Post by Lemernis on Nov 1, 2001 11:16:38 GMT -5
Just feel like giving a plug for Dark Side here, and sharing what I found to be a really fun way to play the game.
I finally got around to downloading DS a week or two ago and I'm kicking myself in the head for not having done it sooner. It definitely breathes a whole new life into the game. It inspired me to actually play a solo game again. I'm having an absolute blast playing the following 'Arthurian knights' style party: four paladins (protag is pally), a cleric-thief (NG, cheated him into a half-elf), mage (LG).
Arthur--large sword, bow
Lancelot--axe, large sword
Bors--spiked, spear
Gawain--blunt, missile (crossbow0
Percival--cleric-thief
Merlin--pure mage
This turned out to be superb choice for DS because some fantastic armor and weapons are available for paladins and clerics at the temples right from the start.
I found excellent knight portraits and soundsets to match them. This really deepens the game's medieval atmosphere. I have always preferred the sunny outdoors European medieval feel of BG1 to the more Turkish and mostly indoor setting of BG2 to begin with. So with DS I get BG2 caliber spells and items in a setting that I like better.
Anyway, it's been surprisingly fun to play a game strictly as lawful good. I had never tried that before. The thief, for example, only steals from chests when in a hostile, evildoer environment (eg, bandit camp) after the party has defended itself. And, naturally, the party is always as helpful as it possibly can be to others, except perhaps when evil is detected.
I'm not into tedious mapclearing, so I limited the subquests to reputation raising ones and those needed to acquire the various items I wanted this party to have. Once the rep is heroic, and with the loot from the early plotline quests, you can afford to equip the party with all the great stuff at the temples. In fact I had the entire party extremely well appointed with all the paladin armor and weapons and (ditto for the cleric; even got the mage his Cloak of the Good Archmagi) before heading into the Cloakwood mines.
I avoid using the bow and crossbow unless I really have to. European medieval knights were not typically archers (heh, archers were), although they could well have had some training with the bow, obviously. So instead I have the pallies using melee weapons. So they are generally equipped with large sword, flail, axe, and war hammer, respectively.
I guess how satisfying an experience a game like this will be depends on one's affinity for Arthurian legend (knights engaged in noble quests, etc.). And again, the right portraits and soundsets can truly make this grand time if something like this is your cup of tea to begin with.
With six PCs you don't get the scripted NPC interactions, of course. But they do say their spiels for various situations quite often. They definitely have personalities.
I realize I'll probably have to temporarily drop a pally or two at times in order to complete the various DS quests. But that's fine. I love this party.
I finally got around to downloading DS a week or two ago and I'm kicking myself in the head for not having done it sooner. It definitely breathes a whole new life into the game. It inspired me to actually play a solo game again. I'm having an absolute blast playing the following 'Arthurian knights' style party: four paladins (protag is pally), a cleric-thief (NG, cheated him into a half-elf), mage (LG).
Arthur--large sword, bow
Lancelot--axe, large sword
Bors--spiked, spear
Gawain--blunt, missile (crossbow0
Percival--cleric-thief
Merlin--pure mage
This turned out to be superb choice for DS because some fantastic armor and weapons are available for paladins and clerics at the temples right from the start.
I found excellent knight portraits and soundsets to match them. This really deepens the game's medieval atmosphere. I have always preferred the sunny outdoors European medieval feel of BG1 to the more Turkish and mostly indoor setting of BG2 to begin with. So with DS I get BG2 caliber spells and items in a setting that I like better.
Anyway, it's been surprisingly fun to play a game strictly as lawful good. I had never tried that before. The thief, for example, only steals from chests when in a hostile, evildoer environment (eg, bandit camp) after the party has defended itself. And, naturally, the party is always as helpful as it possibly can be to others, except perhaps when evil is detected.
I'm not into tedious mapclearing, so I limited the subquests to reputation raising ones and those needed to acquire the various items I wanted this party to have. Once the rep is heroic, and with the loot from the early plotline quests, you can afford to equip the party with all the great stuff at the temples. In fact I had the entire party extremely well appointed with all the paladin armor and weapons and (ditto for the cleric; even got the mage his Cloak of the Good Archmagi) before heading into the Cloakwood mines.
I avoid using the bow and crossbow unless I really have to. European medieval knights were not typically archers (heh, archers were), although they could well have had some training with the bow, obviously. So instead I have the pallies using melee weapons. So they are generally equipped with large sword, flail, axe, and war hammer, respectively.
I guess how satisfying an experience a game like this will be depends on one's affinity for Arthurian legend (knights engaged in noble quests, etc.). And again, the right portraits and soundsets can truly make this grand time if something like this is your cup of tea to begin with.
With six PCs you don't get the scripted NPC interactions, of course. But they do say their spiels for various situations quite often. They definitely have personalities.
I realize I'll probably have to temporarily drop a pally or two at times in order to complete the various DS quests. But that's fine. I love this party.
