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Finally! A thief Stronghold!

FredNFredN Member Posts: 724
edited October 12 in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Yep, for the first time I am gonna have a Thief Stonghold! All I have to do is kill Mae'Var. Oh wait; he has some support ... a Cleric of Cyric? A mage? And Renal Bloodscalp isn't gonna provide any help. Hmm, this might not be the cakewalk I was hoping for. :/

Comments

  • FredNFredN Member Posts: 724
    edited October 12
    OK fine. Mae'Var is dead, I now own his former Guild Hall. This isn't my first rodeo, I know how this charade goes. My Berserker got Nalia's Keep as his Stronghold, my Blade got the Bardic Stronghold ... there are always a ton of issues to deal with. It takes forever, dealing with this, that or the other problem, and then investing a crapton of cash before the place starts making a profit. I have no clue what the first crisis here will be, I just know it will be an annoyance to deal with. usually some messenger will arrive with an urgent request for help, when I am on some other quest somewhere. Oh well .... B)
  • FredNFredN Member Posts: 724
    edited October 13
    Ok, well that was different. Mae'Var's girlfriend and some of his old disgruntled thieves tried to lure me and my crew into an ambush? Not the kind of Stronghold problem I was expecting. Cute. :o
    Post edited by FredN on
  • shevy123456shevy123456 Member Posts: 411
    I tend to skip this one and just take the money reward offered. I play with multiple strongholds usually because it is more fun to be able to do the quests.
  • LammasLammas Member Posts: 238
    Yeah, thief stronghold is just a hassle IMO. If I run multi stronghold I just don't want to deal with this one.
  • FredNFredN Member Posts: 724
    I don't use any sort of weird mods, nor do I multiclass, so I can only have 1 Stronghold.
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,097
    I like the stronghold and really loved it the first time I played it. But I think the Mage and Fighter ones are the best ones, with honorable mention to the Bard one. I do wish there was a real monk one.
  • DinoDinDinoDin Member Posts: 1,664
    Ranger solid too imo, for the summoning item if nothing else
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,097
    Agree @DinoDin. The Ranger one is very thematic.

    I find all of the priest ones to be the most underwhelming.
  • FredNFredN Member Posts: 724
    So far I have only had 3 strongholds: Fighter (Berserker), Bard Playhouse (Blade) and now this Thief (Swashbuckler).
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,791
    That is among the reasons many of us have used the multiple strongholds mod. I’ve played all of them, that weren’t egregiously evil, at least once. And I now routinely use Fighter, Mage, Paladin, Cleric on every run. Others as they seem fitting.
    None of these strongholds are huge things with lots of experience. But they all increase investment in the world for me. And in the end, I virtually always consider the Castle to be home.

    Which is just one of the many reasons to use CDTweaks. So much of what it changes is little things related to convenience, appearance, preference. And every element it offers changes for can be installed *or not* individually. It makes me laugh how many elements I reject with the thought “but that would be cheating.” Because yes, I realize for every element I do install someone would likely consider cheating.
    But having played the game well over 50 times (probably closer to 100 now) I just don’t care. I *like* unlimited stacking of arrows and bottomless Bags of Holding. I would not chose to play without.
  • Humanoid_TaifunHumanoid_Taifun Member Posts: 1,122
    I still feel bad about carrying more than 20 arrows. Of course, I'll still set up multiple stacks of 999, but in my heart I know that I am doing wrong.
    They weigh nothing and take up no space...

    Killing thousands of enemies is what the game is about. If I'm going to use a bow to do that, I'm going to need lots of ammunition. And I prefer feeling guilty about breaking the illusion over dealing with armament replenishment after every minor encounter.
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,791
    Hah! I’m not quite sure I buy the killing is what the game is *all* about.

    But after many years of playing I prefer to simplify some of the tedious tasks.
  • FredNFredN Member Posts: 724
    Umm, Quiver of Plenty, anyone?
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,791
    Unlimited stacking makes life much easier. And its available for BG1and IWD. I'll never go back.

    And its just tip of the iceberg. Best utility mod ever.
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,097
    I compromise and limit stacks to 120 using CDTweaks.

    But the original 20 arrows (or was it 40?), is more realistic from the bulk factor...
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,791
    I remember in early runs of the game I’d load my archers up with arrows in every single inventory slot every time we were in town. Even then, the arrow inventory sometimes determined when we needed to go back! I don’t miss that.

    It’s funny, one “realism” tweak I’ve usually used is that helmets/armor/shield are all affected by the iron crisis. On the run I just started, main character lost her Scale Mail first battle. From a diseased Gibberling! I gave her the suit of leather armor you find at the massacre site, but now I’ll hold my breath getting my first level character up to Friendly Arm Inn and some decent armor!
  • Humanoid_TaifunHumanoid_Taifun Member Posts: 1,122
    Yeah, armor breaking’s a great mechanic — really makes you stop and consider your options for a bit.
    Of course, by midgame you’re usually swimming in unbreakable magic stuff anyway, unless you add your own restrictions.

    I actually tried something of the nature with my kensai — gave her an innate Enchanted Weapon ability (with a null option) so she could stick with regular greatswords the whole way through. It mostly worked, though the level scaling was a bit off.
    When the Cloakwood druids summoned Fire Elementals, she literally couldn’t touch them at first—had to grind out another level before she could. And then for Belhifet, she finally had to cave and pull out The World’s Edge.
    I kind of loved the mental image of her grinding her teeth at being forced to lean on a magical artifact just this once.
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,791
    It definitely adds a different twist to getting started. It also adds value to the idea of magic armor and gear. Even that stupid Helm of Infravision has a use, its magic so it won't break. I've had it in use until the endgame in runs with a lot of warriors.
  • LammasLammas Member Posts: 238
    I use unlimited stacking and in a game where an adult male body takes up the same space in my inventory as a single ring and a suit of plate mail takes the same space as an amulet. I'd be spending so much time fiddling with the ammo belt without that simple little tweak, not to mention lugging around a full inventory of throwing knives if I decided to go dagger and them dumping them all over the place when I need to free up some space. It's just QOL, really.
  • shevy123456shevy123456 Member Posts: 411
    > in a game where an adult male body takes up the same space in my inventory as a single ring and a suit of plate mail takes the same space as an amulet

    Yeah that could be improved. I actually like mods that help me separate where to put in things, such as lockpicks + key arranged.
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