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I don't "get" Baldur's Gate II
Evilsville
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I finally get the game after hearing so much praise about it and install it on my computer. Few graphical errors at first, but I clean them up and everything seems dandy.
So! I make my first character. A Thief/Assassin guy and begin playing. Combat is weird, but I liked Planescape: Torment, so I'm not losing my mind or anything. Frustratingly enough though, I can't figure out how to backstab effectively without microing my party a bunch. After a few attempts, I die. No biggie. Reload and carry on.
Things feel slow and I feel lost in Irenicus' dungeon so I'm kind of just wandering around, angered by lack of ability to backstab properly until I finally get my way out of the dungeon 2 hours later. Now I'm in a city. I'm not sure where to go or what to do.
I enter a circus tent, kill some dudes, save some bitches, cool.
I am lost again. And bored.
I feel like I'm missing some key thing to this game that makes it fun. I really want it to be fun. I really want it to be as amazing for me as it was for everyone else. It's not the engine, I played Planescape: Torment for the first time only just last year and I adored it.
I just don't get it. I feel little interest in the story (granted, I have not played BG I) and I would like to play a mage, but a lot of the spells (and classes, and characters, and...) are beyond me and I suck. What do I do?
So! I make my first character. A Thief/Assassin guy and begin playing. Combat is weird, but I liked Planescape: Torment, so I'm not losing my mind or anything. Frustratingly enough though, I can't figure out how to backstab effectively without microing my party a bunch. After a few attempts, I die. No biggie. Reload and carry on.
Things feel slow and I feel lost in Irenicus' dungeon so I'm kind of just wandering around, angered by lack of ability to backstab properly until I finally get my way out of the dungeon 2 hours later. Now I'm in a city. I'm not sure where to go or what to do.
I enter a circus tent, kill some dudes, save some bitches, cool.
I am lost again. And bored.
I feel like I'm missing some key thing to this game that makes it fun. I really want it to be fun. I really want it to be as amazing for me as it was for everyone else. It's not the engine, I played Planescape: Torment for the first time only just last year and I adored it.
I just don't get it. I feel little interest in the story (granted, I have not played BG I) and I would like to play a mage, but a lot of the spells (and classes, and characters, and...) are beyond me and I suck. What do I do?
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I tried it but I just was so bored. Oh well not for me.
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I don't quite see how you can be lost at that point though. There's only one place to go IIRC, the slums, and there'll be a cutscene once you get there.
I mean, are there things I should know before I play this game? I skimmed the manual, but are there things I should know that aren't there or I missed?
Well if backstabbing is pissing you off, you should know that BGII runs on D&D rules (3rd ed I think? Maybe 2nd), so you might want to take a look.
Why beyond you? Spell and skill descriptions are fairly good at describing what they do. All the characters have ample personality if you give them the opportunity. Just take the time to immerse yourself in the game and learn the game mechanics (very important!) instead of saying things are "slow". This isn't Mass Effect.
And yes, you WILL have to micro your party if you want to get far in the game. You can't expect to leave them on auto while you try to be cool and backstab thinking you're teh cool ninja.
2. I like the game but I never even finished it. I got frustrated and gave up. So, y'know, it's not for everyone.
3. Read the manual. It helps a lot.
And yeah if you want to go with a mage just read the spell descriptions and pick stuff that sounds cool. That's more or less what I did and it worked out fine without any prior D&D knowledge.
Pure mages are nice, but be prepared to be very squishy, especially if you can't micro your fighters to protect them. If you want ultimate cheese go for a dual class Kensai/Mage... dual-wield katanas while casting spells? Yes please.
Are you joking? Mages are really, really broken and a mage with the proper spells can't be called squishy at all.
Because, seriously, fuck that game. I tried to like it (the same way I tried to like BG2 after its prime) and failed so hard.
I lack the dice rolling hardcorenerdness inside me to appreciate it I guess... (I also kind of like grindy jrpgs)
Forgot to add: early game mages. The man has yet to figure out backstab, how will he react to fireball or cloudkill incapacitating half his party and leaving the mage to be hacked to death...
It depends if you're playing it on a console or not :P
But really, I'm not sure why the combat is that big a problem if you've already played PST, as the controls are practically the same (if a little bit more complicated). But I can easily see getting bored and/or confused as it does have a bit less focus than PST, and more of the focus is on combat.
I mean, I could easily see having no freaking idea what you were doing if you just jumped into it fresh (in which case I would have suggested getting your toes wet with DA first), but finishing PST first?
The former can also confuse the hell out of you and the latter takes a few story events for the voice acting to seep into your brain.
I also kind of wandered into the circus my first time with the game before I got my bearings (I mean, it's a circus tent! How could I resist not peaking inside?). The circus dungeon is kind of weird by nature since it's supposed to be confusing.
You'll want to check your journal frequently. Some bit in it should tell you to hit the slums to advance the story a bit. Once there, you will get the plot quest to amass a bunch of gold along with a pointer to one of the big side quests you should do. Note that the npc specifically will point out the side quest that gives your PC's class its stronghold.
You have A LOT of free reign to do stuff in the game right now. You'll basically go into city sectors, talk to named NPCs to be pointed towards quests, and do them. For now, you'll probably want to stick with quests that are in the city itself.
Also, I'll warn you that thief/assassin is not a newbie friendly combo to play. You don't get the skill points of an unclassed thief so you'll have to keep Yoshimo (or Jan if you pick him up) around to help with the skulduggery. You're also kind of fragile and don't hit very accurately after that backstab. Quite simply, thieves kind of sucked in 2nd edition rules.
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Sadly, no other game is either.
It's been my dream to do a Sid Meier's Pirates!-like revamp of Darklands for a long time. More intuitive skill system, full Infinity Engine-style control system, an accessible (but optional) main storyline, and maybe even co-op. Sigh.
But that's neither here nor there.
The problem with suggesting NWN (I assume you mean the first modern NWN?) is that you swap wrestling with the gameplay mechanics for wrestling with character creation and development. Aside from rolling really low attributes, BG2 is far more forgiving character creation-wise than NWN and its endless selection of feats feats feats.
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It's also extraordinarily boring.
I was bored by Baldur's Gate because micromanaging annoys the shit out of me but NWN was fun.
And yeah, you can't rely on your partymembers' AI at all; get used to pausing frequently to micromanage them.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
But yeah, give NWN a shot, and if you like what you get pick up the big pack for NWN2, you get Mask of the Betrayer for your fix of high epic story stuff that makes whats-his-name famous, and Storm of Zehir if you think that style of campaign and story's a load of bullshit. Heck both of 'em can be picked up for like 20 bucks each nowadays.
1) actually make an effort to learn how BG2's 2E+ ruleset works, or
2) Just say fuck it and use the shiniest equipment with the biggest +X modifier on it that you have at a given moment. It'll generally be good enough.
edit: oh also, yeah, thieves were notoriously terrible under the DnD rules that the baldur's gate games use.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
On the upside, you actually get well-written characters and plot, compared to the drivel than infects NWN.
Anyway, if you want to play a mage, try the following:
Have Stoneskin up at all times.
Cast Haste, Chaos, Fireball, Cloudkill or some combination of the above in every fight.
The opening dungeon's the weakest bit of the game. Persist.
Dragon's Age isn't nearly as complicated as BGII. I don't think either games really need you to be understand the underlying game mechanics though, the only thing that really tripped me up with BGII was that lower AC meant you are more powerful.
Also, I played the original Baldur's Gate way back when it was first released, and I remember THAT being a pretty difficult game. BGII, at least once I understood how to play, was pretty easy for me.
I won't forget a single day believe me.
Did you try putting other people in your party?
I won't forget a single day believe me.
Soloing it is easier than doing it with a party because xp isn't split
1) he is out of the Irenicus dungeon
2) he finished & loved Planescape: Torment
That means he a) is already in the one of the best parts in the game (exploring main city) b) knows the Infinity Engine mechanics like combat, spells etc.
His problem is very weird... he just doesn't "feel" Baldur's Gate 2. I can't imagine anyone not feeling it. It is the grandest, longest and best IE game ever created. Hmm. Maybe he dies too often?