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The tragedy of Hexxat.

I've just finished my evil playthrough of TOB. Very fun, as always. But Hexxat? What the hell? Where to begin?

Did I miss something with her? My priestess of Talos/mage romanced Hexxat. But do you ever actually learn anything about her?

She has... a mother.. That she doesn't want to discuss. And other things... She doesn't want to discuss. Despite the fact she apparently loves you and you went on all these random quests of treasure hunting for her.. Nup. Nothing. I literally know nothing about her. Even her romance sucks, filled with flirty one-liners as opposed to a meaningful, thought/emotion-provoking experience, such as with Viconia. Seriously, that's all it is.

Hexxat: It is quite a hot day.
Charname: I can think of something else hot.
Hexxat: But can you stand the heat?
Charname: Given enough incentive.
Hexxat: My kind does not like extreme heat..
Charname: Yet your heat could melt ice..
Hexxat: How charming. Let us be off, lest we both get too hot....

Seriously. That's ALL the romance is. That's it. Really. I know. Hard to believe. But that's it. Did I mention that's ALL it is?

Now, I wrote that example in about 4 seconds. That's all it took for the devs too, I'm guessing, judging from the quality of the writing. Gone is the Bioware of old, and Hexxat is a shining example of how badly their writing is missed. Oh, and be sure to check out her "info" on the starter screen. "With a wit sharper than any sword." Seriously? THAT passes for wit?

You even fail her final quest if your charisma isn't high enough. That's right.. After all the suffering, all the trials, all the things you share, if you simply don't have the charisma (or say the wrong thing) she will opt suicide. Permanent suicide.

So not only was she essentially duped by Larloch into doing all this crap, she cares not. She abandons you at the height of your quest to die. Riiiiiight.

She couldn't say "Hey, a little busy here, L, come back and see me once I have finished helping charname." After centuries of waiting, I'm sure another few weeks/months wouldn't matter to either of them. Absolutely retarded.

I have gone from a supporter of this NPC to an absolute hater. I will never, ever play her again. I will venture into Dragomir's Tomb simply to slaughter her. Then I will reload and do it again.

What the hell? This is the Bhaalspawn saga! Not the "emotional rollercoaster of a vampire who doesn't want to discuss her past." The story focuses on her FAR too much. As if she's achieving some destiny of her own. Everyone else's sidequests feel like sidequests. Hers feels like a parallel run of your own journey. No, Hexxat, you are not the star, no matter how much the devs wanted you to be. She smacks of "overdone." Tries too hard, achieves too little, misses the mark by a mile.

Which brings me to another point. Vampire thief. Err, yeah. She has no level drain touch. And aside from her selfish nature, she doesn't really seem all that "evil." She actually seems quite compassionate at times, and very understanding. Unlike the obviously evil characters like Korgan who is just soulless and devoid of any compassion whatsoever.

She makes no sense. I don't even understand why the devs would take the much-needed thief NPC and pigeonhole her into such a SPECIFIC character. She should have been some other class if they wanted to make her as they did, vampire and everything. Another thief character should have been made for BG2:EE, one that could fit into any (or any evil) party.

We got three new NPC's in BGE1, a game already saturated in NPC's. And in BG2E, we get one (devs got lazy and just "imported" the three from BGE1, it seems.)

Even her epilogue sucks.

Wow. Bad after horribly bad. By the way, her saving throws suck. She died more times than I can count because she was held, or stunned, or confused. Bad NPC is bad.

Despite all of this, I do feel Hexxat was made for a purpose, and there is a lesson to be learned from all of this: To show us the folly of not selecting Jan Jansen to be your thief. I'm sorry, my irritating little friend. I'm bailing you out of those jail cells immediately.

Lesson learned. Lesson bloody well learned.
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Comments

  • kryptixkryptix Member Posts: 741
    Haha she's a pretty good thief though but next time I think I'll look for a way to get her bag then dismiss her.

    I just really don't like going to spell hold early but then I hate using yoshimo so I'm not sure what I'd do if I don't use her, I guess I go for imoen early. The problem with that is that irenicus with SCS etc is really hard if you don't have some levels, at least improved haste and ruby ray/warding whip...
  • AlcopopStarAlcopopStar Member Posts: 28
    I think there are good bits, but the writing comes of as very... imitation whedon. Snappy but (unlike whedon) without any emotional content.

    not to mention the evil/dead lesbian trope thing. She manages to fulfill both.

    I'm romancing her at the moment and just really wishing I could romance viconia as a lady.
  • ArminWArminW Member Posts: 8
    edited December 2013
    Agree with everything the OP said, and would like to add one more point along the "bad after horribly bad" line...
    What really struck the killing blow to the entire character story arc was the final tomb and the apocalyptic trainwreck of badly scripted events there. In comes some unrelated and clished NPC, delivers cheesy dialogue, eats some 300 damage and just pops away in her plot armor. She reappers, this time gets greater whirlwind attacked by 2 level 25 warriors with +5 weapons for at least 430 damage per round, and she not only plops away AGAIN with her script immunity, no she also manages to magically steal the cloak from the back of a level 32 thief while getting the double +5-stick-massage...
    The third time - just for the heck of it - I actually took a pocket calc and added up the damage she eats before *AGAIN* zipping away: 334 points.
    Boy, is THAT pathetic. :-)
    Badly written, badly scripted. utterly pointless annoyance and total immersion-killer.
  • ryuken87ryuken87 Member Posts: 563
    I felt she was a very unremarkable, unmemorable character. Beyond the original plot twist there wasn't much of anything, and she merely became an annoyance in inventory management.
  • elementelement Member Posts: 833
    its interesting to see this reaction from some one who's actually played all her content
    my dislike of her introduction aside I fell out with her pretty quickly she just completely failed to engage me or make me like her enough not to just want her to die for what she does. Also The fact that so many characters just accept her in in the party bugs me no end particularly the druids.

    plus I just feel like shes such a stretch as a character shes exotic in pretty much every way and I just find it realy hard to accept her as a legitimate character.
  • billygreatbillygreat Member Posts: 66
    Just get her bag and forget about this sucker.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164

    (Upon meeting her) Heexat: "There is nothing I won't do to survive. Nothing. Do you understand?"

    Hexxat's final quest: Willingly dies.

    Truth


    If Hexxat was a mod NPC, she'd be shunned to the deepest crevices of the modding world. Hidden away. Locked away. Forgotten in a tomb, as she should be. She'd be ridiculed and mocked mercilessly. The creators would see themselves forever spat upon by the rest of the modding community and would likely create nothing ever again for sheer shame of Hexxat.

    She's kinda average, but I wouldn't say she's that bad (no worse than a Valygar that's for sure. I probably find her about as interesting as Cernd)



    Not even simply talking from a gaming point of view, but a consumer one. We, the people paid good money for *this*?

    Devs ought to be ashamed of themselves.

    Rasaad and Neera are cool. It's not like the original game had flawless NPCs (Other than the obvious Valygar, I never found Haer-Dalis or Cernd all that interesting compared to Hexxat)
  • Edwin_OdesseironEdwin_Odesseiron Member Posts: 226
    Superbly said, Mordeus, in line with what I was saying. All EE NPC's are just too much. Too elaborate. Trying too hard.

    As over the top as Hexxat is, she may have been salvaged by some good writing, which wasn't present. Devs seemed to think that just her being a vampire and the initial surprise of how you recruit her would be enough. No. All characters need a cool story, regardless of how cool they are.

    A vampire NPC is ridiculous. A vampire NPC with such a crappy backstory is even worse. And to top it off, she works for Larloch, one of the most powerful beings in the Forgotten Realms. And that same overly powerful being cannot restore her humanity (despite the fact his specialty is undeath related things) - But charname can find a way when it's one of the romanced NPC's turned by Bodhi. Come on. It's just too much. I literally groaned when it was revealed that L was Larloch and shook my head. I felt embarassed for them.

    Absolute fanfiction that could have been written by a 14 year old girl.

    - Vampire NPC.
    - From Chult.
    - Works for Larloch.

    Who approved this? As a mod, you could say "oh well, it was one guy, he had no one to tell him how retarded this idea was." But I am stunned how a TEAM of people approved this nonsense.

    It's like they tried to throw in everything possible into it, in a lame attempt to outdo the existing NPC's. But the Minscs, Jaheiras, Edwins, Imoens.. All stalwart icons of the series, can never be overshadowed.

    Even the promotional stuff features the EE NPC's (albeit with Minsc.) It is like they tried to take over this game and put their own stamp on it - which would be fine, if it wasn't trying so damn hard to take away the history of the game by over-indulging in the new NPC content.

    And if this wasn't bad enough, then even go out of their way to spit on the old NPC's which we know and love. A laugh out loud moment for me was when Hexxat threatened Korgan, (to suck his blood and whatnot) and he actually cringed in fear. Like, what? That isn't Korgan at all!! They neutered him in an attempt to make Hexxat oh-so-scary, edgy, and even more badass.

    Power Word: Disgusting.
  • mylegbigmylegbig Member Posts: 292
    edited December 2013
    My opinion of Hexxat isn't quite as... strong. Honestly though, even after hearing so many negative things about her, I wanted to give her a chance, but she is rather... dull. Cernd's side quest at least is rather amusing, so I'd put her at the same level as Valygar, but less believable.

    As for the romance portion... making her a lesbian was definitely a mistake, but not for the same reasons every one else states. I don't mind that the choice is more "limited." That she's a lesbian makes her more interesting, at least on paper. In practice... I'm assuming all the writers for this game are male. As a man, I can safely say that I don't really understand women. And I certainly don't understand women who want nothing to do with either my or anyone's else's cock. What the hell do most men know about a lesbian relationship outside of what they see in porn? No wonder the romance dialogue is filled with little more than one liners.



    And if this wasn't bad enough, then even go out of their way to spit on the old NPC's which we know and love. A laugh out loud moment for me was when Hexxat threatened Korgan, (to suck his blood and whatnot) and he actually cringed in fear. Like, what? That isn't Korgan at all!! They neutered him in an attempt to make Hexxat oh-so-scary, edgy, and even more badass.

    Yes, that definitely came off as out of character. Especially since Korgan can easily chunk her into little undead pieces.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited December 2013
    Perhaps I'm not as angry about it as others, but generally speaking the new NPCs don't fit in all that well (with the exception of maybe Rasaad... who funnily enough seems to be the least popular of the new characters among the fan base)

    I understand that if they had less content some people would have felt ripped off and that they did not get what they pay for, so I understand the desire of the developers to make them have "more" than the other NPCs, especially with contractual limitations. So therefore they had to make EVERY character romanceable and EVERY character have big sideplots, including big Throne of Bhaal sidequests that nobody else got. As understandable as it is it doesn't really change the fact that they tend to "take over the game" in many ways. After trying an initial run with them, I decided for this reason to take only one of the new NPCs at a time in a playthrough.

    I understand why they did it yet I still don't like the end result all that much. I understand that this is a *Personal Preference* (that quite a few other seem to share, though far from the majority), so I realize that you can't please everyone, and the decision they made was probably to the liking of most BG fans. However, if I like the character (like I do Rasaad and Neera) I can live with them sticking out a little, as long as they don't make clowns of existing NPCs and they have decent stories that mesh well with the Bhaalspawn's quests without being too tangential.

    Yet Hexxat DOES make clowns of existing NPCs, and often their reactions do no tmake sense. @Edwin_Odesseiron already mentioned the Korgan issue (the first banter I had with Hexxat in my party and I felt the same way). It was a pathetic attempt to make a new character seem badass (reminds me of Sylvester Stallone's line in Tango and Cash where he says that "Rambo is a pussy"). Oh man, if even the unshakeable Korgan (who was completely unperturbed by Sarevok of all characters) is scared then she must be like, really really really extra super-duper-cool, huh?

    I also don't like how heroic characters (even Minsc with favored enemy:Vampire!!!!) did nothing after Hexxat ate Clara. This is just a horrible omission, along with the fact that, from what I hear, Bodhi is completely oblivious to Hexxat's vampirism.

    It seems like while putting all that effort into all the extra content (which helped to make her seem out of place among the existing NPCs) they left some big holes in the main content through lack of interjections/reactions that made her stick out even *more*.
  • mylegbigmylegbig Member Posts: 292
    Bodhi and Hexxat do exchange a few lines if you join with Bodhi, but like most of Hexxat's dialogue, it doesn't amount to much.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited December 2013
    Cyteen said:

    I also appreciate the effort to provide additional romance options - remembering that a decade ago, same-sex relationships didn't have a big presence in video games,

    This would be a valid point if she wasn't a lesbian AND a *vampire* which just screams erotic fan fiction, especially when coupled with her Viconia dialogue! I might like to see a same-sex relationship to, but I'd have to see it taken seriously and treated with the same dignity as the other romances. Just making a same-sex romance for the sake of having a same-sex romance isn't that appealing. Also don't like how all the gay/bi NPCs are evil...
    Cyteen said:


    When considering whether the devs were 'trying too hard' to make Hexxat 'exotic', you might consider taking a good, close look at some of the original NPCs.

    -Avariel who's had her wings cut off
    -Red Wizard of Thay
    -TIEFLING bard
    -Drow cleric (who, by the way, doesn't suffer any penalties of any kind in bright daylight)
    -Halfling fighter with granted paladin-like powers from Arvoreen

    I realize that these are old friends and don't seem that exotic anymore, but they certainly aren't your run-of-the-mill inhabitants of Amn or the Sword Coast.

    Fair point for the most part. In particular a Drow Cleric of NOT Lloth who lives on the surface (a great character though... certainly more interesting that Hexxat by a mile). I don't see why an outcast Red Wizard is that exotic though. Keep in mind these are adventurers, so they wouldn't always be locals. A halfling holy warrior I dunno about (I know they are allowed in 3rd edition, Pathfinder and 4th edition). Also don't really know how uncommon tieflings are, but I doubt they'd be running around Amn left and right.

    The difference is, I guess, that Avariel and Tieflings are "exotic" because we as an audience hadn't seen much of them. The vampire market is saturated beyond belief, so they may be "exotic" in terms of the game-world, but in terms of the audience (dunno if that is the right word to use for video-games) a vampire is simply run of the mill, if not boring. A vampire "unahppy with their vampirism" is even less interesting.
    Cyteen said:

    If they didn't do anything extremely different, people would complain that it's just the same-old. If they did something extremely different, people complain that they're trying too hard.

    Totally agree. This is part of the reason I'm not "upset" about it, just disappointed (the other part is that its a video game!!!). They did a good job with a great game, I just don't really like how they handled every character (but I didn't like how bioware did either with one or two)
    Cyteen said:

    Hate Hexxat? Don't recruit her. Like Neera? Bring her along. The core story hasn't changed.

    True, but unfortunately ALL the new story content seems to be linked with the new NPCs
    Post edited by booinyoureyes on
  • mylegbigmylegbig Member Posts: 292

    This would be a valid point if she wasn't a lesbian AND a *vampire* which just screams erotic fan fiction, especially when coupled with her Viconia dialogue! I might like to see a same-sex relationship to, but I'd have to see it taken seriously and treated with the same dignity as the other romances. Just making a same-sex romance for the sake of having a same-sex romance isn't that appealing. Also don't like how all the gay/bi NPCs are evil...

    Yes. I've joked about this before, but I'm not even sure who they're even trying to appeal to with the gay Dorn thing. Maybe it's because I'm not gay, but I can't see any gay guys finding Dorn appealing on any level.

    Cyteen said:

    Hate Hexxat? Don't recruit her. Like Neera? Bring her along. The core story hasn't changed.

    True, but unfortunately ALL the new story content seems to be linked with the new NPCs
    That and Hexxat is the only real thief choice for an evil party. Don't get me wrong though; she's still better than there being no evil thief.

  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    I agree that it is disappointing that all the content is so closely related to the NPCs. The Nalia model would have been perfect, and its actually what I assumed would be the case when I bought the game. Not too big a deal though, still a great game. I think they did it because they really really really wanted people to take the new NPCs.

    I'd have liked to see a corruption path for Rasaad (like Anomen, the opposite of Sarevok/Viconia) where you can make him a Dark Moon Monk! Not really related, just a random idea I thought I'd throw out there.
  • MordeusMordeus Member Posts: 460
    It's reverse psychology, by forcing the NPCs upon the players in such a heavy handed manner it makes us less likely to embrace them, at most reject them. Instead, if they had use either the Nalia or Anomen model of NPC and had they seamlessly integrated into the pre-existing game, then I think people would have been more receptive. Since at least then you could ignore them, just like how you could ignore Nalia's pleas for help or Anomen's advancements at the Copper Coronet.

    It's something you could just see coming by knowing human nature, or even the nature of the fans. The developers had a decade of consumer feedback to go from.

    Just look at the parts of the series most beloved and the most divisive. ToB is very divisive because it is extremely linear as the player is forced down a specific path with no influence on the story's events. Even the Spellhold questline can be divisive, but luckily you can choose to side with the Shadow Thieves or Bodhi, with the Sahuagin king or rebel, and lastly to choose many different ways of escaping the Underdark. With the new NPCs, it's just going through the motions when it should have been all about nonlinear exploration. The very least they could have done was give us options to complete the new content in different ways.

    It's understandable that the developers have an intense affection for the new NPCs but the fans sharing that love was never going to happen. This sort of thing has played itself out so many times that it should surprise nobody.
  • LathlaerLathlaer Member Posts: 475
    edited December 2013
    I absolutely love Neera's voice acting and find her personality quite endearing. I guess that's a matter of opinion though, because despite being the best mage in the game I absolutely hate both Edwin's voice and personality. The only one who comes close is Anomen.

    I mostly agree with Hexxat though. Aside from her personality issues, one thing that bothers me the most is the Larloch bit. I know quite much about him since I did some extensive research with guidebooks, books and some obscure info given by Ed Greenwood himself and I simply don't like him there. It reminded me of Elminster who never should've appeared in person in BG1.

    As for the NPC quests: can someone specify for me (because I always had them for their quests) if Keldorn's, Anomen's, Korgan's, Edwin's, Jaheira's, Jan's and Mazzy's quests can be done without them?
  • jackjackjackjack Member Posts: 3,251
    I don't think the issue is that NPC-linked content is a new phenomenon, it's that there is zero new content NOT accessible sans the attached NPC. Though, as has already been touched on, this seems to be the end result of contractual obligations.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    Lathlaer said:


    As for the NPC quests: can someone specify for me (because I always had them for their quests) if Keldorn's, Anomen's, Korgan's, Edwin's, Jaheira's, Jan's and Mazzy's quests can be done without them?

    Not in their entiretey, but they were also not *new content*. I think the additions need to be held to a different standard, since almost none was not tied to the NPCs.

    Imagine if you couldn't do the Unseeing Eye without Keldorn. Or if you could only do the De'Arnise Keep in Throne of Bhaal and only with Nalia in your party.
  • LathlaerLathlaer Member Posts: 475
    edited December 2013
    @jackjack Yes, that is regrettable. But you still get something in return: not only is the phenomenom not new but those quests are more extensive (I mean, compare them to Keldorn's "quest") and go over to ToB.

    I don't know if they HAD to link them due to legal matters but I personally try to find a spot for at least two new NPC's in my party. Mostly because that is why I bought EE and I mean both, new quests and NPC's.
  • jackjackjackjack Member Posts: 3,251
    Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm using everyone but Rasaad in my current main playthrough, and of course him in an alternate, less sadistic run.
  • mylegbigmylegbig Member Posts: 292
    Lathlaer said:


    As for the NPC quests: can someone specify for me (because I always had them for their quests) if Keldorn's, Anomen's, Korgan's, Edwin's, Jaheira's, Jan's and Mazzy's quests can be done without them?

    No, but they are all rather minor personal quests that mostly just flesh out the characters. Jaheira's is rather involved, but it is still essentially tied to her relationship with the PC.

  • LathlaerLathlaer Member Posts: 475
    edited December 2013
    @mylegbig Well, to be honest, Neera's quest kind of fleshes her character quite nicely. Especially in SoA, where she shows that she's got claws and can be brutal when it comes to people close to her heart. But that is beside the point, I'm not going to argue if someone doesn't like her.

    What is funny that apparently no one would bat an eye if those new quests were minor addition but apparently when they are made bigger, suddenly there is a problem. I do realize that everyone would want a bigger quest without strings attached (me included) but still, I don't know if it could've been done.

    Hexxat though... didn't play her to ToB but even her SoA quests were...just plain weird. Visiting tombs only, teleporting away through a strange item and her total inability to grow a spine despite me pushing her on and on. Ugh.
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