BG2 FAQ - Absolutely NO Spam Under any Circumstance

This FAQ is by no means near complete, but it's a startoff. Truth is, newbie members rarely actually take the time to follow the rules set by Buck and look up old threads to see if their problem has been mentioned in the past.

I have seen ten threads arise over the same question in many, many cases. Like questions on Jaheira's romance and which is the "ultimate party".

Well, this is just getting off on a good foot. If anybody cares to add-on to this thread with the many, many questions that often arise, or want to correct something I may have totally screwed up, then please feel free. Just try to keep the Layour similar to mine in order to make reading as simple as possible.



See the clean and neat FAQ here

GamePlay Questions


Q. Which is the better guild to join?

A. Even the most Lawful of the Paladins will have to side themselves with the criminals of the city. You'll have a choice of what criminal you'll want to align with, however.

An informant, Gaelan Bayle, will speak to you as soon as you enter the Slums district. He'll give you just enough information on Imoen and Irenecus to lure you into striking a deal with him and his "employer", whom he refuses to name. He asks you to raise a good amount of gold before he discloses who you'll be working with.

After you reach 15-20,000 gold and move districts through Athkatla, a woman will come find you during the night. Her name is Valen, and she tells you that her mistress is anxious to meet you. You can meet this woman in the Graveyard District only at night.

Most good/nuetral aligned parties take up on Gaelan Bayle's side, though you can have it any way you want and join with Valen's source. Just make sure that you know that Valen's way is a bit more darker (evil/nuetral parties, here's your calling), and Keldorn and Mazzy will leave your party if you join her.



Q. What's the fastest way to earn the 20,000 gold for the quest?

A. If you want to go straight through the game as fast as you can and skip along most of the sidequests, the fastest way is to help Nalia in the Copper Coronet by saving her keep. Before you go back to your informant - whomever he or she may be - you may want to check out the city before you move into the next stage of the game.



Q. How do I challenge Firkraag?

A. Firkraag, for those of you who think they're tough enough (Or for those of you who just really, *really* want Carsomyr), is in the Copper Coronet. Human stage, of course. He'll be standing in front of the Bar Keep, amidst the tables of patrons. He'll offer you a job on what he says is to clear out a bunch of monsters from his land. The plot unfolds from there.



Q. I'm looking for a challenge. Where do I go?

A. Well, there's the Den of Seven Vales in Wuakeen's Promenade for starters. Just run upstairs and face a group of rag-tag, experienced adventurers. You may also want to consider facing Kangaxx the Lich in the Docks, though it takes some time to gather the pieces for the quest. And for those who are feeling a bit suicidal, the Bridge District holds one of the top ten hardest fights in the game - the Twisted Rune. Just make sure you have a Rogue Stone to get in.



Q. Where are the four dragons in the game, and where and when do I face them?

A. You'll meet Firkraag in the Copper Coronet, as explained above. You don't absolutely have to face him, but it is kind of fun as he has some nice loot.

The Shadow Dragon, Thaxll'ssillyia, is in the Shadow Temple Ruins, after you've been to the Umar Hills. This Dragon can be avoided, but why wimp out once you've gotten that far?

Adalon, the Silver Dragon, is the key to getting out of the Underdark. You don't have to fight her - it's kind of reccomended you don't. How often do you meet a friendly Silver Dragon? - but you can if you're really up to it. Just make sure that you have a saved game before you give the Dragon Eggs to the Demon.

The Black Dragon Nizidramanii'yt is in Suldenessellar. He's tougher than the Shadow Dragon, and about on the same level as Firkraag. And yes, you do have to fight him. He holds the items you need to save the Elven city and reach Irenecus. He has some nice, fun stuff on his corpse, though.



Q. What's the cure for Vampirism? What do I do with the inflicted?

A. If Bodhi made off with your lover when you tried to get the Lanthorn, you have no choice but to kill them in the lower levels. When the fight is good and done, you will find some books in the room to the left. Those are quite vague on what you're supposed to do, but they basically say go to the temple in the Docks and talk to the monks. Overall, the big deal is taking the body of the inflicted up to the Shadow Temple Ruins and putting it in the arms of the statue of the woman towards the South. This will cure your inflicted and restore them to life.



Q. Why can't I leave the city to get to outter areas?

A. As addressed in GameBanshee's FAQ, this problem can be solved by going to Athkatla's city gates, leaving through the District Exit on the other side, and then moving on do the desired location. It should be avaliable then.



Q. What's with these stupid pantaloons?!

A. Trust me. You'll want to keep those.



Q. Where can I buy my Magic Licensce?

A. In the Council of Six Building over in the Government District, you'll find a Cowled Wizard who sells Magic Licensces for 5,000 gold. Not too much, considering how badly they want to be rid of magic, ne?



Q. Totemic Druids or Avengers?

A. Well, if you asked me, Totemics. Thier Spirit Animals hold off Vampies better than regular animal summons... But certain people who are completely against my cause would say Avengers. Not to name any names... *coughcoughYshaniacoughcough* Personally, I don't understand all the hype over 'em.




Q. What is the purpose of the Glyph of Warding spell if it deactivates as soon as you leave the area?

A. *shrugs*



Q. Is there any way I can keep my equipment when I import to SoA?

A. There is speculation that if you pause the game before the movie sequence starts, you can get into your inventory and put all your items on the ground. Not too sure about this one as I haven't gotten around to testing it yet.

FAQ: Importing BG1 character with equipment into SoA

It's not speculation. Import your BG1 character and start a new game. As soon as the game loads and the screen goes black hit your [Space Bar] to pause the game. Now you will see the small icon of your character in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Click on the icon to open the inventory and drop everything on the ground. Now hit [Space Bar] again to resume play. The opening scene movie will play and once you have regained control of your character click on him again to open his inventory. You will find him standing on the pile of equipment that you dropped. Another way of doing this is to start the game in multiplayer mode. You can use the same trick as before or if you miss time the pause just let it load. Once the game is running just go into the Character Arbitration screen and delete your main character, select the Create Character button for the main character slot and then import your BG1 character again with all his equipment.

Actually if you play it right you can get two strongholds as a fighter/thief or fighter/mage. The trick is to do Nalia's Keep first and when done don't accept her offer to become the new lord of the keep. If you chose the correct dialog and don't turn her down outright Nalia will tell you she will wait for your decision. Now go and do the Mae'var thief guild quest or the Planar Sphere quest depending on your dual/multi alignment and complete it. Once you are the new master of the Planar Sphere or Thieves Guild you can go back to Nalia (standing in front of her drawbridge) and tell her you accept her offer. You now have two strongholds without resorting to a mod. Also these are among the best strongholds to have in the game for gold or other benefits.

Humans are able to dualclass. For example, you could be a kensai and then dualclass to a mage. Alas, you cannot dualclass from paladin to monk.

However, there are several game editors available on the net that allow you to change many things about your pc or npc's. Using Shadowkeeper, for example, you could change your paladin to a monk.
Sometimes tricks like these can get you into trouble. Just changing your paladin into monk won't be enough, you'll also have to consider differences in thac0, hitpoints, proficiencies, resistances etc. Also, changing your npc's might cause some problems, I've screwed up at least one romance because of my meddling.

Just a little correction: It is not necessary to fight the Black Dragon in Suldanessalar, you can convince him that working for Irenicus is of no advantage to him if your charisma is high enough.

Sorry if people consider this spamming, but just as a side not most dragons and high level Non-plot important bosses (Shadow Dragon, but not Bodhi) and such are quite easy to kill (Firkraag Esp.) with

Increase Magic Resistance (A dragons is At 90% so if you increase it it goes over 100%, If you read the spell description, this actually sets it to about 0-20% depending on your level it also does not aggro if you do this to it

Greater Malison (Lvl 4 Spell) (lowers saving throws by 4) You do this and it DOES aggro... since its an attack spell

Doom(LVL 1 Spell) (Lowers Saving throws by 2)

Chromatic orb (LVL 1 spell!) (Character must be at least lvl 12) At this level if a creature fails his save at +6 bonus, he is killed instantly... well if you have a mage or two just nail the dragon till he fails that save. Any lower than lvl 12 and the dragon is petrified (No loot!) paralyzed... (He comes out of it after a couple of rounds) Blinded, etc.
OR
Finger of death (This spell is lvl 7 for priests but doesn't give the creature that saving throw bonus)
Note when I say LVl 1 spell I mean spell level 1, not character level one... they are different things for all those n00bs out there.

And if you already know about this, dont send me spam about your incredible BG knowledge

Party Questions


Q. Which is the best of the three Clerics to take with your party?

A. That depends on what you're looking for in a cleric. You may want one that is flexible with your party's alignment. For Good/Good-Nuetral parties, you would probably consider Aerie or Anomen. Evil/Evil-Nuetral parties would best be off with taking Viconia, and in some cases Anomen depending on how you want to play it.

If alignment means squat to you, however, then you can focus more on the character's classes. If you want a major spellcaster that will sit in back, then Aerie's Mage spells along with her Cleric ones would be a prime choice. If you're looking for a front-line fighter, then consider Anomen, who was dualed from a Fighter at level 7 and can use healing spells during combat. If you're looking for a flat-out healer/summoner who would focus on spell casting and in some cases be a side-line fighter, Viconia's high magic resistance would fit the qualifications.

Essentially, there is no perfect choice. It depends on what your party's balance is of fighters and spell casters. Different Clerics have thier own special abilities that may or may not be useful to your group. The best choice is to experiment and see which does the job that needs to be done.



Q. Which is the best romance?

A. The age-old debate. In Baldur's Gate 2,there are four romances. Three of them are female, only one male. The Druid Jaheira and the Clerics Aerie, Viconia, and Anomen. Some romances are more focused than others, and each has thier own style. The rundown:

• Jaheira - Probably the most solid, longest and most confusing of the relationships. Jahiera is getting over the loss of her husband and is pretty much measuring you up to see how you compare to her standards. She's tough and pretty hard to get though to, but probably the most fun romance.
  
• Aerie - A shy, quiet girl. The romance isn't as focused as the others, and mostly you'll have to sit and listen to a lot of her personal angst and rants. Not the most interesting overall, but some people would disagree. Especially those who have also had Hear'Dalis in the party while romancing Arie.
  
• Anomen - The only romance option for female Players without the aid of mods. Not as compicated as Jaheira, but still as frusterating as all heck. You'll have to wade through a bunch of exaggerated stories of heroism from him, and he'll mark down your history with Sarevok as just hear-say and rumors. But if you work with him and his sidequest, you can reshape his persona to fit your liking.
  
• Viconia - The famous, sharp-tounged Drow from BG1. An important thing to note is that Viconia will not romance PCs who are Elves. This romance, as told to me by others, is fun as you get to snap back at her every so often after some of her remarks on you. She'll begin to respect you for it, but don't get too carried away. Viconia is a major favorite among the romances.

Please note that there are some wonderful Mods and add-ons like Kelsey and Tashia that can be installed in BG2 that aren't included here.



Q. Which stronghold is the most fun?

A. Another good question. They're all fun to try, but for length and profit, you'd go Fighter with Nalia's Keep. You don't have to have Nalia in your party: just clear the place out. If your PC is a Fighter, Barbarian, Monk or Subclass, she will offer you control of the place. You get to make major decisions, collect taxes, and have full run of the whole nine yards. Fun.

Wizards who do Valygar Corthala's quest will inherit the Planar Sphere. This stronghold comes later in the game, but you get to train three apprentices in the art of magic. They will craft magical items that you request, but beware as they can die in the process. This tends to make the Cowled Wizards a little uneasy about you. The best idea is to consult GameBanshee's guide on the way things work.

A level 14 Druid can challenge for control of the Groves that are being overrun by Faldorn and the Shadow Druids. Once you've become the Arch Druid you'll be consulted by an informant when you're needed at the Groves for help. Descent stronghold, but not too rewarding.

Paladins get quests for the Radiant Heart. A series of tests will be pressed on you after you've killed Firkraag, and it's a lot of running this way and that. It's reccomended you consult GameBanshee's Quest guide for more help. Some nice rewards with this one.

Priests get to dig around thier respective Churches. The Temple of Helm will recruit you (Not depending on your alignment - it's always Helm) and send you down into the Sewers. Deal with the mess there, then go and find your respective church. From there on out you will recieve your jobs. Consult GameBanshee for more information.

These are just a few of the strongholds. The Quest Page can be located at http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgateii/quests.php .



Q. Who should I take in my party?

A. ....... Don't ask me this. Please, don't. If you really want advice on what other people say is the "perfect party", then you can go dig up an old thread in the forums. If you want to play the game like a true Role Player, pick up characters as you go along and see what works best for you. You can't keep all of them, and you probably won't want to, but experiment with different characters. You may take a full six people, or you may solo with your PC. There is no such things as an unltimate killing party. You may load up with six warriors, or you may go one warrior and five mages.

A balanced party usually goes 2 Fighters of some type, 2 mages, a Thief and a cleric. Feel free to change the formula as you choose. The typical good/nuetral party [before you get Imoen back] usually goes with Minsc, Jaheira, Anomen, Yoshimo, and Nalia with the PC. If your PC is a Thief, then throw out Yoshimo and take a mage like Edwin. Don't like Anomen? Take Viconia instead. Have a bias against Miniature Giant Space Hamsters? Trade Minsc for Valygar or Keldorn. Whatever you feel like.

Just be aware that not all NPCs care for your choice in other party members.



Q. What party members don't get along?

A. A quick runthrough for the major ones. Keldorn or Valygar will slay Viconia if they're together in a party. If you make Anomen fail his test, he will attack Keldorn and Aerie (She can be revived, unlike the others). Valygar, Keldorn, and Minsc will break away from the party to kill Edwin if he is present. Korgan will kill Aerie.

Jan comes close many, MANY times, but nobody ever actually attacks him.



Q. Which characters make for the most amusing party?

A. Mixing and matching personas can be fun. Dialogs that won't lead to sure death like the ones above can be very amusing, especially if they come up in a rather tense period in the game.

For the most amusing (and longest) dialogs, you'd probably want Jan Janson in your group. He'll make jokes on everybody, including Keldorn, Valygar, and even the Player. Only Viconia and Mazzy can really match wits with him. Anomen gets in conflicts with a good number of characters (Jan, Hear'Dalis, occasionally Player Character), especially if he failed his test. Unsurprisingly, Imoen has enough tact to sweet talk the entire cast of NPCs... Even Korgan. If you want to have a little fun with a mismatched group of alignments, here's your couple. The only way to have the most fun is to really sit and wait to see what your party comes up with.



Q. My character is Dual/multi classed. Will I get two strongholds?

A. No. A Dual-classed character will get the Quest for the class he is currently active in. I.E. a Fighter-gone-Mage will get the Planar Sphere. Not Nalia's Keep. Multi classed charactors such as Fighter/Mages will get whichever Quest he addresses first. If he does Nalia's Keep and accepts it first, he will not inherit the Planar Sphere.



Q. When should I dual my PC?

A. You'll usually want to dual in the level 14-16, simply because it takes too long to catch up to your previous class if you do it any later. But if you're really sick of your first class, or have maxed on XP, go ahead and Dual.


Q. Who did the NPC voices for BG2?

A. Jcompton has posted the master list of NPC, minor character, and background character voices at http://gamebanshee.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24510.


Q. Can NPCs get familiars?

A. Nope. Only the Protagonist can summon a familiar. Though only mages are supposed to be able to do it, any PC can with a little cheese. Consult our local cheesemaster UserUnfriendly on how to cast spellscrolls using potions.

NPCs

Q. Where Are the NPCs? How do I Get Them?

To acquire Imoen, Minsc, and Jaheira, just sit through the movie sequence in the beginning of the game. Imoen will release you from your cage, and to the North Jahiera and Minsc are also being held. The key to Jaheira's cage is to the room that Imoen came from (The one with the Golem). The key will be in there. Meanwhile, Minsc's cage has been forged closed, you you must "insult" him into overpowering the bars. Just don't get carried away.

Yoshimo is being held in the lower layers of Irenecus' layer. When you step through the portal the first time, he will automatically encounter your party.

Aerie is in Waukeens Promenade, the Athkatlian district you are in as soon as you leave Irenecus' layer. Find the circus tent with the guard outside, convince him to let you in, and procede until you meet with an Ogre in the tent.

You can find Korgan, Nalia, and Anomen in the Slums district, in a building called The Copper Coronet. Nalia and Korgan will have quests that you will have to address up-front to get them to stay in your party, while Anomen's quest will occur later on.

Viconia DeVir and Jan Jansen can both can be found in the Government district. Both of these charactors have quests that will have to be completed up front (Especially in Viconia's case) before they will join with you. Following that, Jan has a larger quest.

Follwing the quest given to you by the Temple of Helm in the Temple district, you will meet up with the paladin Keldorn Firecam[U/] in the sewers. Take care of the Unseeing Eye quest, and he will accept your invite into the party. If you decide to delay his joining with you, he will be in the Radiant Heart afterwards.

To get Haer Dalis', go to the Playhouse in the Bridge district. Go downstairs and witness a would-be play in action. Following the actress' request for a group of adventurers, procede to the backstage for information on the bard. He can be found in Mekrath's Tower, and will join you after you kill Mekrath.

Edwin Odesseiron, the red mage from BG1, will join with your party after you've initiated in dialog with Mea'Var in his giuld in the Docks district and perform a series of quests.

Mazzy Fentan, Cernd, and Valygar Corthala are more difficult to find. Mazzy is being held hostage in the Shadow Temple Ruins. Cernd is in Mayor Logan's dungeon in Trademeet. Valygar is hiding in his home in the Umar Hills.

By the time you find the above three NPCs, you will probably have already gotten your party formed and trained. If you're interested in any of them, you'd probably do best to hunt them down early in Chapter 2 before waiting until you encounter them during your free time.

Random Questions and Buggy Things

Q. Who is Malchor Harpell? Why does he follow me, and why can't I kill him?

A. Harpell is one of those cheese charactors in the game. If you decided to slay Drizzt the Drow after you left the Elf camp outside the Underdark, Harpell will come to you and take Drizzt's stuff off your hands. However, should you have spawned Drizzt's weapons into your inventory at some point during the game, Harpell will always follow you, saying nothing and being immortal. THe only way to get rid of him (that I'm aware of) is to drop Drizzt's belongings and move on.

Q. How do you make Dog Stew? Why and how do you use it?

A. Dog Stew is one of those stupid little ways to avoid a tough fight early in the game. Nalia's "cellar" (dungeon) is home to a few Umberhulk. Instead of fighting them, go up to the roof (You have to, anyway) and kill the four guard dogs for their meat. Run back downstairs to the kitchen area and boil the meat into a dog stew at the stove.
Back in the dungeon send your invisible or sneaking charactor with the dog stew ahead into the room of umberhulks and down the first hallway to the South. You'll reach a pit at the end, where your charactor will quickly dump the dog stew and run for his or her dear life. Return to the party and seal the gated doors for an XP boost.

(I'm still working on this. )

Aqua you might want to add a table of contents to the first post, people who wont use the search function rarely have the patience to read through all of that to find what they need.

Q: What are the reward for the trials in hell

A:
Test of Pride
Good Route: +20% fire, cold and electricity resistance
Evil: +200000 Exp to progagonist only AND the loot from the dragon: Robe of the Evil Archmagi, Ring of Protection +2, 20 Arrows of Dispelling, some lvl 9 scrolls

Fear
Good: immunity to normal and +1 weapons
Evil: +2 Constitution and the Cloak of Bravery

Selfish
Good: -2 Max HP, -1 Dexterity, -50000 EXP to protagonist, +10% Magic resistance
Evil: +2 AC, lose a party member. On normal and easy difficulties, the party member can be resurrected. If you solo, an innocent bystander gets sacrificed instead.

Greed
Good: +2 to saving throws
Evil: +15 Max HP, Blackrazor (one of the best weapons in the game)
Note: If you pickpocet the tear off the genie, you get the good reward and naturally, can keep the sword

Sarevok
Good: +1 Wisdom and Charisma
Evil: +2 Strength (the strengh stacks with strenght girdles)

All right now. A table has been created that includes all Q/A listed in this thread. It'all formatted and ready to be posted, but there is a slight issue. AC was a bit absentminded as she formatted the FAQ in Microsoft Word form (.doc) when Game Banshee only allows .txt documents to be uploaded to the server.

*headdesk*

So, I'll get back to reformatting later today or find a way around this dillemma. The document should be avaliable in a convenient, updatable form soon enough, so if anyone has anything they'd like on version 1.0 before it becomes public, post away.

That's not true, Aerie will announce some time she'll leave the party if <charname> doesn't kick out Korgan within a day. If you decide to keep Korgan Aerie will leave the party, the'll never fight each other.

Q How do you make an entire party of custom-made Characters via Multi-Player

A Go in the main menu of BG2, then choose Multi-Player. Then click on "Connect" (It won't connect you to anything). Now, click on "Protocol" and choose "Serial" (I never tried with the others). Then come back to the previous menu and use "Create Game" to create a multiplayer session. Then you can edit your own name, the name and the password of your game. You can decide if you want to load a multi-player game or if you want to make a new one. Choose the option "New Game". There will be a new screen with 6 "Character Slots", now just create each of your Characters (You can only create 2 or 3, you doesn't need to create 6 Char.). After you have created your characters, just press on each check mark near each Characters.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the (finally) updated and clean-cut FAQ can now be located here.

And it only took me about four months!

Because the area is now seperate this thread no longer must be so strict in the anti-spam department. Still, try to keep it respectable so I can pick out new questions for later versions of the FAQ.

I just tried to access that online, updated and clean-cut FAQ of yours, milady, but it will not load properly for me.

Um, me too. Standard 'page cannot be found' error .

An over-asked and under-answered question.

Q: How do I keep my imported character's experience at the amount with which I finished with in BG1?

A: Export your desired character in a character file other than Char1. After that, save that character file through the BG2 character viewer into BG2. Finally, import said character file into a new BG2 game. Presto! You're character's at the very experience - and level - that you had in BG1!

My guess is that Vicsun's server has relocated or lost the file. I'll bug him about it and update the document ASAP.

Post removed. Remember, this is for discussion of a FAQ. If you have a separate question, please use search, and the walkthrough. If nothing helps, then start a new thread.