What order do you clear the maps?

Sharguild

Ever since my first game, I've followed the same formula for clearing the maps and just today realized this preponderance.
Funny, it doesn't really have too much impact on the game but if you relate it to in-game calendar days taken, it becomes rather interesting.
My standard method is;
- to FAI - (Lvl 1)
- to Beregost
- to High Hedge
- to Beregost Temple ( not all the map, vamp wolves are still deadly)
- to Nashkell & carnivalle (Lvl 2)
- to Gnoll fortress
- to Nash mines
- to maps east and west of main road ( Lvl 3)
- to Ankheg map for armour making (come back later)
- to south maps
- to coast maps (Lvl 4)
- to gullykin & firewine
- to Larswood and Peldvale (Lvl 5)
- back to Ankheg map to finish
- to BG outside and zombie farm above
- do Bandit camp (Lvl 6)
- far east maps
- cloakwood & mine
- BG (half) ( Lvl 7)
- Ulgoth
- Durlag
- Ice Island
- Werewolves
- the rest of BG, finish game (Lvl 8)

Usually I'm level 6 or 7 entering BG city
About 100 days in-game before entering BG city.

edit - trying to guess at what level I'm where, ( in brackets) may not be accurate

Wilbur

It really depends on what NPCs I plan on taking along, but I don't follow any strict order. But I do tend to clear the areas entirely the first time I visit them.

OurQuestIsVain

I usually go to the map areas that I have to in order to unlock Baldur's Gate. After I'm done in the Cloakwood Mines I clear out every map area in no particular order. After everything is cleared I completely clear Baldur's Gate. Once I'm done with that I continue the story line and finish up Candlekeep. This is when I do Durlag's and then Werewolf Island (in that order). Then I finish out the story line.

I usually max out my XP just after finishing Candlekeep so sometimes I just rush back to BG and finish off the story line. I have recently started removing the XP cap though so it gives me a much bigger incentive to play through the TotSC stuff and complete every extra quest in BG.

I like to do it this way because clearing maps is much quicker when one of my characters is using the boots of speed.

When I am clearing a map I usually go around the perimeter in a clockwise direction clearing out the fog and continue doing that until all the fog is gone (same way I mow my lawn).

jackjack

I tend to wander somewhat aimlessly while still trying to satisfy whichever NPCs I've added to my party, so there's never just one route for me.

SharGuidesMyHand

I usually follow the same lineal path from Candlekeep to FAI to Beregost to Nashkel to the mines in just about every playthrough, but after the mines, I basically go wherever the whim strikes me at any given moment.

Coutelier

Essentially, I tend to just follow the story up to the Nashkell mines, and then after rescuing Xan (maybe), clear each area while heading north. Tend to leave the TotSC stuff until either after Cloakwood or Candlekeep.

Sharguild

Hi there OurQuestIsVain;
Curious, you mentioned removing the XP cap. Is this just for your own satisfaction? As I understand it, you start BG2 with no more than 161K xp regardless but since this is my first playthrough with BGee, I may not be accurate in this regard.
Personally, if I max out at 161k and still have gameplay left to complete I'm fine with that (and that was usually the case in vanilla) but I don't know what the scenario is with BGee yet.

CField17

Sharguild said:

Hi there OurQuestIsVain;
Curious, you mentioned removing the XP cap. Is this just for your own satisfaction? As I understand it, you start BG2 with no more than 161K xp regardless but since this is my first playthrough with BGee, I may not be accurate in this regard.
Personally, if I max out at 161k and still have gameplay left to complete I'm fine with that (and that was usually the case in vanilla) but I don't know what the scenario is with BGee yet.

This is false, you do start BG2EE with whatever experience you have is BGEE, even if it's above 161k. If you import your character of course.

Sharguild

Hi CField17;
Thanks for the update.
Not sure how much more xp I would WANT to start BG2ee with though. Game was balanced to handle a starting PC with 89k so 161k is pretty strong already. Purely subjective though.
Personally I'm fine with 161k.

OurQuestIsVain

Sharguild said:

Hi there OurQuestIsVain;
Curious, you mentioned removing the XP cap. Is this just for your own satisfaction? As I understand it, you start BG2 with no more than 161K xp regardless but since this is my first playthrough with BGee, I may not be accurate in this regard.
Personally, if I max out at 161k and still have gameplay left to complete I'm fine with that (and that was usually the case in vanilla) but I don't know what the scenario is with BGee yet.

I usually play through BG1 with the intention of importing that char into BG2 but 90% of the time I never end up doing that. I like removing the XP cap because it lets me continue being rewarded for playing beyond 161,000. Not that long ago I would never have removed the XP cap because it seemed like cheating but I figure, if I get more enjoyment out of the game with it off, might as well.

Sharguild

Hi OurQuestIsVain;

Wow, your one statement speaks volumes.You don't import your character?
That is really interesting.
Personally, I find that after all that hard work, my lad (or lass) deserves to move forward.
So, you start a new game with 89k xp with a new rolled up character?
I've done it, simply to try a new character but I assuredly move forward a character I spent a lot of time developing as well.
One thing I'll mention, on a number of games, I don't use all the tomes on myself. I find I don't really need a Cleric for example with 21 Wisdom (or assuredly a Fighter with even 18 Wisdom, with 3 tomes) when in game Branwen for example, will definitely help me out by raising hers.
Similiarly, why would my Mage need a strength boost when it will give Imoen or Viconia access to new gear?

With respect to tomes, don't want to necessarily side track but it's my post so whatever;

In vanilla, boosted intelligence was added protection against Mindflayers in BG2. Boosted Wisdom was added protection against Charm spells. Is this still the case? I've read it is not quite so.

OurQuestIsVain

Sharguild said:

Hi OurQuestIsVain;

Wow, your one statement speaks volumes.You don't import your character?
That is really interesting.
Personally, I find that after all that hard work, my lad (or lass) deserves to move forward.
So, you start a new game with 89k xp with a new rolled up character?
I've done it, simply to try a new character but I assuredly move forward a character I spent a lot of time developing as well.
One thing I'll mention, on a number of games, I don't use all the tomes on myself. I find I don't really need a Cleric for example with 21 Wisdom (or assuredly a Fighter with even 18 Wisdom, with 3 tomes) when in game Branwen for example, will definitely help me out by raising hers.
Similiarly, why would my Mage need a strength boost when it will give Imoen or Viconia access to new gear?

With respect to tomes, don't want to necessarily side track but it's my post so whatever;

In vanilla, boosted intelligence was added protection against Mindflayers in BG2. Boosted Wisdom was added protection against Charm spells. Is this still the case? I've read it is not quite so.

Wisdom doesn't give any bonuses against charm (or any magic for that matter) It only effects lore and extra spells for priests and the wish spell if you are a mage or a rogue with UAI.

Yeah, I'm weird as far as not importing. I love BG2 more than BG1 for the story and characters but I would say I've probably logged well over 10 times more playtime in BG1. I use the spell tomes on my main char every playthrough. I don't think I've ever used them on an NPC. I will have to try that some time since I rarely play through to BG2.

I think I just get rerollitist and have to start a new char as soon as I've finished BG1. I must have beaten the game well over 100 times by now. I like playing around with different builds.

Lately I've been having fun by not powergaming. I usually always min-max, open every chest, do every quest. Recently I've tried playing from a more RP perspective and I'm loving the added challenge.

Sharguild

I commend you Sir/Ma'am on your indulgence.
If I am not importing a character to BG2 (rare but happens) then assuredly I use the tomes on party members for whom they are most worthwhile.
If I am a Cleric for example at Wisdom 18, for the life of the game I can get far more use out of giving Jaheria the 3 tomes of wisdom than it will do me.
Her access to more Druid spells really comes in to play.
Even when I role play and import to BG 2 do I really need a Strength of 19 to win the game? Or a Constitution of 19?
Sure, added gravy, but if I'm role-playing, hardly realistic regardless of the whole "child of Bhaal" scenario.

Sometimes I just role average stats and see how far that takes me. Usually, to the end of the game. Play - style of course, not stats. wins games.
Once I rolled a half Elven fighter/thief multi and took the first role that appeared. It sucked big time. I think I had a strength of 12. I won the game though.

lemarin83

First get all npcs asap, without clearing their maps in most cases (viconias Peldvale is no fun at lv1) then up to friendly arm, beregost, nashkel, clearing the areas in between. Then a few of the low level areas surrounding beregost. Then nashkel mines. After that the area where you exit the mines, they are a challenge at lvl 3 or so but the 4 assassin ladies are manageable with a bit of luck and tactic. Then come all the southern areas including gnoll fortress. Peldvale, larswood, wood of sharp teeth, bandit camp after that. Next the three western areas at the sword coast - by now I can use spells that help against the sirines, who are a pain in the ass without the proper counters. Then either cloak wood and daveorn or ulcaster, firewine, basilisks and so on. After that the northern areas. Baldur's gate next, clearing the city completely. Then back to candlekeel. Ulgoths beard next, where I like to do Durlags tower first, then Isle of balduran... Makes more sense in terms of items. After that, finishing everything in baldur's gate and then getting annoyed by Sarevoks trapped-filled room.

If I take minsc and dynaheir, I do the gnoll fortress and the surrounding areas immediately after arriving in nashkel, without doing any areas you don't have to go to. The area with the two bridges with a polar bear has a fight against several ogre berserker and hobgoblin elites which is very dangerous when low level, but it can be done.

If I want kivan, I do the bandit camp early... it's not that hard. Same with coran, faldorn and eldoth... bandit camp early, then rush through cloakwood without clearing the areas (pretty easy), then back to normal exploring. If I want to use yeslick or any of the baldur's gate companions, I try to reach their areas earlier as well.

Maurvir

The Tweaks Anthology allows you to tweak the game to show the Cloakwood forest early. It doesn't enable the mine area, just the four preceding forest areas. I wish I had known about it earlier, to be honest, as I always thought it was silly to lock away so much of the game until after the bandit camp.

I believe that same mod also allows you to move NPCs to more amenable positions, as getting a new NPC in Baldur's Gate means they have likely missed out on a lot of XP by that point unless you practically race there. Alora, for example, is moved to the Gullykin village.

For the same reasons, I tweak BG2 to allow access to the three forest areas that are normally restricted to chapter 6 as well, and for the same reasons. There is no reason not to, other than possibly being too difficult for my party at the time.

xler3

I've been playing BG on/off since it came out. Now adays, I normally just play from a modded power-gaming no-reload trilogy perspective. My primary goal is really just to just get to BG2. I've played BG1 like 10k times lol

My general pathway is this but i flex it around as the party or theme dictates

Candlekeep [tutorial quests]

>

Beregost [marl, algernon, ring of protection +1, landrins house, purifier, boots of stealth]

>

nashkel [ankheg armor, varscona, ring of fire protection, gems]

>

FAI [girdle of piercing, ring of wizardry, reputation to 14~, joai, tarnesh, scrolls of stone to flesh]

>

Basilisk garden [grinding xp with algernon + scrolls of stone to flesh + protection of petrification]

>

Nashkel [kill mulahey, wand of monster summoning]

>

at this point, wand of monster summoning can clear the entire game (scs), even the final battle. just play as defensively as possible.

i safely make it to BG2 90%-95% of the time. i only ever die on tarnesh to be honest with ya

Maurvir

I don't think I've ever completed BG2 the same way twice. Some games, I do it the expected way. Other games I will skip the FAI and go directly to Nashkel. Still others I have skipped Nashkel for quite a while - until the party was sufficiently leveled.

That's one of the thing I like about BG1 - it's big enough and open enough that there isn't really a best way to finish it.

Ridcully

I used to do the same route which was:

1. Imoen, high hedge (pick up Kivan only), Jaheira & Khalid, Ajantis inc clear Ankheg nest, then to Coran (drop Jaheria & Khalid) and get Yeslick as fast as possible.
2. Finish mine
3. Clear sites on the west, Temple, then the the east sites
4. BG
5. Candle keep
6. BG inc undercity
7. Ulgoth
8. Ice island
9. Durlag
10. south and North Island.
11. drop all NPCs in BG and pick up Baeloth, Neera, Dorn, Safana and Raasad
12. Clear EE quests. Revert to original party
13. Temple of Bhaal

I noticed that recruiting Safana and then dropping her means she joins SoD with more HP. Also doing the EE quests allows me to get the big fisted belt to put on Khalid

In the last couple of run throughs I changed a couple of characters which forced a couple of changes:

1. Getting to Nashkel and swapping out Kivan for Minsc and then swapping out Ajantis for Coran.
2. This then means going as far as Cloakwood 3 to get the Wyvern head and then going to the Stronghold otherwise Minsc leaves.
3. Fisherman's Lake, Basilus, High hedge, Temple
4. Then back to Cloakwood mine and carry on as above, except ignoring Yeslick. However I now also tend to go in the Temple of Bhaal and kill all but Sarevok, before coming back out and doing TOSC

I'll also probably swap in Dynaheir at the end just to load up spells in prep for SoD, before going and getting the original party for the final battle