Let's talk: Baldur's gate strategy
xLegionx
Member Posts: 197
Hi everyone! Legion is here and I would like to talk bg strategy. With baldur's gate enhanced edition coming out soon I thought it would be a good idea to post this discussion to help with people who are not entirely familiar with the game and as a useful strategy guide to those in need. Post your party comb and your preferred strategy below.
My party comb: 1 shield berserker, 1 two-handed berserker (damage dealer), 1 cleric, 1 bounty hunter, 1 sorceror (my character), 1 mage
Party stats:
Shield berserker- High str, high dex, high con, low int, low wis, low cha. Official party tank which means he is the one who takes all the dmg. Weapon/shield style.
two-handed berserker- High str, high dex, high con, low int, low wis, low cha. Party damage dealer. Two-handed weapons.
Cleric- Moderate str, high dex, low con, moderate int, high wis, high cha. Party healer/utility spellcaster. Focuses on healing, buffing, and silencing enemy spellcasters.
bounty hunter (thief)- moderate str, high dex, moderate con, low int, moderate wis, low cha. Party scout/trap setter. Focuses highly on scouting. Weakens enemy with traps and backstabs if strategically possible.
Sorceror- very low str, very high dex, moderate con, high int, moderate wis, moderate cha. Party supporter/utility. Focuses on confusion and conjuration followed by haste. Also provides self defensive spells.
1 mage- low str, high dex, moderate con, high int, moderate wis, low cha. Party protection/dispeller/supporter. Focuses on dispelling enemy protection spells, transmutation spells, and conjuration support.
My preferred strategy:
First off, I send my bounty hunter to scout everywhere as much as possible and relay all enemy positions. When running to first encounter depending on how dangerous my opponents are I apply appropriate buffs to my party members for the coming battle such as protection from evil, defensive harmony, bless, or chant. I send my bounty hunter to set up some traps nearby and begin pulling with a backstab. After backstab has been executed, I lead the enemies toward the traps, very effectively weaking or killing them. I have my whole party armed with ranged weapons to reign hell on the enemies until my tank runs in to engage.
As the battle begins, if there are enemy magic users on the field I start off with dispel magic to remove enemy protections followed by silence and miscast. After that, I have my mages cast Malison and chaos which will effectively cause them to turn on eachother. Once that has been achieved, I have my mage focus on dispelling anymore incurring enemy spell protections while my sorceror summons legions of creatures at his disposal with an occasional fiend summoning. My two-handed damage dealer if needed hangs back and focuses with throwing axe on enemy spellcaster to interrupt spells. If not needed, he runs in with two-handed sword and kills off enemies.
While all that is happening, I send my thief running away from the battle constantly so he can hide in shadows and execute backstabs unless we have invisibility available which can be provided by my mage.
My party comb: 1 shield berserker, 1 two-handed berserker (damage dealer), 1 cleric, 1 bounty hunter, 1 sorceror (my character), 1 mage
Party stats:
Shield berserker- High str, high dex, high con, low int, low wis, low cha. Official party tank which means he is the one who takes all the dmg. Weapon/shield style.
two-handed berserker- High str, high dex, high con, low int, low wis, low cha. Party damage dealer. Two-handed weapons.
Cleric- Moderate str, high dex, low con, moderate int, high wis, high cha. Party healer/utility spellcaster. Focuses on healing, buffing, and silencing enemy spellcasters.
bounty hunter (thief)- moderate str, high dex, moderate con, low int, moderate wis, low cha. Party scout/trap setter. Focuses highly on scouting. Weakens enemy with traps and backstabs if strategically possible.
Sorceror- very low str, very high dex, moderate con, high int, moderate wis, moderate cha. Party supporter/utility. Focuses on confusion and conjuration followed by haste. Also provides self defensive spells.
1 mage- low str, high dex, moderate con, high int, moderate wis, low cha. Party protection/dispeller/supporter. Focuses on dispelling enemy protection spells, transmutation spells, and conjuration support.
My preferred strategy:
First off, I send my bounty hunter to scout everywhere as much as possible and relay all enemy positions. When running to first encounter depending on how dangerous my opponents are I apply appropriate buffs to my party members for the coming battle such as protection from evil, defensive harmony, bless, or chant. I send my bounty hunter to set up some traps nearby and begin pulling with a backstab. After backstab has been executed, I lead the enemies toward the traps, very effectively weaking or killing them. I have my whole party armed with ranged weapons to reign hell on the enemies until my tank runs in to engage.
As the battle begins, if there are enemy magic users on the field I start off with dispel magic to remove enemy protections followed by silence and miscast. After that, I have my mages cast Malison and chaos which will effectively cause them to turn on eachother. Once that has been achieved, I have my mage focus on dispelling anymore incurring enemy spell protections while my sorceror summons legions of creatures at his disposal with an occasional fiend summoning. My two-handed damage dealer if needed hangs back and focuses with throwing axe on enemy spellcaster to interrupt spells. If not needed, he runs in with two-handed sword and kills off enemies.
While all that is happening, I send my thief running away from the battle constantly so he can hide in shadows and execute backstabs unless we have invisibility available which can be provided by my mage.
0
Comments
Strategy with this kinda combo goes something like this.
Assassins sneak behind enemies (so they can stab mages to hell when the battle begins).
Blades put offensive spin on and sorcerer casts haste so the blades deal 4-6attacks each round (with bg1 weaponry 9-10attacks in bg2) blades also use stoneskin. then charge in with ultimate speed with blades and sorcerer can twidle her/his thumbs.
Battle begins blades kill enemy fighters in record speed while assassins stab mages and sorcerer stands and watches, bounty hunter arrives and starts to find traps (detect illusion) those hiding enemies and maby shoot some arrows at mages if the mages wont drop from single stab.
Again sorry for my terrible english forum ppl
In BG1 I have my mage(s) cast Sleep and Horror a lot. This takes care of most of the mobs. In BG2 that gets upgraded to Chaos and Emotion: Helplessness.
I also try to Charm or Dominate (always nice to get enemies attacking one another), Slow, Blind, Hold or Confuse as many of among the enemy as possible. I like having pristes use spells like Entangle and Summon Insects. Basically, I try to have the magic users use as many offensive disabling spells as possible.
For the warrior classes, in BG1 ranged weapons are very powerful, especially bows. Beyond that I use the standard spell and potion buffs for major battles.
I also love having a fighter-thief (or cleric-thief PC) backstab with some of the more powerful quarterstaffs. I'll often launch an attack that way.
I'm going to have a small 3-4 people party (More xp, higher lvls, more tactics)
Mage/Cleric, Half-elf
Barbarian, Half-Orc
Thief, Human or Halfling
Maybe a Human Monk too
Everything works out that way, and I get to feel superior when I crush parties of 6 enemies!
1. Pause
2. Plot actions
3. Un pause
4. Repeat steps 1 - 4
1. Melee DPS: Barbarian. Most people think it's worse than a fighter, I'm think it's better. In BG1, berserker rage way outstrips the benefits afforded by specialization and combines well with Draw Upon Holy Might. Further, berserker rage grants you immunity to all those annoying mind-effecting spells.
2. Ranged DPS: Archer.
3. Melee Tank 1: Inquisitor. Amazing, immune to all magic effects of note. Can also dispel magic on my party in a jam (such as confusion, paralyzation or fear). Or he can cast an offensive dispel magic to debuff an enemy mage.
4. Melee Tank 2/Party buffing: Fighter/Cleric. Great in combat (there are a surprising amount of strong bludgeoning weapons). Great for heals too. Usually a half-orc (+Draw Upon Holy Might) or dwarf. Often a two-weapon user (maces or flails) who can pick up a shield if necessary. Later in BG2, he becomes a two-handed weapon user (staves can be insane).
5. Special Teams: Love the bounty hunter, @xLegionx. The Swashbuckler is also great. Often dual to a fighter, cleric or mage after FRT and OL are maxed out.
6. Caster: Necromancer or Sorceror. I like spell volume more than versatility. Least important, really anyone can fill this slot (a Skald is great too, because it greatly increases DPS + AC of the part).
I seldom use offensive spells. I just use buffing and concentrate on combat. I do a lot of kiting (arrow damage) and luring (trap damage). I ensure my melee tanks are immune to mind-effecting spells before sending them in. Once I do, then the ranger combatants follow behind and chip in deeps.
I start with fighter wearing a bow so I can kill enemies from distance. When I get some levels I go to Friendly Arm Inn to get Jaheira and Khalid. Next thing is to get another spellcaster so the fun can start...
Fighter - good str, good dex, good con, low int, low wis, low cha
Starting example scenario - BG2:
I start the game with multi-class fighter/mage. As soon as Imoen frees me, I abandon her and free Minsc and Jaheira without accepting them in my party, taking all the xp for myself. Then I gear myself in the next room(armor, long sword, scimitar and a helm). Next thing is to kill the mephit and stop the lightning machine and voala, level up...
Fighter/mage - good str, good dex, good con, good int, good wis, low cha
These are just examples. I tend to try different things. As of the combat tactics, they are just too many to explain each and every one, especially in BG2.
(I ve been playing DDO (D&D Online) & hage (haste+rage) is a must combo )