Icewind Dale The Icewind Dale Series Thread

[Xeon]

Trying to play Icewind Dale 2, I got it to work but the response is a little off. Sometimes when I hit pause, it doesn't register and stuff like that. Is there a fix for that? It took too much work to get this working so I hope there is something to get that fixed as well.

EE will be great but don't think it will happen for IWD2 and if they do, I kinda hope they change things to be more similar to IWD/BG more than NWN.

Edit:
Can I play HoF from Lv1 or is it an option for something like a new game plus? To import my high levels characters afterward.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

Can I play HoF from Lv1 or is it an option for something like a new game plus? To import my high levels characters afterward.

HoF is meant for high level parties who already finished the game on normal settings. But you can of course play it with a level 1 party if you're a powergamer who knows what he's doing.

 

[Jabber]

Waterd, some advice:

-Enable cheats so you can use ctrl+j to teleport partymembers. Obviously don't use it in any way that affects combat or use it to get around barriers, but do use it so that walking around town, or back and forth through a dungeon aren't painful.

-Consider playing BG1 / 2 with SCS instead (if you haven't already). The tactical challenge is much more interesting, particularly in no-reload play.

Anyhow, I've been no-reloading through icewind 1 and overall would say it is OK at best... I haven't had a wipe yet but I haven't fought that many interesting battles either. I am at lower dorn or whatever it is called, which is most of the way through the main quest although I have not done either of the expansions.

It feels very weird having played BG w/ SCS... enemy mages are just so frail and the vast majority of fights are pretty trashy mobs that may be able to kill a party member but really have no way of defeating the entire party without massive player error. Hopefully I will be able to finish in one shot because I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to replay this.

 

[Sensuki]

I believe IWD levels are designed for attrition based gameplay, although it is very easy to not opt into that, so to enjoy it the most you have to limit your resting.

 

[Jabber]

OK, it gets better in lower dorn and HoW is pretty good. It's also a bit fun seeing how similar spells are different in Icewind vs. BG. Like I have recently discovered nature's beauty is the same as in BG except with AoE 30 ft (!). Also I'm having a good time with a sorceress with cast time 1 sunfires with +20% damage that she can cast 10x per day. So anyhow, I'm not going to say good tactical challenges but at least fighting get quick and fun at the later stages of the game.

 

[Xeon]

How big is the difference of the experience gain from being low level? is it worth it or negligible?

Playing on hardest and I am strongly thinking of lowering it one notch or middle, its pretty hard, my entire party almost being one shotted by the goblin horde attacking the Palisade.

Edit:
Watching this playlist, seems pretty good. No commentary, just play. Also reading this guide. its a little more recent and has a lot of tips and also mentions the level squatting.

Playing a little different from the LP, watched a stream of the game sometime ago and the guy had 2 Sorcerers and 1 rogue turned wizard I believe and fighter turned Paladin and Cleric and Ranger if I am not mistaken.

End game, the mages were pretty much carrying out the entire party, I kinda enjoyed that and trying to create a similar party, the guide has a rating for classes and how efficient they are but I am assuming that mostly only applies to HoF and not regular game.

The Mages are rated 3/4 and 4/4 Sorcerer being perfect, Cleric is 3/4. Fighter only good for 4 levels to get specialization and Paladin not being as good as Clerics. I have 3 mages and 1 cleric and 2 fighters F/C and F/P I am going for.

 

[laclongquan]

Put it like this

With ECL races, I estimated that my party is nearly -1 in average level. 6man party, obviously. That make sure that even fighting low level mobs I still got some xp.
There is a few situation where enemy spawn nearly endlessly, and the only limit is party's endurance (potions and spells). So I make sure to kill as much as possible in those situation.
At the Ice Temple, my human wizard has overleveled and has two highest slots empty because they dont sell high level scrolls, or drop it as loot.
I make sure to complete the Battle Square to get those high level scrolls.

Example of experiments : Deep Gnome Rogue/Fighter, as an undetectable stealth expert, and a better than average archer. -3ECL.
She is surprisingly useful, since the scouting trigger plenty of scripted cutscene, but no one can notice or catch her.

 

[Xeon]

Very detailed, thank you very much.

I thought you get a small multiplier, the lower you are, the more experience you get or something.

 

[octavius]

She is surprisingly useful, since the scouting trigger plenty of scripted cutscene, but no one can notice or catch her.

Hmm...is that a good thing? That cutscenes are triggered, I mean?

 

[laclongquan]

It is if game teleport hostiles on your asses, circle all around you.

 

[Xeon]

There is a lot of crap to loot in this game. One feature I seriously miss is the quick looting from EE. Other than that it seems to run pretty great so far, after a lot of tinkering.

Difficulty kinda went down for now after I finished chapter 1 mainly because of Fireball, I keep firing that with my 3 mages and its been great. Aside from the immune to magic golems, everything seems peachy so far.

I kinda wish if I didn't invest in the 4 levels fighter for my F/C, my pure cleric is a solid front liner and she has a lot of usual spells. Did not notice much difference between the F/C and Cleric in terms of how much damage they deal meleeing[?] and the frequency they hit..

Paladin seems pretty bad so far, 4F/4P, I just got my Lv1 spells on her and her Special Paladin abilities doesn't seem all that great. I probably should have got a rogue instead, a lot of traps I am unable to disarm and taking needless damage from. I also restarted after reaching the area with the drums, that place was so hard. I had 1 Drow, 4 Aasimar and 1 Tiefling, only changed the Drow to a human to get faster leveling and catch up with Cleric spells instead of being a Drow and keep lagging behind in spells.

 

[laclongquan]

Oh, forget to add. Full 6man party is for highest difficulty of course. Use it for lower level make it too easy~

 

[Xeon]

Yea, Highest difficulty just didn't happen, I tried it and kept getting one shotted or almost during the horde attack so lowered it to half, fought them at level 2 I think. I didn't have any that was built to be a tank so that might have made it worse maybe, but now on chapter 2, Fireball spells and Undead summoning are pretty great and make things much much easier. Mages get a lot of spells slot I think compared to BG and IWD. Sorcerer can fire 6 or 7 Fireballs per rest and that's at just level 8 I think, that's pretty amazing I wonder how much spells slots they'll get late game.

Does time works the same as in BG and IWD1? Can I rest a lot and not affecting the world or is there special events that use time limit or something? So far I am trying to sleep only if I have to but I am kinda running out of potions and the armors I ordered from Oswald not complete yet. I hope my cleric gets the heal spell soon.

Are there classes that offer special quests or extra dialogue? Like in IWD1 being a druid you can heal the Ogre yourself and offer some insight for extra fluff dialogue or a Bard telling a story and things like that. So far it seems the Drow get special dialogue and Paladin might force outcomes based on their belief in quests if they talk.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

There's a fair amount of cosmetic/reactive C&C based off of chargen in IWDII. Almost none of it has any significance beyond a line or two of throwaway dialogue though.

 

[pippin]

I think Paladins won't accept money as payment for done quests, and it was nice to see npcs reacting to drow characters. I think IWD2 is the most overlooked and underrated game from the IE era.

 

[Xeon]

Yea, aside from how classes and leveling works and some minor things, IWD2 is really great, for a rushed game, they added a lot of nifty little things to spice things up.

Sorcerer can help an NPC in the wandering village to learn about magic, Paladin can act based on their beliefs and not take rewards and will not negotiate with evil characters and even detect them if they are pretending they are not during dialogue (I am not sure if an evil Paladin will also react the same to evil people and refuse rewards or not). I read that the evil choices are not that fleshed out or something because they had to cut things. Clerics can throw a couple of lines when talking with religious people and cultists..

Skills are also pretty sweet, I like the Wilderness Lore skill. my wizard is Tiefling so she gets 7 or 8 points of skills and I am spending the extra points on that. getting information and insight on the map is pretty cool. Doesn't always work but when it does, its kinda good. In the Fell Wood, I used it in most of the maps to find my way.

 

[aleph]

(I am not sure if an evil Paladin will also react the same to evil people and refuse rewards or not).

 

[Xeon]

Yea, derp moment, but like I said, while searching for what kind of party to make, Paladin of Bane or something is apparently the best Paladin class which is evil, seconded by Pain Bearer but there is not much difference or something because a lot of it got cut. Haven't played it so wouldn't know.

Edit:
There doesn't seem to be anything to pickpocket, I searched in guides and forums but everyone keep mentioning only one person who works in the store of first town, has a +1 save or something. BGs and IWD1 had pretty great things to steal. Pickpocket seems a pretty useless skill in this game.

I also killed my first dragon, not as memorable as BG2, didn't even drop a loot.

 

[aleph]

Yea, derp moment, but like I said, while searching for what kind of party to make, Paladin of Bane or something is apparently the best Paladin class which is evil, seconded by Pain Bearer but there is not much difference or something because a lot of it got cut. Haven't played it so wouldn't know.

There is no Paladin of Bane in IWD2 iirc.

 

[Xeon]

Yea, just looked it up, Both of those were for the Clerics not Paladin. Derp I guess, my bad.

Does Iron Skin disappears after getting hit multiple times? "This resistance bonus only applies to a number of attacks, equal to 1 attack for every 2 levels of the caster up to a maximum of 8" I am not understanding this, The duration it says, it lasts for 8 hours so I thought it will be similar to Druids getting it in BGs. I am in the underground cavern fighting Hook Horror hordes but Iron Skin is already gone.

 

[aleph]

Yea, just looked it up, Both of those were for the Clerics not Paladin. Derp I guess, my bad.

Does Iron Skin disappears after getting hit multiple times? "This resistance bonus only applies to a number of attacks, equal to 1 attack for every 2 levels of the caster up to a maximum of 8" I am not understanding this, The duration it says, it lasts for 8 hours so I thought it will be similar to Druids getting it in BGs. I am in the underground cavern fighting Hook Horror hordes but Iron Skin is already gone.

The spell expires after 1-8 enemy attacks on the caster, depending on their character level, or after 8 hours whatever happens earlier.

 

[laclongquan]

A Ranger with tracker feats get some bonus in the woods maps later on. Dont remember any other specific class/race details.

No time limit. You can rest after each fight if that's to your taste.

 

[Xeon]

Is there anyway to prevent my paladin from being in front when I enter an area? I put her in the 3rd, 4th and 6th slot but it doesn't seem to matter, she is still up front and the one talking when I first enter the Severed Hand.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Is there anyway to prevent my paladin from being in front when I enter an area? I put her in the 3rd, 4th and 6th slot but it doesn't seem to matter, she is still up front and the one talking when I first enter the Severed Hand.

Kill him/her off first?

"Here, eat this Fireball."

 

[octavius]

Is there anyway to prevent my paladin from being in front when I enter an area? I put her in the 3rd, 4th and 6th slot but it doesn't seem to matter, she is still up front and the one talking when I first enter the Severed Hand.

The active character, regardless of slot number, should be the one talking.