7 replies to this topic

[Zyraen]

Since I don't think there'll be much more feedback on BTL, I guess I may as well make known all of the little things, miscellania, thoughts and timers etc that went into BTL

There's some things that Existing / New Players may want to watch out for They do exist in the game, I think that not many people may have seen it before.

NONE of the following is NEW content. They are just things that have already been there but probably have not been noticed or seen by most players.

This guide should also help you if you are stuck at ANY POINT in the BTL Game, bar Bugs.

Please Note - SPOILERS GALORE!

SPOILERS !

SPOILERS !

(there done my ample warning lol)

Edited by Zyraen, 15 November 2007 - 05:27 PM.

[Zyraen]

MORE INTERESTING BIOWARE INTERACTIONS
Summary and/or points of interest in interaction with Bioware Characters

Kiyone remarks on Yoshimo's odd comments in Brynnlaw

Kova & Yoshimo
- Kova and Yoshimo Befriend each other, albeit after a rather rough start
- Kova recommends Cromwell to Yoshimo
- Yoshimo's weapon can be forged for a +1 bonus and throwing abil
- Yoshimo gives Kova a lesson on swordsmanship
- Kova is surprisingly understanding of Yoshimo's Betrayal
- Kova hints a willingness to try to help Yoshimo be freed from his Geas
- Kova admires Yoshimo's courage in facing death after he is left behind by Irenicus to face the party. Kiyone chastises Kova for this but is ignored and he and Yoshimo come to a verbal understanding (before the fight starts and Yoshimo is killed etc)
- Kova takes over the conversation on Yoshimo's Heart with the Priest of Ilmater (one of the rare few times Kova usurps a conversation rather than only comment on it)

Anomen & Kova
- Anomen asks the PC permission to kill Kova, before fighting him

Viconia & Kova/Kiyone
- Kova actually seems fascinated by Viconia before she joins the party
- Not rescuing Viconia will upset Kiyone but NOT Kova
- Viconia's advice to Kova reflects strongly his inner thoughts and he is drawn to her
- Kiyone asks the PC permission to kill Viconia, before fighting her

Edwin & Kova
- Kova asks the PC permission to assassinate Edwin, albeit admitting its on little more than a suspicion, and feels bad about it

Mazzy & Kiyone
- Kiyone actually has heard of and admires Mazzy before meeting her
- Kiyone is disappointed by her height
- Mazzy shares in some detail about prejudice, Patrick, Knighthood
- Kiyone, in conversation with Mazzy, shows clearly why she is extremely far from being a Paladin (and maybe even a Ranger), and shows how she is arguably darker and far more dangerous than Kova, much more so than her role as mere lawbringer
- Mazzy encourages Kiyone who seemingly doesn't need it.

Keldorn & Kova
- Keldorn serves in spiritual guidance, though Kova sorely tests him
- Keldorn encourages him in goodness, yet also warns him to be wary of relying too much on Kiyone

Valygar & Kova
- they only can come to good terms AFTER Lavok is dead
- in one of the last conversations, Kova comments on his own wide range of options to simply avoid the mess he is in, and laments it, wherease Valygar comes to respect and hence encourages him

Kiyone & Aerie
- Kiyone divulges some of her fears regarding Kova, even at an advanced stage of their romance

Kova & Minsc
- Kova initially makes fun of Minsc & Boo, but by the time their conversations are all over, Kova starts to wonder if there is some truth in the hamster being more than it seems, after the much less intelligent barbarian liberally buttkicks him verbally more than once

Kiyone & Jaheira
- Kiyone tries to use Khalid's memory to verbally blackmail Jaheira into believing that Good is more important than Neutrality / Balance

Nalia & Kova
- one of the pairings that outrightly strongly dislike each other, with no conciliation

Imoen & Kova/Kiyone
- Kiyone praises Imoen. Now that's Rare
- Imoen (almost effortlessly) manages to knock Kova out of the "my situation is so bad" orbit, and he even starts to respect her significantly. Go Imoen!

Korgan & Kova
- they actually get along warily, despite vastly differing alignments, albeit in a slightly uneasy manner similar to Kova's alliance with Kiyone

Edited by Zyraen, 15 November 2007 - 05:32 PM.

[Zyraen]

EARLY BTL QUEST NOTES (before Spellhold)

(I used to think this was not needed due to the Readme but I Suspect I am wrong)
You CANNOT Complete the BTL Quest WITHOUT taking Them to Spellhold and Beyond! More than Half the Mod Content can happen only AFTER Spellhold.

(lol can't believe I forget this most commonly asked one) You canNOT find Kiyone anywhere. She will AUTOMATICALLY show up Outdoors if you have a Reputation of 13 or more. She will NOT spawn if you are playing an Evil Character.

If you do not agree to help Kiyone, she goes to the Govt District to wait for you.
Should you return when your Reputaion is under 11, she will not join the party but only reconsider her choice and see if you are the one she intends to work with.
Only if your Reputation is 11 or Higher then she will join you.
Should you return when your Reputation is under 8, she leaves after giving you a warning.
Should you return after joining either Aran or Bodhi, she will also leave.

If you attack Kova in the Windspear Hills, Kova buffs up and battles the party with a combination of Spells, with Offensive centering around Sunfire, Fireball and Backstab, while Defence includes Improved Invis and Invis over the standard Buffs.
Kiyone gets an Immunity to Fire as well so she's quite capable of hitting hard unless you kill her first
Pretty tough fight if you're fresh from rescuing Aerie

If you piss Kiyone off in the very first banter that she has with you, she will NEVER banter with you again. The same applies for Kova. Vindictive, aye?

There are 3 Death Scenes for Kova you may wish to check out
- at Brega
- at Corneil
- at Gaelan

ALWAYS ALWAYS remain on Renal's Good Side. You NEED the guy!

Kova hides automatically in certain areas of the City, like the Council of Six Building, the Prison, and all Thief Guild buildings

In keeping with his stealth, Kova NEVER talks in the Government Buildings and Thieves' Guild, except when he's already revealed. Hence he only ever comments outside the building

Within the City, you may battle Guardsmen or Knights that pursue you ; outside the City, ONLY Knights will show up

BTL Cowled Wizard Pursuit will never be encountered outside of Athkatla. This means if you leave Athkatla for any long period of time, expect to be greeted by an Arcane Welcome Committee when you return

Knights show up in just over 3 days from the time Kova joins you, so unless you can clear Firkraag's dungeon in under 72 hours (inclusive of rest time) you will probably be hit by a band of Knights immediately upon exiting the dungeon. Alternatively you can simply go right back to Bylanna to obtain the grace period

Killing 4 bands of Knights or Guards will cause Kiyone to lament and your Reputation to drop. Henceforth killing every 2 bands will cause your Reputation to drop, until Kiyone and Kova leave you

Kova and Kiyone will leave if your Reputation drops below 7. Along the way down they will give ample warning.

Kova and Kiyone each have their own individual "Scoresheet" of you. Unlike other NPCs, who turn on you suddenly, they are both evaluating you as they party with you. If you piss either one of them off more than 6 times (and different things upset a different person) the irritated person will leave and take the other with him/her

Attacking the Order of the Radiant Heart or the Council of Six will immediately turn Kova and Kiyone hostile, no warning given.

You can pickpocket Corneil for a Minor Clue that will give you some extra time

If Kova is not in the party, Kiyone will leave once you join Aran or Bodhi

NEVER submit Clues to Bylanna directly. Myroven will come to you once the Time is up ; even if the Time is exceeded, only until Myroven returns Empty Handed that the Government pursuit will be pending. The only time you should ever go directly to Bylanna is when you have all the evidence, OR Myroven has already left empty handed and the Government Guards are pursuing you.

If Jermien had already left his home after his sidequest is done, he will be at home when you return to his place with the clue that you need help with.

The frequency of Thieves' Pursuit is rather rapid initially, but it is greatly reduced after you assist Renal with Mae'Var, and reduced even more when you help Aran defeat Bodhi in Chapter 3

You can bribe Corneil with 2500 gold to keep the Cowled Wizards off your back for 6-7 days in all.

For the Dayven part that most people are stuck on, just alternate between Dayven and Brega to see the discrepancies between them. Give Kiyone and Kova time to discuss outside the buildings and pay attention on what to look out for. When Dayven and Brega's statements eventually mismatch, you can go to Renal to ask him to check up on them, provided you have already helped him with Mae'Var. This Portion can be slightly buggy and allow you to repeat the opening portion, so do follow the sequence closely.

When the reply comes PLEASE keep the incriminating evidence with you!

NEVER step into Gaelan's house without the required gold unless you want to see Kova's death scene

You can UPGRADE their items when the Owner exceeds 1 Million XP

To check if you have completed all 3 initial parts of BTL, Bylanna WILL give you Free Rein (ie no time limit) to your case

Edited by Zyraen, 03 June 2010 - 07:10 PM.
previously put the "bribe Corneil" as "bribe Jermien"

[Zyraen]

ROMANCE

Kova & Kiyone have a walk at night if the party rests Outdoors NOT in the City while they are still NOT yet in their first stage of romance. This is NOT a romantic walk btw.

Kova & Kiyone start the first stage of the Romance after Kiyone comes clean on her own world views, as does Kova on his motivations.

After this stage, they can have Cooking Banters (x3) resting in ANY Inn, and they can also have Special Banters walking in the Forest (x3) with each other

They then start on 3 topics, each for 2 conversations. However, in reality I have had 4 topics programmed in ; the selection of the 3 that are actually shown is randomised.

After they call each other friends, they are in the 2nd stage of their romance (ie KKRomance Global set to 2) This conversation is bugged and will repeat itself, but can be dealt with once-and-for-all by setting BKKChat Global to 8.

From hereon, resting in places where Fishing can be done will result in Fishing Scenes (x3), otherwise there is about 50% chance that during the resting periods they will talk about Kiyone's writings (x3).

They have 2 Underdark chats about Drow appearances, and if they are in 2nd stage this is probably the ONLY TIME EVER in the mod where they flirt directly with each other

They will ONLY GET married if they are in the 2nd stage of their romance WHEN they go and see Seida.

If you're on the Right Track, Rillifane will address them when he is summoned in Suldanessellar. Weird, I know, but someone has to be witness right? lol.

The Proposal takes place, unsurprisingly, in Hell If you do NOT see it the moment you enter Hell, then something is amiss, do email me.

The Wedding takes place after Irenicus is defeated. Again, if you do NOT see it after the ending, please let me know.

[Zyraen]

SOME OFTEN MISSED INTERJECTIONS

Kova empathises with Kalah, despite rarely ever doing so (usually he comments after something is over) before he dies

If Kova and Kiyone die while adventuring, and are resurrected, they will both make comments the first time. If their romance has started the other party will show concern.
Kova is surprisingly shown to be the stronger of the two, drawing courage and looking forward to living, whereas Kiyone actually hints that she has always looked forward to death and the peace it brings.

Both K&K remark after the 1st very dangerous enemy (greater dragon or demilich, you can tell when the special showdown music plays) is killed. This applies to the 3rd as well.
Kiyone seems outwardly fearless whereas Kova openly indicates how much he treasures his life.

The Trademeet Fortune Teller is about as 4th-wall-breaking as possible in terms of revealing the author's (ie my) personal views on the inner nature of Kova and Kiyone

Crazy Celvan's take on them is worth listening to especially in tandem with the Fortune Teller

Seeing Madam Nin around, Kiyone is surprisingly tolerant of prostitution, and if she is in the st romance segment with Kova, she makes fun of his sex drive and is met with the flustered Kova coolling his head and retorting smoothly

Lady Delcia is a rare time when Kova is irritated to the point of threatening to deal death.

Kova meets an old friend called Itona in Trademeet, and his eventual death is depressing to Kova, causing a rare outburst of emotions

When dealing with Borinall to retrieve the Dawn Ring, he will summon assassins to try and capture Kova, provided he sees Kova

Kova is one of the few people to empathise with Theshal, albeit only after you pick up the Leather Armor

Kiyone's final comments after Merella passes away is extremely telling on the inner state of Kiyone's mind

Killing Madulf upsets Kova but not Kiyone

After Neb is dead, if both K&K are in the house, you get the uncharacteristic time that Kova actually soothes the rather agitated Kiyone

Kova comments on Rumar watching his "wives" fight, and Bubbles watching the two "boys" fight, if he has not yet established romance with Kiyone

If Kova is not in the party, Kiyone will leave you once you start running the Thieves' Guild, AND will also damage your reputation.

If Mae'Var sees Kova at ANY Time He will immediately turn hostile

Letting Jaylos and Caehan go leads to a sort of quarrel between K&K

K&K never bother to ask much about the PC's background and Gorion, EXCEPT after some details cause them to be imprisoned in Spellhold

Kiyone shows an odd side to her against Salvanas in the CC

Kiyone encourages/congratulates Jaheira along her Harper development

Killing Vithal upsets both Kova and Kiyone

[Zyraen]

LATE BTL QUEST NOTES

- DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS FOR THIS!

Part 4

In Brynnlaw, you MUST fight Kharen, to get the clue to enable you to complete the BTL Quest. If Kova is dead, she will leave without fighting but you won't be able to complete later

If you hand over Kova to Kharen, you will get to see arguably the nicest non-finale cutscene in BTL. Observe where the Spell comes from That Device was supposed to be incorporated into the fight itself, but I scrapped the idea because I thought it would be probably too insanely hard

Kharen has already been watered down from previous versions of BTL.

You do NOT need to fight the Shadow Thieves in Brynnlaw. Hint - its Kova they want, so...

Part 5

Myroven will only show up to start off the Witness Quest Outdoors but within the City. This happens about 8 hrs after all the first 3 parts are done and submitted, as well as Kharen's meeting is done and submitted to Bylanna / Myroven.

For the Witness Quest, you can get to understand more about the dynamics between Kiyone and Myroven. Especially if Myroven dies (though if she does it means you have more or less failed)

Arledrian is the name of the Shadow Thief merchant on the 2nd floor of Gaelan's home. He will disappear from that place once he participates in BTL Quest

Seeing the various failed outcomes of the Witness Quest might prove fun

Misc

If you failed the Witness Quest, and/or are completely out of clues, Bylanna will *gasp*... take a BRIBE! Its worth seeing Kiyone's reactions to this Trust me

However as long as this part happens, they won't get married

Kova *can* get put in Prison. Once that happens its pretty much curtains for them in your party, but you can see what eventually happens

Part 6

This will only happen IF Bodhi is already Dead.

The prelude to this takes place the moment you are back from Spellhold, whether or not you met Kharen I think

Arledrian will show up once more

If you kill Arledrian, Gaelan will be killed when (and if) you visit him. Arledrian's death also affects the difficulty of the final fight somewhat (if you want to find out exactly how, experiment )

If you listen to Arledrian you get a $ discount and more chances at defeating Seida

If Edwin is in your party, he will defect in the Finale

If you do not wish him to defect, accept Aran's note to restock your supplies before meeting Seida. Leave the Guild wait till Kova suggests checking on Edwin, then go and REST. You'll have the option to talk to Edwin, but if you do Edwin WILL leave, regardless of the OUTCOME

Edwin will meet you again at the Finale (not in the Copper Coronet). Depending on how good your offer was and your Persuasive Stats, he will remain on Seida's side, or defect. If he defects and the Party is full, he will teleport to the Copper Coronet, otherwise he will rejoin the Party for the battle.

The enemies have a maximum number ALIVE in the Finale, but they will keep spawning in to replace dead ones as long as Seida is undefeated. The more enemies are ALIVE in the Finale at a given point in time, the longer the next respawn will take - so if you Wipe out Most (if not All) enemies in the first few seconds, you can expect reinforcements to come in VERY QUICKLY. What to do in this situation should be obvious

Edwin is by far, the MOST dangerous enemy on the field. KILL HIM!

You canNOT leave the Final battlegrounds until Seida is defeated

It IS possible for your party members to die during the Winning Cutscene as the enemies retreat

Don't be too eager to leave. Give Myroven some time to resurrect those who are dead (and not splattered)

Enjoy the Ending Music for the Trial

Edited by Zyraen, 21 November 2007 - 12:42 AM.

[Zyraen]

BTL PART 7

This deserves a notice ALL by itself because I don't think anyone has ever seen this...

Basically after the trial and acquittal, Corneil's Cowlies are still on the party's trail.

To resolve this, talk to Dayven (he must still be around), and he'll give guidance from there.

If you want to see what happens, do NOT let him go in as a Guard.

It takes a few days from the trial before what's supposed to happen, happens. You can lie low in an inn if you wish till it happens.

If you did everything right, Dayven will show up and pass you what you need, then disappear forever from the game. If Myroven shows up it means that Dayven is probably dead.

Take the item to Corneil and watch the great cutscene! So finally the relationship is clear, and no more Cowlies after you. You get the satisfaction of seeing Corneil shaken, as well.

Then return the item to its owner to get some gold back, before heading to complete SoA.

Edited by Zyraen, 22 November 2007 - 01:06 AM.

[Zyraen]

Tactics with Kova & Kiyone

Some people comment that the fights are somewhat hard, so here's a little section on what I often use them for. Of course these are just my views and uses, it doesn't mean it has to be so.

Kiyone
- good with a bow. generally excellent archer
- she's good for wizard-spell-wasting. This means she goes in, within sight of a mage (who starts casting a spell at her) and shoots once or twice before heading away from the mage. Once the enemy is no longer in Sight, she Stealths. Unless the Mage has Scripted Invisibility (like liches), the spell will fizzle
- fighting thieves, after using her inquisitor-ish charge on her weapon, I usually use her and other ranged people (like Kova) to quickly pick off assassins before they enter stealth again
- Kiyone can use 2 Handed Swords. Early game I normally use her to poke stuff in between shooting. Handy on some occasions.
- Kiyone can dual wield hammers. in late game, or even early game with a Strength Belt, she can be a devastating melee opponent

Kova
- probably the most versatile character to use, I feel
- early game, I use him mainly as ranged support, throw daggers, keep him out of trouble (or he dies very fast)
- the above spell-wasting-trick Kiyone uses applies well to him
- mid game, I use him for backstabbing and AoEing after a backstab. he can buff up, stealth, backstab, and then cast AoE before running off in Boots of Speed. very handy.
- at this point also, Kova becomes an excellent Assassin tank. His "robes" gives him immunity to backstab, and he has stoneskin etc buffs. Kova is a Mage, and this also puts him top of the targets for most AI Scripts, making him ideal to "attract" enemy fire
- Usually I'll run him into a fray of (invisible) assassins, who stab him and become visible. He takes no damage due to his stoneskin. If he does, it is usually limited damage due to his immunity to backstabbing, giving time for another Stoneskin / Prot Magic Weapons etc. Excellent Assassin Tank IMO.
- Spellcasting with Kova is tricky in the streets. Usually I will run into an Inn and fight there for Assassins battles. its good because they usually come in one by one.
- The other tactic I use to enable Spellcasting (apart from buying a license), is entering an area I will cast a little spell to summon a Cowlie Attack. once that happens in an area it will NEVER happen again, until you leave and re-enter that area. So that will allow you to cast spells without fear later on against whichever BTL fight you get.
- Fighting Mages is usually done by just wearing down their protective spells. Escaping into an inn or out of sight is also easy since they practically never move from their spawned locations.
- In late SoA, using UAI to equip various items, Kova can be an effective tank with his upgraded weapon, which does well both melee and ranged.
- In ToB, Kova's role is expected to expand into flanking tank, with his weapon gaining a higher %tage of Killing Blow ratio, and his thac0 continues to drop for a little bit lower than a normal thieves. Of course this only becomes visible along the way in ToB, not in the mod so far.

Edited by Zyraen, 31 July 2008 - 12:52 AM.