Bridge between BGSoD EE and BGII EE

Myrn

Hey everyone!

Quick question; If I import my BG EE character into SoD EE, finish the campaign and then decide to continue with the same character in BGII EE, won't his level be way too high? I mean I ended BGI EE with a level 8 char., which is the same level you start out with in BGII EE. Any idea's?

Thanks!

PaulaMigrate

It's only realistic. You have indeed made additional experience in the meantime. Even without any mods installed, BG2EE has improvements for the foe you fight as well.
My suggestion is to just try it without prejudice.
If you still feel that BG2 will be too easy, you can either increase difficulty level or you can use Near Infinity or EE keeper to tune down your PC.

This is for the unmodded games - for a modded ones the answer would be slightly different, depending on which mods you installed.

bob_veng

yes. too high. not good.
an idea is to use:
- level adder mod https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/32334/level-adder-v0-5/p1
- SCS improved encounters

JuliusBorisov

This subject has been discussed in https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/45056/sod-effects-on-bg2ee/ (the thread had started before SoD was released, but opinions shared there are relevant)

My own opinion is the following:

Starting BG2 with 500k XP is actually different from starting it with 161k XP (or even 89k XP if starting from scratch in BG2), at least it increases joining NPCs' levels. But without SCS AI in BG2 is easy to trick already, so that difference is not huge. Also, even starting BG2 with 89k XP and playing with a full party, I often reach first HLAs in the Underdark, so a difference in ~350k XP is neglectable.

bob_veng

it stops being important in the final portion of the game, but in chapter 2, at least the most of it, it makes a huge difference. the difference in power between these levels is very tangible.

ThacoBell

Considering that a lot of the strength you get in BG2 depends on your gear, the few additional levels don't make that much of a difference.

bob_veng

they definitely do in most of chapter 2 which is the core of the game in a sense. i've tried so i can tell. many fights become completely trivial; the power of enemies at that stage is noticeably below of those in SoD

Grond0

bob_veng said:

they definitely do in most of chapter 2 which is the core of the game in a sense. i've tried so i can tell. many fights become completely trivial; the power of enemies at that stage is noticeably below of those in SoD

I'd agree with that, though it's not so much the level of the enemies that causes that, but the way they function. They tend to have better special abilities in SoD (potions, called shots, poison weapons etc) and an AI that makes use of those abilities. Whatever the cause though the effect is that SoA seems rather too easy after transitioning from SoD.

Harpagornis

Walking from SoD into SoA with any kind of Druid is a real "fun" story. Call in your Fire Elementals - drink some cups of tea - and watch how they obliterate all opposition as the enemies cannot damage them. But on the other hand: After the horrors of Avernus and fighting Big B any adventurer is in need of some chilling. No?

Myrn

Thanks everyone! A real help!

elminster

JuliusBorisov said:

This subject has been discussed in https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/45056/sod-effects-on-bg2ee/ (the thread had started before SoD was released, but opinions shared there are relevant)

My own opinion is the following:

Starting BG2 with 500k XP is actually different from starting it with 161k XP (or even 89k XP if starting from scratch in BG2), at least it increases joining NPCs' levels. But without SCS AI in BG2 is easy to trick already, so that difference is not huge. Also, even starting BG2 with 89k XP and playing with a full party, I often reach first HLAs in the Underdark, so a difference in ~350k XP is neglectable.

Also BG2EE doesn't have the 10% bonus experience that the original BG2 had. So it balances out as you play. Especially since 500,000 xp is the cap. There is no guarantee you'll actually hit it when playing through SoD.

tbone1

Want a challenge? Create a level 1 PC in BG1, export it to BG2, and start in Chez Irenicus with 0xp and stats that have not been enhanced with tomes.

AndreaColombo

tbone1 said:

Create a level 1 PC in BG1, export it to BG2, and start in Chez Irenicus with 0xp and stats that have not been enhanced with tomes.

Feasible with a F/M/T, as it seems.