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First general impressions of playing BGEE with SoD

LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
This is my first time playing a BGEE game with SoD installed and it's very early on the game.

First let me say that I'm definitely a fan thus far of SoD's graphics and UI improvements. I was a little thrown at first by things that were preset like the sprite outlines, gray on pause, and show accessible areas on the maps. Not that they were particularly off-putting or anything, but I did shut them off. It's been years since I played BGEE and I don't remember the zoom feature allowing for making the sprites as big as they seem now. But in any case if we can now increase the size a little more, I like it. And again, I dig the new UI features. Very nice.

And I have the game set at Core Rules... and I can't imagine that the gameplay has been nerfed in any way by SoD... but it is really proving to be a cakewalk thus far:

Just in the mood for something different, I'm running a custom multiplayer party

- Bhaalspawn human Transmuter who will dual to Fighter, melees with a quarterstaff, and uses Alteration spells exclusively except for buffs like Shield and Armor, etc.
- Wizard Slayer who is a dart thrower - ** darts ** single weapon style
- halfling F/T - ** sling ** single weapon style
- half-orc Shaman - * club * sword and shield style (can equip only a buckler)
- half-elf Bard - *crossbow * shortbow (but uses crossbow exclusively)
- human stalker - ** axe ** scimitar/etc. ** two-weapon style (mainly hurls throwing axes but can dual-wield axes or scimitars in pinch)

The thought here was to go with mostly ranged weapons (using other than bow and arrow), and have the melee provided by the Transmuter (eventually will be F/M) wielding a stave, the Shaman using a club (with only a buckler). If necessary the Stalker can melee as well. Key abilities are in the 14-17 range, with the only exceptions being the half-orc Shaman has 19 Str (for me the fun of playing that race) and the Stalker has 18/47 Str in order to be able to carry plenty of throwing axes.

Spellcasting is a bit limited in that the Transmuter will almost entirely use his own specialization school spells, and the Bard has a limited number of spell slots. Although both can use wands.

I thought this might be a challenge. But they barely broke a sweat when taking out Bassilus.

I guess with that much ranged firepower the party is actually pretty formidable. Early on, anyway. Evidently Bassilus could never get a spell off because he was constantly being peppered with ranged attacks. But he is just one enemy, and it isn't really a fair fight. Plus I chose the dialogue options to have the skeletons disintegrate.

I guess it will be different when this party eventually faces tougher melee opponents and spellcasters with better protections and warriors on the front line.

Oh, also it's been ages since I played--what is the procedure again for saving a MP game as SP?
Post edited by Lemernis on
ThacoBellAerakarBelgarathMTHJuliusBorisovNimran

Comments

  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Having a full party of custom characters does make game appreciably easier.
    gorgonzolaLemernisJuliusBorisovNimran
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited October 2016
    Yeah, although I often assemble a full party very soon (most often by the time I take on Bassilus) and it usually seems more difficult. I'm thinking it must just be that all these ranged weapons are particularly effective at the start of the game...
    ThacoBell
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    That's for sure, I'd forgotten how much so.
    JuliusBorisov
  • alceryesalceryes Member Posts: 380
    edited October 2016
    Lemernis said:

    This is my first time playing a BGEE game with SoD installed and it's very early on the game.

    First let me say that I'm definitely a fan thus far of SoD's graphics and UI improvements.

    Same here. The SoD UI is a great improvement over vanilla BG:EE.
    Lemernis said:


    - Bhaalspawn human Transmuter who will dual to Fighter, melees with a quarterstaff, and uses Alteration spells exclusively except for buffs like Shield and Armor, etc.
    - Wizard Slayer who is a dart thrower - ** darts ** single weapon style
    - halfling F/T - ** sling ** single weapon style
    - half-orc Shaman - * club * sword and shield style (can equip only a buckler)
    - half-elf Bard - *crossbow * shortbow (but uses crossbow exclusively)
    - human stalker - ** axe ** scimitar/etc. ** two-weapon style (mainly hurls throwing axes but can dual-wield axes or scimitars in pinch)

    I'm curious about your weapon style choices. Did you pick up single-weapon style on your WS and FT for a future melee weapon choice? Also, your ½-orc shaman may benefit more from single-weapon style than sword and shield. Unless you plan on taking advantage of buckley's buckler (regen).
    Lemernis said:


    Oh, also it's been ages since I played--what is the procedure again for saving a MP game as SP?

    No need to do that anymore. After you create your PC in single player there's a button to 'create party'.
    gorgonzolaLemernisJuliusBorisovNimran
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited October 2016
    alceryes said:



    I'm curious about your weapon style choices. Did you pick up single-weapon style on your WS and FT for a future melee weapon choice? Also, your ½-orc shaman may benefit more from single-weapon style than sword and shield. Unless you plan on taking advantage of buckley's buckler (regen).

    ... After you create your PC in single player there's a button to 'create party'.

    Yes indeed, for Single Weapon style for the WS that is down the road to equip a melee weapon. And yup, the Shaman will be using Buckley's Buckler. If I do Durlag's then maybe Kiel's Buckler.

    I thought I would be giving myself something of a challenge with this relatively offbeat party!

    But I seem to have pretty seriously miscalculated just how deadly four ranged attacks are. I mean, if I had four Warrior class characters all using bows then I clearly recall how much damage they would rain down. Bows are so deadly in BG1, especially with all the enchanted arrows. But when dreaming up the party I forgot that that sling bullets, darts, throwing axes, and crossbow bolts really are about on par with arrows. (Again it's been about three years since I've played the game.) And eventually the Bard will be using the Light Crossbow of Speed with bolts of biting. And darts and sling bullets are also available with enchantments IIRC (more than just +1 and +2 if I'm remembering right).

    I just hope that I get some challenge when they're facing the standard parties of four or more higher level enemies with spellcasters. E.g., like the Amazon assassins when emerging from the Nashkel mines, the welcoming party at the Cloakwood mines, the 5th floor of the Iron Throne, etc.

    Thanks for the tip that at game creation I can use SP to import character files. But for a game like this that is already started is there still a way, as there used to be? It's not a big deal, as it only involves having to check the character boxes before starting. But this isn't a no-reload game, so I do reload fairly often. (Sometimes just to have fun replaying a battle.)
    JuliusBorisov
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    alceryes said:

    The SoD UI is a great improvement over vanilla BG:EE.

    Am I correct that with SoD we're now able to zoom to an even bigger display than in vanilla BGEE? The zoom feature seems to have increased, no?
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    Welcome back to the forums, @Lemernis . Glad to hear you're having fun with the new features. I haven't noticed any particular difference in zooming, myself, but there might be. I don't really have an eye for details of difference in graphics.
    JuliusBorisov
  • alceryesalceryes Member Posts: 380
    edited October 2016
    Lemernis said:


    Am I correct that with SoD we're now able to zoom to an even bigger display than in vanilla BGEE? The zoom feature seems to have increased, no?

    I don't think the zoom levels are any different. I actually play with zoom disabled. The default zoom level looks perfect on my 24" 1080p monitor.
    Lemernis said:


    I thought I would be giving myself something of a challenge with this relatively offbeat party!
    But I seem to have pretty seriously miscalculated just how deadly four ranged attacks are.

    Yeah, ranged is devastating in BG1. Add to that something like a 19 DEX elven archer and, well, you can almost picture the other party members yelling at him to stop wiping out the enemies before the meleers can even get to them.
    Lemernis said:


    Thanks for the tip that at game creation I can use SP to import character files. But for a game like this that is already started is there still a way, as there used to be?

    It's still the same steps. From the BG documents folder, copy the savegame folder from the 'mpsave' folder to the 'save' folder.
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited October 2016
    @alceryes re: the SP save Ok, thanks, got it.
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited October 2016

    Welcome back to the forums, @Lemernis . Glad to hear you're having fun with the new features. I haven't noticed any particular difference in zooming, myself, but there might be. I don't really have an eye for details of difference in graphics.

    Hey man, good to be back. I won't have a lot of time to play for the next 6 months, but I had about a week in here over the last week to try to get my feet wet again with the game. Not sure if I'll be able to even finish the current game, but it's still fun to get it started and see what the new expansion does to the gameplay.
    AerakarJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    Just a quick FYI: when I took the party to face Sendai's trio they got their assess handed to them using standard tactics for what they are currently able to do. Those two archers of hers were brutal. She's no slouch either. I ended up having the Bard use Alergnon's cloak to charm Sendai. Kinda cheap, but spells are limited and while the Shaman, Transmuter, and Stalker do melee they are just no match for that bunch. So maybe it won't be such a cakewalk after all.
    ThacoBellalceryesJuliusBorisov
  • alceryesalceryes Member Posts: 380
    edited October 2016
    Lemernis said:

    Just a quick FYI: when I took the party to face Sendai's trio they got their assess handed to them using standard tactics for what they are currently able to do. Those two archers of hers were brutal. She's no slouch either. I ended up having the Bard use Alergnon's cloak to charm Sendai. Kinda cheap, but spells are limited and while the Shaman, Transmuter, and Stalker do melee they are just no match for that bunch. So maybe it won't be such a cakewalk after all.

    Yup. Archer-types are brutal in BG1...from both ends of the arrow. ;)

    Also, when I do a ½-orc shaman I almost always do 19 STR, single-weapon style, and axe. If you happen to hit with the thrown or melee axe you'll do substantial damage and defaulting to the melee script ensures that you'll have the extra AC against those that snipe from afar. Plus you can get the super cheap beruel's retort +1 very early on and use it as a melee weapon.
    AerakarJuliusBorisov
  • sazziesazzie Member Posts: 103
    not sure if its been mentioned but i love the new button that highlights all the containers and doors all the time. its only downside is the names above their heads can get a bit annoying in battle as i cant see whos doing what but im currently in BG2 with a dragon disciple i started after the latest update and took her through BG and SoD and while there are minor things that are annoying it seems most things that came with SoD have been awesome!
    Lemernis
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    alceryes said:

    Lemernis said:

    Just a quick FYI: when I took the party to face Sendai's trio they got their assess handed to them using standard tactics for what they are currently able to do. Those two archers of hers were brutal. She's no slouch either. I ended up having the Bard use Alergnon's cloak to charm Sendai. Kinda cheap, but spells are limited and while the Shaman, Transmuter, and Stalker do melee they are just no match for that bunch. So maybe it won't be such a cakewalk after all.

    Yup. Archer-types are brutal in BG1...from both ends of the arrow. ;)

    Also, when I do a ½-orc shaman I almost always do 19 STR, single-weapon style, and axe. If you happen to hit with the thrown or melee axe you'll do substantial damage and defaulting to the melee script ensures that you'll have the extra AC against those that snipe from afar. Plus you can get the super cheap beruel's retort +1 very early on and use it as a melee weapon.
    I bought Bereul's Retort for my Stalker. It had 5 "charges." He used them up and the weapon then disappeared. Where did it go lol? How do I make it reappear?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    You used it as a ranged weapon, thus after 5 throws the weapon disappeared. But you could use it as a melee weapon, - in this case the weapon stays no matter the number of hits it makes.
    ThacoBellsemiticgoddess
  • alceryesalceryes Member Posts: 380

    You used it as a ranged weapon, thus after 5 throws the weapon disappeared. But you could use it as a melee weapon, - in this case the weapon stays no matter the number of hits it makes.

    Exactly.
    Go into the weapon description - abilities - and you can switch it to a melee weapon. At that point you have a VERY cheap magical melee axe with the same 'average' damage as battle axe +1. In fact, for most dwarven defenders I build I've got beruel's retort +1 as main hand weapon and battle axe +1 as off-hand for some cheap dual-wield magical axe goodness early on in BG1.
    Note that if you move the axe (in the inventory screen) it automatically defaults to thrown when put back. You can also switch it to melee by R-clicking on the weapon from the bottom HUD bar. The only downside it that you can't equip it in the off-hand (even if you want to only use it as a melee weapon).
    JuliusBorisovsemiticgoddess
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