Six of Spades's Guide to the Game of Baldur's Gate
(The whole series; from Baldur's Gate I through Throne of Bhaal)

Why this site isn't as good as your Manual, and the other online Guides out there:
  • It's not nice to use a pirated copy of the game that doesn't have a Manual. If you like BioWare's products, support their company. I did.
  • This site isn't as graphics-intensive or as professionally designed as some others, so it's not quite as pretty.
  • I keep secrets from you. (See below, in red)
    • Why this site is better than your Manual and the other sites:
  • The Manuals give you a bit more background into the world of the Forgotten Realms than I do, but I give you a good look at the AD&D world, and the way that that world was implemented in the game. (The manual never refers to Baldur's Gate as a computer game�I don't have this problem.) Chapter 9 is a good example of this.
  • Fewer graphics means faster loading.
  • It's not broken up into huge, separate sections for each of the 2 games and their respective expansion packs: This guide treats all 11 CDs as one big game�which, in fact, they are. But you can still tell what data pertains to which game, because this site is color-coded:
    General data that's valid from BG1 (Baldur's Gate I) onward is in black.
    Details pertinent only to ToSC (Tales of the Sword Coast, the expansion to BG1) is in yellow.
    Information that first comes into play in BG2 (Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn) is in green.
    And stuff that's only important for ToB (Throne of Bhaal, the expansion to BG2) is in blue.
  • This site contains absolutely no spoiler material. A spoiler is when somebody blows the ending of a movie for you�information you didn't want to know, because you would have much rather found it out for yourself. This is the reason I started this Guide in the first place: I was looking at a site online, and I accidentally read the exact location of the best damn helmet in BG1, before I'd ever found that helmet for myself. This deprived me of the pleasure and satisfaction I would have gained if I'd actually earned the helm on my own. Therefore, this Guide does not include walkthroughs or item lists of any kind. (If I seem to be really anal-retentive about spoilers, I'm only doing what I wish other people had done for me.) I will not reveal any spoilers here, although I will discuss slightly spoiler-ish material, in order to warn you beforehand of potential bugs and unrealistic flaws in the game. Chapter 13 is an excellent example of precisely what I will�and what I won't�tell you. There are some pages in this Guide where you will have to click & drag over some invisible text if you want to read it.
    • Chapter 1: The spirit of the game (BOR-ing!)
    Chapter 2: A few technical terms to know
    Chapter 3: Creating your character (Choosing a race)
    Chapter 4: Creating your character (Choosing a class)
    Chapter 5: Multiclassing vs. Dualclassing
    Chapter 6: Creating your character (Rolling your stats)
    Chapter 7: Weapon proficiencies & hitpoints
    Chapter 8: Items, items, items galore
    Chapter 9: Combat�Tanks vs. archers vs. casters
    Chapter 10: Powergaming vs. Roleplaying
    Chapter 11: Cheating
    Chapter 12: File manipulation, EXP caps, and from BG1 to BG2
    Chapter 13: Manual/Game Errata, & a few final words
    Appendix 1: Tables
    Appendix 2: Links
    Appendix 3: Credits

    Copyright Stuff:
    This entire website written by the Six of Spades. It's free, copy what you want. Questions? Comments? Email me at [email protected].
    All graphics on this site, with the exception of my own SixOfSpades logos, are variously copyright of BioWare, Interplay and Black Isle. The various character portraits were made by Mike Sass, an Art Director at BioWare. Screenshots taken of the game may or may not be copyright.
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