Poll: First time Baldur's Gate player

[tzimize]

Hey Escapists! So I'm playing Baldur's Gate for the first time (literally downloading as we speak) and I'm on a wiki despairing over which class to play.

On one hand, I wanna have fun, and I've heard Bard is the funnest class to play... but on the other hand, history has shown that I fuckin suck at these sorts of games, so maybe I'd be better playing Fighter or Paladin or some such.

So what class would you recommend for a first time player? And if you feel compelled to do so, I'd love some general or specific advice for my first playthrough! Thanks!

(not enough room on poll for every class, so please say which you recommend and why) (Thanks again )

Well, if you enjoy a goody two shoes, a paladin is pretty awesome. But its maybe more awesome in the sequel when you really get your moneys worth from the immunity to fear/charm/whatever. Also, they are tanky, can wield big two handers and are the perfect party face.

Rogue can also be fun, I recommend the shadowdancer kit (if its in BG1) But they need a bit of micro managing.

 

[BartyMae]

The first time I played Baldur's Gate, I played a Bard. Woe was me. Nowadays, I'd probably be able to play it at least half-competently, but...first time player? Well...I definitely wouldn't recommend it. I would probably recommend a Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin, since they're pretty low in variety in what they can do, which should hopefully help reduce headache as a first-time player.

 

[dangoball]

I add my voice to Fighter as a good starting class. Lots of HP, can hit stuff with all manner of sticks and gets 5 dots in a skill with a stick. My favorite kit (if you're playing BG:EE or starting with BG2) is the Wizard Slayer, since most really tough enemies are magic users, but you loose out on magical trinkets and such. Just don't go Kensai, that one is for powergaming as a Fighter/Mage dual-class and takes some knowledge of the game to play well.

Cleric is also a good choice with good HP, ability to wear heavy armor and healing spells/buffs. His kit's never really looked that useful to me, but they have (almost?) no disadvantages so I see no reason not to take one corresponding with your desired alignment (other than roleplaying a cleric of a different deity).

Ranger and Paladin are nice but have higher stat requirements (especially Paladin), level a lot slower than a fighter or a cleric and you can get good ones soon anyway (Paladin - Ajantis, north of Friendly Arms Inn; Ranger - everyones favorite Minsc and his hamster in Naskel).

I will only repeat for truth that Mages are very unforgiving for new players and Bards can be frustrating to micro-manage. And the best arguments against playing a Mage are Edwin and Xan, who needs other spellcasters with these two fun guys in a group

 

[aozgolo]

I always enjoyed playing as a Ranger, a good ranged class with some decent survivability. Though lately I've taken to playing pure mage (Not specialized). This makes the early game WAAAY more challenging as you are severely limited to like 2 spells you can csst before needing to rest and you are super squishy. However a pure mage also has the greatest growth potential and if you aren't playing an evil route, the mage class is the MOST complimentary I feel to your party in the first game as 2 of the primary mage characters are pretty much evil, leaving a good alignment character to rely on magically gimped multiclass characters as casters.

 

[dangoball]

I always enjoyed playing as a Ranger, a good ranged class with some decent survivability. Though lately I've taken to playing pure mage (Not specialized). This makes the early game WAAAY more challenging as you are severely limited to like 2 spells you can csst before needing to rest and you are super squishy. However a pure mage also has the greatest growth potential and if you aren't playing an evil route, the mage class is the MOST complimentary I feel to your party in the first game as 2 of the primary mage characters are pretty much evil, leaving a good alignment character to rely on magically gimped multiclass characters as casters.

I guess you're talking about Xzhar and Edwin, but Dynaheir (good) and Xan (neutral) are also pure mages for a good alignment party.
That aside I never really had problems with a party of mixed alignment, well maybe except Ajantis/Keldorm and Viconia (racist paladins). My main is usually neutral good with some evil chars in the party. I simply enjoy Edwin and Viconia way to much to leave them be if I have a want for a mage or a cleric.
Don't Fight mod surely helps parties of mixed alignments for vanilla BG and I'm sure it'll show up for EE sooner or later.

 

[Vorlayn]

in bg1, mage is the hardest starter class. in bg2 however, it is very doable, and very very powerful.

 

[Neonit]

Ehm, i for one would recommend mage. As long as you keep in mind how experience works (the bigger party, the lower share of experience you get) you can get really strong really fast.

Also, warriors are boring. Yeah, they can chop and slash.... But mages.... oh ho ho ho, the choices are limitless! Burn them, zap them, disintegrate them, bury them in a tiny cube below the ground..... Or just summon a bunch of demons to rip them apart!

True, level 1 mage cant do shit. But you can get a very good ring very quickly, which helps remedy this situation. Its hidden inn a certain hole. All you have to do is to welcome it with open arms. Dont see it as a spoiler.... im just trying to be friendly.

 

[dangoball]

Ehm, i for one would recommend mage. As long as you keep in mind how experience works (the bigger party, the lower share of experience you get) you can get really strong really fast.

Also, warriors are boring. Yeah, they can chop and slash.... But mages.... oh ho ho ho, the choices are limitless! Burn them, zap them, disintegrate them, bury them in a tiny cube below the ground..... Or just summon a bunch of demons to rip them apart!

True, level 1 mage cant do shit. But you can get a very good ring very quickly, which helps remedy this situation. Its hidden inn a certain hole. All you have to do is to welcome it with open arms. Dont see it as a spoiler.... im just trying to be friendly.

It's true that come lvl 5 spell mage becomes a demigod even without being ones offspring but keep in mind we're talking first time player. Heck, only on my 3rd char I realized how powerful Chromatic Orb and Magic Missiles are and caring for a low-lvl mage can be quite demanding if his death means game over.
I would say that for it's better to have a taste of arcane powers by the means of an NPC companion for a beginner and try playing your own only once you get the hang of stuff like THAC0, AC, stat bonuses and some knowledge of the game itself.

 

[Doom972]

You'll have a party of 6 character, so no matter your class you'll be able to get the 4 ones important for every party: Fighter (can be replaced by Ranger or Paladin), Mage (Specialists too, but not all of them are worthwhile), Cleric and Thief.

If you want more freedom when picking your party members, you should probably one of these four for your character. Otherwise, I recommend multi-classing so that your character can be versatile while the others all have their specific roles.

I played through the entire saga only once and I used a human Fighter/Mage (dual-classed at level 6).

 

[Imre Csete]

Guess it's the EE, I wonder if you can roll the new classes introduced in BG2. When I TUTU'd the game I rolled a Paladin Inquisitor, and slapped all the early encounter mages back to school with my dispel backhand.

 

[Neonit]

Ehm, i for one would recommend mage. As long as you keep in mind how experience works (the bigger party, the lower share of experience you get) you can get really strong really fast.

Also, warriors are boring. Yeah, they can chop and slash.... But mages.... oh ho ho ho, the choices are limitless! Burn them, zap them, disintegrate them, bury them in a tiny cube below the ground..... Or just summon a bunch of demons to rip them apart!

True, level 1 mage cant do shit. But you can get a very good ring very quickly, which helps remedy this situation. Its hidden inn a certain hole. All you have to do is to welcome it with open arms. Dont see it as a spoiler.... im just trying to be friendly.

It's true that come lvl 5 spell mage becomes a demigod even without being ones offspring but keep in mind we're talking first time player. Heck, only on my 3rd char I realized how powerful Chromatic Orb and Magic Missiles are and caring for a low-lvl mage can be quite demanding if his death means game over.
I would say that for it's better to have a taste of arcane powers by the means of an NPC companion for a beginner and try playing your own only once you get the hang of stuff like THAC0, AC, stat bonuses and some knowledge of the game itself.

I fully realise its for the first time player. which is why i said mage. I had introduced a guy to the bg2 whose only experience with rpg was diablo. His first instinct was to chose a barbarian, which is more or less a warrior + a couple extra options.

"So, what can i do with this guy?"

Well, you can attack. You have one special ability. And because its bg2 you also have 3 extra abilities here.

Whereas with mages you can get swamped with choice - which is mitigated a lot, when playing bg1. The only thing a lv 1 mage has to remember, is to pick magic missile.

Yes, it is difficult, but if you chose to go solo or small party, you will quickly become a lot stronger. (which is why i mentioned exp sharing)

Going warrior has two pro's in my opinion. Its easier, and you get to learn more about mechanics (chance to hit, armor class etc). But it can be fairly boring.

Cleric or paladin could be a good option as well, now that i think about it.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'd stick with a vanilla fighter, or you can play as a Mage-Slayer (that was my first character and I had a blast with them). Or a Paladin, they can be fun too.

Remember that with Baldur's Gate, it's all about parties, and since you can have six people in your party, you can very effectively cover all your tactical bases. In my party, I had 3 fighters (for front-line combat), 1 Cleric (for healing), and 2 Mages (for, well, Magic). Also, it's important to note that powerful spells in this game take time to cast, so you need fighters to keep the enemy occupied while the Mages do their abra-cadabra thing.

 

[dangoball]

snip
Cleric or paladin could be a good option as well, now that i think about it.

Yup, guess we can agree on that. Fighter is easy but can be boring, mage is fun but somewhat demanding. Cleric looks like a fine balance since you get to punch stuff with hammers but get to know the spell system on the divine side.

So go Cleric powah?

 

[Neonit]

snip
Cleric or paladin could be a good option as well, now that i think about it.

Yup, guess we can agree on that. Fighter is easy but can be boring, mage is fun but somewhat demanding. Cleric looks like a fine balance since you get to punch stuff with hammers but get to know the spell system on the divine side.

So go Cleric powah?

Ya, cleric seems like a good option. You need one anyway if you want to regain hp during rest...

And there are some awesome hammers and flails in bg2....