New to Baldur's Gate and Seeking Advice

[NobleNick]

Hello, all! [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img]

I spent virtually my entire Ironworks existence in the Icewind Dale forum. Indeed, that is how I found Ironworks; and I have been quite content in the IWD world for the last 3 years.

I acquired Baldur's Gate, last summer, in a package of 10 games or so that I got off of eBay for $10. I have been meaning to start; and thought I might give it a go over Christmas vacation. a few questions, though.

1.) Is BG run on D&D2 rules?

2.) How long is the game, compared to IWD?

3.) How much experience can you expect to acquire by the end of the game?

4.) The party is made of one rolled character (starts at CLVL 1?) and other pre-made NPCs join?

5.) What are some of the favored character/party strategies (or, if you prefer, what are some of the common mistakes)?

6.) Are there any patches needed, or does BG play glitch-free right out of the box?

7.) Is ToSC as important to BG as HoW is to IWD?

8.) Small spoilers are O.K.

Thanks!

--------------------

[ 12-13-2004, 11:15 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

[Dace De'Briago]

1.) Is BG run on D&D2 rules?

Yarr.

2.) How long is the game, compared to IWD?

Don't know how long IWD is, you could complete BG1 in 2-3 days if you didn't sleep and only did core quests

3.) How much experience can you expect to acquire by the end of the game?

89K without Tales of the Sword Coast expansion, otherwise 165K or so.

4.) The party is made of one rolled character (starts at CLVL 1?) and other pre-made NPCs join?

Spot on.

5.) What are some of the favored character/party strategies (or, if you prefer, what are some of the common mistakes)?

Dying. Don't do it. Also, don't smoke weed. Another big mistake common to troublemakers.

6.) Are there any patches needed, or does BG play glitch-free right out of the box?

Download the lastest patch (forum search).

7.) Is ToSC as important to BG as HoW is to IWD?

ToSC is a very good expansion that double the XP cap. Figure out yourself whether or not that would be useful.

8.) Small spoilers are O.K.

Dying is bad O_o

[pritchke]

Originally posted by NobleNick: Hello, all! [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img] Hello!! NobleNick, How are you? Forgive me if I don't welcome you to the forums . But I welcome you to this forum [img]smile.gif[/img] . Ispent virtually my entire Ironworks existence in the Icewind Dale forum. Indeed, that is how I found Ironworks; and I have been quite content in the IWD world for the last 3 years. I acquired Baldur's Gate, last summer, in a package of 10 games or so that I got off of eBay for $10. I have been meaning to start; and thought I might give it a go over Christmas vacation. a few questions, though. 1.) Is BG run on D&D2 rules? Exact Same Rules as IWD, Character creation is pretty much the same. Just not so many spells or SONGS, and no instruments that summon powerful berserker warriors to your side . 2.) How long is the game, compared to IWD?It will probaly vary from player to player, But this game is much more open ended than IWD, so you can complete it alot sooner if you only stick to the main plot quests, however if you take the time to explore every nook and cranny the game time is about the same. 3.) How much experience can you expect to acquire by the end of the game? What was previously said. Leveling is much slower in BG than IWD. You are probaly looking at somewere between level 7 to 10. 4.) The party is made of one rolled character (starts at CLVL 1?) and other pre-made NPCs join? That is correct but if you desire you can create your entire party by creating a multiplayer game. However part of the fun in this game is using the pre-made NPC's, as they even interact with each other, some more than others. 5.) What are some of the favored character/party strategies (or, if you prefer, what are some of the common mistakes)? For you a warning!!!! Bards are not really good in this game, nothing compared to IWD, creating a bard could be a mistake. For beginners I would recommend starting with one of the fighter classes (Ranger, Paladin, Fighter) makes the start a little easier. Than if you love the game and want to play it again than by all means, even try a bard. As for party classes you pick characters up along the way so who you decide to keep is entirely up to you. Basically like in IWD a balanced party is nice with a Couple Fighter types, Mage, Cleric, Theif, and another of whatever you like. 6.) Are there any patches needed, or does BG play glitch-free right out of the box? If you have The saga (3 disc with TotSC included) no patch is required, if you have just BG, or BG and TotSC separate than you will most likely require a patch. 7.) Is ToSC as important to BG as HoW is to IWD? Yes, it adds quit a bit to the game, but like HoW you don't have to do anything from the new areas added to the game. 8.) Small spoilers are O.K. Thanks! --------------------

I think you are really going to enjoy this game.

[ 12-10-2004, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[ZFR]

NobleNick!!!! WELCOME!!!!! (your first post outside the IWD forum ? )

Just few more points.
Bards as mentioned arent that good. Nor are your favorites dual-clesses. Their problem is that you level up way slowlier. so you may spened loooots of time with your second class inactive.

the xp cap is 89 without tosc 161 with. You will reach this limit on doing all quests even with a 6 person party (which is recommended).

The cap means you wont be able to cast higher spells then level 5.

Here are very useful table showing what will be your character level at the cap (scroll all way down)

http://www.planetbaldursgate.com/bg/...ables/xp.shtml


EDIT:
oh yes, the main difference between iwd and bg is that in bg there are so many areas that are not directly related with main quest but can be done anytime. i really love them.

[ 12-10-2004, 03:57 PM: Message edited by: ZFR ]

[Klorox]

just don't run up to the bad guys. shoot them until they close, then switch to the biggest sword you have!

[Marty4]

Welcome to the forum! er... yea.

BG has about 8 billion more side quests and there are many no name wilderness areas that you can explore, and most have a sidequest or three. Move to the east or west of an area, and you will find another area.

CHA is also very important. Don't drop it!

[Iron Greasel]

And have the character with highest CHA in the front, so he/she will do all the talking. And this character should not be your PC. Your PC should be in the back row firing arrows.

[SixOfSpades]

The sig speaks for itself. Enjoy!

[Kaelas]

You might also want to take a look here:

http://www.baldurdash.org/BG1/bg1fixes.html

The fixes correct several minor bugs and inconsistencies. Especially the language game text updates are useful since they correct virtually all spelling and grammatical errors and add further useful documentation to the game.

[Pirengle]

Tiny spoiler:

In BG1, you start off with a PC and go out and recruit NPCs. If your reputation's too high or too low, you might not be able to keep the NPCs you find. Won't be a problem just yet, but if you do too many heroic deeds, the evil ones will leave, and the good ones depart if you commit horrific acts of depravity.

Some NPCs come in pairs. Recruit one and you'll pretty much have to recruit the other.

Until Chapter 2, recruit anything that moves. Trust me. You'll need the warm bodies.