Did you know that if you have the SCS mod installed with the components "Smarter general AI" and "Potions for NPCs", Drasus, a mercenary from a group you meet at the Cloakwood Mines area, who wears the boots of speed, will immediately gulp a potion of freedom at the start of the fight, thus neutralizing his own boots?
This is the case when what was designed to make an enemy (Drasus) stronger actually weakens him.
Yes that can happen but bear in mind they don't always get the same potions (there's a random element involved for which potions are given out). So next time he may get a giant strength potion...and when he's hasted and superstrong, you'll be wishing he had the Freedom potion!
PS: should also add it doesn't just happen there, it happens many times in BG2, e.g. enemy mage pre-buffs Haste and enemy fighter drinks Freedom negating it. Just one of those quirks of the potions component, there's no real logic to which pre-buff potion NPCs drink, they just drink the most powerful. Many a time I've seen NPCs drink Magic Shielding and I find Oil of Speed on their corpse; which would be fine except my PC was a solo berserker or thief . It's far from an optimised component.
Of course But not all characters are thieves, or rangers, or monks
Or clerics. Then again, Sanctuary lets clerics loot any container without breaking invisibility so they're never caught in the first place.
I must be doing something wrong. Every time I try to loot with a sanctuaried cleric where I shouldn't be looting, the onlookers go hostile on me. What gives?
The default Black Pits party includes a Gnome Invoker named Zelnick which is impossible by the rules because Gnomes can only be Illusionists. And the only spell he knows is Magic Missile.
Of course But not all characters are thieves, or rangers, or monks
Or clerics. Then again, Sanctuary lets clerics loot any container without breaking invisibility so they're never caught in the first place.
I must be doing something wrong. Every time I try to loot with a sanctuaried cleric where I shouldn't be looting, the onlookers go hostile on me. What gives?
I just looked at the Inquisitor Dispel in NI. Did you know that at levels 1-6 it has an effective casting level of 12? After that it progresses as expected.
Did you know that (in BG1 at least) the Necklace of Missiles, also known as The One Gift Lost, goes through any protection from Magic - including Potions of Magic Blocking and green scrolls of Protection from Magic?
When you first buy the Necklace at Nashkel Carnival, it has 10 charges. If you sell and buy it back, the Necklace will have 25 charges. The second Necklace of Missiles can be found in the Baldur's Gate city, if you complete the quest by Nadine, a mother who will ask Gorion's Ward and their party to deliver an Amulet of Protection +1 to her son, Euric, who has run away (a house in the NE section of Baldur's Gate Central by the wall).
So, you can have 50 charges of Fireball - the in-game description calls it Missile Blast - that goes through magic protections. Only Protection from Fire can defend you (or your enemy from the Necklace of Missiles).
@bengoshi there are more of them than that. 4 in total if memory serves...
1. Nashkel carnival merchant. 2. Elfsong Tavern upper floor merchant. 3. Nadine quest. 4. Durlag's Tower slime pool in the slime area.
Remember that suicidal guy you can encounter just outside Candlekeep, just a little north-west from where you meet Imoen? Well I've just met a suicidal slave.
If you select option 2. he will automatically fall dead.
He used to have a bug in his dialog and said nothing. I found the bug and reported it a long time ago. They fixed it.
One of Shandalar's daughters in the middle section of Baldur's Gate has a Necklace of Missiles as well.
I actually discovered that one quite a while before I ever found out about any of the other fireball necklaces, including the one sold by the carnival merchant. I killed those mages very frequently, but not because of the whole skyship quest thing. Speaking of which:
Did you know that if you talk to them without having started the skyskip quest, some of the dialogue options act as if your character already knows about the skyship parts?
The default Black Pits party includes a Gnome Invoker named Zelnick which is impossible by the rules because Gnomes can only be Illusionists. And the only spell he knows is Magic Missile.
I'm picturing a wizard trying to get through a day's worth of job interviews:
Wizard: "So Mr....Zelnick? You're an Invoker?"
Zelnick: "Yep."
Wizard: "...and you only know Magic Missile?"
Zelnick: "That's right."
Wizard: "You're 30 and you only know one spell from a school that you're not even allowed to be?"
Zelnick: "Yeah? And why aren't I "allowed?""
Wizard: "Because you're a gnome?"
Zelnick: "So you're discriminating against me just because I'm a gnome? What kind of establishment are you running here?"
Wizard: "Gnomes can only be Illusionists."
Zelnick: "Ohhhhhhhhh really now? So ALL gnomes are Illusionists, are they?"
Wizard: "That doesn't even matter, because you clearly don't have the magical knowledge required to work here. You only know one spell!"
Zelnick: "I'm a fast learner. I can learn more. My uncle Jan was like me once, and he went on to be the greatest and most heroic wizard that ever wandered the lands! He told me all the stories!"
Wizard: "Jan? Ah....um, I'll get back to you. Have a nice day "
Koveras and Semaj might not be the only backwards aliases that there are. In the caves underneath Candlekeep, you encounter Prat and his three partners: Bor (Rob), Tam (Mat) and Sakul (Lukas).
Carsa (the mage with the jar containing Kahrk) has -5 AC (in comparison, Kahrk has -3 AC) and 30% resistance to all physical damage.
Bayard (the guy in Durlag's Tower who warns you that it's a very dangerous place) has 100% magic resistance (in comparison, Drizzt has 98% magic resistance).
I've noticed that different characters in BG1 that you're not supposed to kill were made difficult to kill in different ways; not all of them were just made completely immortal. For example:
*Gorion has 290 HP but his AC and resistances are unremarkable. Even his saving throws are nothing special. However, once starts casting his Lightning Bolt spell, you're doomed. Even if you kill him before he finishes casting it, you still die.
*Shandalar has -24 AC, 80% resistance to physical damage, and 100% resistance to non-physical damage, but no magic resistance. You also only have a short time to fight him before he teleports away.
*Sarevok (in the Ducal Palace) has 999 HP, -23 AC, 50% resistance to physical damage, and 100% resistance to magic and non-physical damage, and you only have a short time to kill him. Perhaps if you had a team of Throne of Bhaal-level fighters who could use Critical Strike, you could beat him (since Critical Strike makes you automatically hit with each attack, and this Sarevok doesn't have a helmet).
Did you know that in IWDEE throwing daggers weight nothing, while in BG1&2EE their weight is 1 lbs/10 units?
This way, you can safely buy 200 throwing daggers for your mages and druids (and other characters) who have low STR in IWDEE without a fear to be stuck because of a big weight? And daggers have 2 APR, while slings give only 1 APR. So, in IWDEE throwing daggers are wonderful for you mages and druids.
A thief can have a familiar too! All they need is a scroll of Find Familiar and the Use Any Item ability. They get the bonus HP and everything too, naturally.
Do you remember the Nietzsche quote at the beginning of BG1?
Did you know that Irenicus in a dream sequence paraphrases Nietzsche also?
"Life is strength. ...You live you affect your world." - Irenicus
"[Anything which] is a living and not a dying body... will have to be an incarnate will to power, it will strive to grow, spread, seize, become predominant - not from any morality or immorality but because it is living and because life simply is will to power...." - Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil
I've been wrong all this time. It turns out specialist mages have always had a -15% penalty when scribing scrolls from other schools of magic and a +15% bonus when scribing scrolls from their own school in BG1, BG2, BGEE and BG2EE.
The same goes with enemies getting -2 to their saving throws against a specialist mage's spells.
Comments
This is the case when what was designed to make an enemy (Drasus) stronger actually weakens him.
1. Nashkel carnival merchant.
2. Elfsong Tavern upper floor merchant.
3. Nadine quest.
4. Durlag's Tower slime pool in the slime area.
You're welcome!
I actually discovered that one quite a while before I ever found out about any of the other fireball necklaces, including the one sold by the carnival merchant. I killed those mages very frequently, but not because of the whole skyship quest thing. Speaking of which:
Did you know that if you talk to them without having started the skyskip quest, some of the dialogue options act as if your character already knows about the skyship parts?
Wizard: "So Mr....Zelnick? You're an Invoker?"
Zelnick: "Yep."
Wizard: "...and you only know Magic Missile?"
Zelnick: "That's right."
Wizard: "You're 30 and you only know one spell from a school that you're not even allowed to be?"
Zelnick: "Yeah? And why aren't I "allowed?""
Wizard: "Because you're a gnome?"
Zelnick: "So you're discriminating against me just because I'm a gnome? What kind of establishment are you running here?"
Wizard: "Gnomes can only be Illusionists."
Zelnick: "Ohhhhhhhhh really now? So ALL gnomes are Illusionists, are they?"
Wizard: "That doesn't even matter, because you clearly don't have the magical knowledge required to work here. You only know one spell!"
Zelnick: "I'm a fast learner. I can learn more. My uncle Jan was like me once, and he went on to be the greatest and most heroic wizard that ever wandered the lands! He told me all the stories!"
Wizard: "Jan? Ah....um, I'll get back to you. Have a nice day
I'm pretty sure the only reason they haven't taken over the world yet is because they're lazy.
Bayard (the guy in Durlag's Tower who warns you that it's a very dangerous place) has 100% magic resistance (in comparison, Drizzt has 98% magic resistance).
*Gorion has 290 HP but his AC and resistances are unremarkable. Even his saving throws are nothing special. However, once starts casting his Lightning Bolt spell, you're doomed. Even if you kill him before he finishes casting it, you still die.
*Shandalar has -24 AC, 80% resistance to physical damage, and 100% resistance to non-physical damage, but no magic resistance. You also only have a short time to fight him before he teleports away.
*Sarevok (in the Ducal Palace) has 999 HP, -23 AC, 50% resistance to physical damage, and 100% resistance to magic and non-physical damage, and you only have a short time to kill him. Perhaps if you had a team of Throne of Bhaal-level fighters who could use Critical Strike, you could beat him (since Critical Strike makes you automatically hit with each attack, and this Sarevok doesn't have a helmet).
This way, you can safely buy 200 throwing daggers for your mages and druids (and other characters) who have low STR in IWDEE without a fear to be stuck because of a big weight? And daggers have 2 APR, while slings give only 1 APR. So, in IWDEE throwing daggers are wonderful for you mages and druids.
Did you know that Irenicus in a dream sequence paraphrases Nietzsche also?
"Life is strength. ...You live you affect your world." - Irenicus
"[Anything which] is a living and not a dying body... will have to be an incarnate will to power, it will strive to grow, spread, seize, become predominant - not from any morality or immorality but because it is living and because life simply is will to power...." - Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil
The same goes with enemies getting -2 to their saving throws against a specialist mage's spells.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/709012/#Comment_709012
The SoD-related patches will add appropriate descriptions into the games.
This is one of the best examples of "been playing this game for 15 years and still find out something new".