I got my gf into BG...
Abdel_Adrian
Member Posts: 430
I'm a Baldur's Gate veteran, started playing BG1 the year it came out and I'm very knowledgeable about everything all the way through TOB. Somehow I got my girlfriend to buy the iPad version and now she wants to play multiplayer. Seeing as it isn't currently working for us, I've been helping her learn the ropes and that's only reminding me how much there actually is to know about this game.
I'm going to assume that she will be deadweight in a multiplayer game and that is why I'd like to get some opinions on party members. We're going to play on "normal" difficulty and shamelessly give our characters perfect stats taking into account racial factors/fighter strength being 18/00. If we each get three characters, I would like mine to be able to handle any situation without her, these are currently what I'm planning to use:
Gnome fighter/illusionist, protagonist w/ find familiar
Human berserker dualled to cleric very early on as in lvl 2
Human fighter dualled to thief also at lvl2, grandmastery in long bows eventually
*(dualling at level 2 is only so that the characters are as pure in their second class as possible, get 18/00 str, and grandmastery in their respective weapons. Of course they could get a lot more experience in the first class w/o jeopardizing the second but playtime as the 2nd class is a factor)*
I believe that those three characters could be self sufficient, but the levels to dual them at are up to discussion and so are their classes.
But I don't have the slightest clue as to what classes my gf should play. All opinions are welcome. Off-topic discussions on playing multiplayer with your significant other are also welcome.
I'm going to assume that she will be deadweight in a multiplayer game and that is why I'd like to get some opinions on party members. We're going to play on "normal" difficulty and shamelessly give our characters perfect stats taking into account racial factors/fighter strength being 18/00. If we each get three characters, I would like mine to be able to handle any situation without her, these are currently what I'm planning to use:
Gnome fighter/illusionist, protagonist w/ find familiar
Human berserker dualled to cleric very early on as in lvl 2
Human fighter dualled to thief also at lvl2, grandmastery in long bows eventually
*(dualling at level 2 is only so that the characters are as pure in their second class as possible, get 18/00 str, and grandmastery in their respective weapons. Of course they could get a lot more experience in the first class w/o jeopardizing the second but playtime as the 2nd class is a factor)*
I believe that those three characters could be self sufficient, but the levels to dual them at are up to discussion and so are their classes.
But I don't have the slightest clue as to what classes my gf should play. All opinions are welcome. Off-topic discussions on playing multiplayer with your significant other are also welcome.
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As far as making it easy for her, I would suggest you just make her some kind of ranged specialty class, such as an archer or sorcerer (not having to prepare spells is soo much simpler for a new player), and maybe a thief that also uses bows in combat. My reason being is that she play the thief role to get value out of the game without fighting much, and avoid getting her characters killed a lot as this will be offputting.
It also frees up the need for you to have a thief, because you can call on her to deal with locks etc in her own time. This leaves you with more combat power between your 2 characters.
Ranged classes probably would be good for her, a sorcerer is a big no no for a new player though. The fact that you only learn spells via levelling up means you need a knowledge of ALL the spells and how to use them best. A mage gives you a lot more wiggle room to change for different situations even if you have to keep track of your spellbook
I hope you have better luck introducing this game to your girlfriend than I did to my boyfriend. Poor guy spent over an hour to make his character, only to watch her die as his weapon broke while he was still in Candlekeep (and naturally the bug of "no-sound-of-weapon-breaking" happened, and he didn't know it until halfway through combat). And then it froze on him shortly after leaving, and he got angry at the autosave feature sending him all the way back at the beginning. My beloved game hated him, and he hasn't touched it since...
My suggested newbie friendly classes
Archer kit
Fighter (bows/crossbows/greatswords)
Barbarian (if she wants to hit things)
Fighter/thief (shortbow/longsword spec)
Oh and yes, I would go for 2 members party, each of you controlling 1. In this way, it will be you two playing together. If you would be able to handle everything on your own, how would it differ from you just playing alone?
Is she just new to BG or has she played other games with similar concepts? My bf has played Dragon Age, for example. He's taken quite a bit of guiding through character creation etc but he's grasped the basic ideas fairly well and I wouldn't call him 'dead weight'. Especially since, if you reroll a bit, player made characters have better stats than NPCs, meaning you can afford a slightly less optimal playing experience in other aspects of the game. He's playing a Blackguard, which doesn't require too much thought, he can just hit things for most of the time, but it does mean he gets a couple of interesting abilities he can play with too, so it's more interesting than a straightforward fighter. I'd say something like that, which isn't ability or spell dependent like a pure mage but has something more to do that just attack with a weapon, is a good choice for a new player. Maybe something like a fighter/cleric? Survivable if she forgets about her spells, but even better if she doesn't!
Have her make a Fighter, lot's of HP and armor, and also a lot of action. Smashing skulls is waaaay more fun than picking locks. At least the first 2 runs.
You make a character you like and then you add up with real npc's of the game, not self-made ones. The whole experience of finding new people to join your group is something you should NOT take away from her.
Build a party that would work smoothly, and seriously with your experience pretty much any 6 characters should have a smooth ride through BG.
If she gets more confident, maybe have her run 2 characters (herself and Minsc?) and you 4 support characters, Thief, MU and Cleric plus one free choice .
Congrats and have fun
The first time you two play I'd say you should stick to a party of two. Let her play a figther/thief and get a mage/cleric for yourself. Tthis way you have all base classes covered and she gets a chance to see how spellcasting works.
edit: only 4 points with the exp cap at 161k, but grandmastery is obtainable.
I'd suggest Archer, Elven even. With 19 Dex and Archer/elf bonusses to bows plus grandmastery, she'll be a mega-killing death machine even if she has no idea how the game works. If you play a wizard (and take care of the other casters in the group) you can do the tactics, she can do the brute force.
Making her the main character is also something I'd suggest; if carnage on a godlike sclae doesn't interest her, the storyline might.
@Drugar Elven Archers do pack quite a punch, so that kind of brute force would be great for her, but I wouldn't mind getting her into the tactics too. I mainly want to be the protagonist for the familiar, the extra 12hp help even more since they go to a fighter multi. Someone mentioned though that I should give her the lead position so she could converse and experience the storyline, but I can easily set the permissions so that she can do anything I could do.
I would suggest she lead the game, she chooses the three characters with advice on each class playstyle, and then you create characters that compliment hers. Sure, I would say you'd be ok to roll good stats but don't make it cheesy by having all perfect stats.
What will happen is that you'll be doing all killing and adventuring with her following and she may get bored just sitting there. Let her go where she wants and which quests and dungeons to tackle. I believe this will make for a better first time through the game.
I'm wandering around behind him with a gnome illusionist/cleric, sleep or commanding anything nasty we encounter and healing when needed.
It works quite well so far. We had some bother with Zargal and company poisoning people but otherwise no problems.
It will be worth the trade off of giving her the control and immersion of being the Bhaalspawn.
I actually planned on letting her do the bulk of the decision making in game so as to not take that away from her, I don't see how being protagonist effects this at all. I would get to use find familiar and gradually gain a couple of bhaalspawn powers, but otherwise we're the same. If I set the permissions in multiplayer so that she can interact with people, buy/sell, sleep, pause, everything I can do; I don't see what she would be missing out on for not being the protagonist. Is there something I'm missing? All 6 characters experience the same storyline and any of them can assume the role of leader even at the back of your party. And while I've considered a mage or sorcerer for one of her 3 players, I still think that's a bit out there and should be avoided. 12 extra hp wouldn't help a squishie pure caster the least bit once they get hit, not in BG1 at least.