Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II Preview

WorthPlaying has conjured up a preview of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II, the highly anticipated sequel from Interplay and Black Isle Studios (R.I.P.). An excerpt:

A further addition to the game is the ability to custom-design your own magical weapons. As you dig up equipment from enemies or treasure chests, the quality of its construction will be listed. A Fine long sword, for example, does more damage than a Shoddy long sword would.

More importantly, you can take weapons and armor that are rated Fine or better to the workshop in Baldur’s Gate and, by paying insane amounts of gold, have a blacksmith affix magical runestones and gems to them. The runestone grants the weapon a magical “plus,” as has been made famous by junior-high school AD&D games across America; the gemstones give equipment abilities above and beyond that, such as extra or improved feats, immunities to certain statuses, the infliction of certain statuses, or boosting your armor rating into the upper stratosphere.