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Is it possible to all npc quests?

CvijetaCvijeta Member Posts: 417
Including Hexxat's and other evil npc's. I'm neutral good skald.

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  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    It is possible to complete them all. I've done it myself, but you need to be careful not to mix party members that will try to kill each other, and keep your rep from going too high or low.
    GallowglassJuliusBorisov
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    Yes, as @ThacoBell says, it is possible.

    However, I wouldn't recommend trying it on a first run, because managing it successfully takes some knowledge and experience of the game. Try it on a later re-play, when you know more about what all the NPC quests are, and who is compatible with whom in the party, and how to manage REP, and so on.

    Manifold re-playability is one of the joys of BG!
    profanitywarningThacoBellJuliusBorisovAerakar
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    I make a policy as much as I can to do all of the original NPC quests on each of my playthroughs. It's nice to think that you meet them and affect all of their lives, even if they're not around forever. Inevitably, though, this makes it very hard not to take Jaheira with you, so sometimes I only do like .. half of hers.

    I can't 100% guarantee with the EE NPCs, but certain party members should not mix, or at least not mix for too long. Edwin can't be reconciled to Neera's quest, as I recall.
    Aerakar
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356

    I make a policy as much as I can to do all of the original NPC quests on each of my playthroughs. It's nice to think that you meet them and affect all of their lives, even if they're not around forever.

    I often do that too, although I make some exceptions for role-playing plausibility - for example, I can't see a Paladin protagonist getting involved with Dorn, nor a Dark Moon Monk protagonist getting involved with Rasaad, it'd make no story sense.

    Inevitably, though, this makes it very hard not to take Jaheira with you, so sometimes I only do like .. half of hers.

    It's possible to complete Jaheira's questline fully in such a run ... but yes, it can be distinctly inconvenient to do so when she's nevertheless not going to be part of the permanent team, and therefore understandable not to do all of it. (The other NPC whose questline can take a tediously long time to complete when she's not part of the permanent party is Mazzy, since the second part takes ages to trigger.)

    I can't 100% guarantee with the EE NPCs, but certain party members should not mix, or at least not mix for too long. Edwin can't be reconciled to Neera's quest, as I recall.

    In BG2ee, it is possible to complete all of the EE NPC quests in the same run as all of the original NPC quests*. I've done that previously, and it's again the plan in my current run (except that I may not have the patience for Mazzy's questline). However, it requires careful management of numerous changes in party composition, sequence of events, timing of REP changes, and so on ... more meta-gaming than I'd want if every run were like this, but (IMO) tolerable when it's only for some runs.

    I'd find it a very difficult role-play to do this with either a Good or Evil protagonist, but I find it just about credible with a Neutral protagonist.

    * Note that I'm making this assertion only about BG2ee. In BG1ee it's almost possible, except that Edwin's quest (to kill Dynaheir) can't be done in the same run as Minsc's quest (to rescue Dynaheir). In SoD, I don't yet know the game well enough to be sure of all the details of all the quests, so I'm not sure how completionist it is possible to be in a single run.
    Aerakar
  • islandkingislandking Member Posts: 426
    @Gallowglass I plan to have Mazzy and Jaheira in my permanent team, is there other conflicts (other than Dorn) or anything noteworthy to know to have all NPC quests in one go?
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    @islandking - there are numerous other incompatibilities between characters, and generally so many things to know that I can't remember them all off the top of my head, sorry.
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    Keldorn and Viconia, probably Neera and Edvin, and surely more than that.
    The other problem is that some NPCs quests, or their parts, trigger only at some points of the game, or after a certain time has elapsed. So, even ignoring incompatibilities, planning is needed in recruiting and dismissing NPCs, unless you fiddle with game variables and time counters to speed up or slow down the things as you need, and also that need a lot of knowledge, each time you play with variables and timers you risk to screw up things.
    Also changing frequently NPCs bring to under developed ones, as you spread the XP and the added XP from the NPCs quests is not enough to compensate, In the end you will have little over leveled charname and permanent party members but quite under leveled other party members.
  • inethineth Member Posts: 707
    Sorcerer's Place has a list of NPC conflicts: http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/bg2_npc_conflicts.php
    (This doesn't include the NPCs added by the Enhanced Edition, though.)

    Note that they don't kill each other immediately; they either refuse to join the party while their "nemesis" is in it, or have some verbal fights first, giving you a chance to dismiss one of them before things get heated.

    If you don't want to deal with that, simply install the "NPCs Don't Fight" component of the
    Tweaks Anthology mod.
    gorgonzolaAerakar
  • megamike15megamike15 Member Posts: 2,666
    yeah having npcs don't fight is the only way to make this work. edwin,dorn and hexxat have so many conflicts it's pretty much impossible to keep them in a good party. [ not sure if the tweak pack effects the ee npcs.]

    with viconia it's pretty much just keldorn.
  • islandkingislandking Member Posts: 426
    Thanks for all the help!
    @gorgonzola what do you mean "trigger only at some points of the game", are some of the npc quest lost forever if I venture too far in main game plot or done too many sidequests?
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    As far as I know, no there isn't.
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356

    yeah having npcs don't fight is the only way to make this work.

    Not so. It can be done without cheating if you understand when to swap various characters in and out of the party ... but yes, it's quite complicated to get it right.

    ... are some of the npc quest lost forever if I venture too far in main game plot or done too many sidequests?

    Some trigger only in particular conditions (e.g. specific locations or various previous actions), some have multiple parts triggered at various times, etc. When you proceed into the final scenario of SoA, then all uncompleted SoA quests are inaccessible, and likewise when you proceed into the final scenario of ToB, then all uncompleted ToB quests are inaccessible.

    Seriously, don't try an every-quest run until after you've completed the game a few times and tried out all the NPCs, so that you're familiar with how each NPC quest works.

    If you really insist on trying to do everything in your first (or nearly-first) attempt, then your only solution will be to read a really thorough walkthrough and study it in detail, else you'll be bound to screw up ... but doing that would basically spoiler the entire game for you. And SFAIK, there isn't yet any single walkthrough which is fully detailed and accurate about both EE and pre-EE NPC quests all in one place, so you'll have to research multiple walkthroughs. These are invariably long documents.

    There's far too much to bear in mind for us to explain it all in this forum - if you haven't read scores of pages of details, you won't know enough. Have patience, do it later when you've learnt the game well enough! It'll be something to look forward to, to keep up your interest in replaying the game.
    ThacoBellgorgonzolaAerakar
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    If you absolutely insist, at least try without a walkthrough, it would be criminal to spoil the game ahead of time. There are some general guidelines that can help you pull it off though. Don't mix good npcs and evil ones, there are several that play nice, but its easier to keep them separate as many are incompatible. Don't try to rush through, there several npcs whose quests trigger over time. If any npc has a time sensitive quest, they will warn you in plenty of time so you can either get it done, or temporarily cycle them freeze the quest.
    gorgonzola
  • islandkingislandking Member Posts: 426
    Well actually I do finished original BG and EE several times before, but it was years ago so I may miss some details in my current run.
    I plan to do all possible sidequests, then proceed to npc quests before sailing to spellhold, keep Mazzy and Jaheira all the time, swap npcs, rest in inns to waste time, I think it's doable as long as there're no sidequests during which npc triggers have to happen...right?
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Aside from the endgame I cannot think of a single quest that will lock you out of other quests permanently.
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    Ah, I see, @islandking. I had had the impression from your questions that you were more of a beginner.

    Okay, in that case I recommend that to do what you want, you might as well use walkthroughs.

    There are several decent walkthroughs for pre-EE BG2 including the original NPC quests. Two of the best are by Dan Simpson (text-only, but pretty navigable and thorough) and @Montresor_SP (who is often on this forum) - they'll tell you most of what you need for pre-EE NPCs.

    For the EE NPC quests, I don't know of any high-quality walkthrough. Probably the most complete is by Haeravon (again text-only, and not as easily-navigable as Dan Simpson's text), even though he has various errors and omissions, an amateurish writing style, and some bad advice.

    Tip: if you're planning on keeping Imoen after rescuing her, then don't do all the quests (NPC and otherwise) before sailing to Spellhold, because that would leave Imoen significantly behind in xp. Instead, leave a lot until after you return to Athkatla. (The max xp Imoen will have at rescue is 1.25Mxp, and if you'd did every possible quest before rescuing her, then the rest of your party would be way above that.) Of course, if you're not planning on keeping Imoen permanently, then this doesn't much matter.

    Tip: you will need to know every circumstance in which your REP can go up or down, and plan the timing of your REP gains and losses for the whole campaign before you start. Otherwise, you're likely to get NPCs walking out on you, or refusing to join when you need them to join, and so on.
    ThacoBell said:

    Aside from the endgame I cannot think of a single quest that will lock you out of other quests permanently.

    None that necessarily do so. However, if you get the sequencing wrong, then you can end up in a situation where two timed quests demand attention at almost the same time, and you may not be able to get both done before they expire, and then you're shafted.
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864


    @gorgonzola what do you mean "trigger only at some points of the game", are some of the npc quest lost forever if I venture too far in main game plot or done too many sidequests?

    @Gallowglass has already answered. No quest is lost forever (I don't know the EE npc ones as I am in my first EE run, but trust him), but some things trigger only after some other things had been, like you do a certain part of an NPC quest and then, after a week has elapsed...
    Is not always possible to recruit an NPC and complete his quest immediately.
    So, if you don't want to rest for a full week or do other silly things a knowledge of how each quest works and a certain amount of planning and optimization is needed.

  • islandkingislandking Member Posts: 426
    Alright, I'll try DSimpson's faq
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692


    It's possible to complete Jaheira's questline fully in such a run ... but yes, it can be distinctly inconvenient to do so when she's nevertheless not going to be part of the permanent team, and therefore understandable not to do all of it. (The other NPC whose questline can take a tediously long time to complete when she's not part of the permanent party is Mazzy, since the second part takes ages to trigger.)

    The problem for me is more that by doing her quest past a certain point, you pretty much enforce it in the narrative that you and she are very strong friends and stalwart companions, which makes it hard to justify ditching her. Plus, if you do, you've pretty much f*cked up her life, so you'd have to be very much the opposite of a strong friend and stalwart companion to feel that it was in line with your character to do it - in which case it's hard to know why you would take her along so far in the first place when it becomes clear that doing so is going to get you on the Harper hit list.

    @Gallowglass I plan to have Mazzy and Jaheira in my permanent team, is there other conflicts (other than Dorn) or anything noteworthy to know to have all NPC quests in one go?

    I've yet to see anyone else experience it, but after several insinuations which Viconia makes about Valygar being gay (or, perhaps altogether separately from that), there is a random NPC in I think the Government District who you can speak to, and who propositions Valygar. When he declines the prostitute's offer, Viconia mocks him, and then he attacked her.

    It's totally avoidable, but an interesting discovery I've yet to read about elsewhere. I vividly recall it happening in one of my playthroughs.
    ThacoBell
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Yeah, I was gonna switch Jaheaira out temporarily after finishing her questline. Never again, she will always be in my party from now on.
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356

    ... there is a random NPC in I think the Government District who you can speak to, and who propositions Valygar.

    Yes, you're thinking of Lady Oriana in the Government District.

    When he declines the prostitute's offer, Viconia mocks him, and then he attacked her.

    It's totally avoidable, but an interesting discovery I've yet to read about elsewhere. I vividly recall it happening in one of my playthroughs.

    No, you're not imagining it. Speaking to Oriana, with Valygar and Viconia both in the party, can cause them to disband and fight to the death. I've seen it happen too, although I don't think it always happens.
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    ThacoBell said:

    Yeah, I was gonna switch Jaheaira out temporarily after finishing her questline. Never again, she will always be in my party from now on.

    Indeed, you can't disband her temporarily once she breaks with the Harpers, you can only keep her for the rest of SoA or lose her for the rest of SoA. (In ToB, however, she can again be swapped in and out).
    ThacoBell
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