New to Game and Forums - Need Advice

Guilty Light · Post by **Guilty Light** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:17 pm

Hi guys,

I have just found my Baldur's Gate game after moving and packing all my stuff, so I decided to play it ( I don't think I ever actually got past Candlekeep before I lost it the first time I played it).

Anyway so after a good 2 days of playing it I decided to read some strategy guides. So here are all my mistakes as I can see so far after reading the strategy guides and I need to know if they are reversible.

1 - I started with a dwarf fighter with 15 charisma (bad leader right?)
2 - I was told by an idiot friend of mine that Khalid sucks and I should keep Jayhera, so I listen and kill Khalid on the other side of the map and leave him after he is dead ( So Jayhera doesn't complain)
3 - Now my party consists of Me Dwarf Fighter, Misc, Jayhera, Misc's mage friend (forget name) Imeon, and Edwin.
4 - I put 2 proffiencies in blunt weapons for me, 1 in bows and 1 in axes
5 - I got Misc's mage friend without the fireball spell

I also don't have a save file other then the one with the stuff listed above.

Combat and making money I have no problem with, I have 2200 gold and havn't got slaughtered yet.

Another thing I have noticed, is it just me or do mages suck? I mean you get like 4 pretty weak spells and then you have to rest them or they are useless.

The main thing I am worried about is my party, is it salvagable? I have spent tons of time on this game and I HATE restarting.

Thanks

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:53 pm

[QUOTE=Guilty Light]
1 - I started with a dwarf fighter with 15 charisma (bad leader right?)
2 - I was told by an idiot friend of mine that Khalid sucks and I should keep Jayhera, so I listen and kill Khalid on the other side of the map and leave him after he is dead ( So Jayhera doesn't complain)
3 - Now my party consists of Me Dwarf Fighter, Misc, Jayhera, Misc's mage friend (forget name) Imeon, and Edwin.
4 - I put 2 proffiencies in blunt weapons for me, 1 in bows and 1 in axes
5 - I got Misc's mage friend without the fireball spell

Another thing I have noticed, is it just me or do mages suck? I mean you get like 4 pretty weak spells and then you have to rest them or they are useless.

The main thing I am worried about is my party, is it salvagable? I have spent tons of time on this game and I HATE restarting.[/QUOTE]

Welcome to GameBanshee and to the wonderful game series of Baldur's Gate! I'll try to follow your points one by one to give you some help.

1-It doesn't matter if your leader has a Charisma of 15. Have Imoen, who has a really good Charisma score, talk to everyone and your number one can be as surly as you want him to be. You just can't always tell who is going to walk up to you. And 15 isn't bad, for the record. 2 is bad.

2-Losing Khalid won't hurt you in the long run, though he's the only good aligned fighter in the game. You can pick up other NPCs along the way, so not to worry.

3-Your party is fine right now. If your Reputation gets too high, Edwin will leave, so be careful of that or switch him out for somebody else. You said you didn't like mages anyway. I'd recommend someone else: SPOILER Kivan is located at High Hedge west of Beregost if you want a ranger with a great skill in bows. Great NPC, I always use him. END SPOILER.

4-Your weapon selection is fine. There are a few great bows, axes, and blunt weapons in the game. One blunt weapon can be found relatively near you: SPOILER Ashideena, a Warhammer +2 is located west and south of Beregost. You can also get 5000 gold for killing the evil cleric that wields it. It's fast and powerful. Give it to your dwarf! END SPOILER

5-Minsc's mage friend, actually the one his is sworn to protect, is named Dynaheir. She's an Invoker, so she specialized in spells that do a lot of damage like Magic Missile and such. She may not be of a high enough level to cast Fireball yet. You can find it later as a scroll and have her learn it. Fireball is a great spell, but it is also a Level 3 spell, so Dynaheir might have to level up a bit to be able to use it. If she can cast Level 3 spells and doesn't know Fireball, you can find the scroll for it during your adventures, or probably find it at: SPOILER High Hedge or Sorcerer's Sundries in Baldur's Gate. END SPOILER

As for the rest of it, mages can be difficult for beginners. I've played the game dozens of times and I still prefer fighters and thieves to mages. They can do a lot of damage and help a great deal once you learn how to use them. Keep Dynaheir around and you'll learn what she can do! And your party is definately salvageable. It's fine as is. If you really want the perfect game the first time through, then restart and adjust some things, but you really don't need to. Good luck, and feel free to Personal Message me if you like this advice and want another dose, lol. Again, welcome to the forum and enjoy Baldur's Gate. I'm off to play again myself right now!

Dezarond the Red · Post by **Dezarond the Red** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:56 pm

Dude, to start off, a fifteen charisma isnt to bad at all, usually i play through with much lower than that to aid Dex, Str, and Con. And charisma isnt really a "neccessity" The weak mage thing is probally because you dont know your spells to well. Magic Missle is the greatest thing ever, it can be cast quick(to interupt other mages) and as you gain more levels it can be fairly potent. Your party is fine, and in my opinion, Khalid isnt that great, and he sounds like a B#!@H..if you know what i mean! Your crew will be great, i might replace Edwin becuz he is evil and the rest of your crew is good/neutral. Try taking the Ranger by High Hedge...cant remember his name, but hes pretty damn good. Good luck on your gamin dude, remember to eat ans sleep and what not.

Guilty Light · Post by **Guilty Light** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:06 pm

Thank you so much, I feel so much better now. Btw I am trying to get a good aligned party, so I can have 20 rep and get discounts. I also really don't like Edwin, I kinda wanna switch him for either a cleric or something else. And what I should do with Misc, he is a ranger, so he should use bows, right? But he is profficient with large swords and other melee stuff, so should I make him a front liner along my dwarf?

Also any tips on using mages? I love the class, I play em in other games, its just that the like spell limit is kinda restricting.

Thanks again

Dezarond the Red · Post by **Dezarond the Red** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:38 pm

Dude, it is most important (i think) to have a solid archer, but more relevant than an archer is TANKS. With a huge strength Minsc makes a hell of a tank, i usually give him a two handed sword and let him hack and slash, but have a bow handy if needed. Imoen can be an archer, and so can Kivan, so either of them works fine. Your Dwarf and Minsc will be a nice duo to guard your mage and archers. About the mage class. They are weak when they start and Tremendously powerfull at the end. Magic missle/fireball will basically be your arsenal for BG1. Dont mess around with tonz of spells, find the ones that are effective and stock up on them. I usually use a mage strictly for offense, but some guys do the defense thing, a balance would be best i assume so you might play around with that. I know all your protection spells come in hand..ex. Undead, Pertification... have fun playing!

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:03 am

[QUOTE=Guilty Light]Thank you so much, I feel so much better now. Btw I am trying to get a good aligned party, so I can have 20 rep and get discounts. I also really don't like Edwin, I kinda wanna switch him for either a cleric or something else. And what I should do with Misc, he is a ranger, so he should use bows, right? But he is profficient with large swords and other melee stuff, so should I make him a front liner along my dwarf? Also any tips on using mages? I love the class, I play em in other games, its just that the like spell limit is kinda restricting.[/QUOTE]

Good aligned parties are much easier to pull off in Baldur's Gate, so good choice for your first play through. If you want another decent cleric for healing spells, one can be found here: SPOILERThe Nashkel Carnival is home to a statue named Branwen. You can use a Stone to Flesh Scroll (found at any temple) on her and she'll offer to join your party! She's a True Neutral Cleric with some decent spells and other abilities. END SPOILER. As for Minsc, I always use him as a frontliner with either a sword and shield for the Armor Class bonus or leave him with a two handed sword and a bow for ranged support to get a few hits on an enemy before they get too close. And now for mages. Stick to the basics. Magic Missile is great. Fireball is great. Always have at least one protective spell (the blue ones in the spellbook) ready in case someone decides to pick on your mage. I always use Blur or Mirror Image until Ghost Armor is available. Melf's Acid Arrow, Stinking Cloud, Flame Arrow, and any summoning spells are also really useful.

Curry · Post by **Curry** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:10 am

[QUOTE=Guilty Light]
1 - I started with a dwarf fighter with 15 charisma (bad leader right?)
[/quote]

15 is OK. What are his other stats? If he's a fighter you don't really need high INT for example so you can use those extra points to raise your charisma to max (of course unless you wanna RP)

[QUOTE=Guilty Light]
2 - I was told by an idiot friend of mine that Khalid sucks and I should keep Jayhera, so I listen and kill Khalid on the other side of the map and leave him after he is dead ( So Jayhera doesn't complain)
[/quote]

Jaheira and Khalid are both pretty good characters but don't belong with the best. There are only 3 good characters with priest spells in BG and Jaheira is the only one you find early in the game. If you think you need priest spells it would be wiser to use a PC priest instead. Khalid is the only fighter in BG with good alignment and he's a pretty good bowman and has high HP but there are better (gamewise) characters like Kivan who you can get early in the game.

[QUOTE=Guilty Light]
3 - Now my party consists of Me Dwarf Fighter, Misc, Jayhera, Misc's mage friend (forget name) Imeon, and Edwin.
[/quote]

If you want a good aligned party get rid of Edwin, he's lawful evil which means he'll leave your party once your reputation gets high enough. If you kicked him you would have your dwarf (who is a close combat warrior?), Minsc (cc?), Imoen (bow?), Jaheira and Dynaheir. This is would be a good party but I would, however, kick one of them so that the party would gain XP faster.

[QUOTE=Guilty Light]
4 - I put 2 proffiencies in blunt weapons for me, 1 in bows and 1 in axes
5 - I got Misc's mage friend without the fireball spell
[/quote]

Uh. 1 in Bow and 1 in Axe? Not smart. There are plenty of good archers in the game so making your PC an archer isn't a smart move. The Axes in BG simply suck and it takes ages to get a decent one. I'd recommend going for blunt weapons.

[QUOTE=Guilty Light]
Another thing I have noticed, is it just me or do mages suck? I mean you get like 4 pretty weak spells and then you have to rest them or they are useless.
[/quote]

Mages do suck until they get to a high level (and yes, because of the level cap in BG they can't). It's easy to finish BG without having a mage in the party.

WolfHeart · Post by **WolfHeart** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:31 am

Spoilers

Mages are pretty weak in the whole game i tend to multiclass them, usualy fighter/mage or cleric/mages does it for me, 5th level spells are useless in BG, yea i know cloudkill and a few other spells can be usefull, but you only get so many slots for 5th, plus fireball and magic misile are a lot more practical and useful.

CFM · Post by **CFM** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:55 am

I dig having 2 priest spell casters, one cleric-type and one druid-type, so as to have access to most of the priest spells the game has to offer. Instead of Edwin, a cleric-type NPC would compliment Jaheira nicely...

But I also like having 2 dudes that can cast wizard spells, too. Maybe dual Imoen to a mage when she hits level 6 as a thief? Pick up one of the many other thieves when crawling dungeons, until she gets her thieving skills back?

Minor spoilers:

You will find items to enhance the spell casting abilites of your wizard(s).

Unless Dynaheir is enough wizard for your tastes, of course. Although dualling Imoen would add continuity if you continue the Saga with BG2...

Guilty Light · Post by **Guilty Light** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:03 pm

Yea I picked up Kivan instead of Edwin, and I wanna duel class Imeon, who do I drop for a temporary thief until I can use Imeons thieving abilities again? I am thinking about duel classing her at level 6.

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:21 pm

I'd pick up Safana, personally, but I'm not sure if her Detect Traps ability is any good. I always used Imoen. You could drop Khalid or Kivan, because if you drop Minsc or Dynaheir, the other follows suit and you're down two NPCs instead of one.

Thomas77 · Post by **Thomas77** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:18 am

A good party that is very accessible early on is: (in addition to your PC)

Minsc: He's a good brawler but even more valuable because he can handle Composite bows as well.
Kivan: Can handle Composite bows as well and can be trained to use two-handed swords.
Imoen: A good thief and knows how to use a short bow.
Branwen (Priest): Sort of annoying, but she can heal and can handle a sling (she can be traded in later for SPOILER another Priest NPC named Yeslick who can be found in the Cloakwood Mines later in the game END SPOILER.
Dynaheir: She's kinda' weak at first but can be made useful early on by learning to use a sling. Once she reaches the higher levels she becomes extremely important, especially during the quests in ToTSC. My advice is to have her memorize Magic Missiles, Web, Cloud Kill and Fireball.

Now one thing you'll notice is that all the characters I mentioned above are made more useful by learning to use Missile Weapons. If at least 4-5 party members are good with missile weapons you can take out a pack of 3-4 Gibberlings, Xvarts or Kobolds before they ever reach your party for hand to hand combat. My main PC rarely hand to do much fighting for the first part of the game because the rest of my NPC's were so proficient with bow's and slings. However, there will be those that do get through, at which point Minsc and Kivan can immediately pull out their Two-Handed swords and all three of you can go to hacking!

Guilty Light · Post by **Guilty Light** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 9:12 am

Can anyone tell me what bards are for?

Erenor · Post by **Erenor** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 9:21 am

Bards are the Jack-of-all-Trades class. They can cast a few mage spells, they can pick pockets, they can fight better than mages, they can wear heavier armor than thieves, they can use a few heavier weapons than thieves, and they have a special ability called Bard Song which improves the morale and luck and fighting ability of your fellow party members while played. Personally, I've never really kept either of Baldur's Gate's bards for very long. I don't enjoy that style of play, but some people swear by them. If you want to play a bard, though, definately make your own so you can adjust them your own way and get high hit points and such. They can be useful in their own way.

Thomas77 · Post by **Thomas77** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:39 am

Yeah, I would say that bard's are one of the more difficult classes to play, outside of the pure mage. They don't really major in anything nor bring any real depth into the party so I didn't keep either one of them either.

Curry · Post by **Curry** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:41 am

[QUOTE=Erenor]Bards are the Jack-of-all-Trades class. They can cast a few mage spells, they can pick pockets, they can fight better than mages, they can wear heavier armor than thieves, they can use a few heavier weapons than thieves, and they have a special ability called Bard Song which improves the morale and luck and fighting ability of your fellow party members while played. Personally, I've never really kept either of Baldur's Gate's bards for very long. I don't enjoy that style of play, but some people swear by them. If you want to play a bard, though, definately make your own so you can adjust them your own way and get high hit points and such. They can be useful in their own way.[/QUOTE]

Bards also get high lore bonuses, if I remember correctly +10 per level up. They're really useful for identifying items.

CFM · Post by **CFM** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:08 am

Bards can fight, but not as well as Fighters.

Bards can cast spells, but not as well as Wizards.

Bards can Sing, but Priest spells buff up a party better.

Bards can Pick Pockets, but have no other Thief skills.

Bards have high Charisma requirements, but Paladins always seem to be higher.

The Point:
Bards are good, versatile, all-around support characters.

velm · Post by **velm** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:17 pm

Baldurs Gate is a great game and a great series. I went through it a few times with different professions. The easiest time i had was as a human fighter with 18 str, 18 dex, 18 con, 8 int, 8 wis, 8 chr.
-Minsc is a good choice
-jahiera is a good mage, specializes in offensive magics, if I recall.
-Imoen, awesome, awesome, awesome thief. Deck her out with as much dexterity items you can and the best short bows and arrows around and have her pelt the enemy with arrows till they can't take it anymore.

Those are the best characters I remember. khalid was so-so, a bit of a whiner, but average, the druid with him was, again, so-so.

great story, great gameplay, great graphics.

The fights will tough at first, but keep with it. Follow the story and max out your character levels so you can finish the series. It gets twice as good with shadows of amn. keldorn the paladin is without a doubt 'DA MAN', then there is the averial without wings who is a mage/cleric.