So what do you do when you die on a no-reload run?
chimeric
Member Posts: 1,163
I'm curious. Do you actually throw up your hands and say "To hell with those sixty hours in front of the computer, I'm gonna start from scratch!"?
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Also, if I don't like my character or feel detached from my run (like, in one case, chunking Minsc by my own hand while Confused), then I come up with elaborate and spectacular ways to die. (Sorta like the last charge of The 300.) Just so that I can have a new character to start with.
In a decade of no-reloading, I have yet to successfully finish a trilogy run from Candlekeep to the Throne.
But it is your game. If you do not want to see those 60 hours wasted, go ahead and reload and finish the run.
If you really want to attempt a no-reload, challenge yourself in your next play through to at least get further than your last character before having to reload. Eventually, through trial and error and maybe some luck, you'll get through a complete no reload run.
It removes all temptation.
Also, there is something cathartic about having your save folder empty when you starting a new character.
Many times the NPCs will die before you finish their quests or romance. Sometimes an entire area will become hostile due to an accident or whatever, meaning you miss all the quests and vendors in the place. In my last game I reached Imoen in Spellhold only to see her die 30 seconds later to that crushing wall trap. It can be a real pain in the arse but I just can't play any other way.
If I die during a difficult battle, I'll usually re-play it and win before I abandon the run.
Most bugs / glitches are actually avoidable. The eternal spell casting animation for instance is normally triggered where you aim the spell at a target requiring the sprite to move and as it moves it breaks the line of sight to the target. Personally I would never reload for anything other than a game-ending bug that's impossible to anticipate or avoid - like the one where you die as a result of the character portrait disappearing - but I'm stricter than many about that.
I did not resume previous characters because not one of them made it to the Bandit Camp, let alone Davaeorn. I feel I owe it to Grant Pix to see him through. (Though admittedly my next NRL character won't be a dual class at Figher 6).
Technically I went into that Iron Throne fight with three reloads as opposed to just one from Khark since I poked around Durlag's Tower after triggering the tour - Grant survived that mess, but nobody else did - which now I remember why that's such a phenomenally bad idea, and that other reload before that was just me reveling in having Power Word: Reload back in my arsenal.
To contrast, Midge Sempsin (a Wild Mage who used NRD to brush her hair) was a one-shot joke.
Mine are pretty strict, random HP, Spells, chunking, bushwacked by archers, etc. ,doesn't matter(well, computer or game freeze I will) For me the interest in continuing is just gone after death. Seems strange to say it but it just doesn't seem 'realistic' to continue afterwards. While growing a characters power and skill are very nice, it is the immersion in every detail that keeps me coming back for more, and that's hard to do when it is broken (well for me anyway).
So, with that in mind, I don't see it as sixty hours wasted but a mere scratch in time that I get to enjoy and play out an idea on screen, while other ideas are often brewing simultaneously, and that has yet to get boring.
Oh, the question, start fresh and begin again.
I often wonder if the BG no-reload culture was an offshoot of the "hardcore" player base that we see in the many Diablo clones that have been made since the 1990's. And possibly that was descended from the arcade style video games from the 1980's - although in those, you usually had three "lives" per quarter, and could earn bonus "lives" in the game. Toward the end of the age of arcades, they started making the games such that they would pause after your third "death", and give you 15 seconds to insert another quarter to keep playing on that level. And then came Nintendo...
You know, the history of "hardcore" modes and no-reload game communities might make a very interesting documentary. I wonder if one has been made?
I REALLY dont get no reload runs for a game like BG, because like you said, that is 60 hours of your life not coming back. On top of that, fail some random saving throw = instadeath. That has nothing to do with your skill, it is russian roulette built into the engine. I get it for that Sin game, because a complete run is at most a couple of hours. Or if you are just trying out a build, and have no intention of finishing the game anyways.
What I would do, if I were you, was to reload the battle, but have your main drink a potion of invisibility approximately as far into the battle where he / she died last time, and see if the rest of the party can defeat the enemy w/o you. If they can, fantastic. Rush to a temple of helm, drop something worth 600 gold or so, and have your main come out of invisibility. No cheating, you were raised from the dead!!!
Through reading her no-reload runs, I learned that she has every enemy script in the game memorized. She knows exactly which spells they're about to cast and when, or which special attacks they're about to make, and is always prepared with strategies to avoid the dangers, such as gulping a potion of invisibility the second she hears "Praesis..."
While I can't and shouldn't try to speak for the no-reload veterans, I believe their pleasure comes from the sense of accomplishment they get from going through the game with various kinds of characters and winning without reloads. The concentration required to keep track of all the different encounters probably gets them into "the zone", which they find to be an enjoyable experience. Plus, they get to prove that "it can be done", take some credit for proving it, and for advancing knowledge about the game.
I guess they enjoy the Baldur's Gate hobby at a more serious level than more casual players like me. I have been influenced by years of interaction with them, though.
I hate reloading and it causes me great pain to do so. I always accept consequences in the game and never reload unless I die. Sometimes, I don't feel like playing the character any more after a death, and sometimes I do. I want the choice, though. So I don't take it quite as far as the no-reloaders do. But I think I get why they like it.
The most obvious change is that you play super-conservatively, taking away the free-wheeling spirit of exploration that is one of the hallmarks of the BG series, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as you gain a stronger appreciation of other aspects of the game to compensate.
One of the most obvious examples is charged items like wands and potions. If I am not playing no (or really minimal) reloads, then these either either currency for me, saving for the expensive items I crave like mage robes, or fastidiously saved and never used, waiting for that time that they are /really/ needed. In a no-reload game, these are needed all the time, and not just the major items and potions - many more find a use.
In practice, no reload is not for me, as I rarely get to the end of a game, and don't want to give up those 60+ hours invested if a character is going well. I do love to flirt with the idea and tend towards minimal reload, as investing more value in the disposable kit it a huge enrichment of the game.
1. You can get total immunity to Chaos by using a Potion of Clarity, Berserker or Barbarian rage, SI: Enchantment, Chaotic Commands, the Shield of Harmony, an SoD helmet, a Potion of Magic Blocking, Acclamation (priest of Tyr spell), Spiritual Clarity (Shaman spell), or subzero saving throws (attainable for high-level dwarves, halflings and gnomes, or any character who's drunk a Potion of Magic Shielding or enough Potions of Stone Form, Invulnerability, or Magic Protection).
2. You can block disintegration using Death Ward, buffed saves, SI: Alteration, or spell deflection/turning/trap spells.
3. You can block Maze using MR, Chaotic Commands, rage, SI: Conjuration, or spell deflection/turning/trap spells, and charm using MR, CC, rage, SI: Ench, spell protections, the Shield of Harmony, Adjatha the Drinker, Helm of Charm Protection, save buffs, or a Potion of Clarity. If you're willing to gamble, you can also play an elf, who will be 90% immune to charm effects.
The primary part of no-reload involves designing tactics that rely as little on luck as possible. The idea is to reduce the chance of death to as close to 0% as possible in every fight. This can be a bit restrictive (relying on Chaos and Disintegrate to win battles is probably going to get you killed eventually), but there are ways of managing bad luck.
Now, theoretically, it's always possible for you to roll 50 critical misses in a row, and the enemy can always roll 50 critical hits in a row. But that's statistically unlikely, and over the course of a 60-hour game, all of those rolls should balance out. Most runs have very equal luck overall.
If you go through the "Maybe this time" thread for no-reload runs, you'll see that most of our many failed runs are not just bad luck--in almost every case, we made a bad decision, like equipping the wrong item or failing to cast a defensive spell or drink a potion, which allowed luck to play a fatal role in the outcome.
Sometimes we get lucky and survive our stupid mistakes, and that's where dumb luck comes in. But it is entirely possible to play through the whole saga without relying on luck to get by.
I admire people who do take that purist approach, but I'm not very good at it. Possibly just because of the sheer amount I've played the game I find myself craving risks some of the time. Thus, although most of my runs end due to mistakes, every now and then I will die as a result of deliberately taking chances to court Lady Luck - and finding she's out to lunch
It is as they say; The taste is like the ass - Divided
*I stopped because of the insanely low drop ratings AND the arbitrary way über Diablo shows up. Both those things are designed to waste a lifetime, or build a bot army, or pay someone for items he harvested with his bot army. Up yours Blizzard!