[ Download Link ]

Version used for review: 5.0.

Yeslick is an original BioWare NPC hailing from Baldur’s Gate 1. His presence in the first game is minimal but he was one of the few characters to have a personal stake in the story.

Yeslick’s clan used to reside in the Cloakwood Mines, until about a century ago when a clan member breached the wall between the mine and the river. The mine flooded, wiping out Yeslick’s entire clan. The breach in the mine was then plugged as we see it in the events of the game.

After the loss of his clan, Yeslick went eastward, to Sembia. There he met Rieltar Anchev, leader of the Iron Throne. He told him the tale of his clan, which proved to be a serious mistake as Rieltar then betrayed him and took the mine for his organisation, holding Yeslick captive within.

This mod assumes that Yeslick was not only rescued by the player character in the first game, but also that they travelled together and that he was present during the final confrontation with Sarevok.

After the events of the first game, Yeslick went to work with Taerom Thunderhammer in Beregost, working the forge. It suited him for a time but he would find himself plagued with dreams about travelling with Gorion’s ward. Seeing it as a sign that he still had a part to play in their adventures, he tracked the Bhaalspawn down – only for them to find him first, within Trademeet.

Yeslick is among the oldest of the companions you can find in Baldur’s Gate 2. He’s wise, and not the best at thinking things through — but he naturally takes on a sort of father-figure position for many in the group, particularly for Gorion’s ward. He offers more support than he does advice, and he will stay unwaveringly loyal until the very end.

What stands out to me about Yeslick’s writing is how consistently his dialogue completely embodies his character. Nothing feels out of place if you’re familiar with his original appearance in BG1, and he fits in with the rest of the cast pretty well. He doesn’t have any quests associated with him, but not every companion needs one.

I didn’t encounter any spelling or grammar issues and everything is coded well. This mod is over ten years old at this point and it has been refined to a very high point of quality.

Yeslick shines when bantering with the other companions. As the wise old dwarf he is, he has a lot to say to the likes of Aerie, Nalia, and Imoen. He gets along with almost everyone, but he is Lawful Good, so he is going to have issues with evil folk. His dialogue with Jan is particularly humorous, as Jan starts going on about some story only for Yeslick to correct him and tell an equally long story on the same topic. He also has some interesting talks with the ToB NPC. Overall, Yeslick’s writing is quite enjoyable.

Yeslick is a fighter/cleric, though he comes with a unique cleric class — the Alaghor of Clangeddin.

The innate spells are nice to have for flavour but they’re nothing too special. Spiritual Axe will grant a pretty big THAC0 boost to both Yeslick’s main hand and off-hand weapon, which is handy at the start of Shadows of Amn, but quickly falls off once he has enough fighter levels.

Clangeddin’s Strength should never be used unless Yeslick has no strength-boosting equipment, which he sorely needs.

Axe Storm of Clangeddin is good but you get it really late into the game. As a multiclass, Yeslick won’t reach level 16 cleric until roughly 4 million experience.

Yeslick only has one unique item — his Holy Symbol.

As far as holy symbols go, Yeslick’s is the worst in the game. No strength bonus and a +2 AC against only giants hurts, but holy symbols aren’t that big of a deal anyway.

Yeslick has his original portrait from Baldur’s Gate 1, as well as his original soundset.

His voice meshes a lot better with the rest of the companions than his portrait does — I’ve always preferred BG1 portraits to BG2 ones, but next to the BG2 portraits anything different stands out way too much. Even the Enhanced Edition portraits look more natural next to the vanilla BG2 ones than the vanilla BG1 portraits do.

Regardless, it comes down to personal taste. Yeslick has a professionally painted portrait that players are familiar with, and I can appreciate that. Custom portraits are always an option, too.

Yeslick is a simple mod, which I feel is much to its own benefit. Some mods don’t need to be complicated to be good, and Yeslick as a BG1 character definitely benefits from the minimalistic approach.

Not to say that there isn’t a lot of content here. There’s just as much here as characters like Minsc or Yoshimo. If you like dwarves, or if you just want a new fighter/cleric in the game, then you can’t go wrong with Yeslick.

There’s very little I can say against this mod, it’s just very solid all around.

Thanks for reading.

---