Windows 7, party suggestions

Remove all ads!

Ok, so I am going to start up a playthrough of the entire BG series. Being a huge fan, and an oldtimer of the series, I am ashamed to admit that I haven`t finished the games in...6 years or so. Shame on me!

First question: I am playing the games on Windows 7. Will this work properly?


Second Question: I remember allways ending up with the same party. Imoen, Jaheira, Branwen, Ajantis\Kivan and Dynaheir. Now, to avoid doing this again, I am wondering. Wich others should I go for? I am thinking a brand new party here. Just new characters. I don`t remember all of them either. So what I am asking is this, I guess. Help me come up with a well balanced party WITHOUT any of these characters.

 

Depends on what copy you have. Do you have the anthology, or do you have the old cds? The old cds might give you graphics bug troubles, but the anthology version runs perfectly fine.

Depends on your alignment and how you plan to assemble your party. Skipping Jaheira and Branwen narrows your choice of early game clerics down to Viconia. Viconia's a good cleric and a decent ranged character, but a terrible frontliner. To make up for that you'll need two or so good warriors. There's Shar Teel, Kagain, Minsc. If you're not taking Xzar, get Edwin. If not Edwin, get Xan when you're level 3 or 5 so he starts at level 4 or 6 and more spells. Until then you can take Garrick, you'll need his bard song unless you have some other way to protect yourself from fear. Since you can't take Imoen, that leaves you with Safana.

So early on its you, 1-2 warriors, Garrick/Xzar, Montaron/Safana, Viconia. You can swap Viccy for Yeslick and then Yeslick for Tiax/Quayle if you want later. You can swap Montaron/Safana for Coran/Alora later and Garrick/Xzar for Xan. Or you can swap Garrick/Safana for Eldoth/Skie. If your PC is a warrior type and you only brought 1 other warrior along then the last slot is just a bonus - anyone works, just wait until you get to level 4 or so.

 

I have the GoG version. I am guessing thats the anthology.


Hmm...so if I play as a Cleric...I bring Kagain (wasn`t he bugged? Leaves the party etc), Safana, Shar-Teel, Montaron (serving as an archer), and Edwin...Sounds like a decent evil party.

 

Nah the "bug" was that as soon as you left Beregost from the north he would say something like "I've lost interest in whatever it was I doing previously" and never bother your about it again. Just unfinished material, iirc.

 

I never bothered to install BG1 on my newer computer. I have the 5-cd version, does that mean I won't be able use it on Windows 7 64-bit Professional if my 10-year old system dies? What about Vista 64-bit Home Premium? My system is set up as a dual, but I don't use Vista anymore except when I'm giving tech support to family.

 

^Never had any problems with Win7/64 And there should be no problem as long as user avoid the standard install path and use something like CGames\

I would suggest (when playing Druid, Mage or Bard)

Imoen -cool Character and quite capable thief. Who I multi class with Mage at Lvl7.
Viconia -Great Cleric and a Drow to boot -Hello Magic Resistance!
Kagain -awesome Fighter who Tanks flawlessly. Plus comes with some nice attitude!
Minsc - Comes with Boo and is one of the most iconic NPC's around.

The party is semi-good or evil. They are not that difficult to keep happy.

 

Back on the topic of party advice, assuming you are playing on normal difficulty or AD&D hardcore, you shouldn't have too much trouble as long as you have the following:

1. At least one tank (good [low] ac melee fighter) or in BG1 preferably two characters with low ac, although the second can be a cleric or other character with low AC but not necessarily one that dishes out major damage like a fighter/ranger/paladin.
2. One healer which can be a cleric or druid. Paladins might be a semi-acceptable choice in BG2, but not in BG1. Their lay-on-hands skill is not sufficient at the low levels of BG1. They don't get their first spell until the end of the game.
3. One person that can pick locks (unlike with the next item, you don't have to use a thief for this. A Mage or Bard can devote all his 2nd level spell slots to the spell "knock" thus allowing the Thief to focus on other skills like pick pockets and disarm traps),
4. One person that can disarm traps (can be and usually is the same thief that opens locks.) The 2nd level Cleric spell "find traps" does fine for detecting them, but not for disarming them and the game won't let you use summoned creatures to set off traps. Thus you will want a thief. Many traps are also hard to avoid like in Cloakwood, Naskel mines, and Durlag's Tower.
5. You also probably want a mage or a bard to cast fireball, skull trap, sleep, horror, web, and stinking cloud. Those are all area spells, but there are lots of useful things on the mage's spell list.

Another thing to consider is that in BG1 archery is VERY powerful. In fact, all missile weapons are quite potent, so having a fighter or ranger with a bow is a worthy consideration, as long as you cover all the bases I mentioned.

Consult the NPC guide to see who is available to fit which role:
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG/npcs.php
http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/75251-baldurs-gate/faqs/2459
http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/75251-baldurs-gate/faqs/2460

 

Every once in a while I hear the 5 and 2 cd-versions having hiccups with newer operating systems, but when it comes to the anthology nada. Though the anthology version is infamous for being the only one that doesn't work with BGTutu.

The BG2 engine runs flawlessly though, provided you have all the official patches. The digital versions should all work fine, seeing as they all have troubleshooting hotlines in the form of Steam/GoG.

 

Just to clarify: I do know how to build a working party (been playing rpgs for 25 years). What I was asking, since I don`t remember all of them, was wich NPC`s anyone would reccomend. Since I would be stearing clear of the party I used the last time I played it. I finished the game loads of time, but many years ago. And I allways ended up with the same group


Been playing it abit now, though. And I have Kagain, Shar-Teel, Garrick, Safana and Edwin in the group. My PC is a cleric. The only one that has been "useless" so far, is Garrick. I am thinking of just swapping him with a pure mage, to be honest. I am just about to do the mines in Nashkel, and if I remember correctly, there is an elven mage in there. Annoying fellow that can`t relly cast offensive spells. Mostly just buffs and such. Considering him for just buffing, identifying stuff, and using wands.

 

Garrick gets better as the he levels. Plus he can use Wands. You end up finding LOTS of wands, so he becomes offensive in nature. Plus he can use Bows/Crossbows. L-Cbow of Speed is a good choice. Or any Longbow will do. Plus he auto-identifies just about everthing once reaching level 6. I loved that about Bards. Keep him!

(* Once you play thru BG1, there is a mod for BG2 that will add all of your current party memebers into SoA. )

 

Yeah, I am using him as an archer at the moment. Bought a heavy crossbow for him. He is doing ok with it. Shar-Teel is working as my main ranged unit, though. I did set my eyes on the crossbow of speed, when I saw it at the store. I might just stick with Garrick. I considred Montaron for awhile too. Using him as an archer, but he can`t use wands, so I stuck with Garrick.

I will need a good fireball wand when I head over to the lighthouse to do Safana`s quest. She has started whiming abit about it allready. Going to do the mines, and then head up to the farms above the friendly arm inn, and do the ankheg quest. I seem to remember a wand of fire in the nest. Fireballs were kind of nice vs sirens, if I remember correctly.

 

Remember, there are 2 different "fireball' type potions as well. I think Thalantyr might sell them. It's been a while since I have played unmodded though. Silence from your Cleric can work wonders as well.

If you like playability of a low-level Infinity engione type game, I would recommend the Classic Adventures Mod. It is a series of old 2nd edition modules put together. The modders are progressing along nicely now and it is a whole new experience. I recently reloaded it and I'm enjoying it. They worked most of the bugs out of it.

 

Yeah, Silence was a good spell to use, I remember. Also needed some decent weaponry to deal with golems inside the cave.

I don`t use mods anymore, though. For the most part I remember them adding lots of cool stuff, but at the same time also added things I didn`t like. So I mostly stick with the vanilla games now.

 

Classic Adventures is a total converstion mod. Nothing to do with BG1 or BG2, except for the same game engine. Completely new game, starts out in Sembia, not along the Sword Coast. Just a new gaming experience. It requires an isntall of BG1, Tostc with patch, BG2, ToB w/ patch, then run the CA mod.

It is slow going, which by that I mean it takes a little while to level early on, which is A+ in my book. The new NPCs that are introduced are not overpowered, which is another plus. I really had to scout with my thief in the first dungeon. It is more in line with PnP than BG series. Good stuff.

 

Garrick is tricky to use early game because he doesn't start with bow proficiency. The simplest way to make him useful is to give him a heavy crossbow, like you did - he'll do about as much damage as a short bow user without using up as much ammunition. Alternatively you can have him throw darts or throwing daggers, these give him more attacks per round but you'll need to keep reopening his inventory to reload every now and then.

Although Bards can't cast spells at the start of the game, they gain levels much more quickly than any other class and their spell progression from level 1 to around level 5 is very similar to a mage's. The difference is that bards have a more varied weapon selection and can use songs. Mages like Edwin (with his amulet) or ones with the ring of wizardry will still have a distinct edge in terms of spellcasting though.

Don't forget that as a bard Garrick can pickpocket and steal. The merchant in Nashkel has a very nice +1 tower shield, for example. You should also give Garrick bow proficiency asap so you can give him a Long Bow of Marksmanship. Since you're playing the vanilla game there is a second one you can pickpocket from one of the ghosts in the Firewine Ruins.

You can buy the Necklace of Missiles from one of the merchants in the circus area. Free early-game fireball, usable by anyone.

 

I didn`t know about the tower shield + the bow you could pickpocket, actually. I had planned on giving Shar-Teel the bow of marksmanship. She works nicely as an archer.
Her Con is terrible, though, so she is functioning as a backup fighter whenever its needed.

Any good axes in the game? I do have Tales of the Sword Coast installed, by the way.

 

Regardless of proficiency status, give Garrick a Bow, not a Crosbow. At least for battles including enemy mages/clerics. He will be a good spell disruptor with the S or L Bow. Which is usually more important than a mere speck of damage difference. The more you hit and faster you hit is the difference. Nimbul is a good example for this.

 

I have both Safana and Shar-Teel on bows. Garrick on crossbows. Yeah, i remember Nimbul. I think my tactis was shoot him full of arrows + magic missles, and throw hold person at him with my cleric. He has those boots of avoidance, I think, as well. Good fellow to loot

 

Not only will Garrick incur a penalty to THAC0 for using bows without a proficiency point, he will also only have 1 attack per round.

You're not supposed to kill Nimbul with ranged weapons. You'll have more luck trying to melee him down.

 

Not supposed to???? Says who? I ALWAYS kill Nmbul with massed missle fire from bows. Unless I am playing a Melee fighter as the Protagonist, of course. But boots or no boots, he goes down from the overwhelming barrage. Hold Person doesn't hurt either.

Of course I was assuming all would know that at level 4, easily reached by a Bard, you would choose Bows as your next WP instead of sticking with C-Bow all game. Unless you want to spend your loot on LCoS. I choose not to in most cases.