Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance/Gameplay

Console version features
The console version of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance begins with a choice of three pre-built characters:
 * Vahn, Human Arcane Archer: archer with weapon-related magical abilities.
 * Adrianna, Elven Sorceress: spell caster, limited to smaller weapon classes.
 * Kromlech, Dwarven Fighter: strong melee fighter with limited melee magic.

Once the game has been completed once, a new challenge is unlocked, called the Gauntlet. Choosing to play the Gauntlet gives you the following character and 15 minutes to complete it. After completion of the Gauntlet, a new mode of gameplay is unlocked called Extreme mode, which is much harder than any other level of difficulty in story mode. Upon selecting Extreme mode, the player is prompted to choose a character from a preexisting save to play through the story again in Extreme mode. Upon completion, Drizzt, mentioned above, is then available for play in story mode.
 * Drizzt Do'Urden, Drow Ranger/Fighter: strong melee fighter with two scimitars

Gameplay strategy is different for all characters: the human relies on ranged attacks and stealth, the elf character can cast magic spells, and the dwarf is an all-around fighter.

A local co-op mode is available. The second player can select one of the two unused characters, and plays with the main character on a shared game screen.

Game Boy Advance features
The Game Boy Advance version of Dark Alliance featured some noticeable differences from the console versions.
 * There can only be one save at a time, although it can be saved anywhere.
 * There is no playable characters like in the original game. Instead, a human male is playable. A player could choose his class, however (fighter, wizard, archer). After the completion of the game, a new class, titled Elven Fighter, is available.
 * Players cannot import a character to play through the story again, so they must restart at level 1 every time.
 * No multiplayer mode.
 * The town of Baldur's Gate is much more interactive. Players are now able to talk to people, enter houses, and use weapons (to break barrels, etc).
 * The town is split into two sections: North and South. The southern portion cannot be entered at the beginning of the game.
 * New side-quests.
 * Lack of recall potions.
 * Players can no longer jump.
 * Players can switch between melee and ranged combat using the "R" button.
 * Larger enemies will sometimes get trapped behind doorways, allowing the player to shoot them with the bow while staying out of harms way.
 * The white dragon Ciraxis (who was the final boss of Act II in the console version) is absent in the GBA version.
 * The wizard (comparable to the monk in the original game) is no longer as strong and has a lower mana pool.

Teamwork and Strategies for all characters
Here are the things you need to know about this game.
 * There's bound to be lots of items for you to use when you break barrels, objects and attack enemies for their armour or weapon to fall on to the ground. Those items especially the ones you don't need can be sold to the shop owner who owns weapons and items depending on what act are you in.
 * Weapons and armour can be used to fit on to a person depending on how much strength or defence the items have. On Character Statistic Screen, there are tabs that you can look through. Weapons and Armour Tab is where you find those equipment.
 * When playing with two people, you have to balance out between their strengths and weaknesses. Also try to coordinate where you were on the screen and if either you or your friend dies, you can revive him at half his health at the save point.
 * Manage your items wisely because all characters have weight and if it reaches the weight, you won't be able to pick up items anymore.
 * Plan the way you handle the enemies in the dungeons. Even though you can defend depending on what weapon you are going to use, you need to use health potions and magic potions to survive. You shouldn't just run in and attack especially when bosses has a high level of HPs.
 * Don't forget to use other weapons like magic and arrows if the enemies were too far away to reach.
 * If you don't know what your quest is, go to the Character Statistics screen and check the Journal tab.
 * Compared to a single player game, your character will level up at one half the normal rate when playing with two people.
 * A recall potion would be important when you reach the maximum weight. You don't want to run all the way to the shopowner in each act. Instead use the recall potion not just warp you to that location but also can get you back to the spot where you left off.
 * At night, if you are scared of the dark or you can't see anything, there's a brightness option you can use so it will brighten up your day.

Shopping
Be careful when shopping because if you purchase an item, you will not be able to get a complete refund.

Bonus note: Charisma 14 resulted in the metal shield (early on, in shop) costing only 571 instead of 600 gold coins. Higher charisma will result in even better haggling (percentage benefit), but using level-up points to raise it may not be wise. Usually constitution & wisdom have more benefits, and wisdom boosting items are excluded from the game (GBA version).

Combat
When fighting, there are several things to worry about:
 * Health.
 * Experience.
 * Mana.
 * Traps and dangerous objects.
 * Enemies: what sort of attacks do they have?

Stats

 * Strength: How much weight you can carry, and how good you hit and hurt with close combat aka melee weapons is modified by strength. A strength of 14 is wise for wizard & archer. Higher strength may benefit the fighter, unless you decide to use the aura skill (magical ability), which raises strength temporarily.
 * Dexterity: How good you hit with the bow, and a minor bonus to your defense (AC = Armor CLass) are influenced by dexterity.
 * Wisdom: Wisdom 14+ results in a 5 to 20% experience point bonus, so you level-up more often.
 * Charisma: Charisma 14+ reduces the cost of items in shop, but has no other benefit, and can be ignored.

Experience
As you kill enemies and monsters and complete quests, you'll be rewarded with experience that will level you up. As you level, you will be able to determine what strengths your character will improve. You will gain skill points every level, and an additional stat point every three levels (4, 7, etc.).

·It is possible to exit and reenter several levels of the game. Such is a time-costly ordeal, but more loot and a higher experience level make a difference. Especially, as higher level makes monsters drop different gear. Trolls ( green uglies on the icy mountain) start dropping axes, later they drop enchanted bastard swords of cold instead.

Skills and skill points
Skills are your special abilities and traits. As you level up, you'll gain skill points as so: SkillPointsEarned = (NewCharacterLevel - 1). Therefore, at level 2 you gain one point, at level 3 you gain 2 points, and so forth.

Objects
There are destructible objects in the game, and objects you can hide behind. Some objects that obstruct projectiles like small boxes can sometimes be fired over. Be careful when hiding behind these, but try to use them to your advantage when wielding a bow or ranged ability.

Playable characters
For people who are new to this game, you're going to get more than you bargain for when you play any of the three characters, separately or together. The fourth character you need to unlock will be explained in the ../Drizzt/ article.

../Vahn/ is an exceptional archer, who's able to shoot lots of arrows and can handle any weapons very well. As long as you can find a lot of arrows and a powerful bow, it will work to your advantage. His greatest weakness is running out of ammunition for the bow.

../Kromlech/ is a powerful weapon wielder, who can take down enemies with ease. If you decide to go shopping, prepare to pay a high price at the store. If you enchant his regular arrows (skill) he can handle the chosen few enemies, which attack from afar.

../Adrianna/ is a powerful sorceress, who can use her magic at the best of her abilities. Even though she can't use axes and two handed swords like the others, she can hold her own if you can upgrade her powerful abilities which will become useful later in the game. Her low hitpoints can remain a problem, but you can compensate it with items boosting her constitution stat. Note that not all spells will prove themselves longterm-useful. My preference is staying with burning hands, bow-shooting the early monsters, and quickly going for lightning bolt (GBA).

../Drizzt/ with the two wielded scimitars and a head start with level 16 and 122,000 experience points, he can be a worthy choice as a powerful fighter. Of course he can't shoot arrows like the main characters but can handle the enemies well in close combat. And he cannot switch weapons in the PS2 version.

Importing characters
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance allows you to load a character from one save file and play as them in either a new game or a different saved game. You can use the importing feature to gain a great advantage in the game. For example, to make it easier when playing through normal, hard, or extreme difficulty, you can import an already strong character from easy mode to complete the game again.

This feature can also be exploited to help new characters. For example, if there is a weapon or piece of armour that you can't afford, import a wealthy saved character and make him or her drop their items. Pick them up with your poor character, and sell them all. Re-import the rich character and sell the items until you are satisfied. You can do this as many times as you want.

You can also freely transform one player to two players or vice a versa. However, it wouldn't be a good idea if you do two players in the middle of the game, because the second player will be at a disadvantage in terms of experience and skill points.