One important point with regards to reputation: you can raise it back up by donating money at a temple. There's one east of Beregost that you can somewhat reliably reach by traveling through wilderness and not killing guards. Though if you hit the lowest reputation, it might be too late even for this.
I bought the Baldurs gate 1 and 2 collection on Switch last night, this video helps lol. I'm literally only just outside the first town but it is interestingly overwhelming 🤣
Aside from echoing getting to grips with the weird THACO and the "inverted" AC calculations as explained in this excellent video I would add a few additional tips from my experience with BG1: 1. Khaled is pants at hitting anything for (initially) lack of STR but when equipped with a chield that's grants +4 against missile attacks he is a monster secret weapon. This because he can draw aggro for ranged enemies, such as the numerous and extremely dangerous +2 fire arrow kobold commandos, with impunity while the rest of your party murder them with from range. This tactic is highly repeatable and means making good use of ranged weapons. Beamdog increased the stack size for arrows etc making this a lot easier. 2. Save up special arrows for using this tactic against some extremely dangerous enemies (1-shot murder machines) that can't be hit with non-magical weapons as they approach. 3. If you don't know the spell that deals with Baselisk gazes make sure you look it up and have it covered at least with scrolls at all times. There is a reason why Baselisks have become less prevalent in modern games. Just sayin'. 4. Web is your friend in BG1, and when you can get a trinket that grants Minsc permanent Freedom of Movement Web becomes more than your friend, it becomes your Guardian Angel and your salvation rolled into one. 5. I would never venture forth in BG1 without copious quantities of Sleep spells. The same applies to Scare. Playing a Sorcerer is almost a no-brianer in BG1 'cos you cast off CHA and that gives massive diplo benefits, but it also allows you to nab Scare from L1, which can deal with a number otherwise impossible situations and opportunities early game. 6. BG1 has (or had, I can't recall if Beamdog left it in) a loading screen tip "Never underestimate the power of a well placed level 1 spell". Good advice, but better still if you know about a certain ring found in the Friendly Arms garden which doubles, yes doubles, the level 1 spell slots grated to the bearer. The game says "You must gather your party before venturing forth". I say "You should find this ring before venturing any further".
The Basilisk tip would have been SUPER useful going into the game. I was annoyed with the fact that I cant just let my guy stay petrified and just fix him after the fight. It isn't even technically a death state until the statue is broken.
Sorc in BG1 doesn't cast off Charisma. It is in the tabletop, but in BG1, they're 100% level based. Charisma is still useful for diplomacy, but it has no effect on their spells. This means that you can dump their int low (not too low, mindflayers can kill you if you put it too low), drop your charisma low, and only wear the ring that sets charisma to 18 when you want to barter. This leaves enough skill points to pump wisdom if you ever plan on casting wish, con for HP, Dex for some AC and ranged accuracy, and str for carry capacity.
@@ShardtheWolf You are right, I stand corrected. This was changed in 3e I believe and/or Bioware didn't put the full rules into BG1. 3e rules are: To learn or cast a spell, a sorcerer must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell's level. The Difficulty Class for saving throws against sorcerer spells is 10 + the spell's level + the sorcerer's Charisma modifier. This is why I, and I suspect many, always associate sorcerers with CHA for their primary stat. But you are right that this does not apply to BG1.
If you want a tank Kagain does what you propose Khalid does much better with 20 con. If you wanna argue "dex difference" The Brawling Hands are obtained early and easily enough even if you wait until you meet Edwin and do his quest, immediately making Kagain the best tank in the game.
I played through the two games with a close friend over a 2 year session. It was a slow burn at first, but really developed that thirst for intricate mechanics and some quality roleplaying. A bit archaic but certainly worth it. THACO IS WACKO. Also, spell power level is all over the place. Some are completely useless, others are borderline trolling if you don't pick them.
Once you know what it stands for, it's not that hard to infer thac0. Just unfamiliar nomenclature. Spell balance I completely agree, there are level 1 and 2 spells that are consistently more beneficial, even in isolation, than level 7+
Dual classing really shines in BG1-BG2 campaigns. For example you can play as fighter for all of bg1 where there aren't as many crazy mage fights. Start mage in beginning of bg2 where you can get huge amounts of experience within the city from a couple of quests and you will reach the same level in mage in no time. Then enjoy destroying every enemy with the most op class in the game.
@@johnkrauser9870 why is Fighter Mage so good, doesn't mage basically make your spells pointless since you can't cast them while armored like you can in 5e?
@@GoblinLord why would you need armor with a fighter mage when you can wear robe of vecna and amulet of power? Max cast speed, can cast protection from fire cold acid etc, can cast stoneskin and protection from magical weapons, AND can cast a myriad of spell protections to prevent dispel magic on you? Mage gives you the best protections in the game along with amazing offensive spells, armor is completely useless as fighter mage
I've never played Baldur's Gate before and I've been pushed away by a lot of people and reviews saying it's not for beginners. Just received it in the mail today, and yeah it is a bit confusing but I think after time it will be such a great gem. I'm going to give it a try on the Switch, wish me luck!
Edit: I played a little of the tutorial and noticed it was a bit glitchy. Not sure if the game is supposed to be like this or maybe I'm just stupid 😂 trying to do the tutorials, if you wait there a second longer trying to find out what to do, the character complains to you and they do it over and over. Also some of my icons keep flashing red, even though I've already used them?🤔 also when I tried learning about formation it just kind of skipped over that and was like "okay done, now to start your test." Like I didnt hit anything 😶
It's funny how nowadays people say it's "not for beginners" and back in the day when we were teenagers playing it for the first time, we just consulted the expansive manual and read everything 20x before doing anything :D
For those who enjoy challenging games, I highly recommend the sword coast stratagems mod for BG1 and 2. I played the game until reaching around level 3, getting myself acquainted with the game. Then I installed the mod for a fresh playthrough and it was soooo worth it. Your combat gameplay needs to be really on point to stand a chance against the upgraded SCS AI
thanks for your video and advice. once upon a time I was trying to play this game but failed. now, in the near future, i will try it again based on what I learn from this video. very insightful.
This was the game that completely sucked me into RPG's forever. Great video. It also is a bit of a cheat, but exporting and importing characters can really help with the higher difficulties
I've finished BG1 probably twice and BG2+TOB once (started the game an uncountable number of times). I've not played the game with every NPC (Quayle, Tiax, EE characters etc), the random banter trigger dialogue really adds so much character to the party members... if only I know how to trigger these and know how many there are in BG1.
Didnt even hear about Balderstone gate, till about 2022, when 3 was hyping up, bought the 1 and 2 bundle a few months ago, got through most of chapter 1, then gave up, packed it up again, just met Minsc and have gone to the Gnoll camp
Your videos are helpful in convincing me to possibly take the plunge into these old CRPGs again. I bought BG1 & 2 enhanced on mobile when they first came out and got absolutely ROLLED in BG1 because of the antiquated mechanics and no bullshit combat.
6:35 AFAIK the only companions that reduce your reputation by joining the party are drows (Viconia and Baeloth) and the half-orc blackguard, while the latter is lawful-evil, there are other companions of this alignment that don't reduce your reputation. EDIT: Dorn is not lawful evil, but you get the idea.
This is great! Can I also request: main spells, class composition, companion tips, ideal classes for a normal lore playthrough (seeing more dialogue options/content).
Great video idea. This basically summarizes all the reasons I can't really get into the BG series. THAC0 and the dual classing/multiclassing distinction are just so radically different from what we are used to today (which _I believe_ comes from the 3.5e rules and after, but don't quote me on that).
@@bor0908 it was very fun. Learning curve was a lot but I finished the game + the siege of dragonspear dlc a little while ago. I'm currently knee-deep in baldur's gate 2 rn
I've played many CPRGs like Divinity Original Sin, Pathfinder and Pillars of Eternity, but it's my first time in BG, and since i never played D&D it's been really hard playing on the cores rules difficulty. I think i'll try to play it on normal, at least for now. Great video btw, helped me a lot!
Dude, this vid saved me dumping time into a character with weak skill roll and explained the assbackwards armor ratings. So glad many hours were saved from watching this as soon as I built a player.
Kept seeing BG3 hype, and i remember hearing good things from the series So when it was on sale recently, picked up the enhanced edition And, it hits that roleplay adventure, but is a bit too archaic(?), i needed to look for any help So thank you for this video
I jumped into LoB difficulty and didnt survive the first encounter against that assassin in Candlekeep. Decided that my usual tactic of starting on easy or lower was the way to go.
This video misses out on an integral part of character creation; that is booking 3 hours in your agenda to reroll stats until you roll the perfect set. Who plays with anything but 18s and one stat of 3, really?
I think the one pro for dual classing is how broken fighters are. Multiclass fighter is pointless. Straight fighter's weapon specialization is absolutely broken in BG1 and BG2. I found it advantageous to level a fighter until I reached "master " with a weapon then dual class. Of course, keeping in mind if you choose,say, sword, then go cleric, you are completely screwed lol
I always enjoyed a Human Fighter dual classed to Cleric. Raise the fighter to 5 stars in warhammer (lvl 3 if I remember correcttly) and dual class to cleric. That way you can get a Str 18/00 Cleric with warhammer grandmastery + cleric spells. I believe it's stronger than a straigjt fighter but I could be wrong.
Just redo the start in the very beginning as many times as you want, after stealing the equipment off the other characters you were given to outfit your party in the warehouse. There’s nothing wrong with having 45 wands of magic missile.
Playing on mobile is so confusing for someone like me who never played any baldur gate game but i do played familiar game for example like Exiled kingdom,Hearkenwold and vampires origin
DnD 2 has a lot of stats that try to give the DM information about your character in a more hardcore gameplay setting. AC in 2nd edition is a number on an integer scale that represents the likelihood that a physical attack will hit you, with higher AC = more likely. This definition of AC is concise and mathematically elegant but it's also confusing for new players who expect AC means how good your armor is. IIRC, they went with definitions of stats that give the DM a cleaner mathematical sense of what's going on. Allowing negative AC gives more of an intuitive sense of how protected or exposed a character is.
which honestly makes BG 1 and 2 more confusing since technically speaking the only sentient person is the player lol (in the context of videogames I mean)
I played BG1 when i was 13. Beat it once, then replayed as a solo fighter/thief or ranger, and just mopped the floor of every mob with a bow. Now i dont know what to play. I want to roll as a party, and i want a challenge, but i just dont know. People saying dual class fighter mage so it carries over well in bg2 (which im going to play). Then some saying multi class fighter thief for lockpicks and traps. Or a paladin? LoL i dont know
Legacy of Bhaal is a meme difficulty. All enemies have +80 HP, and a gigantic bonus to AC, THAC0. Yes, that's 84 HP Gibberlings as soon as you exit Candlekeep. I've soloed it with a Shadowdancer (with SCS installed), but only because of the achievement. Otherwise you should never touch this difficulty unless you know exactly what you're doing. If you truly want a challenge after you've played the game in, say Core difficulty, simply download the Sword Coast Stratagems (SCS), enable the smarter AI component (and some of the other components if they seem attractive to you), and play on Insane difficulty.
While easy and normal are easier to get into, I do think they teach players a lot of incorrect lessons about how the ruleset works for if they feel like bumping up to core rules or harder on a subsequent run. Could go through 50 hours of gameplay to kill sarevok on your first go and then get frustrated 15 hours into your 2nd run when you kill your own frontline with your first fireball which didn't hurt your own party members on the last run, or when they don't bother with helmets and take critical damage
These games are masterpieces and GOATED but I would only play them once (and try to do everything possible) at this age. Normal is just fine for me, if not excessively tough in some spots
I just purchased the game from Steam last night, BG1:EE and am playing it on a Windows 11 desktop system. How do you trade gold from one character to another in your party, failing that, is there a way to pool good to one character for the purchase of very expensive items (spells, et al)?
I tried to play it originally on a tablet and it played well but for some reason wasn't enjoying it. Giving it a second chance on pc and already loving it more.
Play a half orc berserker with 19 str. You will chunk everything lolz. Or go human berserker and get the tome for 19 str and dual to mage to be a god in BG2. Always a fun time
@@majorgear1021 generally yes because they can be orcs (19 str to start and 20 with tome) and/or the human berserker can dual class (either to mage or cleric are amazing). That said the cavalier is a pretty solid class with the immunities and ele res they get.
I noticed the “+ -” buttons next to the stats when you are rolling them. Can you use them to redistribute points when you first roll your characters? Or are they for later in the game after you have leveled up and can add points to your skills? Videos like this are tough to make since there are so many options!
Some things are vastly confusing between games. For instance in most of them (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale) the lower the armor class the better. Yet in Neverwinter Nights it's the direct opposite, and yet they both supposedly use AD&D rulesets.
Still don't know what to think about the shift to tactical for III _(I mean, I know BG has always been "tactical", right)_ I do like tactical, I liked Solasta very much on gamepass lately. However I never like divinity, & i tried multiple times, 1 & 2 :\ I really wanted "Baldur's Gate", _(the actual name),_ Gameplay for BG III 😂 _(Pretty sure it's gonna be a great tactical, I "like" the dice addition similar to solasta I guess ?...)_ EDIT : Never played or watched BG3 content on purpose, so for me, the story really has to catch me on this one
@@no_fb Yeah yeah you know what I mean. I'm open to it. I just remember that the shift was purely based on the assumption that : "turn-based sells more nowadays." Which is what I didn't like from the get go, _(communication wise // instant fanbase-split...),_ but which i can also recognize that it is "true" on paper. My take : If you take RTWP, straight from the start. - There's no splitted fanbase from the get go. - Because it's Larian, _(shout out the devs),_ making Baldur's Gate III, where turn-based players have to adapt, enjoy & discover what Baldur's Gate IS like. Its almost mandatory, they would try it. - Picking the franchise's name, already associated with a "type of gameplay" from 2 previous games. Applying a 180° shift on it..._ 🙄🤔 Why not take the original, and evolve the rtwp concept to a whole, another cool level, _(with dices etc),_ is all I'm wondering. It's obvious the "easy" route was taken because : "that's what we do, that's what we're good at, deal with it" To that my reaction is like, yeah I guess.. but no. Why don't these guys wanna try & tackle a new challenge and bring to it a new 2023 "rtwp-standard", is what II don't get. You could name it Baldur's Gate : Faerûn or something differentiating, if it's not : _"Baldur's Gate III : Proper"._ _(just like Dark Alliance was btw. Two Games, completely different, still baldur's gate, but it's was clear : Not BG3 or whatever !)_ EDIT : Like I said, I'm still open to it, "Baldur's Gate" itself sells it 50% on me. But they don't have my money yet, even though I'm exited. My opinion so far :)
@@no_fb Gameplay is just one piece of it all, of course. I guess "traditional but evolved" is what i'm trying to say... Anyway, this is why story // tone is gonna be important to convince, old school guys, that they're gonna have a "baldur's gate" experience. Regardless of the gameplay. Larian is good at what they do so, just have to be patient & see.
Did you mean turn based by tactical? That's a very strange way to describe it. Usually in 'tactics' games you load into a small map for encounters where as Baldur's gate 3 is seamless like Fallout 2, Spiderweb software games, temple of elemental evil, arcanum of steamworks and magick obscura, Torment Tides of Numenera and wasteland 1, 2 and 3. I think Dark sun games also had turn based. As you can see, Larian aren't the only ones who have or are experimenting with this system. What you remember is wrong, that 'turn based was chosen because of profits' sounds more like the words of critics and offended fanboys than anything Larian would have said. Baldur's gate 3 continues the 'type' of gameplay seen in the first 2, mostly only the combat is different and what they did with the combat is not a '180 degree shift'. Their seamless style of turn based combat is as similar to RTwP as any other type of combat, as is clearly demonstrated by my above list. The same people who were building the infinity engine games had already worked with or later experimented with turn based combat because it is VERY similar to RTwP. Both systems were designed to adapt Tabletop RPG combat. Baldur's gate 3 is a fully fledged RPG and sequel for the PC! It is NOT like the Dark alliance games that were console hack'n slash Diablo clones and actually had nothing to do with the brand.
@@dexgames4366 The Original sins games share a lot in common with the Baldur's gate games. Besides BG3 using turn based combat, environmental effects, physics(like stacking objects), 3D mobility(you can climb, jump), having an almost seamless world(basically no loading screens) and allowing players to take on the role of 'Origin' characters I wouldn't say BG3 shares anything else in common with DOS that the original Baldur's gate games don't. Most of these things are just due to modern technology. In a lot of ways BG3 feels to me a bit like Dragon Age. But if Dragon Age was less of a restrictive console game and more similar to the original Baldur's gate games. It has cinematics, characters, companions and a camp like Dragon Age but it doesn't lock you into cutscenes, railroad you or limit your interaction like Bioware's console games did. Not too dissimilar from what we might have expected from Bioware if they hadn't jumped onto consoles and had instead continued to make AAA PC games.
Correct, but that means basically nothing to the new players this video is made for, who are simply interested in checking the game out. AD&D is second edition so trying to explain that this game is based on the second edition of second edition is just unnecessarily confusing to newcomers.
After BG3 was announced I tried to go back and play this for the first time. I could see the seeds of what would eventually be, but this game couldn't hold me unfortunately. Maybe sometime down the line I'll try again.
No. Dark Alliance is an action RPG similar to the Diablo series. It isn't a strict conversion of the D&D rules. This is a CRPG which have turn based or real time with pause combat. They focus heavily on story telling and roleplay moments. You will not be running around hitting right click to attack. You will initiate combat and the game will roll dice like the actual table top D&D game, add your bonuses, compare it to the monster's armor stat to see if you hit, then rolled damage adding bonuses if you hit. It's a slow burn game that you will be playing to enjoy the story and to really get into the minutiae of min maxing your stats especially on the harder difficulties or runs with the SCS(Sword Coast Stratagems) mod which is harder than insane difficulty.
Yeah I'm playing it, looks dated but it plays so well.....I just got it for the Nintendo Switch, so I take it to work AND GET PAID TO PLAY IT!! in secret, muahahahahha 😂
