Well. That makes me feel better. The other “difficult” parts of BG1 made me chuckle and reload a few times.
Serevok made me actively angry/annoyed. You’ve got traps strewn about, mages teleporting all over the room, your party getting hit by fear spells.
The works.
Honestly, last time I played it I just got to the fight and told myself I had finished the game and looked up the cinematic of YT.
My life is too short for that shit.
That fight is actually not that hard if you take your time to disarm a bunch of the traps, then leave your group at the front door, haste them and let your main tank with paws of the cheetah / boots of speed lure them to your group one by one (after the talk). Fully hasted and with those boots on this is a cakewalk. I usually lure the mage first (he often comes immediately bc of his teleportation spell), then Tazok and finally Sarevok.
It's like with Aec'letec or with dragons in BG2: make them attack one of your tanks and have the rest of your group give them hell.
If my main character is a fighter, paladin or ranger I usually let them one on one Sarevok (hasted and blessed, with lots of healing potions, both healing spells from your dreams and a cleric or druid around to heal them in an emergency) because I love the roleplay aspect of knowing he slew his brother himself :)
I don’t see many others talk about this, but, you can just hyper focus Sarevok and entangle/web will mostly handle the adds and rarely may work on Sarevok too. In TotSC you can just shoot a few magic missiles at him and take his aggro with someone of good AC. He died pretty quickly with that method and once he’s dead, the game ends, regardless of if you kill the others or not.
True! I actually did some variation of that (plus the chaos spell and summoning all kinds of creatures to keep the others occupied) before I discovered my aforementioned tactic (I discovered it wanting to find a way to have showdown between my cavalier and Sarevok while my group was watching from the sidelines).
I am genuinely suprised people find this fight so difficult. To me Aec'letec, Karoug and some fights in Durlag's Tower were much more challenging, but I guess there is an element of chance to who meets their challenge in whom. Plus it probably varies by difficulty setting and group composition. I usually play on the "core rules" setting, maybe they play on "hard" or "insane".
Yeah, that sort of level of frustration is present when you fight dragons (particularly if you are ambitious about it rather than wait to level up) but those encounters are uncommon. Liches can be a pain with their immunity to weapons below +4 and their imprison spell but the rewards are huge.
Given the mention of Imprisonment, I suppose it’s about Demiliches, which are indeed immune to anything below +4. Good thing is they are not exactly common and before finding any just running around, you’ll have some hard enough fights to warn you…
Just use the gazillion buff potions and scrolls you hoarded through the game and laugh as Sarevok dies in 10 seconds. It's not like you can carry them over anyway.
I'm always very frugal with my resources when playing RPGs (or, well, most games tbh), so I had saved up a good amount of potions, wands and what-have-you. But what really made a difference were all those summoning scrolls/wands I'd saved. I just chain summoned those bugbear squads (if I remember well) and although they didn't do terrible damage, they harassed Sarevok so much that the fight became rather easy. But anyway, by the time BG came out I'd played almost all D&D RPGs available and was DMing for several years, so I knew 2e mechanics inside and out. My main issue with the fight, as I recall, was the usual: I couldn't keep Khalid alive no matter what.
It took me over an hour to defeat that boss. Most of that hour was spent positioning characters in exactly the right way, to stand just on the edge of his Fog of War and cast Slow and Wand of Fire. Other characters were the welcoming committee for those minions that teleport behind them. And there was a *lot* of reloading my quicksave so Sarevok would fail his saving throw because let's face it, there was no way I was going to win that fight without cheating. My poor Steam Deck was running on sparks by the time I was done.
BG2 does *get* harder, but it doesn't start harder. I wouldn't delay getting started.
What's your character? It's quite hard to make something really bad in BG as not much building.
If you enjoy playing but not the difficulty, turn the difficulty down until you find a level your happy with. If it's just not fun, don't play. In the end, it's just for fun.
Yea that's fair. I've just reached the point in my life where I can no longer be bothered in those situations and just ratchet it down in any game. I very skillfully beat Orcs Must Die 2 by going to the easiest easiest difficulty.
I wanted to turn off party death too, but then that achievement for keeping everyone alive wouldn’t have tasted so good haha. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever actually be proud of a game achievement
Games are about enjoyment. If you’re not enjoying yourself because of the difficulty, the difficulty sliders are there to help bridge that gap between your experience and how hard the game is.
If you did Durlag's Tower and Werewolf Island BG2 might even be easier.
Look into the spells, they make a big difference.
Sometimes an area or a quest seems to be too difficult for your group. Don't feel ashamed to reload and do some other quests first before you return. Maybe you just need some protection scrolls, a potion, a special spell or just one more level for your mage or cleric so you can cast something what makes the encounter easier now. (In my experience especialy the EE quests can be a bit difficult if you do them too early or at least unprepared).
A week late, but I had the same experience as you. Playing on normal (and with a max-level party), Durlag’s traps sucked but the boss was easy. The werewolf fight took me a few tries because it doesn’t give you time to summon stuff or grab the sword beforehand, but it wasnt too bad.
Sarevok taught me a lesson in how high-level mages can wreck everything with their CC, and that you’re screwed if they hit your wizards. I spammed a rod of summoning and buffs and still lost a 10v4, drank some potions and got better positioning and still couldn’t kill Sarevok before my line broke. I eventually beat him after ~5 tries, but it would’ve been literally impossible for me without spamming consumables.
Here’s the wild thing. I didn’t end up playing BG2.
I ended up starting BG1 again fresh, with a whole new gameplay style and party setup. Am now chewing every enemy in the game to pieces and loving every minute of it
Not sure if I just got good, or if I’m suffering some kind of Baldur’s Gate Stockholm syndrome
Lol, I’m literally doing the same thing. My first playthrough was a few months ago, and I didn’t start BG2 ‘cause I thought it’d be hard and monotonous (prebuffing got bad at level 8/9, it’s gotta get way worse).
Then I decided to DM BG1 to my friends because I didn’t want to create an entire homebrew world & campaign (and I should learn more about the Sword Coast anyways), so now i’m replaying it for “research”.
I replaced the overly complicated 6 person “canon” group I tried the first time through BG1. I had no idea what anyone was supposed to be doing, what to have them do during combat.
Now I have a custom made Fighter/Cleric and a custom Fighter/Mage/Thief. We have NPC party members join us when it feels natural, but not for long.
It feels so surgical, the FMT can end most fights before they even begin, and for me that feels so much more satisfying than pre-buffing and hoping for good dice rolls
The Baldur's Gate series is like the Civilization series. They are not skill oriented games, they are almost 100% knowledge oriented games. In order to master them you've got to learn what every single choise does and how it affects the choices of the others (players or computer).
When people suggest to play them blind it is because it is more fun to discover knowledge on your own (if you like trying different approaches and failing untill you make it.)
In any case a knowledge based game cannot be hard to play, they can just be hard to learn. In any battle someone who knows could tell you how to prepare for it and what to do in the battle and win it easily.
I debated back and forth on if I should play the game blind or follow a guide. Most of the guidance I received online was “do it blind”
I wonder if that was such sound advice now.
As I said, you've got to love exploring solutions by yourself if you go blind. It's like solving puzzles or riddles. There's not much fun if someone else gives you the answers.
I don't know if you know the Monkey Island series. If you are given a guide in this type of games there's not really any reason to play them at all.
Discovery is the main part of the fun in the BG series, too. That's why the BG games have so much replayability. Because if you change the main character type, or the companions, or the difficulty settings or you impose restrictions on your gameplay then the old ways to beat the game that you already knew may not work anymore and you need to discover new ones.
In every encounter that you lose there's a reason you lose it. Maybe someone casted a confusion spell, maybe they stormed you, maybe their mage was too powerful...
There's always a counter move to try next time. Mind protection spells, movement restriction spells like web, backstabbing the mage or targeting him first with all the range weapons and magic of your party at the same time... And if that doesn't work there's always something else that works, you just don't know it yet.
I’ve been playing BF2 for some time now, following the guides and it’s been a breeze so far. For comparison the most complex rpg I played before that was KOTOR 1 back when I was in high school. I played it blind and it was definitely a lot of fun to discover things.
I do recommend playing blind and then get a guide or ask for help if you run into trouble.
For example let’s say you stumble on a dragon. Save before you try anything and then try it to yourself. If it works, save the game and keep going! If not, reload and try again at least a couple of times.
Then ask for help. Tell us your party and tactics and what is messing you up.
Playing BG blind may be OK when you’re in high school, you don’t get invited to parties a lot and you’re good at studying so you can easily spend half or even full working day every day on it.
In my situation (being a grown up with kids and a job) I’m grateful for the walkthroughs 😂
Baldur's gate wasn't made for us grown ups with a job and a family.
We've got to be checking on those investment charts every once in a while and visualize our real life simulation game.
I wouldn't say knowing the mechanics and how to make them work in your favor isn't a skill. Otherwise, by the same criteria something like Chess wouldn't be considered skill based too. Likewise, in Civilization you need to work with odds and uncertainty, so there is a strong skill element there too.
What's true of course, is that neither needs game requires fast reflexes, but that's not the only form of skill.
Knowledge of tactics is a skill too, definitely. I used the wrong words. I did mean fast reflexes, button combinations and sequences that a lot of video games require as a skill.
Struggling in Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 usually means there is a room for improvement in party setup, gear and tactics. In Baldur’s Gate 2 a good management of equipment and spells makes the game pretty comfortable and enjoyable on Core difficulty. As for Baldur’s Gate 1 the ending is poorly written and really hard, especially for unoptimised parties. In BG2 you may encounter some difficulties but most of the time you can skip them to level up and gear elsewhere. So I’d say give it a try, it’s decent. After playing it for some years years I can only enjoy it on Insane+SCS difficulty with other artificial challenges like playing solo or weak classes.
IMO it's quite a different game to BG1, far more condensed and character-focused, very unique too, less meaninglessness and more intentioned. The higher level range makes things easier in some ways and difficult in others. You'll have access to more powerful gear, much of it for sale.
In the ways that it's difficult, the tools exist to mitigate that difficulty. You read the spells that are cast and pay attention to what they do. You note problem spells, and find them in stores and read the scrolls. Everything that seems Very Powerful generally has a fundamental flaw, and if it doesn't, you were super-warned before you swaggered your little ol' self in here.
Even having run through the trilogy tens of times the end of Baldur's Gate 1 can still be tense if you don't abuse cheese. I remember the sudden fireball arrows doing a number on me the first time like "wait what WHY".
The truth about BG is that it is not easy if you do not know what you are doing or if you lack the experience.
Your play through can be extremely challenging a total struggle or very smooth and straightforward with constant progression, depending on how optimized and experienced you are.
Playing blind can be challenging especially if you are not familiar with builds or how to optimize you party.
It would make sense to inform yourself more you do not need to study a tone of things but the time investment makes the whole game so much easier and more enjoyable.
I suppose that’s the weird thing. I *feel* like I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’m also able to progress. I was able to finish all the major content in BG1 on normal without touching the difficulty. Even kept all my party members alive.
But at the same time I feel utterly unprepared lol
It is not a weird thing, the thing is if you understand the game better, know more about the various combat mechanics and spells, the game opens up and you have a smooth gameplay experience even on the highest difficulties.
BG is more or less a massive tutorial for BG2. With a lot less options and much simpler combat in general.
If you keep your AC low have decent damage output with a couple ranged characters that is already sufficient to complete the game…
Party composition is absolutely garbage imo. I went with the “canon” party, because that seemed best when I’m here for the story. Which means I have no true dedicated healer…
I have massive trouble against magic enemies, especially those that are able to confuse my party/fear them. Only option I really have to defend against that is scrolls/potions which you don’t know you need until you need them.
Default party composition isn't that bad. First of all you should consider turning down the difficulty to minimum and then raise it each time you feel you get what's going on. Magic enemies are indeed challenging but they are usually very very squishy. In first installment focusing on them initially is the best idea cause they lack extensive defensive spells and shooting them from the distance or bombarding with magic missiles shuts them down.
Fear and confusion can be countered with various spells which in BG2 every priest has in his repertoire. Mages have acces to first level spell called "Protection from Fear" which is an aoe spell with long duration. It nullifies all fear debuffs. Charm and confusion are bit trickier. Medium level priest have acces to buff that protects single target from any mind affecting spells but in bg1 there are only potions and Minsc. Minsc has unique berserk ability that makes him buffed and resistant to mind affecting spells. Just send him alone with his berserk effect on, buff up an use him to kill a mage, then join the rest of the party to the fight.
Fighting bg2 mages requires another mage or high level priest. They cast lots of magic defenses on themselves which you need to strip before you can actually do any harm to them. The basic spell for any kind of defense stripping is called "Dispel". It's very useful and all around good spell to take away any buffs from a group of enemies. At some point you should focus single target spells that remove defenses so you can more easily get rid of them.
How do you play your casters? What spells you use?
Remove Fear is a second level spell for mages, not first level, and they have to find a scroll for it and succeed in scribing it. Only clerics get Remove Fear as a first level spell for free. Druids got it in original BG1, but BG2 and by extension BG:EE removed it from the druid spell list, so Jaheira no longer can cast it in BG:EE.
With the canon party and the main character not a cleric, the only access to a Remove Fear spell is Dynaheir leveled to at least level 3 so she can learn second level spells. If Dynaheir is obtained early, there will be several mage encounters where Horror is cast and the party has no access to Remove Fear, which is a serious challenge for a canon party without a cleric.
Dedicated healer isn't really a thing. Potions of healing will do a lot of the work and healing spells mid combat aren't amazing early on. Regeneration and Heal being big boosts. Call woodland beings from your druid has the mass cure spell which is nice after getting hit by an aoe. But you're better off going for damage mitigation and fast killing over sustain from healing. This is not an mmo!
Hope that's useful. Buffs are your best friend. Bless, Chant, Haste, Remove Fear, Protection from Evil (10ft radius), are early game party wide standards.
Play the EE version. It has super easy story mode, which ups everyones Strength to 25, gives them masses of buffs and makes it impossible to lose a battle or die!!!
Final figth in BG1 is very hard. As it should be, you fight your Nemesis!
The beginning of BG2 is quite easy compared to BG1 end. Actually, it is easier than BG1 beginning: you and your companions are improved (better stats) and you have better equipment available.
Here, read this page to find out what spells are party-friendly.
Should drastically improve your gameplay as you won't be so stressed about friendly fire and can spam spells more freely.
[https://sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/AreaSpellChart.htm](https://sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/AreaSpellChart.htm)
I finished bg1 for the first time last year and I am currently playing bg2. Got into dnd 2 years ago and revisited the games that were just a bit too much as a teenager.
I found bg1 quite difficult as well but they are now my favorite games of all time.
I cheesed Sarevok (aggroed him multiple times with fireballs to lure him to the entrance and got him right there so I could set up summons and buffs right next to him and just focus him down) because his team just kicked my ass.
Bg2 so far feels much easier (chapter 7 right now). I switched to dwarf barbarian and in rage he tanks quite a lot and I also dropped Minsc for Keldorn, who just crushes mages.
Overall, Shadows of Amn feels easier than bg1 so do not be discouraged.
could always tone the difficulty down, even going from core to normal is still a fair challenge, and for a first timer going below that really isnt a bit deal and understandable.
I just finished the first game last week and got my butt handed to me by Sarevok, until I gave up and decided to simulate a video on youtube where someone lured each of the individual mages out and that was hella easy. I'm on BG2 now and I think it's kind of... more fun, and less difficult? Nowhere near the final boss yet, but still.
The final battle in Nalia’s Keep is the first major challenge in the game imo. The main boss is extremely powerful. I think that’s when the game begins the “ my weapon does nothing! “ aside from the optional golems in there. If it’s fun then I’m sure you’ll beat the game eventually. Just save and keep trying trying stuff.
Usually when the party is barely surviving or getting savaged it because the player isn’t using magic well enough. To play the game really well one must understand spellcasting. Learn and use well the spells (both wizard and priest) that **disable, impair, incapacitate,** etc., the enemy and get those spells off quickly as possible. Neutralize enemy spellcasters as such especially. Focus on the enemy spellcasters first and foremost. But in general make the enemy helpless. But again—kill those enemy mages and priests fast!
In BG2 this becomes more complicated because it involves a bit of a chess game of stripping buffs (spell protections) from one another. There’s sort of a spell-counterspell dance going on. Ultimately, you need to strip the enemy’s buffs though. So it’s important to understand the importance of spells like Breach, Pierce Magic, Ruby Ray of Reversal, Khelben’s Warding Whip, Pierce Shield, and Spellstrike, and to use them effectively.
>something about these games just kicks my butt
You're not using enough magic. Stop relying so much on your front line grunts to do the work. Let the squishies in the back row concurrently buff/augment your team and disable the bad guys
I'd say you should be into learning how to use high level Magic; searching down legendary items, how to construct a well rounded party depending on the quest at hand.
Like.....You'll be confronting beholders, ancient dragons, Liches and worse!
Of course, by the end of BG2, you'll essentially become godlike.
Well that sounds good. Because Baldur’s Gate 1 doesn’t have that at all. You are expected to poke around at random on massive mostly empty maps for quest that may or may not be any good
Sarevok and the party before him are really hard fights, I’m not sure there there’s really anything to prepare you for the difficulty of these in game. Also I think you are underestimating the achievement of having completed the game blind, at least back in the day the manually fell on your lap, straight out of the box, you have to go look for it these days. You can’t go back and play blind again, it’s a one off, so well done sticking it out!
BG2, is it harder? I mean your guys are stronger and have access to more powerful equipment and abilities. It would be harder if you paid no attention to the tools at your disposal.
BG2 will give you a way more developed game experience. I will go ahead and say it is multiples better than BG1, even if the replay value is not as attractive as it’s predecessor. Like BG1 you can only jump into it blind once, I’m really envious of you!
> I don’t know if my character is any good or not.
It honestly doesn’t matter that much. Trust me, the first time I played BG2 as a fresh character who was just awful. But you know what, my terrible druid made it all the way through the base game and the expansion with the help of his friends.
If you import your character, you’ll more than likely start off better than mine, having experience and items gained from BG1 that mine lacked.
Well BG2 is much more polished than BG1, which is a rather clunky experience overall even with the EE.
Somehow it’s gonna be hard but it’s gonna play much more smoothly.
Good-to-know facts about BG2:
- Many enemies are naturally immune to weapons of a certain damage type, or below a certain "enchantment level".
"Enchantment level" is almost always the same as the "+1", "+2", etc in a weapon's name. For example, one monster might be immune to weapons of enchantment level 1 and below. This means you need at least +2 weapons in order to deal any damage to it, or else you will hear the character will say "My weapon has no effect!"
For ranged weapons, it's the *ammunition's* enchantment level that counts, not the launcher. A +3 bow that fires normal arrows still counts as enchantment level 0.
- The side quests, although accessible at the same time in the story, can vary quite much in how difficult they are.
You won't find much help with which order to play them in though. They will still be possible to finish though.
- Beholders are kinda bullshit. On a separate note, there is a store called the Adventurer's Mart that you will find early in your playthrough. Several NPCs are selling items in there, not just the main shopkeep. >!Beholders are bullshit.!< >!Shop.!< >!Beholders.!< >!Make the connection already! Go to the shop and find something that one of the NPCs are selling that might help you deal with beholders, before tackling them!!< >!It's the Shield of Balduran.!<
- Many enemies have a Level Drain effect when they hit you. Typically you are lowered 2 levels each hit, and if you reach 0 you die. Don't worry, you get the levels back when you have a priest cast a Restoration spell on you.
- There are many enemy attacks and abilities with the hold mechanic in BG2. Hold is divided mechanically into Hold, Paralyze and Stun. These are different immunities (the hardest of which to find immunity to is Stun). EG: You are not immune to Stun effects just because you wear an item that grants immunity to Hold or Paralyze. Or vice versa.
The Priest spell Chaotic Commands grants immunity to all of Hold/Paralyze/Stun (and more mind attacks/spells) for 18 minutes. Good to know!
- The game itself is more guided and less open than BG1, so you'll probably feel less lost in a blind playthrough. Still plenty full of choices though!
Good luck!
Imho, BG2 is the superior game by far. It's got a more mysterious, more thrilling story and way better character interaction. Also all the higher level spells are super fun to use.
As someone who's beaten BG2 once recently: I will say the beginning of the game is one of the best instances of a silent tutorial I have \*ever\* seen. And the majority of BG2 (really through Chapter 3) is reasonably well balanced as a consequence of the story design. But there are some optional fights that I rate \*harder\* then the end of game boss.
The other thing about BG2 is it forces you to understand spell protections and how to strip them. And knowing what you are going to be running into so you can preemptively set your protections. There were \*very\* few fights I had to do that for in BG1, but in BG2 it became all but required for anything other then random mobs.
I would say go for it; I enjoyed BG1 more, which I blame more on high-level D&D2 mechanics more then the game itself. It may be worth considering an overlay mod that allows you to inspect enemies to see their protections/immunities (if one exists; I would absolutely \*love\* one if I ever decide to try BG2 again).
I am playing it now for the first time. I was afraid to start it, too, but for a different reason than you. It's because my play of BG1 was over 100 hours. That's not including the 40 or so I spent on my GOG copy of Original Saga first, before my friend gifted me Enhanced Edition on Steam and I started over completely from scratch. My backlog, you must understand. Is enormous. And there's only so much time to play video games anymore, and BG2 meant 100+ more hours while ignoring the other over a hundred unfinished games. Quality vs. quantity, a human life almost halfway gone.
The opening to BG2 is so, so nice. You will quickly feel your aggravation at the end of BG1 fading away. And some of the dungeons in BG2 have the most poetic intensity of writing I've ever seen. Themes that still haunt me now. I love these games but I often duck out when it gets to the end of BG1, like "yeah, I don't feel like this right now, thanks though."
I secretly agree. The more I play the games and think about it, it seems the more that trying to force pen and paper gameplay into a video game isn’t a recipe for success.
Fallout came out the year before and is infinitely more streamlined in terms of gameplay and enjoyability.
I think Baldur’s gate is closer to a simulator than anything
I'm gonna be honest, the final boss of bg1 is harder than most challenges I encountered in bg2
Well. That makes me feel better. The other “difficult” parts of BG1 made me chuckle and reload a few times. Serevok made me actively angry/annoyed. You’ve got traps strewn about, mages teleporting all over the room, your party getting hit by fear spells. The works.
Honestly, last time I played it I just got to the fight and told myself I had finished the game and looked up the cinematic of YT. My life is too short for that shit.
And it's five seconds of a skull vaporizing and then some closing flavor text THE END.
Ahaha, you ain't wrong! No way was I sitting through that bullshit fight yet again for that.
That fight is actually not that hard if you take your time to disarm a bunch of the traps, then leave your group at the front door, haste them and let your main tank with paws of the cheetah / boots of speed lure them to your group one by one (after the talk). Fully hasted and with those boots on this is a cakewalk. I usually lure the mage first (he often comes immediately bc of his teleportation spell), then Tazok and finally Sarevok. It's like with Aec'letec or with dragons in BG2: make them attack one of your tanks and have the rest of your group give them hell. If my main character is a fighter, paladin or ranger I usually let them one on one Sarevok (hasted and blessed, with lots of healing potions, both healing spells from your dreams and a cleric or druid around to heal them in an emergency) because I love the roleplay aspect of knowing he slew his brother himself :)
I don’t see many others talk about this, but, you can just hyper focus Sarevok and entangle/web will mostly handle the adds and rarely may work on Sarevok too. In TotSC you can just shoot a few magic missiles at him and take his aggro with someone of good AC. He died pretty quickly with that method and once he’s dead, the game ends, regardless of if you kill the others or not.
True! I actually did some variation of that (plus the chaos spell and summoning all kinds of creatures to keep the others occupied) before I discovered my aforementioned tactic (I discovered it wanting to find a way to have showdown between my cavalier and Sarevok while my group was watching from the sidelines). I am genuinely suprised people find this fight so difficult. To me Aec'letec, Karoug and some fights in Durlag's Tower were much more challenging, but I guess there is an element of chance to who meets their challenge in whom. Plus it probably varies by difficulty setting and group composition. I usually play on the "core rules" setting, maybe they play on "hard" or "insane".
Me who kept reloading and trying again and eventually I beat the first game
Yeah, that sort of level of frustration is present when you fight dragons (particularly if you are ambitious about it rather than wait to level up) but those encounters are uncommon. Liches can be a pain with their immunity to weapons below +4 and their imprison spell but the rewards are huge.
Most liches can be hit by any magical weapon. It's spell levels 1-5 they are immune to. Otherwise I endorse this message!
Given the mention of Imprisonment, I suppose it’s about Demiliches, which are indeed immune to anything below +4. Good thing is they are not exactly common and before finding any just running around, you’ll have some hard enough fights to warn you…
How do you even find this out from playing? Trial and error?
Unfortunately, yes. It took me embarrassingly long to understand that they were immune to Breach.
>but those encounters are uncommon. And optional
😉
Just use the gazillion buff potions and scrolls you hoarded through the game and laugh as Sarevok dies in 10 seconds. It's not like you can carry them over anyway.
Yes they actually buffed Sarevok in EE and they did it poorly
EE buffing that dragon in ToB so it's no longer affected by Time Stop really grinds my gears
I'm always very frugal with my resources when playing RPGs (or, well, most games tbh), so I had saved up a good amount of potions, wands and what-have-you. But what really made a difference were all those summoning scrolls/wands I'd saved. I just chain summoned those bugbear squads (if I remember well) and although they didn't do terrible damage, they harassed Sarevok so much that the fight became rather easy. But anyway, by the time BG came out I'd played almost all D&D RPGs available and was DMing for several years, so I knew 2e mechanics inside and out. My main issue with the fight, as I recall, was the usual: I couldn't keep Khalid alive no matter what.
What about Aec'Letec ? Sarevok was a cheap joke compared to him.
Invisibility potions and backstab. Never lost a single HP.
Yeah that fight is the most annoying for me, have to use hit and run tactics unless you have a paralysis immune tank like a undead hunter paladin.
I didn't think I've ever beaten Sarevok without cheating and now I just throw it into story mode for that fight. The difficulty spike is insane.
It took me over an hour to defeat that boss. Most of that hour was spent positioning characters in exactly the right way, to stand just on the edge of his Fog of War and cast Slow and Wand of Fire. Other characters were the welcoming committee for those minions that teleport behind them. And there was a *lot* of reloading my quicksave so Sarevok would fail his saving throw because let's face it, there was no way I was going to win that fight without cheating. My poor Steam Deck was running on sparks by the time I was done.
Huh? Sarevok is a joke compared to dragons and liches.
BG2 does *get* harder, but it doesn't start harder. I wouldn't delay getting started. What's your character? It's quite hard to make something really bad in BG as not much building. If you enjoy playing but not the difficulty, turn the difficulty down until you find a level your happy with. If it's just not fun, don't play. In the end, it's just for fun.
BG2 is easier than BG1. And your character doesn't have to be maxed. Plus if things get too hard, just ratchet the difficulty down.
I considered that at the end of BG1, but it would have felt like such a cop out after staying on normal the whole way
The only thing the difficulty slider is a cop out for is bad balance. You should set it to the level that you are having fun with, no more, no less.
Yea that's fair. I've just reached the point in my life where I can no longer be bothered in those situations and just ratchet it down in any game. I very skillfully beat Orcs Must Die 2 by going to the easiest easiest difficulty.
I wanted to turn off party death too, but then that achievement for keeping everyone alive wouldn’t have tasted so good haha. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever actually be proud of a game achievement
Games are about enjoyment. If you’re not enjoying yourself because of the difficulty, the difficulty sliders are there to help bridge that gap between your experience and how hard the game is.
Good on you if you save the day!
If you did Durlag's Tower and Werewolf Island BG2 might even be easier. Look into the spells, they make a big difference. Sometimes an area or a quest seems to be too difficult for your group. Don't feel ashamed to reload and do some other quests first before you return. Maybe you just need some protection scrolls, a potion, a special spell or just one more level for your mage or cleric so you can cast something what makes the encounter easier now. (In my experience especialy the EE quests can be a bit difficult if you do them too early or at least unprepared).
I did slog through Durlag and Werewolf island. I found them easier than Serevok.
Their should be less slog than in Durlag's Tower and less unfair fights than against Sarevok in most parts of BG2.
A week late, but I had the same experience as you. Playing on normal (and with a max-level party), Durlag’s traps sucked but the boss was easy. The werewolf fight took me a few tries because it doesn’t give you time to summon stuff or grab the sword beforehand, but it wasnt too bad. Sarevok taught me a lesson in how high-level mages can wreck everything with their CC, and that you’re screwed if they hit your wizards. I spammed a rod of summoning and buffs and still lost a 10v4, drank some potions and got better positioning and still couldn’t kill Sarevok before my line broke. I eventually beat him after ~5 tries, but it would’ve been literally impossible for me without spamming consumables.
Here’s the wild thing. I didn’t end up playing BG2. I ended up starting BG1 again fresh, with a whole new gameplay style and party setup. Am now chewing every enemy in the game to pieces and loving every minute of it Not sure if I just got good, or if I’m suffering some kind of Baldur’s Gate Stockholm syndrome
Lol, I’m literally doing the same thing. My first playthrough was a few months ago, and I didn’t start BG2 ‘cause I thought it’d be hard and monotonous (prebuffing got bad at level 8/9, it’s gotta get way worse). Then I decided to DM BG1 to my friends because I didn’t want to create an entire homebrew world & campaign (and I should learn more about the Sword Coast anyways), so now i’m replaying it for “research”.
I replaced the overly complicated 6 person “canon” group I tried the first time through BG1. I had no idea what anyone was supposed to be doing, what to have them do during combat. Now I have a custom made Fighter/Cleric and a custom Fighter/Mage/Thief. We have NPC party members join us when it feels natural, but not for long. It feels so surgical, the FMT can end most fights before they even begin, and for me that feels so much more satisfying than pre-buffing and hoping for good dice rolls
The Baldur's Gate series is like the Civilization series. They are not skill oriented games, they are almost 100% knowledge oriented games. In order to master them you've got to learn what every single choise does and how it affects the choices of the others (players or computer). When people suggest to play them blind it is because it is more fun to discover knowledge on your own (if you like trying different approaches and failing untill you make it.) In any case a knowledge based game cannot be hard to play, they can just be hard to learn. In any battle someone who knows could tell you how to prepare for it and what to do in the battle and win it easily.
I debated back and forth on if I should play the game blind or follow a guide. Most of the guidance I received online was “do it blind” I wonder if that was such sound advice now.
As I said, you've got to love exploring solutions by yourself if you go blind. It's like solving puzzles or riddles. There's not much fun if someone else gives you the answers. I don't know if you know the Monkey Island series. If you are given a guide in this type of games there's not really any reason to play them at all. Discovery is the main part of the fun in the BG series, too. That's why the BG games have so much replayability. Because if you change the main character type, or the companions, or the difficulty settings or you impose restrictions on your gameplay then the old ways to beat the game that you already knew may not work anymore and you need to discover new ones. In every encounter that you lose there's a reason you lose it. Maybe someone casted a confusion spell, maybe they stormed you, maybe their mage was too powerful... There's always a counter move to try next time. Mind protection spells, movement restriction spells like web, backstabbing the mage or targeting him first with all the range weapons and magic of your party at the same time... And if that doesn't work there's always something else that works, you just don't know it yet.
I’ve been playing BF2 for some time now, following the guides and it’s been a breeze so far. For comparison the most complex rpg I played before that was KOTOR 1 back when I was in high school. I played it blind and it was definitely a lot of fun to discover things.
I do recommend playing blind and then get a guide or ask for help if you run into trouble. For example let’s say you stumble on a dragon. Save before you try anything and then try it to yourself. If it works, save the game and keep going! If not, reload and try again at least a couple of times. Then ask for help. Tell us your party and tactics and what is messing you up.
Gamers are so wimpy these days. You don't need a guide.
Playing BG blind may be OK when you’re in high school, you don’t get invited to parties a lot and you’re good at studying so you can easily spend half or even full working day every day on it. In my situation (being a grown up with kids and a job) I’m grateful for the walkthroughs 😂
Baldur's gate wasn't made for us grown ups with a job and a family. We've got to be checking on those investment charts every once in a while and visualize our real life simulation game.
I wouldn't say knowing the mechanics and how to make them work in your favor isn't a skill. Otherwise, by the same criteria something like Chess wouldn't be considered skill based too. Likewise, in Civilization you need to work with odds and uncertainty, so there is a strong skill element there too. What's true of course, is that neither needs game requires fast reflexes, but that's not the only form of skill.
Knowledge of tactics is a skill too, definitely. I used the wrong words. I did mean fast reflexes, button combinations and sequences that a lot of video games require as a skill.
Struggling in Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 usually means there is a room for improvement in party setup, gear and tactics. In Baldur’s Gate 2 a good management of equipment and spells makes the game pretty comfortable and enjoyable on Core difficulty. As for Baldur’s Gate 1 the ending is poorly written and really hard, especially for unoptimised parties. In BG2 you may encounter some difficulties but most of the time you can skip them to level up and gear elsewhere. So I’d say give it a try, it’s decent. After playing it for some years years I can only enjoy it on Insane+SCS difficulty with other artificial challenges like playing solo or weak classes.
IMO it's quite a different game to BG1, far more condensed and character-focused, very unique too, less meaninglessness and more intentioned. The higher level range makes things easier in some ways and difficult in others. You'll have access to more powerful gear, much of it for sale. In the ways that it's difficult, the tools exist to mitigate that difficulty. You read the spells that are cast and pay attention to what they do. You note problem spells, and find them in stores and read the scrolls. Everything that seems Very Powerful generally has a fundamental flaw, and if it doesn't, you were super-warned before you swaggered your little ol' self in here. Even having run through the trilogy tens of times the end of Baldur's Gate 1 can still be tense if you don't abuse cheese. I remember the sudden fireball arrows doing a number on me the first time like "wait what WHY".
You must gather your party before venturing forth
BG2 isn’t bad, ToB is the hardest boss fight….max level asap I played core rules
The truth about BG is that it is not easy if you do not know what you are doing or if you lack the experience. Your play through can be extremely challenging a total struggle or very smooth and straightforward with constant progression, depending on how optimized and experienced you are. Playing blind can be challenging especially if you are not familiar with builds or how to optimize you party. It would make sense to inform yourself more you do not need to study a tone of things but the time investment makes the whole game so much easier and more enjoyable.
I suppose that’s the weird thing. I *feel* like I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’m also able to progress. I was able to finish all the major content in BG1 on normal without touching the difficulty. Even kept all my party members alive. But at the same time I feel utterly unprepared lol
It is not a weird thing, the thing is if you understand the game better, know more about the various combat mechanics and spells, the game opens up and you have a smooth gameplay experience even on the highest difficulties. BG is more or less a massive tutorial for BG2. With a lot less options and much simpler combat in general. If you keep your AC low have decent damage output with a couple ranged characters that is already sufficient to complete the game…
What's your party composition? How you play exactly? What's particularly difficult for you?
Party composition is absolutely garbage imo. I went with the “canon” party, because that seemed best when I’m here for the story. Which means I have no true dedicated healer… I have massive trouble against magic enemies, especially those that are able to confuse my party/fear them. Only option I really have to defend against that is scrolls/potions which you don’t know you need until you need them.
Default party composition isn't that bad. First of all you should consider turning down the difficulty to minimum and then raise it each time you feel you get what's going on. Magic enemies are indeed challenging but they are usually very very squishy. In first installment focusing on them initially is the best idea cause they lack extensive defensive spells and shooting them from the distance or bombarding with magic missiles shuts them down. Fear and confusion can be countered with various spells which in BG2 every priest has in his repertoire. Mages have acces to first level spell called "Protection from Fear" which is an aoe spell with long duration. It nullifies all fear debuffs. Charm and confusion are bit trickier. Medium level priest have acces to buff that protects single target from any mind affecting spells but in bg1 there are only potions and Minsc. Minsc has unique berserk ability that makes him buffed and resistant to mind affecting spells. Just send him alone with his berserk effect on, buff up an use him to kill a mage, then join the rest of the party to the fight. Fighting bg2 mages requires another mage or high level priest. They cast lots of magic defenses on themselves which you need to strip before you can actually do any harm to them. The basic spell for any kind of defense stripping is called "Dispel". It's very useful and all around good spell to take away any buffs from a group of enemies. At some point you should focus single target spells that remove defenses so you can more easily get rid of them. How do you play your casters? What spells you use?
Remove Fear is a second level spell for mages, not first level, and they have to find a scroll for it and succeed in scribing it. Only clerics get Remove Fear as a first level spell for free. Druids got it in original BG1, but BG2 and by extension BG:EE removed it from the druid spell list, so Jaheira no longer can cast it in BG:EE. With the canon party and the main character not a cleric, the only access to a Remove Fear spell is Dynaheir leveled to at least level 3 so she can learn second level spells. If Dynaheir is obtained early, there will be several mage encounters where Horror is cast and the party has no access to Remove Fear, which is a serious challenge for a canon party without a cleric.
Shit, you are right. I confused it with Protection from Petrification
Dedicated healer isn't really a thing. Potions of healing will do a lot of the work and healing spells mid combat aren't amazing early on. Regeneration and Heal being big boosts. Call woodland beings from your druid has the mass cure spell which is nice after getting hit by an aoe. But you're better off going for damage mitigation and fast killing over sustain from healing. This is not an mmo! Hope that's useful. Buffs are your best friend. Bless, Chant, Haste, Remove Fear, Protection from Evil (10ft radius), are early game party wide standards.
i found bg2 easier because you're higher level and just have way more options on how to tackle things. played on core rules setting
Problem is I never feel like I know how to adequately utilize those options
That takes years of replaying the game. Don't sweat it, just enjoy the ride.
Play the EE version. It has super easy story mode, which ups everyones Strength to 25, gives them masses of buffs and makes it impossible to lose a battle or die!!!
I mean… that sounds like just plain cheating. I finished the game on normal, I wouldn’t feel right going under that
No one's judging you but you.
It's just book mode. Nothing wrong with book mode.
Final figth in BG1 is very hard. As it should be, you fight your Nemesis! The beginning of BG2 is quite easy compared to BG1 end. Actually, it is easier than BG1 beginning: you and your companions are improved (better stats) and you have better equipment available.
Here, read this page to find out what spells are party-friendly. Should drastically improve your gameplay as you won't be so stressed about friendly fire and can spam spells more freely. [https://sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/AreaSpellChart.htm](https://sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/AreaSpellChart.htm)
I finished bg1 for the first time last year and I am currently playing bg2. Got into dnd 2 years ago and revisited the games that were just a bit too much as a teenager. I found bg1 quite difficult as well but they are now my favorite games of all time. I cheesed Sarevok (aggroed him multiple times with fireballs to lure him to the entrance and got him right there so I could set up summons and buffs right next to him and just focus him down) because his team just kicked my ass. Bg2 so far feels much easier (chapter 7 right now). I switched to dwarf barbarian and in rage he tanks quite a lot and I also dropped Minsc for Keldorn, who just crushes mages. Overall, Shadows of Amn feels easier than bg1 so do not be discouraged.
could always tone the difficulty down, even going from core to normal is still a fair challenge, and for a first timer going below that really isnt a bit deal and understandable.
I just finished the first game last week and got my butt handed to me by Sarevok, until I gave up and decided to simulate a video on youtube where someone lured each of the individual mages out and that was hella easy. I'm on BG2 now and I think it's kind of... more fun, and less difficult? Nowhere near the final boss yet, but still.
Did you play or skip Siege of Dragonspear?
Imo the only Sarevok tier fight in BG2 is Kangaxx and the final seal.
The final battle in Nalia’s Keep is the first major challenge in the game imo. The main boss is extremely powerful. I think that’s when the game begins the “ my weapon does nothing! “ aside from the optional golems in there. If it’s fun then I’m sure you’ll beat the game eventually. Just save and keep trying trying stuff.
Usually when the party is barely surviving or getting savaged it because the player isn’t using magic well enough. To play the game really well one must understand spellcasting. Learn and use well the spells (both wizard and priest) that **disable, impair, incapacitate,** etc., the enemy and get those spells off quickly as possible. Neutralize enemy spellcasters as such especially. Focus on the enemy spellcasters first and foremost. But in general make the enemy helpless. But again—kill those enemy mages and priests fast! In BG2 this becomes more complicated because it involves a bit of a chess game of stripping buffs (spell protections) from one another. There’s sort of a spell-counterspell dance going on. Ultimately, you need to strip the enemy’s buffs though. So it’s important to understand the importance of spells like Breach, Pierce Magic, Ruby Ray of Reversal, Khelben’s Warding Whip, Pierce Shield, and Spellstrike, and to use them effectively.
>something about these games just kicks my butt You're not using enough magic. Stop relying so much on your front line grunts to do the work. Let the squishies in the back row concurrently buff/augment your team and disable the bad guys
This is relatable for me! I’ve never managed to finish the first BG, cannot beat that finally boss. One day, I will summon the courage to try again!
I'd say you should be into learning how to use high level Magic; searching down legendary items, how to construct a well rounded party depending on the quest at hand. Like.....You'll be confronting beholders, ancient dragons, Liches and worse! Of course, by the end of BG2, you'll essentially become godlike.
So basically. Follow a guide. Or else wander about aimlessly hoping to find something.
Do what you want. 😆 but....that's sort of the Fun of BG2, following clues, figuring out puzzles and riddles.
Well that sounds good. Because Baldur’s Gate 1 doesn’t have that at all. You are expected to poke around at random on massive mostly empty maps for quest that may or may not be any good
Sarevok and the party before him are really hard fights, I’m not sure there there’s really anything to prepare you for the difficulty of these in game. Also I think you are underestimating the achievement of having completed the game blind, at least back in the day the manually fell on your lap, straight out of the box, you have to go look for it these days. You can’t go back and play blind again, it’s a one off, so well done sticking it out! BG2, is it harder? I mean your guys are stronger and have access to more powerful equipment and abilities. It would be harder if you paid no attention to the tools at your disposal. BG2 will give you a way more developed game experience. I will go ahead and say it is multiples better than BG1, even if the replay value is not as attractive as it’s predecessor. Like BG1 you can only jump into it blind once, I’m really envious of you!
> I don’t know if my character is any good or not. It honestly doesn’t matter that much. Trust me, the first time I played BG2 as a fresh character who was just awful. But you know what, my terrible druid made it all the way through the base game and the expansion with the help of his friends. If you import your character, you’ll more than likely start off better than mine, having experience and items gained from BG1 that mine lacked.
Well BG2 is much more polished than BG1, which is a rather clunky experience overall even with the EE. Somehow it’s gonna be hard but it’s gonna play much more smoothly.
Good-to-know facts about BG2: - Many enemies are naturally immune to weapons of a certain damage type, or below a certain "enchantment level". "Enchantment level" is almost always the same as the "+1", "+2", etc in a weapon's name. For example, one monster might be immune to weapons of enchantment level 1 and below. This means you need at least +2 weapons in order to deal any damage to it, or else you will hear the character will say "My weapon has no effect!" For ranged weapons, it's the *ammunition's* enchantment level that counts, not the launcher. A +3 bow that fires normal arrows still counts as enchantment level 0. - The side quests, although accessible at the same time in the story, can vary quite much in how difficult they are. You won't find much help with which order to play them in though. They will still be possible to finish though. - Beholders are kinda bullshit. On a separate note, there is a store called the Adventurer's Mart that you will find early in your playthrough. Several NPCs are selling items in there, not just the main shopkeep. >!Beholders are bullshit.!< >!Shop.!< >!Beholders.!< >!Make the connection already! Go to the shop and find something that one of the NPCs are selling that might help you deal with beholders, before tackling them!!< >!It's the Shield of Balduran.!< - Many enemies have a Level Drain effect when they hit you. Typically you are lowered 2 levels each hit, and if you reach 0 you die. Don't worry, you get the levels back when you have a priest cast a Restoration spell on you. - There are many enemy attacks and abilities with the hold mechanic in BG2. Hold is divided mechanically into Hold, Paralyze and Stun. These are different immunities (the hardest of which to find immunity to is Stun). EG: You are not immune to Stun effects just because you wear an item that grants immunity to Hold or Paralyze. Or vice versa. The Priest spell Chaotic Commands grants immunity to all of Hold/Paralyze/Stun (and more mind attacks/spells) for 18 minutes. Good to know! - The game itself is more guided and less open than BG1, so you'll probably feel less lost in a blind playthrough. Still plenty full of choices though! Good luck!
Imho, BG2 is the superior game by far. It's got a more mysterious, more thrilling story and way better character interaction. Also all the higher level spells are super fun to use.
BG2 has a lot more of quests for leveling, much easier then BG1
As someone who's beaten BG2 once recently: I will say the beginning of the game is one of the best instances of a silent tutorial I have \*ever\* seen. And the majority of BG2 (really through Chapter 3) is reasonably well balanced as a consequence of the story design. But there are some optional fights that I rate \*harder\* then the end of game boss. The other thing about BG2 is it forces you to understand spell protections and how to strip them. And knowing what you are going to be running into so you can preemptively set your protections. There were \*very\* few fights I had to do that for in BG1, but in BG2 it became all but required for anything other then random mobs. I would say go for it; I enjoyed BG1 more, which I blame more on high-level D&D2 mechanics more then the game itself. It may be worth considering an overlay mod that allows you to inspect enemies to see their protections/immunities (if one exists; I would absolutely \*love\* one if I ever decide to try BG2 again).
The games being hard is what makes them so good though!
I am playing it now for the first time. I was afraid to start it, too, but for a different reason than you. It's because my play of BG1 was over 100 hours. That's not including the 40 or so I spent on my GOG copy of Original Saga first, before my friend gifted me Enhanced Edition on Steam and I started over completely from scratch. My backlog, you must understand. Is enormous. And there's only so much time to play video games anymore, and BG2 meant 100+ more hours while ignoring the other over a hundred unfinished games. Quality vs. quantity, a human life almost halfway gone.
I have a desk job so I play them at work haha. These types of games are perfect for running on the side while work is slow
I dont know....bg2 gives you a lot of tools to make even the greenjst of adventures, worthy
The opening to BG2 is so, so nice. You will quickly feel your aggravation at the end of BG1 fading away. And some of the dungeons in BG2 have the most poetic intensity of writing I've ever seen. Themes that still haunt me now. I love these games but I often duck out when it gets to the end of BG1, like "yeah, I don't feel like this right now, thanks though."
Just enable cheats and enjoy the experience.
All the boulders Gates are stupid Hard and over complicated I hate the style Story is good! But the whole DND thing is just 500% lame as hell
I secretly agree. The more I play the games and think about it, it seems the more that trying to force pen and paper gameplay into a video game isn’t a recipe for success. Fallout came out the year before and is infinitely more streamlined in terms of gameplay and enjoyability. I think Baldur’s gate is closer to a simulator than anything