Time to UP my game :)

[darnapkin]

please note I am a new player, but if your even "greener" than I am, there may be SPOILERS ahead.


greetings,, as you know this is my first round through bg2, i started off with an archer,, after about 10 game hours, the archer was just not me,, due to my how badly i give battle commands to everyone,, the archer would die pretty easy...

so, i started a new game as a Kensai which i do plan on becoming a mage at lvl 13, forgive me if i don't know the names but my party is

my kensi
minc
the drow cleric
alomen
the paladin guy
yoshi

i'm very heavy in the cleric dept, i made the fight/cleric guy into a sir, which made his wisdom half way okay,, i'm really only lacking some magic fire power, which i plan to get down the road.. and wow,, does it take alot of exp to lvl, i'd say i'm about 20 hours in, and lvl 10 or 11.

so far, i have down the wind place with the druid, i killed the dragon and made the armor, as well as got that kick ass paladin sword, i've done about 10 side quests and right now i'm doing umber hills. When i get done with that, i plan on playing the 15k to the COO! guy.

the side stories are rich in detail, and the city of amn seems full of life,, this is truly a very good game.. nicely done..

anyways, my problem, tell me if i'm doing anything wrong.. I have everyone pretty much on the script that if they see soemthing bad, attack it,, my 2 clerics i have on another one where one casts mostly damge spells, and the other one heals and supports

before going into a battle, i bless, barkskin, faith armor, stone skin, summon a few animals,i also use that lvl 5 spell that causes a charcter not to be charmed/stunned ect. and have at least 2-3 break fear spells ready.

However, if a enemy mage is really hurting me, i use dispell magic, and EVERYONE loses their buffs..

is there any way i can Up my game and play my clerics better? i try to sick the animals i summon on the enemy mages

before goign into battle i always beserk mince, right now thats pretty much it,, i have no skills as playing as a mage, so i'm sure when i get a mage i'll post

so... is there any spells i'm not using right? please give any advice on how you think i could improve my party combat skills.. I'm playing on normal skill lvl,, some times i have to turn down to novice,, my 2nd go aroudn on the game i'd like to go alittle harder once i learn how the game works

thanks for taking the time to read this,, all advice is welcomed

[IronDragon]

I see a couple things going on here. Let me try to gently point them out.

A kensai/mage is a tough thing for an inexperienced player to manage…especially when you are dueling at level 13. Remember you will eventually get you kensai skills/abilities back but not until you mage earns an additional (if memory serves) 1,500,000 exp for him/herself…this is complicated by the fact that your in a full party meaning that once you reach dual class your party will have to earn an additional nine million EXP.

Yes Kensai/mage is a powerful character….but until you wrestle the game under control you might want to play just a single class and learn some of the mechanics especially the mechanics of magic.


Problem 2. I won’t spoil things for you…but your line up:
PC
Minsc
Viconia (the drow cleric)
Anomen
Keldorn (the paladin guy)
Yoshimo

Wont last. There is an internal script that keeps good people and evil people from operating happily together. And given what you have detailed of your game and your advancement you are going to reach that script trigger sooner rather than later.


Problem 3. those pesky mages
Keldorn’s dispel magic ability is a might and dangerous thing. As you have rightly noted it takes care of your enemy but also your own party members.

The spells you desire to take down the defenses of enemy wizards are all mage spells. Breech is the most popular of these spells. And here you have your issue of having no mage.. and you will be unlikely to have one…much less a mage of sufficient level to cast breech anytime soon


Problem 4. not every battle requires being buffed to the max. some are tougher than others. Some are next to impossible for low level parties.

Problem 5. I had to read into this post and a few of your other posts to get this…I hope it is accurate. Several of us have mentioned that summoned creatures are your friends. And I’m very glad you are using them for cannon fodder. But you seem to be scattering your forces in battle. The summons should not just be attacking the mages…everyone should be attacking the mages. Both hand to hand and with missile weapons and (ideally) with spells. This is becaue a high level mage is the most bangerous thing around. Fighters and evil clears or skeletons or other nasties are …well…nasty…but you can deal with them later. Allowing an enemy mage to set off an Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting or even a charm spell can mean a lost battle for your party. by all means, sneak up on groups of enemies and draw away their fighter protectors to deal with them first. But in an all out battle you always concentrate you power on the strongest member of that enemy party.


Problem 6. Raging Minsc is a dangerous option. If you told me that he hasn’t gone after you and the other party members while he is enraged I would be shocked.


Problem 7. the only way to get skill with mage spells is to use them...you gotta have them to learn about their abilities.

Problem 8. Healing by cleric spells should take place after the battle is done…as sort of a clean up. When you do it during battle you are removing one fighter from the battle as well as endangering both that cleric and the person trying to be healed. Make use of healing potions for in battle heal ups


So if I had to sum up the advice I was offering:
1. hold off on the kesai/mage till you can get yourself through the game and have gone through several times.
2. you might best be served by playing a single class mage yourself…to force yourself to become proficient at the spells.
3. if you are roleplaying good…then pick good (or at the very least neutral) teammates.
4. while you are learning, save before each battle and replay that battle several times trying different tactics and strategies.

[ZFR]

If I may add: since most of your party is good-based, and since Anomen is already a cleric, you might want to replace Viconia with someone else to avoid conflicts like IronDragon pointed out. My suggestion is Jaheira (the fighter/druid- you get healing spells which you had from Viconia in addition to some nice druid spells) or Jan(a thief/mage - if you want to be more mage-heavy). Both are easily available.
Another good choice might be a bard (many will disagree here I suppose), but the only one in the game is not easily available (you have to do a quest for him to join you).

And I agree with IronDragon about the kensai dual to mage. Both the kensai class and dual class can be difficult. For someone not familiar with the mechanics of the game I suggest a single class (no fancy kits) or a simple multi (fighter/something). And no monk and no sorcerer!

ADD: Since you're already quite far into the game and probably want to keep your kensai, my advice is don't dual him and get a mage (Jan - or someone else) in place of Viconia.

[Armen]

Originally posted by ZFR: ADD: Since you're already quite far into the game and probably want to keep your kensai, my advice is don't dual him and get a mage (Jan - or someone else) in place of Viconia.

a pure class kensai is going to do the fighter stronghold quests so nalia would be a good choice here i reckon - especially as the party already has a thief in yoshimo