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Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC)
& Throne of Bhaal (BG2 Expansion, PC)

FAQ/Walkthrough
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January 17, 2005
Version 8.5

Written by: Dan Simpson
Email: dsimpson.faqs@gmail.com

Use this subject: Baldur's Gate II v 8.5

(emails with improper subjects MAY BE DELETED!)


Email Policy: (read before emailing me!)

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Got a question? Check the Frequently Asked Questions section
first (it's after the walkthrough) to see if your question is
already answered.

If you see any mistakes, or have anything that you want to add
please email me! I will, of course, give you full credit for
your addition, and be eternally grateful to you. Email addresses
are not posted in the FAQ, unless you specifically state that
you want it to be.


______________________________________Notes____________________________________
You will find the most up to date version of this FAQ at:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/
http://www.gamewinners.com/
http://www.cheatcc.com/

I also have an Item List FAQ & a Class FAQ both of which you can also find at
GameFAQs.

If you're having any sort of technical problem with the game, there are some
patches you should consider getting:

BG2: http://www.bioware.com/bgate2/bg2patch.shtml
ToB: http://www.bioware.com/bg2tob/bg2tobpatch.shtml

If you have serious BUG issues with BG2, this page will be your Bible:

http://www.baldurdash.org/

Throne of Bhaal, the Official Expansion to Baldur's Gate II is out.

Mod information has been given its own section, I.2, just after the Throne of
Bhaal introduction.

Special Thanks To: (see Final Words for a lengthier list)

Steotia, Craig Gibbens, Rabbit, Aleph, Death Crow, Jeremy Treanor, Grack,
Geoff Ulreich, Boogie, Souma, Blackhawk, Greymane, Vash, Max Chen, Taganath,
Chris Emery, ShirouKyoji, Tim Lou, Kevin Logan, Ken Baker, CJayC, Wai Chu Yu,
P.K., Willis Su, David Weldon, Ken Adams, Cyrille Artho, Hector E. Meza,
SpookyScarecrow, Mishael, Matri, Henning Roes, Travis Archer, Jonathan
Zimmerman, Redd Barren, Rick Harder, Rakhiir, David Lyons, Edward Adams,
Gabriel, Pedro R. Quaresma, ShirouKyoji, ANDY, Adar, Rolander, JP, Dominic,
Dranyth, Juky & 649 of 711, Kevin Chung, Ryan Brady, David Haire, Robert Pay,
Nick McIsaac, jayhc, Cornelius Chesterfield, Mike O, Snark, RCL,
James Prieels, Sarina, Per Jorner, Moby, Brad Beacham, Phobia, Pieter
Spronck, ROB, Harry Smith, Chris Norman, Jafar Sadeq, Jason Cha, Alexander
Ferguson, Brian Brus, alexcool, Marc Oliver, Tetrazome, Alex Malano, Khadgar,
Alan Cherry, Andrea Nicoli, Paul Dickinson, SloppyDogg, Gunslinger, John
Knudson, Brian Camley, John Winkleman, GOOD_ASH (Brian Phillips), Accord, Ard
/Eathlon, Brawny Lam, Daniel Pang, Clayton, James Victor, Vladislav Brkic,
Sergio Le Roux, Tim Marshal, Miguel, Doug Scheurich, Dave Loveland, CY Lee,
Braden, Konstantin, Jeremy Hanson, Corvus Albus, Gareth Embrey, the Maxx,
Lani Weaver, Michael Schneider, Carl Pettersson, Xander77, Alessio Ronchi,
Xar, Andrew Scarvell, K.C., John Howard

Anyone who emails me with nice things to say, you are appreciated!
And last, but not least, thanks to Bioware for making such a great game!

This FAQ looks best in a fixed-width font, such as Courier New.

This Document is Copyright 2000-2005 by Dan Simpson
Baldur's Gate II is Copyright 2000 by Bioware/Black Isle/Interplay
BG2: Throne of Bhaal is Copyright 2001 by Bioware/Black Isle/Interplay

I am not affiliated with Bioware, Black Isle, Interplay or anyone who had
anything to do with the creation of this game. This FAQ may be posted on any
site so long as NOTHING IS CHANGED and you EMAIL ME telling me that you are
posting it. You may not charge for, or in any way profit from this FAQ.
_______________________________________________________________________________

__________________
What's New in 8.5:
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Changed my email address.

For a complete Version History, check out the Final Words Section at the end
of the FAQ.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Introduction
II. What's New in Baldur's Gate II
III. Throne of Bhaal Information
IV. Mod Information
V. Creating a Main Character (or a Party)
VI. Companions
VII. Gameplay Strategies and Tricks
VIII. General Monster Fighting Strategies
VIII.1 Golems
VIII.2 Demons
VIII.3 Undead
VIII.4 Dragons
VIII.5 Enemy Spellcasters
VIII.6 Beholders
VIII.7 Mind Flayers
VIII.8 Werewolves

Walkthrough

1. Chapter 1: Irenicus' Dungeon
1.1 Irenicus' Dungeon Level 2
2. Chapter 2: Waukeen's Promenade
2.1 The Slums
2.2 Between Areas
2.3 De'Arnise Hold
2.4 Windspear Hills
2.5 The Planar Sphere
2.6 The Graveyard
2.7 City Gate
2.8 The Bridge
2.9 Government District
2.10 Umar Hills
2.11 Temple Ruins
2.12 Temple District
2.13 The Sewers
2.14 The Docks
2.15 Trademeet
3. Chapter 3: The Guild War
3.1 Working for the Shadow Thieves
3.2 Working for Bodhi
4. Chapter 4: Brynnlaw
4.1 Spellhold
4.2 Maze beneath Spellhold
4.3 Escape from Spellhold
4.4 Sahuagin City
5. Chapter 5: The Underdark
5.1 Ust Natha (Drow City)
5.2 Beholder City
5.3 The Illithid Lair
5.4 Exit from the Underdark
6. Chapter 6: Back to Athkatla
6.1 Three New Areas
7. Chapter 7: Suldanessellar
7.1 The Nine Hells

X1. STRONGHOLD Walkthroughs
X2. The Limited Wish Adventure

Throne of Bhaal Walkthrough

1. Watcher's Keep
2. Grove of the Ancients
3. Saradush
4. Gromnir
5. Yaga Shura
6. Amkethran
6.1 Sendai
6.2 Abazigal
7. Balthazar
8. Throne of Bhaal

Frequently Asked Questions

Appendices

A. Complete Kit Descriptions
B. Charts & Analysis
> Thieving Money Charts
> Dual Wielding Analysis
C. Cheats
D. Trainers and Editors
E. Manual Corrections & Addendums
F. Bugs
G. Strange Things

Final Words....


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I. > > > > Introduction
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Baldur's Gate, your character faced the harsh light of reality. Pushed
violently out of your home after the death of your foster father, you had to
discover the truth of his killing, and your own past. What you discovered
was that you were the offspring of the deceased Lord of Murder, the dark god
Bhaal. He had foreseen his own imminent demise and so had spread his seed
across the land. You were one of those children. So too was the evil
Sarevok, the murderer of Gorion. He sought to become the new Lord of Murder,
and sought to start a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn. It would not matter
who won this war... so long as people died by the thousands. Fortunately for
the world you were there to stop Sarevok and end his schemes.

But the world doesn't stop for one heroic deed. Soon after your adventures
around Baldur's Gate a mysterious force captures your adventuring party.
Could this be another spawn of Bhaal? Or perhaps something worse...


Baldur's Gate II: The Shadows of Amn takes place just a few months after the
events of Baldur's Gate. You have been captured and placed in a cage. All
your equipment and money is gone. Your companions have been scattered. Who
is behind this? And more importantly... why?

There are two "bonus" CD's out there, one people got with the Collector's
Edition and another for Preordering (either from EBworld or from the
Interplay Store). These add new shops and items. You can also download
these files from http://www.sorcerers.net/index.shtml (you can also check out
the Frequently Asked Questions for more information)

Collector's Disc: Aurora's Emporium in the Adventurer's Mart

Sells all manner of Torment related items, such as Dak'kon's Zerth Blade
and Vhailor's Helm. Best yet, it has the almighty Robe of Vecna. Talk
to Deidre in the back of the Adventurer's Mart.

Preorder Disc: Joluv in the Copper Coronet

Sells all manner of Icewind Dale related items, such as Hrothgar's Axe
and the Defender of Easthaven.

You can just use the cheats to create the merchants (see the Cheats section
if you don't know how to do it):

CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("wmart1")
CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("wmart2")

to make the two merchants appear in the current area. (from John Howard)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. > > > > What's New in Baldur's Gate II
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a list of what's new in Baldur's Gate II (as compared to BG):

- Familiars. Mages can cast the first level spell "Find Familiar" to get
themselves a little intelligent creature called a Familiar. Not only
do you get a permanent little scout/thief/monster, but you get a bonus
to your Mage's HP as well. If your Familiar has 24 HP, then you get +12
HP.

- Strongholds. Each class gets their own specific stronghold to call their
own. A fighter gets a castle, a bard gets a playhouse and a thief gets
a thieves' guild.

- New Playable Race: Half-Orc. Half-orcs get a bonus to their strength
and constitution and a penalty to their intelligence and charisma.

- New Playable Classes: Monk, Barbarian and Sorcerer.

Monk. The Monk is one of the more interesting new classes. They are
very skilled at fighting without weaponry, and as they go up in levels
their fists grow in power. At the 14th level they start gaining Magic
Resistance. They also have other special abilities, such as Lay on Hands
faster movement and some thief skills. The drawback? They can't wear
armor or use two-handed weaponry.

Barbarian. The Barbarian is a brute compared to the fighter. More
vicious but less refined. He gets more HP, can berserk and moves faster.
Drawbacks? Can't wear Full Plate or Plate Mail, and cannot gain more
than Specialized in Proficiencies.

Sorcerer. Normal mages have to first learn a spell, then memorize it,
then spend time to cast the spell. The Sorcerer does none of these.
They simply get a set number of spells per level and can cast a number
of spells. This works more like "mana" systems of other games.

- New sub-classes, called Kits. These represent different philosophies
within each discipline. For example, the Wizard Slayer (Fighter) won't
wear magic items, but gains a bonus magic resistance and can disrupt
magic spells permanently. For more information see the Kits section in
the Appendix.

- More thief skills, such as Set Trap, Detect Illusion and more.

- More spells, including Delayed Blast Fireball and Time Stop.

- Gem bags to hold gems and necklaces, Scroll cases to hold spells and
parchments and Bags of Holding to hold everything else.

- Bigger, fiercer monsters, including Dragons, Beholders and Liches.

- Better resolution. The game officially supports up to 800x600, but
unofficially it can go up much, much higher.

- Higher experience cap, set at 2.95 million experience points allowing
your character to become as gods. (not quite, but that sure sounds good
doesn't it?)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. > > > > Throne of Bhaal Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Throne of Bhaal is the official Expansion Pack to Baldur's Gate II: Shadows
of Amn. It has one area (Watcher's Keep) that can be reached in either game,
and many other areas that take place after the events in BG2. ToB can be
purchased in any store that sold BG2.

Once you enter the Expansion areas (with the exception of Watcher's Keep)
you cannot return to the original game areas.

What's New in Throne of Bhaal:
------------------------------

- TAB key will now highlight doors, containers and items for you. (use it
often!)

- Wild Mage kit. Just like a mage, but with one key difference, Wild Surges.
These are near unpredictable alterations of the magic. It might just make
you itchy (or your enemies itchy) or it could even change your gender. You
just never know.

- New areas.

- Completes the Baldur's Gate saga.

- Experience Cap set much higher at 8,000,000. This allows most characters
to get to level 40.

- Many new items, and more items that can be built from other items.

- More spells.

- You can now remove spells from your spellbook. This is intended to get rid
of unwanted spells when you can't learn any more.

Tip: If you have duplicate Spell Scrolls, learn the spell once, then
Erase it, then learn it again. This way you get the experience
twice!

- New super abilities for level 20+ characters. These abilities are
extremely strong and useful, such as Deathblow, Whirlwind attack and
Summon Planetar.

- Evil clerics can Turn Paladins along with Undead. (which adds an
interesting conflict when you have Viconia and Keldorn in the same party)

- Cloak of Mirroring no longer reflects spells back to their caster, merely
blocks the spells.


David Gaider (one of the senior designers of ToB) has released a few minor
additions to Throne of Bhaal, which you can find at Baldurdash:

http://www.baldurdash.org/ToB/TOBtweaksandcheats.html

They include new Bhaalspawn abilities, and tougher Demogorgon and Balthazar
battles.

Baldurdash: http://www.baldurdash.org/


The Wish Spell
--------------

The WISH Spell is much like its lesser brother, the Limited Wish, but a
whole lot more powerful. As such it is very tricky to use. The Djinn you
summon is pretty much out to get you, so having a good WISDOM is essential.
18 or more will get you the best responses, 9 or worse will get you some
pretty awful responses. However, which wishes you get is also partly random.
He then picks from a list of wishes that you can get (not all will be what
you want), and if you have really bad wisdom, you'll be picking from a list
of nothing but bad choices! Here is a list of all the wishes, sorted from
the really bad to the sorta awful to the surprisingly good:

'Improved Haste' on all enemies in the area.
Level Drain two levels from each party member.
Bring a 'Meteor Swarm' down upon the caster.
Temporarily remove half of the caster's HP.
Caster loses all memorized spells.
Party loses 10,000 gp.
Temporarily reduce the Strength of all party members to 3.
Temporarily reduce the Dexterity of all party members to 3.
Temporarily reduce the Constitution of all party members to 3.
Temporarily reduce the Wisdom of all party members to 3.
Temporarily reduce the Intelligence of all party members to 3.
Temporarily reduce the Charisma of all party members to 3.
Heal all enemies in the area.
Temporarily remove 15% of all party members' HPs.
Summon an extra hostile monster into the area.
Everyone in the area, both party members and enemies, become intoxicated.
'Breach' on everyone in the area, including the party.
Blow all people, including party members, away from the caster.
Heal everyone, party members and enemies included.
Temporarily set Strength to 18 for everyone in the area, including enemies.
'Miscast Magic' on everyone in the area, including party members.
'Magic Resistance' on everyone in the area, including enemies.
'Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting' on everyone in the area, including the party.
Incur bad luck on everyone in the area, including party members.
'Silence' on everyone in the area, including party members.
'Haste' everyone in the area, including enemies.
'Improved Haste' on all party members.
'Breach' on all enemies in the area.
'Restoration' on all party members.
Raise all party members' characteristics to 25 for 4 rounds.
'Resurrection' on all dead party members.
All party members gain the temporary ability 'Greater Deathblow'.
All party members gain the temporary ability 'Hardiness'.
Create a random wand in caster's inventory.
Create a random potion in the caster's inventory.
Make it as if the entire party has just rested a full night and
re-memorized all their spells.
Cast a double-length 'Time Stop' and 'Improved Alacrity' on the caster.

Upgraded Familiars:
-------------------

Familiars are upgraded when you complete the regular game by beating
Irenicus.

You can now "feed" the familiars to heal them. You can also ask them for
advice.

If you want to see the old BG2 familiar list, it is in the Gameplay
Strategies section below.

Alignment Familiar AC HP Abilities
--------------- ------------- -- -- ----------------------------------
Lawful Good Pseudo Dragon 0 48 35% magic resistance, renders
victims unconscious, casts Blur,
Ghost Armor, Detect Illusion, 2
attacks per round

Neutral Good Pseudo Dragon 0 48 (same as above)

Chaotic Good Fairy Dragon 0 24 45% magic res., casts Invisibility
10' Radius, Imp. Invisibility &
Mirror Image 1/day

Lawful Neutral Ferret -4 48 65% magic res., 95% Pickpocket,
60% Stealth, 60% Detect Traps

True Neutral Rabbit 1 48 85% Detect Traps, 60% Stealth,
65 magic res., 50% detect illusion
always haste

Chaotic Neutral Cat -4 48 Pickpocket, 99% Stealth,
65% magic res, 60% Find Traps.

Lawful Evil Imp -2 48 Polymorphs, 35% magic res., poison
attack, regenerates 1 HP/second

Neutral Evil Dust Mephit 3 48 Casts Glitterdust 2/day, 25% magic
res., Prismatic Spray, Stoneskin,
60% damage resistant, immune to
fire

Chaotic Evil Quasit -2 48 Casts Horror, 35% magic resist.,
immune to fire, cold and elec.,
regenerates 1 Hp/second, 3 attacks
per round, attack reduces target
DEX


Romances in Throne of Bhaal:
----------------------------

Yep, they all are continued, even if you ended them (such as Aerie saying at
the end that you should just be friends).

SPOILERS

Viconia > You can convince her to change her alignment (you simply have to
say "good" things, like killing is wrong, etc.)
Aerie > You can have a child with her
Anomen > Asks to marry you
Jaheira > n/a

Viconia's alignment switch: When she offers to sleep with you again, turn
her down because the "time isn't right", then
when she asks what you think of her, be very
very nice. When she asks you what it's like
having the blood of Bhaal in your veins, tell
her that you don't like the killing.

Between meeting her wraith-brother and the
destruction of Saradush (I told you there were
Spoilers in here), you need to have at least
ONE romance talk occur. If you skip this, you
can't get her to switch alignments.