Baldur's Gate 21: Finally Back!

Whew! That was a long time away. I'm lucky I still remember how to play. Have been swamped with Kirkus books. Still, I left off at a good time. Imoen had regained her thief abilities, and I had trekked back to Beregost to pick up my old stashed items. 

So there I was in Beregost. Now that I had two boots of speed, I decided to try and take down that idol guardian. I read on the FAQ that he'd go down with six magic missiles, but he was too fast for me before.

So I put the boots of speed on both my mages (actually, I think I might leave them there--it makes sense). With double speed I ought to be able to slaughter the guardian in short order.

Which I did, but first I had to find the place. Along the way I found an area I hadn't covered completely. That yielded some nice fights with hobgoblins (easy prey at this stage, no matter how intimidating they look) and a couple of ogres. I ran into some of the game's humor, and picked up some more gems and coins as booty.

Finally found the right area. Of course, that's the only place in the game (so far) that regenerates enemies. Whenever you go through the little Xvart village they swarm out, but they're simple stuff. Plowed through them and got all set up in the cave, grabbed the idol, and sallied forth. The guardian appeared but I was ready for him. My only problem was that I killed him before I realized it, and my mages accidentally attacked my own party. They, however, are now strong enough to withstand a magic missile attack quite handily.

I may take yet another break from Baldur's Gate, because Jonathan Boakes is going to release a preview of his next epic: The Last Crown. That won't come out for several months yet, but this is a little effort just for Halloween and his loyal fans, like me. It's supposed to be $5 on his website, so I'll try to get that--if his site is running. The huge storm that hit southern England may have taken out his power--he hasn't made a Facebook post in several days.

More plans: a while back as I was packing up all my games I came across the Mac version of American McGee's Alice, which is a real classic. I had never played. It was made for both Mac Classic and OS X, which had just come out. Like an idiot I tried to load it. I thought I'd crashed the computer good and well. The screen went entirely black. But voila! Suddenly it returned and the game had installed! I tried running it, and it worked!

I mean: magic! 

Now Apple has come out with their latest OS, Mavericks (apparently they've run out of felines). And it's free. And it will upgrade from Snow Leopard, which I'm still running. (Why not still run Snow Leopard? It's an excellent OS and I don't need the cloud.)

So I want to install that, but I fear that it might wipe out my Fusion virtual XP, where I have lots of games. Obviously I'll check that out on the Apple site or at the store, but I really wonder if it would run that Alice game. I'm already pushing that beyond the limit, after all.

Ergo, I need to play Alice before I install Mavericks, just to be on the safe side. The only way to get that game now is on Amazon, but it isn't an Amazon download. It comes from somewhere else, and it takes days and even weeks to download, and it can't be downloaded again to a new computer later. Once and that's it. And it isn't even the Mac version.

So I need to play the one I've got that works. (Or, grab a copy of 8.6 off of E-Bay and install it on my iMac classic. It would work on that.)

I need to keep up with Baldur's Gate, so I imagine I'll be bouncing back and forth between it and Boake's Halloween Haunting and Alice.

I will just make the time.

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Baldur's Gate 20: Imoen's Back!

Whew! So I survived the poison. Actually it wasn't a terribly difficult quest.

My Kirkus books were delayed in the UPS system due to the former tropical storm Ivo. They are stuck in Barstow. So I have one fewer day to get all that work done, but gained a day to play Baldur's Gate!

At the advice of the FAQ, however, I took a few chances in slaughtering people. I slaughtered the high priestess at the Water temple. She was surprisingly easy to slaughter. Did that because I wanted to keep and use the Tome of Wisdom that I was supposed to give her. Also she had some other nice loot.

I slaughtered both of the poisoners, including the mostly innocent one who was geased into trying to kill me. Did that because he had some more boots of speed. That's my second pair. I put them on Imoen.

And during all those quests, dear Imoen FINALLY got her thief abilities back! She can't advance in thievery--she'll stay at level 6 for that. But she can use a sword and a shortbow. During the course of the quest I also acquired a very nice shortbow for her.

Once I completed all that slaughtering, I headed back down to Beregost to retrieve the stuff I had stashed in Kagain's shop. Coran got some Ankheg armor--yay! I guess Imoen can't wear that any more, but her Robes of the Good Mage are better armor anyway.

Somehow I've lost or sold or stashed her really good bastard sword. I thought I had a special one for her, but maybe not.

Well, now that hurdle has been leaped, I'll have to get back to Baldur's Gate City and see if I can find more quests to do. I can't get into the Iron Throne headquarters yet, so obviously there's more going on there.

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Baldur's Gate 19: Action Tomorrow! (or maybe next week)

So I returned to the game tonight, determined to get Imoen up to Level 7 and get her thief abilities back.

And then I couldn't find much to do. Problem is I was away so much I'd forgotten what I'd done. I can't do Quinn's quest because apparently I sold the dagger he wants. Drat.

I was unable to get the thief guild quest going because the guy didn't meet me at the inn to give me instructions. I really think I would have remembered doing that, because you can only send your thief, at night.

I did manage to get the Ghorak skull quest off my list, however. You have to find the guy and let him say thanks. Luckily, I was able to mostly remember where he was. So that was nice, but it didn't add any experience points.

However, finally I found something in the quest list and got lucky enough to find the house you need to do the quest. So, goody. I had to find Shandalar's daughters and get their stuff. Alas, this involves massacring them. They go down easily, but at first I made the mistake of choosing the wrong dialog option, and threatened to kill them. When I did it, several members of my party started complaining and threatened to leave. I am playing with good aligned characters, after all.

OK, went back and let the girls attack me. That worked, but I didn't quicksave and got caught downstairs.

Back for a third time and this time I got the stuff. Better than that, when I exited the house, an important character approached me to tell me I'd been poisoned. I know from the FAQ that this is part of the main storyline. So finally, I'm back on track! Yay!

However, tomorrow a major package from Kirkus arrives, and I'll have four days to get it all done. So, no more Baldur's Gate until that happens.

But I'm glad I returned to the game. Imoen is so close to Level 7 that I'm sure on the next round I'll get her leveled up and cooking on all burners!

So that will be an incentive to get back to playing!

Hooray!

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Baldur's Gate 18: Back to Adventuring!

At last I've returned to the game. Been very busy with Kirkus books (and that obstruction is returning tomorrow) and with just trying to get the house finished so I can open my business. (Actually, I have a part-time client! So I am officially open, earning a little bit of actual money.)

I had to return before I forgot how to play. In fact, I had to be sure which button was the QuickSave! Before, that was just automatic.

I finally completed the "steal the telescope" quest. Turned out to be super easy. That gained me about 5,000 experience points, which puts Imoen just yards away from upgrading to Level 7 Mage and getting her thief abilities back. I'm going to try to play tonight and get there!

I must admit that I'm having trouble with these Baldur's Gate City quests. First, it ain't all that easy getting around in the city. Second, it's hard to find people. I completed the find-the-skull quest, but apparently there's still something I need to do because it hasn't cleared from my quest list in the journal. I will consult the FAQ to see what's left. Whatever it is just might get Imoen over the line. Failing that, I'll have to go out and kill something. I mean, she's less than 1,000 points away. 

So with that incentive, I'll keep going!

Till tomorrow!

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Baldur's Gate 17: I Forgot to Mention the Rabid Chickens

I forgot, yesterday, to mention the rabid chickens.

So you walk into a shop somewhere in the city of Baldur's Gate, and there is this flock of rabid chickens.

They attack you.

I suppose one of my characters might have been poisoned, but actually it was a pretty easy fight.

Comedy.

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Baldur's Gate 16: Plans for Tomorrow

Finally got my reputation back to 20. I used the Google machine to find out what reputation rewards were still available in the game. Found another one just south of Nashkell--a bunch of kobolds were bothering a cow. I also got two points back for cleaning out the Cloakwood Mines. That got me up to 15.

Then it turned out that the first quest in Baldur's Gate gave me another two points. The Google machine had told me that I'd need an angel skin ring for another one, so before I went to the city I bought one back from a merchant. And bingo, right there in the Flaming Fist headquarters, right after I'd got my two points for the Seven Sins headquarters quest, there was a guy wanting the ring. So, another point and I'm back to 18.

Then I had a choice. I ran into to more of the quests right next to each other. The first was a difficult choice and I probably made the wrong one. A character wanted me to find her magical gauntlets. I searched everywhere and finally found them. I could have donated to a temple for the price of the things, no doubt, but I wanted that rep point and all my characters already have gauntlets, so I gave 'em back and got the point.

The last point was also fun. A diseased fella wanted me to find a skull in the Three Kegs Inn and give it to the Lady temple. Problem was, where was the inn? At least I got into all the rest of the city, but I finally found it, and it turns out to be the nicest inn in the city, so far. I easily found the skull, and got my final rep point back. 

Hence down to High Hedge and I finally bought Imoen her Robes of the Good Mage. Also stashed stuff in the barrel at Kagian's shop.

Then I did one more quest in BG, retrieving a body from the Water Queen's temple. There I met the little girl I had helped outside the BG bridge. She brought me the body, but was not nice. Not nice at all. Hmm.

I made one mistake. Upstairs at the Sorcerer's shop I got into a fight with three mages and they killed Ajantis. Now, I could have just picked up Ajantis's stuff and got him resurrected at a temple, but at the time I didn't know where any temples were in BG. So I loaded a quicksave and avoided the fight. Should have fought them again though, because they had good loot. I did, however, manage to pickpocket a nifty cloak from the store's proprietor--the first pickpocket Coran has managed. It's another charisma cloak, which I'm going to need, because it turns out these charisma cloak have charges, so you use them up eventually. My original one only has one charge left. (Hmm. I should sell that and get a protection cloak instead--and I know who sells one, and I'm freaking rich now.)

Now I think I'll go back south and finally do Durlag's Tower. My party is up to level six with a few at seven. Imoen only has about 10,000 points to go to get her thief abilities back.

However, I'm glad I dumped Kivan for Coran. Coran isn't much of a fighter but he's a great archer, which is what I mainly used Kivan for anyway. Plus, Coran has 100% lock-picking abilities. I've only found one door I can't open, so I'll need the knock spell for that. But I've been able to loot a lotta houses in BG, and I was able to get massive loot from the Cloakwood Mines because of that ability. (I would have had to sleep all the time in those mines to keep the knock ability charged, then sleep again to get offensive spells--and you just can't sleep very often in a hostile dungeon, as I found out by trying. So without that 100% ability I would have missed out on massive loot.) I've got his detect traps ability up to 49% and that seems to be enough if I remember to quicksave lots. Once Imoen gets her abilities back, she's got 100% trap detection. All I'll need is to bump the pickpocket abilities of them and I'll have it all!

One thing I'm missing though. Thieves have a backstab ability. I've yet to figure out how that works.

So, on to Durlag's Tower!

Update: Or not. The FAQ says to wait until Chapter Six for Durlag's Tower. So, I'll just keep doing quests in the city. I've still got that clean-out-the-sewers quest from Scar. I'll do that.

And, there's plenty more to do in the city!

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Baldur's Gate 15: Won the Coakwood Mines!

Ha ha! I have conquered the Cloakwood Mines and have advanced to Chapter Five! I am taking over the world!

This was no small feat. First, you've got five levels of the Cloakwood Forest to get through, and a few of those fights are fairly epic. You don't have to do them, of course, to beat the game--not everything is in the plot line--but you get experience, loot, money and sometimes reputation for doing all this stuff. Plus, hey, I want to play the whole game, not just parts of it! (Although no doubt I have missed a few things. You always do. But that's why they're replayable!)

I defeated giant spiders in a giant web. I got the Spider's Bane sword, which I gave to Emerald, who already has spiders as her "racial enemy." That ought to give her complete domination over the pests, giant, magical or otherwise (well, they're all giant in this game). Plus, after vanquishing one nasty wizard I got Boots of the Cheetah. These I put on Emerald because she didn't have boots. This gives her double speed, and she is now just blowing enemies to teensy bits with little trouble. It's an amazing advance. The only problem is that she walks way ahead of the rest of the party. I'm going to have to watch that.

Ha. I almost missed those boots and a couple of other good items. I thought I'd looted a buncha bodies I dispatched in the Cloakwood Fort, but missed the mother lode. Fortunately Emerald looked again, and found the goodies.

The Cloakwood Mines were just a whole lotta fun, until I got to the Boss on Level Four. I was able to rest a few times. Plus, I gave Imoen the Wizard Ring. Not sure that was a good idea. I think I'll have to give it back, because Neera seems to have more spells with it than Imoen does. Plus, Neera has hit level seven, but I've been giving all the new spells to Imoen. This leaves Neera a bit bereft of spells that she ought to be able to cast now. I'm beginning to see that I won't be able to get rid of her after all. She knows too much. Fortunately, I have access to the city of Baldur's Gate now, so I can buy all the spells I want.

The mine was really fairly easy, especially with Emerald's speed. She's my strongest character. I could have her in the lead now, but I just can't stand the lines she says. I like Ajantis's lines and voice, so he's staying there. However, I've got to get down to High Hedge and buy that Good Mage Robe for Imoen. I've got over 30,000 coins now and jumped my rep back up to 15 (it was 20, humph. I still think I lost all those points because I stayed away from the city for too long. People forgot who I was. There's just no other reason for the reputation hit).

I have to admit that the Boss Mage on Level Four almost defeated me. I had to think ahead. The FAQ says to just hammer him with melee hits, and with Emerald's new prowess in that area, once I got rid (somehow) of his mirror image, it was pretty easy. Before the fight I loaded up on potions of magic resistance, and invulnerability, and strength on all my characters, with the magic users casting good shields on themselves. That finally worked. They guy couldn't touch me, and somehow I missed all the traps (or, they didn't hurt me because I was too strong with all the buffs). Anyway, that was a nice puzzle to solve.

So I got two rep points and plenty of loot out of that venture. Earlier I also did a few areas to the south. Finished the Firewine Bridge. Actually, there was almost no loot there, but lotsa traps, as the FAQ said. It wasn't too difficult. 

I'm resting in the royal suite at the Friendly Arms Inn with it's great music.

Inside the Friendly Arms Inn. Do not get caught doing damage here.

Now it's time for the city of Baldur's Gate! At last! Till tomorrow!

So I am satisfied tonight. Golly, but this game is fun. This really is the best game ever made. No doubt.

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Baldur's Gate 14: Personnel Change

So there I was wondering just how much longer it was going to take Imoen to get her thief skills back, when I realized that it was going to take at least half of the rest of the game.

Am I sorry I dual-classed her? Well, it really is nice having two mages. Really nice. But there I was wandering through the lovely Cloakwood Forest when I met Coran, who just happens to be a good-aligned thief/fighter and reputed to be the best archer in the game. On the spur of the moment, I let Kivan go and took Coran on. So far he's more fun than Kivan, I must say, but he has a fairly weak constitution, so it doesn't do to let him take too many hits.

The problem with Coran is that he doesn't have much trap-detecting ability, which is why I need a darned thief! I just managed to level him up as a thief and got his detecting abilities to 49%. The FAQ wouldn't even let me go into the Naskell Mines until I got Imoen up to 100% trap detection. It's going to be a long time before Coran hits level seven as a thief. So I'll have to work with the 49% ability.

Well, I'm going to head on to the Firewine Bridge anyway, and I'll just have to quicksave a lot. Coren does have 100% lock picking abilities, though, so I guess I don't need the Knock spell any more. Can't get rid of Neera just yet, though, because she's the one with the dispel magic, and hold person, and another nifty magic displacement spell. Until I get Imoen equipped with those things I'm going to hang on to Neera.

At first I couldn't get Coran to pick any locks. Finally I experimented and discovered that he can't wear Ankheg armor and have his thief abilities. He can wear it and fight in it, but not pick locks in it. Took that off him and gave him Imoen's thief armor, which she can't use right now anyway, and solved that problem. I'm keeping the armor though. Never know when I might want to get Kivan back, or somebody else to replace Neera. Really Neera has kinda used up her entertainment value by now. I'm going to give Imoen her wizard's ring. Imoen is now a level five mage. She has to get to level seven before she gets her thief stuff back, though. That's a looonnng way off.

I discovered wyverns. These are dragons that come in adult and baby sizes. Coran is hunting them. The heads sell for a lot, the first one goes for 2,000 coins at the temple outside Beregorst. Nice.

I do not know what happened to my reputation. I looked at old savegames, and it seems I went back down to average long before I joined the bandits. I'm beginning to suspect that it just reset itself because I took so long doing things. Alas, I haven't found too many rep-gaining quests recently. It basically sucks, because having a 20 rep saved me piles of money. Imoen's Good Mage robe is going to be nearly 10,000 coins more now. However, I'm making money hand over fist and I have most of what I want, including that poisoned dagger for Jahiera, so maybe I ought to just go buy the thing.

I came to a conclusion today, however. Baldur's Gate is reputed to be the best game ever made, and has been so reputed for the last 15 years.

It is. With all my complaints, it is.

The writing is fabulous, even better than Jeff Vogel's, much as I adore his stuff. The imagination goes on forever in this game. The music is fabulous. The gameplay is fun, with all kinds of new encounters everywhere you go. There is a plot, of sorts. 

And it's really, really long.

All in all, I'm glad I waited this long to play it. See, I'm having the fun NOW, and not being nostalgic. Plus, the replayability is immense. Many people have played this gave over and over, with all different parties, good and evil. The personalities intermingle differently with each party. 

Really, it is the best game ever made. 

Wow.

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Baldur's Gate 13: That was Quick Work

Okay, so I did the bandit camp. Took a while to find it, with some interesting side quests that I did not pursue. I found an interesting area where a wizard sent me to the north pole (or was it the south--well it had a polar bear so it must have been north). However, there was a much more powerful wizard there and I couldn't beat him, so I'll take that on later. I have some nice potions now that ought to protect me from lots of magic.

So the bandit camp actually was a lead pipe cinch, but I made a pretty bad mistake. You easily can join the bandits to get entry into the place, and just loot it and take out the bandits in small groups. What I didn't realize was that your reputation gets shot if you do that. I was heroic, at 20 points, the highest you can get, and now I'm back down to average. I'd have to spend 200 coins for each point at a temple, and I don't want to do that. 

The Bandit Camp, with good loot

Drat. I had enough money for Imoen's Robe of the Good Mage. Now that my rep's trashed, it costs way too much.

So, I'll just have to wander about doing good deeds until I get it back up to snuff. 

That isn't fair. You shouldn't lose all those points and then get only one back when you decimate the place and turn in the papers. 

Sigh. It is a game.

I did, however, get some lovely loot from the bandits. I think I must head down to Firewine Bridge next, as a character told me that if I want to make money, that's where to go. Might even try Neera's wild mage quest again too. I've got lots of magic blocking potions and stuff now, and Neera has Dispel Magic and Remove Magic. 

Which is why I can't get rid of her yet. 

Now ha. If I hadn't accepted Neera into my party, I doubt that I'd have this quest. Both it and Neera are new to the Enhanced Edition.

Well, folks play this game over and over again. You always wind up slaughtering all the bandits anyway. May as well just slaughter them first, and keep the rep.

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Baldur's Gate 12: Spiders and Lizards and Ghouls, Oh My!

Well I had lotsa fun today!! First I got into an area where there are giant spiders. These are Emerald's "racial enemy," so I thought she'd do well against them. And she did, until we hit the wraith spiders and their extremely poisonous brethren.

They kept getting me. Finally I skirted their area and managed to draw them out one at a time. I could handle that, with Neera and Imoen's magic. I spit a grease spell at them and it really slowed one of 'em down. Lotsa points for getting those.

After that I finally found the basilisk area, and these really did me in for awhile. Had to check the FAQ for strategy. I wound up getting anti-petrifications spells on all my party, and then I met a friendly, wandering ghoul who joined me for a time. He really helped keep a couple of basilisks away until I could get 'em one by one. Fortunately I bought a couple of stone-to-flesh scrolls, and I needed one, because despite Kivan's anti-petrification spell, he got petrified anyway. This was after I'd managed to kill all the basilisks and the mage (who had some nifty loot on him--including the "stinking cloud" spell, a good one). So I used one of the stone-to-flesh scrolls on him. Had to ask him to rejoin the party.

Those basilisks give great experience points. Imoen got up to level four mage--she's starting to get some decent spells. I may take Neera's wizardry ring and give it to her when she hits level five. Imoen is more reliable, although Neera does provide plenty of entertainment. Plus, she has the Knock spell, and I used it tonight to get a sling+1, since Imoen has lost her thief abilities for quite awhile yet. Once I've got Imoen up to snuff as a mage I may dump Neera for another fighter/thief. There are recruitable characters later in the game, so we'll see what comes up. I'll need one with a good alignment, though.

Still, it's quite nice having two mages and a druid. Jahiera's getting some decent spells, finally. (She gets them automatically as she levels up--you don't have to hunt for scrolls with her.)

As a nice treat I discovered a halfling village, with nice round houses just like hobbits. 

Halfling House with a hint

Finally after all this excitement I made my way back to Beregorst. I have discovered the area for both the Firewine Bridge and Durlag's Tower, but I believe these are for later in the game. I think I ought to finish the bandit quest and see if I can get to Chapter Four.

So I'm making real progress! I was almost afraid to start playing again after spending a week or so away with my Kirkus books, but I'm back to full speed now!

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Baldur's Gate 11: Leveling Up

After a good week of work on my Kirkus books (yes, I made the deadline once again!) I can have some fun with my game.

I dual-classed Imoen last time I played. She's now a mage, but she's lost her thief abilities until I get her up to mage level seven (that's a lotta points). I've got her up to level three--the earlier levels go faster. Of course, now that the rest of my party is at level five, I'll be slaughtering more important monsters for more points per monster, so it'll go faster than it did at the beginning of the game. 

I'm keeping Neera. She's now at level five and can use level three spells. I need those. Plus, every now and than one of her spells goes awry, and that's really kind of a lot of fun.

I found a cloak that turns the character into a wolf for a few turns and put it on Kivan. I think he likes it. He's quite effective as a wolf, and I can control him when he is one. So that's fun. I just found an interesting ring that I gave to Emerald. Supposed to deal death to a victim somehow. I'll try that out soon to see what it might be.

I've managed to slaughter Bassilius and got the 5,000 coin reward for him. He had some spiffy stuff on him. I used a hold person spell on him and my monster wand. That gave me a buncha hobgoblins that did the job of wiping him out for me.

Easy. Hah.

I bought the Robe of the Neutral Mage for Neera--that gives her what amounts to good armor. I also bought full plate mail for Ajantis, making him into a super-tank. Now I'm saving up for Imoen's Robe of the Good Mage. I also want to get the Dagger of Venom for Jahiera, but these things are freakin' expensive. However, I'm making money a lot faster now than before.

I found a manual of bodily constitution and used that on Emerald (the FAQ says to always use these manuals on your main character because when you import into BG 2, you keep all those good stats. She now has a constitution of 19, which isn't quite good enough to help her regenerate (Kagain the dwarf's 20 constitution did that), but it does make her pretty darn tough.

I'm just kinda wandering around. I managed to kill the dread wolves in the temple area. I'm looking for the basilisk--I know there is one. I have a protection from petrification spell all prepared when I find it. 

I have the bandit quest, but hope I haven't yet wiped out the bandit camp. I did get some bandits that were camped, but they weren't too tough. I really don't want to do that quest yet because Vai won't buy any more scalps after the camp is wiped out. I'll have to be careful.

Anyway I've been having lotsa fun! It's great to get back to the game!

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Baldur's Gate 10: Try it Again

So I read the FAQ and realized that because I didn't loot the body of the boss in my first Nashkell Mines quest, I missed out on a couple of good magical items, especially a ring that gives my Druid an extra spell per level! That was too important to miss. Also, I wasn't happy with how tough I found everything in that wilderness area outside of the mines.

So, I reloaded my old savegame, fortunately after I'd cleared out level three of the mine, but had not yet vanquished the boss. I did it again, and this time used some strategy. Had far less trouble, and remembered to loot the guy. Not only did I get the letters and the ring, but some nice boots too. I'm still looking for a few pairs of magical boots for my party.

I also rested in the boss's lair, apparently the only safe place to rest in the mines. So I was charged up and ready for the wilderness area this time.

After that I redid the wilderness area. First I tackled the really tough fight, the bounty hunter. I gulped down some potions as my first act in that fight, and although it was still a tough fight, only Kivan and Jaheira took any real damage. Everybody else was pretty well protected. I got off more spells because I gave Neera a potion of speed. Had to pay attention to it, but I think it helped a lot.

I healed up Kivan and Jaheira, and marched off to the west side of the map, looking for the tombs. This time I knew there were three, not just one. Plus, the first one you find says there are three. It did take awhile to find all of them, as one was on the right side of the map, but I dispatched the revenants in short order and looted everything of the good stuff there. Plus, I realized that I could rest in the tombs. That worked nicely.

Three tombs. They're not this close together on the map. Great for sleeping!

The only really tough fight after that was the mage with the poisonous slimes. I tried a different strategy this time: I hit the mage with plenty of fire power and took him out early. The slimes are immune to most attacks, including magic ones. So I bunched up on them and took 'em out with melee attacks, which were the only things that worked. It took quite awhile to get 'em, but being up close they couldn't spit their poison out at me. I actually got out of that unwounded. 

After that it was just the usual skeletons and a few gnolls and some war dogs. Took those out and cleared out the whole area. Nice!

Back to Naskell. I identified all this good stuff and divvied it up amongst my party. Only mistake I made was taking the bounty for the emeralds, then unfortunately hit the wrong button and quicksaved instead of reloading, so I'll have to wait for my next game to find out if I got more money from the bounty than the emeralds would have brought. Still, after selling a buncha short swords + 1 and other items I don't need, I have almost 13,000 coins again! Nearly enough for Neera's mage robe.

Also, I sorted through all the scrolls and found a dispel magic, plus some other good level three spells for Neera. She can't cast them until she gets another level (the Google machine says you have to reach level five to cast level three spells . . . whatever . . .), but I've got 'em.  Also got some good potions that should protect from magic when I really need it.

All in all, that was well worth the replay!  I learned much more about fighting and using the stuff I've got. That's always been my downfall in my Avernum games. I collect all this good stuff and never use it. Use it! You're gonna find it all the way through the game. No point in hoarding it (although you don't want to use your major potions on just anyone). 

Tomorrow I will continue with the regular questing (not Neera's wild mage quest--I can't do that one just yet).

Onward!

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Baldur's Gate 9: Easy Peasy, and then . . . Not

So I did the Nashkell Mines, and indeed it was easy peasy. I did spring some traps, but I quicksave a lot so I was able to go back and fix that. You don't get hurt very badly when you spring one, at least not there. At any rate, I've got Imoen up to 100% trap detection thanks to the FAQ, and she was able to find most of them.

As expected, the mine quest was a snap. You're really supposed to do that around level two, but I'm at four. Made one mistake. The dialogue said the "letters" were in the chest when I found the bad guy. Alas, in the Enhanced Edition they're on the guy's body. I spared him in the dialogue, but apparently he gets killed anyway during the battle. Got great loot out of the chest, but didn't take the letters. Went back to get them later. The body was gone, but the letters were still there, enabling me to complete the quest and therefore the chapter. Well that would have been awful game design if they let us make that mistake.

I also found a back way out of the mines, but you can't get back in that way if you take it. Fortunately I quicksaved just before going through it. Once I finished the quest, though (or thought I had), I went out into this new area. There I encountered another bounty hunter, the most powerful one so far. This was quite a battle and Kivan got pretty badly wounded, but I won it. Got more plate mail out of that, and some really nifty magical weapons and plenty of magic scrolls. Worth the fight!

After returning to the mines to get the letters I took that "door" again and had some fun stuff, but one battle I couldn't win against a mage creating slimes. Fortunately I'd quicksaved just before I met him, so I circled the area and left him alone in the middle. Did have a nice battle with some skeletons and a "revenant" in a cave. Guy passing by said to return the dagger. I did, killed the revenant and got excellent stuff from his tombs.

Yes, we always rob tombs in these RPGs. We rob everybody, if we can, especially in the beginning when we need the cash.

Alas, I think I must have sold "Jospeh's" greenstone ring, so I can't complete that quest. Probably put it in Imoen's gem bag (a very handy item that keeps your inventory unclogged. I've also got a scroll case and a potion carrier.) I went back to look for it but it seems to be gone. That's what you get for waiting so long to do the quest, you forget the minor stuff.

Slept and slept until Neera got everything identified. Sold lots of good stuff. I already have short swords +1, and you get a pretty penny for stuff like that. So now with the reward finally in hand for the Mines quest, I've got over 11,400 coins. 

But after that I went to the new area that Neera had talked about, looking for the other wild mage. That took me to a fun little area populated with goblins. One took me to the master guy, who attacked me. I didn't have much trouble with him. Used my new web spell.

However, after that, we get into a battle with several nasty mages, and I got slaughtered. Clearly, I'm not ready for this area yet. Loaded the autosave game and got back on the proper path, back to Beregorst.

I mean, I got eaten alive.

I must hie myself to High Hedge and buy a dispel magic scroll. I've had magic used on me three times tonight, with no defense. Ajantis got charmed in the final Mines battle and attacked Imoen. The bounty hunter got me somehow too, and the nasty mages in that new area just controlled me completely. So, I've got to learn how to deal with that.

All in all, a productive two nights! But the game, as it should, is getting tougher. So are my little characters, but I need to learn strategy.

Till tomorrow!

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Baldur's Gate 8: Back to Questing

Whew! I finally finished off the Ankhegs. I really think I got all of 'em, and found some nice loot with it. I got at least 18 of the things, and had my suit of armor made too. And ha, there is no penalty at all for exceeding the limit. I got my 75 coins for the quest, and the NPC said she "trusted" that I hadn't exceeded the limit. Probably because of my fantastic reputation and charisma. 

Nice, in the Enhanced Edition you only have to wait three days for the armor, instead of the ten days the original version required. While I was waiting I stole the smithy blind. He isn't there at night.

Also, I have had my encounter with the character Dorn. Looks like an interesting fellow. Should I want him he's at the Friendly Arms. Maybe next time I'll take the guy. I'll just have to go to the Naskell mines earlier than I'm doing this time.

I'm mostly Level Four now, but oddly, Neera still can't cast a level three spell that I really need. She "knows" it, but I can't get the thing into her daily spellbook. Perhaps we need to get a spell at level four before the level three daily stuff becomes available? Stupid, if so.

I also went to the mines and circled all around it. Got a fantastic longsword for Kivan, supposedly one of the best weapons in the game. I also finally got a +1 version of one of my Japanese weapons. Still haven't found another scimitar. 

Anyway, the FAQ says that at my level the mines should be a piece 'o cake. 

I'll do the mines tomorrow! Back to questing!

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Baldur's Gate 8: Screw the System

OK, so I've made some bones with the Gnolls, and got the Knock spell (which has already earned me considerable loot, even if the loot is still in bitsy pieces at the moment). Now it's time to make some money.

I headed north to tackle the Ankhegs. These are enormous bugs that live underground in this area. Slaughtering one and getting it's shell, plus whatever little goodie is buried with it, can rack up the cash. Ankheg shells sell for 500 coins apiece in Beregost. 

However, a snag occurs: we are warned that we can only take four (4) Ankheg shells per party. In the old game it used to be ten. Fuggidaboudit. I'm taking as many as I can get. I'm tired of being poor in this game, and the two mage robes I need are going to cost upwards of 30,000 coins, not to mention a buncha spells and enhanced equipment.

I saved a game at the four Ankheg limit, but I have pressed on. I've also stashed one shell in Kagain's shop for my Ankheg armor. Once you order the armor you can't sell any more shells according to the FAQ. So far, nobody's stopped me and my reputation remains at 20. I suspect (just suspect) that unless you're stopped with more than four Ankheg shells in your party at one time you're OK. I can't carry more than two at a time anyway (they weigh 100 lbs each). I think I'll test that theory next time I play. 

I've got ten of 'em now. Am planning to get as many as I can before I have the armor made. Am racking up the cash.

They are, however, fairly tough fights:

Big Bug. Intimidating.

However, Ajantis is such a tank now that he's rarely injured. Neither is Emerald, thanks to that incredible 92 score I got for her during her character creation. It happens occasionally, but they're both pretty tough characters now, both at level four. Kivan gets hurt more often if I let him get into the fray instead of shooting arrows, so I want to get him some Bracers of Defense and some plate mail. That ought to help.

I continue to be impressed with the level of detail in this 15-year old game. Fish jump in the river. Butterflies flutter around flowers. Squirrels and chickens and cats and dogs wander around. Bald eagles and hawks fly overhead. Rain and snow falls, and lightening strikes. Kivan complains, "Why do we crawl about underground like Dwarven folk?" only when we're in a cave (as in the above pic). 

Another interesting thing happened. Neera stopped Emerald and said that she needed help with the wildness of her spells. She knows of an old wild mage in another area that can help her, and bingo, that area is automatically added to the world map once I say we'll go there. 

Plus, I finally got a fun wild mage surge on one of Neera's spells. It turned her into a wolf for a brief period. That was fine. She helped kill the Ankheg.

So now I'm glad indeed that I kept Neera in the party. 

Tomorrow, more Ankhegs. It's getting a bit tedious, but it's worth the money.

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Baldur's Gate 7: Gnolls! And Spells!

At last I have conquered the Gnoll Stronghold. Actually it really wasn't that tough. Yes, the Gnolls looked quite nasty indeed, but they fell to my Sleep spell like little babies. Once asleep, I slaughtered them rather easily.

So I found Dynaheir, the mage the guy on the videos likes so much. I looked at her spells. Practically nothing. Neera already has much more. Yes, she's annoying, but she's good aligned and, I learned from the Google machine, because Neera is a Wild Mage she isn't limited to any mage school. She can cast anything. That makes her more valuable.

Plus, she can cast Sleep, and Dynaheir can't. Ergo, I decided to keep the silly little thing. 

At some point I do want to try her Chaos spell just to see what might happen. The Google folks thought that the random stuff that occasionally happened was quite entertaining. There. My FAQ guy obviously only looked at her stats and decided he hated her. He hasn't tried playing with her at all. Betcha.

So! After the Gnoll stronghold, I found another area just south of Naskell, the one with the waterfall. I have to fish out a poor dead cat, but the little girl says her daddy can just bring it back from the dead again, so it's all fine. Also ran into a dryad who gave me a nice reward for saving a couple of trees from some louts. I got some nice weapons from the louts.

Mostly, though, I struck serious good luck. One of the monsters I slaughtered had the coveted Knock spell. The FAQ guy keeps saying to just use Knock to open locked stuff, but I looked it up. You can't buy it until you get to Baldur's Gate, which happens late in the game, I believe. He says it's really really lucky to get the scroll from a victim.

Even better, I scored the Gauntlets of Dexterity (called something else in the game, but they ought to be called "Gauntlets of Dexterity"). I put those on Ajantis and gave him the Ring of the Princes (Protection) as well, and the Girdle of Bluntness (saves from crushing hits). I now have made him into a serious tank. The guy's indestructible. Doesn't need ranged weapons unless he's just too far away from the enemy to stab it. Also, because of my incredible luck in creating my character, Emerald is pretty well a serious tank too.

And I'm now at 20 reputation, which is the highest you can get. I know this because I got another two more reputation points and it wouldn't go over 20. The Google machine says that evil characters will leave the party when you reach that level, and that you get a 50% (half!) discount when shopping. So, Kagain would have left me anyway. I did right by replacing him with Ajantis.

So tomorrow, I'm off to make some money. I've turned in two winter wolf pelts for $1000, sold one of the lout's hatchets for another grand, and now I've got the Knock spell! 

Serious money ahead. Then perhaps I can get one of those lovely mage's robes, and maybe even the Dagger of Venom.

Yum.

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Baldur's Gate 6: Going for the Gnolls

So I'm still trying to find the Gnoll stronghold, but I've gained quite a bit of experience on the trek. My reputation is now up to 19. I am, as the game says, "heroic." But it's early days yet. 

I've run into some interesting characters along the way, most of whom I have slaughtered. Reading the FAQ later, it seems I did the right things. The idea is to get 'em to attack you, slaughter them and take their stuff. I've got some interesting items from them.

I also saved a kid in a lighthouse. That was nice. Kivin was quite pleased with that "noble deed." 

I think I need to be heading south to find the Gnoll stronghold from where I am, because I encountered some enemies I wasn't nearly capable of defeating. They charmed me and seemed immune to my attacks. Ergo, I turned around. We will tackle those guys when we're stronger.

I have decided to dump Neera in favor of Dynaheir once I find her. The guy writing the FAQ hates Dynaheir because she just isn't in the right class of wizard and she doesn't have the Sleep spell. I must admit, I will miss that Sleep spell. It is awesome. He also hates Neera because her spells have a 5% chance of going wrong, sometimes in our favor and sometimes not. He thinks that's too risky. Actually, I've had no problem with it at all, but she is just so annoying! I know that Edwin is by far the best mage in the game, but he's "evil" and I'm playing "good" this go-round.

But Neera is really getting on my nerves. My choices for a good-aligned mage are pretty limited. Eventually I'll switch to only Imoen once I dual-class her--but I can't do that for another five levels. So Dynaheir it'll have to be. Other longtime players like her just fine. I may dump her mid-game for another fighter. We'll see. It's my game and I'll play like I wanna!

Had a very nice end-of-playing scene tonight. I decided to rest in that cave above the xvart village. First time I've rested in a cave, and there was a different graphic for it (with a spider!). Best of all, when I woke up, there were bats flying around and squeaking in the cave. For a 15-year old game, that's pretty impressive detail.

Anyway, till next time!

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Baldur's Gate 5: Advancing in Wizardry

I'm certainly not a wizard yet. I grow ever more irritated with Neera, the Wild Mage. She's got spells I need, but man she's annoying. Everybody has made it to level three now except Neera, but she's close. When she get that she ought to be able to cast "Hold Person," which the FAQ tells me I'll need to defeat a nasty evil villain, for $5,000 gold pieces, which I sorely need.

I mean, how am I ever going to be able to afford her Archmage Robes until she can do Hold Person?

Well. I went wandering to other areas. I get killed just occasionally. I sure wish I could get a ranged weapon for Ajantis. He can only do melee right now, and that leaves him vulnerable despite his plate mail.

I did have one really fun encounter: a talking chicken named Melicamp. Melicamp, it seems, was a student with the mage at High Hedge, our one-stop shopping place for all items magical. I was able to get him returned to human form, but fortunately the FAQ said to save before you tried that. Good thing.

I'm not really following the FAQ as much as it seems here. I normally go there for general advice, but occasionally remember some specifics I've read. 

Once I get this area done, IF I can do it (that's a heavy reward, and you don't get heavy rewards for easy fights), I'll head on to the Gnoll Stronghold, and then to the Naskell Mines. You have to be able to detect traps there and I've only got Imoen up to 95% trap detection, but I also have a spell that Neera can do to find traps, so I don't have to rely on just one character. Alas, that spell is at level three, so I don't know if Neera will be able to do it. We'll see.

Really, I think 95% probability is pretty good. I'll just quicksave a lot. I can't see the point in waiting any longer. But the Gnolls first.

So the Gnolls and the mine ought to be exciting! 

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