Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast
Walkthrough and FAQ
Version 0.5
Elroy Ng(elroyng@singnet.com.sg)
This Document Copyright 1999 Elroy Ng
Do not reproduce or redistribute this FAQ in any form without my
consent. If you want to include any part of this FAQ on your website,
publication, etc, e-mail me for permission first.
Contents:
1. Author's Note
2. Introduction
3. The Ideal Party
4. General Physical Combat Strategies
5. General Magical Combat Strategies
6. Tales of the Sword Coast Walkthrough
7. Conclusion
1. Author's Note
23.5.99
First of all, I would just like to say that Baldur's Gate is the BEST
RPG I have ever played on the Playstation or PC. The game is just
simply incredible.
All of the tips and strategies in this guide are created and tested by
myself. These strategies are tried and tested and have proven their
worth. Anyone who wants to add their own strategies in Baldur's Gate,
please e-mail me and I would decide whether to place them here.
Also, there is NO STORY SPOILERS IN THIS FAQ.
2. Introduction
In Baldur's Gate, especially Tales of the Sword Coast, there are tons
of strategies and tactics involved when dealing with powerful foes. The
kind of strategies you use would depend on the kind of party you are
controlling. For example, a pure physical attack party would use
different kinds of strategies and technique compared to a party using
maigcal attacks.
In this FAQ I have listed the various ways to tackle the tough foes
found in BG. And my definition of "winning a battle" is "winning a
battle without a single party member dead". Please take note of this.
3. The Ideal Party
The ideal party to use in Baldur's Gate MUST have at least one mage who
casts spells such as Lightning Bolt or Fireball. Another must-have
member is also a priest who handles the healing of your party.
If you are like me, and prefer to stick to a pure brawling party with
no mages whatsoever, then I must warn you that you are only making
things difficult for yourself. In BG, it is almost impossible to make
it through the game without magic. Powerful foes such as the Battle and
Helmed Horrors make your life difficult. I had such an experience.
In the first few chapters of the game, it is possible to make it
through without magic. I did. However by the time I reached Cloakwood
Mines, I found the game to be extremely tough without magic when
dealing with the Horrors. This was my party at that time:
Myself (Paladin)
Khalid (Fighter)
Jaheria (Fighter/Druid)
Ajantis (Paladin)
Kivan (Ranger)
Imoen (Thief)
All of the members of my party used long-range weapons such as bows and
slings. For the lesser enemies I met, this party was all-around
supreme. However the lack of any form of magical attack soon became
apparent when I reached Baldur's Gate. It was near impossible to beat
those Doom Guards and Invisible Stalkers in that mage's house without
losing a single member. So I reshuffled my party and this is my current
party in Tales of the Sword Coast too. The members are:
Myself (Paladin)
Khalid (Fighter)
Ajantis (Paladin)
Branwen (Cleric)
Imoen (Thief)
Dynaheir (Invoker)
If you are wondering what happened to Minsc and Jaheria, well, I simply
killed them. Yes, feel free to kill any member of a pair when forming
your ideal party, the game would not penalize you any way.
All of my characters carry a long-range weapon and a secondary short-
range weapon. If there's a need, Branwen could use the Wand of the
Heavens which I bought and Dynaheir coould use the Wand of Frost which
I also bought.
4. General Physical Combat Strategies
? When fighting hand-hand, long range missile weapons are always more
effective than even the best sword that you can ever find in the
game. Equip your whole party with long range weapons. For the
fighters, use a Composite Longbow and for the mages and clerics, use
the Slings. Any normal enemy approaching your group will be
mincemeat by the time they reach you.
? When fighting a group of powerful enemies, make sure to take out the
magic user among them first with your long-range weapons. Mages can
wreak havoc with spells such as fireball and horror if you are not
careful.
? I would advise that you put your best armour and equipment on one
warrior alone. Try not to spread the equipment out to create a well-
balanced party. A party with a super-warrior and two weaker warriors
is better than a party with three average warriors.
5. General Magical Combat Strategies
? The best magic attacks in the game usually come from wands. I found
the Wand of the Heavens and Wand of Frost to be the most effective.
? Spells such as Fireball and Lightning Bolts dish out tremendous
amount of damage. However these spells MUST be used cautiously. A
single Fireball spell targeted wrongly can really ruin your day. The
best strategy to adopt when using a Fireball spell is to cast it far
behind the opponent. When done correctly, only the monster in front
of you gets injured by the spell.
? Do NOT ignore spells such as Hold Person and Horror. These spells
can really help when dealing with groups of tough foes.
? Never forget about your lower-level spells when you receive your
third or fourth level spells. Spells such as Magic Missiles and
Burning Hands are excellent when executed by a high-level mage.
? Personally, I think that the best spell in the game is the Magic
Missile spell. It never misses and is cast instantly. This is
effective for hitting mages before they get their powerful spells
off on you.
6. Tales of the Sword Coast Walkthrough
Be warned that all the subquests in Tales of the Sword Coast are very
cahllenging. To begin with, you would need a Level-7/8 party, which is
also well equipped at the same time. The party I used to tackle TOSC is
the same as mentioned above with 3 warriors, 1 thief, 1 cleric and 1
mage. In TOSC, the most important member has to be the thief. This is
due to the sheer amount of traps you would find in TOSC.
? Retrieval of Shandalar's Cloak
Talk to Shandalar found in Ulgoth's Beard. He would ask you to retrieve
a cloak belonging to him from a faraway place. Make sure you prepare
your party sufficiently before agreeing. Stock up on ammo for your
long-range weapons and cure your whole party. When ready, talk to him
again and he would give you a wardstone, which can get you out of that
island. And then he would teleport your party to the island to retrieve
his cloak.
You would then appear on an island, enter the cave to the dungeon. In
this dungeon, there are winter wolves scattered about and there are
three major battles with mages in the dungeon. The first battle
involves a group of 3 mages. This is a really difficult battle. You
would have to enter the space where the group of mages are via a narrow
corridor. Upon seeing you, they would attack you, not giving you time
to get your entire party into the room. Whats more, they would cast a
Horror spell which makes you lose control over several members of your
party. I have developed a specific strategy for this battle. And it
goes like this:
? Get your mage who can cast either Fireball or Stinking Cloud to the
other end of the corridor, which is a dead end. Make sure you do not
let the three mages spot you.
? Then cast Fireball into the room where the three mages are, not
moving from your position. As soon as the fireball spell hits,
retreat back into the room from which you came from.
? If successful, the fireball spell would damage one or two of the
mage prompting them to approach and attack you.
? This is the opportunity to take them out one by one. Once you have
taken out one or two of the mages, you can then rush into the room
to take care of the rest of the mages.
? One mage (can't remember his name) gives a whopping 6000 exp whereas
the others give 1800 and 2000 exp.
There is another battle here involving a mage and 4 Ankhegs. This
battle is pretty easy as the mage is not that powerful. Make your way
to the top of the map via a narrow passage near the beginning of the
dungeon. Watch out for the traps though. Either use a thief to disarm
them or use a mage with Minor Globe of Invulnerability to walk through
them. You will then meet two more mages who are pretty easy to beat.
The last mage that you would fight is called Dezkiel (I think), he
holds Shandalar's cloak. This guy is wimp, just take him out with long
range missiles. Grab the cloak and leave the dungeon by the stairs in
the room he was in. Leave the island by moving to the spot from which
you landed on when you arrived. You should teleport out of the island
automatically.
? Werewolf Island
To initiate this quest, talk to Mendas of Waterdeep in his house which
is to the far west of Ulgoth's Beard. He would tell you to retrieve the
sea charts from the Counting House in Baldur's Gate. The Counting House
can be found by walking north from the Soceries Sundries, and then
exiting the map. On the new map, on your immediate right is the
Counting House. Unlock the door and enter. The guy at the top would
tell you to do a quest for him before you can obtain the sea charts.
Actually, you can simply pickpocket him for the charts and leave not
bothering with the quest. Head back to Ulgoth's Beard and talk to
Mendas again. When ready, go outside and talk to Mendas. He would then
have hired a boat which would take you to Werewolf Island.
Your ship would then meet a storm and land on Werewolf Island
(coincidence?). As soon as you land, head towards the center of the map
and enter a house then talk to Kaishas Gan. She would tell you of the
story of how they came to be on this island and about the lycanthropes
in the upper half of the island. Offer to get rid of the Werewolves in
the upper half of the island.
Head to the northern part of the island. Proceed to the shed where a
mage (can't remember his name) resides in. He would ask you to retrieve
his spellbook from the ship where the Wolfweres are so that he can get
out of the island. His shed provides a safe resting place so rest if
you have to. He would also hand you an amulet that helps against
lycanthropes. Pickpocket him for another such amulet. Proceed to the
ship to the northwest of the shed. Here, there are four levels where
you would meet Wolfweres and Vampiric Wolves. I would suggest Magic
Missiles and wands to deal them damage. Of course the most efficient
way is still the traditional way, and that is, by hacking and slashing
at them. There are chests around each level. However, most of them are
booby-trapped so have your thief to disarm them beforehand. If you find
yourself not being able disarm the trap and therefore not being able to
unlock the chests, your only option is to cast the second-level mage
spell, Knock and then take the effects of the traps head-on. (BTW, you
better get used to this, such occurrences are aplenty in Durlag's
Tower). On the third level of the ship, a Werebane dagger can be found.
The fourth level is the final level of the ship where Karoug is. There
is a nasty fight waiting for you though. Here is how I survived it
without anyone dying:
? As soon as you reach the top, have someone cast a Fireball spell
aimed at the bottom end of the room. This is to weaken the Wolfweres
that would approach your party when the conversation ends.
? And then have another person cast monsters or skeletons to block the
Wolfweres from approaching your party.
? When the conversation ends, Karoug turns into a Greater Wolfwere.
You need specific weapons to hit him. Bastard Sword+3 vs
Shapeshifters, the Werebane dagger and the Flametongue can hit him.
? Have your best fighter approach and challenge the Greater Wolfwere
to "hold him off" while you hit it with Magic Missiles or wands.
? An attack should be made on the enemy mage as soon as the
conversation ends so as to disrupt her spellcasting. As soon as
someone or something hits her, she would turn into a Wolfwere.
? The Greater Wolfwere would give your party 8000 experience points.
Grab the doll and baby named Pelandan, from the room with Balduran's
Logbook and the Sword of Balduran. (I do not know how to complete the
doll and baby subquest, anyone who have the exact details, please e-
mail me with the exact details and you would be given credit in my FAQ)
Return to the shed and return the spellbook to the mage and he would
cast Dimension Door and disappear.
Return back to Kaishas Gan once you clean out the ship. Suddenly, the
whole village except Kaishas Gan would turn against you. Go outside and
any villager who notices you would "explode" into a Werewolf to attack
you. (So much for cleaning out the island for them) Approach the large
house to the west of the village where it is enclosed by stone walls.
The mage whom you just "saved" by returning the spellbook would
approach and tell you to enter the secret passage in the house.
Go into the house and enter the passage revealed. You would then find
yourself in a cave with winding paths. Head towards the north-east to
find the exit. When you exit the cave, approach the ship where Kaishas
Gan is. She would then turn herself into a Lou Garou and attack you.
The Lou Garou is not very strong, equip the Sword of Balduran which you
should have found in the ship and kick its ass. And the escape from the
island by clicking on the mast (or somewhere there) of the ship.
When you return to Ulgoth's Beard, Menda's plot is revealed and he too
turns into a Lou Garou. As the previous battle, use the Sword of
Balduran to hammer it.
? Durlag's Tower
Ok, I have completed Durlag's Tower but have not found the time to
write a decent walkthrough on it. If you have any difficulties, e-mail
me and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Here is a summarized walkthrough:
? Enter the tower and pilfer the upper levels first
? An easy to miss item is the Scimitar+2, which can be found on the
"outside" of the tower. You can access the "outside" by entering a
door on the second level of the tower.
? Proceed downstairs and find a hidden door to the north of the room.
? Enter the door and you would find yourself on a huge level with TONS
of traps
? The four warders have their individual riddles to solve.
? Go to the room with the books opposite the room with the sword and
click on each of the books. The sword would then be activated and
this solves one riddle.
? Proceed to collect the gong mallet and the handle (the handle is
easily missed. Its in a table in the bedroom) and head to the anvil
near the beginning of the level to fix the together. Proceed to the
room near the sword room and hit the gong with the fixed item. This
solves another riddle.
? Go to the room with lots of treasure and take the glittering blue
gem. This solves one more riddle.
? Head to the bedroom and grab the grapes. And then activate the huge
machine in the east of the level. Proceed to the funny contraption
nearby and you would end up with a bottle of grape juice. This
solves the last riddle.
? Head to the warders and talk to them all. Once you have done that, a
nasty fight would ensue. My tip is to summon lots of monsters and
take out the magic-casting one first. Make sure to steer clear of
the area where one of them casts cloudkill. When you are done with
them, grab the wardstone and exit the level through the well.
? You would then end up in the next level (duh!). You would see 3
doors and to get to them, there is a room where a fireball
repeatedly explodes.
? Proceed to the end of the level and enter the four rooms to defeat
the creatures.
? In case you do not know, the only way to take out the Fission Slime
effectively is by casting fire spells on them. Fireball and Wand of
the Heavens work well.
? You would then be transported to a chess match. This "match" is
tough. The key word is "fireball". There are just too many of them
to take out quickly. I would suggest no moving in your positions and
use long-range.
? At the beginning of the game, have your mage cast fireball
immediately aimed into the opponent's half, this would take out
about six pawns and the rest of the enemies would then start to
swarm you.
? Now, use Arrows of Detonation to aimed at the mages in the middle of
the board. Two arrows would effectively take out everyone left
besides the king.
? Then kill the king and head towards the top of the board and the
door to exit the level.
? This next level contains some easy-to-solve riddles.
? When done, proceed to the stairs and meet the Demonknight
? The Demonknight is a wimp, kill him and then talk to Dalton in the
same area.
? Then exit Durlag's Tower by talking to Islanne.
7. Conclusion
This is FAQ is FAR from complete. I do not know whether I would have
the time or patience to update it in the future. Anyway, if you have
any questions or queries about Tales of the Sword Coast, e-mail me and
I would try to get back as soon as I can. Also, if you can help by
filling in the missing names in this FAQ, please send me an e-mail and
I would give credit where it's due.
Elroy Ng (elroyng@singnet.com.sg)
