This game seems awfully brutal at the beginning, what am

>>4071767
Don't make your maincharacter a pure mage, thief or druid for starters.

It legitimately is pretty brutal at the beginning due to how character HP works, as well as magic being able to fuck you over because it's never quite clear what is being cast and being able to stumble on some really nasty enemies right out of the gate.

It gets better.

>>4071768
I mean, you can do that, but it's gonna be difficult. Low HP total and not being familiar with D&D mechanics can be hard. On the flipside, though, mages do get super powerful, they just need to be babysat early on and hiding behind the burlier fighters. However, a level 1 mage is still useful because a single Sleep spell can instawin a fight. Make sure that your first spells are utility/crowd control; mage doesn't become full-blown artillery until around level 5.

First order of business is to equip EVERYONE with slings, bows, darts etc. and keep their ammo supply high. Ranged weapons rule the first Baldur's Gate; they usually have a higher chance to hit than melee weapons, don't break and prevent the risk associated with melee. You will be using a ton of ranged weapons; kite the wolves, gibberlings and that one ogre with them.

Make sure that you press SPACE often. Be a pauseoholic. Pause lets you easily give orders to your characters, react to enemy spells, and adjust in case positioning is wonky. Press SPACE all the time, and set up autopause for whenever an enemy shows up in your line of sight.

Follow the NPC suggestions if you're lost. Really, going Friendly Arm Inn->Beregost->Nashkel won't hurt, and you will meet a lot of useful NPCs on the way. Cookie-cutter Good set of you, Imoen, Khalid and Jaheira covers all the basics (if you're evil, Xzar and Montaron are also high-tier NPCs) except potentially mage, but you will meet one soon enough and mage utility is limited in the early levels anyway; your primary way of engagement is to use your ranged weapons.

Solid characters that aren't obvious but you should collect them early:
>Ajantis the Paladin in the location North of the Friendly Arm Inn - one of the better Good fighters in the game. His location is sorta dangerous though.
>Viconia in Peldvale to the east of Friendly Arm Inn - Evil Cleric, resistant to magic, great with a sling due to high dex, saving her nets you an useful Plate Mail.

I want to play this but I have a really, really shit computer.
I can probably run the original fine but I've always wanted to check out the enhanced version. How different are they exactly?
Also if they made changes is there a way to bring it in the original game? I couldn't care less about graphics.

>>4071789
more characters
>Kivan in High Hedge, one of the best archers in the game; you have to go west from the wilderness location north from Beregost. He is nerfed to oblivion by Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition though.
>Kagain - Evil Dwarf Fighter who lives in a secret shop in Beregost. It's "secret" because it's door is not visible in the camera; you have to hover your mouse around certain houses until you find him. Kagain is the tankiest character in the game.
>Minsc & Dynaheir - Good duo that you will meet in Nashkel by simply following the plot. Iconic and very solid.
>Edwin - Evil counterpart to the above, you can't have them all in your party (for long; they will kill one another even if you manage to snag them all at the same time, which IS possible). Edwin is the best single-classed mage in the game.

>>4071767
This thread is a good coincidence, I might as well ask here, I want to play BG1 for the first time, should I go with the remastered (I heard it's shitty) or the standard game modded for present resolutions?

>>4071792
the original with no mods is superior senpai

>>4071792
>I can probably run the original fine but I've always wanted to check out the enhanced version. How different are they exactly?
Upon release, EE was a really lazy cashgrab - the multiplayer didn't work properly, many things were bugged, most of the mods weren't compatible, and it was prone to crashing. Right now, it's still not a "purist" experience. BG1EE uses BG2 mechanics, which include all sorts of cool goodies, but they're not really meant for BG1, seeing as how none of the BG1 NPCs (except the ones introduced by EE) have kits. Berserker kit, for instance, trivializes a ton of fights.

There are a few bonuses, like higher resolution and some quality of life improvements, but 90% of them can be replaced by just getting a few improvement mods.

Most of the EE content, story- and character-wise, isn't particularly great. There's some banter with NPCs, but I never found any of them particularly engaging, and, again, most of them stick out like a sore thumb - EE bonus NPCs talk A LOT compared to relatively mute NPCs from vanilla BG1.

Personally, I would only recommend EE if you are willing to have a pre-packaged meal for a bit more cash, that will work on a modern system without hassle. BG can be modded in like half an hour, though, so it's not really that big of a deal. The bonus content isn't really worth it, and the new classes are shit.

>>4071812
Thanks. I guess I'll play the original instead. Same with BG2.

>>4071796
Mod the first game into the second game's engine.

Baldur's Gate Tutu. (to two)

>>4071767
Encounters on the map are random as if you had a real asshole dm.
First time I played, I shit you not, I walked out of the meeting with elminster and started towards the next place.

Green dragon. Vs my level 1 solo party.

What the fuck.

Looks like they removed the original games in GOG. You have to buy the enhanced edition and redeem a code to get the original.
Yeah, fuck that. I'll just pirate it.

>>4071849
Since when does BG1 have green dragons in it? What the fuck?

Yeah, had the same problem. Tried to play the game, played for a hour or so got killed without any chance and no clue what I did wrong. Friend told me I went into the wrong area... inb4 darksouls or what. Never tried again since.

>>4071849
Made me laugh. There are no green dragons in BG1, if you've never played, but the root of this is true. BG1 doesn't follow a linear exploration formula, where you can only reach low-level zones when you're low level, nor does it have the same level scaling you would see in a Bethesda game. If you go at level 1 to an area occupied by ogres and are getting your ass beat... load back to the auto-save before you went there, and just go somewhere else. Once you're about level 3 you can safely explore most basic areas without much difficulty.

>>4071792
>>4071796
Being experienced with both, there's no reason to play the EE first, and some fair reasons to not do so. Play the original, and look at the very extensive mod scene to get widescreen patches and the like. Try not to change the base gameplay too much if it's your first run though. Also, EE has MUCH higher system requirements to run. My shitty laptop from the early nineties could run BG without any loss in framerate, whereas my modern (but shitty) laptop stutters in BG:EE.

>>4071929
>>4071767
The game is hardest at the start. Combat options and party members are few, and you are at your weakest relative to the average level of enemies.

For level 1 and most of level 2, quick-save often when exploring so you don't have to re-do much if you stumble on a very tough enemy. Many quests don't involve combat but offer high XP rewards, focus on those early. Run if an enemy looks like it can one-shot someone in your group (many can at level 1). You can outrun virtually any enemy in the game. Disrupt enemy mage spellcasting by damaging them during casting, use wands or "guaranteed" forms of damage when they attempt to do so - any interrupt can mean victory. As noted above, ranged weapons have excellent accuracy and are flat out the best at the start of the game. Don't use them in melee range. Note that everyone, even enemies, gets a crit for double damage if they roll a 20, bonus is negated if you have a helmet.

>>4071792
Don'y play the enhanced versions of any of these games. Don't give Beamdog money.

>>4072340
Quick loot, highlightable objects, and zoom make the EE releases the definitive versions.

>>4072343
Zoom isn't necessary, you can change resolution to get whatever effect you want. I found it annoying and locked the zoom in my EE.

Highlightable objects are present in BG2, just not BG1. Because the game wasn't designed for it, it sort of "breaks" it - you are able to see hidden caches that were meant to be easter eggs or prizes for players that want to be treasure hunters and are playing close attention to NPC dialogues. This is actually a step back in the experience.

Quick loot is convenient, true, but looting only takes a few seconds anyway without it. If it's such a bother to you, late game when you have tons of gold and good equipment there isn't really a need to loot every bandit or hobgoblin that crosses your path - you could just ignore the 18 gold to be picked up, which is even faster.

>>4071767
>be a fighter
>if something is too strong, just walk away
>make sure to cheat your HP to always get the max rolls, you need it
>get the best armor you can, at a certain point ranged enemies will go from being death cannons to pea shooters
>the game is way easier if you play solo
>cleric group buffs are stronk

>>4072413
You don't need to cheat for high HP rolls, it is in the game either as a standalone option to turn on, or automatically based on difficulty setting.

Strong armor is very important - always have the best you can afford.

I disagree though about playing solo. The advantage is that you get 6x the experience on just one character by doing so, but if it's your first time playing the advantage might be outweighed by the loss of other party members. Going through areas with traps without a thief blows, not being able to heal without a cleric blows, not being able to use or understand enemy mage or cleric spells blows too. For an expert, sure though. Not to mention you lose automatically if the PC dies, whereas party members can be killed and resurrected without needing to re-load and do a battle again.

>>4071796
the enhanced edition had some overt sjw shit in it written by an overt sjw who didn't give a shit what people thought of her injecting hot button political topics into the game (her words)...but most of the overt shit has been removed, although i think a couple characters are permanently wounded. i'd play the regular edition.

>>4071929
casual detected

>>4072434
That's Siege of Dragonspear. The EE exclusive characters are easy to ignore.

>>4072446
misc had the thing about ethics in gaming journalism. but they removed it. i'm kinda scared of what else they snuck in there. i'm also worried about playing bg2ee.

>>4072450
Like I said, that was Siege of Dragonspear.

didn't see anyone mention this yet. it's important. when you get better armor, your armor thing goes into negative numbers. armor does not mitigate damage in vanilla bg1. it decreases the chances of being hit.

the same is true for enemies. if you're missing a lot, the nigger probably has high armor. someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i think this is why missile weapons are so overpowered in this game: everyone has a pittance of HP, and bows tend to hit more frequently for some reason.

when i played bg1 the last time, i kept trying to manipulate the AI into going for my tank, but the AI doesn't work on that kind of WoW-style aggro system. i'm not actually sure what causes bad guys to aggro what, but it seems to have something to do with who's doing the most damage.

+1 to those suggesting you give low level mages crowd control spells. unfortunately, mages aren't really damage dealers until later on. if you want a noob friendly experience, go with a paladin/fighter. esp if you're a dwarf. btw, if you don't want to be a good guy, have your paladin kill an innocent, but inconsequential npc, and you'll become a fallen paladin. just in case you want to be more edgy. but fallen paladins are just fighters.

>>4072468
Ranged weapons are OP because you can easily kite enemies and whittle them down while they get into range. They don't have a bonus to hit.

>>4072468
and make sure you have a thief, not only are they essential for disarming traps and unlocking shit, but their backstabs do obscene amounts of damage, but the positioning is finnicky. ehhhh, one of the expansions modified how backstabs work... google around, and experiment in game. it's worth figuring out. make sure you set the thief's AI to always enter stealth to automate this shit.

clerics are also OP in this game. the first time i completed it was as a cleric. i recommend having one at all times. they have really good crowd control spells, and obviously the healing spells are nice. set the AI to cast healing spells automatically. and if you're not doing it already, KEEP YOUR PARTY AS BUFFED AS POSSIBLE ALL THE TIME. well, not ALL the time, but you know what i mean.

>>4072468
This is all true. One reason missile weapons are better for most of BG1 is because you get a bonus to accuracy with them based off your Dexterity, and a lot of characters have high Dex. If you have a THAC0 of 18 with a melee weapon, but 16 with a bow, and you're hitting someone with armor class 5 (not bad for early game), your chances of scoring a hit increase from 40% to 50%. This works out to a 25% increase in your effective accuracy, as you can see. The other reason is that missile weapons have higher attacks per round. A bow can shoot twice per round, but an early fighter might make only one or one and a half attacks per round with a melee weapon. Thieves in particular will only ever get one attack per round with a melee weapon.

At higher levels, warrior classes will have melee attacks start to catch up, and at that point the higher amount of damage per hit will make it more effective than ranged attacks.

Also, in BG1, there are tons of magical ammunition types with special effects. No such equivalent for melee weapons.

In terms of aggro, it depends on what version you're playing, but usually an enemy will just attack whoever is closest to them when they first enter the fight. If you keep their target running away and a tank close, they will sometimes change targets. Enemy AI varies depending on creature type and class.

>>4072434
>>4072321
>>4071846

Alright thanks guys, I'll play the base one, any /vr/ recommended compatibility mods or it doesn't really matter what I pick? of course I don't intend to modify the game in any other way, just win7/10 compatibility and 1080p.

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>>4072496
i played without any mods and i even played in low resolution on an HD monitor.

>>4072474
see this post:
>>4072491

A STR of 18 gives a +1 to hit (more if you're a warrior), but DEX of 18 gives a +2 to hit with a ranged weapon. When taken into account with the increased number of attacks...
Also, the composite longbow includes its own +1 bonus to THAC0, although only warriors can use it. No melee weapon has a base THAC0 bonus like that.

>>4072496
You can get a widescreen mod, if you so choose. Make sure to play with the expansion, Tales of the Sword Coast, and follow the standard guides you'll find about base patching and the community "fixpack". Pay close attention to the order that you apply patches.

For BG1, I wouldn't recommend mods besides the fixpack, and widescreen mod to taste.

>>4072496
Just to let you know you're making a bad decision.

>>4072508
A one point difference is literally nothing, and ranged weapons don't inherently have more attacks.

>>4072538
Completely incorrect. A one point difference can be as much as a 100% increase in chance-to-hit for certain fights. There's also much more than "one point" available: a +1 bow with +1 arrows combines the THAC0 bonuses, giving you a net +2. A +2 bow with +2 arrows gives you a +4. A +2 melee weapon can only ever give you +2.

All melee weapons have a base APR (attacks per round) of 1. Throwing daggers and bows have 2. Darts have 3.

is there any drawback to having a character with 3 int or 3 charisma? let's say i make a fighter with 3 int.

>>4072570
Attacks are determined solely by your class. Outside of outliers like the Crossbow of speed, a Fighter with 5/2 attacks is going to have 5/2 attacks regardless of whether or not you're using a ranged or melee weapon.

And no, a +1 is literally meaningless. If it's that important to you, you're a bad player in the first place.

>>4072589
Mindflayers will fuck you up when you import to BG2 (the superior game).

>>4072589
For classes that don't rely on those statistics, not really. This is a justifiable criticism of the BG series.

There are a handful of dialogs where a low intelligence might block certain options from appearing, but it is not widespread. Intelligence has a very limited role in certain combat situations in BG2, however.

Charisma affects many dialogs, however, only the CHA of the character speaking to the NPC matters. For store prices, it is the party leader's score (the top portrait slot, drag to swap them around). Wisdom is the same as intelligence in these respects. It's worth noting that Wisdom also doesn't do anything for Rangers or Paladins, and that Charisma does not benefit Paladins, Druids, or Sorcerers in any way, despite what the text implies.

>>4072593
I don't know what to tell you, you're wrong on all counts... again. Open up the game and check for yourself. Or just do a Google search. Then, get some paper and pencil and work out the math on the THAC0 thing.

>>4072606
I'm 100% right on a +1 modifier not mattering in the slightest.

>>4072635
Since I've already done the math, in this exact thread... no. You aren't, let alone "100%". You're even wrong on your English, seeing as it is not "literally" nothing, it is "literally" a difference of 1.

If you aren't able to work this out, you should be taking remedial math classes instead of playing video games. I don't mean that to be insulting so much as out of genuine concern for your well-being.

>>4072643
You should try playing the source material sometime. A 1 on a d20 doesn't equate to 5%.If a one point difference is that important to you, you're relying far too much on luck and should reevaluate your strategies.

>>4072527
Beamdog, leave.

Where can I download the original games? I've found some direct download links but they look shady as fuck.
This is the only one that looks good: http://www.theisozone.com/downloads/pc/windows-games/baldurs-gate-4-in-1-boxset/

>>4072784
GOG.

>>4072792
GOG doesn't have the original games anymore. They removed it 2 years ago. I'm not buying the enhanced edition stuff.

>>4072784
https://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3258554/Baldurs_Gate_1____Tales_of_The_Sword_Coast_(Expansion)

>>4072797
How about the 2nd and ToB?

>>4072806
I'll leave you to figure out how to use TPB and find the second one.

>>4072809
Yeah, I found it. Thanks a lot. I am dumb.
Also what's the difference between this >>4072797 and this: https://thepiratebay.org/torrent/8846992/Baldur_s_Gate_The_Original_Saga_(2.0.0.20)_GOG

>>4072793
Whaaat this is retarded, that and pushing microtransactions.

>>4072819
>https://thepiratebay.org/torrent/8846992/Baldur_s_Gate_The_Original_Saga_(2.0.0.20)_GOG
GOG version is somehow optimised to run on modern systems. My link is the original CD rips, I guess. Get the GOG one for less fuss.

>>4072821
Yeah it is. The original games were like $10. The EE versions are around $25. If you buy both the first and second game it costs around $55 while the two original games with the expansions are around $25.
Fuck that shit.

>>4072793
Yes they do. You get a copy of the originals when you buy the EE versions.

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>>4072821
>>4072838

Lying and making excuses to pirate is pathetic.

>>4072912
>>4072920
And all you have to do to get it is give Beamdog money! You're a moron. Vote with your wallet, faggot. Get better taste first.

>>4072949
There's nothing wrong with the Enhanced Editions, so I'm already voting with my wallet.

>>4072954
What's wrong with them is what's wrong with you and video games.

>>4072975
Releasing archaic games to run on more modern hardware with no hassle is a bad thing?

>>4072979
The original versions worked just fine as released by GOG. Beamdog's Enhanced Editions actually work less well.

>>4073121
You can still get the originals, and the EE's are fine now.

>>4072979
Profiting on the work of others as a middle man? Monetising what the fan base used to do for free, out of passion for the game? Shoving a bunch of faggoty crap and additional, poorly-made content into that original game to exist as a parasite?

You're another devotee of the cult of convenience, praying at the altar of laziness and consumption. Fuck off.

>>4073156
1. Nothing wrong with that considering they paid for the license and have future plans for the franchise.

2. By this logic, charging for any kind of game is bad because fan games exist.

3. If you don't like the new NPCs or quests, ignore them. Outside of Neera's introduction (which is no worse Imoen being forced down your throat), you're free to ignore them just like all the other poor characters that are already in the game.

It's fine if you're a purist, but don't disparage a remaster just because it tweaked a few things.

>>4073139
>the EE's are fine now.
No they're not, Beamdog employee. First, the game is still riddled with bugs. Just a cursory glance at their forums shows hundreds of current unsolved bugs in the game. Maybe not the 600+ gamebreaking bugs that they had on launch, but pretending that the current EE is even remotely as stable as the GOG originals is a baldfaced lie.

And the EE will never be "fine" even if they work. They changed too much of the actual game content for it. If they had done what they did with Planescape and just upgraded things on the technical side, I could see an argument for it. But changing the stories and NPC personalities around? No, fuck that. I don't want to be lectured on white privilege from Viconia. It shouldn't be in the game.

>>4073193
>But changing the stories and NPC personalities around?

Never happened. When are you idiots going to realize that the EE's are a separate entity from Siege of Dragonspear? The original content, outside of some balancing tweaks for the sake of consistency, is left untouched.

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>>4073195
Liar. This is from Baldur's Gate 1: Enhanced Edition. They rewrote lines and added shit to the characters.

>>4073203
What part of "the original content' don't you understand? If you don't want to see new stuff, don't take the new NPCs, ya dingus.

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>>4072434
WTF really?? Cant just ruin new vidya they gotta go back and ruin the old vidya too apparently.

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>>4073203
I like how in the core game, Chaotic Good Kivan actually tries to kill Viconia even though she does nothing wrong purely because she's evil. Hell, the dialogue leading to the fight had her politely trying to make peace with him. But in the Enhanced Edition, Kivan is personality changed to not only allow donut steel Dorn's evil, but verbally encourages and sympthaizes with it.

Then again, Elves and Orcs are known for being the best of friends amirite? Speaking of, does anyone remember how Gruumsh lost that eye?

>>4073219
>the EE changed core character's personalities and dialogue
>>no it didn't!
>here's a screenshot
>>i choose not to categorize that as core content :^D
Seriously, fuck off Beamdog employee. Don't make me remind everyone that after the game launched people were outraged so you lot went and publicly requested Anita Sarkeesian to come attack your playerbase for being so problematic.

>>4073234
Original, not core. If you're going to shitpost, at least use my words.

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Every once in awhile, a Beamdog shill shows up on here and tries to rewrite the past and push for the Enhanced Edition. I've always appreciated how /vr/ comes together and stops that nonsense dead.

>>4073243
That's talking about Siege of Dragonspear, in case you can't pick up on the context. All those "sexist" jokes still exist in the EE.

>>4073251
Amber Scott was the head writer for the EE too and responsible for most of the dialogue that was added and is standard in the EE. Nice try repurposing history though.

>>4073258
>added

Oh, so you mean the original writing is left untouched? Thank you for finally admitting it.

>>4073260
Multiple screenshots have been posted of her writing additional dialogue for core NPCs like Viconia and Kivan. And there's hundreds more lines like that.

Quit lying you absolute fucking scumbag of a shill.

Sadly DnD rules doesn't translate to an actually FUN game.
More power to the people who enjoy and finish this game.

>>4073265
>additional

So once again you're admitting that the original writing isn't touched. What's the problem then?

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>>4073243
In fairness, not EVERYTHING she added to the base game was political. She included top-tier gems like these too.

>>4073275
Alright, I don't know if I can dumb it down enough for you to understand it. Maybe you're deliberately being obtuse, maybe you're so deep on the spectrum that we're in a vacuum where neither you nor common sense can ever intersect, I don't know. But here's one last hail mary in the direction of your understanding.

These screenshots of horrible dialogue that change the entire personality of the characters? These are standard in the Enhanced Edition. You don't have to mod the dialogue in, it's included in the game the moment you install the Enhanced Edition. This dialogue, like Viconia discussing racial privilege, is the SJW-infused garbage that Siege of Dragonspear also came under heavy fire for. You pretending that it doesn't exist in Enhanced Edition when virtually every fucking poster in this whole thread knows better does you a disservice. It just makes you and the game you're shilling for look even worse because you can't even be honest about it.

Do you understand now?

>>4072912
>>4072920
Yeah, you HAVE to buy the Enhanced Edition which costs twice as much as the originals.
And I bought the game on Amazon. All 2 games and 2 expansions for $22.
So yeah, fuck GOG.

>>4073241
>Original, not core.
Holy fuck the semantics.

>>4073286
If you don't want to see characters and new dialog, why would you deliberately take the new characters added in the EE?

>>4073289
It's not really GOG's fault. Once Beamdog took over, they made both GOG and Steam along with every digital distributor remove the base game from their catalogue and ONLY sell the Enhanced Edition. On the one hand, you have to appreciate what a shrewd move it was. Nobody was buying the Enhanced Edition, and now the people who buy it purely to get access to the originals still count as EE customers, which reflects well on their sales figures. On the other hand, what a total fucking scumbag move by a company that has been working overtime to prove just what fucking crooked pieces of shit they are.

>>4073293
That's not the issue, no matter how much you try to reframe the discussion. The issue is that those are now standard in the Enhanced Edition. You telling everyone to ignore the fact that Viconia is now a card-carrying SJW if they don't like it, but still encouraging them to play the Enhanced Edition and lying through your teeth about that kind of content not existing in it is fucking terrible.

As was already posted, it would've been one thing if the Enhanced Edition was nothing but technical upgrades. But the minute they began infusing political and social rhetoric into the game itself and changing the personalities of established characters with new lines of dialogue that contradict who they've been these past decades, a line was crossed.

>>4073304
Not to mention that the OP and a few others are playing the game for the first time. How would they know what NPCs were added in the EE version so they don't talk to them?

>>4073307
Exactly. And especially since the Enhanced Edition NPCs are unique in that they all come running up to you and you don't have a choice about talking to them or not.

>>4073304
>>4073307
It's exactly the issue. Don't like a character? Don't take them. It's so simple even a child could do it. It's not like the original didn't already have its share of shitty, annoying characters. A handful more is nothing to scream and cry about.

If you only want the original game but also want all the benefits from the EE, then ignoring 4 NPCs is hardly a Herculean task.

>>4073316
The point being made originally was that the Enhanced Edition, like Siege of Dragonspear, had this SJW content.

>And the EE will never be "fine" even if they work. They changed too much of the actual game content for it. If they had done what they did with Planescape and just upgraded things on the technical side, I could see an argument for it. But changing the stories and NPC personalities around? No, fuck that. I don't want to be lectured on white privilege from Viconia. It shouldn't be in the game.

That's when you contested:
>Never happened. When are you idiots going to realize that the EE's are a separate entity from Siege of Dragonspear? The original content, outside of some balancing tweaks for the sake of consistency, is left untouched.

Which, as we've established, is a lie. Now you're pushing the whole "okay, the characters did have their personalities rewritten by new dialogue, but you can just ignore it!" And frankly, it's getting exhausted as fuck playing this game of shifting goalposts with you.

You want to change your position that we should all just magically know what will or won't trigger the SJW content they added to the game, even first time players? Fine. As long as you acknowledge that they did corrupt the original game by adding that shit in the first place.

>>4073310
>Enhanced Edition NPCs are unique in that they all come running up to you and you don't have a choice about talking to them or not.

Missed this gem. Neera and Rasaad are the only two that do this, and it's no different than Imoen forcing herself on you several times along with Minsc or Jaheira calling out to you in BG2.

>>4073326
They didn't change anything. Dialog was only added. Point out a single piece of dialog that existed in the original that was changed in the EE, and then you'll actually have decent grounds for the argument.

>>4073329
>They didn't change anything. Dialog was only added.
Adding to IS changing. ESPECIALLY when what's being added contradicts and otherwise changes established personality and/or lore. What're you, retarded?

>>4073334
Alright, what are some extra lines they added into conversations that were in the original? Can you name even one, or are you going to continue to post nonsense that relies on their new characters?

>>4073338
And we're back to this again. Jesus Christ.

Alright, I think we're done here. Anyone considering the Enhanced Edition, you've got enough information. The Enhanced Edition DOES include social and political SJW nonsense. It is NOT exclusive to Siege of Dragonspear as has been proven despite this shill's lying. No matter how he tries to shift goalposts or recategorize it by telling you to just ignore NPCs (as though you as new players could magically know which were EE SJW inserts and which were vanilla), it's all still there.

>>4073342
If you don't like political SJW nonsense, then don't take the characters that talk about political SJW nonsense. How is this so hard? You've been strawmaning and lying hard this whole time when even kids know not to eat food they find distasteful.

>>4073346
So you admit that the Enhanced Editions have SJW nonsense. Good.

>>4073346
I AM A NEW PLAYER
HOW DO I KNOW WHICH NPCS TALK ABOUT 'POLITICAL SJW NONSENSE
FUCKING HOW

>>4073346
>>4073348
Beamdog shill got outplayed.

>>4073348
Never denied it. My only claim is that the original content is 100% intact, and it is. You're the one inventing arguments, lying, and putting words in my mouth to make it seem like you have a point, but you don't.

>>4073350
By using your brain. I know it must seem like a colossal effort for some people, but you can kick characters from your party, or not even take them at all! What a novel concept.

>>4073357
>Never denied it.

>>Never happened. When are you idiots going to realize that the EE's are a separate entity from Siege of Dragonspear?

Nice try. But it doesn't matter. You're willing to admit that the Enhanced Edition are SJW crap now, and that's all that counts.

>>4073360
Love how you ignore the next sentence where I make my claim. All you're doing is driving people away from playing the originals.

>>4073365
Or you know, they just get the originals instead of the ee crap.

>>4073371
Nah the EE's add some good stuff and are better out of the box. There's no reason to play the originals now unless you're a die hard purist.

>>4073373
Or you know, you can just get mods for the originals.

>>4073374
Even with mods the EE's are still superior since all the good mods are compatible and you'll spend less time setting everything up.

>>4073376
>all the good mods are compatible
100% subjective

>>4073373
Or if you don't want your game infused with socio-political garbage.

>>4072321
Okay,.maybe it was a red dragon or something. It was definitely a random encounter lol rocks fall you dead screen filling dragon.

>>4073425
The original already had socio-political stuff.

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I played the shit out of the originals years ago. Lately, I've been having an urge to do another run-through. I was planning on buying the EEs during the imminent Steam summer sale, but this thread convinced me to reinstall the originals and convert BG1 to Tutu. Works great. Thanks /vr/!

>>4073454
>Beamdog-kun is still trying

>>4074117
What's the Iron Throne's entire scheme if not "socio-political garbage"? False flag attacks, war profiteering, and artificial scarcity are straight out of /pol/.

>>4073282
Viconia would never back down in a woman's face like that! NEVER! Or maybe she does sometimes, haven't played in awhile.

>>4073350
I am not one of the posters in this EE/SJW chain. Don't worry about it. Just play the game. If a party member bothers you, then drop them or get them intentionally killed. It won't affect your experience, the problem is mainly for old-time players.

>>4073438
There aren't any dragons at all in BG1, or any creatures even remotely that large. The most difficult random encounter at that point is a large group of human bandits. If you were playing with a mod, maybe, but even then I'm not aware of any that would upgrade random encounters like that. You should play again!

>>4074007
Enjoy your run! Seems like an interesting character concept, if you're going for an RP run.

>>4074187
Fuck off shill, you know he was talking about modern social justice garbage.

>>4074195
So you're okay with low-tier /pol/ shit in video games?

>>4074198
If it was in the game twenty years ago when it was released, sure. What you seem to be incapable of grasping is that no one wants NEW political shit infused into existing games. I mean, seriously, why don't you understand that? What horrible thing went wrong in your life that you see no problem rewriting history and infecting your modern social issues into mediums never intended for them?

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>>4074210
>reasoning with an SJW
Where do you think this conversation is going to go? Xir is just going to admit that Beamdog was wrong tainting the game? After the pages and pages of defense xir has written about it? The rapidly changing goalposts and now even accusing the original Baldur's Gate of being /pol/? Come on. You're acting like there's a chance of reasoning with these people. Even the people they're "fighting for" can't convince them they're wrong.

>>4074210
The /pol/ shit was in the game years ago. Fuck, the drow having a matriarchal society could be considered "SJW bullshit."

>no one wants NEW political shit infused into existing games

Then don't use the new characters that talk about that stuff. It's not hard. I never take Minsc because he's "lol so randum xD" the character. Same exact thing.

>>4074253
No, it's not. If Terminator got remastered and included a time traveling SJW that lectured Reese and Sarah about their heteronormative relationship fucking up the LGBT timestream, I wouldn't accept "just don't watch that part of the movie ;)". Or if Moby Dick was rewritten to have lady sailors too for equal representation and one of them managed to kill Moby Dick after Ahab dies while winking to the audience, I likewise wouldn't accept "just skim past those parts, haha."

There was no business in writing in any of that shit to the existing game and you will never create an adequate defense of it.

>>4074502
A game with non-linear elements like Baldur's Gate is nothing like a book or a movie. Once again, it's never forced on you, so if you don't like a character, don't take them.

For the record I'm not defending the writing itself or the inclusion of it. Damning the EE's for what amounts to optional characters and dialog is just like seeing a few out of context Minsc lines and writing off the game as a wacky Borderlands tier cringe fest.

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>>4074515
>For the record I'm not defending the writing itself or the inclusion of it.

>>4071767
If you're a mage and getting killed by that assassin at the friendly arm inn (I got slaughtered by him when I was a kid), I think I had Montaron hide in shadows before he initiated dialogue and then backstabbed him or I ran until the guards killed him. Outside of that, I didn't have any real trouble (I mean, it was still a brutal game but I didn't feel stuck at any point). Once you finish the quest when you kill that cleric at the end of the mines, you should be already level 3. From then on, the game gets much easier if you choose your battles. I've always played vanilla, though. I've never tried the EE and I have no desire to. If playing vanilla, summon monster is extremely OP and borderline broken.

>>4074772
This is all good advice.

Minor spoilers here:
The attack at the Friendly Arm Inn is a definite rude move by the devs, not sure what they were thinking. Not aware of any other big roadblocks like that in the game. He's at least a level 3 mage, when you're very likely to only have two first-level characters. Not only that, but they gave him perhaps the most brutal combination of spells a level 3 mage could have in that match-up. It's not big trouble for anyone experienced with the system, but I think most BG players are new to the D&D setting and ruleset and are not quite sure what they did wrong to lose in what is possibly the first combat encounter in the game.

If you don't want to "cheese" the fight by prepping a backstab in advance, one technique I use every game is to use Imoen's wand of magic missiles to hit him before he can pull his Mirror Image off.

>>4074783
Small update: I forgot, Tarnesh is actually level 5. Just to make him more of a cunt. Worth less XP than two wolves...

>>4074809
He's 'fake' level 5, though. He only has 3x level 1 and 2x level 2 spells memorized.

>>4077149
Yeah, but he gets the benefit of being level 5, like getting 3 missiles per Magic Missile cast. 3d4+3 damage = 6 - 15 per cast, no save. At a time when the PC likely has only 3 - 15 HP...

>>4077790
Don't Rangers start with two hit dice in those ancient AD&D rules?
This would allow them to survive even 15 damage.

>>4077796
That might have been the case in some form of original D&D... but not in AD&D / 2E. Certainly not in the Infinity Engine games. Rangers have 1d10 hit die, only Barbarians have more at 1d12 (but aren't present in vanilla BG1). Assuming you're playing a 1d10 class and are a dwarf, with 19 CON and the resulting +5 HP/LVL, you'd only have 15.

So you'd still have a 1/12 chance to die on the first cast. And he's got two more! I seem to recall that he prioritizes the PC if possible, but that could have just been my bad luck.

Also, even if rangers could take it, it would ONLY be them. Note that the max HP at level 1 for the hunkiest non-warrior classes is only 10.

Can you add the EE UI to the original?

The EE backlash is pretty overblown here, I've been playing through the first and recruited a literal female chaotic neutral wild mage expecting the absolute worst but her dialogue really isn't even bad, there should be an option to turn it off though. Still think I'm gonna drop her though since the first two times I cast magic missile I killed half the party with a high level aoe spell then summoned a huge demon that was hostile to my party. I thought that shit was like a 5% chance

>>4079348
No. If you prefer the EE UI (like everything in EE, it's sort of one step forward, one step back), you'll have to get the EE versions. Someone informed me that you can replace the EE cinematics with those from the original game though.

>>4079382
Yeah, EE isn't as bad as people here make it seem. They are very focused on the SJW angle, which is a small part of a small part of the game. I understand their complaints, but it far from makes it a bad game.

Never tried using a wild mage myself for exactly that reason, although I might give the NPC a shot if I come across her. I think wild mages have class-specific spells that improve their chances of getting beneficial wild surges? Of course, they'd waste precious BG1 spell slots, so...

That is one of my (minor) complaints with BG1:EE, actually. I see that they just wanted to make the engine the same for BG1 and BG2, and have all the same classes, but certain things were left out from BG1 for good reason. Monks, wild mages, half-orcs - all poorly balanced for a fun BG1 experience.

Why do you want to disable her dialog? If you don't like party chat, BG2 has far more.

>>4071793
>He is nerfed to oblivion by Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition though.
???

>>4072419
Playing a solo fighter allows you to steamroll the game, no problem. Even unoptimized ones, like my half-elf dagger fighter. I beat the entire game in less than 2 days.

Thank god I purchased Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 off GoG years before the EE. Don't have to deal with any of this shit.

>>4080278
This sounds like bullshit. How did an unoptimized Fighter using a dagger solo the Sarevok fight?

>>4079382
>>4079953
In my experience, the only people that defend EE fall in one of two categories. Kids who never played the originals before and don't understand why having a masterpiece like Baldur's Gate get profaned with agenda pushing social nonsense is not something to just shrug off about, or are actual Beamdog employees as we've found before skulk on these boards.

>>4080540
>a masterpiece like Baldur's Gate get profaned with agenda pushing social nonsense
omg go to reddit and complain to someone who cares

I swear no one bitches more than you gamergate dorks

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>>4074515

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>>4080559
>omg go to reddit and complain to someone who cares

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I did something horribly wrong didn't I? It's not supposed to look like this right?

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>>4080540
>in my experience anyone that likes this thing is a kid or a shill
Sure bud. I got 2/3s thru bg2 in 2001 before losing my save to a hard drive crash. I think it's lame as hell that they stuck new stuff in with no way to turn it off but try actually experiencing it before believing some shitposters on /v/. None of the new npcs are politically charged and Baldur's Gate already has a man-hating female fighter in it.

>>4079953
I mis-wordered that I meant there should be a way to disable all the new EE stuff with the click of a button.

>>4080530
Are you serious? A lvl 8 half-elf fighter with the best non-totsc equipment in the game, with potions and draw upon holy might? It was over in seconds, anon

>>4080540
I played the original, but I can't be fucked to learn how to mod. I really don't like computers, I just like games and browsing. I'll agree that beamdog is hot garbage.

>>4080278
Yeah, and was it your first time playing? I said soloing was bad advice for first-time players, and said that for experts it's a legitimate strategy.

>>4080540
I didn't defend it, I said it isn't as bad it's made out to be. And the original isn't "profaned". It's still the original. This is a different version, and you can just install the original at any time. Quit being such a big baby. I have both versions installed, and the existence of EE doesn't make my vanilla playthroughs any worse. I'm pissed they didn't just upgrade vanilla things as well, but even UI changes would have left some people upset.

>>4080702
No that's the classic menu screen for sure. Was always a strange choice, to be honest.

>>4080816
Yeah, there should have been a way to disable it. If they're planning big overhauls, then I see why that's not possible. But I don't think it's the case. FTL let's you turn Advanced Edition content on or off with one click. But it's a minimal intrustion, and you can play the original, so, not that bad.

>>4080273
EE reinstated Kivan's flag that made him leave the party if you didn't reach Bandit Camp within a week of him joining. That's Chapter 3, and for Kivan to be optimal, you have to join him in Chapter 1, because his higher starting level iterations give him shit HP rolls (he always starts at level 2, at 16 HP, which means something went fucking wrong on the poor guy's 2nd level, let alone what happens to his growth if you join him later) and weapon proficiencies.

It's another one of those things that Beamdog decided to "fix", even though it was completely irrelevant, but failed to address the billion other bugs that the game had - or that they entered themselves.

>>4079953
>Why do you want to disable her dialog? If you don't like party chat, BG2 has far more.

The thing about BG1 is that the NPCs in there don't have a whole lot of dialogue and new characters - who already stand out by a fuckton, Rasaad has a ton of his own stuff on top of being the only representant of his class, Dorn has a magical greatsword at a time where you're starving for magical weaponry, has the highest strength in the game, his own special class - will nag on you all the time, initiating dialogue a lot, drowning out all the other characters, and also try to romance you.

I kinda liked BG1's fairly blank-slateish state of its NPCs and the interaction being fairly minimal; they could have done something more to preserve this particular spirit of the game.

>>4081243
Well, looking at his HP, he actually just got "average" rolls, not "fucking wrong". Technically, 16 HP at level 2 is above average, same for his other starting points.

I agree that him being available at level 1 is tough with him only giving you ten days (not a week) to do his quest, but in the original game it was intended that way. At least in my version of EE, which has a couple minor mods to my knowledge, you can just tell him to wait for you if he starts to get pissy. You can pick him back up when you're ready to head to the Bandit Camp. I'd rather it be this way then just being able to ignore all the NPC quests.

>>4081250
That's probably true. I installed EE along with an NPC dialog mod, so I don't notice the chattiness because all the other characters have expanded dialog as well. If only they talk and the original characters don't, well...

>>4081302
>but in the original game it was intended that way
The flag was intentionally left blank in development due to how restrictive it was and reinstated by someone who thought it was a bug.

>Technically, 16 HP at level 2 is above average, same for his other starting points.
>BG has you start your level 1 with max HP
>Kivan's CON means he should be starting with 11 HP (1d10+1)
>That means at level 2 he got only 5 HP
>which is certainly not above his average

>>4081323
Do you have a source for the blank flag? I've never heard that as being the case.

http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Kivan
Kivan's CON is only 14, which doesn't give a bonus. So, 10 HP at level 1, and a 6 out of possible 10 for his next level. That's in the better half.

I was wrong about him being at level 4 and level 6 though, I just checked and apparently he's basically exactly average. Still not "fucking wrong".

>>4081329
>Do you have a source for the blank flag? I've never heard that as being the case.
In the original game, the only way to trigger it is to force-talk him, which seems like a quick solution to something they didn't feel like implementing, yes.

I was wrong on the CON bonus, though.

>>4081353
But then wouldn't it fuck over anyone who was trying to talk to their party members? Feels like more of an oversight when they were designing the dialog system, rather than a conscious choice to make all of his quest flags and then decide to leave it in, but only if a player decided to directly ask him about it.

>>4081371
The force talk option doesn't do a whole lot and frankly is fairly obtuse (it only works on a few Charmed NPCs throughout the game), many players probably never found it. It just seems like the kinda thing that came through during playtesting.

I'm all for NPC quests, but Kivan's is just horridly designed and I'd rather if it wasn't kept in its EE form. Good thing CLUAConsole exists.

you get like a full month before he leaves; whats taking you so long to go do a mine, one wizard in a tavern, and two forest maps?

I can't recall having too many problems with it about a decade ago.

Some enemies, like Sword Spiders, surprised me, but otherwise it was fairly run of the mill. That Mage that attacks you early on was harder than expected, but I liked it. The final fight was a challenge, especially if you didn't have Fireball and similar. The demon in the expansion was hard.

The main thing is that you aren't really railroaded in regards to exploring, so you can get into trouble if you go off the roads early on and don't head for where the story points you.

All in all, I like that design.

BG2 has a lot harder encounters.

>>4080702
no, the mod you're using doesn't work on tales of the sword cost. there is no high res mod that functions with bg1. you have to use tutu to approximate what you're doing.

How's Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition?

Glad I found this thread, I had been looking for a good RPG to sink into and for some reason thought Baldurs Gate was something else entirely. Just started with it and I'm enjoying the ad&d2 base of it. Only good version of D&D imo