I'm going to start a new game in Baldurs Gate! Hooray! I want to take this character through BG/TotSC and then export them into BG2-SoA/ToB. Thus, going the distance with the character. My question is, what class of character would you take to go the distance?
I exported my first Paladin into BG2-SoA and she's doing well, but I'm only in chapter 2.
Also, can a character from Dark Side of the Sword Coast (which will be a higher level than normal) be exported into BG2? I'm just wondering if the additional experience(over the TotSC cap) will not be recognized by BG2 at the start.

[ 10-31-2002, 07:56 AM: Message edited by: Keraptisdm ]

is baldurs gate II along the same lines as bg I and when you export the char do you get the special abilities you gain each time one of those dream sequences comes up? if so you get two heals and some bosts anyway, so a good ole warrior would do the job, i never understand exporting things, cos surely it means i bring my overpowered uber warrior into a gameset designed to work a level 1 up from scratch? or does it compensate?

Since you initially used a fighter-type, I'd recommend using some sort of magic-user. Watching your character go from wimpy spell-caster to super wizard can be cool.

Yes, BG2 does have a set maximum amount of experience you can begin with. So, even with gaining extra from DSOTSC, you will be knocked back down to TOTSC maximum experience. In general, BG2 gives you the experience that your BG1 character had, up to a maximum limit. So, if you come in with BG1 experience only, you get that... if you had TOTSC and thus had "more" experience, you get that... Actually, as a word of precaution, I had trouble importing my character from DSOTSC into BG2. I may be the only one (hopefully), but just wanted to let you know.

Grungi: Yes, if you bring in your character from BG1, you will retain all of your Bhaalspawn powers. In fact, if you begin BG2 with a new character, you will be granted a set of bhaalspawn powers based on your alignment. As I said before about experience, BG2 will not let you come in as an uber-experienced maniac, so don't worry about that. I was created as a sequal to the first, and tends to level the playing field quite well.

[ 10-31-2002, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: Gammit ]

In BG2 you start at about lvl 8, which is roughly the same level you would be after finishing BG1 and TOTSC. From the powerplayer's point of view, doing BG1 first is only good for one particular metallic piece of clothing I won't go into now, as you'll lose all other items as well as every spell in your spellbook when you start BG2, and starting with a newly created character gets you slightly more experience than importing one that reached the TOTSC cap.
Of course, form the roleplayer's viewpoint, it's much more enjoyable to watch your level 1 character grow rather than just create two seperate ones.

So you don't have to worried about a character being carried over totally offsetting the game balace, unless you raise the cap beyond the of the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion

My dear brother Keraptisdm...I can not say to you which character you should take because we are all wired a little different upstairs...However, after playing all sorts of different character types, I find myself having the most fun ever with my fighter/thief. I have been Elven rangers, Dwarven fighters, human mages and i even dabbled with a gnome illusionist, and a female cleric but my fighter/thief "Puppo Baggins" has been a blast to play.

Legolas, it is in the powergamer's desires to want the Tomes. Oh yes... the Tomes they will want. ;) Only by playing through BG1, can you truly have a legitimate munchkin character in BG2.

I'm very much into the Role Playing of taking the character from 1st level to ??, rather than power gaming. Since I'm already taking a Paladin through, I thought something different would be fun. I have an old game with a Cleric that I could revive. Gosh Gammit, with the way I play, I don't think a mage could ever survive to second level. :D Wow! Anyone that started out as a mage and finished the game has my respect. Those buggers at Candlekeep in the Prologue that try to kill you - how would you get past them? I'm in awe.
And now Mr. Baggins has me thinking about multi-class....

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Legolas:
[QB]In BG2 you start at about lvl 8, which is roughly the same level you would be after finishing BG1 and TOTSC.

I don't believe that this is true. Bioware said that they were going to let characters begin at a specific level roughly as if you had completed BG1. If you had also completed TOTSC, then you could bring in the "extra" experience with you, up to a certain limit. This was to "reward you" for purchasing TOTSC. (information gathered from their website).

Dundee, you're absolutely right ;)
How could I have forgotten...

Gammit, from the sound of it that's pre-release promises [img]smile.gif[/img]
I've finished BG and TOTSC recently and took the capped character to BG2. I'm quite certain you get about the same amount of experience, but now I'll be sure to check again.

[ 11-01-2002, 05:22 AM: Message edited by: Legolas ]

oh thats sneaky as hell dundee, you play through bg1 for the SOLE purpose of pushing your main chars stats high using those tomes, so that when he hits bg2 hes got stats he shouldnt, bah so sneaky i shoulda thought of it.

i removed the exp cap cos everyone was sitting on 160,000 odd and as i still had loads of quests to do at the time it only seemed right to reward them, so my level 10 thief wouldnt fit too well into bg2?

(s)He'll probably fit in. Even if you are, say, two levels higher than normal, that only gives you an easier start.
Just look at BG. I don't have the charts at hand right now, so no details unfortunately.

Say you start out as a level 1 character. The experience you need to advance roughly doubles with each level you gain.
First you need, say, 1000, then 2000, then 4000, 8000 etc.
If you started as a level 3 character, with 4000 experience points already, you'd need 4000 to get to level 4, by which time a level 1 character would already be at level 3. That same character would reach level 4 while the character with the 'big advantage' was still stuck halfway between 4 and 5.

In the above example, a two-level head start would be largely made up for by the time that character advanced another two or three levels.

So don't worry too much about your character not fitting in, that only really happens when you take items you shouldn't get until later in the game, or pick a character which has already gone through most of the game you intend to restart before.

160'000 XP is nothing in BG2 terms. Half a level. In solo play you can earn that in about 15 minutes. having a few tens of thousands extra to start with might make the first dungeon a bit easiers, but by the time youve finished the Circus Quest the difference will be insignificant.

And even if you did somehow manage to get enough XP to make a significant difference, BG2 scales some of its encounters to suit. Liches are enough bother without encountering them at every street corner.

spose i gotta get bg2 to have a clue as to what your talking about [img]tongue.gif[/img]

btw is icewind dale along the same lines or not again i havent even looked at that yet, can i export bg char to that?

If/when you transfer your character to BG2, the game will automatically remove all experience beyond the EXP cap. So installing a cap remover on BG1 or ToSC is merely an excercise in futility if you're trying to make your character be better in BG2.

You want more details? Link in my sig, Chapter 12.

Getting Bg2 is worth it anyway. Point I was making is that the BG2 cap is so high (2.95 Million, 8 million with the expansion) that any extra XP you gain in BG1 is irrelevant in BG2. Especialy since BG2 is far more generous with the XP.

IWD is similar to BG, but with less plot. I dont like it as much, but it is still an excellent game.

For the very best BG style play, youll have to go for Planescape:Torment, although that isnt in quite the same style it has far more depth and plot than any other game.

Grungi:
Check out the Icewind Dale forum, there are several threads about "Should I get this game?". :D I love Icewind Dale, but it's different than BG. Read those threads, it will really help. You cannot export a character from BG into Icewind Dale. And even if you could, there is no reason to.

First time I went through the same deal with the intent to play through the entire series I played as a thief and then dualled over to mage at the point where I could still max my mages level. Let me tell you one thing... He kicked arse. Had also given her all the tomes, so aside from the incredible roll I happened to get when creating her I had almost all my stats at 19, except for con (17, which went down to 15 when I got the Claw of Kaz back in BGII) and Wis (8 or 9 after using the 3 tomes...)

Unless you get so annoyed at your precious XP being stolen (with a removed ToTSC cap) that you keep a record of exactly how much XP everyone had at the end of ToTSC, and CLUA it to them as soon as the Johnny's dungeon cutscene finishes ;)

i assume you lose the exp (no problem) but do you lose the hps you gained from the exp or any powers/abilities you got at the higher levels when you switch?

and 8million jeez whats the highest exp you get from killing a monster then>?