Baldur's Gate 36 (b) Chickened Out

Oopsies. OK. I decided on one sleepless night to just play the game. Couldn't sleep (this happens), so I put the time to good use, or so I thought.

I got to the Melicamp the Chicken episode. I remember it from the first time I played, and I did what was required. I carried Melicamp back to High Hedge and slaughtered some skeletons and got a skull. Took that back to the wizard and he worked his spell on Melicamp.

And Melicamp died from it. Whaaaaat?

And I didn't get any reward! Scheiß!

After all that I think I should have had a reward of some kind, but no. Oh well. I went on playing. I did the whole Ankheg episode and got the armor and lotsa points (and I learned something about fighting Ankhegs. If you sleep near where one might be--say, down in the Ankheg cave for example--you will get an Ankheg when you wake up about 95% of the time. Also, the amount of available Ankhegs appears to be unlimited, so there is lots of cash to be made with lots of patience.)

Melicamp in the inventory

Anyhoo, yesterday I decided that I ought to take another good look at the FAQ, which I had not bothered to do during my all-night session. It says to save before the wizard does the spell on Melicamp. It says that sometimes the spell doesn't work, and if it doesn't, you won't get a reward.

It also says that the reward is supposed to be 2000 experience points and another point of reputation! Whaaaat! 

I can't pass up 2000 experience points. So I went back and looked through my saved games. I found a game saved right there in Melicamp's area, and he was still alive. So I could go back and get him!

However, that game was prior to my Ankheg expedition. Emerald was still only a Level 2 fighter and a Level 1 mage (although she was very close to leveling up).

When I left off before, I was at Day 70 in the game.  Going back takes me to Day 41. That's a lotta game time, and a lotta leveling up that I'd throw away just to get that very very good reward.

But hey, ya know what? I'm playing this game for fun, and I'm having fun. So what if I re-do some stuff? Yeah, the Ankheg expedition is tedious if you want to get as much money out of it as possible, but I can do it. Shoot, I spent a whole hour rolling dice trying to get a 92 for my character build when I restarted the game. I can do patience. (I settled for 91, so my patience is not unlimited.)

Plus, I hadn't been following the FAQ. I'm gonna do that now. I realized that I was heading for the Nashkell mines because I had some decent levels on all my characters, finally, but I had left a lotta wilderness areas untouched. The FAQ says to do them before the Mines quest. 

So, I'm going back. I've got my reward, which caused both Emerald and Jaheira to level up. There are points to be earned and money to be made and magical weapons to acquire and more of the game to play that I hadn't done. 

I refuse to chicken out!

UPDATE:  Ha ha! I had an idea, which actually worked, that I could carry six Ankhegs at once on each trip to Beregost. What I did was take Ajantis's and Jaheira's armor off of them and store it in that "container" in the Ankheg cave (where you find the kid's body). As each Ankheg is 100 pounds, that gives Ajantis one, Jaheira one, Emerald two and Minsc two. Of course I have to be careful with two naked fighters, but Beregost is safe, and the journey there only rarely deals up an en-route fight. When that happens I can re-load the automatic save. So! That makes stocking up on Ankhegs (and money) much less time consuming. If I can make ten trips with six Ankhegs each, I ought to be able to afford not only the Ankheg armor for Jaheira, but also the Robes of the Neutral Archmage for Emerald. I dunno if I have that much patience--and perhaps there is a limit on Ankhegs in the game (but I doubt it). Still, I'm gonna try, with a hard save once I've got 20 of 'em, because I know the game allows that many.

Up-Update: And an even better idea: put the Ankheg heads into the "container." That way I don't have to keep taking armor on and off. Just stay there, slaughter Ankhegs, store 'em in the cave, rest over the line in the Friendly Arms area when necessary, rinse, repeat. Once I've got enough heads: get naked and haul 'em in as many trips as it takes to Beregost. Hah! 

Another Update: Just grinding Ankhegs. Got lots stuffed in that container in the cave. Will get lots more. Just go to sleep and they pop up, slaughter 'em, and stuff 'em in the container. When I have enough I'll strip armor off and carry six at once. I'm making lots of money and even leveling up! Also I'm finding spells (including Knock) and cash and gems. Boring though.

Final Update: OK, I've finished grinding my Ankhegs. Not actually sure how many of 'em I got, but I wound up with enough money to order my Ankheg armor for Jaheira and to buy the Robes of the Neutral Archmagi for Emerald. Still have almost 5,000 coins left. Even robbed the smithy. Got two Knock spells out of it, so when I dual class Imoen, she'll get one too. Turned out I could carry seven at once. I stripped Ajantis, Jaheira and Minsc, who could carry three all on his own, with Emerald taking two and Ajantis and Jaheira one each. Killing Ankhegs got to be pretty routine. They rarely even wounded me once I got the drill down (Command spell, then beat 'em with Ajantis, Emerald and Minsc). Several characters leveled up: Imoen is already level five. Also got a buncha jewels, which sold nicely. Even ran into some bandits while naked, but still beat 'em. So now I'm ready to get back on the trail! (Still have to pick up Jaheira's armor, but it's paid for!)

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