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[hunvagy]

Originally Posted by Japo

I said I didn't like D&D, not that there's anything wrong with Baldur's Gate specifically. Besides EOTB, Menzoberranzan and others are officially licensed D&D too. And most RPGamers like D&D, I'm not saying they're wrong, it's a matter of opinion, and I'm in the minority.

I think BG is very well made with one exception, and back in the time it was very good looking indeed. Those other games you mention are from earlier generations, of course they're graphically inferior. The exceptional fault of BG and its famous Infinity engine is of course pathfinding, I can't understand why they thought it was OK to release the game with that engine without solving that huge problem. It's bad enough outdoors and in cities, but it makes dungeon crawling a pain, and that's just incredible for D&D precisely.

No worries then, BG and the old ones are AD&D, not D&D Just kidding, D20 really is a hit or miss, and in the long run, a very restrictive system. I agree about pathfinding, though if you raise it manually to max (30000 or so in BG1) they get a lot smarter, and it actually works. And todays computers can take that setting.

And promised myself that I will not get into the "cast spell without delay" thing, because in fact, you don't, not even with space.

@yoga: Yes, taking on multiple baddies without tactical pause is only possible if they aren't spellcasters, and you have at least two juggernauts up front armed to the toes with deadly magic weapons. Rule of thumb is: The wizzord is squishy, keep it in the back, hurling magic on the enemy. The cleric can take a beating, but not as good in melee, so keep around for healing and buffs. Fighters and rangers can take on enemies head to head. Thieves.. if you manage to get high dex, you're safe, if not then sneak/backstab and use ranged weapons. btw, if you play multiclassed mage, you can't cast spells in armor. Now that doesn't mean that you can't arm yourself with buffs right before the fight, then slip into your comfy full plate and beat the shit out of everyone

[kmonster]

Originally Posted by yoga

[b] Q: Pls, some healing spell and/or device? Or it is to early to acquire.

Any cleric or druid in your party can cast healing spells. Just have Jaheira (she can cast at least 4 level 1 spells per day) or whomever you have in your party memorize a few "cure light wounds" spells (you know how to memorize spells, don't you ?) so she can cast it a few times after resting.
Temples offer healing and healing potions can be bought at several locations, but it's better to rest and save the money for buying stuff which keeps you from getting injured (like weapons which kill faster or equipment which reduces your AC).

An advice: Give a ranged weapon to every party member (and eventually a ranged attack script for comfort) so you can kill the monsters before they can get close enough to hurt you. If you haven't done it at creation (or didn't put points into missile weapons instead) put 2 proficiency points into bows when you reach level 3 and 6, composite bows are deadly.

[twillight]

"healing" spells you better always have are:
- something to remove leveldrain (on fighters you can preserve this until the end of the battle)
- something to remove poison (potions preferred)
- health-restoration (potions are best)
- something to remove charm-effects (some kind of dispel magic here, until you find something what provides immunity)

another defensive magic to mention:
- True Sight is the ultimate help against illusion-using enemies

[yoga]

Originally Posted by twillight

"healing" spells you better always have are:
- something to remove leveldrain (on fighters you can preserve this until the end of the battle)
- something to remove poison (potions preferred)
- health-restoration (potions are best)
- something to remove charm-effects (some kind of dispel magic here, until you find something what provides immunity)

another defensive magic to mention:
- True Sight is the ultimate help against illusion-using enemies

My party:
Twillight - Fighter/Mage
Imoen - Thief
Jaheira - Cleric
Khalid - Fighter

Location: Beregost

OFF:
Action: Working on huge project!!!
Ohhhhh! Rats!
Damn it, this f....d project!
I want to play game not work...

[hunvagy]

Originally Posted by yoga

My party:
Twillight - Fighter/Mage
Imoen - Thief
Jaheira - Cleric
Khalid - Fighter

Location: Beregost

OFF:
Action: Working on huge project!!!
Ohhhhh! Rats!
Damn it, this f....d project!
I want to play game not work...

Jaheira is a fighter/druid :P Branwen is the Cleric. Due to the number of enemies, it is good to have an ample supply of potions, and since you don't have a cleric.. better have all kinds. Potions of speed can be a great help as well. Other then that, if your Fighter/Mage is not in armor (as in you like to cast mid-fight) you should have shield, mage armor, magic weapon at least. Now though I don't know the durid spell list by heart, the only "healing" Jaheira can perform on low levels is the Goodberries spell. Maybe cure light wounds Oh, and she can't wear metal, but guess you already noticed that. I usually give her the ankheg plate and if I'm lucky, I murder Drizzt and give her the scimitars :P And as a side note, you can dual class Imoen to wizard

[yoga]

Originally Posted by hunvagy

Jaheira is a fighter/druid :P Branwen is the Cleric. Due to the number of enemies, it is good to have an ample supply of potions, and since you don't have a cleric.. better have all kinds. Potions of speed can be a great help as well. Other then that, if your Fighter/Mage is not in armor (as in you like to cast mid-fight) you should have shield, mage armor, magic weapon at least. Now though I don't know the durid spell list by heart, the only "healing" Jaheira can perform on low levels is the Goodberries spell. Maybe cure light wounds Oh, and she can't wear metal, but guess you already noticed that. I usually give her the ankheg plate and if I'm lucky, I murder Drizzt and give her the scimitars :P And as a side note, you can dual class Imoen to wizard

Hmmm.. definitely I have to start Magics University!
What a game, My Good!!
50 characters... and poor yoga has to make the correct group?

Me..that beat Lord of Chaos with 2 spells only!! Now - this hero with that spell, those ones with these ones?
How to foreseen the future?
I think that so difficult game needs re play..

OFF:
Sry, I stopped to play. Y'know why.

..working.. closed in dark dungeon..and guarded by evil orcs..
..sob..sob


yoga the brave

PS: Do YOU know some cheat for immortality?

[hunvagy]

There is a cheat, but I'm not telling If you die too much, you are going at this game the wrong way. Take a step back, read the manual, and understand the basics of AD&D and the d20 system. Understand what character you want (and certainly not from a powergamer aspect) And take it slowly. If you are still getting a hard beating, then tone down the difficulty. Core D20 rules difficulty is murder

[twillight]

Yep, BG1 is actually pretty hard at first. My advice is to look up what quests are avaiable, and do the easy ones first.
Also hire your party as soon as possible.
In the very beggining your have pityfull level1 characters, so your best bet during fights are BOWs.

The game will start to be ok when you'll open level 3 spells and be able to cast your first fireball.

Oh yeah, potions of speed are really useful in BG1 as mentioned above. Basically: take a look at everything, maybe you'll find some use of what you find. And if needed do as Southpark vs. WoW:
"- But we can't do any quest because if we get out of town that guy will just kill us! We can only kill boarses for 1 exp each!
- Then we will do like that."

[Japo]

I don't know why since it's supposed to be D&D by the book, but ranged weapons are overpowered in this game (because of weapon type AC modifiers maybe?), so use them. Even at low levels you can kill lots of (low level) enemies before they touch you.

The thing I like less in D&D that made me give up BG2 long before finishing it, is how important magic is. In BG1 enemies will throw at you gigawatts of magic, but in BG2 you'll absolutely need to dispel "invulnerability to everything" spells that the most powerful enemies use all the time, before you can attack them. If you're the kind of RPGamer that enjoys playing fighters you'll feel overwhelmed. All that magic casting optimization feels like work to me.

[kmonster]

Originally Posted by yoga

PS: Do YOU know some cheat for immortality?

You want immortality so you can continue

Originally Posted by yoga

..working.. closed in dark dungeon..and guarded by evil orcs..
..sob..sob

forever ?


Maybe you should ask those orcs, as far as I know no human has gained immortality yet.

There are cheats in the game, but I never tried them. You don't need them either.
Just accept that the game is unbalanced, there will be some battles you have to reload until you get good dice rolls or even have to delay and gain levels elsewhere. Save your game often, there's no penalty for this.
You can pause your game in combat every second to assign commands to avoid that your party members waste precious seconds doing suboptimal things if needed.