Skip to content

Dying way too much

Hello

This is my first time playing and I bought the game for the ipad. I am trying the game out, but am frustrated by the cycle I'd fight, die, restart, repeat. I find that, even with a party of six people, someone always dies in a fight and I must restart. I am not sure if I am playing wrong or if this happens a lot. Any suggestions would be accepted

Comments

  • ShadowTigerShadowTiger Member Posts: 60
    edited November 2013
    Are you restarting the game everytime someone dies? You should save frequently and reload if someone dies. If you don't like playing that way, you can resurrect a party member at a church if their portrait didn't disappear (happens if they take too much damage).

    Once you get used to the game it should become easier, but having your fighters in the front lines and giving them the best armor possible will help. Also if someone is almost dead, pause the game and have them run away. You are using the pause button right?
  • IllydthIllydth Member, Developer Posts: 1,641
    Lets call this some advice for game play. I don't know how experienced you are with D&D in general, so lets see if I can do some justice for some beginner's advice. This isn't especially iPad specific.

    Character Creation
    -----------------
    For a first time play through, unless you are experienced with spell casters, I would recommend playing one of the fighter classes: Fighter, Paladin or Ranger. I REALLY like the Ranger/Archer kit as it's UBER Powerful in this game and tends to hold up well in all circumstances.

    When creating a character your statistics are VERY important. Generally if a stat is listed as a prime stat for your class you would be good to have an 18 or better in it.

    Dexterity and Constitution are important for ALL character classes...prime stats or not. Dex = Armor Class (how easily you get hit) and Constitution = Hit Points. Regardless of what class you take try to max these two figures (16s - 18s). If you find yourself getting hit way to often at the beginning of the game and or dying too fast, you probably do not have bonuses coming from your dex or con. Create a starting character with maxed figures in these two stats and you'll see your survivability rates significantly increase.

    Do not rush character creation. Do not take the first roll presented to you Unless it's an awesome roll!). And use the "Store" button in character creation to keep playing and see if you get something better. Those of us who've played this game a lot will tend to spend upwards of 5 minutes or more in the roll screen of character creation getting exactly the stats we want. Remember that you can decrease a point in one stat to increase a point in another. Fine tune your stats. You don't need intelligence on a Warrior and you don't need wisdom on a mage. Charisma is by far the least harmful stat to decrease if you're short somewhere else...

    Game Play Tips
    -----------------
    Ranged weapons are KING in this game, ESPECIALLY the early part of the game. If you have all of your party members rushing the bad guys with swords in their hands, this is another good reason why you're dying a lot. AT MINIMUM in a 6 person party, two of them should have ranged weapons equipped mostly all the time...generally it's 3.

    Use the Pause button and set auto-pause conditions that make sense in your options settings. If you aren't pausing combat every few seconds to issue and re-issue orders to your party members, you're probably not playing tactically enough. Make sure you're keeping track of everything happening to all 6 of your party members.

    Focus Fire: Again, especially at the beginning of the game, focusing your party on a SINGLE target every time (instead of letting them choose their own targets randomly) will help you come out ahead. And don't forget, after you've focus fired and killed your opponent, pause the game, select your whole party and focus fire on the next bad guy.

    Fighters in the front of the party, "Squishy" characters in back: Anyone with high hitpoints and metal armor should be the first in to combat. Characters wearing leather, clothing and /or robes/nothing should not be the first into combat till you know what you're doing. Start off when you see a hostile creature on screen by pausing the game and moving your biggest baddest tank character (whoever's in splint or plate and carrying a shield) out in front of the rest of the party and into melee range of the bad guy. If you have no one like that (find one!) then your next best option is to attack first with your highest hitpoint and/or lowest armor class character.

    Kite Mobs: If you do find a mob unusually stuck to one of your squishier characters, don't just stand there and take the brunt of the damage. Pause the game, take active control of the character, and move him or her around. If the bad guy is really that interested in your squishy character, he'll start to give chase...allowing the rest of the party to beat on him while you're running around just in front of him out of range.

    Strong Creatures: Know which creatures you're going to encounter should be avoided. Generally, Bears are non-hostile till you get near them. Early in the game, a Bear will tear you to shreds. Avoid them if you can.

    At least one "Sword and Board" character: Every party needs a "tank"...that's the term for the guy with high hit points and really low armor class (remember lower is better) that you send first into battle all the time to soak up damage. The best way to create a tank is to find a melee character (paladins and fighters make EXCELLENT tanks) and give them a single handed weapon (such as a long sword or bastard sword) and a shield. EVERY party needs at least ONE party member that can equip the best metal armor there is, and who carries a one handed weapon and a shield.

    All "Squishy" characters with ranged weapons (proficient or not): Just like the tip about the sword and board character, another tip that will save your hide is to make sure EVERYONE has the ability to attack safely in all conditions. In other words, while your high hit point, low AC characters who are always in the thick of melee combat do not need it, EVERYONE else should be equipped with ranged weapons...and those should be their "default" weapons to go to unless you need something else (like a backstab). Do not allow your mages and thieves wander into melee range because they can't attack otherwise. There are plenty of situations in the game where combat occurs at range while the enemy is closing on you or where you are in control of a "chokepoint". Having ranged weapons on most to all of your characters means they can all still attack.

    Use the terrain: Think Tactically. Getting swarmed and surrounded? Find a place where enemies have only a single approach to you because of stationary objects such as bridges or tight corridors.

    * Go the "Expected" route. Don't advance too fast. - There is a time for exploration in the game and there's a time for thoroughness. My son ran into a problem where he got far enough ahead in the game that he couldn't progress without getting his butt kicked. We came to figure out that this was because he was leaving about 80% of all the zones he passed through unexplored and he was missing almost every piece of really good equipment. Don't try to progress the game too fast. Explore the ENTIRETY of new areas (clear as much of the "black" as you can)...every nook and cranny. You should have over half of the outdoor areas cleared before you ever reach the Naskiel Mines. Pretty much the entire west side of your map should be explored before heading there.

    * Mass Mind Affecting Spells are King: Sleep, Confusion, etc. all make battles that much more trivial. If you're having a problem with a battle try confusing or sleeping the opponents and see if that doesn't make it much easier.

    Final Tips
    ---------------------
    Party members dying generally means those party members were in the wrong place at the wrong time. A caster not paying attention and finding herself in the middle of a group of mobs. The straggler moving around the screen away fro the rest of the party when they run into trouble, etc.

    Losing a character every combat is NOT normal. Make sure you have your options properly set. There is one option (Options, Gameplay, Difficulty) which, for your first play through, maybe should be set lower.

    Hopefully some of this helps. Don't forget (as mentioned above) a dead character is not a lost character. You can revive them at any temple in the game. Too, you should always save your game prior to attempting a dangerous combat, and then load if it doesn't go your way.
    pekirtlunarDelvariandavemo
  • DelvarianDelvarian Member Posts: 1,232
    Also, don't be afraid to turn the difficulty to easy for your first run through of the game. It makes the game a lot more forgiving.
    Pibarodavemo
  • PibaroPibaro Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,989
    If you are new to BG it's easy to die. If you use iPad it's easier.
    I give you an advice.
    Use the autopause feature, it's always very useful, but in the iPad version is crucial.
    I suggest autopausing when:
    - enemy sight
    - trap detect
    - cast spell
    - weapon unusable
    - character injuried

    You have to play carefully, especially with iPad.
    davemo
Sign In or Register to comment.