Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 1&2 for the first time in ages. BGT or not?

[octavius]

Karkh (Ogre Mage outside Firewine Bridge) and the final fight are the two ones I think SCS overdid.
Karkh is immensely powerful, and you need to be high level, meta game and/or have a specialized CHARNAME to deal with him.

Sarevok fight is just too cheesy. He does like 4x25 damage a round and is IIRC immune to spells, so the least cheesy way of dealing with him I found was to have him chase one character while the rest of the party concentrated on his minions. Then continue the Benny Hill routine and pelt him with missiles. Meleeing him is just not an option.

As for the XP gains I asked the mod writer about it once and he said it was a balancing issue.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

SCS is just Tactics for vegans.

Change my mind. /Crowder.

Tactics is adds large numbers. Higher stats. High resistances. Higher CR ratings. More class levels on enemies. More bodies. It is about as elegant as a child wielding a sledge hammer. SCS actually makes smarter use of the rule set tools. It adds excellent AI scripts that causes enemies to expertly use their abilities and even work together. Mind you, it even has various levels of efficacy for enemy spellcasters, depending on their Intelligence score.

SCS is good AI. Tactics is bloat--and awfully done at that.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Karkh (Ogre Mage outside Firewine Bridge) and the final fight are the two ones I think SCS overdid.
Karkh is immensely powerful, and you need to be high level, meta game and/or have a specialized CHARNAME to deal with him.

Sarevok fight is just too cheesy. He does like 4x25 damage a round and is IIRC immune to spells, so the least cheesy way of dealing with him I found was to have him chase one character while the rest of the party concentrated on his minions. Then continue the Benny Hill routine and pelt him with missiles. Meleeing him is just not an option.

As for the XP gains I asked the mod writer about it once and he said it was a balancing issue.

The most important thing to do for the final Sarevok fight is to bring Arrows of Dispelling. Buy them all. They will make the brutal fight FAR easier. You want to hit each of them with with an arrow then focus on Semaj and Angelo first.

I haven't played SCS since V3. I've read that for the EEs it's been taken over by an inferior hands--leading to some bloat and cheese issues. I've read that it's especially true for the Sarevok battle. Has it really gone down hill?

 

[Ontopoly]

Mods are a crime against art and the passion and the work the artists put into these games. Vanilla always unless the game literally can't run without a mod on modern hardware

 

[BruceVC]

Im really excited, Im about to play BG1 EE for the first time and I didnt think I needed to use mods but I found some interesting ones on Beamdog with some references to mods on Spellhold and Gibberlings

I have downloaded Sword Coast Stratagems, Tweaks Anthology and some enhanced Romance options. But if their are any suggestions about " must have " mods for BG1 I would appreciate the feedback and why you recommend them

 

[The Limper]

Add any mod you want, but if you want the authentic feel, stick with the original. Myself, i like a mod that removes basic class restrictions for race. Just dont abuse it. Halfling Mage or Dwarven Druid or Gnomish Ranger arent OP, but fun!

 

[d1r]

Mods are a crime against art and the passion and the work the artists put into these games. Vanilla always unless the game literally can't run without a mod on modern hardware

Stop putting every mod in one category, you fucking mongloid. There are even UI mods for classic Baldur's Gate out there that improve the original UI greatly by simple changes.

 

[Ninjerk]

Im really excited, Im about to play BG1 EE for the first time and I didnt think I needed to use mods but I found some interesting ones on Beamdog with some references to mods on Spellhold and Gibberlings

I have downloaded Sword Coast Stratagems, Tweaks Anthology and some enhanced Romance options. But if their are any suggestions about " must have " mods for BG1 I would appreciate the feedback and why you recommend them

Install the original.

 

[BruceVC]

Im really excited, Im about to play BG1 EE for the first time and I didnt think I needed to use mods but I found some interesting ones on Beamdog with some references to mods on Spellhold and Gibberlings

I have downloaded Sword Coast Stratagems, Tweaks Anthology and some enhanced Romance options. But if their are any suggestions about " must have " mods for BG1 I would appreciate the feedback and why you recommend them

Install the original.

In summary, why would you suggest that. I can do that, I just need the correct motivation?

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Never play a game modded the first time. Also, make sure to play the originals and not the enhanced editions.

 

[LizardWizard]

Never play a game modded the first time. Also, make sure to play the originals and not the enhanced editions.

You should definitely play OG BG over EE, but that statement is certainly not true for all games imo.

 

[hello friend]

Increasing stack size for arrows and rings and shit is worth it no matter what anyone says. A few simple small changes will make your first time a lot more palatable. Sadly, there's no saving the combat from being as soul draining as it is.

 

[Gargaune]

Im really excited, Im about to play BG1 EE for the first time and I didnt think I needed to use mods but I found some interesting ones on Beamdog with some references to mods on Spellhold and Gibberlings

I have downloaded Sword Coast Stratagems, Tweaks Anthology and some enhanced Romance options. But if their are any suggestions about " must have " mods for BG1 I would appreciate the feedback and why you recommend them

I'm a little out of touch by now 'cause I haven't updated past BG EE 2.3 and BG 2 EE 2.5, but I'd probably suggest:
- Lefreut's UI for a better, but still vanilla-styled interface;
- Eventually, I installed Trap Detection/Recovery/Evasion just for its Fast Trap Detection QOL feature;
- I had NPC Project exclusively for the ability to send companions to inns, rather than them leaving forever, but I think that's been discontinued on newer versions so you might have to look for an alternative... though do note this is a significant departure from the "original" Baldur's Gate experience;
- If you intend to carry on into Siege of Dragonspear, I don't know whether you still need DLC Merger for mods compatibility or not. Though if you wanna play SoD, I'd suggest you return to it after you play through BG2.

You might wanna tread carefully around massive combat overhaul mods if it's your first time around. The Codex tends to have a very particular take on what they consider a "stimulating" combat experience and most have been replaying these games for two fucking decades now.

 

[Shadenuat]

Im really excited, Im about to play BG1 EE for the first time and I didnt think I needed to use mods but I found some interesting ones on Beamdog with some references to mods on Spellhold and Gibberlings

I have downloaded Sword Coast Stratagems, Tweaks Anthology and some enhanced Romance options. But if their are any suggestions about " must have " mods for BG1 I would appreciate the feedback and why you recommend them

Install the original.

In summary, why would you suggest that. I can do that, I just need the correct motivation?

cool winged helmets and badass flame sword animation

 

[Sykar]

Never play EE. Don't give Beamturd parasites any money.

 

[Average Manatee]

Never play EE. Don't give Beamturd parasites any money.

Who said you had to give them money for it?

 

[Wunderbar]

Never play EE. Don't give Beamturd parasites any money.

Who said you had to give them money for it?

 

[mondblut]

Never play a game modded the first time.

Do not overestimate the developers' competence.

 

[Palomides]

I recently started playing BG1 on an old laptop, the original version (from GOG) and without any mods whatsoever. It's a much nicer experience after having used loads of mods for decades, I feel like I actually prefer it. Everything is so quaint, and the user interface graphics are fantastic.

To whomever wishes to play it for the first time, do it that way. If you must use the EE, at least use this https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/83508/mod-classic-bg-ui-v1-3 to cleanse it of its horrendous user interface (and then use that mod that gets rid of the so-called enhanced additions).

 

[Average Manatee]

Karkh (Ogre Mage outside Firewine Bridge) and the final fight are the two ones I think SCS overdid.
Karkh is immensely powerful, and you need to be high level, meta game and/or have a specialized CHARNAME to deal with him.

Sarevok fight is just too cheesy. He does like 4x25 damage a round and is IIRC immune to spells, so the least cheesy way of dealing with him I found was to have him chase one character while the rest of the party concentrated on his minions. Then continue the Benny Hill routine and pelt him with missiles. Meleeing him is just not an option.

As for the XP gains I asked the mod writer about it once and he said it was a balancing issue.

Bit late, but in my current installation of SCS Sarevok has a THAC0 of 6, which means you'd want an AC of -25. This is just barely achievable for a fighter decked out in all the best stuff.

For Karkh, his HP is normal (not boss boosted) and he has no magic resistance, so spell thrust and then he'll go down in like 4-6 casts of Aganazzar's scorcher/wand of frost/wand of fire. Defensively you want to bait out his dispel, then drink potions to be immune to his chaos and ideally haste yourself as well and kite him. Theoretically you could beat him at level 5 since spell thrust is only a level 3 spell. Alternatively you can hit him with spells like greater malison/bane/prayer/recitation to nuke his saves then spam command and blindness a few times till he's blind.

I do agree they are a bit overpowered though. The other fights that SCS makes a bit stupidly tough is the ulcaster school guy and the Ulgoth's Beard fight when you come back from Durlag's and get ambushed by the cultists (I think this is by far the most bullshit fight since you'll have no prep and there's a LOT of assassins who will happily backstab you for 100 damage). Everything else is pretty well balanced though IMO.

Never play EE. Don't give Beamturd parasites any money.

Who said you had to give them money for it?

Yeah I lost any sympathy for them when they removed the non-EE editions from stores. If you don't want to give Beamdog money then you can't play EE or non-EE versions of BG1/2 anymore.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Never play a game modded the first time.

Do not overestimate the developers' competence.

You need to see a game as it. Otherwise, you're playing a different game. The only exception I can see is if the game is broken needing patches to fix game breaking bugs or a simple patch to make the game work on your operating system if it doesn't already. That being said, BG1+2 are not broken enough to justify using a mod on a first playthrough. BG1 original saga and BG2:SOA+TOB originals still runs fine on contemporary systems.

 

[BruceVC]

Karkh (Ogre Mage outside Firewine Bridge) and the final fight are the two ones I think SCS overdid.
Karkh is immensely powerful, and you need to be high level, meta game and/or have a specialized CHARNAME to deal with him.

Sarevok fight is just too cheesy. He does like 4x25 damage a round and is IIRC immune to spells, so the least cheesy way of dealing with him I found was to have him chase one character while the rest of the party concentrated on his minions. Then continue the Benny Hill routine and pelt him with missiles. Meleeing him is just not an option.

As for the XP gains I asked the mod writer about it once and he said it was a balancing issue.

Bit late, but in my current installation of SCS Sarevok has a THAC0 of 6, which means you'd want an AC of -25. This is just barely achievable for a fighter decked out in all the best stuff.

For Karkh, his HP is normal (not boss boosted) and he has no magic resistance, so spell thrust and then he'll go down in like 4-6 casts of Aganazzar's scorcher/wand of frost/wand of fire. Defensively you want to bait out his dispel, then drink potions to be immune to his chaos and ideally haste yourself as well and kite him. Theoretically you could beat him at level 5 since spell thrust is only a level 3 spell. Alternatively you can hit him with spells like greater malison/bane/prayer/recitation to nuke his saves then spam command and blindness a few times till he's blind.

I do agree they are a bit overpowered though. The other fights that SCS makes a bit stupidly tough is the ulcaster school guy and the Ulgoth's Beard fight when you come back from Durlag's and get ambushed by the cultists (I think this is by far the most bullshit fight since you'll have no prep and there's a LOT of assassins who will happily backstab you for 100 damage). Everything else is pretty well balanced though IMO.

Never play EE. Don't give Beamturd parasites any money.

Who said you had to give them money for it?

Yeah I lost any sympathy for them when they removed the non-EE editions from stores. If you don't want to give Beamdog money then you can't play EE or non-EE versions of BG1/2 anymore.

I just finished installing my mods and I will start playing tomorrow, I used about 12 or mods that include SCS, Tweaks, NPC Project, Unfinished Business, Quests and encounters, extra Romance and some new NPC

I will update everyone as I progress on my journey in the world of the Forgotten Realms

 

[BruceVC]

Never play a game modded the first time.

Do not overestimate the developers' competence.

You need to see a game as it. Otherwise, you're playing a different game.

You make an interesting point and debatable, I would argue that mods dont create a different game but rather enhance, improve and refine a game to your specific tastes. I always use lore friendly mods in Bethesda games so fundamentally my game is always more or less the same

But not every game needs mods, I recently played the whole NWN1:EE and its expansions and I only used 2 mods which were cosmetic around portraits

 

[Nano]

"Modding is bad" is such a cucked take. It's my game, I'll do what I want with it. Do you allow others to dictate how you can enjoy things in other areas of your life as well?

 

[mondblut]

Otherwise, you're playing a different game.

And that is bad how exactly?