This guide is a collection of resources for you to get the most out of Baldur's Gate 2. It will contain some spoilers. I first played Baldurs Gate back in 1998 when I won the original game in a competition, and since then I have played the game to finish every year since. While the enhanced edition has slightly more content, very little has changed.

Note that there are two locations to be aware of – the steam game installation location and the mydocs game location. The steam game location contains the game, the mydocs location stores your settings and saved games.

This is a guide from my perspective and I have tried to keep things brief and simple. There are many resources on the web available for this game if you choose to seek more information.

For walkthroughs, Dan Simpson's walkthough on GameFaqs [www.gamefaqs.com] is the most detailed.

Gamebanshee [www.gamebanshee.com]and Sorcerers [www.sorcerers.net]both have wonderful map based walkthroughs

For a more EE specific walkthrough for the additional content in the game, there is not a lot out there so I have been relying on this one.[www.gamefaqs.com]

For romances in the game, this FAQ[www.gamefaqs.com] can be useful for dialog choices, which you will need if you want to pursue a certain Drow cleric. It does not help with ToB dialog choices but by TOB, the choices are quite easy to make by then.

If you still need help, good old google can help, eg searching for “I have been thinking about us, my m'rann d'sinss” Viconia BG2 romance

There are two ways to import your BG1 character into BG2EE. One is to use a BG1 saved game, the other is to import a character file. I strongly recommend importing a character as there is a bug still present in version 1.3.2053 which will prevent you from accessing Watcher's Keep with a character loaded from a BG1 saved game without the use of cheats in Shadows of Amn. The keep will not show up on the world map.

Merely go into BG1, restore the saved game you want to use, go to the character screen, select export down the bottom right and select a name for your export. Then go to your BG1 settings location in "my documents" (eg - C:\Users\owner\Documents\Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition) and copy the Characters folder over to your BG2 settings location (eg - C:\Users\owner\Documents\Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition). You can now start a new game and import your character.

Two gripes here – Why didn't Beamdog use the “my games” folder within "my documents" instead of filling up my mydocs directory even more? I thought it was 2014. And why do we have to copy the files across instead of having the game look for them automatically?

Your characters start the game with a custom – default script which is great if you like to micro manage your characters through every battle. Sometimes that is useful, most of the time it is not. Go to your character screen – Customise (bottom right) – Scripts and choose the default actions you would like your character to take. If you like brainless combat, select Standard Attack for your melee characters and Ranged for your bow/sling/axe throwing/crossbow/spear chuckers. You can choose other scripts if you want.

The scripts I selected means that your characters will engage any enemy they see, so if you want to draw enemies out so you don't trigger other mobs, or drag them back to a choke point without having to keep the your characters moving and stop them from charging into combat, turn off the AI button (default key A – also looks like a lantern down the bottom right of the main interface). If the lantern is lit, AI scripts are on. If it is off, they won't do anything in combat unless you direct them to.

Last of all, if your characters leave the party for any reason, when they rejoin you have to select their script again as it will have reset to custom. Otherwise they will be standing around in combat doing nothing... again.

The original game has some wonderful mods which kept me playing the game over and over again constantly.

Must haves -
Baldur's Gate tweak pack - http://www.gibberlings3.net/ This mod, which also works for BG1EE contains many changes to the game which can be selected. Look at the readme file to see if you want to implement each change.

A list of BG2EE compatible mods can be found on the BG forums with the links included.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/23726/bgii-ee-compatible-mod-list

Some of the older mods need a bit of tweaking in order to get them to install. Some of the most popular ones are located at weidu which is not compatible with EE. In order to install them, CamDawg from the Baldur's Gate forum gave instructions on how to do it. I'm posting those annotated instructions here since it took me 3 hours to load them since the forum was overloaded.

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/6950/player-how-to-getting-mods-to-work-on-bgee

Originally posted by Camdawg:

Please note that mods may have issues with the content of BG2EE itself; these steps just get you to the point where you can at least try to install them. There will be a transition period where a lot of modders have to make minor adjustments to account for BG2EE content--I strongly suggest you take advantage of the contact information in the readmes to let authors know about any issues you find so that they can address them.

Note: When I refer to the 'game folder' or 'game directory', it means the folder that contains chitin.key. (For me, that location is G:\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\common\Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition - Kaorimoch)

Step One

Go to your game directory and make a backup of chitin.key Double check that an 'override' folder exists in that directory and create one if it doesn't.

Step Two

WeiDU expects the tlk file (which holds all the text in the game) to be in the main game directory, but BGEE puts it in subdirectories to allow for multiple languages.
We can create a hard link, tricking WeiDU into thinking it's in the main game directory while leaving it where it is. First, figure out which language subdirectory inside the lang folder is yours. English is the en_US directory inside lang; other languages have their own directories inside the lang folder.
In Windows...
...open a command window and navigate to your game directory. (In Windows 7, you can shift-right-click on the game folder in Explorer and choose 'Open command window here...'.
In older Windows, you'll need to Windows+R for the run dialogue, run cmd, and then use 'CD nameofdirectory' to get to the game directory.) Once you're at the command prompt
in your main directory, type
mklink /H dialog.tlk .\lang\en_US\dialog.tlk
Change the en_US part to the name of your language directory. Some languages actually have two tlk files, so you'll need to run the same command again, but with dialogF.tlk in both places instead of dialog.tlk. If you ever want to undo this step, you can delete dialog.tlk (and dialogF.tlk) from the game directory as if they're normal files.

Thanks again Camdawg.

Older mod locations
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index_mods.php
http://weidu.org/ Excellent mods, but I recommend the Item Upgrade mod as it is an excellent gold sink that keeps you going back for more upgrades.

To remove mods, you can run the installation file again and select uninstall. If that doesn't work , you have to make steam check your data integrity and erase every file in the game installation override directory.

Cheats can be enabled in the enhanced edition by navigating to your “My Documents” area (on my PC, C:\Users\owner\Documents\Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition)

(Update 9/9/2016)
From Version 2.0, Beamdog moved game settings from the original Baldur.ini file to Baldur.lua . In order for cheats to work with the 2.0 version, you need to open Baldur.lua (I used Wordpad) and add this line anywhere -

SetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Debug Mode','1')

(Older versions required you to edit the Baldur.ini file and add "
'Program Options', 'Debug Mode', '1',
to make it work)

Make sure it lines up properly with the other lines in the document. Save the file and now you can enable cheats within the game.

You can debate the merits of cheating if you want, but I use cheats in the game to (a) overcome game breaking bugs and (b) to teleport to locations instead of walking there all over again, a common annoying feature of older RPGs.

For example, press Left Control and Space bar to open up a dialog box, then type in (or copy and paste) -

CLUAConsole:MoveToArea("AR3000") to teleport to Watchers Keep if you unfortunately cannot access that area because you imported a saved game.
CLUAConsole:MoveToArea("AR0334") to teleport to Cromwell's forge because walking there and waiting for party members who get lost can really get old.
CLUAConsole:MoveToArea("AR0702") to teleport to Adventurer's Mart, for all your shopping needs.

For version 2.0+, you can use "C:" instead of typing "CLUAConsole:"

To get the Area code of a location within the game, type "x" while in that location and it will appear in the dialog box. Make sure you select all your party members before a teleport as it only teleports those that are selected.

You can find other cheat codes on the internet, but they are all listed here -
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/cheats.php

Credit to Borknagaar who published how to enable cheats in 2.0

You have four additional NPCS in the enhanced edition. When you start the game, you can look at each character to find out what they are and where they are located. Each NPC has a questline with experience and item rewards worth playing through depending on whether you are playing with a "good" party or an "evil" party.

I would advise against using Neera the wild mage in your party longterm. Her hit points are around 40-50 while the rest of my characters have a much higher hit point total. In addition, her wild magic makes her unpredictable, which is not what you need in combat.

You will need at least two mages as you will encounter many battles where mages are required to remove spell protections from your enemies and for Area of Effect Nuke spells.

Try to ensure that your melee fighters keep an enchanted blunt weapon handy for clay golems as they are immune to any other weapon type.

You will need higher level magic weapons to defeat some enemies in the game. You may be proficient in long swords but that +1 weapon isn't going to hit a lich, whereas that +4 dagger will hit it. Sure you may not be proficient in its usage but it is much better than doing no damage at all.

Your melee fighters need some great stats to be more effective, especially strength for that extra damage. You can find many belts to increase strength to increase their carry capacity, weapon damage, and also to meet the strength requirements for different weapons. In particular, Aerie and Viconia need more strength for better weaponry and armour. Characters with low dexterity such as Keldorn (9) can improve their AC by wearing The Brawing Hands which increases their dexterity to 18.

The best mage in your team NEEDS the Robe of Vecna from a vendor in the Adventures Mart. It is expensive but the increase in casting speed means you can fire off a quick Fireball or Cloudkill for incoming enemies, or my favorite – open a door, cast a cloudkill quickly, close it again so the enemies cannot retaliate and watch them die off or receive a great deal of damage. Very useful against Umber Hulks who die as soon as they take a sniff.

Every enemy can generally be overcome with lots of spells, weapon hits etc and prebuffing is a given for many of the tougher fights. Be familiar with your spells and what they do. Try different things. Some enemies require a bit more finesse and knowledge in order to defeat them.

Attacking mages
Where did they go?
If your enemy mage disappears, appears to the top left of where the spell protections appear to be located (shadow door) or you want to hit them with direct spells or missile attacks, you need to cast detect invisibility (level 2 mage), invisibility purge (level 3 priest), true seeing (level 5 priest or hello Keldorn!) or use true sight (level 6 mage) to see them again. True Seeing is probably my favorite as it stays up for 1 turn (aka 10 rounds). These spells are also useful against rogues with invisibility potions.

Can't hit them!
Time to remove some of their protections. Just make sure you use the right spells.

Breach (level 5 mage) is usually the best since most mages cast Protection from Magical Weapons preventing you from landing hits and this gets rid of it. You can wait four rounds for it to expire or cast Breach. It also removes Shield, Resist Fear, Protection from Cold, Protection from Fire, Fireshield (Blue), Fireshield (Red), Protection from Acid, Protection from Electricity, Protection from Magic Energy, Protection from the Elements, Protection from Energy, Protection from Normal Missiles, Protection from Normal Weapons, Protection from Magical Weapons, Stoneskin, Armor, Ghost Armor, Spirit Armor, Absolute Immunity, Mantle and Improved Mantle.

Pierce Magic (level 6 mage) – reduces the targets magic resistance by the casters level for as many rounds as the caster has levels (eg level 15 mage – 15% reduced magic resistance, for 15 rounds). It also removes one spell from this list - Minor Spell Deflection, Minor Spell Turning, Spell Deflection, Spell Turning, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Immunity, and Globe of Invulnerability.

Khelben's Warding Whip (level 7 mage) – for 3 rounds, it removes Minor Spell Turning, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Immunity, Globe of Invulnerability, Minor Spell Deflection, Spell Turning, Spell Deflection, Spell Shield and Spell Invulnerability.

Pierce Shield (level 8 mage) is a hard to find spell. It reduces the targets magic resistance by 10% +1% per caster level and removes one spell from this list - Minor Spell Deflection, Minor Spell Turning, Spell Deflection, Spell Turning, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Immunity, Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Trap, Spell Shield.

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting and Dragon's Breath are usually great AOE and party friendly spells to cast if mages are giving you a bad day. Insect Plague (level 5 druid) causes 100% spell failure casts and damages mages 1 hit per round for 6 rounds.

I missed mentioning the mage spell Secret Word because it is quite useless.

Golems
Magic resistant, you can hit them with spells which will probably not do anything but you are better off buffing your fighters and hitting them.

Iron golem - +3 weapon or greater
Stone Golem +2 weapon or greater
Clay Golem +1 BLUNT weapon only or greater
Adamantite - +3 weapons or greater, but note it has a lot of damage resistance. It hits hard.
Magic – unenchanted weapons. The game gives a heads up by providing unenchanted weapon drops before the fight.
Flesh Golems – Any enchanted weapon.
Bone - Any enchanted weapon will hit, but only blunt weapons will hit for 100%, all others will only do 50%.

Beholders

These guys cast domination, death, charm, petrification and cause damage spells, meaning you have to have some very nice resistances or immunities to take them down. Usually summoning creatures is a great opening move as they will try to kill those off first before dealing with you.

The best way to defeat them is to use the Shield of Balduran, which you can buy at The Adventurer's Mart for 16g (adjusted for reputation and charisma). It reflects Beholder rays, making them very easy to defeat. Send out one character with that equipped and they can clear out a whole nest on their own. You can have a lot of fun watching Beholders kill themselves for you, or charming themselves to fight their comrades.

Mind Flayers

Their favourite move is to devour brains, which if successful insta-kills your character. Melee can be fairly dangerous. They will usually diminish your intelligence first before devouring so watch your characters and move them out if you see an intelligence debuff if you want to avoid having a chance of a flayer eating their brain. They also enjoy charming, dominating and confusing your team members.

In the short term, find and equip items to give you immunities to charm, domination and confusion (eg Lillacor, Helm of Charm Protection). Improve saving throws (eg Chant). Use potions such as magic shielding and clarity.

Summoning undead are great as they are immune to their mindblasts and have magic resistance. A level 5 priest/druid spell called Chaotic Commands makes you immune to their psionic attacks. Cast Cloud Kill into a room if they have Umber Hulk buddies to insta kill them, then draw out the mind flayers to kill them (or close the door if possible and wait out the damage from the cloud.

Eventually you will have some great items and great damage dealers that you can just go in and kill them all fast.

Keep in mind that if one of your characters gets mind controlled or confused, try to stop your characters from attacking them by selecting them and selecting the enemy. When the battle is finished, turn off the AI until their status ends or your characters will retaliate. Keep moving to keep them from continuously attacking you.

Vampires.

These guys are easy to kill, but their level drain ability is very annoying. You can obtain some items that make you immune to the effect (Amulet of power, upgraded Mace of Disruption) and two classes are immune to the effect (Undead Hunters, Barbarians using their Rage ability). Spells such as negative plane protection (level 4 spell) can make you immune to the effect. Otherwise you will need a cleric who can cast lesser restoration (level 4 spells – make sure your cleric doesn't lose enough levels that they can't cast that spell anymore) or some scrolls. If all else fails, cash and a visit to a nearby temple after the battle is finished.

Liches

Undead mages. Their protection spells are extremely annoying, you will see many protection from magical weapons and Invisibility spells in use while also having resistances of their own. Some liches in the game require magical weapons of a higher degree to just get damaged.

Spoiler – Kangaxx the lich doesn't bruise for anything less than a +3 weapon. His skull / Demi Lich form requires a +4 weapon on greater. There is also a demi lich in Watcher's Keep that requires +4 weapons that attempts to Imprison characters sent against him, who can only be freed by a mage casting Freedom (Level 9 Mage).

Clerics level 20 or higher can use turn undead to blow them up (good clerics) or control them (evil clerics). High level spell casters with Horrible Wilting and Dragons Breath do full damage to them. A Mace of Disruption +1 (or +2) counts as a +4 weapon (or +5) and has a chance to insta-kill the lich. Like most enemies, summoned creatures will take their attention away from the party. And of course, the famous cheese strategy, just go through a door just as they cast spells to avoid their effects, then re-enter to keep attacking, or just keeping moving back and forth until their protection spells wear out.

You can also polymorph self into a jelly to resist their magic attacks while their buffs run out, or use protection from undead to wait out the buffs as well since they cant attack.

Dragons

Keep in mind the strategy for dealing with mages, and then throw in a very annoying AOE breath weapon, tough melee abilities and wing buffet which can throw your party across the room with damage and possibly knocking them out. If you can, start off surrounding the dragon so their AOE goes in only one direction, split up ranged fighters and keep at it.

Wing buffet can sometimes be a blessing for damaged characters as they can be thrown out of the battle and heal up before returning. Just remember you have to walk back to the enemy so having speed buffs can help greatly, or it can mean that the dragon focuses purely on that person until the rest of the party can get back in the fight or for support.

Cheese strategies for some enemies.

“Ok, I'm going now.” After your conversation where you leave on friendly terms, surround the dragon, select all your characters with “0”, click on the sword icon down the bottom (or just press F2) and force attack the dragon. Should give you a round or 2 before it responds.

Fake talk strategy. This works for most enemies that have a conversation with you before a battle. Pause, then select your weakest character, then click on the enemy and they will walk to talking distance. Select your other characters and force-attack the enemy. Have your talk character walk, then make them walk away, then get them to walk towards the enemy ad infinitum until the enemy is dead.

So, still a great game but a little underwhelming for an enhanced edition.

These are the changed I found extremely annoying.

You cannot hit Drizzt in BG1EE with a Natural 20.
You cannot hit large golems with a long melee weapon (eg 2 handed sword) as you could in the original when they get stuck in doorways or entryways.

Changes that should have been made

Better pathfinding. I suppose that might be a limitation of the original Infinity Engine but this is supposed to be an update.
Selecting multiple items for sale. Selling 300 arrows of biting should be easier instead of having to type in the amount to sell every single time, or clicking the up arrow 299 times.
Why didn't Beamdog use the “My games” folder within the "My Documents" folder instead of using the "My Documents" directory? I thought it was 2014, I already have 30 games in the My Documents directory so I can't use it for Documents because it is so bloated.
Why do we have to copy the character files across from BG1 instead of having the game look for them automatically?