Old player, need advice on BG:EE

ElricOfGrans

I played the original releases of the Baldur's Gate series and would probably have to put them down as the best games I ever played (especially BG2). I immediately knew I had to pick up the Enhanced Edition, but cannot seem to get started. The thing is, I have done it all before. I have made PCs of every class (including the dual-/multi-class combos), used all the (original) NPCs and completed the trilogy countless times. I know there are a few new NPCs available in the Enhanced Edition, but I have not been able to play a character that far yet. I keep making new characters and find myself bored by the time I get to the Friendly Arm Inn.

Do other old fans have any advice on how to return to this game?

SCARY_WIZARD

Try the new kits? I'd also like to suggest rolling off of this thread: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15297/tired-of-playing-with-the-same-character-types-roll-to-start-a-whole-new-adventure/p1 .
I've got a Dry Cleaning Rack's worth of characters to try out, now, because of this method!

lunar

Try kits. New kits are kinda cool, shadowdancer is my favourite. Also, since you are an experienced player, try a different approach to the game: Play Ironman, that is, no reloads if you are really sure of your skills. Pc dead=game over.

Or play minimal reload, that is, only load game when pc is dead. If one npc is chunked or you fail scribing a scroll, deal with it. That puts you in a different mind set, you'll be much more alert and invested.

New NPCs are nice, their quests are not too long, not too difficult, overall nice diversions. Try to get them all.

Kilivitz

I sometimes find myself in a similar situation... wanting to play the game again but being too indecisive about what class/party to play and restarting once I'm around the FAI.

My advice would be to try out all the new NPCs at once. You can recruit them before you get to the Nashkel mines (so you will have new content to experience). Granted, they have different alignments so you might have to juggle with your reputation, but it might be worth it.

Also be mindful that the EE has quite a few new items! Go lockpicking around the inns in Beregost, for example.

Or, if you don't mind spoilers, check out this thread:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/8110/a-guide-to-new-magic-items-spoilers#latest

SpaceInvader

I'm playing:

- No reload (unless I find a bug)
- Solo (I keep the 3 new NPCs +2 randoms in party just for quests and to get 1/6 of the xp)
- SCS mod
- my class is a cleric kit from Faiths of Faerun mod
- Core rules +

and I'm having a lot of fun so far, the game is quite challenging.

Lemernis

I've been doing an all-out roleplayed method that incorporates sometimes turning over playing cards (for yes vs. no) and using a dice roller to determine outcomes of things I would normally do by rote. Here either roleplaying the reactions of the characters (each of them--every party member) or cards/dice determine things that I usually don't think about, and just rifle through. You can watch the progress with this method in an experimental game that I'm chronicling here.

I'm going all-out with it to illustrate the concept full-on. But the basic method can be modified to suit one's personal taste and playstyle. You don't have to actually journal the roleplay, as I'm doing. (Although you might want to jot some notes now and then.) How much the cards or dice are used is also completely up to the player. And finally, just how much to mitigate the usual meta-gaming is also up to the player.

This is clearly not for everyone. But if you delve into it with some robust RP it opens up the game in some rather extraordinary ways. At least that's what I'm finding.

Dexter

Try SCS mod. BG:EE is quite a different game when you no longer can fight one enemy at a time

deltago

As others said, roll one of the new kits and pick up the new NPCs that have more dialog. Instead of heading to the FAI first, head to Beregost promply to pick up the first new NPC. IIRC, the second new NPC is now in the FAI, so with you, and Imoen (if you keep her around) you have a party of 4 all set to continue down to Nashkel (where the 3rd new NPC is located).

Playing with the new NPCs will give you new content and items and they definitely break up the flow of "been there done that."

reedmilfam

Try in different ways, I guess. I didn't play every combination of BG2, so there's a lot of uncovered ground for me. Still, I have trouble repeating any RPG - for me, once the story is told, I've read that book...

pzrshrek

" i have played BG1 1 trillion times but need help to motivate another playthrough"

Simple answer: Uninstall, nothing new for you here..

CaptRory

Why not buy a copy for a friend who has never played before? Then you can play with them and see them experience it all for the first time.

redline

I've found it refreshing to go for "non-standard" party composition, i.e. abandoning the old "2 front liners, 1 healer, 1 thief, etc" formula that all of my previous playthroughs -- regardless of PC class/alignment -- tended to follow. Maybe you weren't as formulaic as I was back in the day, but I'm currently doing my first caster-heavy party (F/M, Xzar, Edwin, secret NPC), and it's a lot of fun. Next I might go paladin and restrict myself to LG characters.

Even though the characters themselves aren't new, the combinations are, and it really changes the way you approach multiple aspects of the game, from combat strategy to item distribution.

Pibaro

SpaceInvader said:

- Solo (I keep the 3 new NPCs +2 randoms in party just for quests and to get 1/6 of the xp)

You are a genius.

ElricOfGrans

Thank you for all the suggestions. I had not expected so many replies

SCARY_WIZARD said:

Try the new kits? I'd also like to suggest rolling off of this thread: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15297/tired-of-playing-with-the-same-character-types-roll-to-start-a-whole-new-adventure/p1 .
I've got a Dry Cleaning Rack's worth of characters to try out, now, because of this method!

Wow, that is pretty cool. It needs a little tweaking for the new kits, but easily done myself. I can easily imagine getting combinations I would never have considered for a moment!

lunar said:

Play Ironman, that is, no reloads if you are really sure of your skills. Pc dead=game over.

I definitely do not have the skills for this. I doubt I have ever got through to lvl2 without a few PC deaths :P

SpaceInvader said:

I'm playing:
rty just for quests and to get 1/6 of the xp)
- SCS mod
- my class is a cleric kit from Faiths of Faerun mod

These (and other) mods sounds like they would add a lot to the game, but it seems like they are not yet at release stage. Are they worth using now, or would I be better advised to wait until they are more stable (and perhaps BG1NPC is also ready)?

redline said:

I've found it refreshing to go for "non-standard" party composition, i.e. abandoning the old "2 front liners, 1 healer, 1 thief, etc" formula that all of my previous playthroughs -- regardless of PC class/alignment -- tended to follow. Maybe you weren't as formulaic as I was back in the day, but I'm currently doing my first caster-heavy party (F/M, Xzar, Edwin, secret NPC), and it's a lot of fun. Next I might go paladin and restrict myself to LG characters.

That is a really cool idea. I never would have thought of it. Take advantage of all the Thief NPCs to make a bandit party, for example. Something like that would turn the game on its head compared to my standard approach (2xWarrior, 1xWizard, 1xPriest, 1xThief, then an archer or second Wizard). That would probably be a fantastic approach to take!

SCARY_WIZARD

ElricOfGrans said:

Thank you for all the suggestions. I had not expected so many replies

SCARY_WIZARD said:

Try the new kits? I'd also like to suggest rolling off of this thread: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15297/tired-of-playing-with-the-same-character-types-roll-to-start-a-whole-new-adventure/p1 .
I've got a Dry Cleaning Rack's worth of characters to try out, now, because of this method!

Yep! I'd like to see more DLC kits, for even more options. If you feel really brave, and want to try a Shadowdancer out, be sure to download that fix that Tresset made: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/17862/tressets-shadowdancer-bugfixes .