Baldur's Gate Saga

I'm deep in the throes of Baldur's Gate once more, having just fired up my copy of BG II. Plowing through the starting dungeon (which, although frightfully boring usually, is fun to me this play through for nostalgia's sake) I am quickly remembering why this is one of my all time favourite games. It was also, coincidentally, one of the first games I really got into when I was younger and I credit it with pushing me into becoming a much better writer. The Sword Coast is such a vibrant setting, or it was to my younger eyes, not having been exposed to much, and trying to replicate the feelings it evoked in my own work impressed upon me the importance of setting and character.

Currently I'm playing through as a half-elf Swashbuckler. One of the problems I'm having is that while this character can dish out the damage, he certainly can't take it (despite having 17 CON), so my first steps will be to beef him up in the armour and magical kit department. My party, predictably, is Minsc, Jaheira and Yoshimo at the moment. Yoshimo is pretty much useless to me so I'll be swapping him out for a dedicated spellcaster very soon. I may even drop Minsc for a heavier fighter who can soak up damage for my character. Finally, I'm thinking of dualling to Fighter at Level 9 so I can get some delicious proficiency boosts and start turning goblins into red mist.

Anyone else out there playing through, or just nostalgic for the series?

I would like to play Baldur's Gate...but I haven't. Not much of a PC gamer bro, unfortunately. :\

Well, you may or may not be able to get it easily from the internet, a method I AM IN NO WAY PROMOTING

Muffolithid wrote:I would like to play Baldur's Gate...but I haven't. Not much of a PC gamer bro, unfortunately. :\

Argh, it pains me every time you say that. The BG games are such masterpieces! It's a shame you haven't played them.

Anyway, yes, I love the BG series. Always have, always will. The Baldur's Gate Saga are my favorite games of all time, alongside the Uncharted series.

I've played through the games several times now. On my first playthrough, I was a classic human fighter. I'm (sadly) a perfectionist when it comes to Infinity Engine games, and I re-rolled his stats until they were ridiculously good. He was pretty much overpowered. It didn't make the game a breeze, but it made it a lot easier. And, if my Bhaalspawn ever got dominated or charmed or something, my party had to run and hide in a room with a door, or else he'd singlehandedly slaughter all of them.
Now I try to give my characters reasonable stats instead of not being satisfied until I have at least 70 points to work with...

I also enjoy playing as Druid Shapeshifters (naturally). They might not seem that great at the lower levels, but when they get the ability to transform into a Greater Werewolf, they totally rock. Cernd is one of my favorite party members in BG2 as a result of him being a Shapeshifter, Native American, and voiced by Jason Marsden.

Sooo, are you being good, evil, or some combination thereof? Just curious.

I spent a while during creation rolling again and again but in the end, like you said, it's fun not to have entirely perfect skills. The only problem, like I mentioned, is his ultra low HP. Seriously, it was lower than Imoen in the starting dungeon. Anyway, he's Chaotic Neutral, so I guess one could say a combination. I thought it was the perfect alignment for a free spirited swashbuckler : D

The Shapeshifter idea is interesting; I hadn't really thought how to incorporate a Werewolf player character into the game (as you would immediately try to do : p) but that's pretty cool way of getting around it. However, I read that there were a lot of bugs with Werewolves and Greater Werewolves having gimped stats. Did you use mods to fix it?

EDIT: Found what I was talking about. Apparently they're about half as strong as advertised:

Werewolf

You Were Supposed To Get-------------You Actually Got
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~---------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Base Magic Res 20%---------------------Magic Res *LOCKED AT* 20%
Immunity to Normal Weapons----------Nothing
Paw = 1d12 slashing----------------------Paw = 1d6 piercing

For the Greater Werewolf ...

You Were Supposed To Get---------------You Actually Got
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-----------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THAC0 6-----------------------------------------Nothing
Saves 1/1/1/2/1--------------------------------Nothing
Base Elemental Res 50%-----------------Elemental Res *LOCKED AT* 50%
Base Magic Res 40%-----------------------Magic Res *LOCKED AT* 40%
Immunity to Normal Weapons------------Nothing
Paw = +3 Weapon----------------------------Paw = +2 Weapon
Paw = 2d8 slashing--------------------------Paw = 1d6 piercing
Regeneration 3 HP / second--------------Nothing

Merc wrote:I spent a while during creation rolling again and again but in the end, like you said, it's fun not to have entirely perfect skills. The only problem, like I mentioned, is his ultra low HP. Seriously, it was lower than Imoen in the starting dungeon. Anyway, he's Chaotic Neutral, so I guess one could say a combination. I thought it was the perfect alignment for a free spirited swashbuckler : D

The Shapeshifter idea is interesting; I hadn't really thought how to incorporate a Werewolf player character into the game (as you would immediately try to do : p) but that's pretty cool way of getting around it. However, I read that there were a lot of bugs with Werewolves and Greater Werewolves having gimped stats. Did you use mods to fix it?

A combination is probably the most fun thing to do on a first playthrough, I think. I was mostly good (Chaotic Good).

Yeah, I did use mods, after I read about all that stuff (I had already played through the whole game once with Cernd anyway though ). I played through the game again with my Bhaalspawn as a Shapeshifter after I got the mod(s), the names of which I can't remember for the life of me, and he was utterly unstoppable. It was... drastic.

When fighting illithids, for example, I'd cast Chaotic Commands on my Shapeshifter guy, send him into the room with the powerful illithids (I forget the names of the most powerful type...), and the rest of my party would lock themselves up in a room somewhere to hide while he took all of them out.

Nowadays, I also have a lot of fun making custom voice sets and portraits to import into the game. I've been planning to play through the whole game again with an all-custom party just for fun, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It's too hard to actually finish a voice set...

I picked up a cardboard edition of Baldur's Gate 1 + TotSC for £1.50, coincidentally.
The resolution is hideous on my 1440X900 because I lack the tools required to install TuTu.
I played more of the sequel than the original, due to some wonderful things such as the Jahiera romance (arguably the best written romance in any game ever) and dear Edwina (easily the most hilarious turn-out of any quest in the game).
Multiplayer was terrible, I remember. It didn't hold up to that of Diablo 2 or Dungeon Siege. (I actually consider Dungeon Siege's multiplayer to be superior to Diablo 2, given that there was a seperate storyline and an entirely seperate world. ((literally, too. It was set on a peninsula.)))

Nowadays, I also have a lot of fun making custom voice sets and portraits to import into the game. I've been planning to play through the whole game again with an all-custom party just for fun, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It's too hard to actually finish a voice set...

I was playing with a Garrett soundpack. DAT VOICE
Turned it off in the end because all I could think about was raiding Lord Bafford's manor. I switched to a Guybrush Threepwood voice instead, which is hilarious because whenever you select your character he'll bellow, "GUYBRUSH THREEPWOOD, MIGHTY PIRATE!™"