Need Help Playing Whoosie Level

[Fulcanelli]

I love playing RPGs butt...am not very good at it. I used to play a lot of RPGs on the PlayStation 1. Now I am trying Baldur's Gate 1. I tried it some years ago but it was playing pretty rough, screen slowing down, freezing, that sort of thing, so I stopped. It loaded up okay on my new computer and I thought I'd give it another go.

I'm left-handed and there are other things wrong with me we don't want to get into.

I've started a game as a paladin and am right now exploring the Nashkel mines. I got my butt stomped in the area just before I take on Mulahey and when I reloaded, it feels like the game is twice as difficult. Is this game programmed to get harder if you get killed? If so, is there a way to modify that? I just want to enjoy the story and get through the game. Any whoosie hints will be helpful.

Any defense against those fire arrows? OUCH.

Thanks. It's great to see an active community still playing this very old game.

[anarchistica]

You make no mention of party members. Do you have any? You can have up to 6 and they make the game a lot easier.

The best defense is usually the offense. When you engage archers in combat they will usually draw their swords, putting an end to the nasty arrows. Just walk past the other Kobolds and go straight for the Commandoes.

[kmonster]

In some areas some additional monsters spawn when you reload the game, maybe that's why you got the impression of the game getting harder when you're killed.
To avoid getting hit try to get your AC as low as possible with armor, spells and other things, like your paladin's "protection from evil" special ability.
For some extremely hard battles you can turn down the difficulty to "very easy", but play at "normal" difficulty most of the time to avoid getting fewer XP.

[Fulcanelli]

Ah, thanks. For me, it's a vicious circle. I don't have the money to buy all those nice shiny protections and the only way I can get it (short of cheating) is to kill things, but they kill me first. I did warn you I'm not good at these games, which hardly dents my enthusiasm to play.

I originally bought this game when I had Windows ME. The computer on which I now play it is a laptop with Vista. I'm starting to wonder if there might be some problems here...I restarted yet ANOTHER game and had some strange things happen. For one, I couldn't get my character to talk to the inn keeper for some more goodies before I hit the dusty trail out of Candlekeep. My character would not engage talk. The 'talk' icon showed but he wouldn't go over and talk. That was right after I got a protection for evil spell in the Inn. (Not sure that matters.) And then there's the issue with the two gents on the road to the Friendly Arm (sorry, forgot their names at the moment.) One is the whiny character that says "Don't Touch Me!" all the time. They won't join my party. Did I do something wrong? I need some help to defeat the ambushee outside the Friendly Arms. If I can't kill a wolf with two characters, I don't think I can get this guy, even if I recruit the help of a guard. I'm going to start all over one more time and if the those two don't join my party still (I do shower every morning, but I'm not sure they do) I'll need to pick up some characters somewhere before I get to the Friendly Arm Inn. I am not a fan of Vista but it was the only option I had with the laptop.

Again, can anybody tell me a strategy for killing a wolf? It moves so rapidly. I have the two characters, main man (now a ranger) and Imoen.

This is really a great game. I wish I could learn how to play it. I have more in the waiting area, the BG2 collection.

[anarchistica]

Wolves are ridiculously powerful for the level you start at and give you a measly amount of XP, the same goes for Kobold Commandoes and Hobgoblin Elites. You had best avoid them and go for easy enemies (like Skeletons, Gibberlings and normal Kobolds) first.

Also, make sure everyone in your party has bows and slings. Ranged weapons are very powerful in BG1, they will make the game a lot easier.

Finally, you should consider taking a different character. Rangers are pretty much useless in BG1. You're much better off with a normal Fighter or a Paladin.

[kmonster]

Creating a powerful character is the best way to make the game easier. Create a ranger/paladin/fighter with 18 str,dex and con and specialize in big sword and bow. With a composite bow you'll have 2.5 attacks per round for 5-10 damage each which should be enough to take care of the wolf with Imoen's help and a little luck.

An effective tactic is having one character run around in circles chased by the the wolf (use the pause option to avoid standing still) , while the other shoots at it.
Imoen or a ranger can also hide in shadow, sneak until she spots an enemy, shoot and run out of sight and repeat this until the enemy is dead. (also very effective versus archers)

The mage in front of the FAI is an unfair, it's normal that you have trouble. There are several methods you can try, reload until you get lucky rolls, lure him to the guards which should help you, have Imoen hide in shadows and backstab him before he can cast his mirror image or run past him into the inn.

You'll often have some unfair battles which are too hard for your party. In this case just leave and do something easier, explore another area.

[GawainBS]

Kmonster's right: one of the best things you can do, is rolling untill you get good stats, and then redistributing the points for maximum effect.
We're more than eager to help you fine tune your character.

[Fulcanelli]

Hi, and thanks so much for the help here. Of course before this was posted I started a new game and have a ranger, which anarchistica says is pretty useless in BG1. Sheesh. I don't know if I can stomach starting yet another game. I do have ALL my characters using arrows and slings. I did get a few decent swords. My ranger has the Graywolf sword though I tend to use the bow most often...so far. Kmonster, I have been using that chasing in circle trick for some enemies and most of the time, it works okay. However, I've had huge packs of wild dogs (at least ten) attack me around the Temple near Beregost.

A few questions...when you say "roll until you get good stats" do you mean just start the game again and again until it happens? How does one redistribute the points? I think I have a lot to learn! I've had a level up for Imoen and my main character and I went into the level up screen and I saw nothing to add. The counters on both sides were "0." Also, my main character, according to the game, has a new ability, to heal minor damage, I think. I don't see how this happens. I can't find new spells or any way that makes healing possible with my main character.

I missed a few minor quests (like getting the antidote at the Friendly Arms to go kill the Spiders in Beregost and went back to the FAI to get it after I had already cleaned out the mines and couldn't find that character to get the antidotes.

Thanks.

[Crenshinibon]

When you make a new character, there is a screen where you get your attribute points. There are categories labaled "Strength," "Dexterity" and so forth. Next to each category is a number, which is the stat point. Next to each number is a plus and a minus, which you can press to add or subtract points, which is redistributing them, meaning that say you subtract points from Wisdom and put them into your Strength score. There are only so many points that you can redistribute, but the number changes with each reroll. So say I'm making a character and I subtract everything I can from all stats (by pressing the minus button), and the number near the "total points" text is the number I can distribute. If I find the number too low, I can reroll in hopes of getting a better number. Notice that there is a "store" button. Basically, it lets you store the current stat setup/number of distribution points. You can use it if you're not sure that you can beat the number of points that you have from this roll. So say you got 42 points to distribute and you want more, you'd press "store", which saves that set, but after a few minutes of rolling you find totals less than that, you can simply press "recall" to go back to that set.

[wise grimwald]

Whichever class you use will have advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of a ranger is that he can hide in shadows, so if you have just yourself and Imoen in the party, you can both just hide in shadows and walk past that mage at the Friendly Arms Inn. If you get Jaheira and Khalid to join you, you can use her spells to help. Resist fear and command are quite good ones to use. Otherwise, if they don't join you, you can just hide again and walk past him on the way out.

[Fulcanelli]

Oh, OK. I get it. In my past character set-ups I've hit the 'accept' button before experimenting there. I played with it last night. And I see the reroll function. It's really tough to pick a character's attributes, not knowing the game. The most common is probably creating a killing machine, but that's not my style, really. I like the crafty ones but lacking great game playing skills... So I'll be a killing machine for now. This is a great game, as fun (and perhaps more) than any RPG I played on the PS1.

I haven't gotten the stealth thing going yet. I tried it and the enemy saw me right away. I suspect I have to level up to increase that skill before it works for me. I still haven't gotten a character past the second level in this game. I started yet another character last night (that's why I don't get very far) with less brains and more brawn. I'm getting better and have even killed a few wolves.

Tell me if I'm doing this wrong. When I get in a fight, with swords (I confine all my fights so far to arrows and slings) I place the character close enough to slash. Do I leave it there or will moving the character around a bit prevent hits to my character? When I have been in these physical slash fests in the past, I get my butt sliced. And when a character gets serious hacked in the field, it's hard to heal without the blue bottles. I don't want to use them up.

I see you guys sometimes talk about coordinate points in the game. How does one gain access to those?

Thanks again for all the feedback. You're really helping me get the hang of this game. If there is a particular place online that explains more about the stealth features and other fine points of the game, let me know. I lost my original game notes some time ago and can't find the strategy guide I think I bought years ago.

I check out the walk-through on this site from time to time. It's quite good.

[GawainBS]

Moving around will not reduce the chances of getting hit. Like Kmonster pointed out before, a Fighter with 18 in STR, CON & DEX is pretty solid. Put all proficiency points (the "stars" in Large Swords). Don't forget to equip a shield. Save after every fight. Reload if things go wrong.
The coordinates can be read by pressing "L" or "X", not sure which. It will display X, Y coordinates of your cursor.

[Bluestorm]

Originally Posted by Fulcanelli

I originally bought this game when I had Windows ME. The computer on which I now play it is a laptop with Vista. I'm starting to wonder if there might be some problems here...I restarted yet ANOTHER game and had some strange things happen. For one, I couldn't get my character to talk to the inn keeper for some more goodies before I hit the dusty trail out of Candlekeep. My character would not engage talk. The 'talk' icon showed but he wouldn't go over and talk. That was right after I got a protection for evil spell in the Inn. (Not sure that matters.) And then there's the issue with the two gents on the road to the Friendly Arm (sorry, forgot their names at the moment.) One is the whiny character that says "Don't Touch Me!" all the time. They won't join my party. Did I do something wrong?

I'm playing this on vista and i have the same problems. What i found was to quick save then reload for me that works every time. Another problem i found that sometimes when using a bow my character would just stop attacking even if i re-clicked the enemy,found if you move alittle then you can re-attack

[Fulcanelli]

Thanks for the feedback. Damnit, I just built a new character (fighter) and got him to 18 but didn't raise the other attributes. I wonder if I'll get get past the mines playing BG1, with all these restarts. LOL. The attribute counter only allowed me to shave off a few numbers on each, so maybe I have to continue to 'roll the dice' until I get a meatier bounty to play with.

About the frequent saves, I thought that increased the difficulty level, with frequent saves giving me more enemies and those horrid "You have been waylayed" situations that throw me in the middle of nearly impossible groups of enemies all coming at me at once.

Bluestorm mentioned the Vista issues. Yes, I also have a situation where my character will refuse to talk to other characters, incl. inn keepers. That makes it hard to buy arrows and bullets.

[GawainBS]

I never noticed the frequent save - respawn issues. I think that's mostly people's imaginations.
Spending 10 minutes rolling decent stats and distributing them properly would have saved you more time by now. Remember, in AD&D (The system that BG uses) most of the time, a 15 in a stat is as bad as a 9 or 10. Only go for 18's in the important ones. Just decrease the others to the minimum, you won't have any disadvantages. (Really, an STR, DEX, CON 18 Fighter with 3 INT, WIS and CHA will be just as fine as one with 18 in INT, WIS, CHA.) One minor issue: a high CHA will give you cheaper prices, but Imoen has 17 CHA, just put her in the lead when you purchase things.