Current Events > I'm gonna do my first playthru of Baldur's Gate! Any tips? *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I remember trying the original version like 20 years ago and getting stuck about 3 hours in. Never got back to it.
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Should I make my entire party, or find NPC's?

I made an Elf Ranger
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

Should I make my entire party, or find NPC's?

I made an Elf Ranger

NPCs are part of the Baldur's Gate experience.

Did you take the Archer kit on that Elf Ranger?
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Original or Remastered?
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My top 3 tips:

At low levels, crowd control spells work better than direct damage (Sleep is godly on all the low HP packs of trash you run into)

Range is king until about L5 when melee starts to get closer to parity thanks to Haste. So be sure to equip all your characters with ranged weapons and ammo

Edw1n is the best NPC
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synth_real posted...

Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

Should I make my entire party, or find NPC's?

I made an Elf Ranger

NPCs are part of the Baldur's Gate experience.

Did you take the Archer kit on that Elf Ranger?

Archer Kit
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Maze_ posted...

Original or Remastered?

Enhanced Edition
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save scum

RNG is not with you in the game. its in a galaxy far, far away...
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I got the two guys I found on the road, and then the two at the Friendly Arms Inn.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

I got the two guys I found on the road, and then the two at the Friendly Arms Inn.

just to warn you, those 2 sets are mismatched with each other. the ones on the road are evil aligned. and the ones in the inn are good aligned. its usually recommended to eventually have a full party of all good or all evil. you can use them for now, but I would try to replace one of those 2 sets, eventually

I'll echo the advice for crowd control. That should be the primary role of your mages throughout the game. Crowd control, buffs, and debuffs.

Sleep is great, so is Glitterdust, Slow, Web, Hold Person, etc. Haste is the primary Mage buff for the party, but Invisibility is good for your Thief.

If you have a boss character, have a Cleric cast Doom on them first thing, it'll impair their rolls.

For a while, you'll want to micromanage your party members so that enemies will chase one or two around while the others use bows, slings, etc to wittle them down. Once your party gets to a level where they can really take a few hits, then you can shift to a more melee-centric style.
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Pitlord_Special posted...

Range is king until about L5

It's a general problem with the D&D ruleset. Low levels suck because you have all the tougness of a wet tissue paper.

The old CRPGs like that also LOVE to throw tons of enemies at the players, and the worst kind of plot-related ambushes. That's also BEFORE you get to all the various enemies that drain your levels/stats and cause your spellcasters to forget spells.
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I ditched the two bad guys, cause I'm Chaotic Good.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

I ditched the two bad guys, cause I'm Chaotic Good.

Don't worry, the game throws a lot of party members at you early on. In fact, even if you hadn't ditched them it's possible to have more than 6 thrown at you within the first few hours, meaning you'd have to dismiss some anyway.

IIRC that dwarf was far tankier than the 'good' alignment option though.

Game Mechanic Note: If you initially turn down a companion they disappear for good. But if you agree to have them join you, but have to dismiss someone to stay at 6 members, a note will be made of where they will return to wait around for you to have them join again in the future.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

I ditched the two bad guys, cause I'm Chaotic Good.

Somewhere in Act 2 you're going to find a Red Wizard...he's evil, but worth putting up with the party conflict for.
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Multiclass Imoen.
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DrizztLink posted...

Multiclass Imoen.

But only put points into her trap finding and lockpicking. Nothing else really matters.
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I picked up Ajantis
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Esrac posted...

DrizztLink posted...

Multiclass Imoen.

But only put points into her trap finding and lockpicking. Nothing else really matters.

I always wondered if Detect Illusion or whatever was worthwhile.

If it works like it sounds it would be like a free True Sight.
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DuranOfForcena posted...

i thought TC was talking about Xzar and Montaron? neither of them are dwarves, or are particular tanky. Yeslick is a great tank, in a good/neutral alignment option. Kagain for evil.

Probably, it's been a while...
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DrizztLink posted...

Esrac posted...

DrizztLink posted...

Multiclass Imoen.

But only put points into her trap finding and lockpicking. Nothing else really matters.

I always wondered if Detect Illusion or whatever was worthwhile.

If it works like it sounds it would be like a free True Sight.

I mean, why bother when you can just cast True Sight?

I was speaking specifically about Imoen and DCing there though. For a long-term Thief, I'd say the Set Traps skill and the Hide in Shadows/Move Silently skills are also worth taking.
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Remember to gather your party before venturing forth.
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Are these shell things worth it? The quest to find that guys son, where the Alguthak's or whatever? Their shells are 100 pounds each. Yeessh
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It kind of is, it gives some good light weight armour for one of your party members.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

Are these shell things worth it? The quest to find that guys son, where the Alguthak's or whatever? Their shells are 100 pounds each. Yeessh

Yeah, the smith in Beregost buys them for like 500gp or will offer to make you a suit of plate mail out of one for like 5000g I think

Speaking of which, if you havent been to that town and Nashkel yet, youre kind of off course and that zone north of Friendly Arm is intended to be played in Chapter 3 so if its too rough, head South instead
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Ah, gotcha. A friend of mine just said that I got a good party member if I went this direction. Those guys definitely required a lot of save scamming to beat. LOL.
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I tossed the ones I couldn't take with me in a chest in the farmers house. If I recall items will degrade if left in the open.

Now time to go back and forth to this Smith a dozen times. lol
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That could really wrack up the days when your companions will likely complain about taking too long to get to Nashkel. Some of them leave eventually I think.
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Hmmm, I see. For another time then.
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It sounds like you're about ready to head down into the Naskel mines. What's your current party?
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Ajantis is almost level 3
Khalid level 2
Jaheira level 2
Imoen almost level 3
Neera almost level 2

And then my PC is level 2 archer.
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What have you put your weapon proficiencies into? Longbows are better in BG1, but shortbows are better in BG2 if you plan on importing your save.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

And then my PC is level 2 archer.

Do you want goblins? Because this is how you get goblins

Also, don't forget to pay very close attention when highlighting lootable things. They like to hide really nice stuff.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

Ajantis is almost level 3
Khalid level 2
Jaheira level 2
Imoen almost level 3
Neera almost level 2

And then my PC is level 2 archer.

If your PC is an archer and you plan to keep it through BG2, I'd suggest giving priority to short bows or crossbows. They're the better options in the long run.
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DrizztLink posted...

Also, don't forget to pay very close attention when highlighting lootable things. They like to hide really nice stuff.

Yeah... That includes the wilderness blocks, as the tiniest hideaways may be present.
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Does the remaster fix the RNG being so crap in the original? I remember a few battles you'd literally be trading blows with an enemy for about 45 seconds and maybe getting one hit in. Boring as hell.
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Crepes posted...

Does the remaster fix the RNG being so crap in the original? I remember a few battles you'd literally be trading blows with an enemy for about 45 seconds and maybe getting one hit in. Boring as hell.

Welcome to low level D&D, where a grown ass man has a 50/50 chance to win a fight to the death with a rat.
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DrizztLink posted...

Crepes posted...

Does the remaster fix the RNG being so crap in the original? I remember a few battles you'd literally be trading blows with an enemy for about 45 seconds and maybe getting one hit in. Boring as hell.

Welcome to low level D&D, where a grown ass man has a 50/50 chance to win a fight to the death with a rat.

Username checks out :D
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If you use the normal rolls, nope. If you drop it to easy then suddenly you obliterate everything with a sneeze. There's no happy medium.

Low level D&D is always a bit of a crapshoot in that regard. It's usually best to start people at level 2 or even 3 in tabletop campaigns just to avoid the risk of flushing new characters down the proverbial toilet due to an enemy getting a lucky Crit.
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I'm gonna just Grandmaster Longbow.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

I'm gonna just Grandmaster Longbow.

If that's your preference. Its just that BG2 has a short bow and a crossbow that each have infinite +4 ammo.
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I'm not super concerned with min/maxing
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It's less min/Max and more a matter of convenience.

Don't have to keep up with supplying arrows.
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Esrac posted...

Its just that BG2 has a short bow and a crossbow that each have infinite +4 ammo.

Once you upgrade the crossbow, it hits as a +5. The real power with either of those weapons came from equipping ammo with elemental damage on them, because in the original version the damage stacked with the infinite ammo. I think the EE might have "fixed" that.

Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

I'm not super concerned with min/maxing

Ranged weapons drop off in power about halfway through BG2. They're incredible in BG1 because everything has a lot less health and the to hit bonuses you get as an elven archer give you a substantial advantage. You'll pick off tons of enemies as soon as you can see them, but in BG2 you'll face foes that can tank a few arrows to get in your face. Unless you have the upgraded Firetooth crossbow, you will have to switch to a melee weapon to be able to hit the toughest enemies in the game.
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My buddy keeps telling me to get Minsc. Should I get rid of the Wild Mage Neera to get him?
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Minsc is legendary.

Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

My buddy keeps telling me to get Minsc. Should I get rid of the Wild Mage Neera to get him?

You could drop her and Ajantis, since Minsc is a warrior who is paired with a the Mage Dynaheir.

There is some overlap with your Archer and Minsc, both being Ranger types, but Minsc is more geared to be a melee fighter while your Archer is primarily ranged.

When I take Minsc through Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, I usually gear him for two-handed swords early on and transition him over to two-weapon fighting later when his hit chance is more reliable. Usually some combinations of Maces, Flails, Bastard Swords, or Katana. Depending on how I built my PC.
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Esrac posted...

Usually some combinations of Maces, Flails, Bastard Swords, or Katana

Gotta have maces for Disruption, that shit's broken.

And most likely Scimitar for Belm off-hand.
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