Any non-cheat way to kill Arkanis Gath?

[PeeWee]

quote:

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Originally posted by Luvian:
Death is not an option, he is there to prevent you from ruining your game by killing the thieves when it is not the time, but since once you get back there after the island the thief have no use, you should have the right to kill them. I think the dev would have made him killable if they had more time, so i don't consider editing the game to change him back to someone normal is cheating.

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I hear ya loud and clear, but if I may

Earlier in another thread( my um, weapon post) you specifically were saying that the devs didn't put in any more high powered weapons in the game FOR A REASON and yet here you are saying that you "think" the developers might have intended to changed Arkanis for the later chapters just to give us a chance to kill him. This is what I call straddling the fence. In some cases, you think the devs do something for a reason, but when seen fit, they just so happen lacked the time to do something you wished they would have done.

This just baffles me is all. When it's cheating, ppl find reasons to do so....even when it's not important to the storyline. When it's for fun and games, then we decide to get serious and show our true colors.

I found the remark of the cat switch funny myself, but I don't think I would change anything unless it was for fun...and I guess this is for fun right? Or was the ORIGINAL intent of the poster to find a way to kill Arkanis without codes or cheats? Hrm... in looking at the post again, it seems to be trying to find a legit way to beat em without cheating or coding crap in.

We all have our different interpretations, motives, and flavors.

[Luvian]

Yes, the original poster wanted a legit way to kill that thief guy, but I don't.

Personally, I never tried going back to kill the Thiefs. And i think changing the Thief for a cat is very funny, so I might do it for fun, even if I won't even go kill the thief.

About the editing part. I think everyone can agree that the devs did not get the time to finish everything they wanted. Just take a look ath the Twisted Rune quest as an example. They could have fixed it by now, or completed it in the extension, but they didn't, because it is not important. It is my beleif that the same thing happened for that godlike thief.

On the other hands, Game balance and weapons is another things. It is totally different. Not finishing a quest, or allowing the player to kill some npcs that have no use anymore is not important, but game balance IS the most important thing in the game, and they constantly patch when they think the balance have been upseted.

They also added lot of new Weapons in TOB. Why do you think they did not add any +20 weapons that can instantly kill any monster? Because it would be too powerfull. If the devs judged that adding weapons any more powerfull than the one they added in TOB would upset the balance, then I agree with them.

But if I feel like changing the animation of irenicus with that of a Jester, or editing his text so that every 3 lines, he say "TOODLE!!!" I will do it, since it will have no effect on the game. Same thing for changing that npc from a god to a normal npc.

Don't you agree with me?

[ 02-28-2002: Message edited by: Luvian ]

[Whailor]

Open Arkannis file in editor, export him to Override folder, remove Immy's belt, give him some plain steel shortsword, save the file. Go into the game and do your stuff, he will pop to smack you, just that he doesn't have his 'uber' gear now with him. Want to make it a challenge? Add then some other items to him, a bit better ones. Some better armor, weapon. Don't remember whether there was also the option to make so that you can loot him (i.e. he drops the items) or not.. Doesn't matter. Wouldn't it be though somewhat more logical to find the Cutthroat +4 shortsword on Arkannis rather then in some mole drilled sack'o'dust or termite gnawed wooden box?

As for Arkannis, then he is there actually to protect the player from messing up the game. Otherwise someone would talk to Valen, figure that "OK, I'll side with Bodhi" but not realise that the time is already tickin'.. Then do quest, kill perhaps Shadow Thieves and then suddenly realise that Bodhi took the ticket outta town a week ago as well. Oopsie-daisie, yer stuck now. So, Arkannis is there to.. "protect" you from yourself. As for later stages - why would I ever care what would happen in Athkala at later stages? Shadow Thieves were useful to me, so we cooperated. Mutually beneficial relationship. They haven't done anything "bad" to me, and you don't just go around and kill the "business associates". Well, OK, you do but only when they cross the line. Shadow Thieves however didn't and I can't care less about Athkala. So I let them live, i.e. just in case we have some common 'interests' in future (figuratively speaking)

[chevalier mal fet]

Look, its just a roleplay thing. If Ive gotten it into my head that Id like to kill the shadow theives, then its likely one or more of my party is thinking the same thing. Lawful good characters would be upset by the very notion of the ST. Good characters would have a problem with the human abuse. Evil characters would be hacked off at Linvail yanking them around for the first part of the game and want a little payback(I fall into this category).

As far as "cheating" goes, its not a moral thing, Im just lazy. I dont ever want to have to work that hard at a "game". Whenever you open up game files and manipulate or edit them, you immediately lose the "gameworld" illusion, as something that is persistent and absolute. If other people want to do that, because maybe theyve played the game thru so many times, they need to do something else to make it interesting...thats cool..go to town.....me, I would just get another game, or better yet, fire up a tabletop campaign...theyre lightyears more fun than any CRPG could ever be anyways.

I would settle for cheese to deal with Gath though. Since his omnipotence is a result of cheese on the programmers part, cheese is a justifiable defense against him.

Why doesnt Arkanis Gath rule the known universe? Hes obviously the most powerful being in existence. Why hes the guardian angel lapdog for the ST is beyond me.


Chev

[Luvian]

I will give you the roleplaying reason why MY Lawfull Good Sorcerer Never went back to kill the thieves:

The first time we get there, we need the thieves's help to free Imeon. Sure, siding with them is not a thing I like, but I have no choice.
Then, when I come out of the underdark, I need to get Imoen's and my souls. We have no time to lose with thieves.
We go in the cemetary, Aerie get vampirised. I have to find a way to revive her, I need to help the elves and I still need to get my soul back.
After that I am sent to hell, and never get an opportunity to return to Amn.

[chevalier mal fet]

quote:

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I will give you the roleplaying reason why MY Lawfull Good Sorcerer Never went back to kill the thieves:
The first time we get there, we need the thieves's help to free Imeon. Sure, siding with them is not a thing I like, but I have no choice.
Then, when I come out of the underdark, I need to get Imoen's and my souls. We have no time to lose with thieves.
We go in the cemetary, Aerie get vampirised. I have to find a way to revive her, I need to help the elves and I still need to get my soul back.
After that I am sent to hell, and never get an opportunity to return to Amn.

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Sounds like your "lawful" good sorceror is actually a "neutral good" or "true good" character. Neutral goods look to acheive the the greatest good by whatever means possible, cherishing "goodness", even if they have to tolerate a little unlawfulness , and would deem helping the elves the greater good, and higher priority. Lawful goods have a serious personality flaw, in that they are compulsive about upholding good by the rules, hace extreme difficulty prioritizing between "levels" of good, and wouldnt be able to sleep at night knowing they have the power to stop the ST. Look what Keldorn did to his wife and her lover for petes sake. Besides, since the game doesnt enforce any time limits on these quests, its just considered an "ongoing conflict", that can be time managed. If your a ranger, and dont respond to the cries of help from umar hills in time, that would be evil.
But like I said, my PC is neutral, wants payback against Linvail ,will help the elves its convenient for him and gets him closer to his vengence on irenicus, and plus...they might have helpful items. He also thinks lawful goods are of questionable intelligence.

Chev

[ 02-28-2002: Message edited by: chevalier mal fet ]

[Luvian]

You are stereotyping Lawfull Good characters, they are not all like that. Following your version of aligment, it would mean there is only 7 different type of personality in the world, and anyone is exactly alike, wich is absolutely not true.

You are not playing your neutral character very well, you are making him act by thinking about himself first, wich would be neutral evil. Neutral character try to maintain balance between evil and good, in the underdark he would act good, because there is not enough good, but in an area like Amn, he might very well think the paladins there are creating too much good in the area and decide to add some evil.

[chevalier mal fet]

Yes. You are correct. My alignment is indeed nuetral evil. Forgive me for mispeaking, as I had already identified my PC as an evil character in an earlier entry in this topic. I just offered the neutral by way of clarification.

Now, since you dont seem to have anything helpful to offer to this topic, other than nitpicking to death my reasons for wanting to do something thats a perfectly legitimate thing to want to do in this game---please, dont feel obligated to keep posting to this topic, unless you have something nice, or helpful to offer. You could always go hang out where nitpickers are welcome...the nine hells.

chev

[Luvian]

I would offer helpfull advices, but there are none possible. I gave you multiple suggestions to kill that npc. If you don't like them, then fine. But that is not a reason to get mad at me.

[chevalier mal fet]

Yes your right. Thank you for cheat tips and your summation of the futility of attacking arcanis gath. Im sorry I ever posted this topic, looking for anyone who might have a creative in-game solution to this tactical situation. I guess this is where you come to be bludgeoned with the obvious. And please dont think Im mad. You obviously know a lot about the game and are just trying to demonstrate that. I think youre confusing anger with mild irritation. Im letting this go now. I find attacking arcanis gath less futile than this continued conversation.

chev