Component
Summary
This
component enhances the
AI
and the combat prowess of all Shadow Thief opponents which the
party faces after siding with
Bodhi at the end of
Chapter 2. At the same time, it introduces a stealth path which
allows the player to avoid all combat encounters with the Shadow
Thieves save
for the final battle with Aran Linvail and his personal guards.
Furthermore, it allows single-classed Thief protagonists to
side with Bodhi in Chapter 2, provided that at least one of their
mental
attributes (Intelligence,
Wisdom or Charisma) is above average (higher than 12) or that their
Lore
score is higher than 24. This componet also allows the player to keep
the thief stronghold even if he sides with Bodhi. Finally, this
component also improves the
AI
of the Shadow
Thief allies which come to the party's aid in
Chapter 6 in case the player sides with Aran Linvail and requests his
assistance.
Shadow Thief Improvements
In
Chapter 2 of Baldur's Gate 2 the player is given a choice - to join the
Shadow Thieves and go up against Bodhi's vampires or to side with Bodhi and
fight the Shadow Thieves. Fact is, the Shadow Thief guild offered very
little challenge to the player, especially when compared to Bodhi's
vampire-infested lair. As it is hard to believe that the Shadowmaster would send some
inexperienced pickpockets after the people who ultimately seek to
destroy his entire guild, this component will enhance the
AI and the combat prowess of all Shadow
Thief opponents which the player may face while working for Bodhi.
Note:
the enhanced combat encounters may prove difficult for low-level
parties or solo characters. Therefore, it is recommended to use a full six-person party with a minimum of 750,000 XP
per character.
The stealth path
This component also introduces a special stealth path which
allows the player to avoid all combat encounters with the Shadow
Thieves save
for the final battle with Aran Linvail and his five personal
guards (those
who reside within Aran's inner sanctum). Every other combat encounter
can be completely avoided through stealth. For example, it is now
possible to pickpocket the smuggled shipment from Mook and steal the
guildhall basement key from Gaelan Bayle without provoking a fight.
Generally, this approach focuses on utilizing stealth and illusionary
magic in order to avoid unnecessary combat situations. In effect, this
allows stealthy
players to complete all of Bodhi's tasks without killing more than 6
people. Detailed instructions for following the stealth path are
provided in the following walkthrough sections and
are marked in
italic text.
Difficulty level
scaling
The Shadow Thief opponents will adjust their spell, item and ability usage according to the
game difficulty level which can be set in the Gameplay subsection of
the Options menu. These adjustments are reflected as follows:
- On the "Core
Rules"
difficulty level and higher the opponents will act to the best
of
their ability, using all spells, items and special abilities which are
at their disposal.
- On the "Normal"
difficulty level melee Shadow Thief opponents will backstab
less
frequently and use
fewer offensive spell scrolls. Ranged Shadow Thief opponents will not
use their most powerful ammo stacks. The guildhall mages and priests
will not use their
most powerful offensive spells.
- On the "Novice"
difficulty level melee Shadow Thief opponents will rarely
backstab
and use only non-offensive spell scrolls. Ranged Shadow Thief opponents
will only use their least powerful ammo stacks. The guildhall mages and
priests will only
use low-level offensive spells.
Basic Shadow
Thief opponents
The
majority of the regular Shadow Thief opponents have been completely
revised. These characters are now generally defined as low level
Fighter/Thieves
(dual-class) and they have been given a couple of Invisibility Potions
along with a few Potions of Extra Healing to make them slightly more formidable.
All of these characters have the standard attributes and traits that a
regular
PC
of their level would have. This means that they have no unexplainable
immunities, inappropriately high attribute values nor unreasonable
AC,
THAC0
and hit point values. They wield mundane (non-magical) weapons
and wear non-enchanted armor. Their main tactic is to drink Potions of
Invisibility and backstab the most susceptible opponent. When
severely injured, they will attempt to flee and heal themselves using
Potions of Extra Healing. The melee backstabbers are often
accompanied by ranged
supporters which are defined as either multi or dual-classed
Fighter/Thieves, depending on their race. The ranged attackers wield
bows or poisoned throwing daggers. They usually employ
non-magical ammo though they may occasionally use Arrows and Bolts of
Biting as well. If,
for any reason, the thieves lose track of their opponents they will
wander around and search for them while occasionally using their Detect
Illusion skill should they suspect
that the party members became invisible. They will also use the Detect
Illusion skill in an attempt to dispel illusionary protections
(Blur, Mirror Image, Improved Invisibility) and illusionary clones
(Mislead, Project Image) should their targets employ them. Furthermore,
whenever a
Shadow
Thief opponent leaves the party's line of sight he will attempt to hide
in shadows and sneak back. Note that the Detect Illusion and Hide
actions both require proper skill checks, which ensures that the
opponents play fair and behave exactly like
PC
thieves. This also means that they may occasionally fail while
attempting to carry out these activities. Furthermore, roughly one
third of the Shadow
Thieves have a few
low-level spell scrolls (arcane spells of level 3 and below) at their
disposal and
they will attempt to use them in accordance to
PnP
rules. This means that only
thieves of level 10 or higher can use scrolls and that they have a
25% chance of spellcasting failure whenever they attempt to do so. In
addition, even the spells which opponents cast form scrolls can be
disrupted through damage and are subject to spell failure.
Advanced
Shadow Thief opponents
Beside
these regular characters, you will face some more experienced Shadow
Thieves in the inner circles of the guild. They usually wear
more
distinctive clothing and are named appropriately to mark their higher
status. Such characters are also dual-classed Fighter/Thieves but of a
slightly
higher level (7-13) with some minor variations. In the inner chambers
of the guild you may also encounter Kara-Tur mercenaries (Kensai/Thieves) or
Assassins who will occasionally employ their innate abilities. They
are sometimes accompanied by Zhentarim mercenaries (Mages)
and Priests of Mask (multi-classed Cleric/Mages). All of these
opponents also have a slightly better potion and spell scroll
selection.
Note that the spellcasting opponents which are introduced by this
component
never use forced casting, non-disruptable spells or any similarly
cheesy tactics. In addition, when enemy mages employ spell sequencers
and
contingencies, they are bound by the same limitations that are
presented to the player's party. This means that a mage opponent
(depending on his level) may have at most one Minor Sequencer, one
regular Sequencer, one Spell Trigger, one regular Contingency and one
Chain Contingency at his disposal. It also means that enemy
spellcasters can
only trigger their Contingencies under the conditions which are
available to the player i.e. "When Hit", "See Enemy", "Hit Points at
50%", "Hit Points at 25%", "Hit Points at 10%", "Helpless" and
"Poisoned". Furthermore, spellcasting opponents
which are present in this component don't normally pre-cast their
spells in order to simulate pre-battle preparations. However, under a
single, unique condition a one time pre-cast sequence can occur - if
the guildhall basement has been breached and the alarm has been
sounded. In that special case, all mages in that area will cast a few
long lasting spells like Stoneskin and Mage Armor upon hearing the
alarm in order to reflect their awareness of an impending attack.
Naturally, if the stealth path is taken, the alarm won't be raised and
the spellcasters won't be warned.
Whenever
an invisible party member passes near an opponent who is not actively
engaged in battle (and thus unaware of his presence) the opponent makes
a check against the Move Silently skill of that party member. If the
Move Silently score of the passing character is too low (or
non-existent) a spellcasting opponent may become suspicious of the
noise and attempt to cast a divination spell (but only if he has one
memorized). Similarly, a Thief opponent will attempt to use his Detect
Illusion skill in such a situation. In case the party member is both
invisible and silenced (i.e. by the level 2 priest spell Silence 15'
Radius) opponents will automatically fail their Move Silently checks
and completely ignore the presence of that party member unless they are
attacked. Note: during the stealth path opponents will ignore invisible
party members regardless of their Move Silently score unless the alarm
has been raised.
Although most of the
regular guild
characters have been kept at relatively low levels, the notable
exceptions are the distinctly named group leaders like Haz, Booter and
Dedral. Some of them actually had to be toned down a bit (i.e. Dedral
was defined as a level 21 Fighter by the Bioware developers) since I
wanted all of the guild characters (including the leaders and Aran) to
fit under the old
BG2:SoA
experience cap (2,950,000
XP
). These
characters also provide a bit of extra treasure. For example, the
Plaguebearer and Longtooth daggers can be taken from Booter while Aran
now wields the revised Short Sword of Backstabbing.
The Ambush
outside of the Shadow
Thief guildhall
After
accepting Bodhi's proposal and entering the Docks District you will
encounter the first of the improved Shadow Thief opponents near the
guildhall entrance. If you are seen by one of the Shadow Thief Sentries
a short dialogue sequence will start and an ambush will ensue.
Stealth path note: you can avoid the ambush by either making all of your party
members invisible and walking past the Sentries or by simply taking the
alternate route to Mook over the rooftops on the right side of the map
and past Maevar's guildhall.
In
case you trigger the ambush the party will be attacked by three Shadow Thief
Sentries (since one of them guards each guildhall entrance) and six
Shadow Thieves (of which three use ranged attacks while the rest fight
in melee and attempt to backstab the party). The easiest way to deal with the
regular Shadow Thief opponents is to cast a few disabling or
mind-affecting spells on them. For example, each of the following
spells can be very helpful: Entanglement, Grease, Blindness, Spook,
Charm Person, Glitterdust, Horror, Web, Hold-Person, Slow, Confusion,
Chaos, Emotion:Hopelesness, Greater Command, Domination... etc. Furthermore,
as all of the regular Shadow Thieves use mundane (non-magical) weapons,
summoning a Lesser Fire Elemental (or any other creature immune to
normal weapons) or casting Protection From Normal Weapons on your
characters will render their weapons harmless.
In
order to complete the first task for Bodhi you need to acquire the
Smuggled Shipment crate. This can be accomplished by either
defeating
Mook
and her companions in combat, or by simply pickpocketing her in case
you prefer a stealthy, non-violent solution. In case Mook manages
to spot you she will call for reinforcements and a battle will ensue.
Since Mook is a
Fighter/Thief, pickpocketing
her will be somewhat more difficult than stealing from commoners or
other
non-thieves (minimum 60% Pickpocket skill required).
Stealth path note:
in order to avoid getting spotted, the character who is going to make
the pickpocket attempt must approach the target alone and be under the
effects of improved invisibility. Therefore, you need to use one
of the spells or items which grant the
improved
invisibility effect (i.e. Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Mass
Invisibility, Mislead, Ring of Air Control... etc.) on that character
before entering the visual range of the target. If the pickpocket
attempt is successful, any Shadow Thief opponents who may be nearby
will temporarily
ignore the character's presence
unless they are provoked by an attack.
Assulting
the main and top floors of the guildhall
The
interior of the guildhall hosts a number of opponents who are more
powerful than the
regular Shadow Thieves which can be encountered outside. Expect to
encounter Zhentarim mages, Kara-Tur mercenaries (Kensai/Thieves)
and Assassins.
Stealth path note: if
you enter the main or the top floor of the guildhall with your entire
party invisible, the opponents who are present there will not react until you
reveal yourself. Therefore, it is possible to sneak past the
guildhall guards and reach the captured informant
on the top floor completely unnoticed.
In order to do this, the entire
party must be invisible before entering the
guildhall. Once you get to Palern, you can help him escape
without alarming the guards by either giving him a Potion of
Invisibility (you need to talk to him in
order to do that) or by casting an Invisibility spell on him.
Be careful though, both of these actions will break your own
invisibility,
so make sure to re-apply it before re-entering the guards' line of
sight. Alternatively, you can kill the guards or simply kill
Palern. Either
one of these options will complete the quest, however, you will get less XP if you choose to kill Palern.Note
that the Zhentarim mages who guard these areas have very few hit points
so, in most cases, firing off a couple of Magic Missile
barrages
before their spell protections are up is more than enough to take them
down. However, if one of these mages manages to spot you, she will
fire off Contingency (Stoneskin) and Spell Sequencer which contains
Haste, Improved Invisibility and Mirror Image. The Haste spell will
affect all nearby Shadow Thief opponents so make sure to counter that
with either a Dispel/Remove Magic or a Slow spell. Be wary of the
special abilities which are employed by the Kara-Tur Mercenaries (Kai)
and Assassins (Poison Weapon). These abilities can be very dangerous
when combined with their backstabs.
In
order to enter the guildhall basement you will need the Shadow
Thief Cellar key which can be either pickpocketed or taken by force
from Gaelan Bayle. In order to successfully steal the key from Gaelan
your entire party must enter his house under the effects of either
invisibility, improved invisibility or stealth. In case Gaelan manages
to spot you he will call for reinforcements and a battle will ensue.
Since Gaelan is an experienced
thief, pickpocketing
him will be somewhat more difficult than stealing from commoners or
other
non-thieves (minimum 70% Pickpocket skill required).
Stealth path note: In order to avoid
getting spotted, the character who is going to make the pickpocket
attempt must approach the target alone and be under the effects of
improved invisibility. Therefore, you need to use one of the spells or
items which grant the
improved
invisibility effect (i.e. Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Mass
Invisibility, Mislead, Ring of Air Control... etc.) on that character
before entering the visual range of the target. If the pickpocket
attempt is successful, any Shadow Thief opponents who may be nearby
will temporarily
ignore the character's presence
unless they are provoked by an attack.
Descending
to the guildhall basement
Stealth path note: be sure to rest and carefully pick your spells before descending to the
lowest level of the Shadow Thief guildhall. Unless
the entire party enters the basement under the effects of invisibility,
an alarm will be triggered and all of the guildhall exits will be
sealed. Furthermore, taking any hostile actions (or triggering certain
traps) while following the stealth path will raise the alarm. After the
alarm is sounded
you will not be able to escape until
you've dealt with Aran Linvail.
Unless you've taken the stealth path, the party will immediately be
attacked by a group of Shadow Thieves and a
Priestess of Mask. The priestess will
attempt to heal and support her allies to the best of her ability
should they fall
under the effects of fear, blindness, feeblemind, poison or
paralyzation. Otherwise,
she will primarily cast mind-affecting spells on your party members.
Note that the priestess has very few hit points and, in most
cases, firing off a couple of Magic Missile barrages before
their
spell
protections are up is more than enough to take her down. After you've
dealt
with the initial attack you may want to enter Booter's torture
chamber in order to pick up his key in order to free Tizzak (Bodhi's
agent)
though this is not necesarry for progressing toward the other parts of
the guild. If any of
your characters are skilled in Pickpocketing, you can attempt to
steal the key from Booter. However, since Booter is an experienced
Fighter/Thief, pickpocketing
him will be much more difficult than stealing from commoners or other
non-thieves (minimum 90% Pickpocket skill required).
Stealth path note: In order to avoid
getting spotted, the character who is going to make the pickpocket
attempt must approach the target alone and be under the effects of
improved invisibility. Therefore, you need to use one of the spells or
items which grant the
improved
invisibility effect (i.e. Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Mass
Invisibility, Mislead, Ring of Air Control... etc.) on that character
before entering the visual range of the target. If the pickpocket
attempt is successful, any Shadow Thief opponents who may be nearby
will temporarily
ignore the character's presence
unless they are provoked by an attack.
Before proceeding
further, beware, as many areas of the guildhall basement now
contain dangerous traps.
Although all of these traps can be detected and disarmed they do have
fairly high requirements (80-99% in the Find/Disarm Traps
skill). Some of the traps will even
reset until they are successfully disarmed, which means that you could
activate the same trap multiple times if you are not careful. If your
thieves have problems finding the traps, remember that Potions of
Perception can help them to spot and disarm traps more easily. A few
such potions are scattered throughout the basement's containers. The
easiest way to handle the traps is to use a Potion of Invisibility on
your thief and send him to disarm them one by one while he remains
unnoticed by any enemies that might be nearby. Note that
the contents of some mechanical
traps can be recovered if they are successfully disarmed. For
example, disarming a "Poisoned Dart" trap yields 10 Darts of
Wounding.
The
secret
corridor which leads to Aran's chamber has been heavily trapped and is guarded by several Clay Golems. Note that
you need at least a +2 enchanted blunt weapon in order to damage these
golems. Coincidentally, one of
the tables in Booter's torture chamber holds a Warhammer +2 and Haz
(Aran's advisor) wields a Staff-Mace +2, so the best way to handle the
golems might be to wait until you've dealt with both Booter and Haz
and
acquired these weapons. Also, one of the crates in the room where Dedral and his companions attempt to ambush you holds
a Potion of Absorption which can make dealing with the golems much
easier as it provides a +10
AC
bonus against their (blunt) attacks. That potion also grants 100%
electrical
resistance which can be useful for traversing the narrow
corridors
filled
with lightning traps.
Stealth path note:
there is an even easier way to deal with the Clay Golems. Dedral, the
leader of the Shadow Thief ambushers, carries one of Haz's Control
Rods, an item which can influence the hostility level of the guildhall
Golems. If any of your characters are skilled in pickpocketing, and if
you are quick enough, you can attempt to steal the Control Rod
from Dedral.
In order to prevent Dedral from noticing the theft, the
character
who is going to make the pickpocket attempt must be under the effects
of improved invisibility. If you are unable to steal the
rod from Dedral,
you can
loot it from his corpse after defeating him in battle. Once you acquire
the rod, equip
it in the primary weapon slot and let the character who is wielding it
walk up to a Golem. The construct will recognize the insignia of its
master and immediately deactivate. Note that Golems actually have to
see the character who is wielding the rod, so an invisible character
would be unable to deactivate them. Naturally, it is impossible to
deactivate a Golem while it is in the proximity of its maker, so
attempting to do this to the Golems in Haz's chamber is quite futile. Furthermore, note that attacking
deactivated Golems will make them resume their standard combat routine.
While
you are advancing towards Haz's chamber you fill also face several
Shadow
Thieves wielding shortbows on the nearby platforms. Beware that every
one of them possesses a single
Arrow of Detonation and several Arrows of Fire. Daedral, one of the
higher ranking Shadow Thieves, guards this passage and, if he
manages to spot you, he will set up an ambush. This ambush can be
completely avoided by making all of your characters invisible (or
hidden) and simply walking past the area where it is triggered (the
room with the crates and the dark passages). Aran's advisor, Haz, holds
the key to the inner sanctum but his chamber is well guarded. If any of
your characters are skilled in Pickpocketing, you can attempt to steal
the key from Haz.
Stealth path note: In order to avoid
getting spotted, the character who is going to make the pickpocket
attempt must approach the target alone and be under the effects of
improved invisibility. Therefore, you need to use one of the spells or
items which grant the
improved
invisibility effect (i.e. Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Mass
Invisibility, Mislead, Ring of Air Control... etc.) on that character
before entering the visual range of the target. If the pickpocket
attempt is successful, any Shadow Thief opponents who may be nearby
will temporarily
ignore the character's presence
unless they are provoked by an attack.
Facing Aran
Linvail
Aran
Linvail's
AI
script has been greatly improved and his equipment and his class
have been slightly revised as well. He is
now a
dual-classed Illusionist(14)/Thief(16) and dual-wields the revised
Short Sword
of Backstabbing and the Dagger of Acumen. He has Protection
From Magical Weapons, Mislead and Improved Haste in his Spell Trigger
and thus, until those are dispelled, every one of his 4 attacks per
round
is considered a backstab. Before the battle starts, he will also quaff
a Potion of Clarity. On top of all that, Aran is a fairly decent
mage, and his Power Word: Stun, Chaos and Confusion spells are not to
be
underestimated. In general, Aran's spellcasting is easiest to disrupt
by using the Summon Insects, Insect Plague or Creeping Doom spells.
However, note that Aran has a Potion of Magic Blocking at his
disposal
which he will use if he is afflicted by one of these spells.
Be
very careful around his inner sanctum since there
are several poison and dispelling arrow traps nearby. The easiest way
to
defeat the Shadowmaster is to cast True Sight on one of your
characters, right before the battle starts, so that you can immediately
counter Aran's Mislead spell. In case you don't have the spell
memorized, you can find a scroll of True Sight inside one of the
containers
in Haz's chamber. This should be followed by a casting of Dispel/Remove
Magic so that you can purge the protection spells from Aran and his
companions. After that, it's probably easiest to use Greater Malison
coupled with a few mind-affecting spells like Chaos, Confusion, Greater
Command, Hold Person, Slow... etc. You could also toss a few area
effect spells inside the chamber. However, note that the Priestess of
Mask will attempt to cure her allies to the best of her ability and
dispel any toxic vapors with the Zone of Sweet Air spell. Beware that
the heavy door which leads to Aran's chamber will be shut and locked
(for the duration of the battle) by the two Assassins who enter the
inner sanctum after Aran talks to you and gives them the signal.
Stealth path note: after
you defeat Aran Linvail and his personal guards, any remaining Shadow
Thieves will flee the guildhall and unlock all basement doors in the
process. This means that the way out will be clear of all opposition,
save for traps. Before leaving, note that the containers in Aran's
chamber and his treasure vault now hold some more appropriate items,
however, unlocking the containers and disarming the traps which protect
them is now more difficult as well.
Improved
Shadow Thief allies
The
rogues which come to the party's aid during the assault on Bodhi's
lair in Chapter Six (in case the player managed to convince
the
Shadowmaster to
help him) were fairly weak despite being described by Aran as some of
the best operatives that the Shadow Thief guild could offer. This
component changes those characters into formidable allies which they
were originally meant to be. In short, their
AI scripts and equipment have been
slightly upgraded and they now also get a couple of
potions and a
few low-level scrolls. Although the Shadow Thief allies have
become a bit stronger, they are still not powerful enough to steal
the spotlight from the player's party. However, they should now be much more
useful than they were in the unmodded game.
Console options
Certain aspects of this component can be configured using the CLUA Console. The following variable can be modified in this manner:
- CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("fl#RRNoMislead","GLOBAL",1) - Aran Lindale using Mislead (0 = on, 1 = off)
Note: the aforementioned variable is set to 0 by default.
Compatibility