Tactical Guide & Walkthrough to the Black Pits

This guide focuses on the arena mode of BG:EE and will teach you about party setups, tactics, equipment & spells, and present the fights you'll (hopefully) go through. Welcome to the Pits!

Party Composition

Classes

The pitfights are usually short and your party will automatically rest (and often level up) after each fight. Hence the classes who shine in the arena are those who can deliver a burst of damage in little time: Berserkers and Barbarians make arguably the greatest gladiators thanks to their Rage ability. All Fighters benefit from their low AC and THAC0, generous health pool and access to the highest weapons proficiencies. Solid Paladins and their aggressive kit Blackguard also stand apart.

When it comes to physical shooters your choice is between Rangers and Fighters. The ranger kit Archer makes great shooters, however Fighters are more flexible and will be able to stand their ground in melee thanks to their access to heavy armor and their abundant proficiency points.

Mages and Sorcerers, if defended by their companions, will turn the tide with their destructive and crowd control spells. Teaching spells to a Mage is costly, however your party can earn extra coins by asking to re-play any completed fight. Sorcerers will have the luxury to repeatedly cast the same spells without scrolls but may dry out their spellpool before the end of a pitfight.

Halfway between physical fighters and magical glass cannons are the Clerics and Druids, whose flexibility often comes in handy against the vastly different opponents you'll face in the Pits.

At the other end of the spectrum, most Bards, with their limited offensive and defensive potentials, and Thieves, who rely on stealth, manoeuvres and traps, aren't at their ease in the Pits. This doesn't mean they aren't viable - but selecting them will make the fights a little more challenging.
Two notable exceptions are the bard kit Blade with his formidable Offensive Spin, and the thief kit Assassin thanks to his Poison Weapon ability. Poison is a fantastic tool against hostile magic users as it can interrupt their casting and quickly burn through their limited health pool. An Assassin with either a missile weapon or a pair of short swords will be a great help in a number of pitfights.

A solid setup would be three frontline fighters to hold and hack the enemy, a missile specialist to shoot down tough foes, and two spellcasters to deal in magical damage, crowd control and buffs.

Note that losing some of your members during a fight in the Black Pits isn't an issue. The fight is over as soon as the last of your opponents dies, and all of your fallen party members will be revived with their inventory and loot, will gain XP as any survivor, and will be available for the following fights.

The maximum level for your party members is 10.

Races

Half-Orcs represent the best material for any frontline class with their very straightforward traits: +1 Strength, +1 Constitution, -2 Intelligence. Put these to good use!

Dwarves are the toughest race with their innate Constitution and Saving Throws bonus which make them less vulnerable than Half-Orcs to hostile magic, and have access to the tankest class of all: the fighter kit Dwarven Defender.

Elves make the greatest shooters thanks to their Bow and Dex bonus, a deadly combination with the ranger kit Archer. They can also make excellent hybrid bow/sword Fighters. Their 90% charm & sleep resistances help keeping them safe and sound.

Halflings and Gnomes enjoy generous bonus to their Saving Throws, a blessing in the Pits.

Humans have access to dual-classing, a great tool to add even more flexibility to your party. However choose another race if you don't dual.

Half-Elves have no downside. Their minor upsides make them slightly superior to pureblood Humans, and they have access to a greater variety of classes than pureblood Elves, such as Druids, Bards, conjurer & transmuter Mages, and many double and triple multi-classes.

Abilities

The Black Pits are all about fighting! As well as their primary requisite(s) such as Strength for fighters, all participants should max out their Dexterity for the Armor bonus and their Constitution to get as many Hit Points as possible (and Saving bonus for the Halflings and Gnomes).
You may also want your leader to have a high Charisma to lower the equipment's prices, but it isn't critical as you can earn extra cash by re-playing completed fights as many times as needed.

Gender and Alignements

Roleplaying has little importance in this mode despite the wealth of dialogue options available with the merchants. Gender has strictly no consequence in the Black Pits.
Alignements only matter for your robe-wearing spellcasters who should choose different philosophies, as the high level, über-expensive Robes of the Good Archmagi / Neutral Archmagi / Evil Archmagi are limited to one copy each.

Equipment and Spells

Weapon proficiencies and Combat styles

- Your physical classes should go for the most efficient weapons of the arsenal. Two-handed swords, composite longbows and dual wielded axes or flails will do great in the arenas.

You will have access to magical weapons further in the game so there's no bad choice. After the Tier 1 and 2 are completed, the shops will be ugraded with higher quality equipement, such as +1 and +2 weapons and armors. The only notable exception are the clubs: enchanted clubs aren't available in the Black Pits for an obscure reason - do not select them as your weapon proficiency.

Remember that offense is the best defense, as dead enemies can't hurt you. It's best not to bother with a shield and focus instead on dealing maximum damage.

Decide from the start which array of weapons will wield each warrior and select his/her combat style accordingly: either Two-Handed Weapons or Two Weapons.

- Your magical classes may throw a few missiles in between their spells or if they run out of spells (I'm talking to you, Sorcerers). Every bit of damage counts. They'd best invest their limited pool of proficiency points in slings or darts rather than melee weapons, as they can't seriously hold long in a melee. It's the frontline's job to prevent enemies from reaching your backline.

Spells

Your spellcasters (mages, sorcerers, druids and such) must be ready to deal out damage as soon as they step in the Pits. Fortunately, buffing spells such as Bless, Chant or Barkskin cast in the merchant's room will be active in the arena. Therefore feel free to learn and pre-cast as many buffs as you can!

You are now in the Pit with some distance between your opponents and your group. Depending on your class and available schools of magic, there are three types of spells to start off a generic fight:
- Area-of-effect destructive spells such as Fireball, Ice Storm or Cloudkill. Once the melee has begun they may be too dangerous for your warriors.
- Area-of-effect crowd controlling spells such as Entangle, Web, Grease or Stinking Cloud, especially if your group has a good firepower. However these spells will drop in efficiency against high level opponents.
- Allies summonning spells to add animals, undead, elementals and other creatures to your ranks. If you plan to call them, the sooner the better. They won't be transferred from the merchant's room with you.

The best formula is to pick one or two of these opening spells to be used as first actions, and fill the rest of your books with buffs to pre-cast and offensive spells which will not hurt your frontline fighters, such as Chromatic Orb or Horror.

A Dragon Disciple Sorcerer (in green) steps forward to unleash his mass damaging spell while a Druid (in pink) is summoning an ally. The Fighters wait in a defensive line before the Archer.

Learn a good mix of spells so that you'll have something effective against the nature of your targets: undead, meatshields vulnerable to morale or movement-based spells, other spellcasters, monsters with innate magical immunities...

Last advice: you'd best learn spells that will be useful throughout the game. Most of the damaging spells scale up with your level (think Magic Missiles), but some can only affect monsters with a low amount of Hit Dice, or will prove trivial against higher level opponents (such as Animal Summoning I or Larloch's Minor Drain). Do not waste your spellslots with these.

Tier 1 Battles

Your group will be tested in two easy fights before the real fun begins: first a pack of diseased giberlins, then another of their healthy counterparts. None have any special ability and you should be able to overcome them quickly with minimum damage on your side.

Battle 1: The Plan-B Team

This amateur team is made of 6 different classes: a Barbarian (the Gnoll), a Thief (the Shorty), a Fighter wielding two blades, a Priest, a Druid and a Mage.
They won't be an issue if you focus and eliminate them one by one. Pick the Gnoll first as he is an easy target and will rush you head-on. Your shooters and casters should then do quick work of their Mage.

Battle 2: Bad Hobs and Boomsticks

These Hobgoblins (3 Warriors, 3 Archers and 2 Wizards) outnumber you and show more punching power than your previous opponents. The Wizards will cast Mirror Image on themselves, Haste on their troops and Lightning Bolt on yours. Injured Hobs need to be taken down before they can use their health potions.
Focused attacks and morale spells will do the job. Make sure your fighters don't let any Hob hurt your glass cannons.

Battle 3: How to Raise the Dead and Influence People

A Necromancer starting the fight with 7 Skeletons. He will set up some magical defenses and then uses his favorite trick: Stinking Cloud. Rush out of it and focus on the Necromancer before he summons too many Skeletons. His death will grant you immediate victory.
Don't bother dealing with the Skeletons themselves unless the Cloud is denying you access to the Necromancer. They can be difficult to put down with piercing and slashing weapons, but crushing weapons and destructive spells will work great.

Battle 4: Gauntlets of Ogres

A party of 8 Ogres backed up by an Ogre Mage, who will first Mirror himself before raining Acid Arrows and Magic Missiles on you.
The Ogres' weakness is their fragile morale: they're prone to panic when at Near Death. They lack also any notion of strategy and will engage the closest target so your backline shouldn't be threatened. Make sure your fighters are buffed, as they will take some blows and need to deal out even more, and don't waste any time pursuing runners. The Ogre Mage is harder to put down and best kept for the dessert.

Battle 5: The Margarine of Evil

A leveled-up and smarter version of the Plan-B Team. The Mage may cause you some issues with his magic protections and his catalogue of spells, which includes Improved Invisibility, Haste, Spook, Ray of Enfeeblement, Magic Missiles, Flame Arrow, Acid Arrow, Burning Hands, and last but not least Agannazar's Scorcher. The Druid will heal and buff his teammates. The rest of the team will fight decently and sometimes pass a potion to a friend in need. You'll have to finish off quickly any weakened opponent.
Your priority is to disrupt the casting of the Mage and Druid, either by spamming missiles, applying poison if available, or dispatching a melee fighter to bash them.

Tier 2 Battles

Battle 6: Bugged

Due to the nature of your opponents, this fight will be quick and bloody. 5 Rabid Ankhegs (but only 4 active at the same time) emerge from the ground and engage in melee.

Their long claws appear first, so you have about a second to move your spellcasters before the beasts start tearing at their robes.

Let your fighers bash everything in their reach, and focus instead on the moves and attacks of your glass cannons. Prefer destructive spells with a short casting time as the Ankhegs will keep popping in and out of the ground.

Battle 7: Unfriendly Neighborhood Spider Man

A Druid with either 1 Sword Spider (blue) and 7 common spiders, or 2 Giant Spiders (green) and 10 common spiders. The main threat here is the Druid's Web which can hold most of your troops and allow the spiders to bleed them dry.

You can either send a lone fighter rush to the Druid and have everybody else step back out of the webbed area, or if your party is rich in shooters, fire with everything available to prevent him from casting. Use mass damaging spells to get rid of the common spiders before they reach you.

Make sure your own casters don't get swarmed by the spiders as they'll interrupt their spells.

Battle 8: Thicket of Thieves

These Nine Knives Thieves (they're actually 8) have set up traps on the arena floor and will shoot volleys of arrows to force you to get through them.

By all means avoid the central part of the arena which hides area-of-effect spelltraps, such as Fireball, Grease and Stinking Cloud. The periphery holds mostly single-target traps.

Armored bowmen and crossbowmen will shine in this fight. If you've superior firepower, stick to your starting position and engage from a distance. If you've any teleportation ability at this stage, phase from a thief to another.

Your grunts will have to reach the enemy on foot so avoid unnecessary erring. Stop moving and switch to a ranged weapon if you're low on health.

Battle 9: Gift of The Ogre Mage

An Ogre Mage spawns in the central part of the arena while 5 portals placed on the periphery continiously generate low to mid-quality monsters till they are destroyed.



The Ogre Mage is the main threat, but be very careful not to get stuck in the hordes of critters. Start with shutting down the 2 closest portals to give some breathing space to your shooters and casters. At least two of your fighters should then move towards the other portals, grabbing and hacking the incoming monsters, while the rest of your party focuses on the Ogre Mage. Consider morale spells such as Spook to prevent him from casting.

Battle 10: Red Shirt Wizards

This party of 2 Mages + a Barbarian + a Fighter + a Priest + a Thief is an upgraded and more aggressive version of the Plan-B Team (Battle 1) and the Margarine of Evil (Battle 5).

The melee guys have good armors but will have to go down first, starting with the Barbarian.

The Mages are another matter: Shielded, Mirrored, Invisible and Protected from Minor Spells, Magic Missiles, Normal Missiles and/or Fire, they will use Confusion, Cone of Cold and more to weaken your group.

Try to interrupt them, wait for their magical defenses to end, and strike hard!

Tier 3 Battles

Battle 11: Swamped

These two Trolls and two Slimes are more dangerous than they look like. Trolls are brutal melee fighters who regenerate and can rise on their feet again after being put down. Fission Slimes spit poison missiles and can spawn new Slimes.

The right tool to deal with them is fire. Arrows of Fire and spells such as Flame Blade and Burning Hands will stop them from regenerating and spawning.

Your physical classes must keep the monsters busy and bring down the trolls which your flame specialists will finish off. Anobody who can't deal fire damage is dispensable, so feel free to spam Fireballs and Scorchers in the melee.

Battle 12: A History of Violent Beatings

A Shambling Mound and 4 Clay Golems which will require you to do some shopping. Crushing resistance gear will help you. The Mound may be impressive but it is vulnerable to enchanted piercing and slashing weapons, magical attacks and morale spells. Only two things however can affect the Golems: enchanted crushing weapons and poison. Equip your party accordingly.

A rare bug may occur in this fight: if you slay all the Golems before the Mound, Baeloth may appear and declare the fight over. The Mound will stay in the arena, keep fighting with whichever summoned creature left behind you, and participate at your next fight in this arena!

Battle 13: Ice to Meet You

Your party should at this point be well equipped in weapons and armors +2. Invest now in items to boost your magical resistances and Saving Throws, it will prove useful during the last fights.

These 6 spear-wielding Ice Salamanders include a Cleric. None of them is very dangerous, but Ice Storms will be randomly cast in the arena during the lenght of this fight.
Pay attention to the small, pale cloud shot from the North-West and move your troops away from its landing point.

Bring your foes down one by one as the melee Salamanders will drink healing potions and the Cleric can cast multiple Cure Serious Wounds (as well as Poison and Greater Command on your team). Note that the Salamanders themselves are resistant but not immune to cold damage, and therefore will get hurt by the Ice Storms.

Battle 14: Catching Fire

A Fire Giant always means a tough fight, especially when he comes with 4 Fire Elementals. All are serious melee fighters and can give and take quite a lot of damage.

The Giant has the ability to Rage like a Berserker and to shake the ground, which requires all of your party members to Save vs Death or fall Unconscious. He'll also drink healing kegs (!) if injured. The Elementals are immune to some physical attacks and will explode like a Fireball on death - a nasty trick.
However all of them are susceptible to the arcane spell Web.

Your fighters will take a LOT of fire damage during this fight, so consider buying Potions of Fire Resistance or even Potions of Magic Shielding from the Concocter, your favorite mushroom brewer.

Final Battle

Baeloth won't go down alone. Elan Garag (the tiger) will act as a bodyguard for his master and follow him around the arena, while Thardek will engage you head-on. Good thing, as he's far easier to put down than the two others.

Garag is a solid fighter, moves fast and can throw Chain Lightning. For your own sake understand that it's best to spare him: if you kill both Thardek and Garag, Baeloth will call Ghlouralk (the beholder) to fight by his side.

Ghlouralk can't take much damage, however he's an insanely fast caster and possibly more dangerous than Baeloth due to his enthusiasm for Charms and Death Rays. The drow and the beholder together will give you quite a spellfest.

If you overcome Ghlouralk, the sorcerer will then summon pairs after pairs of Flesh Golems which you can wipe out with slashing attacks.

Baeloth possesses a vaste number of spells including Prismatic Spray, Silence and Stun, so you'll want to have Saving Throws as high as possible before challenging him. Avoid attacking him while his Fireshield is up as you'll take fire damage for each of your hits. Poison, Insects and a good luck with your Saves will eventually grant you the victory.

Congratulations on escaping the Black Pits!

Trivia and Conclusion

Baeloth's fate

The main campaign of Baldur's Gate is set immediately after the Black Pits era. Our good friend Baeloth happened to have been revived and then abandoned by Najim the djinn.
He's a possible companion for the protagonist and makes, as you can expect, a powerful Sorcerer thanks to his high Intelligence (19!), his magic resistance and some quality starting equipment.
You can find him in the southern part of the Larswood, not far from the ruined tower.

Cultural references

The titles of some of the battles are references to books and movies:
- Bad Hobs and Boomsticks: Robert Stevenson's 1971 movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- How to Raise the Dead and Influence People: Dale Carnergie's 1936 book How to Win Friends and Influence People
- The Margarine of Evil: a quote from Dr. Evil in the second Austin Powers movie (1999): "You're semi-evil. You're quasi-evil. You're the margarine of evil."
- Unfriendly Neighborhood Spider Man: Peter David's 2005-2007 comic book series Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
- Gift of The Ogre Mage: O. Henry's 1905 short story The Gift of the Magi
- Red Shirt Wizards refer to the red-shirted, short-lived stock henchmen from the 1966–1969 Star Trek series
- A History of Violent Beatings: David Cronenberg's 2005 movie A History of Violence
- Catching Fire is the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (2009)

Conclusion

I hope this guide has taught you a few things. Rate it up if you like it (thumb up icon at the top of the page) as it will improve the visibility of the guide to other gladiators in the need.


Questions and contributions are welcome in the Comments below. Thanks for reading!

[Aidrijah]

i get weapon ineffective fighting garaq. and i get spell ineffective too. until i use the victor ring power to beat him, then the melf minute missile starts to work. weird bug.

[HK-47]

Great guide. I would love a BG II version sometime

[Vorodiah973]

Thank you Saint Scylla

[Saint Scylla]

No, if my memory is correct, the pre-designed characters don't open up new dialogue options or anything else.

[Saint Scylla]

Thanks a lot divlyfein! It was my first ever guide, perhaps not as well documented or illustrated as something I would now. I've updated it with your suggestions.

It's brave of you to play (and restart!) in Legacy of Bhaal. Have fun!

[divlyfein]

What a great guide! Awarded! I played on Legacy of Bhaal difficulty, which wasn't all that much fun, but I still enjoyed the content, characters, and story. I ended up having to fully restart on Battle 12: A History of Violent Beatings because my team composition was absolute trash for this difficulty. For anyone attempting Legacy of Bhaal difficulty: Dwarven Defender is just the ultimate tank with arcane and divine buffs. With crushing resistance gear and potions, for that particular fight, the enemies miss you like 99% of the time. I also wanted to add that every enemy in Battle 14: Catching Fire is susceptible to the arcane spell Web.

Just to add some Cultural References, all the dialogue by Baeloth for The Margarine of Evil is referencing The Princess Bride . I have never read the book but it's definitely composed of quotes from the 1987 Rob Reiner film.

[IvanLeTerrible]

Nice guide. Found it on google, after getting stuck in the fire giant fight

[(QETH)]

For the last two levels bring a crap top of healing potions

[wpenney82]

A Skald is a good choice here. Throw a haste spell on your team then start singing.

[McVanderhuge]

Its Dec 2019 and i finally tried this. Enjoyed the read. I want to add that a halforc shaman is just so versatile. A 19 18 19 shaman is great with a bow to open and interupt a caster, or spam insect swarms heals and summons. The aoe persistent cold spell (the name escapes me) is just fantastic for kiting too.