V7 run, after loooong break Options

[Shadan]

So, I will try to write my experiences with the game after a very long break from BG2.
No mods. only EoU, IA and IA Tweaks.


Started with:
Avanger prot: club**, dual w*, and then scimitar *
Custom RB: Flail ***, dual w***
Half-orc kensai: 2Hsowrd****, 2HW**

In Irenicus dungeon I relearned to handle the game... Traps and locks caused a problem, then I went for Yoshi (swapped Jaheira out), and was surprised when he didn't find traps also. Well, then I realized trap finding is a clickable skill...
Since I played DnD 2e since 1989 for more than 10+ years, then came v3.0, v3.5, Pathfinder etc., so I remember on spells quite good, but I was surprised when MAA DoT was not applied. Then I realized spells are changed in IA quite a lot, so I had to relearn them again.
Lesser elementals caused me a problem, I was not able to damage them with weapons. Imoen's spells were not enough to kill all 3 of them. At end I realized maybe summons can help, rested and bears + clan member killed them very fast.
I was a bit afraid of Ilyich, because I remember on my first IA game, when he killed my protagonist several times and I was hardly able to kill him. Now he was walk in the park. However my tactical skills in this game still abysmal.
PC used Str, 3 Wis and Cha tomes. RB used Con tome.

After the dungeon, I picked Sibel. Suddenly after an IRL memory flash I remembered that donation in temple is good in IA. So after a several tries and forum search I donated 4600 gold to get 3 reputations.

Then I did Circus, recruited Aerie. Moved to Slums. Killed annoying guy in Copper Coronet. Recruited Nalia as F->M (swapped out Minsc), recruited Anomen, Korgan and Hexxat. Leveled up Hexxat, increasing her PP skill in hope maybe later I can try some pick pocket things with her. Nalia used Int tome. Got Windspear Hills map. Then Bridge to trigger Neera. Government to get Umar map. Gate to get Trademeet quest.

Wild Forest. Swapped Nalia to Neera. Well, 2 ogres from polymorph trap used hardiness and GWW... Was a big surprise and a big death. Killed them on 2nd try.
Anyway I did 2 minor quests in Hidden Refugee, and left to Umar Hills.

A question: Shall I pay for Cowled Wizards later? I remember that in first BG2 runs, I've never payed, just killed them. But in IA maybe it is too much hindrace to skip arcane magic in the town.

This post has been edited by Shadan: Dec 21 2024, 11:26 PM

[critto]

Hmm, maybe I missed treasure trove there... I will check it soon. Thanks.

Yes, there are two levels in the tower.

There's the "Deeper than the Underdark" quest/area there. In v6.0 it was only available before chapter 6, but I think in v7.0 you can postpone it, but you'll lose some part of the loot, but critto would have to confirm that.

That's correct, it should be available but with less loot. The challenge itself is perfectly doable in ch5 though.

Btw can't you just avoid the golem? Use Ctrl+J to teleport or something similar.

Worst case scenario, this can be used, yes. But we ran into this very issue during testing of v7 and that's why we specifically set it to spawn only in CH6 onwards (unless the "hard mode" component of IA Tweaks is installed). That's why I find it strange that the golem spawns in Chapter 5.