BG1 Difficulty

[Biubid_boy]

Having only played BG2:SoA in the past, I recently got my hands on the Compilation DVD of BG1 + TotSC and BG2 + ToB. I've installed Tutu and plan to play through, But by first glance, the BG1 is much harder than BG2! There are some creatures (mostly archers) who can demolish a party member with one or two hits! I have been forced to resort to engaging them in melee as quickly as possible and hope I survive. What's up with it?

[Jarno Mikkola]

Well, you don't have many hit points... But generally, if you have a good armor that give proper AC, you should do fine. You can use the same tactic against all the melee monsters... especially the bears, hobgoblins...

 

You know, Imoen didn't have the short bow for nothing.

[Icendoan]

Hobgoblins have short bows too, and TuTu has a weapon changing script for them.

 

Icen

[WizWom]

Well, as far as it goes, BG1's WDARSGT.BCS (Attack Ranged on Sight) scipt switches to melee, too.

 

It is vital that the character nearest the enemy is well armored.

 

Your typical Bandit has a THAC0 of 20. Lvl 1 fighter stuff. But if you have an AC of 4 (Studded Leather and 18 Dex) then each shot will have a 25% chance to hit you. A group of 4 with bows would leave you only a 10% chance not to be hit each round.

 

Compared to that same group of 4 in melee, where they only get one swing a round, where you have a 31% chance not to be hit.

 

And if you get them to need a 20 - at AC0 - then your chance to not be hit each round rises to 81% in melee and 66% ranged.

 

The early part of a BG1 game should be spent being a coward.

[cmorgan]

Yep - running away to fight one on one, and gaining a level or two before fighting things you can't outrun (like running Imoen on one side of a charging melee creature and you on the other, watching carefully and fleeing every time you are being charged) is pretty important.

 

After a party of 4 to 6 including a tough armoured fighter, the odds change considerably - sending one fighter charging in to engage with melee while the rest of the party provides covering fire is a huge reversal of fortune.

 

But don't worry - unless you have installed SwordCoastStrategems, the level disparity changes quickly, and the bandits will fall pretty easily.

[BigRob]

This is why Kagain is a great NPC in BG1, particularly at low levels. Massive hit points on someone who can be in the front line is a real advantage. Levelling up a bit beofre going into the Nashkel mines is also recommended. Those Kobold Commandos can be hellish in the wrong circumstances.

[Icendoan]

Pfeh, I just did them at level one without losing a single hitpoint.

 

Sanctuary, the low level wonderspell.

 

Oh, and sleep.

 

Icen

[theacefes]

Er...spoilers.

 

 

Everything is dandy until the very end. Then it gets very hard again.

[Icendoan]

Who cares about spoilers?!

 

Icen

[theacefes]

Heh...I'm not really sure, actually. I've always just stuck it in there, just in case.

[Kulyok]

I used to cheat: I started with an assassin, bought her some plain arrows, and went to the area with dryads(water nymphs). They ambush you as you sleep. Naturally, my assassin was able to kill them with poisoned arrows, and soon enough, her XP hit 20000. Then she went and recruited Khalid, Jaheira, Kivan, Xan and Coran. Two archers, two frontline fighers, and everyone's got enough XP - it was a walk in the park.

 

My only difficult battle was after Durlag's Tower - the cultists in Ugloth's Beard.

[Sorrow]

Having only played BG2:SoA in the past, I recently got my hands on the Compilation DVD of BG1 + TotSC and BG2 + ToB. I've installed Tutu and plan to play through, But by first glance, the BG1 is much harder than BG2!

It's pretty amusing that BG1 without those absurdal hordes of high-level opponents is more difficult than BG2.

That's why I wonder why Bioware made BG series a ridiculous munchkinfest with hordes of level 10-20 characters as opponents when they could simply don't make levelling up so fast.

In BG2 ordinary thugs had level 7 and city guards had level 8 - it is an absurd because a level 1 fighter (and city guards should be level 0, which means no levelling) would need to kill 133 level 1 characters to get to level 2 - which is why level 2 fighters are elite in army.