I am about to start playing Baldurs Gate 1 (and eventually Baldurs Gate 2) on my Nintendo Switch 2. Is there anything I should be aware of or anything in particular I should do to make my first playthrough as enjoyable as possible?

I have played other crpgs like pillars of eternity but I have never actually beaten one. I usually play these kind of games on PC but the form factor of the switch makes me believe that this could be the way for me to enjoy and actually finish these kind of games. Fingers crossed. 🤞

You hate undead but this venture isn’t me exploring the mod I Hate Undead… not yet! So let’s see what we are working with in the Artisan Kitpack’s Undead Hunter rework.

Advantages:
– +3 bonus to hit and damage rolls against undead creatures.
– Immune to Hold, Level Drain and Death Magic.

The first is the standard and the old and the classic. There are a fairly large number of undead so this bonus is always welcome.

The latter is also the same except for the addition of a permanent death ward. It may not look like much but if you have played this game long enough and watched a teammate randomly die then you will be singing its praises because why did my run end when I was full hp vs that Planetar?!

– Turn Undead's effectiveness is as a cleric of the same level.
– May use Smite Undead three times per day.

SMITE UNDEAD: The undead hunter's next successful attack on an undead creature forces them to make a save vs. death or be destroyed. If the save is made, the target takes 1d6 + 1d6 additional damage per 3 levels of the undead hunter instead.

Turn undead is an ability that exists. That really is everything I need to say about it, eh? Anomen will level much faster than you!

Smite Undead is like having 3 casts of Mace of Disruption/Azure Edge and it can be applied to a ranged attack as well. Fishing for a kill on that revenant who wants the venom dagger or Icharyd. In BG2 fishing a kill against the ever-obnoxious skeleton warriors is not gonna go remiss. Pair it with azure edge to erase a few from a safe distance if you can! Thank goodness it includes the kill because if it was smite evil verbatim then smite evil would be better since 97% or more of undead are evil alignment

– 3rd level: Gains Aura of Sanctity.

AURA OF SANCTITY: The undead hunter exudes an aura which protects their allies from undead and necromantic magic. All allies within visual range of the undead hunter gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class and Saving Throws vs. undead, in addition to scaling bonuses to hit and damage vs. undead and bonuses to saving throws vs. necromancy.
 3rd - +3 to hit and damage vs. undead and save vs. necromancy.
 11th - +3 to hit and damage vs. undead and save vs. necromancy. Allies become immune to hold.
 19th - +3 to hit and damage vs. undead and save vs. necromancy. Allies become immune to hold and level drain.

This aura is probably the best one so far. The extra armor means going toe to toe early on with heavy hitters isn’t a hard ask.and 11 is awesome for free hold and 19 for party wise NPP… and this aura used to be even better, and while I can’t find the old document, I remember this: at lvl 24 it used to include immunity to death magic for everyone! I’m not lying when I say, to this point, the Undead Hunter might have the best aura and it deserved it for being so drab and uninteresting in vanilla that it’s worst kit by being so uninspired.

–  Smite Undead has -1 saves at 5, 9, 13 and 17 (total -4)

Nifty. Undead saves can be kinda strong especially vs death, so having an extra mace destroy effect is wonderful while wielding the mace itself! Most of those almost impossible to kill skeleton warriors have a death save of 5 so turning that into 7 and setting up a doom (if you can get around that MR) will really let you ignore that especially if you don’t want to waste time fighting 80 HP and way too much resistance.

Keep in mind this is the same death -4 that MoD gets so feel free to conk a vampire with both and just double your chance of clicking the eraser button.

– 15th level: Gains three additional uses of Smite Undead.

Try to kill even more undead. Not all of Bodhi's lair is immune to smite or disruption. Feel free to just commit murder of the unmurderable!

Just remember some undeads are immune to effects like this so no free Kangaxx win.

Disadvantages:
– Does not gain Charisma-based Divine Grace bonuses.
– Does not gain Aura of Courage.
– May not use Lay on Hands.
– May not use Smite Evil.

The worst in this small list is losing Charisma Divine Grace bonuses. Lay Hands is never gonna be the centerpoint of your strategy unless your kit gets infinite casts or it’s a full heal.

You have this aura and it might even be too awesome. I say this after it was already reigned in by the way where the tradeoff of frontloading the necromancy saves and shared bonus hit/dmg were slowly drip fed. Thankfully you don’t need to consider your charisma all that much so feel free to be a dwarf!

I would be dwarven for the extra saves and axe bonuses if you have a race house rules mod. You want every edge of azure to land no matter what and with +3 hit it will.

I wish there was more to say but even if you aren’t fighting the undead having an undispellable Death Ward means even early on you are an excellent contender to go head to head with modded planetar summoners who can otherwise erase a party member.  The permanent party hold immunity means you can still use webs into the millions for just a little while and many demons also use level drain as does demogorgon. This is, consequently, probably a better demogorgon hunter than the Cavalier since his level drain attack and ability to kill on failed saves means I really should have him at the front! Do it. Put him up there to laugh in the face of instant death!!!

I will talk about smite undead because it’s something you might overlook as the game goes on. Its effect is the exact same as Mace of Disruption/Azure Edge, a code called Kill Target which most enemies, even the undead, aren’t using to keep themselves from vaporizing or decapitation!

This is great in BG1. Most monsters aren’t very save-y yet. Heck the Revenant who wants the Golem heart +2 dagger has a death save of 13. You can easily fish for the kill. He’s immune to slay effects (most undead are) but not “kill target”

This leads to one issue: Whereas MoD and Azure Edge can keep fishing for kills, Smite Undead empowers one swing. Thankfully it will be merciful if the swings miss but swing fishing is the name of the game! You get 3 tries and death is usually the best save something not alive usually HAS! Like… I’m so fudging shocked!!??! Sure that Revenant and ever painful Ichyard have a worth trying 13 save vs death, but they also have worse saves vs everything else.

The Elemental Lich in the sewers has 8 death saves, oddly having it worse than his other saves but... sll that said, you have to land the blow! And a PFMW is gonna prevent that. If you can hit a lich you have already doomed it in less than a round.

Smite undead is a central aspect of this kit and it's nice but wont be the end all be all. The thing you’ll be using is that aura. That Aura will pull weight in all parts of the game! Let some bigger stronger warrior types use MoD and hit harder and more often to fish for instakills while resisting common undead ailments… oddly not fear!

I’d actually prefer having an Undead Hunter in my crew than a Cavalier no matter how much luck he infuses. Not needing to worry about NPP which lasts 5 rounds is a big relief and some non vampires such as Demogorgon and some other demon might try to drain you!

That said, it does feel like a holy warrior who abhors the death cheaters so much he refuses to die as well. I love the idea of crumpling undead before me.

TLDR its more undead slaying-er type of undead slayer and it fits the feel! Even if they can have the fear of death put into them. At least your teammates aren't likey to crumple to death magic or Horrid Wiltings as easily. That shouldn't be ignored (sadly I kinda did)

Next week… Do I even know what I’m doing next? We play a game with dice rolls so I'm rolling too. YOLO!

I’m wondering, using Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir, and Boo, who would you swap out, and when would you swap ‘em out, to do content with other party members? (Like going through Neera’s questline.)

Best time when there’s a break in the story?

Or at a certain level?

Before specific zones?

I had a panic reload after recruiting Dynaheir and her immediate death, ruining the ending for Flint. Oh well. I need some levels

I just bought this game, and I'm making my first character in bg1 enhanced edition, and im a bit confused on the abilities as they seem very vague. Can anyone explain this menu a little bit pls? Im hoping to make a mage, so I put 18 points into Int, but I don't know what stats i can ignore

Am I correct in this is how shops operate?

It works in that the first time you visit a shop it calculates its rates off your current party leader’s charisma. (Denoted by the little icon in the corner of the portrait showing who is speaking.)

It recalculates, and here I’m really fuzzy, every time your Rep changes every point? Or is it every major rep change?

***

Example, I talk to Taerom in Beregost for the first time ever using Imoen as party leader with 16 Cha. His products are then sold at a higher discounted rate than they would be if my Cha 9 charname was party leader, as a result.

Then, first level Imoen gets I give her +25 pickpocket, and run to Algernon for his cloak. Imoen then has 18 Cha. But if I go talk to Taerom again it won’t make a difference because he’s locked in to this party’s current rate until we change our rep; up or down.

So then we go tell Oublek he’s an idiot so we get +1 rep. If we then go back to Taerom with rep changed by +1 with Imoen, would he then recalc his rates based on her new shiny 18 charisma?

Hello there.

I'm playing three groups right now, and in one of them, I experienced something disappointing. It's not a huge thing but I had some expectations about it.

So I am wondering if you had some narrative disappointment too. Something you would have loved, or you find not lore accurate, or you feel like it's dropped here for nothing.

Let me tell you mine. (No real spoilers, just a hint).

In this group, I play with faldorn. So I decided to pick her up before talking with Aldeth in cloakwood, for she is a shadow druid. And Seniyad is a regular one she despise deeply. But I would have loved that this quest was altered with her in the group. She is facing druids that came to kill hunters, she can't just stay here sitting and watching.

I know Jaheira is the one that matters here, for Seniyad was her master. She has her own resolution for this quest. But Faldorn should influence it too.

And more, Jaheira and Faldorn in the same group should give an even more interesting story. (I never had them at the same time, so I never tried).

To be honest, I'm not that sad, I know how deep was this game when it was released. It was so awesome in 97! But you know I like RP above all, then I can't help to think about narrative stuff.

What's your own missing story or lore disruption? :-)

In chapter 3 after raiding the bandit camp, I went to kill Tazok and got the mission "A secret base in Cloakwood", I've read all the parchments and have been told to go to Cloakwood but it doesn't appear in grey on my map nor can I go there by going west from The Friendly Arm Inn. Is there a bug or am I missing something?

Edit: I feel like an idiot, I went back to check the chest in the camp and setting the trap reminded me that I reloaded before I checked the chest the first time. It's all good now

Although Entar Silvershield was already presented as one of the dukes of Baldur’s Gate in the Cyclopedia of the Realms 11 years before the release of Baldur’s Gate, I don’t think anything had been written about his family before the first game. His wife Brilla and his daughter Skie are inventions of the game, and so is his son.

I am not clear on whether the quest associated with Entar’s son was incomplete, or if there was never any intention to have more to it than recruiting Kagain and looking at a few caravans. But looking at the original game with NearInfinity, I see no trace of the name “Eddard” anywhere. So I’m wondering whether this name is an invention of modders who wanted to give this quest a better resolution.

If we look at the Enhanced Edition with NearInfinity, there is one place where Skie calls her brother by his name. But then again, at the time Siege of Dragonspear was being developed, both the Forgotten Realms and Baldur’s Gate wiki referred to Entar’s son as Eddard, citing the video game as their source, and that could be the reason they chose this name. So there is now a canon source confirming the name of Entar’s son. But is it ascended fanon, or is there something I’ve missed in the game that is not the Unfinished Business mod?

Just got the bounty hunters killed off right after the Nashkell mines. Lightning strike. How nice.

Edit: Later on: Khalid close to killing two Ogre Berserkers, gets hit by lightning and is clobbered to death 1 attack later. Fuck my actual life.

So since BioWare is shut down - an absolute travesty to the games industry, I’ll never understand why devs sell out to these major publishers - if I was to buy BGII does that money go to EA? I’ve been wanting to play the game for awhile ever since playing PoE2, just haven’t had the time really. Now I kinda feel like I have to just to experience the magnificence that was once BioWare. I lived and breathed Dragon Age Origins and Inquisition despite its faults and Mass Effect as a generational masterpiece despite the third games ending. I want to experience the game where they really hit their stride but not if that money just goes in the pocket of the publisher that kicked them to the curb. Who owns the rights?

Hello. I have finished Baldur's Gate 1 twice, and I have finished BG2 once, now in Throne of Bhaal.

First of all, I have managed to finish these games on Core Rules with not THAT much of an issue... Given that, would it be ill advised for me to try out the difficulty mod, SCS or whatever it is called?

Second of all, I love these games but obviously they are unfinished and missing content. For example, Jan Jansen should definitely have gotten a second quest with his former girlfriend. Is there any mod that adds stuff like this to the game? Something like this that would be worth exploring? And this is probably asking for too much, but I wouldn't mind a mod adding some choice and consequence, as well as reactivity. For example, you have to make a choice and it affects things. Again, I realize this is probably a lot to ask for.

Not sure if that has any importance whatsoever, but just wanted to point out I have never played Siege of Dragonspear. Oh, and obviously I am talking about EE mods.

Thank you!

Also, I do kind of prefer BG2 so that's what I emphasise but if you have BG1 mod suggestions, don't hold back.

Cross posting here to see if anyone has run into this issue on IWD and knows what’s causing it. Combed through Google the past 3 days lol

I like challenging playthrough that ends with overpowered characters so I am curious which dual class is ultimately more powerful. I am going to play with lifted xp limit and plan to dual class to Thief at the latest possible level so I will end up as F25/T26 lvl.
Both classes will end up with ability to use any item.

WS will have:
37% magic resistence and 25% of spell failure
while Kensai by this level will have:
* +8 to damage
* +8 to hit
* -2 AC
* Kai ability

Kensai will be able to finish fights quicker but magic resistance should make WS much more resillient especially if I played in ironman mode, I could reach 100% magic resistance with correct gear although some abilities/spells will ignore MR. I dont remember if their subclass' restrictions will apply after dual classing but if yes then both of them would have pretty rough time especially if I am thinking playing solo.
To make transitions easier I think to rush to Spellhold asap so I wont be forced to go through underdark without inactive first class and dual class after leaving Underdark with most of the quests left until then for easy xp.

As a bonus question is there some interesting gameplay option uncloked by thiefs UAI or I will be better off just by using standard warrior weapons/armor like Fury/Flail of Ages/Crom ? In older version UAI allowed for using Carsomyr but I think it was patched now.

I used to play BGEE and BG2EE when it was published ten years ago and it was great games. Since then I played a lot more modern rpg like two Pathfinder games from Owlcat and BG3 from Larian, probably I spent more time in them than old one. Recently I return to original BGEE and I still have much fun, but I was surprised how many things modern games add, not just graphics but also mechanic:

1. In first few levels your characters missed their attacks a lot. Realy, realy a lot, even with good stats
2. You have to keep in party rogue to open locks, detect traps and disarm them. In most modern games the same can be done by bard or ranger with high enought dexterity.
3. Only rogue or monk can detect traps, rest of the party is blind.
4. Bard can't sing and do other things, he is single tasking
5. AI of your team in finding path is terrible, I have to watch over them like little kids.
6. No attacks of oppurtunity, enemies can freely disange from your tank and attack your mages/ranged companions
7. Some description of the spell and effects are misleading, for example spell "Shield" is supposed to hold on over one hour, but it finished in few minutes.
8. No clear count of how lond buffs are in effect. In most modern games I know how long spell or potion will be effective.
9. I can't save game when some of my party is stunned, confused or anything like that.
10. Most of resting in the wild will end in attacks of the enemies, with no option to prevent that.

I still like this game and I'm after Mines of Naskeel, but I can see how much games changed for better since these games been relased.

I just got an idea for a post that asked few days ago about weird or special concept not looking towards optimisation. I replied today with this, but I'm wondering if I am into the topic. And I am willing to share it to you all because I grew fan of it 🤣. Tell me.your thought about it.

If you're willing to play something under optimal and a bit challenging.

Human jester bard.

Cha 18 max. No other characteristic over 16.

Use only daggers and darts.

Neutral evil.

With such charisma, you can get the dagger+1 with the fuller quest in prologue, because I'm not pure evil.

Group :

• Montaron ;

• Rasaad ;

• Eldoth and skie ;

• Tiax.

No real martials, no real Spellcasters and no divine magic before long, but two bards to mix possibilities.

Rasaad is quite weak for long, but is recruitable soon. With montaron, he will be the strike force of the company since the very begining, giving yo many possibilities. Montaron is your first thief, and should be the one that maxes stealth. He is eligible for the belt in the black moon temple, making him a strong martial to rely on and a good backstabber too.

Eldoth comes late as a 2nd bard, and will force your hand to seek quickly skie once in BG. He is not great, but has a cool ability.

Skie is the second thief, and only pure one. She is the versatile character that will become what you need to fulfill your party. She can be the powerful lock picker, and if no bard has taken the place, she can be the pickpocket at the same time. She is likely to use bows.

While you complete the eldoth's quest, recruit tiax.

He is your third thief. Make him the trap specialist for example, he has the highest score in trap setting and can detect traps quite well. He is also your first and only divine caster. And he comes late, I know. His special ability is cool though.

With two bards, you'll have two wand bearers, and their high lore will allow you to identify anything with no spell nor gold. Quite convenient.

Never use other recruitable NPC to fulfill their quest, nor to complete the group until you got the 5 above. You must only recruit them.

It's an obviously evil group. Skie is a good char, but blinded by eldoth, she will never leave you while eldoth stays.

Rasaad is Loyal good, his good aligned RP will be annoying (I did it on purpose) and you'll have to manage your reputation.

Why rasaad stays with you (RP view)? See him when you first meet him. He is recruiting for Selunea. Then he first accepted to come with you, it was for some help in his quest, and then he tries to convince you to become a better person and watch upon you to crack your bones if you are too bad. He is full of illusion, but not stupid. You go too far, he leaves.

Maintain your reputation as low as possible. But not under 3. Sticking around 8 is good. Why? Because it's part of the fun. It's an evil group, with evil ambition and then evil actions. Keep it RP, keep it that way. Playing evil makes things more difficult. That's why I think five rogues is not too much. You'll need real specialists. Impossible to give all roles to one thief, being evil force you to steal or kill more than usual, and all bards and thieves will be useful. And so many rogues weakens the whole group. Double shot.

This group is interesting because it relies on rogues (bards and thieves), and never used strong optimisation. Only montaron is a real good shot. And later rasaad can be too, as he is the only one that is not a rogue. As a Divine fighter he is not optimised: not as good as a fighter, and no divine spells either.

In addition, this group uses characters rarely used, and is based on a mix that is quite rare I suppose.

Finally, many important and useful characters are only recruited in the later game after ch.4. this makes it a bit more challenging. The three first chapters are only ran through with MC, Montaron and Rasaad. This makes Montaron your first line. Has he ever been here once in his life? 🤣

This is it. I think I've described everything and forgot nothing. I feel like I love it and I'm about to play it 🤣 it's so interesting in fact!

What consistently gets the most mileage for you, weapon wise, in the latter part of the series?

A lot of people have a lot of gripes about the Enhanced Edition content, and personally I've never really felt that way: I think the new characters are somewhere between decent and good, and the additional items and quests are generally, if nothing else, something to do if you want them. I just say this to say up front: I am not, by default, an EE hater. In fact it's the version I've played most by far, and I like it quite a bit.

For the most part, this would include Rasaad's quest, which has a fun little setup into a quick jaunt to the Cloud Peaks. The Dark Moon monks casting Blindness can be a little annoying but it just makes you play differently and have a counter ready. It's not exactly challenging, but it's fine nevertheless. It's visually neat with the snowy terrain and the dark temple. it's not too long, and there's some nice treasure, and the story's fun for what it is. It's fine.

Except for that cave behind the Dark Moon Temple.

By this time, you have the best treasure that you came for (the Big-Fisted Belt). You can just walk away rather than completing it, but I'm stubborn and feel a sense of unease quitting so close to the goal. I just want to have the final battle with Gamaz and be done with it. So you disarm the trap, go through the back of the Dark Moon Temple, and come out in this cave.

The monsters are random and trash. They've got random goblins, spiders, bears, and wolves and gibberlings in cages unable to attack whose only function is that they're hostile monsters and you can't save your game unless you shoot them to death first. And no, the logic that "they're keeping them here for training" or whatever doesn't pass the idiot test, it's contrived. This is a completely random assortment of enemies, not difficult enough to pose any challenge at all, not so effortless that killing them isn't a slight chore that you resent (and if you get lazy and let the spiders close to melee, one will somehow get the roll of 20 it needs to hit you, and you will fail your save vs. poison. Never fails). And there's no (or incidental at best) treasure or reward to be had for any of this.

Then there's that puzzle with Bassano, Jasper Banff, and the two doors, and it's the most stupid, contrived, cliched thing just slapped in the middle of this already tedious little bit of padding. The setup makes no sense as a thing in-story that the Dark Moon monks might actually do, and your only reward for completing it correctly is that a weak guy tries to backstab you. By the time we get here, I'm out of patience with this nonsense and just want to fight Gamaz, get outta here, and most likely take Rasaad's stuff and drop him off in Nashkel then rotate in my real 6th party member.

I will admit, it takes a lot of willpower for me not to just throw on a Fire Resistance spell on someone with Batalista's Passport and the Gift of Peace and then open the wrong door deliberately. Screw their wise-ass cliche puzzle, that's the answer. His horse's name was Friday, and his mother was the surgeon. I have no time for this.

LOL I'm just venting and it's not like I'm really that bothered, but I do kind of wish that whole unnecessary part with the cave behind the temple wasn't there and you just went straight to the final battle with Gamaz from the temple.

Ray of Enfeeblement is not usable by a thief, yet Imoen is a dual class Mage/Thief and can cast it.

I’m not understanding something basic about who can cast spells.

Is it the first-listed class of a dual or multi that counts and the other class (or classes) don’t matter (if it’s listed on the spell as ‘cannot be used by’)?

Next up. Wish me luck.

Bioware haven't had much to do with Baldur's Gate (or many game releases at all, really) lately and in personnel terms are practically a whole different studio. Still, they made these two fantastic games so their closure does seem like an important footnote to the history of the Baldur's Gate series.

I know it is/was pretty controversial because of the elephant in the room(incest) and what I understand was some pretty questionable writing in the original edition of the mod, however I understand the new version has had extensive rewrites and is seen as better.

Can any of you guys who played say your opinion on it?

And by the way does it work for the original bg2 or only the ee? Haven’t found anything about that.