Exploits, Tricks, and Nonstandard Tactics
semiticgoddess
Member Posts: 14,903
This thread is here to document all of the glitches, exploits, tricks, and other assorted tactics that people have discovered over the years. Mostly I want to document the weirder tricks, the ones that the average player wouldn't encounter in their first one or two or five playthroughs. The list is divided into EE and pre-EE/pre-update tricks.
If you've found a special trick you're proud of, let me know and I'll add in a new entry. Even if you weren't the first to discover a trick, but just found it independently, go ahead and bring it up! And if you happen to know where the trick was first mentioned, please give me a link so I can add it in. And if I made a mistake somewhere, let me know and I'll correct it.
I'm sure many of the older tricks will never have confirmed authors, but I'd like to have citations for as many of these tricks as possible. I'll put "Unknown" in front if there's a list of people who discovered the trick, but it's not clear who was first.
These are the tricks that are possible in the most recent versions of the game (that is, the latest updates to the Enhanced Edition).
Shadowdancer Trick, documented here
Author: @Grum
Brief Description:
You can maintain invisibility indefinitely as a Shadowdancer by manipulating the stealth timer. Use Hide in Plain Sight, then click Detect Traps (or any other button) without actually breaking invisibility. After 6 seconds pass, you will be able to use Hide in Plain Sight again, but you will still be invisible. This allows you to go invisible, wait 6 seconds, backstab, and then go invisible again without ever exposing yourself to attack.
Wand of Lightning Trick, discussed here
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
The Wand of Lightning in BG2 (but not BG1 or SoD) fires 6 lightning bolts with up to 6 different targets. You can duplicate the effects of any on-self spell or item by targeting the caster with all 6 lightning bolts, then immediately ordering the character to cast the spell in question. Instead of firing 6 lightning bolts, the character will cast the spell 6 times while only using a single spell slot. This only works with spells that are on-self by default, like Sunfire and Mordenkainen's Sword; not Fireball or Animate Dead.
This can also be used with any quick item: choose 6 targets with the Wand of Lightning, then go to the inventory screen and swap the Wand of Lightning for another item.
If you use to turn pages in the Book of Daily Spell, you'll get 6 copies of the next page, allowing you to duplicate the book (unless you hit the Burning Hands page on the first try).
As @sluckers has noted, it's also possible to use the Wand of Lightning trick to target things from all the way across the map by dedicating one of the six targets to a container or item on the ground.
Scorcher Loop, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
You can multiply the effects of an Agannazar's Scorcher spell (or a Lance of Disruption in IWD:EE) by having two mages cast (Minor) Spell Turning and then casting Agannazar's Scorcher from one to another. The spell turning effect will bounce the scorcher multiple times until it is exhausted. Spells in sequencer strike as a single spell, so putting three scorchers in a Spell Sequencer and combining it with two mages with Spell Turning will deal about 800 damage. Wands of Fire also work.
The spell is extremely party-unfriendly, and both mages will suffer fire damage if they are not immune (note that MGOI will block the damage, but also cancel the loop).
The Ring of Energy will also work, but only in the vanilla games, as EE has made the Ring of Energy's damage a level 0 effect.
In IWD:EE, you can actually lower enemy fire resistance using the level 3 priest spell Protection from Fire, which sets fire resistance to 80%.
Death Ray Zorcher, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
You can multiply the effects of the scorcher loop even further by combining it with the Wand of Lightning Trick. Have two characters chain-cast Spell Turning using the Wand of Lightning trick and either the Spell Turning page of the Book of Daily Spell, or a Spell Turning scroll. Then have a third character cast Agannazar's Scorcher across both of them. The loop will strike 10,000 times over several rounds, enough to kill any enemy that is not immune to fire or level 2 spells. Testing killed Adalon in Legacy of Bhaal mode in just over a second.
This can also be done by using the Reflect Magic HLA from the Wizard Slayer Rebalancing mod.
Lingering Song Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
In Icewind Dale 2, the Lingering Song trick lets a bard's song continue for 2 rounds after being activated. This allows you to repeatedly click the bard song icon and stack the effects of any song while the game is still paused. The effects scale infinitely, except for the damage bonus from the Ballad of Three Heroes, which is capped at +20.
Mislead Backstabs
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Any character under the effects of Mislead is considered constantly invisible for the purposes of backstabbing. Thus, a Misled character can backstab multiple times in a single round, so long as the target does not turn around.
Also, if you send the Mislead clone to a safe place (Maze does not count), enemies will not be able to kill it, and so your Misled character will remain completely undetectable, except to enemies who naturally see through invisibility like liches, demons, and dragons, for the duration of the spell.
Clone Quick Items Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Clones from spells such as Project Image and Simulacrum, or items such as Vhailor's Helm, can use any quick items the caster had equipped at the time of casting. Any items the clone uses will not use up charges on the original character. This means you can use rare items such as Protection from Magic scrolls once per day for every casting of Simulacrum or Project Image. Protection from Magic scrolls can be used on enemies to disable spellcasting; they work very well on the many enemy mages of BG2.
Clone Traps
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
The trap limit of 7 traps per map does not apply to clones. Project Image and Simulacrum clones can lay an unlimited number of traps on any map.
Clone Summons
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
The summon limit of 5 summoned critters per map does not apply to clones. Project Image and Simulacrum clones can summon an unlimited number of critters in any area. This also allows you to summon multiple Devas or Planetars, bypassing the celestial summon limit of 1.
Clone Innate Abilities
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Clones can use any innate ability the caster possesses at the time of casting. A level 10 clone may still use all of the original level 20 character's HLAs, and a character under the effects of Polymorph Self or Shapechange will generate a clone that can also use those shapeshifting abilities. If a Project Image clone shapeshifts, it can even attack while shapeshifted, which Project Image clones are not supposed to be able to do.
Spell Trap Trick, documented here
Author: Unknown, @semiticgod (Black Blade of Disaster part only)
Brief Description:
Spell Trap can be used to gain an infinite number of spells per day by using level 9 effects against the caster. A Project Image clone can cast level 7 and level 9 spells to restore the original caster's spells. For a Simulacrum clone to be able to do the same thing, it would have to be level 18, which means only a level 35 mage (impossible without removing the XP cap) could do the same using Simulacrum instead of Project Image. Black Blade of Disaster also strikes as a level 9 spell for each hit.
Limited Wish-resting
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Wild Mages can use Nahal's Reckless Dweomer to cast Limited Wish. Limited Wish allows a caster with high Wisdom to restore spell slots: 1 spell for each level from 1 to 4. If the Wild Mage has no empty level 4 spell slots, it will restore a level 3 spell slot instead. With no empty spell slots, a single Limited Wish, generated from a single Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, can restore 4 level 1 spells slots, allowing a Wild Mage to cast spells indefinitely, provided it does not suffer a wild surge that breaks the loop.
Talk-blocking
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Clicking on a neutral character will cause the character to turn to you and wait for you to speak with it. It will not take any other action for several seconds even if you order your character to do something else, so you can click on neutral characters to prevent them from talking to you, or even prevent them from defending themselves when you attack them.
Import/Export Trick, documented here
Author: Unknown, @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
In multiplayer mode, you can duplicate items by exporting a character with, say, Celestial Fury, then dropping Celestial Fury, going into Character Arbitration, deleting the character, and importing the character you just exported. The character will have an extra copy of Celestial Fury and can pick up the original from the ground. This can duplicate any item besides containers and quest items, as they cannot be exported.
Ferret Smuggling
Author: Unknown, @histamiini (Roger the Fence part)
Brief Description:
A ferret or cat familiar can pickpocket party members. If you use it to pickpocket the Rift Device, you can smuggle it out of the sewers without triggering the instant death script and then talk to the familiar to give it back to you. This can also work with drow equipment, which is supposed to disintegrate when you leave the Underdark, but the game does not check the ferret or cat's inventory for the items; only yours. Note that the familiar needs to have a higher pickpocket score than your character in order to succeed, so it may struggle to pickpocket a character with high Dexterity, racial bonuses to pickpocketing, or thief or bard levels.
Roger the Fence can also smuggle the Rift Device out of the area if you charm him using a spell or the Ring of Human Influence or the Nymph Cloak. If you order him to attack you as you enter the first Unseeing Eye area, you can have him pickpocket the Rift Device and then follow you out of the sewers to the surface, where killing him or pickpocketing him can let you keep the device.
Fire Seed Trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
Weapons that use area-effect projectiles can apply on-hit effects to more than one enemy at a time. This bypasses weapon immunities and all forms of spell protections. Thus, a character can use any of the following weapons:
1. Flasher Master Bruiser Mates (which are completely party-friendly)
2. Fire Seeds
3. Arrows of Detonation
4. Scorcher Ammunition (which strikes twice, as it uses the Agannazar's Scorcher projectile)
5. Frag Grenades
to apply any of the following effects:
1. Wizard Slayer spell failure
2. Power Attack
3. Smite
4. (Greater) Deathblow
5. Poison Weapon
6. Called Shot
to any group of creatures, provided the initial target is not immune to the weapon (throwing a Fire Seed will fail against a mage with PFMW active, but it can hit the mage if you target a nearby character without PFMW).
Infinite Maze Trick
Author: @Alesia_BH, @Alesia_B_H
Brief Description:
A Bounty Hunter can Maze an entire group of enemies using a level 21 Special Snare. This allows the Bounty Hunter to set additional traps while the enemies are gone. When the enemies return--usually one at a time--they will immediately trigger any traps the Bounty Hunter has lain since the first Maze trap. This can be done as long as the Bounty Hunter still has Maze traps.
Lightning Bolt Loop
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
A Lightning Bolt spell can bounce off of both the Cloak of Reflection and the original version of the Cloak of Mirroring. By deleting the Cloak of Mirroring's file in the override folder and restoring the original version, which reflects rather than blocks spell damage (may not be possible in EE), or by using the Import/Export Trick to duplicate the Cloak of Reflection you can bounce a Lightning Bolt spell or Wand of Lightning charges between two party members indefinitely. You can even dedicate multiple charges and add extra lightning bolts to the loop, making it stronger.
Testing has found that the loop can be canceled accidentally due to positioning problems. Testing has also suggested that it is possible to make it impossible for the loop to ever be re-created in a single save game.
It's also possible to bounce a Lightning Bolt spell or wand in a reliable path by pointing it directly north or south in close quarters, as lightning bolts bounce directly backwards if cast north or south. This can be used to reliably hit a single target about 5 times in a narrow hallway. But the EE version of the lightning bolt projectile may behave differently.
Fog of War Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Some enemies will not react if they suffer damage when the player's characters or summons are not in sight. Thus, you can cast Fireball or Cloudkill and so forth without the enemy ever reacting.
I believe this is much less likely to be possible in EE, and should never be possible in a normal SCS install.
Sunfire Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Spells cast on self ignore magic resistance. Thus, a Sunfire spell, which is cast on self by default, will bypass magic resistance on nearby targets, allowing you to deal fire damage to golems and other magic-immune critters.
According to @SpaceInvader, this no longer works for Sunfire in EE, but it still applies to other spells.
Quick Save Trick, documented here
Author: @Abi_Dalzim
Brief Description:
Loading the game resets the aura and stealth timer of all party members. By quick-saving and then quick-loading, you can cast multiple spells or drink multiple potions within the same round, provided that you are not in combat. This can extend the lifespan of short-duration effects, or allow an Archer to stack Called Shot effects right before combat begins.
Blind Thief Trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
Thieves cannot hide or set traps when enemies are near. However, this only applies to the thief's field of vision. A blind thief has a restricted field of vision and can therefore hide in plain sight like a Shadowdancer or even set traps in the middle of combat, provided that no enemies are directly next to him or her.
Before EE, thieves could hide when blind even when enemies were near, but not set traps. But this may be a testing error.
Combined with the blind thief trick, you can also save or even rest in the presence of enemies, though combat must have ended.
Pet Basilisk Strategy/Basilisk XP Loop
Author: @semiticgod, @histamiini (BG2 version)
Brief Description:
You can charm a basilisk using Algernon's Cloak from BG1. If you cast Protection from Petrification on the basilisk after charming it, you can use the pet basilisk to clear out Mutamin's Garden much faster than missile weapons, especially in Legacy of Bhaal mode.
You can also gain even more XP than would normally be possible in Mutamin's Garden using Stone to Flesh scrolls. After clearing out most of the area, charm a Lesser Basilisk (approach from behind and flee if it doesn't work), cast Protection from Petrification on it, and then have it petrify a Greater Basilisk. Then, before the Lesser Basilisk can attack again and shatter the Greater Basilisk, order it to stop and use a Stone to Flesh scroll on the petrified basilisk. You can then re-petrify it for another 7000 XP for every Stone to Flesh scroll you have. You can buy 19 scrolls from the temples at the Friendly Arm Inn and near Beregost for a total of 38 even before you reach Baldur's Gate (where even more scrolls are for sale). It's by far the fastest way of gaining XP in BG1, and requires little money and virtually no risk.
You can also repeatedly petrify targets in BG2 by using the Wand of Wonder, which has a 12% chance of petrifying the target with no save, bypassing spell protections and magic resistance. While the wand needs to be recharged every once in a while, it has the advantage of not turning the target hostile as long as you cancel the spellcasting of its Fireball or Lightning bolt charges (if you see your character casting an evocation spell, just give them a different command to cancel it). Firkraag is a safe target, as he is neutral unless he is attacked.
Fire Giant XP Loop, documented here
Author: @Gallowglass, @Caeria
Brief Description
By placing archers close to the walls of Saradush and either use the vanilla game's Guard function or apply the right AI script, you can get your archers to shoot at Fire Giants just beyond the walls, out of sight, and get XP for every kill at no risk.
Summoned Demon Behavior
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
Summoned demons ignore the summoning limit. Normally, summoning multiple demons will cause them to turn against each other, but casting Protection from Evil 10' Radius will get them to ignore each other and concentrate on your enemies instead (though they still won't get you XP for their kills).
Invincible Level 1 Tanks, documented here
Author: @OlvynChuru, @histamiini (Martyr's Morningstar part)
Brief Description:
Level 1 characters cannot die in one hit unless they have 14 HP or higher. Level 1 characters who only have 1 HP therefore cannot die from damage, as the game cannot reduce their HP to any fraction of the total. However, level 1 characters can die if they suffer exactly 1 point of damage, so only increasing the difficulty and doubling enemy damage output can ensure that a 1 HP tank is truly safe.
In IWD2, any mage with 3 Constitution, or any bard or thief with 1 Constitution, can start the game with 1 HP. In the other IE games, however, 3 Constitution will only penalize HP per level by 2. A mage in BG must have 1 Constitution in order to have 1 HP at level 1. Summoning a familiar and then killing it can reduce a protagonist mage's Constitution, as can drinking a Vial of Mysterious Liquid, provided that the player rests immediately after drinking the potion (otherwise the lingering poison damage will be fatal). The Claw of Kazgaroth can also decrease CON by 2 points.
In IWD2EE, the level 1 ranger spell Hunter's Mark can lower physical damage resistance by 3 for 1 hour, decreasing the chance that a 1-point hit will kill this character.
In SoD, the Martyr's Morningstar lowers the wielder's maximum HP by 10, allowing any character with base HP of 2-11 that can wield morningstars to use the weapon. The character must still be level 1 for the trick to work.
Level draining a character can enable this damage immunity as well. Notably, SoD has two -2 level drain chests (Hephernaan's chamber and the vampire hideout) and the Fledgling Vampire drains 2 levels per hit. One could play the game normally to Chapter 10 and then level drain back to 1, provided they were at an odd level, not even. You have to have 7 CON for this work, however, since you cannot then load the game without dying if your CON modifier is below 0 and you're drained at level 1.
*Even levels can be done since there are wights and wraiths that drain 1 level per hit and a -1 level drain trap outside Tsolak's lair, but those areas cannot be accessed after arriving in the Troll Claw Woods, so you would have to deal with the Troll Claw Woods, the Temple of Bhaal, and Bridgefort while level drained in order to have this trick work later on.
Black Raven Monastery Trick, documented here and here
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
In Heart of Fury mode in Icewind Dale 2, you can give your entire party HoF-style bonuses by saving and then loading while one of the characters is in one of the chambers in the monk trials at the Black Raven Monastery. When you reload that save, everyone but the character taking the test will have +10 to all stats, +12 to all levels, and triple HP plus 80 on top (and maybe some AB, AC, and save bonuses). Characters with levels about 24 or so will also be able to level up one last time, adding about 230 levels to any class they currently have no levels in. It's generally best to choose rogue or monk for this last level up, as these classes grant 230d6 sneak attack damage for the rogue and 50 SR, +10 AC, and Stunning Blow and Quivering Palm abilities with save DC's over 100, granting a 95% success rate for each one.
There is no way to make these bonuses stack.
Resilient Sphere Trick, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
Barbarian rage makes the Barbarian immune to opcode 185, the opcode that makes Otiluke's Resilient Sphere paralyze its target. A mage can cast Resilient Sphere on a raging Barbarian without rendering the Barbarian completely helpless. This comes with certain limitations: the Barbarian still cannot attack or move around, though it may use items and innate abilities. This can be used to maintain the Slayer form indefinitely, as the spell's immunity to the damage opcode will block the lingering magic damage from the Slayer form.
Remove Curse Trick, documented here
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
Remove Curse can be cast on enemies with cursed items, who will immediately drop the item. This can be used to weaken characters such as Kontik, Brage, and Smaeluv Orcslicer.
Universal Stealth Trick
Author: @Iroumen
Brief Description:
By mapping stealth to a hotkey, any character can attempt to hide in shadows, though characters who are not thieves, rangers, and monks will have poor stealth scores.
Armored Casting Trick, documented here
Author: @Gotural
Brief Description:
Mages wearing armor can still cast spells if they do so via a hotkey.
Extra Speed Weapons, documented here
Author: @Artemius_I
Brief Description:
In the most recent version of EE, throwing daggers can be dual-wielded provided that the throwing dagger is kept in the main hand. Since throwing daggers grant +1 APR even when used as melee weapons, they function as additional speed weapons alongside Belm, Kundane, and the Ninja-to of the Scarlet Brotherhood.
Before EE, there was another speed weapon: the Shadow Thief Dagger, which you can only get by siding with Bodhi and opting for the "unseemly task" for your second assignment, and which you can only keep by returning to Bodhi to report that you spared the target's life. The Shadow Thief Dagger (STD) sets your APR to 2 rather than increasing it by 1, so it's especially effective in the hands of Project Image clones, but it gets no Strength bonus. However, unlike other speed weapons, it is nonmagical and can bypass PFMW.
Hexxat Stun Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Hexxat is immune to nearly all disablers except for Power Word: Stun. The effect interferes with her mist form script, so you can hit her with PW: Stun while she's wounded and she will remain stunned but still invincible thanks to her MINHP1 item.
Potion of Power Trick, documented here
Author: @Arctodus
Brief Description:
If you drink multiple potions of power, the HP bonus, if not the THAC0 bonus, will stack indefinitely. Warriors can get hundreds of HP this way, though the bonuses can be dispelled, and Potions of Power are rare. This should be cumulative with the Wand of Lightning trick.
Killing without Losing Reputation, documented here
Author: @bobveng
You can kill a character without losing reputation by using a cursed scroll of monster summoning on them. You can also charm them and make them kill themselves with offensive spells, though not all characters have such spells. This can let you avoid reputation loss when killing characters with valuable items such as Firebead Elvenhair, Ordulinian, Noralee, Dushai, and Shandalar's daughters.
Slayer Change Trick for EE, documented here
Author: @semiticgod, @Grond0
By combining the Potion of Power trick with the Quick-Save trick and the Item Duplication trick (and perhaps also the Wand of Lightning trick to speed things up), you can boost your HP above 1500 in the ~7 rounds in between the beginning of Slayer Change and the 1500 magic damage that instantly kills you at the end. You have to have 20 or more Potions of Power (or even more, if you're not using the Wand of Lightning trick), probably via item duplication, and you need to be near an area transition.
Begin Slayer Change, enter the new area to force the game to auto-save, then load the auto-save. Drink a Potion of Power, force another auto-save by entering the next area, and load up the auto-save again to refresh your aura, allowing you to drink another Potion of Power. If you drink enough potions before the end of Slayer Change, you'll survive the 1500 damage. You will therefore be able to sustain the Slayer form indefinitely.
Barbarian protagonists can also maintain Slayer form indefinitely if they use their rage ability, have another character cast Otiluke's Resilient Sphere on them, and then activate Slayer form, as the rage ability will negate the paralysis effect of Resilient Sphere, and the Resilient Sphere spell will block the lingering magic damage of Slayer form.
Reform Party trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod (projectile dodging, enemy avoidance, and fatigue removal), @jessejmc (avoiding reputation loss), Unknown (restoring kit abilities)
You can temporarily kick characters out of the party to get enemies to ignore them at critical times. Certain spells like Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Slow, Greater Malison, and Dragon's Breath will have no effect on neutral critters, so if you kick out a party member before such a spell is about to hit, the spell will fail completely. Enemies will also avoid attacking neutral critters, which means you can get party members out of dangerous situations merely by booting them from the party. The enemy will ignore them until they rejoin the party. If you turn the main character invisible and remove everyone else from the party, you can walk the whole group right past any number of enemies in complete safety while only using a single invisibility spell or potion or Protection from Undead scroll.
Single-target and non-party-friendly spells will still hit, however, as will arrows in midair. This means that the Reform Party trick can't rescue party members from all dangers. A character who dies while outside the party cannot be resurrected, so it's not wise to use this trick when a character is close to death.
Unlike other escape options, the Reform Party trick can be done at any time, regardless of aura, even when the whole party is disabled, or even during an enemy mage's Time Stop spell.
The Reform Party trick can also be used to avoid reputation loss when killing innocent characters like Algernon. If a party member sets a trap and then is removed from the party before the party turns the target hostile and causes him or her to trigger the trap, the trap will fire and any death from that hit will be credited to the missing party member, resulting in no reputation loss for the party. This can also be done with projectiles such as a Fireball spell or Wand of Missiles: if you kick out the character using the projectile before the projectile hits, you won't lose reputation for killing the target.
Lastly, kicking a party member out of the group will reset their fatigue to zero and restore any innate abilities they get from their kit, such as a thief's Set Snare ability or a monk or paladin's Lay on Hands spell. Other forms of innate abilities, like Bhaalspawn powers and HLAs, are not restored.
Item Swapping for Disabled Characters, documented here
Author: @Pantalion
Brief Description:
In the IE games, you cannot access a disabled or charmed character's inventory, but EE allows you to add items to their inventory, if not remove them. However, you can force a disabled character to let go of an equipped item if you replace it. For example, if you need to land an Arrow of Dispelling to cure a feebleminded party member, but they have the Boots of Avoidance equipped and therefore have +5 to AC vs. missiles, you can use an extra pair of boots to remove them and make it easier to land the Arrow of Dispelling.
Spell Trigger Trick, documented here
Author: @histamiini
Brief Description:
You can prevent offensive Spell Triggers from breaking invisibility simply by choosing the caster as the target. Since the game considers spell triggers to be single-target spells, they don't break invisibility when cast on self. This allows you to launch three Death Fog spells, say, without ever becoming invisible.
Nazramu Gold Exploit, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief description:
If you have 20 reputation and 20 Charisma, you can repeatedly sell items to Nazramu and buy them back at a net profit because his buy and sell markups are so close together. Fully-charged Wands of Monster Summoning have the highest value and are therefore the fastest way to gain gold using this trick.
This is also possible with the Temple of Sekolah in BG2, unless an update closed the exploit.
The list of still-functional tricks continues on this post.
You can find the list of pre-EE and pre-update tricks here.
If you've found a special trick you're proud of, let me know and I'll add in a new entry. Even if you weren't the first to discover a trick, but just found it independently, go ahead and bring it up! And if you happen to know where the trick was first mentioned, please give me a link so I can add it in. And if I made a mistake somewhere, let me know and I'll correct it.
I'm sure many of the older tricks will never have confirmed authors, but I'd like to have citations for as many of these tricks as possible. I'll put "Unknown" in front if there's a list of people who discovered the trick, but it's not clear who was first.
These are the tricks that are possible in the most recent versions of the game (that is, the latest updates to the Enhanced Edition).
Shadowdancer Trick, documented here
Author: @Grum
Brief Description:
You can maintain invisibility indefinitely as a Shadowdancer by manipulating the stealth timer. Use Hide in Plain Sight, then click Detect Traps (or any other button) without actually breaking invisibility. After 6 seconds pass, you will be able to use Hide in Plain Sight again, but you will still be invisible. This allows you to go invisible, wait 6 seconds, backstab, and then go invisible again without ever exposing yourself to attack.
Wand of Lightning Trick, discussed here
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
The Wand of Lightning in BG2 (but not BG1 or SoD) fires 6 lightning bolts with up to 6 different targets. You can duplicate the effects of any on-self spell or item by targeting the caster with all 6 lightning bolts, then immediately ordering the character to cast the spell in question. Instead of firing 6 lightning bolts, the character will cast the spell 6 times while only using a single spell slot. This only works with spells that are on-self by default, like Sunfire and Mordenkainen's Sword; not Fireball or Animate Dead.
This can also be used with any quick item: choose 6 targets with the Wand of Lightning, then go to the inventory screen and swap the Wand of Lightning for another item.
If you use to turn pages in the Book of Daily Spell, you'll get 6 copies of the next page, allowing you to duplicate the book (unless you hit the Burning Hands page on the first try).
As @sluckers has noted, it's also possible to use the Wand of Lightning trick to target things from all the way across the map by dedicating one of the six targets to a container or item on the ground.
Scorcher Loop, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
You can multiply the effects of an Agannazar's Scorcher spell (or a Lance of Disruption in IWD:EE) by having two mages cast (Minor) Spell Turning and then casting Agannazar's Scorcher from one to another. The spell turning effect will bounce the scorcher multiple times until it is exhausted. Spells in sequencer strike as a single spell, so putting three scorchers in a Spell Sequencer and combining it with two mages with Spell Turning will deal about 800 damage. Wands of Fire also work.
The spell is extremely party-unfriendly, and both mages will suffer fire damage if they are not immune (note that MGOI will block the damage, but also cancel the loop).
The Ring of Energy will also work, but only in the vanilla games, as EE has made the Ring of Energy's damage a level 0 effect.
In IWD:EE, you can actually lower enemy fire resistance using the level 3 priest spell Protection from Fire, which sets fire resistance to 80%.
Death Ray Zorcher, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
You can multiply the effects of the scorcher loop even further by combining it with the Wand of Lightning Trick. Have two characters chain-cast Spell Turning using the Wand of Lightning trick and either the Spell Turning page of the Book of Daily Spell, or a Spell Turning scroll. Then have a third character cast Agannazar's Scorcher across both of them. The loop will strike 10,000 times over several rounds, enough to kill any enemy that is not immune to fire or level 2 spells. Testing killed Adalon in Legacy of Bhaal mode in just over a second.
This can also be done by using the Reflect Magic HLA from the Wizard Slayer Rebalancing mod.
Lingering Song Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
In Icewind Dale 2, the Lingering Song trick lets a bard's song continue for 2 rounds after being activated. This allows you to repeatedly click the bard song icon and stack the effects of any song while the game is still paused. The effects scale infinitely, except for the damage bonus from the Ballad of Three Heroes, which is capped at +20.
Mislead Backstabs
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Any character under the effects of Mislead is considered constantly invisible for the purposes of backstabbing. Thus, a Misled character can backstab multiple times in a single round, so long as the target does not turn around.
Also, if you send the Mislead clone to a safe place (Maze does not count), enemies will not be able to kill it, and so your Misled character will remain completely undetectable, except to enemies who naturally see through invisibility like liches, demons, and dragons, for the duration of the spell.
Clone Quick Items Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Clones from spells such as Project Image and Simulacrum, or items such as Vhailor's Helm, can use any quick items the caster had equipped at the time of casting. Any items the clone uses will not use up charges on the original character. This means you can use rare items such as Protection from Magic scrolls once per day for every casting of Simulacrum or Project Image. Protection from Magic scrolls can be used on enemies to disable spellcasting; they work very well on the many enemy mages of BG2.
Clone Traps
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
The trap limit of 7 traps per map does not apply to clones. Project Image and Simulacrum clones can lay an unlimited number of traps on any map.
Clone Summons
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
The summon limit of 5 summoned critters per map does not apply to clones. Project Image and Simulacrum clones can summon an unlimited number of critters in any area. This also allows you to summon multiple Devas or Planetars, bypassing the celestial summon limit of 1.
Clone Innate Abilities
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Clones can use any innate ability the caster possesses at the time of casting. A level 10 clone may still use all of the original level 20 character's HLAs, and a character under the effects of Polymorph Self or Shapechange will generate a clone that can also use those shapeshifting abilities. If a Project Image clone shapeshifts, it can even attack while shapeshifted, which Project Image clones are not supposed to be able to do.
Spell Trap Trick, documented here
Author: Unknown, @semiticgod (Black Blade of Disaster part only)
Brief Description:
Spell Trap can be used to gain an infinite number of spells per day by using level 9 effects against the caster. A Project Image clone can cast level 7 and level 9 spells to restore the original caster's spells. For a Simulacrum clone to be able to do the same thing, it would have to be level 18, which means only a level 35 mage (impossible without removing the XP cap) could do the same using Simulacrum instead of Project Image. Black Blade of Disaster also strikes as a level 9 spell for each hit.
Limited Wish-resting
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Wild Mages can use Nahal's Reckless Dweomer to cast Limited Wish. Limited Wish allows a caster with high Wisdom to restore spell slots: 1 spell for each level from 1 to 4. If the Wild Mage has no empty level 4 spell slots, it will restore a level 3 spell slot instead. With no empty spell slots, a single Limited Wish, generated from a single Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, can restore 4 level 1 spells slots, allowing a Wild Mage to cast spells indefinitely, provided it does not suffer a wild surge that breaks the loop.
Talk-blocking
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Clicking on a neutral character will cause the character to turn to you and wait for you to speak with it. It will not take any other action for several seconds even if you order your character to do something else, so you can click on neutral characters to prevent them from talking to you, or even prevent them from defending themselves when you attack them.
Import/Export Trick, documented here
Author: Unknown, @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
In multiplayer mode, you can duplicate items by exporting a character with, say, Celestial Fury, then dropping Celestial Fury, going into Character Arbitration, deleting the character, and importing the character you just exported. The character will have an extra copy of Celestial Fury and can pick up the original from the ground. This can duplicate any item besides containers and quest items, as they cannot be exported.
Ferret Smuggling
Author: Unknown, @histamiini (Roger the Fence part)
Brief Description:
A ferret or cat familiar can pickpocket party members. If you use it to pickpocket the Rift Device, you can smuggle it out of the sewers without triggering the instant death script and then talk to the familiar to give it back to you. This can also work with drow equipment, which is supposed to disintegrate when you leave the Underdark, but the game does not check the ferret or cat's inventory for the items; only yours. Note that the familiar needs to have a higher pickpocket score than your character in order to succeed, so it may struggle to pickpocket a character with high Dexterity, racial bonuses to pickpocketing, or thief or bard levels.
Roger the Fence can also smuggle the Rift Device out of the area if you charm him using a spell or the Ring of Human Influence or the Nymph Cloak. If you order him to attack you as you enter the first Unseeing Eye area, you can have him pickpocket the Rift Device and then follow you out of the sewers to the surface, where killing him or pickpocketing him can let you keep the device.
Fire Seed Trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
Weapons that use area-effect projectiles can apply on-hit effects to more than one enemy at a time. This bypasses weapon immunities and all forms of spell protections. Thus, a character can use any of the following weapons:
1. Flasher Master Bruiser Mates (which are completely party-friendly)
2. Fire Seeds
3. Arrows of Detonation
4. Scorcher Ammunition (which strikes twice, as it uses the Agannazar's Scorcher projectile)
5. Frag Grenades
to apply any of the following effects:
1. Wizard Slayer spell failure
2. Power Attack
3. Smite
4. (Greater) Deathblow
5. Poison Weapon
6. Called Shot
to any group of creatures, provided the initial target is not immune to the weapon (throwing a Fire Seed will fail against a mage with PFMW active, but it can hit the mage if you target a nearby character without PFMW).
Infinite Maze Trick
Author: @Alesia_BH, @Alesia_B_H
Brief Description:
A Bounty Hunter can Maze an entire group of enemies using a level 21 Special Snare. This allows the Bounty Hunter to set additional traps while the enemies are gone. When the enemies return--usually one at a time--they will immediately trigger any traps the Bounty Hunter has lain since the first Maze trap. This can be done as long as the Bounty Hunter still has Maze traps.
Lightning Bolt Loop
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
A Lightning Bolt spell can bounce off of both the Cloak of Reflection and the original version of the Cloak of Mirroring. By deleting the Cloak of Mirroring's file in the override folder and restoring the original version, which reflects rather than blocks spell damage (may not be possible in EE), or by using the Import/Export Trick to duplicate the Cloak of Reflection you can bounce a Lightning Bolt spell or Wand of Lightning charges between two party members indefinitely. You can even dedicate multiple charges and add extra lightning bolts to the loop, making it stronger.
Testing has found that the loop can be canceled accidentally due to positioning problems. Testing has also suggested that it is possible to make it impossible for the loop to ever be re-created in a single save game.
It's also possible to bounce a Lightning Bolt spell or wand in a reliable path by pointing it directly north or south in close quarters, as lightning bolts bounce directly backwards if cast north or south. This can be used to reliably hit a single target about 5 times in a narrow hallway. But the EE version of the lightning bolt projectile may behave differently.
Fog of War Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Some enemies will not react if they suffer damage when the player's characters or summons are not in sight. Thus, you can cast Fireball or Cloudkill and so forth without the enemy ever reacting.
I believe this is much less likely to be possible in EE, and should never be possible in a normal SCS install.
Sunfire Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Spells cast on self ignore magic resistance. Thus, a Sunfire spell, which is cast on self by default, will bypass magic resistance on nearby targets, allowing you to deal fire damage to golems and other magic-immune critters.
According to @SpaceInvader, this no longer works for Sunfire in EE, but it still applies to other spells.
Quick Save Trick, documented here
Author: @Abi_Dalzim
Brief Description:
Loading the game resets the aura and stealth timer of all party members. By quick-saving and then quick-loading, you can cast multiple spells or drink multiple potions within the same round, provided that you are not in combat. This can extend the lifespan of short-duration effects, or allow an Archer to stack Called Shot effects right before combat begins.
Blind Thief Trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
Thieves cannot hide or set traps when enemies are near. However, this only applies to the thief's field of vision. A blind thief has a restricted field of vision and can therefore hide in plain sight like a Shadowdancer or even set traps in the middle of combat, provided that no enemies are directly next to him or her.
Before EE, thieves could hide when blind even when enemies were near, but not set traps. But this may be a testing error.
Combined with the blind thief trick, you can also save or even rest in the presence of enemies, though combat must have ended.
Pet Basilisk Strategy/Basilisk XP Loop
Author: @semiticgod, @histamiini (BG2 version)
Brief Description:
You can charm a basilisk using Algernon's Cloak from BG1. If you cast Protection from Petrification on the basilisk after charming it, you can use the pet basilisk to clear out Mutamin's Garden much faster than missile weapons, especially in Legacy of Bhaal mode.
You can also gain even more XP than would normally be possible in Mutamin's Garden using Stone to Flesh scrolls. After clearing out most of the area, charm a Lesser Basilisk (approach from behind and flee if it doesn't work), cast Protection from Petrification on it, and then have it petrify a Greater Basilisk. Then, before the Lesser Basilisk can attack again and shatter the Greater Basilisk, order it to stop and use a Stone to Flesh scroll on the petrified basilisk. You can then re-petrify it for another 7000 XP for every Stone to Flesh scroll you have. You can buy 19 scrolls from the temples at the Friendly Arm Inn and near Beregost for a total of 38 even before you reach Baldur's Gate (where even more scrolls are for sale). It's by far the fastest way of gaining XP in BG1, and requires little money and virtually no risk.
You can also repeatedly petrify targets in BG2 by using the Wand of Wonder, which has a 12% chance of petrifying the target with no save, bypassing spell protections and magic resistance. While the wand needs to be recharged every once in a while, it has the advantage of not turning the target hostile as long as you cancel the spellcasting of its Fireball or Lightning bolt charges (if you see your character casting an evocation spell, just give them a different command to cancel it). Firkraag is a safe target, as he is neutral unless he is attacked.
Fire Giant XP Loop, documented here
Author: @Gallowglass, @Caeria
Brief Description
By placing archers close to the walls of Saradush and either use the vanilla game's Guard function or apply the right AI script, you can get your archers to shoot at Fire Giants just beyond the walls, out of sight, and get XP for every kill at no risk.
Summoned Demon Behavior
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
Summoned demons ignore the summoning limit. Normally, summoning multiple demons will cause them to turn against each other, but casting Protection from Evil 10' Radius will get them to ignore each other and concentrate on your enemies instead (though they still won't get you XP for their kills).
Invincible Level 1 Tanks, documented here
Author: @OlvynChuru, @histamiini (Martyr's Morningstar part)
Brief Description:
Level 1 characters cannot die in one hit unless they have 14 HP or higher. Level 1 characters who only have 1 HP therefore cannot die from damage, as the game cannot reduce their HP to any fraction of the total. However, level 1 characters can die if they suffer exactly 1 point of damage, so only increasing the difficulty and doubling enemy damage output can ensure that a 1 HP tank is truly safe.
In IWD2, any mage with 3 Constitution, or any bard or thief with 1 Constitution, can start the game with 1 HP. In the other IE games, however, 3 Constitution will only penalize HP per level by 2. A mage in BG must have 1 Constitution in order to have 1 HP at level 1. Summoning a familiar and then killing it can reduce a protagonist mage's Constitution, as can drinking a Vial of Mysterious Liquid, provided that the player rests immediately after drinking the potion (otherwise the lingering poison damage will be fatal). The Claw of Kazgaroth can also decrease CON by 2 points.
In IWD2EE, the level 1 ranger spell Hunter's Mark can lower physical damage resistance by 3 for 1 hour, decreasing the chance that a 1-point hit will kill this character.
In SoD, the Martyr's Morningstar lowers the wielder's maximum HP by 10, allowing any character with base HP of 2-11 that can wield morningstars to use the weapon. The character must still be level 1 for the trick to work.
Level draining a character can enable this damage immunity as well. Notably, SoD has two -2 level drain chests (Hephernaan's chamber and the vampire hideout) and the Fledgling Vampire drains 2 levels per hit. One could play the game normally to Chapter 10 and then level drain back to 1, provided they were at an odd level, not even. You have to have 7 CON for this work, however, since you cannot then load the game without dying if your CON modifier is below 0 and you're drained at level 1.
*Even levels can be done since there are wights and wraiths that drain 1 level per hit and a -1 level drain trap outside Tsolak's lair, but those areas cannot be accessed after arriving in the Troll Claw Woods, so you would have to deal with the Troll Claw Woods, the Temple of Bhaal, and Bridgefort while level drained in order to have this trick work later on.
Black Raven Monastery Trick, documented here and here
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
In Heart of Fury mode in Icewind Dale 2, you can give your entire party HoF-style bonuses by saving and then loading while one of the characters is in one of the chambers in the monk trials at the Black Raven Monastery. When you reload that save, everyone but the character taking the test will have +10 to all stats, +12 to all levels, and triple HP plus 80 on top (and maybe some AB, AC, and save bonuses). Characters with levels about 24 or so will also be able to level up one last time, adding about 230 levels to any class they currently have no levels in. It's generally best to choose rogue or monk for this last level up, as these classes grant 230d6 sneak attack damage for the rogue and 50 SR, +10 AC, and Stunning Blow and Quivering Palm abilities with save DC's over 100, granting a 95% success rate for each one.
There is no way to make these bonuses stack.
Resilient Sphere Trick, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief Description:
Barbarian rage makes the Barbarian immune to opcode 185, the opcode that makes Otiluke's Resilient Sphere paralyze its target. A mage can cast Resilient Sphere on a raging Barbarian without rendering the Barbarian completely helpless. This comes with certain limitations: the Barbarian still cannot attack or move around, though it may use items and innate abilities. This can be used to maintain the Slayer form indefinitely, as the spell's immunity to the damage opcode will block the lingering magic damage from the Slayer form.
Remove Curse Trick, documented here
Author: @OlvynChuru
Brief Description:
Remove Curse can be cast on enemies with cursed items, who will immediately drop the item. This can be used to weaken characters such as Kontik, Brage, and Smaeluv Orcslicer.
Universal Stealth Trick
Author: @Iroumen
Brief Description:
By mapping stealth to a hotkey, any character can attempt to hide in shadows, though characters who are not thieves, rangers, and monks will have poor stealth scores.
Armored Casting Trick, documented here
Author: @Gotural
Brief Description:
Mages wearing armor can still cast spells if they do so via a hotkey.
Extra Speed Weapons, documented here
Author: @Artemius_I
Brief Description:
In the most recent version of EE, throwing daggers can be dual-wielded provided that the throwing dagger is kept in the main hand. Since throwing daggers grant +1 APR even when used as melee weapons, they function as additional speed weapons alongside Belm, Kundane, and the Ninja-to of the Scarlet Brotherhood.
Before EE, there was another speed weapon: the Shadow Thief Dagger, which you can only get by siding with Bodhi and opting for the "unseemly task" for your second assignment, and which you can only keep by returning to Bodhi to report that you spared the target's life. The Shadow Thief Dagger (STD) sets your APR to 2 rather than increasing it by 1, so it's especially effective in the hands of Project Image clones, but it gets no Strength bonus. However, unlike other speed weapons, it is nonmagical and can bypass PFMW.
Hexxat Stun Trick
Author: Unknown
Brief Description:
Hexxat is immune to nearly all disablers except for Power Word: Stun. The effect interferes with her mist form script, so you can hit her with PW: Stun while she's wounded and she will remain stunned but still invincible thanks to her MINHP1 item.
Potion of Power Trick, documented here
Author: @Arctodus
Brief Description:
If you drink multiple potions of power, the HP bonus, if not the THAC0 bonus, will stack indefinitely. Warriors can get hundreds of HP this way, though the bonuses can be dispelled, and Potions of Power are rare. This should be cumulative with the Wand of Lightning trick.
Killing without Losing Reputation, documented here
Author: @bobveng
You can kill a character without losing reputation by using a cursed scroll of monster summoning on them. You can also charm them and make them kill themselves with offensive spells, though not all characters have such spells. This can let you avoid reputation loss when killing characters with valuable items such as Firebead Elvenhair, Ordulinian, Noralee, Dushai, and Shandalar's daughters.
Slayer Change Trick for EE, documented here
Author: @semiticgod, @Grond0
By combining the Potion of Power trick with the Quick-Save trick and the Item Duplication trick (and perhaps also the Wand of Lightning trick to speed things up), you can boost your HP above 1500 in the ~7 rounds in between the beginning of Slayer Change and the 1500 magic damage that instantly kills you at the end. You have to have 20 or more Potions of Power (or even more, if you're not using the Wand of Lightning trick), probably via item duplication, and you need to be near an area transition.
Begin Slayer Change, enter the new area to force the game to auto-save, then load the auto-save. Drink a Potion of Power, force another auto-save by entering the next area, and load up the auto-save again to refresh your aura, allowing you to drink another Potion of Power. If you drink enough potions before the end of Slayer Change, you'll survive the 1500 damage. You will therefore be able to sustain the Slayer form indefinitely.
Barbarian protagonists can also maintain Slayer form indefinitely if they use their rage ability, have another character cast Otiluke's Resilient Sphere on them, and then activate Slayer form, as the rage ability will negate the paralysis effect of Resilient Sphere, and the Resilient Sphere spell will block the lingering magic damage of Slayer form.
Reform Party trick, documented here and here
Author: @semiticgod (projectile dodging, enemy avoidance, and fatigue removal), @jessejmc (avoiding reputation loss), Unknown (restoring kit abilities)
You can temporarily kick characters out of the party to get enemies to ignore them at critical times. Certain spells like Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Slow, Greater Malison, and Dragon's Breath will have no effect on neutral critters, so if you kick out a party member before such a spell is about to hit, the spell will fail completely. Enemies will also avoid attacking neutral critters, which means you can get party members out of dangerous situations merely by booting them from the party. The enemy will ignore them until they rejoin the party. If you turn the main character invisible and remove everyone else from the party, you can walk the whole group right past any number of enemies in complete safety while only using a single invisibility spell or potion or Protection from Undead scroll.
Single-target and non-party-friendly spells will still hit, however, as will arrows in midair. This means that the Reform Party trick can't rescue party members from all dangers. A character who dies while outside the party cannot be resurrected, so it's not wise to use this trick when a character is close to death.
Unlike other escape options, the Reform Party trick can be done at any time, regardless of aura, even when the whole party is disabled, or even during an enemy mage's Time Stop spell.
The Reform Party trick can also be used to avoid reputation loss when killing innocent characters like Algernon. If a party member sets a trap and then is removed from the party before the party turns the target hostile and causes him or her to trigger the trap, the trap will fire and any death from that hit will be credited to the missing party member, resulting in no reputation loss for the party. This can also be done with projectiles such as a Fireball spell or Wand of Missiles: if you kick out the character using the projectile before the projectile hits, you won't lose reputation for killing the target.
Lastly, kicking a party member out of the group will reset their fatigue to zero and restore any innate abilities they get from their kit, such as a thief's Set Snare ability or a monk or paladin's Lay on Hands spell. Other forms of innate abilities, like Bhaalspawn powers and HLAs, are not restored.
Item Swapping for Disabled Characters, documented here
Author: @Pantalion
Brief Description:
In the IE games, you cannot access a disabled or charmed character's inventory, but EE allows you to add items to their inventory, if not remove them. However, you can force a disabled character to let go of an equipped item if you replace it. For example, if you need to land an Arrow of Dispelling to cure a feebleminded party member, but they have the Boots of Avoidance equipped and therefore have +5 to AC vs. missiles, you can use an extra pair of boots to remove them and make it easier to land the Arrow of Dispelling.
Spell Trigger Trick, documented here
Author: @histamiini
Brief Description:
You can prevent offensive Spell Triggers from breaking invisibility simply by choosing the caster as the target. Since the game considers spell triggers to be single-target spells, they don't break invisibility when cast on self. This allows you to launch three Death Fog spells, say, without ever becoming invisible.
Nazramu Gold Exploit, documented here
Author: @semiticgod
Brief description:
If you have 20 reputation and 20 Charisma, you can repeatedly sell items to Nazramu and buy them back at a net profit because his buy and sell markups are so close together. Fully-charged Wands of Monster Summoning have the highest value and are therefore the fastest way to gain gold using this trick.
This is also possible with the Temple of Sekolah in BG2, unless an update closed the exploit.
The list of still-functional tricks continues on this post.
You can find the list of pre-EE and pre-update tricks here.
Post edited by semiticgoddess on
28
Comments
Hotkey stealth and use it on any character (however useful that may be).
Kill the unkillable via stat drain below 0 (such as dex by haer dalis, str by Archer, int by shape change mind flyer). Sort of matches your charisma drain to beautification.
Stacking multiple spell immunities to become immune to magic (notably divination and abjuration and combining it with any improved invisibility spell making you untargetable and indispellable)
Targeting partially invisible foes with spells via scroll casting.
Targeting partially invisible foes with spells via chain contingency see enemy.
Casting spells while paused via NRD or contingencies.
Cast otiluke's resilient sphere on a foe, unequip weapons and punch him unconscious, then kill them with one blow.
Edit removed gem multiplication since it is in one of the entries.
Edit 2: added otiluke killing. I think this was my favourite goat cheese that I used when I was a kid.
I wouldn't put the other ones in the main list, since I want to focus on the really weird stuff, especially the stuff that involves engine quirks. But since stat drain kills and so forth are really strong and rather strange, I think they're worth mentioning in this thread.
I suppose you could have it periodically summon a whole bunch of invisible Wizard Eye critters that only last a single round each. It would keep the fog of war clear around the thief, but it wouldn't follow the thief much if the thief had a high movement rate.
And now that I think about it, Farsight is considered the caster's field of vision, so I think it would break the benefits of blindness.
Note that Detect Traps as well as Detect Illusions is restricted by vision, and while those can be replicated with on-self repeating spells, ranged weapons would become useless, and there would be no way to make them usable without increasing the thief's field of vision.
Universal stealth is usable for halflings with high dexterity for instance.
The other items, well I just mentioned them already I suppose
@subtledoctor would it be possible to change the behaviour of the stealth button to blind self for 1/6th second, hide, then unblind self? Bardsong is changeable since it is a spell, never thought about whether it was possible to change the stealth button itself.
@Gotural, you've been posted!
This trick partially works even if there is no blocked path or by over-encumbering.
Archer is an ideal class for this exploit; they have good combat skills and require minimal microing during the fight.
This can be used to cheese dragons and strong mobs from afar by Guarding summons and sending them ahead. AFAIK, it works on all versions.
PS: the original author is unknown
But if you add a cast time (of half a round, for example, which wouldn't be unrealistic in any way, or at least much less so than instant traps) to traps and further restrict the possibility to set a trap so that you can't set a trap if:
a- Enemies are nearby (i.e. in your vision range which is the only condition now)
b- You are in combat
The result should be pretty close to the original behaviour. The usual borderline cases which come to my mind are:
Trapping in the middle of enemies: It now takes running around for long enough to end combat - provided that there aren't ranged enemies/mages, as they maintain combat due to spellcasting or attacking from afar
Hiding behind a corner and setting a trap instantly: just about the same thing. It solves a realism issue as well, but won't prevent a character able to hide in plain sight to use the tactic, he'll just have to wait a while longer.
This sort of thing has also been done before, albeit not in BG1. @Alesia_B_H has pointed out that Foebane is a fantastic weapon in ToB because of its health stealing effect, but that was in reference to using it on enemies, combining it with high damage resistance to heal faster than the enemy can inflict damage (it was wildly successful in her old Barbarian solo no-reload SCS run). I've mentioned the usage of Vampiric Touch to bolster HP in my old "Party of Spiders" run, which I used mainly on Cernd, who used SCS shapeshifting tokens to quickly regenerate the lost HP, long before Vampiric Touch wore off (the whole party did it to him, actually). Vampiric Touch was especially effective before EE because it would sometimes give up to 5 times as much temporary HP as it was supposed to. And the ability of Larloch's Minor Drain to boost HP above its maximum is in the spell description itself.
Can that short sword boost HP above its total? If so, you could combine it with conventional healing items and spells to bump up the user's HP in anticipation of big battles. Drain 27 HP from one character, heal it with three potions, and then send in the HP-boosted character as a stronger tank.
Is this short sword a mod item? I haven't specified, but I haven't decided if mod-exclusive tricks should make it in the list. What do you guys think?
And I believe only vanilla tricks should be posted in the OP.
It is in the same league of healing tricks as durlags goblet combined with kiels helmet.
Anyway, your call in the end. I have made the case.
In the long run, a bard with UAI wearing all the nifty stealth items (boots of stealth, armor night's gift, cloak of elvenkind etc) could reach a fairly high level of stealth I guess. It's a rather pointless trick though since you have invisibility spells, but it is tricking the engine :P You might get lucky every now and then though and go into stealth just as you get targeted by enemy mages' spells, thus nullifying it. Not really something to build a character around though, hehe..
This (using script instead of hotkeys) could be added as a small addition to the Universal Stealth Trick, but I haven't tested it in the 2.0+ version of the game though so it need's to be verified.
Also, an addition to the pickpocket/ferret trick to keep underdark items is that the drow chainmail gives -1 to casting time for divine casters making it arguable (one of) the best item(s) for any druid/cleric or MC. This is not my find, I remember reading it here in the forums a long time ago.
Another oldie is the Dual Class recharge Special Abilities. (Fixed in EE versions) Opening and closing the dual class window would restore all class special abilities.
This was especially good for having limitless traps on the blind thief, stacking Boon of Lathanders in the late game, endless Spirit summons, etc.
Similar to Lingering Song, Shamans have a few seconds to reposition or chug a pot when channeling Ritualistic Dance. In the combat log, when 'Charname is using Ritualistic Dance' text pops up, quickly disable the dance, do an action and reactivate it. Your spirits should remain.
More on the Shaman, it seems that if you have more than one Shaman, your spirit count is still globally 3 (even for images). As long as at least one Shaman is channeling Ritualistic Dance, then no spirits, created by any Shaman in your party, will desummon.
cursed scroll clean assassination
description: when you cast a cursed scroll of summon monster on a character and he gets killed by the dogs, there is no rep loss. this way you can obtain items such as the scroll case (which is fairly hard to pickpocket, maybe impossible) from firebead, cloak of non-detection from ordulinian (when you don't get the quest because of insufficient rep) and gauntlets from noralee upon returning them (can't pickpocket them), etc.
self-targeted spell clean assassination
description: a way to assassinate characters without rep loss is charming them and having them cast their spells on themselves. when their own summons kill them, because the creatures count as your team, there is a rep loss, but if they cast offensive spells on themselves and die (that's how i kill shandalar's daughters for example) there isn't a rep loss.
durlag's goblet spamming
description: durlag's goblet was not originally meant to be an infinite potion of total healing, and that's what it is, because it can be recharged like a wand
Works in BGEE 2.0, haven't tried other versions.
Edit to add:
PS make sure you do hit the "done" button after selling stuff you want to buy/steal back, or it will be lost forever.
(You can find Drogmir's Respite from doing Hexxat's quest line in the start of SOA, or import a Bag of Holding from ToB.)
In the same way profanity mentioned, you start by putting both items into the bag and closing the bag. Open the bag again, withdraw one of the items, close the bag by clicking 'Inventory' instead of 'Done'. Open the bag to find the # of items unchanged. It gets quite glitchy with high numbers.
You can do the same trick by stealing / buying from vendors, preferably with fences.