Together Retro: Baldur's Gate

[ExedExes]

Wow.

I had no idea this was a D&D game. The only experience I have with D&D are the 2 beat em ups from Capcom (Tower of Doom & Shadow Over Mystara). I've done a few computer WRPGs, but nothing as deep or difficult as this.

I've done all the side quests in the first area and got equipped with what I can handle at this point. I got the "hey ya!" girl tagging along, and I managed to kill something as I was exploring the area east of the place I can't return. I think I'm doing the fighting right, and I have an idea as to what all the icons do (I think.)

I see it starts out a bit slow, and levels are harder to come by. But the EXP that comes from the side quests seems good. I understand you HAVE to rest every 24 hours?

I know it's only the first day, and I really have not played any RPG quite like this before, but man, 30 more days? No way I'm gonna beat this in a month, but I made a commitment, doubled down, paid the $9.99, and will remain true to TR's mission and just keep trying this. It was fairly nominated, people wanted it to be played, and I have to respect each TR pick. I guess I'm just used to beating TR games in a month like I constantly did last year.

EE doesn't back down from ANYTHING!

[MrPopo]

In the vein of Infinity Engine stuff, I just finished Icewind Dale, and will be starting up Icewind Dale 2 tomorrow.

[BogusMeatFactory]

So I finally stopped exploring and rushed to the mine in chapter 2, simply because my party members were getting very restless and I know that if I don't meet their needs, they will in fact leave me, so ONWARD. So far so good, got another party member to level 2. Lets just hope they can survive the mine. I have tons of healing potions. Time to dig in to the fray once more.

[Zing]

I found the sword coast expansion to be excessive. I felt it extended the game right at the point it should becoming to a conclusion. Basically the plot urges you to hurry, while the expansion causes delay.

Another thing anti-thematic in all Bioware RPGs is the temptation to check every barrel and drawer. When I played, I intentionally refused to check any barrels or steal stuff from houses. It's just ridiculous to think there would be some gold coins laying around in a barrel, or that a group of adventurers would walk into a random house and take jewelry from a drawer.

If you stay focused on the plot and have a rudimentary understanding of 2nd edition, along with picking up Minsc, you have one very enjoyable game.

[BogusMeatFactory]

If you stay focused on the plot and have a rudimentary understanding of 2nd edition, along with picking up Minsc, you have one very enjoyable game.

Agreed! That is why I didn't pick a thief character...I would spend an eternity searching every drawer and yes..Minsc is the sole reason to play this game.

A tip for those that are having a hard time, I suggest investing in ranged combat. things get a lot easier once you do that. I was able to get through the mines of chapter 2 with ease because of my change over to a stronger ranged presence and using a snare spell.

[Ivo]

The article should go up soon.

Did anyone try to use custom avatars or voice samples in the game? I remember doing that back in the day. I wish I could find my old saves and files.
If anyone is playing the original (not the enhanced remake) with a lawful good aligned mage as the main I would be very thankful to get save files just before going into Baldur's Gate (the city).

I rolled a mage as my first character. It is not that bad, but count on a slow start. Wands help a lot and ranged damage (as has been mentioned) is pretty good. Fireball!

The ranger Minsc is a fan favorite. Hilarious.

I also had the problem of fighting many random encounters and side quests and then getting fed up when I (finally) got to Baldur's Gate, so I think the pacing of the original is not perfect (this does depend on the play style though).
I'd like to get a suitable save game (see above) as I'm not sure I will find my old one (if it still exists at all).

Also, you can certainly finish the game in less than a month, don't know where that bias is coming from. You shouldn't really need to grind to beat the game if you play it smart, it has good balance if you make reasonable choices of party members etc.

Someone mentioned playing a Paladin to be able to heal. Small spoiler: if I recall, the main character gets a small healing effect relatively early regardless of class.

[Zing]

I considered mentioning that the main character essentially gets paladin spells, but I didn't want to spoil it.
Also, since you get Imoen early on, she can be your thief. I dualed her to Mage at some point.

[dsheinem]

this game will suck your time like nobody's business I think I just played about 5 hours in a blink.

I am now into Chapter 3 a little bit (past the mines). I have leveled up almost everyone at least once, some people twice. I've done a few sidequests. Really getting into the groove/hang of things - though the difficulty I had with the boss in the mines tells me I still have some learning to do.

[BogusMeatFactory]

this game will suck your time like nobody's business I think I just played about 5 hours in a blink.

I am now into Chapter 3 a little bit (past the mines). I have leveled up almost everyone at least once, some people twice. I've done a few sidequests. Really getting into the groove/hang of things - though the difficulty I had with the boss in the mines tells me I still have some learning to do.

What I did to take down the boss was this.....

I moved quickly into the room, positioning my party in the far southeast corner of the room. When his minions come in, they are all bottlenecked at the passage way. I used my druid to root everyone, included the boss in place, step back and pelt them with projectiles. It took me a couple tries to keep everyone alive, but it ended up going very very well!

[dsheinem]

this game will suck your time like nobody's business I think I just played about 5 hours in a blink.

I am now into Chapter 3 a little bit (past the mines). I have leveled up almost everyone at least once, some people twice. I've done a few sidequests. Really getting into the groove/hang of things - though the difficulty I had with the boss in the mines tells me I still have some learning to do.

What I did to take down the boss was this.....

I moved quickly into the room, positioning my party in the far southeast corner of the room. When his minions come in, they are all bottlenecked at the passage way. I used my druid to root everyone, included the boss in place, step back and pelt them with projectiles. It took me a couple tries to keep everyone alive, but it ended up going very very well!

My strategy:

I sent one low HP person into the room and kept the rest of the party near the pool in the above chamber and behind where the minions spawned. Half the minions came to my party which I finished off easily (the skeletons), the other half went towards the boss and my one low HP character. I then cast some immobilizing spells in that bottleneck, picked off the minions with projectiles as they started coming back up, and sent one high HP chracter into beserk mode to go deal with the boss. I lost only one character (the sacrificial lamb), but not before they cast a magic missile or two on the boss