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Confused about magic

LundmaNLundmaN Member Posts: 43
in New Members Welcome Area
Hi everyone, so I bought Baldur's Gate 2 earlier today and I'm roughly 1.5 hours in.

I'm really confused about the magic. First of all, it's a bit annoying that the game makes you click the magic button on your actionbar every time you're finished reading about a spell when you're already in the spell menu... And so far the icons of the spells don't feel memorable/relevant of what the spells actually do, besides colors(the spell "Doom" had a thumb down as icon?). But I'm sure I'm just confused and not used to how it works.

Now, the main thing I don't get is how the spells actually work. If I choose one spell to cast, the next time I go into my spell menu to choose a new spell, the order is changed and I can't cast the same spell I just casted again. Will that spell recharge in some way, or what's going on? I noticed there's a number below the spells. I also feel like spell-casters are a bit limited in combat so far, they're not supposed to get up close to an enemy and hit them with their staff, right?..

The actionbar is also kind of confusing, I've watched all "How to play" videos, but they don't go through the actionbar as deep as I'd want. I don't know what some of the buttons do... For instance, there's a shield icon on my actionbar, what does that do? I can activate it and target my party-member in some way...

I'd appreciate answers or links to useful information, thanks!

Comments

  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    Hey, welcome to the forum.

    Yes Baldur's Gate is really not very beginner friendly. I was in your situation a couple of months ago. Thankfully the good people on this forum have helped me immensely.

    I'm think u are playing BG 2 EE, which I haven't tried yet, so I can't answer your specific UI questions. However...

    It sounds like you are entirely new to Baldur's Gate. I REALLY recommend that you start with BG 1. The story will make so much more sense and also you will get to learn the magic system one step at a time. At the start of BG 2, your party is already medium level, with a lot of tricks and spells, which can be very overwhelming for a beginner.

    Here's a few useful links:
    http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats

    http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/258273-baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn/faqs/11334

    http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/258273-baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn/faqs/13870

    Of course it'd be crazy to sit and read all that at once. I started at BG 1 and read about the spells 1 level at a time as I acquired them in the game.
  • LundmaNLundmaN Member Posts: 43
    Huh... I heard Baldur's Gate 2 was actually better to start with because of some improvements from the first one and the story was supposed to be much better, but that may be up to personal preference and experience. I have done some reading on the story of BG1.

    Yes, I am indeed playing the Enhanced Edition.

    Thanks for the links but I'm not sure they answered my questions since all they pretty much showed were a summary of all the spells in the game. From personal experience, I find it easier to simply play the game and learn on the way than doing lots and lots of reading, some minor information/tutorials is always nice of course.

    The "1-10 scale", is that the numbers below the spells?
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    edited November 2013
    The number beneath each spell indicates how many copies of the spell you have memorised. You can select which spells to memorise from your spellbook on the left side panel (book symbol). In order to replenish used spells, you need to rest.

    BG 2 Vanilla had significant UI improvement on BG 1 Vanilla, but BG EE covers those improvements anyway.

    BG EE is not easier than BG 2 EE, but it is simpler because you start right at the beginning, and get to learn your characters skills one step at a time. BG 2 is a better game than BG 1, but I think u get the most out of BG 2 once u've already played BG 1.

    Imagine BG 1 and BG 2 were racing games. In BG 1 u start with a Go-Kart, simple accelerator and brakes, and you are racing other Go-Karts. In BG 2, u start with a Formula 1 Car and u are racing other F1 cars, a lot more buttons, variables and settings to think about. It's not harder, cos u got a lot more toys at ur disposal, but it is more complicated.
  • Time4TiddyTime4Tiddy Member Posts: 262
    LundmaN said:

    Huh... I heard Baldur's Gate 2 was actually better to start with because of some improvements from the first one and the story was supposed to be much better, but that may be up to personal preference and experience. I have done some reading on the story of BG1.

    Yes, I am indeed playing the Enhanced Edition.

    Baldur's Gate 2 WAS much much better than Baldur's Gate 1, when they were both in the vanilla formats. Now that BG1 has an enhanced edition, it's no longer an issue. The story is stronger in BG2, yes, but it's still strong in BG1, especially if you are the type to talk to everyone and do every side quest. If you dash through the main quest you miss a lot. A lot of things from BG2 will be more interesting/impactful if you have the background from BG1. I think of it like one of any number of tv shows that had a good first season but then really blew it out in season 2. If your friend told you, you really have to watch this show, the second season was the best thing ever, you'd still watch the first season, right? :)
  • LundmaNLundmaN Member Posts: 43
    Thanks guys.
    I found this guy on Youtube who has a tutorial for getting started in Baldur's Gate. If anyone else is interested, here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsCyHIRTw9U
    It was quite useful.
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