Making BG2.....as easy as possible.

sethosayher

Without cheating.

I forgot how hard this game is.

I've yet to complete a playthrough, but I've started and completed portions of this game....maybe 7 times so far? Other than Morrowind, there is no other game I come back to so often without finishing it.

I appreciate that Baldur's Gate 2 belongs to a venerable tradition of DnD based WRPGs that are brutal and demanding....but I'm a pansy. I want to vanquish enemies with ease and get to the meaty intrigue and story bits. I want to expedite the combat and spend as little time as I can in dungeons.

Aside from outright cheating (by cheating, I mean using the console to slaughter enemies) I don't know what to do. I'm thinking of trying that Kensai-Mage build I've heard of, but it seems kind of complicated. I also already rolled a mage. Would there be a significant harm to using EE to change the class of my main character?

Another option is to use an NPC mod that is absurdly powerful. Again, I know some of you who love the combat and mechanics of this game are wincing at this idea, but I would love to find an NPC that can just wade into battle and quickly kill most things. Is there anything like this?

meagloth

Well, first off, turn the difficulty all the way down. Then there are a bunch of cheese things you can do. Abuse rest, fire AoE spells from behind the fog of war, ect. Then quicksave a lot. a lot and keep trying. Sorcerer is an OP class if you know what your doing, and so is any Mage combo. Fighter/Mage and thief/Mage are quite nice. Just keep trying, it shouldn't be to bad. You'll get better at it. If you want anything else, please be more specific with what exactly your struggling with:)

DrHappyAngry

An Inquisitor is a great starting class, since you can easily dispel all sorts of affects, without having to know the right spells to strip specific buffs. The game even gives you a recruitable one, Keldorn. Pick him up and have him hurl dispel magics at enemy mages, and that should make a lot of fights easier. Eventually you'll figure out when to use the various mage dispels, like Breach, Pierce Magic and Ruby Ray of Reversal. Early on, it's a lot easier to just let Keldorn take care of it.

Since you're playing a mage, always cast stoneskin before resting. Armor as well, until you get items that make it obsolete. Both these buffs have such long durations, they'll still be going strong after you wake up, so you'll have an extra casting, in case they get dispelled or torn through in a fight. You should ALWAYS have stoneskin on any of your characters that can cast it. Mirror image is a great "oh snap" spell for when a warrior manages to get in your mages face.

A lot of the non-damage spells are highly effective. Chaos will make all the enemies derp around, sometimes randomly attacking things. It takes the wind out of a lot of nasty groups. Horror at lower levels serves the same function.

Try to take out enemy mages and clerics quickly. I generally prioritize them if I see one on the battlefield. Strip their protections, and hit them hard and fast. You won't be nearly as effective if they get off a chaos spell against you and most of your party's derping around. If you can't take them out quickly, Melf's acid arrow's continuous damage over time can disrupt their casting for a bit. Magic Missile, with it's quick casting time, can disrupt a mage's spells from across the battlefield fairly well, until stuff starts becoming immune to it.

In the game settings if you haven't already, adjust the pause settings. You can get really fine grained, and have it pause when weapons become unusable, spells are cast, end of each round, etc. Tweak with those to your liking.

If you're going to start over, I'd avoid doing a dual class build. They are kind of tricky, and don't leave much room for mistakes with which level you dual at, and picking your proficiencies. A multi class fighter mage would be easier to manage, as meagloth said, and does have some strengths over the kensai>mage. I think Inquisitors or other paladins make a nice intro to the game while you learn the mechanics. My first run was with a cavalier.

Any particular fights that are giving you a lot of trouble?

Juris

All good advice. I'll also mention that if you know a battle is comming you can cast the shorter duration spells like strength, haste, drink potions, prot evil, ect. Also don't forget to use magic item and granted ability powers. A battle where your front line fighters have chaotic commands, and your weak mages have stoneskin is a LOT easier

FinneousPJ

I'll echo the multi F/M suggestion.

abacus

Play a Berserker and grand master in flails.
If you see baddies, activate berserk rage... Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Ravenslight

I understand completely. The pause key is your best friend. Use it often during battles. Slide your game difficulty bar down to the easiest setting. There are a few druid spells I made ample use of my first play through. Insect plague, for battles with mages. Cast Fire Elementals and then Pixie Dust to make the party invisible. Then send just the Fire Elementals into the room to soak up the first damage and enemy spells on tough battles, while keeping the rest of the party quietly invisible. Lower Resistance can make dragon fights much easier. Back in the day, I remember there being more threads about how to fight certain creatures. Now there are many who have mastered the game and want more challenge, so we have more threads devoted to playing the game hard core. I think it is easy to forget that with the EE editions we have renewed interest in the game and therefore many new people for whom the game can be very difficult. I think a thread like this could be very helpful for those people. Lets forget about calling certain tactics “cheesy” and give them some useful tips. After all, what we really want is to get them hooked as much as we are.

Ravenslight

Use the fog of war to your advantage. From a role-play perspective it still tickles me to have my little thief sneak up on a camp of baddies and with a “pssst… hey you”, draw them one at a time, back to my other party members. From a purely gamming perspective, it is just useful to draw them off one at a time so your party doesn’t get overwhelmed with more opponents then you can comfortably handle.

abacus

"Crowd control" spells (spells which debilitate a number of enemies) are really good for groups of enemies... Web, Slow & Chaos being three of my personal favourites.
Casting Web followed by Summon Spiders (or Polymorph Self: Sword Spider) is a particularly nasty trick.

Also, pay attention to save modifiers on spells... The bigger the modifier, the more potent it will be (ie: -4 modifier is really nasty, +1 modifier is weak).
There's a great spell called Greater Malison, which will drop the saves of a group by -4... This is a real help for making your following spells hurt!

JuliusBorisov

Hello, @sethosayher‌ !

The community has already given you more than 10 very useful advices.

In addition I encourage you to thoroughly read the game manuals:

http://www.beamdog.com/files/bg2ee/bg2eemanual1.pdf - it isn't called "Survival Guide" for nothing
http://www.beamdog.com/files/bg2ee/bg2eemanual2.pdf - you'll understand Melee and Magic mechanics much better

Also, there're many useful tips in this thread:

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32046/understanding-baldur-s-gate-2#latest

DreadKhan

Chaos is a downright terrifyingly good spell to make an 'impossible' battle an 'embarassingly easy' one. In BG1, it pretty much wins any battle without gimmicking, but in BG2, you may want to use Improved Malison. This will leave opponents saving at a VERY substantial penalty. Slow snd chaos are both selective, thus wont hurt uour party.

If playing a wizard, use sequencers, triggers and contingencies liberally.

Against weaker opponents, web and sword spiders are effective. Cast web 2 or 3 times if youve got lots of mages. Spiders are immune, but many enemies arent.

sethosayher

Guys, thank you so much for the advice. I've actually just found a new feature of BG2 that is helping me immensely, in addition to the tips provided above (this may have been mentioned already) - use the scrips in the customize section of a party member's screen! These have different pre-sets for how your party members should behave in a conflict, and greatly expedites combat!

sethosayher

...I also just realized that you can turn off party AI with a single button. Hence the random bouts of my party standing around doing nothing.

Demonoid_Limewire

Use cheese and exploits! Or start 1, create a full party yourself with best possible rolls, go through it, and export them in 2.

Eadwyn_G8keeper

@sethosayer: Another strong multiclass with a different RP flavor from the traditional Fighter/Mage rockstar is Ranger/Cleric. ~Favored Enemy, Stealth, etc.