Drizzt killable, with no consequence?

TraumaDrama

So I agreed to have Drizzt and co. help me out on my Bodhi raid, and after they meat-shielded so I could get the exp, the gang left and Drizzt went downstairs to wait for me. I decided not to attack, despite all the juicy gear I've heard tales about, mostly because I didn't want the hit to my rep (paladin) and I've heard tales of some cat who apparently shows up later and takes all the stuff back.

So imagine my surprise when I went downstairs to find Drizzt waiting for me, and for funsies, started attacking with just my guy, and took him down to Injured before he even turned red, and then killed him, and nothing happened. No horrible rep loss sound effect, no grumbles from my do-gooder companions, just like 12k exp, and his scimitars and armor waiting for me.

My questions:
1. Is this something that has been changed for EE? Or a recent version?
2. Does that mean the friend that steals stuff back will still come?
3. Should I reload and kill his kittie cat and friends?
4. Is any of this worth it, if I get to keep it? Or is everything in ToB just going to be way better?

bob_veng

1. no, not recent
2. yes
3. probably no
4. not worth it, no point in doing it. SoA items are already better. ToB stuff is way better.

but no rep loss is problematic. that part should probably be discussed.

WatchForWolves

This is because AFAIK Infinity Engine can't differentiate between "NPC killed by player" and "NPC killed by another NPC". Death is death, and if the dying creature is tagged as Innocent/Authority, the reputation loss is all on the player. Since it's possible - hovewer unlikely - that Drizzt will simply die to vampires, to avoid the player losing reputation for something they weren't even involved in, Drizzt's death carries no rep penalty. Of course it means you can exploit it and kill him yourself for the XP and loot.

I guess one way to avoid it would be to just make him invincible, or give him the "Imoen treatment" that makes him run away when really low on HP.

Gotural

I would argue that Twinkle (the Scimitar +5 Defender) is still good even in ToB and amazing before that, the rest of the loot is okayish.

gorgonzola

the game does not differentiate between "NPC killed by player" and "NPC killed by another NPC", but, if i am not wrong, gating demons and having them killing innocent not hostile npcs like common citizens does not affect reputation. and surely if a vampire kills a party member, so a npc, you don't loose reputation.
@WatchForWolves , i think you are probably wrong and the explanation is an other.
when you first meet drizzt and you can ask him for help you have also the chance to be rude and start a fight, this is an intended possibility given by the game so probably he and his party are flagged in a way that if you kill them you don't loose reputation.
to have him friendly and helping you against bodhi and then killing him before he leaves exploits the thing.

as i always play good or neutral i never fought him out of testing and then reloading so i am sure that you don't loose rep but i don't know if someone come to collect his items after the battle with bodhi, as well as i don't know if having him and his whole party killed by vampires avoid that some of his party member come to collect the items.

Aurorus

WatchForWolves said:

This is because AFAIK Infinity Engine can't differentiate between "NPC killed by player" and "NPC killed by another NPC". Death is death, and if the dying creature is tagged as Innocent/Authority, the reputation loss is all on the player. Since it's possible - hovewer unlikely - that Drizzt will simply die to vampires, to avoid the player losing reputation for something they weren't even involved in, Drizzt's death carries no rep penalty. Of course it means you can exploit it and kill him yourself for the XP and loot.

I guess one way to avoid it would be to just make him invincible, or give him the "Imoen treatment" that makes him run away when really low on HP.

This explains something that I did not understand. I lost an SCS hardcore game at the Ducal Palace recently when Charname died. I did nothing wrong that I could discern and did not understand why I died. Now I do thanks to your comment. Thank you for clarifying.

The Doppleganger mage managed to cast a confusion. Khalid was confused, but I held him before he could attack any NPCs, and no one turned hostile. So, I could not understand why I was instakilled. It must have been that one of the guards was confused and killed another guard. The game engine assumed that I had done it.

TraumaDrama

Yeah it's weird. If I walk up and start attacking, he says something like "He strikes when we aid him? %$$^$ this I'm out." But if I talk to him first, and he's like "You were smart to ask for aid. There's lots of spooky vamps down here," and then I hit him, he takes it for awhile, then fights and dies, and no problem.

The_Cheeseman

The game engine most definitely does differentiate between player kills and NPC kills. Otherwise you’d get exp for MOBs that die to environmental trap damage, enemy friendly-fire, or blue-circle allies (like the Friendly Arm guards who will aggro Tarnesh).

I especially enjoy using charm spells to get innocent NPCs that drop valuable loot killed without a rep hit. Charm them, send them to attack something, watch them die. Even if the charm wears off before the fight is over, as long as you didn’t attack them yourself, you’re golden.