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Hi all! I just picked up BG2 the other day after hearing good things about it. I have some problems though. I always seem to get my whole party killed early on and it just seems to hard like im doing something wrong. Anybody have any tips for a newb? I really want to get into this game! Thanks

Make sure you give all your party members the right kinds of equipment, especially armours and weapons that they're proficient in. It can take some time to get used to the interface and the gameplay rules, but you'll get the hang of it.

One thing you may want to try is setting the Auto-Pause to pause after each round. This will let you maximize the spell use (as you can only cast one spell per round, which is about 6 seconds) and help you micromanage all your party members. Make sure you have your fighters with better AC out front doing melee damage while you have weaker characters in the back casting spells or using ranged weapons.

I have had a lot of friends trying out the game but not getting into it because it is too hard. And yeah, this is a hard game to get into since it has so many different classes and items and spells to choose and pick from, and it's easy to make no-good characters.

The best thing you can do to get into the game it so play is predecessor, Baldur's Gate. It's practically the same game but with fewer options, thus harder to screw up. You'll learn the basics and can easily move ahead to BG2.

Otherwise I'd recommend reading your manual to make sure you understand how things works. Then, when you start the game, your setup should include lots of fighters and few casters, giving you an easier time to control your casting as your warriors pretty much handles themselves.

Also, don't rush things. Play the Introduction if you're totally fresh to the game, it is a simple how-to-do-things that will teach you the basics. Read through the plethora of spells carefully. And, the best tip of all, play a lot and don't be afraid to try out new things.

We've all been newbies at the game, and it takes it's time to get into. A lot more time than most other games.

And don't be afraid to ask questions about things you don't understand. The people here at Gamebanshee is both amazingly friendly and eager to help out people new to this awesome game.

I too recommend playing Baldur's Gate (and the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion) first!

In BG1, you start with a level 1 character, and gain spells and abilities and items slowly, which is good because it gives you a chance to figure them out a little at a time as they're accumulated.

In BG2, you start with a mid-level (7 or so) character, with a plethora of spells and abilities right from the start. If you're unsure as to when, where, and how to use your repetiore of options, ...well, BG2 is gonna be a struggle.

Plus from a story perspective, BG1, TotSC, BG2:SoA, and BG2:ToB is one big complete saga. You're jumping in the middle by starting with BG2. You will appreciate the story and characters better is you started it all from the beginning...

I disagree with CFM and Thrifalas, it's not worth playing another game just to get an easier time in BG2, especially since BG1 is harder than BG2 and features even less introduction for beginners.

I agree with Nightmare, pausing is extremely important. Make sure that each of your party members always does something useful in combat, don't let anyone waste precious seconds doing nothing.

It helps a lot if you prepare your party before combat. Use summoning spells, each time enemies hit a summon they don't hit you. Use spells to buff up your party (and summons) before battle too, spells like haste or other spells which improve hit chance, damage output or AC can make the difference. Read the spell descriptions to decide which spells you cast in which order and use the pause key while prebuffing to avoid that the first buffs are over before combat starts.

In traditional crpgs it's common that you don't survive a combat and have to reload and retry several times, it's a "feature" to lengthen game playing time.
Save very often to avoid having to repeat more things than necessary.
If a specific battle seems impossible to win you also have the option to go elsewhere and return when you are more experienced and better equipped or ask for advice here.
You can also change the difficulty setting.

If you're early in the game with an average character you can also restart to get an easier game with a more powerful character, if you tell us your character's class and stats you can get advice regarding this.

kmonster wrote:I disagree with CFM and Thrifalas, it's not worth playing another game just to get an easier time in BG2, especially since BG1 is harder than BG2 and features even less introduction for beginners.

Bg2 is only easier for people who played Bg1 first. It's quite easy to get into the game when you can choose between 5 spells and cast 3 compared to chosing from 50 spells and cast 20. Bg1 is also a better game than Bg2 in many aspects and is definately worth playing in any case. ;p

Experience issues aside, you should also play the first Baldur's Gate for the story, as it will give you more of a clue as to what is going on and will give you several surprises once you reach the second game.

BG2 is even for beginners who didn't play BG1 first easier than BG1, where you still have 20 spells per level to choose from. In BG2 you have more options to choose from, but you also have more options to succeed.

I guess most BG2 players who finished BG2 successfully didn't play BG1 before, imho demanding to buy and play another game first is way over the top, independent of BG1's qualities.

I respect what kmoster is saying, but even if Mr Bungle was breezing through BG2, I'd recommend playing BG1 first, no matter what's goin' on.

Well if playing BG1 is an option it's a good idea, but not necessary to go out and buy it, although no one was actually 'demanding' it kmonster.

It would help if you could tell us about your main character and the composition of your party, and whereabouts in the game you are Mr Bungle. Difficult to advise if we don't have any back ground..

Go to the Options menu and set the game difficulty to Easy. You'll be all right. I did just that years ago, and never regretted it since.

The BG1/BG2 debate is all well and good, but Mr. Bungle has BG2 up and running, now. I'm with Kulyok on this. Set BG2 to easy.

And remember, once you've purchased the game, you're not "cheating" if you decide to make your character stronger, or give yourself items, assuming that's what you need to get through some areas. You bought it, it's yours. I'm not suggesting you turn your party into a bunch of gods who waltz through the game, but it can be a little daunting to people who have never played a title like it, before. Many people in this forum over the years, myself included, have approached BG2 with a lot of other comparable RPG experience, and find it rather easy, when it won't appear that way to others.

In short, play it so it's a bit challenging, but remains above all, fun.