How To Actually Play Baulder's Gate

[Kesnit]

I have tried on a few occasions to play BGI. I picked up several mods that were recommended, including Tutu. Everyone says the story is wonderful, and it seems like it is. But that is where the problem lies for me...

How do people actually get far enough to make progress through the story? Every time I have played, the game has turned into "take a few steps, save, take a few steps, random encounter, character death due to poor roll, reload." I reload because if I don't, there is no way to beat the next random encounter because I'm already down a party member.

Last time I played, I made it to the inn where you pick up the necromancer and someone else. (Details are fuzzy, as it has been well over a year since I tried.) So I do have a full party, until someone dies and I can't rez them.

I want to play and enjoy the game. I do like 2nd Ed, and I love BioWare. But I feel like I am missing something really obvious that would allow me to actually progress in the game.

[tensai_oni]

How to survive in Level 1 Baldur's Gate:

Give everyone a ranged weapon. Don't charge enemies, shoot from afar.

EDIT: As for spells - don't go for damaging ones. Get (and use!) Sleep, Charm Person. For Druids, Entangle. Jaheira is a powerhouse so early in the game due to starting with pretty much a second level. Khalid is a good tank between his con and dex scores, even if his str sucks.

[Tengu_temp]

It costs 100 gold to resurrect dead people at temples.

[SmartAlec]

Using a stealthed character to spot trouble, like Imoen (Hey-ya!), can help. Just don't go too far, and be ready to have them run back to the party and for the party to give them covering fire, in case they're spotted.

A quick note, that may prevent you from having to reload:

The necromancer and halfling you meet on the road, Xzar and Montaron, and the druid and fighter you meet in the Friendly Arm Inn, Khalid and Jahiera, are bitter enemies. Keeping them in the same party will lead to the two pairs temporarily leaving the party and fighting to the death before long.

[Shpadoinkle]

Welcome to level 1!

Here's my advice for starting: Play a fighter. Dwarf, preferably. Max out your Constitution at least (19) as dwarves get bonuses to their saving throws based on how high their Con is. High strength should be your next priority- fighters can get exceptional strength (represented as 18/XX, where XX ranges from 01 to 00 (100,)) so try to get at least 18/51, this will allow you to carry a lot more stuff and hit harder in melee combat.

INT, WIS, and CHA are largely useless for a fighter so set them at 10 (lower and you start getting penalties to stuff.) Any leftover points should go into DEX, which should be at least 10- if you don't have enough points to max out Strength and Constitution and bring everything else up to at least 10, hit the reroll button.

Okay, now for proficiencies: While dwarves traditionally use axes and hammers, those options... well, kinda suck in BG1. If you're playing the original BG1 you want to put points into Large Swords and Bows; if you're playing TuTu or Enhanced Edition (which I've heard uses BG2 style proficiencies but I haven't played it so I'm not sure) then longswords or two-handed swords and longbows are what you want to spend your proficiencies.

Get the best armor you can afford- THE LOWER YOUR ARMOR CLASS, THE HARDER YOU ARE TO HIT! Don't think of AC as how well you're protected, think of it as how likely you are to be hit- better armor makes you harder to hit, right?- and it'll make sense.

Strategy for the majority of BG 1 is fairly simple: When you see a hostile, pause the game, and switch everybody in the party to a ranged weapon. Then select your entire party, and left-click on the most dangerous enemy persent, then unpause. Everyone will shoot at the guy you clicked. Once he dies, repeat until all your enemies are dead.

DO NOT be afraid to pause in battle, it's not cheating and the game is MUCH more difficult without it.

As a rule spellcasters are the most dangerous enemies in the game, followed by archers, then melee fighters, but this isn't a hard and fast rule.

If a hostile gets close enough to hit you with their swords or whatever, switch whoever is being attacked in melee to a melee weapon because if you continue using a ranged one, the enemy gets a +4 on his roll to hit you. This ONLY applies to being attacked by a melee weapon while you're using a ranged one.

Magic is powerful in BG1- the first level wizard spell Sleep will pretty much take you through the first half of the game. The second level spell Strength will make characters like Khalid and Jahiera excellent melee fighters and lasts a fairly long time. In general, buffing your allies and debuffing enemies is more effective than just trying to blow enemies up.

DO NOT be afraid to rest a lot to refresh spells, it's not cheating.... although you SHOULD quicksave before doing it in case you get ambushed.

[Johnny Blade]

You can play whatever you want, mostly. I wouldn't really recommend Cleric/Mage or Cleric/Thief combinations to new players, but apart from that, you'll want every class present in the party anyway, so any archetype is fine, really. You will want two or three warrior types (Fighter, Ranger or Paladin), but there are enough of those to choose from in the game.

For mechanical reasons, you'll always want to be a shorty if possible. If you can't, Elves are decent if the hit to Constitution doesn't bother you (it doesn't matter to non-warriors), or if you want to make a dedicated archer. It's not required to stick to those races, but it'll give you an edge.

As for weapons, there's a great dagger and a decent hammer in addition to the swords already mentioned. The other proficiencies don't get much love.

Also, always make sure you have enough healing potions and some antidotes on you.


Order of operations for a new player would, in my opinion, be:

Get to the Friendly Arm and a party of five or six people ASAP.

Go to Beregost, make a detour to the west for High Hedge. You can solve a quest involving a short sword (Perdue's, looks like a regular one, found in High Hedge area) and pick up Kivan, a very useful NPC, there.

Then head straight for Nashkel in the south. You can either go to the mines or explore the southernmost areas, both are reasonably safe to handle for low-level parties.



Apart from that, what Tengu_temp and tensai_oni said is really the best general gameplay advice.

[Eldariel]

What really helps is getting a level or two. First level, characters are pretty much one-hit-dead but higher up you'll begin to be able to take a hit or two and be able to heal those up (Bhaalspawn powers help too). So yeah, play first few encounters supersafe and go from there; once you get some levels and have a party you should be fine.

Remember, AD&D doesn't do Dex caps so max Dex is always good and wearing the heaviest armor your class can wear helps. If you're a non-Warrior class, Con 16 gets you max HP while Warriors can benefit of any amount (and start with 18-19 and getting level-ups to it eventually gets you Regeneration).

[Johnny Blade]

I forgot to mention it earlier, but you may also want to take a look at the game's auto-pause options.

[Mx.Silver]

Ok, first things first: learn to love the pause function. You are going to need that because it helps you to fully controlling your party. And you will need to do this, because if you aren't willing to take full control you are going to suffer for it. This is not Mass Effect, and it's not Dragon Age. BG1 does have AI scripts but they will probably not be enough to rely on. The game does come with auto-pause settings which I would advise making use of (enemy/trap sighted are good to stop you accindetally wandering into trouble, spell cast/target destroyed will help you stay on top of things in larger fights).
Second, ranged weapons are a massive help. This is equally true for casters given the limited amount of spells you'll have at the early levels. On the subject of spells, bear in mind that debuffs and disabling spells are significantly superior options early-on than straight damage. Also, try and keep your more fragile characters out of the front lines where possible. Fight cautiously and smart, do not go rushing into things. Scouting can be useful too, if you have someone with good stealth (or access to the invisibility spells). Don't hoard wands and potions too much.

[Wardog]

INT, WIS, and CHA are largely useless for a fighter so set them at 10 (lower and you start getting penalties to stuff.)

Do they? I thought INT and WIS didn't have any effect at all on fighters. I usually used to set them all to 3.

(Which seemed to cause much nerdrage if anyone mentioned doing that on the old Bioware forums: "This is supposed to be a role-playing game! Having 3 int/wis means you're character is a moron! If you minimize your mental stats and then don't play your character as a moron, then you're cheating!"

A lot of people there even seemed to think it was cheating to reload if you died).

[ArlEammon]

Do they? I thought INT and WIS didn't have any effect at all on fighters. I usually used to set them all to 3.

(Which seemed to cause much nerdrage if anyone mentioned doing that on the old Bioware forums: "This is supposed to be a role-playing game! Having 3 int/wis means you're character is a moron! If you minimize your mental stats and then don't play your character as a moron, then you're cheating!"

A lot of people there even seemed to think it was cheating to reload if you died).

You will want an intelligence of 11, even in Baldur's Gate 1 as a melee class, since in BG 2, Illithids can kill you if they drain intelligence to 0.

[Squark]

Charisma also affects rewards and store prices, although you only need one character with good charisma in the party (Ajantis, for instance, has 17 or 18 Charisma simply by virtue of being a paladin).

[ShellBullet]

You will want an intelligence of 11, even in Baldur's Gate 1 as a melee class, since in BG 2, Illithids can kill you if they drain intelligence to 0.

Aren't there any of those intelligence potions in BG 2? They might gave you little bit leeway during fight with illidths, But I don't know what happens when they stop working. Besides there is always option sending undeads to fight.


Charisma also affects rewards and store prices, although you only need one character with good charisma in the party (Ajantis, for instance, has 17 or 18 Charisma simply by virtue of being a paladin).

I think he has 17 charisma, but didn't charisma also affect turn undead ability? There is always that charisma cloak in that Beregos in, if you have high enough pick pocket skill.

Having high charisma is handy to have, npc will be generally more pleasant toward you and you get higher rewards. It might also effect how soon your companions start to panic, but I don't know for sure.

[JadedDM]

I think he has 17 charisma, but didn't charisma also affect turn undead ability? There is always that charisma cloak in that Beregos in, if you have high enough pick pocket skill.

Charisma doesn't affect turning undead, at least not in 2E. That didn't become a thing until 3E.

[Aotrs Commander]

You will want an intelligence of 11, even in Baldur's Gate 1 as a melee class, since in BG 2, Illithids can kill you if they drain intelligence to 0.

No, I'm pretty sure Illithids kill you in four hits in AD&D, regardless of intelligence. As soon as they have hit you with all four tentacles, they automatically extract your brain and kill you outright (if they do indeed do intelligence damage (haven't got time to check it up at the moment) - which would be a factor of BG2, not AD&D - it is fairly incidental to that fact. (Though obviously, if you have 3 Int, it'd going to be a one-hit- KO)). This is what makes the Illithid den in BG2 one of the more tedious sections, since you pretty much have to try to wall them with summons or spend a huge amount of time reloading.

Intelligence and Wisdom, as I recall, has no effect for fighters in AD&D.

Just be aware, however, that in BG2 and onwards, your stats can have an effect one what dialogue options you get. (I'm not sure it's as dramatic as in NWN Nights where they actually gave you different dialogue or anything, but it's there.)

[Driderman]

No, I'm pretty sure Illithids kill you in four hits in AD&D, regardless of intelligence. As soon as they have hit you with all four tentacles, they automatically extract your brain and kill you outright (if they do indeed do intelligence damage (haven't got time to check it up at the moment) - which would be a factor of BG2, not AD&D - it is fairly incidental to that fact. (Though obviously, if you have 3 Int, it'd going to be a one-hit- KO)). This is what makes the Illithid den in BG2 one of the more tedious sections, since you pretty much have to try to wall them with summons or spend a huge amount of time reloading.

Intelligence and Wisdom, as I recall, has no effect for fighters in AD&D.

Just be aware, however, that in BG2 and onwards, your stats can have an effect one what dialogue options you get. (I'm not sure it's as dramatic as in NWN Nights where they actually gave you different dialogue or anything, but it's there.)

Pretty sure I never encountered conversation options that depended on ability scores in neither BG2 or Throne of Bhaal.

[Mx.Silver]

Pretty sure I never encountered conversation options that depended on ability scores in neither BG2 or Throne of Bhaal.

BG2 has a couple actually, the 'observer' beholder in the underwater city and the priest of Cyric at the Athkatla docks both had options that depended on the mental stats. There may have been a few others too.

[Aotrs Commander]

BG2 has a couple actually, the 'observer' beholder in the underwater city and the priest of Cyric at the Athkatla docks both had options that depended on the mental stats. There may have been a few others too.

There's at least one in the aforementioned Illithid nest, too. And, though it doesn't matter for a fighter, the options you have for Wish depend on your Wisdom too. (Though the instances I'm thinking of may only be additional options for higher scores; I've never had a character with an Int that low to see, but I do know they did it NWN (because I looked at the modules in the editor). I suspect they first used that idea in Torment, though, so it won't mean anything to BG1, I think.

[Triaxx]

If you're using scripts for anything, you'll want to go here: http://www.shsforums.net/files/category/36-yovaneths-scripts/

Those are NPC specific scripts for individual NPC's.

One thing to know is that you'll need some defense against being feared when you get to FAI. I suggest bringing along Montaron and Xzar and using them as bait. Trust me.

Okay, I started BG1 playing mostly with half-elf multi-classes, like the Fighter/Mage/Thief. It seemed at the time the best idea, because BG1 was my introduction to D&D.

Grease is an important 1st level spell. If you follow the ranged weapon advice above, it will bring your enemies to a stand-still very quickly, and let you shoot them as they slowly make their way towards you. BG1 entangle is useful as well, but both let the enemies continue to shoot if they have ranged weapons. Web is an alternative, but there are so few free action items in BG1 that I don't like using it.

Lightning bolt is good out doors, though I wouldn't risk it inside. Fireball will usually be a best friend, just because the enemies are weak enough most of the rabble will be cleared by a good shot of it.

If you're playing the original version, you'll want to snap up the hidden Ring of Wizardry at the FAI. It doubles the amount of spells you can memorize for a mage, and stacks with itself, because of another copy later. It adds a hilarious number of spells to memory. Doesn't do that in BGEE though.

Also, monster summoning is hilariously overpowered. 6 archers is bad. The fact that the monster summon spells can bring up hordes of Hobgoblin Archers is just wrong. They will vaporize all but two fights. BGEE may correct this as well, using the BG2 summon limit.

[Aotrs Commander]

Lightning bolt is good out doors, though I wouldn't risk it inside.

Well, once you get to the sort of level you can Resist Lightning the party, it's hilarious to use indoors. I have fond memories of my IWD party doing that, (and also as a great way to deal with the demon-inna-basement-minions in tSC if you buff one chatacter and send 'em in!) They once caught some guys in a small triangular room. Frag, that was hysterical.

If you aren't familiar - in BG, Lightning Bolt hits a wall and bounces.


If you're playing the original version, you'll want to snap up the hidden Ring of Wizardry at the FAI. It doubles the amount of spells you can memorize for a mage, and stacks with itself, because of another copy later. It adds a hilarious number of spells to memory. Doesn't do that in BGEE though.

Eh? What's it do now then? That seems like a really needless nerf to the already poor-at-low-level casters.


Also, monster summoning is hilariously overpowered. 6 archers is bad. The fact that the monster summon spells can bring up hordes of Hobgoblin Archers is just wrong. They will vaporize all but two fights. BGEE may correct this as well, using the BG2 summon limit.

Never been an infinity engine game where is wasn't. (Heck, spamming Animate Dead was pretty much a requirement for IWDII Heart of Winter mode.) S'pretty broken on the tabletop, for that matter. In all the earlier editions, anyway (and a fair number of non-D&D games too!)

Though yeah, summoning umpteen Hobgoblins was awesome. I was sad they took that out later on...!

[Starbuck_II]

Having high charisma is handy to have, npc will be generally more pleasant toward you and you get higher rewards. It might also effect how soon your companions start to panic, but I don't know for sure.

Yes, but only for 1st person on top of party "leader". Imoen has like 15 Cha I think so if you have lower move her there.
However, each person has a set number of morale as well. When hit for a amount of damage they roll versus this number to see if they panick.

Minsc has high but Jahiera's BF has low. So most people see him as a coward as he was made to be scared if hit too much. Sadly he is a Fighter so being hit is what he is suppoosed to do.

Bard song makes you immune to fear so Bards are really useful at low levels.

[Driderman]

BG2 has a couple actually, the 'observer' beholder in the underwater city and the priest of Cyric at the Athkatla docks both had options that depended on the mental stats. There may have been a few others too.

Considering I've completed the game as both a Paladin and a Fighter/Mage (and played it lots of times with all sorts of other characters, without completing it) I would think I'd have encountered those options.
I suppose I might not have noticed. Guess BG2 didn't show when a dialogue option was due to an ability score?

[Eldariel]

Guess BG2 didn't show when a dialogue option was due to an ability score?

Nope. I think there are options dependent on Charisma too.

[Aotrs Commander]

I suppose I might not have noticed. Guess BG2 didn't show when a dialogue option was due to an ability score?

No, it didn't. Which was why I mentioned it, since unless you happen to know that it does (or remember the odd line of dialogue being different in subsequent playthroughs), you wouldn't necessarily pick up on it.

[Calemyr]

I know a high-int character can talk circles around the Observer, convincing him that his orders were to protect the chest, not the items within. Don't like playing dumb people, so I've never tried to do that with a moron.

Beholders in BG2 do int damage, not the 4-move-instakill. 3 int will get you killed in an instant.

I don't see a point to playing with 3 int anyway. If you're going to violate the spirit of the game anyway, why not just ctrl+8 it and have good stats? 3 int isn't cheating, per se, but it is cheese to a high degree. There comes a point where cheating is more friendly to the spirit of the game than exploiting the rules.

Khalid is an excellent archer, with his dex, class, and elven bonuses. Give him Single Weapon Style, a good bow, and a longsword. He can then serve as an effective tank in a pinch, but can usually devastate things with a bow without the threat to his morale.

The Ring of Wizardry works the same as it always did (2x 1st level spells), but in EE you can no longer equip 2 on the same person. It is an awesome weapon in the hands of a good mage. Edwin and Neera in particular profit from it - Edwin because his bonus spell gets multiplied and Neera because her wild magic spell can become almost any spell you know, allowing her to improvise extremely effectively (if you're willing to put up with the wild surges, that is).

Brutes (fighters/rangers/paladins/barbarians) survive the first stages of BG a lot better than other classes. If you are having trouble surviving, choose those classes instead. If you're human and have the right stats, you can dual class into another class quickly in order to pursue a more powerful path after you've gotten enough support to survive the process.

Never underestimate the power of a stealthy character. Even without backstabs, the ability to scout allows you to set up a fight long before happens. Once you get fireball, a personal favorite trick of mine is to sneak in, find an optimal blast point, drop some junk (potion or gem) at that point, then retreat and let your fireballer(s) target the junk. As long as the target point doesn't put the mage in visual range of the enemies, you'll get at least the first spell off without risk, weakening some and killing the rest. This saved my butt many times, particularly during Chateau Irenicus at the start of BG2.

Ankheg plate armor is great. Lightweight, good AC, isn't made of iron, and best of all, counts as unenchanted, allowing you to wear a ring or cloak of protection. Unenchanted full-plate is even better, but it's heavy, expensive, and hard to find. Also, I believe druids can wear Ankheg plate, whether or not they have fighter levels, which is pretty nice.

[pffh]

There's at least one in the aforementioned Illithid nest, too. And, though it doesn't matter for a fighter, the options you have for Wish depend on your Wisdom too.

Yup you need 18 (I think) to wish for "an adventure like no other" in BG2 which is the best questline ever.

[Sharoth]

What mods would you all suggest for the original BG I + totSC and BG II + tToB? I was planning on playing them back to back.

I have yet to pick up the EE version, but I will when the EE BG II comes out. ~shrugs~ I figure that I will have fun with the original before I try the EE version(S).

[Aotrs Commander]

Beholders in BG2 do int damage, not the 4-move-instakill. 3 int will get you killed in an instant.

Beholders might, but the first person to mention it said Illithids (he may have meant beholders, of course).

By the time I fought beholders, I had tended to get that shield that reflected beholder eye rays, so they were kind of hilarious free XP by that point...!

(That would be a valid way around low Int, of course, in that situation...!)


The Ring of Wizardry works the same as it always did (2x 1st level spells), but in EE you can no longer equip 2 on the same person.

Fair enough. I don't think I ever did that anyway, personally. (But of course, my parties were always caster-heavy, so there was always more than one wizard to use one.)

[Calemyr]

Beholders might, but the first person to mention it said Illithids (he may have meant beholders, of course).

By the time I fought beholders, I had tended to get that shield that reflected beholder eye rays, so they were kind of hilarious free XP by that point...!

(That would be a valid way around low Int, of course, in that situation...!)


Yeah, my bad. Typed too fast. I meant Illithid. Mind Flayer. Brain Eater.