Paralyze is one of the held status effects, and works exactly like Hold creature: Any held creature is unable to move or take any action whatsoever and is considered Helpless — physical attacks against it will always connect as attack rolls are skipped entirely, which incidentally means no critical hits either.
While functionally identical to Hold creature, they are different effects inflicted by different sources. The game often treats them both at the same time though:
- Sharing a single cure effect[2] means they have the exact same list of cures.
- The means of protection against Paralyze or Hold creature tend to provide wide coverage, regularly, but not always, targeting them both.
Gameplay[]
- Affected player characters can receive items, but no item can be taken from their inventory which is greyed out.
- The source – what is causing Paralyze – sometimes allows the effect to be dispelled or saved against, and sometimes not. Check the source you're interested in for such details.
In-game labels[]
The Baldur's Gate series is inconsistent in providing accurate labels for each of the held effects which all share the same portrait icon: Hold creature, Hold creature 2 and Paralyze. Such labels may be found in an affected character's Record screen, in-game combat logs, or simply spell, item or ability descriptions.
Typically we could expect that a paralyzed affecting a party member should refer to the Paralyze effect, and held to the Hold creature effect, but don't bet your house on it.
If unsure, take a look at this page's infobox. It only contains sources that really do inflict the Paralyze effect.
Modding[]
The Paralyze effect can be used to e.g. create statues through its Fake petrification mode. See SPIN776.SPL and AR2000.BCS for an example, and IESDP for details.
The only things using Fake petrification in the unmodded game are the statues in Trademeet.
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
The upcoming release of Enhanced Edition Fix Pack (EEFP) has already beta coded a large overhaul pertaining to Paralyze, as follows:
Revamp of Hold, Paralysis, and Web
In the original Baldur's Gate, there were four internal methods to make an NPC freeze: paralysis (used in undead melee attacks), web (used by the spell of the same name and spiders), and two forms of hold (one for Hold spells and a second, special one reserved for special cases like cutscenes).
As the series progressed through the BG expansion, into BG2, and concluding with Throne of Bhaal, these were used more and more freely, and muddled--you had web spells using paralysis, abilities that blocked the special hold (which nothing should) to the point where there was little distinction, if any, between these effects from a player's point of view.
EEFP is re-establishing the scheme, going all the way back to the original Baldur's Gate, of trying to use these effects in a way that differentiates them and fixes a number of bugs along the way. Paralysis is, once again, the domain of undead attacks, and from which elves have some protection. Web is no longer paired by default with paralysis, meaning items which protect you from web no longer provide paralysis protection by accident, and the special hold will now always take effect.
References
- ↑ Dagger +2
20% chance to paralyze for 2 rounds on hit unless a save vs Death is made.
Found on Brother Ellraish towards the end of The Black Pits II - ↑ Remove paralysis (ID 162)