Hi BG1 players, some thoughts on playing through the game so far...
I was finally able to pick up a copy of BG1 for a decent price - been looking for it for a while (after completing BG2) and it has been hard to find. Playing BG1 is really quite different from BG2.
Being a low level character is fun and a real eye opener - no more plowing through low level monsters as if they were mere canon fodder - I had to run from a few fights just to stay alive. Me, I am playing my favorite character type fighter/mage half-elf multiclass to remain consistent with how I played in bg2.
Some thoughts on being a multi-class low level character - wow am I slow to level up I am usually a level behind everyone else. Oh well I expected that to happen.
Nice is that there is not so much magical items around (including spells) and what there is is horribly expensive. No chance of getting rich like in bg2 but who wanted to carry about all that gold anyways. Nevertheless I was able to sell quite a bit of stuff (magical, jewels) and was able to buy my character a good set of robes.
Jaheria is as annoying here if not more so that in bg2. Always complaining about my leadership - is this because my reputation is too high for her or maybe she just doesn't like me... lol
Pretty cool, some npcs some in pairs (minor warning) so if you wanted Jaheria but not her other half then you are out of luck. Its great to have Immy at start of this adventure.
Lots of npcs, much more than bg2 which is great but so many choices - who to pick and what type of party do you want. Its unusual that the npcs when they leave your party (in a friendly manner) stay right where you left them.
Toughest battles so far - the Sirens by the lighthouse - wow did they do a number on us - myself and K got hit with dire charm and everyone had to make a run for it - ran half way across the map and then ran in circles until the duration ended. The Spirit by the excavation site but here's a hint if you have the wand of monster and Jaheria and your mage and 2 characters with low AC you can win - we hit it with 2 summons of monsters, used 3 charges of the frost wand, hit it with various first level spells, lightning (from J) and got a few chops in from the tanks - and you can win but it is a hard battle and it used up a lot of healing potions about 10-12 potions so be warned and I still have no idea what to do with the statue - should have just left it.
Have to love the assassin notes each time you defeat one - I defeated 6 assassins ( very bloody battle) so far and the price has gone up each time can't wait to see number 7 and see how much my head is worth lol.
I noticed a great deal less of talking between the npcs unlike bg2 in which everyone chatted a lot - makes it a bit quiet for me....
As for quests - in bg1 so far there are a ton of small quests so much so that I can't remember all of them - we've talked to so many people who wanted help that I don't know if I solved there problems or not or where to go to get the xp points or reward - keep track of your quests and who wanted them as the solution for them is everywhere.
Areas - lots of them and if you do not leave from a certain direction the area never shows up on the map - which is rather cool. A lot more mystery with each area than in bg2.
Spells - being outside most of the time Jaheria is making a lot of use of lightning spell - which was useless almost in bg2. A lot of my low level mage spells are not working so well - one magic missile really not that useful - had to find a new way to use spells - rather than merely for blasting - sleep is rather useful. Great to have the armor spell but I miss my stone skin - makes fighting a bit difficult but luckily mirror image works just as well.
As for other spells - did you know that tangle and web doesn't stop a character from firing arrows (almost killed myself when we used both spells to try to stop K from firing arrows). On that note - charm works wonders in counteracting dire charm - especially when you don't have dispel yet.
One of the more annoying things is the healing and sleeping - you are not fully healed after you sleep - makes it hard to heal and jump back into battle - but considering the damage you take I guess it is not unreasonable not to be fully healed after being cut up or smashed up oh well... - the cost for healing: we've must have spent 1000s of gps in healing potions not to mention carrying them around (which limits how much loot you can carry). Where is a bag of holding when you need one.
Wands are great - I have 2 wands of fire - one works like normal but the other only has one shot in it - replayed it several times and it still has only one shot - that was strange. Wand of frost is great to have - but be warned if you use it and your other characters bash the monster and they get shattered into a million pieces - you don't get their loot.
More on spells - is there a remove petrification spell out there - or is it just the one called stone to flesh spell?
More crazy battles and crazy people - fought some mad mage with his modified slime and got out butts kicked - lost one character (still don't know why he exploded) and ran for it - be careful of crazy mages and the slime they keep company with. On that note there sure are a lot of crazy mages in bg1 - the one with the slime, the one with the baslisks, the crazy with the skeletons - not a lot of prophets or fortune tellers that don't tell you anything and then insult you - and on that note lots of people will insult you through out the game (which is funny) and the insults come in a wide range from how we dress to being adventurers to being poor...lol
Well we are off next to defeat the bandits and get their scalp (not something I really want to carry but its worth so much - ewwww). Hopefully along the way I will meet Viconia - I wonder if she and the paladin-in-training well battle it out if they are in the same group. And maybe with Vic - Jaheria well finally be less insulting to me.
Question - I know there is an XP cap for bg1 but if you install ToSc will the xp cap change as it does when you install the ToB in bg2?
