am i the only one who for the majority of fights charges straight in and hacks things up, even my mage has reasonable hps and is quite happy to run in and hack n slash, the only fights i dont do this are special fights vs bosses where i use special tactics, ie doomsayer, sarevok, durlags tower fights etc most of the time now my party will rip a new one to almost any level of attacking monster, sometimes its funny to just charge my mage into a group of monsters and sit back smiling as he does 17 straight damage with no critical rolled [img]smile.gif[/img]

For BG1 I have been guilty of playing like that. Just try it in BG2 however. Youll wont last long.

Who is your mage??? I guess the only NPC who could swing wood like that would be Xan...I could be wrong though. My strategy for the majority of fights is to slow the enemy down with my tank while the archers and slingers turn them into large pin cushions

My Paladin would do the wade in and battle tactic in BG1 (along with the other fighters) and would win most battles. After getting schooled in some battles, I would reload and change tactics. As Andrewas stated, that won't work as often in BG2, and I'm only in Chapter 2 of it.

yep its xan and hes pretty hard, cant take hits off the bigger creatures but you watch him hacking up a load of black talon elites for example and its a joy to watch (his ac is -3 [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

Hack and slash...thats a good technique! I use it most of the time,but not in the hardest battles,because my mages die,how sad.Xan would be the best mage to choose for this kind of action.

I do it often especially if I am against a pile of archers. Going toe to toe in archery with the black talens is not great and I prefer if I can force them into melee, or battle one at a time. Most little creatures I will use the hack and slash and even Ogres at later levels, in the begining I avoid going into melee with Ogres. If it is Kobold commanders than I run away and have my mage send in a fire ball or cloud kill. Hack and Slash is probaly the most frequent tactic using the mage, and cleric to pump up everyones ability.

[ 11-04-2002, 12:31 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

lol.....Cloudkill against Kobold Commandos? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I always try to melee people with good arrows--both to keep them from shooting them at me, and also so I can loot them and use 'em on other folks for free. [img]smile.gif[/img] Of course, you only need one person to melee, so I tend to run archer-heavy parties. My current party, however, actually has FOUR Tanks, to compensate for my primary Tank having a relatively crappy AC.

Xan actually is the best Mage for hack & slash in BG1, although that's solely due to his Moonblade. Xan's problem is his poor CON--one Critical Hit, from anything, and he's dead, unless you've got him on Mirror Image. Still, I can't use MI all the time, so little Xan-man sticks to a Sling when I use him.

xan can take a critical hit easy for me, i think hes coming up 30 hps [img]tongue.gif[/img] and he can also run through archer hits because of his ac -3

By now I've had enough of charging head-long in to battle, so I try out interesting tactics and party combinations. Any of you tried playing without a fighter in the party? It soon teaches you to use new stratagies and it's fun too. I can understand that on the first time through there is a need to make things easier, but after that go for 'interesting' alternatives.

As for Xan, I'm not convinced that AC -3 is enough to save him from turning into a pin-cushion, are you sure you haven't given him extra protection from missiles - but good for you all the same, a Mage should get blood on his robe now and again.