Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast is an expansion pack of the fantasy role-playing video game Baldur's Gate. Developed by BioWare and published by Interplay, it adds 20 to 30 extra hours of gameplay to the original game, including the addition of four new areas and minor tweaks to some of the mechanics. The expansion consists of four notable quests that take place within the same game world as Baldur's Gate, and sees players taking their character (referred to as the Ward) and their party of companions across the Sword Coast, from travelling to a distant island, to exploring the fortress dungeon of a late dwarf. Tales of the Sword Coast achieved global sales of 600,000 units by 2003. Gameplay While the expansion retains the same fundamental gameplay mechanics of Baldur's Gate, and the new areas incorporated into the same world map as the original game, a number of tweaks and improvements were made. These include: The experience point cap being raised to 161,000, allowing characters to reach higher levels. The user interface receiving a number of improvements. Identical items automatically stack. Unidentified items display a blue tint to make it easier to distinguish them. The abilities of the thief class are toned down. In addition, if the player had completed the original game, the expansion features the option of loading a save game of their player character and their party, placing them within the new settlement of Ulgoth's Beard, where most of the quests begin. Plot Setting Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast takes place around the same time of the original game, and within the same region of Faerûn. The expansion adds a number of new locations, including the small town Ulgoth's Beard, a mysterious island in the Trackless Sea, the Isle of Ice, and the ruins of Durlag's Tower. While it provides additional side quests, these do not impact the original game's main story, especially if it is ongoing. Story Travelling to Ulgoth's Beard, a small town with great adventuring possibilities, a party of adventurers consisting of Gorion's Ward and their companions, meet with a mysterious mage called Shandalar who asks them to recover a cloak of his from the Isle of Ice, before forcefully teleporting them to the island. The Ward's party soon find themselves fighting against those who were trapped on the island's dungeon, eventually recovering the cloak and managing to return with