A new player, some questions :)

[darnapkin]

I have played BG2 for about 3 hours just to get a feel for the game, now its time to restart because I have some questions about the NPC's

please note, I love making strong parties and maxing out everyones best ability.

My hero, will be an Elf Archer, I enjoy killing things from far away and I will be using a short bow, with 1 point into short swords

questions...


1.)I will be using Minsc as one of my fighters,, here is a question,, should I duel maces with him, or just got with a 2h sword?

2.) I found that I really enjoyed Keldorn, and would rather have him than Jaheira as my 2nd fighter, should I just have him swing a 2h sword all the time? and if thats the case, would Minsc be alot better of using 2 maces?

3.) Viconia will be my Cleric, i'm not worried about arming her that much, but I don't know enough about cleric spells,, what are some cleric spells that I need? and also,, is there a good script for her to use?

4.) Edwin will be my mage, again, I know nothing of the spells in BG and would like if you could suggest some good spells.

5.) not really a question.... I plan on using yoshimo as my thief until I find a better one somewhere, so I'm not worried about him.


I'm not really use to the combat yet, everything happens very quickly and my eyes seem to jump around.. Before going into a hard battle, what spells should I cast on my party?

also, is it worth changing the NPC's script, or is default good enough?

Thanks so much in advance for your help

[darnapkin]

one more thing,, what is a good racial enemy for being an archer?

[Armen]

hmm - lots of questions [img]smile.gif[/img] welcome to the game by the way - we're all insanely jealous that you're getting to play it for the first time

it's up to you of course but try to resist reading too much stuff on here before you play - you're bound to get spoiled - having said that - my reactions / opinions to your questions are as follows

your party is really great - and will be interesting - some of the comments below are in response to you saying you want to maximise their power - circumstances might make that difficult

1) i usually have Minsc swapping between dual-wielding and 2HS depending on the battle - maces are a good option but so are axes, flails (there's a very good flail), longswords - you can have different types of weapon in each hand of course . . .

2) you're thinking along the right lines having your characters complement each other with their weapon choices - the best 2HSword in SoA (arguably) is a paldin only weapon

2a) Keldorn is a Lawful Good paladin - even more than that he's an Inquisitor - read the kit description for Inquisitor

3 & 4) both powerful magic users and the only pure-class examples in the game (i think) - spells is a huge question - for your first run through i'd experiment, read the descriptions, see what you think - much more fun - alternatively you can read the spell reference (link in the forum FAQ although this will contain game and plot spoilers)

3a & 4a) viconia is an evil cleric - edwin is an evil mage

5) yoshimo is a great choice for your thief - hang on to him - once you get out of the opening dungeon an obvious thief problem/solution will become apparent


combat speed - you can pause (spacebar) and also set the options to auto-pause (on enemy sighted, character injured - etc.) - that's what i do - i never use scripts or the party AI and do all the controlling myself - obviously without pausing that would be impossible) - some people like and use and even modify scripts though - each to their own

not sure about racial enemy - demon maybe? beholders and illithids (mind flayers) are powerful - undead is split into too many categories (for me) and there's good anti-undead equipment - dragons are obviously powerful but rare - there are quite a few trolls in the game - up to you

have fun

[ 10-14-2006, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: Armen ]

[darnapkin]

thanks for answering all my questions and without giving away any spoilers

I'll play around with the spells and read up on them, i think i'll go with demon as my enemy, i'll have to look at the list

one question though,, if I invest points into using 2 weapons at once, that just takes away the minus to the thaco, right?

so if i really wanted to be good at dueling 2 weapons, i'd have to pump up that skill , as well as the skill of the weapons i will be using,, such a maces

well enough typing, i'm off to play [img]smile.gif[/img]

thanks again

[SixOfSpades]

If it's good info without spoilers that you're looking for, I would try the link in my sig. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but people like you are who I wrote the site for.

Party Makeup: As long as you've got 1 or 1.5 Wizards, both sides of the Priest Scroll (Cleric & Druid) covered, a good Thief, and at least 3 good Warriors, you are set. This you have: Edwin is of course one kickass Mage, Jaheira and Viconia have the Priest bit down pat, Yoshimo is an excellent Thief, and you mention Minsc and Keldorn--and of course your Archer. Now, since you're starting out, I would probably go easy on the Wizard bit for a while and fill that slot with another Warrior: In the early game, most Wizards are still a bit too low-level to really carry their weight in a mixed party (other peoples' opinions on this may differ), because frankly, in most early fights an extra sword-arm will serve you better than an extra Fireball. Also, to a newbie, the array of Wizard spells is just hopelessly complicated. Seriously. You might be better off making a list of what spells enemies use against you and seem really good, and then going to Edwin and saying, "Hey, Eddie! Learn these!"

AI Script: The "Default" AI well and truly sucks. I think it's nothing more than "If something hits you, try to hit it back." Personally, I always leave everybody on Standard Attack: "If you see a bad guy, kill it." I don't like the ones that cast spells: How can I save my best spells for important fights when my guys go into a casting frenzy every time they see a Gibberling?

[IronDragon]

Lots of good questions
…

hopefully you get the answers you need

If I could give any advice for a first run through….you are mixing good and evil party members. Keeping them together will be a delicate balance. You might want to consider running an all good (or all evil) party till you get the hang of the balance. You will have your hands full battling enemies without having to keep your team mates from killing each other.

1.)I will be using Minsc as one of my fighters,, here is a question,, should I duel maces with him, or just got with a 2h sword?

I always think having Minsc use a two handed sword is a lost opportunity to wield two great weapons.

Minsc comes equipped with proficiencies in maces and as he levels up you can add proficiencies in other weapons. I like putting some proficiencies in Long swords for Minsc but a proficiency in Axes would be a good alternative. There are good long swords and axes available early in the game.

2.) I found that I really enjoyed Keldorn, and would rather have him than Jaheira as my 2nd fighter, should I just have him swing a 2h sword all the time? and if thats the case, would Minsc be alot better of using 2 maces?

Keldorn is a very good NPC. His dispel magic ability is a lifesaver in many situations. He comes with his own two handed sword and it is a very god sword at that. you will eventually encounter one of the best weapons in the game and it is a Paladin only 2hsword

3.) Viconia will be my Cleric, i'm not worried about arming her that much, but I don't know enough about cleric spells,, what are some cleric spells that I need? and also,, is there a good script for her to use?

There are great priest spells…and not so great ones.

Experiment and read the spell descriptions

Some of the better low level spells IMO
Level 1
Armor of Faith
Entangle
Remove fear
Level 2
Draw upon holy might
Hold person (only early in the game)
Resist fear (a true must have)
Spiritual hammer

Level 3
Animate dead (a must have)
Cure medium wounds
Dispel magic
holy smite
summon insects
Level 4
Call woodland beings
Defensive harmony
Negative plane protection

4.) Edwin will be my mage, again, I know nothing of the spells in BG and would like if you could suggest some good spells.

again read and experiment. A lot will depend on how aggressive you want your mages ot be. There are a few area spells that will take care of large numbers of enemies and can make a tough area that much easier. Cloudkill and fireball and skull trap are examples. You will get wands early in the game… they are expensive to recharge but wroth every gold you pay for that service.

No matter what always have magic missile, breech and stoneskin spells available

5.) not really a question.... I plan on using yoshimo as my thief until I find a better one somewhere, so I'm not worried about him.

yoshi is the only pure class thief in the game. Keep him with you. Use him as scout and don’t forget to always be searching for traps and don’t hesitate to use his own trap setting ability to make a tough fight easier.

I'm not really use to the combat yet, everything happens very quickly and my eyes seem to jump around.. Before going into a hard battle, what spells should I cast on my party?

I don’t like the scripts at all…they tend to make party members do stupid things.

Make use of the space bar to pause the battle and direct your parties attacks.

Buff up before getting into a big fight.

Make sure all your party members have healing potions in their quick slots.

Try to focus all your party members to attack a single enemy (spell casters first) once they kill that one, move on to the next most dangerous individual


When encountering groups of enemies try to draw them out to you one at a time. Ease one of your players just into their sights and then take off back the way you came downstairs/out the door, back into their fog of war. Hopefully only one or two of the enemy will follow. This strategy is useful when encountering mages. When they see you and turn hostile they will activate their magical defenses. Taking off for a bit lets their defenses wear off making them easier targets.

Send in a cloaked scout to identify where powerful groups of enemies are hanging out. pull the scout back till the fog of war just covers them. Then bring up your spell casters. A web or entangle spell followed by a cloudkill takes the fight out of most bad guys

When dealing with spell casters…send in summoned creatures (one at a time) either form spells or from the wand of monster summoning. Spell casters will waste spells dealing with these creatures rather then using those spells to kill you


In the end you will come up with your own strategies…just try things out and save often

[shamrock_uk]

Re. getting to know the spell system, you may find the spell reference guide to be of use.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Originally posted by SixOfSpades: If it's good info without spoilers that you're looking for, I would try the link in my sig. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but people like you are who I wrote the site for. Party Makeup: As long as you've got 1 or 1.5 Wizards, both sides of the Priest Scroll (Cleric & Druid) covered, a good Thief, and at least 3 good Warriors, you are set. This you have: Edwin is of course one kickass Mage, Jaheira and Viconia have the Priest bit down pat, Yoshimo is an excellent Thief, and you mention Minsc and Keldorn--and of course your Archer. Now, since you're starting out, I would probably go easy on the Wizard bit for a while and fill that slot with another Warrior: In the early game, most Wizards are still a bit too low-level to really carry their weight in a mixed party (other peoples' opinions on this may differ), because frankly, in most early fights an extra sword-arm will serve you better than an extra Fireball. Also, to a newbie, the array of Wizard spells is just hopelessly complicated. Seriously. You might be better off making a list of what spells enemies use against you and seem really good, and then going to Edwin and saying, "Hey, Eddie! Learn these!"

"I *guess* what I'm saying is that every time you see a foe you should cast True Sight followed by Chaos. 100 Yuan-Ti can't be wrong, right?"

[SixOfSpades]

Well, if True Sight and Chaos are both good spells (which they are), why not suggest them to a newbie? To my knowledge, there aren't any enemies who go around casting Find Familiar, Remove Curse, and Phantom Blade all the time.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

If you SEE a foe, Six, why on earth would you cast True Sight? Clearly, you wait until you can no longer see a foe to cast that [img]tongue.gif[/img]