In Baldur’s Gate 2, there are specific quests related to the interaction between you (the protagonist) and certain individual party members. One of the candidates as an object of your affection is Jaheira, who you first met in part one, Baldur’s Gate. This part of the game is very buggy and I collected the advice on how to fix the game in this FAQ. It was originally written in April 2002. It’s mainly about fixing, patching and poking the game, although it contains a couple of hints. The links section is going to be pretty broken by now. DFL 2014

This page has several sections; Lennon’s Hints, Poking the Game, Q & A, I’m in a hurry aka Read me first, Some Links, Background and playing hints.

Introduction

JaheiraI put together a site in order to have one simple place where advice on how to set the game up to play the Jaheira Romance was located. It is sadly a fact, that playing the Jaheira romance “out of the box” is not easy because it is very buggy. I am not currently planning to remove the FAQ from the server, so it will remain available for any one to use there.

This site is full of advice, it is your responsibility to ensure you are satisfied this advice has the effect you want. There is no warranty on this stuff at all, including the lines about smoking and drinking. If you are unsure about what I’ve said anywhere, ignore the advice. Also bear in mind that playing the game after a good drink, makes it more difficult.

Much of this advice came from contributors on the Planet Baldur’s Gate forums, I am grateful for their help. There are several links to this community site & forum throughout this site. Once again, read the disclaimer’s on the software sites, they will come with their own statements on right to use etc.

I can’t remember what brought me here in the winter of 2019, but someone made a video of the romance.

She’s back in BG3.

Lennon’s Hints

The Software Build

The game does not work at its best out of the box. I originally wrote that “You will/may have to patch the software”.

The commonly held view is that you should install the official patches and the Baldurdash fixes. This is easier to accept in the days of web 2.0 and permanent beta.

Before you start a game, check your game version ( this is displayed in Save File Dialogue) and if required get the latest patch (23037) from Bioware. The patch required from both Bioware & Baldurdash varies depending upon whet he you have installed the “Throne of Bhaal” expansion pack; Throne of Bhaal has both its own patch and Baldurdash fix patch. (See immediatly below for Baldurdash) . Bioware also has a technical support forum, and since they can read the source code, their statements should be the last & best comments.

In addition, and after the official patch, the web site Baldurdash has additional patches that relate to these quests & story line, together with other fixes and add-ons.. You may get and apply these. I did and it fixed at least one problem. I used the omnibus fixpacks. Most game modifications created by the community assume that the Baldurdash fixpacks have been installed. You should best apply the patches and Baldurdash fix packs before starting the game.

You may wish to obtain the game file editor ShadowKeeper, this is a GUI based game file editor. This is hosted at http://www.mud-master.com. It allows you to read and adjust variables in the game file. It is also usefull because the romance state is not displayed through the game interface, and so you can only check up how you’re doing by using CLUAConsole or Shadowkeeper. The game stores “story state” information in the game file. These can be inspected using CLUAConsole and/or Shadowkeeper. See below. If you have been romancing more than one character the interactions and valid combinations of the various variables could be very complex and easy to adjust using these tools such that they become invalid. This is likely to cause unexpected behaviour in the game. This is why I was advised to ensure that the software patches were applied before creating a game file, and why I repeat this advice.

mainly written in April 2002

The Story and State Variables

The game keeps track of how you are doing (as might be expected). It generates time triggered events (mainly chats) and plot triggered events i.e. events that occur as you progress through other quests. It would seem that at critical points in the romance story, a plot triggered event must occur for the story to continue. If you are in the wrong place and/or not far enough progressed along the plot line, this may lead to long periods of silence on Jaheira’s part. i.e. the game’ll chuck some flirting chats at you and get to a point where a plot event is required and it will wait until that plot event occurs before continuing. The dialogues and plot triggered events increment a game file variable called LOVETALK. This can be inspected at any time using CLUAConsole (or Shadowkeeper).

April 2002

LOVETALK and other memory variables

There are some critical variables stored in the game file. How to change them is documented in the cheating bit. This page discusses the key variables. An alternative/additional source is the Extremists Romance Guide at the Sorcerer’s Place Games, Hints & Tips. This includes walkthroughs & hence spoilers, but they are quite easy to avoid.

LOVETALK counts the romance events and thus determines the next event. It starts at 0 and finishes at 70. There is an alleged conversational loop in the fifties. I’ll say more when I know more. The Extremists Guide at the Sorcerer’s Place is very explicit on the advice given on setting this variable; the author asks others not to rehost this information, you’ll have to get the stuff yourself from the chosen site.

JAHERIAROMANCEACTIVE is the key variable determining the state of the romance

  • 0 is romance not started
  • 1 is romance in progress
  • 2 indicates she’s committed
  • 3 is the romance is over .

Please note the numbers above, three means you’ve lost the quest and she’s dumped you. The winning end number for this variable is two. Please note I have contradicted Mysticsyn and while I have learnt an aweful lot about the game from his site, I think he’s wrong here.

I suspect that there is a rule defining the relationship between LOVETALK and JAHEIRAROMANCEACTIVE. A list of valid pairs is held on Valecrion’s Walkthrough Version 2 at Planet Baldur’s Gate.

No more, it’s gone, probably a while ago, the best I can find is at Sorcerer’s Net.

Be careful when changing these. Its probably advisable not to specify an illegal/error pair.

JAHEIRAMATCH is a variable that determines if the romance can start. It takes the values ‘0’ or ‘1’, for False & True. It is a GLOBAL variable. JAHEIRAROMANCE is a timer variable which counts down to the next event. There are obviously other timer variables as well. Allegedly reducing this to ‘1’ provokes the next event. How to do this is described below.

If using Shadowkeeper the critical variables are held in either Jaheira’s ‘Affects’ tab, or the Global Variables Tab.

April 2002

Clocks & Timers

There are a number of timers which work on the basis of real time. This includes the lovetalk timer. The various timer variables are updated in real time and not game time. This is why common advice is to pause the game and go and do something else; this burns real time and means that a timed event is will occur with less game time spent. The variable JAHEIRAROMANCE counts the time down and allegedly setting the value of this variable to 1, will cause the next event to take place. I am unclear what happens if the next event due is a plot based event, although I suspect that the event will not occur. This is most likly also true if you are in a location or chapter where the events can’t take place.

CLUAConsole:SetGlobal(“JaheiraRomance”,”Global”,1)

is the CLUAConsole string that does this. This transaction is best not undertaken using Shadowkeeper. The Baldurdash patch halves the time between timed events in the Jaheria Romance Quest. I can’t find the name of the variable that holds this value. Its probably hard coded into one of the script files.

April 2002

Using the Cheat Tools

What choice is there?

The game interface does not report on the state of the romance quests, a comment in the personal page of the protaganist and their paramours would have been good. Because the Jaheria Quest is long, convoluted and buggy, it is necessary to check what’s going on and at times amend the game file variables to nudge the thing along. The choices are between Shadowkeeper & the game’s integral cheat console.

Why use shadowkeeper?

It is incredibly easy to use, its advantage is that it is a windows program. This is also a disadvantage you can’t use it while running the game. I advise that any changes you make, you save into a new game file and make the changes while the game is not running.

April 2002

Poking the Game

You can use the cheat tools to amend game variables. This can be highly disruptive but is the generally recognised way of remediating bugs, or backtracking poor decisions. The contents of this page are advice, they describe how to do stuff. If you’re worried about the possible effects don’t do it.

The game interface does not report on the state of the romance quests, a comment in the personal page of the protagonist and their paramours would have been good. Because the Jaheria Quest is long, convoluted and buggy, it is necessary to check what’s going on and at times amend the game file variables to nudge the thing along. The choices are between Shadowkeeper & the game’s integral cheat console.

How do I turn on the Cheat Console?

Firstly enable the cheat console. Add the line Debug Mode=1 to the Game Options section of the baldur.ini file using a system editor (such as notepad). Restart the game and to activate the CLUAConsole, hit your CTRL button and the Space bar simultaneously. This key combination is different from the one used in BG1. The Esc button exits the Console. Further instructions are held on your computer in

C:/Program Files/Black Isle/BGII - SoA/Power Users.txt

The baldur.ini file is also found in this directory. This assumes you have installed the game in the default directory.

Rekindling the Romance

Once you have enabled it you need to type:

CLUAConsole:GetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","Global")

If it says that this variable is ‘1’ then your romance is active. ‘2’ means you have an exclusive relationship, ‘3’ means it failed. If it is 1 or 2 don’t touch it. If it is 3, then you can use the CLUAConsole command to reset it

CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomanceActive","Global",1)

If you don’t get some sort of response from Jaheira soon, the period between chat events is set by a variable but I can’t find it. This is distributed with one value, which seems to be quite infrequent, one of the fixes in the Baldurdash patch is to half this time. The next event can be forced.

Forcing the next event

The variable JAHEIRAROMANCE counts the time down and allegedly setting the value of this variable to 1, will cause the next event to take place. I am unclear what happens if the next event due is a plot based event, or you are in a location, chapter where the events can’t take place.

CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("JaheiraRomance","Global",1)

is the CLUAConsole string that does this. This transaction is best not undertaken using Shadowkeeper. NB. The Baldurdash patch halves the time between timed events in the Jaheria Romance Quest. I can’t find the name of the variable that holds this value. Its probably hard coded into one of the script files. Also this technique will not work if the next event is plot or location based and you are not at the right point in the story, or somewhere else.

Forcing a specific LoveTalk

An event can be poked by setting “Lovetalk”. This involves dicovering the current value of LOVETALK by using the CLUAConsole. Set the mouse arrow on Jaheira’s green circled figure in the main window and type:

CLUAConsole:GetGlobal("LoveTalk","Locals")

Take a note of the number (usually between 1 and 70), once you know the value of LOVETALK, it can be reset. To reset Lovetalk, having selected Jaheira (by putting the mouse over Jaheria’s green circle in the main game window and then type

CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("LoveTalk","Locals",n)

where ‘n’ in the above command should be a number. It is generally suggested that you would use the next odd number after the one you found in the previous command. I have not had to do this and given what else I have discovered, I am unclear how this would work. You should probably check that the number you set to is not a major plot event. This can be checked at Valecrion’s Walkthrough Version 2. NB. LOVETALK should be odd between events and even during an event. The game as issued starts LOVETALK at 1 and finishes at 70, the patch (or ToB) ensures that the end state is 71. Obviously, if you fail at the romance, LOVETALK will no longer be incremented.

Using Shadowkeeper

It is incredibly easy to use, its advantage is that it is a windows program. This is also a disadvantage you can’t use it while running the game. I advise that any changes you make, you save into a new game file and make the changes while the game is not running.

For Shadowkeeper the critical variables are held in Jaheira’s ‘Affects’ tab, and the Global Variables Tab. Why save into a new file? So you have a safe copy to move back to. Saving into a new file means that the original file is still available either as a source for a different change or to continue playing.

How is it possible to make illegal changes?

The plot based events write and amend a large number of variables other than the romance variables including (potentially) inventory items so it is possible to reset LOVETALK or JAHEIRAROMANCEACTIVE and not change the associated storyline variables. (Giving further examples would be spoilerish,and require research work that I havn’t done). This is one reason why making changes might not have the desired effect.

How might using Shadowkeeper corrupt a game file?

Because we are trying to amend a disk copy of the game file, while the game is amending a memory image of the same file. Changes initiated from the two sources may conflict, and changes written by Shadowkeeper may be overwritten when you save the game file from the Game’s options -> save dialogue. It is not possible to syncronise these changes, except by using CLUAConsole. Also you can make illegal changes such as equipping a staff and shield .

More could be said about this subject but I assume we want to play the game not discuss information technology, my advice is to use Shadowkeeper while the game is not running. Take it or ignore it.

April 2002

Q & A

What plot pre-requisites are their?

You need to be male, human, elven , half-elf or allegedly halfling.

She’s not talking to me, what the problem?

It’s not started yet, you’ve hit a bug, (patch the game), you are waiting for a time triggered event, (pause the game and have a coffee, glass of wine, cigarette or find some other way to waste some time). Also remember that some time triggered events only occur at the beginning, during or at the end of a rest. Otherwise you may be waiting for a plot based event, (undertake the appropriate quest, I can’t say more; I don’t want spoilers on this site), you are waiting for a location dependent event ( go to where you need to be, again, saying more would introduce spoilers) or you’ve lost the quest (using shadowkeeper or CLUAConsole, check the variable JAHEIRAROMANCEACTIVE ). An alternative to pausing the game to provoke the next event is to reset JAHEIRAROMANCE to 1. Neither of these tricks work if the next event is plot based or the time based event is constrained around party resting.

When does the romance start?

It starts at the beginning of Chapter 2. Prior to this, JAHEIRAMATCH will be set to 1, if of the appropriate race & gender, but the others are not set.

Does the romance suspend during chapters 4 & 5 ?

This is a piece of folk lore that is commonly believed. My experience is that this is not true, however, much of these chapters are in dungeons where the Jaheira romance will not progress. Spending a lot of time in a dungeon between events may be the cause of the recurring dialogue bug, where a time triggered event cause the previous dialogue to occur.

What is the recurring dialogue bug?

In the latter part of the romance, it is possible that a dialogue will be repeated several times. It would seem that this increments LOVETALK, and thus causes you to miss certain events.

My theory is that this relates to spending excessive time in dungeons and that if a constrained event i.e. plot, location or time constrained (around rest periods) is required and a time trigger fires then it repeats the previous dialogue. So dunno why and dunno what the side effects are and haven’t found any one else’s documentation except Manveru. Not much of an answer, but I know it occurs.

Manveru, see Useful Links suggests/states that the recurring dialogue bug is caused by quitting from the ‘Sleep’ videos too quickly. So don’t do it!!

Sparky at Planet Baldur’s Gate suggests its a syncronisation issue and that you need to get a number of LOVETALKs done before a plot event based on the Harper’s quest. (It would be deeply useful if I could bother to research and document the syncronisation issue).

Who are the other lovers?

You mean Jaheira isn’t enough for you? {short description of image} The game comes with Viconia, Jaheria, Aerie and Amonen romances, if this isn’t enough then others are available as add on’s on the web.

Can I romance others while romancing Jaheira ?

If by others, you mean the bioware supplied alternative lovers, then you may pursue more than one lover, but this complicates the storyline and they will notice and have expectations that you commit to only one of them i.e. they’ll make you choose. Advice at the Planet Baldursgate forums is to pursue the romances one after another. This is done by not asking alternative lovers to join the party until you are ready. There is also a Baldurdash modification to allow concurrent romances.

Can I remove Jaheira from the Party?

No! Removing her from the party ends the romance . Being turned to stone is also treated as removed from the party and so ends the romance, as does at least one other spell (Imprisonment).

Can I resurrect Jaheira if she dies? Does the romance continue?

I don’t know, I doubt it!. It is probably more dangerous to the romance to permit her to die, even if you resurrect her in fights caused by romance plot events, but probably any death ends the romance. NB. It is possible for NPC’s to die without leaving the party.

What is the most recent software build version?

At the time of writing, 23037, you should check this on Bioware site.

Can I install Baldurdash on top of “Throne of Bhaal”?

Baldurdash has both Shadows of Amn & Thorne of Bhall versions. They are designed to be applied on an official patched version of the appropriate game. Use the appropriate patch & Baldurdash Fix patch for your game. updated: Jan 2005

When should I install the Baldurdash patches?

If you choose to install them, do it after installing the official patches, and before starting the game.

What is LOVETALK?

It is a game variable held in the game file that counts the events in the story.

What is CLUAConsole?

The integrated cheat console. It permits a number of things, including the @manipulation of the romance game file variables. See also Using the Cheat Tools & Poking the Game on this site.

What is Shadowkeeper?

An alternative windows based game file editor. See also “Using the Cheat Tools & “Usefull Links” on this site.

April 2002

Never mind all that I’m in a hurry!

Before starting the game

  1. Check your game version and if required install the Official Patch from Bioware, at the time of writing, the current release is 23037, this is best checked at Bioware.
  2. Install version appropriate Jumbo fix patch from Baldurdash.
  3. Optionally get hold of Shadowkeeper to check your progress
  4. Enable the CLUAconsole to check your progress.
  5. Choose a male character of appropriate race @.

if you’ve already started

and don’t want to restart, not advised, but its what I did.

  1. Check that you have an eligible player character. See @
  2. Check your game version and if required install the Official Path from Bioware. At the time of writing, the current release is 23037, this is best checked at Bioware .
  3. Install the Jumbo fix patch from Baldurdash
  4. Shadowkeeper is more important; it lists the variable names, so you don’t have to know them.
  5. Check and amend if necessary the two variables, JAHEIRAROMANCEACTIVE & LOVETALK. The valid cross reference between Jaheira’s LOVETALK & JAHEIRAROMANCEACTIVE are listed at Valecrion’s Walkthrough Version 2. See also the discussion at this site on the variables by reading my hints & cluaconsole sections here.

Links

Bioware & Baldurdash

  • Bioware, resources & forums
  • Baldurdash, unofficial patches wrangled by the design team

Forgotten Realms Wiki

People from Planet Baldur’s gate

These people helped me a lot at the time, together with Captain Joffe

  • BG2 Links Central by B20 – This is an awesome compendium of links relevant to playing BG2, although its now several years old and I’m not sure how up to date B20 keeps this page.
  • Mysticsyn – An excellent Fan site with lots of hints and documentation. Again, seems to be abandoned.

Essential Resources

Tools, Forums & Walkthorughs
  • Shadowkeeper Home – Use this to get the game file editor and check out their Jaheira Romance FAQ. This is best reached via their site home page and contains a few story line spoilers.
  • Planet Baldur’s Gate, their BG2 page & their BG2 Forum – The forum sites have a rather quirky search engine, you should use this is to check out what is on this site.
  • Game Banshee – this supports many games, their BG2 index page is here… and they had a Jaheira romance quest walkthrough which is one of the least prescriptive I’ve found, it does reveal some plot events and provides advice, but it is not an event by event list. Looks like you have to register for it now.
  • Sorcerer’s Place had a Games, Tips, Hints & Tricks page with a Romancing Guide & a Romance FAQ. The also have the cheat codes for CLUAConsole. They redesigned their site in 2004.
  • Valecrion’s Walkthrough Version 2 – A revision, both these pages contain major spoilers.
  • Valecrion’s Walkthrough Version 1 – This links to a thread on Planet Baldur’s Gate forum site. The best and most informative write-up I’ve found until his version 2.
  • Manveru’s Fan Page – He is the accredited author of the Baldurdash patch. This page seems to have gone, but remains available as a mirror @ sorcerer’s place.

Some more about Jaheira

When asked about her past, Jaheira glares as she speaks. She says that she was born in the Tethyr region to a loyalist of the King Alemander regime, unfortunately during the Tethyrian civil war. Her family was among the nobles targeted by the angry mobs of peasants, and she was only spared because a servant girl took her from their castle before it fell. They fled into the forest of Tethyr and stumbled across an enclave of Druids willing to take the child. Jaheira grew up a very headstrong girl, believing that the only way to protect nature was to have an active role in the world. She seems to have little in common with Khalid, but even though her manner is often confrontational, she apparently cares deeply for him. Her admiration of Gorion is obvious, and she plainly states that whomever was responsible for his death will suffer an equal fate. Jaheira is a member of the Harpers as well as an old friend of your mentor, Gorion. She promised him before his death that they would see to his charge’s safety….a promise she takes seriously. Jaheira is a no nonsense, determined woman and she will not be found far from the object of her promise, like it or not. She is a half-elf, so one of her parents is human, and one elven.

In Baldur’s Gate 1, Jaheira is a Fighter/Druid, that you can meet early in the Game. She is the only character that you meet who is more powerful (higher leveled) than you (the protagonist) at the point of meeting. She is travelling with her husband Khalid, an elven Fighter. If you want to separate her from Khalid, you’ll need to use one of the three couple separating tricks. She levels up enough to get Druidic Polymorph, which allows her to shapeshift into a wolf or one of two bears. The bears have a lower armour class than her (if wearing armour) but a higher hit probability. I found them too slow to use in combat, and she gets the ability so late in the game that the reduction in armour class is very dangerous. The wolf however makes a very useful scout as she is quicker as a wolf.

As a Fighter/Druid, she makes an excellent utility choice, backing up Branwen or Yeslick for healing, and by casting defensive and offensive spells before leaping into melee. I always used barkskin and flame blade, and Basilisks don’t like “Call Lightning” . Her weapon proficiencies are limited, but darts of wounding carry on hurting your opponents for rounds after striking and darts of stunning are battle winning weapons.

In Baldur’s Gate 2, she remains a Fighter Druid, and she is not far from you when you start. She has a high dexterity which means that she develops a high armour class and is hence hard to hit. You have the option of equipping her with a weapon and shield, in which case you should look either for the magic clubs or scimitars, or you can develop proficiency in the quarterstaff, of which towards the end of the game you will find a powerful staff to see you though the Throne of Bhaal. As a druid, she gets useful summoning spells early, calling on nymphs, bears, elementals and insects to help her and you. She thus retains the flexibility she offers you in the first part of the story.

She is multi-class and a Druid. This means that to become the Great Druid, she needs six million points, but once she gets there, the scale shortens dramatically as she becomes a heirophant. If you play with five companions in your party, she’ll not do it. Some correspondents at Planet Baldur’s Gate play solo, or solo with only one companion. If you want to Jaheira as the Great Druid, you’ll need to play with fewer companions.

Hints from Sparky the Bardbarian

Sparky the Bardbarian says (here…) about making her fight…. Funny, she fights with me all the time, I don’t have to do anything. Jaheira: Smacks Sparky upside the head.

Sparky: See! Anyway, I give her the best organic armor available, usually studded leather early in the game, then the Dragon armors, and finally the Gorgon plate from the Underdark. (I refrain from giving her metal plate mail for role playing purposes). For weapons I start her with Belm (the +2 Scimitar from Trademeet). Later I give her the Waters Edge (+3 Scimitar from House Jae’lett in the Underdark) and finally the Spectral Brand from Watchers Keep. Late in the game and in TOB I give her the Staff Of The Woodlands. I also give her either a girdle of giant strength or the gauntlets of ogre power, Balduran’s helm, the shield of harmony from Trademeet, and boots of speed. This combo makes her armor class about -10 and sheilds her mind from most effects. Have her cast a few buffing spells on herself before combat and she can stand toe to toe with anyone in the game. And if my PC isn’t wearing it, I give her the Amulet Of Power from Aran Linvale to speed her casting time and protect her from level drain. I plan to live forever, or die trying!

NB Sparky often travels only with Jaheira! So she gets to be Grand Druid, I must try it some time.

April 2002 Sparky’s comments added August 2005

It was revised in Sept 2004 and then again in Jan 2005 when it was moved to davelevy.info. I decided in 2007 to move the content to this wiki and delete the index at davelevy.info. It has been revised for look and feel in the winter of 2014/15 as I moved to the Nulis theme.

6 Replies

  1. A bunch of links were tagged in the broken links scan, some are on the wayback machine, some I have deleted and in one case deleted the content which pointed at other of my internet resources which are no longer available, or hard to use. del.icio.us, that’s you, that is!

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