Hi, this is my first time playing baldur's gate. I'm staring with bg1 using easytutu. My character is a swashbuckler because I like the idea of dual wielding and stealth

So I've been to Friendly Arms and now going south to nashkel?
My party consists of 6 people.

Problem is, I always died at battle, so much I guess I need advice. Keep in mind I basically know nearly nothing about dnd rules

I would like to ask advice about combat, and magic in general. I can't seem to use magic effectively to survive. I also can't wrap my head on how to quick item yet.

Thanks in advance

At the start of the game, Sleep is the best spell. (Note that this changes later and the spell is useless in the sequel.)

Who is in your party? There are couple of really strong characters you can recruit early in Beregost. First, there is Kivan, amazing archer in high hedge (or whatever it is called, just east of Beregost). Second, in there is Kagain, dwarf warrior which is super tough guy. You can find him in a building near Feldepost's Inn. Low large building with brown roof.

Besides, range weapons are super powerful in BG. So it is good to have a couple of archers in your party. If you have Jaheira, you can give her slingshot.

Also, early in the game it is common to die, especially during the first playthrough :)

You seem to have Imoen (thief), Monatoron (thief/warrior?, can't remember now) and Xzar (mage, necromancer), Jahiera and Khalid (friends of Gorion, your foster father)

The small creatures are gibberlings?
- Give imoen and Monatoron small bows
- put Khalid at the front (give him a decent armor, at this point you should be able to afford splint mail for him)
- give Jaheira slingshot.
- Micromanage Xzar so he is not approached by enemy (I don't remember his specialization so not sure what ranged weapon to give him). Never use a mage in melee.
- not sure how to utilize your main character, but if he keeps dying in melee then keep him away from battle for now till he gets a little bit more health points.

Thanks. Will try it when I get the chance
Now that sounds like a battle plan ☺

Yes, unlike so many RPGs, status ailments actually work well in these games, especially at lower levels when everyone's saving throws are poor. Sleep does eventually lose its usefulness, but at that point you should have access to other spells such as Charm/Hold Person, Web, etc. that can be quite useful. Even bosses generally don't have status immunity; there've even been reports of instant death effects working on dragons! (In BG2, of course, as BG1 doesn't have dragons.)

Assuming you have Jaheira, you can have her cast Entangle. This prevents those in the area from moving, and hence makes it impossible for those affected to get into melee range, while you can meanwhile pelt the enemies with sling stones.

Wow! I've never heard status ailments work effectively in any game before. The fact that it works even on bosses is simply amazing. That would make a run as status manipulator mage a lot of fun. I've got to try it sometime, but for now I need to get the hang of it first. Thanks

Pause the game often during difficult combat. This way no precious seconds are lost while you think about tactics and assign commands.

I'll make sure to do it. My formation break apart rather easily and I still don't know what my team is capable of. I think pausing and combining it to specific role in combat can help me survive. Thank goodness this game is interesting from the start so my motivation to play is high

Set autopauses appropriate to your style. When playing single-player, I set End of Round, Enemy Sighted, Weapon Unusable, and the one whose name I can't recall about invalid target (when the enemy dies or leaves). Maybe some others. I don't recall. It's been a while.

Never knew auto pause could be so configurable. Thanks. Will do

I wanted to thank you all for all your help. My party reaches Beregost rather successfully by following all of your advice.
Lebesgue strategy is spot on, my character only have to flee on very last battle since he's out of potion. And battle is manageable by following Thorfinn suggestion to configure auto pause in such way it's helpful for someone just getting into the game. Overall, I can do battle quite well now

There's still magic that I don't understand. I already have Xzar to memorize many spell yet in battle it seems he can only use one. I guess I need to dig more about magic, after all I'm interested in trying dtgreene suggestion about making enemies sleep during battle.

Again, Thank you all. And if there's more advice you want to give don't hesitate. This adventurer is eager to learn more :)

There is a difference between "Spells known" and "Spells Memorized". When you copy a spell from a scroll into your spell book, it falls under the "Spells Known" category, but it is NOT immediately available to be cast.

The only spells a mage can cast are spells the mage currently has memorized. The number of spells a mage can have memorized at one time depends primarily on the mage's level, though some magic items can increase the number of available spell memorization slots of particular spell levels.

Xzar should be able to cast two spells before having to rest, BUT he might have the same spell memorized twice (so only one spell appears on the spell list bar). Check his mage spell book, and you can choose which spells to memorize when resting. Be advised that if you remove a currently memorized spell from a spell slot, the mage will no longer have that instance of the spell memorized (in the same way as if you had cast it), even if you immediately put it back. You'll need to rest again to re-memorize the spell.

To teach Xzar the Sleep spell, you need to find a merchant selling spell-scrolls. Look for one called "sleep." Or you might get lucky and find it, but don't count on that.

Jaheira also knows some good spells. Healing, of course, but also Entangle, which is great for stopping mobs of annoying critters like Gibberlings.

Also very important is to try and control how many enemies you fight at once. If you just run straight at the enemy, you might trigger more attacks. So, if you spot the enemy, (with auto-pause) make everyone stand still and start shooting. Then, when they threaten to approach your archers, have a fighter intercept.

With really tough enemies like Ogres, you can even "kite" the enemy: put your guys in a rough circle, armed with missile weapons, and shoot the beast. It'll charge one of your guys, but you then make that character run away. The ogre will get hit, start to chase the people shooting him, but you make them scatter. At any one time, one or two people will be running, 4 will be shooting. Result: dead ogre, zero risk. Bit cowardly, but effective.

Everyone should be carrying a missile weapon at all times. For characters who want to use a shield, equip one-handed missile weapons like darts, throwing daggers, throwing axes or slings. For others, the composite longbow is the best by far, but requires high strength to use. Normal longbow is second, shortbow third, heavy crossbow fourth. (It gets big damage bonuses, but only shoots half as fast for most characters. Still good, though.)