Those tactics sound wise. I recall from BG2 that is helped to have your party all together how you want them, then send a scout out to go fetch some foes for them.

Certainly no lack in variety when it comes to foes and spells in this collection of shots.

Yesterday I beat Icewind Dale like a red-haired gnomish stepchild. It was a grind. I am glad I had that rest cheat mod, and the cheat codes to rest. Otherwise I do not think I would have made it. I really like the rest mod, as it allows me to use my magicians like they should, as people who cast magic for a living. Rather than people who use a sling 99% of the time, and only cast a spell once in a blue moon.

I started the Heart of Winter dlc, and got a little way into it so far. I think it is meant to be played with a different group of characters. But I did it with the same team from the original campaign. I was able to import them from after the end of the original game, so they came over with their levels and items. It was a little confusing, because the original character files I made of that at first level were also there. But I got which ones were which sorted out eventually. If you start out with a first level character, the game automatically levels you up, so I think you are supposed to be something like 11th or 12th level, like the ending characters were.

Heart of Winter looks pretty small from what I have seen of the strategy guide on the GameBanshee site. I am just about halfway into the first part of Burial Isle, so still early on. I am not sure if I want to stick with it, or maybe go to something else. I have been thinking of maybe trying a more personal third-person/first person game like Fallout 3 or New Vegas instead. Or maybe even going back to January's Skyrim or Oblivion games.

So many games, so little time!

I dimly remember Heart of Winter. Actually the only thing which I remember, is that you fight some ice dragon at the end.

So apparently in 3 days there is supposed to be some fancy to do regarding Baldur’s Gate III.

https://baldursgate3.game/

So they are previewing for the preview to happen in 3 days. I love game companies...

TBH, I am not excited with Baldur's Gate 3. It is being made by Larian, so it will probably be using the same game engine as the Divinity: Original Sin games. I could not get into DOS because of how insanely hard it is to mod, and the lack of console commands.

I’m taking the “wait and see“ approach with it. I never played the Divinity games, but if this looks ok I might check it out sometime.

I beat Icewind Dale - Heart of Winter like a red-haired orc stepchild. It really was short.

Dragon Battle

I created Blood Raven in Baldur's Gate 1. I made her a Fighter-Mage, something I have never tried before. So far it is ok. I am using an Armor spell to make up for the inability to wear armor. But you can carry a shield, so she is going the Longsword + Shield route.

Are you planning to run a party or mostly solo / just Imoen? Because with F/M the only thing you actually need is a thief, the rest is optional.

Neat. Fighter/Mage suits Blood Raven.

Lopov: I only just started the game. I did not reach the Friendly Arm Inn when I stopped yesterday. I recruited Khalid and Jaheria there. But have not done anything with them yet. I used EE Keeper to change around some of Jaheria's stats and weapons. So hopefully I will like her more this way than my past games.

Acadian: I was not sure how to create Blood Raven. A paladin was my second choice, since that is also a fighter with magical abilities. Or a Fighter/Cleric. But I have never done the Fighter/Mage before, so I thought it might be a nice learning experience. So far all I am using her magic for is an armor spell to make up for her not being able to wear armor. That and an Identify spell.

I've almost always edited stats in GateKeeper / Shadowkeeper, both for my PCs and NPCs. Have you ever played through the entire saga, Throne of Bhaal included? You probably have, just askin'.

I have been all the way through BG1 only once I think. I also did the Black Pits all the way through once. Though I have started several other games, just never got all the way done with it. Likewise, I have started BG2 a couple of times, but never finished it. I never even started Throne of Bhaal.

I use EE Keeper a lot. It is the same basic thing as Shadowkeeper, just for the Enhanced Editions. I use it to tweak the companions stats and proficiencies. Like changing Minsc from a Ranger to a Fighter, he works much better that way.

Black Pits is something that I've never done. I did the other two expansions, namely the Durlag's Tower and the one that takes place on some island, but I don't remember the name. It adds a village far to the north and you can sail from there.

I actually started with BG II, my brother bought me this game as a birthday present when I was still fairly young. He dislikes/d any games played from an isometric perspective but knew that I love/d them, so he bought it to me. I spent many years playing BG II only, then I moved on to BG I and lastly also to ToB. I think I've made it only two or three times from BG I over BG II and finally to ToB. BG II is still my favorite of all, also because of nostalgia. But if one prefers exploration over story, BG I is a better choice.

I have Baldur's Gate on my gaming computer, but have not gotten really far into it. I think if I had a computer back in the '90s, and slso know about BG back then, I probably would have played it, because I had more free time in those days. But I was also prettier back then, had more of a social life than I do now! Still, I think I would have at least tried BG.

Nowadays there are too many other games competing for my gaming time.

Many years ago I played once through BG I, Tales of the Sword Coast and Icewind Dale. Then I found BG II and spent several years there. I did ToB once but really enjoyed just playing BG II. Eventually, computers advanced beyond BG II, it became buggy and I quit. Within the last year I spent about $4 on Gog and got BG II EE. It installed and plays flawlessly and is wonderful to have as an internet-free game.

I have the command console figured out so can use any codes I need to but I got confused reading about what I guess is EE keeper. I used to have something like that years ago and it was great. If I get back more seriously into it, I'll have to ask SubRosa more about installing EE Keeper for BG II so I can adjust classes a bit and change some of the companion classes.

I have a link to EE Keeper on the first page. It wasn't working when I just checked, so I updated it to point here now. I don't remember installing it. I think it was just you unzip all the files to a folder and run the shortcut to it. It is a pretty simple save editor, that allows you to change your stats, add or remove inventory items, and so forth.

Oh, thanks! As is so often the case, your threads on the games you play double as great resources.

Blood Raven just recruited Minsc. It is fun to hear his voice again. It reminded me that he is voiced by Jim Cummings, who also voiced Hondo in the Star Wars animated TV shows.

Minsc is a keeper all right! As you said, I imagine he works well as a Fighter in BG I. In BG II, you might consider trying him as either a Berserker or a Level 9 Ranger dual classed to Cleric.

I did get EEKeeper installed and it looks comfortably familiar to the 'trainer' I used for BG II years ago. Haven't done anything with it but it looks promising. Thanks for your help/encouragement.

Minsc has some of the best lines ever envisioned in a game.

"A den of stinking evil! Hold your nose Boo."

and don't forget... "Go for the eyes, Boo. Go for the eyes!

I like the story between Minsc, Edwin and Dynaheir in BG I, though on the other side it's difficult to keep them in the same party. I kept Minsc in BG II only if he was my companion in BG I, else I'd "remove" him from the game. I once roleplayed a neutral evil Half-Orc, the entire party in BG II was composed of mostly evil-oriented characters, only Minsc was the good-aligned one. Despite constant quarrels and protests I managed to keep Minsc in the party through the entire game. I remember an event from the Underworld, where Korgan, a chaotic-evil Dwarf suggested slaughtering some innocent villagers, and Minsc protested. It was on the protagonist, that is on my Half-Orc to decide, and he sided with Minsc. Korgan grumbled but eventually got over it. It was worth keeping Minsc in the party.

Blood Raven met a famous DnD character

Them!

I updated BG EE 1 from 2.002 (my old version) to 2.660. It comes with a lot of changes, including improved textures.

An example of combat. The floating health bars are optional

The journal/quest log is vastly improved, and is now much more easy to read.


On the whole I am liking the new version of the game. It comes with a lot of small improvements, and has a lot more options now that you can now turn on and off. The whole interface is a lot more readable, especially the spell books, which now have the names of each spell listed beside their icons. The map has an option to add an overlay that shows which areas are accessible and which are not, which is another ease of life thing.

However, you can no longer use the Function keys for things like quicksaving and quickloading. Beamdog says that doing so can cause bugs. I also found that my old NWN2 Soundset mod won't install on version 2.660. But I was able to make a simple soundset by hand, and it will works.

All in all it is an improvement. Currently I am planning on following with BG2EE, and I will use the updated version of that game too.

It's Drizzt, right? It can only be him. Now let's click on the photo...yup, I was right. for me.

I saw an ankheg the other day. Annoying creatures. Their armor is good but their pincers are sharp. Still, I avoid them, whenever I can.

I think that Siege of Dragonspear looks about the same like the updated BG EE. Are you planing to play SoD after BG I before moving to BG II, it serves as a prelude to events of BG II?

Wow, it's been decades since I played BG1, but I am quite current on BGIIEE. Your game and user interface looks stunningly like BGIIEE. I really had to study what you were doing to ensure you weren't playing BGIIEE in those screenshots.

Lopov: I don't have Siege of Dragonspear, though maybe some day I will look into it. I just have so much other stuff I have not gotten around to it yet.


Acadian: It looks like BG2EE has the same version number as BG1EE, so I think they did the same updates and improvements on both games simultaneously. Probably the same with Icewind Dale EE.

I played it! Mostly it was pretty good, though I did feel railroaded at a few points (can't go into more detail without entering spoiler territory).

I actually didn't play BG until just a few years ago. I'll commit mild RPG heresy here and admit that I actually really dislike the way the Infinity Engine handles combat. To me, that sort of combat is just better done when it's turn-based. Yes, you can pause it, but that still feels like an extra hassle.

(This is probably why I like Planescape: Torment so much--it doesn't actually require a ton of combat).

Regardless, I still found the game enjoyable.

I quite liked SoD as well. Some things / events are predictable for those of us that've played BG 2 but there was still at least one surprising story twist close to the end.

I often joke that I've spent my entire youth playing Baldur's Gate and original FOs with occasional jumps to GTA. But the sheer amount of hours that I've invested in BG II, definitely surpasses any other game that I've played since then.

I beat BG1 tonight. I was worried for a little while, because I got stuck at one point. After you kill Rieltar and the other Iron Throne leaders in Candlekeep you get thrown in prison. The game just froze on that, no matter how many times I reloaded. In the end I had to skip over that completely, and after killing the Iron Thronites I had to use the console to teleport myself to the catacombs. But it worked out. *phew*

So I updated BG2 to the latest game version, and imported Blood Raven. Ready to go shadowing in Amn.

'Grats to Blood Raven! With BGIIEE +EE Keeper, I'm interested in what sort of a party she puts together. Specifially, how she modifies the NPCs (like Minsc as a fighter instead of ranger) to end up with a functional mix but still keeping all or mostly NPCs.

Oh my, I can't begin to explain how much I miss those character portraits.

Blood Raven escaped from the Irenicus dungeon a little while ago. It has been a really long time since I have done BG2, so I had forgotten almost the entire thing. I changed things up a little with the Raven this time out, and now have her dual-wielding longswords. In BG1 she was doing a longsword and buckler. I also used EEKeeper to give her the Wizard-Slayer kit for her Fighter class. I am not entirely sure if it is applying all the Wizard Slayer bonuses. But it did add the penalties, like not being able to wear bracers. So it probably is doing the good stuff too.

I also modded Minsc again, and this time made him a Barbarian. Like in BG1, I have him using a two-handed sword. Both seem to suit him. The other two in my group right now are Jahiera and Yoshimo. But I don't know how long I might keep them. Is there a Find Traps spell for wizards? Blood Raven picked up a knock spell in the Irenicus dungeon. So if she can learn Find Traps, she technically won't need anyone with thief skills. Oh wait, even if she finds the traps, I don't think there are any spells to disarm them. So she will still need a thief after all. Oh well, I always like Nalia anyway.

I will probably go looking for Aerie next. My last time playing her I made her a pure Cleric. I might do that again, as I found the Mage/Cleric combo a bit overwhelming when it came to all the spell choices.

I also started using Tweaks Anthology, which is combination of hundreds of mods for all the Infinity Engine games. Thankfully you can pick and choose each individual mod you want when you set it up. It can take a while to do, since there are a lot. But there are a lot of things, from hiding helmets, to two handed axes, katanas, bastard swords, etc...

Congrats on beating BG I, you've been through really fast.

A lot of fun with BG II, story-wise is IMO the game even better than the first title.

I returned to Baldur's Gate EE (the first one) and just finished the tutorial. Spoke to Belt and he says "You are now ready to start your adventure and will be returned to the main menu. Good luck with Baldur's Gate!"

I click End Dialog, and now I'm back at the main menu. I see buttons for Tutorial (Done), Baldur's Gate, The Black Pits and Credits.

I try Baldur's Gate, but I don't see a way to continue with the tutorial character I just rolled. In the menu I go like this...

BALDUR'S GATE
SINGLE PLAYER
NEW GAME (choosing Load Game only puts me back in the tutorial)
CREATE
IMPORT
SAVED GAME

And from here I can see the final save I made in the tutorial. I click on this, see my character in the IMPORT CHARACTER window so I click on him, and choose DONE.

From here, I am stuck in the Character Generation menu. I can choose IMPORT or START OVER, both which put me in a loop of menus. How do I actually start the game with the guy I rolled??? Or is this not possible?

I have never done the Tutorial. I just started it and went through a little. There is one point where you Export your character. That saves a copy of the character and their stats, picture, and such. Basically your character sheet. Start a New Game, and where you create a new character click on Import, and you should see your character in the list (If you Exported them).

You can use this to bring your character into different campaigns, like going from BG1 to the Black Pits, or to Baldur's Gate 2, and so on. Neverwinter Nights 1 does it a lot more. It is what allows you to play the same character in all the user made modules out there for it.

If you didn't Export the character at the time go back to the Tutorial if you have a save from it, and Export them. Then it will be in the list.

If worse come to worse just create a new character right there. You can always make them exactly the same as your tutorial character.

Okay thanks I'll see if there is a way to Export then.

Strange that the game doesn't tell us how to do this (or maybe it did, but I just missed it). Then again, BG was made in the era during which hand-holding was not as prevalent as it was later on...

In the Tutorial it tells you how to Export your character.

So here's how to do it. In the game click on the custom-made toon character and go into Record (5th icon on the left) The EXPORT button is in the lower right.

"This will save your character to the "characters" folder in your Baldur's Gate directory. You will be able to use this character in future multiplayer games using the Import button on the Character Creation screen. Exporting a character will not remove them from the current game, nor will it alter then in any way."

And then there are 9 Filenames we can choose: 01FIGHT, 02THIEF, 03MAGE, and so on. We can't name our own Filename? Guess I'll choose 01FIGHT, since my toon is a Fighter.

Alright. Spoke to Belt, now I'm in the main menu again. Click on Single Player > NEW, and voila, there is Lord Redbeard. Not a very clver "Renee" name, but I was tired.

Thanks much!

Lord Redbeard (the red-bearded fighter I rolled a few days ago) got pwned last night. Soon as it happened, I spontaneously honored his death. It just felt right. At the time he was traveling with Imoen, the two half-elves from Friendly Arms, and a second, somewhat annoying thief, whose name I'm forgetting.

I am honoring his falling because I feel like I got too ambitious with this game, pushing too fast into what I'm assuming is the Main Quest. But that's for another discussion, perhaps.

I really like having the one half-elf guy around ... um .. Jaheira. He's a druid. He can cast Entangle, which is pretty sweet. Problem is, when he cast the spell everybody was already in combat, which meant Redbeard and virtually all the others got entangled in those magical weeds! Only Imoen was running free at that point, since she usually stands off to the side with her bow.

Lord Redbeard got caught up in those weeds just as the party got attacked by a band of hobgoblins. Eventually, he fell. So now I'm at that point where I'm about to roll a new a nu t00n, actually more than one. I need a name for a new fighter, preferably male. And I can't think of a name!

But I thought of some cool names for other characters.

Ayn Strand -- Shaman probably, since Ayn Rand was often associated with intellectual pursuits, religion, political themes, and so on.

Faye Daway -- Illusionist

Luke Zhatkil -- Hmm, could be a Fighter.

Hmm, could be Luke. But I want a cooler name for my party leader. Maybe derived from classic Crusades/Dark Ages times.

Poor Red Beard. That is why I don't like web spells. They often are just as bad to you as they are to the enemy.

I was thinking you should create a Bard type character sometime named Alfred Capella, or just A. Capella for short.

A. Capella, sweet! <>

Okay, so Entangle is a tricky spell to use, got it. Wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong.

Check out the character names from the movie Mastergate. There is a gold mine of names for you there, like Archer Bowman, Manley Battle, or Shepherd Hunter.

Awesome, thanks hon. And here's one for you: Tonight I found this Medieval Name-maker website. At the top of the page are names which are still popular today like Matthew, Andrew, Alice, and so on.

Just keep scrolling down. Eventually the names become more obscure. Like Aelflaed, Cwenburg, and Ethelfrith.

I have a question. So I know how to export and import, but is it possible to make two characters of my own, and have them both in the same save instance? Or am I stuck with rolling with just one PC, and picking up pre-made NPCs along the way?

You can only have one player character, and you cannot make custom NPCs, like new games allow you to. So you are stuck with the toon you roll, and the NPCs you meet along the way.

Aelflaed and Ethelfrith,
Now there was a fine pair.
An elf beauty and his noble protector of the peace,
(usually mete out with a mace)

macole, absolutely!

Well I made a guy and used that site to give him a first name: Hadden, second name Nuff. Hadden Nuff. Hadden's sort of like Lord Haaf-Mersey, my Skyrim paladin. Lawful Good, Paladin, yadda yadda. For some reason, I've always liked this archetype of character when structuring a leader.

Dang though, I really want to add my own follower(s) with Hadden. I made Faye Daway, the illusionist too. I wonder if there's any mods ...

You're brave (and positively stubborn ) to approach the BG with the DiD, it's one of those games for me, where I wouldn't even think of reloading, if my main character got killed. I'd often OP-them form the start, but I did, because I was mostly interested in story, combat comes for me always as secondary. So are you already rolling someone new?

How do you make your character OP from the start?

Yes I already rolled somebody new, his name is Hadden Nuff. He's still in the opening village (Candlekeep or whatever it's called). My first guy, Lord Redbeard, did not spend as much time in this village. I think he did 3 or 4 tasks for villagers and then he was off, which was really MY impatience with getting into outside the village. Little did I know we cannot go back in once we've left.

I don't mind starting over, but let's say after 3 or 4 times I'll want to get further into the game, while still playing more cautiously.

Baldur's Gate has a command console, like most games. And there is EE Keeper, which is a save game editor that lets you change your stats.