I find BG2 way to hard..

[deathknight]

There are 2 very important things to remember in BG II. The first is having the right eq for the right job. If you are hell bent on doing the fight and you don't have alot of eq to try out then this isn't gunna help much.
The second thing to remember is magic rules in BG II. I would suggest you summon up some cannon foder. Really I suggest you use summon spells all the time. Since your main is a cleric plus you have jaihera you should have plenty of spell slots left over for a nice pack of summoned creatures. Druids are great for summoning stuff. I am not sure what levels your characters are (I assume pretty low as you just got the game) so the monsters you can summon will not kill the troll right out for you but don't be afraid to summon skeletons or elementals and have them take the hits while you hit the bad guys from a distance. Or send the summoned creatures in first and get the bad guys aggressive to them and then send in the warriors. A group of summoned monsters (you can summon a max of 5) plus your own party with haste cast on it(haste is huge and SOO efective when you cast it after summoning creatures) should be able to take on any pesky little trolls
also for your cleric you may want to try the flame blade spell (level 2) for killing trolls.

[Tuor]

BG2 can be a bit complicated if you have no experience of AD&D or BG1 because you get thrown in at 7th level when every character has a shed load of abilities.

The best thing to do is probably beg borrow or steal a copy of baldurs gate one and work your way through that. that way you get used to what your characters can do and how they progress and you won't get overwhelmed with the mass of information, spells, abilities and so on contained in BG2.

Incidently in terms of quests a good order is:
1) slaves in copper coronet
2) murders in bridge districtr
3) Nalias keep (which you've done)
4) The temple quests BUT NOT the unseeing eye quest because it is bloody hard
5) The fallen paladins-go talk to the order of the radiant heart
6) the thieves guild
7) Trademeet quests
8) Umar Hills

If you want to get out of the city ealier do trademeet or Nalias keep-trademeet is a bit easier but It annoys me a bit so I leave it til later usually.

There are also some good quests in the graveyard district that get you some good xp.

If you only try to do the main quest, you'll continue to find the game hard. By doing lots of quests you'll encounter more monsters and get more bonus experience. The experience allows your characters to become better (eg hit harder, have more hitpoints, be better at fighting with certain weapons, hit more often, know more spells, having a lower armour class, having better saves versus spell and trap effects and so on). You'll also encounter more and better magic items.
If you only follow the main storyline you'll find that even regular monsters are too tough for you or can't be hit at all. That way, you'll never be able to save Imoen or kill Irenicus. You should also know that there are no time limits in the game unless someone explicitly says so, like "meet me in two days" or "your weapons will be ready in a week". You have plenty of time to gain experience during Chapter 3 before moving on to number 4

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The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew,
and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain.
All the others fled. -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

[Kuvg]

If you change to a more powerful class or exchange some of your party members for better ones might make the game a bit easier, also the stats and skills you pick for your main character can change the difficulty of the game.
e.g: if you go for a higer con or str you start with more hp and also hit harder and more often, something to think about

[JimJ]

Yeah, I just played BGII and it started out real hard. I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do. I hadn't played BGI or any other RPG type game since I was a kid playing Ultima V, Might and Magic I, and AD&D Pool of Radiance. As you play you get better and better and it becomes easy at times. The most important thing you have to do is to play to the strengths of your characters. Look at their weapons proficiencies, THAC0 when you equip a weapon, types of spells they can use; then, develop your own tactics. I notice a lot of people on this board like to summon animals, monsters, etc. I completed the game without ever summoning animals (I did use insect swarm later in the game). Unfortunately, it would have been easier if I had - live and learn. That's the great thing about this game though. There are a jillion ways to beat it.

[Avatar]

What armour are they wearing?
What weapons are they using? Are they proficient in it?
Are you susing the ideal weapon against this monster?
Are you using the right tactics?
Do you know every spell like the back of your hand?

[Sparkle Tom]

I'd like to chime in here about using summoned creatures.

They rock!!!

The limit of 5 is oft annoying (looks to me like some summoned creatures don't count on that - like elementals or servents - but I could have miscounted).

There's just a warm/fuzzy/special feeling when a room full of umber hulks and minotaurs start mincing and chortling their way to your group and a trio of lions answer the call. Bears, panthers, ogres ... and I really like the servant that Aerie can conjure. It's ALL good.

And, speaking of summoned critters, I need to experiment more with Jah's buddy - the Nymph. That cackling laugh sounds like a bawdy old hag, but she's got some mojo of her own, though not terribly offense oriented.

S*T

[DonkeyWan]

Um, isn't everyone forgetting npc's? I mean, Nalia's keep is a toughy at any level and if you have Nalia, she'll die like nobodies business, perhaps whats required is the acquisition of some tougher npc's, like Keldorn (sewers) amoen (copper coronet) etc. Btw, don't worry about time limits or anything, very few quests in the game actually have a time limit and usually specify the time etc. If your new to Baldur's, do a bit of exploring, look for cheap expo to get those stats up etc...

[Scottyl]

I just finished Umar Hills. I got have the 20k Gp's but should I do the main quest or do another side quest? I did nalie's keep and umar hills.


Thanks

[deathknight]

If you are looking for some smaller stuff to gain xp and level up your party some explore the graveyard alot. Also explore the copper coronet. There is a simple quest there. Make sure at the graveyard you go at daytime and at night since different stuff happens at those times of the day.