bongwizzard posted:

Play it on easy and mash the quicksave all the loving time. It isn't super hard, but not at all hand-holdy so there are a million ways to die without a chance to do much. The game assumes you know about D&D monsters and know when to loving run. I think you are going to be frustrated as poo poo coming form POE, I really recommend reading an LP of BG1 at lest up until the first Mine is cleared to give yourself a little jump start. There are also some hidden items early on that are almost mandatory that you will almost certainly miss your first time.

They are both really great games but are from a time where little concern was given to easing you into the game. It is super likely (and funny as poo poo) that you will die within 45-60 seconds of leaving the tutorial level. Hell, you can die in the tutorial level.

Lemon-Lime posted:

What were you expecting was going to happen when you imported a level 8 character into BG1?

Wizard Styles posted:

Nah, you get there before Cloakwood, which may not be low level but is still before the halfway point. If you level-grind against Basilisks and maybe Sirines you can reach level 3 spells before the Bandit Camp without doing too much else.


e: Actually, more importantly, what spells did you pick, Woolie Wool?

Sleep of Bronze posted:

22 THAC0 indicates a penalty of some sort. No one should have greater than 20. Have you dumped a stat hard, or not given him the proper proficiency or something?

Dyna Soar posted:

Basically single class thieves are just utility characters and scouts with rudimentary combat skills. Give them a bow and let them just plink away. Their thaco is too high to score a backstab, really so unless you want to savescum you can't really count on backstabbing.

What you should do is to either choose a multiclass or dual class. If you want an elf and need a PC with thief skills straight away a multiclass would be much better than a single class thief. A mage/thief will be really useful after you hit lvl 5 with your mage class. A fighter/thief will be really useful for the whole game and you actually have a good chance to land a backstab now and then, too.

Dual classing is a bit gamey but it's how you actually get the most powerful character combinations. A let's say Thief 7/Mage x dual class can do all the useful utility stuff you really need a thief for and you get a single class mage on top.


The closest to a glass cannon rogue you can get is the bard kit Blade. They can be both a super tank or a glass cannon, depending on which of their innate spin abilities you use. They can buff themselves, too. A really fun class to play.

Specialist mages are a bit of a hit or miss. Some are really good, some are gimped compared to the better ones or even a single classed mage. Assasins are crazy powerful at high levels but at lower levels they're pretty much useless yeah. You have to remember that all of the specialist kits were impletented for BG2 and Bioware gave no thought whatsoever for balance on lower levels.

Dyna Soar posted:

You just as well could, although your class choices will make the game a bit harder than with the default npc's.

Sleep of Bronze posted:

BG's definitely built on a more rigid system than PoE. Choosing proficiencies and thief skills at level up is totally different to the continuous customisation through skills and feats that modern games offer. Especially without an inbuilt respec option, that means character creation does play a much more significant part in your campaign. It's hard to totally screw yourself, but there are definitely less optimal choices (which people have gone ahead and beaten the game with anyway, because it's still a very solvable problem).

That said, common sense is still a pretty good guide, I think. I used to play this game multiplayer with friends when we were all six, and I know that on at least one run we got to the Gate itself before we started spawning Drizzt clones on top of all the enemies. If you're going to have someone wield a weapon - especially if you're not a martial class - then, yes, they'll need training in it to hit enemies on anything but a 20. Low HP characters are totally viable, but you have to keep them away from getting hurt, by physical distance or by protection buffs. Whatever your class and HP status, don't fight a bear close up if you've never been outside your fortress monastery in your life before.

I'll also advocate for some of the kits and classes you're having problems with. Thieves are not the glass cannon DPS class that later 'rogues' and all their incarnations became - that's not a preconception you should be coming in with. Outputting persistent damage is for the martial classes. Thieves are pretty much glass missiles. Until you get enough invisibility effects, they pop out of the shadows at an important enemy, gib them, and then run away to plink at things from a distance. (Once you've got some more skill points under your belt, preset traps add another weapon to your arsenal, once particularly good at killing enemies who run after once you've murdered their leader). And while you can't murder lots of people so easily, murdering the one dude can actually be a lot easier in BG, because you get to throw out damage multipliers that most modern game devs don't want anywhere near their system. An Assassin's octuple damage critical backstab in late BG2 is a thing of true beauty. If you want to try to imitate a more modern rogue, then the Swashbuckler kit is available, though, trading that massive backstab spike for more sustained to-hit and damage bonuses.

As for Cavaliers, the lack of ranged weapons can hurt in BG1, where HP levels are low enough that engaging from afar is a real advantage. But slap a big shield and an innate Pro Evil cast on them, and they'll do fine. Better yet, they get immunity to one of the nastiest damage statuses, in poison, and one of the nastiest CC statuses, in fear. Plus they can get rid of fear on everyone else incredibly easily too. There are all kinds of situations where those immunities and abilities make a fight so much easier.

jBrereton posted:

a slog against about billion Mind Flayers.

Big Sean posted:

Imoen is your thief; I'd probably dual her to mage at level five to minimize downtime (and consider borrowing another thief in the interim). After dual, she is a very effective mage and rounds out the party nicely. Arguably early-dual is non-canon

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Dyna Soar posted:

Thing is, your 60hp dwarf will still die pretty fast if he gets surrounded or made helpless by a spell. What we mean when we say there is no tanking is that at low levels, the combat is so lethal that even the tanks will die pretty fast if you don't play it smart. Naturally you have your meat shields, your casters and your ranged characters but why most people new to the game think it's so hard is because they throw their fighters to the front lines and watch them get cut down by a single wizard with hold person and some darts.

insanityv2 posted:

In re healing spells:

I never use them, and its not because i metagamed or rested after every fight.

It's because after an hour or two, I was usually up to my nipples in healing potions.

Also Drizzt is ok but he has the only +4 armor in the game so he has to die sorry.

Also also, woolie wool, if you are still having trouble with Mulahey or any other caster boss, try picking up some acid arrows from high hedge. The DOT fucks their spellcasting.