My characters are level 7 and 8. My main character is a Level 8 fighter. Then I have Minsc, Jaheira, Nalia, Yoshimo and Aerie. No matter what fighting situation I am in, I seem to have problems. This is the first d & d game I have played so I know I am not experienced in this area. Sometimes, when my group enters an area and there are enemies, I pause the game and get my spells ready. Then when I unpause, they do their thing, but I notice only a few of my characters are actually fighting and a couple are off to the side somewhere, not joining the group. By the time I get everyone where they need to be, I have two or three characters who are dead or almost dead. I understand that you don't have to keep clicking to fight as in other games, but I am getting very frustrated. I am using no cheats and have my game play set on normal. Can anyone help me out here with some good advice?

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Seeker of Truth

Hi Lady Avalon,if you click on the customise button on the character record screen, it will open a new page in which you can change scripts for your characters. The scripts decide how they behave in combat, and there are character specific ones as well as general ones such as a standard attack, backstab etc. Set these as you want and save your choices. Thereafter they will follow this script.

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http://www.angelfire.com/rpg/stealthy/Stealthy.gif
Charlie's S-Plan diet is no better than his invisibility potion!

[This message has been edited by Stealthy (edited 03-05-2001).]

Just to add, after setting the scripts, make sure the Party AI is on, its the button in the bottom right of the screen IIRC. Your manual will tell you for sure. Sometimes scripts make characters do things you don't wish, e.g. attack prematurely in an ambush, so turninhg the AI on/off is useful. Have been practicing this in Icewind Dale over the W/E.

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Another problem that we face is when A character is assigned to attack something, but another character is in the way of getting to that monster, your character will try to walk around the battle to get a better shot in. Sometimes I have had my character want to walk all the way around an entire cavern, just to try to find another way, gets stuck in a corner, and finds trouble waiting for him...and of course gts killed because it looks like he left the battle just to go piss in the corner. That may be a reason that you see your people roaming, as well as what Stealthy said previously. If you see one free roaming, just keep that finger on the pause, try to lead your char. in the right direction around any obstacles to get to that goal, and you will see better fighting. #1 though is to check on that attitude script thing that stealthy mentioned.

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Larry of the Holy Flame

You may use Autopause. BG2 can pause after your party member is hit or if you see enemy, when round ends... When a game is paused you may planed your actions.

Also depending where you are there is great advantage in fleeing. Some ambushes have be made that powerful monster ambush you in small spaces killing your caracters more easily. So if your caracters can't get a clear shot try escaping to lure those monsters in a open area.

Weaponds like 2 handed swords and Halberts have greater reach so if you fighting in a close setting (crypt, dungeon) try having one of you carcater know how to use this. Heavy armored block the way while the guy with the Halbert swipes at the ennemy from further or swich to bows or cross bows.

In bg2 my major problem is not caracter fleeing, it's when I leave the Ai on and a archer swipes at a mage. The mage tries to fight in melee combat sometimes passing through the rank of my fighters by the time I realise my mage is in the mildle of the fight is usualy too late.

Hi Lady Avalon !

I cannot really join Stealthy in recommending the use of the scripts. I have not used the scripts myself, but using the scripts is to rely on the A.I. and for me that is the weakest part of the game, especially if the idiotic behaviour of summoned spellcasters is any indication of the quality of the scripts for npcs.

So for learning purposes I would rather recommend to you to set the scripts to default and to enable as many autopause options as you like to give you more control over the game. Also enable all the information display options (hit dice rolls, etc.). While the game is paused, take your time to read in the message box what is going on: which spells have been cast, who is affected by which spell, how is character A you have fighting opponent B faring and why (cannot hit, gets hit every time, etc. ), why seems character C to always fail his saving throw, maybe you have a magical item to keep that from happening . The combat system in this game is rather complex, but that makes it also a great challenge. Later on when you know better what is going on and what is important in a battle, you can go back to a more action-orientated playing style with less pausing if you like to.

Happy posting and gaming !

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So long !


R³

Lady Avalon,
It does take a while to get used to the fighting.
I find it best to always use the 'autopause' function.

Click options, as if you were going to save or load a game, then click gameplay, then there is an 'autopause' button which will take you to a new box.

I always select autopause for the following:
Weapon unusable
Enemy sighted
Enemy killed
Trap found

This allows you to re-assign tasks to characters.
Example:
You have Minsc attack the enemy mage. He hacks away for a bit, then kills the enemy mage. If the party AI (little lantern button at bottom right of screen under character portraits) is turned off, he will just stand there until you give him new instruction.

If you have set the game to autopause when an enemy is killed, when Minsc kills the mage the game will pause, and a little message will pop up in the message box saying "Minsc: Enemy gone" (or something like that). You can then have him attack another enemy straight away without him standing round looking like a complete prat.

Hope this helps, you will come to enjoy the battles with a bit of practice, just hang on in there, and try to learn something from each mistake!

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http://www.gldb.com/wayno/epona2.gif
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

The advice from Epona is sound and will really help out although people such as minsc I have his AI turned to long range fighting because he is rather good with the old bow n arras and if you dont want him to start turning people into sieves then turn of ya lil glowing latern.


MTM

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http://www.animfactory.net/images/ni...ing_md_wht.gif
IGNORANCE IS BLISS

Hi All, Thanks so much for the great advice. I will try to be more patient and check out those options you mentioned. I am sure I will be back, but hopefully it will be with a different problem. The response on this board is absolutely fantastic.

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http://www.angelfire.com/rpg/stealth...e_fairy_1_.gif
Seeker of Truth

maybe this isnt a good idea, but you can try cheating a little. start by power up your party with items/spells that you arent supposed to have.

it is not a bad thing, play around with them, read the descriptions and know what those things do. later on, when you start to play serious games, you will have a clear idea of what is going on. it really helps.

Infinity engine combat system does take a little getting used to. You will get better and it will just be second nature in the end http://www.tgeweb.com/ironworks/cgi-...es/biggrin.gif (if you play it as much as most of us do)

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I like to micromanage -- I don't use the scripts and turn AI off becasue I've frequently found my characters doing things that get them (or others) killed. What I do is select each character and set up which weapon (or spell) they are going to use and which specific creature to attack -- I like to have *all* party members rain destruction on the most powerful foe until it dies first before I spend a single attack on lesser creatures. I can't stand when someone attacks, say, the summoned orc rather than the Efreet for example (oooh, 30 damage to the 5hp orc, whooop de do <heavy sarcasm>, uh how about that dragon over there Minsc? Perhaps it deserves a share of the butt-kicking for goodness, don't ya think?)

-Grebki (a.k.a. The control freak)
P.S. Occaisonally for really easy battles, I will turn on AI or use the defend button (that little shield button -- it's great for hacking large numbers of orcs or similar).


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Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. And then I went and made at least three of them come true before lunch.

Grebki: I'm a 'micromanager' too, hence the obsession with the autopause function!

One more point on battles, I usually don't have each character target a different enemy, because once 1 enemy is dead, that's 1 less attack on your party. I would rather have 5 uninjured and 1 dead enemy than 6 barely injured enemies!! Once they're dead they can't hurt you any more.

I generally have all my party target 1 enemy (a mage if there is one, get the spellcasters out of the way quickly) at a time, unless there is more than one spellcaster, or unless an enemy gets close enough for melee combat, in which case I will also switch to melee with the nearest fighter, leaving the rest of the party to carry on ranged attacks on the spellcasters.

Another point about casting spells is that once you have cast a spell, you must wait for the next round before another one can be cast.
For instance: Your Mage casts magic missile at an enemy. You select another spell straight away and target it at an enemy. Your mage will stand and do nothing for the rest of that round, because it has already cast one spell. At the beginning of the NEXT round, she will start to cast the new spell.

Casting time for the spell also has an effect, the lower the casting time, the quicker the spell will shoot from the casters hands. Magic missile has a casting time of 1, so seems almost instantaneous. Fireball has casting time 3, so will involve a little 'hand waving' from your mage before anything happens. Disintegrate has casting time 6, so will seem to take ages before anything happens.

The same applies with potions - one gulp per round only - if you have a character drink a potion and then another one straight away, nothing will happen until the next round.

1 round = 6 seconds
1 turn = 10 rounds (60 seconds)

6 seconds can seem like an awful lot of standing waiting when you're mid-battle!

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http://www.gldb.com/wayno/epona2.gif
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

My personal preference is to completely disable the AI, and have Auto-Pause on: Spell Cast, Enemy sighted, Weapon unusable, trap spotted, enemy dead. I give orders to everyone. It doesn't take long when you're used to it

I just like running around.... Then when the monstors are thouroughly confused I unleash HELL. OK, really I give everyone a bunch of sticks and stones and have them hurl at the beasties and I take my palidan and whack at everyone. Not very scienetific, but I like racking up the kills. But I like the AI scripts too. Minsc loves to fight Valgyr stands there like he has a pole shoved up his.. So I just pause and say Hey Valgyr go hit that person over there really hard with your big sword that I so kindly stuck in your hand. Yea... the harp shiny thing, go beat it against the guy who is breathing fire on the hot little elf, crying for her life. Very good.. Oh and another fun strategy is similar to a previous remark by someone else. I give staffs to the mages in the back so they can bonk the bad guys on the head behind the guys with the big swords.... Does this help at all?

Hi There

seems like you have got a wealth of useful advice, but for what its worth
I Tend to keep the AI lantern off but keep all the autopause options off
as well and ride the space bar instead. That way you can pause when first sighting an enemy etc- do all your moves/actions, unpause and let everything
flow again until you feel the need to pause again and issue new orders-
it gives it more of a fluid feel i find, without it stopping
every nanosecond to tell you that thrud has stubbed his toe.
cheers Sossages

I like control. Never goofed with scripts and gave instructions to each member for every turn of every battle. Sometimes I did notice characters wandering but after I learned what to watch for I just gave him a new instruction if he wandered. I probably should have used some scripting and the lantern thing (still not sure what it does) but I did fine. I also split my characters attack among enemies usually no more than three seperate group attacks. Also kill the mages first

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Balance

If you can gain some levels first, it will be easier.

Try spells like Lower Resists and Pierce Magic

Also, I don't really recommend taking a dragon at this stage -- your HP may not be enough and your saving throws are not that good...Try later, at around level 10.

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A Drawn Sword;
A Trickle Of Blood;
The Tempest Is Brewing.
Nemesis....

I covered my anti-dragon tactics in the "Sorcerers, Greater Werewolves and Dragons" page. I like Auto-Pause on Enemy Sighted, as it allowed me to attack and kill the Underdark Lich during his cut-scene

A Czech! Welcome Barbucha. http://www.tgeweb.com/ironworks/cgi-...es/biggrin.gif



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FAIR DINKUM!

Do you have your AI turned on? If so, then maybe you should go to your Character Record Screen, go into customize and change the script. Be warned, there are plus and minuses to every type of reaction.

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Dying ain't much of a living, boy.
- Josey Wales