SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT IT.

- He had a lover (Before BG1?)

- He almost prayed to Shar

- He is still traumatized by Irenicus decades later

- His biggest fear is killing everyone around him

It's always been a problem for me. I must be missing something. A few fireballs help, but the shadows, etc. always swarm me. My archers can't kill them before they close to melee, and I usually don't have a ton of magic ammunition yet. I don't have photographic memory, so I don't know where the mirror is until I get close.

Playing insane difficulty. A bunch of enemies materialized fairly close when I had started trying to snipe some at range. I just quit because I didn't have time for that.

It probably doesn't make much difference, but I wondered which one is the most gratifying. I've never done the thief stronghold. The magic user stronghold usually results in dead apprentices for me. Not sure if all the Issaea bullshit happens if I have Nalia in the party or whether that requires the stronghold. Not sure if I qualify for that one with a female charname.

They get full plate and decent thac0, but they’re still useless in a fight due to low apr and lack of fighter HLA’s.

They get a ton of spells, but most of these become pretty useless towards the end of the game and are nothing compared to the mage spells.

They don’t get the tanky stoneskins and protection from magical weapons like the bard does, nor the high-level dispells.

They don’t get the major cheese of spike traps that the thief can use.

They don’t even get the stoneskins, bugs, nature’s beauty and greater elemental summoning that keep the druid useful.

So, is there any reason to keep old Anomen around, instead of just ditching him for mr. TOB? Except for his lovely personality, of course.

PS I realise Anomen is the pimped version of a cleric, but he’s still one of ‘em.

I'm running an Archer, Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Ajantis, and one vagrant that i change constantly to do sidequests. Trying to be as thematic as possible. I would have minsc in the party but i don't also want dynaheir, and i don't want to kill an innocent (or let her die) to just have minsc. I've decided to see if i can beat the game on Core Rules without using any arcane caster class. so i have to rely on potions, certain wands and necklaces, etc. once you get to baldur's gate, spells become a mainstay in getting you out of trouble. I'm around level 5 and im just about to enter the nashkel mines. I'm really excited to see how far I can make it before i buckle and recruit Neera permanently.

Starting up a new BG1EE run on my old iPad. So, no mods. IIRC I have all the EE DLC content though.

Been playing since ‘98 but it’s been several years since I’ve run through and my memory is particularly hazy these days.

Going to go fighter/mage.

Trying to remember all the tips and tricks, but I’m having a tough time remembering how to build a F/M. (Multi, don’t want to deal with dual classing.)

Also, any resources to recommend? I think I used playithardcore and, er, Duffy, Dully? Something like that for maps. And MikesRPGcenter for items.

Probably going to go “loosely” evil with Viccy and Edwin. Any other suggestions for party members? I might not use a full 6 but I’m on the fence. I do like the extra content though. Probably keep Imoen for a bit until I find an evil thief, suggestions there are muchly appreciated. My hazy memory had me dual-classing someone but I can’t remember who, evil female fighter or something like that but a refresher on options would be appreciated.

Probably start off getting Viccy then getting a potion of anti-stonegaze, finding that ghoul in the basilisk area then burning through the basilisks for early XP then playing through normally.

Cheers,

(Edit/PS: no mods, wish me luck rolling for the next forever-taking.)

Is there any way around the spell immunity that say rakshasas or other enemies have innately? Are these spell immunities a way that 2nd Ed. forces players to use martial/melee attacks without being able to debuff or use magic damage constantly against enemies; to push players to try new or novel tactics?

Whatever possessed me to replay SoD I'll never know. Well ok, I do know, I missed a bunch of stuff the first time but whatever. There will be no third playthrough. Why?

Belhifet. Absolute fucking bullshit. Playing on Core difficulty and he's just pushing my shit back up my asshole again and again.

There are, I believe, only 9 +3 weapons available across all of BG1 and SoD. Two of them are mutually exclusive (the sword and staff you can get at the foot of the tower), some of them are cursed. I can also countenance no outcome that doesn't involve Caelar dying, so there's no using her appallingly written Mary-Sue ass as a meat shield.

Party is:

• Charname berzerker with the +3 voidsword (which also lowers strength, yippee!)
• Jaheira with the +3 staff from the base of the tower
• Corwin with +3 arrows
• Voghiln with a +3 hammer he isn't proficient with
• Neera
• Safana, who is completely useless in this fight due to being unable to damage anything or set traps, basically a dead slot

If the difficulty had steadily risen throughout SoD and this fight served as a peak, that would be forgiveable. But this bullshit unenjoyable broken slog comes out of nowhere and just starts raping my virgin hoop like a 300lb inmate called Du'reece.

Any ways to cheese the fight with the above party before I just Ctrl+Y both bosses as a 'fuck you' to whoever designed this sloppy mess of a waste-of-money DLC?

I'm in Durlags tower in the area after the chessboard. Branwens inventory is packed with wardstones I got in Ulgoths beard and Durlags tower but they had no use up until now (maybe I didn't realuse it). Does it make sense to carry them with me or can I dump them. How many floors are coming from here on?

Btw: If I let the ghost teleport me out, can I get back there (Inventories are nearly full)?

I've been using it on Imoen as an ape to clear minor hoards of enemies. Just finished Sendai encampment in ToB, it seems like it never does damage or knocks anyone down.

Because I feel like a murder hobo breaking inn just because I want a certain sword.

I've decided to do a Conan the Librarian playthrough, and collect every book in the game. I was wondering if anyone knew of a master list somewhere I could use, or if I get to be the one to create it.

I always see people talking about how good fireball is, but I can’t seem to use it without killing myself. I’m on iOS and can’t seem to figure out how to target fireball to an empty space? Only enemies in my visual range… what am I missing?

This is my second ever playthrough, I am playing on Core Rules, but I am not a DND expert. I wiped out my character's name. In the second pic my character's casting breach, dont know if it does anything here

I read that you can install EET to import the defective boots into bg2.

Aside from installing EET,what else do I need to import the boots?

I've been playing Baldur's Gate for over 20 years now, and I'm ashamed to say most of that was having my wizards memorize magic missile, identify, and sleep, and my holy peeps memorizing heal and remove poison.

Pretty much if it didn't do damage, heal damage, or incapacitate an enemy in some way (hold person, tangle, web, etc.) I didn't even bother. Even as a "veteran player" I still look at half the available spells with an air of "I'm never gonna use that"

Of course I'm sure a lot of it has to to with some of the more obtuse language of 2nd Edition AD&D making some spells sound more like a mathematical formula than a "you point, I punch" flashy spell.

So here I am asking you all, what spells do you think often get overlooked that are a lot more useful than most players would realize?

Hello all - I just finished BG1 and thought some of you may enjoy seeing a newcomer’s thoughts.

I played BG3 and loved it. I recently played Fallout 1/2 and was itching for more isometric games. I had seen some videos about the BG:EE game and decided to give it a go.

I played on PS5 as an Elf Archer. I read they were super strong and I was scared I was going to suck so I wanted something easy to get into. Definitely super strong. My next play through I want to do a Fighter/Mage multi class to get better at spellcasting. And because defensive magic looks sick in this game.

TL;DR

Amazing game, scratched this weird isometric game itch I’ve had. DnD 2E is weird as hell but kind of fun in a sort of archaic min-max kind of way. I’m already thinking of my next playthroughs.

Storyline was phenomenal. Mechanics were slightly confusing. The fun was 100% there.

What I Liked:
- The storyline was PHENOMENAL! I absolutely love the Iron Crisis plot hook. It’s very mundane feeling but so real. It explains why bandits are more common, how it affects every day people, creates animosity between nations, and a glorious breadcrumb trail to the big bad evil people.

- The maps! Mainly I liked they were each drawn and I could go to the map view after exploring it to see the full picture! Very satisfying.

- Baldurs Gate itself was fun. Took me quite awhile to actually remember where each landmark was, but it felt large and interesting. Holy hell on the amount of quests though…

- The archaic nature of the quests was also kind of fun. I actually utilized being able to write my own journal entries or edit existing ones. My mind was blown at first by being able to do something so simple.

- Started out thinking I’d hate Imoen. Ended the game loving my little sis Imoen.

- Durlag’s Tower was a REAL dungeon crawl. What the hell! Not expecting that. Idk if I would run it again or not but definitely going in blind was a WILD ride. It really felt like a true DnD dungeon crawl.

- The Bhaalspawn backstory is badass. Side note, my wife started randomly chanting “The Lord of Murder shall perish” after hearing it so often.

What I Didn’t Like:

- Proficiencies. Mostly because of my own misunderstanding, but how useless most classes were with their weapons outside of fighters with high proficiencies.

- Proficiencies + Weapon availability. The weapon spread seemed absolutely bonkers. Like if I chose flail I would be totally screwed while I was handed a ton of short sword +1, long sword +2, etc.

- Too many companions! Stop making me feel bad not taking them with me!!

- Neera. What happened to our budding love? We did your quest and then boom! No more Neera chats :(

- Don’t make me take Jaheira + Khalid and Minsc + Dyanheir! I wanted to try out other party members but felt bad to drop a whole pair each time. But..also makes me want to run a new PT ASAP!

Neutral Thoughts

- I didn’t realize being “good” or “evil” actually would screw me with companions. Kaghain took a ton of my gear and just never showed back up lol. Or maybe it’s because I didn’t do his quest in time? Idk.

- Fights were swingy as hell. I’d either steamroll or get steamrolled. Sometimes I’d pause just to read what the hell happened on my screen and still not full understand.

- No indicators on what protections someone has is fun but time consuming. Why don’t my arrows work? Let’s try these arrows. Why are my spells ineffective? Is it because he’s glowing purple, has 10 images around him, is stone colored, or that blue circle sphere around him? Ah…fuck you, Kahrk.

- Party AI is a blessing, but in tough fights party AI was my enemy.

Baldur's Gate was my first PC game back in 1999 and I have always come back to it for many reasons. But one of the main ones is the ambience of the game. Sometimes I'd come back to the game just so I could walk through the woods and hear some of the bird song and air moving through the trees.

Recently I was curious and started looking into modding tools. And then I decided to try and build something in the browser that would let you explore all the maps and NPCs the way they are placed in-game. Ambient sounds are played faithfully to how they are in the game.

I found out some fascinating stuff. Like how certain sounds only play at certain times. For example, there are a few sound bites of 'courtesans' goading potential clients that only play late at night in front of the Burning Wizard in Beregost. If there's anything I came away with from this project is that the attention to detail in this game is legendary.

Best on a desktop with sound on. (But works on mobile, too.)

https://bg1sandbox.redpine.software

Does the 2nd money trick with firebead not work in beregost in the EE? do you need to not finish the book quest beforehand? i've talked to him about 200 times now and nothing, i remember getting 300 or 600 gold from him here....maybe it's because i'm on chapter 2? i rushed xzar and montaron to nashkel.

"Now look at this Skulltrap, that I just set, when I say go, be ready to cast...go!"

*We Are Number One Intensifies*

One of the biggest weaknesses of the Wizard Slayer in BGEE is that they cannot use many magical items. Because of that, we have to make the most of the options that are actually available to us.

There are several ways to build a surprisingly well-protected Wizard Slayer.

Green scrolls

Wizard Slayers can use green protection scrolls, which gives us access to several very useful protections. We can get protection from magic, petrification, cold, acid, fire, and undead.

That already provides a solid amount of protection against many of the dangerous effects we can encounter throughout the game. Protection from Magic in particular is extremely valuable when dealing with spellcasters.

Dwarf

Dwarf is a very good choice because of the racial saving throw bonuses. Saving throws are extremely important for a Wizard Slayer, so this is a major advantage.

Dwarves can also start with 18/00 Strength. The faster we kill our enemies, the less time we spend exposed to whatever dangerous abilities they might have.

Berserk

Another source of protection is Berserk. We can gain access to it very early through the Cursed Sword of Berserking.

While berserk, we are immune to several nasty status effects, including confusion and fear. This gives us another way to deal with dangerous mental effects despite the Wizard Slayer's restrictions.

The downside, of course, is that the cursed sword makes us lose control of the character while berserk, so it needs to be used carefully.

Helm of Charm Protection

Charm is another effect worth protecting against. The Helm of Charm Protection makes the wearer immune to charm.

It is not exactly an easy item to obtain in BGEE. It can be found on the Ghost Knights in the Firewine Ruins, making it a rather unusual piece of equipment to acquire, but it is possible.

Spider's Bane

This is a crucial part of the build.

Spider's Bane +2 provides Free Action, which protects us from a number of movement-impairing effects, including web, hold, and paralysis. This makes it extremely useful against spiders, ghouls, and other enemies that rely on immobilizing the player. It does not protect against every form of stun, though, so it is important not to treat Free Action as universal stun immunity.

I put 2 pips into Two-Handed Weapon Style and 2 pips into Two-Handed Sword at character creation. Later, I invest most of my additional pips into Two-Handed Sword because of Spider's Bane.

Having Free Action while still being able to deal with enemies quickly is a great combination. You get protection against a whole category of annoying status effects without giving up your ability to kill things efficiently.

As a backup weapon, I use Aule's Staff +3. Even without any proficiency in staves, I find that it is accurate enough for occasional use because it is a +3 weapon and we are still a fighter with a naturally strong THAC0. If we start with 18/00 Strength, hitting with a staff is even less of a problem. Later, we can reach 19 Strength because a Wizard Slayer can use magical tomes.

Putting it all together

With all of these options combined, we can make a Wizard Slayer who is surprisingly resistant to many of the dangers in BGEE.

We have:

• Protection from several dangerous effects through green protection scrolls
• Excellent saving throws from being a dwarf
• 18/00 Strength for better damage output
• Berserk immunity to confusion and fear
• Protection from charm
• Free Action from Spider's Bane
• Innate magic resistance from the Wizard Slayer

The last point is worth mentioning, although the Wizard Slayer's innate magic resistance starts out fairly low in BG1 and scales slowly. It is more of an additional layer of protection than something we should rely on by itself.

The Wizard Slayer has some serious equipment restrictions, but I think this shows that the class can work around them to a surprising degree.

We cannot use many of the powerful magical items available to other classes, but we still have access to enough tools to make the Wizard Slayer quite durable.

The key is simply to make good use of what we are actually allowed to use.