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I honestly can't play real time games anymore

DKnightDKnight Member Posts: 307
I don't know. Im starting to wonder why I even play party based games. I have always had a pretty easy run with a thief as players character and some kind of fighter for Baldurs Gate and Planescape Torment. An easy 2 man combo. But I tried this time to make a ranger instead of a thief, it backfired so bad. I took Rasaad and he pretty much sucks. In fact all of the characters were kind of lackluster against the end game battle. Sarevok is nothing when you have 1 thief and speed/strength potions. You can even get a thief higher armor class than my ranger. He just sucked.

He was lvl 8 and had 150 health and Sarevok was just destroying him. I had to dance around the fight which took a combined reload amount of like 15-20. Ive spent more than an hour on this crap.

I think this is just a sign that party based games for me are better with turn based. Ive tried to control a party of 2 or more and its just too much for me to handle. I think that Im better off with turn based games as I at least am good at.

Real time is just too hard. Im deleting.
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Comments

  • TJ_HookerTJ_Hooker Member Posts: 2,438
    Have you tried turning on 'auto-pause on end of round'?
  • AristilliusAristillius Member Posts: 873
    Deleting? I dont understand your problem? (Like really)
  • IkMarcIkMarc Member Posts: 552
    Uhm... Baldur's Gate isn't really real time..!!!?? why don't you just hit the space button?
  • DKnightDKnight Member Posts: 307
    I don't think you are listening, you can't control 3 party members without ridiculous confusion. And if you get a status effect you have to read the character and see what he has. Then there are traps are all around the end game battle. They go off 3 times each. That is just ludicrous. So Im controlling a battle where the enemy has everything against me, I can't control a large party. I got a ranger with probably the same thaco as sarevok, yet he can hit me and I can't hit him. I have buffed to 23 strength, haste potions on both. They die so easily.

    Here's the funny part, battles are so randomized its like whats the point of even being able to hit. If my guy is a tough lvl 8 fighter max lvl in the game, I should be able to hit boss at least 3/5 of the time I swing.

    The whole game is all about luck.
  • DKnightDKnight Member Posts: 307
    edited October 2013
    IkMarc said:

    Uhm... Baldur's Gate isn't really real time..!!!?? why don't you just hit the space button?

    The whole game is real time. Its not a turn based game. You can't call the game turn based when it operates in real time. It has everything in battle based on luck.
  • DKnightDKnight Member Posts: 307

    Auto-pause is absolutely your friend in this game, particularly when you get to the end game and on to BG2. I pause upon enemy spotted, broken weapon, enemy down, player down and trap spotted. Pretty much everything except spell fired and round ended.

    During the pause, I issue commands to everyone and then let them do their thing, pausing as necessary. It makes the combat go a lot smoother.

    Well its either the thief class rocks or I am good at thieves. Or ranger class sucks really bad. All I have is a ranger that can stealth but can't backstab, with high health but he gets hit all the time. Rangers are supposed to be more damage dealers than rogues. Wtf?
  • TJ_HookerTJ_Hooker Member Posts: 2,438
    edited October 2013
    DKnight said:

    I don't think you are listening, you can't control 3 party members without ridiculous confusion. And if you get a status effect you have to read the character and see what he has. Then there are traps are all around the end game battle. They go off 3 times each. That is just ludicrous. So Im controlling a battle where the enemy has everything against me, I can't control a large party. I got a ranger with probably the same thaco as sarevok, yet he can hit me and I can't hit him. I have buffed to 23 strength, haste potions on both. They die so easily.

    Umm, are you just ignoring what everyone's been saying about pausing the game? Seriously, if you get overwhelmed, press space to pause. You now have all the time in the world to figue out exactly what's going on, and plan accordingly. You can do this as often as you want.
    DKnight said:

    Here's the funny part, battles are so randomized its like whats the point of even being able to hit. If my guy is a tough lvl 8 fighter max lvl in the game, I should be able to hit boss at least 3/5 of the time I swing.

    The whole game is all about luck.

    Yes, the game contains an element of chance. But you improve your odds if you have a better character. Many games are like this, including some turn-based ones.
  • DKnightDKnight Member Posts: 307
    I never said it was just me, I said I have me and Rasaad. I have completed most turn based games like Eschalon 1 and 2-melee fighter and super easy, Fallout 1-melee fighter and easy, Avadon 1-RAnged Blademaster party of 3 and easy/moderate, The Quest-Melee and moderate/easy, Geneforge 1-Melee guardian and Agent Solo no magic-easy/moderate.

    And mass effect is terribly hard, I want nothing to do with that game.
  • XanarXanar Member Posts: 96
    @ DKnight

    Here's what PiH (Play it Hardcore) has to say about Rasaad...

    Comments: Ugh. Just ugh. What an abysmal NPC. Monks are really bad at low levels, even at the max level obtainable in BG1. He also has horrendous stats, and if you pick him up pre-level 4 he doesn't even have a proficiency in a ranged weapon so you can keep him safely in the back and at least contributing to fights. He brings nothing to the table outside of new dialogue and a quest line that yields some very good gear. As of yet, I'm unsure of if the gauntlets of ogre power can be used by him. If so, they are a must so he can actually land a hit in melee and deal some decent damage. If you're looking for a character that's actually useful in battle, skip him because he's bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

    To me, he's replaced Garrick as favorite sacrificial lamb. I let Shoal kill him and don't even bother asking for him back.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    BG is pretty much a turn-based game. You are meant to pause every round and issue orders to every party member.

    Very, very experienced players can solo the game for a new experience, but, the game was never meant to be soloed. It is a game for a party of six.

    If you don't like playing with, and managing a party of six, this is not your game. Play something else.

    Complaining that BG is a "real time" game for one or two characters shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what game you're playing.

    And, the final battle against Sarevok is designed to be damn hard. I always dread it, and am often beaten by it, even with a party of six, and fifteen years of experience playing this game.

    If you want a guaranteed win and an effortless PC video game experience, go play Dragon Age, Skyrim, or one of their many clones.
  • JediMindTrixJediMindTrix Member Posts: 305
    edited October 2013
    Dragon Age can be hard. Even with my all of my RPG experience, their are fights in that game that kick my ass. "Andraste", endgame, the end of Morrigan's questline, etc.

    If you want an EASY experience where you solo, pick up Kingdoms of Amalur; it's fun, and obscenely easy if you don't use Heartcore mod.
  • DKnightDKnight Member Posts: 307
    Im sorry for acting like a jerk. Its just frustrating as I can't seem to control parties well like the rest of you. Its sad because my best characters are usually when I solo with single/dual class thief or maybe use another party member.

    Its moreso ridiculous as Icewind Dale just handed me my sword a week ago. Im terrible. I'll try and use auto pause but I don't know how much that will help.

    Understand that here is a ranger who was destroying enemies left and right. With him and Rasaad against Sarevok and Tazok, its like my guys are terrible and the bad guys are like Tyson and Ali. Luckily I just beat the fight, but not after 15 reloads.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    It sounds to me like you need to practice micro control, and maybe brush up on the game mechanics a bit. It's a matter of practice mostly, but the vanilla versions of BG (or IWD for that matter) are pretty damn easy. People have beaten BG games without ever leveling up.

    Just don't let the game stress you out. Always keep calm and know what you are doing, never randomly do something without reason. Use Pause gratuitously, the game has been designed around it. Always consider your options, like potions, wands, spells, etc.

    Once you get the hang of it, it's very easy to beat every battle with next to no effort.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited October 2013
    Gratz, @DKnight! Your perseverance paid off! Actually, it speaks well of your gaming skills that you just managed to beat a game designed for a party of six with only one or two players, reloads notwithstanding.

    Also, the last time I beat BG1, I only did it on my third try, with a full party of six.

    Understand that the final battle with Sarevok is kind of infamous in gaming history for its difficulty, and it was designed to be epic, and to require every skill you'd ever developed, and every magic item you'd ever collected, to be won.

    The original devs wanted to give you an epic end battle experience. If you beat Sarevok, you should feel like you've just defeated a *god*.

    I think that the original game was also designed to require you to reload a bunch of times. You're supposed to have a constant sense of danger in the game, and a very real sense of losing at any moment. That's all the better to get your adrenaline flowing, my dear.

    "Grandma, what big adrenal glands you have!" The better to become excited by the prospect of eating you, my dear!"
  • JediMindTrixJediMindTrix Member Posts: 305
    When I was younger, I cheated profusely with Shadowkeeper. I also spawned Drizzt to help me kill Sarevok. Honestly, I don't know how I found that fun at all, but eventually I weaned myself off of that as I eventually understood the mechanics.
  • reedmilfamreedmilfam Member Posts: 2,808
    I'm in the minority that finds the game hard, too. I get killed a lot and have trouble from Tarnesh to Sarevok. I've found that playing with items and spells helps a lot, and that I've found solutions to a lot of things. The most irritating enemy things are solved by CHARNAME=CAVALIER... Not that it's the only solution, but immunities are nice.

    As for the evil thing in TOTSC, I've never gotten past it and usually just bypass it, as it's a little ridiculous. There should be lore in the game to tell you what to use against enemies like that (as well as the other beastie evil on the island). I think that the game over-forces metagaming and it's a little frustrating because of the HOURS you put in to find that you under-optimized or whatnot.

    So. Try different approaches. Yes, luck is a part of it (to be sure), but not the only part.
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  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 6,002
    @NineCoronas ah yes, drizztdefends i used to use that cheat all the time back in the day when i found out how to use cheats, drizzthostile is also a fun cheat as well, hahaha :)
  • LiamEslerLiamEsler Member Posts: 1,859
    Auto-pause makes a huge difference, if you haven't tried it out already, definitely do. :)
  • blackchimesblackchimes Member Posts: 323
    Nothing wrong with preferring solo.

    Parties don't "confuse" me but between horrible pathfinding, formations that simply do not work, split XP system, the complete lack of difficulty if you know the game(party of 4-6 reduces 90% of fights to "select everyone, left click on enemy, wait") and lackluster character interaction(even in BG2, yeah I went there) whenever I think of playing with a party I lose the will to play at all.
  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    I quite like playing with a party. You get the sense of having individual specialised for different jobs within the game.

    I'm not entirely surprised you're having difficulty trying to beat Sarevok with a party of 2. The game is balanced for 5-6 person parties, with all the attendant buffs this entails. Your poor Level 8 ranger is going up against a Level 15 fighter and his retinue, and while Rasaad's got a decent story monks are very underpowered in BG:EE.

    One way to approach learning a party is to go back to the party tutorial in Candlekeep (or try out the Black Pits). Typically having approximately 2-3 melee fighters, 1 thief, 1 mage and 1 cleric is good for BG1. Due to multiclassing you can often combine these roles, so Yeslick or Jaheira can function as a fighter and your cleric.

    Using offense or defense enhancing spells (buffs) from clerics or mages can make your party far tougher in combat. Spells like chant, bless, haste, protection from evil and remove fear can all help.

    I'd like to reiterate that a) pausing is great to let you give orders and remove confusion. b)you've done bloody well to get to the final battle with just your PC and Rasaad.
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    If you don't want to jump straight into controlling a 6 person party, try 4 next. I find it's quite sufficient for comfortably beating the game. Even 3 should be fine/easy if you plan accordingly.
  • SionIVSionIV Member Posts: 2,689
    I normally play with 4 man parties myself as i find that more entertaining.

    Easier to gear up everyone
    More experience for each one
    With 4 party members you can easily make a powerful team including everything.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Ranger/Cleric

    ** War hammer
    *** Dual Wield
    * Flail

    This character will be an amazing tank, have great stats and be able to cast both druid and cleric spells.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Fighter/Thief

    ** Crossbow
    ** Dagger/Longsword

    Here you got your thief aswell as main archer.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------

    Fighter/Mage

    ** Halberd
    ** Two handed sword

    Here is your mage and after buffing up him you can put a full plate on and have him front line.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------

    Blade

    * Scimitar
    * Longsword
    * Dual wield

    A second arcane caster for your party that is a great fighting machine with offensive spin. His high lore score will identify everything in the game and he has pickpocket so your thief can focus on other skills.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------

    Druid spells
    Cleric spells
    2 arcane casters
    Thief
    Bard for lore and pickpocket
    All 4 party members are great in combat and can hold their own.


    You don't need anymore than 4 people to have a balanced team. If you're going with NPC's already in the game it's still easy enough to get a good team.

  • karnor00karnor00 Member Posts: 680
    Fredjo said:

    The OP's troubles gave me an idea of a No-Pause Challenge! I think I'm gonna pass though, it'd be just pure madness

    I've tried it and I think that the No-Pause Challenge is one of the hardest to do. If you do try it then my tip would be that mages and clerics are much less useful.

  • pixie359pixie359 Member Posts: 251
    And Carsomyr and Staff of the Magi (wielded by F/T rather than mage) become even more useful as dispelling on hit is a real boon when you can't micromanage your dispel wars.
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