13 replies to this topic

[Mbolism]

Don't know if this is the place for it, but I like talking about this stuff, so I figured this is the best place to start... so I'll start:

My latest run through of BG2 has been a blast. I wouldn't say my 'funnest' but close.

My main is an Undead hunter. Yeah, I know, common and used, but SO much fun. There is just something about the ability to simply massacre a full screen of undead pretty much single-handedly. Crom Faery and the Flail of Ages are his usually equipped compliment, though late game he'll use the Purifier and Foebane in his main hand. The Answerer sees action against most of the Bhaalspawn.

Next is my second tank. A Half-Orc berserker with grand mastery of quaterstaves and 2 points in 2 handed weapon style. Wicked fun, especially late game with improved staff of the ram. Plus, berserkers have enrage, which gives insane immunities to some of the more dangerous spells in the game. I find this one of the most fun characters I've played to date, and wish I would have made him my main. I've hit for almost 100 pts with him. It's fun killing Jon Irenicus with a hit from Crom Faeyr, a well placed shot with an arrow of piercing, and then the 95 pt crit with the staff of the ram for the kill (with spellstrike bringing down his protections right before all this). The battle only took about 4 seconds.

Third in my line up is my Half-Elf Totemic Druid. I've always liked the spell compliment of druids, combined with their shapeshifting abilities. However, as shape shifting isn't really that useful compared to the loss of the animate dead spell, I went with the Totemic druid with it's ability to summon a spirit animal just to try it out. Although random, all are formidable at low and mid levels, and the snake is just plain brutal, and hysterically fun. Low level is the best, with the spirit snake dealing out poison damage almost as fast as the insect plauge spell. It's THACO must be pretty high (low, however it's termed) too because it seems able to easily hit all but the toughest enemies. I was very pleased with this choice, and it has served very well throughout the game.

Fourth is of course, my Archer. An elf. Nothing fancy here. Just the usual stand by, shooting arrows of death with a THACO 10 points lower than any other character most of the game. It's almost like cheating. I thought about creating a party of 4 archers, a tank and a multi-class mage/cleric, just for kicks. Maybe I still will.....

The last 2 are my spec mages. A Gnome Illusionist and a Human Conjurer. Again, nothing fancy here. AC's or -5 and -3, respectively, keep them reasonably safe for mages. One is my main guy for taking down spell protections, with some other supporting spells, the the other is for summoning creatures. All his level 5 slots are filled with Animate Dead, of course, and ADHW is his high level spell of choice.

So, there it is. Hours of fun. The only problem I have now, is what do I play through with next?

[Jarno Mikkola]

So, there it is. Hours of fun. The only problem I have now, is what do I play through with next?

Well, it all depends on what mods you have... but:
A band of 6 bards... of course using all the custom kits there is so you get different varioty to all of them. Or 1 Cleric/Thief and 5 bards if you wish to not get killed that easily.

Of course 6 mages is another choice, the trick being that you can dual them if you so wish. Or with only one, but that goes up on the chalenge scale guite much especially if you play with the harder mods.

Of course playing the BG2, you should be actually using the NPCs... but the Level 1 NPC mod can fix any character to be any class, so-uh, remember to use that.

Now on to the more normal rutine...
For more strong party point of view, one thing to remember always is that one usually needs; a tank, a rogue, a divine caster, and a arcane caster, the others can be what you wish.
So using that, I usually go with 2 tanks, Imoen to fill up the rogues role as trap remover and caster... using either Nalia or Yoshimo as the temporary replacement, Jaheira as the divine healer, and 2 additional casters.

[Pain Elemental]

So, there it is. Hours of fun. The only problem I have now, is what do I play through with next?

At a glance, I'm missing an Assasin, either pure or a Thief/Mage.
Put all your points in swords and backstab your way to victory.

I also include one monk in my party as a spell absorber. It's great when you walk through TOB with all the high level mages.

[Mbolism]

Yeah, I like rouges as well. I've always played with a thief before this run through. I actually did fine without one. Sure I had a couple of places I needed to reload to get past, but it was a minor annoyance. My Illusionist had a full compliment of knock spells handy too. I felt not having a vanilla thief in my party allowed me more room for more power, and it did.

Yes, an assasin is definitely on my list for the next run through. I've tried playing with a monk, but just didn't really get into in. My main, with the right combo of items/spells, can walk through most traps and the like.

I've played through probably 6-7 times with various NPC's. Misc and Lilacor are just too much fun. However, after having done so, I tired of them and stuck with a power party, and just cranked up the difficulty. However, now that I've found all these new mods with new areas, items, AND NPC's, I'll be going back to that style of play for quite some time.

BTW, whoever made the assension mod, the new Abizigal fight was superb! Even with my powerful party, I really had to get creative. I like how you can't just walk in, stealth, and then circle the room, taking out the ice salamanders, etc. first, then prepare for the big fight. That purple dragon really turns up the heat, especially when you have no time to get into position. I actually would have had to reload again, but Abizigal was pounding on me in the corner where you enter the room, and turned into his dragon form there. I was able to pin him with my main and a few summoned friends, appropriately buffed, and concentrate on finishing off the purple dragon and the other minions. Indeed, I would say now one of the hardest battles in the game.

[Jarno Mikkola]

However, now that I've found all these new mods with new areas, items, AND NPC's, I'll be going back to that style of play for quite some time.

You'll be using the BWS then?

[Choo Choo]

Moved to Baldur's Gate I & II.

[Tieflingz]

Put all your points in swords and backstab your way to victory.

Now that's the language I speak

[Mbolism]

Wow. That Big world thing looks pretty good. I'll be checking that out.

[the bigg]

My favorite character ever is Imoen as a Swashbuckler(10) -> Mage. 80% of the fighting capabilities of a Kensai (9) -> Mage, but has much better AC and will also handle the traps and locks.

I'm not sure if it will be fun to play, but my current BG1 party should surely have fun banters:
Biggius the Cavalier
Branwen
Imoen (as a Swashbuckler)
Kivan (as an Archer)
Quayle
Garrick (as a Jester)

No primary mage... should be a fun challenge

[Mbolism]

How about an all rogue party? Maybe a couple of Thief/Mages for summoning tanks? Problem would be items. I wish rogues had more useful items.

[Mbolism]

So, which copy of Big World setup do I use? I have the BWP saved so I can study up and make sure I get everything done correctly the first time. There is a Big Word download that says it's the one that follows the BWP, but it's a bit smaller.

[Jarno Mikkola]

So, which copy of Big World setup do I use? I have the BWP saved so I can study up and make sure I get everything done correctly the first time. There is a Big Word download that says it's the one that follows the BWP, but it's a bit smaller.

This.

[Mbolism]

Excellent. Thanks!

[Jarno Mikkola]

Just so you understand...

The BWS, will download, extract and setup the 'BiG World Install.bat' so that the .bat can install everything that you have downloaded.
PS, the BWP/S/I will not install any Kits, so you can install them after them, more specific info can be found here.