Baldurs gate - how should I start.

[Dis]

I think he meant duelled her to a mage.

And I believe you have to wait until you are one level higher than the level in which you duelled your original class

[Jon Miller]

so I am going to need to wait until I am a level 6 mage?

that will be a long time

Jon Miller

[Jamski]

Yep, it will be.... unless you do ALL the side quests and everything, in which case it will be well before the end of the game.

-Jam

[Dis]

that's why I never liked duelling. Yeah everybody says to do it for BG2 characters. Namely Yoshimo to a fighter. But I lack the patience to go that long without theif skills.

[Traianvs]

And Yoshimo well..

Spoiler:

you will see him leave pretty soon after you have freed Imoen from Irenicus; after all the traitor is killed then
I mean you can't use him for a long time anyway!

[Kc7mxo]

May be silly, but everytime that I think of proficency with a bow, I think of Legolas from LOTR. He used his bow extremely effectively, and in close quarters, (at least in the movies ...in the book they don't seem to go into as great of detail about his effectiveness with the bow)

In the movie Legolas never ran outa arrows. . . .

Must have had a magic quiver or something.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Kc7mxo


In the movie Legolas never ran outa arrows. . . .

Must have had a magic quiver or something.

In the books he is shown gathering used arrows on the battlefield - i forget where.

So no magic quiver - the books are Tolkien cannon, NOT the movies.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


In the books he is shown gathering used arrows on the battlefield - i forget where.

So no magic quiver - the books are Tolkien cannon, NOT the movies.

Whic raises the question

in BG, I can take my enemies arrows off his dead body, but MY fired arrows disappear.

[lord of the mark]

Ive now got a party of 6 Me, Imoen, khalen, jaheira, Minsc, dynaheir - all level 3 except Imoen in 4 (still a thief) and Dynaheir is still a 2.

Made it to level 4 of the mines, which i then exited to the surface by mistake. So i will restart at my last save, back in level 3. (which will give me the opportunity to improve tactics taking on

Spoiler:

the spiders and ooze

thus saving magic arrows.

[centrifuge]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Ive now got a party of 6 Me, Imoen, khalen, jaheira, Minsc, dynaheir - all level 3 except Imoen in 4 (still a thief) and Dynaheir is still a 2.

That's the same group that I have in my new game and I think I'll stick with them to the end. I 'm a mage/thief. I plan to duel Imoen to mage after she gets enough open lock ability. My character, on the other hand, has been focusing on pickpocket so far. (I lifted a very nice item from Drizzt).

I know it's a bit cheesy, but if anyone is interested in Easter Eggs, check out this link.

http://www.pottsland.com/baldur/hiddenstuff.shtml

There are some nice hidden items in this game.

[Snotty]

I always got the ring on the second line of that site, its not something you are ever going to find on your own. Its a bit powerplaying, but its useful for making low level wizards more enjoyable.

[Dis]

I take the ring of protection and wizardry. A nice little bonus

[Jamski]

Make sure to export the ring to BG2, so you can give Edwin TWO of them AND his amulet (what, +3 spells per level do I hear you say?)

-Jam

[Traianvs]

hehe, I've found the ring without someone revealing its location to me... I can remember most other hiddenstuff on that page as well...

OF course, I searched every inch of all the BG1 maps so that's no surprise

[lord of the mark]

Finally finished with the mines - with a level 3 party the final battle was easy, as y'all said. Interesting plot advances - Tazok, hmmm, i guess he'll turn out to be important Have departed Nashkel, I hope for the last time. Dynaheir now has Identify spell, which is handy.


questions -
1. When is it best for Minsc to use his Berzerk ability?
2. Roleplaying vs strategy - ive heard there is a very good archer in the woods west of the Nashekel -Beregost road - might be worth replacing Khalid (can always get Bronwen as a cleric to replace Jaheira) BUT - I have no good roleplay reason to head in that direction - it doesnt make sense from a story point of view.
3. Web spell - Dyn got some ring that gives her an extra second level spell, but only such spell she has is cast web. This seems to stop party characters as well as baddies, and so is difficult to use. When would you use it?
4. Generally I have my tanks use long swords, and everyone else use range weapons. I keep a blunt weapon on each tank for use against skeletons. When do you like other melee weapons?

[Jon Miller]

get more second level spells

Jon Miller

[Traianvs]

yeah that's the trouble with area spells

like fireballs, they always toast both my enemies as my own party
you could prevent that by getting them fire protection, or a free movement spell/potion, but that's not handy as well

Web is very handy to use against quick melee opponents, while you throw projectiles and spells at them



don't use berzerk, you'll end up killing your own party, remember you can't control minsc anymore, so he's likely to be killed off while he wanders around.

what's the matter with visiting all the different locations? it's the intention that you visit them! There's no such thing as having a good roleplay reason. You're an adventurer => kick ass!

[Dis]

web can be used in conjunction with spells like fireballs or cloudkills- things like that.

Obviously you want to cast it as soon as you spot an enemy. Preferribly in between you and the enemy (time it so the enemy doesn't go through the area before the spell is cast). Then just hit them with spells or missile weapons.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
questions -
1. When is it best for Minsc to use his Berzerk ability?
2. Roleplaying vs strategy - ive heard there is a very good archer in the woods west of the Nashekel -Beregost road - might be worth replacing Khalid (can always get Bronwen as a cleric to replace Jaheira) BUT - I have no good roleplay reason to head in that direction - it doesnt make sense from a story point of view.
3. Web spell - Dyn got some ring that gives her an extra second level spell, but only such spell she has is cast web. This seems to stop party characters as well as baddies, and so is difficult to use. When would you use it?
4. Generally I have my tanks use long swords, and everyone else use range weapons. I keep a blunt weapon on each tank for use against skeletons. When do you like other melee weapons?

1. Agree with the advice of others: berzerk is much more a curse than a blessing. Avoid it.

2. You should explore every area; the roleplay motivation, if you need it, is that you have to get more experience before you get deeper into battle. That being said, I'm not sure which archer you're talking about, since there's none at the location you mention. If you mean Kivan, who's kind of close to there, he's well worth getting, and the area he's in is well worth visiting for other reasons, too.

3. Yeah, the trick with area spells like web and stinking cloud is that you have to stay out of range. For that reason, I always make sure that my tanks have a range weapon they can use. IIRC, Minsc is pretty handy with throwing axes, for example, and doesn't even have to put down his shield to use them.

4. The key is not any particular weapon, but your tank's weapon proficiency. With Minsc, that's a sword; with Kagain, it's an axe; and so on. Swords are the best melee weapons in the game, but Kivan with a sword and no proficiency points in "long sword" sucks eggs compared to Kivan with a halberd and his two proficiency points in "spear."

[Jon Miller]

I didn't think I could put a second proficiency point for none warriors

Jon Miller

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
get more second level spells

Jon Miller

Yup, - best place should be thalantir in the High Hedge, no?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
I didn't think I could put a second proficiency point for none warriors

Jon Miller

non-warriors will get additional proficiency points, just not as often as warriors.

[Jamski]

But no more than one in each weapon, he means.

-Jam

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly



2. You should explore every area; the roleplay motivation, if you need it, is that you have to get more experience before you get deeper into battle. That being said, I'm not sure which archer you're talking about, since there's none at the location you mention. If you mean Kivan, who's kind of close to there, he's well worth getting, and the area he's in is well worth visiting for other reasons, too.

well, my party is all level 3 now (except Imoen, who i dualed at 4, so she's now a level 1 mage - i figure ive mainly got surface combat for a while, no need for find traps - but big downer is having her hand in her bow for a sling - arrows being always in over supply, and bullets less so) My inclination is to go more or less directly to the bandits camp, though Id like to level up Imoen first. Thinking about heading to the high hedge, fulfilling some quests, and buying spells esp for Dynaheir. Khaled is pretty close to leveling up too.

I tried the area east of the temple, but ran into basilisks who killed PC. I could probably beat them with appropriate use of potions, but Id rather just try more appropriate enemies first.

Your thoughts on where best to go? And level needed to beat bandits camp?

[Jamski]

Buy protection from petrifiaction spell for Dynaheir. Cast on fighters. Kill basiliks. Get LOTS of EXP

-Jam

[Dis]

basilisks are nice xp, but they can be dicey at low levels, and still risky even at medium levels. Some good tactics- and some reloading , can help here. There is also a dude you can pick up temporarily who is immune to the basilisks. I think I had fireball at this point. I used a lot of spells to bring them down.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


well, my party is all level 3 now (except Imoen, who i dualed at 4, so she's now a level 1 mage - i figure ive mainly got surface combat for a while, no need for find traps - but big downer is having her hand in her bow for a sling - arrows being always in over supply, and bullets less so) My inclination is to go more or less directly to the bandits camp, though Id like to level up Imoen first. Thinking about heading to the high hedge, fulfilling some quests, and buying spells esp for Dynaheir. Khaled is pretty close to leveling up too.

I tried the area east of the temple, but ran into basilisks who killed PC. I could probably beat them with appropriate use of potions, but Id rather just try more appropriate enemies first.

Your thoughts on where best to go? And level needed to beat bandits camp?

First of all, why isn't Immy using her bow anymore?

Second, I thing the basilisks will always require a potion or spell solution; a more experienced party will finish them off more quickly, but the basic strategy will be the same.

Now, as to the big question, have you done all the quests around Beregost? Have you found Basillus, for example, or fought the half-ogres who ticked off the paladin staying at the Jolly Juggler? Those quests are well worth doing before you go to the bandit camp, both for the expreience and for the loot (there are lots of goodies to buy in Beregost that you probably don't have yet, like stealth armor, a composit bow +1, and a short bow +1). And I think wanting more experience and better equipment is still consistent with roleplay.

My tendency after the mines is to work my way back up to Beregost slowly. Think of the map as a grid that's 5 squares across. This is obviously a wholly personal preference, but by the time I get back to Beregost, I like to have explored at least:

_ H B T _
_ X X X _
_ X X X _
_ X N C _
G X X M X

X = areas I've explored
_ = unexplored areas
H = Highhedge
B = Beregost
T = Temple of Beregost
N = Nashkel
C = Nashkel carnival
G = Gnoll Fortress
M = Nashkel mines

But that's just me.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly


First of all, why isn't Immy using her bow anymore?

Geez, did I make a mistake? I think the game told me that she COULDN'T, which i THOUGHT was because shes now a mage, and doesnt yet have her thief abilities back, and as a mage cant use a bow - can a mage use a bow? Both Imoen and Dynaheir would be that much more valuable in battle that way, with magic arrows generally more widespread than magic bullets, etc.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly

Second, I thing the basilisks will always require a potion or spell solution; a more experienced party will finish them off more quickly, but the basic strategy will be the same.

Yup, I went to Thalantyr and bought the spell.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly



Now, as to the big question, have you done all the quests around Beregost? Have you found Basillus, for example, or fought the half-ogres who ticked off the paladin staying at the Jolly Juggler? Those quests are well worth doing before you go to the bandit camp, both for the expreience and for the loot (there are lots of goodies to buy in Beregost that you probably don't have yet, like stealth armor, a composit bow +1, and a short bow +1). And I think wanting more experience and better equipment is still consistent with roleplay.

Well, i must say it took me so long to do the mines, both in game time and real time, Im kind of anxious to move the plot along. I guess two or three side quests wont be too much though. I'll think about it.