i am having trouble!
I have done the tutorial and know how to play BGII.
I also played the game for a long time and got up to the de'naise keep.
Only thing is i find the game sooooooooo confusing. I have real trouble in combat, even with the game set to easiest. I also don't have a clue what all the spells do and when to use them.
I've read lots of hints pages and info on everything but it's too much to take in.
I was just wondering how all of you started off and if you had any useful tips for me.
Please help.
complete beginner
First of all; Welcome to the forums 
I was very confused in the beginning, too... I started out as a spellcaster, and I, like you, didn't know anything about the spellls and things like that. A fighting type is a good starter character.
But, as you have already started, you can't change character now (without cheating anyway). So I would read a bit in the manual about some spells like Magic Missile, Stoneskin, Melf's Minute Meteors and Acid/Fire arrow. These are good offensive, and a single defensive, starting spells.
Stoneskin protects the caster with extra skins to absorb some damage.
Magic Missile sends out a volley (3 - 5) of red circular lights to hurt and kill you opponent. A very good offensive magic, all the way through to the end actually.
Melf's Minute Meteors creates 5 to 8 small balls of fire, in the hand of the caster, wich will act as the casters weapon until used up. They are most effective at smaller creatures and at making sure Trolls are totally dead.
Acid/Fire Arrow are good spells at taking the last bit of life out Trolls, and other creatures with just a bit of life back in them.
Feel free to ask more questions
I was very confused in the beginning, too... I started out as a spellcaster, and I, like you, didn't know anything about the spellls and things like that. A fighting type is a good starter character.
But, as you have already started, you can't change character now (without cheating anyway). So I would read a bit in the manual about some spells like Magic Missile, Stoneskin, Melf's Minute Meteors and Acid/Fire arrow. These are good offensive, and a single defensive, starting spells.
Stoneskin protects the caster with extra skins to absorb some damage.
Magic Missile sends out a volley (3 - 5) of red circular lights to hurt and kill you opponent. A very good offensive magic, all the way through to the end actually.
Melf's Minute Meteors creates 5 to 8 small balls of fire, in the hand of the caster, wich will act as the casters weapon until used up. They are most effective at smaller creatures and at making sure Trolls are totally dead.
Acid/Fire Arrow are good spells at taking the last bit of life out Trolls, and other creatures with just a bit of life back in them.
Feel free to ask more questions
something funny goes here
I was thinking of starting again. Probably with a fighter as this seems to be considered a good character for beginners. The only problem is that you still need to control the other members of your party, which include spellcasters.
also, I don't have the manual as i have just borrowed the discs from someone.
also, I don't have the manual as i have just borrowed the discs from someone.
Fwiw.. (minimal spoiler)
Here's what I did. I sat down and read the manual fairly carefully. I started a character - A half elf wizard slayer, GM in longswords, plus a point in crossbow, god help me! - picked up the first five NPCs I met (Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshimo, Aerie and Nalia) and went adventuring. I also started (after the circus tent) with the De'Arnise keep and had a hell of a time with the trolls - and some of the other beasties, too. Don't be shy about posting queries here - people are pretty helpful, but you'll find it's more fun if you try to solve it yourself, and only query if you're really stuck. The good news is that it's almost impossible to screw the game up to where you can't ultimately beat it.
Spell selection is a skill you have to learn - when you're ready to rest, look at the spells you stilll have memorized - if you're always leaving the same spells uncast, ditch them and memorize some others. Area of effect spells (like fireball) are very destructive, but can be hazardous to your party - don't be afraid to experiment a bit. Also, some equipment will have effects like free action or mindshield that reduce the need for spells.
Some simple spell advice:
ALWAYS use skins (stoneskin for mages, ironskin for druids)
Web plus cloudkill can be amazingly good or absolutely disastrous
Sometimes you can split up a group of monsters, and kill them one by one - but not always
Doom, bless, chant are really nice - haste for the big fights
Breach is a lifesaver when you have to fight mages
Slow, hold, silence - when you can
Use all the abilities of your characters! Class interdepency is what makes a group effective.
Have fun!
Ever so slightly spoilerish bit below:
If I were you, I would look for some fun in Athakatla first.. talk to some of the NPCs available to you and check out the copper coronet, there may be some fun to be had there (*cough*Lehtinan*cough*). Also, don't forget that some merchants get new stock during the game.
Here's what I did. I sat down and read the manual fairly carefully. I started a character - A half elf wizard slayer, GM in longswords, plus a point in crossbow, god help me! - picked up the first five NPCs I met (Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshimo, Aerie and Nalia) and went adventuring. I also started (after the circus tent) with the De'Arnise keep and had a hell of a time with the trolls - and some of the other beasties, too. Don't be shy about posting queries here - people are pretty helpful, but you'll find it's more fun if you try to solve it yourself, and only query if you're really stuck. The good news is that it's almost impossible to screw the game up to where you can't ultimately beat it.
Spell selection is a skill you have to learn - when you're ready to rest, look at the spells you stilll have memorized - if you're always leaving the same spells uncast, ditch them and memorize some others. Area of effect spells (like fireball) are very destructive, but can be hazardous to your party - don't be afraid to experiment a bit. Also, some equipment will have effects like free action or mindshield that reduce the need for spells.
Some simple spell advice:
ALWAYS use skins (stoneskin for mages, ironskin for druids)
Web plus cloudkill can be amazingly good or absolutely disastrous
Sometimes you can split up a group of monsters, and kill them one by one - but not always
Doom, bless, chant are really nice - haste for the big fights
Breach is a lifesaver when you have to fight mages
Slow, hold, silence - when you can
Use all the abilities of your characters! Class interdepency is what makes a group effective.
Have fun!
Ever so slightly spoilerish bit below:
If I were you, I would look for some fun in Athakatla first.. talk to some of the NPCs available to you and check out the copper coronet, there may be some fun to be had there (*cough*Lehtinan*cough*). Also, don't forget that some merchants get new stock during the game.
I have given up all lesser evils as inadequate to my purpose.
A good thing is to get a lot of healing potions, and other potions, for helping you characters out in the heat of battle. Having a bow, so you can run around firing, while you other members fight the enemies in close combat is also a good thing.
And remember, the lower the armor class, the better protection I always forgot that, then
Edit: Just a tip: Firing the spell Cloudkill with some webs into a room and shutting the door works magnificent... To optimize the performance, use more cloudkills.
And remember, the lower the armor class, the better protection
I always forgot that, then Edit: Just a tip: Firing the spell Cloudkill with some webs into a room and shutting the door works magnificent... To optimize the performance, use more cloudkills.
something funny goes here
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dragon wench
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Originally posted by badass
also, I don't have the manual as i have just borrowed the discs from someone.
If you go into your C drive, then into "Program Files" where you should find a file called "Black Isle," within which there is another file called "SOA", there ought to be an electronic maual. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read it though
Spoiler
testingtest12
Spoiler
testingtest12
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Taco Magus
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Dont forget to memorize Dispel Magic. it gets rid of those annoying spells that enimes cast on you.
EDIT: i didnt figure this out till recently. LOL it works wounders. i dunno how i got along w/o it
EDIT: i didnt figure this out till recently. LOL it works wounders. i dunno how i got along w/o it
Dungeon Crawl Inc. Bruoght to you by GB's own Kayless
"This is between us and the chickens, ma'am, and im going to ask
real nicely that you stay out of it" -Child of Baal
"This is between us and the chickens, ma'am, and im going to ask
real nicely that you stay out of it" -Child of Baal
Recommendation 1: Buy BG1 and learn the basics before playing BG2. Not necessary but might be a good idea if you find it truly confusing even after a while. Not to mention that BG1 is a gret game as well as and the prequel to BG2.
Recommendation 2: Surround yourself with very good NPCs! Read around on this board and try to figure out who is good for what. Make a Fighter heavy party for your first run through...
Recommendation 2: Surround yourself with very good NPCs! Read around on this board and try to figure out who is good for what. Make a Fighter heavy party for your first run through...
Proud SLURRite Vampiric Lawyer of the Rolling Thunder (TM) - Visitors WELCOME !!!
[size=0](Feel free to join us for a drink, play some pool or even relax in a hottub (but the coffin's mine!) - want to learn more? )[/size]
Life seems short considering how long you will be dead.
[size=0](Feel free to join us for a drink, play some pool or even relax in a hottub (but the coffin's mine!) - want to learn more? )[/size]
Life seems short considering how long you will be dead.
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Screaming Johny
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You don't need to control all of the characters. If you click on customize on each characters page, you can set a script for them. This is essential if you don't want to micro manage. I usually set scripts for the theives and warriors, and manage the mages myself. The scripts aren't perfect, but it sure beats trying to tell each character what to do.
The first character I played is the Monk. He is a bit weak in the beginning, but gets pretty powerful, and doesn't take a lot of managment.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably have picked the Undead Hunter for my first character. He has some good immunities, and has a few spells that you can learn casting with. He is a good character even for experienced players, but more importantly is pretty easy to manage.
The less time you spend managing, the more you can spend enjoying the story. You can figure out how to do all the cool stuff later.
The first character I played is the Monk. He is a bit weak in the beginning, but gets pretty powerful, and doesn't take a lot of managment.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably have picked the Undead Hunter for my first character. He has some good immunities, and has a few spells that you can learn casting with. He is a good character even for experienced players, but more importantly is pretty easy to manage.
The less time you spend managing, the more you can spend enjoying the story. You can figure out how to do all the cool stuff later.
Three global gameplay tips, the most iportant IMHO:
1. Read the battle text. I call this "debriefing". After a battle, see what happend, what did your enemies throw at you, what did your spells do, did the weapons do less damage than you expected, etc. As the PC is your DM here, this is the way to gather info about the game.
2. Use abilities opposite to those of your enemies. This means something like if you see a mean-looking melee-type badguy, go at him with magic and missile weapons. if you see a weak-looking enemy, or a spellcaster, go at him with your best weapons (not necessaraly your highest damage, but the weapons with those cool effects, like a chance to slow/sleep/etc. on a hit, etc)
3. Scout! This is done best by thieves with high Hide and Move Silently skills, or by rangers. there is nothing like getting your scout to look around the area to get to know where you might expect the baddies, where the traps are, etc.
Some minor tips:
- elemental (fire/acid/cold) damage works through stoneskin, as do the majority of weaponsw effects-on-hit
- go at mages with high ROF missile weapons (bows, darts), their spells may de disrupted as they're hit duing the casting
- a good tactic is to protect one of your chars (tanks are the best here) "from all that could happen" - fire, acid, poison, mental effects, etc. (by scrolls/items/spells/potions), buff him up (haste, strength potions, etc), and send him into a group full of baddies you scouted in advance. you may even bombard the area with the damage he's protected from: get a fighter protected from fire at 100% or close, send him in, and then start throwing fireballs at the place where he is going at it with the bad guys
- "cloack of non-detection" is an invaluable item for your scout, as hide in shadows is not dispelled by illusion-removing spells, such as true sight, on the char that wears the cloack
1. Read the battle text. I call this "debriefing". After a battle, see what happend, what did your enemies throw at you, what did your spells do, did the weapons do less damage than you expected, etc. As the PC is your DM here, this is the way to gather info about the game.
2. Use abilities opposite to those of your enemies. This means something like if you see a mean-looking melee-type badguy, go at him with magic and missile weapons. if you see a weak-looking enemy, or a spellcaster, go at him with your best weapons (not necessaraly your highest damage, but the weapons with those cool effects, like a chance to slow/sleep/etc. on a hit, etc)
3. Scout! This is done best by thieves with high Hide and Move Silently skills, or by rangers. there is nothing like getting your scout to look around the area to get to know where you might expect the baddies, where the traps are, etc.
Some minor tips:
- elemental (fire/acid/cold) damage works through stoneskin, as do the majority of weaponsw effects-on-hit
- go at mages with high ROF missile weapons (bows, darts), their spells may de disrupted as they're hit duing the casting
- a good tactic is to protect one of your chars (tanks are the best here) "from all that could happen" - fire, acid, poison, mental effects, etc. (by scrolls/items/spells/potions), buff him up (haste, strength potions, etc), and send him into a group full of baddies you scouted in advance. you may even bombard the area with the damage he's protected from: get a fighter protected from fire at 100% or close, send him in, and then start throwing fireballs at the place where he is going at it with the bad guys
- "cloack of non-detection" is an invaluable item for your scout, as hide in shadows is not dispelled by illusion-removing spells, such as true sight, on the char that wears the cloack
Originally posted by Astafas
Recommendation 1: Buy BG1 and learn the basics before playing BG2. Not necessary but might be a good idea if you find it truly confusing even after a while. Not to mention that BG1 is a gret game as well as and the prequel to BG2.
I definitely second this; BGI gameplay doesn't differ so much from BGII, it offers the first half of the story, and starts out more slowly for the beginner. (The lack of autopause on inventory screen should also help in organizing your party better.) Since you have so much trouble with BGII's game information density even on the lowest setting, by the time you get the hang of it you may be so frustrated that the game is not worth playing - though getting to D'Arnise isn't bad, certainly. BGI+TotSC is definitely worth getting.
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Baldursgate Fan
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While you are at it, get ToB as well!
I will go one step further and suggest getting Throne of Bhaal as well to complete the saga. After you have gone through BG1 and 2, you are technically no longer a beginner and will begin to enjoy the game more. Check out the many strategies in this forum by doing a search on topics you are interested in or related to the PC/ NPCs that you have. The BG Crossroads thread above contain many links to other sites and mods that will make your game more interesting after you complete the game for the first time. If spell casting is your preference, check out Xyx's website for great tips.
Cheers.
I will go one step further and suggest getting Throne of Bhaal as well to complete the saga. After you have gone through BG1 and 2, you are technically no longer a beginner and will begin to enjoy the game more. Check out the many strategies in this forum by doing a search on topics you are interested in or related to the PC/ NPCs that you have. The BG Crossroads thread above contain many links to other sites and mods that will make your game more interesting after you complete the game for the first time. If spell casting is your preference, check out Xyx's website for great tips.
Cheers.