Icewind Dale: Yxunomei Difficulty Spike

[Dr Skeleton]

I'm tempted to do a no mage run. I'm going to keep both a cleric and a druid, though, and go with fighters and rangers. There are two interesting spellcaster fights in the game, but they are still BG1 tier.

I recommend it. Not having access to haste and the best damage spells makes the game more interesting.

 

[Shadenuat]

The Bard isn't really pulling his weight, but I haven't gotten the Sith song yet.

You took the great buffer for melee party in a party without any melees.

The idea is full lawful good party, Bard with Chant + Good Cleric with Righteous Wrath of the Faithful

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

The Bard isn't really pulling his weight, but I haven't gotten the Sith song yet.

You took the great buffer for melee party in a party without any melees.

The idea is full lawful good party, Bard with Chant + Good Cleric with Righteous Wrath of the Faithful

Or go with two clerics and combine Chant (lvl2) and Prayer (lvl3) or, not long later Prayer and Recitation (lvl4) for a +3 swing in your favour and a -3 swing against the enemy, making for a 6 point difference to melee attacks. Righteous Wrath is lvl5 and good, but I've no idea why you wouldn't be combining it with Recitation rather than Chant. Recitation even says in its description that it doesn't nullify Prayer, the game itself suggesting it would be ideal to put the two of them out there at the same time.

 

[Shadenuat]

I meant WarChant of Sith

 

[the_shadow]

Either way, spells for mages are shit in the vanilla games, coupled with the fact that spell scrolls are rather rare unless you buy them. Cleric and Druids get a few good spells that are actually useful. Mage spell selection in EE is much better, but most make the game trivial.

?!?!?!

In Vanilla Version:

Lvl 1:

Chromatic Orb - Long duration stun at higher levels
Grease - Slows enemies to a crawl
Colour Spray - Multi-target disabling spell

Lvl 2:

*Web*: Pretty much game breaking since you can get 2 rings of Free Action at the start of Chapter 1.

There are some other good spells for Lvl 2, but why bother memorizing when Web is so good?

Lvl 3:

Fireball/Skull Trap/Lance of Disr./Lightning Bolt - Solid damage spells
Slow - Great disabling spell which almost always works due to -4 penalty to saves
Haste - Party become speed demons and get an extra attack a round

There is nothing in the Druid/Cleric's arsenal that comes close to being better than these spells. In regards to spell-casting, almost anything a Druid/Cleric can do at low levels, a mage can do way better.

 

[pippin]

The druid does have up to three great AoE spells, like Entangle, the one with the spikes, and the one with the rain and lightning (not Call Lightning). You can do without a mage in IWD1. And given the scarcity of scrolls in 2, it's better to take a sorcerer instead.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[octavius]

The druid does have up to three great AoE spells, like Entangle, the one with the spikes, and the one with the rain and lightning (not Call Lightning). You can do without a mage in IWD1. And given the scarcity of scrolls in 2, it's better to take a sorcerer instead.

At least one of those spells is excellent to keep damaging enemy spell casters each round, preventing them from casting spells.

 

[the_shadow]

The druid does have up to three great AoE spells, like Entangle, the one with the spikes, and the one with the rain and lightning (not Call Lightning). You can do without a mage in IWD1. And given the scarcity of scrolls in 2, it's better to take a sorcerer instead.

Entangle is probably the only thing the Druid has going for them early on (apart from Sunscorch), and it isn't *that* good, given that mages get Web soon after. Cloudburst and Spike Growth do hardly any damage.

 

[the_shadow]

Just beat Yxuonmei with my magic heavy party, and I'll admit I needed about 6 reloads. Yxuonmei wasn't the one who was causing me trouble, it was all her flunkies, particularly the 3 snake-mages that spawn behind you and cast Feeblemind. My strategy involved summoning Fire Elementals and bears to attack the three mages, then laying down a bunch of Web and Cloud of Pestilence spells in the doorway. It was then simply a matter of triggering the encounter with a PC and then falling back. Numerous Lance of Disruptions/Skull Traps/Magic Missiles managed to take out Yxuonmei, who was blinded from the Cloud of Pestilence.

Unfortunately my Druid bit the dust. I went to raise him with my priest, only to realize that evil clerics don't get the Raise Dead spell, they get the 'Slay Living' spell instead (duh). So I carted all his equipment back to town and went to the local healer to raise him for 800GP, only for the Raise Dead option to be greyed out. Wait, what? Then I had a nasty feeling that I had read somewhere in DandD rules that elves can't be raised, they can only be resurrected.
Oh well, I guess I'll have to Resurrect. How much does that cost?

11,250GP...

Oh no, please God no...

I purchased a Raise Dead spell from the local healer and had my cleric use that in a vain hope of getting around the restriction, and received the feedback "Target is unaffected by the spell".



Over a Chapter's worth of gold down the crapper.

 

[pippin]

Isn't there a cleric lady in one of the Dragon's Eye levels?

Also lol get rekt

 

[Wayward Son]

Isn't there a cleric lady in one of the Dragon's Eye levels?

Aren't you thinking of Wyrm's Tooth?

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

once you freed the captive villagers and mother Egenia in Dragons eye lvl2 she will stay and be available for cleric services, she will even relocate to the entry to lvl3 so you don't have to walk that far

 

[Wayward Son]

once you freed the captive villagers and mother Egenia in Dragons eye lvl2 she will stay and be available for cleric services, she will even relocate to the entry to lvl3 so you don't have to walk that far

Wait, really? Damn, wish I'd known that!

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

1. Gold is really limited in this game. All the decent stuff is really overpriced, even with a charisma of 18+. This wouldn't be such a big deal if character inventories didn't change with each Chapter, but it's virtually impossible to buy all of Orrick's goods in Chapter 1 before he no longer offers them for sale in Chapter 2.

you should loot every possible thing you come around,some weapons cost 30k-40k but they worth it.thats why i always bring at least 2 party members with 18/00 strenght.
also cast friends on your max charisma wizard,that will drop the prices even more

Also, I haven't seen anyone mention the fact that in Icewind Dale the traders use the rarity scale when purchasing items.

In the early stages, for example, if you take one longsword to be sold then you'll get something like 16gp for it, but when you go off and loot some more baddies and come back with another longsword the trader will only give you 8gp etc.

However, if you stash all your loot in the chest in the inn and then wait until you have a full backpack of longswords and go and sell them at once for the first time then you'll get the full 16x16gp

So just for longswords 16x16gp=256gp whereas (1x16gp)+(15x8gp)=136gp

Now imagine that for all recurring loot items, and in particular when you start getting fine items and +1 items.

I should think a lot of people who complain about being short of gold aren't aware they're running at around 65% potential.

 

[octavius]

It's nice when RPGs cater for the accountants.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

i use excel to keep track of every sold item

 

[the_shadow]

1. Gold is really limited in this game. All the decent stuff is really overpriced, even with a charisma of 18+. This wouldn't be such a big deal if character inventories didn't change with each Chapter, but it's virtually impossible to buy all of Orrick's goods in Chapter 1 before he no longer offers them for sale in Chapter 2.

you should loot every possible thing you come around,some weapons cost 30k-40k but they worth it.thats why i always bring at least 2 party members with 18/00 strenght.
also cast friends on your max charisma wizard,that will drop the prices even more

Also, I haven't seen anyone mention the fact that in Icewind Dale the traders use the rarity scale when purchasing items.

In the early stages, for example, if you take one longsword to be sold then you'll get something like 16gp for it, but when you go off and loot some more baddies and come back with another longsword the trader will only give you 8gp etc.

Yeah, I noticed this. It's probably the only game I've ever played with that sort of mechanic.

 

[hilfazer]

1. Gold is really limited in this game. All the decent stuff is really overpriced, even with a charisma of 18+. This wouldn't be such a big deal if character inventories didn't change with each Chapter, but it's virtually impossible to buy all of Orrick's goods in Chapter 1 before he no longer offers them for sale in Chapter 2.

you should loot every possible thing you come around,some weapons cost 30k-40k but they worth it.thats why i always bring at least 2 party members with 18/00 strenght.
also cast friends on your max charisma wizard,that will drop the prices even more

Also, I haven't seen anyone mention the fact that in Icewind Dale the traders use the rarity scale when purchasing items.

In the early stages, for example, if you take one longsword to be sold then you'll get something like 16gp for it, but when you go off and loot some more baddies and come back with another longsword the trader will only give you 8gp etc.

Yeah, I noticed this. It's probably the only game I've ever played with that sort of mechanic.

It means you have PS:T to play.

 

[SionIV]

1. Gold is really limited in this game. All the decent stuff is really overpriced, even with a charisma of 18+. This wouldn't be such a big deal if character inventories didn't change with each Chapter, but it's virtually impossible to buy all of Orrick's goods in Chapter 1 before he no longer offers them for sale in Chapter 2.

you should loot every possible thing you come around,some weapons cost 30k-40k but they worth it.thats why i always bring at least 2 party members with 18/00 strenght.
also cast friends on your max charisma wizard,that will drop the prices even more

Also, I haven't seen anyone mention the fact that in Icewind Dale the traders use the rarity scale when purchasing items.

In the early stages, for example, if you take one longsword to be sold then you'll get something like 16gp for it, but when you go off and loot some more baddies and come back with another longsword the trader will only give you 8gp etc.

Yeah, I noticed this. It's probably the only game I've ever played with that sort of mechanic.

Baldur's Gate and PS:T also had it.

 

[ga♥]

If you guys plan on:

1 - playing on insane
AND
2 - having installed the expansion(s)

Don't make single-class-chars-that-can't-dual; you will reach the exp cap long before the game ended.
Having a bard is really nice, especially with lore and the songs at the beginning/midgame help a lot (the hardest part, then after Dragon's eye everything gets far easier) but then you end up wasting millions of XP.

Also yes, unlike other IE games, money in IWD1 is a constant issue.

 

[Tigranes]

How is money an issue? There's a nice goal to look forward to when you first see the shops in Kuldahar, but after that there's nothing worth buying.

And yeah, 4-man on Insane for example levels up way too fast, so I just periodically delete away XP.

 

[ga♥]

How is money an issue? There's a nice goal to look forward to when you first see the shops in Kuldahar, but after that there's nothing worth buying.

And yeah, 4-man on Insane for example levels up way too fast, so I just periodically delete away XP.

Well, if you compare, let's say BG1... by the end of the game I had 300K+ gold with nothing to spend it on and without selling any unique item I ever found.

On IWD1, dungeons have less loot and items are more pricey. Also scrolls (I had 2 mages).

"worth buying" depends on your party composition; having a druid for example means you won't find an enhanced scimitar for a long time unless you buy it from the smith in Kuldahar.

Chez Orrick you find nice robes, the shimmering sash, and other stuff I forgot. The fact that the items disappear when you progress chapters doesn't help either.

Also there isn't only Kundahar there's Lonelywood and the three-doves mace etc. etc.

 

[Tigranes]

Almost every RPG is poor at this, and sure, IWD is perhaps less terrible than many. I see your point, I guess the sense of scarcity does hold up for longer periods.

 

[octavius]

The fight against Yxunomei is rather anticlimactic when she's Held by a Chromatic Orb spell.