Icewind Dale The Icewind Dale Series Thread

[IncendiaryDevice]

I did the Guardian the first time, you find these blocks so it's only natural to put them where it looks like they go, but I can imagine someone missing them. I did miss the Lost Followers the first time as well, but that's normal for a Holy Avenger quest, the Holy Avenger was really well hidden in IWD1 as well, the HA stuff in the IWDs is supposed to be secret easter egg type stuff, it's one of the many thing that make the games replayable.

 

[Orobis]

I'm playing IWD2 right now and am at the Ice Temple. Being a dullard, I took flat classes just to keep the thinking to a minimum. So far, it's been challenging and fun, but a little frustrating with some of my own really bad choices. I've got sub-optimal quest results pretty regularly, from apparently messing up most of my quests. That's a part I like. I :

Pure Paladin - Human - Mace and Shield, every time I turn in a quest I bitch out loud about him not taking rewards. Reload to 20 minutes earlier for that 150 gold or some garbage.
Pure Fighter - Dwarf - best char. Two handed weapons. High con and str. Boring but perfect for this game.
Pure Ranger - Drow. Pure archer. There are a LOT of arrows in this game. Picked the wrong setting for script, and almost lost my mind as he kept trying to melee.
Pure Cleric - Some non-human class. Worships god that gives the ability to use axes. Bad choice, but I usually cast hold person every fight, so it hasn't been too bad. So many mages, though.
Pure Thief. Half-elf. Bad, bad. Dies constantly. Duals a short-sword and dagger with finesse feat for crappy damage. But, I'm just going to play this out.
Pure Wizard. Elf. Armed with crossbow. My favorite part of D&D and goldbox games is casting fireball. So sue me. Cast three fireballs per combat and some monster summoning. If there isn't a Crossbow of Speed in here, I'll be very put out.

So far, I'm ok. I'm on the 2nd level of Ice Temple and seem to be doing ok. Cleric is only level 8 because it's an Asmarr or something, so I can't cast Raise Dead (and that makes every screw up a reload.) Also forgetting to save every hour is my biggest nemesis. I've been spoiled by auto-save and checkpoints and stuff.

If you have 18 INT on any one of your party member you can get Dragu's hell bolter crossbow, the best ranged weapon in the game.

Spoiler

 

[dukeofwhales]

Notes left on the map are persistent in Fell Wood and only apply to that specific instance of the map (even though there are repeated maps) so I just left notes and checked the map.

 

[Jabber]

Bards are quite good. A lot of people say they aren't, but that's because they are bad at the game. I no-reloaded a run on insane and a bard was one of my two tanks (other being an AC paladin / priest) and the bard worked out great. Treat them like a F/M from BG2 and you will like them a lot. Treat them as singers / primary casters and you just have a crappy sorcerer.

 

[Snufkin]

I'm playing IWD2 right now and am at the Ice Temple. Being a dullard, I took flat classes just to keep the thinking to a minimum. So far, it's been challenging and fun, but a little frustrating with some of my own really bad choices. I've got sub-optimal quest results pretty regularly, from apparently messing up most of my quests. That's a part I like. I :

Pure Paladin - Human - Mace and Shield, every time I turn in a quest I bitch out loud about him not taking rewards. Reload to 20 minutes earlier for that 150 gold or some garbage.
Pure Fighter - Dwarf - best char. Two handed weapons. High con and str. Boring but perfect for this game.
Pure Ranger - Drow. Pure archer. There are a LOT of arrows in this game. Picked the wrong setting for script, and almost lost my mind as he kept trying to melee.
Pure Cleric - Some non-human class. Worships god that gives the ability to use axes. Bad choice, but I usually cast hold person every fight, so it hasn't been too bad. So many mages, though.
Pure Thief. Half-elf. Bad, bad. Dies constantly. Duals a short-sword and dagger with finesse feat for crappy damage. But, I'm just going to play this out.
Pure Wizard. Elf. Armed with crossbow. My favorite part of D&D and goldbox games is casting fireball. So sue me. Cast three fireballs per combat and some monster summoning. If there isn't a Crossbow of Speed in here, I'll be very put out.

So far, I'm ok. I'm on the 2nd level of Ice Temple and seem to be doing ok. Cleric is only level 8 because it's an Asmarr or something, so I can't cast Raise Dead (and that makes every screw up a reload.) Also forgetting to save every hour is my biggest nemesis. I've been spoiled by auto-save and checkpoints and stuff.

If you have 18 INT on any one of your party member you can get Dragu's hell bolter crossbow, the best ranged weapon in the game.

Spoiler

Hell bolter is trash, so is any crossbow/bow in IWD2. Only ranged weapons that are worth using are Big death and Big Black Flying-Death that you can buy in Kuldahar. Second best ranged weapon is Mordenkainen's Sword.

 

[Orobis]

Hell bolter is trash, so is any crossbow/bow in IWD2

Ranged weapons in general are crap in all IE games so i partially agree with you there.

Only ranged weapons that are worth using are Big death and Big Black Flying-Death

Both those weapons are 2 handed throwing axes and yes they are great but are not very practical, i would never use them on any fighter type cause he should be on the front line absorbing hits for your weaker party members not sitting in the back row like some pussy chucking axes. The only class i would use these throwing axes is a cleric of tempus with 18 STR since she starts out with an additional point in Weapon focus: Axe but even still i would prefer her in sword n' board to reduce chances of getting hit and interrupted from casting. Throwing axes use STR stat not DEX, so it only works well on high STR toons, but if your going to make a high str toon you mind as well just make a fighter with high con and tank on the front line making big death and flying death even more redundant. And again both these weapons are 2 handed THROWING axes not 1 handed. 1 handed throwing = practical, 2 handed = not so much.

Mordenkainen's Sword.

That's a spell not a ranged weapon, a level 7 spell that you don't even get until roughly the last 1/4 of the game, the hell bolter is acquired fairly early not to mention the massive amounts of special bolts your showered with through out the game, you mind as well put them to use with your Wizard/Sorcerer which starts with a point in simple weapon: Crossbow. Even with a low dex score, they can pump out half-decent damage when they are standing around not casting .

Combine these 4 attacks at +3 attack bonus (from the hell bolter) with a decent dex modifier and +5 bolts or the elemental bolts (i.e. lightning), this will make your Wizard/Sorcerer (or any class with a high DEX modifier) a very effective ranged attacker doing something like 40-80 damage per round. Essentially, a built in Mordenkainen's Sword.

Finnaly, i would rather have more charges of Delayed Blast Fireball than mord's sword.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Hell bolter is trash, so is any crossbow/bow in IWD2. Only ranged weapons that are worth using are Big death and Big Black Flying-Death that you can buy in Kuldahar. Second best ranged weapon is Mordenkainen's Sword.

A fighter or a ranger with rapid shot and a bow will get more kills over the course of the game than any other character. By a large margin.

 

[Snufkin]

Lol no. Also best "fighters" in game are cleric with lvl of monk and rogue and sorcerer with level of paladin. Also, Orobis 40-80 damage per round is very weak. A dumb fighter orc will hit for over 100 with single hit with that +1 crit great sword for example. And im talking about very basic build, like newbie friendly 4fighter/26 barbarian. It just shows you how worthless crossbows/bows are.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

I'm talking about a normal game, not solo/ HoF.

 

[Orobis]

Also, Orobis 40-80 damage per round is very weak.

I know it's weak, but it's good damage for Wiz/Sorc when not casting.

A dumb fighter orc will hit for over 100 with single hit with that +1 crit great sword for example.

Yup.

And im talking about very basic build, like newbie friendly 4fighter/26 barbarian

It's not just noob friendly, shield dwarf 4fighter/26 barbarian is the best fighter type you can make IMO esp. for HoF, where physical damage output gets vastly out done by magic and the crazy AC/HP on mobs combined with there super high attack bonuses make your own AC irrelevant.

It just shows you how worthless crossbows/bows are.

They are shit overall but not as worthless as you make them out to be, at least not on normal non HoF mode.

I'm talking about a normal game, not solo/ HoF.

In HoF mode? Yes crossbows/bows are pretty much worthless, but so can be said for physical damage as well...almost.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

I could never force myself to play HoF past act 1. High level D&D just doesn't do it for me.

 

[Snufkin]

Orobis did you try using melee party from Jupp2 ?

http://speedy.sh/qakGJ/jupp2.txt

Edit: click on slow download

Beats HoF pretty easly.

 

[pippin]

Ranged weapons in general are crap in all IE games

Ranged weapons are op as fuck in BG1, especially considering how they can interrupt mages or even one shot kill them just like that. More defensive spells change this though. And I remember having the rapid fire bow in IWD can be extremely useful for the fight against Yxunomei.

 

[Orobis]

Orobis did you try using melee party from Jupp2 ?

http://speedy.sh/qakGJ/jupp2.txt

Edit: click on slow download

Beats HoF pretty easly.

Nope, can't recall if i ever seen that guide.

I never played past chapter 1 on HoF difficulty due to being a noob at the time and having a poorly built party of mostly melee and only one caster, a wizard.

So i looked up a guide/faq and found this one: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/552350-icewind-dale-ii/faqs/21354

Restarted With the party from the FAQ and got about half way through with intentions of beating HoF but got bored/burnt out and never played IWD2 since, and that was 2-3 years ago. It's a beastly party setup focused around magic which is what i enjoy most (combat wise) from the IE games. Melee is just too boring in IE games.

 

[Snufkin]

Orobis that guide/faq is only good on normal. Try HoF with one of the jupp2 parties and see how powerful they are.
The melee party is already strong, caster party is just brutal once you get WoB spells going.

 

[Orobis]

Ranged weapons are op as fuck in BG1, especially considering how they can interrupt mages or even one shot kill them just like that. More defensive spells change this though. And I remember having the rapid fire bow in IWD can be extremely useful for the fight against Yxunomei.

In low level setting's such as BG1 and IWD ranged weapons are indeed powerful, they just don't scale well at higher levels. Though in BG2 it's possible to make a respectable archer kit using that crossbow from the vendor in front of the entrance to Watcher's Keep.

 

[Orobis]

Orobis that guide/faq is only good on normal. Try HoF with one of the jupp2 parties and see how powerful they are.
The melee party is already strong, caster party is just brutal once you get WoB spells going.

No it is not, it's made specifically for HoF.

Quote from the faq:
"The party is ideal for good or neutral alignment players and is meant to be
taken into HoF mode - the ultimate challenge that the game has to offer. It
is a six person party that is heavily based on spell casting over melee,
which we found produced the best results."

It was made by more than 1 person, i highly suggest you read it before making any more assumptions. It explains in great detail why its the best party comp for HoF.

Another quote:
"The idea was to create a powerful 'party' that was meant for skilled players
who especially wanted to have fun, have a good variety and be able to win
every fight without reloading ever "

 

[Snufkin]

Well tbh i did finish normal mode with that party. It's just in HoF this party is not very good. I remember i had to use otiluke sphere exploit on that dwarven barbarian to get aggro going. After being frustrated with it, i restarted with jupp2 party and finished HoF.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

For IDW2 I also tried to do an exhaustive investigation into everything Battle Squares. Unfortunately the site I was on had a word limit for their OPs and I ran out of room to put further information in as people found items/explained tips and tricks. I'm gonna just paste it here because, like the codex, that site has a habit of dropping so even if not for anyone else's use, I'd like to have it stored on an alternative site, especially if other people can add it to it with new eyes:

Battle Squares - rewards hints and tips
by LastDanceSaloon » Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:51 pm

All missiles - Arrows, Bolts, Bullets, Darts are rewarded in quantities of 20

RANK 1:

Creatures encountered: Beetle, Skeleton, Skeleton Archer, Zombie, Zombie Lord, Giant Viper, Spotted Lion, Carrion Crawler, Yeti, Phase Spider, Salamander, Elite Neo Orog, Otyugh, Shadow, Greater Boneguard

For completing a level:

Pearl + 100-300 gold
or
Item: Sure Strike Darts or Sure Strike Arrows or Sure Strike Bullets or Bullets +1 or Darts +1 or Arrows +1 or Arrows of Lesser Dispelling or Darts of Wounding or Bullets of Wounding or Shock Darts or Target Arrows or Cure Light Wounds Scroll or Magic Missiles Scroll or Protection From Cold Scroll or Potion of Aid or Minor Mirror Image Potion
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Armour of Faith will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Dragon's Belt... which gives the wearer +3 to Reflex Saves


RANK 2:

Creatures encountered: Beetle, Spotted Lion, Otyugh, Yeti, Phase Spider, Sword Spider, Shambling Mound, Giant Viper, Salamander, Cyclops, Zombie Lord, Umber Hulk, Greater Boneguard, Scrag, Shadow

For completing a level:

Sphene + 200-600 gold
or
Item: Arrows +2 or Darts +2 or Bullets +2 or Stunning Arrows +1 or Stun Bullets +1 or Acid Tipped Darts or Bullets of Corrosive Burst or Keen Arrows or Returning Frost Dart or Minor Elemental Barrier Scroll or Blur Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Good Luck will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Potion of Holy Transference... which gives the drinker a permanent +2 to Wisdom and -1 to Dexterity.


RANK 3:

Creatures encountered: Beetle, Rhinocerus Beetle, Phase Spider, Sword Spider, Mummy King, Zombie Lord, Greater Boneguard, Barrow Wight, Scrag, Frost Giant, Cyclops, Umber Hulk, Shambling Mound, Shadow

For completing a level:

Black Opal + 300-900 gold
or
Item: Bolt +3 or Darts +3 or Bullets +3 or Sparking Bullets +1 or Sparking Bolts +1 or Sparking Arrows +1 or Arrows of Flame +1 or Flaming Bolts +1 or Corrosive Bolts +1 or Corrosive Arrows +1 or Frost Bolts +1 or Frost Arrows +1 or Frost Bullets +1 or Tranquil Bolts or Negative Energy Protection Scroll or Haste Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Strength of One will be cast on your Party

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Abishai Hide... which gives the wearer a set of Medium Armour with an Armour Bonus of +3, a Max Dex Bonus of +4, weight of 15lb, Damage Reduction of 5/+1, wearable by anyone.


RANK 4:

Creatures encountered: Rhinoceros Beetle, Sword Spider, Shambling Mound, Scrag, Cyclops, Umber Hulk, Mummy King, Barrow Wight, Frost Giant, Greater Feyr, Red Abishai, Water Elemental, Greater Werewolf, Shadow

For completing a level:

Water Opal + 400-1200 gold
or
Item: Arrows +4 or Darts +4 or Bolts +4 or Bullets +4 or Arrows of Dispelling or Arrows of Piercing or Holdfast Arrows or Arrows of Biting or Darts of Infatuation or Darts of Stunning or Protection from Lightning Scroll or Improved Invisibility Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Stoneskin will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Boots of Grounding... which gives the wearer 6/- to Electrical Resistance


RANK 5:

Creatures encountered: Rhinoceros Beetle, Barrow Wight, Mummy King, Drowned Dead, Greater Werewolf, Greater Feyr, Frost Giant, Remorhaz, Red Abishai, Water Elemental, Shadow

For completing a level:

Moonbar + 500-1500 gold
or
Item: Bolts +5 or Bullets +5 or Arrows +5 or Glacial Darts +4 or Keen Flaming Burst Darts or Force Bullets or Stunning Arrows +1 or Stunning Bullets +1 or Stunning Bolts +1 or Summon Monster V Scroll or Cure Critical Wounds Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Shield of Lathander will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Throwing Axe of Shocking Burst... which gives the wielder a +3 returning axe which has additional electrical damage


RANK 6:

For completing a level:

Creatures encountered: Greater Feyr, Frost Giant, Greater Werewolf, Drowned Dead, Cornugon, Red Abishai, Remorhaz, Water Elemental, Elder Air Elemental, Shadow

Diamond + 600-1800 gold
or
Item: Missiles: Same as Rank 5 or Heal Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Regenerating (troll-like fortitude) will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Club of Disruption... which gives the wielder a +3 Mace that has +5 Enchantment and the ability to destroy undead and outsiders on impact.


RANK 7:

For completing a level:

Emerald + 700-2100 gold
or
Item: Missiles: Same as Rank 5 or Mist of Eldath Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Seven Eyes will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Ice Spear +4... which gives the wielder a +4 Polearm which can cast Icelance 1/day


RANK 8:

For completing a level:

Star Sapphire + 800-2400 gold
or
Item: Zilzanzer's Magnificent Dart or Destruction Scroll or Great Shout Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Divine Shell will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Composite Longbow of Empowerment... which gives the wielder a +2 to damage and +1 to attack Bow which also, should the wielder be struck in melee, provide a +4 increase to any one of your 6 attributes for 5 combat rounds (does not stack once activated)


RANK 9:

For completeing a level:

King's Tear + 900-2700 gold
or
Item: Darts of Flame +5 or Greater Restoration Scroll or Aegis Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Aegis will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Wand of the Dead... which gives a wizard, sorcerer, cleric a wand which has 50 charges of Animate Dead.


Rank 10:

For completing a level:

Rogue Stone + 1000-3000 gold
or
Item: Resurrection Scroll or Power Word: Kill Scroll
or
Experience points

For completing a level (guaranteed):

Executioner's Eyes will be cast on your character

For completing all 5 levels to complete the rank (guaranteed):

Brilliant Short Sword +5... which gives the wielder a +5 short sword which will ignore an opponent's armour and shield AC bonuses


FOR COMPLETING ALL 10 RANKS:


Bracers of Icelandic Pearl... which will give your wizard or sorcerer a pair of gloves which have an armour bonus of +4 but at the cost of -2 dexterity. They can also cast Lesser Planar Binding: Water Elemental, Cone of Cold, Horrid Wilting once per day each

Your character will be healed

My character gained 6779 experience points between starting and finishing the Battle Squares, but a lower level victory could net you 9317+ per character.


GENERAL INFORMATION:

The big glitch:

The intention of the battle squares was to have a puzzle/game which the player would return to every time they levelled up, to experiment with new spells, weapons, potions etc. This concept never made the final cut and the player cannot return to the Ice Temple after returning to Kuldahar. This has rendered the vast majority of this puzzle/game an impossible irritation to any casual or first-time out player and an equal near impossibility for even the most seasoned Icewind Dale player. It is unlikely anyone will get past rank 3 or 4 without implausible numbers of reloads while in chapters 2 to 4

This area is exceedingly glitched, lots of odd glitches effect different games differently!

The resolution:

1. Ignore the battle squares - just do the first level of the first rank, get the quest key and move on with the game and forget the battle squares exist. Have a go at completing ranks 1-3

2. The lazy cheat - Do the first level of the first rank, get the quest key and then install the Ease Of Use mod to provide you with the guaranteed items and guaranteed experience and move on with the game and forget the battle squares exist. HOWEVER, you will not get any of the random items/experience.

3. The crazy cheat - Use modding tools to import a character with amazing items (crazy because why not just mod in the items you would win)

4. The non-cheat cheat - make a save of your game at the Battle Squares. To have a go later just open up that save and import your character/s (keep an eye on your inventory for things which do not export or import). When you are done, export them back to your current location.

5. The tedious cheat - Save before each battle and reload every monster until you are lucky enough to get an easy one. This could take a long time.
Handy tips:

1. There will be little point trying ranged attacks trapped in that small room unless you have the Boots of Speed. You will have little chance against a Remorhaz without ranged attack. Large creatures all get stuck in the north door in my game

2. The Holy Avenger sword in the hands of a Paladin is the ideal scenario for melee combat, though it is also best to take a hammer of some kind and any Disruption weapons you have

3. A Druid can be quite effective. The unique Static Charge spell combined with some healthy buffing and the Shapechange for health regeneration and effective melee

4. Buffing spells are very useful

OVER TO YOU

My list is not exhaustive. If you fancy looking for some then feel free to add to the list

With 250 fights over 50 levels over 10 ranks, the battle squares are a great little 10 hour game-within-a-game
LastDanceSaloon
Posts: 274
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2009 3:59 pm

 

[SniperHF]

Maybe someone knows the answer to this:

So I'm in Dragon's Eye Level 2, and the fights aren't too much trouble but what keeps happening is the fuckers are constantly respawning. And they look exactly like groups I just killed (trolls w/ spiders). It seems to happen any time I load a save, not talking about the usual resting attacks. I remember enemies like the shadows earlier respawning but those seemed to be timed and not nearly as much of a slog.

So are these things supposed to respawn this much?

Just playing Regular IWD + HoW + Fixpack + Unfinished Business.

 

[Sensuki]

From memory some trolls do respawn around the entrance to level 3. I have a Let's Play on my youtube with basically the version you are using if you want to see what happened for me:

Not sure which video it's in, this one or the next one?

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

No Trolls/Spiders respawn in any version I've played, sounds like a bug to me.

 

[octavius]

Maybe someone knows the answer to this:

So I'm in Dragon's Eye Level 2, and the fights aren't too much trouble but what keeps happening is the fuckers are constantly respawning. And they look exactly like groups I just killed (trolls w/ spiders). It seems to happen any time I load a save, not talking about the usual resting attacks. I remember enemies like the shadows earlier respawning but those seemed to be timed and not nearly as much of a slog.

So are these things supposed to respawn this much?

Just playing Regular IWD + HoW + Fixpack + Unfinished Business.

The trolls behave oddly on that level. Sometimes you "wake" the whole level, and there are two groups of trolls IIRC.
Also, in case you didn't know, trolls rise up again if you don't kill them with fire or acid.

 

[Lilura]

trolls rise up again if you don't kill them with fire or acid.

Or while under the effects of on-hit Confusion (handy glitch to exploit).

 

[Malpercio]

Can we use this thread for EE?
Whatever...

6 HP... low level D&D makes me sad

Party is Bard (first time rolling a self-made bard, we'll see how it goes), thief and mage (Of course), Totemic Druid (Shapeshifting is ffffun!), Paladin (I remember they get some good stuff?) and Cleric.

Not sure about the cleric. He's a dwarf with some decent stats, but maybe I should go multiclass cleric/warrior? I don't want him to lag too behind. Also lack of pure Fighter worries me.

Also