Exactly as the subject states, which area do you dislike the most? I am going back and replaying this game, and I have now come to the conclusion that I hate the Firewine ruins the most, by a long stretch. My reasons:

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• The passages are too small: The pathfinding in this game is archaic as it is, but with the passages being so small it causes your party to wander off in all directions, often by themselves into an ambush. To stop this, you literally have to micromanage your party's every movement. This gets tedious after about 20 seconds, and unbearable after about an hour.</font>
• Unlimited and too rapid respawning: The kobold commandos respawn way too fast in the dungeon, often respawning right in plain sight of your party. It just makes no sense whatsoever. Add to the fact that every single one of them is using enchanted fire arrows and it is just ridiculous. I guess the ogre mage can mass produce a million fire arrows a second, and the mage has cloning tanks hidden in the walls that are producing kobold commandos at about one a second.</font>

Even the GameBanshee walkthrough states to go in via the secret door by the ogre mage, kill him and the wizard, loot them, and just leave. They state that it is just too much of a pain in the butt to go get the armor and give it to the spirits, due to the constant kobold commandos. And after spending this afternoon practically throwing my computer across the room in disgust, I agree with them. I would rather do Durlag's Tower at 1st level than go through that garbage again.

Anyway, enough of my rant. What area/areas did you just dislike?

I don't like the Basilisk area: it's a great place for XP, but it's boring since there are no quests here.

I also don't like the Nashkel Mines: I've done them many many times and it feels like a waste of time.

Firewine isn't actually as bad as all that--sure, if you try to take your entire party, things go all to hell, but when you stop to think that you really only need two of them--your Tank and your Thief--it's simple Kobold-whackin' and Arow-collectin' from then on.

MY least favorite part of the game is the first approach to the Friendly Arm, and that duel with Tarnesh the Overpowered. His spell selection, hitpoints, loot, placement in the game, and general demeanor peg him as a Level 3 Mage....so why in hell does he fire *FIVE* Magic Missiles at once? He'd have to be Level 9 to pull that off. (Compare this with Thalantyr, who himself only looks to be about Level 7.) And shooting 5 Magic Missiles per shot means that, if Tarnesh gets a spell (ANY spell) off, you lose a party member. And, at that stage, you can't summon a decoy, and you can't cast Mirror Image (thanks for being a Necromancer, Xzar). Oh, the joy. Follow the plot, get killed.

Hehe... I will have to nod in bitter agreement with SixOfSpades. That part of the game is all about luck, not skill. Trying to disrupt him using physical attacks is laughable too, because at that stage, your THAC0 is meaningless.

I didn't find Tarnesh too difficult actually... My 19 Dexterity, longbow armed Elfwith 2 stars in Bows took him just fine... Least favourite area? Has to be the very first hour or so in Candlekeep, just soooo boring -> Go there and feetch me that for 3 gold... HURRAH!

I like all areas ;)

Actually, Tarnesh is my number 2 worst area. I agree he is way overpowered at that point in the game. Maybe switch the dwarf bounty hunter in Beregost with Tarnesh, that way you fight a tough but non-spellcasting opponent right outside the Friendly Arm Inn, then when you have a chance to add more party members you can run into Tarnesh in Beregost.

Actually, I did Firewine the same way you stated (took Minsc and Imoen alone to kill kobolds). However, it is very hard to find a place to stash the rest of the party where they will not run into kobold commandos on their own (I kept fighting on two separate parts of the map, because the damn commandos would respawn wherever I put the rest of the party). Also, every time my two "roving" party members got near the center room, they would get hit by nearly a dozen kobold commandos, then have other ones respawn in plain sight in the hallway they just crossed. It wouldn't bother me if it just made sense. Tarnesh at least makes sense, as he should be competent in being hired as an assassin. Firewine makes no sense whatsoever with kobolds appearing out of nowhere pretty much continuously and all of them having enchanted arrows.

It would have to be one of those (thankfully quite few) no-name wilderness areas that just contain a whole lot of nothing. The rocky area east of the Nashkel Mine (not the one with the 2nd exit from the mine) is pretty dull for instance.

The Firewine ruins aren't too bad though I think. Just as long as you avoid any pointless wandering around and backtrack as little as possible. Just do it as straight and quickly as possible.

1. Get armor
2. Deliver armor
3. Kill Ogre mage and get out

I usually park my "weaker half" in the large room near the Firewine Bridge entrance and leave a bunch of summoned critters, like the skeletons my recent Cleric/Ranger PC had access to, with them to protect them from stray Kobolds. Meanwhile, my fighters carry out step 1 and 2. I then take my entire party to the Ogre mage and the exit.

Having Haste helps alot here, actually it helps alot elsewhere too. I think getting that spell is the turning point in BG1 in fact. You transform from a sluggish bunch of powerless weaklings to an unstoppable whirlwind of insane Tazmanian devils. Haste seems to double the speed of the AI and greatly improve the microscale path-finding as well, so actually getting your entire party around in the narrow corridors of the ruins without getting them clustered up in some corner is much easier, and quicker of course.

I think the Firewine ruins are also No 1 on my list of least favorite areas. It takes a lot of time and gives so little XP.

I am the kind of player, that likes to clean up areas, so you could imagine how long it took to 'complete' the area first time I visited it. Finally I found out that the kobolds were respawning all the time and 'gave up'. And I mean gave up, because that was that feeling I had after I left the ruins :( .

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Insane

I felt the same way upon leaving. You can never truly clean the place out. At that rate, within 5 years, kobolds would completely overrun the Sword Coast.

SPOILERS
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Actually, I wonder if you install either BGTutu or BGT if it would let you CLUA a certain shield from BG2 into your inventory. Turnabout may not be fair play in this instance, but it would be satisfying.

As soon as I read the name of the thread the word "FIREWINE" rang out in my head... Kobolds should never be able to cause so much pain. Though beneath Candlekeep comes as an easy second... until I figured out how to throw fireballs directly at.. erm.. ::doesn't feel like throwing out a spoiler:: The people who talk to you near the end.

That's so true. However, I was forced to take down Tarnesh my first time through the game. I remember at least 10 reloads, mostly because I had a big problem with Xzar: I couldn't figure out how to change the spells he had memorized. So I was stuck with using Larloch's Minor Drain on Tarnesh, making it very un-useful.

You know, I never had a real problem with Tarnesh.. He killed me maybe twice out of the ten or eleven times I played the game. I had Immy equip a bow, purchased from Winthrop's, and fire away... and I would cast Magic Missile or another spell and disrupt him. If I wasn't a spellcaster, I'd fill him up with arrows, too. Am I alone in never having had a problem with him?

The bad part about him is not his mirror image. It is his horror spell (rendering your party helpless, considering how bad your saving throws are at that point) and his overpowered magic missile. Maybe you were lucky in getting a hit in with an arrow to disrupt his casting, but otherwise he will tear you up. That's how I beat him this last time; I shot like crazy with bow, and prayed to whichever deity/entity was watching that I managed to disrupt his spells.

Aaaaaaaaaack! I totally misfired there. I thought Tarnesh was someone else.. It's been a looooong time since I played that game... Do forgive me ::bows::

Actually I have defeated Tarnesh 4 times (TotSC Paladin + Imo (lvl 1 both), TotSC Mage/Fighter/Thief + Imo (lvl 1 both), TotSC Multi 6 different chars, all lvl 1 and finally DSotSC Mage/Fighter/Thief + Imo (lvl 1 both)). Only one time I had to reload, because he killed one of my party members.

I mostly let Imo fire away with a bow, while my fighter hacks away with a sword - no problem until now. Guess I have been lucky [img]smile.gif[/img]

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Insane

I never really liked Ulcaster. Dont know why but that whole area just sorta didnt agree with me.

Not to mention how helpful the guards are... :D

I really don't enjoy Firewine, and I am starting to get very bored with the Nashkel Mine.... I do like the gnoll stronghold though... it's such a fun chunk-fest!!! :D

Cheers,

Moiraine Sedai

i hear you on the firewine dungeon spawning but in many respects it feels more realistic - the idea that you can enter some populous monsters' home and pick them off small groups at a time isn't the best - unless you were very sneaky your first encounter would result in alarms and massed charges and or barricades and ambushes - the firewine spawning is the closest there is to this i reckon (BG2 has a few ambushes and spawns-in-sight that really add)

back on topic i think my least favourite area in one respect is baldur's gate itself - and that is in the travelling between map ares, especially that triangular bit between the walls near the gate and the pub that has exits in different maps (or similar) - arrrghhh!!!

I must also concede to the fire-laden insanities cauased by respawning kobolds in the Firewine dungeon - I have treated Kobold Commandoes with some respect ever since. I recall splitting my party into about three groups last time, and summoning alot of skeletons for protection. Then its a case of slow progression with your thief and main fighters, praying to Tymora that you won't miss a trap or have to reload your quicksave and in so doing, gate in some more yipping fire-wielding kangaroo-dogs. :D

Sometimes on a par for difficulty but not quite since your party is just that much tougher by the time you get to it, are the thief warrens. I always dread one particular fight with about two or three of those skeleton warriors, who screech "dieeeee!" and are armed to the teeth with cold/fire arrows. Traps also abound to prevent you rushing them.

Finally, although I only did it the one time, a section in Durlag's basement level 2 or 3 deserves a special mention for annoyance. Its in a sewerage/slime area south of the fireball trap room. There lurks some uber-ghouls who aren't all that nasty despite their frequency. However, there are also several dire specimens of uber-invisible stalkers of a particular name (riki-something....anyone? They're not in my monsters manual) I reloaded an awful alot of times here, falling victims to their completely invisible backstabs. No doubt it would have been that much more easier if I'd had anti-invisibility spells. I killed one or two of them with freakish critical hits, but they killed me more and eventually I simply settled upon a complete avoidance of the area. [img]smile.gif[/img]

P.S: Nice to see you back Moiraine!

Oh, I forgot all about that area! I ended up avoiding that area, too. They completely took apart my party every time I went in that area. That area would be relatively easy if you were playing BGT or BGTutu (since you would be playing with the BG2 engine, which has anti-invisibility spells). But in regular BG1, that area was just way too dangerous.

Ashirukurus - or something like that. Sorry, I'm at work at the moment and can't check the spelling.

Tarnesh is a pain, but for me the whole Ice Island is like "Tarnesh with friends". Aaarrggghhh!

Yes, but if you wait on doing the ToSC areas until you are higher level, that island is tough but still doable. With Tarnesh, if you are following the plot, you are way too low level compared to the guy you are facing. This is especially true if you are playing the game for the first time, as this is the first spellcasting opponent you face if you go straight to the Friendly Arm Inn.

::runs fingers through hair:: Ok, Tarnesh IS the guy who I initially thought he was? Accosts you on the steps to the Friendly Arm? I haven't played in too long, and it's not installed on my laptop...

Cloakwood is possibly my least favourite area - not so much the maps - but the tranistions - being attacked by two wyverns and their spider allies constantly is *not* funny. Especially at lower levels. Some one usually ends up dead. Hate ambushes. Thats why soloing or duoetting is more fun, imo.

Ugh! That was not fun at all at all AT ALL. Especially if you want to take a break, sell some items, resurrect your fallen... Ugh.

I'd agree. Cloakwood is nasty initially, however, on a return trip through it's fairly tame - except for the wretched ambush!

Ice Island is for me annoying not dangerous. It's far harder to get a well-planned and executed fight going, no matter what you try. Partly, that is because the mages do not seem to run to form. Like Tarnesh. That's why I dislike the area so much.

Firewine isn't too bad if you use one well prepared character and look after the others in a group. If you go when you're well equipped, then it's far easier. At least you know what you're getting.

I didnt actually find the Ice Island annoying to do. The last time I did it it only took literally 15 minutes to complete it.

I must admit the Firewine is a tad annoying though I would have to say that the floor you guys were talking about is the most annoying part for me, the sludge bit is the only bit you really have to go into in that area and it is very annoying, I hate how you take damage when you go into it, that way if you just click for your party to get outa there, say quite a long distance away, the dumbasses walk right through it all, I mean who in their right mind would do that???

i'd agree with firewine bridge.
tarnesh?


i find tarnesh is pretty easy if using the wand of MM you get at the beginning. especially if you hit him 2 times before you talk to him [img]smile.gif[/img]

well Tarnesh isnt really what I would call annoying, I mean everyone (except on your first run through) knows he is there and saves appropriately, so if he kills you you just have to reload.

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WELCOME TO IRONWORKS
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Actually, you do not get the wand of magic missiles in all games. I started a ranger/cleric, and though Imoen started out at level 2, she did not have the wand on her.

What makes Tarnesh annoying is exactly what RoSs_bg2_rox states pretty much; you have to have advanced knowledge in most cases to beat him. You have to buff if possible before he gets there. Realistically, you pretty much have to blow him away before he ever gets close enough to you to speak to you. That's why he made #2 on my list. #1 is still Firewine IMHO; it just annoys me to no end that unlimited kobolds with unlimited magic arrows just appear in plain sight. #3 is actually Baldur's Gate, mainly due to the layout (it gets beyond confusing where you need to go, how to get there without having a wall in the way, etc.).

yeh the wall is probably IMHO the most annoying thing in the game. It just really a time waster, it doesnt need to be there, It usually just means that you have to travel to another area unless you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

I realize the makers of the game wanted to be true to the city of Baldur's Gate, but I draw the line at mass inconveniences. They could have just as easily made that area two separate ones. I think they got the hang of it when they went to BG2... The districts are all labeled, there are mapnotes, and the journal says exactly where to find taskgivers. Match that with "Such-and-such in Baldur's Gate wants me to blah blah blah." Why, even if they say "At the Such-And-Such Inn", you need to write things down to keep track of it all. Here's what my notes looked like:
"In the upper-left next to the pointy tower, just next to that. In the house at (coordinates), which is in the middleish next to the beggar"
Ugh.

Shouldn't the coordinates alone suffice :rolleyes:

I personally loved the city... found it the best part of the game...

Oh yes, one of my less favorite areas include Candlekeep dungeons... Also that dungeon before you reach Sarevok's final chamber, though thats so much towards the end of the game i just run through it...

That was the one point my first time through the game where I went to spoilers. There were so many quests, and the engine just throws all of the notes within the journal without separating out the quests like they did later in BG2, that I went and downloaded a checklist that had all of the Baldur's Gate quests on it. I still had to find everything, but at least I wouldn't forget half of the quests that I came across. Another reason it is #3 on my list (though it has more to do with BG1 engine limitations than anything).

On a side note about engine limitations, do the formations bother anyone, especially if you played a wizard (or other character that you would want to keep "protected")? My first time through I played a Conjurer, and while it wasn't bad out in the wilderness (you just rotate the formation so that the back line is in the front, and stick your fighters in the back line so they will be in front; it's kind of funny when you reach your destination to be facing away from the direction you are travelling). However, I hated walking into a building and being thrust directly into a combat situation, and my mage was right up front, and with restricted space couldn't get out of the way to let the fighters move up (BG2 is SO much better in this way). The fight with the ogre magi assassins in Baldur's Gate and the green slime tavern were probably among the worst.

I think this is the part where I scratch my head and wonder if people don't know you can change the order in your Marching Formation just by dragging the portraits up & down.

Although I do agree about how annoying it is to travel to a certain map of BG City and find yourself on the wrong side of the wall. Ah, if only Ctrl-J had been implemented in BG1!

yeh I was just thinking exactly what six stated, didnt you guys know that you could change the formation by changing the portrait order? Or did u just not do it for Roleplaying purposes, i.e. to simulate your mage as the leader

Shouldn't the coordinates alone suffice :rolleyes:

I personally loved the city... found it the best part of the game...

Oh yes, one of my less favorite areas include Candlekeep dungeons... Also that dungeon before you reach Sarevok's final chamber, though thats so much towards the end of the game i just run through it... </font>[/QUOTE]Well, yeah, but I had to know the general area. I don't have time to drag the mouse around and figure out which way the coordinates go.
True, if I did it long enough I probably would have been able to get a general idea by referencing coordinates for so long. But I eventually gave up on all of that.
(Ok, didn't give up so much as lose the papers I scribbled my notes on...)

The latter. My guy's supposed to be the leader, and usually has the best charisma of the group. It just feels wrong to stick someone like Minsc in the first spot just because they are the tank. I know it really has no bearing in the long run (and I can just switch order when I go to a merchant), but it's more a matter of pride than anything.

There are formations that protect the leader... ...

You can see a few default formations, but right-click on any of them to see the whole list.