I decided to play this instead of Planescape, because just feels too different of a game plus the website I have been going to for BG 1 does not have a walkthrough for Planescape, so I think I would play BG 2 since I know I would beat it faster. Anyway tips.

1. How Different is this game compared to the first, is it harder, is the world map bigger, is it more story oriented with more Dialoge?

2. I Made a Paladin Cavalier this time with only sword and shield, his stats:

strength 18/00

Dex: 14

Con: 14

Int: 3

Wis: 15

Cha: 18

Is that good?

1. The game is very different. You do not start at level 1, and it is easier at the beginning than BG1. The world map is much smaller. It's not like BG1 in that respect, everything is more contained, and there's no actual world exploration. The story is very linear, but there is a lot more dialog between party members, but don't expect in-depth conversations in vanilla game. Even the best companion mods don't have that much.

2. Those stats will quickly get your paladin killed with one hit in certain situations. There are enemies whose attack damages Intelligence by 4 points each time they hit in melee, and when it gets to 0 your character dies... game over. You need at the very least 8 INT to survive 2 hits, with 12 a safer bet.

Problem is I really want that strength at 18/00 and sadly this is clearly not that randomized with its dice rolling stats, like I notice that when the roll I get has more balanced numbers of stats, the less chance of a 18/00.

Paladin is the hardest class to roll for, because they have the highest requirements, so you don't get the usual dump slots. The traditional CHA is out, so is WIS, so that only leaves INT, which you need in BG2. An alternative is to sacrifice his STR, and live with it until you can buy the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength from the Adventurer's Mart, which will raise his STR to 19.

Well screw it I am taking the challenge, I just hope I can get another Melee fighter with high Intelligence.

Just make sure that your Cleric or Druid memorises Chaotic Commands, and cast it on your Paladin in those battles. That will protect him.

Don't worry too much about intelligence suckers. There are a few spells and items for that. And you can always leave your main character behind.

0)Baldur's Gate 2, even without its expansion, is significantly longer than PS:T (PS:T is also significantly easier, so less time spent reloading too). Both are great games; just expect to sink more time into this one.

1)BG2 is harder in some parts, easier in others. BG1 was relatively easy if you focused on archery and used sleep/summons when necessary, but BG1 destroyed me as a kid because I didn't know what I was doing. In BG2, it tends to be much more apparent when you are biting off more than you can chew, but once you start taking on the tougher challenges, it gets really tough. Dragons are pretty challenging unless you use cheese, and liches/high level spell casters will be aching to cast protection from magic weapons, then proceed to imprison you, causing an instant game over if you aren't protected. Mage battles at high levels can get pretty complex also.

2)Max Constitution at all costs. I'd personally recommend dropping wisdom down to 13 (Paladins suck at spellcasting, and the bonus spells, if any won't make much a difference), charisma to 17, dex to 10 (14 dex provides no bonus to AC, so no reason to keep it there), and boost Con to 18 and Int to 6. 6 Int gives you slight leeway against mind flayers, and you can later find gloves out dexterity that will set yours to 18. At some point, get specialization in Greatswords. The best Paladin weapon (and arguably the best weapon in the game) is one.

Of course, this is assuming you don't want Keldorn in your party, who can also use that sword, and also benefits greatly from the Gauntlets of Dexterity. In that case, I'd dump strength and just use a belt of giant strength.

Since you seem to be keen to gain an advantage before you set off, let me advise you to dump the sword and board and go for two-handed swords instead so that you can benefit from (one of) the best weapon(s) in the game.

Also, I would go for either of the other kits instead of Cavalier. Don't get me wrong here: Cavalier is by no means bad, and you won't get into any trouble for choosing that kit. It's just that his bonuses are lying dormant most of the game: +3 to hit and damage against dragons is very nice when you're fighting one, but really rather useless the rest of the time. Fiends are more common, but also substantially easier to defeat. Undead Slayer is immune to some ridiculously annoying effects and only loses Lay on Hands, but I would (and do) still go for the Inquisitor. Sure enough, you lose Lay on Hands (big deal), spells (which are shite anyway for all Paladins), turn undead and Cure Disease (which the Cleric will handle anyway). However, as a trade-off you gain immunity to some annoying effects and gain a rocket-boosted Dispel which can help your party recover from a tricky situation or punch a hole in an enemy's magical defenses, often leaving them all but helpless.

Opinions probably vary quite a bit on the subject, so fire away.

This character is a bit of a glass cannon; he gets no AC bonus since his dexterity score isn't high enough, no HP bonus since his constitution isn't high enough, and his intelligence is low enough that mind-flayers 1 hit KO him. The only thing going for this character is his 18/00 strength (which will become irrelevant once you get strength-boosting magic items), all his other attributes are sub-par.

Always remember to cross-reference the attribute tables in the manual, since the 2nd edition rules for attributes are really arbitrary. There is no difference between a score of 7 and a score of 14 for either dexterity or constitution.

This is not strictly true. Thieves incur incremental penalties to their abilities at 12 DEX and below. There is a difference in the CON levels because it is used to calculate 'current' HP, not just per level bonuses. A fighter with 14 CON will have -- all other things equal -- more HP than a fighter with 7 CON.

As far as dexterity goes, I was speaking with reference to Paladins or martial characters in general. There is a difference for thieves, although why you would ever have a thief with less than 18 dexterity is a mystery to me.

I'm not quite following what you mean with regards to constitution. I'm not aware of any table or BG resource indicating a difference between the various intermediate constitution values, although I haven't done any side-by-side comparisons either.

Well that's certainly not the way it came over. You said:
" Always remember to cross-reference the attribute tables in the manual, since the 2nd edition rules for attributes are really arbitrary. There is no difference between a score of 7 and a score of 14 for either dexterity or constitution."

Many people run with thieves of less than 18 DEX. Not everybody min/maxes. Some people set themselves very strict rules about dice rolls. I never said there was a table. Make two fighters and level them up. One with 7 CON and one with 14 CON. By the time they get to, say, level 9, the fighter with 14 CON will have much more HP than the one with 7 CON.

There is no difference.

It all depends on die rolls at level up. Assuming you roll a 5 every time, they will both have exactly the same hp. (And given 100 fighters with 7 con, and 100 fighters with 14 con and random die rolls, both groups will have the same average hp.

Yes, you're right. I just tested it with the console. Unfortunately I was making assumptions. My apologies.