Perhaps if you are more specific with what you’re having trouble with and why, and what you’ve tried that isn’t working, we can give you some advice, anon. It’s not a hard game, many of us beat it as children

>>3659179
I don't believe you.

>>3659184
I don't know how to play. I try solo'ing because I don't have the patience to manage a party of +4 people and always suck at battling mages or magical creatures. I can't even beat Firkraag without using Feeblemind or some other cheese. I end up deleting the game after chapter 2 because I'm too impatient to do any other quests other than the Shadow Thieves or the slaves in the slums.

>>3659189
Why do you even want to play a game you don't enjoy?

>>3659191
I don't know. I've had this game since I was 12 years-old and was never been able to beat it.

>>3659179
>>3659189
There you have it. You are an impatient impotent brainrotten zoomerfaggot.

I am afraid there's no cure.

/thread/

>pick a class that doesn't suck
>pick companions that dont suck
>do everything you can before going to spellhold
>TOB isnt worth playing

>>3659201
>>3659202
Should I just read the AD&D rules so I can play this stupid game?

>>3659189
>I don't know how to play.
Start with a decent party composition. Get several melee front-liners, you'll want a thief for traps and locks, at least one divine caster, and at least one arcane caster. Do you play good or evil parties?
>I try solo'ing because I don't have the patience to manage a party of +4 people
I would not solo as a new player, it requires meta-gaming and knowledge. Stick with a traditional party of six.
>and always suck at battling mages or magical creatures.
If you're a goody two-shoes, recruit Keldorn in the temple sewers, he is an inquisitor kit paladin and they have a very powerful dispel magic ability that can help. Learn the breach spell on your mages to strip enemy mage protections.
>I end up deleting the game after chapter 2 because I'm too impatient to do any other quests other than the Shadow Thieves or the slaves in the slums
There's not actually any urgency, you can spend all the time you like here building your party, going adventuring, doing quests, getting experience and levels, and finding or buying better gear. I would save the shadow thieves for last after you've done everything else you can do.
>>3659202
This is all good advice, though I'd say TOB is worth playing once but only once.
>>3659203
>Should I just read the AD&D rules so I can play this stupid game?
Start with the game manual, and in-game descriptions of abilities and spells. What specifically are you confused by?

>>3659203
You don't need to read any rules, and it's likely most won't make sense anyway because they're not really the same game.
If you have trouble with spellcasters, play an Inquisitor Paladin. Pickup Aerie for your spells and heals, and you can use Yoshimo for theivery until you get Imoen back.

File: GW7Qo_4W4AA_pu1.jpg (32 KB, 600x675)

32 KB JPG

Easy, pick a:


>White
>Male
>Fighter

>>3659207
>Do you play good or evil parties?
Most recently I've been just playing with the standard party: Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshimo (even though I know he'll betray me but he's the best thief) and Aerie. I picked cavalier because of Carsomyr but I just don't know to do buffs and counter act against mages and other creatures.

>>3659211
Inquisitor is better than Cavalier, especially for the problem you seem to be having. They get Dispel Magic as an ability, it casts instantly and at their level, so it will easily strip down every mage in SOA.

>>3659179
I was just going to post on the other thread about how I'm falling in love with the game. It took some getting used to, but now I'm completely immersed.
I'm playing with an old PC and monitor, so the nostalgic feel is maximized. Lowest resolution too. Getting almost too comfy over here.
>>3659189
>I try solo'ing because I don't have the patience to manage a party
Sounds like you're stubbornly fighting against the game, to be honest.
I don't find myself micromanaging too much.

>>3659211
>>3659218
*inquisitor dispel is actually double your level, so its even better than i remember
Also, Jaheira is an ok party member. She's annoying, but not useless. Insect Swarm is one of the best ways to kill enemy casters. Druids get heals too, and they have some pretty nasty damage spells, but most can only be used outside.
Minsc is pretty garbage. His low int makes him a terrible target for a lot of nasty enemies, and his con isnt great. There are ways around those problems, but he will always be missing one utility slot because of boo. If you're playing a fighter type as MC, you dont really need him, and there are better options if you do need someone like him.

>>3659237
Should I choose Anomen, Mazzy and Keldorn instead? Whenever there's a big battle I end up losing Minsc, Yoshimo or Aerie.

>>3659211
>I picked cavalier because of Carsomyr
This is based and thematic, cavalier is my favorite kit to play, though inquisitor is probably better due to how good the dispel is. You can always recruit Keldorn, he's already and inquisitor and you can use his dispel, and keep playing a cavalier, and use Carsomyr, which has its own dispel-on-hit.

If I were gonna replay, I'd do paladin MC, Keldorn, Minsc, Anomen (you can guide him into being less of a twat, by giving him wise advice on his path to knighthood), Imoen (substitute Nalia in the early game), and Aerie. Three or four frontliners capable of melee, one thief, two clerics, two mages.

Beyond that, maybe your tactics need work? Engage with your front liners first to tie up the enemies, keep your squishies in the back and out of harm's way. Lean in to control and disabling spells over pure damage for your casters.

>>3659242
Mazzy and Keldorn would work fine. Anomen is only worth keeping around if you plan to do his quest with the good result, otherwise most people tend to find him insufferable. He gets a bad rep, but he's not too bad as a build if he gets all the good items. He's not necessary with Keldorn and Mazzy around, unless you also plan to retire Keldorn eith his personal quest.

>>3659249
I did a run with a FeMC Paladin, romanced Anomen, and with Imoen and Nalia. Mostly just wanted to see what would happen (cheesy as fuck), but the party ended up being pretty damn comfy. Anomen with Crom, MC with Carsomyr, Imoen and Nalia shooting their shortbow/crossbows while throwing around fireballs... good times. I had played through BG1, too, so my MC had utterly ridiculous stats.

>>3659179
How? its one of the easiest CRPGs i have ever played and its casual player friendly.

>>3659179
man just use cliche team: strong barbarian, smart wizard, wise priest, dex thief and bard as a side kick if you really want

>>3659311
Bards are shit in Baldur's Gate. I really like them in 3rd ed games though.

>>3659189
wow youre a creting
SHINE (die)

>>3659311
>>3659314
Only bard that doesnt suck donkey dick is blade, but its basically not a bard either. Bard would have been soooooooooo much better in BG1 and 2 if the song was a toggle and didnt turn off if you did literally anything else.

>>3659339
*this isn't to say that bard would be any better as a class, but it would be less tedious and more fun to play, which is its major problem, imo.

sounds like OP doesn't know how to play dungeons and dragons at all if he's trying to do a solo run, that's basically impossible no matter what you're up against

this thread might just be bait.jpg

>>3659341
No, it isn't. I think I'm just too dumb to play DND at all. I can't manage a party and most of the characters end up dying

>>3659345
then play the elder scrolls, where you only have to deal with having a party if you install mods that let you have one, aside from certain plot related essential NPCs

you can also turn the difficulty down to pure faceroll and have a comfy time

>>3659348
That's the purpose of this thread. I wanna get good at Baldur's Gate and not play Elders Scrolls. I'm looking for guides, walkthroughs or anything

>>3659349
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/258273-baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn/faqs/34147

>>3659351
I don't have a problem with the quests. I have a problem with the battle system. I can't seem to know how to manage characters while facing groups of enemies with mages, vampires etc.

It's impossible to be bad at bg2. A guide isn't needed because it's just using the correct spells. There are no "builds". I dont know how you get all the way to ToB and not understand the game. Also, IE games are not elevated above Skyrim, these are both normal trash games.

What the hell is this awful thread?

>>3659314
that sword maestro bard is pretty good

>>3659193
If you actually cared, you would've beat it by now. Just accept that you don't really care.

>>3659349
i'm not trying to be a dick or anything, but from reading this thread, it just sounds like it isn't your style of game

the whole thing about dungeons and dragons is sometimes you get a bad roll, you get skullfucked and you die, and that's just part of the game

have you ever played any of the final fantasy games before? the party management there is a lot simpler because there's no actual movement grid, and ff6 pixel remastered is pretty fuckin good and ff7 classic still stands the test of time, imo, then double back to ff1 and/or ff4 if you want to see yourself get obliterated

>>3659364
Not OP but you post like a complete retard who doesn't know what he's talking about.

>>3659364
>the whole thing about dungeons and dragons is sometimes you get a bad roll, you get skullfucked and you die, and that's just part of the game
No it isn't. That's not true at all.

>>3659392
i was the dungeon master in my tweens playing AD&D 2.0 with my group of irl friends, and we had a lot of house rules suggested by one of the players fathers to make the game easier for us such as the -10 bleedout rule and rolling 4d6 then dropping the highest dice to get stats, and if you happen to actually roll 24, then you get a 19

shit happens like you a nat 20 with the vorpal blade and if the target has a head it's just done

modern d&d is a lot less stringy and more balanced honestly, but i had fun doing what i did when i was a kid

regarding the guy who called me the gamer word, i've never played BG2, so that's why i don't know what i'm talking about, beyond that, i'm sorry that you can't read words, furthermore, i'm the inventor of reddit spacing, so you're welcome

>>3659406
I'm not going to read your post. You posted something dead wrong. Do not post on this board again.

>>3659411
make a saving throw

>>3659406
Fuck off, you stupid faggot. Everything you post is retarded.

>>3659411
you think i posted something objectively wrong? it took me one google search to prove i'm correct

https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Poison_(Wizard_Spell)

this spell is available in the midgame and it's just straight up instant death, if an npc has it, a PC can just straight up die immediately if someone else isn't prepared to immediately react

>>3659345
>I can't manage a party and most of the characters end up dying
You don't have to manage them.
1. Create a fighter MC
2. Select whole party and have them attack the same target one by one.
3. Make sure fighter meets the enemy first to gain aggro
That's most fights.

>>3659211
Yoshimo is not the best thief. He's honestly one of the worst companions in the game. He's a weak kit single class thief. Jan is the best NPC thief if you don't want to make your own because he's also a mage.
All you need to know about mages is that True Sight lets you see them and Breach lets your bruisers hit them.
Buffs are not really that insane really. You don't need to prebuff encounters unless you know it is a serious one. Haste when you want to kill fast. Chaotic Commands to stop mind affecting spells. Prot from Evil 10' for a +2 AC bonus. I guess Death Ward is good but not really that useful in the base game. Call Upon Holy Might for people who get it.

>>3659442
Imagine needing this explained to you for an easy video game most people beat as children

>>3659179
Wtf I just noticed that a character is missing her gear, after a tough fight with mages. A bug or a feature?? Fuck if I have to load and do it again

>>3659526
Did they die and you resurrected them? Their gear is dropped on death.

>>3659179
Use long term buffs (get a mod to do this without tedium)
Save a lot so you can fight the vast number of mindless trash battles without ever pausing
When you do die reload and fight with pausing, you will win because the game is very easy if you pause
That's it

>>3659442
>Yoshimo is not the best thief.
i think by "the best thief", he means he's the only pure thief... since OP is a noob, I'm guessing he doesn't realize that thieving skills are generally useless in the game and Imoen with her 7 (and almost Nalia at her 4) thief levels are actually enough to pick every lock. Potions are plentiful and make up for any lack of skill there might be (which is really only a problem in TOB).
still, bounty hunter isn't a terrible kit. trap thieves tend to be the way they are played, anyway.
and Jan is obviously the best thief, mostly because he doesn't die and he actually continues to gain thief levels (not that it matters).

>>3660081
Thief levels don't matter for points (or saving throws or THAC0, really, bad at both), but having thief HLAs really helps. Imoen and Nalia don't get that.
Speaking of which, Nalia is very underrated. I mean, I get that people don't use her because she's insufferable, but a free ring of protection+2/ring of fire resistance is better than the meaningless extra INT and thief skills imoen gets. You need to drink pots anyway before scribing or doing thief stuff.
And yes, Edwin is obviously the best of the bunch of the pure mages.

>>3659179
OP, there's no wrong way to play a game.

When I was a teen - and BG2 is still my favorite CRPG to date that I've beat fairly and legitimately since, including SCS, so don't be thinking I've "ruined" anything for myself - I used every cheese and cheat in the book to have the fun I wanted. I used the Ctrl+J teleport cheat and moved only my main character, I modded in a teleport spell (I was big on Diablo 2 at the time) that shot out a Beholder ray just like the one Irenicus uses, I stitched together a spell to cast every defensive spell similar to what the cowled wizards used just because I thought it was a cool "ability" I wanted to have as well, Irenicus' cutscene spells with no cast and instant disintegration, and so on. I tried to mod in the ability to turn into the vampire "mist" - with no drawbacks of daytime (naturally) - but I was too stupid to do so.

The point is, my stupid, young self got all the fun he wanted in his favorite power fantasy in computer format, and thinking back on that, I would not want to deprive myself of that experience. As long as you enjoy the game, the mechanics, and the story, just do whatever makes it fun.

>>3660250
Based
Fucking around with the ruleset is great, I actually have a hard time thinking of another RPG that has half the variety of cool effects and interactions this game has
Nearinfinity is just the icing on the cake

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>>3660255
>I actually have a hard time thinking of another RPG that has half the variety of cool effects and interactions this game has
Dawnsbury Days
Knights of the Chalice 1 and 2
Temple of Elemental Evil
Icewind Dale 2
DOS2
BG3
Deadfire

Honestly BG3 has like 600 abilities and they're almost all worth using. BG2 has like maybe 30 useful abilities and it's mostly buffs/debuffs. It's combat is kind of... bad.

>>3659537
I checked previous save and she had her stuff right before the fight with the wizards. She didn't die, equipment wasn't on the floor, so I guess theyvsomehow got destroyed/stolen? I did the fight again and didn't lose anything this time.

>>3660261
It's only bad if you rely on fighters. Casters, wizards especially, are arguably better than in any other game. There's no penalty for resting constantly, and they have so many options, that every fight becomes a puzzle solving adventure, even when ignoring all the broken combos. They get bad rep because most of the companions start as shitty builds. You get Nalia, and she's got four levels wasted on a thief. Because of this, she is a bit underpowered early on, and gets sidelined by noobs. Aerie is dual class, has low spell penetration for both of her classes because of low stats, and has a million spells, requiring plenty of micro. The thing is, one mage alone is a bit meh, even if he's fully speced out Edwin, three, four of them, even at shitty stats, and with levels wasted on thiefs, are Armageddon. No matter enemies dice rolls, eventually something will come through.

>>3660221
Nalia has some nice interactions with Imoen. I talked about a run earlier that was pretty comfy. >>3659255

>>3660280
>Casters, wizards especially, are arguably better than in any other game
No, I just explained why casters are bad compared to everything I listed and even gave you bg3 as an example. Like BG2'd magic is measurably worse and you've offered nothing to counter that, instead opting to dump a useless personal experience you were apparently constipated with. Bioware fans are downright cult-like.

throne of bhaal sucks ass

>>3660283
Nta, but i agree that bg3 has more fun wizardly interactions than bg1 and 2.

>>3660283
Why should I do anything, when it's you that's not familiar with the system in bg2. Bg3 is balanced. Wizard is 2nd fiddle to Paladin when it comes to power levels. It's hardly even better than a Cleric. It gets some extras and utilities, compared to other classes, but it's no substantially better or worse than them. In bg2 Wizard is on another level. Clearly Larian was aware of this, as they didn't transfer any of the most broken mechanics and combos. They went with equipment kits instead. Bioware simply dumped as many spells in the game as they could, and left player with a true sandbox experience. Nothing is self apparent, spells descriptions are there, but one really needs to test thing out to see how it works in real time environment, since many things aren't documented. Lower level spells have features that only come to life with high level spells. There are silly combos, and there are spells that are only useful for specific builds. Vast majority of this came straight out of people's ingenuity, and it was so influential, that tabletop devs went with it.

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>>3660306
vegeta, what the scouter say about this posts' incorrectness level

https://youtu.be/SiMHTK15Pik

BG2 and BG3 are based on two completely different versions of D&D so that's why the balance is totally different

>>3660306
>Lower level spells have features that only come to life with high level spells
such as?

>>3659314
How are they bad in BG2?

>>3660261
Did anybody ask for yet another vapid post name-dropping shit you don't know how to play to sperg out about bG2 having "bad combat" with zero arguments?
Fucking get a life, weeb troon

All fucking day long, every fucking day this fucking moron is spamming the same shit over and over on a dead fucking board
What the fuck seriously, no wonder this fucking place can never get any sort of discussion going
Goddamn

>>3659179
I love BG2, but there's also a strong nostalgia factor. I doubt I could get into a new game even if it was like it.
There's just something about old games, man, even if I didn't play them back then.

>>3660283
You are quite honestly the most deranged fucking prick I've ever seen on this shitty website

>>3660452
They can’t replace my thief because they can’t do traps and locks. I like them when they’re a skill monkey with a dash of party support and utility.

>>3659179
Just don't play it.

Bards are good even in basic, vanilla unmodded BG1. Though they are far from a necessary part of your party. They level up faster than mages, so all their spells hit harder and land at higher level. They can also shoot bows with a mediocre THAC0. They can't do traps, but can do pick pocket and lore, which are nice to have.
Obviously Blade is the only way to go modded or in BG2, where it is an absolutely great class. Jester song is strong, but a complete gimmick. Just cast the confusion spell instead.

>>3659179
>casters keep killing me
Cast breach
That's honestly the only challenge in the game, outside of dragons, but that's a whole other bag of faggotry

>>3660630
Shadow Dragon is easy, Black Dragon is easy, Firkraag is substantially harder. Silver Dragon is the hardest enemy in SoA, should you want to fight it. It always catches me off guard how good Firkraag's THAC0 is.

>>3660652
I haven't beaten Firkraag since 2001. I don't hate that they put in some tough challenges, but I've regrettably grown into a casual

how can bioware fans be so fucking retarded

>>3660662
Get a life

>>3660654
Its really just casting dispel a few times on him because he has a couple contigencies that auto cast stoneskin and shit. When he knocks back the party with his wings, he does chase, so you can heal and get ready again. Its all aboit wasting his spell slots because just like everything else in the game, they're pretty shit without protections.

>>3661194
>he does chase
*doesnt
Phone posting.

>>3660626
I'm trapped in the "what class do i devote 50 hours to"
I rolled godly stats for a Skald with single weapon specialization, but I'm having second thoughts about making a Blade instead.
Then again, I dislike being able to solo the game. I'd like to make use of every party member somehow. A fighter proficient in weapons would be the least frustrating, wouldn't it?

>>3659189
>I don't know how to play.
>I try solo'ing because
Ngmi

>>3661251
Any class can solo the game, I wouldn't think like that. The point is to have a party with all the tools so that you can bring handle each encounter without needing to do shit like run away or wait out spell protections. I bring party members who will generally contribute in most encounters, so I often run 4 people for most of BG1 and 5 for most of BG2.
Blade is a fun and great class, but it isn't a cheesy solo class like FMT.
Skald suffers from the fact that the knowledge that all bards get a slightly better version of their song as an HLA. If you're playing the entire saga though, having that great song the entire time matters and will be useful. The downside of Blade as a bard is that they only really get a song in ToB as an HLA.

>>3661370
>Any class can solo the game, I wouldn't think like that.
You're probably right. I meant in the sense that if I have other spellcasters in the party, they would feel less important if the MC has spells available. Or if they can stealth, I don't have much use for Yoshimo and others.
I really enjoy the feeling that every party member is absolutely necessary, and a boon. It helps with roleplaying.

Considering that, I think for me it's best to go with a fighter. Less micromanagement too (no need to buff for trash fights)

>>3660340
Anything that goes with Timestop, Contigency, Sequencer and Alacrity.

Having used her in a few games, I can't really decide if jaheira is a good character or not.
Tanks most fights amazingly, but hard hitters shred her low hp.
Druid spells are great, but you don't get many and almost everything you want is specifically level 5, which she gets no bonus to and the druid hits a low wall which prevents natural growth. You can use wondrous recall, but that's uses of Heal you're missing.
Scimitar user that fights with other characters for Belm.

>>3661412
She's good for killing wizards, and thats it. Avengers end up being the best druid kit because they always become backline party members by mid game.

>>3661432
If Ironskins was level 4 like stoneskin is, I feel like she'd be godlike. But you need insect plague for the early and midgame, and you also want chaotic commands (which she casts at really low level because druid has cucked level growth compared to cleric).

>>3661194
>>3661195
Been a few years since I played it, but that seems about right. I usually just go with the banana-peeling, forgetting he's a layered onion

>>3661434
Not sure if it changed in the EE, but Druids are also gimped by their max level in SoA. To this day, it still makes no sense to me and why they thought Druid needed to be capped so early.

>>3661436
Firkraag is maybe the 2nd or 3rd thing I decide to do after getting out of Irenicus' dungeon, and it's pretty comfy beating him if you're playing a Paladin. Kind of weird how the quest works, though, because you can break it if you kill Firkraag on your first encounter. You actually have to pussy out of dialogue with Firkraag, go back to the Paladins and tell them about it, get the quest to kill him, then go back and finish it... kind of tedious. The dialogue to start combat with him is ballsy and cool on that first encounter.

>>3661437
It does make sense, but not from a balance perspective. What is actually happening is that they are selectively and bizarrely applying the AD&D2e rules. According to the player's handbook (which is not forgotten realms, I should add), there can only be one high level druid past level 15. The grand druid of the world. They've semi applied this not even applicable rule as making druid be epic level at 15.

>>3661452
cool for RP, dumb implementation. the only thing that changes from 14 to 15 is you get a bunch of extra spell slots, up from 2 level 5 and 1 level 6 to 6 for each levels 1-6. it's insane powercreep that didn't have to be put in there.

>>3659189
>I can't even beat Firkraag without using Feeblemind or some other cheese
Lmao
>"I'm gonna fight this 3-storey tall dragon with the strength of 10 men that breathes fire, and I'm gonna fight it FAIRLY"
Feeblemind, Blind and all that other good stuff are just part of being an adventurer who doesn't fucking die

>>3661437
In EE you can reach ToB levels while still in SoA, so Druids do eventually get their spell slots and HLAs, it just takes most of the entire campaign to do it.
EE also lets you access Watcher's Keep from SoA though, which gives you a ton of experience if you go through that.

>>3661479
You just stack Fire resistance. The dungeon leading up to firkaag loads you with FR becauae bg2 is a retarded baby game. You don't need feeblemind. You just equip FR, cast breach then beat him to death. I have no idea why you're acting superior while giving stupid advice. I feel like everyone who thinks these games are good doesn't even know how to play them even though they are incredibly easy and dumb.

>>3661487
>FR becauae bg2 is a retarded baby game. You don't need feeblemind. You just equip FR
Do you really need to abbreviate fire resistance? How lazy.

>>3661492
>THAC0
>AC
>HP
Anon, pls.

>>3661487
>>3661492
fire resistance isn't really enough. like another anon pointed out, Firkraag aint no bitch in melee. having your weaksauce no hp supports getting nuked by his fireball is just one problem.

>>3661487
Because they are old and if you say you like them people will think you are smart and veteran about RPGs, basically its just pretentious shit, game is shallow and braindead easy, i agree with you, it also doesnt help that the gameplay aged like milk.

>>3661497
Forgotten Realms.

>>3661514
I'm so old that the IE games still feel like RTS inspired newshit.

>>3661534
Its mostly zoomers who think BG2 is good

>>3661540
Nah, Biotards are multigenerational.

>>3661514
>>3661534
Have you considered not posting?

>>3659179
stop playing COD, LOL, minecraft, Fortnite or any other zoomie shit.

>>3659211
not a whole lot of evil specific loot. The most powerful sword Carsomyr requires Paladin class to use.

>>3659179
don't try. learn a new skill insteaad. getting good at this game will not transfer to anything useful in your life.

>>3659442
Yoshimo is ok. I beat Firkaag with his traps all over the place.

>>3660285
false

>>3660261
BG3 is a different game, different system.

>>3659179
try dual classing human fighter berserker/cleric or Kensai/mage.

>>3661401
So I went with skald, and I'm fully into it. I think I got the powergaming shit out of my system. Turns out a jack of all trades/master of none is great if you want to promote party members into more important roles.

I'm enjoying the writing too. Minsc genuinely made me laugh with his
>I am no man, and you are no hamster
line, and characters have personality without trying too hard. Well, Minsc has a strong personality, but I find him entertaining. I think it's going to be hard to choose party members. So far they all seem fun to have around.

>>3661731
Based anon playing a game and having fun instead of crying about how everything sucks

I'm in chapter two, and from roleplaying perspective it would make sense to save my dear companion ASAP, but I'm wondering if there's ever going to be a sensible time for side-questing.

So without spoilers, should I do sidequests now in chapter two (sorta justified by needing coin) or is there time after getting her back with less urgency in the main quest?

>>3661995
The game assumes you are going to do all of the Atkathla sidequests (or vast majority of them) during acts 2-3. That's also how you get new companions. Act 2-3 are the most open. Afterwards, the game becomes pretty linear, and you only briefly return to city in Act 6.