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Does the game seem to have gotten easier?

I am admittedly only a little way into BG:EE. However, I can't help but notice that some aspects that always frustrated me before are suddenly much easier.

For example, Tarnesh is now a breeze. He used to always be able to get off his mirror image spell and it would be a race to kill him before he cast horror. Now I can have Xzar hit him with a Larloch's Minor Drain right off and take him out.

The kobolds at the Nashkel mines were always lethal with their bows, especially kobold commandos. They are still deadly now with two attacks per round, but they seem much less accurate. I can now rush the archers without losing a party member.

Are these things just my imagination, or have there been some tweaks to the game's math as part of the bug fixing process?
Mortianna
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Comments

  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    From my experience I think BG1 got a little easier and BG2 got a little harder (the Neera quest I found tough).
    PantalionmjsCrevsDaak
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,345
    It could be - I don't really view Tarnesh and kobold commandos as "good difficulty" though - with the low health pools of the early game it's more about luck with the rolls than tactics. The first levels of D&D were always difficult that way, especially in parties with several casters and no fighter.
    CrevsDaakhisplsJarrakul
  • Graf_WasiliGraf_Wasili Member Posts: 60
    I had the same expereince and also think it's about being more expereinced in the game. Try increasing the difficulty and install the SCS mod. Makes it more fun for me and you will likely try spells and tactics you did not use before to catch up with it.
    CrevsDaak
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    Maybe there are fewer kobolds in the mines. I don't really know. It's not something I noticed at all.

    There are still massive random difficult spikes all over the game. One minute you're fighting two gibberlings and the next it's Kahrk who is just plain overpowered. I sometimes think Kahrk was just meant to win, considering how early you can meet him, but it's not really clear.

    The difficulty in the very beginning is the single worst thing about BG1. For example if you're a mage you have so few spells and almost no HP. There are many instances where you can just get one-shot. The difficulty really drops over just the first few levels.

    For example, you are really meant to go to the FAI right in the beginning. Outside is a mage who *immediately* casts Mirror Image, Horror (or is it Spook?) and Magic Missile. It's not difficult once you really know what you're doing, but it's a seriously unfair fight for someone who just started the game. Heck, even outside Candlekeep, can't you actually run into a dread wolf? Good luck with that with your level 1 mage! Just don't even bother exploring that area.
    DJKajuru
  • BigfishBigfish Member Posts: 367
    Do nothing but Ironman runs. See if you have a problem with the difficulty then.

    The problem with the difficulty is that the 'difficult' fights tend to be binary. Either you didn't interrupt the caster and he gets off his save or suck spell, or you landed your save or suck spell and they didn't resist. That covers most of the early encounters up until Daveaorn and his battle horrors, TotSC, and Sarevok.
    Jarrakul
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    Very true. Also covers spiders actually. Either you kill them in a couple of hits or they land one on you and do 973 damage per second (phase spider, I'm looking at you!). I used 5 antidotes in one fight last night...

    Oh and basilisks. Either you have protection from petrification and they can't even hurt you, or you don't and you just roll the dice to see whether you get the game over screen or not.
    Jarrakullelag200
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    Long term familiarity is probably a key issue here. When you know the best way to handle each encounter it can makes things a bit of a breeze.
    jackjack
  • cmalunecmalune Member Posts: 9
    Agree with decado. Imo what makes Baldur's Gate fun all these years later is that there are still some challenging encounters and you spend time problem solving to get around them.

    Once you know how to counter the enemies the game becomes much easier. Ogre -> Ranged weaponry. Mages / Clerics / Sirines -> Greenstone Amulet. Monsters in general / magic missile -> Shield Amulet. Greater Dopplegangers -> Arrows of Dispelling. Sarevok -> Run in and hit a few times. Then what is left is to install SCS. :)

    I remember tactics + scs at Cloakwood... Eeh that is hard.
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    Those aren't the tactics I use at all, but hey whatever works :)
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    @kaffekoppen what tactics do you use?
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    It wasn't meant as a criticism, I just think we all learned some tactics that work way back and we're sticking to them.

    I don't like the Sarevok tactic though. I get that the fight ends when you kill Sarevok and that with lucky rolls you can just ignore everything else, but I always found that a bit of a disappointing way to win. I prefer actually winning the whole fight, and that's a much more painful process.

    I like the last fight in itself, but I find it a perfect example of the uneven difficulty in the game. Everything you face in the labyrinth leading up to it for example is completely trivial. There should have been a gradual increase in difficulty. All the doppelganger stuff is also trivial. They are just not a threat to you at that point. I don't bother dispelling them. No need.
  • CloutierCloutier Member Posts: 228
    Many of the kits' special abilities are overpowered for low-level characters.
    jackjacklunarReticentCaptRory
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    @kaffekoppen Yup, I wasn't trying to challenge you; it's just that I use pretty much the same tactics @cmalune so I was wondering if you had any different ones to share. With SCS you have to kill all the acolytes (twice, sort of) before you can kill Sarevok, which is a nice change.

    The fight with the doppelgangers alongside the dukes is also pretty terrifying for me because the dukes can easily die if things go wrong.
  • MitchforkMitchfork Member Posts: 390
    nano said:

    The fight with the doppelgangers alongside the dukes is also pretty terrifying for me because the dukes can easily die if things go wrong.

    I'm a compulsive wand and scroll hoarder so I generally just blast the entire room with Wands of Fear and Chaos Scrolls which lets you mop up the area without much danger to the dukes.
    nano
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    Nice one, I've never actually used the fear wand before.
  • kaffekoppenkaffekoppen Member Posts: 377
    Chaos annoys me a bit because they might kill each other so you miss out on the XP, but Fear wands are extremely effective in all of BG1. Almost feels like cheating sometimes. Just make sure you have ranged weapons ready or you're going to have yourself a Benny Hill chase scene.
  • DreadnaughtDreadnaught Member Posts: 92
    Honestly, it's easier because of the experience we already have. Plus the kits are also favorable. BG2 EE seems more difficult though. Has anyone killed the demon lord at watcher's keep? Killed me 24 times before I could kill it. I still think it's the hardest boss in BG2.
  • DreadnaughtDreadnaught Member Posts: 92
    Honestly, it's easier because of the experience we already have. Plus the kits are also favorable. BG2 EE seems more difficult though. Has anyone killed the demon lord at watcher's keep? Killed me 24 times before I could kill it. I still think it's the hardest boss in BG2.
  • TuthTuth Member Posts: 233
    edited February 2015
    I think that using BG2 engine itself in the first game changed the difficulty, some examples:

    - characters are walking way faster than in the original (easier to dispatch archers and mages with melee characters).
    - missile weapons got nerfed compared to the original (hence the kobolds being less of a threat).
    - pause allowed in the inventory screen.
    - bigger stash of items in one slot, especially ammo.
    - changes to spells and introducing those that were not in the original.

    There are probably more of these subtle differences. I believe that BG2 engine disturbed the balance of the force original game, which I don't like very much.
    MortiannadunbarDJKajuru
  • MortiannaMortianna Member Posts: 1,356
    @Tuth Good points, all around, especially about the BG2 engine disturbing the "balance."

    Even Raise Dead got nerfed, as the recipient no longer suffers the 1 point CON loss (per 2nd edition rules). In original BG, knowing you could only raise a character a finite number of times before they're permanently dead made dying a serious consequence of the game. It required serious consideration be given to how Kagain (20 CON) and Xan (7 CON) were played.

    I think the developers had to remove the CON loss because (unlike the BG engine), the BG2 engine would subtract the bonus HP from raised characters' high CON after it assigned their 1 hp, causing them to die again if they went from something like 15 to 14.
    Tuth
  • mumumomomumumomo Member Posts: 635
    What makes BGEE significantly easier IMO are the kits. Some of them are clearly OP in BGEE.
  • TuthTuth Member Posts: 233
    @Mortianna This rule was not implemented in the original game, since everyone would just reload the save and not try to raise a dead NPC with such a high price. This is exclusive to the pen and paper AD&D as far as I know.

    However Animate Dead spell got a major change where it gives only one skeleton, but much more powerful due to the limit of summoned creatures.

    One more thing that I forgot about is blocking the path with characters. In BG2 engine friendly NPCs can "shove" the ones blocking their way, though I haven't tested it with how summoned creatures/neutral characters/enemies behave with eachother.
    Mortianna
  • MortiannaMortianna Member Posts: 1,356
    @Tuth I guess I played Original BG with the DudleyMod (which added the -1 CON penalty for Raise Dead) for so long that I forgot it wasn't part of the original game.

    I liked being able to summon a retinue of low-level skeletons as cannon-fodder in the original game. Although I appreciated the change to Skeleton Warriors after level 15 in BG2.

    And, yes, the pathfinding in BG2 is much better than BG. Navigating dungeon corridors with 6 party members + summons in BG was a nightmare.
    JuliusBorisovlelag200
  • VahnXIIIVahnXIII Member Posts: 33
    There are fewer skeletons in High Hedge. I remember in the original getting blasted by darts from 8+ skeletons hiding behind the fog of war. Now they spawn in groups of 4-5.
    Mortianna
  • GenryuGenryu Member Posts: 372
    I've noticed that myself, certain battles seem to have been nerfed.

    I used to enjoy taking down Drizzt each playthrough for the challenge, I fought him with countless party configurations, as well as solo on many occasions. One thing I remember, is I usually had to resort to cheap and cheesy tactics to beat him.

    I bought BGEE this week, and I'm playing the game again for the first time in many years (Dwarven Defender! :smiley: ). And I was surprised at how relatively easy he went down, no reloads, no deaths I was a little disappointed. I did notice that Twinkle has been reduced from a +5 weapon to a +3.

    The only area that has caused me any significant trouble so far, was Durlags tower and that was predominantly the traps, as I have not been investing points into detect traps.

    One thing I have noticed is the difficulty slider in the options menu, the default is normal, however the next difficulty up (Core Rules) says 'Baldurs gate 1 rules apply'. Did they lower the default difficulty in EE?
    Mortianna
  • proccoprocco Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 915
    @Genryu yep. "Normal" is the default difficulty out of the box. I personally find the core setting significantly more difficult, but then I'm not the most skilled player...I think normal halves the damage your characters take, plus other stuff like making it so wizards never fail writing scrolls to their spell book.
    lelag200MortiannaJuliusBorisov
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