thats me, on a bad day...well let me explain:

I lack patience, therefore i never try different strategies when my main one (smashing!) fails...i have learned some trixs, but mos of them are described as powergaming i believe. i am also a compulsive cheater if i play when tired or grumpy and things don´t go as planned
My problem is that bg2 is so BIG, bg1 is smaller and more comprehensible. there i can come up with my own strategies and tactics...im doing good there. but bg2 is SO much bigger, the 1000:ths of spells alone give me a headache. i end up just going around with my tanks (often shadowkeeperd) and smashing things and have my mage stand behind and doing the ususal damage-spells. i never use any breaching spells, i use ctrl-t and the spellprotections go away...
the spells are my main problem i think...but the cheating has to stop!
so i started a new bg1 game...only cheat to make things go faster...but i worry about bg2...i plan to have the tactics mod on but cant figure out how the darn i will beat the improved encounters if i cant beat the regular ones...im simply to lazy to plan ahead, and it ruins a bit of the gaming experience, IMO.

so can anyone give me some nice advice on how to be more overall tactical...i wouldnt wanna cheat. im mostly in need of good spells to use for many situations...mostly for fighting mages...but other things as well...
i think im the kinda guy that back away when something huge and difficult comes my way...thats why ive never finished ToB...but i will this time around!
without cheating, too!!!!
well thats my goal, anyway...sympathies and tips would be appreciated for these bad days (they seem to be lots of them at times)

One great way to stop yourself from cheating is to disable the CLUA console, and only put it back after you complete your run through the game or if you need to use it to fix a bug in your game. Six's site has a section that talks about cheating, check it out if you want.

If you want to learn some new tactics, I suggest you actually go and use all of your abilities. For example, if you have a thief in your party, add points to the section 'Detect Illusion" in order to dispell some spell protections such as mirror image or project image. The true beauty of the game is using all of your abilities.
Another is to, obviously, not use SKed characters ;)

Next, don't clua in the best items in the game for your fighters. That makes you just go around bashing everything with a fighter or 2 while the rest of your characters become useless. Finding the items yourself not only feels better, but it is much more reward that way, and it helps balance out the game. I mean, if you come out of Irenicus's Dungeon with the Flail of Ages +3 and a fortress shield, boots of speed, ring of regeneration, plate of balduran, etc, then you have just taken away 1/2 the fun of the game.

Another tactic is to keep useful spell scrolls on you (breach, dispel magic, mostly dispelling scrolls).

Next, if you fail the first time, try a different tactic instead of just cheating. For example, place your characters in a different formation (say the first time you had all your characters just rush forward at your target, this time have your characters form a circle around your target and close in on him/her/it ;)

Don't forget about your special abilities icon. Some can be extremely useful (draw upon holy might, vampiric touch if you're a spell caster, set snare for thieves, etc.) Set Snare is very useful if you have sent a thief hidden in shadows ahead, and see someone that is coming towards your party, then you can rush back and set a trap to get a quick extra attack in.

These are just a few tactics, if you want more, just ask. I just don't want to put in an extremely long post since it can sometimes be a headache to read, but I'm sure others will chip in some tactics also [img]smile.gif[/img]

i dont "need" any tactics.....ill just go and "hack and slash" my way through the enemys :D

Solution: NEVER play BG2 when feeling anything other than okay. If you're mad or angry, not only will your performance stink but you might do more harm than you realize. (For example, playing Starsiege to work off relationship tensions resulted in a busted joystick.) Load up Doom, give yourself god mode, cheat in a chainsaw, and go work off those aggressions. Better than therapy. :D

Solution: Play a melee-heavy party. The only reason you need arcane (mage) magic in this game is to counter a mage's protection spells. The only reason you need divine (priest) magic is to heal characters. That's it. Play as an Inquisitor (paladin kit) or take Keldorn into your party--Inquisitors have Dispel Magic and True Sight as innate abilities, both of which can remove mage protection spells. A thief class with a high enough Detect Illusions percentage can also shave off protection spells. Just dump enough points into it (about 100% for SoA), press the "find traps" button around enemy mages, and voila. As for priest healing, there are potions for that, right? (Or you can romance someone. Did you know that all four Bioware-created romanceable NPCs are healers? ;) )

Solution: Stop using the CLUA console--delete the "debug mode=1 line from the baldur.ini file. Uninstall Shadowkeeper. Uninstall your mods, including Tactics. Maybe leave in some of the harmless ones, like the NPC flirt packs. But Improved Items, Tactics, Ease-of-Use, all that, chuck 'em. Reinstall the game if you think it's necessary.

If you can't figure out how to take on Tactics without cheating--especially if you can't beat the original battles without cheating--UNINSTALL TACTICS. NOW. It's not helping.

As for not planning ahead, that might be why you cheat so much. A few boneheaded decisions, like forgetting to purchase more potions or restock your crossbow bolt supply or forgetting to rest to rememorize spells, and your party gets so close to death, and you don't want anybody to die, so you crack open the CLUA console and cheat in some "assistance."

It's okay to die in this game. Once you've mastered that concept, grasshopper, the rest will be easy. [img]smile.gif[/img] Six, Dundee, Alson, Jim, Xen, Link, etc., they didn't become the Grand Champions of the Universe overnight. They became the Grand Champions of the Universe by getting their butt handed to them many, many, MANY times. But each time, they figured out what they did wrong, and tried something different. If your characters are close to death because of a mistake, just let them die, reload your save, and try again.

Save your game...A LOT. And never re-write a save. I always make a "core save" when I enter an area, meaning I select "options" and create a new save file. Once in that area, I press the quicksave key ("Q") after major battles and whenever something's been written into the journal. ("Hmm. 'My journal has been updated.'" *presses Q*) Experience has taught me this. It wasn't an easy habit to make, but now that I've been doing it for several Black Isle games, it's a hard habit to break. Get into this habit. It'll be harder to cheat if you realize you have a recent save game to reload.

Some people recommend that you keep a different BG2 game as a "cheat game" in which you can cheat to your heart's content. I don't recommend this, as it's easy to pollute your clean saves and even your clean game with your cheated game. Instead, if you get frustrated, save and exit, and ask us for help. After all, that's what we're here for. [img]smile.gif[/img]

thanks all of you...i kinda realized what answers i was going to get, anyways...but i brought this upon myself.

well for that detect illusions...how do i put points into it? i have never gotten the option to do that

Detect illusions is a thief skill you can put points into it when your thief levels up. Just scroll down the available thief skills when the thief levels up and you'll find it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

ahhh...always missed that one...well you learn something new every day

what's the fun in hack and slash? IMHO, the people that just go in and hack and slash their way through the game only want to see what happens in the end of the game. They don't care about what else goes on in it.

what's the fun in hack and slash? IMHO, the people that just go in and hack and slash their way through the game only want to see what happens in the end of the game. They don't care about what else goes on in it. </font>[/QUOTE]Just go with the flow. Every battle,pause the game and think what you could to in the moment. Pretend that you are in LotR and that you must win for the sake of The Ring. [img]tongue.gif[/img] So start of with protective magic,offensive magic then go into melee. Also do a lot of sidequests,they are fun.

About hack`n`slash... I can only say one word-two actually- Diablo series...