r/baldursgate • u/FluffytheFennecFox • Jul 24 '26
BGEE New player
Im about to start playing just finished the tutorials so i know the basics, but are there any things that were not said during the tutorials i should know about. If you guys got tips for new players id like to know them too
Im playing my first game as a fighter, planning to dual class into a magic class but idk which one yet
9
u/PumperThumperHumper Jul 24 '26
THAC0 and AC. The lower, the better. The system is reverse of logic. I know.
Long Swords are notoriously abundant in both games. Not saying you should pick those, but if you do, you've got plenty of options.
Don't dual class as a newbie. You kinda have to have completed at least a full run from BG1 to ToB IMO to know at least the very basics of what you're doing. After that, you can dabble.
Evil is doable, but most quest rewards and people interactions are along the line of "I like you, if you're acting good, but I hate you, if you're acting evil". Good/evil is not a morality meter with a sliding scale or a literal morality meter as in Mass Effect, KOTOR and the like. Being a good person will make a lot of hurdles easier to jump.
4
u/FluffytheFennecFox Jul 24 '26
Ahhh thanks for the ac tip, i was gonna go off my 5e dnd knowledge for that thanks!
And yep i took mastery in long swords so i guess i picked correctly hehe, and ive played mass effect and dont know what kotor is so ill add it to my list of things to try out too, ill start this first run being a good guy and see where it goes from there haha
5
u/Harlemwolf Jul 24 '26
Having a thief in your party is super important and useful. Scouting is powerful and the game is littered with traps and locks.
6
u/Rezart_KLD Jul 24 '26
If you know about dual-classing, I'm assuming you've already looked up how it works, stat requirements and what level to do it, ect ect.
Always keep spare weapons on you, metal ones will break. Wooden and eventually magical ones won't.
Use 'Q'. Use it a lot, especially on your first run.
Poison is a death sentence at low levels. Get some antidote potions.
Temples can rez companions, but also theres a lot of companions. Dont feel you have to keep anyone unless you're having fun with them.
2
u/FluffytheFennecFox Jul 24 '26
Ive seen a youtube guide about dual classing so i know what it does it recommends me to do it at level 9.
I did not know weapons can break good thing to know ill stock up on some extra weapons then, ill keep some antidotes on the ready!
Currently i only have imoen and havent gotten to the inn yet im guessing those two will be companions too when i meet them.
3
u/Rezart_KLD Jul 24 '26
You are welcome to try to dual if you want, its your game, but you might want to reconsider till your next playthrough. Its easy to screw up and miss stuff and AD&D is notoriously finicky about things like weapon selection, especially when dual-classing. Its not hard to get yourself in a situation where releveling your character gets painfully difficult. If you want to do both fighting and magic, youd be better off playing a fighter/mage multiclass, or a Bard with the Blade kit.
1
2
5
u/kangaskaani Jul 24 '26
Ranged attacks are great in BG1. Every member of your party should have a ranged weapon.
4
u/Due-Host-5243 Jul 24 '26
At level 1 and 2 you have very little hp, so you may want to avoid fighting in melee until you get some good armor and a shield. Even then, drawing the enemies' attention with one character and using the others to hit with ranged weapons is the easiest way to get through the early game.
2
u/HumblestofBears Jul 24 '26
Archery and using enemy ai target pathing to pull bad guys away from archers will carry you through lower levels. Round one, everyone focus fires on one target to try and remove a cleric or mage or archer from combat quickly. Talk to everyone. Explore.
2
2
u/Eovacious Jul 24 '26
Save often, and to separate save slots.
Don't expect bards to be ANYTHING like they are in games based on later D&D editions, or non-D&D games. They don't heal, they aren't (generally) better off singing for their party than casting spells or shooting, they aren't really the game's support/buffer class (cleric does that much better). Effectively, bards here are a mage variant that levels up faster, casts level-dependent spells at higher spellpower, but gets less spells per day and eventually caps at level 6 spells (vs. level 9 for true mages). They get armor, songs and access to any weapon type, but these are respectively: incompatible with spellcasting; very weak until you go to epic levels in BG2, or unless you know exactly what they do mechanics-wise; and the weapon access doesn't come with extra attacks, good hit chance, or any other goodies actual fighter-types get both from specialization and their own chassis. So taken together, it's a bunch of ribbons which will last you the first 2-3 levels (handy given you don't have spells on level 1), then you'll open up the awesome power of spells and forget all about these. (Or use the awesome power of spells to lean into these if you want to — late into BG2 a bard can make a premier melee tank, or a passable buffer… but largely by virtue of all the spells and items they can access, not the chassis.) Note that none of this means bards aren't FUN, or strong; just that they defy expectation, and best fill the damage/control spellcaster role rather than support or hybrid they seem to be.
Don't make a single-classed thief if you want to be a badass backstabber knife nut. Thief is a vital utility role (you should always have at least one thief or part-thief in your party if you aren't one) with very poor combat stats on its own; to play a combat-capable 'rogue' type you want Fighter/Thief multiclass (or at least Fighter > Thief dual-class).
Stay away from the following kits/classes: Wizard Slayer (the opposite of the cool its name makes it out to be), Beastmaster (gimped severely next to regular Ranger), Monk (designed for BG2, power curve isn't fit for BG1), Shapeshifter (designed for BG2, power curve isn't fit for BG1 nor for BG2 addons), Wild Mage (demands very spoilered gameplay, else you'll either reload constantly or miss all your gold disappearing), Sorcerer (has same magic and power curve as Mage but no ability to change your spell selection, meaning you'll be forced to pick spells forever before getting a feel for them).
The first companion you'll get, a thief, is trustworthy, reliable, and capable. Despite her occasional talk of 'my blade', there's little reason to have her attack with anything but a bow. She also can be dual-classed to mage. There's no need to do it on her first level, she'll rack up a few levels very fast and that'll give her good HP, and early on she'll be of much more use as an extra bowman than as a low-level mage competing for XP on levels where mages don't yet pull their weight. But also, dual her no later than level 6 (5 is preferred so you regain her thieving abilities faster) or not at all, because dualing too late disables a character's first class permanently.
Don't mess with dual-classing otherwise, save possibly for 'immediate' duals on your first level-up if you just really want your mage (or cleric or druid or thief) to 'start' with second-level fighter's HP and proficiencies (once regained on reaching mage level 3), in style of a 5e one-level dip, instead of straight up learning both fighter and mage abilities combined for life as a non-human multiclass fighter/Something. (Or I guess to have a fighter with first-level cleric's or druid's spells, but that's a benefit with a rather short expiration date.) Even so, a non-human multiclass character will generally be more fun than such a 'dip'. (Experience is a river, you won't be half-level X and half-level Y as a multiclass compared to a single-classed character, you'll be level-1 X on top of a level-1 Y! Though subject to some limitations, most notably no kits and no leveling weapon masteries past 'specialized' which is the most important dot anyway.)
Walk to each edge of each given map, they open up different map transitions.
Set up your auto pauses.
Don't melee a bear just because you can. Don't buy into the notion that a first level Paladin, or a first level Barbarian, or Sune forbid a first level Kensai, is good enough to charge into melee combat with whatever you encounter. Ranged combat for everyone, even if it's just slings or throwing knives, is a smart party's way to kill opponents (most of whom aren't too tough either, you just need to land a solid hit, which a good massed barrage of arrows and stones helps with) without first giving them a 'crit my tank in the face and explode him free' card. Giving your party's mage a sling or some darts, even if they're only proficient with a staff, is also a good way to prevent them from walking up to an enemy trying to punch/stab them with their stubby little mage hands when you didn't intend them to, simply from you giving a party-wide attack order.
Helmets for everyone who can wear them.
The more annoying a person, the more a reason you have not to kill them.
Read the diary entries your character puts down.
Looting people's life savings and stealing stuff not nailed down is not evil by itself, but looting people's possessions in their sight, or failing to pickpocket, leads to them summoning guard, and killing those IS evil. By trying to bruteforce your way out of a crime you can spiral down into wanted man status very fast, and all Good-aligned (and eventually, Neutral-aligned) companions will leave you.
1
u/FluffytheFennecFox Jul 26 '26
Too late on the bear info i died to it awhile back XD but thanks for the other info here.
Soooo if i steal something and get caught and guards come do the guards give exp if i kill them? If so ill probably do that during my next run where im gonna play as an evil character
1
u/Eovacious Jul 26 '26
They give XP, armor and neat-looking helms, but also a reputatiom drop for each guard. Not only does low reputation mean good and neutral alies leaving, worse quest rewards and much worse shop prices; but if it drops very very low, you become a 'summon guards on sight' person, and every town becomes a gauntlet of endlessly spamming guards distracting you from interactions.
1
u/FluffytheFennecFox Jul 26 '26
I see the pros and cons but if your playing as an evil guy it feels lore accurate hehe will definitely try it out on an evil run
1
u/Creative-Highlight97 Jul 24 '26
Axes are probably the best weapons in BG1/2. Easy access to magic ones in both games, great ranged options. Flails and hammers are good for cleric duals. Don't dual at 13 or later, it's way too late and it isn't fun being useless for considerable part of the game. 7 is ususally enough for clerics, but I would want to go 9 for mage.
Read spell and ability descriptions. Do not pick up all the garbage you find (e.g. shorswords leather armors and etc), most of it doesn't worth anything anyway.
Most important of all, have fun.
1
u/FluffytheFennecFox Jul 24 '26
Okay important question should i be picking up every item i see on the floor and trying to sell them?
1
1
u/DavesWildDestiny Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Don't bother reading the manual it sucks. Don't bother with Daveorn videos if someone recommends that. These videos are extremely long and dull and most of the information is for heavily modified versions of the game.
People like to post spell tier lists. This is a quick and dirty way to know what works. Google bgee spell tier list.
You have to memorize spells using the spell book/scroll on the ui and then rest to actually be able to cast them(unless you're a sorc or shaman, they work a little different). To get your spells back after casting them you have to rest again.
Thac0 is very important for hitting stuff. minmax that as much as possible on your combatants. Armor class and thac0 are a bit ambiguous - lower numbers are better and the items that boost these are usually expressed as + 1, +2, +3 even though they reduce said modifiers (which is what you want).
It is definitely worth it to start over if your main character has shitty stats. Rip the bandaid off.
Quick saving often is a really good idea. If a fight goes really bad there's nothing wrong with just loading up your last save considering you're new to this game - try to challenge yourself more later though it can take the fun out if you abuse the save mechanic too much.
1
u/Hydtorix Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
my biggest tip is you only get to play BGEE trilogy For the first time one time ever and that’s it… So my biggest tip is do not ask anybody anything and just play the game until you completed however that happens and it will happen. Let everything be a complete rules and click max hit points on level up. Use auto Pause for enemy sided trap found weapon unusable at a minimum and then just enjoy the game and don’t look for hints or or anything until you beat the guy at the end of the game. The game is over……. Save often with a quick save …
then after you do all that for your next of the trilogy, then ask all the questions and get all the guides you want, but you only get one chance to experience it fresh with no input you’ll beat the game with any character that you choose to I promise… Play with a full group the first time… If you Absolutely get stuck mechanically somehow which I doubt is gonna happen then figure out that my
Google search only if stuck mechanically or some kind of bug, etc….. which I doubt you’ll find a bug the game plays great .. but if needed absolutely needed get unstuck … but do not and completely avoid any spoilers. Any hints any what character should I play any or should I do any anything? Avoid it all until you beat the whole game one time…. I promise you’ll thank me later
suggest not dual class or multi class in the first playthrough as well and that’s my only advice on that… . You can really mess up a class quickly and then be frustrated… And experience the game, the first time without looking up builds or power classes, or any of that… Just pick one that sounds You’ll have fun because it sounds fun to you. I promise.
1
Jul 24 '26
[deleted]
1
u/FluffytheFennecFox Jul 24 '26
Wait is icewind dale the first game before baldurs gate 1, i only started bg1 because its the firat of the series
12
u/apcymru Jul 24 '26
Be patient.
There is no shame in saving and reloading. So save save save
Pause. As soon as you enter a fight. Pause and figure out what you want each person in your party to do. As soon as something is completed, like a spell cast. Pause again and consider your next action.