Baldur's Gate II Shadows of Amn Game Guides

• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:39

  Level 8
  
  Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: This is a great spell to take the place of the fireball and delayed-blast fireball. Dealing much better damage than these spells, it deals one to eight points of damage per level instead of one to six and does not max out. Hit a group of monsters with this at level 16, and you are hitting for 16 to 128 points of damage. Not bad for a single spell to knock the hit points off.
  Importance: High
  
  Improved Mantle
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: This is a good spell for when you are overwhelmed and cannot protect your magic users. With a cast of this spell, you cannot be hit by anything less than a +4 weapon for a few rounds. This could give your warriors time to get to your aide. However, it still only lasts for four rounds.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Incendiary Cloud
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: If you can hold the monsters to an area, this spell will do the damage. You get this at level 16, and it will do one to four points per level per round, so at level 16, you will do that damage for 16 rounds. Not much can survive that, but not much will just stand there and take it either. This spell is tough to use because if you misjudge, you will have some very hurt party members and some angry summoned creatures to deal with.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Maze
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Do you have a critter that is just in the way while you are in a battle, or one that is doing just too much damage, and you cannot get organized to deal with it? Cast maze and watch it disappear. It will go to another dimension for a good deal of time while it tries to find its way out. It's a great spell because there is no saving throw. If you're in a solo battle, this spell gives you time to recuperate.
  Importance: High
  
  Pierce Shield
  
  Type: Dispel
  Strategy: This is another spell that removes defensive spells on enemy mages. The boon on this one is that it will reduce the magic resistance of the affected target by 10 percent plus 1 percent per level of the mage casting pierce magic. Otherwise, it's just like ruby ray or reversal and a secret word.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Power Word: Blind
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: This word casts blind, but allows no saving throw. The small penalties bestowed by the spell do not do much at this high a level, though.
  Importance: Low
  
  Protection From Energy
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Much like protection from the elements, this spell has its place, but you can do without it, and you should. The 75 percent resistance to the elements is not great when you can only affect one of your party members.
  Importance: Low
  
  Simulacrum
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: Need another mage? Cast this, and you will create a duplicate of the mage that casts spells at 60 percent of the abilities of the original mage. You control this mage as if he was a party member, and he can cast spells extraordinarily well. He's great backup if you need that extra damage from an extra mage.
  Importance: High
  
  Spell Trigger
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: This is a lot like the other sequencer spells in your arsenal. This one will hold three spells up to level 6 and shoots them all off at one time. This is a great spell and will let you do large amounts of damage in a short time, or you can get all your defenses up in one cast.
  
  Summon Fiend
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: Another pet spell, this one summons a gigantic demon to do your bidding. Arguably the best summoning spell damage- and health-wise, the only problem is that the creature can turn on you. Be absolutely sure to have protection from evil cast on yourself.
  
  Symbol: Death
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: To us, this spell is worthless. This will create a symbol that will kill any creature of 60 hit points or less if it fails a save. Unfortunately, there aren't many creatures you will be fighting at this level with that few hit points that will likely fail a save versus death.
  
  Symbol: Fear
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Little better than the death symbol, this spell is still negated by a saving throw. We prefer to stay away from the symbol line of spells because of this.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Symbol: Stun
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Well, if you just have to use them, this is the one that is worth taking a chance on the save with. Again, even at a -4 on the save, we prefer to stay away from these spells.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:40

  Level 9
  
  Absolute Immunity
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: This is the last of the immunity spells. This one will keep all but +5 magic weapons from hurting the mage, which will give him time to clean up the area or vacate. Make up your mind quickly, you only have four rounds of immunity.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Black Blade of Disaster
  
  Type: Touch damage
  Strategy: This spell is awesome if you don't mind sending your mage in close. Just make sure the critter you are battling is busy fighting one of your warriors. This spell will create a magical +5 planar rift blade that will do two to 24 points of damage per hit. It also lets the mage fight as a fighter of half his level, and if the monster fails a save, it is disintegrated.
  Importance: High
  
  Chain Contingency
  
  Type: Touch damage
  Strategy: This is one of those nice emergency spells. Chain up some heavy damage spells and a maze spell, and anything that makes the mistake of hitting your mage is damaged heavily and put somewhere for a while until you are ready to deal with it.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Energy Drain
  
  Use: Other
  Strategy: This is one of the level 9 worthless spells. All this will do is drain some levels off the monster so they lose some hit points and abilities. Big whoop. When you are fighting monsters against whom this spell will actually do something, it won't do enough to make it worth the spell slot in your memory.
  Importance: Low
  
  Freedom
  
  Type: Dispel
  Strategy: This is a good spell if one of your party members has been imprisoned or mazed. Cast this in the area, and they will come back. I recommend not having this memorized; carry some scrolls with you for this spell instead.
  Importance: Low
  
  Gate
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: This spell gives you the ultimate pet: a pit fiend. Again, make sure you have your protection from evil spell running, or you will have another mad demon to deal with.
  Importance: Low
  
  Imprisonment
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: This is one mean spell. All you must do is cast this and touch a creature to have it disappear forever with no save. This is a sure thing as long as your mage can hit something, but if he has a problem with that, this spell is worthless. Carry it in your memory; it won't let you down.
  Importance: High
  
  Meteor Swarm
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: This spell is not as big of a deal as it sounds. This will call down meteors in an area for four rounds, doing four to 40 points of damage per round, provide that the monsters stand in the meteor shower. Don't expect to get more than two hits because the monsters don't stick around. Would you?
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Power Word: Kill
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: This spell will instantly kill any creature of 60 hit points or less with no saving throw. Sure, most monsters are more than 60 hit points, but this will finish off any monster that you hurt.
  Importance: High
  
  Shapechange
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: This spell has some uses, but I prefer to keep my Mages as Mages for the purpose of casting real damage spells. If I want another pet, I will summon one. This will give a Mage the ability to change shape into a bunch of different monsters, and he will get the abilities that come with them.
  Importance: Low
  
  Spellstrike
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: This is an awesome spell to use against those mages that think all their spell protections will stop you cold. Cast this, and every one of the protection spells will just disappear, making the mage quiver in fear.
  Importance: High
  
  Spell Trap
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: This spell is good for those long fights that you know you will run out of spells in the middle of. Cast this, and any spell cast at you will be soaked up, and you can cast up to that level of the spell that was in your memory at one time. For example, if a mage hits you with a polymorph other spell, you will have four extra spell levels you can cast. So, if you had magic missile and fireball in your memory, but you had already cast them, you can now cast them again.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Time Stop
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: This spell does what it says: It stops time for all but the mage. The mage then has six rounds to do what he wants and cast what spells he wants, which can be devastating for the opposing forces. We love this spell and think every mage should have and use it.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Wail of the Banshee
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: This spell is good for large groups of monsters in the hope that one will fail its save. But, when fighting one or two monsters, it's worthless. Any spell that allows a save at this level is very limited in its usefulness, and this is one of those. We killed two monsters in six casts, and in each cast, there were about four to six monsters in the area of effect. The effort was not worth it, in our opinion, when we could have used imprison and rid ourselves of six monsters in six casts.
  Importance: Low
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:40

  Priest and Druid Spells
  
  Priest and druid spells partially overlap: Druids can cast all the following spells, while clerics can cast only those not marked "druid only."
  
  Level 1
  
  Armor of Faith
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Absorbing a portion of all damage done to the caster and increasing with the level of the caster, this spell is a great, basic armor spell. Though it will taper off, it is useful and stays so. Cast it before any major battle.
  Importance: High
  
  Bless
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: Affecting all creatures in a certain area with bonus to luck and dice rolls, bless is another acceptable buff-up spell. The dice rolls will make a small difference in your combat abilities, and it's worth casting if you have the time before major battles.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Command Word: Die
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: This spell renders a creature unconscious for one round. The spell, with no saving throw, gives you one free round to do as you will before the creature returns to normal. A lot can happen in one round.
  Importance: High
  
  Cure Light Wounds
  
  Type: Heal
  Strategy: Cast this spell on a hurt party member. It heals one to eight points of damage. For Baldur's Gate II, that amount is negligible. However, it is useful to cut down on the number of hours spent resting, so if you find no other worthwhile spells, fill level 1 up with this.
  Importance: Low
  
  Detect Evil
  
  Type: Detection
  Strategy: Use this spell to find which creatures are evil in the area. When cast, a list will be made of all evil creatures. It's useful if you missed any enemies in a dungeon, and it's useful to determine motives and alignment.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Doom
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Giving a +2 THACO to the target, this spell actually manages to lower the target's combat abilities a noticeably small amount. The -2 to all general rolls, however, will help with spells cast in the future on the target as well as your ability to hit the target. In general, it's a nifty, if small, spell.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Entangle
  
  Type: Hindrance - druid only
  Strategy: This is another great spell to keep the masses off of you while you fight just a few enemies at a time. Entangle will create a large area of effect that will stop enemies from moving unless they make a save at +2. This is a spell to have in your memory as you go into almost any battle, but beware - you can get your own party stuck, too. So, this is another one of those spells to cast at a distance, unless you want to take the risk.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Magical Stone
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: A great principal level 1 damage spell, magical stone creates a projectile that does one to four points of damage to the target. The one to four points of damage is irresistible and quite good for a level 1 spell. Obviously, one to four points of damage is not great, but at level 1, it is nice for a small punch.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Protection From Evil
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: This spell will become increasingly more useful as the game progresses. Not only is it a must for summoning minions, it will also protect you against many demons found in the later parts of the game. One particular battle comes to mind where there are hordes of demons, and casting this spell will let you turn the tide of battle from an impossible situation to an easy victory. However, if you happen to have a class like a paladin in your party, he will come with plenty of these spells as special abilities, so you shouldn't bother memorizing it.
  Importance: High or low, depending on party makeup
  
  Remove Fear
  
  Type: Cure, heal, and dispel
  Strategy: If your party members are afflicted by natural or magically induced fear, this spell will cure them. Also, it will help them resist it for the duration of the spell. Since fear is a common effect of spells in Baldur's Gate II, remove fear is actually quite useful.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Sanctuary
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: When sanctuary is cast, the target can no longer take any offensive or defensive action without destroying the spell. A wonderful spell if you find your priest low in hit points, it will give him time to rest up, heal, and rejoin the battle without dying.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Shillelagh
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: This spell summons a magical club for the caster. In Baldur's Gate II, you will have a better weapon than this will summon, so it is pointless and, actually, detrimental.
  Importance: None
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:41

  Level 2
  
  Aid
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: The aid effect is nice, but the additional 1d8 hit points are pretty much negligible to anyone but a mage. It is advised that you simply stay with bless, which is one spell rank lower.
  Importance: Low
  
  Barkskin
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: With effects that increase as you level up, barkskin begins useful and stays useful. Eventually lowering your base armor class to two, this spell will usually be one step ahead of your ability to find better equipment. It's definitely one of the better lower-level armor spells.
  Importance: High
  
  Chant
  
  Type: Imbuement, hindrance
  Strategy: Raising all party rolls by one, and lowering all enemy rolls by one, chant is simple but pretty effective for a level 2 spell, having the same general effectiveness as a double-bless spell.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Charm Person or Mammal
  
  Type: Charm - druid only
  Strategy: This spell grants control of any one humanoid or mammal enemy to the player for five rounds. Toward the end of the original Baldur's Gate, most creatures resisted the charm series of spells. The same problem is present here in Baldur's Gate II, so most often, the spell will never get off successfully. However, keeping one copy of the spell memorized is advised for earlier portions of the game for those times when you do run into a person or mammal susceptible to charm.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Draw Upon Holy Might
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: Gaining power as you level up, this spell will increase strength, constitution, and dexterity by one point for every three levels of the caster. In the later portions of the game, this spell can take your stats to godlike numbers and will give substantial bonuses. As you progress, this spell becomes increasingly important and will play a key role in making your priest one of your best all-around party members.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Find Traps
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: Just like the thief's ability, this spell will let you locate traps. If you have a thief in your party (and you should), this spell is useless. If you don't, this spell is a must for dungeons.
  Importance: Low or high, depending on party makeup
  
  Flame Blade
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: This spell summons a blade of flame (1d4+4) for the caster to use; this spell is especially good against trolls. As its name suggests, the blade is made of flame and will hence kill trolls. Otherwise, its damage and bonuses against the undead are actually quite nice and may be better than the weapon you have for the first bits of the game.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Goodberry
  
  Type: Cure, heal, and summoning - druid only
  Strategy: Healing one point of damage, goodberries aren't so tasty (excuse the pun). Truly one point of damage is as inconsequential as it gets. Don't bother with this spell.
  Importance: None
  
  Hold Person
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: This spell freezes one humanoid creature in place, letting you do anything to it without consequence. Early in the game, when the spell is not resisted, it can work wonders again humanoid enemies. Later in the game, its use tapers off.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Know Alignment
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are not sure whether to trust or not to trust those with whom you are dealing, casting this spell will answer it. However, it is usually more beneficial to follow through and trust, even if you know it's a trap, as the result can lead to hefty treasure, experience, and even new party members.
  Importance: Low
  
  Resistance to Fire and Cold
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: If you find yourself under cold or fire attacks from spells, traps, or anything else, casting this will absorb 50 percent of all cold and fire damage. This happens very infrequently in Baldur's Gate II and is only usable under select circumstances.
  Importance: Low
  
  Silence, 15-foot Radius
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Casting silence will prevent enemy spellcasters from casting. A most efficient spell, but it's resisted most of the time. If you are not too far into the game, keep a copy memorized and see if it will affect anyone. If so, the cast will be well worth your time.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Slow Poison
  
  Type: Cure, Heal
  Strategy: In Baldur's Gate II, most poisons will require a more potent spell to neutralize the poison. However, this spell will slow the poison. Use it only as a backup if all other poison cures are unavailable.
  Importance: Low
  
  Spiritual Hammer
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: Summoning a magical hammer that will be +2 or +3, it is entirely up to you whether it is worth it or not. If your weapon is not as good, casting spiritual hammer will help. If your weapon is better, there is no point. You will most likely have a better weapon soon enough.
  Importance: Low
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:41

  Level 3
  
  Animate Dead
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: Letting more undead be summoned with each level, this spell becomes quite powerful, especially when used with hindrance spells. Since skeletons are immune to most spells like confusion and stinking cloud, it is a good idea to cast any of those hindrance spells, then move in on the skeletons while picking off the remaining enemies with long-range weaponry. Skeletons are particularly good against mind flayers, since they are not affected by their spells.
  Importance: High
  
  Call Lightning
  
  Type: Missile damage - druid only
  Strategy: This spells calls down one bolt of lightning that deals two to eight +1d8 points of damage per turn per level of experience. At higher levels, a very good amount of damage can be done, but it is often resisted. Also, the fact that this spell can only be cast outside makes it nearly impossible to use.
  Importance: Low
  
  Cure Disease
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: If a party member is affected by disease, blindness, or deafness, casting this spell will cure him. Since this will happen often, this spell is very useful.
  Importance: High
  
  Cure Medium Wounds
  
  Type: Heal
  Strategy: Cast this spell on a hurt party member. This spell heals 14 points of damage. For Baldur's Gate II, that amount is small. However, it is useful to cut down on hours of rest, so if you find no better spells, fill up level 2 with this.
  Importance: Low
  
  Dispel Magic
  
  Type: Dispel
  Strategy: Most spell-induced ailments and magic effects can be cured with a cast of dispel magic. Since the level of the caster in relation to the level of the spell being cured is important, have your higher-level characters use this. Though this spell is very important to have around, paladins get some casts of this as a special ability. If you have one in your party, this can relieve some of the stress off the spellcaster.
  Importance: High or low, depending on party makeup
  
  Glyph of Warding
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Used to protect a door or chest from entry, glyph of warding is of no use in Baldur's Gate II, as NPCs do not touch doors or chests.
  Importance: None
  
  Hold Animal
  
  Type: Hindrance - druid only
  Strategy: This spell freezes one animal-type creature in place, letting you do anything to it without consequence. Early in the game, when the spell is not resisted, it could work wonders against animal enemies, but there are none. Later in the game, when you begin to run into animals of some consequence, its effectiveness tapers off, making it all but useless in Baldur's Gate II.
  Importance: Low
  
  Holy Smite
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: Dealing one to four points of damage per level of the caster to all evil creatures in the area of effect with a save for half, this spell will do tremendous amounts of damage at higher levels. This spell works especially well against the undead, sometimes killing a whole pack in a single casting. Otherwise, your group is easy prey to any pack of evil creatures.
  Importance: High
  
  Invisibility Purge
  
  Type: Dispel
  Strategy: If your party ever comes under attack from any type of invisible creature, casting this spell will force it back into visibility. However, on your journey, you will rarely face invisible creatures, and when you do, they will become barely visible when they attack you. Unless they have used greater invisibility, you can attack them from there (though your party will attack at a penalty). Also, you can easily cast dispel to rid the creature of the invisibility if needed.
  Importance: Low
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:42

  Miscast Magic
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Forcing an 80 percent chance of failure on the spellcasting ability of the target, this spell works wonders at disrupting chain casting. One problem is that it is often resisted. Another is that it only lasts one turn. However, if it gets off, this causes hell for any spellcaster's casting.
  
  Protection from Fire
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: If you find yourself under fire attacks from spells, traps, or anything else, casting this will absorb 80 percent of all fire damage taken. This happens very infrequently in Baldur's Gate II and can only be used in a select few situations.
  Importance: Low
  
  Remove Curse
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: If you ever equip a cursed item, this spell will cure you of its effects and let you get rid of it. Churches will also perform this for a small amount of gold.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Remove Paralysis
  
  Type: Cure
  Strategy: If you find yourself under paralysis, casting this will remove its effect. This happens very infrequently in Baldur's Gate II and can only be used in a select few situations. Churches will also perform this for a small amount of gold.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Rigid Thinking
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: This is a nice spell if you are getting overwhelmed by low-level enemies and need time to deal with a few enemies at a time. Rigid thinking sends the target wandering, confused, or randomly attacking and will give you time to hit the other creatures or the target while it can't hit back. Remember, though, that when the spell wears off, the creature will be back in action. The monster gets a save, so it can resist. However, there are higher-level fear spells that can take effect on high-level creatures, get resisted less, and do more. For the level, though, the spell works acceptably on those lower-level creatures.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Strength of One
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: Giving the entire party 18/76 strength, this can help and hurt. First, all your party members can gain strength to 18/76 if it is less than that level. If their strength is higher, though, they lose strength down to 18/76. If the majority of your party is weak, this spell can work wonders for battling. You will, however, find girdles like the girdle of hill giant strength that will help out where you need it most, so that you don't need to keep casting this spell. Remember, once you have said girdles, this spell will actually hurt.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Jaheira seems to have summoned some insects onto herself!
  Summon Insects
  
  Type: Area damage, hindrance - druid only
  Strategy: Rather an all-in-one spell, this spell summons a swarm of insects that deals one damage every two seconds for seven rounds. Also, the target suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls and a +2 penalty to armor class. Most importantly, this spell also confers a 50 percent chance of spell failure on the target. Though the damage is negligible, all the other effects add up to make this a decent spell. However, the spell will become resisted quickly. So use it while it lasts, then move on.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Unholy Blight
  
  Type: Area Damage
  Strategy: See holy smite. This spell works exactly the same way, except that the damage is against good creatures. If you are an evil character and plan on killing shopkeepers and other good creatures, this spell could serve you well. However, most will play the game by the rules and be fighting evil. So, it is of little use to most.
  Importance: Low
  
  Zone of Sweet Air
  
  Type: Dispel
  Strategy: This spell clears the area of all vapor-based effects like cloudkill and grease. Since enemy wizards have a lovely knack of casting these types of things all the time, this spell is extremely useful. Keep a copy or two memorized and dispel those vapor area affect spells as soon as you can. It will save you immeasurable amounts of health and frustration.
  Importance: High
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:42

  Level 4
  
  Animal Summoning I
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: Like the mage series of monster-summoning spells, this summons spell animals to fight for the caster. It does, however, summon fairly low hit point creatures that do almost no damage. Though some of the later summon spells are great to cast for creatures that absorb damage, this won't do much of anything and is just a waste of time.
  Importance: Low
  
  Jaheira summons forth a woodland being.
  Call Woodland Beings
  
  Type: Summoning - druid only
  Strategy: Call woodland beings summons a nymph to help the party. Though nymphs make fairly lackluster fighters, they have a few spells at their disposal and can heal, confuse, and dominate enemies. If you need more spells, she may be worth summoning, but by the middle of Baldur's Gate II, the nymph's spells do almost nothing. Since she can't fight well, she loses any importance and is quickly not worth casting.
  Importance: Low
  
  Cause Serious Wounds
  
  Type: Touch damage
  Strategy: Since priests can wear most armor, they can naturally double as fighters. So, though touch damage spells are abysmal for mages, they serve to boost the already competent fighting abilities of the priest. For these spells, you must wait until you are attacking an enemy worth casting this spell on. Then, once you are out of harm's way, and the target is concentrating on attacking another party member, cast this spell. Once cast, you have two rounds to successfully hit the enemy. Once you do, this spell will deal 17 points of damage to it (with no saving throw). If you don't hit it, though, the spell will be wasted. So, make sure your priest has good enough weapons, and you are in a position to hit. All in all, if used correctly, cause serious wounds, like the rest of the line of priest touch spells, is extraordinary.
  Importance: High
  
  Cloak of Fear
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Like the mage spell horror in effect, cloak of fear creates a magical cloak around the caster that will instill fear within a three-foot radius of the caster. This is a nice spell if you are getting overwhelmed by low-level enemies and need time to deal with a few of the enemies at a time, as it will give you time to hit them when they can't hit back. Since the cloak moves with the caster, this spell will also help alleviate the pressure on the front lines. Remember, though, that when the spell wears off, the terrified creatures will be back in action. The monsters get a save, so do not expect them all to be affected. However, there are higher-level fear spells that can take effect on higher-level creatures, get resisted less, and have a longer effect. For the level, though, the spell works acceptably on those lower-level creatures.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Cure Serious Wounds
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: Cast it on a hurt party member. This spell heals 17 points of damage. For Baldur's Gate II, that amount is acceptable and can be used outside of combat to heal the party back to full strength. However, the spell is also useful to cut down on hours of rest, so if you find no other spells, fill up level 4 with it.
  Importance: High
  
  Death Ward
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: This spell grants the target protection from spells like disintegrate, power word: kill, death spell, and finger of death. Since higher-level mages use these types of necromantic spells often, death ward becomes increasingly needed at higher levels. Once you start seeing these types of spells cast on you, you may want to keep a copy of death ward memorized to protect your most fragile party member. The downfall is that it only affects one creature, so it is impractical to defend the entire party.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Defensive Harmony
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Granting a +2 bonus to the armor class of all party members within ten feet of the target, defensive harmony can turn good fighters into untouchable instruments of death. A two-point bonus to armor class should not be underestimated and will help at all times in the game. Since this spell affects an area, one cast will benefit the entire party. Overall, it's very useful in any and all battles.
  Importance: High
  
  Farsight
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: This spell is identical to the wizard spell of the same name. Farsight is a spell that often comes in handy, revealing a portion of the map and clearing the fog of war. This will let you easily scope out an area and memorize and cast needed spells before barging in. It's very useful for the more difficult areas of the game.
  Importance: High
  
  Free Action
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: Working in much the same way as dispel magic, free action dispels all movement-hindering spells. That includes those that dispel but will not free, like web and paralysis. Overall, one copy of this spell must be memorized for the times for when these spells are cast on your party. In general, though dispel magic will clear many spells, it will not clear everything. Free action is one of the spells that pick up what's left.
  Importance: High
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:42

  Holy Power
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: Giving the caster 18/00 strength, an increase to THAC0, and additional hit points, holy power will help your priest act a bit more like a fighter. If you already have high strength, though, the main use of this spell has been negated. So, if you need the help, use it. Otherwise, go for a spell that will bestow a few more bonuses.
  Importance: Low
  
  Lesser Restoration
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: The wonder spell for vampire hunting, lesser restoration will annul most energy-drain effects like drain level. Since these are extremely common when hunting vampires, and hunting vampires is itself very common, a copy of this should be memorized at all times.
  Importance: High
  
  Mental Domination
  
  Type: Charm
  Strategy: This spell lets the caster gain control of any creature that fails its saving throw. Otherwise, the spell acts strategically much like any other charm spell, such as charm person or mammal. In this case, though, the difference is that any creature can be charmed. Also, this spell is resisted much less and works incredibly well against most low- to mid-level creatures.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Negative Plane Protection
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Bestowing partial protection to undead and spells like drain level, negative plane protection only works when fighting creatures like vampires. Though the though of never worrying about drain level is nice, this spell only affects one creature. Since vampires have a nasty habit of attacking everyone, it serves little purpose.
  Importance: Low
  
  Neutralize Poison
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: In Baldur's Gate II, most poisons will require a potent spell to neutralize them, and this spell is your best bet. Not only will it dispel the poison, it will heal a few hit points. It will even cure blindness and deafness. It's a four-in-one spell and comes in handy all the time.
  Importance: High
  
  Poison
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: Dealing continuous damage that gets more potent and has a longer duration as the caster levels up, poison packs a good punch when it is cast successfully. However, poison seems to be one of the easiest spells to resist. So, unless you use a magic resistance decreasing spell, poison can't do anything at all. If you do use it, try to find a very potent damage-over-time spell that is great to start a battle with, then follow it up with other damaging spells.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Protection from Evil, 10-foot Radius
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Like a normal protection from evil spell, this spell will become increasingly more useful. The difference between the two is that this one's range is ten feet instead of one. Not only is it a must for summoning minions, it will protect you against many demons found in the later parts of the game. One particular battle comes to mind where there are hordes of demons, and casting this spell will let you turn the tide of battle from an impossible situation to an easy victory. However, if you happen to have a class like a paladin in your party, he will come with plenty of normal protection from evil spells as his special ability. So, if you value the range boost, this spell is worth it. Otherwise, stick to the normal paladin ability.
  Importance: Low or high, depending on party makeup
  
  Protection from Lightning
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Working like all other protection spells, protection from lightning confers immunity to all electric damage. It's useful if you are up against a mage who likes lightning bolt, or if you find yourself in an area with lightning traps, but usually, it's is of no help at all.
  Importance: Low
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:43

  Level 5
  
  Animal Summoning II
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: This spell is like animal summoning I, except that the creatures are more powerful. Still, this doesn't summon a creature worth your time, so wait for animal summoning III.
  Importance: Low
  
  Cause Critical Wounds
  
  Type: Touch damage
  Strategy: Much like cause serious wounds, this spell is a touch damage spell that will do 27 points of damage. Like its earlier incarnation, touch damage spells are abysmal for mages, but they serve to boost the already competent fighting abilities of the priest. For these spells, you must wait until you are attacking an enemy worth casting this spell on. Then, once you are out of harm's way, and the target is concentrating on attacking another party member, cast this spell. Once cast, you have two rounds to successfully hit the enemy. Once you do, this spell will deal 27 points of damage to it with no saving throw. If you don't hit it, though, the spell will be wasted. So, make sure your priest has a good enough weapon, and you are in a position to hit. All in all, if used correctly, cause critical wounds, like the rest of the line of priest touch spells, is extraordinary.
  Importance: High
  
  Chaotic Commands
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Granting immunity to spells like charm, domination, command, sleep, and confusion, chaotic commands the protection form of free action. Instead of curing, it prevents. However, like many armor spells, it only affects one creature. For everyday party use, that simply isn't good enough. If you find yourself under duress, though, casting this on your main spellcaster will ensure that he is unaffected, so he can proceed to cure the rest of the party with free action.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Cure Critical Wounds
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: Cast on a hurt party member, this spell heals 27 points of damage. For Baldur's Gate II, that amount is decent and can be used outside of combat to heal the party back to full strength. If needed, cure critical wounds can even serve as a backup in-battle heal. Also, the spell is useful to cut down on hours of rest, so if you find no other spells, fill up level 5 with it.
  Importance: High
  
  Champion's Strength
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: An upgrade to holy power, this spell gives the caster 18/00 strength and a large bonus to THAC0. However, unlike holy power, which helps your priest act a bit more like a fighter, this spell will disable spellcasting for the length of the spell. In essence, champion's strength kills your priest's abilities and is much worse than its lower-level equivalent. Stick with holy power.
  Importance: None
  
  Flame Strike
  
  Type: Damage
  Strategy: One of the crowning priest damage spells, flame strike will deal 1d8 damage per level. Even if it is resisted, it will still deal half damage. At higher levels, flame strike will do upward of 50 points of damage and packs a serious punch. Always keep this spell memorized and always use it as one of your main damage spells.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Greater Command
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: Identical to the level 1 spell command, this spell will incapacitate the target. However, greater command will incapacitate the target for one round per level of the caster. At higher levels, this will serve to take a creature out of combat completely. However, the spell is often resisted, so make sure to lower the target's magic resistance before casting it.
  Importance: High
  
  Insect Plague
  
  Type: Damage, hindrance - druid only
  Strategy: Like its level 3 cousin, insect plague is rather an all-in-one spell. Now, this spell also confers a 100 percent spell failure rate on the target. Also, it has a chance of instilling fear in your enemies. Lastly, though the damage is still negligible at one point every two seconds, all the other effects add up to make this a good spell. However, the spell will also become resisted quickly. So, use it while it lasts, then move on.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Iron Skin
  
  Type: Defense - druid only
  Strategy: Much like the wizard spell stoneskin, iron skin completely protects the priest from a number of normal physical attacks. With more skins (number of resisted attacks) gained with each level, this spell's importance is obvious. If your party is jumped, and it will be, having your party well defended is important. So, this spell should be on at all time while adventuring. With a duration of 12 hours, this spell can last between rests.
  Importance: Vital
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:43

  Magic Resistance
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Giving a 2 percent magic resistance per level to the target, this spell will bestow an exceptional magic resistance bonus to the target. One good strategy is to cast this spell on a fighter that already has a good magic resistance. With this spell cast, he will be nearly untouchable. Then, send him right into a group of enemies and wait for them to cast all their major spells (which are always cast first). Then, run him back to the rest of the group and slaughter your enemies. If that's too much to do, then the spell isn't great. With only one creature affected, it is impractical, like so many others.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Mass Cure
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: Healing all party members hit points 1d8+1 per level, this spell is great during the middle of a battle when the whole party is hurt. Cast it, and everyone will recover a good amount of hit points. In the end, it will save your party and will keep all your party members in good shape.
  Importance: High
  
  Pixie Dust
  
  Type: Imbuement - druid only
  Strategy: Like a poor man's mass invisibility, pixie dust will make all creatures in an area invisible. The invisibility line of spells is one of the best set of utility spells in the game. When any of your party members is getting low on health, cast pixie dust to take him out of harm's way. If your mage is not needed at that moment, make him invisible, so he won't take unneeded hits. Lastly, if you must scout out an area for enemy strength and numbers, this is the answer to your problems. In this case, the spell will help the whole group.
  Importance: High
  
  Raise Dead
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: This spell is simple in use, but tremendous in power. When one of your characters dies, cast raise dead on him, and he will come back to life. Be careful, though, as the character will have no hit points when he reappears.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Repulse Dead
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: Working like the clerical ability ward undead, repulse undead will force all undead away from the caster for one turn. No saving throw is allowed. However, where ward undead repeats infinitely and has a chance at destroying the undead outright, repulse undead is a one-time deal. The bonus of not allowing a saving throw is not worth using the spell over the limitless ability. Only use this spell if you are overwhelmed by the undead and need a moment's respite.
  Importance: Low
  
  Righteous Magic
  
  Type: Imbuement
  Strategy: The ultimate in the line of spells that increase the combat abilities of priests, righteous magic gives the caster one extra point of strength for every three levels. Also, the spell grants one additional hit point per level. Righteous magic will downright turn your priest into a godlike weapon of destruction. Adding as much as 24 points of strength, it literally turns your priest into a behemoth of mythic proportions and should be used whenever your priest must get his hands dirty in combat.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Slay Living
  
  Type: Touch damage, summoning
  Strategy: This spell summons a weapon with which the priest has 18 seconds to hit the target. If he does, the weapon will deal 2d6+9 points of damage and will force the enemy to make a save versus spells or be killed. The damage is great, but the ability to use this spell will rarely get past the save, though.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  True Seeing
  
  Type: Dispel
  Strategy: Like the mage spell true sight, this spell has the effect of dispelling all illusions in the area and can be useful if your enemy is a mage and has cast mislead or another beguiling spell. Otherwise, there isn't much of a use for it.
  Importance: Low
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:44

  Level 6
  
  Aerial Servant
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: This spell is much like any other summoning spell, only this time, you get an aerial servant. Unfortunately, aerial servants are not particularly good, so neither is this spell.
  Importance: Low
  
  Animal Summoning III
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: Like animal summoning I and II, this spell summons animals to fight by your side. However, in this case, the summoned minions have a good amount of hit points and do a bit of damage. Good for tough battles, these monsters will take the hits, but not much else. Mages, unfortunately, are the true masters of summoning.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Blade Barrier
  
  Type: Defense, touch damage
  Strategy: Creating a damaging shield of blades, this spell is great if your priest is in the center of combat. When the Priest is in the middle of the fray, cast this spell, and it will deal 8d8 points of damage to all creatures near the priest. Though enemies do get a save, and it does often succeed, this spell lasts for ten rounds, so there is ample time for success as well as failure.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Bolt of Glory
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: Dealing incredible damage against the undead and demons as well as scoring good damage against everyone else, this spell is stunning. With no saving throw and the damage enhancements for said creatures, this is one of the few truly great priest damage spells. Don't go anywhere without this.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Conjure Animals
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: Like the other animal summoning spells, conjure animals summons animals to fight by your side. However, in this case, the monsters have a good amount of hit points and do a great deal of damage. Great for any battle, conjure animals will summon very worthwhile creatures and is well worth the effort. It's easily the best of the priest summoning spells.
  Importance: High
  
  Conjure Fire Elemental
  
  Type: Summoning - druid only
  Strategy: Exactly like the wizard spell of the same name, this spell works just like any other summon creature spell with strategies much the same. The only difference is that elementals can actually turn on their master and attack you. So, to avoid that unfortunate occurrence, cast a protection from evil spell on yourself. The elemental has a good amount of hit points, so he can absorb quite a bit of damage. Also, he helps in a fight by dealing acceptable damage. The casting time, though, makes the spell impractical to use en masse.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Dolorous Decay
  
  Type: Missile damage - druid only
  Strategy: Dolorous decay slows the target for two rounds and deals one point of damage each second if the save is not made. However, the save usually is made, so the spell is rather pointless. Even if it weren't, most creatures won't be alive for almost a minute regardless.
  Importance: Low
  
  False Dawn
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: Much like holy smite, this deals damage to the undead. In this case, it deals 6d6 points of damage, and no saving throw is allowed. Also, all undead are confused. So, this is better in every way. All in all, false dawn is the definitive anti-undead damage spell.
  Importance: High
  
  Fire Seeds
  
  Type: Missile damage - druid only
  Strategy: Creating four seeds that explode into a fireball upon impact, this spell is difficult to use and pointless. Though they explode for two to 16 points of damage, they explode into an area and can damage your party members. Since the seeds only last for three turns, it is impossible to position your priest strategically. In other words, this spell does more harm than good.
  Importance: None
  
  Harm
  
  Type: Touch Damage
  Strategy: Much like cause critical wounds, this spell is a touch damage spell that will do insane amounts of damage. With no save allowed, this spell will take the creature down to one hit point. Period. Like its earlier incarnation, touch damage spells are abysmal for mages, though they serve to boost the priest's already competent fighting abilities. For these spells, you must wait until you are attacking an enemy worth casting the spell on. Then, once you are out of harm's way, and the target is concentrating on attacking another party member, cast this spell. Once cast, you have two rounds to successfully hit the enemy. Once you do, this spell will simply take the enemy down to one hit point (with no saving throw). If you don't hit it, though, the spell will be wasted. So, make sure your priest has a good backup weapon, and you are in a position to hit. All in all, if used correctly, harm is the ultimate touch spell in the game. It's simply and utterly fantastic.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Heal
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: Cast this spell on a hurt party member. This spell heals all damage. Heal is the ultimate healing spell and will fully heal whomever it is cast upon. This spell is extraordinarily useful both in and out of combat and will save you many, many, times. You will always have a use for it, so fill up any remaining slots with heal.
  Importance: Vital
  
  Physical Mirror
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: Reflecting all missile weapon attacks back to the sender, this spell would be decent if it weren't such a high level. Unfortunately, it is, so there is almost no point in using it. There are too many other ultra-useful level 6 spells.
  Importance: Low
  
  Sol's Searing Orb
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: Acting as a thrown fireball, Sol's searing orb does 12d6 points of damage and 6d6 points of damage if it's resisted (there is also a bonus for damage against the undead). The damage is extraordinary, but, like the wizard spell fireball, it affects a huge area, with all creatures in the area - friend and foe - taking damage. It is a great spell to start a battle with, however. Before you move your party in, send a searing orb flying forward to do some early damage without your party being hit. The damage dealt is incredible, and many creatures will fall from simply one strike.
  Importance: High
  
  Wondrous Recall
  
  Type: Other
  Strategy: This spell simply lets you take two spells level 6 or lower and cast them again. With this spell, you get two for the price of one. Always, always use it. There is no disadvantage, and the end result is one more spell. Marvelous!
  Importance: Vital
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:44

  Level 7
  
  Confusion
  
  Type: Hindrance
  Strategy: This spell has a good and a bad side. It causes the creature to attack friend and foe, wander, or just stand around confused if it fails a save. The good side is that if the saves are failed, you can get rid of a large pack of monsters, but again, they get the save. Another bad thing is that if they do fail the save, there is no guarantee that they will leave or attack a friend. They may just keep on beating on you, making the spell worthless. We didn't care for this spell and feel that there are lots better ones at this level.
  Importance: Low
  
  Conjure Earth Elemental
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: This is a speak-for-itself spell. Cast this, and you will have a new friend that will take a beating and hold back the pack. Always have this one ready to go. It will summon a very tough earth elemental that will fight to the death for you.
  Importance: High
  
  Creeping Doom
  
  Type: Summoning - druid only
  Strategy: This spell has a lot of potential, and the successful save will still do half the duration - instead of six rounds, it will work for three. This spell summons forth a creeping carpet of insects that will do two points of damage per round for the duration and will completely stop any spellcasting. It's a nice spell to keep those wizards at bay. If you have an extra slot to use and need some help against a tough wizard, this spell is nice.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Earthquake
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: This spell rock. Cast this, and all the baddies in the area must make a save at a -6 penalty or take a lot of damage (6d6), drop their weapons, and be knocked to the ground for four rounds. They can make their save and still take 3d6 points of damage. This spell will go on to do it again in the next round, but for 3d6 points of damage or half if saved and again a third time for 2d6 points of damage or half if saved. All three tremors will have a chance of knocking the monster down and disarming it. The downside? There is a small chance you will upset an earth elemental that will attack the party. It's no biggie and worth the risk. Have one of these spells ready at all times.
  Importance: High
  
  Finger of Death
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: This spell has a good chance of ending a creature's life in one word. The monster must make a save at -2 or die: no deposit, no return. The thing is, even if it saves, it takes 2d8+1 points of damage, so you will still do something no matter what. We like this spell and do recommend it.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Fire Storm
  
  Type: Area Damage
  Strategy: This is a decent spell, but not something to write home about. The damage is weak, but will last four rounds, if you can keep the monster in the spell's area of effect, and trust me, it wants to leave. The spell will do 2d8+1 points of damage per level, and the one nice thing is, no save is allowed. If you must do damage to a lot of monsters at one time, this spell will do the trick for you, but the wizard class can do better. Maybe it's better to leave it to the masters.
  Importance: Low
  
  Gate
  
  Type: Summoning
  Strategy: This spell is the same as the wizard's gate spell. This will summon a pit fiend that is not happy to be here. He comes out killing anything that moves, including your party, so you better have your protection from evil spell going. It's not a bad spell at all because there is no pet tougher than this one.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Holy Word
  
  Type: Area damage, hindrance
  Strategy: Nice, nice, nice. This spell will do something to someone with no save. At the level you start casting this spell, you will most likely be doing the least amount of damage you can to a monster, which is still a pain for enemy wizards. Cast this, and any monster that is in the area with 12 hit dice or more will be deafened for one turn and have a 50 percent change of spell failure. Ouch! We always have this spell ready for those groups of nasty wizards and priests.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Nature's Beauty
  
  Type: Missile damage - druid only
  Strategy: We don't like this spell because of the save. The monster that views you after this spell is cast must to make a save at a +3 (a very good chance of saving) or die.
  Importance: Low
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:45

  Greater Restoration
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: Lose a level? Lose some intelligence? Gone berserk or have some other ailment? This spell is the fix for these problems, but at the cost of fatiguing the priest. It's a nice spell, and one you will use often. But, you shouldn't memorized it until you need it.
  Importance: Low
  
  Resurrection
  
  Type: Cure, heal
  Strategy: This spell will bring a fallen friend back from the dead and is a great spell, but not one that you must have memorized at all times. If you need it, rest and get it then, unless you are in an area in which you cannot rest. If that is the case, this spell is probably worth having in your memory before you enter.
  Importance: Moderate
  
  Shield of the Archons
  
  Type: Defense
  Strategy: This is the priest's version of spell protection. It will summon a shield that will protect the priest against one spell level per level of the priest. The catch is, the spell must be cast directly at the priest and is not an area of effect spell like stinking cloud. It's a nice spell for those fights against wizards, but why not just cast holy word on them and stop the casting altogether?
  Importance: Low
  
  Sunray
  
  Type: Missile damage
  Strategy: This is one heck of an anti-undead spell. This will do 1d6 points of damage per caster level versus the undead, but will only do three to 18 points of damage versus living monsters with a chance at a save or being blinded. If you are going up against some undead, this spell rocks and will most likely knock one undead down for the count because if the undead fails a save, it is destroyed. We look at it this way: Why not just summon a pit fiend to do the work and save you some time?
  Importance: Low
  
  Symbol: Stun
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: We are not fan s of the symbol line of spells because of the chance of a save and getting nothing for your troubles. We prefer to stick with surefire damage or summoning. But, if you want to set up traps, these are some fun little spells to cast. With this one, you will stun a monster for one round per level of your priest unless your enemies make a save versus spells at a -4 penalty.
  Importance: Low
  
  Symbol: Death
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: We do not like this spell. It will only affect monsters with 60 hit points or less, and they get a save. Stay away from it and stick to the stun symbol if you want to set up symbol traps.
  Importance: None
  
  Symbol: Fear
  
  Type: Area damage
  Strategy: One good thing about this spell is that the target gets no save. The bad thing is that the monsters run off and half the time bring friends back with them. Again, you are better off using the stun symbol to set up traps.
  Importance: Low
  
  Unholy Word
  
  Type: Area damage, hindrance
  Strategy: This spell is the same as holy word, but works on good creatures and people instead of evil.
  Importance: Low
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:45

  Chapter Five: Enemies
  
  As you travel the various lands of Baldur's Gate II in your quests, you'll encounter countless people, animals, and monsters bent on ensuring that you fail (usually in quite a violent manner). If you find yourself having trouble winning a fight, check back here for something that's quite rare in Faerûn: some friendly advice.
  
  Ankheg
  
  Creatures: Ankheg
  Strategy: Making a cameo appearance from the original Baldur's Gate, these big brutes are now laughably easy. If you come across one, though, remember that their shell can be taken to Cromwell to get ankheg plate mail made.
  
  Bear
  
  Creatures: Black bear, brown bear, cave bear, polar bear
  Strategy: Making another guest appearance, bears should not pose any problem. Much like ankhegs, their time in the light has passed. Otherwise, you will have no trouble killing them.
  
  Beholder
  
  Creatures: Spectator, observer, gauth, undead, beholder, elder orb
  Strategy: Often appearing when you'd least like to see them, these eye tyrants pack an enormous punch. Shooting spells like the cause wounds line and various confusion and domination spells, beholders will often kill you before you ever get close to them. There are two good methods for taking these guys out. One is to grab the cloak of mirroring. This is a cloak that reflects all damage back to its source. With this, you can walk up a character, with preferably high magic resistance, to take the hits and reflect the damage. One character using this cheese tactic can solo kill five to seven beholders. There is one problem to this method: imprisonment. This spell banishes your character to an alternate dimension. It can only be returned to the material plane with the level 9 mage spell freedom. Another method is to use hold monster. This freezes a beholder so it can't cast any spells or attack. Simply have your fighters attack, and the beholder will certainly die. If you are having trouble getting your hold monster spell off, try the level 5 mage spell lower resistance. Otherwise, the most important protection against beholders is anything that raises your magical resistance and any protection that will absorb spells. Also, defend yourself with everything you've got, for it will be a tough fight. If there is a group of beholders, once you see it, hit it fast and hit it hard. If you can knock a couple off, the group is no longer a problem.
  
  Carrion Crawlers
  
  Creatures: Carrion crawler
  Strategy: Much like a grub worm on steroids, carrion crawlers are big and dumb. When you are attacked by them, you may be stunned momentarily and paralyzed. However, they are relatively easy to beat and shouldn't be difficult to kill if you charge in with guns blazing. You'll wipe the floor with them.
  
  Demon Knight
  
  Creatures: Demon knight
  Strategy: Need a good fight? Here it is. These nasty knights are a cross between a mage and a knight, with the hit points of the latter and the spell resistance of the former. Casting spells like charm person and hold person along hacking you for 15 to 20 points a pop, these bad boys can wear a party down in a big hurry. The key to these creatures is to create a bottleneck and let your pets do the work. If your fighters get in close, they will be chopped up pretty quickly, so weaken them from afar first.
  
  Doppelganger
  
  Creatures: Doppelganger
  Strategy: Posing as a nonthreat, doppelgangers are the kings of mimicking. They will pose as a person, usually one that needs help, then attack when you are least expecting it. Just hack their easy bodies to pieces and don't worry about them. The worst of their attacks is the deception before the attack. Be aware that they are immune to sleep and charm spells.
  
  Dragon
  
  Creatures: Red dragon, black dragon, shadow dragon, silver dragon
  Strategy: Though there has been some debate, we find dragons the most difficult creatures in the game, as they should be. Ranging in form and ability, each dragon battle will be the toughest you face. Our advice is to not fight them at all unless you are extremely high level. Even then, you must have a firm command of all aspects of the game to even touch them. In general, try to collect anti-dragon equipment like armor, swords, and the like. Dragons have terribly high magic resistance, so you must cast spells that lower their abilities to block your spells. Once that is done, try to stick to damage spells that are difficult or impossible to resist. Some great choices are magic missile and Abi Dalzim's horrid wilting. Another quick and dirty tactic is to use the level 7 mage spell finger of death (if your mage has it), which has a chance of almost killing the target. Nothing is sweeter than seeing a powerful dragon fall in the first ten seconds. Otherwise, defend yourself with any and all magical defenses you have. A great weapon to combat dragons with is a bow with arrows of biting. Although they only do a minimal 1d4 + 2 points of damage, they are poisoned and can take one third of the target's life in poison damage over 30 seconds. When used against a large creature, namely dragons, they can do 1d4 +2 points of damage plus the 50 points of poison damage (a third of the approximate 150 hit points dragons have). Also, try to increase magic resistance and any spell immunities. Dragons will cast wicked spells that include a swipe of all characters that sends them flying in all directions. Lastly, try to remember that the different colored dragons will be resistant to the element of their color. For example, red dragons resist fire. Most importantly, pray to the Baldur's Gate gods for luck. Make no mistake, you'll need it.
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:45

  Drow
  
  Creatures: Drow warrior, drow priestess, drow mage, and drow archer
  Strategy: Obviously, when you journey to the Underdark, you will fight a good many drow. The most important thing to remember is that they use their own prized adamantite armor. It is the best armor you'll ever see and makes them wickedly hard to hit. Your best bet is to use greater malison and take down their magic resistance. Then, hit them with spells, while your fighters do what they can on the front lines. Remember to pick up their armor once you've killed your first few. It will set you equal to them for your stay in the Underdark.
  
  Elementals
  
  Creatures: Fire, earth, and air (lesser, normal, and greater)
  Strategy: Usually summoned by mages, including your own party, elementals usually have lots of hit points, but are not very tough. Though each elemental is resistant to its corresponding element, it is otherwise very susceptible to magic and is very easy to cast spells on. So, hit elementals will all you have before they get a chance to deal damage to you. If you find them in groups, try to use an opening area damage spell of an element opposite to the group.
  
  Ettercap
  
  Creatures: Ettercap
  Strategy: Serving mainly as an annoyance, the only real problem with ettercaps is their poison touch. Otherwise, hit them with all you have, and they will fall. If you have problems, use ward undead.
  
  Ettin
  
  Creatures: Ettin
  Strategy: Big brutes, ettins pose no challenge. They are weak and have no magic resistance. You shouldn't need much help dealing with these tubs o' lard.
  
  Evil Demons
  
  Creatures: Nabassu, pit fiend
  Strategy: Usually summoned by a high-level wizard, demons are relatively rare in Baldur's Gate II. Though immune to most elemental attacks, they should pose no problem if you cast protection from evil with a ten-foot radius on yourself. That will give you plenty of room to maneuver and take you out of harm's way. From there, feel free to do whatever you need to take them out. You will be perfectly safe.
  
  Genie
  
  Creatures: Djinni, efreeti
  Strategy: Genies are avid spellcasters and will cast defensive spells on themselves like greater invisibility and fireshield. A cast of breach will take care of most of their spells. Thankfully, they usually have low hit points and, with a few offensive spells, will soon by lying in ashes.
  
  Ghoul
  
  Creatures: Ghoul, ghast, fell ghast, greater ghoul, ghoul lord
  Strategy: Ghouls are very abundant, and appear in very deadly numbers, and pack a nasty punch. Though they have a paralysis attack, elves are immune to it. So, try to send elves in to do the dirty work, while the rest of your party hits them with ranged weapons. Unfortunately, they are magic resistant, so many spells will not get off. If you are having trouble, pull your cleric back and have him use turn undead. Not all will be turned immediately, but the spell will send a good number away each round and let you deal with a few at a time.
  
  Gibberling
  
  Creatures: Gibberling, mutated gibberling
  Strategy: Small balls of fur, gibberlings can't do much to harm most adventurers. Serving as a minor annoyance and nothing more, they were born to be killed. They don't do much but wait for the unsuspecting adventurer.
  
  Gnoll
  
  Creatures: Elite, slasher, captain, warrior, veteran, flind
  Strategy: Bringing back memories of Baldur's Gate, gnolls serve as a reminder of what came before. But, you won't have to think too long; they'll be dead before you noticed them.
  
  Goblin
  
  Creatures: Archer, elite archer, elite warrior, and captain
  Strategy: Goblins are deceptively powerful. Using ranged attacks and sometimes hitting from hard-to-reach places, goblins can pack quite a punch. If you see a group, don't feel bad casting an area damage spell to take care of them. In fact, hitting them with long-range weapons and spells is highly recommended. Since they give so little experience, don't feel like they aren't putting up a good fight. They are, so don't let them live, or you will take damage needlessly.
  
  Golem
  
  Creatures: Flesh, stone, clay, iron, brain, sand, juggernaut, and adamantium
  Strategy: In general, golems make some tough enemies. Most importantly, you'll need better than +1 weapons to hit a golem in the first place. Also, they are magic immune, so don't bother trying to cast on them. The only way to beat them is to haste your party, imbue yourself with spells, and concentrate on the golems with special abilities like stone and iron. Once you have taken out those that harm your party though magical means, hit them as hard as you can and as quickly as you can, and they will fall. Keep a priest nearby to heal your group and try using their size to your advantage. You can, cheaply, get them stuck in doorways and other bottlenecks, making your job easier.
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:46

  Hobgoblin
  
  Creatures: Archer, warrior, mage killer, wizard, captain, elite, and shaman
  Strategy: Though hobgoblins give almost no experience and are beyond simple to kill, their priests do cast spells that are as annoying as any other. With a repertoire of confusion spells, you should take out their casters. Since those pose the only threat, you can then easily destroy the rest.
  
  Illithid
  
  Creatures: Mind flayer, alhoon, ulitharid, vampiric
  Strategy: Illithids are simply the most powerful pack of enemies in existence. You will run into illithids in groups, and they will kill you. With one cast of a spell, they will charm party members or confuse half your group. While one is doing that, the others will be attacking you and dealing hefty damage. Quickly, any strategy you have will turn into utter chaos, and all will be lost. The easiest way to defeat illithids is to send in hordes of summoned creatures beforehand to absorb the spells. Once they have cast their spells, defend yourself with spell-absorbing defensive spells and pray that it is enough. If you find yourself losing party members, especially your mage, don't bother continuing. Reload and try again. These will make some tough battles. Equipment-wise, there are some definite ways to combat illithids. First and foremost, fight them in their city in the Underdark. There, you will come across mind control circlets. They act like a permanent charm and let you easily control illithids whenever you see them. If you come across them at other times, wear helmets of charm protection and bombard them with melee attacks.
  
  Imp
  
  Creatures: Imp, quasit
  Strategy: Imps are something of an ultra-mephit, with similar hit points but a more powerful poisonous attack. They can perform instant kills if your characters fail a saving throw versus poison, so you might want to use a potion of invulnerability ahead of time if you can't afford to die. You can also select the character with the lowest saving throw of your group to take them on, as they aren't very strong, with fewer than 30 hit points. They generally like to make themselves invisible, so be prepared for that as well.
  
  Kobold
  
  Creatures: Archer, warrior, captain, commando, witch doctor, shaman, slave, and kamikaze
  Strategy: Much like hobgoblins, their casters can pose a slight annoyance. Also, their archers can deal a bit of damage, so for sheer ease, clear them all away simply with one fireball.
  
  Kuo-Toa
  
  Creatures: Kuo-toa, whip, warrior, monitor, lieutenant, priest, wizard, captain
  Strategy: You will only find kuo-toa in gigantic crowds, and they are actually somewhat difficult to beat. Their archers can pack a punch, and their shamans cast wicked confusion and charm spells. Any area damage works wonders against a pack of these, and it is definitely advised you kill the casters first.
  
  Lich
  
  Creatures: Lich, demilich
  Strategy: Liches are certainly among the elite monsters in Baldur's Gate II. These once-living spellcasters are now undead creatures with centuries of spell research to draw from, making them the most proficient mages in the game, with access to virtually every spell in the book. They'll use them, too, especially the higher-level spells like time stop and power word: kill. Once you face off against a lich, expect it to raise spell traps and mantle spells immediately, followed by time stop, horrid wilting, meteor storm, and other nasty spells. They're not unbeatable, though, especially if you can attack hard and early. One strategy that sometimes works is to send forth a sacrificial lamb. A character with high health, magic resistance, or saving throws might have a chance to suffer the lich's initial attacks and survive. Even if the character dies, the rest of your party can charge the lich and attempt to destroy it without worrying about time stops. You can find liches in the Underdark, the Drow City, and even in an inn near the city gates of Athkatla. There's only one demilich in the game, though, and most players will probably never beat him. Kangaxx is his name, and he dwells underneath the Cult of the Unseeing Eye in Athkatla. Though he only has 50 health, he can cast so many spells in such a short time that your characters will start dying before they have a chance to attack. His repertoire is similar to a lich, with power word: kill and wail of the banshee being his killer spells in the early going.
  
  Lizardmen
  
  Creatures: Red lizardmen, lizard king
  Strategy: Lizardmen pose no threat. Zero. Simply dice 'em to bits.
  
  Mephit
  
  Creatures: Lightning, fire, earth, steam, and so on
  Strategy: Contrary to popular belief, mephits are actually quite difficult at the beginning of the game. With all casting various spells, they deal a great amount of damage. In numbers, they can be lethal. Since they have very few hit points, our advice is to kill them as quickly as possible and use area damage spells to knock out many at once.
  
  Minotaur
  
  Creatures: Minotaur
  Strategy: Minotaurs are infrequent and mostly harmless. Though they have plenty of hit points, they'll rarely do any damage, and if you move in any character with a low armor class, they will do nothing. Simply hack and slash them away and keep your ranged weapons firing. If needed, cast spells, as minotaurs have very low magic resistance.
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:47

  Mist
  
  Creatures: Vampiric, mist horror, wandering horror, and crimson death
  Strategy: Mists seem to be difficult to hit in general, but like many other undead, they do require +1 weapons to touch. Hammer them with any and all fighters you have, then hit them with simple damage spells like magic missile to finish them off.
  
  Moose (or Other Docile Creatures)
  
  Creatures: Moose, rabbit, squirrel
  Strategy: When walking through the forest in some pleasant town, a large moose crosses your path. What do you do? Do you kill it? Do you banish it? Or do you pass it by? No! This is a challenge... Can you resist the urge to kill it? Well if you like role-playing and don't want to kill innocent animals use the incredible, inedible polymorph on them! Yes, that's right... Turn that 1,500 pound, high-quality moose into a huggable, lovable squirrel. This is permanent and cannot be undone, so you must deal with the loss of food for the time being.
  
  Mummy
  
  Creatures: Lesser mummy, greater mummy
  Strategy: Mummies prove annoying enemies. Since they have a knack for infecting you with disease and casting high-level spells, it's best to hit them using ranged weapons and magic. Once you are casting, they should fall fast, which is good, as their damage mounts up fast.
  
  Myconid
  
  Creatures: Warrior, king, and spore colony
  Strategy: Myconids can ruin your day fast. With their deadly charm spell, it is best never to let them get in range. The single sure way to conquer them is never to let them touch you. Start with a web, then continually cast your favorite area damage spell. Those that break through the web should be picked off with archers. Also, use any other damaging spell to take out any approaching myconids that break through your spell line. If they manage to get their spores near you, have a priest cast a zone of sweet air. Since you will find multiple colonies near each other, web, cast, kill, rinse, and repeat.
  
  Ogre
  
  Creatures: Ogrillon, ogre, ogre mage, half ogre
  Strategy: Falling into the "dumb brute" category with their hairy brothers the ettin, ogres are easy to kill and more fun to watch die. It's so humorous to hear them try to cry out: "Me will smash your face" and die before you even hear the whole phrase. So, for everyone's sake, smash their faces and be done with it.
  
  Orc
  
  Creatures: Archer, warrior, orog archer, orog warrior, wizard, priest
  Strategy: Orcs are simply dumb and stupid. They pose no threat and never did (since the beginning of Baldur's Gate, at least). Just for fun, cast any low-level area damage spell and watch them all fall over at once. There is no joy in the world like mass slaughter...
  
  Otyugh
  
  Creatures: Otyugh
  Strategy: Otyughs only defense is a mild disease attack. Otherwise, the only thing they seem good at is flapping their big tentacles around like a dog wags his tail. They look nasty, but are all soft and mushy on the inside.
  
  Rakshasa
  
  Creatures: Rakshasa, ruhk, rajah, maharajah
  Strategy: Up there with beholders, rakshasa are some of the toughest pack-based enemies in the game. They cast wave after wave of spells, including area damage spells. In fact, they cast almost any high-level damage spell you can think of. Your best bet is to summon horde after horde of creatures and send them in. Once they are in and attacking, cast area damage spells repeatedly on the group or individual rakshasas (with your summons intertwined), then hit them with magic missiles and long-range weaponry. A web to keep them in place never hurt either.
  
  Sahuagin
  
  Creatures: Sahuagin, baronial guard, chieftain, baron, prince, royal guard, king, high priestess
  Strategy: These cool blue enemies are fishlike creatures with low hit points and low magic resistance, but are dangerous if left unattended. They have warriors and priests, but very few wizards. Their warriors will use crossbows, and the priests have some nice spells, so the best thing to do is send buffed-up warriors into the fray and concentrate powers on the magic casters first. Once they are dead, it becomes a quick sweep up.
  
  Salamanders
  
  Creatures: Red and blue salamanders
  Strategy: Relatively simple melee fighters, salamanders are notable mostly for their elemental alignments, with red salamanders being associated with fire attacks, and blue salamanders associated with cold creatures. You can use the opposite element to deal with each variety, but they're fairly easy to dispatch with simple fighting techniques.
  
  Shadow
  
  Creatures: Shadow, shade wolf, wraith, shimmering wraith, and spectre
  Strategy: Dealing good damage and draining your strength, shadows can drain your party very fast. Though they are immune to cold damage, you can hit them with most other spells, and they will fall. In a worst-case scenario, you can fend them off with ward undead while you pick them off one by one.
  
  Skeleton
  
  Creatures: Skeleton, warrior, grimward archer, grimward warrior, and bone golem
  Strategy: Rarely posing any threat, simply send in your fighters and deal out the damage. They are affected by most spells and can easily be kept at bay with ward undead. In general, they give a good deal of experience for very little effort. If you find an area populated with them, you can gain a lot of easy experience by simply plowing through them.
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:47

  Slime
  
  Creatures: Green slime, jelly ochre, grey ooze, and jelly mustard
  Strategy: Usually not posing any threat, slime's only notable attribute is that the harder slimes will require +1 weapons. But, you'll probably have them beforehand anyway, so it really doesn't matter. They can also poison you, but you'll most likely kill them before it ever poses a threat.
  
  Spider
  
  Creatures: Baby, huge, giant, wraith, phase, and sword
  Strategy: These creatures can be found all over the world, but especially underground. Individually, spiders won't pose a huge threat, but when 20 small spiders attack you, you've got a problem. It is often worth it to cast the level 3 mage spell fireball at your own party. This will do 6d6 of damage to all creatures. Yes, your own party members will take some damage, but it will kill all the small spiders, and it is often preferable to have a slightly damaged mage over a near-dead and poisoned one. When fighting normal spiders, just use warriors and prepare to cure the poison. When fighting phase spiders, it is best to use archers.
  
  Troll
  
  Creatures: Ice, snow, giant, spectral, spirit, and so on
  Strategy: Trolls are really not difficult if you know what to do. Though they can pack a punch, hit them from afar until they fall over unconscious. Immediately cast a Melf's minute meteor spell (which creates 20 throwable meteors) and attack them once. The meteors will hit, and they will fall over dead. Next time you encounter a troll, make sure your mage does not attack. Then, when the troll is down, attack once more with the mage. Repeat as needed. If you are fortunate enough to have ample fire arrows, those work as well.
  
  Umber Hulk
  
  Creature: Umber hulk
  Strategy: Easily one of the most difficult early game enemies, umber hulks will charm and confuse enemies up the wazoo. The easiest way to dispatch them is to open a door, then step back. If you've done it quickly enough, the hulks will not see you. Once the door is open, cast web and ensnaring Roots or any two other hindering spells, then cast as many area damage spells as you have. If any break through, and only one or two will at a time, hit them with magic missiles and send in your fighters. In case they do get spells off, keep your mage (or whomever you use for dispel) a good way off. If you are hit with a spell, grab your mage and simply dispel the effect. Repeat until all the umber hulks have been destroyed.
  
  Vampire
  
  Creatures: Male, female, fledgling, mature, patriarch, and so on
  Strategy: Casting many aggravating spells, vampires can pose a problem. Most importantly, vampires will cast level drain, which is especially annoying when cast on mages and priests, as it will force you to rememorize all their spells once your cure them. However, to prevent this, either wait until you're affected and cast the priest spell lesser restoration or cast negative planar protection beforehand. If your cleric would lose the lesser restoration spell from being hit, it is important that you cast negative planar protect on the priest, so you can heal the rest or your party. Otherwise, once you kill any vampire, looks for its coffin. You will need a stake to put it to final death, but it will be worth it, as you will receive an extra 9,000 experience points from the already generous amount given when it died originally.
  
  Wolves
  
  Creatures: (Greater) werewolf, (greater) wolfwere; and dire, dread, worg, and winter wolf
  Strategy: Customarily dealing small damage, the only wolves of consequence are the werewolves. As long as you have +1 weapons or better (are we sensing a pattern here?), though, you will rip through them like fresh meat.
  
  Wyvern
  
  Creatures: Baby wyvern, wyvern
  Strategy: If you somehow don't kill them quickly, they have a poison attack that can get very annoying. However, they are extremely easy to kill and should be easy for anyone to dispatch once you find them.
  
  Yuan-Ti
  
  Creatures: Yuan-ti, commander, priest, mage
  Strategy: These guys look very similar to salamanders, but are much tougher. The salamanders, who are very physically weak, posed no problems and were easy. The yuan-ti are also very physically weak, but have very strong and incapacitating magic. They are rarely alone, and if you don't concentrate on them, they will bring the effectiveness of your fighter to that of a mage in melee combat. They have low magic resistance, so hit them with spells, arrows, and, of course, good ol' hand-to-hand slicing and dicing.
  
  Zombies
  
  Creatures: Zombie, ju-ju zombie, sea zombie
  Strategy: Looking much more formidable than they really are, zombies don't do much of anything but lope around. They can disease you, though. But to prevent this, simply attack from a distance. Once they get close, move father away and resume attacking.
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:47

  Chapter Six: Walk-through
  
  Baldur's Gate II is a long game, and you're bound to get stuck somewhere along the way. Enter our walk-through. This is not an exhaustive guide to everything you can possibly do within the game - that size walk-through would be thousands of pages. Rather, it is a guide that will take you through the travels, quests, and battles necessary to complete the game. It's especially important to realize that your choice of NPCs will affect how the game plays. If you choose not to let an evil character join your party, for example, you may be missing a mini-quest that only an NPC can attempt. This walk-through is intended to be generic in the sense that it will rarely matter what specific NPCs are in your party, but some specific NPC quests will be covered. These will be noted as such, so feel free to skip those sections if you wish. This walk-through, in general, will be most useful to parties of prominently good or neutral alignments; evil characters will want to make proper role-playing choices where they are available (not rescuing slaves, being cruel in conversation, and so on). This shouldn't have too great of an impact on the game, though you may find yourself performing some tasks a bit differently than is outlined here.
  
  Reading this section straight through is not recommended, as it will give away many of the game's surprises, and what fun is that? Refer to the walk-through as needed, using it for advice on how to get past that evil sorcerer you just can't beat or for a clue on what to do to open that secret door. Following this part of the guide word-for-word will not only drain most of the fun out of the game, it'll take all the role-playing out as well. You'll go through the journey, missing most of the sub-quests and playing the way we would play. Only use this if you get stuck or need some advice!
  
  Here's the first level of Irenicus' dungeon.
  Chapter 1
  
  You begin the game in a holding cell, where an unknown wizard is keeping you hostage. Sit through the opening in-game cinematic for a minute until Imoen comes to rescue you. Once she talks to you, join her group and head to the northeast. Imoen is a mage/thief, and she'll be doing most of the trap detecting duties for your party. She can use a dagger, but since she doesn't wear armor, you might want to equip her with one of the short bows you'll find in your journey. To the northeast, you'll see two holding cells. Speak to Minsc first and insult him until he becomes enraged enough to break out of his cell. Minsc is a ranger and a fierce warrior in battle. He has specialties in a number of weapons, the most prominent being two-handed swords and two-weapon style. You're probably better off giving him a two-handed sword at this point in the game; it will help you take out many of the enemies much more quickly. Head up to talk to Jaheira, who's stuck in a cage that needs a magical key to be opened. You'll find said key in a room to the northwest. Don't worry; the golem in here isn't dangerous. Search the table and the chest for equipment for your three characters and make sure you find the key in the chest. Have Imoen detect traps and click on the painting near the chest. (As a note, it's typically a good idea to have a thief set to detect traps whenever you're adventuring through hostile territory.) She'll detect the trap and can unlock the painting to reveal a dagger +1 and a few healing potions.
  
  Head back to Jaheira and set her free. Jaheira is a fighter/druid that can change shape into various animals. She's not an overwhelmingly powerful presence in melee combat, and she has a fairly low hit-point total in relation to the other characters, so you might want to keep her out of harm's way if you are a warrior character. Once she's in your party, head back to the equipment room and find some equipment for her. Don't bother heading out the door in this room; there's only a locked door on the other side. Head to the south and into the corridor with the dead bodies. You'll come around a corner where you'll encounter a large machine that will spawn lightning mephits. There's a switch on the wall, so get close to it and hit it to prevent more mephits from popping out. You must fight at least one, but they're not very tough to kill.
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:48

  Head out past the room and talk to Aatagah. He'll give you quite a few options to follow; if you want to take his test, be fairly compliant, and he'll eventually ask you if you wish to press a button or not. If you choose to do so, Aatagah will heal you, and an ogre mage will warp in. He can do a good amount of damage, but if your warriors swarm him, he should be taken out fairly quickly. You'll get around 20 gold from his body once he's dead, but Aatagah won't heal you again, so one or two of your characters will probably be hurting a bit.
  
  Once you're through, take the passage heading to the west. There's a band of five goblins here: two armed with composite long bows and three with short-ranged weapons. Have your melee characters deal with the fighters first. You can cast spells on the archers or just wait until the fighters are dead to attack them. All the goblins will have a small amount of gold on their persons.
  
  Once you're through here, follow the passage and take a right toward the door. Go through, and you'll face a radiant mephit. Swarm around it and take it out quickly, as it has a fairly damaging prismatic attack. When it's dead, talk to the golem in the room. Pretend to be its master and ask him to open the sewer doors. He'll tell you where the activation stone is; it's near Rielev. There is a song sword +1 on the table and a few assorted goodies in other receptacles in the room. Be sure to pick up the three extra healing potions in the chest and, as always, let Imoen do the honors of trap detecting and lockpicking.
  
  Head back out to the corridor and head to the northwest. Round the corner, and you should find yourself in another corridor near a door. There may be another party of goblins about - be careful. You can head into the door to the northwest to kill two lesser clay golems by force attacking them; you won't get any gold or items, but they can't hurt you when they're activated later in the level. Head to the northeast and find the activation stone in Rielev's lair. You can perform a mercy killing on Rielev if you wish. The activation stone is on the table in front of Rielev, so pick it up and head back to the sewage golem. Activate him for an easy 3,000 experience. You should check out the door opposite the golem's lair; there is an ice mephit and a steam mephit hanging around as well as a few chests. You can use the energy crystals you obtained from Rielev's tube on the tubes in this area for a bit more information, but you only have four crystals, so you can't activate all the tubes.
  
  The camion drops a bastard sword +1.
  Once you've activated the golem, head back to the northwest, but take the turn near Rielev's area. You'll enter a sewer-like group of corridors, but you'll find the exit to the library soon enough. There are a few more goblins in here, so be ready. Once you've taken everyone out, search the bodies as well as the library walls for a number of items, mostly scrolls and healing potions.
  
  Head to the northwest again and round the corner to come into a factory-like area. There are a number of evil dwarves here, both in melee and mage variations. They put up a tough fight, so try to be fairly healthy before walking in. Once you've killed them, you can use Imoen to search for hotspots; there are a few in the corners. If you haven't yet, you might find it useful to equip Imoen with the short bow you'll discover, and adjust her script accordingly. She's a bit more useful when taking the rear, as she's not much of a fighter, even with the dagger +1 you found earlier. Be sure to grab the acorns that one of the dwarves is carrying.
  
  Head out the eastern passage and examine the door with Imoen. It's locked beyond your ability to open at this point, so don't worry about it yet. Avoid the trap on the ground and head to the room nearby to fight a camion. Twist the central structure twice to unlock the creature and be sure to position your stronger characters nearer the beast before freeing it. Once it's dead, pick up the treasure it dropped and head back to the library.
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:48

  Follow the southern path from the library to reach the sewers. You'll be facing off against an otyugh. He's big, but will fall fairly easily when you attack him. Be sure to pick up the wand of frost key from his body (it can be hard to see). From there, head to the east and into the small living room. Have Imoen search for traps before moving about, as there are a few of them around. Disable the traps and start looking around for items. Head south from there and talk to the dryads. Tell them you have the acorns, and you'll complete the quest that they ask of you. Once you receive the experience bonus, head further to the southwest into the bedroom. Again, have Imoen search for traps. There are seven in all, including a few on the floor, so be careful. Pick up all the items and don't miss the cabinet on the western wall.
  
  This room and the nearby bedroom are full of traps.
  Now, head all the way back to the locked door near the camion. Click on the door with the character that has the air elemental statue from the living room near the dryads. It will open, and you can go through the door to enter a new area.
  
  Head to the north first, but take the first left to travel along the wooden walkway. You'll encounter a few mephits and a chest containing a conjure air elemental scroll at the end. Head back to the original walkway and go north. You'll come across a group of five mephits of various types here, so be careful. An area attack spell might come in handy in the beginning. Once they're all dead, head to the west. You'll come across a lantern. Click on it to communicate with the genie that's trapped inside. He'll instruct you to find his true flask, which he needs to free himself. Unfortunately, you must travel all the way back to the dryads to get it. Don't forget that you can hold down the Shift key to assign waypoints for your characters, so that they will travel the entire path while you watch or get a drink or something like that. When you get the flask from the dryads, walk back to the genie and release him. You'll get 15,000 experience points and an extremely powerful sword. Head back to the real portal near the living room and go through.
  
  You'll immediately meet up with Yoshimo, a true neutral NPC that is stuck in the dungeon with you. You can accept him into your party if you wish and want another hand in battle. He's a bounty hunter, so he can act as backup thief to Imoen. Bounty hunters are specialists in trap laying, a skill of dubious usefulness, but Yoshimo will be a welcome addition in battle. Since Imoen will be your primary source of thieving skills, you can let Yoshimo use any studded leather armor you find to decrease his chances of getting hit in battle.
  
  The second level of the dungeon is a bit easier to navigate than the first.
  From the entrance, the only passage leads east. You'll come into a room with numerous mephit generators. Destroy the generators before attacking the mephits. The generators don't take much damage to destroy, so proceed quickly and destroy all four. Search the rest of the room for a couple wand keys and other items. Go through the western door first. Jaheira will have a conniption fit, so click through while remaining respectful of her husband. Once that extended conversation is done, kill the assassin and the escaped clone to get more experience. Once you've searched the room, head back to the room with the mephit generators and take the western passage. You'll run into a couple more mephits and some goblins, so chop through them until you reach another large room. The wooden plank is trapped, so let Imoen detect and disable it before moving on. The next room contains the various wands that will send off a variety of nasty magical effects if you walk by. You'll need all the keys; you should have picked them up from the Otyugh's corpse, the living room, and in the second portal room and chamber with the mephit generators. Give them all to one of your characters and let him manipulate each of the wands, which will make the passage safe. You can match up the wands with their effects by glancing at the ground in front of them, but it's not necessary to know this, as the character will use the correct key automatically.
  
  When all the wands are deactivated, you'll have free rein over the rest of the level. The first hallway to the southwest leads to the exit, so skip it for now. To the northwest, there is a room containing a woman named Ulvaryl. She's facing off with three assassins that will die fairly quickly, then teleport to safety. You probably can't take her out, but you can try. There's not much to see in this room once she's gone.
  
  Head into the passageway opposite the entrance to Ulvaryl's room to meet Frennedan. Stepping into the room, he'll call out to you and ask you to free him from his "glass bottle". Use Imoen to detect the traps in here, then open the chests to find the key you need. Free Frennedan from his cell and walk in. Imoen will detect another trap in here. Search the room for a few more scrolls and other items.
  
  Frennedan is actually a monster in disguise. He'll follow you around for a bit if you let him, but eventually he'll reveal himself as a metallic monster of the same shape. You can force-attack him immediately after he is freed from his cell if you wish; it's not a big deal either way. He's not very powerful when he attacks you, and he only possesses melee attacks. Kill him and be on your way.
  
  The northernmost passage in the wand hall leads to a foundry. There are a few evil dwarves about, with a pack of mages in the back room that might be trouble if you're not healthy. You don't have to fight them if you don't wish; simply don't come down this corridor. You'll find a girdle of bluntness in one of the chests in this area; it bestows a -4 bonus to armor class against blunt weapons on whomever wears it.
  
  Once you're done exploring this area, head back to the southeastern passage that leads to the exit. You'll have a minor skirmish with some assassins on the way, but nothing that should slow you down much. Proceed through the sewers until you reach the exit (follow the trail of corpses).
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:49

  Athkatla
  
  Once you exit the dungeon, you'll find yourself near a battle between Irenicus and a few more assassins. Irenicus isn't very challenged, but mage authorities teleport into the battle and subdue him. Unfortunately, they take Imoen as well. All her equipment and items will be dispersed among the rest of the party. Once you're done talking, pick up the remnants of the assassins and start exploring the city. You'll probably be approached in short order by Ler, a friendly man who'll fill you in with background information if you want to talk to him. You should explore the area of the city that you're in for a bit and be sure to sell any extra items you don't need to one of the merchants nearby. Stopping for a rest at the Den of the Seven Vales would be wise if you are wounded.
  
  Enjoy the fireworks and say goodbye to Imoen.
  Once you're done exploring, head down to the circus tent (use your map if you can't find it). Speak to the boy outside, then tell the guard you can take care of yourself. When you're inside, head toward the bridge until you encounter a genie. You must answer his riddle to pass. You can do the math if you want; it's on the order of a short-answer SAT question. If not, select the option where the prince is 30 years old, and the princess is 40. He'll disappear and let you pass. Head up toward the large structure and be sure not to explore the left or right areas by the door. There are shadows and werewolves here that will damage you, but yield no experience.
  
  Upon entering the structure, you'll be greeted by an ogre (who is really Aerie, an NPC in disguise). Listen to her pleas and tell her that you'll break her chains. Talk to the spider to the west to update your journal; this is the mother of the boy you spoke to outside, but you can't free her yet. Go past the spider and attack the two peasants to the north. They'll morph into enemies; be sure to pick up the ogre sword when they die. Give it to the ogre, and it will morph into Aerie. If you let her join your party, you might want to go through her spell books and customize her spells; she's a cleric/mage, so she'll be quite a helpful spellcaster for you. She's a bit of a free spirit and absolutely loves to randomly talk about her past, but she's a useful healer and will help identify items. Physically, she is the weakest character you've encountered so far, so try and equip her with a sling as soon as you can. She's not going to last long if she must go toe-to-toe with a monster. Rest if need be, though the rest of this quest isn't very difficult.
  
  Heading into the next room, you'll be attacked right off by two werewolves and a shadow. You can handle yourself just fine. Check the two flowerpots by the stairs for some spells, then head up, ignoring any enemies that run over to attack you. There's nothing else in the large room except more enemies, and you don't get any experience for beating them.
  
  Once you reach the uppermost room, you'll encounter Kalah. He's surrounded by a few monsters as well as Quayle, Aerie's uncle. Quayle's the slime on the floor, so be sure you don't attack him. Group all your characters together and pound on Kalah until he dies. It won't take long; he's fairly weak. As soon as he's dead, the illusion is dispelled, and you'll find yourself in the true circus tent.
  
  Despite his illusionary powers, Kalah's not so tough.
  Kalah will die a dramatic death and imply that he was given his powers by some external force. If you didn't rescue Aerie in the illusion, but saved Quayle, you can let her join your party now (though you would've gotten more experience the other way). Be sure to check Kalah's body for some excellent items, including a ring of human influence and around 700 gold. Talk to the woman to the west named Hannah; she's the mother of the boy outside the tent. Leave the tent and talk to the boy and the guard for some extra bonuses. Don't forget to level up if you can.
  
  Before you leave this town, you might want to visit the adventurer's mart. There's plenty of bizarre and exotic items on sale there, though they might be a bit out of your price range at this point. Check out the paintings on the back wall as well - bonus points for naming the pop culture reference.
  
  Once you're ready to leave this section of the town, head for one of the district exits and go to the slums. When you arrive, talk to Gaelen in his house. He'll tell you that he might know how to rescue Imoen. He'll eventually drop the other shoe: It'll cost you 20,000 gold to rescue Imoen. Considering you have, at most, around 4,000 at this point, you obviously must do some work to raise the sum. Once you agree to the price, the first chapter of Baldur's Gate II will end.
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:49

  Chapter 2
  
  You'll begin this chapter in Gaelen's house. You can take the stairs to meet with a shadow guild thief. Have Yoshimo detect traps before you go clicking; there are three in this room. Once you're ready to move on, head outside and talk to Brus. Accept his offer, and you'll be whisked off to the Copper Coronet.
  
  The Copper Coronet
  
  The Copper Coronet is a large bar with a number of NPCs and patrons inside. You'll want to talk to Lord Jierdan, who will offer you quite a bit of money if you save his village from marauding trolls. Accept that quest, and your journal will be updated.
  
  There are three different NPCs that can join your party in the Copper Coronet. Anomen Delryn is a fighter/cleric who must prove himself to an organization called the Radiant Heart. He's an acceptable warrior, though he can only use blunt weapons like maces. He can also use a small number of clerical spells. Nalia de'Arnise is a mage/thief and would-be do-gooder that is eager to protect her family keep from mysterious forces. She's actually one of the more damaging offensive spellcasters you'll have in your party at this point (assuming your main character isn't a mage), though, like all mage/thieves, she's not well suited to using armor and should stick to the rear during battles. She can use a short bow and be equipped with one as soon as you can find one. Korgan Bloodaxe is a chaotic evil dwarven berserker that wants to investigate a nearby graveyard. He's one of the most physically powerful characters you'll encounter, so he's a good choice if you need more offensive strength, but his alignment will cause problems if you're mostly using good characters. Nalia is a good character to pick up here, and you can take along Anomen as well if you want to drop another character from your party (Yoshimo, for instance; he'll stick around in the Copper Coronet for later use).
  
  Beware these guards underneath the Copper Coronet.
  Once you reform your party, you might want to rememorize spells and rest in the inn (talk to the man walking around near Lehtinan at the northwestern end of the bar). Once you're prepared for more adventuring, you can do a little side quest that's built into the Copper Coronet. Talk to Lehtinan and go through his conversation menus until you convince him that you want to go into the back rooms. Head back to the bouncer and go through the door that is now unblocked. Talk to the guards if you wish, but head through the door leading to the northeast. You should find yourself in a long passage leading to the slave chambers. There are a couple of secret rooms on the north passage that your thieves might spot. The one on the right leads to a sewer maze, so don't examine it yet. Keep heading to the northeast until you reach the prison.
  
  Once there, you'll be attacked right off by a few guards. A few of them appear to be spellcasters, so be cautious. Once they're dispatched, talk to Hendak in the middle cell. He'll ask you to free him and the other slaves. You'll need the beastmaster's key for this.
  
  Leave the slave cells by the southern door and head to the south across the gladiator pits. You'll find the animal cells to the southeast. Once you are hostile to the beastmaster, he'll unleash the animals in the cages, so be careful. There are a few nasties in here, including a black bear and a minotaur. If you manage to kill the beastmaster quickly, you can try to dart up to his corpse, take the key and the rest of his loot, and escape the area before the minotaur notices you. Either way, get the key and head back to the slaves. Release the kids on either side of Hendak before you open his cell; they'll each nab you 2,500 experience points. Once Hendak is released, follow him back down the hallway, dispatching guards as you go. If you can follow him quickly enough, you can force-attack Lehtinan to make the fight easier for him (though Lehtinan is doomed either way). Once Lehtinan falls, the Copper Coronet is under new management, and you can speak to Hendak for a new quest involving slavers working in the city. Don't forget to search Lehtinan's body for a large amount of gold and some other goodies. If you wish, you can visit the brothel at this point or speak to Bernard to sell any items you don't want. Once you're ready to head out and kill some slaverunners, head back to the secret passage and go up the stairs to the sewers.
  
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:49

  The Sewers
  
  You'll be ambushed by hobgoblins right off. These guys are fairly tough, so swarm the shamans first. Once they're dead, search the bodies, then head back to the branching corridor. An otyugh will appear with a couple of slimes nearby. Kill them all, then look at the grate in the middle of the room. Reach down to pull out a hand from the sewer.
  
  The shaman will hold your characters if you let him cast his spells.
  Head back past the hobgoblin corpses and into the cave area. There's a branch to the northeast heading to a room with three myconids. It's not necessary to kill them, and be aware that they can confuse your characters. Search the skeletons on the wall in the cave for a ring.
  
  Follow the southern path and eventually reach more sewers. The door that lies across the pit is trapped, so be sure to detect and disable it. Look around to the south if you want. To the north is a group of kobolds. They'll threaten you when you appear, but won't go immediately hostile. You can take them out with a fireball or similar spell while they are waiting around or just hack and slash through them. One of the shamans may cast a large entangle spell on your party, so be wary. You can nab a shaman's staff from the dead shaman; it can cast goodberries once per day, but will also be needed for an upcoming puzzle.
  
  Kaboom!
  Keep heading south. The path will veer to the west and east. The western path is trapped, and the eastern path has another party of hobgoblins to deal with. Meet Quallo in the south, and he'll tell you to find the "clues." Head to the northeast until you find the room with the pipes; a disembodied voice will ask you to free it from the water. You can click on each pipe to get a hint as to what item you must use on it. Head back to Quallo and kill his carrion crawler pal. Pick up the blood and ask him about each item. The riddles are fairly easy to solve, but if you need help, here's the order in which you should place the items: hand, ring, blood, staff. Going from left to right on the pipes, click on them in this order: third, first, second, fourth. Each party members will gain 18,000 experience points, and you will find a nice new intelligent two-handed sword. Head to the south and up the stairs to the slaver's ship. You might want to rest up first, as you'll be facing a bit of a battle.
  
  The Slaver Ship
  
  Once you arrive, Captain Haegan and his men will begin assaulting you. Haegan is a tough one, and there is a priest that will cast defensive spells on the rest of the men as well. Eliminate them and search the bodies for items and especially don't miss Haegan's body.
  
  You can explore the rest of the ship now. There are a couple of trolls through the eastern door here; these might be good practice for the quest that Lord Jierdan wants you to undertake. They are not extremely difficult to take out, though they can be tricky. You should position your warriors near the door and lure the trolls out, one at a time if possible. Hack and slash away until they fall down, then have a character cast a fire or acid spell on their bodies (Melf's acid arrow works well). If you don't burn their bodies, they will regenerate and fight again. They both offer 1,400 experience points. Give the girl nearby 100 gold for an easy reputation point. Now, head through the northern passage in the middle of the ship and free the two children for more experience. Head into the doorway to the northern room and detect the traps. There are a couple of yuan-ti in the nearby room; kill them and detect the traps here, too. Search the rooms and get the items. Heal up and get ready for another tough battle.
  
  To the southwest, there's a room with a couple of wizards as well as a guard and an archer. A silence 15-foot radius spell is a good idea while the wizards are grouped together or perhaps a Fireball. Move your tougher characters through the doorway and start taking out the spellcasters, then eliminate the other foes. Do a detect traps on the chest near the door as well as on the stairs leading down and search the area. Take a look around the area to the south (the shelves are trapped) and head out the door nearby.
  
• tkgg

  27 Aug 02, 00:50

  Head back to the Copper Coronet. You might find yourself attacked by a duo of ruffians, Corvale and Bregg. Though they seem like nice enough fellows, they might start a fight. Eliminate them and take their items if you can't dissuade them. When you get back to the Coronet, talk to Hendak again. He'll give you a number of items as well as a little gold and experience. Now, you can continue exploring the city if you wish. There are a few shops and houses around, and you can check out the planar sphere if you wish. It's locked at this point, but you'll be coming back to it later on. Once you're done looking around, head out of the city and go over to the city gates. Make sure you're healthy before you do; you're going to be attacked en route. You'll be facing off against a party of six, with a wizard in the mix. Suna Seni is also a spellcaster, so you might want to take them out first. Once all the enemies are dead, search their bodies. There are a lot of magical items in the mix, so be sure to pick them up and sell them later on. Once you're done, head to the edge of the screen and keep moving toward the city gates.
  
  Once there, you can obtain another quest from Flydian, standing near the cart. You can head to the nearby tavern and rest if you wish; be sure to update your spell lists if your characters have been gaining levels. Your character might have a rather bizarre and prophetic dream if you haven't rested lately. Once you're ready to go, head to the gates and click on de'Arnise hold.
  
  You may be waylaid and attacked by a group of four adventurers. If so, kill them and rescue Renfield. He'll ask to be taken to the docks. If you want to help him and gain a few more quests, go ahead, pick him up, and head back to the docks. Once there, move to the very southwestern corner of the area and talk to Rylock. He'll take Renfield off your hands and give you a small reward. A woman named Valen will ask you to see her mistress in the graveyard; respond as you like, but it couldn't hurt to say you will. Brus will walk toward you and ask you to see Gaelen again. Tell him you'll do so. You can also talk to Ikert to sell any items that you want to get rid of.
  
  Nearby, you'll encounter Xzar, who'll ask you to find out what happened to Montaron in the harper's building. Tell him you'll do so. You shouldn't poke your head around too much in this area unless you want to start trying out these quests; you can come back later on, when you're done with the quests for Nalia and Jierdan, and complete the ones you're picking up now. Be especially wary of the steps leading down from the long walkway in the middle of the area. If you step into the tavern, a strange man will curse Jaheira, which might affect her performance until you can get the curse lifted. Avoid the tavern for now.
  
  Now, you have a few options as to what you wish to do next. The majority of the quests in the game take place in Chapter 2, so you can wander around town attempting to find them and explore them if you wish, then return to Gaelen when you have the 20,000 gold. Feel free to choose your own adventure here. We'll cover a few of the more interesting side-quests at this point, but don't forget that there may be more lurking about in the game.