Two Questions: Hard or Normal, and Mechanics?

[vertigofm]

Hi everyone,

Two quick questions:

I've played the Baldur's Gate series to death.  Should I play normal or hard?  Does hard have any increased payoff?  (more experience/loot?)


Also, mechanics: should I grab it with my main or let an NPC level up mechanics?



Thanks!

[PrimeJunta]

There's no increased payoff with Hard, other than more interesting gameplay. If you're a BG series veteran and are willing to put in a bit of effort to figure out how the game works, I say go with Hard. It's ... not, really, if you play it at all intelligently.

 

Re mechanics, six of one, half-dozen of the other. If your main is one of the classes who gets a bonus in it (rogue, cipher, chanter, wizard) then you might as well pick a background that gives another level and max it. Else just let Aloth or Kana (or, later, Devil of Caroc if you want her in the party) take it. There's no particular benefit to having it on your main as opposed to the others.

[why]

For someone who played a lot of the IE games, I would say you could safely start on hard, but keep in mind that the ruleset is different.  Don't rely on the same tactics as Baldur's Gate, but the same sort of strategic awareness that serves you well in the IE games will likewise do you some good in Pillars.

 

The mechanics thing kind of confuses me also.  I'm in a hard run right now and I'd read somewhere that my priestly seals use mechanics, so my mechanics is high for my main.  However, I don't need to rely on my seals much.  I think PrimeJunta is right about the outlook generally, but I also think that the game isn't brutal enough on hard to warrant worrying about it much if you didn't make the optimal skill decisions.  When I d​o cast seals, it might help, but I never vetted that information in the first place so it might be entirely a waste of points.  I'm already well into act two and 9 levels down in the stronghold and things seem to be going smoothly, so I'll just be more careful about things when I play on Path next time.

[KDubya]

I like to have one of my frontliners be the trap finder as they are the ones closest to the traps. That way you marching formation is your trap finding formation is your fighting formation. No need to have a soft target like Aloth lead the march to find the trap and then run back behind the frontline before combat starts.

 

Even a fighter/paladin/monk/barb can be the mechanic master at least up to mechanic level 11 or so. Past that costs too many points and you need everyone to have 3 0r 4 athletics and the same with stealth. For high end traps you need to have a rogue, the cost savings are just too big to ignore.

 

As others have said start with hard. Next play through you'll be using PotD.

[SamHam]

Hard seems to give you icewind dale annoying amounts of mobs, while normal seems to give you BG amounts. I just wish PoTD had the option of normal amounts of mobs with the increased stats...

[Sethanon]

Well, as someone who played IE games also a lot, I would recommend you to start on Easy, and later switch on higher difficulty.

Mechanics and rules in this game are completely different and you will die a lot during first hours.

 

I played my first time on Easy and then after half of the game I turned it on Normal. That was first time.

Now I am playing on Hard because I know "how to do" things.

[jsaving]

Regarding mechanics, it is important to remember that most dialogue skill checks look ONLY at your main character, not your companions.  If you care about dialogue -- which some players don't -- then it makes sense to have your main focus on lore, which is the main dialogue skill. 

[evilcat]

With minimal experience with other tactical games then hard is ok. Normal could get too easy. You can always start hard, and if it gets too hard lower.

 

Depends if your class/craft have mechanic bonus. Otherwise Endurance has Mechanic bonus.

[PrimeJunta]

Regarding mechanics, it is important to remember that most dialogue skill checks look ONLY at your main character, not your companions.  If you care about dialogue -- which some players don't -- then it makes sense to have your main focus on lore, which is the main dialogue skill.

I believe even more dialog checks are for stats (Perception and Resolve seem the most commonly used) or reputations. They're mostly for flavor though, plus the occasional shortcut that lets you talk your way past an obstacle instead of fighting. You won't really miss out on anything significant even if you dump Res and Per (which would be weird, as you need Res for a defensive build and Per for an offensive one, so you're almost certain to have high points in one, or above-average in both.)