Set in the world of Faerun, the Baldur’s Gate series takes players in for a wild ride as they defend the realm from various threats using a whole host of characters motivated solely by their personal agendas. And while the core Baldur’s Gate series has characters work together in a tactical RPG format, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is a game that gives the series an action RPG spin.
Playable in an isometric, fast-paced environment, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 will have players use the likes of a Barbarian, a Monk, a Necromancer, a Rogue, and a Cleric as they defend the city of Baldur’s Gate from a looming conspiracy. However, for players who want to dive deep into Dark Alliance 2 for solo play, just which of these Classes is the most reliable?
Barbarian, Dorn Redbear: Beginner’s Choice
Being the team's resident melee powerhouse, Dom as a Human Barbarian is heavily reliant on sheer Strength and Constitution to dominate against enemy ranks in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay.
His natural inclination towards Heavy Armor and Great Weaponry encourage Barbarian players to maximize Dom's tanking opportunities. Depending on his build, Dom should be able to become the best line of defense against any threat or be able to pulverize enemies before they even get close to damaging him.
Gameplay Style: Straightforward Tank
Dom being assigned the role of a tank means players who use the Barbarian will have to balance wrecking enemies while maintaining the team's relative safety in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay. Due to the straightforward nature of his sturdy and defensive stature, Dom would immediately notice enemies having a hard time hitting him.
The Human Barbarian does suffer on a speed level and may need players to be extra patient in terms of mobility. However, what he lacks in terms of speed he does makeup with impenetrable defense.
Skill Priority: Hit Harder
With the wrong build, the Barbarian would equally find it difficult to eliminate foes for his defense to be meaningful. In that regard, players using the Human Barbarian need to ensure his defenses are well allocated, while at the same time giving him all the means to maximize his attack. In the context of Skill builds, players may want to consider the following:
- Hero's Arm: This is Dom's most important Skill, as this allows him to wield otherwise-two-handed Great Weapons with one hand. Coupled with his Two-Weapon Fighting, Dom can theoretically double his damage output with twice the massive Great Weapons.
- Barbarian Rage: Another staple of the Barbarian, Dom entering the Barbarian Rage means choosing not to be able to Block in favor of a massive damage boost. In dangerous situations, this can easily be a lifesaver.
- Great Fortitude: Being able to boost Dom's rate of Hit Point regeneration can give him an edge in combat, especially since this allows him to recuperate faster and get back into the fight quicker.
- Toughness: The extra Hit Points provided to Dom gives him much-needed survivability, ensuring enemies not only should get past his formidable defense, but his entire body is a beast to slice through.
- Hero's Mantle: This drastically boosts Dom's resistance to Physical Damage, making him more than capable of tanking through up-close threats that could otherwise pulverize the rest of the party.
Monk, Vhaidra Uoswiir: Mobility Gives More Options
Serving as the squad's melee specialist, Vhaidra is much less a juggernaut and more of a jack-of-all-trades. Thanks to her nature as a Dark Elf Monk, Vhaidra has access to a repertoire of Skills that spice up her options in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay, giving melee players a chance to literally kick things up a notch and try new melee approaches while enjoying better mobility.
Not to mention, Vhaidra's nature as another melee character means players don't necessarily have to risk getting used to new gameplay systems given the employment of similar hack-and-slash mechanics.
Gameplay Style: Maneuverability Is Key
By the time players can juggle between her three (3) weapon options, they'd soon find Vhaidra capable of meeting any kind of threat up close. As a Monk, Vhaidra is expected to maneuver around the battlefield quickly to dispatch foes up close and personal in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay.
However, her expanded skillset means players have quite a lot of ways to do this, and a lot of approaches to be able to eliminate multiple foes at once. Compared to the juggernaut Barbarian, Vhaidra as a Monk is able to deftly outmaneuver enemies and pull off harsh counters, punishing them for even trying to outpace the Monk on their battlefield.
Skill Priority: Attack At Once
With the Monk being a more complex version of the melee class, players who want to pursue Vhaidra's playthrough may want to consider boosting the following Skills to maximize their gameplay:
- Spinning Strike: Using a staff, Vhaidra can unleash an attack on enemies surrounding her, perfect whenever she tries to become a bait and drag enemies away from vital allies.
- Sweep Attack: This unarmed attack knocks back enemies before Vhaidra, which is a perfect way of stunning tougher enemies before going for harsh counters.
- Deflect Missiles: Ranged opponents can be a bummer to deal with when one is like Vhaidra who loves doing things up close. Deflect Missiles allows her to remove the threats of arrows and other projectiles with ease.
- Great Fortitude: Giving Vhaidra a faster regeneration rate for her Hit Points will allow the Monk to reenter combat much faster.
- Toughness: Granting Vhaidra a nifty boost in Hit Points immediately boosts her survivability, something she needs as she often finds herself fighting foes up close.
Rogue, Borodor “Goldhand”: Control The Map With Range
Despite being a jack-of-all-trades in terms of his capabilities of pulling off combat from both a melee and ranged perspective, Borador "Goldhand" is a Dwarven Rogue best suited for his ranged prowess throughout Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay.
Thanks to his keen eye and aim, Borador can dispatch enemies from afar before they even become threats close enough to the party. Not only that, his capacity for thievery means Borador can very well give the party access to some of the best loot in the game without so much as batting an eyelash, making him one of the more flexible characters in the game.
Gameplay Style: Control The Battlefield
While not boasting complex spells, this Dwarven Rogue and his potential combinations of skills make him a powerhouse regardless of the combat style. Borodor being the party's resident Rogue means a lot is riding on his capabilities of dashing around the battlefield to secure the advantage, all the while his more "direct" party members do much of the heavy-lifting in any Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay.
With Borador's capabilities allowing him to distract foes from afar, steal relevant items from them, or even deal devastating damage through stealth means the Dwarven Rogue's peak all lies in how players are able to maximize his potential.
Skill Priority: Range Over Melee
While Borador can learn to use both long-ranged and short-ranged weapons in the game, much of his melee options only become available once completing his character quest near the mid-part of the title. In turn, players have much more use of Borador's ranged set of Skills, particularly these recommendations:
- Great Fortitude: With this boosting Borador's Hit Point regeneration, this Skill enables the Rogue to become a more helpful asset in combat as he can get back to the fight much faster.
- Toughness: While straightforward in terms of description, this Skill being able to give Borador extra Hit Points on the get-go means the Rogue is much harder to kill.
- Hail of Bolts: Perhaps Borador's go-to combat Skill, this AOE attack can strike multiple foes at once. When at a disadvantage, enough Hails can pick off enemy forces.
- Ransack: Serving as the Rogue's unique ability, this allows Borador to gain extra loot from foes. This can become invaluable when securing currency to gain more powerful items.
- Smokepowder Bolt: This enables Borador to shoot a flaming bolt at enemies, dealing much-needed extra damage.
- Smokepowder Bomb: When hurled, this unleashes an explosive bomb at enemies. This is another AOE, albeit with a tighter scope and more devastating burst damage.
Cleric, Allesia Faithhammer: Heal Guarantees Survivability
Designated as the party's healer, Allesia Faithhammer has a lot riding on her given her unique talents as a Human Cleric. Serving as the only person among the characters capable of actually bestowing blessings and healing to the party in the Dungeons & Dragons game, anyone choosing her immediately becomes the designated heal-slinger. However, just because Allesia has more healing spells than an entire pharmacy doesn't mean she's sorely limited to these capabilities.
Gameplay Style: Healers Can Hit, Too
While Allesia's repertoire makes her perfect for a multi-team party, the Human Cleric remains capable of fending off on her own through various advantages. These include being able to wear any Armor immediately into the game, as well as being able to use divinely-imbued skills to tear through the enemy ranks. Given her nature as the party's go-to healer and divine spellslinger, Allesia Faithhammer needs to prioritize being able to protect the party at all costs without necessarily putting herself at risk.
Compared to the likes of the Barbarian and the Monk who can go toe-to-toe against other foes, Allesia has to pay extra attention when it comes to her full capabilities as a Cleric and more specifically which of her Skills may translate to things able to help the party on a more organic level in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay.
Skill Priority: Focus On Survival
On this end, the Human Cleric's focus should be on being able to heal the party members as efficiently as possible, and all the while having all the means necessary to defend themselves from threats at the last second. Allesia's teammates should ideally be doing the protecting for her, but if push comes to shove, these are the Skills that the Human Cleric should have at her disposal:
- Cure Wounds: Perhaps the bread and butter of Allesia's abilities, Cure Wounds allows the Cleric to heal not just herself but also her allies. This is the standard healing spell in the game, and a must-have to secure the most straightforward healing for the party.
- Great Fortitude: With this Skill granting a better Hit Point regeneration rate, this allows the Cleric to recuperate outside combat much faster, allowing her to get back into the fight much easier.
- Toughness: This grants Alessia extra Hit Points. While straightforward, having more Hit Points drastically increases the Cleric's survivability.
- Turn Undead: Despite its rather basic description of repelling and damaging nearby undead, the sheer number of undead enemies in the game lets this spell become a neat "shield" for Alessia in sticky situations.
- Spiritual Weapon: Alessia can endow herself with the divine energies of Helm and get access to Ever Watchful, her liege Helm's sword. At higher ranks, Alessia can access much more powerful summons. While not as strong as Ysuran's, the backup they provide is decent.
- Flame Strike: This calls Holy Fire to enemies. A decent AOE attack, Flame Strike is ideal for Allesia to get out of sticky situations, especially when surrounded.
Necromancer, Ysuran Auondril: Flexibility Fits Any Difficulty
Appearing as the party's offensive spellcaster in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay, Ysuran is more than just a Moon Elf Necromancer with a knack for the dark arts. Thanks to his repertoire of various spells, this Necromancer becomes a magical powerhouse as his skills range from usual damaging spells to summoning various creatures to fight on his behalf.
Gameplay Style: Utility Over Defense
While his nature as a Necromancer means he lacks heavily in the defensive department, players who know how to maneuver Ysuran properly can maximize his available arsenal and secure victories in even the toughest situations.
Boasting one of the most specialized skill sets in the game, players who get the knack of juggling between Ysuran's toolkit can easily level the playing field even against the game's toughest bosses. Being a Necromancer, it's natural for players of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 to feel slightly overwhelmed when it comes to identifying just how to maximize Ysuran's vast repertoire of spells.
Skill Priority: Offensive Spellcasting Supremacy
With equal opportunities of zapping enemies to death, debuffing them to oblivion, or even having minions do the job for them, Ysuran has a lot of means of achieving his goals and little explanation as to what to prioritize. In that regard, players who want to dabble into the Necromancer Class may want to consider focusing on both Ysuran's summoning capabilities and basic spell attacks. That way, Ysuran becomes more than capable of fending for himself while calling for more dangerous backup when the opportunity calls it. In turn, Skills or spells to prioritize become the following:
- Animate Dead: Serving as the cream of the crop of the Necromancer Class, this allows Ysuran to summon the undead to aid him. Higher levels here allow Ysuran to access more powerful summons.
- Flame Arrow: The bread and butter of Ysuran's combat spells, Flame Arrow summons flaming arrows to deal devastating damage to foes. This is his version of the Wizard's Magic Missile and should be a priority for magical ranged attacks.
- Shadow Shield: Summoning a defensible shield that protects Ysuran from most threats, the Shadow Shield is easily the best defensive ability the Necromancer has in the game. Leveling this up allows Ysuran to throw this up before engaging most foes, giving him the best shot at survival.
- Great Fortitude: With this Skill boosting Ysuran's Hit Point regeneration, this can vastly boost the Necromancer's survivability, especially in prolonged encounters.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 was re-released in 2022 for the PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.