Going to give BG2 another whirl

[Gallifrey]

There aren't really any "builds" in BG2 like there is with NWN. As long as you make sure your key statistic is high, you're good. Casters will need a weapon like a sling for backup when they're out of spells, and try to maintain a balance of spells in your repertoire. You'll need personal defence, direct-damage offense and some larger scale crowd control spells.
Sorcerers are generally best suited to direct damage artillery spells rather than mucking about with more "tactical" spells because of their repeated casting ability. Basically, you want spells that do as much damage to as many targets at once as you can cram in, but be sure to have some personal armour spells handy too.

 

[Maylander]

He's right, Corwin is talking about NWN Sorcerers, not BG2 ones. In BG2 it's all about what party you bring along - when it comes to individual characters it's just important to keep their main stats high (charisma for sorcerers).

As for parties, I prefer 5 people instead of the usual 6, since you level up a bit faster then (you get the same amount of xp, you just divide it on X number of characters). My usual setup consists of: 1-2 capable of healing, 1 excellent caster (pure, not hybrid), 2 close combat folks. One of them must have find/disarm traps (as in, have at least some levels into rogue).

For a good aligned sorcerer my party usually looks something like this:
Main char (sorc)
Keldorn (excellent fighter with Carsomyr + Bracers of Dexterity)
Anomen (best healer, since he, for some reason, starts at normal priest level, but has warrior levels as well. Basically, he's got the warrior levels for free)
Imoen or Jan (for rogue stuff)
Valygar/Minsc (I actually prefer Valygar since I can give him the Celestial Fury, one of the strongest weapons in the game pre-add-on).

If you want romances, you have to squeeze in Jaheira or Aerie.

I've played through the game a bunch of times with this party. Don't even know why it's still fun, considering there is no difference in the various games.

Edit: Keldorn is probably my favourite NPC. Some people don't like him, they find his dexterity too low, but I know how to get a pair of gloves giving him 18 dex rather fast. The reason he's so good is because he's a caster-killer, and casters is the biggest problem you'll come across. With Carsomyr he gains 50% magic resistance and the ability to dispel with each hit, and his dispel spell (because of his subclass) is incredibly powerful - it has a much greater chance of dispelling than other, similar spells. One of Keldorns dispells is usually enough to remove every buff from all enemy casters. Also, he's got True Sight, which enables him to remove those annoying see-through-buffs that enemies tend to pop on (with that on, for example as an effect of Greater Invisibility, you can't use direct spells on them).

If this is your first playthrough, I strongly recommend bringing him along and giving him the right gear to kill casters - it will save you a whole lot of trouble. Well, unless you play evil, of course.. in that case he'll leave you, hehe.

 

[Gallifrey]

I've been mulling over giving BG2 another run. Only this time giving the evil path a try, and playing with just a party of four. Current plan would be the PC as a Fighter/Thief and pick up Korgan, Viconia and Edwin. Then add in Sarevok later.

 

[Maylander]

I have played through it several times with that exact party. Works out great, because the evil characters are more "pure" than their good counterparts (pure mage, pure priest, pure warrior, no hybrids). They all have top notch primary stats.

Just be sure to get the 200 damage epic traps on the main character (after 3.000.000 experience), makes life a whole lot easier.

You even get the most fun romance.

 

[Relayer]

IMO, skip BG 1 and stick to BG 2. BG 1 was a pretty good game in it's day but it hasn't aged as well.

It's still a decent game but it's not as refined as the sequel and there's a possibility you'll just have a mediocre experience which could just turn you off the series for good or make you want to put off the sequel for a while and really, BG2 is a must-play.

BG 2 takes the original and improves and refines every single aspect. It's also a lot longer.

Doesn't matter which class you play, both have strengths and weaknesses and you'll have plenty of other NPCs, all of varying classes, to join you on your quest.

 

[JDR13]

BG1 has aged just fine and is one of the best crpg's ever made. Playing BG1 first(although not necessary) will only enrich your experience with BG2. Plus it's fun to be able to export the character you created in BG1 into BG2 and continue the storyline.

 

[Gallifrey]

I loved BG1/TOSC. It really had the feel of a pnp campaign, a bunch of modules linked together with a common thread connecting them.
The fact that it's low-level made it much more enjoyable to me as well. I find BG2/TOB far too over-the-top and as such difficult to maintain a real interest in since it's all so absurd.

 

[thartanian]

is the prime stat for a sorcerer intelligence or wisdom? It doesn't say in game.

 

[Corwin]

Charisma is supposed to be the Prime Stat for a Sorc!!

 

[Gallifrey]

Charisma and Intelligence I think are the BG2 Sorcerer's primaries.

Should say in the manual at least.

 

[Maylander]

Yes, it is intelligence and charisma. Also, make sure he's got some constitution (16 or so) - Sorcerers tend to get very low hitpoints, and constitution is not one of the stats you can buff later on with items (unlike strength, for example). There are various area effect spells in BG2, and if you forget to give your characters (especially those with low base hitpoints) some constitution, they might not make the dice check and get instantly killed.

 

[magerette]

I just thumbed through my BG2 manual, and I can't see anything definite about charisma for sorcs, just recommends it for paladins,druids and bards--which surprised me as I was going to say that was their main attribute. Apparently that's one of the things that changed in the 3.5 ruleset.
If indeed it is intelligence, it needs to be at 18+ to cast as many high level spells as possible later in the game. Definitely get the constitution up, as Maylander says, to at least 16. Wisdom will help you on some saving throws for mind control type spells, but otherwise is not needed(10 is fine). Don't worry about strength or dexterity too much. just stay at 10 to avoid the penalties. Charisma is still important, as your character will do most of the talking to NPC's plus it gets you a little better pricing with merchants IRCC, so make sure it's decent(at least 12-14)

For your early spells, you can't go wrong with Magic Missile, buffs like Mage Armor, Magic Mirror, Blurr and Shield, and maybe Charm or Sleep, depending on whether you like to be offensive or defensive. Later, go for Fireball, Cloud Kill, and other area of effect spells that disable large groups of opponents. Read your spell descriptions and try to pick spells that don't allow for a saving throw on the part of the bad guys, like Magic Missile or just a partial one(save for half-damage or whatever), so they have a better chance of working.
Get some good NPCs as recommended in this thread(don't leave out a rogue--you need one)and have fun. It's a great game.

 

[Squeek]

You should also pick up the BG2 Fixpack here. It includes the Baldurdash fixes plus hundreds more.

 

[Orgok]

Couple of things... a sorcerer isn't honestly the best choice for a first-time through. I would strongly suggest including two mods, the first being Kelsey (a NPC sorcerer widely acclaimed as the best NPC mod), and ease-of-use to get past a number of annoying aspects (ammo and other stacking issues). Kelsey is as good a sorcerer as most PC-created versions, as stats play little role in the progression of a caster. Where your created PC will shine is as a fighter/magicuser, which is clearly the most powerful class, be it a straight elf or half-elf f/m or the common level 10 Kensai/Mage dual class. Monks are also grossly powerful, but not quite as "fun" or easy to play. Your most important spell will be BREACH, a level 5 dispel, as well as REMOVE MAGIC, a level 3. Also important are GREATER MALISON and LOWER RESISTANCE. When it comes to damage dealing, magic missile holds up well... and fire resistance on your melee backed by fireballs never hurt either.

Good luck. It's still the best single-player RPG ever made.

 

[thartanian]

Sweet guys, thanks for all the good info. I've tried playing as a sorcerer in the 1st dungeon. It's tough. So basically you guys pause the game as soon as you enter combat and assign an action to each char, then let it play, then pause again, for the next actions? Is that how it is supposed to be played? Cause without pausing, the game is really hard. Also, I'm confused on how to set magic quick keys. I hate having to hit F7 then another F's to choose a spell. Is there a way to bring the spells out into the root quick keys? Anyhow, I think I will go Fighter/Mage as an elf. I'll prob specialize in longsword, my favorite sword.

 

[Relayer]

BG1 has aged just fine and is one of the best crpg's ever made. Playing BG1 first(although not necessary) will only enrich your experience with BG2. Plus it's fun to be able to export the character you created in BG1 into BG2 and continue the storyline.

Not saying it isn't a good game.

It's just slow to get going whereas BG 2 throws you straight into the action - it hooks you right away. In my opinion BG 2 was so vastly improved that BG 1 seems like a prototype by comparison

One thing I found really annoying with BG 1 is when you make it to the actual city. From then on the archaic map movement design of that game's areas made it so navigating was cumbersome and frustrating (similar to Fallout's, but worse for some reason). Before that it also had those vast expanses of land you had to walk through which was kinda boring except for the odd kobold clan attacking you.

BG 2 is really more of the same but bigger, better, more refined, prettier looking and so BG 1 isn't absolutely necessary.

I will say this though, if you have or can find the BG 1 expansion pack, Tales Of The Sword Coast then by all means play BG 1 - Durlag's Tower I believe it was called, was an awesome dungeon - fun and challenging.

But I would still play them in reverse order Play BG 2 first so you can see Bioware at it's prime... THEN play through the 1st game and expansion so you can appreciate BG 2 all the more

 

[Maylander]

As a fighter/mage, be sure to focus on buffing spells. There's hardly anything more powerful than a fully buffed fighter/mage, although they start out relatively weak. I suggest that you use Mirror Image, Haste and Stoneskin a lot as soon as you can, it will make things much easier for you.

Also, I only pause when needed. In most fights I don't use magic at all, I just select all characters with regular attacks (ranged/melee) and focus fire on one enemy at a time. I reserve magic for the more difficult encounters, where I pause/cast spell/move characters all the time.

 

[thartanian]

Good, that's what i wanted to know. What about magic weapons? Can Figher/Mages use magic weapons? Which sword is the best to have? I'm guessing longsword cause it's the most common, therefore there must be plenty of magic longswords. I want one with lightning

 

[thartanian]

I went elf fighter. I really like pausing setting orders and so on. Works well. Anyhow, I'm a fighter now, when do I dual class to mage? What's a good level?

 

[Corwin]

Alternate!! Swap each level till you're satisfied!!