Any combat tips for a new player (fighter)

[Gargamel]

First let me say I just built a 90's PC and am currently playing the original Baldur's Gate, nit this enhanced edition... yet. But I assume the battle mechanics are pretty much the same for this version as the windows 98SE version I am currently playing.

Anyway, I have having combat issues. Mainly just how to control my characters. I have been reading through this tome of a manual I have, and the quick reference card but struggling. I started out and made it past the first city, and am not in the Friend inn area (not too friendly). You get to a part where you are attacked by this wizard and I finally killed him after many attempts, and lost 2 characters. I now need 200 gold to bring them back. At this point that seems like a lot.

The issues I am having are mainly just controlling my characters and keeping track of them. For instance the wizard used what I assume is a fear spell and all my characters ran away. Which makes things chaos-like, as I see nothing in the manual on how to select them all at once besides dragging the cursor over all of them, but they're running away so it's kind of hard. Is there a way to selct them all without dragging?

I am also confused about the attacking. I feel like after my characters kill an enemy they just stand there taking blows. Is there a way to make them auto attack after killing an enemy? Or is there a way to know when they are done attacking instead of watching them to see if they're performing any actions?

I have the whole spacebar to pause ting down. But any other combat tips would be much appreciated. Especially quick ways to gather my party when seperated. I know once I drag and select them all I can move them all together.

[ÄmJii]

Originally posted by jfoe1980:

Anyway, I have having combat issues. Mainly just how to control my characters. I have been reading through this tome of a manual I have, and the quick reference card but struggling. I started out and made it past the first city, and am not in the Friend inn area (not too friendly). You get to a part where you are attacked by this wizard and I finally killed him after many attempts, and lost 2 characters. I now need 200 gold to bring them back. At this point that seems like a lot.

Yes, that's a tough encounter. Your best chances are to send in one character (sacrificial lamb, if you will) to draw out the Fear spell.

- When the wizard spots you, he'll automatically approach your nearest party member. Take advantage of this, send one char to talk with him and keep rest of your party well away from wizard.
Once wizard approaches to initiate dialogue, lead him near guards (there should be few patrolling the area).
- After dialogue he'll turn hostile. When he starts casting Fear, run away from him and leave him to fight with guards. Fear spell will track down your party member (make sure not to walk too close to rest of your party!), but wizard won't follow him/her if s/he is out of his sight.
- Let guards fight with the wizard. They might not be able to kill him, but they'll wear him down so you'll have easier time defeating him.

If this feels too cheap, you can try to pelt him down with ranged weapons and Magic Missiles (if wizard takes damage while casting a spell, his spell gets disrupted).

Originally posted by jfoe1980:

The issues I am having are mainly just controlling my characters and keeping track of them. For instance the wizard used what I assume is a fear spell and all my characters ran away. Which makes things chaos-like, as I see nothing in the manual on how to select them all at once besides dragging the cursor over all of them, but they're running away so it's kind of hard. Is there a way to selct them all without dragging?

If your party member is affected by Fear, Confuse etc. you can't select them until it wears off. Besides that, you can select party members by clicking their portraits on right-hand menu (Shift + Click to select multiple) and with numeral keys. IIRC pressing 0 selects your whole party at once.

Originally posted by jfoe1980:

I am also confused about the attacking. I feel like after my characters kill an enemy they just stand there taking blows. Is there a way to make them auto attack after killing an enemy? Or is there a way to know when they are done attacking instead of watching them to see if they're performing any actions?

Check their AI Scripts in Character Record (the spreadsheet that displays stats, exp and such).

While you're at it, check Options and toggle Detailed Tooltips (especially To-Hit Rolls). Don't try to observe combat animations too much, sometimes they can be bit misleading if you're unfamiliar with D&D rules.

Originally posted by jfoe1980:

I have the whole spacebar to pause ting down. But any other combat tips would be much appreciated. Especially quick ways to gather my party when seperated. I know once I drag and select them all I can move them all together.

Fiddle around with Auto-Pause options. I've been playing with Auto-Pause: Enemy Sighted and AP: Spell Cast, it might be my personal preference but those two options made micro-managing mure more tolerable.

As for combat tips in general: Make sure most (if not all) party members have ranged weapons! You're gonna have much easier time against wolves, bears, gnolls and ogres if you can kill them before they get to striking distance.

[happy]

bottom right under the portraits
there are two buttons
one for selecting all valid characters are once
one to turn on/off character AI

[Gabe the Destroyer]

Either use scripts as mentioned above for all of your characters, or make the spacebar your best friend. Pause the game when you see an enemy (or use the autopause feature) issue commands to all of your people. Unpause. After all spells and other 1-time commands have been completed, pause the game again and issue more commands. Basically you will be pausing the game several times in any given fight to issue all of the appropriate commands. On the other hand, the right scripts can greatly reduce the amount of pausing you need to do. It all just depends on how "in control" you want to be.

Also, the very bottom right hand button of the dotted square outline around 3 people will select your entire team if you click it. It's the best way to select everyone instantly.

[Nismu]

preparing is the key. for exampole if you are going against wizard expect fear spell and cast remove fear spell to them (divine spell. )
Though if you have own wizard you can try interrupt spells with quick casting spells like magic missile
Anyway don't get discouraged by the mages , they are toughest enemies in the game until you figure out their pattern and form tactic against it.
Setting scripts on customize and pausing game to give orders and figure out what goes on is recommended.

[Gargamel]

Thanks for the tips everyone. They helped a lot. I kept forgetting to reply, but I have sunk quite a few more hours into the game. Now my problem is that I am always broke. I wonder around for hours and either find enemies that kill me in 2 hits, or find enemies like wolves that drop nothing of value. Raising a character for 100 gold at this rate will take 8 hours. And if I had gold I could at least buy new weapons and armor. Even something thats as little as 40 gold seems pricey. Plus I have to factor in being able to heal up, and potions and such.

are there any beginning enemies that drop items that can be sold for more than one or two gold? I did find some scalps, and it looks like they are of value, but no one buys them even though they say they are worth 25-100 gold each.

If I could just get money for armour, weapons, potions, and the occasional raise I would be ok. I guess from now on I will be saving moer often, in case I do die I can just re-load. but right now i'm in a situation where I need a raise, have 7 gold, and crap weapons and armor. Even if I could get some cheap not 1 gold items I would be doing much better. I can't even come close to killing these half ogre guys for a simple quest.

[ÄmJii]

Hobgoblins and Gnolls tend to carry some jewelry, they can be sold for roughly 5-20 gold per piece. You can also hold Tab to highlight all the objects you can interact with, including chests and stashes (hint: look for small potholes and holes in trees, there's few hidden stashes that contain goodies). Best way to gain Gold & EXP is doing quests, if you're having too much trouble with certain enemies you're either trying to tackle them too early or your tactics need refining.
How do you usually engage your enemies? Mind if I ask what spells you've memorized with your Mages and Clerics/Druids?

Those bandit scalps you found can be sold in Beregost's Jovial Juggler Inn, just hang on to them.

And like I said before, get ranged weapons for literally everyone. Arrows, Bullets and Bolts cost 1 Gold per 20 pieces, they're cheap and very plentiful through entire game (especially Arrows).
You can, and should, save Healing Potions for combat, you can always rest in wilderness (remember to Quick Save often) and use Cleric/Druid healing spells.


Could you post what kind of party you've got so far?

[Gargamel]

I will have to post my party after work. It's just me and the 5 people I found in the beginning. 3 fighters that have bad armor and can't tank, a necromancer with magic missile, and a thief. And a dead guy. Everyone has a bow or sling. I send my pathetic tank out and wath him whiff and just kill with arrows. If something looks intimidating I use magic missile. And use the triangle formation it works well except no armor to tank.

[Gabe the Destroyer]

Money isn't all that important/useful if you use the right tactics. For the most part, you will find many more useful items on enemies or in chests versus what you can purchase in shops.

If you absolutely NEED money though, take your thief through a town and steal everything that isn't nailed down. You can also pickpocket if you're brave. I think the first potion of master thievery is available at the carnival map on the thief that pickpockets you (kill him and take it, or pickpocket him). It will boost all your thieving skills.

Don't spend money on Resurrections or healing in the future. Save often and if a party member dies in a fight, reload and adjust your tactics or simply keep the weak link away from the fight. Find a Cleric or Druid party member and use them for all your healing. Rest to refill healing spells and heal.

Also, if one of your party members sucks, get rid of them. I'm guessing your party is...
You
Imoen
Khalid
Jaheria
Xar
Montaron

Some other early options are Dorn (blackguard), Minsc (ranger), Edwin (mage). These 3 are probably better than Xar and Montaron at the very least.

A few of the really nice free early game items are as follows:
There is some Ankheg armor in Nashkel on the far left of the map in the farmer's fields. Give it to your tank with the most HP. The Stupefier (a crazy overpowered mace) is in a dresser upstairs at the burning wizard inn in Beregost. In the same town if you go to the blacksmith at night, you can loot a +1 bastard sword out of his chest (if you go in the day you will get caught stealing). You can use these if you have the right proficiencies or sell them for money.

Also, clear out maps entirely when you go to a new map. Almost every map has 1 or 2 good items that you can find.

Lastly, I'm not sure where you're at in the game, but the Nashkel mines are designed to be the 1st dungeon you crawl through. It's pretty much nothing but kobolds with some nice loot at the end. Also, one of the best Longswords in the game can be found on the Nashkel Mine map, and when you exit the mines, the map it puts you on has a +2 dagger, 2 sets of +2 leather armor, a mage robe, the Harrower longsword, and a few other magic items. Just watch out for the slime mage on that map...

[Gargamel]

I will try that out. I went o a wooded area today and my necromancer and my other figher left completely. Then I noticed my character that was dead also disappeared. So I guess I will have to find some other members. I met some Paladin in Beregost but he never offered to join up. Maybe he will now.

I see the quest for the mines, but I was unable to locate them. So I guess I will have to research that later.

I also have 2 more quick questions.

1. Should I sell my gems or are they used for something?

2. Is it worth it to buy drinks? I have tried it but the info so far seemed not very useful. I blew about 40 gold and got nothing good so I just reloaded.

[Gabe the Destroyer]

Some party members have goals/quests of their own that they tell you about. If you ignore their goals/quests long enough, they will leave you.

The mines are Southeast of Nashkel.

Sell your gems.

Not sure about buying drinks. I'm guessing the rumors might point you in the direction of a nearby quest, but I don't think you really get anything exclusively from buying drinks. I think it's more in the game for Role Playing (i.e. your ingame party is at a tavern and hears about a dungeon with amazing treasures so you set out in search of this dungeon vs you the actual person just clearing every map for the sake of clearing maps and randomly finding the dungeon)

[DnD Detective]

My general advice would be to point out that as long as you have 9 intelligence you can use wands. Get the wand of sleep from high hedge and equip/use it (it has no class restrictions). It will make a number of encounters a lot easier (the sleep spell is more effective than the wand however). Despite its description saying otherwise Sleep will work on anything level 4 (4 hit dice) or less (which basically means a lot of creature files like gibberlings, basic and dire wolves, ankhegs, bandits, kobolds, etc to be affected by it).

Buying drinks is one way of hearing rumours (giving to temples is another). Just make sure to rest afterwords if you get intoxicated from them (intoxication is generally a negative thing when it comes to combat). Its only real value outside of that is as a means of avoiding moral failures (Khalid, Garrick, Eldoth, and Kagain being some of the worst offenders) but you are better off using a spell like Resist Fear or Remove Fear instead for this.

[Raell]

Originally posted by jfoe1980:

First let me say I just built a 90's PC and am currently playing the original Baldur's Gate, nit this enhanced edition... yet. But I assume the battle mechanics are pretty much the same for this version as the windows 98SE version I am currently playing.

Anyway, I have having combat issues. Mainly just how to control my characters. I have been reading through this tome of a manual I have, and the quick reference card but struggling. I started out and made it past the first city, and am not in the Friend inn area (not too friendly). You get to a part where you are attacked by this wizard and I finally killed him after many attempts, and lost 2 characters. I now need 200 gold to bring them back. At this point that seems like a lot.

The issues I am having are mainly just controlling my characters and keeping track of them. For instance the wizard used what I assume is a fear spell and all my characters ran away. Which makes things chaos-like, as I see nothing in the manual on how to select them all at once besides dragging the cursor over all of them, but they're running away so it's kind of hard. Is there a way to selct them all without dragging?

I am also confused about the attacking. I feel like after my characters kill an enemy they just stand there taking blows. Is there a way to make them auto attack after killing an enemy? Or is there a way to know when they are done attacking instead of watching them to see if they're performing any actions?

I have the whole spacebar to pause ting down. But any other combat tips would be much appreciated. Especially quick ways to gather my party when seperated. I know once I drag and select them all I can move them all together.

Why did you build a 90's pc to play this? You can play it on any version of windows. gog.com to buy the original.

[Gargamel]

Originally posted by Cruentus:

Originally posted by jfoe1980:

First let me say I just built a 90's PC and am currently playing the original Baldur's Gate, nit this enhanced edition... yet. But I assume the battle mechanics are pretty much the same for this version as the windows 98SE version I am currently playing.

Anyway, I have having combat issues. Mainly just how to control my characters. I have been reading through this tome of a manual I have, and the quick reference card but struggling. I started out and made it past the first city, and am not in the Friend inn area (not too friendly). You get to a part where you are attacked by this wizard and I finally killed him after many attempts, and lost 2 characters. I now need 200 gold to bring them back. At this point that seems like a lot.

The issues I am having are mainly just controlling my characters and keeping track of them. For instance the wizard used what I assume is a fear spell and all my characters ran away. Which makes things chaos-like, as I see nothing in the manual on how to select them all at once besides dragging the cursor over all of them, but they're running away so it's kind of hard. Is there a way to selct them all without dragging?

I am also confused about the attacking. I feel like after my characters kill an enemy they just stand there taking blows. Is there a way to make them auto attack after killing an enemy? Or is there a way to know when they are done attacking instead of watching them to see if they're performing any actions?

I have the whole spacebar to pause ting down. But any other combat tips would be much appreciated. Especially quick ways to gather my party when seperated. I know once I drag and select them all I can move them all together.

Why did you build a 90's pc to play this? You can play it on any version of windows. gog.com to buy the original.

I didn't build a 90's PC to play Baldur's Gate. I built a 90's PC to play the games not on GOG. Like Black and White, and numerous others. But if I have a 90's PC I might as welll pick up a $8.00 complete big box copy of Baldurs Gate on eBay instead of paying a similar price for a digital copy on GOG.

Plus I just like playing games the way tthey were meant to be enjoyed, and collecting.