FittsWorld's Baldur's Gate "EXECUTIVE SUMMARY" WALKTHROUGH Version 1.15 July 2, 1999 By Ken Fitts a.k.a. Orcin FittsWorld's Baldur's Gate "Executive Summary" Walkthrough is copyright (c) 1999 Ken Fitts. Reproduction in any manner other than its original form as a Word97 "doc" file is prohibited. Publication as an HTML document on the Internet is specifically prohibited without the written permission of the author. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this document is to guide someone through the game of Baldur's Gate, including the expansion "Tales of the Sword Coast", without spoiling any of the fun. The sections of this document can and should be read before playing each chapter to give one a sense of what to do and what not to miss. However, many surprises are purposely omitted. No quests are detailed unless they are critical to the plot, and no item locations are mentioned. If you are concerned that you may miss finding a specific item or feel that you need each quest solution spelled out (i.e. to solve this quest click 1,1,2,1) then you should find a more thorough walkthrough. However, you really should try playing the game first without a crutch. It is more fun to discover things on your own. There are many different ways to arrive at the appropriate solutions. This "executive summary" gives you only the critical path, and it is designed to keep you from getting stuck and becoming frustrated. The rest is up to you. This document also assumes that you have a general idea of how to play this genre of game and some knowledge of proper combat tactics used in computer games. If you do, you should be able to set up a decent character and survive most battles by just reading the game manual and doing a little experimenting. After all, I did. As always, the best advice I can provide is to "save early... save often". On the subject of combat tactics, Baldur's Gate is easier if you have a lot of ranged attackers in your party. Bows, crossbows, slings, and even darts are all very effective. Try to always have three or four ranged attackers, equipping the magic users with a sling for use when they are not casting spells. They will hit something occasionally. Also, use the pause feature (spacebar) often. What character should you play? If you are concerned about difficulty, play a human, neutral good fighter. This is pretty easy to handle, and you should be in the best position to survive the early part of the game. If you have played this type of game before, you may want to take on something more challenging. Multi-class characters and mages are the hardest. Keep in mind that you will have NPC's (non-player characters) of all types in your party, and you can live vicariously through them anyway. PROLOGUE Oh, come on. You don't need help with this, do you? Hmm, this will be more challenging than I thought. Ok, see that door there? Go through it. Talk to everyone you see. Buy some basic equipment from Winthrop. Explore the upstairs area. Exit the Inn and talk to all the people in the courtyard. Go into all the other buildings in town, and don't forget to memorize your spells first if you are a mage (i.e. sleep at the Inn). Check your journal frequently for clues. After you have revealed the entire map, talk to Gorion on the library steps to end the prologue and leave your childhood home behind. You might want to buy some arrows and an extra set of leather armor before you leave. CHAPTER 1 I hope you didn't become too attached to poor Gorion. That "armored figure" with the attitude will show up again later, so be sure to hold a grudge. Your loyal friend, Imoen, will join you right away. Give her the arrows and armor you brought along. Develop her thief skills and keep her in your party for the rest of the game. Well, I did anyway... you should do what you want. Pick up the items that Gorion left behind, and head to the east. You can travel to the next adjacent area on the world map by moving to the edge of the area map and clicking with the special symbol that now appears. (You can also travel to non-adjacent areas after they have already been revealed.) You can add the NPC pair that you meet along the road to your party if you like, but don't count on them for long-term friendship. You should follow Gorion's advice and join up with Khalid and Jaheira at the Friendly Arm Inn. Make sure you are rested before you enter the Inn grounds, and approach the ramp to the Inn itself cautiously. You might want to make friends with the guards first, too. Khalid and Jaheira will be inside the Inn by the bar. Accept their offer to accompany you to Nashkel. I would keep K&J for the early part of the game at least, if not permanently. You will be pressed to find a better pair of fighters, even though Jaheira's nagging can become quite annoying. They come as a pair however, and if you dismiss one from your party the other will also leave. Explore the rest of Inn (three floors) and the surrounding area, and then head south to Beregost. Try to complete all the quests in Beregost that you can, as experience points are very helpful at this stage. Explore all the buildings in Beregost, unless of course you are a Paladin and don't like to pick locks. A temple is located one map east of Beregost, but you should not explore the eastern half of this area yet because the monsters are very difficult. If you are up for a challenge, travel one map to the west and explore the area around High Hedge. You will meet Kivan along the path just north of the big building. He is another NPC that I would keep (give him your best bow), but again it is your call. The building is occupied by a mage who can sell spells and staves. This is your first and best opportunity to enhance your magic capabilities until you reach Baldur's Gate, so I hope you have saved some gold. You should buy a couple of basic spell scrolls or a staff, even if you don't have a mage yet. The blacksmith in Beregost is also the best supplier of weaponry and armor in the game, so don't leave the area without patronizing his establishment. When you have seen enough of Beregost, travel a couple of more screens south to Nashkel in order to complete Chapter 1. CHAPTER 2 Getting tired of assassins yet? I thought so. Go into the Nashkel Inn to rest and... whoops. Well, you should be safe now. Surely that was the last one. Explore the town of Nashkel, and pay close attention to the guy outside of the garrison. His name is Minsc. He is the most entertaining NPC in the game, and you really should add him to your party. If you don't help him, you will have to fight him and then you won't get to see Boo, the miniature giant space hamster. You wouldn't want to miss out on that, would you? You could also visit the nearby carnival and pick up a good cleric, Branwen, who just happens to be a statue at the moment. Your party may be getting crowded by now, so this is a good time to plan ahead. You will want a couple of fighters, an archer, a thief, a healer, and a mage. Others may come up with different alignments, but this is pretty safe. My recommended group would be you (assume a fighter-type), Imoen (thief), Kivan (archer), Minsc and Branwen OR Khalid and Jaheira, and a mage whom you haven't met yet. You may not have all these NPC's available for one reason or another, and that's fine. Just pick your favorite five or six from those you have met so far, keeping this mix of skills in mind. If you are not playing a fighter then you should adjust accordingly, making sure that you have a strong melee attacker (Minsc or Khalid) available to take the point. There are a couple of different paths that can be followed from here, so I will just describe the options. You could take your party to the mines, located just south of the carnival. This is the primary quest of Chapter 2, and talking to the mayor outside of the local temple officially triggers it. The solution to the mystery surrounding the bad iron will reveal itself at the bottom of the mines. You can also complete some of the Chapter 3 quests first if you wish. If you have Minsc in your party, you will want to complete his Gnoll Stronghold quest as soon as possible. (He is not a patient man.) You could do that quest before the mines, but don't explore too much because some of the areas farther away from the main path are still too tough for your tender experience level. Let's assume you do the mines first. The mage that you rescue in the mines (Xan) is a fun character, and you should keep him around for awhile unless your party is full. Your other long-term mage option is Dynaheir. She is the subject of the aforementioned Gnoll Stronghold quest. I would keep either Xan or Dynaheir as my mage for the remainder of the game, but you should make these decisions for yourself. I won't mention NPC's again, but you will meet many more as you travel the Sword Coast. Try some of them if you like variety, but pay attention to your alignment and mix of skills. Don't get caught without a thief, for example. CHAPTER 3 Getting tired of assassins yet? That's too bad. After clearing the mines and receiving your reward from the mayor, go to the Nashkel Inn to rest and... hmm. They are getting harder, aren't they? You must get to the bottom of this soon. The point of Chapter 3 is to rid the Sword Coast of the bandit problem, but you are not strong enough yet to tackle that chore. You need to gain some experience points, and acquire some better equipment. Explore all of the areas on the bottom half of the world map (south of Beregost). Reveal every inch of each map area and solve every quest that you can. Don't forget to do the Gnoll Stronghold quest right away if you have Minsc in your party. Return to town occasionally to sell your excess loot and stock up on potions. See you in a couple of weeks. Back so soon? Well, now go explore all of the areas due west of Beregost. That should keep you busy for awhile. If you have already bought out Nashkel, you can hit Beregost for supplies. If you are getting bored and are desperate to advance the plot, you can go upstairs in the Feldepost and beat the next clue out of Tranzig. He will reveal the location of the bandit camp. Don't go there yet. Finish the areas east of Beregost, including Ulcaster School and Firewine Bridge. Hello again. Wasn't Firewine fun? I just love mazes, don't you? Ok, ok, I know you are getting sick of Chapter 3 and you want to have another dream. Let's go clean up the bandit camp. You can do it by just barging in but, if you were paying attention, Drizzt suggested a better way. The point is to enter Tazak's tent, and get the documents that are inside one of his chests. This action will reveal the Cloakwood Forest, and start Chapter 4. You should probably go ahead and clean up any areas outside of Cloakwood that you have missed. The area directly north of Friendly Arm Inn could be saved for Chapter 5 if you wish. Be sure to acquire a few "Potions of Mirrored Eyes", "Stone to Flesh" scrolls, or memorize some "Protection From Petrification" spells before exploring the areas east of Friendly Arm Inn. CHAPTER 4 Work your way through the four forest areas, and go to the mines. Yep, another set of mines. You really like those narrow mine shafts, don't you? There are some more assassins there too. I knew you'd be thrilled. There are a couple of points of interest in the forest. You will want to watch for cave entrances. There are two caves that you will not want to miss. I know I said that I wouldn't mention NPC's again, but you will meet Coran in this chapter. He is definitely the best archer in the game, and should be added to your party unless you already have Kivan. It wouldn't hurt to have both. Coran has some thief skills, and Kivan can always use a melee weapon with his high strength. The point of Chapter 4 is to rescue the miners and flood the mines. You will also discover more about the plot to control the iron ore supply. If you just kill everything in your path, this chapter will be pretty easy and short. You must help a miner that you meet on level 1 to flood the mines in order to trigger Chapter 5, and be allowed to FINALLY enter the city of Baldur's Gate. CHAPTER 5 For reasons that will become painfully obvious later, it is a good idea to complete as many quests as you can in Baldur's Gate during Chapter 5. The main quest of this chapter is to determine what is going on at the Iron Throne headquarters. But there are many interesting side quests, including one of the tougher battles in the game, which occurs in an unmarked, locked house. So check them all. The first major map area contains the finest magic establishment in the game, Sorcerous Sundries. Be sure to visit there, and spend lots of gold. Potions, staves, spells, and magical arrows will all come in handy in Chapter 5. Spend a night at the nearby Elfsong Inn, and then start exploring. Don't overlook the sewer entrances on the street. The sewers are clean, dry, and perfectly safe =). Travel between the old and new sections of the city can be frustrating, because you can not always access the area on the other side of the wall. Get a map of the city to help you (the one in my links section will do very nicely), and explore all of the areas thoroughly before entering the Iron Throne building. Once you go there and meet some new friends on the top floor, return to the Flaming Fist headquarters to receive the book needed to get back into Candlekeep. You are going home in Chapter 6, but somehow it won't seem quite the same. CHAPTER 6 This is a really short chapter. Explore the area, talk to all your old childhood chums, and enter the library. There are some people on the second floor that you won't like, but it really doesn't matter what happens here. The outcome of this chapter will be the same, and you will need to return to Baldur's Gate to finish your work. The library contains some vital reading material about your past. Don't leave without spending a proper amount of time studying, and visiting Gorion's old room. Better do this as you go, because you will be otherwise detained (in a manner of speaking) later. Don't be in such a hurry to leave Candlekeep that you fail to thoroughly explore the catacombs under the library. You will find some treasure there, along with a few old "friends". Of course, there will also be several attempts on your life, but you should be getting used to that by now. CHAPTER 7 If you have been reading ahead, stop now. This section will be difficult to write in a vague manner like the rest. So I am going to have to name names. Sarevok is about to become a Grand Duke unless you get to the coronation in time to stop him. You will need proof of his plan, which can be obtained back at the Iron Throne headquarters. You will also need to go to the Undercellar and take some invitations from the dead bodies of your latest assassins. Now go to the Duchal Palace, and crash the party. The meeting will degenerate, but you must keep one of the Grand Dukes (Belt) alive to reveal Sarevok's hideout. The Duchal Palace fiasco is not the final battle, so don't worry about trying to kill Sarevok here. Trail him back to his hiding place. The hardest battle of the game may be the group outside of Sarevok's hideout, so be ready when you exit the Thieves Maze. After you defeat this welcoming party, enter the Temple of Bhaal and confront the "armored figure" once and for all. If you really get stuck on this battle, read my "Battle Stories" page for one possible solution. The final save occurs as you enter the temple, and this is the point at which the expansion set starts. Fight the final battle, and then load the saved game marked "Final Save" to begin the expansion set in Ulgoth's Beard. If you want, the expansion levels can also be played after Chapter 5 or 6. I would not attempt them before, as you should be character level 7 to play them effectively. TALES OF THE SWORD COAST There are two minor quests and one major quest to complete in the expansion. The first quest should be the "Ice Island", which is triggered by a mage in the center of Ulgoth's Beard. Upon completing this quest, I would complete the "Werewolf Island" quest next. This quest is triggered by Mendas, who can be found in a building by the docks in Ulgoth's Beard. The final quest, Durlag's Tower, is a real good one. You will want to stock up on supplies and magical arrows before going to the tower. Bring all the arrows that you can carry. Take the tour, and then explore the top section of the tower first. Enter the stairs on the right to go up, and the left side to go down. Did I mention that you should bring LOTS of magical arrows? After the tower is cleared, be sure to bring the dagger (you'll know which one, trust me) back to Ulgoth's Beard for some additional fun. CONCLUSION I hope this walkthrough was helpful without giving away too much of the plot and spoiling the surprises. There are plenty of more complete walkthroughs on the Internet if you want the answers to specific quests or locations of specific items. I suggest checking the links at Baldur's Gate Chronicles. This walkthrough may be freely distributed in its original form as a Word97 "doc" file. I would ask that you do not distribute printed copies without including both the title page and this page. ________________________________________________________________ Page 1