It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
The characters hardly get past level 7 by the time the game is over. Is this really true?? I mean, I think it must be, because I just started Chapter 3 and my main character is still level 1, and not even halfway through to level 2. She's also a multi-class, so, what, the character's going to be like level 3 when the game ends? That's a greener world savior than an 8-year old kid that's been bitten by a radioactive mite. I really hope the character leveling is done better in BG2. I miss Icewind Dales, how often (within reason) level ups happened in that game and how fun it was to see the characters get better and better in regular intervals. In this game, I'm probably still going to toss plain chromatic orbs at the end boss (if there is such), because I have no know-how to cast anything better. Such a wasted opportunity to make the game even more interesting.
Maybe you should play some more before you talk of "wasted opportunity"?
So you think there's nothing wrong with my character still being level 1, even though I already fired up Chapter 3? I've done sidequests, too. It seems to me by your post that you think I'm disappointed in the entire game; I'm not, just in the way level ups are done. If this were Icewind Dale, I'd probably be at level 7-8 already. Level ups are fun. If there are no level ups regularly, the game is not as fun as it could be. That's all I'm saying.
avatar
DProject: So you think there's nothing wrong with my character still being level 1, even though I already fired up Chapter 3? I've done sidequests, too. It seems to me by your post that you think I'm disappointed in the entire game; I'm not, just in the way level ups are done. If this were Icewind Dale, I'd probably be at level 7-8 already. Level ups are fun. If there are no level ups regularly, the game is not as fun as it could be. That's all I'm saying.
What have you done in the game? Just followed the main quest, or have you explored any side areas? There should be more then enough XP in the game to max out your character. There's a whole area with monsters that each give 4000 XP, for example. You don't get such silly XP rewards from easy quests as you do in BG2 and IWD.
HI, you cant compare IWD1 or IWD2 to this BG1 game! All of them are masterpieces but in a different way. BG1 was far more exploration oriented and IWD is a game where you get more fighting so you get XPs more often - as one would say IDW is more epic - you meet gods and demigods you visit varied places whereas BG takes place on quite a small part of Sword Coast. In the time the games came out I had the opportunity to play IWD1 first and BG1 after that and I was totally blown away by the former one. Still BG1 is unique in the way you can export your character and import in in BG2 which is not possible in IWD. The difference is also in the interaction between the characters in your group - in IDW1 + 2 is almost nonexistnet since you create the entire group while in BG1 it plays a cruicial part, even more in BG2. To conclude it: I loved all this games the way they were made :)
avatar
DProject: So you think there's nothing wrong with my character still being level 1, even though I already fired up Chapter 3? I've done sidequests, too. It seems to me by your post that you think I'm disappointed in the entire game; I'm not, just in the way level ups are done. If this were Icewind Dale, I'd probably be at level 7-8 already. Level ups are fun. If there are no level ups regularly, the game is not as fun as it could be. That's all I'm saying.
Post edited September 23, 2012 by Sun
It seems neither of you are understanding what I'm saying or reading my original post with thought.

Yes, I'm liking the game. There's nothing wrong with the world scale either.
What I am not liking, is how slowly the characters level up. Mind you, my main char is still level 1. I've done every side quest I could find in Candlekeep, and a couple while on my way to Nashkel. Not all though, since I wanted to finish Nashkel first, while Jaheira, Khalid, Montaron and Xzar were in my party, so that after Nashkel I could give them the boot since I didn't like any of those characters or their abilities. Now I'm off to Gnoll Stronghold with Imoen and Minsc, and after that I'm returning to Beregost to do more sidequests with the current party so that xp isn't "wasted" so much. I mean, on party members I have no intention of keeping.

But again, and for the final time, I think it's a little bit silly how slowly characters level up in this game. Again, I'm already on Chapter 3. I've beaten foes much stronger than me, and groups with much larger numbers than mine. Also cleared the Nashkel mines and found out what was wrong there. And that's a major quest, yet I'm still a Level 1 Character. In every other cRPG I've played I'd be at least a lvl2, maybe even 3 at this point. Again, nothing wrong with the game itself, I just wish there were more level ups to show my character gaining actual progress. This is an RPG after all, and not just an adventure game. Are you yet to see my point? My character is not a toddler anymore, she has seen a bit of the world and the dangers within, which she has succesfully overcome. Yet the game still considers her a noob and as strong as when she first started.
So how much XP excactly does your character have and what's her classes?

Did you talk to the mayor in Nashkel after clearing out the mines?

Did you kill Greywolf and then talk to Prism?

Remember, in Baldur's Gate you always get the best XP rewards for chosing the "good" options.
Post edited September 23, 2012 by PetrusOctavianus
@ DProject - I love BG1 as well, and am *very* familiar with it. If you go straight to Nashkel with Khalid/Jaheira and Xzar/Montaron you miss a lot of XP so you *will* have very little XP. Three things to note with your chosen characters: You don't need to pick them up (I never do); there is a time period of about 15 days to reach Nashkel (and they will let you know when that limit nears); you limit the chance the two pair will set to killing each other (they hate each other). With that, consider taking some time to explore some of the side areas, get some loot and XP, and see what happens with your party...

IWD is better classified a dungeon crawl with almost no character interaction or side quests, though the Heart of Winter sections improved this a little.

BG1 is definitely an RPG adventure where interaction with persons around you, including some within your party, is important and exploration of the areas on your way to the conclusion is part of the fun.

I love both IWD1 and BG1, but for different reasons. That's why I compiled BG1 Tweaks and enjoy beta-testing IWD-in-BG2.

Edit: As for slow leveling, if you're running your PC as dual or triple class that itself will do it since XP is split between each class.
Post edited September 23, 2012 by grogerson
I think the party level up so slowly because BG2 was in mind and developers wanted to introduce epic classes in the second game. This is the only reason I came up with.
avatar
DProject: It seems neither of you are understanding what I'm saying or reading my original post with thought.

Yes, I'm liking the game. There's nothing wrong with the world scale either.
What I am not liking, is how slowly the characters level up. Mind you, my main char is still level 1. I've done every side quest I could find in Candlekeep, and a couple while on my way to Nashkel. Not all though, since I wanted to finish Nashkel first, while Jaheira, Khalid, Montaron and Xzar were in my party, so that after Nashkel I could give them the boot since I didn't like any of those characters or their abilities. Now I'm off to Gnoll Stronghold with Imoen and Minsc, and after that I'm returning to Beregost to do more sidequests with the current party so that xp isn't "wasted" so much. I mean, on party members I have no intention of keeping.

But again, and for the final time, I think it's a little bit silly how slowly characters level up in this game. Again, I'm already on Chapter 3. I've beaten foes much stronger than me, and groups with much larger numbers than mine. Also cleared the Nashkel mines and found out what was wrong there. And that's a major quest, yet I'm still a Level 1 Character. In every other cRPG I've played I'd be at least a lvl2, maybe even 3 at this point. Again, nothing wrong with the game itself, I just wish there were more level ups to show my character gaining actual progress. This is an RPG after all, and not just an adventure game. Are you yet to see my point? My character is not a toddler anymore, she has seen a bit of the world and the dangers within, which she has succesfully overcome. Yet the game still considers her a noob and as strong as when she first started.
I'm a Fighter/Mage. 1700 XP in both classes. Talked to Mayor but haven't done the Greywolf thing because I haven't found him yet. I've chosen the good options every time, for example when the guy with the bounties nearly gave 200 gold to me when he got me confused with someone else, I corrected him.

Anyway, like I said, I am going to go do all the sidequests I've missed so far, but as I explained, I wanted to get the Nashkel main quest out of the way first so that I could give 4/6 of my party the boot afterwards. Khalid, Jaheira, Xsar and Montaron all wanted to go to Nashkel, so I went there. Had I done all these sidequests before doing that, the xp would've been split between all these characters, and therefor would've been a waste. I'm keeping Imoen and Minsc, and if I can find a decent offensive spellcaster and a priest, I'm satisfied with the party.

Please people, don't get entangled on something or think I consider the game flawed. All I'm saying is that you'd think in an RPG the PC would have levelled up at least once at this point even if I did nothing but main quests. Again, Chapter 3. Still Level 1. That's the one thing that strikes me most odd.

Anyway, I'm still on my way to the Gnoll Stronghold. Got melee-happy against Xvarts in their little shack town, so I got a little sidetracked. We'll see if I can walk away from the Stronghold as a Lvl2, especially since I don't have the baggage of unnecessary extra characters anymore, draining my xp rewards.
avatar
Sun: I think the party level up so slowly because BG2 was in mind and developers wanted to introduce epic classes in the second game. This is the only reason I came up with.
That's absolutely wrong. If I remember correctly the developers later said that they didn't expect the success of BG1. Had they known they would not have called the game as such. It rings especially true if you think that BG2 has nothing to do with the Baldur's Gate city. :)

On the leveling thing, don't get disappointed. You can trigger the first 2 chapters very fast. That doesn't mean that you will lose anything though. The areas and quests are still open for you up until the end. Think of chapters as an indicator of how far in the main quest you are.
avatar
DProject:
You are still very much at the beggining of the game.
Specific events advance the chapters.
Chapter 2 starts as soon as you enter Nashkel.
Chapter 3 starts as soon as you kill the bad guy at the end of the mines.
It appears that you have rushed to this point before doing the various side quests, random exploration, etc.
It is very possible to reach level 3, even with a multi class character before ever arriving at Nashkel (I know, I've done it!).
Generally, a single class character will finish the game at level 7.
Because of the vagaries of level progression, a multi class charachter will normally finish at level 6/6.
Developer may say whatever they like but one thing is clear: if they didnt predict the success of the game, they would have made faster character progression, because all of us know that the game of DnD doesnt end at the character level 7, nor 10, nor 20...

avatar
Sun: I think the party level up so slowly because BG2 was in mind and developers wanted to introduce epic classes in the second game. This is the only reason I came up with.
avatar
AndyBuzz: That's absolutely wrong. If I remember correctly the developers later said that they didn't expect the success of BG1. Had they known they would not have called the game as such. It rings especially true if you think that BG2 has nothing to do with the Baldur's Gate city. :)

On the leveling thing, don't get disappointed. You can trigger the first 2 chapters very fast. That doesn't mean that you will lose anything though. The areas and quests are still open for you up until the end. Think of chapters as an indicator of how far in the main quest you are.
avatar
DProject:
avatar
Rodzaju: Generally, a single class character will finish the game at level 7.
Because of the vagaries of level progression, a multi class charachter will normally finish at level 6/6.
Thank you, that was the thing I asked in the first place. I must say, a 6/6 sounds REALLY low. I'm sorry but I'm again forced to do comparisons: I finished both Icewind Dales when my characters were around level 15 (some 16, some 17). Not to mention different RPGs entirely; I usually finish Fallout 2 around level 22-24. Fallout 3 has a level cap of 20 without DLC, but that can be easily reached. Not to mention MMORPGs (though I don't play them); they have a level cap that's near a hundred. Getting back to D&D: I'm not sure how often you get spells in this game ('cause I've yet to see a mage level up), but in Icewind Dale (which uses the same ruleset) you gained a new spell level every 2-3 levels, which meant that in order to cast Fireballs (spell level three), the caster had to be at least level 6 IIRC. Which means, if the spell levels are same here, that's the "most powerful" spell I'll ever have access to, and spell level three isn't even near the top tier spells in D&D. Again, my original point: I feel level ups are easily too far and between in this game. I'm still not saying this makes the game bad, but it would be nice if my characters were at least semi-powerhouses by the end game especially since they're (probably) going to save the world. A 6/6 character feels just....average. Well, that's just my opinion. People don't have to agree with anything I've said if they don't want to. Just wanted to get this off my chest.
The XPCap is 161,000 and you'll most likely reach it during the game, even with a party of 6 unless you take a difficulty lower than normal. Be aware that as multiclass you're always 1 level lower, you reach level 2 when a single class character reaches level 3.
Just ignore the chapters, there are many areas which can be visited in any chapter so some may be longer and some shorter.

In Icewind Dale a fighter/mage doesn't get his first level up very fast either, you'll have explored Easthaven, the cave, Kuldahar Pass and Kuldahar with many side areas and even traveled to the Vale of Shadows before it happens.