Any tips?

[cobra mkII]

After your replies to Shadowwarrior I have bought the game (£10 what value!)

Anyone willing to give me starting tips? BG2 was my first RP game and being green in this respect I made lots of early mistakes even in the character creation screen so any help would be appreciated. Also are there any BG2 things I will need to "unlearn" as the game appears to be very different?

Thanks

[Dimensional]

OK some early tips

despite D@D conventions Charisma, Int and Wis are the most Important stats in the game followed by dex (for armour class ) str for increased thaco and lastly con - The nameless one regenerates anyway and dieing has no real negative impact so hp are not critical.

of the first 3 Wis is my fav as Higher wis means more excperence points (no realy ) so quicker levling the charisma as high charisma opens more dialog options and makes your lies more believable. then int as it also opens more coversation options. (if you plan on playing a mage then go for int first as it is iportant for mages)

while in the mortuary talk to all the zombies there are numerous who have somthing which have special stuff. avoid all dustmen who do not have special names.

When talking to Dionnara's ghost DO not ask her help in escaping.

Do not keep rags they have absolutly no purpose and can't be sold

Don't be afraid to die - this one is important in this game there are about 4 or 5 places where you can actualy die for good and generaly these are obvious and easily avoided . generaly dieing has no negative effects as you do not lose you stuff and your party follow you to wherever you wake up. (not this only aplies to you not the rest of your party - their dying is more of an issue)

talk to your NPC's regularyly they all have more you can get out of them once they have joined your party

read everything carefuly - plot is important in this game i can think of a number of occasions wher skim reading responses and such lead me into taking wrong(for that character ) choices.

most quests have a non violent solution. it is normaly always worth trying to take this option.(unless you are playing a sociopath of course)

um thats a start i'll post more when i think of them, the most important piece of advice is fo course - don't get hung up on doing it "right" have fun instead.

[Mr Sleep]

I'd have to go along with everything Dimensional said, he summed up the beginning very well, you can avoid nearly all the dustmen, talk to Dhall on the level you start at (next to big book) and then when/if you do get stopped by a dustie you should be able to tell them you were looking for Dhall

[Minerva]

Save as often as possible! Particularly when you talk to someone with name.

Personally, I found the character interface requires a bit of time to get used to after BG series.

[Aegis]

If you feel like your current battle situation is hopeless, pull your other people out, and let the NO die.

[fable]

If you're caught in the Modron Maze, forgot the way out, and want to reset it, just have your team kill the NO. That will take you back to the entrance room.

[Teroril]

Ok I have a comment on what dimentional said:

str: 12
wis: 15
int: 15
dex: 15

in this way U can get bu the begining, and get some good exp, by slitting the dusties throats among others, and also U have some good things to say besouse of Ur int. and with your wis U can get all of the starting memories.

I usually turn into mage befor lvl 7 as a fighter becouse U get a bonus of 2 to int as a mage, and therefor U dont ave to raise that stat yet, and U can consentrate on cha, and con.

U don't need many HP if U want to do a mage becouse THEY DOES SERIOUS DAMAGE with their spells, but that is only after U've beaten a spesific char in the game!!!!!!

[fable]

@Teroril, no offense, but your abbreviated English is giving me a headache. What I think is that if you're playing a mage, you have it easiest in the game, since one of the stats you'd normally have highest--intelligence--is also one of the "hidden" controllers that affects conversations and actions. This gives you more stat points at the beginning to spread between wisdom and charisma, which also have a pretty important background effect.

Another tip: whatever class you make 7th level first in, you should also hit 12th level first in, as well. That's because you'll get the opportunity to buy a very impressive tattoo if make both goals in the same profession.

[nkensign]

This game is the MOST complicated and difficult to figure out without outside help of any that I have played, and I have played them all multiple times. The importance of saying the right thing at the right time is incredibly annoying (when you don't do it right), due to the lack of certain outcomes, items etc...

I would suggest picking up the Official Gaem Guide, so that yo don't make too many wrong turns, early on. Good luck.

[fable]

I'd question the statement that you have to find the "right" thing to say. Sure, there are certain outcomes that yield the most results, but that doesn't mean that any outcomes providing lesser, or different results are necessarily worse. Powerplayers will certainly feel that there is only one path to follow, but I've played through three times, chosen different styles of NPCs, swapped companions out, and deliberately avoided the "best" choices on several occasions--and I've enjoyed the results a lot more.

[nkensign]

Fable is right to point out my poor choice of words. "Right" in this case was meant to mean the causing of a further action along a thread, or opening up a new area. If you kill an NPC or get them mad, you can stop the game from progressing, in certain cases! You can get all the Zombies and Dustmen coming after you in the Mortuary, for instance! Not good. Again, Fable is correct that there are various outcomes from many of the conversations and encounters. Not all of them are desirable,however, and I guess that is how I should have put it...