What's the best stronghold?

nalias keep is great, income, no duties, lots of exp for doing nothing.

i think the thieves guild is the best, because you get quite alot of income. I'm not sure what the deal is if you side with bodhi...but if you do, maybe you become the only theives guild in Athkatla...which would be cool.

Naaaah... the Planar Sphere beats 'em all!

It's the coolest one, with lots of different atmospheres to suit every taste. It has a "Picnic Area", (in the forest where the mushrooms used to live).
I want to plant those Dryad's acorns there, and see what happens...

And the crappiest stronghold?
The Druid Grove, no doubt. You don't even get a chest to put your stuff in. If you want to store something, you have to go to the Troll's cave... and I'm sure it stinks like hell. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I think the best stronghold is the Planar Sphere...never been through the other srongholds but I DO believe this one is better.

Why? Cool-looking, good quests, many magic items you can get...

You don´t receive income, but I don´t think that´s necessary. After all, you can get all the gold you need simply adventuring around...

Well that´s my opinion anyway...

[ 02-03-2003, 09:10 PM: Message edited by: Mordamir ]

Sigh, well, I knew WWIII would start this way.... Nah, just kiddin. But personally, there are lots of opinions and it depends what you like. If you like being a ruler and having to make wise decisions, take the keep. If you want to help people/ give advice, be a cleric. If you like seeking out evil, join the Radiant Heart as a paladin. Like having your own apprentices and creating items, be a wizard and get the Planar Sphere. Like having a whole sacred grove to yourself and becoming a Great Druid, be a druid. If you like putting on a spectacular performance, be a bard. Like thieving and giving men jobs that takes skill, play a thief.

Thieves cannot side with Bodhi. Without the Shadow thieves there is no active guild to 'take over', so you don't even get the option.

You can take the Thief stronghold, then backstab them by siding with Bodhi.

QED. ;)

Also, Multiclassed Thieves can go with Bodhi, although of course you should still get your Stronghold first. If you're Dual-classing, I think Bodhi will accept you as long as your other class [the class that is not Thief] is active when you talk to her.

I would place Nalia's Keep, the Planar Sphere, and the Thief Guild as the best strongholds, and the Radiant Heart, Druid Grove, and the Five Flagons to be the worst. (The 5 Flagons does have its merits: Interesting and certainly unique quests, but you don't get any good items out of it, it requires a decent investment of gold, and it takes so long that by the time you START getting some of your money back, you've finished the game and it's time to move on to ToB. I'd like it a lot more if the delay between quests was something like 3 days, instead of a whole week.)

Rofl
how anybody could like that lame ass druid grove is beyond me....what a morronic place.
ihate the damn thing... who the hell wants to find his way thru miles of forrest area to hang out in their grove, where there really is nothing not even a chest... then go all the way back thru the forrest again and go back to amn.

i like the planar sphere like said good items and theres just something about owning your very own planar sphere.

the thieve hold is cool to.
dont know about nalias keep...i dont really like nalia.

but face it..... druids luck out

Tell me about it... I wanted to finish the Bard stronghold before going to Spellhold, so I wanted to rest my way through the days inbetween. I believe this costed me about 45 days in total.

Nobody have mentioned the Ranger Stronghold yet. Its has a few good quest, not too big time delay, you get some good items, you can store items in your...puny cabin. Well its better than nothing [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hmm I actually like the Bard and Ranger strongholds. Hmmm yes... Just think, your own playhouse. You can lure all sorts of women downstairs, and, let's face it, no woman can say no to a sauve actor. All the groupies... It's gravy! And just think of Aerie, or Jaheira, or maybe Viccy lounging lazily on the piano in a slinky high class evening gown while you play them a song, making smooth remarks like "If you think my fingers are tickling these ivories, just wait till I tickle you."

And the Ranger stronghold. Your own romantic gettaway. A love nest. A cozy cabin in the woods, with Aerie, or Jaheira, or possibly Viccy lounging on a bear skin rug. (Or maybe all three if your in to that sort of thing) A great place to get away from the hustle and the bustle of the city. With nobody around, in the still quiet of the woods, you can get away with stuff like loud vigorous shagging, with out having your neighbors screaming at you.

It's all in how you see it.

well for sheer cool factor, be a fighter. I was soooo stoked when I suddenly realised they'd given me a CASTLE !!! And really... that's it. The be-all and end-all. Nothing else quite has the pure oommph of owning your very own castle. Sure the quests are pretty non-existent and the money isn't great, but who else has a Castle ?!?! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Anyway, the thieves guild seems interesting with the expanded mod (I believe you get to perform jail-breaks when your guys get busted), The planer sphere gives you cool items (and it's all about the items), the Radient Heart was a bit boring really, I've only started the druid grove, and I haven't tried the rest yet.

a few things of note.
1. You will get more Gold in the game than you know how to spend, so don't worry about money, it's only rare in the first few days of playing.
2. No stronghold will give you a lot of money. Mine usually cost me more than I make, but you do them for the experience and items.
3. Items Rule in Balder's Gate games. For this reason the planer sphere is one of the best strongholds, as it gives you lots of items.
4. you guys know there is a short way out of the druid grove right ? and to get in, you can always Ctrl-J across the map once you've cleared out all the mosters.

This does bring me to 1 point though. In BG1, you entered a map depending on which direction you came from. It sucks they've dropped this for BG2.

indeed karlosovic I totally agree with your point of view, the notes you have said are true... and the last sentence about BG I & BG II, its indeed sad they have not used the same option as in BG I... sometimes it was a real pain in the A** but well... I KNOW I KNOW off-topic sorry for that but just wanted to share my opinion with karlosovic...

my favo stronghold is defenitly the planar sphere or Nalia's keep but with that stronghold (nalia's keep) i always have the strange feeling of destroying al the inhabitants of it (NALIA"S AUNT... ring any bells :D ? or the Main Guard that runs away when he has put down ONE SINGLE troll *sight*... such a "bravery'' [img]graemlins/1puke.gif[/img] , ive only put down like 20 trolls and the big evil leader is still in the lower levels with his umber hulk friends.. and he runs away.. that calls him self a GUARD [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img] )

It wasn't completely dropped, you can arrive at different locations. It's for instance possible to arrive at two different locations in the Docks and Government district, depending on where you came from.

i had that exact feeling when i got my planar sphere.
it was jsut so awesome,,, tho i still think it sux that the golems in the engine room keep respawning i mean.

i dont wanna be on my guard in the engine room.
and its also lame how your golem servant cant come to the engine room with you.

Doh! I made a mistake. Pureclassed Thieves cannot side with Bodhi anyway. Only Multiclassed ones, and under certain circumstances, Dualclassed ones.

As for my favourite stronghold, the Bard's one. ;) I was never into the money when it comes to strongholds. Quests give you more than enough already. It needs to be interesting and satisfying, to which this one achieves in spades.
I mean come on! You own a freaking playhouse! ;) :D ;)
1) Bard
2) Thief
3) Ranger

Maybe I just have bad karma when it comes to strongholds, 'cause there has only been one that gave me anything but grief. The keep.

I was never able to finish the Bard's Stronghold before I beat the game, so I've never seen any of the money promised to me... I waited and waited and did random tasks and gave and gave and... *poof!* Nothing!
I was also pretty let down by the Paladin's Stronghold. You go out and do all this good for the world and you get... a room! They told me I got one at least. I tried sleeping in every room in the place and never could. I dunno if my paladin was just a little too prissy and didn't want to dirty the sheets in such a solemn place, but it was still slightly anti-climactic.
All my appretices blew themselves up in the Planar Sphere, so I never got to enjoy any of those items the rest of you are raving about...
*Sigh!*
Well at least there's always the Copper Coronet, right?
"Where everybody knows your name..." "Norm!"

It wasn't completely dropped, you can arrive at different locations. It's for instance possible to arrive at two different locations in the Docks and Government district, depending on where you came from.</font>[/QUOTE]It hardly matters where you enter the docks, as either entrance is 1000 miles from anywhere you might actually need to go in that area.

And the options on the Govnt district are screwed up. about 5% of the time I come in at the other entrance, but I've never spotted what makes you come in from that one (not that it matters much either).

but everytime you enter an area, you always seem to start from where-ever is furthest from anywhere usefull. great the first time to make you discover the map... after that it's annoying. In BG1, I'd even sometimes go to a different area first, to force what side of a map I'd spawn on.

ya i noticed that to

whats up with those apprentices blowing up tho.... i think my first game nobody died
then my second game 2 a them died..... but heh i did have my ring of wizardry :D

also am i really the only one that hates walking thru that druid grove area...i cant freakin stand it.
its also in the middle of nowhere why the hell would you wanna go all the way there. to hang out at a place that is soooo about nothing, i mean..not even a chest !
...at least my sphere is right there in the slums close by the coronet.

i think the cabbin sux to but thats just me i guess....

the thieve stronghold sounds real cool, especially with the mod.