What’s the wildest run through you have done or others have done?
I have only completed it once. I have two more runs going but haven’t touched the game in months. Sadly, I’m fickle.
I watched a video of someone win just using mage hand. Some exploits but nothing that the game doesn’t allow.
I see someone trying to stealth the whole game but haven’t watched that yet.
Any others?
Thanks for the discussion!
12 levels 12 classes, I believe someone on youtube has done this run.
The “throwzerker” build is probably my favorite build I’ve done; never done a pure berzerker. Unlike fighter it doesn’t seem to benefit that much from the higher levels. Of course, the optimal power-gamer build isn’t the only way to play.
I guess it depends on how strict you are by “all-game”, but you can get something like +25 to stealth rolls with advantage. So you can stay in combat and kill everything without them reacting.
Further up thread there are links to a video where someone played the entire party as shapeshifted into cats.
And there’s also a link to one of a series of videos called “4 Halfling Barbarians.” Basically they murderhobo their way through the game.
CHK…
So my playthrough is as Conan…intending to romance that hot little frog warrior I met on the nautiloid. Find her in a cage. Get the idiots to lower her and she says “Fight me or them”…fuuuucccc
Ok, ill fight them and do non lethal attacks
I ACCIDENTALLY KNOCK Laezel out. We go to camp and the journal says “We left Laezel to her fate”…FUUUUUUUU
As i understand it, you meet her next at the Gith patrol and they almost certainly kill her and you cant revive her. So…load game.
This time i shoot at her cage from afar to free her. and the two tieflings immediatly attack me. OK fuck them. I tried. I could knock them out again but im over it.
Yes, I know you can just shooo the tieflings away but i wanted to try something different.
Good ones! I knew about the cat one but hadn’t watched it. I LOVE the 4 Halfling Barbarians! The way they just throw opponents around is awesome! I will have to both rewatch them and see if they have more.
@Pavelb1 Bummer on the Laezel issues! I think in my first playthrough, I didn’t even find her! I missed that clearing. I know, I know, search everything five times! I get caught up in the story and the rush and don’t always go back.
Thanks for the replies!
For people who have played through multiple times: do you actually follow the story again and again or is it more about playing combat with different classes/builds?
Rehearing the story I already know seems tedious to me and is keeping me from playing again using a different class (my first was a wizard so I would probably be more of a fighter this time) so I am curious about how others do it.
First runthrough I was a pally who romanced Shadowheart, took the underdark to get to the Shadowlands and killed Gortash first
next i was a Durge Sorc who romanced Minthara, took the mountain pass and killed Orin first…so it was basically a whole new game.
I’ve never only done one of the Underdark and mountain pass. I know Halsin talks it up as separate decisions, but it really isn’t. I debated it a lot my first run only to find out it wasn’t limiting.
There’s definitely differences to the story if you play it differently. Evil Durge vs good Tav is significantly different. However, the most you really diverge is probably like a third of the content. I mean, even if you side with the goblins against the grove, you probably still spent several hours walking around both places and chatting people up.
The game is better (for me at least) if you recruit no more than one companion. Do the main quests and that companion’s quests.
If you do all the companions and all the quests on one play through, there’s not much that’s different on another run.
I did a run:
Gnome Rogue/Barbarian: With the Underdark plus I killed Astarion; romanced Shadowheart
Halfling Bard: A run picking up content I missed the first time like the Pass and Astarion’s line; romanced Karlach with Astarion on the side
Dark Elf Druid: An evil run, aligning with the Absolute for much of it and companions’ evil resolutions if possible; romanced Minthara
Human Warlock: A Dark Urge (resist) run; romanced Wyll
Dwarf Cleric: An honor run but I died in the creche and called it quits (not rage, just that five runs in a row was plenty); was romancing Lae’zel
Each presented its own story to enough degree to keep it enjoyable.
There’s also doing an origin character run. I don’t believe there’s new story, but the romances can’t be gotten another way.
I agree with this. It’s why I’m glad I never signed up for beta/EA and waited for the release. I have now played parts of Act I (only) six times, to see things I missed in two of my runs, and it’s hard to go back to it because it seems the same.
(As an aside, Josh of Let’s Game It Out amazes me the time he is willing to put into a game, sometimes tens of hours for a five second YT clip.)
As @Pleonast said, maybe I need to try it with only one companion.
@Jophiel I’m impressed with the number of completed runs you did! I finished one but fizzled out at Baldur’s Gate with the second one. I have a third that either just got to BG or is in late Act II.
This is why I want a guide book for the game. The run I talked about where the player used only mage hand to finish the game had item locations memorized! They must have had thousands of hours in the game, if not more, and I can’t do that for whatever reason. They knew the items so well, they grabbed the ones that synergized perfectly for their needs. I can’t imagine knowing the game that well. Hence, guide book
Thanks for the discussion!
Hah, I was as well.
From 1 to 2, there was enough content I missed in 1 to make things “new” in each act.
From 2 to 3, an evil run is a bit shorter due to content you cut off which helped plus some shifted companions content if you go for Super Vampire Astarion and Dark Pope Shadowheart
From 3 to 4, you get some new stuff playing Dark Urge but mostly just camping scenes. To be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with Dark Urge but some people swear by it so I wanted to give it a go.
From 4 to 5, it’s really just mechanical changes in Honor mode and you’re worrying more about how to game the system than the story.
Things like “all cats” or “all Mage Hand” sound funny to watch clips of or hear about but I think I’d find playing it that way would get tedious in a hurry. Especially since I assume you’re relying on the same few tricks in most situations.
It is insane how much variance there is in this game from one playthrough to another. Sure, the main story remains relatively unchanged, but it’s pretty clear Larian thought about almost every single thing players might want to do/try and wrote more story around it.
I’m doing my first Dark Urge run right now and this is my thought so far (late act 2). I think it would add some extra flavour to an evil run, but that would be carried by the evil route more so than the Dark Urge story.
Man, I’m really annoyed right now. Just fought Auntie Ethel in Act 1, get her down so she starts the conversation. I successfully roll the check to get her to hand over her hair and Mayrina, then she restarts the fight and I have to kill her. That’s basically the equivalent of stealing a feat from me. Bah.
A little googling says this is because using guidance triggered her legendary ability. Ok, that’s horse shit.
Hilarious how Baezel starts her romance options with me right in front of everyone. “I want you! Your scent drives me crazy!” “I want you too!” “I will come for you and claim whats mine!”
The other three party members don’t say a word.
I’ve never romanced Laezel. Have flirted with her, Shart, and Karlach though and next long rest is the tiefling party so I need to make a decision. I’m planning on having her in my party pretty much the entire run so perhaps that would make sense.
I nearly ended an honor mode run in the dumbest way possible. In the creche, on the way to the blood of lathander, there are traps that can push you into a chasm. I disarmed one, and them moved all my characters up, to the area that was guarded by the trap. Due to me camera angle I accidentally moved them too far up to the next trap. 3 of my 4 characters were killed and the fourth landed right on the edge.