BG1 first time!

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OK this weekend I was home, and played BG1 very first time!

It was like a dream come true. I was sooo excited and all!

I only got the patch. And the game started, without a problems, despite me running it on Windows XP. Yay!

Opening movie. Wow. That is scary! Right from a horror movie!

Who is that poor guy? Another Bhaalspawn? Does it have an importance to the story? Or is it there just to show off how wicked and cool and scary and eeeevil Sarevok is!

I created my conjurer, with the very first roll. Had sucky STR, a 7, but ehh.

Took missile weapon proficiency! Wow, I can now use both darts and slings with one proficiency? Cool, I had no desire to enter melee with sucky STR anyway.

Game started. And I totally lost myself to it. Played non-stop, for hours, from night till dawn...I needed sleep badly, was awake for more than a day, but it was well worth it!

The game is difficult. I learned this when I got killed by a wolf. Come on!

I tried changing map for the first time, and...'you have been waylaid by enemies and bla bla' I said 'COOL' but when I saw at least a dozen of blond bandits, and the arrow rain started, and I fell like a log. I was sooo unlucky I guess. Reload!

Now I am at chapter 4, and recently hit lvl 5. I can cast Flame arrow now, yay!

My party:

Me-kind and naive conjurer. Has found a wand of fire at some dungeon. Very powerful!

Immy-I do not want to dual her, she is cool! More childish and naive though, she has not suffered at the hands of Irenicus yet. Has a shortsword+2 and lots of flaming arrows (from kobolds)

Jaheira-Cool as always, a little more distant, but solid and hot!

Khalid-I thought I was going to hate ths guy, but he is good. He now has Full plate and medium shield+1 from bandit camp, he has best AC, HP, and when I cast STR on him, he becomes a killing machine as well. Cool!

Minsc And Boo-They are great, Minsc is cool, he berserked and gutted Mulahey! Yay! Has two handed sword+1 and the magical bow from bandit camp.

Dynaheir-She is a decent person. (hey, LG alignment should count for something!) She can cast most needed Identify!

I met Xar and Montaron, but they are too wicked. Found Garrick too, killed Skie, and ditched him. I have no good impressions on him from BG2. Xan is cool and good, but I do not need more mages. Safana also wanted me to lure to some dungeon, perhaps later honey.

I am having great fun! A few fast questions:

-I found a Cloudkill scroll and hastily copied it. Now, I know the XP cap is lvl 7, so...if I get the XP cap remover, will I be able to cast it? I am just at chapter four and lvl 5. Should I get the XP cap remover?

-Umm, am I close to the end? Did I rush too fast? Ah, I haven't met most of the NPCs yet though.

-Did I catch you, Mordakai?

-Where is Eldoth? I think he is cool. But hey, do not tell me, nevermind.

-Which weapon proficiency do you reccomend for my conjurer at next lvl up? Daggers are cool, and they can be thrown as well, but I noticed staves has a very long reach at this game, so...which is better?

-Sarevok was scary when he killed Gorion. 20+ dmg per hit, so many attacks per round and all....How am I supposed to beat this guy with 20 HP conjurer .....hehe I like the sound of it!

See you around! BG1 is a totally great game!

 

Sorry. You're up to Chapter 4 after only one weekend?! That took me months!

 

Yes he's a Bhaalspawn, like Sarevok says: "I will be the last. And you will go first"

If you want some more constitution, you'd better follow her.
...Umm.... that sounded perverse, so, no sex.

Lvl.5, Chapter 4? That's quite normal, you gots TotSC? Go do some sidequests, makes the game easier.

Sarevok is easy to kill with a tank, you just first have to clear all his buddies off.


Get the tomes!

 

He. I remember my first time on BG1, I really took my time cleansing everything, and it took forever. So I'll join HB in being impressed.

 

Thank you very much for the fast replies!

What? Oh my...am I too fast? Sorry, I guess that was your first IE game, and I am now, quite frankly, skilled at IE games. I also did a few side quests as well.

No I do not have ToTSC, do I miss much?

Oh, I can always come back yes? Is there a way to go to that dungeon without her? I have no place in my party, which is a bummer. What should I do?

Also, I could not kill Ochre Jellies back in a previous dungeon. Tried webbing them and ranged attacks, but they are immune to ranged damage, plus they have MR, they never miss, and kill fast. Do they guard a good treasure? Should I now come back and try my luck with new fireballs? Uh, I already looted the spiffy fire wand from that dungeon, and killed a vampiric wolf. (fun!) I guess it was the most valuable treasure in the dungeon?

I will! If only I can find them!

 

I think it took me several weeks just to get to Nashkel. And I'd been playing IWD2 for ages before hand.

 

Mr. Dead, probably, not really, and of course.

Addictive, isn't it?

You should've known better than to take on a 2 HD monster with a 1st level conjurer.

Those random encounters are always bad. You start out at a tactical disadvantage by being surrounded, and a quick pause is almost necessary for survival to avoid being put at more of a disadvantage by getting a late start against the AI. Early on, you can really get creamed in those (especially if it's a first-day encounter and you haven't built a party yet), but once you get a couple levels you should be able to keep everyone alive if you're careful.

I'd recommend it, but mostly because the XP cap is an artificial restriction anyway. Really, you're not going to get enough XP to hit 9th level as a wizard unless you solo or have a small party with TotSC. You probably won't miss the Cloudkill scroll since its best use (IMO) is in a situation that is only properly exploited by foreknowledge.

I'd say you're about halfway, though the reference to killing Skie when you say you're only in Chapter 4 confuses me.

Cloakwood. But I won't tell you where.

I typically take small sword for the first proficiency because they can be thrown or melee (if you get in trouble), and then you don't get another proficiency until 6th level. Then I take staves for taking on the hard boys that are missile-resistant, for the reach.

Easiest strategy is a mountain of summons to keep him busy carving while you pelt him. Unlike in BG2, in BG1 the Animate Dead spell in un-nerfed, creating one skeleton per level, with no summon limit. Your clerics can raise an army by the end of the game.

 

There sure is, you just have to know where it is.

Yup, ye olde Durlag is waiting for you on that disc.

 

If you think your rushing the game too much just explore! Thats the beauty of Baldurs Gate and why it drags so many of us back to it. I wish I could go back to the first time I played Baldurs Gate, I bought it by accident thinking it was an RTS, what a great mistake. Sarevok also scared me when he killed Gorion, I sat adding up all the hitpoints of damage Gorion did to him thinking is this guy invincible? Glad your having fun.

 

I think he meant Silke, as he made that statement in between two Garrick references.

[ December 11, 2006, 06:09: Message edited by: ChickenIsGood ]

 

I agree with Duffin...I also wish that I could go back and play BG for the first time. I am envious and happy to see you enjoying the game.

Get used to losing sleep for BG, it will probably happen for some time to come.

 

The only way I found to kill those ochre jellies is melee. Buff against range attacks.

 

I'm pretty sure you did Thought maybe I would be a little further on, if I didn't started playing BG2 again for some testing purposes. But I'll get back to BG1 ASAP. And please, the spelling

Anyway, I'm happy that you're having fun, that's the point of it. It is kinda funny when you have to watch youreself not being killed by a pack of wolves You're playing style is different then mine, but the main point is havin fun, and the mage is doing that for you, than so be it.

And you're fast. It took me well over a month to get to chapter four. Of course, I didn't play the whole wekeend, but guess I'm just being weak for not being able to play without sleeping once in a while

Enyoj it further, I know I will when I get back to it. Oh, and I'm glad that somebody besides me finds Khalid useful, even if he needs a little buffing beforehand.

 

@Felinoid

But his body did not disintegrate, I thought this was the fate of all dead Bhaalspawns, well perhaps excluding one we all know (and love).

Oh you can say it again! The only thing that bugged me was not the lack of sleep, it was...BG1 did not let me play BG2 this weekend! Waah!

Aye, I noticed wolves are just too tough in this game! High HP and good THACO. Nice.

I know, but it was the first time, I only had Imoen, Montaron and the evil necromancer guy with me, we were, lvl 1, and a dozen of bandits killed us all....Ahh.

I see. There is no need to get the XP cap remover if I can not get to those high levels, eh?

I meant, Silke, ofcourse, the evil sorceress, the former boss of Garrick. My bad, this is what happens to me due to lack of sleep. It is good tok now that there are still more to see in this wonderful game for the first time around. I will proceed more slowly.

Sound idea, but I like the missile weapons better, the darts have best attack rate per round, and with Bracers of Dexterity, and a STR spell, they are quite effective too! I guess I will take 'Blunt weapon proficiency' at level 6, as, like you noted, they have a good reach. Is there an ultimate weapon for mages in this game? (ofcourse, I am not expecting a SoM )

Again sound advice, but the problem is, I do not have a cleric. Saved Branwen but could not find place for her in my party. A shame. Well, I hope to find a wand of monster summoning!

@Trellheim

So, do I have to take her to the party to enable the dungeon on my map? Then I can dump her? I am scared to let people out of my party, I heard some can be gone for good.

@Duffin

Yes, exploration, this is the true beauty of the game, it is very exciting, even going from one place to another is one big adventure! This is missed in BG2, too bad. BG2 seems linear when compared to BG1. Ah, and ToB...well, it is even more linear than BG2. But I love them all!

I like the tiny details of game rules in BG1, like when it auto un-pauses when you open up inventory. That is very exciting, right in the thick of battle, if you want to change a weapon or ammunition, you must act fast, and you lose real time, as you should! Cool! Why this is not implemented in BG2 also is beyond me. I like this!

Also, lower stack of arrows are more realistic and make the game more challenging for me. I am used to 9999 arrows from BG2 with EoU, but then....

@ChickenIsGood

Yes sir, you are absolutely correct!

@nunsbane

I do not regret stayign awake, you are so right! I am away from home and have to wait for a few weeks again to play BG1 once more. Shame!

@Kuemper

Mayhap I can try them again, I leveled up quite a bit since last time, and have magical weapon/armor! Thanks!

@Mordokai

See, I could not play BG2 because of BG1 this weekend. It is all BG1's fault that I could not play Sikret's wonderful IA mod further, but I am sure he will understand my situation; after all, this is BG1 first time!

Ooops, I am so sorry! Forgive me, I ofcourse know your screen name, it was only a typing error. (happens to me when I type real fast)

Aye, I have always been a huge fan of mages. My conjurer casts Sleep and Dynaheir casts Horror and the battle is almost over. We faced a horde of skeletons in High Edge's map once. I launched a fireball from wand of fire, and they were all blasted away. This is the power! Even those tough guys in bandit camp are easy pickings when my Conjurer held them with a well-placed Hold Person spell.

Well, do not worry, you have a few more weeks, I am sure I can not catch up with you again easily.

Yes, I find Khalid extremely useful, perhaps even more than Minsc when he is not berserked. Ofcourse, when he berserks, it is a different story. Ask Mulahey's spilled guts for that. try to hold Minsc and Boo, huh?

Last time I battled Sirines. They are tough. They turn improved invisible and charm my people frequently. Plus they have fire resistance, a fireball from my mighty wand did not hurt one too much. Though, I casted a Web spell, and they were held, and Immy&Minsc shot them to death even when they were still improved invisible. They did not miss as the sirines were all immobile in my web. I like being a mage! Har har!

Oops, there goes one big bad post. Hope Taluntain or any other won't punish me for this!

 

What I find cool about BG1 is the fact that there are loads of areas you can explore that don't have a name. So when you beat the game and start another, you can remember you found such-and-such somewhere, but can't remember which area it was. So you end up exploring all the areas again! It takes a few runs through to get it in your head what is in each area. It just adds to the replay value.

Glad you're enjoying it Silverstar, BG1 is awesome

 

Jaheira and Khalid are the only two who do that AFAIK (though it would make sense for Monty and Xzar to do so as well for the same reason). Regardless, you don't need Safana in your party to enter the area (if you're thinking of Valygar and the Planar Sphere, there's nothing like that in BG1), and she doesn't actually mark it on your map or anything. Really, the only clue she gives you anyway is something like "west"; it's on the same map as her.

 

The 'dungeon' for Safana is just a cave, IIRC, near the top left corner of the map (on that beach section). There's a boosting tome in that cave, but unless I'm mistaken there are also some nasty golems. I send Imoen in with an invisibility potion, that does the trick.

Unless I'm thinking about something else entirely...

BTW, did you get the tome from the gnoll stronghold?

 

OK, thanks, so I can now find the dungeon to the west, as Safana has told me?

Ah, I did not find any tomes in gnoll stronghold. Shame on me. Well, if I can not find a tome, I do not deserve it I guess.

Okey dokey, I only have one invisibility potion, but I can cast invisibility myself! Being a mage is nice always! Golems, huh? Creepy!

 

The one near the Gnoll stronghold is one of the crappy tomes, I think its charisma. Your not missing much, just get the strength, dexterity and constitution. Let me know if you need help finding them.

 

Thanks, I do not want spoilers for this very first game. I must find them myself, to earn them. Not having ALT or TAB to highlight item locations sure complicates things though.