Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition: Complete Guide

A spoiler-light guide to Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition: party building, 2nd Edition AD&D rules that trip up modern players, a chapter-by-chapter route through Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal, strongholds, spell battles, and the mods worth installing.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Infinity Engine patch 2.7 (released June 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• What's in the box: Shadows of Amn (the main campaign), the Throne of Bhaal expansion (the finale of the Bhaalspawn saga), and the arena mode The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay.
• Import or start fresh. You can import your hero from Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, or create a new one. A new character starts at a level appropriate for the sequel.
• Pick a difficulty honestly. Story Mode is for narrative focus; Legacy of Bhaal is a punishing veteran mode. Normal or Core Rules is the intended experience.
• Pause constantly. It's real-time-with-pause. Use the spacebar pause and the auto-pause options (on enemy sighted, on spell cast, end of round) to control fights.
• Chapter 2 is a huge open city. You need to raise 20,000 gold for Gaelan Bayle and the Shadow Thieves (or take Bodhi's alternative offer). Take your time: most of the best side content is here.
• Don't rush out of Athkatla. Once you pay and set sail, you can't come back to the city until much later. Finish the quests you care about first.
• Magic protections decide fights. High-level mages and liches hide behind layered protections. You need to strip them (Breach, Dispel Magic/Remove Magic, and similar) before damage lands.
• Build a balanced party of six: a front-line tank, a healer, an arcane caster, a thief for traps and locks, and two flexible slots.
• Save often, in multiple slots. One bad encounter or a missed plot trigger can cost hours.
• Recruit companions on your own terms. Each has a personal quest, opinions, and sometimes a romance. Some will leave if your reputation or choices clash with theirs.

Enhanced Edition Additions

• New companions: Neera the Wild Mage, Dorn Il-Khan the Blackguard, Rasaad yn Bashir the Monk, Hexxat the Thief, and Wilson the Bear, each with new content.
• Classes: 11 playable classes and dozens of kits, including the Shaman class added by the Enhanced Editions.
• Difficulty options: Story Mode and Legacy of Bhaal in addition to the standard settings.
• Quality of life: widescreen UI, zoom, highlight-objects key, quick-loot bar and many bug fixes.
• Patch 2.7 (June 2026): Steam Cloud saves are now controlled from the Steam client instead of in-game options, native Apple Silicon support, new community translations (Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Ukrainian, and Russian in the beta), per-language font size, and a fix for rebuilt BIF file indexing that affected community tools. Beamdog stated it can't update the console versions.

2nd Edition Rules Cheat Sheet

Concept | How it works | Why it matters

THAC0 | "To Hit Armor Class 0." Lower is better | Attack bonuses reduce it

Armor Class | Lower is better; negative AC is excellent | A front-liner around AC -5 or better shrugs off most melee

Saving throws | Lower is better; five categories (death, wand, polymorph, breath, spell) | Your defence against disabling spells

Magic resistance | Percentage chance to ignore a spell completely | Some enemies ignore most of your spells

Weapon enchantment | Many late enemies need +2, +3 or better weapons to hit | Upgrade weapons steadily

Proficiency stars | Put points into a weapon type to use it better | Pick a weapon line and commit

Dual/multi-class | Humans can dual-class; demi-humans can multi-class | Strong options like Fighter/Mage, Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Thief

Stat quick rules: 18/xx Strength (warriors only) massively boosts to-hit and damage; high Dexterity improves AC; Constitution above 16 gives extra HP only to warriors; Intelligence limits mage spells per level and learning chance; Wisdom gives bonus cleric/druid spells; Charisma affects store prices and some dialogue.

Party Building

Classic roles

Role | Good classes | Companions who fit

Tank | Fighter, Paladin, Barbarian, Blackguard kit | Minsc, Keldorn, Korgan, Mazzy, Dorn

Healer and buffer | Cleric, Druid, Shaman | Aerie, Anomen, Viconia, Cernd, Jaheira

Arcane caster | Mage, Sorcerer, Wild Mage | Edwin, Imoen, Nalia, Jan Jansen, Neera, Aerie

Thief and scout | Thief, Bard, Fighter/Thief | Imoen, Yoshimo, Jan Jansen, Hexxat, Nalia

Flexible damage | Ranger, Monk, Bard | Valygar, Rasaad, Haer'Dalis

Where to find the original companions

• Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Yoshimo: in or around Irenicus's dungeon at the start.
• Viconia: Government District, about to be burned at the stake.
• Aerie: the circus tent in Waukeen's Promenade.
• Keldorn: Order of the Most Radiant Heart in the Temple District.
• Anomen and Korgan: the Copper Coronet in the Slums.
• Valygar: tied to the Umar Hills and a quest from the Government District.
• Mazzy: the Temple Ruins in the Umar Hills.
• Cernd: Trademeet.
• Edwin: tied to the Docks (and Mae'Var's guild).
• Haer'Dalis: involved with the Five Flagons playhouse questline in the Bridge District.
• Jan Jansen: approaches you in the city.
• Nalia: asks for help retaking her family's keep.

Personality clashes are real: some companions will fight or leave if paired together or if your reputation swings too far. Evil parties can work, but good-aligned companions like Keldorn and Aerie will object to evil acts.

Strongholds (by protagonist class)

Class | Stronghold

Fighter | De'Arnise Keep (after freeing it from the trolls and Yuan-ti)

Ranger | Cabin in Imnesvale, Umar Hills

Paladin | Order of the Most Radiant Heart quest

Cleric | The temple of your faith in the Temple District

Druid | The Druid Grove near Trademeet

Thief | A guildhouse, after dealing with Mae'Var

Mage | The Planar Sphere in the Slums

Bard | The playhouse at the Five Flagons

Strongholds give income, unique quests and items. Start them in Chapter 2.

Shadows of Amn Walkthrough Outline

Chapter 1 — Irenicus's Dungeon. Loot everything, recruit the companions trapped there, and learn the pause-and-order rhythm. The dungeon is linear; take your time.

Chapter 2 — Athkatla. The heart of the game. Districts include the Slums, Promenade, Government, Temple, Bridge, Docks and Graveyard, plus outlying areas such as the Umar Hills, Trademeet and the Windspear Hills. Gaelan Bayle offers the Shadow Thieves' help for 20,000 gold; Bodhi offers a rival deal. Use this chapter to:

• Do companion quests and your stronghold quest.
• Level up to handle Chapter 4 onward.
• Collect strong gear, including items forged by the smith Cromwell in the Docks from components you find.

Chapter 3 — The payoff. Pay Gaelan (or Bodhi) and you'll be sent after Imoen, by sea to an island holding the pirate port of Brynnlaw and the asylum.

Chapter 4 — Spellhold. The asylum where Irenicus holds Imoen. Heavy story moments. Prepare with rested spells and strong save bonuses.

Chapter 5 — The Underdark. A long, self-contained stretch including a drow city. You'll need to play along with disguises and politics; it is one of the most memorable parts of the game.

Chapter 6 — Return to the surface. Deal with Bodhi and recover the Rhynn Lanthorn. Many Chapter 2 side quests are still available again.

Chapter 7 — Suldanessellar. The final push against Irenicus at the Tree of Life. You can't turn back once you commit, so finish side content before entering.

Throne of Bhaal Outline

Throne of Bhaal continues directly (or can be started separately). It is shorter, more linear, and very high level. It adds high-level abilities (HLAs), a higher experience cap and the Wild Mage kit, and includes Watcher's Keep, an optional multi-level dungeon that you can also enter during Shadows of Amn if you are strong enough. Expect dragons, demon lords and very dangerous spellcasters.

Combat and Spell Battles

Stripping protections

Enemy mages layer defences. A good order:

• Reveal invisible and illusion-protected casters with True Seeing or similar detection.
• Remove combat protections with Breach (it bypasses many defences like Stoneskin and Protection from Magical Weapons).
• Dispel buffs with Dispel Magic or Remove Magic, or use Pierce Magic/Spellstrike-type spells against spell shields where available.
• Then hit with damage and disabling spells.

Staying alive

• Stoneskin, Mirror Image and Improved Invisibility make your own casters much harder to hit.
• Spell Sequencer, Contingency and Spell Trigger let mages fire multiple spells at once, which is huge in boss fights.
• Chaotic Commands / Free Action / Death Ward-style protections counter the disables and instant deaths that end parties.
• Summons are excellent damage sponges and can soak up lich spells.
• Scout with the thief in stealth before triggering a fight, so your party can buff first.

Famous difficult fights (optional)

• Firkraag, the red dragon in the Windspear Hills, guards the holy avenger Carsomyr, one of the best paladin weapons.
• Kangaxx, a demilich in the Graveyard District tomb, is one of the hardest optional fights in the game.
• Liches, beholders and mind flayers appear throughout. Bring protections from mind attacks and magic resistance, and never let a lich act uninterrupted.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Leaving Athkatla too early. You lose access to the city for a long stretch once you set sail.
• Ignoring magic resistance and weapon enchantment. A party without enchanted weapons or spell-piercing tools stalls on late enemies.
• Resting in dangerous places. You'll often be ambushed. Rest at inns or cleared areas.
• Overlapping identical buffs. Many bonuses from the same type don't stack. Check the combat log.
• Neglecting reputation. Very low reputation drives off good companions; very high reputation angers evil ones.
• Running into traps. Keep a thief searching (Find Traps) in dungeons.
• Not saving before major dialogue. Some choices close off quests or companions.

Advanced Tips

• Dual-class timing: a human Fighter dualling to Mage or Thief keeps grand mastery weapon skills; dual when your first class hits a level that gives you what you need.
• Multi-class demi-humans (for example elf Fighter/Mage, half-elf Fighter/Cleric) are flexible and strong across the whole saga.
• Use scrolls and wands liberally; they conserve your spell slots for emergencies.
• Pre-buff out of combat for scripted boss fights: stack protections, then open the door.
• Wild Surge and Wild Mage are fun but risky; don't make your only arcane caster a Wild Mage until you understand surges.
• Throne of Bhaal HLAs: warriors should look at Greater Whirlwind-style attacks; casters get extra high-level spell slots and powerful spells such as Time Stop and Wish at the top of the curve.

Mods and Modern Setup

• Mods for the Enhanced Edition are usually installed with WeiDU. Popular choices include the Enhanced Edition Trilogy (EET), which merges BG1, Siege of Dragonspear and BG2 into one game, Sword Coast Stratagems (smarter AI), and Tweaks Anthology (hundreds of small toggles). The fan-favourite Ascension mod reworks the Throne of Bhaal finale.
• Install mods on a clean copy and in the order their readmes recommend.
• The 2.7 patch fixed a rebuilt-BIF indexing bug that affected community tools, so update mod tools to their latest versions.
• If English text appears in ALL CAPS after the 2.7 beta, Beamdog's fix is to delete Baldur.lua (the game recreates it) or remove the STONESML font lines inside it. The file lives in your Documents folder under "Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition".

FAQ

Do I need to play Baldur's Gate 1 first? It helps for story context and lets you import your character, but BG2 opens with a recap and works fine on its own.

How much gold do I need in Chapter 2? 20,000 gold for Gaelan Bayle and the Shadow Thieves. Bodhi offers an alternative arrangement.

Is Throne of Bhaal included? Yes, along with The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay.

What is the best class for a first playthrough? A Fighter/Mage or Fighter/Cleric multi-class, or a Paladin (the Cavalier kit is very forgiving), gives you durability and flexibility. A pure Sorcerer is also strong if you like casting.

How do I control Steam Cloud saves after patch 2.7? Use the Steam client: right-click the game, Properties, and toggle Steam Cloud there. The in-game option was removed.

Can I play BG2:EE on console with the latest patch? Beamdog said it does not have the resources to update the console versions, so 2.7 is PC and mobile only.

Are the EE companions worth it? Yes for new content, but they're optional. Veterans often mix them with the original cast.

Sources

• Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition on Steam
• 2.7 Update announcement (June 2026)
• Infinity Engine 2.7 beta notes (February–June 2026)
• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn on Wikipedia
• Beamdog forums