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Biff the Understudy Surprise Visit to the Thieves Guild

VasculioVasculio Member Posts: 469
edited October 2014 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Strange... as we engaged in battle with that Risar the Mage. When he died, Biff The Understudy showed up. But when i talk to Biff. He acts like the Risar. Anyone ever encounter this?

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Post edited by Vasculio on

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  • Abi_DalzimAbi_Dalzim Member Posts: 1,428
    jastey said:

    Biff the Understudy does what his name implies - he steps in for the dialogue if the original character is not around or prevented for some reason. I guess the developpers of the classic BG1 considered this the better solution than a crashing game (or measures to prevent this possibilities in all occasions).

    Is he also present in BG:EE, I wonder?

    I feel like they got rid of him, actually. The one time I imported an Evil TOB character into BG:EE, I killed Elminster like four times, and he just came back every time. Same for Ulraunt and Tethtoril in Candlekeep. I think they just ignore your attempts to kill important NPCs now. Bummer.
  • jasteyjastey Member Posts: 2,671
    I think Biff wasn't around in classic BGII, either. So, for me he always was a speciality of BG1, now he will be a speciality of classic BG1, only.
    There has to be something I'll miss over all the improvements. :)
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    Biff was mainly to prevent crashes, not plot holes... if someone couldn't speak their dialogue... it wasn't likely that you'd encounter him on a playthrough unless you tried to.
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,075
    edited October 2014
    Biff was a fool for thinking that he could skillfully assist the Sigil Troupe simply because his mentor was from the planes as well. That's what he gets for taking acting lessons from a zombie, ubiquitous or not.
  • VasculioVasculio Member Posts: 469
    Actually i talked to the Thieves Guild Master first... i remember Risar being a sorry sob. So i planned my lay out to take him down before, he had a chance to make his move. I had Branwin, Ajantis and Montaron cycle him. Had Imoen in the right corner with her bow and Xzar on the left corner. Soon as my conversation with them expired. I paused, told Branwin, Ajantis and Montaron to attack him. Told my character to attack him and move over to Xzar to have him cast Dire Charm. The party killed him before Xzar's spell reached him. Since we instant killed Risar his dialog transfered to Biff the Understudy
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,345
    BG2 has the perhaps less eloquent Arkanis Gath showing up when you attempt to alter the plot instead, with his own way of handling the issue.
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,580
    edited October 2014
    Vasculio said:

    Since we instant killed Risar his dialog transfered to Biff the Understudy

    That would appear to be the explanation - Narlen is supposed to intervene after your dialogue with Resar is done and then kill Resar himself (assuming that you have completed Narlen's sidequests), but in this case, it seems that you killed Resar before Narlen could reach him, so Biff the Understudy stood in his place.

    Another example where Biff the Understudy will appear is if you have Eldoth in your party and go upstairs to see Skie, but leave Eldoth downstairs (but still in your party) - Biff will appear and speak Eldoth's lines to Skie.

    Biff can even take the place of a joinable NPC and join your party at certain points in the game (though I forget exactly how and why this would happen) - IIRC, he's considered a fighter with mediocre stats, and has no portrait.
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,580
    Shin said:

    BG2 has the perhaps less eloquent Arkanis Gath showing up when you attempt to alter the plot instead, with his own way of handling the issue.

    BG2 also "cheated" certain characters to be unkillable at certain stages of the game - like Imoen in Irenicus' dungeon (her unremovable belt prevents her from being killed).
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,075
    Shin said:

    BG2 has the perhaps less eloquent Arkanis Gath showing up when you attempt to alter the plot instead, with his own way of handling the issue.

    Isn't Arkanis the dwarf from Obe's training in Candlekeep? Also, isn't he the Shadow Thief with the Rifthome Axe?
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