I’ve always wanted to try one of these classic CRPGs and what better way to start than the original Baldur’s Gate. I initially struggled understanding the game mechanics and returning to the format. Which is different to what we are now accustomed to today. Even so it is definitely worth the effort. In this Baldur’s Gate 1 Beginners Guide I will do my best to explain and provide you with important tips and hints, that will give you a strong start and beat the early game confusion.
General Tips & Hints
1. Understand that it it’s an old version of the D&D ruleset.
Although similar to newer CRPGS such as Baldur’s Gate 3, it runs a somewhat different ruleset. And is a real time group combat with a pause feature. Which you must use quite often when micro-managing your party.
2. Read the Manual or Adventure’s Guide. Unlike today, these types of games came with manuals for a reason and are a part of the experience and learning how to play the game.
2. It’s not as complicated as it appears and with a little time you will find your way around the UI and how things are. I personally played on the Enhanced Edition version which has lots of QoL updates.
3. The first one or two levels are the hardest. Consider playing on Core difficulty which will force you to have a good grasp of the games mechanics. And don’t be put off by the idea of rerolling and starting from scratch. Because a strong character with good stats is important for how well you do and you’re likely to make a few wrong turns in the beginning.
4. Experienced players seem to recommended Fighter, Paladin and other straight forward melee classes for the first playthrough. I will also recommend this as the game is party orientated and having a strong front line character, while you’re learning is very beneficial.
5. In this game XP is gained from quests that you run into and from killing enemies. Additionally, XP in most cases shared between party members. This information obviously opens many doors but as a new player try and stick with the intended formula of a strong well rounded group. Obviously less party members means more XP and even soloing becomes an option. But early levels you’re weak and not geared so XP from killing is miniscule and you’re best bet is to rely on side quests for big chunks of XP. Until things begin to pickup for you.
6. Your character alignment matters, evil will have a much harder time and a more expensive experience. While being good and liked will will have an easier time. Also party members must align together and having evil and good party members together will end up in violence. So do pay attention to your own characters alignment and those of your companions as you go along.
7. Understanding armor rating in this game, less is more! So without going deep into mechanics. A lower armor rating is better. So seeing -1 is better than 2. Also armor does not absorb or negate a % of damage but decreases your chance of being hit.
8. Save often, especially after big difficult fights. This is common knowledge for these types of games. Q is the quicksave key on the EE edition and L is to load you most recent quicksave.
9. Make use of ranged characters. Ranged is great to have in this game and having, two to three backliners is key for survival. For example casters can be equipped with a sling and this will allow them to be useful outside of casting spells. And also increases their likelihood of staying out of trouble.
10. Freely use sleep to recover and reset spells as it doesn’t cost you anything. In this game there is no real penalty or cost to sleeping and so use it to heal the party. And keep your consumables for actual fights.
11. Fast travel is possible in this game. But does increase the chances of random enemy encounters and combat. Once you’ve entered a map you can fast travel to it later on. So keep it in mind while exploring.
12. Talk to people and explore new towns and outposts you come across. Any character with their own name is often worth speaking to. Either for quests and hints or simply for lore purposes and emersion. Taverns/Inn are usually a create source of side quests.
13. Dead party members can be revived. There are resurrection spells which come later in the game. But the main way is by going to a Temple which exist in most towns. You must select the dead party member and the revive (its something else ingame) option will become available. It costs you 100g per level of the companion being resurrected. Also remember to pickup your dead companions gear.
Mechanics and Options
Turn on quick loot, makes it much easier to manage loot. Especially once you start getting faster and more effective in combat.
Play around with the settings, especially those related to auto-pausing. So important ones being pause on enemy discovery, pause on character death.
Adjust gameplay settings to improve gameplay. Some being mouse scroll speed, rest until full HP and stopping ranged characters from meleeing if ammo depletes.
Hope this little Baldurs’s Gate 1 guide has been useful. I plan to improve and update it in time and considering creating a more advanced section for those wanting to improve their gameplay further and learn more in-depth about the game and its mechanics.