I've never actually finished this game...

Remove all ads!

It's true, and I'm ashamed to say it. I have the old game in a cardboard book-shaped disc container (the original deal, I would assume) from many years ago. I've played the game a lot, up to a certain point, but then something always came up to interfere with my life. By the time I got back to where I could play the game without aggravation, I had forgotten what the hell I was doing... But, I have finished Shadows of Amn more than a few times, and Throne of Bhaal, as well. I don't think there's anything bad about going back to the first Baldur's Gate, despite knowing how everything will turn out. The way I see it, it is much like seeing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and then seeing the Hobbit years later, heh, heh...

So, for whatever reason, I got the sudden urge to play the game again. This happens every 6-9 months, it seems. I'll finish the game, let some time pass to forget about it, and then go back. There's not many games I can do this with, so that just shows how great this game is. But this time, I started with Baldur's Gate 1. I am determined, once and for all, to complete this game. And strangely enough, I come in time to find out that the game is being redone, or so I understand. Now I wonder if all those crazy articles I read about "unity consciousness" could be true...

Anyway, I'm just saying hello to all of you. Here's one more person who loves this series, and even though I've finished BG2 a number of times, I still have only played through with the Monk, Swashbuckler, Mage, Inquisitor, and Sorcerer, the latter being my favorite. I still haven't done much of what the rest of you have done, I bet (no Kensai/Mage yet). And since I have never finished BG1, I rolled a human fighter with pretty good stats, and now I'm just about to head for Nashkel Mines. I want to see what happens when I take Xzar and Montaron with me, ha, ha, ha!

 

Hello, Loofah, glad to see someone who's into the games - a few Sorcereans playing the games put updates when they're determined to get through the game or want advice on certain areas, I'd definitely be interested in seeing how you progress through the game.

Sometimes playing the first game after the sequel can give interesting "aha" moments about the different nuances that weren't highlighted afterwards

 

Well to be honest, I'm getting the holy living crap kicked out of me, ha, ha! I just got out of Nashkel Mines. That fight with Mulahey took me a while. I had to gather in the big cave room, then send one NPC to lure him out of his throne room, just enough that he could run back in there while we picked off the kolbolds and skeletons. Then we all went and finished him off, except he summoned them all again. Then, after I managed to get out of there, I ran into some crazy wench and her henchmen (I forget her name, but she demanded to know my name, and warned me not to lie). She and her cronies completely wiped my group out. I reloaded and avoided to explore that map. When I got back to Nashkel, that Nimbul fellow killed me several times. Mirror Image, Horror, Magic Missile, Magic Missile, Magic Missile, death. Bleh... I am not having too much fun right now. I rolled a fighter, which is supposed to be the easiest of them all, and I'm still having a rough time of it. BG2 was nowhere near this difficult.

 

I agree that running into that party right after the mines was a bit unfair. It's a tough fight, and you probably haven't rested and recovered from the fight with Mulahey yet.

There are several frustrating points like that in the game, such as the vampiric wolves by the Beregost Temple, which you often will run into before you acquire magic weapons to deal with them.
About the only one I don't blame the developers for are the normal wolves outside Candlekeep, as they are there to drive home the point of how much trouble the PC is in.

Once you get to 5th level or so things will get easier, but until then you need to remember that you are a budding young adventurer, just starting his Heroic Journey and growing into the role. You are not that powerful yet.

 

I pretty much agree with what Slick said. Personally what I did was send one party member to explore the map so that way if he/she found something the party couldn't handle then the entire party wouldn't die. I usually haste that one character to speed it up since the maps are a bit large. If he does find something the party can't handle then he just runs back to the party and we avoid that area for a bit. Also make sure to have a thief detect traps in any dungeons/caves you go into. Especially Durlags later on. That place is rough when it comes to traps. BG2 is easier because you start at a higher level so you can handle things much better. BG1 is different because from lvls 1-4 ish your party/main character is very easy to kill. So really it just comes down to avoiding things until you can take them on. Try playing it with a mage as your main character, that 4 hp they start with is just lovely in the early areas.

 

The first few times I palyed BG1 I always had my divine casters memorize Detect Evil. Whenever I entered a new area, I would cast it and get a rough understanding of what was going to kill me if I trudged around recklessly. While (sadly) not all nasties are evil, a majority of them are.

I remember the fight after Mulahey, I used a thief to scout for the woman and her group after they registered as evil. Before the battle began they were already webbed/entangled. Nimbul took a while for me to kill too, but remember that you can use bard songs to remove/protect the party from fear (assuming you have one). Spellcasters also need to see their targets to cast spells at them, I would sometimes use this to my advantage by having a mage's target run around building corners, forcing the mage to try and follow him to get a clear shot while everyone else kept attacking the mage. Then I would duck into/out of a building to disrupt the mage's spell should he/she get the chance to start casting it.

 

I am epic fail at this game

I think I am going to start over. I just don't even know what class to play, now. I think there was a big lack of magic in my party. I had myself (fighter), Khalid and Jaheira, Imoen, Garrick and Xan. I think the lack of a cleric hurt me, but I'm probably wrong.

There are a few quirks in this game that aren't present in BG2. One of them is that even neutral party members will leave forever if you kick them out when your reputation is too high. Such as Garrick and Branwen. So whoever I pick up, I have to worry about changing them out for someone else. Xzar and Montaron left forever when I kicked them out, because my reputation got to 13. When it was 11, they happily stayed put where I left them. But of course, this is the least of my worries in this game!

Maybe I will try a mage, next. Or a cleric. Or a multi-class. I don't know. Any recommendations? Cleric/Mage, perhaps?

 

What difficulty setting are you playing on? I usually stick to the easier or core options myself.

As for class, clerics are quite good to start with - they have access to spells, can wear armour whilst casting and can hold their own in a battle as well.

I have minimal experience with multi/dual classes to be honest. Someone else can probably chime in, I've heard the Ranger/Cleric is a bit dirty though

Make sure your game has the latest patch if you're using original disks too, won't make it easier but will ensure bugs are squished before you encounter them.

Starting reputation is based on what alignment you start the game with, if it's too high for you at first consider playing a neutral character and avoid donating to temples. Saying that the Bhaalspawn Abilities you get are based on your reputation. So you might get the odd dream not going the way it did in the previous run through.

Why are you kicking party members out, at the risk of sounding dumb? Was it to replace them with other characters, getting fed up of them or them leaving you?

If you want to go a particular alignment/reputation check out this list so you can pick out which ones will suit your particular game, Ajantis for example is just North of the Friendly Arm Inn and you can often avoid being Ankhegged while getting him. Minsc is found in Nashkel - there's a bit of a sneaky way round him getting annoyed about rescuing Dynaheir by kicking him out of the party then re-recruiting him straight afterwards. Dynaheir is pretty useful in a good party though. Kivan in High Hedge could possibly be recruited early as well, though there are a lot of skellies and the occasional Gnoll knocking about on the map you'll need to keep your eyes peeled or an autopause function (Which I think BG had the option of doing for on seeing a hostile creature)

 

I have the original discs from back in the day, but I ordered the 4-in-1 box set from amazon.com a while back. It has both BG1 and B2, including the expansions. They come pre-patched and fully updated, I think. I didn't fiddle with the difficulty setting. It's right in the middle. I dumped Xzar and Montaron because they're both evil, and I play a good character almost always. Ironically it seems that the best NPCs worth taking are evil: Viconia, Edwin, etc. It's like a cruel prank or something.

My original plan was to make a fighter and dual him to a mage in BG2 at level 9, but I think I like the sorcerer so much in BG2 now, that I can't fathom playing through as anything else anymore. So all I really want to do is make it through BG1 once. I've already started over a 2nd time, but I deleted my saves out of frustration. :-/ One thing that I find annoying is, if you want Dynaheir, you have to take Minsc, and I don't really need him because I was filling that role. So I picked up Xan instead, even though he can't cast evocation spells (but Dynaheir can't cast enchantment spells like Sleep, so that's just as bad in my opinion). I originally wanted to take the "canon" group: Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira... but that leaves no room for a cleric. So I guess I will have to be one, if I'm going to do that. I remember playing BG1 years ago, and took Branwen. But she complained all the time about my reputation, and when I switched her out for someone, she told me off and left forever. You ask me why I kicked people out... it is to do side-quests for other NPCs, like Kagain. But, as it turns out, Kagain's side-quest is merely walking north and getting the message, "I'm tired of looking for the damned caravan, blah blah blah". Rather anti-climactic, if you ask me.

A cleric might be fun. In BG2 I've only ever finished with a mage, monk, swashbuckler, inquisitor, and sorcerer. Cleric spells start off good in BG2, but really don't impress me later on. Arcane spells really do it for me, and I *would* roll a mage in BG1, but I have a feeling it will suck. After all, I failed with a freakin' fighter. I think my problem was having a lousy party. Or maybe I am too spoiled by BG2 and starting off at level 7-8. But I'm open to anything. I'm taking suggestions...

 

NPCs tend to leave forever when you kick them outdoors, whatever my reputation I just dumped whomever NPCs I didn't need in the Beregost/Nashkel/Friendly Arm inns and, if I felt like it, returned for them later. They were always there whenever I decided to come back for them. Jaheira and Khalid have a tendency to disappear for a while after you leave them at any of the inns, reappearing after you finish the Nashkel Mines quest.

Clerics are plenty useful early on in BG2. They can wear heavy armor and shields, they have nice offense spells, they can heal. Your old party was OK,at some point your character gets two innate healing spells which should have been enough combined with Jaheira's. BG1 is less about healing during battle especially early on in the game, your health pools probably won't be high enough for the cleric or druid to reach you and finish the spell in time.

Cleric/Mage is a solid choice, any class is really. There are so many BG1 NPCs you shouldn't have any problem forming the best party for your PC.

Some advice for the semi-new BG gamer (you might have missed some of these):
-Use ranged weapons. While it might seem unfair that you start at level 1 with only something like 6-10 HP, remember that a lot of your enemies are in the same boat. 1 round of missiles from 6 different people ought to be enough to take down 1 hostile. Warriors should be using composite bows, bards long bows, thieves short bows - all bows attack twice per round as long as you are proficient with them. Have everyone else use slings or great crossbows. Darts/throwing knives/throwing axes get used up too fast, I wouldn't recommend these unless you play Tutu.
-You might want to start with a party where a) most people can wear heavy armor, or b) most people are competent archers. They will give you the easiest time through the game with little micromanagement.
-Give your mage useful spells like Sleep by visiting High Hedge, located west of Beregost, as soon as you can. As 8people mentioned, there's also a powerful joinable NPC there. Be sure to get essentials like Invisibility, Strength (Xan), Sleep.
-Finish Minsc's quest as early as you can, the Gauntlets of Dexterity are extremely useful for improving your melee warriors' AC.
-Remember that the main quest gives you the best rewards. Don't get too carried away with sidequests/exploring.
-South of the Friendly Arms Inn you'll find an ogre with the Girdle of Piercing. Give it to any of your frontliners - I wouldn't return it to its owner until much later (say up until you gain access to Baldur's Gate).
-There's a ring in the hollow of a tree found somewhere south of the Friendly Arm Inn that will make life so much as easier for your party wizard.
-There's some armor found near a small tree west of a plowed field southwest of Nashkel that should significantly improve the AC of any of your warriors.
-You can pickpocket a bow off one of the ghosts of Firewine Ruins that would be great in the hands of a bard or archers like Kivan/Coran.
-In the Nashkel Circus area, one of the merchants is selling the Necklase of Missiles for a mere ~6k, depending on your reptutation/charisma. It has limited charges of fireball.
-Don't forget that bards and rogues can pickpocket in this game. They can also steal, though you'd probably want to use a Potion of Mastery Thievery or two or save your game before trying it. One of my favorite early game targets is the merchant in Nashkel, who sells a +1 Tower Shield.

 

Speaking of pickpocketing, don't forget to pick pocket Algernon in Bergost, as he has the infamous Algernon's Cloak. It gives you virtually unlimited usage of Charm Monster spells.

Also, getting a Ring of Animal Friendship is a worthwhile investment early in the game as it really helps in the outdoor areas. You can charm bears and wolves to use as canon fodder, and unlike in BG2 get virtually unlimited charges. You can also charm squirrels and rabbits, although they are less useful as they can't attack (I think they technically can for a THAC0 of 20+ and 1d1 damage, meaning the attacks are useless) and will die almost immediately, but it still takes heat off your party members.

 

I've been reading about the ranger/cleric and how good it's supposed to be. But I don't use TuTu, or any mods at all, for that matter. Just vanilla. I would probably only mess up the game trying to install one, the way my luck is. And since this is my first full run through BG1, I would rather do it vanilla. I am thinking that having an Inquisitor at level 1 would make the game much easier. And being able to dual-wield? Maybe a bit unfair :-P But if the ranger/cleric still works in vanilla BG1, that could be the class for me.

I'm still trying to decide. :-/ I'm a very indecisive human being. A mage would be tempting, but a multi-class could be interesting as well. Heck, even a bard could be. But with my luck so far, the game may just get harder with that, not easier. And then I will want to punch my monitor... and with my luck, I will get electrocuted and die. Not fun.

 

To make life easier in BG, make sure to have at least one arcane magic user in your party. Not for the extra damage output from their own spells (which will be paltry until at least half way through the game), but for the ability to use wands. Wands of sleep are great in the early going, to be replaced later on with wands of paralization. Knocking out a few or one especially strong enemy makes life a lot easier.

Aside from these wands, the wand of monster summoning is great to help you out too. In BG2, this wand is good for a little cannon fodder, but in BG1 these guys will help you out enormously. Add to that the fact that the monster summon limitation doesn't apply to the wand of monster summoning, so you could technically summon several dozen of these guys to create a solid wall of bodies between any enemy and you.

---------- Added 0 hours, 18 minutes and 20 seconds later... ----------

I don't know if R/C works in vanilla BG, as I've only played Tutu, but if it does, you won't regret choosing it. I solo'd one through Tutu and he made it quite easily, actually. Just remember to use you cleric spells from time to time and deck him out in the best armor and shield you can find. Many enemies could only hit me on a 18+ roll due to my very low AC. And since tanks in BG have to rely on not getting hit because they have rather low hitpoints in general, this works like a charm. As an added advantage, once your AC is low enough, you can actually start using melee weapons instead of the sling.

Tip: If you go with an R/C, give him points in warhammer first. There's a guy to the south of High Hedge that carries a +2 warhammer that will work for you just splendidly.

 

Ranger cleric works fine and just how you think it will (druid spells for the win).

Just note that you do not have to have minsc and dyanheir (ditto for any pair). Just have the offending character walk ahead of the party naked and allow him to get slaughtered or kill them yourself. Then you can dump the body and never worry about it again. Granted this is best for people that don't mind doing that sort of thing.

 

LOL @ dumping corpses. I walked up and slaughtered Xzar and Montaron before they got a chance to say anything. I didn't save it, though. I probably don't have the heart to do that, but it is annoying that BioWare made it like this.

I rolled a pretty awesome half-elf cleric/ranger with str: 18/78 dex: 18 con: 17 int: 9 wis: 18 cha: 17. I put ** in blunt weapons and missile weapons, and I didn't know what to choose for racial enemy. I chose spiders, since they are my real-life racial enemy. I noticed right away that I could cast entangle, so I knew it worked. I think this character could make a pretty good tank.

Now the question is... who do I take with me?? I want to get them ASAP so they level up with me from the get-go. I hate it when I pick up an NPC late and they lag behind. In BG2 I know exactly who I want and I gun straight for them, but in this game, it's different.

 

My favorite NPC is Kivan and you get him early on. He's one of the best Archers (together with Coran and Khalid <-- yes, it's true, he has solid DEX and can get 3*** in Bows), give him a Composite Bow early and you're almost set with him alone.

When not being Druid myself I usually use Jaheira (Tank/Healer), Khalid (Archer), Kivan (Archer), Imoen (Thief or dualled to Mage).
Later NPC'S I like are Coran (Archer and Thief, excellent if Imoen hasn't her Thief abilities back yet) and Yeslick (Tank/Healer).

My next Playthrough I want to try out Faldorn, but with a replacement portrait since her original sucks ^^.

 

Faldorn's portrait reminds me of Xena: Warrior Princess, trying to do an impression of Catwoman.

So you don't like to take any sort of mage NPC at all?
I've never taken most NPCs. Off the top off my head, outside of the canon NPCs, I only remember taking Garrick, Xan, Kagain, and Branwen. And that's in all the years I've owned the game. The last time I played BG1, it must have been over 8 years ago. I never finished it. I came back a second time and started over (if I stay away from a game for too long, I forget what the hell I was even doing, so I must start over). I think I got to some mines and flooded them, which broke the game and I could not progress any further (this made me quit forever out of frustration). Now that I'm playing BG1 again, I must say that I do not remember much of this game, at all. It's almost like a brand new game that I've never played, except that I do remember a chicken that talks, somewhere. I sort of wish I could remember, because I must have been better at the game then.

I know I will take myself, Imoen, Khalid and Jaheira. That leaves 2 open spots. Maybe I will give this Kivan a try. I've read that he is west of Friendly Arm... but you can never kick him out of the party or he leaves forever.

 

When you put it that way, you might as well use a Bard. Eldoth or (shudder) Garrick can both use wands, aren't as squishy as any true mages, and have those nifty battlesongs to boot. In BG1 I believe it counts as a free luck spell, as opposed to a free protection from fear spell in BG2/tutu (doesn't remove fear, just prevents you from being scared).


BTW, it's been a while, where do you get a wand of sleep early in the game? I don't usually get one until after reaching Baldur's Gate, by which time it's usefulness is limited.

Still, sleep and color spray are REALLY useful for most of Baldur's Gate 1. Especially Sleep. It's probably one of the most useful spells in the game in the beginning, although it's useless against the enemies you really want to use it on. Still, when you get swarmed by a horde of random encounters all at once, a single Sleep can knock out most of them and give you some breathing room.

 

Either I play one myself and/or I use Imoen who can be an impressive dualed Conjurer who can use the Shortbow on top.
You can dual her right after level 2 or after level 6 and still become Mage level 9. In the latter case you need a backup Thief though for the longer period
of her regaining Thief abilities.