Game Diffuculty

Duskey · Post by **Duskey** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 8:03 pm

What's up with this? HALF xp...and what is the advantage? What exactly gets easier. I played on easy mode since the beginning and after I did about 80% of the non-storyline quests I've changed it to normal...I now realize that I'm missing out alot of XP. I have a party of six people and they're all 5th level. My next task is the last 20% percent, tales of sword coast quests and going to the cloakwood mines (already did the rest of cloakwood) I have yet to visit Baldur.

Should I get more XP somewhere, since I'm hopelessly behind or do you think I'll manage?

VonDondu · Post by **VonDondu** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 9:26 pm

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the advantage to the Easy setting is that the monsters only do half damage. That makes quite a difference.

I can't think of any good way to recover that much lost experience. If you intend to replay the game anyway, why don't you restart now and see what you've been missing?

Duskey · Post by **Duskey** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 11:09 pm

RESTART?...now that I've gotten this far? I've spent several nights on this...I won't rest until I'm through with it, but now I see that it might be impossible, maybe I should just start up bg2? I know the whole storyline anyhow by now.

VonDondu · Post by **VonDondu** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 3:47 pm

Well, I don't really think of it as "restarting"; I think of it as "replaying". I happen to enjoy doing that.

But I do understand how it feels to put a lot of work into something, so I can see why you might like to avoid having to do everything all over again.

If you want to finish your game quickly and then go straight to BG2, here's a suggestion: leave BG1 on the Easy setting and try to finish it. Since the monsters only do half damage on the Easy setting, maybe you can finish the game the way it is now. If you have trouble killing the most difficult monsters, think of it as a challenge and ask us for tips if you need help. Even the toughest challenges can be overcome with the appropriate strategy, and figuring out how to do it is half the fun. And having fun is the whole reason for playing.

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Sat Nov 08, 2003 4:12 pm

With the way I think the (crap) difficulty system works, you could keep it at Easy while you're busy fighting, and switch it to Normal right before you deal the killing blow so you'd get full XP. Of course, you might consider using the cheat codes to save you some time.

Duskey · Post by **Duskey** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 6:44 pm

You're probably right...I'll see what I can do on the easy setting, but I guess this means that it won't pay off to export my character to bg2...who cares anyway, he's a pure cleric...nevermind!

VonDondu · Post by **VonDondu** » Sun Nov 09, 2003 7:30 pm

If you want to import your BG1 character into BG2, don't worry about experience points. In BG2, your character will always start with 89,000 experience points whether you create a new character or import an old character from BG1, no matter how much experience your character has. I did a test just a couple weeks ago to see what would happen if a character with ZERO experience points was imported from BG1 into BG2. Sure enough, she had 89,000 experience points.

When you import a BG1 character into BG2, basically all you're doing is creating a NEW character who has the same stats and the same class as the old one. From there, you can select a kit, pick new spells, reassign proficiency points, choose a new voice set, etc., etc. A few items your character picked up in BG1 will also be carried over into BG2, which is really the biggest advantage in importing. Otherwise, if you rolled a brand new character with the same stats, you wouldn't notice any difference.

Idioteque · Post by **Idioteque** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 4:25 pm

Originally posted by VonDondu
If you want to import your BG1 character into BG2, don't worry about experience points. In BG2, your character will always start with 89,000 experience points whether you create a new character or import an old character from BG1, no matter how much experience your character has. I did a test just a couple weeks ago to see what would happen if a character with ZERO experience points was imported from BG1 into BG2. Sure enough, she had 89,000 experience points.

When you import a BG1 character into BG2, basically all you're doing is creating a NEW character who has the same stats and the same class as the old one. From there, you can select a kit, pick new spells, reassign proficiency points, choose a new voice set, etc., etc. A few items your character picked up in BG1 will also be carried over into BG2, which is really the biggest advantage in importing. Otherwise, if you rolled a brand new character with the same stats, you wouldn't notice any difference.

If you're character has less than 89.000 XP he gets bumped up to 89,000 but if he has more than 89,000 he gets to keep it and doesnt get bumped down to 89,000. I've tried it myself a few times, the last time being about a week ago, and I started BG2 with more than 89,000 XP.

And there's a minor cheat to let you keep all your equipment from BG1 or TotSC when exporting into BG2. Just hit pause at the beginning after the cut scene and drop all your equipment on the ground. Once your'e free you can just pick it up.

JackOfClubs · Post by **JackOfClubs** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:21 pm

I don't think level 5 at the end of Cloakwood is all that far behind. You still have 3 chapters to go and all of the TotSC stuff. If you set the difficulty to Normal, you shouldn't have any problems.

If you really feel underpowered, there are several places where the monsters respawn indefinitely (the catacombs under Firewine and the flesh golem cave south of Candlekeep, for instance). Also, you could kick a party member out to boost the XP you get for the remainder of the quests.

But I really don't think any of this is necessary. You could probably win the final battle with your current party, assuming you get them properly equipped.

VonDondu · Post by **VonDondu** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:29 pm

If you have installed Tales of the Sword Coast, the experience cap is 161,000 points. If you import a character from Tales of the Sword Coast into BG2 with more than 89,000 experience points, the new character will have the same amount of experience, up to 161,000 points. If your BG1 character has more than 161,000 experience, it will be reduced to 161,000 if you import your character into BG2.

Sorry, I forgot about that.

vesselle · Post by **vesselle** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 7:29 pm

actually, i think you're kinda right about where you should be considering all that you have left to do. the town of BG itself is worth a coupla levels. so i don't think you have anything to worry about, except to keep doing what you're doing and have fun doing it.

V***V

Armycardinal · Post by **Armycardinal** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 12:03 am

I agree (that you're not that far behind). The town of BG has tons of sub-quests. Check the walkthrough.
http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgate/locations.php
and http://www.gamebanshee.com/baldursgate/ ... ations.php

Also, ToSC should push you over the 89k mark too. Don't forget you get exp for the final battle too...

AC