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Baldur's Gate seriesIs combat supposed to be this spammy(10 posts)(10 posts)
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Posted September 29, 2010
Right, this is the first time that I've played Baldur's Gate, as I missed it upon release and could never ever find reasonably priced copies of it afterwards. I've been playing for about ten hours now, my party is sitting at around level 2-3 and I've got the hang of the interface, the story is starting to develop a bit more, and so forth.

What I'm finding, though, is that combat is generally not a very enjoyable experience for me. It's not so much that the game is unplayable, as it is that it just feels cheap, unfair or totally random. Every single fight I get into, I feel could go one of two directions - either I mop the floor, or my party gets wiped and it's back to reload another save. I've built my party up as well as I've been able to considering how much I've played, but I'm just not sure if I'm missing something or not. It's like I'm totally at the mercy of the die rolls, and not in a good way. It doesn't seem like my skill really enters into the equation at all - I either destroy or get destroyed, and there's very little I can do about it except wait for those tasty critical hits. Compared to other RPG's I've played with real tactical depth, Baldur's Gate is frustrating.

I'm not sure if things improve later in the game, but given the number of pages in my mages' spell books, I'm assuming it will get a bit better. However, at these low levels the going is extremely rough and I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it except tough it out. Is there any advice anyone can give for combat, other than "spam potions, save often and hope for the best"?
Posted September 29, 2010
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sear: Right, this is the first time that I've played Baldur's Gate, as I missed it upon release and could never ever find reasonably priced copies of it afterwards. I've been playing for about ten hours now, my party is sitting at around level 2-3 and I've got the hang of the interface, the story is starting to develop a bit more, and so forth.

What I'm finding, though, is that combat is generally not a very enjoyable experience for me. It's not so much that the game is unplayable, as it is that it just feels cheap, unfair or totally random. Every single fight I get into, I feel could go one of two directions - either I mop the floor, or my party gets wiped and it's back to reload another save. I've built my party up as well as I've been able to considering how much I've played, but I'm just not sure if I'm missing something or not. It's like I'm totally at the mercy of the die rolls, and not in a good way. It doesn't seem like my skill really enters into the equation at all - I either destroy or get destroyed, and there's very little I can do about it except wait for those tasty critical hits. Compared to other RPG's I've played with real tactical depth, Baldur's Gate is frustrating.

I'm not sure if things improve later in the game, but given the number of pages in my mages' spell books, I'm assuming it will get a bit better. However, at these low levels the going is extremely rough and I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it except tough it out. Is there any advice anyone can give for combat, other than "spam potions, save often and hope for the best"?
A little preparation might help you from totally falling into the manipulating hand of "fate". I'm not sure where are you now, but if you find some combats to be difficult, try drinking some potions and casting some protection spells before them. And tactics is indeed important, as it's always easier to lure some enemies from the main group than dueling head-on.

I believe you also have a thief (Imoen?) in the party. She can stay in shadow and scout the battlefield before a combat, and can even backstab enemy spell casters if you are daring.

Your mage can still provide much help even at level 2-3. "Sleep" and "Charm" strong-muscle enemies and "Stinking cloud" is extremely useful.

And finally, remember that range weapon is the King of all BG games (except later in BG2 when your mage is powerful enough to fight on her own).

Good luck and enjoy BG, as it's one of the greatest RPG on earth.
Posted September 29, 2010
I will say, most of the people that get into the baldurs gate series, dont get into it because of baldurs gate 1, they get into it because of baldurs gate 2. The reasoning is because baldurs gate 2 gives more choices and the beginning dungeon and overall beginning of the game, is fairly easy.

In baldurs gate 1, you are literally thrown into the arena and told to fight or die. Because of that explanation and the ridiculous learning curve, most new age players and all players will either grow to love the game, or hate its soul. I will say this though there are many avenues that you havent come across yet. There are many different characters in the game that have unique personalities. I have heard stories of how some peoples characters right after a battle, just started slaughtering each other over a disagreement. They loaded the game, didnt happen that time. The game is almost like life. If someone shoots a gun at someone that person might take the hit to the head and die. If they shoot it at someone else, they might duck and avoid the hit. Thats how all infinity engine games (icewind dale 1, 2-Baldurs gate, Planescape) are.

My main piece of advice is to get a good mage and cast a load of summon spells and use the summons as tanks while you then send in your fighters and stuff. And use ranged weapons to the extreme. As said by worm. You can mop the first 3 chapters of this game with ranged weapons. You can barely use them at all in baldurs gate 2, (archer excluded).
Posted September 29, 2010
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sear: Every single fight I get into, I feel could go one of two directions - either I mop the floor, or my party gets wiped and it's back to reload another save. I've built my party up as well as I've been able to considering how much I've played, but I'm just not sure if I'm missing something or not. It's like I'm totally at the mercy of the die rolls, and not in a good way. It doesn't seem like my skill really enters into the equation at all - I either destroy or get destroyed, and there's very little I can do about it except wait for those tasty critical hits. Compared to other RPG's I've played with real tactical depth, Baldur's Gate is frustrating.
Welcome to low-level gaming in AD&D 2nd Edition. Even one lucky roll from an enemy can ruin a player's day at these levels. Once you get to 40+ HP on your non-squishy characters (level 3 or 4, basically), you should be able to weather the vagaries of the dice better.

The way I usually cope with the early game in BG1 (which other folks have mentioned, but it bears repeating) is to arm everyone in the party with a range weapon, then never let the enemy hit me. Even if enemies are chasing half my party around, the other half will be merrily plinking away at them from a distance with bows and slings.
Post edited September 29, 2010 by Krypsyn
Posted September 29, 2010
I always thought kiting was one of those strategies that totally ruined the game... but I've managed to get this far, I finished with the Nashkel Mines and I'm at a point now where not every fight has a 50% chance of failure (not to mention the horrid interior pathfinding, which is a bigger problem than the enemies themselves). Things are definitely starting to improve now that I have some better gear and can take more than a few hits. I just wish everything early on wasn't so totally random. If I'd known that ranged attacks dominated this game I would have built my party differently, but I guess it's too late for that now. Thanks for the input, and I guess I'll soldier on.
Post edited September 29, 2010 by sear
Posted September 30, 2010
Sounds like your a mage, once you get fireball and boots of speed/cheetah things should be alot easier. Travel to the farm just below baldurs gate bridge and farm ankheads big bug things/ wait untill you damage them alot then just before they die turn the game to hard and you'll get alot more xp for them sort of cheap but it's a good way to get to level 4 or 5 quickly.

Another thing you can do is fight flesh golems near a cave on the coast, forget where it is. I think you pick up a girl party member there, be careful of the sirens though.
Post edited September 30, 2010 by begolf00
Posted September 30, 2010
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sear: If I'd known that ranged attacks dominated this game I would have built my party differently, but I guess it's too late for that now.
Amusingly enough, the beginning part of the game is pretty much the ONLY time I use ranged weapons for my primary attack. I usually duo the first area with Imoen by kiting, then do the same with the High Hedge area. Then I go to Beregost and buy some arrows +1 and/or bullets +1, and kill Thalantyr's two pet Flesh golems. By then, all but a tri-class should be level 3 (at least 2/2 for a multi-class), and Imoen is close to level 4. Then I go to the Friendly Arm Inn and pick up the half-elves and/or just go back to the first area and pick up Monty and Xzar. New recruits should come close to matching your level when you add them, unless I am misremembering how vanilla BG1 works (but, regardless, it will make CHARNAME more survivable).

After that, I only use a short bow on the thief (Imoen, basically) and then put slings on the mages to stop them from running headlong into death. Everyone else uses a melee weapon (even the clerics/druids, since I like them close to slow poison and heal) and pounds stuff into a gooey paste.

EDIT:
Changed what level CHARNAME and Imoen should be after running through those first areas. I was doing a mental tally, but forgot to divide by two because of the duo.

Anyway, maybe many will think this is a cheap tactic, but I find it really helps mitigate the aggravation due to unlucky combat rolls at the start of the game. By the end of the game, that extra experience is just a drop in the bucket anyway.
Post edited September 30, 2010 by Krypsyn
Posted September 30, 2010
Correct me if I am wrong (I have played BG about 8-9 years ago, so I am very fuzzy on the details) but didn't all helmets in the game have the "Protect against critical hits" property? As far as I remember, there was no class/race/whatever based limitation for wearing a helmet, so equipping a helmet on your character should mitigate the damage from criticals.

As for the party being squishy at start, yes, this is so very true. BG was my first encounter of the ADnD system (it was almost unheard of in our country at the time), and to top it off I started playing as a mage for my first playthrough. What I remember is that I had to rely heavily on tactics, crowd control spells (whatever little is available to a low level mage) and discretion (a.k.a. Run to the hills!!!) in the first part of the game. Still, I this made the experience more enjoyable from me, it just took some time getting used to.
Post edited September 30, 2010 by termit
Posted September 30, 2010
Only fighters, rangers and paladins (and barbarians in tutu) can wear helmets. A cleric might be able to wear them too but im not sure since i dont play that class.
Posted September 30, 2010
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deathknight1728: Only fighters, rangers and paladins (and barbarians in tutu) can wear helmets. A cleric might be able to wear them too but im not sure since i dont play that class.
Clerics can as well. If dual or multi-classed with a warrior class or cleric, mages can cast in helms as well (which makes less sense to me). Thieves can also wear helms if multi or dual classed without penalty.
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Baldur's Gate seriesIs combat supposed to be this spammy(10 posts)(10 posts)
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