Skip to content

Did you know?

1167168169171173

Comments

  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    [quote=" SpaceInvader said:

    Did you know that in BG1/EE you can have a Chaotic Evil paladin, so if your reputation goes low he won't lose his status?

    All you have to do is equipping the Helm of Opposite Alignment, obtainable by killing the Death Knight the first time you meet him in Durlag's Tower, then the Girdle of gender swap (at this point your Alignment will revert to Lawful Good) and finally visit a temple (with the spell it doesn't work, somehow) and pay to remove the curse.
    Et voilà, enjoy your bloodthirsty Inquisitor ;)

    Edit: typos

    @SpaceInvader the Helmet moved to the Death Knight in the last level of Durlag's Tower in the EE, and the one at the entrance is unkillable.
    CrevsDaak wrote: »
    @SpaceInvader the Helmet moved to the Death Knight in the last level of Durlag's Tower in the EE, and the one at the entrance is unkillable.

    I tried this by giving those items to Canderous using EE Keeper.

    It doesn't work.

    When you put on the girdle your Alignment will NOT revert to Lawful Good. Perhaps the items have been altered in EE so that the above does not happen. A bug fix that will no doubt annoy those who want to exploit this idea.

    However, why go to the trouble of doing this exploit which would certainly not have been intended by the developers, when your alignment can be changed in Candlekeep using Keeper? I only tried because I was curious.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • kjeronkjeron Member Posts: 2,367
    It still works in EE's, you just need to have another helmet and belt already equipped before attempting it.
    1. helm01 to slot_helmet
    2. belt04 to slot_belt
    3. helm02 to slot_helmet
    4. belt05 to slot_belt
    5. temple: remove curse
    However, being evil doesn't prevent you from falling due to reputation, a kit entry in Fallen.2da is required to prevent that.
    StummvonBordwehrWise_GrimwaldChroniclerJuliusBorisov
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Unlike other recruitable thieves, Hexxat does not get any racial bonuses to her thieving skills. She gets a total of +111 to her various skills from her 20 dexterity (or nothing from her 14 dexterity when wearing Dragomir's Cloak), but nothing else. Humans and half-orcs get a total of +45 to skills, half-elves and elves get a total of +60, and the short races get a total of +85.

    However, Hexxat starts with 260 total skill points invested in her level 8 version, while a normal thief would have 215 points available at that level. In effect, she's treated as a human; it's just that she gets those skill bonuses as skill investments rather than bonuses applied by the engine.
  • amberCoffeeCatamberCoffeeCat Member Posts: 90
    Nothing substantial to add, but I must say, even though I'm not currently playing BG, I missed this thread <3

    Very off-top question: what happened to the insightful/like/agree buttons?
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,016
    Let's hope they return at some point.
  • amberCoffeeCatamberCoffeeCat Member Posts: 90
    jmerry wrote: »

    Obviously. I was rather wondering why it was decided to remove the buttons.
  • ArviaArvia Member Posts: 2,101
    jmerry wrote: »

    Obviously. I was rather wondering why it was decided to remove the buttons.

    It wasn't decided to remove them, the feature simply wasn't there after the migration. We were told before it wasn't sure what would or wouldn't transfer.
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    Would it be a major job to get them? I hate not being able to respond to posts by clicking a like or insightful. To me the badges are a minor loss, not so this interaction.
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,016
    Yes, strongly agree with @Wise_Grimwald on the reactions.
  • amberCoffeeCatamberCoffeeCat Member Posts: 90
    edited December 2021
    Me too.

    And instead of just clicking and making him know, I need to make a separate post which clutters the thread.
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    And I now have to make a post to say how much I agree with amberCoffeeCat and Aerakar. :/
  • ChroniclerChronicler Member Posts: 1,391
    jmerry wrote: »
    Unlike other recruitable thieves, Hexxat does not get any racial bonuses to her thieving skills. She gets a total of +111 to her various skills from her 20 dexterity (or nothing from her 14 dexterity when wearing Dragomir's Cloak), but nothing else. Humans and half-orcs get a total of +45 to skills, half-elves and elves get a total of +60, and the short races get a total of +85.

    However, Hexxat starts with 260 total skill points invested in her level 8 version, while a normal thief would have 215 points available at that level. In effect, she's treated as a human; it's just that she gets those skill bonuses as skill investments rather than bonuses applied by the engine.

    There are other recruitable human thieves, though, aren't there?

    Like in BG2 I guess Jan is the only thief that hasn't dualed out of the class who stays with you through the whole campaign, but your post seems to imply your comparing her against a larger sample pool than that. Maybe Yoshimo, or Imoen in BG1.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Recruitable human thieves like Safana and fake "Hexxat", recruitable nonhuman thieves like Montaron, PC thieves ... they all get racial bonuses. Except Hexxat, because there's no line for vampires in the relevant file. She gets higher skill investment values instead, to simulate that bonus.

    This has very little gameplay impact ... except that it makes it easier to break her in stupid ways. Remember that overflow bug I described here? Hexxat can do that with any of her skills except Detect Illusion. Lower her dexterity to 9 or less before leveling up (use the Cloak of the Sewers to turn into a mustard jelly), and she has modifiers of -10 or worse in all of the skills that vary with Dex.
    Thieves of the standard humanoid races can only do this with Move Silently and Set Traps; everything else is blocked by the racial bonuses.
  • ChroniclerChronicler Member Posts: 1,391
    jmerry wrote: »
    Recruitable human thieves like Safana and fake "Hexxat", recruitable nonhuman thieves like Montaron, PC thieves ... they all get racial bonuses. Except Hexxat, because there's no line for vampires in the relevant file. She gets higher skill investment values instead, to simulate that bonus.

    This has very little gameplay impact ... except that it makes it easier to break her in stupid ways. Remember that overflow bug I described here? Hexxat can do that with any of her skills except Detect Illusion. Lower her dexterity to 9 or less before leveling up (use the Cloak of the Sewers to turn into a mustard jelly), and she has modifiers of -10 or worse in all of the skills that vary with Dex.
    Thieves of the standard humanoid races can only do this with Move Silently and Set Traps; everything else is blocked by the racial bonuses.

    Wait, I think I'm catching the confusion.

    Is Hexxat's race literally entered as "Vampire"? Like the engine doesn't consider her a human with some special quirks, but a "Vampire", which isn't otherwise referenced in any of the coding around races, leading her to lack some of the racial bonuses you would normally even get by default like the baseline thieving abilities which had to be manually re-added to her character?

    That's definitely weird. With how many other companions there are that are oddities with special traits beyond their race, and haer'dalis who has a race all to himself but one which is fully entrenched in all the relevant systems, I wonder what made them code her that way?
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Yes, she's literally a Vampire. General "Undead", race "Vampire". She'd be immune to Charm Person even if she weren't immune to charm in general, and she's vulnerable to anti-undead effects.

    All of the undead/vampire immunities? Those go on her amulet, just like monster undead have their non-droppable immunity items.
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    A clever way of doing it considering the restrictions of the game engine.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    And now, a silly little tangent. When you meet Lothander in central Baldur's Gate, he tells you he can't afford to pay the diviner. But is that really true?

    On a surface level, it is. Lothander isn't carrying any gold.
    But that isn't the end; he's carrying a Water Opal gem, which can be sold for 175 gold and serves no purpose other than storing value. That would easily pay the diviner's 50 gold fee, and the 50 gold "donation" to see Jalantha as well.
    That just leaves getting the tome she wants. Chanthalas will give it to the player for free if you talk to him with a "friendly" reaction and say it's life or death, or for 500 gold otherwise. Lothander is a neutral thief with 13 charisma; I don't think he's getting to that friendly level.
    So, what are the alternatives? Well, he could sell some of his magic gear; his +1 leather armor sells for 500 on its own. Alternately, he could try to pickpocket the tome; he has a score of 60 (human, 17 Dex, 40 skill points), so he has a good chance even without any buffs. A potion of master thievery would make it nearly safe, but at base price 400 just buying one would cost at least as much as buying the tome. He might have to go stealing or make another deal; what does the local thieves' guild think of him?

    So really, the only part of the geas-breaking quest Lothander would have any trouble with is getting the tome. And he has a chance of pulling that off on his own.
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    jmerry wrote: »
    And now, a silly little tangent. When you meet Lothander in central Baldur's Gate, he tells you he can't afford to pay the diviner. But is that really true?

    On a surface level, it is. Lothander isn't carrying any gold.
    But that isn't the end; he's carrying a Water Opal gem, which can be sold for 175 gold and serves no purpose other than storing value. That would easily pay the diviner's 50 gold fee, and the 50 gold "donation" to see Jalantha as well.
    That just leaves getting the tome she wants. Chanthalas will give it to the player for free if you talk to him with a "friendly" reaction and say it's life or death, or for 500 gold otherwise. Lothander is a neutral thief with 13 charisma; I don't think he's getting to that friendly level.
    So, what are the alternatives? Well, he could sell some of his magic gear; his +1 leather armor sells for 500 on its own. Alternately, he could try to pickpocket the tome; he has a score of 60 (human, 17 Dex, 40 skill points), so he has a good chance even without any buffs. A potion of master thievery would make it nearly safe, but at base price 400 just buying one would cost at least as much as buying the tome. He might have to go stealing or make another deal; what does the local thieves' guild think of him?

    So really, the only part of the geas-breaking quest Lothander would have any trouble with is getting the tome. And he has a chance of pulling that off on his own.

    But why risk getting caught when he can get you to do it for him with no risk to himself?
  • ChroniclerChronicler Member Posts: 1,391
    edited January 2022
    jmerry wrote: »
    And now, a silly little tangent. When you meet Lothander in central Baldur's Gate, he tells you he can't afford to pay the diviner. But is that really true?

    On a surface level, it is. Lothander isn't carrying any gold.
    But that isn't the end; he's carrying a Water Opal gem, which can be sold for 175 gold and serves no purpose other than storing value. That would easily pay the diviner's 50 gold fee, and the 50 gold "donation" to see Jalantha as well.
    That just leaves getting the tome she wants. Chanthalas will give it to the player for free if you talk to him with a "friendly" reaction and say it's life or death, or for 500 gold otherwise. Lothander is a neutral thief with 13 charisma; I don't think he's getting to that friendly level.
    So, what are the alternatives? Well, he could sell some of his magic gear; his +1 leather armor sells for 500 on its own. Alternately, he could try to pickpocket the tome; he has a score of 60 (human, 17 Dex, 40 skill points), so he has a good chance even without any buffs. A potion of master thievery would make it nearly safe, but at base price 400 just buying one would cost at least as much as buying the tome. He might have to go stealing or make another deal; what does the local thieves' guild think of him?

    So really, the only part of the geas-breaking quest Lothander would have any trouble with is getting the tome. And he has a chance of pulling that off on his own.

    People often "Can't Afford" something when they are in possession of a sum of funds greater than the cost.

    If you could buy it but then you couldn't pay rent the next day, or put food on your kids table, or perform any number of other essential expenditures that's generally considered to be within the paramaters of being unable to afford something.

    I know the game has no mechanic for the player to spend their money on anything but gear for being a better adventurer, but narratively these people are supposed to have actual lives they're trying to live. He could've sold his house too but then he'd have no roof over his head.

    Edit: Wait, I misread this. I thought we were talking about the priest of Tymora who asks you to help get his son's body back from the temple of Umberlee. The thief who poisoned you may very well have just been fleecing you.
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    so i was messing around with safana the other day with her charm person ability, i was in the nashkel carnival and i was thinking about pick pocketing zeke i believe his name is ( the halfling dude that has a scroll of stone to flesh for 500 gold ) for his scroll to get branwen

    but then i thought, know what, lets charm him instead, and to my surprise zeke has the scroll in his quick item slot.... so for free, i got zeke to turn branwen back to flesh without having to pick pocket him for the scroll instead

    in fact, another thing that i love about charm spells is if you charm a creature who has character classes you can force them to equip their fist or range weapon and then force them to go into melee, whats great about that is now anyone going into melee with said charmed holmes gets a +4 to hit/to damage bonus on them,

    this is very effective in the bandit camp if you are at lower levels and need to take out buddy that wears the full plate. His AC is quite huge so making switch to his fist makes him much more hittable
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,016
    That's great with Zeke @sarevok57 , will try this out with Safana in my current game.

    I don't usually take Safana, but was thinking to this run so can try her romance in SoD.
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,037
    sarevok57 wrote: »
    so i was messing around with safana the other day

    Live the dream!

  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    Aerakar wrote: »
    That's great with Zeke @sarevok57 , will try this out with Safana in my current game.

    I don't usually take Safana, but was thinking to this run so can try her romance in SoD.

    same here, but i wanted to bring someone different for a change
    sarevok57 wrote: »
    so i was messing around with safana the other day

    Live the dream!

    hahhahaha, indeed
  • dustbubsydustbubsy Member Posts: 249
    Did you know that in the original Baldur's Gate, there are four songs that play in inns and taverns up and down the Sword Coast:

    "TAV1" - a 4/4 march with distinctive drum intro, moving into a horn melody

    "TAV2" - a 12/8 tune with a lively horn melody

    "TAV3" - a melody handled by multiple flutes, in 6/8

    "TAV4" - sounds like a shared melody with horn and flute, plus tambourine, in 4/4

    So which is the most popular? Well...

    "TAV1" is played in Nashkel's Belching Dragon; Keexie's Tavern in Baldur's Gate, a nameless tavern in Baldur's Gate (where you meet Phandalyn the paladin), The Helm & Cloak, again in Baldur's Gate and The Splurging Sturgeon there too.

    "TAV2" is heard in Winthrop's Inn; The Friendly Arm Inn; The Red Sheaf and Burning Wizard in Beregost; and Jopalin's Tavern, the Drakon Tavern, Three Old Kegs, and The Blade & Stars, all in Baldur's Gate.

    "TAV3" is heard in Feldepost's of Beregost; Ye Olde Inn in Baldur's Gate, plus another generic tavern in that fair city (where you meet Connoly Finn and Borinole Mann.)

    "TAV4" plays in The Jovial Juggler in Beregost; The Nashkel Inn; The Blushing Mermaid in Baldur's Gate, and two generic taverns in Baldur's Gate, one of which is where you find Nadine's son Euric, the other has nothing of importance associated with it.

    So as you can see, clearly "TAV2" is the most popular song on the Sword Coast!

    Incidentally, The Elfsong Tavern is famously without music save for the haunting voice of a mysterious ghost, that gives the place its name. The Low Lantern also has no music playing inside it... I hear they only go for the "Love Boat theme" over there...
  • StummvonBordwehrStummvonBordwehr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,343
    jmerry wrote: »
    And now, a silly little tangent. When you meet Lothander in central Baldur's Gate, he tells you he can't afford to pay the diviner. But is that really true?

    On a surface level, it is. Lothander isn't carrying any gold.
    But that isn't the end; he's carrying a Water Opal gem, which can be sold for 175 gold and serves no purpose other than storing value. That would easily pay the diviner's 50 gold fee, and the 50 gold "donation" to see Jalantha as well.
    That just leaves getting the tome she wants. Chanthalas will give it to the player for free if you talk to him with a "friendly" reaction and say it's life or death, or for 500 gold otherwise. Lothander is a neutral thief with 13 charisma; I don't think he's getting to that friendly level.
    So, what are the alternatives? Well, he could sell some of his magic gear; his +1 leather armor sells for 500 on its own. Alternately, he could try to pickpocket the tome; he has a score of 60 (human, 17 Dex, 40 skill points), so he has a good chance even without any buffs. A potion of master thievery would make it nearly safe, but at base price 400 just buying one would cost at least as much as buying the tome. He might have to go stealing or make another deal; what does the local thieves' guild think of him?

    So really, the only part of the geas-breaking quest Lothander would have any trouble with is getting the tome. And he has a chance of pulling that off on his own.

    But why risk getting caught when he can get you to do it for him with no risk to himself?

    Funny thing. In my games Lothander always ends up dead… :)

    Messing with a child of the god of murder is not entirely risk free imo.

  • StummvonBordwehrStummvonBordwehr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,343
    And I now have to make a post to say how much I agree with amberCoffeeCat and Aerakar. :/

    I agree with Wise and Coffecat and Aerakar…
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Having done some stuff with music in my tweak mod, I have some more to say about tavern music (at least in the EE):
    - There's a standard pattern for music in taverns and inns in BGEE. Areas where people eat, drink, and play games have tavern music. Areas where people sleep (only) have no music, which means that instead they inherit the music of the master area outside. With the exception of the Elfsong, which has the "blank" song so it doesn't have that outside music either.
    - That general pattern applies to about 80% of areas. The other 20% violate it, and I wrote a tweak to apply the standard to them. I gave the Low Lantern tavern music on the upper floors and no music on the lower floors, for example. For the taverns that I added tavern music to, I rolled a die to choose randomly (tav2 for the Low Lantern, tav4 for the Elfsong and the Ulgoth's Beard Inn). I might alter that in the future to restore the Elfsong's lack of music.
    - BG2EE also has songs tav1 through tav4, which have the same music. The difference is, the BG2EE versions include long pauses and the BGEE versions don't. So in a BGEE tavern, you're constantly bombarded by the song on repeat, while in a BG2EE tavern you aren't. It repeats constantly, but most of its time is spent playing nothing so the other sounds predominate.

    And now for something completely different. Did you know that the horses in the stable at the side of the Radiant Heart hall have names? Well, the creatures are just "HORSE", but the actors have names in the area file. The horses are "Angel" and "Atta Girl".
Sign In or Register to comment.