Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Games

Burns · Mar 9, 2023

Rajaah said:
So Sorcerer is better than Wizard? Huh, I didn't see that coming.

I like Minsc and the dark elf looking chick you can romance (Victoria I think, cleric). No real preferences otherwise on characters. A lot depends on how much room there is in a party. I'd like the Dwarf Berserker too, but I want to make sure I have a Cleric, Druid, and Sorcerer mainly. Ideally I'd like a Paladin main + Minsc, Victoria, a Druid and Sorcerer, and the D0rf if there's room.

The only Sorcerer in BG1 is an evil chaotic one added by Beamdog for the EE edition, as the Sorcerer class was not originally in BG1. I'm not sure I would recommend him as generally, the content added by Beamdog is not up to the same standards as the original content.

So, for MC options, if your going to play a sorcerer, you will probably need to look up what spells are preferred, otherwise you risk having a worse wizard. A non-specialist wizard is still a fine choice for caster. Alternatively, a conjurer spec wizard only really loses identify, which a bard or a second wizard can fill in for. You may be able to play a pally and stay around 16 rep, but if you fall out of Lawful Good alignment, to try to stay under reputation requirements for a neutral party, you will lose your pally power.

The only Pally companion in BG1 is going to hate evil party members, and would make for a difficult time (issues will probably start to creep up around chapter 3).

If you are going to try to play a neutral party, I think Viconia, Minsc, and Kaigen mostly get along. Getting a pure druid is kinda tough, as the first one you get is multi class. You also might want one of the rogues for traps/locks too.

My 6 party make up usually ends up being: 2/3 melee (Pal, Ranger, Fighter), 1/2 cleric/bard/druid/rogue (usually with a bow), 2 Wizard/Sorc (at max range).

Seananigans · Mar 9, 2023

Heya!

(I heard this)

Hatorade · Mar 9, 2023

Rajaah said:
So Sorcerer is better than Wizard? Huh, I didn't see that coming.

I like Minsc and the dark elf looking chick you can romance (Victoria I think, cleric). No real preferences otherwise on characters. A lot depends on how much room there is in a party. I'd like the Dwarf Berserker too, but I want to make sure I have a Cleric, Druid, and Sorcerer mainly. Ideally I'd like a Paladin main + Minsc, Victoria, a Druid and Sorcerer, and the D0rf if there's room.

Do it and in BG2 go crusader, good times all around.

Burns · Mar 9, 2023

Seananigans said:
Heya!

(I heard this)

Seananigans · Mar 9, 2023

Burns said:

Noober actually! That works too though.

Kajiimagi · Mar 9, 2023

oh man you get to experience Minsc and boo for this first time. Now I'm even more envious. Damn these are good games ,I may have to do a replay (again).

Rajaah · Mar 10, 2023

Seananigans said:
Well you quoted number of subclasses as a point in the wizard column, but wizards don't really do true subclasses. Those 8 are just focuses on one spell school, and most are lackluster.

Party size is 1-6 (any number is valid).

Yeah the Wizard subclasses are just focuses. Looks like they cancel each other out so I need to avoid Enchantment since it's the opposite of blasting.

Any number is valid? Does it scale difficulty with more party members in some way? I've seen a lot of "solo character challenge" stuff for BG so I already figured the game was soloable.

Burns said:
The only Sorcerer in BG1 is an evil chaotic one added by Beamdog for the EE edition, as the Sorcerer class was not originally in BG1. I'm not sure I would recommend him as generally, the content added by Beamdog is not up to the same standards as the original content.

So, for MC options, if your going to play a sorcerer, you will probably need to look up what spells are preferred, otherwise you risk having a worse wizard. A non-specialist wizard is still a fine choice for caster. Alternatively, a conjurer spec wizard only really loses identify, which a bard or a second wizard can fill in for. You may be able to play a pally and stay around 16 rep, but if you fall out of Lawful Good alignment, to try to stay under reputation requirements for a neutral party, you will lose your pally power.

The only Pally companion in BG1 is going to hate evil party members, and would make for a difficult time (issues will probably start to creep up around chapter 3).

If you are going to try to play a neutral party, I think Viconia, Minsc, and Kaigen mostly get along. Getting a pure druid is kinda tough, as the first one you get is multi class. You also might want one of the rogues for traps/locks too.

My 6 party make up usually ends up being: 2/3 melee (Pal, Ranger, Fighter), 1/2 cleric/bard/druid/rogue (usually with a bow), 2 Wizard/Sorc (at max range).

I think for BG1 I'm gonna end up going Fighter (main), Ranger, Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Wizard.

BG2's gonna be Paladin/Crusader (main), Ranger, Cleric, Sorcerer, Sorcerer, ?

Card subject to change and all that

Burns · Mar 10, 2023

Rajaah said:
Yeah the Wizard subclasses are just focuses. Looks like they cancel each other out so I need to avoid Enchantment since it's the opposite of blasting.

Any number is valid? Does it scale difficulty with more party members in some way? I've seen a lot of "solo character challenge" stuff for BG so I already figured the game was soloable.

I think for BG1 I'm gonna end up going Fighter (main), Ranger, Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Wizard.

BG2's gonna be Paladin/Crusader (main), Ranger, Cleric, Sorcerer, Sorcerer, ?

Card subject to change and all that

The fights are the same, less party members means more XP per member, but most of the original companions are good to great. So, it would be silly to not have a full 6. You will hit the level cap by the end, regardless.

You can export your character and some items (there is a super special kinda hidden set of things that requires items from both games, otherwise, everything else gets replaced eventually) from BG1 to BG2.

It can be a bit difficult to decided on a party for a single BG2 playthrough though, as the parties act a little different than BG1. There are hard conflicts between some party members, and they will fight. Reputation doesn't matter as much, so you may be able to run a Pal main character and keep the evil Viconia and Krogan in the party.

I really liked Keldorn (Pal) as a character though, and he did well with a 2H wep. I also like Edwin (wiz) a lot, but he conflicts with Minsc, and you cant skip Minsc on first/only play through.

They will give fight "warning" barks though, so you can have them in the same party for some amount of time. Outside of trying to help pick your main character's class, I wouldn't get too hung up on party comp. They all kinda trickle in, so you can have a bit of time to play with each. I think Beamdog gave out-of-party companions the agility to catch up to your level, if you leave them out of the party too long (all the BG companions should work the way XP catchup works in Throne of Bhaal, now).

That said, BG2 has no sorc companions; you are kinda stuck with wizards. Imoen (wiz/thief) can pick locks though, so that's a nice bonus. Jan (wiz/thief) and Minsc are funny together too.

Also, I would skip the subpar Beamdog companions, which are Dorn, Neera, Hexxat, and Rasaad.
BG2 party conflicts list (minor spoilers):

2023-03-10 02.32.17 www.reddit.com 21ec3cf51a63.png

Ridas · Mar 10, 2023

There is basically a standard party story wise with which you can play through BG 1 and 2. Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc, Dynhaeria and Imoen are the main companions and the story at the start in BG2 treats it as you had these 5 party members in BG1.
Viconia returns in BG2 aswell and you can recruit her early and she has a nice story arc, especially if you play a Paladin. Kagain doesnt return in BG2.

Kharzette · Mar 10, 2023

Korgan and Edwin are always funny

Tuco · Mar 10, 2023

Rajaah said:
Yeah the Wizard subclasses are just focuses. Looks like they cancel each other out so I need to avoid Enchantment since it's the opposite of blasting.

Any number is valid? Does it scale difficulty with more party members in some way? I've seen a lot of "solo character challenge" stuff for BG so I already figured the game was soloable.

I think for BG1 I'm gonna end up going Fighter (main), Ranger, Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Wizard.

BG2's gonna be Paladin/Crusader (main), Ranger, Cleric, Sorcerer, Sorcerer, ?

Card subject to change and all that

There's a lot of ways to play Baldur's Gate, especially if the difficulty isn't cranked to the max. One run of BG1/2 I just solo'd the entire game with a fighter/mage/thief multiclass. It's easier than it sounds because you can do stealth hijinx and allllll the XP gets funneled to you, so you can rampage through the game with an over-leveled character. However, I'd encourage a full party to enjoy the party life and companions. In general I recommend having a tank, thief, wiz caster (I favor sorcerers) and cleric caster. These four classes let you get through the content and cover the major bases.

My last few playthroughs I've totally besmirched the lore of the companions and just use a savegame editor to change their classes. In my current playthrough I've got:

Tuco: Dwarven Defender
Dorn Il-Khan : Inquisitor
Minsc : Fighter/thief
Rasaad yn Bashir : ranger/cleric multi-class
Baeloth Barrityl : sorcerer
Edwin Odesseiron : sorcerer

In BG2 I doubt I'll change that loadout much, though I'll probably change people. I might change a sorcerer for a wild-mage, which I find kinda fun. And I might change the dwarven defender to fighter/mage

One big change in BG2 is that there is a significant amount of party-specific quests, so you'll need to rotate through party members to unlock them all, if you care about that sort of thing. In BG1 there's not much party-specific content.

I continued my playthrough and I'll also recommend getting or cheating a bag of holding. I've forgotten how annoying the inventory management in this game is. Beamdog Forums - Bag of Holding in BG1 EE?

TJT · Mar 10, 2023

Tuco said:
There's a lot of ways to play Baldur's Gate, especially if the difficulty isn't cranked to the max. One run of BG1/2 I just solo'd the entire game with a fighter/mage/thief multiclass. It's easier than it sounds because you can do stealth hijinx and allllll the XP gets funneled to you, so you can rampage through the game with an over-leveled character. However, I'd encourage a full party to enjoy the party life and companions. In general I recommend having a tank, thief, wiz caster (I favor sorcerers) and cleric caster. These four classes let you get through the content and cover the major bases.

My last few playthroughs I've totally besmirched the lore of the companions and just use a savegame editor to change their classes. In my current playthrough I've got:

Tuco: Dwarven Defender
Dorn Il-Khan : Inquisitor
Minsc : Fighter/thief
Rasaad yn Bashir : ranger/cleric multi-class
Baeloth Barrityl : sorcerer
Edwin Odesseiron : sorcerer

I continued my playthrough and I'll also recommend getting or cheating a bag of holding. I've forgotten how annoying the inventory management in this game is. Beamdog Forums - Bag of Holding in BG1 EE?

I may need to Tuco up a playthrough of this game soon... that is whenever I have time for my 1 or 2 games I get through a year lately.

Adulting is bullshit.

Aaron · Mar 11, 2023

Kharzette said:
Korgan and Edwin are always funny

It's fun to give Edwin the belt of gender change and turn him into Edwina.

Rajaah · Mar 12, 2023

Burns said:
The fights are the same, less party members means more XP per member, but most of the original companions are good to great. So, it would be silly to not have a full 6. You will hit the level cap by the end, regardless.

You can export your character and some items (there is a super special kinda hidden set of things that requires items from both games, otherwise, everything else gets replaced eventually) from BG1 to BG2.

It can be a bit difficult to decided on a party for a single BG2 playthrough though, as the parties act a little different than BG1. There are hard conflicts between some party members, and they will fight. Reputation doesn't matter as much, so you may be able to run a Pal main character and keep the evil Viconia and Krogan in the party.

I really liked Keldorn (Pal) as a character though, and he did well with a 2H wep. I also like Edwin (wiz) a lot, but he conflicts with Minsc, and you cant skip Minsc on first/only play through.

They will give fight "warning" barks though, so you can have them in the same party for some amount of time. Outside of trying to help pick your main character's class, I wouldn't get too hung up on party comp. They all kinda trickle in, so you can have a bit of time to play with each. I think Beamdog gave out-of-party companions the agility to catch up to your level, if you leave them out of the party too long (all the BG companions should work the way XP catchup works in Throne of Bhaal, now).

I'm guessing all of this applies to the Enhanced Edition? That's what I've got. Hopefully it has the revised BG1 XP.

Is Throne of Bhaal included in that version of BG2? I think I'm missing a guide, cause I just got the Prima vanilla BGII guide and not the Throne of Bhaal one.

Starting BG1 tomorrow night, probably.

How feasible would it be to run a Battlemage? (Fighter + Mage dual-class)? Cause I want my main to be a fighter, but also really want to get into the mage stuff, and I always played Battlemage type characters in D&D games. Still wish EQ would add a Warrior+Wizard/Mage hybrid to go with the existing War+Clr, War+Dru, War+Nec, Monk+Shaman, and Rogue+Chanter hybrids. The only missing piece of the class puzzle is the Battlemage I always wanted. But hey, I can make them in other games.

Burns · Mar 12, 2023

Rajaah said:
I'm guessing all of this applies to the Enhanced Edition? That's what I've got. Hopefully it has the revised BG1 XP.

Is Throne of Bhaal included in that version of BG2? I think I'm missing a guide, cause I just got the Prima vanilla BGII guide and not the Throne of Bhaal one.

Starting BG1 tomorrow night, probably.

How feasible would it be to run a Battlemage? (Fighter + Mage dual-class)? Cause I want my main to be a fighter, but also really want to get into the mage stuff, and I always played Battlemage type characters in D&D games. Still wish EQ would add a Warrior+Wizard/Mage hybrid to go with the existing War+Clr, War+Dru, War+Nec, Monk+Shaman, and Rogue+Chanter hybrids. The only missing piece of the class puzzle is the Battlemage I always wanted. But hey, I can make them in other games.

It all applies to the enhanced editions. The Throne of Bhaal is the BG2 xpac that ends the story and is part of the BG2EE base game. Although there was probably a separate guide for it, when it was originally released.

I read somewhere, long long ago, that duel classing and multiclassing in DnD 3.5 are for people that "really know what they are doing." So, I never did it, outside of the duel class companions that are already in the game. I have played a wizard every time I played though the games, since I always wanted 2 in a party.

Maybe

Tuco has done some runs with a duel/multi MC, and knows more. You can always search the Baulder's Gate reddit for a whole slew of different opinions, but you might risk stumbling into too many spoilers.

Frenzic · Mar 12, 2023

This game got me excited. I liked DOS 1,2, but the lore was wierd imo. That style, but with lore I care about? Yes please.

I hope we get more "good" companions. Right now they all seem a bit on the evil spectrum.

TJT · Mar 12, 2023

Rajaah said:
I'm guessing all of this applies to the Enhanced Edition? That's what I've got. Hopefully it has the revised BG1 XP.

Is Throne of Bhaal included in that version of BG2? I think I'm missing a guide, cause I just got the Prima vanilla BGII guide and not the Throne of Bhaal one.

Starting BG1 tomorrow night, probably.

How feasible would it be to run a Battlemage? (Fighter + Mage dual-class)? Cause I want my main to be a fighter, but also really want to get into the mage stuff, and I always played Battlemage type characters in D&D games. Still wish EQ would add a Warrior+Wizard/Mage hybrid to go with the existing War+Clr, War+Dru, War+Nec, Monk+Shaman, and Rogue+Chanter hybrids. The only missing piece of the class puzzle is the Battlemage I always wanted. But hey, I can make them in other games.

In BG1 you top out at level 6 so you need to plan accordingly. Your build options are just a lot more limited.

The BG1+BG2+Throne of Bhaal series is designed around being a single massive tabletop campaign.

Prodigal · Mar 12, 2023

I’m playing through again on a “battlemage” in BG2 - beserker dual classed to mage at level 9, it’s one of the more powerful builds in the game, just have to find proper gear to make up for the fact you can’t wear armor but that’s not an issue once you’ve cleared a few areas/quest.

There is a faq (should show up in a search)in a .txt file that has all of the info, it’s comprehensive so don’t want to spoil your first run through, but unless you just want to buy a guide to have you will not find a better resource and it’s free.

Rajaah · Mar 12, 2023

Burns said:
It all applies to the enhanced editions. The Throne of Bhaal is the BG2 xpac that ends the story and is part of the BG2EE base game. Although there was probably a separate guide for it, when it was originally released.

I read somewhere, long long ago, that duel classing and multiclassing in DnD 3.5 are for people that "really know what they are doing." So, I never did it, outside of the duel class companions that are already in the game. I have played a wizard every time I played though the games, since I always wanted 2 in a party.

In that case I'll probably just do mage as main instead of dual-classing. And yeah, I ordered the Bhaal guide so now I'll have all 3.

TJT · Mar 12, 2023

The most common OP melee builds involve getting exotic weapon proficiency +katana and making a beeline to getting the Celestial Fury as it is available very early through a little cheesing. As you will be able to get a +5 weapon (with proficiency) doing this in the first few hours.

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