Tips and Tricks

Cespenar's forge - June 2007

Be careful what you wish for. Cespenar's list of items he can forge, although unwritten and existing solely in his impish brain, uses some components more than once. However, some components are unique, like the Heart of the Damned.
As a scripted NPC he'll work his way down the list sequentially. You might want Gram the Sword of Grief +5 instead of the Short Sword of Mask +5, so don't let him create just anything.
Cespenar's a good servant, oh yes...

Critical Strike over Whirlwind - May 2007

There are several items scattered throughout Amn that allow for one extra attack per round. The right combination of these items will give a warrior 5 attacks per round (base). That means that you can walk around all the time with 5 attacks per round! At that point, you should really consider Critical Strike over Greater Whirlwind. The duration of each is the same (one round). When you cast Improved Haste on the warrior with 5 attacks per round, he will have 10, as many as you would get with Greater Whirlwind, but for a much longer period of time. Think of it as a longer Greater Whirlwind. Critical Strike will then ensure that every hit in the first round is a critical hit.

Brain drain, death by stat loss - April 2007

Beware your stats, for when a stat reaches zero, the character will die. This is what makes Mind Flayers and Ulitharid dangerous. When they attack and throw a succesful die roll (meaning they actually hit the character), they will drain 5 points of intelligence from that character. Hey, they ain't called "Mind Flayers" for nothing! Many experienced gamers know this and when asking them for advice on the distribution of stats when you're creating a new character, they will often tell you to put "5n + 1" points in intelligence (n being a positive integer). They think ahead.
The Rod of Terror has a chance of draining a point of charisma from the wielder with each succesful attack. The Baldurdash GameTextUpdate adds a clear note of this in the item's description where it had previously been missing, leading to many characters dieing of some unknown cause back then.

Some mods (like Tactics) add new ways of stat drain. Interesting to know is that the wizard spell ShapeChange: MindFlayer allows the player to kill characters that were not supposed to be killed: don't mess with this, unless you have a good back-up save or know what you're doing.

Spells (II) - March 2007

No single spell makes a caster truely powerful. It's the combinations that strike fear into the heart of the opponent.
Contingencies and Sequencers are good examples of this: Greater Malison, Slow and Glitterdust combined in a Spell Sequencer yields one powerful disabling spell available through the caster's Special Abilities menu. Sequencers and Contingencies are not the only means of power however; normal spell combinations can have the same effect (most of them can also be put in Sequencers and Contingencies, but not all).
Casting Improved Invisibility gives the caster an edge, it does not make him invincible. Combining that spell with Spell Immunity: Divination however will prove to be an interesting challenge if the caster does not reveal himself by spells that dispel his invisibility. That's just an example, there are many more interesting and (very) powerful combinations thinkable, some even in conjunction with weapons.

Here are a few powerful combinations, but you can think of many more!

• A Projected Image can cast Spell Immunity: Divination and Abjuration and Improved Invisibility on itself, ensuring it will not be dispelled as long as the caster is out of harm's way
• A fighter-thief or a mage-thief with decent strength (from a weapon like Angurvadal or a belt for example) can pull some awesome stunts. Cast Mislead and go on a backstabbing spree. A fighter-mage-thief can cast Improved Alacrity, Assassination, Whirlwind and Critical Strike all in one go. Chop chop!
• A cleric-mage can prove to be an awesome tank, what with the vast amount of protective and transforming spells available, like Holy Power, Righteous Magic and Tenser's Transformation. But it takes some time to ready this character. So pay close attention to the duration of the spells and hence the order in which to cast them.

Use containers - February 2007

Every packrat has it: a nice container, ideally located in an area he frequents alot, where he can drop all his excesses. Think of a table or a barrel in the Slums or Waukeen's Promenade. The good thing is that items you store in a container will never disappear, unlike equipment you simply drop on the ground. The bad thing is that it can get rather filled, making it a tedious job looking through your entire collection for a specific item. That's why the more advanced packrat uses several containers and organizes his material according to his wishes. A good example of this can be found in the Pocket Plane of Throne of Bhaal, where ideally three containers have been set. One can be used for weapons and armor, another for potions and wands and another for key items and components for weapons.

Detect Illusions - January 2007

A thief's Detect Illusions ability works much like True Seeing, with one big exception: it is not a spell. While this may not seem that big of deal, it can prove to be an essential part of battle tactics, especially in heavily modded games. In unmodded games, you can use it for an annoying foe who keeps quaffing potions of invisibility. The thief cannot perform any action while looking for an illusion, except for walking around. He should reveal the illusion once every round (if his detect illusion score is high enough), much like True Seeing. Then again, you probably have this spell memorized and a thief can spend his time better, no?

AC in SoA and in ToB - December 2006

The lower the AC, the better, even in the negative numbers. The importance of AC in SoA differs very much from that in ToB. An AC of about -15 in SoA is enough to ensure your fighters rarely get hit. This number is easily obtainable with the aid of several spells and items. In ToB, AC matters little. Your best fighters with their ACs well "up" in the -20s will get hit as often as a mage on the frontline in SoA. In ToB the best protections are obtained through resistances and spells. Bards are not good tanks because of the -10 to AC they get from their Enhanced Bard Song, but rather from the mage spells like StoneSkin, Mirror Image, Protection From Magical Weapons and Tenser's Transformation. Roranach's Horn combined with Hardiness and the Defender of EastHaven gives you an edge against 50% of the Fire Giants. There are many more combinations like these, which means "it is time for more ... experiments".

Summons - November 2006

Summons (short for summoned creatures) are ideal in any fight. They take the damage for you and can usually deal a good amount of damage themselves. Most of them have special features that are not mentioned in the manual. For example, did you know that the Skeleton Warrior has 90% magic resistance on top of some good damage resistances? Or that the Mountain Bear from the Spell Conjure Animals has paws with an enchantment of +3, good enough for all Golems?

Save often - October 2006

I can just imagine the look on your face right now, but you'd be surprised of the amount of people who forget this important piece of advice. Don't just rely on the Quicksave and Autosave either, people who did encountered the same problems as those who didn't save often. Good moments to save (on a well-named slot) are at the end of a major quest, before a major fight, at the start of a new Chapter or even when the player character reaches a new level.

Spells (I) - September 2006

A big problem with the spell system of Baldur's Gate deals with spell removal. You will frequently encounter wizards who protect themselves from your attacks and spells. While all of these protective spells have a duration, it is rarely a good idea to wait until they expire. That's where spell protection removal comes in.
There are basicly two types of protective spells: spells that protect you from melee damage and spells that protect you from other spells (arcane damage, though that term can be misleading, because there are also divine spells that deal out a good portion of damage). Each of these have a counter spell. I'll be refering to Breach and Ruby Ray of Reversal (as well as its big brother Spellstrike), because these dispell protections regardless of level.

Stoneskin, Mirror Image and Protection from Magical Weapons are all examples of spells that protect the caster from melee damage (damage dealt by weapons such as swords and arrows). Use Breach to take them all down in one casting.
Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Immunity and Spell Deflection are al examples of spells that protect the caster from other spells. Not per se the damage dealt by them, but from their effects too sometimes (e.g. Spell Immunity). Use Ruby Ray of Reversal to take one down (often all that is needed) or SpellStrike to take 'em all down. Note that Spell Immunity: Abjuration will not protect from spell protection removal, Breach or Lower Resistance.

Spell Shield and Dispel Magic (as well as Remove Magic) fall into different categories. I highly recommend reading Xyx's Spell Reference.

All on one, once and for all - August 2006

In many fights, it is better to direct all attacks to one foe in particular, than to spread out your attacks. This is easy to understand, because an opponent with one hitpoint is just as powerful as he would be at full health. Having only one hitpoint does not reduce his melee abilities or his ability to cast spells. That's why it is better to kill one foe in a concerted attack: you would be taking a whole lot more damage if each of your party members were attacking a different opponent.
Sometimes it is necessary to spread out your attacks though. The tricky part is of course to know when. If one strategy fails, try another.

Turn on Autopause - July 2006

In the options, you can enable many triggers for the autopause. Not only will these quick pauses help you to keep up with the fast action on the screen, they will also improve your efficiency. Autopause: spell cast for example, enables you to assign a new action to your spellcasters the instant they have finished an incantation. That way you don't have to keep up with the personal initiative rounds of each spellcaster. Autopause: Target gone has the same advantages. Check the options out and decide for yourself which setting suits your gameplay best.