Ideal difficulty level for a Baldur's Gate 2 veteran who has never played Baldur's Gate 1?
Y3k
Member Posts: 14
TL/DR -> Are "Hard" and "Very Hard" difficulty settings reccomanded for players who like to carefully plan their fights or the plain buff which is applied to foes at those difficulties may lead to imbalances in the late game? Do the most experienced players think that the game is actually more funny at those difficulty settings (especially when it comes to fight planning)?
EDIT: I've done a research on these forums about difficulty settings, and I stumbled on a mod called SCS (Sword Cosast Stratagems) http://www.gibberlings3.net/scs/ which looks like exactly what I was looking for: instead of "cheating" (aka double the damage) to improve difficulty, this changes AI in many different ways so that enemies actually become much smarter. I would like to know your opinions also about this guys...is it maybe included in BG:EE? If not, should it be a good idea to install it or maybe some of those changes have already been implemented in BG:EE?
Hi to all, I've played only Baldur's Gate 2 + expansion like 6-7 times (full storyline + most, probably all side quests) on standard AD&D rules (no bonus, no malus). I remember that at such difficulty you would die easily against strong foes if you just tried to hack and slash them, nevertheless, if you planned the fight properly (right buffs, spells, positions) usually it becomes quite easy. So...since I've never played Baldur's Gate 1 and I want to fully enjoy it I'm considering to raise the difficulty to "hard" or possibly even "very hard", but I don't like the idea of computer controlled monster receiving a plain buff (like +50% damage), I fear that this could lead to imbalances in the late game against the stronger foes...I'm confused as you can see...but I would like some opinions of more experienced players about the 2 harder difficulty settings...are they doable by someone who carefully plans the fights (that's what I love to do) or you faced some issues? If it's doable...is it funnier to plan battles at such difficulty settings than it is at standard AD&D rules? Remember: I HATE (I will not do that) to change difficulty settings when the game is started. The difficulty I choose will be kept for all the game (also for BG2 EE when I'll export my characters). It's a matter of consistency.
EDIT: I've done a research on these forums about difficulty settings, and I stumbled on a mod called SCS (Sword Cosast Stratagems) http://www.gibberlings3.net/scs/ which looks like exactly what I was looking for: instead of "cheating" (aka double the damage) to improve difficulty, this changes AI in many different ways so that enemies actually become much smarter. I would like to know your opinions also about this guys...is it maybe included in BG:EE? If not, should it be a good idea to install it or maybe some of those changes have already been implemented in BG:EE?
Hi to all, I've played only Baldur's Gate 2 + expansion like 6-7 times (full storyline + most, probably all side quests) on standard AD&D rules (no bonus, no malus). I remember that at such difficulty you would die easily against strong foes if you just tried to hack and slash them, nevertheless, if you planned the fight properly (right buffs, spells, positions) usually it becomes quite easy. So...since I've never played Baldur's Gate 1 and I want to fully enjoy it I'm considering to raise the difficulty to "hard" or possibly even "very hard", but I don't like the idea of computer controlled monster receiving a plain buff (like +50% damage), I fear that this could lead to imbalances in the late game against the stronger foes...I'm confused as you can see...but I would like some opinions of more experienced players about the 2 harder difficulty settings...are they doable by someone who carefully plans the fights (that's what I love to do) or you faced some issues? If it's doable...is it funnier to plan battles at such difficulty settings than it is at standard AD&D rules? Remember: I HATE (I will not do that) to change difficulty settings when the game is started. The difficulty I choose will be kept for all the game (also for BG2 EE when I'll export my characters). It's a matter of consistency.
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Comments
I keep it at core rules honestly. Others may not, but like you I hate simply having enemy buffs.
Bad AI is bad.
which looks like exactly what I was looking for: instead of "cheating" (aka double the damage) to improve difficulty, this changes AI in many different ways so that enemies actually become much smarter. I would like to know your opinions also about this guys...is it maybe included in BG:EE? If not, should it be a good idea to install it or maybe some of those changes have been implemented in BG:EE?
IT will NOT come vanilla with BGEE
I would suggest you to try it out, but at this moment we are unsure of mod compatability for EE, lots of issues currently.
More about the workaround, here. http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/6950/player-how-to-getting-mods-to-work-on-bgee#latest
Be careful what you wish for, however
- More enemies
- Higher level enemies
- Enemies deal more damage
BG2 was completely different combat wise, with the proper character (FMT, R/C), you could go play though it on insane without ever taking a scratch with proper defensive spells - in BG1, you either control the battlefield, or... well, you die.
You'll need to be more cautious and wise in your options, you'll need to run from a fight much more often than BG2. Until you are able to meta-game out of experience, you'll reload often.
I'm not even sure how difficulty will work in BG:EE on release date; I suggest playing on Core Rules for the experienced and Normal for everyone else. As with everything else, this is something that is subject to change and improvement with later patches so don't despair if things aren't exactly to your liking on the 28th.
I've always hated that games can't have an AI that provides a good challenge with the player on an equal footing.