are too far away to pass them something. This is a cheat that I suppose I could live without.

The Rings of Regeneration make healing potions mostly unnecessary, because my chars regenerate 1 hp per round I believe. But even so, in battles I have still been pounded to the ground, so I always keep some Potions of Healing and poison antidote potions handy, for mid-battle healing.

When someone dies, I "Ctrl R" them back to life. In my reasoning nobody really "dies", they just fall unconscious.

So these cheats work for me, and make the game enjoyable. It is still not easy, especially BG2 and Icewind Dale.

What do you guys use, if any, and why?

Mr2150

I wish I never knew what Ctrl+J did... but sometimes it's frustrating watching your party walk all the way across a map only for one (or more) of them to get stuck on something.

SirBundlesofJoy_1912

Ctrl+Y is fun too, but I try not to use it. I also avoid using Ctrl+R to heal my party members mid-battle. I think that heals all damage, poison, and magical effects?

I have recently added a new "rule" that I may play around with: Once per day, my cleric can mass heal the entire party (by Ctrl+R).

Having used these cheats for years, I don't think I could go back to playing BG without any of these little "boosts". I used to also give my characters awesome magic items and raise their levels, too, but I think that is a little too much. I want the game to be a fun challenge, not a cakewalk.

I wish I could give my Undead Hunter BLUN12 (Mace of Disruption), but it doesn't work. My in-game reasoning is that she got it from her father, who was an Undead Hunter before her.

Buttercheese

Ctrl+Y and Ctrl+R when a fight gets to annoying. Or if I just wanna speed through a dungeon.
I especially like using Ctrl+R to remove buffs from liches and such >.>

Sometimes I like to cheat in a bag of holding to accommodate for my packrat syndrome.
Oh, also Freedom scrolls, because sometimes the game glitches out for me and the maze spell doesn't wear off like it's supossed to. Though I wouldn't call that cheating, since it's just a glitch fix.

lefreut

***

BillyYank

I set max HP for the first three levels, then set it back to normal.
In unmodded games, I buy a bag of holding and an ammo belt by consoling the container in and consoling out an appropriate amount of gold.
I console Identify into all my mages spellbooks. I treat it like Read Magic in the PnP games.
I ctrl-J all the time on already explored maps.
I use ctrl-R very rarely. Only in the early game when I can't afford temple fees.

alceryes

I regularly make ability point 'adjustments' using EEKeeper. They usually have little to no impact in game because I'll roll high enough to get the primary stats where I want them. (my right eye gets a little twitchy when I see ANY stat below 10)
I also like to create 'illegal' race/class combinations like the gnome fighter/illusionist/thief or half-orc monk. I admit, some of these combos do create very powerful (cheat) characters.
I regularly play with max HP but don't consider that a cheat since it's a selectable option. I will, however, adjust companions HP (Viconia) up to max since...well, max HP means max HP, damn it!

That's not to say that I've never EEKeepered a monty hall PC. But those characters get boring quick and don't last.

I've never use Ctrl+ in game except when working with mods.

JumboWheat01

I play on a lower difficulty. The greatest cheat of all. And RNG still messes with me. Outside of that, the only "cheat" I use is the Show Map button thingy that explores the whole map for you. I use that after I've traveled everywhere I can by foot, and there's still black areas on the map to annoy me.

SirBundlesofJoy_1912

I like the idea of making "illegal" combos of race/class. I know there's a mod out there, I should look into it.

Ravenslight

I always use the tweaks mod to allow larger stacks of arrows and potions. My protagonist’s “stepfather” Gorion also always provides his daughter with a Bag of Holding for the journey. A packrat’s best friend.

I also may change an NPC’s class with EE Keeper. For instance, I always change Rasaad’s as I really dislike playing with the monk class.

10Bazza11

Ditto lefreut.
I only set max hp per level up and 100% chance to learn spells. Otherwise I don't use cheats. I don’t think I can any way as I am playing on android.

Kurona

Ctrl+J when I'm feeling lazy
Godbow to not be insta-killed by the loathsome elves in the second game
Removed reputation whining with evil characters (but not the good ones)
Bigger stacks of ammo, potions, scrolls and gems

I also tend to edit my characters in NI/EEKeeper according to specific concepts.

Raduziel

Ctrl + J FTW.

And I always give myself a gem bag, a potion case, an ammunition belt and a scroll case.

Period.

Anything more would be gamebreaking IMHO.

O_Bruce

Cheating? Nah. I want to do things proper way. I never liked cheating, be it at school, having funy, playing videogames. I'm also a rare example of a person who appreciates the way things are done besides final result. If something is done by cheating or exploiting something in unfair way, it's worthless in my eyes.

Seldar

Ctrl + Q to pick up some non playable characters sometimes just to check their inventory or for fun (like that I took Xzar in my team in BG2 )

alceryes

SirBundlesofJoy_1912 said:

I like the idea of making "illegal" combos of race/class. I know there's a mod out there, I should look into it.

There are some mods that do this but there's also EEKeeper. It's extremely easy to use.
e.g. a half-orc dark moon monk with 19 STR is definitely OP but fun to play, nonetheless.

sarevok57

the only time I use cheats is when the game bugs up, and then there is no way to progress unless I type in some script commands, or have to summon someone in game

for example: back in 1.4 ( or 1.3?) saemon would not appear if you killed chermy in brynlaw after you retrieved the horn, so I would have to summon him up in game, just to progress

Troodon80

Buttercheese said:

Sometimes I like to cheat in a bag of holding to accommodate for my packrat syndrome.

I do this all the time. I can't manage an inventory in-game. Everything in-game must be collected. And when it comes to selling it... it's just easier to have a bag of holding or two.

Kurona

O_Bruce said:

Cheating? Nah. I want to do things proper way. I never liked cheating, be it at school, having funy, playing videogames. I'm also a rare example of a person who appreciates the way things are done besides final result. If something is done by cheating or exploiting something in unfair way, it's worthless in my eyes.

There's no such thing as a "proper way" in a single-player game, especially one with an active modding community.

SirBundlesofJoy_1912

Troodon80, my whole party each has a Bag of Holding, and all the stuff goes into the same place. I suppose I don't need one for every party member, but it comes in handy when you want to transfer something.

Like say Elf Fighter is battling an ogre, and his sword breaks. His only other weapon is a bow.

Dwarf fighter has a spare sword, but he's too far away and he's also fighting an ogre.
He puts the sword into his Bag of Holding.

Elf Fighter reaches into the Bag, and pulls out the dwarf's sword!

I use this a lot for healing potions or poison antidotes, or just to switch things from PC to PC, if they've wandered too far away from each other.

I agree about there being no "proper way". It's all about what you want to do with the game and what experience you want to have. I just wanted to tweak things a little to make it a tad bit easier. The Rings of Regeneration are great, you don't have to worry so much about healing spells and potions (but you do have to watch out for poison!).

If I had to have only one single "cheat", it would be a single Ring of Regeneration, that the characters would have to share in order to get healed. I could forego the Boots of Speed and the Bags of Holding and the Identify scrolls if I really wanted to. Maybe I will try that tonight and see how I like it.

O_Bruce

Kurona said:

There's no such thing as a "proper way" in a single-player game, especially one with an active modding community.

Of course. I never claimed to be a "fair-play" nazi or anything like that. Do as you like, it's your single player heavy moddablegame. The only thing is that I'm not impressed by people who cheat and I don't like to cheat myself, unless I have to due to, for example, bug that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

In short, do as you like. I was only expressing my own opinion.

SirBatince

The only cheats i use is giving myself infinite gold in black pits 1 and 2, and I also CTRL-Y efreetis that turn into gas form. I am *absolutely* okay with that.

SirBundlesofJoy_1912

This thread has made me see both sides of the argument...maybe I will try playing tonight without any cheats. I've finished the game before without any cheats, except for the final battle, which I gave up trying to win. So it is doable.

alceryes

SirBundlesofJoy_1912 said:

I've finished the game before without any cheats, except for the final battle, which I gave up trying to win. So it is doable.

The final battle can be easy with some good tactics.
One of the things I love about this game is the, "Well, that didn't work. What if I...," aspect. There are so many ways to approach each and every situation that it becomes a different game every time you play.

JumboWheat01

Unfortunately, the greatest plans in the world may not survive a meeting with the greatest boss in all games, RNG. All it takes is one bad dice roll and there goes any plan.

ThacoBell

I mostly use the console to fix bugs that inevitably pop up (Jaheira romance anyone?). I too, like to use the reveal map command to remove all the black splotches after I've fully explored it. Using tweaks anthology to allow illegal race/class combinations is my new favorite thing. My half-orc ranger cleric was one of my favorite playthroughs.

megamike15

i mostly used the cntrl options. with story mode being a thing it makes cntrl r redundant as you can't die. but i do cntrl j when i don't feel like going through the whole map.

JumboWheat01

Oh you can most certainly die in Story Mode. It just takes a bit more effort. Or cheesing off Gorion.

Raduziel

alceryes said:

SirBundlesofJoy_1912 said:

I've finished the game before without any cheats, except for the final battle, which I gave up trying to win. So it is doable.

The final battle can be easy with some good tactics.
One of the things I love about this game is the, "Well, that didn't work. What if I...," aspect. There are so many ways to approach each and every situation that it becomes a different game every time you play.

Totally agree. I have this feeling every time I'm about to do the Unseeing Eye quest.

This is how I've discovered Mislead

OrlonKronsteen

I almost always make sure my charname has really good stats, either by a lot of re-rolling or by using EE Keeper. But I swear it's for RP reasons. In my mind, the bhaalspawns' stats should reflect their divine heritage. Hats off to players who use low stats, though. I also sometimes use EE Keeper to change regrettable decisions or mistakes in character development, like proficiency point allocation. In BG2 I allow Cromwell to make Watcher's Keep recipes via Tweaks. I've used Near Infinity to make Shadow Armor wearable by Stalkers and to restore Daystar's enchantment level to 4, as per 1.3. I recently tried using the old poison files (from 1.3) as I find the 2.0 poison a little underwhelming. Well, that's all I can think of right now. It feels good to confess.

OrlonKronsteen

Ravenslight said:

My protagonist’s “stepfather” Gorion also always provides his daughter with a Bag of Holding for the journey.

I'm going to have to talk to Gorion. He never gave ME a bag of holding. Come to think of it, I've always been rather disappointed with the amount of gold he gives you in Candlekeep, especially since he's afraid for your very life. Either he's really cheap, or he wasn't a terribly successful adventurer. Now that I think about it, he's lost some credibility as a wizard.