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COMBAT TIPS
Combat is the most important aspect of the game; and rest assured you’ll spend a lot of time doing it. It’s the best way of earning experience points, and considerably more fun than just talking to people. You’ll also get to pinch their money and possessions when you’ve run them through. Which is nice.
Perhaps Baldur’s Gate’s best feature, the pause button allows you to contemplate tactics, give orders and even answer pesky phone calls at any time you wish. You could try not using it, but you wouldn’t get very far, as you would have to control six characters at once and some of the battles require you to use all the resources you’ve got. If your Thief has already scouted the map, then you should know when combat is imminent. Try to keep your party in formation, as if a weaker party member is stranded they can be quickly set upon and killed.
As soon as combat is initiated (red circles indicate hostiles), pause and work out how you want to deal with the situation. Can your fighters handle it by themselves? Do you have enough arrows for your archers to join in, and do you want to equip magical projectiles? Do you want to cast spells? Offensive or defensive? Will your offensive spells pose any threat to your own party members? Bear in mind that using the Inventory screen while in combat will unpause the game, so try to have quickslot items organised all the time, and a good supply of projectiles in your quivers. You can, however, access any other menu screen (spell book, journal, etc.) during combat without the game becoming unpaused.
Don’t be afraid to use potions and scrolls; they’re not worth hoarding as you will always find more (and better ones) and they only clog up your inventory. Don’t over-estimate your opponents, though, as some potions and scrolls are quite rare and should be saved for special occasions. Always have a good supply of healing and antidote potions; they can be stacked so you can have several in one quickslot. Strength potions are particularly useful against powerful opponents, but they don’t last too long, so only take them when combat is initiated. If an enemy is causing a lot of damage with a specific attack (e.g. fire, lightning, petrification), use scrolls to protect your main fighters from the attacks. See the magic section for more info on magic during combat.