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Penalty to Stealth for wearing armor

PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
im a pure assassin - is this a thing in BG2 EE LoB? how about if i just wear a helmet, being able to do so thanks to the Use any item HLA?

Comments

  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 837
    It seems that helmets don't affect thieving abilities. 😎
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 4,002
    Only body armor affects thief skills at all. And among armor types, only elven chain and hide armor penalize thief skills without entirely disabling them.
  • PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
    thank you!
  • PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
    edited March 24
    it seems that shields (not bucklers) dont add their armor bonuses to a thief.
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 837
    edited March 24
    jmerry wrote: »
    Only body armor affects thief skills at all. And among armor types, only elven chain and hide armor penalize thief skills without entirely disabling them.

    Hmm... normally, any heavy armor should disable stealth, even with HLA "Use any item". 😎
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 837
    PixelRunner wrote: »
    it seems that shields (not bucklers) dont add their armor bonuses to a thief.

    Good to know! 😎
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 4,002
    False. Shields work just fine.

    Now, if you've got Single-Weapon Style, then there's no point using a nonmagical shield, but that's a different matter.
  • PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
    oh, ok.. then they just dont show their bonuses in the inventory window.
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 4,002
    What, exactly, are you seeing? What's in your main hand, and what's in your off hand, and what are your weapon style proficiencies? Because there's also the matter of shields not going with two-handed weapons ...
    Yigor wrote: »
    Hmm... normally, any heavy armor should disable stealth, even with HLA "Use any item". 😎
    Yes, heavy armor disables stealth and most other thief skills. That's entirely compatible with what I said. Most light armor fully allows thief skills. Hide and elven chain allow you to use the skill but penalize skill values. And heavy armor disables the skills entirely. (Aside from detecting traps and illusions)
  • PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
    well, i dont have sword and shield style proficiency, at least yet. when i equip a shield and sword, and the shield is not a buckler, the armor bonuses that the shield has dont appear anywhere in the inventory windo (top right side). magical shields, of course.
  • MyceniusMycenius Member Posts: 70
    PixelRunner wrote: »
    well, i dont have sword and shield style proficiency, at least yet. when i equip a shield and sword, and the shield is not a buckler, the armor bonuses that the shield has dont appear anywhere in the inventory windo (top right side). magical shields, of course.

    Have you modded the game to allow thieves to use shields larger than a buckler? Even assassins can only use bucklers in standard EE AFAIK.

    ...although in theory it also shouldn't let you put the shield in the slot to start with.
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 837
    Mycenius wrote: »
    Have you modded the game to allow thieves to use shields larger than a buckler? Even assassins can only use bucklers in standard EE AFAIK.

    ...although in theory it also shouldn't let you put the shield in the slot to start with.

    HLA "Use Any Item" allows thieves to use any shields. 😎

  • MyceniusMycenius Member Posts: 70
    Yigor wrote: »
    show previous quotes

    HLA "Use Any Item" allows thieves to use any shields. 😎

    Doh! Of course. Maybe a bug with that then?
  • PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
    no, i dont use any mods.
  • PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
    so whats the deal with shields and Use any item?
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 4,002
    Nothing. At this point, my guess is that your shield's effects aren't showing up because your weapon is two-handed.
  • PixelRunnerPixelRunner Member Posts: 80
    aaand.. you are correct, of course. silly, silly me.
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