Baldur's Gate II

Just installed this and started it up for the first time, after hearing about how totally awesome it is.

But seriously, can someone give me some tips on what to do? There are so many race/class options, I know they can't possibly ALL be viable. Anyone have some tips?

I'm thinking of going with a Human Fighter. Seems simple enough, and I do like walking around and smacking things.

Elven fighter mage cleric. I plated through without any other party members with that combo. With the right magic items and spell combos you will be a god.

I liked the druid myself. Rogue/Cleric and Rogue/Fighter are also popular choices

Let me put it this way -- if I play a Half-Elf Fighter/Mage, am I going to be gimped?

THAC0!

To answer your question though. No. I'm so used to 3rd edition, but I don't know if there are racial benefits to going all elf.

Still the best game ever made. It's not too difficult honestly, you should be OK with just about any class/race, just choose what sounds fun..and remember you can have up to 5 other NPCs with you as well, so you will get some variation that way.

You might stay away from dual/multi classing for your first play through, that tends to make things a little tougher in the short term (though can be vastly more powerful later on.) If you want to be safe go with a fighter/tank variant of some sort for your main character, as dieing with him means game over/reload. A little staying-power can save some headaches when you're just starting.

Good luck, and have fun.
odin

Baldur Gate I was one of the best games I ever played

Baldurs Gate FTW!!! I still have my 1st edition starter set for D&D and my 3.5. is 4.0 any different?

also, good for you for playing the pc game. the console ports SUCKED ***!!!

BG2... welcome to a great game!

Anyway, I highly suggest you avoid dual classing or multi classing (like others have suggested) your first time through. Try a class like Fighter, Mage or Thief. Clerics can get difficult/annoying to use sometimes, rangers and paladins are like fighters but very specialized in comparison, and druids are sometimes annoying to use (and in BG2 no less).

Or, if you are thinking about trying a paladin, try the vampire slayer(undead slayer? not sure right now) because they are immune to hold and level drain I believe.

Set up an internet game and create a few characters... The limitation of just one custom character always ticked me off. After that you can copy the multiplayer saves into your single player folder and play normally.

I'm actually playing the game right now, Shadows of Amn, that is.

For your first character don't set charisma to 18 - it's a bit usless, but besides that after you get out to the promenade you can find an amulet which will set it to 18 inside Aerie's tent.

My team consists of:
Paladin / Undead Hunter
Fighter Half Orc
Thief / Swashbuckler
Minsc
Aerie
Viconia

Definitely not a perfect party. My Undead Hunter is pretty useless since Viconia can turn undead. My thief isn't all that good either - even with an armor class of -5, constitution 18, and dexterity 19 he always gets in trouble (perhaps because I gave him boots of speed, hehe). Minsc is kinda average with long bow & two handed sword, left him with a sword. I use Aerie for offensive magic and Viconia is set up as a full-time healer. Lots of sparks between them... One being lawful good and another one evil.

My favorite character is my fighter. At level 11 he has 156 hp, armor class of -3, 5 points into warhammer, 2 points into two handed weapon style. He uses a Warhammer +2 with +1 electricity damage. Not bad at all. And so Viconia doesn't have to heal his whooping hp, I gave him a Cloak of Sewers so he can change into a Troll. HAHA, genius.

BG2, awesome. I always went with a mage because I never liked the NPC mages. I alwas went with Jaheira ( druid ), Minsc ( Ranger ), Keldorn ( Paladin ), Viconia ( Cleric ) and then an alternating thieves.

My character was not just a mage but a dual class kensai mage. Start out as a human warrior with the kensai class. Kensai is a class that gets AC for not wearing armor and also I would pick up katanas as my fav weapon. With around 10 levels in kensai I would change over to mage and then read a ton of scrolls so I get exp fast and hit 10, thus making me have the abilities of a 10 kensai and 10+ mage. Throw on a shield/armor spell and youd have a pretty decent armor class, do good damage with the katanas and as you level up just explode things left and right with high level mage spells. Awesome.

Slayn said:

BG2, awesome. I always went with a mage because I never liked the NPC mages. I alwas went with Jaheira ( druid ), Minsc ( Ranger ), Keldorn ( Paladin ), Viconia ( Cleric ) and then an alternating thieves.

My character was not just a mage but a dual class kensai mage. Start out as a human warrior with the kensai class. Kensai is a class that gets AC for not wearing armor and also I would pick up katanas as my fav weapon. With around 10 levels in kensai I would change over to mage and then read a ton of scrolls so I get exp fast and hit 10, thus making me have the abilities of a 10 kensai and 10+ mage. Throw on a shield/armor spell and youd have a pretty decent armor class, do good damage with the katanas and as you level up just explode things left and right with high level mage spells. Awesome.

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Yea Kensai Mage dual classes are so powerful. That's a really easy/simple dual class to try out if you want to introduce yourself to dual classing in BG2.