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I am getting this game soon and had a few questions about it.

1) do dwarfs get savings throws based on con? The manual says so, but several people say it was not implemented in the game.

2)What happens if you patch the "current" version of the game. I hear it will mess the game up, but I dont understand how. If you have BG v1.X and update it to v1.x (same version) how would that mess things up?

3)is it as hard as I hear?

4)would this make a good party:
Fighter (me)
fighter
paladin
thief
cleric
mage
Or should I drop the extra fighter for a ranger or another mage?

thanks

 

Welcome to the boards!

1)Yes dwarves and halflings get saving throw bonuses vs death, wands and spells based on their CON. +1 bonus per 3+½ CON is granted. Gnomes get the same bonus for wands and spells, but not death. So small folk are more durable.

2)I dunno.

3)No it is not too hard. Though if it is your first time in infinity engine games, you might need a little time to get used to. Once you know how to deal with threats and play with a party, vanilla BG1 is not that hard. Character creation guides and general combat tips guides are your friends. (charisma is your friend! You'll be suprised at how well people will reward you when you show off your 18 CHA infront of them!)

4)Rangers are not that hot in BG1. They level up slower than fighters, can not gain mastery in weapons, and only advantages are charm animal and stealth, neither particularly useful. They do not have dual wielding, which is a major turn-off in BG1 for me. (so I play Easy TuTu instead!)

A druid/fighter or cleric/fighter instead of the extra fighter would round up things perfectly. Healing spells are very useful. One pure mage is enough, though you can have a support caster. (a multi class mage or a bard)

You know you will only create your own character and find NPCs to join your party later, right? Sometimes, you just have to do your best with what you have.

 

1. Not sure, I never noticed the dwarves, gnomes or halflings making more saves than the humans. Pick race based on the character you want to role play, not the saving throws.

2. Check your version. Don't apply the patch unless the number of the patch is higher.

3. It has a learning curve, just like any game. I actually started it several times to test out how to play different classes. Be sure to save often.

4. Trying for that balance is good, but do not create an entire party. Create one character -- fighter is good, they generally have an easier time in BG1 (I prefer the noble hero so enjoy playing paladins and rangers). One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Baldur's Gate games is the NPC interactions, you don't want to deprive yourself of those (some are ROFL funny). I generally try for three warriors (fighter, ranger, or paladin), two healers (cleric or druid), two mages, and two thieves (each specializing in different things). You need dual classed/multiclassed characters for that -- there are plenty available.

A few suggestions: save often (I know I said that already, it's that important), have proficiency in missile weapons (bows are the best) they are very dominant in this game, and save often.

 

You shouldn't only save often, you should also save in many different slots. If you just use the quicksave, you could find yourself replaying a lot of the game if the save gets broken. Ive done that myself a lot of times.. I never learn.

 

Make sure you have Tales of the Sword Coast installed from the begining.
I wouldn't play it again without it.

1) Save before leveling up to avoid a bad roll.
2) Some NPCs come in pairs. You'll meet two of the pairs very early.
3) Some quests are timed. Two of these are very early.
4) Leave tons of room in your inventory for stuff you find in the mines in chapter two. Sell items (like bows) in bulk at once too avoid the games "market forces".

5) Try to find a +1 melee weapon for each character asap. Some are rare. Only one +1 two handed sword, one +1 bastard sword (you must steal), and one +1 halbred early in the game. You find both two handed ones in the wilderness. +1 spears are a bigger pain. Make sure you don't have a party with two characters both needing the same hard to find weapon. Not rare are: short swords, daggers, blunt(hammers/morning stars/ect...), long swords. Staves are so-so. There are two around early (one you buy, one you kill for). Only two +1 slings (one in a store and one hidden away in the halfling village) until you get to BG city. +1/+2 Bows are around but not falling off trees either.

6) Save before trying to scribe a spell for a mage.

7)Don't wander too far from the road early except going to the Gnoll Fort.

8) There are tomes to raise each of your attributes by +1. One for each except for wisdom which has three. The first one is in the Gnoll Fort area (HINT).

 

Multi class characters take longer to level than single class characters, and sometimes,especially if you keep the original experience cap for BG1, they cant get to the higher levels for thier classes. The slower leveling really shows up about 1/4 into the game when enemies start getting tougher, and your character is "lagging behind" the level he would be if he were single classed. That said, I've really had a lot of fun playing multi classed, and I'll usually save them at the end of the game so I can import them into a new game for another go-round. Cleric/mages are cool cause they can have a ton of different spells, and can wear some armor like helmets and shields so they can mix it up in a melee and use close up mage spells like shocking grasp without getting too killed.

As for saving games, I'll usually have one main line save that I save to when I get to a new area, then use quicksaves the rest of the time. The main exception is when I get to a decision point, like an important conversation, or when I'm asking myself "should I have killed that guy?", then I'll do a second regular save, go back to my most recent save previous and save my main line save there. That way I can continue from either branch of the decision for a ways 'till I (hopefully) can figure out which is the right, or better, or sometimes just least unpalatable decision to make.