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Some questions about a no-reload run.

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Gotural

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited June 2014
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  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    My views largely coincide with @bengoshi's.

    I'd respect the XP cap. In my current installation it's removed but I still don't go beyond 161k for BG1 / BG2 starting XP. One exception is a current Ranger->Cleric playthrough where I accepted my Charname to go to accumulate 185k so that I could dualclass at level 7 and get my Ranger levels back in BG1.

    As to editing NPCs and their kits, I think few people would consider this cheating. I do it all the time, to give flavor to my companions or to be able to play a class/kit I like and have a liked NPC along whom I'd not pick otherwise for having the same class. In the playthrough with the Cleric->Ranger I might change Anomen into something different (perhaps a Fighter who becomes a Cavalier or Undead Hunter upon passing his test).

    I normally go for high stat rolls (unlike @bengoshi) and realatively realistic roleplaying. Since true roleplaying is often suicidal in no-reload playthroughs, especially with difficulty-increasing mods, I allow myself the benefit of good stats. It doesn't feel like cheating or metagaming to me because it's something you do before the actual adventure begins. However, 108 is having all stats maximized. I've never allowed myself this. My Charnames' stats are usually in 90-95 range (with very few exceptions in 96-98 range).

    Imo all true no-reload runs should begin in Candlekeep. Did you play with the BG1 NPCs Project mod? It offers more banter and even romances.

    Bard would be an excellent choice for a Charname. A very versatile and entertaining class.
    GoturalJuliusBorisov
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    I don't feel like adding 1M xp to a newly created character in BG2 is cheating. Even if you respect the xp cap, all the xp you get in BG1 is stocked somewhere in your character sheet anyway, so when you import your 161.000 xp character from BG1 to BG2, he will automatically rises to the proper amount of xp.
    Still, if you are playing no-reload, I would restrict myself somewhere between 300.000 and 700.000 xp because you would have avoided a few hard quests to survive.

    I feel you when you say you always tweak your charname to have the same stats than your highest previous character. I also find it extremely hard to aim for less than 102 nowadays, because I already rolled a few characters like this with the autoroller and I also rolled manually a 100 once.

    Honestly it won't change much and I won't mind, difference between a 100 and a 108 character for example is going to be the difference between Wisdom 18 and 10 on a Fighter/Mage, it will just gives you +10 to lore.

    A Fighter/Mage with 90 points is still as effective as a 108 one, you just need to put 9 in Wisdom and in Charisma, but it won't change anything mechanically. You will still have too much money and you will still identify anything with the proper spell.

    But like @bengoshi I also feel unnatural to start by BG2. To my mind, Baldur's Gate is a single game, not a trilogy, it starts from Candlekeep and it ends in the Throne of Bhaal. It will also influence the power of some characters, like the Kensai/Mage. If you start a Kensai in BG2 with the tomes and 1M xp, of course it will probably be easy. But all the difficulty in the Kensai is about going through BG1 without any armor or spells.

    In my opinion it is like some kind of trade. If I start with BG1, I will have the Tomes, If I start with BG2, I won't have them.

    I'm completly okay with editing some of the NPCs, to add some flavour or anything.

    But the most important rule as previously stated is to have fun and to play the game the way you want :)

    Good luck !
    BlackravenJuliusBorisov
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    BlackravenGotural
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited June 2014
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  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    It depends of the size of your party aswell.

    If you start by BG2 like you said earlier, I would chose the Kensai/Mage with a limited party (3 or 4 characters) of evil alignment. And the monk for the good alignment party :)
    [Deleted User]
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    Gotural
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    Yes I think I would change the good with the Inquisitor but the Kensai could still makes it, especially if he is throwing weapons.
    [Deleted User]
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited June 2014
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  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    edited June 2014
    @Sergio, in an SCS no-reload challenge, playing Neutral might actually be a good option. For one, enemies won't be able to hurt you with Unholy Blights (and believe me in SCS they will use it againist you if they can). Also, with a neutral character you'll have more flexibility in terms of party members, provided you roleplay the alignment.

    As to possible classes or kits, much would depend on which companions and how many you have in mind for your party. Should you go for a Warrior/Mage combo, then I'd recommend Berserker/Mage rather than Kensai/Mage. The enrage ability is something like a "save life button" and as such is much more valuable imo than the higher physical damage output a Kensai/Mage will offer you. (Or why not create something really unique, like a Half-Orc Barbarian/Mage? Could be a very interesting character also from an RP perspective, even though the Barbarian rage isn't as all-encompassing as the Berserker's.)
    The other options you mentioned are all pretty solid as well. However you feared boredom for lack of micromanagement with a Monk. The same might happen with a straight Barbarian or an Inquisitor (who have no spells except Dispel Magic and True SIght). For that reason, I'd recommend a Bard, a Thief/Mage or a Warrior/Mage character. Cleric/Thief is a bit underappreciated but a lot of fun and very versatile.

    EDIT:
    Sergio said:

    [BG2] I will have three characters in the evil party
    and a party made of 3-4-5 npcs if I'm good.

    ~ I admit that I'm also tempted to start from BG, but I admit that I feel like I could be rather frustrated to play the kensai or the monk, especially because I do not think they are class suitable for low levels ~

    And what if I start from BG1? Would you change idea about the classes?

    Do it! Start from BG1, and see your character grow from a hapless nobody into somehting epic! The classes I mentioned before shouldn't have unreasonable difficulty with surviving. (Careful with Bards though, no helmet = no protection from ciritical hits.)

    [Deleted User]GoturalJuliusBorisov
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited June 2014
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    Post edited by [Deleted User] on
    BlackravenJuliusBorisov
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited July 2014
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  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Well strictly speaking no-reload is literally no-reload imo. This includes Melicamp and a few other quests/activities with randomized outcomes (e.g. pickpocketing, playing the card game with Aesgareth at Watcher's Keep). An alternative would be to do a no-death challenge, in which reloading is allowed except when Charname dies.

    As to your difficulty level, if you've only done a few areas on easy I wouldn't restart. You could maybe load your autosave from before you went to the Dryad area, and do that fight on 'Hard'?
    [Deleted User]meagloth
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    Would I consider reloading in a no-reload game? I'm surprised anyone would ask this, but obviously the answer is no.

    As for the second question, if your goal is to do a no-reload on hard, you failed. You can still do most of a play on hard, though ;D
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    Blackraven
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    @Sergio, yep that revenant is a pain in the *ss if you' haven't got Free Action...
    Good luck with any new attempts :)
    [Deleted User]
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    To be honest, I was super lucky when playing Proesis, because that Revenant bugued when I fought him.

    I didn't know that SCS gave him his stun gaze so I attacked him normally at level 3 and he stunned me.
    But that's the only thing he did, he didn't move or attack, he simply stun again and again and again. Because he can do that 5 or 6 times per round, I had to wait about 5-10 minutes for Proesis to make 6 saves in a row to drink a Potion of Invisibility.

    Considering difficulty, if you played on Easy instead of Hard, it means you took 75% of normal damage instead of 150%, so you took half as much damage as you were supposed to take. So if you were at half HP at some point when you played on Easy, it means you should have died. If instead you never dropped to less than 80% of your hp for example, then playing on Hard wouldn't have change anything.

    [Deleted User]
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
    FinneousPJ
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