game is WAY too hard...

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Biggest complaints:

1. Difficulty!
2. Feeling rushed to get certain quests completed or party members threaten to leave the group!
3. A mass of spells, most of which are absolutely worthless and only serve to overcomplicate matters.

I'm trying my best to like BALDUR'S GATE 2, and just when I think I'm starting to get into the game, I get thrown into a situation that is just way too difficult and it results in reloading and resting adnauseum...

I wonder if I'm just doing something wrong? My warrior tank, Korgan, seems far too weak for his task, constantly taking hits and nearly dead after fighting about 2 enemies. My longrange "archers", Minsc, Jaheira and Viconia rarely do any damage to speak of as their amunitions are usually ineffective and I'd rather not spend the money to buy proper ammo when Immoen is still held captive. And finally, my necromancer, my imported character from BG1, just doesn't have the firepower to be of any use.

Right now, after feeling pressure from the Cowled Wizard and Korgan to complete the task of finding Corthala in Umar Hills (a quest I don't really want to do right now...), I find myself in the temple of shades. Already I'm bombarded by masses of shades that my group can barely handle and wandering into ill conceived traps... the last straw was Yoshimo scouting ahead, crossing a bridge and suddenly getting ambushed by a group of shades, killing him.

I'm a noob with this game, obviously. Am I rushing too far ahead, is that the problem? My characters are all about level 10 and I have not yet rescued Immoen.

I really enjoyed BG1 and IWD1 and have been looking forward to losing myself with BG2, but everytime I start to get sucked in, the gameplay and difficulty pushes me right back out in frustration. I'm damn near ready to give up.

Without revealing any spoilers, can anyone give me some advice? I really want to play the game with the core rules active, I feel like turning down the difficulty is cheating.

Thanks...

 

Slow down! Don't feel rushed.

Take things an encounter at a time, the only time constraint I can think of really is with perhaps Korgan and Nalia for their quests.

I recomend if you are doing Korgans quest make sure you have a relatively high level cleric and Edwin with you to do his quest at the same time - both quests start in the same area and doing one without the other can screw up one of the quests. Can't remember which. Think it was Eddys.

Up your equipment! There's an easy sword to get under the Copper Coronet sewers.

Don't be afraid to explore and note down areas to return to if you sense a higher level encounter than yourself.

There are several uber encounters which are much harder. Be aware you may bump into them by accident.

Don't be afraid to turn down the difficulty even if it's just for one run through to get to grips with the different spells and tactics open to you compared to IWD games and BG1.

BG1 had more people complaining than in BG2 about leaving if you don't do their quests and it was managable then and even more so now. I think the limit of them getting stressed ranges from three days to twenty days depending who it is.

Any insisted quest such as an NPC one will be completable at any level. The more rushed it is the more likely it will be dialogue based rather than fighty fighty.

Strongholds open up quests that are relatively simple and rich in items and rewards targetted to your class. Find out your stronghold and see if you can manage it pretty early on.

Use more than one tank. Minsc is better as a tank than an archer. Look at his stats for a better idea.

If you get stuck in a particular place post about it and people can give targetted advice which will help you adapt and learn which spells are most useful when.

Hope this helps a bit

 

First, I'd recommend normal rules (the one below core rules). Core rules refers to pen and paper rules of D&D -- the game was intentionally ramped up in difficulty by the designers above what you would ever (reasonably) see in a pen and paper game. Don't limit yourself because of a design characteristic.

Second, spellcasters are the most difficult to play in the game. For an inexperienced player either a fighter (berserker like Korgan) or paladin is an excellent character to play -- you don't die as often. In particular, the Undead Hunter is great because they have good immunities versus undead (the problem is you have to play the lawful good hero). Another good character to play is a ranger/cleric multiclass, the spell progression is reasonable and you can keep up with what the spells do.

Third, everyone with fighting ability is a tank. Missile weapons ruled in BG1, but melee weapons are dominant in SoA. A good strategy for Jaheira is to have her memorize the spell 'Iron Skins' as many times as she can. It lasts 12 hours and will soak up the first several hits without damaging her. Minsc can really put a hurt on enemies with 2-handed swords (small spoiler: you can find a good one while doing the quests in the Copper Coronet).

Fourth, most quests are not timed (in spite of what is said). Nalia's quest and Korgan's quest are timed. The Corthala quest is not. You do not need to rush to save Imoen -- there is no time limit on when you should pick her up. So spend away, you will get ample opportunity to raise the money you need to get to Imoen.

Fifth, learn to use your thief. Yoshimo is a great thief -- keep giving him the ability to find and remove traps and pick locks. You really don't need him to be stealthy. Keep his detect traps mode active at all times when in "dungeons."

Sixth, spell proficiency comes with practice and reading. Learning the spells takes a long time for a player. There are some good guides on Sorcerer's Place to help you with that. Just look in the games section, BG2, under tips/tricks/hints.

 

Thanks alot for the tips guys, I really feel more comfortable in turning down the difficulty a notch. It's true, this isn't the P&P game so it shouldn't be treated as such. Also, I wasn't aware of the power of melee in this game as compared to the first... I think it's time for Minsc to wield a twohander and join Korgan in the frontline.

Thanks again!

---------- Added 2 hours, 3 minutes and 50 seconds later... ----------

Okay so I've been playing it using the settings you guys suggested, all was going great until I defeated the Shadow Lord in the ruined temple of Amaunator. Jaheira unloaded all of her inventory to my main character and simply disappeared without warning...

Now what?

Could this be because I told her to pipe down once while she started talking to me? It would be nice if there was some kind of warning here... FRUSTRATING.

Again... just as I'm getting sucked in...

---------- Added 0 hours, 26 minutes and 53 seconds later... ----------

After much trial and error, it seems that if a member of my party dies during the battle, I get dialogue of some mysterious harper speaking with Jaheira about leaving, but if nobody dies she simply makes a quick exit and drops all her crap on the ground.

This is unacceptable and beyond frustrating....

Anyone know what's going on here???

Can I continue on if nobody from my party dies and I do not receive Jaheira's dialogue?

 

Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong with Jaheira. Just continue when she disappears.

Perfect analysis. Always keep this in mind. Save every few minutes and keep different saves and don't worry about reloading and using metagaming knowledge, you're supposed to do so. BG2 requires actually less skill to beat than IWD, but it's less balanced and has lots of unfair situations.
So many features to boast about were put into BG2, but fair and balanced gameplay was obviously considered irrelevant.

I recommend casting spells for summoning and buffing your party before entering combat, the level 4 cleric spell "protection from evil 10'" lasts very long and makes a big difference for example.

 

That's part of her quest. Jaheira does make things interesting -- it gets better.

 

Okay cool, thanks man. I'll just continue onward then...

I'm beginning to wonder why this game gets as much praise as it does with bugs like this... I've gotta say after playing BG1 and IWD1 I'm thoroughly disappointed in this one. I really hope it gets better.

Thanks again everybody!

 

The expansion and patch fixed a lot of problems. Some people seem to have a lot of trouble with Jaheira. Personally I've never had a problem.

 

As 8people says, make sure you have the patch (which is on SP). There are also some bug fixes on the boards as well.

 

I've come to the conclusion that this game just sucks. Way too hard... fighting vampires, half my party gets level drained, can't finish the rest of the area. Of course all of my most recent saves are level drained. I give up.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Hey, vampire encounters are supposed to be difficult. Level draining is not permanent, however, you can remove it in a temple with greater restoration spell...It is also a lvl 4 cleric spell so unless your cleric is drained way below level 7 he can cast it on herself and others...There are even scrolls of restoration which every class can use (unless the character has very low INT score.) for ease of use. (Personally I think only clerics should be able to use them.)

I remember good old times when I fought vampires the first time...I was suprised and appalled and terrified when they drained each of my party members to oblivion! Ah and there was that time when I dared to challenge a lich...was suprised wwhen the entire screen went black and white, we were frozen in time, and then bang bang bang, blasting us with spells I never even heard of:a dead party! Oh and beholders, wow, thay are the cheapest and fastest TPKers. (Total Party Kill) BAFF! Minsc is gone, disintegrated! ZAP! My PC is held...Nalia is first petrified then shattered into tiny fragments of stone...you get the picture.

I did not yield, however...the original game is not easy, but not frsutratingly difficult once you learn a few tricks. Knowing to deal with those kind of epic threats is a monumental task in BG2. Items, spells, a well-balanced party, and patience helps a lot. Unlike BG1, where you wrestle low level critters such as kobolds and the like, in BG2 you venture into high level game where you can fell mighty ancient dragons and liches...talking about truly ground shaking and world shaping epic-scale battles! And the satisfaction is immense when you read 'most powerful vanquished:the name of a scary ancient red dragon' in your PC's record page.

 

BG2 is piss easy. You want gear that protects against fear and confusion. You want to use spells that are good for the situation, most are useful at some point. Vampires are easy. Negative Plane Protection, Turn Undead, Hold Undead, stuff like that. Or, give Gaelan Bayle the 15k he wants and you get a necklace that gives permanent Negative Plane Protection. You're over-complicating it. It's easy, just think.

 

One of the reasons I recommended the Undead Hunter is immunity to level drain. For the most part the vampires will initially target either your main character or the first person they see. If that lead character is an Undead Hunter...no one gets level drained. There is an axe you can buy to help with undead (usuable only by good).

There is a magic item to help with nearly every difficult encounter. Any undead can be slain instantly by two weapons in the game, two items make negate beholder attacks, there are items that do extra damage to dragons, etc..​

The game is basically designed for a hero (traditional good guy) to save the world -- I think it's easiest to play the good hero. The best NPC's are evil, but I think that was just to balance it for the players who like being evil. The good NPC's are powerful enough to get you through (with the right equipment).

Also, when you pay the guy 20,000 gp to find out about Imoen, he'll send you to someone else, that someone else will give you an item which also gives level drain immunity.

The game is tough in many places -- usually that means you shouldn't go there just yet.

Often the order people follow is:

1. Get out of the dungeon.
2. Investigate the Circus (help the ogre -- trust me).
3. Go to the Copper Coronet and Investigate (there are two great quests there).
4. Go to the Bridge District and solve the crimes.
5. Go to the Temple District for the Unseeing Eye quest (there will be a bunch of people standing around listening to some nut case).
6. Nalia's Quest (although the basement can be quite difficult if you just try to plow through).
7. Keep your other characters happy by doing their quests (I usually wait to take Korgan until after I find Edwin).

By the time you get through these, you should have enough money to pay off the guy for Imoen. Then a whole new set of quests open up.

However, after doing Nalia's keep you should be able to do any of the other quests (such as Lord J's quest you get in the Copper Coronet, the Trademeet quest from the man at the city gates, Umar Hills quest from the boy -- which is closely tied to the hunt for Valygar Corthala).

One item of caution, NPC's levels are set when you first talk to them -- so don't talk to them unless you want them to join.

You might try looking at tactics and strategies for battling different creatures. A lot can be found here and on other sites like Game Banshee and Planet Baldur's Gate. There are a few exellent spell guides here. There is a low spoiler hint guide (on this site) as well.

 

You think the list of spells is too long, but 90% of them actually has some use, i assure thee.

As for the vamps, there are logical strategies to deal with them.

 

Thanks so much for this invaluable help. It's all so clear to me now! BG2 is easy!

Let me explain this to you in simple terms...

First of all, I had no idea that I'd get an amulet of negative plane protection from Gaylen, but thanks for spoiling it for me. So yeah, "just think", huh? Try using your own advice...

Secondly, heading into a dungeon and having absolutely no idea that I'm about to fight vampires, then heading around a corner and getting assaulted by 7 of them??? Yeah, I'm supposed to have my spell level filled to the brim with Negative Plane Protection and Lesser Restoration, that I NEVER use any other time...

What does this result in? RELOADING. The game shouldn't be like this, trial and error... it's monotonous as hell.

I gave it another try this morning and like I stated above, this room full of vampires is just ludicrous, there's no way I can possibly take them all. I've tried numerous spell combinations and Negative Plane Protection is completely worthless as it wears off after a mere 5 rounds! I can't even kill two of the vampires in that frame of time.

And let me just give you a bit of advice up before you waste my time by repeating to me how easy this game is in your next reply... shove it up your ass.

 

Cheers for that. Bet you're a popular one .

 

That was really uncalled for! People have done nothing but to try to help you enjoy your game here...

 

Are you only using generic weapons? Fighting vampires isnt too difficult, just use the skills and abilities your characters have. Try also to do the simple quests that give you xp for not much effort, and just take your time playing the game. Even take npcs you dont even really want to take through the underdark, solely for the xp of doing their quest, even though it might be boring and stupid, ie Jans quest. I usually dont go to get Imoen until I have done pretty much every single quest available, just for all the xp you get.

BG2 isnt really that hard. I find it a walk in the park compared to IWD, which I usually give up after Dragons Eye because of the madness of being overwhelmed with an endless supply of monsters. It is all about being prepared. Sure you might not be expecting vampires, beholders, shades, vampric mists and various other nasties to be around every corner, but you should be expecting something that wants to kill you, drain you, eat you, turn you into their puppet etc, so be prepared. Look at the surroundings you are in, it usually indicates what you are going to be expecting, eg youre in a tomb...expect undead, and when you rest next think about what spells you 'might' need, and so memorize them. You may end up using them, you may not, but it is much better to be prepared. Also, spend more time in Athkatla, there is plenty to do there to raise your xp that doesnt involve much effort.

 

Yup, BG2 is hard...at first. But most of us here have been playing for years. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of game you can play "spoiler-free". You should expect to die frequently your first playthrough. Once you have more experience with the game it's much more enjoyable. BG2 is a game that requires replay if you want to experience all it has to offer (not to mentioin all the terrific mods). Perservere, and things will get better.