Something is happening with Baldur's Gate! *Update* Ipad *cough*

[Carfax83]

Going Dynaheir pretty much answers the Minsc/Kivan question as well. If you take Dynaheir, you have to take Minsc. I personally think he is the better choice anyway seeing as he is pretty much a barbarian ranger. But he never gets ranger spells. Both are excellent warriors for your party.

I forgot about Neera. She's pretty good so far, but I don't recommend casting any wild mage spells until she has access to Chaos shield to improve the results.

She accidentally opened up a gate which allowed a demon to massacre our entire party after casting Nahal's reckless dweomer.

to ask how you are only 2nd level and heading for Dynaheir. I mean you can definitely set out at that point, but...... It is going to be TOUGH. It is better to solve the problems in Naskal first. Then go after her. Just don't take too long to do it. Minsc will not want to wait.

Yeah, so I'm finding out. The going is definitely been tough, but I've been managing with the exception of those damned ogre berserkers and hobgoblin elites near the bridge on the area north of the Gnoll fortress.

if you see someone named Nober in Naskal, talk to him.

Spoiler

he has some very interesting information to impart to the party.

I'll keep this in mind.

 

[Carfax83]

I went with a Fighter Berserker and haven't had much difficulty surviving. The golden rules seem to be stick to the path (don't go exploring different areas and stay on the roads when they're there) and always travel with a party of six. When I first started and strayed from the road to and from the friendly arm inn a lot of the enemies in the area could one hit kill me. Even now (level 3) if I go exploring outside the story area the enemies can one hit kill m.

I haven't had much difficulty surviving either, with the exception of a few incidents. I think I went after Dynaheir too early, because there are some tough encounters (for a level 2 character) on the way to rescue her.

Still, my Pally will only get better. The Cavalier I think is the most survivable class in the entire game, because he gets some really nice bonuses..

Immunity to charm, fear (with morale failure) and especially poison are really helpful as the game is loaded with these maladies, plus 20% resistance to fire and acid.. Can cast protection from evil as well (+2 to AC) and his saving throws are better +2.

Also, during character creation make sure you reroll until you get the best statistics. I ended up with 18/00 in strength, 18 in Con and Charisma, 10 in Int and Wis and 14 in dexterity. I would've put more in Dex but you get the gauntlets of dexeterity pretty early and with them you have an 18 dex. So if you start a new character keep rolling to get the best stats.

That's one of my regrets. I should have spent more time trying to get a better roll. My Pally has 18/10 STR, 18 CHA and 18 CON so it's not too bad, but I wish I would have gotten higher STR.

Are there any cheats for this game yet to alter stats? I just want to get 18/00 STR.

Does anyone have any suggestions for my party? Right now its me (neutral good fighter berserker), Minsc/Dynaheir, Khalid/Jaheira and Imoen. I've heard good things about Kivan but I don't want 4 ranged fighters so I was thinking about dropping Khalid/Jaheira for Branwen and Ajantis. After that, once I find Yeslick I'll dump Branwen and Ajantis for Yeslick and Kivan.

Neera is a good choice for a mage as well. Just don't use Nahal's reckless dweomer until you can cast chaos shield..

What weapons should I be using for my Wizard and Cleric? Should I mainly have them equipped with slings or should I also be using staffs?

I use slings with mine. Darts are another option as well. Giving them melee weapons is a sure death sentence.

 

[Carfax83]

Never mind, found cheat codes here if anyone wants to take a look at them.

The only cheats I used were to give my guy 19 STR and 99 scrolls of identification. The former is possible with the tomes so it's not really cheating per say, and the latter is to remove the annoyance of having to identify items..

 

[Red Storm]

There's an easier way to enable the console. In your Baldur.ini file, just add this:

'Game Options', 'Cheats', '1',

Ctrl + Space enables the console.

I already posted a link to getting Shadow Keeper (save game editor) working with the Enhanced Edition. It lets you really fine tune just about anything.

 

[Mem]

I finally purchased BG:EE,installed fine on Win8 Pro x64,made a fighter/cleric half elf,no issues so far but early days.

 

[Mopetar]

I haven't had much difficulty surviving either, with the exception of a few incidents. I think I went after Dynaheir too early, because there are some tough encounters (for a level 2 character) on the way to rescue her.

Depending on your party, it's not that difficult to do. You just need a solid tank and some solid DSP. Kiven can hit reliably from range, so he makes excellent DPS to take with you for the quest. If your PC can't tank, Kagain is easy to get at low levels and makes a pretty good tank.

Send the tank in and have everyone else attack from range. If the tank has an AC of around 0, which is pretty easy to do with Kagain, they probably won't get hit all that often.

Are there any cheats for this game yet to alter stats? I just want to get 18/00 STR.

There's a tome in the game to raise your strength. There's at least one for each attribute, thought some aren't easily acquired at low levels.

 

[Ferzerp]

but I don't recommend casting any wild mage spells

But that's all the fun. In a table top game years ago, Nahal's was my go to spell. It didn't last very long, so disaster never struck. However, for a level one/two party, having a mage who kept memorizing and casting it was funny. I don't remember many of the effects except the time I rolled "summon a rust monster". Everyone was afraid to hit it, and eventually my mage cast fist of stone and punched it to death with a natural 20 after a few people had begrudingly attacked it and it was fleeing after being hurt.

I blame the DM for stripping the party of all gear (including components) so pretty much all that he *could* do was cast it and fist of stone from the spells he knew. He did leave us our spell books at least

 

[thespyder]

I use slings with mine. Darts are another option as well. Giving them melee weapons is a sure death sentence.

I don't know if they fixed this in the EE version, but the problem with Darts is that you only have as many as you can stack in your hand. You can't keep a running three stacks like you can with arrows or sling bolts in the Quiver area of the Inventory screen. And I think the stack is 10? In any event, it takes a lot more micro-management and takes up valuable inventory slots where sling doesn't.

 

[Ferzerp]

The original stack limit was 20 for most things. EE ups it to 80, so one stack is now bigger than the whole quiver was initially.

 

[Red Storm]

Honestly I don't know why they didn't just make stack sizes be unlimited (and thus dependent on carry strength). I figured they'd learn from the various ease of use tweaks for BG II. But it's a very slight issue, at least the stacks are much greater than the original.

 

[thespyder]

The original stack limit was 20 for most things. EE ups it to 80, so one stack is now bigger than the whole quiver was initially.

The stack for Most things in the original was 20. I think they upped it to 40 in BG2. though don't quote me on that. But I remember it being higher than it was in BG1. Darts were the exception. I really want to say it was 10. Even if it was 20, it was 20 in hand and you could not put Darts in your quiver.

I agree that stacks should be unlimited. not only for convenience, but also because it made for some really frustrating Inventory Tetris. You really had to balance how many arrows and other stackables you could carry on an adventure against any treasure that you might find along the way. And while I get that might have been the intention, it kind of causes a problem when a Ruby takes up as much room in your inventory as 20/40 Arrows, which in turn takes up as much room in your pack as a Pole arm or a Suit of Plate-mail.

don't get me wrong, I don't think that the inventory icons should be size appropriate (because it is physically possible in these games to carry around 4-5 full suits of plate mail, which if you ever tried, you would see how ridiculous that is). But I also don't think that a fixed number of slots is the solution either if the items are not going to size.

I think it should be done based on weight (always assuming that items are weight appropriate). Now, if they could only make gold weigh??? JK...

Besides, i always imagine Samwise tracking to Mount Doom carrying everything including a full set of pots and pans on his back. Or the Dwarven Baggage Carrier doing likewise.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Also, during character creation make sure you reroll until you get the best statistics. I ended up with 18/00 in strength, 18 in Con and Charisma, 10 in Int and Wis and 14 in dexterity. I would've put more in Dex but you get the gauntlets of dexeterity pretty early and with them you have an 18 dex. So if you start a new character keep rolling to get the best stats.

This ^.

I can remember one time I spent 20 minutes rolling. I did end up with 18/00 str, 18 dex, 18 con, 17 int, 17 wis, 16 cha. I need to go find my copy of this game again. I know I picked it up again a few years back (well probably 7 or 8 really) with a re-release which worked under Vista (without needing to do anything).

 

[Fallen Kell]

I think it should be done based on weight (always assuming that items are weight appropriate). Now, if they could only make gold weigh??? JK...

If I recall correctly, this was done in many of the older RPG's (including coin weight). And getting things like piles of copper or silver coins did not automatically convert up to gold. Converting coins into gems was the way to carry your wealth with you.

 

[Martimus]

If I recall correctly, this was done in many of the older RPG's (including coin weight). And getting things like piles of copper or silver coins did not automatically convert up to gold. Converting coins into gems was the way to carry your wealth with you.

That was an annoyance with Ultima 7, since you could easily have more gold than you could carry. Of course, that game had very little that was worth buying, so I often found myself carrying almost no gold during the few times you needed it.

 

[thespyder]

This ^.

I can remember one time I spent 20 minutes rolling. I did end up with 18/00 str, 18 dex, 18 con, 17 int, 17 wis, 16 cha. I need to go find my copy of this game again. I know I picked it up again a few years back (well probably 7 or 8 really) with a re-release which worked under Vista (without needing to do anything).

While I (being a bit if a purist) think this is a tiny bit cheating, I do think that considering

Spoiler

who the Protagonist ultimately is supposed to be,

I think that a certain amount of boosted stats makes sense.

On the other hand, there are a number of Stat boosting tomes scattered throughout the first game. And Lum the Mad's machine in the second. Not to mention all of the stat enhancing magic items in the game. I personally think that spending 20 minutes rolling stats so that you end up with exclusively 16-18 is a bit much, not to mention unnecessary. All IMHO.

If I recall correctly, this was done in many of the older RPG's (including coin weight). And getting things like piles of copper or silver coins did not automatically convert up to gold. Converting coins into gems was the way to carry your wealth with you.

Which is more or less what I was proposing. In the tabletop game, My DM would require that we invested in bags of holding and things like pack horses or Tensers Disks if we came across particularly large hauls (rarely). He would also require that we convert our currency regularly (at an unfavorable exchange rate I might add) if we wanted to travel around. It made for some interesting Role playing, particularly for our thief who didn't like to part with his money.

In the end, I don't think that it should be a onerous mechanic in a CRPG, But I also don't see the reality of carrying around literally tens of thousands of gold coins the size of the palm of your hand. Although I did get my DM one time when he said "And a Thief picked your pocket back at the tavern, relieving you of 500 gold." I responded "And I didn't notice him dragging away a sack full of gold coins? Nor did I notice the lack of excess weight?" He took my point.... And then rolled a "Random" encounter that was CR +10 to our party.

 

[thespyder]

I need opinions on an Evil party. I am starting with a Half-Orc Cleric/Fighter. I intend to basically go as evil as I possibly can, so I don't want even 'Neutral' party members. So far I plan on:

My Main - 1/2Orc Fighter/Cleric
Kagan
Edwin
Viconia
Xar
Montoron

The problem is obviously with Xar and Montoron. Without them, I have no thief until much later in the game. But with them, I have two wizards.

Spoiler

And there is also the problem with the end battle.

I know I can swap out Xar/Montoron later on in the game, but even then there isn't really a good thief except Tiax but that isn't for a while. And leaves another opening. Maybe for Shar-teel?

Any suggestions?

 

[Mopetar]

I need opinions on an Evil party. I am starting with a Half-Orc Cleric/Fighter. I intend to basically go as evil as I possibly can, so I don't want even 'Neutral' party members. So far I plan on:

My Main - 1/2Orc Fighter/Cleric
Kagan
Edwin
Viconia
Xar
Montoron

The problem is obviously with Xar and Montoron. Without them, I have no thief until much later in the game. But with them, I have two wizards.

Any suggestions?

You can just get Xzar killed and dump him and Montoron won't leave. Honestly thieves are somewhat worthless. You don't need to open chests to get most of the good loot in the game and with Kagain, you can just walk through traps without caring.

On a side note, I've almost finished the game on the iPad, so ill have an updated review when I'm done. I've found a few other annoying bugs or oddities. Hopefully they'll have a patch out soon.

 

[gothamhunter]

You can just get Xzar killed and dump him and Montoron won't leave. Honestly thieves are somewhat worthless. You don't need to open chests to get most of the good loot in the game and with Kagain, you can just walk through traps without caring.

On a side note, I've almost finished the game on the iPad, so ill have an updated review when I'm done. I've found a few other annoying bugs or oddities. Hopefully they'll have a patch out soon.

wtf

 

[UberNeuman]

You can just get Xzar killed and dump him and Montoron won't leave. Honestly thieves are somewhat worthless. You don't need to open chests to get most of the good loot in the game and with Kagain, you can just walk through traps without caring.

On a side note, I've almost finished the game on the iPad, so ill have an updated review when I'm done. I've found a few other annoying bugs or oddities. Hopefully they'll have a patch out soon.

I'm looking forward to your review, sir.

I've been holding off on picking this up - and I'd love to read what a seasoned BG vet has to say.

 

[Carfax83]

WTF, my Paladin Cavalier just got diseased after fighting a wraith spider! I thought Paladins were immune to disease?!

Man, this game is brutally difficult at times, but I love it. One small mistake can end in a party wipe out

BTW, what level should I be before entering Durlag's tower? My PC is now level 4, so I'll probably get slaughtered if I go there right?

 

[Carfax83]

I'm looking forward to your review, sir.

I've been holding off on picking this up - and I'd love to read what a seasoned BG vet has to say.

I'm not a seasoned BG vet, but I played both the original and BG2 when they first came out years ago.

My advice is, get the game. The game is definitely much better than the original, in both gameplay and graphics.

If you were looking specifically for advice on the iPad version, well I guess I have nothing to say in that regard...

 

[ControlD]

I'm looking forward to your review, sir.

I've been holding off on picking this up - and I'd love to read what a seasoned BG vet has to say.

Personally I would wait to see if a patch is released first if you are looking at getting the iPad version. The game itself plays fine but the targetting sensitivity is so bad right now I have just decided to wait until I try to play anymore. It is almost like they never changed from an accurate mouse pointer to finger controlled selection. Having to tap 3-4 times to target an enemy gets old in short order.

 

[Mem]

I'm ready to go to BG,still got one or two small areas to explore,Cloakwood was pretty tough,not so much the fights but getting poisioned all the damn time(bring plenty of antidotes),never had that issue in original BG,its like virtually all the time in Cloakwood,anyway had Viconia leave party due to high rep so I reloaded and got my rogue to pickpocket one of the NPC gamblers at the carnival ,she got caught ended in a fight and killed him lol,rep dropped from 18 to 9,got it at 10 at moment but keeps her in the party.

 

[thespyder]

You can just get Xzar killed and dump him and Montoron won't leave. Honestly thieves are somewhat worthless. You don't need to open chests to get most of the good loot in the game and with Kagain, you can just walk through traps without caring.

On a side note, I've almost finished the game on the iPad, so ill have an updated review when I'm done. I've found a few other annoying bugs or oddities. Hopefully they'll have a patch out soon.

It's been a while since I played BG, so I am not sure how many traps there are. I seem to remember that Durlag's Tower has quite a few of them. Also, the Naskal mines has quite a few as well. And considering you are only 1st/2nd level at that point, boy do you need some trap detection/removal.

But I don't generally only use the thief for trap detection and lock picking. I also use them as scouts. Quite a lot of the time, if you just blunder into the combat, you are lost from the beginning. If you send a thief out to spy the area, you can be a lot more prepared. Also it makes it easier to snipe/draw single opponents without aggro-ing the entire encounter. In that, Thieves are paramount in the game. Plus, it makes sneaking around once you get to Baldur's Gate proper. And even more so in BG2 when, if you can get that surprise sneak attack off against the enemy caster, that can turn the tide of battle.

Don't underestimate the power of a good scout. And if, like me, you have to open every single chest and door, thieves are also very useful.

 

[Mopetar]

I'm ready to go to BG,still got one or two small areas to explore,Cloakwood was pretty tough,not so much the fights but getting poisioned all the damn time(bring plenty of antidotes),never had that issue in original BG,its like virtually all the time in Cloakwood

I didn't seem to have much of a problem with it. Who were you using for a tank and were you trying to keep all of the fire focused on them? You can easily get a tank down to -3 AC by that point and then pile on even more gear to deal with missile attacks.

Also, the Naskal mines has quite a few as well. And considering you are only 1st/2nd level at that point, boy do you need some trap detection/removal.

Generally I've found that you can get by without for most of the game if not all of it. The early traps do so little damage that most can be ignored. Also, half of the time they're so close to a monster pack that unless you're really managing your group, one will just stray off and walk over it before the thief can disarm it.

By the end of the game, you can stack so much resistance and with a tank like Kagain, you can just walk through rooms and rooms of them without getting remotely low.

But I don't generally only use the thief for trap detection and lock picking. I also use them as scouts. Quite a lot of the time, if you just blunder into the combat, you are lost from the beginning. If you send a thief out to spy the area, you can be a lot more prepared. Also it makes it easier to snipe/draw single opponents without aggro-ing the entire encounter. In that, Thieves are paramount in the game. Plus, it makes sneaking around once you get to Baldur's Gate proper. And even more so in BG2 when, if you can get that surprise sneak attack off against the enemy caster, that can turn the tide of battle.

Don't underestimate the power of a good scout. And if, like me, you have to open every single chest and door, thieves are also very useful.

Outside of the occasional backstab and OCD, you can probably get by without one. Either I take Imoen and change her to a mage, or make the PC a Fighter/Thief. Most of the others in the game just aren't that good, and a pure thief isn't as useful as almost any other class.