Advice for a new player

[Escronimu]

Hi

I just joined up a few days ago, and am having a bit of a hard time getting started
I want to persist a bit longer, so I was hoping I could get a few bits of general advice to get started?

Specifically I'm having trouble not dying : (

I've managed to complete a bunch of non-combat BG quests, enough to level-up to Lvl 2, but it doesn't look like I can put off combat any longer...

The game seems to point to the graveyard as the place to grind up to a decent level, but the problem is, as an archer, I'm hopeless against undead, so I keep getting smashed, and losing any xp I might have gained for killing 1 or 2 of them. The other place I can find is the bandit cave, but this has likewise been spectacularly unsuccessful.

So yeah, I seem to be stuck at low-level 2 - gaining about 200xp then dying and losing it again. Is there a better place I should be looking to level up? Or do I really need to start out at a figher in order to bash my way to safety?

Any other general advice gratefully received! I've had a bit of a read through what I can find here...

[Marathados]

Wielder of the power of bowpremacy. Been there, what is your build?

No grinding needed in my opinion, just get yourself a sling for the graveyard and do not grind too much. I know, sling. Weapon of barbarians...

[Escronimu]

Thanks Marathados

Wood Elf Ranger, angling for Arcane Archer. I can't remember my stats off-hand, but most likely something like 12/16/14/10/12/10?

Okay I'll give a sling a go! The problem is with the skeletons I can only get one or two (non-hitting) shots away before I have to pull out a mace and swing wildly away at him for 5 mins before dying : (

[MrPsion]

I've leveled a few builds that aren't good in the graveyard for various reasons. The small bandit cave to the north of BG farmlands still provides plenty of xp for a level 2 pc. Once you're 3 it should be safe-ish to hunt on the road leading to the friendly arms inn which is south of BG farmlands.

[MrPsion]

Additionally if you travel south from BG farmlands and hang a left before you get to the bridge, this will lead you to an additional area you should be able to hunt in at level 2. Some of the spawns have too many hp but deal minimal damage so you should be good.

[YourMoveHolyMan]

As a ranger, you have higher survival than most and could also try fishing in Ulgoth's Beard to supplement your exp gains.

[Sun Wukong]

The problem with the undead in the Graveyard is that if you do not have the damage output, you need to switch between Slashing and Bludgeoing weapons.

Now, you should head towards river Chiontar, that is south of of Eastern Farmlands. It is a big bridge map, you cannot miss the bridge. Do not cross the bridge, just go to the eastern transition. You will get to fight against phase spider babies, etc.

Another alternative is to go to the bandit cave on Northern Farmlands, which can be found north-west from the Eastern Farmlands, or north from the Palace District of Baldur's Gate.

Final location: from Nexus, choose to go to Soubar. There is a well that you can climb down and there are some low level CR mobs like bats, mushroom people, and slimes. Slimes might have some DR though...

[izzul]

put in your scry, lvl2 LFG and team up with 5 more lvl 2-10 team mates to have fun time!

[Escronimu]

Awesome, thanks for the tips : )

Yep I figured if I could make it to Level 3 I'd be good to go exploring further afield.

I tried a few places - just North West of BG, looking for the wolves and got eaten in one go by a dire-boar(?), and tried collecting bilberries on the island and I don't even know what killed me it happened so quick! So that put me off going beyond the farm-lands.

South sounds good. I'll give that a go.

Good to know fishing gives xp! I just assumed it would be gold only.

Re: joining a party - I read in the beginners advice on here to join a party once you can hold your own, so I figured if I couldn't even take out a skeleton yet I wouldn't be much use to anyone.

[Sun Wukong]

I tried a few places - just North West of BG, looking for the wolves and got eaten in one go by a dire-boar(?), and tried collecting bilberries on the island and I don't even know what killed me it happened so quick! So that put me off going beyond the farm-lands.

If you want wolves, head south from the Eastern Farmlands, you will see a bridge map. There is a transition to east on the Northern bank of the river. It leads to area with low level wolves, phase spiders, and bandits.

Re: joining a party - I read in the beginners advice on here to join a party once you can hold your own, so I figured if I couldn't even take out a skeleton yet I wouldn't be much use to anyone.

You can hold your own once you got bit of equipment, like armor, weapon, shield, etc. Backpack of the Hearty from Maltz gives +5 HP.

[Thorsson]

To sum up:

1. You need friends; and
2. You need gear.

1 will usually lead to 2.

[V'rass]

Get your ac up to 30 as soon as you can... 30-40 ac will protect you from most non epic mobs and is still decent against some of the weaker epics.

Take any opportunity to boost your hp until you have a decent amount of it.

Stick around the city till lv 5 or so before heading farther out.

Seek out groups whenever possible, you will lv much faster and die less in a group. Best way to find groups is via the scry window... if you see a ton of people in a particular grind area head on over and join them.

Do these and you will lv fast and do well.