For those of you that don't know, Baldur's Gate takes place in the fictional Dungeons and Dragons world of the Forgotten Realms( think Middle-Earth except without the One Ring). To be specific, however, you are in the northern part of the Sword Coast, north of the land of Amn.

When you create a character, the most important part to think about, is "What role do I want to play in my party?" Do you enjoy killing characters at a distance, or just running in and killing things? You don't have to ask yourself that, you can just ask yourself whether or not you want to cast spells. Another thing: This is not real life. You do not need to make your character like you in real life. You probably already knew that, but just in case. Also, you don't have to create a character if you have a save already. You can import your character from a previous save by pressing the import button during character creation. Then you press "Saved Game", and select a save, and you can pick from any save games to import a player-made character from. Note that you will lose any Gem Bags, Scroll Cases and Potion Cases that you carried in the old save game. If you want to create a character, then you should also try out some of the pre-made characters, I have had positive results for myself with the "Abdel" character( who comes from the Baldur's Gate novel!), a Human Fighter with pretty good Fighter stats. Forgive me for mentioning the trashy novel.

On the subject of Gameplay Basics, let's start with the most confusing thing in the game except for why the novel could be so bad when the game's so good.: THAC0. What does "THAC0" mean? It means "To Hit Armor Class 0". THAC0 is the minimum to-hit roll to land a strike with the d20( a 20 sided die used to calculate a lot of stuff in Dungeons and Dragons). If Armor Class is negative, you add it to your THAC0. If Armor Class is positive, it subtracts from your THAC0. And since THAC0 is your minimum hit roll, lower THAC0 is better.
Note: If your THAC0 is 1, it is actually 2 because 1 is a critical miss and they never hit. Also note that rolls of 20 are critical hits and always hit, even if your THAC0 is 59.

What is Armor Class? Do not be fooled by the name. It is not your protection from hits. It's your evasion from hits. It ties in with THAC0. If you have positive Armor Class, then that is subtracted from the enemy's THAC0 score. If your Armor Class is negative, you add it to the enemy's THAC0 score.

Your lore score is a stat determined by your Intelligence stat and your Wisdom stat. And in the game, every item has a Lore value. If your Lore is above the item's Lore, it is automatically identified when you right-click an item to enter description mode. If it is equal to or below the item's Lore, than it is not automatically identified. That is why Imoen can automatically identify a Dagger+1, even at Level 1. Your lore goes up every level depending on your Intelligence and Wisdom stats.

Saving Throws are your ability to overcome certain things. Basically, your minimum roll on the d20 to survive stuff like Finger of Death(insta-kill spell) and Web.

Go into the inn, and buy what you need, then leave, and go into the building that you see first while going right from the inn. Kill Shank, and go down to the building with the bed sign, kill Carbos, and leave. Then go to the center of the map, talk to Imoen, then talk to Gorion.

Keep following the road until you see two people next to a huge stone. Talk to the green one. Then keep following the road until you leave the screen.
Then on the next screen, talk to the old man, and follow the road until it branches off. When it branches off, go east and follow the road until you reach the end of the screen, and leave.
At the Friendly Arm Inn's exterior, go into the walls, and go to the stairs of the building, kill Tarnesh, and go inside. Inside the inn, go to the top-left corner and talk to the two people then leave, and go down and transition to the coastway. Where the path branches, go south instead to go to Beregost.
In Beregost, just go to the end of the screen and go down to go to the next screen.
When you get to the next two screens just keep following the road to end up at Nashkel.

When you get to Nashkel, go into the building with the bed sign and kill Neira. It might be tough, but a good strategy is to have everybody use range and use Entangle on Neira with Jaheira or someone else. Then leave and go south until a man approaches you whose name is Berrun Ghastkill. Then follow the road until you leave the screen. Then, go to the Nashkel Mines, and go south until you see three guards in front of the mine entrance. Talk to the middle one, and go south a little and talk to the other guard-looking guy, and talk to the middle guard again. Then enter the Nashkel Mines. In the mines Level 1, just go straight to the exit shown on this map.

On Level 2, again, straight to the exit.
Do the same thing on Level 3: Straight to the exit.
On Level 4, DO NOT go to the exit. You can only use it once, and when you do, it collapses, and you'll have to go back through all the previous levels. In the cave, however, talk to Mulahey and loot the chest, and kill him. Then loot the chest.

Now, leave the cave and go to the exit. You will find yourself here.
When you get here, kill Lamalha and go back to Nshkel. Leave through the northern route and kill Nimbul. Then go to Beregost, talk to the old man, and go into Feldepost's Inn, and go up the stairs. Find Tranzig's room, and talk to Tranzig. Then leave, and go to the Friendly Arm Inn again, and this time, exit to the right, to go to Peldvale.
Just go north and exit to the Bandit Camp. Additionaly, you can explore and talk to one of the bandit groups, and ask to join, and they'll take you there.
At the Bandit Camp, whether or not you came with some bandits, go to the big tent in the top right corner. It is optional to kill Taugosz, but he drops Full Plate Mail. The best thing to do is kill the bandits around him first, and also to use all your offensive/defensive spells, and use ranged weapons to kill him, and buff your tanks with haste. Kill the enemies in the tent and loot the chest.

Go back to the Friendly Arm Inn, and talk to Elminster, then exit to the left and enter Cloakwood. At every level of Cloakwood, just keep heading to the exit (BEWARE OF TRAPS). Here are all 4 maps for Cloakwood, and the exterior of the mines.
At the mines exterior, go into the wood walls and kill Drasus. Drasus and his crew will be tough, but the best idea is to have your tanks go in first, and have everybody pound on the spell casters until they are both dead, and then your victory is definite. Then go to the lift down into the mines.
First, go talk to the miner in red by the vault shown in the photo, then just go to the exit.
And all you have to do to get to the boss is just keep exiting, and if you really want to, talk to Rill, too.
On floor four, locate the secret room and fight Davaeorn, who will be put into the "Bosses" Section.

Go to Baldur's Gate and talk to Elminster at the entrance. Then go to the Flaming Fist Mercenary Building at Southwest Baldur's Gate. Scar will first off ask you to find out the strange happenings at the Seven Suns. Do that and return. It shouldn't be too difficult, so I won't waste time on it. Then talk to Scar again, and go into a sewer grate in Southeast Baldur's Gate, which looks like this.
Then kill the Ogre Mage and get its ring, and talk to Scar again. When you talk to Duke Eltan, say yes, OR HE WILL KILL YOU.

Go into the keep and go to Gorion's room for a shocking secret, then talk to Koveras, and if you agreed to kill the people, do it, if not, leave, but either way you are held responsible for the Iron Throne leader's death. Then crap'll go down, and I will show a map of the tombs.

If you feel like it, nab the Manual of Exercise or whatever, and make sure you have a Thief because there are a TON of traps here. They also do decent damage, so you definetly want to make sure to have high Detect Traps. When you find Gorion, be prepared. To get past the next mercenary band, cast a billion Fireball in the direction of the mercs, and initiate combat with'm weakened. About the bassilisks.... Use a billion Fireball and don't stop unless they die. If you lose a party member, you shouldn't try to revive him if you're having too much trouble. If you ARE having trouble, you gotta be quick and just pass them. Then talk to Prat and leave.

In this chapter, the first thing you CAN do is storm the Flaming Fist compound and save the duke, OR, you can just talk to people and skip that. It only gives you an XP boost, so I will feature it in the sidequests section. Anyway, go around and talk to people until the journal entry pops up that says that you should go to the Iron Fist. The IUron Fist building shouldn't be a challenge at all until the last floor. Focus on taking out the spellcasters first and then the tanks. After that, go into the hallway. Kill the monsters whats-her-face summons first, then kill whats-her-face. Then go into the sewers to enter the Undercellar, and go into the center of the Undercellar and kill the assassins. Then take Sarevok's diary and the ticket to the Castle. Leave the sewers and enter the castle. Your main priority is to defend the dutchess and Belt in the center. There is no strategy to this, only skill. The best advice I can give you is to NOT form a circle formation, because that will make your weak characters vulnerable. Then just wail on Sarevok. Then enter the Thieves Guild and buy equipment and such before going into the maze. Then make your way through the maze, which you won't actually need a map for because it's easy. and talk to the man by the exit to discover Sarevok's plan. Then leave, and kill the mercs. I don't have a strategy for that, because, to be honest, I always skip them. Then enter the altar to unfold the final confrontation. Sarevok is no walk in the park. You will need to use EVERYTHING you've got. It's the end of the game, what have you got to lose? Once you have beaten him, you have a final save created. DO NOT DELETE THIS SAVE, BECAUSE YOU JUST EARNED 16,000 XP, AND YOU USE THAT SAVE TO IMPORT YOUR CHARACTER TO BG2. Congratulations! You have beaten Baldur's Gate! This calls for an awesome party picture! This right here is how you feel!

Name: Phlydia's Book
Location: Candlekeep
Chapter: Prologue
Talk to Phlydia, then go past where you fought Shank, and search behind the cow. There you will find her book. Now return it to her.
Reward: 50 XP, Lynx Eye Gem
Note: Phlydia only gves you the Lynx Eye Gem if your reaction is high enough.

Name: Firebead's Scroll
Location: Candlekeep
Chapter: Prologue
Go into the Candlekeep Inn, and talk to the man in dark green robes. Then go to the center of the map, and talk to the guy in a red robe. Then return the scroll to Firebead.
Reward: 50 XP, Protection from Evil Spell Casted Upon You
Fun Fact: This sidequest used to have a glitch in it where when you talked to Firebead, the red-robed monk Tethtoril STILL didn't give you the scroll, making the quest incompletable.
Note: If you talk to Firebead 29 times and get the scroll, and talk to him again to finish the quest, you also get 300 Gold Pieces. Thanks to Tech for giving me this information.

Name: An Errand for Fuller
Location: Candlekeep
Chapter: Prologue
Go to the house next to the place where you found Carbos, and enter it. Talk to the guy who just stands there, and go into the Candlekeep Inn. Then buy a stack of Crossbow Bolts, and talk to him again.
Reward: 50 XP, Dagger+1 or 10 Gold Pieces
Note: Fuller only gives the Dagger+1 if your reaction is high enough, and if it is lower than what is required, he gives you 10 Gold Pieces.
Fun Fact: Fuller says he'll reward you with Gold Pieces, but he only gives you the Dagger+1 OR the 10 Gold Pieces, and never both.

Name: Reevor's Storehouse
Location: Candlekeep
Chapter: Prologue
Talk to the dwarf Reevor standing next to the empy chest that is just above the Temple of Oghma. Then go inside the building, and kill the Rats. Then go outside and talk to him.
Reward: 50 XP, 5 Gold Pieces

Name: Hull's Sword
Location: Candlekeep
Chapter: Prologue
Talk to Hull, the guard who's just standing there next to the gate. Then go to where Fuller is, and go to the chest in the top-right corner, and get the sword and antidote for another quest.
Rewards: 50 XP, 10/20 Gold Pieces
Note: Hull will only give you 20 Gold Pieces if your reaction is high enough, and if it isn't he gives you 10 Gold Pieces.
Fun Fact: When you talk to Fuller while doing this quest, the dialogue option you can say says that Hull forgot to put his sword ON this morning. It should say he forgot to take his sword with him this morning.

Name: Dreppin's Cow
Location: Candlekeep
Chapter: Prologue
Talk to Dreppin by the hay and then talk to Hull by the gate, who is just a guard that stands there all the time. Then go into the house next to where you found Carbos, and take the antidote from the top-right chest. Then go back to Dreppin.
Reward: 50 XP

Go to the west in the Candlekeep coastway until you see a person. Talk to him. No matter what you say, Chase will not commit suicide, and he either stays alive just to irritate people, or you convince him with the word "Okay" that people care about him. Or you just beg for him to stay alive*cough cough, wimpy choice though, cough cough*.

Name: Joia's Flamedance Ring
Location: Friendly Arm Inn
Chapter: I
In the exterior of the Friendly Arm Inn, go to the first house on the left and enter. Talk to Joia and accept to find her ring. Then follow the road until you find a Hobgoblin carrying her ring, and return it to her.
Reward: 50 XP, +1Reputation

Name: Unshey's Belt
Location: Friendly Arm Inn
Chapter: I
Go into the third floor of the Friendly Arm Inn and talk to the gnome in the first room on the right. Then go to the coast way and find the Ogre and kill it. Then, you will find the Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity, a cursed girdle, and the Elves Bane. Return the Elves Bane to Unshey.
Reward: 800 XP, 70/95 Gold Pieces, the History of Tethyr
Note: You will only get the History of Tethyr and 95 Gold Pieces if your reaction is high enough. If it is not, you only get 70 Gold Pieces.

Name: Landrin and the Spiders
Location: The Friendly Arm Inn
Chapter: I
Go to the third floor of the Friendly Arm Inn and talk to the person in the middle of the room. Then go to Beregost and go to the house next to the Jovial Juggler Inn. Enter it and kill the spiders, and take the body of the biggest spider, and her boots and wine. Then return to Landrin.
Reward: 800 XP, 295 Gold Pieces

Name: A Book for Firebead
Location: Beregost
Chapter: I
Go into the house across from Feldepost's Inn, and talk to Firebead. Then go into Feldepost's Inn and buy the History of the Fateful Coin, and return to Firebead.
Reward: 300 XP, +1Reputation, History of the Dead Three, Scroll Case
Note: You will only get the Scroll Case if your reaction is high enough.

Name: Marl's Loss
Location: Beregost
Chapter: I
Go into Feldepost's Inn in Beregost. When speaking to Marl, say the dialogue options 1,1,3,3,1.
Reward: 900 XP

Name: The Silke Delimna
Location: Beregost
Chapter: I
Go talk to the man standing between the Burning Wizard and Red Sheaf Inn in Beregost, and follow him in front of the Red Sheaf. Then talk to Silke, and either kill the innocent party, or kill Silke.
Rewards, if Silke killed: Quarterstaff+1, 400 Gold Pieces, Potion of Defense, Potion of Invulnerability, 900 XP, the chance to recruit Garrick
Rewards, if innocent killed: Potion of Defensex3, 400 Gold Pieces, -2Reputation, 45 XP

Name: Perdue's Short Sword
Chapter: I
Location: Beregost
Once you talk to Perdue, you have to reply correctly or the quest will not be startable. Say Gnoll and then agree to his terms. Then all you have to do is travel west and go south-west when you reach the area west of Beregost. Fight the three Gnolls. One should have a short sword. Take it and give it to Perdue.
Rewards: 50 Gold, 400 XP

Name:

In the Candlekeep Coastway, a screen after Candlekeep, there is a tree with a diamond in it near where you encounter a courier.

Two screens after Candlekeep, in the screen you encounter the old man in, there is a rock with a secret Ring of Protection.

If you go to Nashkel before you talk to Khalid and Jaheira, they won't spawn, which makes it so you can't get them ever.

In Nashkel, there is a secret Ankheg Plate Mail which is the game's fourth best armor, and equipable by Druids. It is in a field at the far left of the map, and it has 1 Armor Class, and low weight.

In Chapter III it is possible to kill Tazok before your next encounter with him later. You need to go to the Bandit Camp with a group of bandits by befriending them, and equip the most powerful ranged things with your characters and use all your offensive spells if it is not enough with just the arrows or ranged weapons. The ranged is necessary because when he takes enough damage he talks to you and walks away, so you use ranged to avoid that. I will show a map of Peldvale, and the bandit group is marked on the map.

In the Undercity, there is a band of mercs, who is also the last band of mercs. If you go above the spot labeled "Rahvin", where it has a path that appears to have a dead end because a fallen pillar is blocking the exit. Go through it. This will stop the fight from commencing, but it will also stop Tamoko from spawning, disallowing you to get the Plate of the Dark+1, the most powerful armor in Baldur's Gate. But both these fights are wicked tough so take your pick.

Name: Mulahey
HP:36
Half-Orc
Cleric
Level 5
XP: 650
AC: 10
Morale: 10
Breaking Point: 7
Mulahey is one of the easiest bosses ever, if you know how to fight him. First off, NEVER have the PC facing the chest when you open it while he's still alive. Have a character in the back of the formation do that, and face everyone else towards Mulahey. Attack Mulahey first, then his minions. Last, it never hurts to have someone on the other side of Mulahey, too. Not that it's necessary, though, he's definetely easy enough to cream without doing that.

Name: Davaeorn
HP:45
Level 11
Mage
Human
XP: 6,000
Number of Attacks Per Round: 1
AC: 3
Morale: 11
Breaking Point: 5
Davaeorn has only one difficult point: spelling his name. All you have to do is have your archers and thieves go after Davaeorn with magical arrows or bullets or whatever, and have everybody else attack the Battle Horrors, until they're both dead, then have everybody go after Davaeorn.

Name: Sarevok
HP: 163 (No, that is not a typo)
Human
Fighter
Level: 16(STILL, not a typo)
AC:-6 (Still no typos)
Number of Attacks Per Round: 3
XP: 16,000
Morale: 20
Breaking Point: 1
The best strategy is to buff everybody with every spell you have, and use all your potions on your main character. Then just use all your spells on Sarevok, and Set Snares and lure Sarevok to the snares for maximum damage.
"Face ME! FACE THE NEW, LORD OF MURDER!"-Sarevok

Cheating should be everybody's last resort. You should only use it if you're having major trouble, or just want to create chaos. You can use cheats to get maximum stats, max XP, insta-kill any enemy, get an infinite amount of gold, or recruit anybody, even bad guys like Sarevok, onto your team. Here's how! Just go into documents and open the Baldur's Gate folder. Open Baldur.ini and erase everything, and type in the following:
CREATE TABLE options (
section string,
name string,
value string
);
INSERT INTO options ROWS (
'Program Options', 'Debug Mode', '1',
);
To get max stats at the character creation screen, press Ctrl+8
To insta-kill any enemy, hover your cursor over the enemy and press Ctrl+Y.
To kick any ally from the party, hover your cursor over the ally and press Ctrl+K. This is equivelent to suicide if used on yourself.
To teleport anywhere on the map, hover your cursor over the place you want to teleport to and press Ctrl+J.
To turn into the appearance of a selection of monsters, press Ctrl+7. You can even take on the appearnce of Jon Irenicus!
To make the screen gradually fade out, press Ctrl+2.
To change the armor your character appears to be wearing in a limited selection of armor, press Ctrl+1.
To recruit anybody into your party, hover your cursor over the soon-to-be-ally and press Ctrl+Q.
To reduce/increase your sight range, press Ctrl+E.
To attempt to end the whole trilogy, press Ctrl+C. Surprisingly spoiler free.
To increase your speed, press Ctrl+B.