BG 2 Guidance and Easter Eggs
Heindrich
Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
I have just finished my first run of BG EE and imported my charname into BG 2, and recovered from the shocking events at the start of the game…
Anyways as I find my way out of my starting predicament. I got a slightly odd request to make… I want some advice/hints, but not spoilers to the plot… Let me explain…
One thing that kinda bugged me about BG 1 was that there were things you can do/find that can make your life much easier, especially in the early game, but you’d never think of doing/looking it if you just played without any outside help.
When I struggled with BG 1 Vanilla as a total noob, I felt compelled to find a decent walkthrough/guide, which obviously made life a lot easier, but also took something away from the experience. For example when I read a guide to work through the chaotic mess of quests in the city of Baldur’s Gate, the game felt very mechanical and dull as I just follow instructions one by one. In contrast, struggling my own way through Durlag’s Tower and the other quests from TotSC was far more immersive and rewarding.
So… I’d really appreciate it if somebody can just tell me/list the equivalents of
Any general advice for my first run of BG 2 would also be welcome.
Thanks in advance.
I can’t believe Dynaheir is dead! She was crucial in the final battle against Sarevok when half my party was dead or magically incapacitated!
Anyways as I find my way out of my starting predicament. I got a slightly odd request to make… I want some advice/hints, but not spoilers to the plot… Let me explain…
One thing that kinda bugged me about BG 1 was that there were things you can do/find that can make your life much easier, especially in the early game, but you’d never think of doing/looking it if you just played without any outside help.
For example, the Firebeard gold trick, the Ring of Magery, Ankheg Plate etc…
When I struggled with BG 1 Vanilla as a total noob, I felt compelled to find a decent walkthrough/guide, which obviously made life a lot easier, but also took something away from the experience. For example when I read a guide to work through the chaotic mess of quests in the city of Baldur’s Gate, the game felt very mechanical and dull as I just follow instructions one by one. In contrast, struggling my own way through Durlag’s Tower and the other quests from TotSC was far more immersive and rewarding.
So… I’d really appreciate it if somebody can just tell me/list the equivalents of
Ring of Magery, Ankheg Plate, Golden Pantaloons
in BG 2, if they still exist, without revealing anything of the plot. I guess some people might think of them as spoilers, but since they have no relation to the plot, I just regard them as easter eggs that I don’t wanna miss out on, but I really don't want to fall to the temptation of looking for a walkthrough again.Any general advice for my first run of BG 2 would also be welcome.
Thanks in advance.
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Comments
* You can pickpocket a nice ring from Ribald.
* An extra-dimensional being in Trademeet possesses a bottle you can pickpocket.
* If you hang on to the Golden Pantaloons and take the less noble path in a quest where a lady is being held for ransom, you will eventually be able make use of these curious items (in ToB).
* Be on the lookout for concealed doors.
There are fewer freebies lying around in BG2, Tab highlight also makes it easier to find area containers. There isn't that much that you wouldn't find without external help, but I may be overlooking something.
Since you mentioned the Firebeard gold trick, there's a cheesy way to get fully decked out in epic gear as soon as you escape Irenicus' dungeon. (The duplication glitch followed by a trip to Ribald's and the special vendors).
1.) Pickpocket the ring from Ribald.
2.) There is a group of adventurers in the tavern in waukeens that you can fight. They aren't there for any quest or such but you can talk your way into a fight. They have great gear for everyone in your party including the first and easiest way to get a ring of Invisibility and full plate. Just remember to save before you fight and put everyone onto the rogue because he will leave when he get wounded and you lose out on his gear if he does that.
3.) Items like ring of Invisbility and other items are sometimes bugged when you pick them up and have many more charges. If you sell the item before you rest you can get much more gold from the items. The ring from the rogue at the tavern can either sell for 900 gold or 3700 (If i remember right) depending on if you sleep or not. There are also some weapons in the game that will sell for 1 gold, try to rest a couple of hours and they will get their normal price.
4.) There are many magical items that are laying around the town. In the docks next to the dwarf at the water is an axe +1. Ontop of the tavern in the slums is a house where you can get a warhammer +1.
5.) If you have ToB installed then you can travel to watchers keep. The first level is quite easy and the monsters you fight there (Except statues) scale with your level. So you should be able to clear out the first level of watchers keep for some nice loot, just be careful of the traps in there. Before you go into watchers keep there is also a vendor outside that will sell you some amazing items you can buy for a hefty price.
6.) Money isn't a problem in BG2. At the start you'll most probably be thinking "Shit... 30 000 gold for a crossbow!?" but it isn't that much. Some quests will reward you with 10 000 gold and there are so many magical items you won't use that you can sell for 2 000 - 3 000 gold.
7.) Get a mages lisence as quick as possible. Most people don't know this before they have played through the game several times, but you can buy a mage lisence in government district that will let you cast spells without the cowled wizards teleporting in. First time you cast a spell you'll get warned and the next time they will teleport in and most probably kill your whole party. You are safe casting spells inside, it's only out on the street they will spawn.
8.) The graveyard has some really nice loot in the tombs that you can pick up early on.
There aren't as many things as in BG1 laying around. And there isn't anything in the game that comes close to that ring of wizardry you get in BG1.
In terms of NPCs, there is no 'canon party' in BG 2 is there? I've already rescued Aerie and just ran into Anomen and Nalia. Given that my charname is a Fighter/Mage, Imoen is Thief/Mage and Aerie is Mage/Cleric, I thought Anomen should be more appropriate, at least for now. Oh I am sticking with Minsc and Jaheira, both of them have grown on me, especially Minsc.
Are there any particularly useful NPCs or any particularly useless ones that I should avoid? (My party is Good-aligned)
You may want to take Yoshimo. Not that he is exceptionally useful, but he does play a part of the main story. Other than that, it's just a matter of taste and composition. All the NPCs are good, or at least perhaps viable (*cough* Cernd *cough*). You may also want to take one or more of Jaheira, Aerie and Viconia, assuming you are playing a male protagonist. (Otherwise it's Anomen or mods.)
I need to find some guantlets of dex for Anomen... he'd be a good tank if not for his woeful Dex...
Imoen
Jaheira
Minsc
You
You won't have Imoen through the whole game and they killed of 2 NPC's so that you have the option to take 3 new people with you. But if you follow story it's those that are Canon and the last two spots are filled by your need and choise.
Now for useful people and those that should probably be avoided.
Aerie : Aerie is a great NPC and can grow very powerful when you get further into the game. You can romance her and the combination of Cleric/Mage is incredible powerful. She is one of the NPC you either love or hate because of her damsel in distress personality.
Anome : Anomen is the most 'useful' divine spellcaster in the game. Viconia get more spells than he does but with his fighter levels he can fight much better than her and he doesn't have a low constitution. Great cleric here but the same goes for his personality as with Aerie, you either like him or dislike him. He's more "frustrating" if you're female as it's their romance option. But gameplay wise he is incredible powerful.
Cernd : Most people dislike Cernd. He is a shapeshifter and only truly shines when he reaches level 13 which is far into the game. The greater werewolf is amazing mid game and kind of fade out late game. His personality is quite boring and bland, and he doesn't really add that much to the party. He is very nice to have along with you on his quest with the druids but after that most people leave him. I have played through the whole game with him in my party and he really doesn't add that much to the conversation or gameplay.
Edwin : Best spellcaster in the game and hilarious dialogues. If you're playing evil you want Edwin in your party. But as with most evil characters in the game it's kind of hard and not that enjoyable to have them if you're playing good.
Haer'dalis : Haer'dalis is a very powerful character. When you first look at him you're probably thinking "What?" But his amazing kit (Blade) along with level 2-5 arcane protection spells he is one if not the best NPC tank in the whole game. He requires a little meta gaming and you need to put time into him to get the most out of him, but if you do he is just amazing. His personality is very unique and his personal quest is great. The only problem with his personal quest is that when you go through the portal (You'll know when you see it) you can't return to the normal world until you have completed it and there are some very powerful creatures there. It's one of the only times in BG2 you can get stuck and lose out on your game unless you cheat or reload 10 000 times. Haer'dalis also romance Aerie and depending on if you also do it the dialogues will change, he can be quite frustrating if you romance Aerie aswell but it's possible to get through it with a good ending.
Imoen : Imoen is pretty much like in BG1 except you don't have her for most of the game and she will have dual classed to a mage. It's kind of hard to fit her back into the party after you have got comfortable with your party and most probably don't want to lose out on one of them for her. I would advise you to remove one of your party members before you go onto the ship (You'll know) as if you throw someone away there you won't be able to get them again. But if you remove one party member before boarding the ship you can get them back later. Imoens personality will change a bit and it's quite interesting to follow her through this change.
Jaheira : Jaheira is one of the options for male and romance. She has the most complete romance in the game and very many small side quests and things you can do. She also has one of the hardest romances in the game to complete but once you do, the other seem kind of bland. She is a very strong character gameplay wise and you can get her right from the start. Put a shield on her and she'll be a great tank. She is one of the two druid NPC's you can get with you.
Jan : Jan is one of the thiefs in the game and probably the best one. He brings magic to the table and some great personal items. He also has the most interesting dialogues in the game and you're going to laugh your arse of when he talks to the rest of your party. His stories about his uncles, turnips and everything else is truly unique and he is in my opinion the most interesting NPC in the game.
Keldorn : Keldorn is a paladin but not only that, he is also an inquisitor which happens to be one of the most powerful kits in the game. If you give him gauntlets of dexterity he has amazing stats in everything. You can also get quite early on an amazing two handed sword for him that he will carry with him the rest of the game. The inquisitor makes the hardest fights (Mages) in the game quite trivial as his dispell magic is much higher level than a mages and will strip most if not all protection spells in the game. Start combat with him throwing the dispel magic at the enemy group and all the hard fights will seem very easy. He also has a very good personality and is truly a knight, i love his personal quest and he has some nice dialogues to add to your game. He is one my favorite NPC's in BG2. He is very strong gameplay wise.
Korgan : He is such an amazing fighter with an even greater kit. If you're playing evil you must have this guy in your party, if you're playing good it's fun to see him falling in love with Aerie but other than that you shouldn't have him in your party.
Mazzy : She is a great fighter with some very frustrating proficiency points. She has some alright personal gear but she comes with free haste spells and strength spells that you can use on her. She is a great fighter and got shorty saving throws along with good stats, you're just going to have to figure out what to do with her proficiency points. You also get her in a quite hard quest which she wants to finish.
Minsc : What to say here? Same lovely personality with lots of fun dialogues and his stats have improved from BG1. If you liked him in BG1 you'll love him even more in BG2.
Nalia : She is a bad thief and an alright mage. She is kind of an Imoen clone and her personality can be quite frustrating at times. She is a part of one of the best quests in the game but it can be done without having her in your party. I don't like her and she doesn't really add that much to the party.
Valygar : He is a great character when you look at gameplay and his personal quest, but when you're done with that he is kind of bland and his dialogues aren't that good. If you have Mazzy in your party it's great to also have Valygar as they got some nice banter with her making him her squire. He is a good fighter but that's pretty much all there is to him in my opinion.
Viconia : She is one of the NPC's you can romance as a male. Her stats aren't the best except her great wisdom and dexterity. She has abyssmal constitution score and the low STR can be upgraded with a belt. She has some great dialogue and the romance with her is very unique. You can turn her alignment later on in the game if you want. She is alright gameplay wise and her dialogues are great, she also gets free magic resistance for being a drow. She will end up fighting with Keldorn and he WILL chunk her as he is much more powerful. Also all romances and adventure in this game doesn't always have a good ending....
Yoshimo
This is my opinion and i'm sure some people will disagree with me.
If you don't mind me saying so, that's just ridiculous. Virtually everyone I know of take Yoshimo. The fact he meshes well with Imoen just seals the deal. Consider yourself disagreed with
And doesn't Mazzy have proficiency points in short bows? The best bow in the game is a shortbow, making her a great ranged fighter with the added bonus' of both arcane and divine spells (in a way).
Also, by installing the shapeshifting bit of the tweaks pack mod (a mod that's basically a must-have), Cernd suddenly becomes just as viable a follower as the rest. (With a fairly interesting little quest too)
And yeah, Aerie is a powerhouse, without a doubt the strongest NPC there is. And I for one am pro-damsel. I just want to put her in my pocket and shield her from all the bad stuff.
And Keldorn, while almost a must if you're not playing a pally yourself, is... not really a good guy. I just can't stand that racist short-tempered better-than-thou geezer.
/My 2 cents.
1.) Most bows in the game are useless as the hardest fights are immune to them. The best BOW in the game is the tuigan short bow, but the firetooth crossbow is the best ranged weapon in the game.
2.) I agree that with mods you can improve Cernd but in the original game he isn't that good nor interesting.
3.) Keldorn is true to his character and he might be racist but he is still a good person.
4.) I forgot to mention that Keldorn also has the best personal items in the game. A full plate +1 with +1 saving throws and free action, and a two handed sword +2 that got a great special ability that can damage monsters that require a much higher weapon to deal with.
You take him because he is an interesting character/personality that enriches the story and because he's easily the best thief available (and a very decent thief in absolute terms). Between Imoen's independent learning and bringing a certain something to a certain priest you can also recoup quite a lot of the XP you "lost" by having him along. Perhaps the XP is a bigger issue if you vacuum chapter 2 before you progress the main story, but taking the cruise at an earlier point is very viable and you aren't required to put it off for as long as possible.
Edit: and the Tweakpack Shapeshifter is, IMO, ludicrously overpowered.
Jan is the better character and he can get just as good thief skills with his personal items.
The reason you want to vacuum up for experience before taking the cruise is the Beholder lair and mindflayers. Alot of the optional stuff in the Underdark is very hard and requires very much meta knowledge or loads of reloads. I don't normally rush to get Imoen as she doesn't add much to the quests you left out doing, it almost feels like they wanted you to clear everything before going after her.
I love Yoshimo and the first times i used him it was fantastic, but i wish they had added a way to get him back.
[Edited] : Agreed with the shapeshifter mod being way too powerful. I haven't yet found a shapeshifter mod i enjoyed as i will not be throwing claws around in my inventory.
Right. RP. Yoshimo does his part better than the alternative. Saemon may be entertaining, in a vexing sort of way, but he makes for a weaker plot.
You can come back to the Underdark later. The optional parts will still be there when you return. Given the optional nature of virtually all of chaper 2 (to the point where Thax and Firky are both very obviously optional do-when-you-please fights), I would disagree with the characterisation that it feels like you were meant to clear out everything in one go.
As you say, people complain about the thieves in BG2, because all you have to choose from is Yoshimo/Imoen and Jan. Two choices hardly makes for great variety. If you like Imoen (and many do, for rational reasons or otherwise) it can (as you say) be hard to fit her into your party, unless you take Yoshimo.
[/spoiler]
atcDave told me ages ago that NPC interactions are far more significant in BG 2 compared to BG 1. I can certainly see that now.
So it looks like a lot of NPCs have their own individual storylines and quests, kinda like Dorn and Neera in BG EE. I guess this means a 'completionist' run is basically impossible since I can't use all the NPCs? Looks like I got some tough decisions to make... Given I have a major problem with magic in BG games, I probably need to find Keldorn asap, lol... but who to give up instead?! Ahh decisions...
Oh yeah, in BG 1, you don't really come across some of the NPCs until quite deep into the game (Viconia, Quayle, Shar-teel, Tiax etc) Is this true for some of the BG 2 NPCs too? (Specifically how quickly can I find Keldorn if I tried?)
*Fighter/Mage (MC) Half-Elf Charname, Lawful Neutral. Imported from BG EE, scimitar and long bow weapon proficiencies to represent an eastern (Shou Lung) character. I really need to learn to use his magic better as I tend to use him as a slightly underpowered melee fighter.
*Keldorn: I have a real problem with enemy casters, so his anti-magic abilities should be very useful.
*Aerie: I hear casters are crucial in BG 2. Her starting location was very convenient, and her romance option is the only one that kinda makes sense for a good-aligned party. (Jaheira is old enough to be Charname's mother, at least!)
*Jaheira: She seems stronger in BG 2 compared to BG 1, and has a lot of related quests, so I think I'll keep her even if she is the most annoying of the canon NPCs from BG 1.
*Minsc: He is actually the most expendable NPC in terms of gaming utility. But I just cannot let go of Minsc and Boo!
*Imoen: I guess I'll be reunited with her in time, and I just cannot say no to good ol' Imoen'. Until then, Yoshimo will be the stand-in party thief.
I have a few questions before I finalise this strategy and go look for Keldorn...
1) I'm aware that in the long run, Imoen will be my only thief, and since she's already dualled into a mage, she will never improve her thief skills. Is that gonna be a problem for SoA and ToB endgame? Will there be traps that I cannot deal with, or important door/chests that I won't be able to open as a result?
2) I don't know how the romance thing will work, but will having both Jaheira and Aerie cause a problem? Like will Jaheira leave if I accept Aerie and reject (or do not pursue) her advances? If that's the case I might as well replace her now and recruit Anomen, which works nicely RP-wise if I also have Keldorn.
3) Is the above party reasonably powerful/capable? I am not a powergamer (my charname still has just 16 Str and 16 Cons even after the tomes I gave him in BG EE), so although I don't look to dominate the game, getting owned all the time is no fun either. Also given charname is not overpowered, I really do need a capable party around him. (Like Dynaheir and Khalid really carried him through the tough endgame battles in BG EE and Minsc has over 50% of kills so far in my BG 2 run. lol)
ring of lockpicks:
ring of danger sense:
the above spoilers gave vague directions on how to obtain these items so as to not take the fun out of finding them, plus imoen later in the game is going to be able to wear some nifty chainmail
[Spoiler] When you get down into the sewer you have three paths to take. The one to the west leads to a very hard fight and the one in the middle (North-west) also leads to a complicated fight. You should head down (North) and hug the east wall of the dungeon and walk around the place so you'll walk around the middle of the map and never touch the west part. You'll see Keldorn fight a zombie and you can talk to him and recruit him, when you have got him then walk back the same way you came. This way you won't have to fight anything except a few goblings [/spoiler]
2.) You'll have the option to chose which person you want to romance, and there will be additional content if you are romancing two at one point. You'll notice when the dialogue to pick will come up, it's quite obviouse. Once you told a person that you're not interested in them their normal dialogue will still continue and they won't leave the party unless you tell them to.
3.) That party is powerful enough to go through the game, it's one of the stronger ones.
4.) It's possible to kill a romance through options in dialogues and death to the NPC. These aren't always obviouse and it is possible to kill the romance without knowing. This is why i would advice you to download shadowkeeper if you haven't, as with shadowkeeper you can actually see if the romance is active. And if it's dead it's possible to very easily turn it on again through shadowkeeper. I advice doing this if you have gone a long time without any dialogues and you feel that the last romance option might have turned out badly, Viconia is especially hard because you'll have to be cruel to her through some options.
5.) The romance dialogues will come from REAL time and not game time. If you rest 20 days you probably won't get any dialogues while if you go away from the computer and return 30 minute later you'll probably have a romance dialogue on your screen. There are also some dialogues that require spesific things like Jaheira got quite a few you need to be out in the nature to get, and there are a few you'll need to sleep for them to appear (The mature ones) . You don't have to worry about this as by playing the game normally you should be fine and get through everything, but if you're romancing Jaheira and feeling that things are going a little slow then try to head out of the town and do a quest or two there. Also if you're romancing Jaheira and one of her side quests pop up, you should put the rest of your stuff to the side for a moment and complete this instead of waiting as some romance dialogues are connected to completing here side quests.
This party was good enough to finish the game, so dont worry about "which" party members you pick.
I will though say that ... I think Minsc,Jaheria,Imoen are canon. which make sense, you got beast of a melee fighter, 1 buffer/healer who can off-tank, and a thief who is the 2nd best mage in BG2.
Oh and I dont know which class you are, but either face magic with magic, like a character like Edwin.... or for God Sake get Keldorn who can dispel.
There is tons of magic in BG2 :O
ps! don't listen to faqs and guides or other peoples opinion (...beside mine :P ) when they say character X suck etc. I was 14 and hardly knew any english at all, in fact it was probably one of my first games in another language. And for me Aerie was superb for ex, to mix priest with mage spells mean you can buff/heal fantastic, now sure... there is probably some super duper combo that is much better, if you do your math, but if you play on normal - every character bring something to the table, they truly do.
And yes, maybe you figured it out by now, my party was "good" and I managed to keep Edwin+ Minsc together, I dont know how though.
Also, if you have Aerie,Imoen and Jaheria together, you have so many options ANYTIME.
you can change so Jaheria and Aerie focus on healing in a long dungeon and during boss fights you swap their spells out for pure dps and buffing.
Oh and the random party in the tavern near the starting location... I actually stumbled into them before you mentioned it, just after emerging from prison and looking for a place to rest. They owned me too, so I reloaded and left them alone. Now that I have Aerie and Keldorn, I might go back and see if I can handle them now.
Maybe BG 2 is not harder than BG 1 overall, but the early game sure seems harder, no easy gnolls, xvarts or kolbolds to slaughter... Even rescuing Aerie took a bit of effort since charname's (non-magical) scimitar cannot even hurt shadows. There are so many quests open to me (I wandered around the Copper Coronet and talked to people) I am not sure which ones are easy and which ones will require some levelling before attempted. From a RP perspective I feel like I should go to help Nalia asap, since she mentioned urgency and all that, but I'm a bit wary of leaving the city given that I am still getting owned regularly in it. lol Similarly, RP-wise, I really should deal with the Unseen Eye cult since I just picked up Keldorn, but if I cannot even handle the random sewer bandits, outside, it feels like a warning that that particular quest is also out of my league for now. (Like how everyone you meet warns you about how lethal Durlag's Tower is before you enter, not to mention the battle-horrors outside.)
Also I know Edwin is awesome, but I cannot stand his whining in a good party. I've already got Aerie and Jaheira for the complaining...
If you took with you Aerie, then also include Minsc - he will be her new "witch bodyguard".