Understanding Baldur's Gate 2
Belteshazzar89
Member Posts: 11
As someone new to both Baldur's Gate and D&D, I'm having trouble enjoying the game. Perhaps the community can help me understand where I'm going wrong. A few examples of problems I have while playing are:
I spend roughly four or five times as much time on the inventory screen as the gameplay screen.
About half the time I want to travel somewhere, I get interrupted with an attack.
There are many bottlenecks in the game. This is a general point which encompasses many of my issues.
Let me elaborate.
First, the inventory screen. Each character has roughly fourteen or sixteen inventory slots, and many things cannot be stacked. After killing an enemy, a person can pick up roughly three to six items. In addition, there are many chests and boxes with items inside, and few places to sell and trade. Therefore, I ran out of inventory space about five minutes into the game, and have been shuffling everything around constantly since then. It is maddening.
Second, the travel mechanic. I understand the idea of the attacks which occur sometimes while traveling, but it is almost impossible to keep a mage alive when he/she is stuck in the middle of several attackers. And of course, forget about casting spells since they will always be interrupted. This point could actually be broadened to include the point that this game seems to place a lot of emphasis on the positioning of the characters, which doesn't interest me since this is more of a role-playing game than an action game. Using long-ranged weapons is great because you can attack without being attacked (short-ranged, at least), but the enemy will close the distance too fast for the long-range attack to do anything, so you have to get another party member in the enemy's face. Again, positioning. The battles aren't occurring in meadows, they are occurring in small rooms, so this is difficult.
Finally, other bottlenecks (which is the term I am using to describe a situation in which there is a ratio problem, such as items to carry compared to inventory spaces). One would be the ratio of spells to spell slots. There are a lot of spells, each with a paragraph of explanation. Out of ten or so spells, I get to pick four or five to use, and one of them is going to be the completely basic ability to identify things in my inventory. So I use that spell once, and have four or more things left to identify, which apparently will never happen.
I could go on, but I think you can at least see my thought process. Please don't think that I hate the game. I'm interested in the game, and I would like to get into it, but I'm having difficulties. Let me know if you used to think this way, or had experiences like this, and how you overcame them.
Regards.
I spend roughly four or five times as much time on the inventory screen as the gameplay screen.
About half the time I want to travel somewhere, I get interrupted with an attack.
There are many bottlenecks in the game. This is a general point which encompasses many of my issues.
Let me elaborate.
First, the inventory screen. Each character has roughly fourteen or sixteen inventory slots, and many things cannot be stacked. After killing an enemy, a person can pick up roughly three to six items. In addition, there are many chests and boxes with items inside, and few places to sell and trade. Therefore, I ran out of inventory space about five minutes into the game, and have been shuffling everything around constantly since then. It is maddening.
Second, the travel mechanic. I understand the idea of the attacks which occur sometimes while traveling, but it is almost impossible to keep a mage alive when he/she is stuck in the middle of several attackers. And of course, forget about casting spells since they will always be interrupted. This point could actually be broadened to include the point that this game seems to place a lot of emphasis on the positioning of the characters, which doesn't interest me since this is more of a role-playing game than an action game. Using long-ranged weapons is great because you can attack without being attacked (short-ranged, at least), but the enemy will close the distance too fast for the long-range attack to do anything, so you have to get another party member in the enemy's face. Again, positioning. The battles aren't occurring in meadows, they are occurring in small rooms, so this is difficult.
Finally, other bottlenecks (which is the term I am using to describe a situation in which there is a ratio problem, such as items to carry compared to inventory spaces). One would be the ratio of spells to spell slots. There are a lot of spells, each with a paragraph of explanation. Out of ten or so spells, I get to pick four or five to use, and one of them is going to be the completely basic ability to identify things in my inventory. So I use that spell once, and have four or more things left to identify, which apparently will never happen.
I could go on, but I think you can at least see my thought process. Please don't think that I hate the game. I'm interested in the game, and I would like to get into it, but I'm having difficulties. Let me know if you used to think this way, or had experiences like this, and how you overcame them.
Regards.
Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
2
Comments
a) gold
b) items with names/quest items
c) enchanted equipment
Soon you'll be swimming in money, so picking up every single gem, ring and necklace is just not necessary. At the beginning of the first game, sure. Later, there is no need.
Well, the travel mechanic... I'm not a good player, but in my head it's just the mage going AAAAAA! and running away until his friends take the attacker's attention. Later on, invisibility potions. They're life savers. (EDIT: and items lowering casting time, but that's waaay later, when the mage is a machine already.)
Spellbook - you can change the memorised spells at any time, if you find out any of them doesn't match your playing style. At rest mage will memorise any used spells again, so with identifying you can either identify each item every time after rest or take them to a storekeep who offers identification.
As for spell selection, that is the fundemental of D&D magic system, as a mage you need to think ahead and prepare spells you will need before resting. If you are in an inn, fill all your lvl 1 slots with identify to ID all of your loot, rest, identify, and cast long-lasting spells like melf's minute meteors and stoneskin. Re-fill your lvl 1 slots with useful stuff and rest again. Also, glasses of identification is available at the merchant on top of Gaelan Bayle's home:it identifies thrice a day, very useful. If you are still fed up with preparing spells for every day, create a sorceror or dragon disciple, they don't 'prepare' spells like a mage, if you know the correct spells you can cast from a lvl of spells freely, thus, if you need 5 identifies in a spot a sorcerer can do it. Later next day after a rest, he can blast five chromatic orbs without changing spell memorisation.
stop picking everything : the amount of money you make from selling non-magical items is neglectable.
You should only pick : potions, scrolls, money, some jewelry, and of course magical items (blue)
Combat :
If you don't like combat, you will not like Baldur. Unlike most newer RPG, if you don't play your group properly, you will get slaughtered. This is not a game where you can let your gimp characters kill everything in auto-attack mode, at highest difficulty.
This looks challenging at the beginning but soon enough ou should find it rather easy.
The easiest way in BGEE is to use 1 tank (or lure) and several ranged attackers.
Spellcasting :
spellcasters are rather weak in BGEE, especially in the early game (they rule in BG2 however).
Identification is better managed with the method described by Lunar or by using a bard or by letting a shopkeeper do it for you for a small fee.
Welcome to the forum and to the game as well.
Because you're a beginner, I've moved this discussion into the newby section of the forum so that you won't get nasty spoilers and keep fun of discovering the twists yourself.
It's completely inderstandable this game can be hard for a beginner, don't worry - this is why our community is here - to help you.
More often than not games today are way too easy. Baldur’s Gate from the difficulty level and depth is the way a game should be done. We have nice graphical games but they lack the depth of Baldur’s Gate.
Besides good advices that are already given, let me offer some tips as well.
When you start, learn to pause.
Always pause and plan out your actions, when you think things are going well? Pause and check because you are probably wrong. In this game if you have a character with the wrong weapon or no action queued up they will just keep doing something stupid until they die.
Turn on feedback.
Go into the options and turn on the feedback for attacks. Without it, the game just tells you that you missed. With it on, you will see something like 14+3 and a hit or miss. This is crucial for letting you know why you are doing no damage (you may have the wrong weapon or are just not good enough). It will also help you know if what you are doing (a new skill or weapon) is a real improvement. You don’t need to know much of what else is going on, just check the figures and try things until they get better, the game will tell you what numbers you need.
Turn on AI!
Sure the AI isn’t perfect, but it is a million times better than doing nothing. Select each character in turn, go to their character sheet, customise and scripts. Then select what you will like them to do in combat. Make your mages cast spells and run away. Your warriors? Go in hard and your archers stay back archering away. These scripts will make the game a lot easier as you can often start combat and then sit back and watch as your NPC friends do a decent job of using their skills. It is also a good way to pick up new strategies. Enemy mages in particular have all the same skills as you, watch what they try to do! This really should be on by default because I have heard of a lot of people putting the game down because their characters just sit there getting slaughtered or they do not want to micro-manage every action.
Rest after every battle. Even if you HP is not low, still rest and save. This will stop you getting wiped out by a hard chance encounter (which does happen) and will allow your mages to restock their skills.
Somebody dead?
Use a resurrect spell or go to a church/temple in town and pony up the cash. Make sure to take their equipment with you. Chances are you will reload anyway to save the trouble, which is ok, because you saved after every battle.
Change difficulty
There are so many options with your characters that balance is impossible. You will eventually hit a battle that you are not prepared for. Got an awesome magic equipped party? Well when you hit something with high magic resistance you can be in a lot of trouble. Don’t sweat it, just drop the difficulty level down. You can pick it right back up again after if you want. These games are not a one shot deal, you will always have something to learn and it will always be fun doing so.
Stick with it.
Once more: this game can be a real slog. You might think you are doing something really wrong as common enemies wipe you out or you get eaten by a rabbit. You are not. This game really is a “rise to power” kind of experience. You will get there, but it isn’t going to happen on the other side of the tutorial. It takes time and this is why it is great.
I can also advice to read http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/1992/basic-game-tips-for-new-players/p1
Mages are squishy but have a lot of tricks to keep them alive. Stoneskin is a level 4 spell that lasts 24 hours (IIRC), so casting it when you wake up should keep your Mage protected for any journeys. It's often a good idea to keep Mirror Image in a level 2 slot and cast it at the beginnning of any combat. Stoneskin + Mirror Image will generally be enough to keep your Mage shiny and alive for 90% of encounters.
The game's AI is generally not particularly smart. Most melee enemies will just attack the first thing they see, so make sure that you send your melee fighters in first if you have the choice. Stand your mages at the back and you're generally good to go. Ranged weapons lose out a bit in BG2 due to relatively confined fights and lack of strength bonuses to damage, so most fighter types will be better off equipped for melee.
Finally - have a read of the forums. There are many threads about people struggling with aspects of the game. I can think of a couple about getting the most out of your mages, or which buffs to use before combat. Half an hour digging around will probably give you a good amount of understanding and help you overcome a lot more challenges.
Yes, many of its rules and mechanics, are not to the tastes and liking, or even understanding, of your regular, average gamer (back in the day i neither understood nor liked, the Thac0, to hit rolls, dice rolls, and defense items/calculation mechanics, that is why i used to stick with diablo series). This is an advanced RPG, for hardcore gamers, roleplayers, and stuff.
About the items. There are many solutions. Like starting a multiplayer game, and create a full party by yourself, with as high strength stat in all of its members as possible (so as to carry more stuff). There are the bags of holding, or the specific type containers (spell scroll bags, gem bags, potion bags). Then, you have to prioritize your pick ups and looting. Simple items rarely are worthy of keeping. Except for a full plate mail that can be sold expensively. Use to pick up expensive items, like jewelry and gems. Scrolls? Learn them as quickly as you get them, so they are put to good use, and the inventory slot opens. Potions? Fill the quick item inventory slots of ALL your characters with them, and don't bother wasting normal inventory for them. Finally, try to fill all of your characters equipment slots, even if the item is useless; if you have nothing else, or better, to equip on them.
About positions, you can also click and drag party portraits to arrange their position. Pick a formation and stick with it (i usually go with T one, 2 warriors guarding my main, and thief with casters behind for tricks). This game is a party centered one. Without formations and tactics, your only alternative is to create an overpowered class, and solo the game yourself entirely. You can do anything you want. But do not abandon it before even bothering to see the game for what it is! I had bought it 14 years ago, did not play it for reasons similar to yours, and only 2 years ago, i trully, and fully, finished it. And i still discover new things in it to do, even after all these years of owning and all these months of replaying!
Finally, you can experiment with a little bit of glitches and exploits, or cheese, in your game, if you find it too difficult for you. Yes, 1, can be a real pain. But 2 is a breeze.