Little late to the party, but seconded (thirded?) on the Glaive/Spear/General reach weapon tip. I had a 16 Dex fighter with Combat Reflexes in my group, always threw him into a group of enemy archers. Firing a ranged weapon provokes an attack of opportunity and two handed weapons get 1.5x your strength mod to damage (2x bonus if power attacking) so in 1 enemy round he usually took out 1-2 archers.
Later on in the game, you can rescue a prince. Once he's been escorted out of the temple, he'll leave and in a few weeks game time, you'll get a massive gold reward and the bastard sword Scather, which can only be used by Chaotic Good characters. It can never miss and does a bunch of other nifty things. Might be good to keep in mind.
Lastly, if you're going to take a wizard, go against instinct and make it a dwarf. The Con bonus really helps (making 18 Con a real option) and you'll need every hp you can get with that d4 hitdie. The only downside is 20ft movement instead of 30ft, but a Wizard usually doesn't need to move much once he's in position anyway.
As others suggested, you could be both. Fighter first, then Paladin. Though a pure Paladin would be better in general.
If you make a Fighter instead, you can change the Paladin slot with a Bard or a Ranger. The Bard is a buffer, the Ranger is an archer and scout. Depends on what you need.
Though a Druid can more or less replace a Ranger. Because they can take care of the scouting/wilderness thing. Though the Ranger would be better at shooting stuff while Druid does the magic.
A Bard in 3.5E doesn't have the same spell list of the Mage like in BG. Instead their spells are mostly utility and they cast like the Sorcerer. They're best at party buffing, enemy debuffing, utility spells and being the party face.
@FinneousPJ I'd say, go with; Fighter/Paladin/Barbarian, aka, the meatshield Cleric/Druid, aka the healer/support Rogue, aka the lootbitch and optional party face Sorcerer/Wizard, aka the artillery And one extra something, whatever you want. A bard, extra full fledged spellcaster or, gasp, a monk.
Fighter NPC's are a dime a dozen so don't worry about that. A cleric with decent stats also works as a frontliner and a druid can summon an extra meatshield or two whenever you want. You'll want the spellcasters in your camp because you can't control NPC spellcasters and they're freakin' retarded.
Additional tip: Follow the massive (and massively boring) Hommlet questchain and you can wed one of your partymembers to a young druid lady and get a Holy Longsword. Seeing as you can do that just by running around the village a whole damn lot, it's really useful and 2d6 bonus damage vs almost everything in the game is nothing to sneeze at.
@Archaos I'd say that party's a bit "micromanagey". Do you really need all of cleric, druid, wizard and sorcerer?
I say absolutely. A Druid cannot really replace the Cleric since they cannot Turn Undead, they don't get the variety of the spell choices through Domains, they cannot tank since they don't wear the heaviest of armors and they cannot Raise Dead, either through spells or scrolls.
If I'm making a party I ALWAYS include both a Cleric and a Druid.
But you can skip the Wizard and Sorcerer combo. They compliment each other. The Wizard takes care of the battlefield control/summons/buffs etc, while the Sorcerer focus on constant blasting.
Also the Sorcerer doesn't need any spells so you can keep all the scrolls for the Wizard. It's not a necessary combo but you can experiment with the Wizard with the variety of spells, not having to memorize various blasting spells that may or may not come in use.
One more thing i'm not sure if anyone has mentioned yet. the identify spell costs 100 gold to cast. Identify all potions and scrolls with the read magic lvl 0 version - that is free. You can create a wand of identify but even that costs a fair bit per go, and don't get me started on stoneskin! Starting to think about playing this again myself, last time was version 7 I think, just seen they've released version 8 now
I have version 8 installed. I added or attempted to add the 8..0.1 add-on but it does not seem to work (still says 8.0.0).
So this is what I have now: @Silverstar - wizard and / or sorcerer; @Corvina - rogue; @TwoWayFinesse - fighter; @Archaos - druid; @scriver - cleric. I am still debating on paladin, fighter or fighter / paladin. Each of you tell me how to customize your characters upon creation and I will do so (choosing a deity or not, feats, skills, spells, weapons, alignment - remember I am choosing either LG or NG base, etc). I will probably make them all human.
I usually pick the magic god in games that have deity selection. In ToEE that is... Boccob, I think? Alignment tends to be CG so I guess that would be NG in your party since that's the closest. I'm a fan of longswords but I'm wouldn't recommend going that route; coolness isn't preferential to survival right? As for spells, Magic Missile, Identify, (eventually) Fireball and Dispel Magic I consider must-haves.
Picking the magical crafting feats is quite nice on wizards seeing as they can get a big chunk of the spell selection needed for various enchantments. Unless you have one of your more Charismatic party members on it you could dump some skill points into the various talking skills since wizards tend to end up with spare skill points from their Intelligence. I always do that regardless though, being party leader and all, heh.
The most crucial aspect of character creation is of course portrait though. Can't go wrong with hooded wizard robeyness for a wizard.
ID2 has tons of good portraits, I use several of them in Baldur's Gate myself. Come to think of it, their style isn't a bad fit for ToEE. Looks like I have some more cutting, pasting and cropping to do!
Can't remember which is the best reach weapon, but focus in Glaive? (I remember there are a lot to choose from) and combat reflexes. Might as well get power attack now as you need that for cleave later. Otherwise max Str, then Con, then Dex, then Wis. Don't usually get many skill points so probably not important. Can't remember the deities, but there's usually a suitably fighty one.
For a rogue, it depend on if you plan on going melee or ranged. For melee starting with dodge and mobility then adding weapon finesse and two-weapon fighting works well. Just remember that weapon finesse only works with light weapons (daggers, shortswords) and rapiers, and boost your Dex as high as it'll go. Against a flanked opponent (you have party members or summons on both sides of them) your rogue will get a lot of sneak attacks.
By the endgame I find a Rogue 8/Fighter 2 to be probably my best damage dealer for bosses. The number of skillpoints they get means they're a candidate for high Diplomacy and Sense motive ranks to act as party face.
simples, the main story line usually kicks off with the Moathouse and spirals on from there. Quite a few ways to get there and you should stumble across one of them easily enough.
yeah the druid told me to go there so i did, because there was a bandit threat or something. so i killed them, went back to him and ... nothing, no conversation options open to even talk about it
As for the cleric/scriver character, go for Wisdom, Strength, and Constitution first. I'm not sure if you're using Point Buy instead of random rolls, but if you are, remember that Macintosh out a characters main stat at start costs a lot more than upping it at level 4 and 8, so you might want to consider spreading your points around on the classes that depend on several attributes (like Clerics or Paladins). Regardless of which stat rolling method you use, a cleric won't need more than 14 Dex to get maximum protection if you're going to be be packaging him in Full Plate. Higher Cha is better for Undead Turning, but it's not super important (particularly if you happen to take Sun domain which grants you a more powerful Turn Undead effect). Int isn't super important either, and I would put skill points into Concentration, Healing, and Spellcraft, in that order. I always put spare points into Tumble for melee characters (Tumbling allows the character to move around without provoking Attacks of Opportunitys by passing a skill roll) - heavy armour will give penalties to that skill but sometimes you'll get lucky.
I suggest making a human cleric of Pelor with Sun and Good domains, and Power Attack and Combat Casting for Feats. Give him a Morningstar and the heaviest armour and biggest shield you can find. That makes for a pretty capable guy who can still back your main fighters (but don't expect him to do wonders on his own) and is especially efficient against undead.
@Silverstar - There's a Icewind Dale portrait pack available from the Co8 site
Druids and clerics are so awesome in that game, I need both!
Druids are so fun and versatile in 3.5E. They might not be as powerful as Clerics (buff and tank) but they can do so many stuff, while Clerics need to choose a focus through Domains.
A Druid Wild Shapes, has a free party member (Animal Companion), spontaneous converts spells to Summon Nature's Ally and has a variety of spells without having to make compromises through Domains and gods. They're like "boom, new spell level, you get all Druid spells, no exceptions". Then add their various wilderness skills and no need to multiclass them and you get a pretty solid, flavorful and powerful class.
Even without Wild Shape or an animal companion, they would still be fun and awesome.
@Silverstar IWDII has the best portraits in RPGs I have ever seen. Better than ToEE, better than BGI/II, better than NwN1. You could really just get a high resolution version of them and hang them on your wall in your room.
@Corvino I say do both. Ranged in the first levels, and dual-wield in later levels. Then switch depending on the situation. When you have many enemies, you want to keep your distance so you don't get surrounded. With boss or tough monsters, you switch to dual-wield and give them pain.
@Archaos I agree with you 100% with your portraits comment. ICW2 (and 1) are the best in my opinion as well. They look more mature, not cartoonish. I think some of my least favorites are the BG2 portraits, I do not like the style at all (although I would choose BG2 Viconia over BG1 Viconia).
With regard to stats, it's worth taking a while to roll decent ones just like BG. While point buy is more balanced you're never going to be able to afford decent Str, Con, Wis and Dex for a Paladin.
It's also worth thinking about odd-numbered values. If you get a roll with two 17s for example, you get concrete increases in bonuses at both level 4 and 8 despite.
As far as rolling goes (and it is probably semi-cheating) I learned to use BOTH advanced (random) AND basic (point buy). First I try to roll the best I can (advanced). Then I click on basic. I assume this is a bug but the advanced scores are still there, invisible. They are not too far right from the point buy slots. Drag them into the slots and you have higher points to start with. Then add as needed. I read that if you roll 99,999 times you get all 18s. I do not plan on trying that anytime soon.
As far as rolling goes (and it is probably semi-cheating) I learned to use BOTH advanced (random) AND basic (point buy). First I try to roll the best I can (advanced). Then I click on basic. I assume this is a bug but the advanced scores are still there, invisible. They are not too far right from the point buy slots. Drag them into the slots and you have higher points to start with. Then add as needed.
Argh. I was hoping noone else would ever discover that :P
Comments
I do like archers in the BG games.
I had a 16 Dex fighter with Combat Reflexes in my group, always threw him into a group of enemy archers. Firing a ranged weapon provokes an attack of opportunity and two handed weapons get 1.5x your strength mod to damage (2x bonus if power attacking) so in 1 enemy round he usually took out 1-2 archers.
Later on in the game, you can rescue a prince. Once he's been escorted out of the temple, he'll leave and in a few weeks game time, you'll get a massive gold reward and the bastard sword Scather, which can only be used by Chaotic Good characters. It can never miss and does a bunch of other nifty things. Might be good to keep in mind.
Lastly, if you're going to take a wizard, go against instinct and make it a dwarf. The Con bonus really helps (making 18 Con a real option) and you'll need every hp you can get with that d4 hitdie. The only downside is 20ft movement instead of 30ft, but a Wizard usually doesn't need to move much once he's in position anyway.
As others suggested, you could be both. Fighter first, then Paladin. Though a pure Paladin would be better in general.
If you make a Fighter instead, you can change the Paladin slot with a Bard or a Ranger.
The Bard is a buffer, the Ranger is an archer and scout. Depends on what you need.
Though a Druid can more or less replace a Ranger.
Because they can take care of the scouting/wilderness thing.
Though the Ranger would be better at shooting stuff while Druid does the magic.
A Bard in 3.5E doesn't have the same spell list of the Mage like in BG.
Instead their spells are mostly utility and they cast like the Sorcerer.
They're best at party buffing, enemy debuffing, utility spells and being the party face.
I'd say, go with;
Fighter/Paladin/Barbarian, aka, the meatshield
Cleric/Druid, aka the healer/support
Rogue, aka the lootbitch and optional party face
Sorcerer/Wizard, aka the artillery
And one extra something, whatever you want. A bard, extra full fledged spellcaster or, gasp, a monk.
Fighter NPC's are a dime a dozen so don't worry about that. A cleric with decent stats also works as a frontliner and a druid can summon an extra meatshield or two whenever you want.
You'll want the spellcasters in your camp because you can't control NPC spellcasters and they're freakin' retarded.
Additional tip:
Follow the massive (and massively boring) Hommlet questchain and you can wed one of your partymembers to a young druid lady and get a Holy Longsword. Seeing as you can do that just by running around the village a whole damn lot, it's really useful and 2d6 bonus damage vs almost everything in the game is nothing to sneeze at.
A Druid cannot really replace the Cleric since they cannot Turn Undead, they don't get the variety of the spell choices through Domains, they cannot tank since they don't wear the heaviest of armors and they cannot Raise Dead, either through spells or scrolls.
If I'm making a party I ALWAYS include both a Cleric and a Druid.
But you can skip the Wizard and Sorcerer combo. They compliment each other. The Wizard takes care of the battlefield control/summons/buffs etc, while the Sorcerer focus on constant blasting.
Also the Sorcerer doesn't need any spells so you can keep all the scrolls for the Wizard.
It's not a necessary combo but you can experiment with the Wizard with the variety of spells, not having to memorize various blasting spells that may or may not come in use.
Identify all potions and scrolls with the read magic lvl 0 version - that is free.
You can create a wand of identify but even that costs a fair bit per go, and don't get me started on stoneskin!
Starting to think about playing this again myself, last time was version 7 I think, just seen they've released version 8 now
So this is what I have now: @Silverstar - wizard and / or sorcerer; @Corvina - rogue; @TwoWayFinesse - fighter; @Archaos - druid; @scriver - cleric. I am still debating on paladin, fighter or fighter / paladin. Each of you tell me how to customize your characters upon creation and I will do so (choosing a deity or not, feats, skills, spells, weapons, alignment - remember I am choosing either LG or NG base, etc). I will probably make them all human.
Picking the magical crafting feats is quite nice on wizards seeing as they can get a big chunk of the spell selection needed for various enchantments. Unless you have one of your more Charismatic party members on it you could dump some skill points into the various talking skills since wizards tend to end up with spare skill points from their Intelligence. I always do that regardless though, being party leader and all, heh.
The most crucial aspect of character creation is of course portrait though. Can't go wrong with hooded wizard robeyness for a wizard.
Otherwise max Str, then Con, then Dex, then Wis. Don't usually get many skill points so probably not important. Can't remember the deities, but there's usually a suitably fighty one.
By the endgame I find a Rogue 8/Fighter 2 to be probably my best damage dealer for bosses. The number of skillpoints they get means they're a candidate for high Diplomacy and Sense motive ranks to act as party face.
The worst thing about that game is that your party walks soooooooooooo slooooooooooooowwwwwww
I wish there was a way to make that faster
As for the cleric/scriver character, go for Wisdom, Strength, and Constitution first. I'm not sure if you're using Point Buy instead of random rolls, but if you are, remember that Macintosh out a characters main stat at start costs a lot more than upping it at level 4 and 8, so you might want to consider spreading your points around on the classes that depend on several attributes (like Clerics or Paladins). Regardless of which stat rolling method you use, a cleric won't need more than 14 Dex to get maximum protection if you're going to be be packaging him in Full Plate. Higher Cha is better for Undead Turning, but it's not super important (particularly if you happen to take Sun domain which grants you a more powerful Turn Undead effect). Int isn't super important either, and I would put skill points into Concentration, Healing, and Spellcraft, in that order. I always put spare points into Tumble for melee characters (Tumbling allows the character to move around without provoking Attacks of Opportunitys by passing a skill roll) - heavy armour will give penalties to that skill but sometimes you'll get lucky.
I suggest making a human cleric of Pelor with Sun and Good domains, and Power Attack and Combat Casting for Feats. Give him a Morningstar and the heaviest armour and biggest shield you can find. That makes for a pretty capable guy who can still back your main fighters (but don't expect him to do wonders on his own) and is especially efficient against undead.
@Silverstar - There's a Icewind Dale portrait pack available from the Co8 site
A Druid Wild Shapes, has a free party member (Animal Companion), spontaneous converts spells to Summon Nature's Ally and has a variety of spells without having to make compromises through Domains and gods.
They're like "boom, new spell level, you get all Druid spells, no exceptions".
Then add their various wilderness skills and no need to multiclass them and you get a pretty solid, flavorful and powerful class.
Even without Wild Shape or an animal companion, they would still be fun and awesome.
@Silverstar
IWDII has the best portraits in RPGs I have ever seen. Better than ToEE, better than BGI/II, better than NwN1.
You could really just get a high resolution version of them and hang them on your wall in your room.
@Corvino
I say do both. Ranged in the first levels, and dual-wield in later levels. Then switch depending on the situation.
When you have many enemies, you want to keep your distance so you don't get surrounded.
With boss or tough monsters, you switch to dual-wield and give them pain.
It's also worth thinking about odd-numbered values. If you get a roll with two 17s for example, you get concrete increases in bonuses at both level 4 and 8 despite.