Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC, 2000/2001)(Complete ver.)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-8 Challenge-6.5/7* Story-7
Level Design-8 Frustration-6.5/7.5* Fun-8 Originality-6
Overall Score-8
*Doing the dragons and liches early, some encounters without the right gear/spells
+
Vast game world with tons of sidequests, various enemies, NPCs, equipment and a good number of different locations (some memorable ones include the underdark and the illithid gladiatorial arena there, athkatla, trademeet, spellhold, temple ruins)
Tons of interesting spells (create double (project image, mislead, simulacrum), invisibility, sequencer - store 2-3 spells for simultaneous and instant casting, transform, new dialogue from NPCs via charm spells (funny, weird or informative), contingency - situation-triggered auto-casting of 1 stored spell (condition is chosen by the player like an AI script or if/then statement), buffs and debuffs, can silence the party to avoid (some?) dialogue triggers, summon (nerfed to only 5 at the same time for the whole party here but they were OP in BG1), etc.; adds new low-mid level spells not in BG1 as well)
Excellent dialogue overall
Dialogue and quest choices matter (shadow thieves or the vampires/bodhi, can help some monsters and a town end up on friendly terms by investigating the murders in imnesvale, evil chars get the choice of poisoning the druid grove or not, some pre-made party members' alignment can change depending on the player's choices, hell trial near the end)
Good voice acting overall (plenty of it though most dialogue is only partially voiced)
Harder enemies
In-depth character creation and battle system (see BG1)
Rest anywhere in the wild besides near enemies and AoE spells (at your own risk as enemies might appear). Can also rest outdoors in some town areas
New classes (monk, barbarian, sorcerer) and subclasses/kits (wild mage, berserker, archer, etc.), New proficiencies, Adds trap laying/set traps and detect illusion skills for thieves, Can play as half-orcs
Limited spellbook slots provides a strategic element
Party conversations (including some light romance) however you can't initiate party dialogue manually - if you try the game just says the character doesn't want to talk
Some memorable characters (Irenicus - more fleshed out villain, Minsc, Jan, Jaheira, Yoshimo, Edwin, Elminster, Viconia, Tiax, the spectator)
Can import your char from BG1 (the fates of companion/NPC party members are all rewritten into a static script however - for example, Imoen has more of a central role even if you didn't take her with you in BG1 while Mortaron ends up dead and if you spent stat tomes on companions then they are lost (unless you use the cheat console to bring them back that is); can still choose your own party after the short first chapter but you do need to go after Imoen, who's been imprisoned, in the main quest). Note that only a few items carry over (see notes below, the rings of free action or gauntlets of ogre power don't for example) and that not all scribed spells carry over either
More large monsters including dragons
Features various characters from the first game along with new ones
Great interface overall (various hotkeys, spell quick slots (not enough of them though - more added in IWD2 but not EE?), detailed spell and gear info, can place map markers and notes (some are also pre-placed), non-pausing area map screen, manual journal notes+automatic sorting of active and completed quests)
Option to show interactive objects (including item containers, hold Tab - ToB expansion feature). Doesn't highlight area exits however
Various interesting quests (Unseeing eye cult, Haer'dalis quest, paladin quest with the noblewoman assassins, temple ruins, duel part of the druid grove quest, brynnlaw festhall quest where you get help from an NPC, drow city infiltration though it's a shame the disguise doesn't show in-game)
Decent moral system (less colorful than in Ultima or Fallout though)
Somewhat comical tone
Item/scroll bags. Bags of Holding (one in BG2 and one in ToB) hold 100 items each and you don't get encumbered by the items in them but you get the first one pretty late
Vivid modding scene (adds replay value, bugfixes (bandits can't start attacking mid-dialogue for example), various quality of life features, balance tweaks)
On the fly adjustable difficulty (default mode removes some inconveniences from BG1 like random HP growth/perma-death/chance of spell writing failure). Besides stat differences, easy means fewer enemy encounters and a luck bonus (the former is a bit counterproductive since you'll want to level up for an easier game)
Dungeon design/mechanics pick up where the TotSC expansion for BG1 left off (more puzzles and object interactions, can examine more objects for additional lore). There are also visible pit traps leading to the floor below and damage tiles in some dungeons (fun but not exactly new - see Dragon Quest 1-2)
Strongholds/keeps (class specific home base, some management options (can raise the taxes of the land for more gold but less happiness) and some quests related to it such as hiring mercenaries to clear out bandits in the same area; Suikoden 1-2)
Somewhat improved pathfinding (still kinda bad though as one or more chars will suddenly go a different way when moving through chokepoints and when trapped in a narrow path or smaller room you really have to micromanage each char to get them to where you want them)
Formations (they still break when moving)
Stashes - can safely store items in any container besides a few exceptions (in an uncompleted Watcher's Keep, the stronghold before you get it, Copper Coronet before you complete the Free Hendak quest); The Lion Head in NW Waukeen's Promenade is a decent spot here but also your fortress, could do this in BG1 already?). Can also steal or buy back items sold to vendors
Very good enemy variety
Familiar spell (chosen between 8 different ones based on alignment, adds a bit of HP to the caster (player char only) when summoned, best used for scouting and for the 1 extra spell/day that it comes with (can't choose what), can be asked for main quest advice+fed and petted (no gameplay effect?), upgraded HP boost in ToB, can be kept in inventory to avoid them dying) - risky though as you lose a stat point in constitution permanently upon their death+they don't level up
Background dialogue in real-time (see Fallout)
Breaks the rule of having shops in towns/neutral areas only and sometimes there are enemy attacks on towns (trademeet)
Mostly good bosses (firkraag (red dragon) and thaxll'ssillyia (black dragon) - can knock 2+ characters into a wall making them pass out for a bit, Faldorn duel as jaheira or cern solo - there should've been an explanation of the rules beforehand though (this battle is optional as it's possible to attack her and her party without the challenge instead), liches, kuo-toan prince (tadpoles puzzle), illithid brain - keeps spawning golems, twisted rune hideout - lich & friends, guarded compound, first irenicus fight)
Decent puzzles overall (temple ruins entrance (mirror) and letter room, riddle rooms in spellhold asylum, underdark sacrifice, using the control circlets to charm one or more mind flayers in the arena dungeon+managing them and the potions as a rare resource or having to combine domination and lower resist, egg swapping in drow city)
Higher resolution (800x600) which can be increased further via mods. Widescreen in the GOG Complete version
Gear crafting (build or upgrade gear from smaller parts - for the flail of ages you can choose how many and which kind of heads you want to add to (3 heads adds slow, 5 heads adds free action status to wielder - can get around not having haste by hasting before equipping it), the upgradeable horn of valhalla, for other weapons the game uses preset recipes however+it wastes a day each time)
Day/night cycle with some effects on gameplay (attacks and guild battles in Athkatla, various NPC schedules, some quests)
Some creative spell uses (can combine fireshield blue and red+haste on enemies for high damage (if using core rules there's a small chance of making the enemy not drop loot on death), can use feeblemind to steal from an item container near an NPC as it's not considered an aggression (lasts for 500 (!) days though and dispel magic does make the victim hostile, can't be used to steal from a vendor's inventory as you only steal what's on the vendor's person with pickpocket), two casters using minor spell turning+a scorcher spell to bounce it between them)
Can create a full custom party of 6 chars by playing in MP mode though the game isn't balanced for it nor is the story designed for it
Some level scaling in that when you reach certain levels (and/or have a smaller, higher level party), several fixed encounters will be replaced by tougher ones (new enemies will appear and there will be more enemies total)
Decent sense of vulnerability in the spellhold dungeon (get temporarily transformed into a monster at times and the vampires come and attack you if you take too long - every other time you rest it seems like, permanently lose one attribute point (choose between con/dex/int/wis) and your dream abilities from BG1 - can regain the former as well as gain +1 in other stats later on though)
Gain a baahl monster (slayer) transformation ability during chapter 4, which affects your rep when used. It won't change your alignment however (that can only change during the ToB expansion). Has good immunities and pretty good stats for when you get it but can't use spells and you can't rest nor save during the transformation, however the worst part is you start taking damage after using it for only 20 secs so it's fairly situational even for an evil char (it does protect against imprisonment for example)
Some fighting between different types of monsters and some fighting alongside NPCs (BG1). At one point you can also recruit some NPCs to help you in the final fight against Bodhi and her vampires (not really needed though)
Basic skill tree/grid (high level abilities, available at 3 mil exp for a pure class or lvl 14/13 for a multiclass char). Some abilities require a previous one to become available while others don't
High Level Abilities are available during BGII if you've installed Throne of Bhaal (at 3 mil exp which is beyond where BG2 on its own caps the experience (2 950 000)). If you do everything in BG2 (including some unfinished business mod content) you'll gain some HLAs before reaching Suldanessellar
+/-
Save anywhere except for during battle or a nearby AoE spell being in effect (Multiple nameable slots, shows time taken and a screenshot+party portraits but no stats or current location info)
The sheer amount of sidequests in the first city along with the game's mostly non-linear structure can get pretty overwhelming (it is at least chapter-based to keep some things on track (and most of the main questline is linear) but even if you focus on a couple at a time you'll run into new ones from scripted events, some dungeons like spellhold are partially non-linear as well, can skip drow city after getting the drow disguise though it is a pretty large chunk of the game with a lot of exp and loot+interesting questing - if you do go to the surface then you can't get the disguise back)
Need to hear about an area on the world map from a certain NPC (or a couple) before you can travel to it. In Athkatla/the first city you can see all the districts on the world map and right after entering the slums and talking with Gaelan for a bit to activate chapter 2, you can travel freely around the city (you can also go to watcher's keep at this point if you have ToB installed but it's not recommended). Outside of the city the progression between areas is more linear for chapters 2-3 though you can still do various things in any order. This is different from BG1 where you could often travel to any area adjacent to the one you were currently in as long as you exited in its direction
A few areas such as irenicus's dungeon, the planar prison, the labyrinth beneath spellhold or the sahuagin city can't be returned to after exiting them or finishing the quest related to them (unless you use a cheat code in which case they will be as you left them)
Magic resistance no longer makes a character resist beneficial spells
Many fights come down to reloading after a bum rush then trying different buffs/debuffs to adjust (unless you use certain OP tactics and/or scout and run away a lot). With robe of vecna (early item) and amulet of power equipped you can use some defensive spells like spell immunity on the fly, and spells like sequencer and contingency or certain potions and scrolls also help to an extent. However it would've been more dynamic to have a "scan" spell or ability (perhaps wizard eye/a familiar/detect illusion skill could have this effect) to quickly see either what abilities and spells an enemy has or see active status effects by hovering the mouse pointer over them (in IWD2 you can see what spell an enemy is casting while it's being cast via a text message above them which would also help a bit)
A paused game will stay paused while at the inventory screen in both SP and MP now (you can even move items between characters, a bit overpowered in some cases but also more flexible) - can be toggled in the .ini file. However it does not stay paused if you go to the record/sheet or spell book screens
Quests given by new party members require that you let them join you (you can ditch them right away?)
Dark themes (torture, euthanasia, vengeance, prostitutes, destructive relationships)
Can't avoid encounters on world map? (Fallout)
The main city, and in a sense the game world, doesn't feel "alive" since people don't move between districts and major events don't happen without the player's involvement (besides some side quests and party member-specific quests being on a timer, also some quests in the underdark where the drow city can go hostile if you run out of time making you miss out on a bunch of exp; means you can generally rest as much as you'd like and level up quite a bit in the early game - the only reason not to is that Imoen will lag behind in exp if you're planning to have her re-join later and don't want to cheat to make her catch up). This wasn't really done in RPGs at the time though there are some contemporary games like Deus Ex and Shenmue that started doing it, and of course Fallout 1 had some time limits related to the main questline
A few time limited quests (Nalia/Jaheira/Korgan/Hexxat's quests, some stronghold quests, some chapter 5 quests)
Can't switch spells without resting to memorize the new ones
You'll probably need a guide to learn some mechanics (spell combos, can use Strength to reduce some stronger enemies strength)
No attribute stat distribution on level up (these are gained via rare items instead) and HP gains are also automatic. Weapon proficiencies, thief skills and sorcerer class spells are picked by the player
No in-game digital manual
Rehashes some things from BG1 besides most of the game engine (death cutscene, some NPC voices, various items and spells)
If using the Core rules difficulty option: permanent death where a character explodes/disintegrates (->reload - pointless!, the latter happens pretty rarely though). The death's door mechanic from D&D where a character is bleeding out for some time before death (or one where they become unconscious instead) could've made for a more flexible system. There are resurrection staffs and spells but for many battles you might as well reload instead
Get a ring that boosts charisma to 18 very early on (not much use putting points into the stats, can do the same with strength though it's a girdle)
Protection from fire is more useful than other elemental buffs due to how common it is+some of the best damage spells are fire-based
Otiluke's sphere is better as a defensive spell in enhanced edition (no save for allies or caster)
Destroyed loot can be prevented by removing gore in the options (level drain, disintegration and petrification and when a cold attack freezes a character destroys items)
Chars gain only a low, fixed amount of HP per level after lvl 10 (warriors=3, priests and rogues=2, wizards=1, multi-class characters gain half of this per level (rounded down) or a third for triple class which is rounded down if above 1 HP and rounded up if below - however for a double class char the .5 HP is saved so you gain 3 HP in total per 2 fighter class levels)
Fewer but more fleshed out companions than in BG1 (17 vs 25)
Single entry points to outdoors locations (for example you'll always enter bridge district from the N)
Can't climb, jump or crouch - if not as an action mechanic it could've been used tactically to isolate the party from the enemy or to reach high ground which could give a combat advantage (an alternate could be create bridge or ladder spells)
General lack of terrain effects on combat (high/low ground, terrain type - the fire floor in the ruins is an exception, weather besides the occasional thunder storm, no destructible terrain? (X-COM, SimCity 2000, Warcraft 2, Jagged Alliance 2, Outcast to an extent))
Has the same weather effects as BG1: light snowfall (much rarer here), rain, thunder storms though they're apparently very rare too (more likely to get hit if wearing metal armor), wind ambience
Can rest to heal poison here though it takes a long time (can also rest to cure disease which doesn't take longer). Can also enable the option to rest until healed (you heal only 1 hp per 8h however memorized healing spells are auto-cast during rest and inns increase it to up to 4)
Acid arrows were nerfed a lot (other elemental ones as well but not as much) and arrows of detonation are only available in ToB. Movement speed increases also make it easier to reach archers - archery was OP in BG1 however
Can't dual wield a throwing axe with another weapon
No moving hazards unless you count lightning bolt traps (possibly for the best considering the pathfinding issues though)
Different character portrait style (not as well drawn but fewer ugly or goofy looking chars, more makeup on female chars)
No need to disarm the traps in the elemental themed hall near the beginning (you do get several wands from doing it though)
Death of a party member (Phantasy Star II, FF4 & 7, Suikoden)
Less than half of the weapon categories include a weapon that gives immunity to a status effect (warhammer, two-handed sword, spear, short sword, staff, long sword, katana). 7/11 for armor categories
Protection from evil no longer stacks
Random ricochet path for lightning bolt - can still be quite good in tight spaces+with immunity to it
Melf's acid arrow doesn't scale well (still good for interrupting spellcasters)
The stoneshape scroll could've been used in more creative ways (basically used as a key to lock a door here)
Utility experience points - gained from opening locks, disarming traps and scribing spell scrolls to your spellbook (encourages using thief skills more though it's inconsistent how for example using a knock spell doesn't also give exp and only trap detection involves any skill since the others are decided by a dice roll). The gain from disarming traps also doesn't scale and they're generally not dangerous enough to make disarming necessary (not enough damage+not persistent until disarmed), with some exceptions
Drow city battle arenas (1 vs 1 battles in one of them, though they never get that hard and you can get some help from your party such as true sight from keldorn and inventory item switching during the duel)
The tree of life part could've been more interesting if there was some sort of puzzle element to growing the branches with the nuts and the parasites were more interesting fights
Weaker random encounters than in BG1
Better economy overall than in BG1 (there's not enough to spend gold on after a couple of chapters and until after the underdark but then the adventurer's mart and trademeet market shops restock+some of the gear crafting costs a decent amount of gold+there are some items to buy in the last area)
Have to be good in hell to not lose your neutral alignment?
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Quite a few useless or nearly useless spells (chill touch and shocking grasp, some spells that hit both your party and the enemy such as color spray (while sleep is better and doesn't), some summon spells due to wands/staffs, ghoul touch, chromatic orb later on or on harder difficulty - the effects succeed too rarely, armor since shield exists, grease due to enemies not hit directly being able to move through it without being affected and better spells, infravision, protection from evil as a mage - cleric one is better (also doesn't stack here), reflected image since mirror image exists, deafness since blind exists, scorcher since the wand of fire exists, knock (open doors - doesn't work on magical locks and pick locks is better in BG2), power word: sleep because of the low HP requirement+since command exists, stinking cloud compared to web unless combined w/ sweet air/poison immunity item? (the latter won't help against its sleep effect though), luck since chant exists, ray of enfeeblement generally since blind and hold person exist and heavy armored enemies can still move (only party members are encumbered) though it is better than cause disease, ghost armor for its level, hold person (mage) since the priest one exists and is lvl 2, hold undead becomes too weak in BG2, clairvoyance, minor spell deflection since it's weak for BG2 and minor globe exists?, summonings were nerfed here making MS1-2 kinda suck, protection from normal missiles, wraithform since invisibility and mirror image exist+can't cast spells while using it, too many enemies can't be/are too hard polymorphed?, polymorph self (besides as a scroll w/ a backstabbing thief) - bad to hit as pure mage and fighter mage is better hasted+dual wielding, confusion compared to chaos, contagion since slow is AoE+causes a save throw penalty, farsight since wizard eye exists, ice storm is kinda weak (+chance of destroying loot w/ core rules), dispel magic compared to remove magic unless the caster is multiclass, animate dead as a mage if you have a cleric, oracle here if you have true sight, protection from normal weapons is only useful against regular enemies here, conjure elemental (wizard version) since the wizard gets stuck for about 20 secs in a mental battle during the summoning and they can go hostile+aren't that strong either - the priest version doesn't have this issue (the lvl 6 wizard one is good in the temple ruins and graveyard tomb however), feeblemind rarely works on the strong enemies (that are alone or in small groups) which it would be good against even with a couple of lower resists before it, minor spell turning is weak for when you get it (except the item that lets you use it on fighters), shadow door since improved invisibility and invis potions exist, chain lightning for its level (fireball generally does more damage and is lvl 3), spell deflection for how late you get it+flesh to stone is rare, tenser's transformation since you can't use spells or abilities during it, globe of invulnerability (lvl 6) is weak for its level+there are no good lvl 4 AoE spells (cloudkill is lvl 5 so not covered, though greater malison is), most lvl 6 wizard summons since animate dead and priest versions exist, control undead isn't effective enough for when you get it, protection from elements (lvl 7) and protection from energy (8) are weak for their levels and you can use the lower level protection from fire (most common element)+from magic energy instead, symbol: death isn't effective enough for its level, absolute immunity (9) since it doesn't actually offer what it says+comes too late for what it does and the duration is too short, energy drain (9) is too weak for its level, entangle was nerfed and hits all, shillelagh/magical/flame blade stone are weak+don't scale, spiritual hammer doesn't scale enough, barkskin due to short duration and no AC stacking, charm isn't effective enough and hold exists (fun for NPC reactions though), find traps unless no thief+first time playing (most are also no that strong here), goodberry is weak+slow to cast, resist fire & cold compared to protection, aid is pretty weak here, protection from fire (priest) since the wizard version exists, rigid thinking since hold person/confusion/chaos exist, etc.)
Can't cure Domination reliably - PfM scroll didn't help for me at one point but did at another. DM and RM didn't work in the illithid arena dungeon. Greater restoration didn't work. Try mental domination via woodland being? (domination is prevented with chaotic commands and shield of harmony, Adjatha the Drinker, green amulet (underdark))
In the illithid arena dungeon, neither free action nor spell immunity: conjuration will prevent Stun by the mindflayers
The semi-real time battle system is less strategic than turn based variants (but can also be more exciting)
Unbalanced classes (weaker: monk until end-game, beastmaster, ranger?, stalker?, bounty hunter?, swashbuckler?)
Some control/interface issues (minor pathfinding problems (can be helped by changing a config file), can't quickly travel the world map from anywhere on an area map even if it's explored and safe (ctrl+j cheat basically fixes this except you can miss some event triggers here and there if you overuse it), negative status spell descriptions sometimes don't mention cures (stun, paralysis, hold, confusion), somewhat dated shop interface (can't see proficiencies or easily compare shop gear to equipped gear within the shop menu, can't auto-equip newly bought gear (see console JRPGs from the mid 90s) - however you can now buy more copies of one item by double clicking on it as well as see how many are in stock, can't sort the shop items by item type including sold items nor show only items of one type at a time), clicking on interactive objects (circle icon) doesn't make the party leader walk up to them (unlike pretty much everything else in the game), need to memorize quite a few icons (spells/buffs), can't hover over a party member or their portrait to see an "active status effects" tooltip - have to check the char sheet, can queue up move commands but not attack commands (hold shift), too much delay on healing spells, can be annoying to start casting a spell and before the casting even begins it's canceled by an enemy attack, skull trap's hit detection is sloppy and its radius when it triggers is lower than advertised - still great though, can't skip the in-game cutscenes, can't right-click a spell while in-game (lowbar menu) to view its description, no AoE marker when casting such a spell, no notification when there's a stat check during dialogue - could've showed the option if you were close but played a noise if that option was picked if you didn't have enough (or in the case of int/wis checks just let you have the choices and use your brain to convince NPCs since it's arbitrary if wisdom or intelligence is checked), after the harper's hold events with Jaheira she will leave permanently if you take her out of the group - can't even try to initiate dialogue as she's walking away, some interface elements could've been better proportioned or positioned to avoid manual scrolling, having to manually replace a character's inventory items after they lose their gear (death, jaheira's duel) gets tedious - raise dead could've restored a char's gear if resurrected in the same room, no quick load hotkey, can't save specific equipment or spell setups to quickly switch to later on - see CV: Dawn of Sorrow (IWD2 partially implemented this with its quick weapon slots on the inventory screen), a caster won't automatically move in range when using a cone of cold spell/frost wand on an enemy, when looting an item container rather than a corpse and if the char looting it has/gets a full inventory you'll have to walk away and back to it - access to the loot list is removed when going into the inventory screen, if you cast spell immunity and click on a different party member/spell menu/menu button before picking the school then the spell is wasted - can also happen if you cast it with several members at the same time, can't double check your high level abilities grid/table in-between level ups - can only check abilities via the special abilities icon and spells via the spellbooks so not the passive ones, sometimes if you click too fast when dragging and dropping the item you clicked on stays in place or is quickly dropped in a slot next to it - avoided by clicking and holding slightly longer, can't right click a stored sequencer to check what's in it)
Some NPCs don't act according to their alignment
Some plot/world building inconsistencies and oddities (weird how NPCs and enemies can dimension door wherever when you can only do it to a place you can see, it gets bizarre how neutral chars will encourage killing innocent people or other evil actions if you do them in moderate amounts since they only respond to your rep being lowered and they want a more neutral rep, why didn't Irenicus buy permission to cast spells?, believing Anath near the temple ruins yields an alternate way of killing the shadows but then it doesn't give any exp, can't enter druid grove from the north - means you'll meet Cern after the shadow druids/rakshasa if you declined to have him join in trademeet as he then says to meet up there and leaves automatically (then he appears after having met ihtafeer - should've appear somewhere to the south instead, oddly enough you can say that Faldorn has become leader of the druids before having seen that+ihtafeer suddenly goes hostile without explanation based on odd triggers like having keldorn in the party or the flail of ages in your inventory), when talking to keldorn again after he's patching things up with his wife and family the dialogue option to make him re-join immediately makes it sound like you're letting him go instead, a few party banter lies seem out of place and sound more modern, get detected by Galvena even if you used improved invisibility, irenicus not killing you after he's supposedly done with you is kind of a lame plot device, weird how a narrator's voice seems to talk through the player char in the spellhold dungeon (same with the end of the sahuagin scribe's note), golin's and claire's dialogue doesn't update after getting out of spellhold, if mentioning your real identity to Solaufein when sent to kill him he will give you his cloak at the end of the conversation without you or him having mentioned it, )
Some AI problems (enemies still in fog of war don't react to a nearby battle (they might walk out of it randomly if under the effect of a cloud or confusion spell but that's it) - changed in the SCS mod though it also changes a lot of other things, enemies can't open doors so you can open a room to cast a spell/use a wand and then close it - can be modded, some enemies will focus on a single target until death so you can easily kite them, can exit and re-enter a room to make a spellcaster waste their spells)
Some trial & error (can give a stunned character an item but not take it from them, quest items generally aren't discarded after the relevant quest is finished, various spell mechanics (some enemies can see through invisibility/sanctuary+non-detection (dragons and liches, major bosses, some quest NPCs), the game wasn't clear about if Keldorn was panicked or berzerked after the firkraag battle, cloudkill still does some damage and stinking cloud still puts a char to sleep if they have poison immunity from the amulet or a scroll (unless using spell immunity: evocation and a party member casted the cloud rather than the character themselves, remove magic also doesn't help against this sleep contrary to what the online wiki says) - poison damage is more consistent in Enhanced Edition), OTOH when it comes to minor globe it DOES protect against a caster's own stinking cloud+web but not the extra non-poison damage from cloudkill (a lvl 5 spell; Complete ver., not sure about EE), Protection from Magic Energy only protects against enemy attack spells and only non-elemental ones (not the caster's own or a party member's cloud spells for example (including the non-poison damage from cloudkill); Complete ver.) - EXCEPT for skull trap which it does protect against if the protection caster or a party member uses it (it says save vs spell rather than immune if the caster of the buff casts the skull trap but it works 100% of the time), which creatures have what spell immunities/resistance (can often use dispel but there are exceptions), the negative modifier for using a weapon without proficiency is larger than stated in the manual (-5 as well as a 1 attack per round limit) - making the "use any item" HLA less effective, need to check the availability of spells (such as minor sequencer) when picking your selection before beginning a game or you might have to go a long time without them, some ambush attacks, various elemental damage and poison ignores mirror image - still a great spell though, in some cases there is a false sense of urgency conveyed when given a quest (Jarlaxle quest which also happens in-between a bunch of timed quest in drow city), unlisted spell immunity exceptions (some own damage spells like cloudkill or incendiary cloud, time stop, breach, thrust, pierce, strike), some enemies are immune to backstab, finding keldorn again after his family quest - the family could've at least been at his home and told the player that he's in a backroom at his temple, so-so directions to aran lindvail in chapter 3, true sight or detect invisibility won't let you target improved invisible party members with spells, parts of spellhold (use ordinary looking gems to activate the portal, door trap room S of starting point - unless you enter from the other side, the crushing walls trap makes your thief walk into it when trying to disarm it+you might not be able to get back the loot from a party member killed by it - no telekinesis spell), the adventurer's mart shop updates after returning from the underdark, fairly easy to miss the ring of free action reward in spellhold - have to keep interacting with the book that summons monsters, when talking to the spectator about the chest it's guarding you might dismiss the solution if you didn't have 13 wisdom on the char used as you'll still start the right conversation thread but then the dialogue ends about mid-way through, trap in Kuo-toan Tunnels which can't be seen or disarmed - can be absorbed with cloak of mirroring or fire resistance at least, spell immunity won't work vs time stop, rune order puzzle in the planar sphere - no clues to the order besides one of them sort of looking like a 3)
Some tedious aspects (if you start casting a spell on an enemy and they turn invisible then the spell is canceled AND wasted, a petrified char disappears from the sidebar meaning if they were petrified behind a wall it can be near impossible to find them in some situations, the player char can't be revived - it's game over if they die, overabundance of semi-useless items to wade through (gems, small amounts of money, ammo), often can't ask NPCs in an area about the location of an NPC in the same area (can sometimes do it if it's related to certain active quests and then it can cover other areas as well) - not even those who might be in the know like innkeepers, return prices on some items - pay 15k for an item that nets 1k when sold (charisma also has no effect on sold items, some drow gear also sells for less than it costs to identify it despite being +3), various empty containers, getting good main stats/attributes during character creation can take forever (no dice total no. displayed (until Enhanced Edition), seemingly pointless luck element which slows it down) and playable characters you meet in-game often have mixed stats or are poorly thought out considering their Class, some backtracking where you don't encounter anything new while doing it (first dungeon, keldorn's family quest, parts of underdark, to area edges to travel - can use ctrl+j for teleportation though it's a cheat and there probably should've been a run move or fastforward feature for outside of combat since you have pretty limited spell charges for haste (game could've paused if you encounter enemies along the way)), waiting for spell/status effects to run out after a battle is over, Imoen (if you want to use her) will lag behind in exp unless you rush to Spellhold/chapter 4 - can use a cheat to increase her exp though, have to re-add spells for a level drained (energy drain spell) spellcaster, no cure for ability score drain besides resting - restoration could've worked, having to identify newly found copies of an item that you've already identified before - your party could've learned to identify it automatically after doing it once, having to rescribe spells after being level drained and curing it, gain no exp if an NPC landed the killing blow on an enemy)
Evil characters gain less xp due to having fewer quests to do
Overpowered stuff (mislead, Keldorn with Carsomyr (enemy mages don't use Protection from Magical Weapons enough), traps or just spike traps? (can lay traps then rest and repeat as they won't disappear but there's a limit of 7 in the same room/sub area, spike traps are also not relevant until ToB expansion at lvl 24), sequencer - after casting it (duration is permanent) you can cast 2+ spells at the same time as a special ability (so instantly) and they're stored outside of the spellbook (for example: mirror image+blur(+spirit armor or stoneskin), web+web or malison+web, 2x magic missile, 2-3 skull traps or animate dead, malison+slow, 2-3x lower resistance (esp vs drow or dragons), 2x spider summon then haste and/or web?; also works with priest spells for a multiclass char), charisma and strength dumping followed by getting certain items early on, spells that block enemies from fighting you directly and in larger groups like mass summon/web/stinking cloud+free action/minor globe/spell immunity: evocation (magic energy protection does not work here however), spirit armor+blur+improved invisibility, blind and glitterdust (+malison), sleep (mainly in BG1 as it won't affect lvl 5+ enemies), malice and/or doom then spook? (better here since you're higher level), haste, AoE invisibility (improved also helps AC and saving throws), improved haste+melf's meteors (treated as a +5 weapon so good vs golems) or dual wield fighters, protection from fire spell+ring (heal from fire), skull trap+sleep and/or sequencer?, slow (+malison debuff) vs spellcasters, vampiric touch on your summons or fighters for extra HP as a pre-battle buff (long duration), wizard eye+simulacrum or project image, project image to summon more creatures, Project Image+Robe of Vecna & Amulet of Power+Time Stop+Improved Alacrity, spell shield+immunity (both lvl 5), Blindness on your thief to set more traps or hide in shadows during battle - due to weird game mechanics the thief acts as if not detected if outside of melee combat, arrows of dispelling but they're rare here (after fletcher in the promenade), protection from magic energy protects against a skull trap used by the caster or a party member, Scroll of Protection from Magic on a lich=can't buff itself nor cast spells through the globe it creates (rare in BG2 though), death spell vs any summons besides fallen planetar, Staff of the Magi lets you re-equip it to keep going invisible), use Project Image to Wish back the entire party's HP and spells (including the lvl 7 slot spent on that Project Image, you get as many tries as you have Project Image and Wish spells (32) to wish back your spells at max level, "why sorcs are the ultimate character"), break line of sight with enemies and hide while hasted and/or using the boots of speed (spells that were currently targeting you fail and are wasted) - can also use this to repeatedly backstab quickly, some HLA abilities (ToB), Dispel Magic (inquisitor ver) - double caster level+works on liches and rakshasa, can sell stolen items to certain vendors (fencers) and then steal them back from the same vendor and repeat, Time stop+shapechange into mind flayer though these are lvl 9 spells (some enemies are also immune to TS), Mustard jelly form vs liches, Summon insects and the like vs spellcasters?, earth elemental token/transformation HLA+armor of faith+hardiness=immunity to physical damage, mass raise dead as it heals even party members who are still alive and the range is the sight range of the caster - nerfed in EE)
Some convoluted stats (hit dice, attacks per round)
Some minor storytelling annoyances (the player has no option to interact with the cowled wizards or tell Imoen not to attack during the fight with Irenicus in Athkatla as it's a cutscene (can't say that you should be arrested too for example) - would've changed the story completely though, unfitting voice clips when for example Minsc starts to talk right after Imoen's arrest, banter occuring while picking up loot - makes you have to walk away a few steps and re-examine the loot to pick it up, can't save Sanik from assassination due to it happening during an in-game cutscene, can't avoid capture during the ship battle (but can choose who to help in the fishmen/sahuagin conflict), kind of cheesy and very foreboding imoen dream sequence after spellhold which you can't talk to her about afterwards, can't redeem at least some of the fallen paladins, the elves act as if the drow are still a big threat even if you took out pretty much their entire city)
So-so character animation and the sprites/pre-rendered models aren't expressive at all during dialogue (FF2 onwards, Monkey Island, Secret of Evermore, Half-Life, Fallout, etc), Somewhat generic looking characters/paperdolls (inventory screen, they actually look slightly worse here) and some character portraits are goofy/uncool looking
Stealing and lockpicking is as basic as in BG1 (and still inconsistent at times in terms of what will trigger people to call the guards). It also often fails even at 105+ pickpocketing skill
Can't convince party NPCs to not fight their rival NPCs (need to check a guide to keep people from leaving or fighting)
Can't choose for how long you want to rest (set at 8 hours, interrupted sleep doesn't replenish your spells)
Wizard slayers kinda suck without a mod fix (letting them affect spellcasters with ranged attacks)
No level 6+ enchantment school spells
Detect evil and know alignment aren't quite reliable for determining whether to trust an NPC besides for one quest (paladin's stronghold quest and you only need the former here). You also can't just detect an evil character and then kill them freely as they might still trigger guards and turn others hostile
Sometimes uneven difficulty (tough: mind flayer base in sewers if you don't cheese it, lich at the athkatla city gate, dragons if you fight them when you first get to them; easy: druid grove, temple ruins besides the dragon, most of chapter 3 and spellhold, sahuagin/fish city, bodhi after underdark, the final battle started off good but sort of fizzled out after taking out the demons as irenicus in his last slayer form just stood still for me and didn't cast horrid wilting either)
Can't dual class to or from a specialist mage class here
Some poor high level abilities (ToB)
The slot machine doesn't really fit in with the rest of the spellhold asylum dungeon
Both upper doors of the House Jae'llat building lead to the same floor/sub area which only has one exit (can only open one of them with the wardstone so you're left wondering if you missed something)
Battle music tends to restart after going into a menu
Scroll of PfM and Spiritual Clarity (shaman only spell) the only cure for Chaos and Confusion spells besides dispel magic? - RM didn't work and neither did lesser+greater restoration. Prevented by chaotic commands, shield of harmony, lilarcor, aeger's hide, green amulet (underdark) and the equalizer (and psion's blade from ToB)
Town crier dialogue doesn't update according to what happens in main quest/what you've done (doesn't seem to update at all)
Kind of generic small teeth and north forest areas
Notes:
-The lowest possible roll during char creation is 75 and the highest is 108 but it's extremely rare to get more than 98 (certain classes like paladin and ranger have a higher chance of getting the max due to having one or more high minimum stats which the game auto-adjusts for). There's also a tweaks mod that lets you change the minimum stat for all attributes at once
-Remove Magic is listed as a cure for sleep on the online BG wiki but it only affects enemies. Only Dispel Magic or a scroll of Protection from Magic (rare in BG2) will help you against the sleep and poison caused by a stinking cloud, for example (and the latter is no good for a spellcaster since then they can't cast any spells for 10 minutes/turns)
-What carries over when importing: https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Importing
-It is possible to sell a wand to a shop and buy it back fully loaded with 100 charges
-Scrolls have a set caster level (10 in BG2) so after reaching that level with a char it's generally better to use them as a spell. However a spell casted via scroll can't be interrupted
-Item levels (vs magical protections like spell shield and globe of inv): https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Item_levels#:~:text=The%20caster%20level%20of%20an,purposes%20of%20dispelling%20their%20effects.
-Stun can be cured with remove paralysis and the scroll of PfM (sometimes also Free Action but not against the mindflayers to the S of the underdark) - not mentioned in the manual or in-game descriptions. Druids don't get remove paralysis. Tried Remove Magic and DM (DM w/ keldorn on the stun from a mindflayer), neither worked. Prevented by chaotic commands, spell immunity: evocation (?), green amulet (underdark). Not Arbanne +2 or ring of free action/other free action gear nor the spell
-Inconsistency in how some "free action" items work - keldorn's armor still lets you haste him while the ring doesn't (IIRC you could just equip the boots of speed after the ring in BG1 to have their haste effect work). Can be fixed with the fixes mod
-Hidden luck stat: https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Luck
-There's nothing to the empty potion bottles you find in the guarded compound in the temple district
-Pacifist run: https://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/qtcthj/finished_my_saviorpacifist_playthrough_where_i/
Bugs:
-Battle music sometimes keeps going for a while after the threat is gone (the game itself sometimes thinks you're still in battle which means you can't switch armor and can't rest)
-Minsc's items disappeared once during the firkraag battle
-Sometimes you don't get a notification when a spell had no effect
-After the firkraag battle, Minsc would talk as if he just got berzerked after resurrecting Aerie and resting again
-Yoshimo would just disappear at one point in druid's grove when I told him to stay put for later
-If you give a wizard summoned elemental commands before the mind battle finishes it can bug out and do nothing instead
-Couldn't finish the unfinished business Gorj quest (had done ruins before getting it, the brother at copper coronet says something like "oh there he is" and but he doesn't appear. After that he calls you a fool as if you failed the quest). Meant I had to cheat to make the ore spawn
-Can repeatedly erase (ToB feature) and re-scribe a spell with a new scroll for additional exp
-Can pause game, target 6 things with wand of lightning, replace the wand of lightning in your quickslot with a scroll, unpause to cast a scroll 6 times
-? Breach doesn't work on minor globe or remove fear even though the message box and in-game visuals imply that it does (tried it on a party member, also tried vs shield and resist fear on the same member and that did work) - try it on an enemy using minor globe? Secret word did work on minor globe on a party member
-Crashed once in the demon knight summoning room in the underdark, once when facing the beholders south of the main underdark area and once when going back to the surface from underdark
-Hindra Jae'llat in drow city didn't turn hostile for me until I talked to her (everyone else in the sub area did)
-The game spawned two instances of Phaere in her house at one point
-Occasional bug where I had to click next to an enemy rather than on it to be able to target it (without it being invisible)
Misc:
-In non-EE, Spell shield (lvl 5, hits caster only) works against and WITHOUT it being destroyed: Beholder and Hivemother's anti-magic rays, Blue and Green dragon's lower resistances to respectively electricity and poison, Breaths from several types of dragons (not Green and Red), Some buffet types of attacks from various foes, Githyanki's and Giant Brain's psionic ego whips, Githyanki's psionic ballistics and psionic domination
-vs beholders: Spell immunity: Abjuration or spell shield (anti-magic ray), shield of balduran, cloak of mirroring (Flesh to Stone, Cause Serious Wounds and Death Ray), invisibility, free action (slow), chaotic commands (domination), Protection from magical weapons (lvl 6)(only lasts for 24 seconds though but the casting time is 1), Shield of Harmony (confusion, domination), Adjatha the Drinker (domination), cloak of mirroring/protection from magic energy
-vs mindflayers: chaotic commands (vs domination and confusion) & summons+haste and ranged+ring of the ram or horn of blasting, mordenkainen's sword summon (lvl 7, also a dancing blade ability), Protection from magical weapons (lvl 6), potion of genius+mind focusing for +6 int, potion of absorption+girdle of bluntness (they use crushing attacks), Shield of Harmony (confusion, domination), Adjatha the Drinker (domination), lilarcor/aeger's hide/the equalizer (confusion), slayer form (confusion, -2 rep though), Death Spell vs the ones that appear when you have to rescue Phaere in the Underdark since they're flagged as summons; spells (lower resist first): death, blind, spook, domination/stun, mislead and invisibility, nature's beauty (mass blind, lvl 7 druid)
-vs planetars, dragons, liches, mindflayers and other magical creatures: Protection from magical weapons (lvl 6)(only lasts for 24 seconds though but the casting time is 1)
-vs demi-liches: Spell immunity: Abjuration or enrage (imprisonment, DM, RM), Dispel Magic (inquisitor ver.)?, Scroll of Protection from Magic (rare), upgraded mace, carsomyr (dispel on hit), arrow of dispelling, Protection from Undead scrolls make you invisible to undead including these+protects against their imprisonment spells, bolt of glory (priest lvl 6), death fog (lvl 6), ring of the ram or horn of blasting into thief traps, protection from magic energy/cloak of mirroring (horrid wilting), doom+malison (not kangaxx?), ring of energy, +5 weapons (melf's meteors and the daggers from Cloak of the Stars for missile)
-vs spell immunity (5) - use spell thrust (3) or spellstrike (9)
-vs invisibility - true sight (also dispels Reflected Image, Mirror Image, Non-Detection, Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Mislead, Project Image, Simulacrum), glitterdust, detect invis (also dispels improved+shadow door, mage ver. is faster), detect illusion (also dispels Reflected Image, Mirror Image, Non-Detection), invisibility purge if you don't have the first 3 or an enemy keeps going invisible
-Minor globe protects vs fireball, lightning bolt and skull trap - better alternative to protection from ME for skull trap since it's lvl 3 but it's caster only unless you use wish/limited wish
-Breach (lvl 5) won't work if: spell shield (5), spell deflection (6), spell turning (7), spell trap (lvl 9) - use spell thrust (lvl 3), secret word (lvl 4), pierce magic (6), ruby ray (7 - needed for spell trap), warding whip (7), pierce shield (8), spellstrike (9). Spell shield will absorb these once but is removed in the process. DM won't work, try RM?
-More spell slots: Amulet of MetaSpell influence, HLAs, Dak'kon's Zerth Blad (ToB), Wondrous gloves (BG2 EE and ToB), mage-only rings (ring of wizardry, ring of acuity, ring of reaching/second wizardry ring?), The Bronze Ioun Stone, Upgraded Circlet of Netheril, mage circlets in ToB, item upgrade mod?
Attribute increases:
Spellhold: You will LOSE 1 point here. You can pick the stat yourself, though you can't pick all of them (strength and charisma are missing)
Hell: 2 strength, 2 con, 1 wisdom and 1 charisma depending on your choices. There's a lot more to it and you can lose stats (will lose 1 dexterity if you make only morally good choices)
Deck of Many Things (ToB): Star card increases your "main stat" by 1. For single-class characters, this is obvious. For duals, I *think* it's the active class, and for multis, I haven't found a correct guide yet. My fighter/thief got dexterity. If you're unlucky, you can get a permanent save penalty from the DoMT as well
Machine of Lum the Mad (ToB): 1 increase to each stat
Level Design-8 Frustration-6.5/7.5* Fun-8 Originality-6
Overall Score-8
*Doing the dragons and liches early, some encounters without the right gear/spells
+
Vast game world with tons of sidequests, various enemies, NPCs, equipment and a good number of different locations (some memorable ones include the underdark and the illithid gladiatorial arena there, athkatla, trademeet, spellhold, temple ruins)
Tons of interesting spells (create double (project image, mislead, simulacrum), invisibility, sequencer - store 2-3 spells for simultaneous and instant casting, transform, new dialogue from NPCs via charm spells (funny, weird or informative), contingency - situation-triggered auto-casting of 1 stored spell (condition is chosen by the player like an AI script or if/then statement), buffs and debuffs, can silence the party to avoid (some?) dialogue triggers, summon (nerfed to only 5 at the same time for the whole party here but they were OP in BG1), etc.; adds new low-mid level spells not in BG1 as well)
Excellent dialogue overall
Dialogue and quest choices matter (shadow thieves or the vampires/bodhi, can help some monsters and a town end up on friendly terms by investigating the murders in imnesvale, evil chars get the choice of poisoning the druid grove or not, some pre-made party members' alignment can change depending on the player's choices, hell trial near the end)
Good voice acting overall (plenty of it though most dialogue is only partially voiced)
Harder enemies
In-depth character creation and battle system (see BG1)
Rest anywhere in the wild besides near enemies and AoE spells (at your own risk as enemies might appear). Can also rest outdoors in some town areas
New classes (monk, barbarian, sorcerer) and subclasses/kits (wild mage, berserker, archer, etc.), New proficiencies, Adds trap laying/set traps and detect illusion skills for thieves, Can play as half-orcs
Limited spellbook slots provides a strategic element
Party conversations (including some light romance) however you can't initiate party dialogue manually - if you try the game just says the character doesn't want to talk
Some memorable characters (Irenicus - more fleshed out villain, Minsc, Jan, Jaheira, Yoshimo, Edwin, Elminster, Viconia, Tiax, the spectator)
Can import your char from BG1 (the fates of companion/NPC party members are all rewritten into a static script however - for example, Imoen has more of a central role even if you didn't take her with you in BG1 while Mortaron ends up dead and if you spent stat tomes on companions then they are lost (unless you use the cheat console to bring them back that is); can still choose your own party after the short first chapter but you do need to go after Imoen, who's been imprisoned, in the main quest). Note that only a few items carry over (see notes below, the rings of free action or gauntlets of ogre power don't for example) and that not all scribed spells carry over either
More large monsters including dragons
Features various characters from the first game along with new ones
Great interface overall (various hotkeys, spell quick slots (not enough of them though - more added in IWD2 but not EE?), detailed spell and gear info, can place map markers and notes (some are also pre-placed), non-pausing area map screen, manual journal notes+automatic sorting of active and completed quests)
Option to show interactive objects (including item containers, hold Tab - ToB expansion feature). Doesn't highlight area exits however
Various interesting quests (Unseeing eye cult, Haer'dalis quest, paladin quest with the noblewoman assassins, temple ruins, duel part of the druid grove quest, brynnlaw festhall quest where you get help from an NPC, drow city infiltration though it's a shame the disguise doesn't show in-game)
Decent moral system (less colorful than in Ultima or Fallout though)
Somewhat comical tone
Item/scroll bags. Bags of Holding (one in BG2 and one in ToB) hold 100 items each and you don't get encumbered by the items in them but you get the first one pretty late
Vivid modding scene (adds replay value, bugfixes (bandits can't start attacking mid-dialogue for example), various quality of life features, balance tweaks)
On the fly adjustable difficulty (default mode removes some inconveniences from BG1 like random HP growth/perma-death/chance of spell writing failure). Besides stat differences, easy means fewer enemy encounters and a luck bonus (the former is a bit counterproductive since you'll want to level up for an easier game)
Dungeon design/mechanics pick up where the TotSC expansion for BG1 left off (more puzzles and object interactions, can examine more objects for additional lore). There are also visible pit traps leading to the floor below and damage tiles in some dungeons (fun but not exactly new - see Dragon Quest 1-2)
Strongholds/keeps (class specific home base, some management options (can raise the taxes of the land for more gold but less happiness) and some quests related to it such as hiring mercenaries to clear out bandits in the same area; Suikoden 1-2)
Somewhat improved pathfinding (still kinda bad though as one or more chars will suddenly go a different way when moving through chokepoints and when trapped in a narrow path or smaller room you really have to micromanage each char to get them to where you want them)
Formations (they still break when moving)
Stashes - can safely store items in any container besides a few exceptions (in an uncompleted Watcher's Keep, the stronghold before you get it, Copper Coronet before you complete the Free Hendak quest); The Lion Head in NW Waukeen's Promenade is a decent spot here but also your fortress, could do this in BG1 already?). Can also steal or buy back items sold to vendors
Very good enemy variety
Familiar spell (chosen between 8 different ones based on alignment, adds a bit of HP to the caster (player char only) when summoned, best used for scouting and for the 1 extra spell/day that it comes with (can't choose what), can be asked for main quest advice+fed and petted (no gameplay effect?), upgraded HP boost in ToB, can be kept in inventory to avoid them dying) - risky though as you lose a stat point in constitution permanently upon their death+they don't level up
Background dialogue in real-time (see Fallout)
Breaks the rule of having shops in towns/neutral areas only and sometimes there are enemy attacks on towns (trademeet)
Mostly good bosses (firkraag (red dragon) and thaxll'ssillyia (black dragon) - can knock 2+ characters into a wall making them pass out for a bit, Faldorn duel as jaheira or cern solo - there should've been an explanation of the rules beforehand though (this battle is optional as it's possible to attack her and her party without the challenge instead), liches, kuo-toan prince (tadpoles puzzle), illithid brain - keeps spawning golems, twisted rune hideout - lich & friends, guarded compound, first irenicus fight)
Decent puzzles overall (temple ruins entrance (mirror) and letter room, riddle rooms in spellhold asylum, underdark sacrifice, using the control circlets to charm one or more mind flayers in the arena dungeon+managing them and the potions as a rare resource or having to combine domination and lower resist, egg swapping in drow city)
Higher resolution (800x600) which can be increased further via mods. Widescreen in the GOG Complete version
Gear crafting (build or upgrade gear from smaller parts - for the flail of ages you can choose how many and which kind of heads you want to add to (3 heads adds slow, 5 heads adds free action status to wielder - can get around not having haste by hasting before equipping it), the upgradeable horn of valhalla, for other weapons the game uses preset recipes however+it wastes a day each time)
Day/night cycle with some effects on gameplay (attacks and guild battles in Athkatla, various NPC schedules, some quests)
Some creative spell uses (can combine fireshield blue and red+haste on enemies for high damage (if using core rules there's a small chance of making the enemy not drop loot on death), can use feeblemind to steal from an item container near an NPC as it's not considered an aggression (lasts for 500 (!) days though and dispel magic does make the victim hostile, can't be used to steal from a vendor's inventory as you only steal what's on the vendor's person with pickpocket), two casters using minor spell turning+a scorcher spell to bounce it between them)
Can create a full custom party of 6 chars by playing in MP mode though the game isn't balanced for it nor is the story designed for it
Some level scaling in that when you reach certain levels (and/or have a smaller, higher level party), several fixed encounters will be replaced by tougher ones (new enemies will appear and there will be more enemies total)
Decent sense of vulnerability in the spellhold dungeon (get temporarily transformed into a monster at times and the vampires come and attack you if you take too long - every other time you rest it seems like, permanently lose one attribute point (choose between con/dex/int/wis) and your dream abilities from BG1 - can regain the former as well as gain +1 in other stats later on though)
Gain a baahl monster (slayer) transformation ability during chapter 4, which affects your rep when used. It won't change your alignment however (that can only change during the ToB expansion). Has good immunities and pretty good stats for when you get it but can't use spells and you can't rest nor save during the transformation, however the worst part is you start taking damage after using it for only 20 secs so it's fairly situational even for an evil char (it does protect against imprisonment for example)
Some fighting between different types of monsters and some fighting alongside NPCs (BG1). At one point you can also recruit some NPCs to help you in the final fight against Bodhi and her vampires (not really needed though)
Basic skill tree/grid (high level abilities, available at 3 mil exp for a pure class or lvl 14/13 for a multiclass char). Some abilities require a previous one to become available while others don't
High Level Abilities are available during BGII if you've installed Throne of Bhaal (at 3 mil exp which is beyond where BG2 on its own caps the experience (2 950 000)). If you do everything in BG2 (including some unfinished business mod content) you'll gain some HLAs before reaching Suldanessellar
+/-
Save anywhere except for during battle or a nearby AoE spell being in effect (Multiple nameable slots, shows time taken and a screenshot+party portraits but no stats or current location info)
The sheer amount of sidequests in the first city along with the game's mostly non-linear structure can get pretty overwhelming (it is at least chapter-based to keep some things on track (and most of the main questline is linear) but even if you focus on a couple at a time you'll run into new ones from scripted events, some dungeons like spellhold are partially non-linear as well, can skip drow city after getting the drow disguise though it is a pretty large chunk of the game with a lot of exp and loot+interesting questing - if you do go to the surface then you can't get the disguise back)
Need to hear about an area on the world map from a certain NPC (or a couple) before you can travel to it. In Athkatla/the first city you can see all the districts on the world map and right after entering the slums and talking with Gaelan for a bit to activate chapter 2, you can travel freely around the city (you can also go to watcher's keep at this point if you have ToB installed but it's not recommended). Outside of the city the progression between areas is more linear for chapters 2-3 though you can still do various things in any order. This is different from BG1 where you could often travel to any area adjacent to the one you were currently in as long as you exited in its direction
A few areas such as irenicus's dungeon, the planar prison, the labyrinth beneath spellhold or the sahuagin city can't be returned to after exiting them or finishing the quest related to them (unless you use a cheat code in which case they will be as you left them)
Magic resistance no longer makes a character resist beneficial spells
Many fights come down to reloading after a bum rush then trying different buffs/debuffs to adjust (unless you use certain OP tactics and/or scout and run away a lot). With robe of vecna (early item) and amulet of power equipped you can use some defensive spells like spell immunity on the fly, and spells like sequencer and contingency or certain potions and scrolls also help to an extent. However it would've been more dynamic to have a "scan" spell or ability (perhaps wizard eye/a familiar/detect illusion skill could have this effect) to quickly see either what abilities and spells an enemy has or see active status effects by hovering the mouse pointer over them (in IWD2 you can see what spell an enemy is casting while it's being cast via a text message above them which would also help a bit)
A paused game will stay paused while at the inventory screen in both SP and MP now (you can even move items between characters, a bit overpowered in some cases but also more flexible) - can be toggled in the .ini file. However it does not stay paused if you go to the record/sheet or spell book screens
Quests given by new party members require that you let them join you (you can ditch them right away?)
Dark themes (torture, euthanasia, vengeance, prostitutes, destructive relationships)
Can't avoid encounters on world map? (Fallout)
The main city, and in a sense the game world, doesn't feel "alive" since people don't move between districts and major events don't happen without the player's involvement (besides some side quests and party member-specific quests being on a timer, also some quests in the underdark where the drow city can go hostile if you run out of time making you miss out on a bunch of exp; means you can generally rest as much as you'd like and level up quite a bit in the early game - the only reason not to is that Imoen will lag behind in exp if you're planning to have her re-join later and don't want to cheat to make her catch up). This wasn't really done in RPGs at the time though there are some contemporary games like Deus Ex and Shenmue that started doing it, and of course Fallout 1 had some time limits related to the main questline
A few time limited quests (Nalia/Jaheira/Korgan/Hexxat's quests, some stronghold quests, some chapter 5 quests)
Can't switch spells without resting to memorize the new ones
You'll probably need a guide to learn some mechanics (spell combos, can use Strength to reduce some stronger enemies strength)
No attribute stat distribution on level up (these are gained via rare items instead) and HP gains are also automatic. Weapon proficiencies, thief skills and sorcerer class spells are picked by the player
No in-game digital manual
Rehashes some things from BG1 besides most of the game engine (death cutscene, some NPC voices, various items and spells)
If using the Core rules difficulty option: permanent death where a character explodes/disintegrates (->reload - pointless!, the latter happens pretty rarely though). The death's door mechanic from D&D where a character is bleeding out for some time before death (or one where they become unconscious instead) could've made for a more flexible system. There are resurrection staffs and spells but for many battles you might as well reload instead
Get a ring that boosts charisma to 18 very early on (not much use putting points into the stats, can do the same with strength though it's a girdle)
Protection from fire is more useful than other elemental buffs due to how common it is+some of the best damage spells are fire-based
Otiluke's sphere is better as a defensive spell in enhanced edition (no save for allies or caster)
Destroyed loot can be prevented by removing gore in the options (level drain, disintegration and petrification and when a cold attack freezes a character destroys items)
Chars gain only a low, fixed amount of HP per level after lvl 10 (warriors=3, priests and rogues=2, wizards=1, multi-class characters gain half of this per level (rounded down) or a third for triple class which is rounded down if above 1 HP and rounded up if below - however for a double class char the .5 HP is saved so you gain 3 HP in total per 2 fighter class levels)
Fewer but more fleshed out companions than in BG1 (17 vs 25)
Single entry points to outdoors locations (for example you'll always enter bridge district from the N)
Can't climb, jump or crouch - if not as an action mechanic it could've been used tactically to isolate the party from the enemy or to reach high ground which could give a combat advantage (an alternate could be create bridge or ladder spells)
General lack of terrain effects on combat (high/low ground, terrain type - the fire floor in the ruins is an exception, weather besides the occasional thunder storm, no destructible terrain? (X-COM, SimCity 2000, Warcraft 2, Jagged Alliance 2, Outcast to an extent))
Has the same weather effects as BG1: light snowfall (much rarer here), rain, thunder storms though they're apparently very rare too (more likely to get hit if wearing metal armor), wind ambience
Can rest to heal poison here though it takes a long time (can also rest to cure disease which doesn't take longer). Can also enable the option to rest until healed (you heal only 1 hp per 8h however memorized healing spells are auto-cast during rest and inns increase it to up to 4)
Acid arrows were nerfed a lot (other elemental ones as well but not as much) and arrows of detonation are only available in ToB. Movement speed increases also make it easier to reach archers - archery was OP in BG1 however
Can't dual wield a throwing axe with another weapon
No moving hazards unless you count lightning bolt traps (possibly for the best considering the pathfinding issues though)
Different character portrait style (not as well drawn but fewer ugly or goofy looking chars, more makeup on female chars)
No need to disarm the traps in the elemental themed hall near the beginning (you do get several wands from doing it though)
Death of a party member (Phantasy Star II, FF4 & 7, Suikoden)
Less than half of the weapon categories include a weapon that gives immunity to a status effect (warhammer, two-handed sword, spear, short sword, staff, long sword, katana). 7/11 for armor categories
Protection from evil no longer stacks
Random ricochet path for lightning bolt - can still be quite good in tight spaces+with immunity to it
Melf's acid arrow doesn't scale well (still good for interrupting spellcasters)
The stoneshape scroll could've been used in more creative ways (basically used as a key to lock a door here)
Utility experience points - gained from opening locks, disarming traps and scribing spell scrolls to your spellbook (encourages using thief skills more though it's inconsistent how for example using a knock spell doesn't also give exp and only trap detection involves any skill since the others are decided by a dice roll). The gain from disarming traps also doesn't scale and they're generally not dangerous enough to make disarming necessary (not enough damage+not persistent until disarmed), with some exceptions
Drow city battle arenas (1 vs 1 battles in one of them, though they never get that hard and you can get some help from your party such as true sight from keldorn and inventory item switching during the duel)
The tree of life part could've been more interesting if there was some sort of puzzle element to growing the branches with the nuts and the parasites were more interesting fights
Weaker random encounters than in BG1
Better economy overall than in BG1 (there's not enough to spend gold on after a couple of chapters and until after the underdark but then the adventurer's mart and trademeet market shops restock+some of the gear crafting costs a decent amount of gold+there are some items to buy in the last area)
Have to be good in hell to not lose your neutral alignment?
-
Quite a few useless or nearly useless spells (chill touch and shocking grasp, some spells that hit both your party and the enemy such as color spray (while sleep is better and doesn't), some summon spells due to wands/staffs, ghoul touch, chromatic orb later on or on harder difficulty - the effects succeed too rarely, armor since shield exists, grease due to enemies not hit directly being able to move through it without being affected and better spells, infravision, protection from evil as a mage - cleric one is better (also doesn't stack here), reflected image since mirror image exists, deafness since blind exists, scorcher since the wand of fire exists, knock (open doors - doesn't work on magical locks and pick locks is better in BG2), power word: sleep because of the low HP requirement+since command exists, stinking cloud compared to web unless combined w/ sweet air/poison immunity item? (the latter won't help against its sleep effect though), luck since chant exists, ray of enfeeblement generally since blind and hold person exist and heavy armored enemies can still move (only party members are encumbered) though it is better than cause disease, ghost armor for its level, hold person (mage) since the priest one exists and is lvl 2, hold undead becomes too weak in BG2, clairvoyance, minor spell deflection since it's weak for BG2 and minor globe exists?, summonings were nerfed here making MS1-2 kinda suck, protection from normal missiles, wraithform since invisibility and mirror image exist+can't cast spells while using it, too many enemies can't be/are too hard polymorphed?, polymorph self (besides as a scroll w/ a backstabbing thief) - bad to hit as pure mage and fighter mage is better hasted+dual wielding, confusion compared to chaos, contagion since slow is AoE+causes a save throw penalty, farsight since wizard eye exists, ice storm is kinda weak (+chance of destroying loot w/ core rules), dispel magic compared to remove magic unless the caster is multiclass, animate dead as a mage if you have a cleric, oracle here if you have true sight, protection from normal weapons is only useful against regular enemies here, conjure elemental (wizard version) since the wizard gets stuck for about 20 secs in a mental battle during the summoning and they can go hostile+aren't that strong either - the priest version doesn't have this issue (the lvl 6 wizard one is good in the temple ruins and graveyard tomb however), feeblemind rarely works on the strong enemies (that are alone or in small groups) which it would be good against even with a couple of lower resists before it, minor spell turning is weak for when you get it (except the item that lets you use it on fighters), shadow door since improved invisibility and invis potions exist, chain lightning for its level (fireball generally does more damage and is lvl 3), spell deflection for how late you get it+flesh to stone is rare, tenser's transformation since you can't use spells or abilities during it, globe of invulnerability (lvl 6) is weak for its level+there are no good lvl 4 AoE spells (cloudkill is lvl 5 so not covered, though greater malison is), most lvl 6 wizard summons since animate dead and priest versions exist, control undead isn't effective enough for when you get it, protection from elements (lvl 7) and protection from energy (8) are weak for their levels and you can use the lower level protection from fire (most common element)+from magic energy instead, symbol: death isn't effective enough for its level, absolute immunity (9) since it doesn't actually offer what it says+comes too late for what it does and the duration is too short, energy drain (9) is too weak for its level, entangle was nerfed and hits all, shillelagh/magical/flame blade stone are weak+don't scale, spiritual hammer doesn't scale enough, barkskin due to short duration and no AC stacking, charm isn't effective enough and hold exists (fun for NPC reactions though), find traps unless no thief+first time playing (most are also no that strong here), goodberry is weak+slow to cast, resist fire & cold compared to protection, aid is pretty weak here, protection from fire (priest) since the wizard version exists, rigid thinking since hold person/confusion/chaos exist, etc.)
Can't cure Domination reliably - PfM scroll didn't help for me at one point but did at another. DM and RM didn't work in the illithid arena dungeon. Greater restoration didn't work. Try mental domination via woodland being? (domination is prevented with chaotic commands and shield of harmony, Adjatha the Drinker, green amulet (underdark))
In the illithid arena dungeon, neither free action nor spell immunity: conjuration will prevent Stun by the mindflayers
The semi-real time battle system is less strategic than turn based variants (but can also be more exciting)
Unbalanced classes (weaker: monk until end-game, beastmaster, ranger?, stalker?, bounty hunter?, swashbuckler?)
Some control/interface issues (minor pathfinding problems (can be helped by changing a config file), can't quickly travel the world map from anywhere on an area map even if it's explored and safe (ctrl+j cheat basically fixes this except you can miss some event triggers here and there if you overuse it), negative status spell descriptions sometimes don't mention cures (stun, paralysis, hold, confusion), somewhat dated shop interface (can't see proficiencies or easily compare shop gear to equipped gear within the shop menu, can't auto-equip newly bought gear (see console JRPGs from the mid 90s) - however you can now buy more copies of one item by double clicking on it as well as see how many are in stock, can't sort the shop items by item type including sold items nor show only items of one type at a time), clicking on interactive objects (circle icon) doesn't make the party leader walk up to them (unlike pretty much everything else in the game), need to memorize quite a few icons (spells/buffs), can't hover over a party member or their portrait to see an "active status effects" tooltip - have to check the char sheet, can queue up move commands but not attack commands (hold shift), too much delay on healing spells, can be annoying to start casting a spell and before the casting even begins it's canceled by an enemy attack, skull trap's hit detection is sloppy and its radius when it triggers is lower than advertised - still great though, can't skip the in-game cutscenes, can't right-click a spell while in-game (lowbar menu) to view its description, no AoE marker when casting such a spell, no notification when there's a stat check during dialogue - could've showed the option if you were close but played a noise if that option was picked if you didn't have enough (or in the case of int/wis checks just let you have the choices and use your brain to convince NPCs since it's arbitrary if wisdom or intelligence is checked), after the harper's hold events with Jaheira she will leave permanently if you take her out of the group - can't even try to initiate dialogue as she's walking away, some interface elements could've been better proportioned or positioned to avoid manual scrolling, having to manually replace a character's inventory items after they lose their gear (death, jaheira's duel) gets tedious - raise dead could've restored a char's gear if resurrected in the same room, no quick load hotkey, can't save specific equipment or spell setups to quickly switch to later on - see CV: Dawn of Sorrow (IWD2 partially implemented this with its quick weapon slots on the inventory screen), a caster won't automatically move in range when using a cone of cold spell/frost wand on an enemy, when looting an item container rather than a corpse and if the char looting it has/gets a full inventory you'll have to walk away and back to it - access to the loot list is removed when going into the inventory screen, if you cast spell immunity and click on a different party member/spell menu/menu button before picking the school then the spell is wasted - can also happen if you cast it with several members at the same time, can't double check your high level abilities grid/table in-between level ups - can only check abilities via the special abilities icon and spells via the spellbooks so not the passive ones, sometimes if you click too fast when dragging and dropping the item you clicked on stays in place or is quickly dropped in a slot next to it - avoided by clicking and holding slightly longer, can't right click a stored sequencer to check what's in it)
Some NPCs don't act according to their alignment
Some plot/world building inconsistencies and oddities (weird how NPCs and enemies can dimension door wherever when you can only do it to a place you can see, it gets bizarre how neutral chars will encourage killing innocent people or other evil actions if you do them in moderate amounts since they only respond to your rep being lowered and they want a more neutral rep, why didn't Irenicus buy permission to cast spells?, believing Anath near the temple ruins yields an alternate way of killing the shadows but then it doesn't give any exp, can't enter druid grove from the north - means you'll meet Cern after the shadow druids/rakshasa if you declined to have him join in trademeet as he then says to meet up there and leaves automatically (then he appears after having met ihtafeer - should've appear somewhere to the south instead, oddly enough you can say that Faldorn has become leader of the druids before having seen that+ihtafeer suddenly goes hostile without explanation based on odd triggers like having keldorn in the party or the flail of ages in your inventory), when talking to keldorn again after he's patching things up with his wife and family the dialogue option to make him re-join immediately makes it sound like you're letting him go instead, a few party banter lies seem out of place and sound more modern, get detected by Galvena even if you used improved invisibility, irenicus not killing you after he's supposedly done with you is kind of a lame plot device, weird how a narrator's voice seems to talk through the player char in the spellhold dungeon (same with the end of the sahuagin scribe's note), golin's and claire's dialogue doesn't update after getting out of spellhold, if mentioning your real identity to Solaufein when sent to kill him he will give you his cloak at the end of the conversation without you or him having mentioned it, )
Some AI problems (enemies still in fog of war don't react to a nearby battle (they might walk out of it randomly if under the effect of a cloud or confusion spell but that's it) - changed in the SCS mod though it also changes a lot of other things, enemies can't open doors so you can open a room to cast a spell/use a wand and then close it - can be modded, some enemies will focus on a single target until death so you can easily kite them, can exit and re-enter a room to make a spellcaster waste their spells)
Some trial & error (can give a stunned character an item but not take it from them, quest items generally aren't discarded after the relevant quest is finished, various spell mechanics (some enemies can see through invisibility/sanctuary+non-detection (dragons and liches, major bosses, some quest NPCs), the game wasn't clear about if Keldorn was panicked or berzerked after the firkraag battle, cloudkill still does some damage and stinking cloud still puts a char to sleep if they have poison immunity from the amulet or a scroll (unless using spell immunity: evocation and a party member casted the cloud rather than the character themselves, remove magic also doesn't help against this sleep contrary to what the online wiki says) - poison damage is more consistent in Enhanced Edition), OTOH when it comes to minor globe it DOES protect against a caster's own stinking cloud+web but not the extra non-poison damage from cloudkill (a lvl 5 spell; Complete ver., not sure about EE), Protection from Magic Energy only protects against enemy attack spells and only non-elemental ones (not the caster's own or a party member's cloud spells for example (including the non-poison damage from cloudkill); Complete ver.) - EXCEPT for skull trap which it does protect against if the protection caster or a party member uses it (it says save vs spell rather than immune if the caster of the buff casts the skull trap but it works 100% of the time), which creatures have what spell immunities/resistance (can often use dispel but there are exceptions), the negative modifier for using a weapon without proficiency is larger than stated in the manual (-5 as well as a 1 attack per round limit) - making the "use any item" HLA less effective, need to check the availability of spells (such as minor sequencer) when picking your selection before beginning a game or you might have to go a long time without them, some ambush attacks, various elemental damage and poison ignores mirror image - still a great spell though, in some cases there is a false sense of urgency conveyed when given a quest (Jarlaxle quest which also happens in-between a bunch of timed quest in drow city), unlisted spell immunity exceptions (some own damage spells like cloudkill or incendiary cloud, time stop, breach, thrust, pierce, strike), some enemies are immune to backstab, finding keldorn again after his family quest - the family could've at least been at his home and told the player that he's in a backroom at his temple, so-so directions to aran lindvail in chapter 3, true sight or detect invisibility won't let you target improved invisible party members with spells, parts of spellhold (use ordinary looking gems to activate the portal, door trap room S of starting point - unless you enter from the other side, the crushing walls trap makes your thief walk into it when trying to disarm it+you might not be able to get back the loot from a party member killed by it - no telekinesis spell), the adventurer's mart shop updates after returning from the underdark, fairly easy to miss the ring of free action reward in spellhold - have to keep interacting with the book that summons monsters, when talking to the spectator about the chest it's guarding you might dismiss the solution if you didn't have 13 wisdom on the char used as you'll still start the right conversation thread but then the dialogue ends about mid-way through, trap in Kuo-toan Tunnels which can't be seen or disarmed - can be absorbed with cloak of mirroring or fire resistance at least, spell immunity won't work vs time stop, rune order puzzle in the planar sphere - no clues to the order besides one of them sort of looking like a 3)
Some tedious aspects (if you start casting a spell on an enemy and they turn invisible then the spell is canceled AND wasted, a petrified char disappears from the sidebar meaning if they were petrified behind a wall it can be near impossible to find them in some situations, the player char can't be revived - it's game over if they die, overabundance of semi-useless items to wade through (gems, small amounts of money, ammo), often can't ask NPCs in an area about the location of an NPC in the same area (can sometimes do it if it's related to certain active quests and then it can cover other areas as well) - not even those who might be in the know like innkeepers, return prices on some items - pay 15k for an item that nets 1k when sold (charisma also has no effect on sold items, some drow gear also sells for less than it costs to identify it despite being +3), various empty containers, getting good main stats/attributes during character creation can take forever (no dice total no. displayed (until Enhanced Edition), seemingly pointless luck element which slows it down) and playable characters you meet in-game often have mixed stats or are poorly thought out considering their Class, some backtracking where you don't encounter anything new while doing it (first dungeon, keldorn's family quest, parts of underdark, to area edges to travel - can use ctrl+j for teleportation though it's a cheat and there probably should've been a run move or fastforward feature for outside of combat since you have pretty limited spell charges for haste (game could've paused if you encounter enemies along the way)), waiting for spell/status effects to run out after a battle is over, Imoen (if you want to use her) will lag behind in exp unless you rush to Spellhold/chapter 4 - can use a cheat to increase her exp though, have to re-add spells for a level drained (energy drain spell) spellcaster, no cure for ability score drain besides resting - restoration could've worked, having to identify newly found copies of an item that you've already identified before - your party could've learned to identify it automatically after doing it once, having to rescribe spells after being level drained and curing it, gain no exp if an NPC landed the killing blow on an enemy)
Evil characters gain less xp due to having fewer quests to do
Overpowered stuff (mislead, Keldorn with Carsomyr (enemy mages don't use Protection from Magical Weapons enough), traps or just spike traps? (can lay traps then rest and repeat as they won't disappear but there's a limit of 7 in the same room/sub area, spike traps are also not relevant until ToB expansion at lvl 24), sequencer - after casting it (duration is permanent) you can cast 2+ spells at the same time as a special ability (so instantly) and they're stored outside of the spellbook (for example: mirror image+blur(+spirit armor or stoneskin), web+web or malison+web, 2x magic missile, 2-3 skull traps or animate dead, malison+slow, 2-3x lower resistance (esp vs drow or dragons), 2x spider summon then haste and/or web?; also works with priest spells for a multiclass char), charisma and strength dumping followed by getting certain items early on, spells that block enemies from fighting you directly and in larger groups like mass summon/web/stinking cloud+free action/minor globe/spell immunity: evocation (magic energy protection does not work here however), spirit armor+blur+improved invisibility, blind and glitterdust (+malison), sleep (mainly in BG1 as it won't affect lvl 5+ enemies), malice and/or doom then spook? (better here since you're higher level), haste, AoE invisibility (improved also helps AC and saving throws), improved haste+melf's meteors (treated as a +5 weapon so good vs golems) or dual wield fighters, protection from fire spell+ring (heal from fire), skull trap+sleep and/or sequencer?, slow (+malison debuff) vs spellcasters, vampiric touch on your summons or fighters for extra HP as a pre-battle buff (long duration), wizard eye+simulacrum or project image, project image to summon more creatures, Project Image+Robe of Vecna & Amulet of Power+Time Stop+Improved Alacrity, spell shield+immunity (both lvl 5), Blindness on your thief to set more traps or hide in shadows during battle - due to weird game mechanics the thief acts as if not detected if outside of melee combat, arrows of dispelling but they're rare here (after fletcher in the promenade), protection from magic energy protects against a skull trap used by the caster or a party member, Scroll of Protection from Magic on a lich=can't buff itself nor cast spells through the globe it creates (rare in BG2 though), death spell vs any summons besides fallen planetar, Staff of the Magi lets you re-equip it to keep going invisible), use Project Image to Wish back the entire party's HP and spells (including the lvl 7 slot spent on that Project Image, you get as many tries as you have Project Image and Wish spells (32) to wish back your spells at max level, "why sorcs are the ultimate character"), break line of sight with enemies and hide while hasted and/or using the boots of speed (spells that were currently targeting you fail and are wasted) - can also use this to repeatedly backstab quickly, some HLA abilities (ToB), Dispel Magic (inquisitor ver) - double caster level+works on liches and rakshasa, can sell stolen items to certain vendors (fencers) and then steal them back from the same vendor and repeat, Time stop+shapechange into mind flayer though these are lvl 9 spells (some enemies are also immune to TS), Mustard jelly form vs liches, Summon insects and the like vs spellcasters?, earth elemental token/transformation HLA+armor of faith+hardiness=immunity to physical damage, mass raise dead as it heals even party members who are still alive and the range is the sight range of the caster - nerfed in EE)
Some convoluted stats (hit dice, attacks per round)
Some minor storytelling annoyances (the player has no option to interact with the cowled wizards or tell Imoen not to attack during the fight with Irenicus in Athkatla as it's a cutscene (can't say that you should be arrested too for example) - would've changed the story completely though, unfitting voice clips when for example Minsc starts to talk right after Imoen's arrest, banter occuring while picking up loot - makes you have to walk away a few steps and re-examine the loot to pick it up, can't save Sanik from assassination due to it happening during an in-game cutscene, can't avoid capture during the ship battle (but can choose who to help in the fishmen/sahuagin conflict), kind of cheesy and very foreboding imoen dream sequence after spellhold which you can't talk to her about afterwards, can't redeem at least some of the fallen paladins, the elves act as if the drow are still a big threat even if you took out pretty much their entire city)
So-so character animation and the sprites/pre-rendered models aren't expressive at all during dialogue (FF2 onwards, Monkey Island, Secret of Evermore, Half-Life, Fallout, etc), Somewhat generic looking characters/paperdolls (inventory screen, they actually look slightly worse here) and some character portraits are goofy/uncool looking
Stealing and lockpicking is as basic as in BG1 (and still inconsistent at times in terms of what will trigger people to call the guards). It also often fails even at 105+ pickpocketing skill
Can't convince party NPCs to not fight their rival NPCs (need to check a guide to keep people from leaving or fighting)
Can't choose for how long you want to rest (set at 8 hours, interrupted sleep doesn't replenish your spells)
Wizard slayers kinda suck without a mod fix (letting them affect spellcasters with ranged attacks)
No level 6+ enchantment school spells
Detect evil and know alignment aren't quite reliable for determining whether to trust an NPC besides for one quest (paladin's stronghold quest and you only need the former here). You also can't just detect an evil character and then kill them freely as they might still trigger guards and turn others hostile
Sometimes uneven difficulty (tough: mind flayer base in sewers if you don't cheese it, lich at the athkatla city gate, dragons if you fight them when you first get to them; easy: druid grove, temple ruins besides the dragon, most of chapter 3 and spellhold, sahuagin/fish city, bodhi after underdark, the final battle started off good but sort of fizzled out after taking out the demons as irenicus in his last slayer form just stood still for me and didn't cast horrid wilting either)
Can't dual class to or from a specialist mage class here
Some poor high level abilities (ToB)
The slot machine doesn't really fit in with the rest of the spellhold asylum dungeon
Both upper doors of the House Jae'llat building lead to the same floor/sub area which only has one exit (can only open one of them with the wardstone so you're left wondering if you missed something)
Battle music tends to restart after going into a menu
Scroll of PfM and Spiritual Clarity (shaman only spell) the only cure for Chaos and Confusion spells besides dispel magic? - RM didn't work and neither did lesser+greater restoration. Prevented by chaotic commands, shield of harmony, lilarcor, aeger's hide, green amulet (underdark) and the equalizer (and psion's blade from ToB)
Town crier dialogue doesn't update according to what happens in main quest/what you've done (doesn't seem to update at all)
Kind of generic small teeth and north forest areas
Notes:
-The lowest possible roll during char creation is 75 and the highest is 108 but it's extremely rare to get more than 98 (certain classes like paladin and ranger have a higher chance of getting the max due to having one or more high minimum stats which the game auto-adjusts for). There's also a tweaks mod that lets you change the minimum stat for all attributes at once
-Remove Magic is listed as a cure for sleep on the online BG wiki but it only affects enemies. Only Dispel Magic or a scroll of Protection from Magic (rare in BG2) will help you against the sleep and poison caused by a stinking cloud, for example (and the latter is no good for a spellcaster since then they can't cast any spells for 10 minutes/turns)
-What carries over when importing: https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Importing
-It is possible to sell a wand to a shop and buy it back fully loaded with 100 charges
-Scrolls have a set caster level (10 in BG2) so after reaching that level with a char it's generally better to use them as a spell. However a spell casted via scroll can't be interrupted
-Item levels (vs magical protections like spell shield and globe of inv): https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Item_levels#:~:text=The%20caster%20level%20of%20an,purposes%20of%20dispelling%20their%20effects.
-Stun can be cured with remove paralysis and the scroll of PfM (sometimes also Free Action but not against the mindflayers to the S of the underdark) - not mentioned in the manual or in-game descriptions. Druids don't get remove paralysis. Tried Remove Magic and DM (DM w/ keldorn on the stun from a mindflayer), neither worked. Prevented by chaotic commands, spell immunity: evocation (?), green amulet (underdark). Not Arbanne +2 or ring of free action/other free action gear nor the spell
-Inconsistency in how some "free action" items work - keldorn's armor still lets you haste him while the ring doesn't (IIRC you could just equip the boots of speed after the ring in BG1 to have their haste effect work). Can be fixed with the fixes mod
-Hidden luck stat: https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Luck
-There's nothing to the empty potion bottles you find in the guarded compound in the temple district
-Pacifist run: https://www.reddit.com/r/baldursgate/comments/qtcthj/finished_my_saviorpacifist_playthrough_where_i/
Bugs:
-Battle music sometimes keeps going for a while after the threat is gone (the game itself sometimes thinks you're still in battle which means you can't switch armor and can't rest)
-Minsc's items disappeared once during the firkraag battle
-Sometimes you don't get a notification when a spell had no effect
-After the firkraag battle, Minsc would talk as if he just got berzerked after resurrecting Aerie and resting again
-Yoshimo would just disappear at one point in druid's grove when I told him to stay put for later
-If you give a wizard summoned elemental commands before the mind battle finishes it can bug out and do nothing instead
-Couldn't finish the unfinished business Gorj quest (had done ruins before getting it, the brother at copper coronet says something like "oh there he is" and but he doesn't appear. After that he calls you a fool as if you failed the quest). Meant I had to cheat to make the ore spawn
-Can repeatedly erase (ToB feature) and re-scribe a spell with a new scroll for additional exp
-Can pause game, target 6 things with wand of lightning, replace the wand of lightning in your quickslot with a scroll, unpause to cast a scroll 6 times
-? Breach doesn't work on minor globe or remove fear even though the message box and in-game visuals imply that it does (tried it on a party member, also tried vs shield and resist fear on the same member and that did work) - try it on an enemy using minor globe? Secret word did work on minor globe on a party member
-Crashed once in the demon knight summoning room in the underdark, once when facing the beholders south of the main underdark area and once when going back to the surface from underdark
-Hindra Jae'llat in drow city didn't turn hostile for me until I talked to her (everyone else in the sub area did)
-The game spawned two instances of Phaere in her house at one point
-Occasional bug where I had to click next to an enemy rather than on it to be able to target it (without it being invisible)
Misc:
-In non-EE, Spell shield (lvl 5, hits caster only) works against and WITHOUT it being destroyed: Beholder and Hivemother's anti-magic rays, Blue and Green dragon's lower resistances to respectively electricity and poison, Breaths from several types of dragons (not Green and Red), Some buffet types of attacks from various foes, Githyanki's and Giant Brain's psionic ego whips, Githyanki's psionic ballistics and psionic domination
-vs beholders: Spell immunity: Abjuration or spell shield (anti-magic ray), shield of balduran, cloak of mirroring (Flesh to Stone, Cause Serious Wounds and Death Ray), invisibility, free action (slow), chaotic commands (domination), Protection from magical weapons (lvl 6)(only lasts for 24 seconds though but the casting time is 1), Shield of Harmony (confusion, domination), Adjatha the Drinker (domination), cloak of mirroring/protection from magic energy
-vs mindflayers: chaotic commands (vs domination and confusion) & summons+haste and ranged+ring of the ram or horn of blasting, mordenkainen's sword summon (lvl 7, also a dancing blade ability), Protection from magical weapons (lvl 6), potion of genius+mind focusing for +6 int, potion of absorption+girdle of bluntness (they use crushing attacks), Shield of Harmony (confusion, domination), Adjatha the Drinker (domination), lilarcor/aeger's hide/the equalizer (confusion), slayer form (confusion, -2 rep though), Death Spell vs the ones that appear when you have to rescue Phaere in the Underdark since they're flagged as summons; spells (lower resist first): death, blind, spook, domination/stun, mislead and invisibility, nature's beauty (mass blind, lvl 7 druid)
-vs planetars, dragons, liches, mindflayers and other magical creatures: Protection from magical weapons (lvl 6)(only lasts for 24 seconds though but the casting time is 1)
-vs demi-liches: Spell immunity: Abjuration or enrage (imprisonment, DM, RM), Dispel Magic (inquisitor ver.)?, Scroll of Protection from Magic (rare), upgraded mace, carsomyr (dispel on hit), arrow of dispelling, Protection from Undead scrolls make you invisible to undead including these+protects against their imprisonment spells, bolt of glory (priest lvl 6), death fog (lvl 6), ring of the ram or horn of blasting into thief traps, protection from magic energy/cloak of mirroring (horrid wilting), doom+malison (not kangaxx?), ring of energy, +5 weapons (melf's meteors and the daggers from Cloak of the Stars for missile)
-vs spell immunity (5) - use spell thrust (3) or spellstrike (9)
-vs invisibility - true sight (also dispels Reflected Image, Mirror Image, Non-Detection, Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Mislead, Project Image, Simulacrum), glitterdust, detect invis (also dispels improved+shadow door, mage ver. is faster), detect illusion (also dispels Reflected Image, Mirror Image, Non-Detection), invisibility purge if you don't have the first 3 or an enemy keeps going invisible
-Minor globe protects vs fireball, lightning bolt and skull trap - better alternative to protection from ME for skull trap since it's lvl 3 but it's caster only unless you use wish/limited wish
-Breach (lvl 5) won't work if: spell shield (5), spell deflection (6), spell turning (7), spell trap (lvl 9) - use spell thrust (lvl 3), secret word (lvl 4), pierce magic (6), ruby ray (7 - needed for spell trap), warding whip (7), pierce shield (8), spellstrike (9). Spell shield will absorb these once but is removed in the process. DM won't work, try RM?
-More spell slots: Amulet of MetaSpell influence, HLAs, Dak'kon's Zerth Blad (ToB), Wondrous gloves (BG2 EE and ToB), mage-only rings (ring of wizardry, ring of acuity, ring of reaching/second wizardry ring?), The Bronze Ioun Stone, Upgraded Circlet of Netheril, mage circlets in ToB, item upgrade mod?
Attribute increases:
Spellhold: You will LOSE 1 point here. You can pick the stat yourself, though you can't pick all of them (strength and charisma are missing)
Hell: 2 strength, 2 con, 1 wisdom and 1 charisma depending on your choices. There's a lot more to it and you can lose stats (will lose 1 dexterity if you make only morally good choices)
Deck of Many Things (ToB): Star card increases your "main stat" by 1. For single-class characters, this is obvious. For duals, I *think* it's the active class, and for multis, I haven't found a correct guide yet. My fighter/thief got dexterity. If you're unlucky, you can get a permanent save penalty from the DoMT as well
Machine of Lum the Mad (ToB): 1 increase to each stat
