WalkThru v1.0
Note: This walkthru is for good aligned characters with the purpose of finishing the game in an early manner. Some
of the subquests are included and how to finish them and more will be added depending on request.
Also, I do not do tech support but sometimes will answer some anyway. Best place is to e-mail Bioware for questions.
The only problems I had was with my SBLIVE where there drivers where in conflict with the game somehow. But still,
the game did sound better with the EAX enable and the crashes were quite infrequent.
"Warez sucks! They make you a dirty thief!"
My machine stats:
- PII 300 MHz
- 128 MB PC66 SDRAM
- ABIT BH6
- MATROX MILLENIUM G200 8MB AGP
- SOUND BLASTER LIVE
- WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR 6.4GB HARD DRIVE
Most comfortable Baldur's Gate config:
- Cache: 240MB (default 140)
* I find loading places less frequent since I can now hold more areas in my BG cache allocation. However, to big
a cache size tends to make clearing of game data take much longer.
- Speed: 40 (default 30)
* The maximum speed is not recommended since it will make responsiveness to the monsters and NPCs in battle
slightly harder unless you pause every nanosecond.
- Keys used on keyboard: I use the quick save key often and space bar. The hotkeys for the other stuff are pretty
useless unless you intend to play the game totally real-time (good luck with harder NPCs and monsters). Also,
if do a lot of Thieving, set Pick Locks to "Z" and the Stealth and Find Traps to suitable keys where you
want to stealth and find traps at the same time (see strategy 15).
- AI script: The best has got to be custom, since they only attack with the weapon they have instead of doing all
the other scripts which is pretty dumb. You should be playing the game, not the computer.
- Optional: Get a good mouse rest, you'll need it if you intend to play it for hours non-stop.
************************Strategies*********************************
Your party has to have a thief. In early stages of the game, you should not remove Imoen for she will get you
out of rough spots and more free cool stuff. You need her or any thief to have at least 50% pick locks, 60%
stealth, and 60% find traps before Chapter 6. Trust me on this one.
Group formations are important and knowing which one to use in each situation is also as important. If you
travel narrow dungeons or subterranean levels, you should use the first formation since they don't tend to run
all about. Selecting a group and using the right click to rotate the formation of your group should be a habit.
Also, make your warriors stand in front of the group by shifting the character portrait up and down on the right
hand side by left clicking on a portrait and dragging it to your desired slot. My favorite formation for this
game in general is the 2nd formation since my group is well balanced.
When moving about the map, have a character with high stealth to scout the map first. Remember to off your AI
because if the roll ever fails the character will immediately attack and attract attention. Then after you scout
a region, you should move your group whichever way is safest. Or you could plan an attack on a group of
unsuspecting Xvarts.
A good way to attack monsters that out match you is to have a wizard that was a web or stinking cloud spell. This
spell should be quite available to you since it is only a level 2 spell.
- eg. Take off your AI enable and have the stealthiest group member find the target. Then check for head count.
Have your wizard ready the stinking cloud or web spell and fire just near the closes enemy in the group.
That way they can't see your wizard but you can see them due to the person that is hiding in shadows.
You should save before doing this attempt since the NPCs or monsters could get lucky and pass their saving
throws. Then have archers and magic users let them have it. Careful not to get to close to your own trap.
Skeletons and jellies tend to be annoying. Fireballs tend to wipe them clean, particularly skeletons. However,
there are circumstances that disallow that and you should either use blunt or crushing weapons against them
since all other types are quite ineffective. Some jellies or skeletons can only be hit by magical weapons and
the term weapon ineffective pops up.
When you get too much stuff in your inventory and do not want to throw it away (like Gorion's scroll), here is
the best way to do it. Go to Beregost, and into Jovial Inn. There a nice room at the end of the tavern upstairs.
I feel Beregost is the best place in the game since it is quite close to most of the other locations and you can
sell virtually anything there. Anyway, go to the two drawers in the room which are beside the bed. You will see
that it is empty. You can keep quite a lot of stuff in those drawers which you can store to get later if you
wish. I think I've personally have stored about 50+ potions from the adventures and used about 20+ of them in
Chapter 6 and Chapter 7.
Regarding saving and loading games. If you are frequent in loading games in an area high in monsters, you will
probably notice that more monsters appear on the map, even those areas where you have killed many before. The
thing is, Bioware is discouraging players from constant loading of games and everytime you kill a bunch of
monsters in a certain area, they will respawn back after loading sometimes doubling the amount in certain areas.
Use strategy 5 to avoid this constant loading habit and you should have a feel of how dangerous it is in the
woods or subterraneon levels.
How to rest in peace? Simple, try not to rest in the area where there were monsters once or near it. A good place
usually somewhere where there are no monsters about in a large radius. Even then you may still not be able to
rest depending on the dice rolls.
You should not adorn yourself with jewelry and should typical sell most items. The only jewelry you should adorn
should be magical ones.
10.Use the character with the highest Charisma to buy stuff for the group, that way you can get them cheaper.
To make a NPC turn red without fighting them outright is to stealth and then send that character near them. They
will talk to you as if they can see you and after the "friendly chat" they change from neutral to red. Then move
that stealth character aside and plan an attack, this way you get the story and journal updates and yet get a
relatively easier kill since you can attack them little at a time or use stinking cloud or web to pacify them.
Note, this usually only works with lower level NPCs.
You can attack a group of monsters or NPCs one at a time if you do it right. Get the stealth character to locate
just one or two of the opponent first, then fire an arrow and run back, only those you see will chase, not the
whole group. Then let them have it. This way you can take large chunks of enemies bits at a time.
Thieves can hide in shadows, and they come particularly use in combat if they enter it that way and have a
dagger or short sword in their hands. Turn off your AI enable to make this work smoothly. If your thief is
still invisible to the NPCs or monsters, and the rest of your party is fighting, walk the thief up to a target
and backstab whomever you like, particularly spell casters trying to get their spells out. Wizards might die
from one stab due to their low hit points, or from their following normal attacks.
Whenever you get the ability to cast Monster Summoning, use it well because it is one of the most useful spells
in the game to beat tough NPCs or monsters. Cast them prior to attacking someone and use them as battle fodder
while the real damage comes in the form of magical ranged attacks and offensive magic spells. That strategy makes
the last battle in BG really easy because then I used a Wand of Monster Summoning to call about 20+ creatures to
attack while magical arrows and bullets, and magic missiles attack the NPCs.
To stealth and find traps at the same time, you first hide in shadows then click on find traps. This way you
get a few seconds of stealth. Then hit the hide in shadows again and hope that you succeed.
You cannot heal or cast spells on characters in stealth.
New NPCs who can join your party will follow the main characters level or XP points give and take a few. So, if I
was level 7 and went back and talked to Montaron and Xzar for the first time, they would be somewhere in that
level range also.
*************************WalkThru**********************************