Baldur's Gate Walkthrough

Prologue

Complete the quests for the Candlekeep citizens prior to purchasing any equipment. If your character is a spell-caster, memorize your spells prior to taking on the two assassins in the area. If you're playing a thief character with a high open locks ability, pick the lock on the container on the north wall of the second floor of the inn and steal the star saphire gem. Sell anything you've gathered in Candlekeep to Winthrop and then purchase some armor and weapons (a missile weapon is mandatory). Buy an extra short bow and some arrows for Imoen, who will join you at the beginning of the next chapter. Talk to Gorian and end the chapter.

Chapter One

Pick up Gorian's note and the items scattered on the ground after his battle. Equip both Imoen and your character with missile weapons and join up with Xzar and Montaron, at least temporarily, to increase your party's firepower. Avoid bears altogether, and be cautious with wolves.

Head east and confront the ogre in the sector between Beregost and the Friendly Arm Inn. Let the ogre chase after one character while the rest of your characters fire missile weapons. Use Imoen's wand of magic missiles and Xzar's offensive spells to help take the ogre down. Grab the magic girdles, without trying them on, and head to the Friendly Arm Inn.

Get the guards outside the Friendly Arm Inn to help you take out Tarnesh. Hook up with Khalid and Jaheira and the quest-givers in the Inn. Head to Beregost.

If you don't mind stealing, break into the Thunderhammer Smithy in the evening and take the bastard sword +1. Buy any additional equipment you need. If you want to take out the huge spiders in Landrin's basement, ensure that your party members have antidotes equipped, and cast an entangle spell to keep the spiders away from your party.

Hook up with Kagain and/or Garrick. Solve the quests which you can complete entirely within Beregost.

Head south, and pick up the note on the body of the ogrillons (after you've stomped them). Give it to Miranne next time you're in Beregost. Enter Nashkel to end the chapter.

Chapter Two

Reconstitute your party so that you don't have characters with opposing alignments. You can pick up Minsc or Edwin in town, but watch out for another assassin, Neira, when you enter the Inn. Go to the Nashkel carnival and clear out that area to pick up some additional experience points, and free Branwen by purchasing a stone to flesh scroll in Nashkel if you're looking for a cleric. Clearing out the sector south of Nashkel may net you a white wolf pelt, which you can sell for some good additional cash.

Don't go to the sector northwest of Nashkel yet, but otherwise feel free to explore a few of the sectors around Nashkel (remember, in order to open up access to each sector, you have to exit an adjacent sector), but be ready to flee in the face of superior opposition.

Head to the Nashkel mines sector and solve the Prism quest by taking out Greywolf, which will earn you his +2 long sword. Talk to Emerson and head into the mines. When you get to the third level, pick up Joseph's ring on the floor. Watch for traps and dangerous kobold commandos. Kill Mulahey (don't let him barter for time) and rescue Xan. Open Mulahey's chest and take his notes to end the chapter.

Chapter Three

While it's possible to complete this chapter extremely quickly, even with a low level party, you should explore around a bit to earn extra experience points, since you'll need a few levels prior to tackling the challenges in chapter four. If you have Minsc in your party, clear out the areas near the Gnoll Stronghold and then take out the Stronghold itself. Minsc will leave your party if you take too long to accomplish that task. Pick up Dynaheir if you're looking for a decent mage or want to keep Minsc.

There are a few other sectors you should definitely explore. You can purchase an abundance of magic items in the High Hedge sector (you might want to pick up Melicamp the chicken in the sector south of High Hedge first), as well as pick up Kivan and complete a quest for Perdue in Beregost. The sector to the east of the Nashkel carnival has numerous magic items as well. Don't go to Firewine Bridge or Ulcaster until you've gained a few levels. You can get a lot of experience points taking out the sirines in the sectors south of Candlekeep, but make sure you have summoned monsters in front of your party or that you are otherwise protected from the dire charm spells that the sirines will cast. Take out Bassilus (in the sector south of High Hedge, two northwest of Nashkel) for 5,000 gold. By pretending to be his parent (see the sector walk-through for more information) you can remove his undead guards, making the fight relatively easy.

When you're ready to advance the plot, visit the Feldepost Inn in Beregost and confront Tranzig. Prior to killing him, make sure you let him tell you the location of the bandit camp.

You're better off joining the bandits in Peldvale or Larswood instead of just walking into the camp. Joining the bandits will give you the opportunity to take out Tazok (although he'll return) for some good magic items and experience. There's no way to avoid a fight in the main bandit tent, so be prepared. Open the containers in the tent and get the notes to end the chapter.

Chapter Four

Finish up any other sectors you want to explore south of Baldur's Gate, and then head to Cloakwood. There are five Cloakwood sectors and you have to do them in order. There are a lot of spiders and web traps in Cloakwood, so be prepared with potions of freedom and use a thief to scout for traps.

You can pick up Coran, a master archer, in the first Cloakwood sector. Make sure you take out Centeol in the second Cloakwood sector so that you can get the Spider Bane sword. Sending several fireballs directly at Centeol will usually take him out and his spider guards, without risking your party.

When you tangle with the wyverns in the area (there's a nest in a cave in the fourth Cloakwood sector), be prepared to quickly unpoison your characters, and use area of effect spells like fireball, web, and stinking cloud to take out groups of wyverns before they can advance on your party.

Advance cautiously eastward when you reach the Cloakwood mines sector. There's a relatively tough fight above the entrance to the mines if you're not prepared. Scouting ahead with a hidden thief will give you an early tactical advantage and will allow your mages to launch deadly area of effect spells. Once you take out the mages, the rest of the fight should be relatively easy.

When you fight Davaeorn (who is waiting on the fourth level of the mines) make sure you first disarm his traps to avoid having to fight his battle horrors. Dispel his protective spells and summon a few creatures to lead the attack and to prevent your party from being targeted by his spells. Once you've killed Davaeorn, flood the mine by giving 100 gold to Rill, who is on the second floor of the mine, and then talking to the miner on the first floor who is standing near the plug.

Chapter Five

Explore Baldur's Gate thoroughly, but don't enter the Iron Throne headquarters (which is in the south, middle sector of the city) right away. Complete Scar's quests prior to talking to Eltan or entering the Iron Throne building.

Check out the detailed area walk-throughs for information on the quests that are available in Baldur's Gate, and the magic item charts if you're wondering what items are available. The Thieves' Guild tasks are among the most interesting, but not particularly rewarding. You should pick up both the Helm and Cloak of Balduran. The helm is on the second floor of the Helm and Cloak Inn, in a trapped secret compartment. The cloak is with Quenash, a "lady of the evening" in the Undercellar, which you can access either through the sewers or through the Blushing Mermaid Inn.

Don't disregard the quest to free Lothandar if he initiates the quest. If you don't solve the quest once it has begun, your party will die at the end of ten days.

When you're ready to end the chapter, talk to Eltan and then take out the Iron Throne headquarters. If you don't have it already, you should pick up the bastard sword +1/+3 vs. shapeshifters from Alden Sashenstar (if you sided with the druids in Cloakwood, you'll have the sword already). Return to Eltan once you've gathered the notes from the top floor of the Iron Throne building.

Chapter Six

When you get into the library you'll run into Koveras, who will give you a ring of protection and encourage you to wipe out the Iron Throne leaders. Regardless of whether or not you attack Rieltar and his crew, they'll be killed off and you'll be blamed for their deaths. You can get some additional magic items by doing the job yourself.

There are three separate areas in the Candlekeep catacombs, and they are each loaded with traps. All of the NPCs you'll encounter, other than Deder and Arkanis, are dopplegangers, so don't let your guard down. To end the chapter, you'll have to get through all three catacomb maps, and there's a fairly tough battle with an enemy party on the third map, so use a hidden or invisible thief (equipped with the boots of speed) to scout around the map. Check out the detailed sector walk-through for more information on the obstacles you'll face in the catacombs.

Chapter Seven

Your goals in this chapter consist of: a) going to the Iron Throne building and confronting Cythandria and obtaining Sarevok's diary; b) killing the assassins in the Undercellar to get an invitation to Sarevok's coronation; c) disrupting the coronation (perhaps stopping to save Eltan in Flaming Fist headquarters along the way); and d) pursuing Sarevok to the Thieves' Guild and then to the Undercity.

Cythandria waits at the top of the Iron Throne building, with a couple of ogre guards. In the middle of the Undercellar, you'll be confronted by Slythe and Krystin. They'll immediately attack you, and Slythe is particularly dangerous, since he is hasted and blurred. Cast a dispel magic spell as soon as possible, and haste a few of your own fighters (or use oil of speed) to even the odds. A hold person or charm person spell can end the fight in your favor very quickly, if the assassins fail their saving throws. Pick up the invitation on the body of Slythe.

Travel to the Duchal Palace and show Bill the guard your invitation. Make sure you have Sarevok's diary and/or the notes from the assassins in the Undercellar prior to entering. Take a few giant strength potions and use oil of speed or cast haste on your characters prior to entering. After the coronation speech, the noblemen will turn into greater doppelgangers and try to kill the remaining dukes. While the Flaming Fist enforcers will assist you, you must ensure that at least one of the dukes survives. Cast a dispel magic spell on the greater dopplegangers to slow them down. Once the dopplegangers are dead, you'll have to briefly fight Sarevok, but after you get a few hits in on him he'll disappear. Talk to the dukes and you'll be transported to the Thieves' Guild.

When you're in the Thieves' Maze, move slowly to try to only get one opponent confronting you at once. After you pass a couple of doom guards, you'll have to face two skeleton warriors in one of the toughest battles in the game. The corridor is also trapped with a series of lightning and fireball traps. The skeleton warriors are virtually immune to magical spells and their arrows act like arrows of fire, even though they are not magical. Send a thief (hasted or wearing boots of speed) up the corridor to disarm the traps (you can disarm the first couple before you'll encounter the skeleton warriors) and then flee back down the corridor to try to lure the skeleton warriors back to your party, one at a time. You can ambush the skeleton warriors when they round a corner. You can also use animated undead of your own, or summoned monsters, to draw the fire of the skeleton warriors while your fighters try to move in to engage in melee combat.

There are several additional traps in the maze, so continue to use a thief to scout the maze. There are some invisible stalkers and additional skeleton warriors, but none of them has a ranged attack.

A powerful group of Iron Throne members is hunting for Saverok near the middle of the Undercity. Consisting of both fighters and mages (and an ogre companion), they are dangerous adversaries. They tend to cast fireballs (and use arrows of detonation) to start the combat, so you're better off summoning some monsters or animating some dead to use as targets to draw fire away from your party. Stinking cloud or other area of effect spells such as web or fireball work particularly well for this combat, as the enemy party is tightly grouped. Concentrate on taking out the mages first, before they can take cause havoc in your party.

Sarevok's lair is in the northwest corner of the Undercity. There are several traps in the center of the room (avoid the "skull" symbol altogether) and several more along the sides. Use a thief to clear away the traps along the sides, and arm your party with the best missile weapons they have available. If you have them, use protection from magic scrolls and potions of freedom. Sarevok is immune to magic, but his accomplices are not, and you can hit them with fireballs until they go down. You might want to cast a silence 15 foot radius or miscast magic spell on Samaj as well. Create lots of summoned monsters/creatures and animated undead to use as cannon fodder. If you charge into the room, you won't last 30 seconds. Try to lure only a couple of enemies into view at a time.

The game will end as soon as you take down Sarevok, so you don't even need to take out his allies. By concentrating your ranged fire at Sarevok you'll take him down fairly quickly. He's a tough opponent to go toe-to-toe with, so you should lure him into chasing one character around while the others pummel him with ranged weapons. Enjoy witnessing the final fate of Sarevok.