Baldur's Gate 2 is a turn based strategy game. *Very* different from the Diablo series.
The best place to start is the manual, but the manual itself is pretty lengthy so you might find it easier to take it in piecemeal.
Combat is broken up in to turns and rounds. In one round everyone gets a turn. Turns are put into an order called "initiative". So if you see your character standing around, it's because he's waiting for his turn. In a way it's like Final Fantasy or Pokemon - you and your opponent compete their actions during your turns, and when the next round begins you issue another set of actions for your party to do.
The difference between Baldur's Gate and something like Pokemon is that you get to control when you issue commands with the pause function (spacebar). When you are in combat you should press pause, tell your party what to do, unpause, and wait for them to carry out their orders. Melee and ranged will keep attacking it's target without needed additional instructions until: 1) the target dies 2) you tell them to do something else 3) the target cannot be reached for whatever reason (invisibility, the sanctuary spell, to name a few). When a caster completes his spell, he will attack the target automatically if the AI is on. For this reason I recommend you turn off AI. With the AI turned off, when a caster finishes his spell he will need to be told what to do.
There are two types of casters. 1) Arcane (sorcerers, wizards, bards) and 2) divine (clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers). Paladins and rangers don't get a lot of spells. Bards and sorcerers can cast individual spells multiple times - with a limit to how many spells of each level they can cast per day. Wizards need to memorize spells and need to find scrolls to learn new spells. Bards and sorcerers don't need to do this. However, bards and sorcerers can't learn spells from scrolls (although they can still cast a spell written on a scroll - this uses up the scroll though).
Remember what I said about pausing to issue commands? From my own experience in multiplayer people don't really do this. It can make things a little harder but you get the advantage of another player character - possibly with powerful spells and magical items! I never really got into multiplayer so your experience will probably be different.
You'll definitely need a thief. You'll have to search for traps when in dungeons and in the wilderness, although this is not an issue when in towns/cities. Traps are incredibly dangerous so have your thief scout first before moving on in dangerous areas.
I highly recommend starting with a fighter, cleric, ranger, or paladin - but if you want to play something else that's okay too. The classes I mentioned are better for players starting out because they are usually physically tougher than something like a mage. A mage is tough to start with but the spells he will eventually get will make him formidable indeed! You usually want to put characters who can take more damage at the front of your party and have characters with fewer hitpoints in the back. The way armor works in this game is the lower the number the better. It confuses a lot of people but that's how it is. Lower armour means you get a lower armour class (AC) which makes you harder to hit.
Like Diablo 2, all classes have at least one stat that is important to that class. A mage requires intelligence. An intelligence lower than 18 means you can't cast 9th level spells - which are the most powerful spells in the game. You certainly don't need an 18 to have a good mage though. The same rings true for the other classes. You don't need to max out any particular stat to make a strong character. Although a higher still will obviously contribute to your characters performance.
When you get weapons, armour, and occasionally scrolls and potions, you'll need to identify them first.
Your actions in town and towards other characters greatly affect how you are seen in the public eye. If a ranger or a paladin gets too low a reputation, he will become "fallen". I can't remember if there was a way to redeem yourself. If this happens, you get to keep all of your skills but you lose your spells and abilities. Reputation also determines price discounts, and if certain members stay or leave your party.
Sometimes you'll get party members who will fight eachother. Keep in mind this will only happen with specific combinations - like a good character and an evil character. If the person leading your party (the character who's portrait is at the very top) has a high charisma there's a reduced chance of this happening. Shop owner's discounts depend on the person leading the party not the individual speaking to him.
If your party's reputation gets too low you can donate to a temple to bring it back up. That's all I can think of for now. I might post again if something else comes to mind.
Edit: Auto pause -
I also recommend going into the options and using these auto pause functions. It's not absolutely necessary but you might find it will help a little.
Pause when finding traps: this will prevent your thief from triggering the trap itself. If it looks like your thief is too close to the trap when you discover it, have him move back a little and then disarm it.
Pause when finished casting spell: using this will get better use out of your mage. If he's just standing around you're are losing productivity. You'll get better use out of your mage if you have him cast another spell. Using up all your spells for one combat session is not recommended unless you are fighting a very strong opponent. You should have your mage equipped with darts or a sling. I think they can also use throwing knives but I wouldn't recommend it. The weight of the knives add up and your mage will likely have a low strength score.
Pause when you see opponent: having this enabled reduces the chance of not seeing an enemy. When I didn't use this feature I would sometimes bump into an opponent and not see them because they are slightly off screen. It can also prevent you from wandering into territory where there are more enemies.
Edit: Saves- You should also manually save too. Quicksaves and autosaves are good, but not good enough. You should manually save the game at certain points. That makes it easier to backtrack if you feel like you missed something.
Post edited March 08, 2016 by jsidhu762
