Skip to content

What's the most optimal way of healing in this game? and a question about magic weapons

OK so i feel like i might know the answer to this, but is just resting in the middle of a dungeon the best way to heal yourself in this game? Potons and Healing spells SUCK arse in this game, and i don't think theres any better way of healing consistently other than just resting and hope you don't get ambushed.

Also i constantly stumble upon enemies that required +1 or more weapons to be killed, how do i identify these types of enemies and how do i know when i need better weapons to keep progressing?

Comments

  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Healing mid-combat? Mostly potions, certain quick-casting spells. Healing out of combat? Mostly spells, some slower items.

    The basic 9 HP healing potions ... those are BG1 items. They're mostly obsolete in BG2. Instead, those 27-HP potions of extra healing are the staple. And when you get to ToB, it's 40-Hp potions of superior healing instead.

    Healing spells "suck"? Well, the main cure line is fairly lackluster - the level 1 Cure Light Wounds is pretty good, the level 3 Cure Medium Wounds is sometimes usable, and I never bother with the level 4 Cure Serious Wounds or level 5 Cure Critical Wounds. The really good healing spells are elsewhere.

    At cleric/druid level 4, there's Neutralize Poison. Cure poison/disease/blindness, heal 10 HP. And it's nearly instant to cast when someone's in trouble.
    At cleric/druid level 5, there's Mass Cure. Heal the whole party at once, for an amount that varies with caster level. With a high-level caster, that's like a simultaneous Cure Critical on everybody.
    At druid level 4, there's Call Woodland Beings. Summon a creature that can cast Mass Cure. And then it sticks around to cast a bunch of other very useful spells.
    At cleric/druid level 6, there's Heal. One spell, fully heal a character. And it wipes out a bunch of status effects.
    At cleric level 7, there's Resurrection. Fully heals a character, and also raises them if they were dead.
    At cleric/druid level 7, there's Regeneration. Grants a character extremely rapid regeneration for a few rounds as preemptive healing.
    Once your priests get HLAs, there's Mass Raise Dead. Raise anyone that's dead, heal the whole party for a decent chunk of HP ... except that in 2.5, it's bugged. You get six times the healing if you have a full party, and that means everybody gets fully healed. Plus it's a short casting time, so you can use it in the middle of combat.

    Later in the game, you can pick up regeneration items. There's a ring of regeneration in the mid-game Spellhold dungeon, and a variety of high-level items grant regeneration. A high-level party can rely on these for non-combat healing; my group of warriors with no spellcasting capability whatsoever could heal up between battles in ToB just by waiting for a few minutes.

    Identifying enemies that require magical weapons? Experience. But ... requiring magical weapons is a really low bar. By the end of day one, every party member I have is wielding a magical weapon by default. Except maybe Jaheira, since there aren't any magical clubs in Athkatla. And even she can switch to a magical weapon at a moment's notice.
    There are also very obvious warnings if you use a weapon that can't hit an enemy. You get a "Weapon ineffective" notice in the combat log, and the character that did it has a voiced line (e.g Minsc: "No effect? I need bigger sword!").
    Keeping track of the enemies that require higher enchantment levels is a more manageable task. And even then, archers are about the only reason I care about +2 requirements. If I waste an arrow on an ineffective attack, I'll just switch to different ammo (right-click the weapon in the quick bar to select a different ammo stack).
    As the game goes on and equipment gets better, this is less and less of an issue. In my current party (in ToB), everyone but the two mages are using +4 or +5 weapons. If I see a "Weapon Ineffective" notice, it's probably because an enemy cast Protection from Magical Weapons. And that has a different response - either I take down the defense, or I kill that enemy with damage spells. Or both.
    LelandGauntGrond0DGDKamiSkatan
  • LelandGauntLelandGaunt Member Posts: 83
    edited March 2021
    Yep, @jmerry summarized it pretty darn good.
    In the middle of a fight healing spells can be rather tricky. They mostly have pretty long casting times and if your healer gets successfully attacked during that time the spell gets interrupted and does nothing. So during fights healing potions are usually the safer option, spells are better for patching up wounds when there are no enemies around (or if you can make sure your healer doesn't get hit while casting).
    And yeah, while the level 1 "Cure Light Wounds" might not always seem much at BG2 levels, you get better and better healing spells over time. Whenever I play a character as dedicated healer I try to have him/her memorize at least a few of every healing spell available to deal with different sized wounds.
    And enemies that are immune to non-magical weapons are mostly just an early-game problem. If you play thoroughly for a while, you'll come across lots and lots of magical weapons so it won't take too long until everyone in your team is equipped with such. And if you can't find good stuff for one of your characters (for example magical clubs or scimitars for Jaheira are rather rare in town) you can go buy a cheap one till you find better weapons later (you can get a cheap Scimitar +1 either at the Adventurer Mart in Waukeen's Promenade or from the guy at the top floor of Gaelan Bayle's house in the Slums).
    Another little "cheesy" tip regarding healing: you can get your hands on a Ring of Regeneration very early in the game by pickpocketing it from Ribald, owner of the Adventurer Mart. These rings are pretty rare, but give one of your characters a really decent HP regeneration and can be switched from one character to another at will, which can be very useful for saving some of your potions and spells especially in the early game. You'll need a pretty good pickpocketing skill for pulling that off (100+) but if your thief's not good with that skill (first he should focus on picking locks and disarming traps!) there's always "Potions of Master Thievery". These potions increase your pickpocketing (and lockpick) skill by 40 for a while AND they stack, so drink 3 of them and you got 120 in the skill and are good to go. There are a few people around who sell these potions, but there's also a rather obvious place in the Docks District where you can find several of them.
    Grond0
  • DGDKamiDGDKami Member Posts: 34
    Amazing advice guys thanks, ill be looking into this.
    jmerry wrote: »
    The basic 9 HP healing potions ... those are BG1 items. They're mostly obsolete in BG2. Instead, those 27-HP potions of extra healing are the staple. And when you get to ToB, it's 40-Hp potions of superior healing instead.

    Where can i buy the potions of extra healing consistently? The temple only sells the smaller ones, im still in chapter 2
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Some shops sell those potions. Roger the Fence (Temple District sewers) and Sister Garlena (Watcher's Keep exterior) have ten each. But mostly, you just find them on enemies and in containers. Everywhere.
    DGDKami
  • LelandGauntLelandGaunt Member Posts: 83
    Hmm, good question, never really actively looked for a dedicated vendor for healing potions, so not sure about that. Just checked the wiki and the only vendor for that mentioned who's available in the early game / in town seems to be Arledrian (the guy at the top floor of Gaelan Bayle's house in the Slums again), though even he only seems to have 2 potions of extra healing stacked which doesn't look too helpful. So maybe someone here knows a better vendor for those?
    But when it comes to buying them I wouldn't necessarily worry too much about it, they are really very common as loot all over the place, so you'll find lots and lots of them with time which is why I never even thought about buying them somewhere^^
    Aside from that, if you really feel you need more healing potions you might try out pickpocketing, if I remember correctly that sometimes has a decent chance for a potion here or there. If you take my advice from above with Ribald's awesome ring and the potions of master thievery, these potions' effect lasts for a whole 3 (ingame) hours, which is plenty of time to pick a lot of pockets. Might wanna focus on "noblemen/noblewomen" and the town guards, they have pretty good chances for the good stuff ;)
  • Allanon81Allanon81 Member Posts: 327
    edited April 2021
    D & D 2nd edition Monster Manual can give you some insights

    http://seads.org/TSR/monbk.htm
  • MrBaquanMrBaquan Member Posts: 42
    edited April 2021
    I always pickpocket Ribald's Ring of Regeneration ASAP. Constant healing as you walk around and healing to full on any non-instant travel.

    Also, some mods (SCS) buff the cure wounds spells and I'm a big fan of that because they really suck as they are.
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    Go pick up Aerie and buy her the Robe of Vecna from a lady in the adventurers mart.

    You now have cleric that can cast any healing spell extremely fast.. and she's got mage spells as well!

    Your very own invincible fast casting crowd control and heal bot.. can't go wrong on this one.
Sign In or Register to comment.