Recently, I started my second campaign in Baldurs Gate in addition to the campaign I play with my wife in co-op. My wife and I opted for the easiest difficulty in our playthrough since neither if us ever played similar game.
This time I felt like it would be such a breeze since I already know a bit more about the game and DnD in general. I opted for the balanced mode with my new character and started going through Act I and boy oh boy do I get wrecked almost everywhere. Multiple of my characters already died and I had to revive them.
Characters
Including Gale, which in turn triggered cool mini-quest to revive him, but the magic aura around his dead body killed Astarion multiple times.
I feel very scared going into each combat and trying to plan as much in advance as possible (keep in mind I mostly know what awaits me there, because I’ve gone through Act I already).
Where I got wrecked
I got wrecked at the church before you get to Whithers, I got wrecked by the hyenas and gnolls by the caravan road, I got absolutly wrecked by the Paladins of Tar and
I just don’t know what am I doing wrong.
My party
I play as high elf paladin and most of my encounters so far I’ve had Astarion, Gale, and Shadow in my party. I feel like the only actually useful member is Astarion. I probably don’t know how to utilize Gale well enough and my Tav paladin just feels like a paper-thin wall between the enemy and the rest of the party.
Are these early encounters in Act I intentionally challenging so that the game “force-teaches” you to utilize everything at your disposal and will it get easier later on or am I just on the wrong path with my character and my party? Honestly, I can’t imagine going through the goblin camp in this state.
Are you using the terrain to your advantage? All of the fights you described getting wrecked at can become a breeze just by using the environment to your benefit.
Fights solutions
During the fight against the skeleton mages before Wither’s coffin, don’t try to fight them in the giant open room, go into Wither’s room and wait for them to come to you while throwing some grease on the stairs before. Have your ranged characters take potshots at them and run back into the room. Same exact strategy for paladins of Tyr, lure them out of the house while dropping nasty surfaces on the exit. Hyenas you want to try to nuke before they turn/run for help, your paladin has Smites for that and Astarion can work his sneak attacks.
General tips
Wizards are absolutely busted when paired with melee characters even early game (they only get more and more insane as they gain levels). Sleep is your best friend. Guaranteed hit + critical is lethal when used with a Smite or Sneak attack. Hold Person is a near guaranteed kill on a target if it lands, especially if you have a Hasted melee. In general, your spellcaster’s job is crowd control and AoE damage. Shadowheart’s default Domain is pretty meh, I always respec her into Light for way better spells and abilities. As a paladin, 99% of your spellslots should be spent on Divine Smites. Your spells are generally pretty weak (Heroism is pretty good early game), while Smites are absolutely insane. Potions of Haste are crazy powerful early game, use them on your Paladin whenever you are in a tough fight. Wear good armor/shields, Gale can use a shield with no penalties so slap one on him for free +2 AC. The most important advice is action economy is king. Use any means available to deprive enemies of their actions. Line of sight, surfaces like grease or web, crowd control spells. Make them waste an action to Dash to you while you wait for them with a Fireball ready.