Baldur's Gate II - TTLG Forums

Ostriig on 10/8/2016 at 09:39

Yes, yes, I know what century it is. But I've started playing Baldur's Gate II for the first time, the Enhanced Edition and, while I'm loving it, it's also driving me up the wall.

Specifically, the "urgent" nature of all the side quests. Pretty much every other one that gets handed to me is a Schrodinger's Timed Quest... you won't know it till you fail. This issue is compounded by the fact that I'm a terrible player and even on the Pussy difficulty, like any terrible player, I'm heavily reliant on the Rest mechanic. So I burn through days like a pro rata consultant.

So here's my current conundrum. Insignificant spoilers ahead. Started Chapter 3 with Bodhi, went down and ransacked the ship, then I figured I can finally get some time to explore and ~~rob~~ adventure for a bit. Not long after, I end up in the sewers under the Temple district investigating the Cult of the Unseeing Eye, and I take my sweet time of it. Even took a detour to rob Mekrath's little hidey-hole (he was rude to me) after I stumbled onto it. See, I'd already got caught up previously rushing to do the quests for Korgan's devil-book and Nalia's fortress, so at this point I was patting myself on the back with how good it was going, I was taking forever and no one was whining. Right?

Wrong. A bunch of naps and innumerable instances of having-to-gather-my-party-before-venturing-forth later, I finally emerge from the sewers and the game socks me. Minsc starts whining that we really should go do heroing in Imnesvale. Then Korgan wants to bloody get on with finding Valygar before he "gets angry." Then Korgan hits me again with a bit of dialogue that makes no sense until I realise that it's actually meant to suggest I'm late to the party on ransacking the Shadow Thieves' Boaty McBoatface, even though the fucking shipment is sitting in my inventory! Oh, and Aerie takes a moment to ask me whether I think she's pretty.

This is really ticking me off. I like having Minsc around and would see it continue, I definitely don't want Korgan to leave, I have him very well equipped and he's kicking ass. Now, Bodhi... I figure that one can't be timed, since it's along the main quest path, but the others?

My plan right now is to turn in the shipment to Bodhi if only to get it out of my inventory, I guess I'll be forced to take her next quest (hope that one isn't timed!), then I have to do some maintenance... I'm hunkered down with a metric craptonne of loot that I need to sell off, and I'd like to pick up a Rod of Resurrection since I can spare the coin. Then probably get healed at the Temple, skip Resting, and travel straight to the Umar Hills, since both Minsc and Korgan want to go that way. I mean, sure, I'd love to do some other stuff, like explore Athkathla a bit more or go back to De'Arnise Keep and collect my taxes, but Cindy and Mindy have decided they simply must have spring break in the Umar Hills.

So, I guess what I'm asking is whether I should be able to do that, or am I in a direly urgent situation without realising it? More generally, how can I tell between a quest that I can take my time with and one that will fail or make a companion leave? I've tried to find a definitive list online, but it's proving rather elusive...

icemann on 10/8/2016 at 14:39

If your up for a mega challenge. Try taking on the Tower as soon as it becomes available. I pulled it off in my 1st playthrough of the game a few years back. It will be a challenge, but it can be done.

Watcher's Keep google tells me it's called. Been so long since my playthrough that I forget the name of it. Main thing I remember was that it was the hardest bit in the game.

Tony_Tarantula on 10/8/2016 at 17:49

This is the kind of game where if you aren't an avid D&D player, you really need to look up a powerbuild guide.

Renzatic on 10/8/2016 at 19:48

This reminds me: I actually need to get around to beating BGII one of these days.

Sulphur on 10/8/2016 at 20:01

With a stick, hopefully.

Renzatic on 10/8/2016 at 20:37

With awe inspired tender loving care.

Zerker on 10/8/2016 at 21:24

To answer the original question: None of the main quests are timed in that game. The game just likes to continually remind you what you should be doing. It's safe to ignore if you are working on something else.

Yakoob on 10/8/2016 at 22:55

Except, of course, for the WaterRune you need to get in 150 days or your home village gets ransaked by ogres...

Sulphur on 11/8/2016 at 04:55

Quote Posted by Renzatic

With awe inspired tender loving care.

That's pretty damn lewd, Renz.

Ostriig on 11/8/2016 at 08:48

Quote Posted by icemann

If your up for a mega challenge.

I'm most certainly not! I got my ass handed to me by a Gauth boy-band until I figured out how to, ahem, capitalise on summons, and I'm fairly certain that doesn't count as a "challenge." Like I said, terrible player.

Quote Posted by Zerker

Cheers, that's a load off my heart! I ended up hanging onto Bodhi's shipment, as she doesn't seem to care, really, and taking the trip to Umar Hills. It's funny how memory works, I hadn't realised that the Blair Witch Project came out before Baldur's Gate 2.

Quote Posted by Yakoob

Except, of course, for the WaterRune you need to get in 150 days or your home village gets ransaked by ogres...

You must gather your Dogmeat before venturing forth?

In any case, I have a new existential dillemma - it dawned upon me last night that I absolutely had no good reason to pick playing Fighter over Paladin. I'm much more familiar with the latter back from NWN but I skipped on it because I didn't want to be stuck on Lawful Good. Turns out this was a mistake, since alignment is mostly cosmetic in BG2. Not only that, but the Enhanced Edition adds a Paladin kit that isn't stuck to Lawful Good... Blackguard! Cleric spells up to level 4, Turn Undead, fear immunity... It's gnawing at me that I didn't skim the Paladin kits before rolling, because I'd have been all over this one.

So the question is Throne of Bhaal. Once I complete Shadows of Amn, I could either carry on with my existing character, or I could roll a new one just for ToB, which I'm very tempted to do. But would I miss out on anything? Do SoA plot choices affect your ToB playthrough, your companions?

Edit:
Oh, now lookie here, there's a savegame editor... (https://sourceforge.net/projects/eekeeper/) EE Keeper. Anyone ever use this? I don't imagine there's an awful lot of plot I could break by changing Alignment and Class... Character relationships, maybe? I know I shouldn't, but it's tempting...