Trying to get a handle on everything

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Hello, everyone as you probably tell I am new here and to the game. I have made it my goal to play all the classic RPGs I missed the first time around.


Anyway, I am trying to figure out what would be a good class to get my bearings with. I have played many RPGS but not quite like this. I was thinking about going with Monk but I like to find equipment and I read he starts the game weak. I read Kensia to Mage is very powerful but a little bit complicated.

So, I am thinking of starting the game as a Swashbuckler. It seems like a fun class, not to complicated and at the same time is a strong class. Do you think this is a good idea? Anything I should know in regards to inital stats? Most have spells and a good weapon class to start with? I was thinking Scmitar and Katana with Two Weapon Fighting Style and ShortBow.

How does that sound to everyone? Again I am just looking for starter tips and things that you wish you knew at the start of the game. For example a special ring or weapon that can be found early in the game or a stat distribution that is golden for this character class.


If anyone has any other suggestions or a good starting squad please let me know. Very excited to start my old school game binge and BG2 seems like the perfect starting point.

 

Welcome to the boards o' magick!

Monks are awesome in the late game but will lack behind your average warriors for a long time, especially due to their hp. Swashbucklers are pretty good, though enchanted katanas are pretty rare (there is one extremely good one though). You should have 18 in strength and dexterity and a 16 in constitution, everything else doesn't matter much. Here are a few tips:

Mages and clerics are your worst enemies. Druids have spells that are very effective against them. There is also the Inquisitor class (an NPC has this) that will make fights against them much easier.

Having good and evil people in the same party can sometimes cause them to fight, depending on who it is.

As a thief, you will be able to disable traps and open locks, obviously. This ends up giving you a lot of experience points, so be sure to make the most of it.

 

Thanks. So, a SwashBuckler should be a decent class to start the game with? I will probably take Scmitar as well since you say Katanas are rather rare. Does anyone have any other advice? A better class to start as? I almost always go for some sort of Spellsword but I didn't seen any class that really seemed to fit my usual play sytle.

 

Swashbuckler is a good class but in my opinion there are better ones. A Ranger/Cleric gets both cleric and druid spells as well as being a good fighter and an excellent tank, and if you're into spellswords a fighter/mage is just that. I personally find a barbarian to be an excellent choice as well, but that's just me. Paladins (as well as bards and thieves at really high levels) have access to what is arguably the best weapon in the game.

 

Interesting. So, the idea behind the Fighter/Mage is start off as a Fighter and then on level 2 switch to Mage and keep that the rest of the game. Is that right? Will it be clear and easy to switch my class from Figther to Mage?

 

Nope, it's better than that. A fighter/mage multi-class (must be half-elf, elf, or gnome if I remember correctly) levels up both as a fighter and a mage, meaning you get the best of both worlds. Do you have the TOB expansion pack?

 

Swashbucklers are actually pretty solid. It's a good mix of fighting and thievery, and having your PC as one guarantees that either you won't have to worry about getting another thief or - in case you do get another one- that all thieving skills are accounted for.
Gameplay is also more or less straightforward, so you don't get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of items/spells in the game. Swashbucklers can excel with just about any one-handed weapon you can specialize in, and though they can't cast spells they can set traps. They can dual-wield just fine. Feel free to experiment with the NPCs so you can figure out which spells complement your playing style (in D&D spells must be memorized before you can cast them, this gives you the option to customize your spellbook and switch spells before resting). The low level staples though include Magic Missile, Mirror Image, Fireball and Haste.

You start at around level 7 in BG2, so dual-classing is tricky. Only humans can dual-class and if you're new to the game it can get complicated - dual-classing disables your old class until your new class level is higher than your old one's. If you want to start as a fighter/mage then I suggest multiclassing. Basically all other races except human can multiclass although not all combinations are available to each race. Elf and half-elf both make decent fighter/mages. Gnomes can only be fighter/illusionists - illusionists are mages which can memorize one extra spell per spell level, but are barred from casting any necromancy spells.
Fighter/mages can become very powerful later on but they rely heavily on defensive magic for survivability. As a fighter/mage try focusing on defensive magic first, before allocating extra spell slots to offense/damaging magic.

 

Thank you so much that was very informative. If I go Swashbuckler I will go with Two Weapon Style, Bow, Katana and Scmitar.

But, I am not sure which set up is best for a multi class Fighter/Mage? I want to get started so if someone could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

 

As Damedog said, A Fighter/Mage Multiclass is THE classic Spellsword. And he's powerful from start to finish.
If you want to play a human, you can make a Dualclass instead. You'll first be a pure Fighter (Berserker or Kensai are best) and at the right point you'll switch to the mage class (make sure you have at least 15 strength and 17 intelligence).
Good breakpoints are: Level 7 (another halfattack per round) or level 9 (another proficiency point + another fighter special ability). If your mage level surpasses that of your fighter level, you will basically be a fighter/mage, though you will only level in your new mage class.
Dualclass: Mage levels faster = earlier access to high level spells
Multiclass: Fighter will level up as well -> better fighting capacity

 

Thanks you guys have been awesome and a huge help. I still neer a little more help though. I am going Halfling Fighter/Mage. What are the best weapons to put my points into at the start of the game? I was thinking Flail for FOA, Shortbow, Two Weapon Style and either Axes, Long Swords or Katana. Not sure which would be best. I want to get started so if someone could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

 

FOA is an awesome weapon and is worth the proficiency points all by itself. There is also one awesome katana but depending on if you have TOB or not it loses it's power later in the game. There are a ton of good long swords as well as good axes, so either one is a great choice.

 

DamDog you have been awesome but I am afraid things just keep coming up!

So, I think I am all set with my Weapons then. Two Weapon Style, ShortBow, FOA, and Long Swords. I would like to take Katana or Scmitar but not enough room. I am almost positive I have all the expansions (not positive on TOB though I got the game from a friend)

so.....

1. What does his stat layout look like? Anything really important? I am lost here because everything seems good.


2. Will I be able to cope without a Thief as my MC? I am a total noob to the game (played DA and ME though countless times) So, I have no idea when and how I will get a Thief.


Have to say thanks again.

 

1- Get as much as possible in strength, dex, con, and int. As a halfling i'm pretty sure you can only get 17 strength but 19 in dex. Dex is only useful up to 18 so just keep it at that.

2- Yes, there are 4 npc's you can get with thief skills, 3 of which will stay for the whole game. Many of them have mage skills as well so they can fill two roles in the party.

Since you're going to be playing as a mage here are some good spells to look out for:

-Skull Trap

-Haste

-Stoneskin

-Melf's Minute Meteors

-Greater Malison, this one cast before spells like chaos, domination, etc. works wonders.

-Breach

-Improved Haste, this one goes great with your fighting skills

Oh, and make sure you find a familiar for the extra hp. All you need is a level one spell.

 

Thanks I was actually wondering what few good spells would be there are sooo many!


I am still trying to wrap my head around everything. Do I need to pick my party members skills that they use each time or should I let them do there own thing? I imagine there is no system like DOA where you can program their AI?

If someone could just kinda give me a very basic and bare bones guide on how a normal fight would go that would be great. It seems like you can only cast one spell and then you have to rest before casting another? I have up to level 4 spells.


One other odd thing is when I put my cursor over the spells (took me awhile to find them) nothing happens. This makes it very difficult to be able to tell which spells are which anything I can do about this?


I know I am asking a ton of questions today but I am very anal when I first start a game. I promise once I get the hang of things I will help from the other end as well.

 

Yep. And it all operates on a unique system that can be confusing at first, so feel free to try the tutorial if you have time. It's very helpful.

The game does allow you to assign basic AI to your party members. Nothing spectacular, just that they will cast basic offense spells or defense spells or defend themselves when attacked. To make the most out of 'em you'll need to control them personally. Nothing tedious though, the game is tactics-friendly.

Yes. Basically to learn spells you must find spell scrolls and scribe them to your spellbook. The exception are clerics, druids, paladins and rangers - they are divine magic casters and automatically learn all the spells they can possibly cast once they reach the proper levels.
The way magic in BG2 works to cast a spell you must first memorize them, which means you need to open your spellbook and assign slots to them. Note that the spell icons will be translucent when you first assign them (which means you can't cast them yet). After 8 hours rest the icons will become solid, which means you may now cast them. Each memorized spell can only be cast once (though you may memorize multiple copies of the same spell).

An to memorization rules are sorcerers, who learn spells when they level up and have "castings per day" instead of memorization slots. So if a sorcerer had 7 castings per day for level 1 spells, you may cast any level 1 spell you know 7 times. Sorcerers learn much fewer spells than mages though, and cannot scribe spells from spell scrolls into their spellbook.

You can't make a halfling fighter-mage, sadly. Only elves, half-elves and gnomes can be fighter-mages iirc.

The way most fights go, you'll want to pause as soon as you see enemy targets and start assigning commands to each of your party members before unpausing. Basically you just click their character portraits (usually on the right hand corner) and order them to do stuff. Fighters and thieves are pretty straightforward, just click them and right click on something, which orders them to attack it (unless you want your thief to be detecting traps). You may also order your thief to Hide in the Shadows and scout the area first before engaging your enemies.

For clerics and mages, just click their portrait, click the "cast" command in the bottom action bar and order them to cast the appropriate spells. Beware, the AI isn't very smart so you'll want to personally control mages (especially nukers) instead of leaving them to mercy of the AI. You'll never know when it'll decide to cast a Fireball at a random enemy target who just happened to be standing right in the middle of your party.
Repeat as necessary.

 

Paracelsi summed it up pretty well.

Take Elf, Halfelf or gnome. Each has its advantages:
Elf: A bit better with bows and bladed weapons ( a +1 THAC0 bonus to bows and bladed weapons). He can have 19 in dexterity which gives him another +1 Thac0 bonus to bows.
[THAC0 is basically the to hit chance]
Half-Elf: He has a bit more health points (an Elf can only have 17 constitution, Halfelves and gnomes will get 18)
Gnome: He gets one more spellcastings per spell-level per day. Though he will miss on the Necromancy school where some nice spell are.

My preference would be a Half-Elf.
Important stats:
STR: the more the better, although you can get items later which set your STR score to a high level. Doesn't hurt though to start with an 18 STR
Higher STR scores will enhance your damage output and to hit chance with melee weapons.
DEX: More DEX = more Defense. Max it.
CON: Max this as well. More CON = more HP.
INT: More INT only enhances the chance to scribe scrolls (the lower the score, the higher the failure chance to learn a spell from a scroll). If you switch to easy difficulty this failure chance doesn't exist. Another trick is to buy potions which raise your INT. In the end INT is nice, though STR, DEX, CON would be top priority.
WIS: least important skill for a Fighter/Mage
CHA: not this important, gives you slightly better NPC reactions and better shop prices.


Stoneskin is one of the best Spellsword spells. It protects you from a number of hits and it lasts all day. Mirror image is a second early available defense spell for tough melee fights though it lasts not too long. For the rest just try them out for yourself. That's half of the fun.
If you want to know what a spell (or any item) does, right click on it.
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Good weapon choices:
flail: because of the FOA
katana: there are not much katanas in the game but the few available are very good especially for a Fighter/Mage
longswords: many good choices here

Almost all other types are good as well, though the really good weapons might be available pretty late sometimes.

If you go with 2-weapon fighting (which is powerful) you needn't invest in bows because it'll get tedious to manually remove your second weapon and put a bow in the weapon slot.
Just specialize as a frontliner and leave the sniping to your NPCs.

 

Okay Heisenberg or Walt or Mr White ....

First of all when you're main character dies in these games it really sucks. It's literally game over. What character I'd recommend would depend on your knowledge of 2nd edition D&D. To be honest, I really don't want to have the game end every time I try something new. So, my opinion of a fun class is one that I don't die all the damn time. That said, I have the following recommendations:

Beginner
Barbarian -- you really can't go wrong here. A boat load of hit points (tough to die), cool, but not complex special abilities, and the dude can run away from most things if you need to. The only negatives are the barbarian is not as good with weapons as a true fighter and can't wear plate armors (not really much of a negative).
Fighter, Berserker -- Most of the benefits of a barbarian but they get to wear the best armor and are better at weapons. They're not quite as fast and don't have as many hit points. There is one npc that's a berserker you can have join your party.
Paladin -- pretty much any paladin is good in this game. But you have to like to be the self-sacrificing hero. Undead hunters are especially good against undead while Inquisitors are powerhouses against mages -- and you'll be fighting a lot of undead and mages. There is one npc that's an inquisitor you can have join your party.

Intermediate
Thief -- any. All of the theiving options are good. Swashbuckler is a better fighter but doesn't get a backstab bonus. Assassin does incredible damage at higher levels but is somewhat inept at theiving for a while. The bounty hunter is good as are multiclass thieves (a fighter /thief is deadly). There is one npc that's a bounty hunter you can have join your party.
Ranger -- Both the archer and stalker are good. You'll want to choose short bow if you're an archer and the stalker is a backstabbing fighter (which is always fun). There is one npc that's a stalker you can have join your party.
Fighter, kensai -- These guys are killing machines. But they don't get to wear armor which makes survival a bit challenging at times.
Monk -- another killing machine but with not as many hit points. Again no armor but they get bonuses to defense as they go. Monks take careful management to keep alive early on but become extremely potent.

Advanced
Sorcerer -- Firepower personified. Very weak in the beginning and they (along with mages) have the lowest number of hit points and have very little non-magical defenses. Weapon choice is extremely limited. Spell choice is critical for a sorcerer and can alone be a daunting task for a beginner.
Mage -- Nearly as powerful as the sorcerer but more versatile. They have the same weakness in low hit points and can be hit by a rabid squirrel. There are several npcs that are mages you can have join your party.
Bard -- Possibly even more complex than the sorcerer and mage. Bards get arcane spells but also have unique abilities. The blade is a very good fighter, while the skald has a powerful song. Bards can use many different weapons and armor. There is one npc that's a blade you can have join your party.
Multiclass with spell use -- whether ranger/cleric, fighter/druid, fighter/mage, or whatever else you desire. The spell component of the character make the spellcaster a difficult play. But the multiclass is more forgiving in that you can rely on the other class while learing about spells. There are several npcs that are multiclass spellcasters you can have join your party.

Part of the fun of these games is the interaction written into the game with npcs. In particular most of the druid/clerics in the game are available for a "romance." I would steer away from being a druid or cleric for just that reason. As long as your main character is not constantly at risk of dying you can slowly learn spellcasting with the npc's that join you -- although an all fighter (and thief) party can finish the game.

Weapons: pick whatever you want. For paladins you should pick two-handed swords and two handed weapon style. Staves are good for mages and sorcerers (and pretty good for thieves as well). Backstabbing only works with thieving weapons (one handed swords, katanas, daggers, clubs, and staves). The most powerful weapons in Shadows of Amn are two handed swords (two or three of them), flail, mace, hammer, katana, spear, and staff. There are excellent long swords, daggers and short bows as well. If you want to wield two weapons at the same time either short sword and scimitar are good for the second weapon.

For the first time through: Keep Yoshimo with you, don't feel as if you need to rush to rescue Imoen, there are very few quests that are timed (and those are pretty obvious), you don't need to do all the quests before you rescue Imoen (but you can) and you don't need to immediately save the elves when you get back after rescuing Imoen (but again, you can). Minsc is a riot and one of the best npcs of all time. Jaheira has the most dialog written of any npc in the game. If you're male (and not a dwarf) you can romance one of three ladies (all have divine powers): the injured waif trying to find a sense of belonging (good aligned), the independant widow who looks to you for support (neutral aligned), or the woman abandoned by her people and forced into a life of persecution (evil aligned) -- all three are well written and add to the gaming experience. If you want to play a woman ... well ... you get one choice.

 

Wow man what I can I say. You are a truly awesome person, so informative AND you watch Breaking Bad! Thank you so much for making my transition into the game smoother. I just figured out how to stop mouse lag and now I am having a blast. I just realized how lucky I am that I can play all these old school classics for the first time. Icewind Dale 2 is my next game.


Anyway, I see why you seem to have MVP status here at the board. I hope to be able to contribute and help people once I get the hang of things.