Baldur's Gate Two

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Has anyone ever played this game? It is so cool! The story is much more detailed and involving than the first. It's pretty dang awesome. Spells galore, cool weapons, the countryside and cities and places and histories and tales and encounters straight from the Forgotten Realms themselves.
Elminster, Drizzt Do'Urden (in the first Baldur's Gate), Candlekeep, Trademeet, Waterdeep, Nashkel, Amn, Amaunator, Helm and his followers, eye tyrants (beholders), and more! They give histories on weapons and armors of the magical kind.
It's cool! Shadow Dragon, Red Dragon, Silver Dragon...Dragons to actually fight! Mages! Necromancers! It's awesome.
Anyone ever played it?
 
Yup i've played it, plus BG 1 and Ice wind dale ( Which i am curently on) The coolest weapon i found in any of them was the staff of the Magi in BG2. All though i did have to defeat four Liches and a beholder to get it.:) but all the games are muy cool. i've almost beaten BG2 so if you need any tips let me know.
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin
 
I'm a Paladin, too. Rock on.
I'm trying to kill the Shadow Dragon of the Shade Lord in Umar Hills, and Firkraag in Windspear Hills. They're freaking hard. I have Dragon Weapons and Armor but they don't do much to these guys.
I think I needa level up.
Oh. Question: Should I pick Bodhi's path, or the Shadow Thieves' in rescuing Imoen? I wanna go with the Shadow Thieves, but I have a few more quests to do...like find silver dragon blood, mimic blood, defeat Lavok in the Planar Sphere, and liberate Trademeet.
But the game rocks. I have this cool sword called the Daystar that shuns the Undead basically: Sunray just wipes them. It's sweet. I have an Elven Mage who's fairly weak but she's in love with my character so I'll tow her around. Plus she has some pretty decent spells.
Are there any items that raise Intelligence stat?
 
I've had BG2 since it came out, and have beaten it around six or seven times. Once you beat it a couple times, try playing with a solo character. That is just a blast. It isn't as hard as it sounds; all of the experience and best equipment is focused, making for a very powerful and fun individual. Be sure to use an exp cap remover if you do that. If you need to add more life to the game, you can find little additions all over the place on the net. In case you don't know, there are a couple of official, extra vendors from Bioware. You just need to download the files (I forget where they can be found) and stick them in the override folder.

And the staff of the magi was just too powerful. :) I put it on a thief/mage and just backstabbed everything at will, thanks to the free invisibility. Don't try it for an extended period; it sucks the challenge out of the game.
 
Yeah i remeber the shadow lords lair, the only way i found past the shadow dragon was to use a rune stone that made you invisible to it. i think youi find it some where near there. Go with the shadow the shadow theives, you dont want to go with bodi.
If you want a real hard fight get a rouge stone and enter the door in the bridge district down toward the other end it will teleport you the the relam of this Lich Lord, who has three other liches and a beholder with him. it took me twentie tries to beat it. I got a staff of the magi from it though so it was worth it.
take care and God Bless
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin
 
Its probably more like diablo than FF. but it uses its own unique game engine. Its set in the AD&D Game world of the Forgoten Realms. its pretty cool
Take care and God BLess
Rand NobleBlade
Paladin
 
Well, ToB would be the biggest addition, for sure. But I was mainly talking about little mods like extra vendors/items, stronger monsters, new kits, etc. There are also larger mods that add quests and npc's.

Feel free to go with shadow thieves or Bodhi; I found both paths interesting, and the rewards are about the same.

There's actually a really, really easy and legit way to get the staff of the magi (Bioware intentionally put it in). I won't say what it is, since it's so cheesy, but you can have some fun searching around for it.

How many people have done the demilich battle to get the uber ring?

I would have say that BG2 is more like FF than Diablo, though it really isn't like either. BG2 is just different, in both feel and gameplay. Basically, you control a party of up to six players (and up to five summons, I think) in real time combat. However, you can pause at will to issue orders to your party, no matter what is going on. It can tend to be a thinking game at times. My first time through, I probably spent 85% of my time paused during the harder battles, figuring out what to do.
 
Allow me. I shall write up a free review and whatnot (keep in my mind I'm still on Chapter 2...yeah. I've been doing virtually EVERY sidequest I can get my hands on: Neb the Child-Murderer, Riejek the Human Skinner, Garren Winspear and Lord Jierden Firkraag, Korgan's Book of Kaza, the Temple of Helm's investigations into the cult of the Unseeing Eye, freeing de'Arnise Hold, replanting the trees of three Dryads, bumping into Jaheira's past now and again, et cetera.

Bioware, Black Isle and Wizards of the Coast went into deep work on creating Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and, in my most humble of opinions, did excellently.
Picking up where Baldur's Gate left off, with the fate of the Child of Bhaal unknown and its murderous brother Sarevok lying dead in the Temple of Bhaal, the sequel to the 1998 Game of the Year does the R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms justice.
Run out of Baldur's Gate after the Dukes of the city began to whisper that the troubles related to Sarevok included you, you are ambushed soon after by shadowy figures and awaken in a dungeon prison tormented by a powerful mage who is very concerned in "experimenting" with you. He knows of your heritage to the Lord of Murder, and of the potential you hold as such: to resurrect this dead god and become the avatar of his new life.
It seems to be here that this is the game where you can actually forge the end result: you can restore Bhaal's dominion on Faerun, or you can end it. Myself, I like to be nice to people, so I'm virtually ruining any hint of Bhaal's restoration, I believe. But if I'm evil I wonder if I can only quicken his return...
Such is the mystery of this Advanced Dungeons & Dragons RPG. Set in third-quarter view, you take control of your character to escape the dungeon's hazards: shadows, imps, golems, traps, dark dwarves, and sights of pure torment, and then: a breath of fresh air, only to have your childhood friend kidnapped away from your grasp so quickly after casting an attack spell against the hostile mage, who was slaughtering robed wizards left and right. Several more wizards teleport in and take captive both the mage and your friend, Imoen, who stood by you throughout your original ventures across the Sword Coast, even down through the bowels of the iron mines of Nashkel, into Ankheg strongholds, and across the Iron Throne's feet. Many a Gibberling fell before the wrath of my Imoen...
Stranded in the Amnish (not Ammish) capital city of Athkatla, you seek to rejoin Imoen, and along the way, you meet with a variety of characters who will, in some manner or another, hamper you from such or assist you in doing so. A member of the Shadow Thieves, the renowned thief guild, offers you a chance to find her, for a high price.
But the dangers are darker than joining with these shifty characters: they themselves are encountering evil nocturnal denizens who charm their members into joining, or kill them. Athkatla has turned into an all-out war in the shades of nightfall: between the vampiric mysterious guild that has come up seemingly overnight, and the veteran Shadow Thieves.
Concerned with finding this wicked mage, who has the power you haunt your dreams from his unknown prison, and Imoen, you must gather coin enough, sped up by assisting in various quests that many of the citizens of Athkatla have for you. Help an artist find an ore more valuable than gold, or risk losing his services, and the favor of the Unsleeping Eye of the god Helm, of the Morninglord Lathander, or of the Stormgod Talos.
Descend into the crypts of undefiled graves, fighting hordes of the Undead. Save a distraught warrior seeking to escape the curse of his magical bloodline, and enter a sphere from another dimension to confront his ancestor and end it forever, or kill him yourself for an untrustworthy wizard. Run upon Elminster himself, as previously in the original adventure of Baldur's Gate. Perhaps you'll even glimpse Drizzt Do'Urden, who slew a horde of Gnolls, the dog-men of the Realms, in your first adventures along the Sword Coast, or perhaps even Volo himself!
Cast a variety of spells, protective, divining and attacking, or resort to the might of steel: magical swords, halberds, enchanted Elvish bows, acid arrows, explosive potions, and more!
Fight your way through bandits, Orogs, Orcs, Hobgoblins, dragons, murderers, ghosts, even the dreaded Lich, at least five of their number! Beware the words of Kangaxx...as a Lich goes, he would kill you in a moment, if he but could.
Flee when battle is too powerful: cowardice is much appreciated in times of danger. When healing spells run low, don't hesitate to gulp a potion to speed you up, give you Storm Giant strength, heal you, or make you invisible to all eyes, magical and normal.
Forge special items at a smithy into mighty weapons of power: the Gesem Bow, the Sword of the Equalizer, the Flail of the Ages, and more.
Summon demons at times of nigh-suicidal danger to bring down your foes, but be sure you are protected lest they themselves kill you. Conjure Phase Spiders, floating swords, Undead and more!
And in all, do not forget who you are: a Child of Bhaal, the dead god of murder, who would return within you, or any other Child of his, as Alaundo prophesied many were spawned in the Time of Troubles.
A detailed Amn awaits you the player. The Umar Hills, Trademeet, Athkatla: whereever. The dungeons are massive, the countryside huge, and as such, dangers await. The Shade Lord, the Umar Witch, a Red Dragon, puzzles of devious design: be cautious as you walk towards victory.
Weapons, armor, items are also provided with detailed explanations and histories, descriptions of their THAC0 (to hit Armor Class 0), power, the computerized roll of the dice for potential damage, the saves against spells, attacks, polymorphs, and the like. The Frostreaver Axe has a history behind it: it belonged to a Frost Giant long ago who terrorizes villages with the axe's poisonous and chilly effects. The Gloves of Ogre Strength once belonged to a powerful ogre who met his match in a powerful wizard that transformed its hands as hollowed-out enchanted gloves for raising their wearer's strength.
The flaws in this game, however, are most annoying when they come up: at times in the midst of a battle, your characters will kill an enemy and just stand around, being wailed on by another enemy or more. You must keep a constant vigilance on your party to move them out of harm's way, heal them, cast spells, attack or whatever it is you wish them to.
If a member gets stuck running to a destination and can't move, and you're wondering where in the heck he/she is, you will be pointed to where they are, and then you must relocate them and then send them back on their destination. Often in tight places your people will run up against each other, getting stuck all the time, and be a gernal annoyance. If you want to avoid enemies but still send your party to a location, away from harm's way, some of your brighter members will decide to go straight through the midst of the enemies, getting slaughtered, usually.
When loading my game, it will invariably freeze at times and I can't escape the screen so I have to reset my system (the bad way), which is no end of annoyance to me.
However, the game's bads outweigh their goods. Your characters have personalities of their own and as they move along they can have fights or general peace. If you're a male and real nice to your ladies, generally they'll fight over you, even, interestingly enough, offering to become more intimate with you than usual. For sure my Elf did this. But I didn't wish to try it so I said, "Umm...you know, love doesn't have to be shown that way." And my Elf understood, and was much more grateful to me than ever before.
My Dwarf had a bit of an evil streak (but he has over 35% of the kills of the party...no more) and since I am a Paladin I enjoy being good. After reaching a certain popularity level he left me; after experiencing that I reloaded (save often! I warn you! You will drop items, misplace them, sell them, and then wish you hadn't. Trust me. Keys and forge items especially), stripped him, and lost him anyways. But I kept all his excellent armor. I replaced him with a great character, but you know, I miss my Dwarf: he was a good fighter for my team. But he upset the balance of my party so I couldn't hack him too much longer.
The story of Shadows of Amn is much more deeper than the original. The characters have more life, more interaction, more power, more weapons, more detail than in the previous title. I give Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn a 94/100.

Why not Bodhi? I noticed she had an avatar so I took that to mean she could join my party. But she looked scary. Like an UNdead or something. I have a hunch she has something to do with the Thieves' rival guild...and I so wanna see what's in that locked grave, but I wanna join up with Gaelan Bayle's crew.
So why not Bodhi? Is she gonna screw me over?
 
Concerning a couple of your flaws.. it isn't the game's fault that you labotomize your characters. :) If you want them to think for themselves, use AI scripts. There are quite a few to choose from, and you can write your own or download ones off the net that others have written. Personally, I preferred to give basic fighting scripts to my fighters and control spells casters manually, keeping things simple. But your options by no means stop there.

As for movement, use waypoints. Most of the time, that solved all of my problems. You can also boost the pathing quality, if you have a computer that can handle the resource drain (I don't, so I kept pathing low). I have no great solution to a character searching for a path to their destination when the shortest way is blocked, walking into a battle because of it. But during a battle, just keep a good eye on what's going on; no one should be getting slaughtered that easily. And avoid telling someone to go somewhere if they can't get there.

I don't have any advice concerning the game freezing. I never had that problem. Sorry.

My problem was the load times. Running at 300 mhz with 128 megs of memory, they would take forever. If you are also annoyed, I suggest cutting down the load percentage. I used 10%, myself, which helped a lot, but was still an annoyance.

Bodhi's alright. Go with whichever path you prefer, there isn't really a drawback to either one, imo.
 
I see. I have Scripts? Cool...that might help out. Thanks.
And as for "getting slaughtered" I meant that whenever the rest of my party is elsewhere twiddling their thumbs for the one guy to catch up and he runs straight through a Wolfwere attack or gets ambushed by a Beholder and three or four Gauths...yeah. He'll get wasted. Quickly. Unless I berserk em...hmm.
More work needs to be done.
All right guys in that case BG2 gets a 96/100.
And thanks for the raving compliment on my review SirNukes. Heheh.
 
It was well written, I have to say that. Very amusing. :)
To use scripts, you have to go into the character customization screen (which lets you change colors, voice, class, etc.). The script option is in there.

You might find it helps a little if you turn on auto-pause when an enemy is sighted. That way when your straggling guy runs into monsters, he won't get any nearer than as far as he can see before you notice and give orders. I found that I could normally back off the character before the monsters notice. Having that autopause turned on reduces the overall game stress a little as well, since you don't have to worry about watching your characters all the time.
 
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