Best IWD party setup

CrevsDaak

I never played IWD, and I was thinking of doing so (I brought the game from GOG like 2 months ago, lol), but I don't know which would be the best party setup… Ideas?

Sed

A well balanced party works good. Looking at certain items in the game, you might want to meta-game a bit and pick certain alignments

ajwz

On the original engine you wanted a lot of clerics and tanky fighters. Not sure how this changes on the new engine

Quartz

Well, besides the usual, I will tell you one thing for certain: If you don't have a Bard in Icewind Dale, you're a fool.

ronaldo

A few of the classes have great content just for them. Paladins in particular :-)

procco

Druids are pretty badass too. Much better and useful spells than in the BG games. Keep them off the front line, though.

Belanos

Quartz said:

Well, besides the usual, I will tell you one thing for certain: If you don't have a Bard in Icewind Dale, you're a fool.

I agree. When I played it last, many years ago, my Bard was one of my most valuable team members.

CamDawg

Quartz said:

Well, besides the usual, I will tell you one thing for certain: If you don't have a Bard in Icewind Dale, you're a fool.

Seconded.

RP-wise I'd suggest a bard and a druid at a minimum; perhaps a paladin as well.

Metalloman

Just DON'T do all x/y/z multiclasses characters (as I did my first time). XP
IWD has tough battles, yo'll need at least 2 mages, one of them a multiclass, maybe; 2 clerics or 3, 2 of them multiclass; 2 pure fighters, and at least 1 main ranged one; stick to one thief, you choose if multi or pure.
Be sure that almost all of them are proficient with a ranged weapon;
Be sure your healers do their work;
Buff your party everytime and abuse rest and autopause! ;P

You can go with a dual Fighter/Cleric and a dual Ranger/Cleric (not only them, I mean in a full party), but you might experience some difficulties at the beginning, and at least before these classes reach their full potential, you might swear a lot.

Well, you'll swear a lot anyway.

EDIT: an example could be this (not mentioning kits):

- Fighter or Ranger/Cleric dual
- Paladin or Fighter/Cleric dual
- Fighter/Druid multi
- Mage or Mage/cleric multi or sorcerer
- Mage/Thief multi
- Bard

in IWD there are good items for bards and druids, so I would take these two classes.

Abi_Dalzim

I never finished the game (got to Dragon's Eye and got tired of dungeon after dungeon with very few sidequests), but from what I saw a fighter/thief is preferable to a pure thief, since you won't need THAT much in the way of thief skills.

Quartz

CamDawg said:

RP-wise I'd suggest a bard and a druid at a minimum; perhaps a paladin as well.

Word, yo. Besides, Druids are pretty beast in IWD...

elminster

procco said:

Druids are pretty badass too. Much better and useful spells than in the BG games. Keep them off the front line, though.

If you are going to go into the front lines there is always Beast Claw or your shapeshifting forms (I believe back in the day Hearts of Winter introduced more of these compared to what you'd get in BGEE/BG2EE).

CamDawg

And just to give you some perspective, my last IWDEE testing run was a human Inquisitor, half-orc fighter-thief, dwarven barbarian, half-elf fighter-druid, human bard, and a human fighter>mage (dualled at level two just so I could get access to multiple pips and bows). I tend to follow the Minsc philosophy of swords for everyone.

The two multis, dual, and bard made the beginning of the game a bit of a challenge since they're so slow-developing. Once I started hitting level 5-6ish it got a lot better and the game was a lot smoother.

elminster

My current beta playthrough has......

A kitted fighter, a kitted druid, a kitted cleric, a kitted thief, a few more warrior types, and a generalist mage (must test out all the spells).

Dexter

I remember a couple rules that were different that in BG saga (with heart of winter, that is): rangers used to have an extra attack when they wielded a single hand weapon and no shield (to simulate dual wielding). That extra attack made them a really interesting choice for IWD, if only because no other class had access to it. Maybe because of that ranger/clerics were nerfed and they received druids spells whenever the ranger class would had access to them (i.e. they have access to druid level 1 spells when they hit ranger level 6, instead of getting them right from level 1). I guess that extra attack is now off the table, so I wonder if we'll have BG style ranger/clerics

Dazzu

To use the best helmet, available technically as soon as you reach Kuldahar you need a halfling or gnome who can wear helmets. Thieves in this game aren't that great. A single class thief is a waste. Single class clerics are too, and if BG2 style weapon points remain, being a Fighter7/9/13->Cleric is better than ever.

Dual wielding should be absolutely BROKEN! Dual wield a Morning Star of Action with a Long Sword of action for 2 APR! If Imp Haste is in the game, then game over, all ice is saved forever, final destination, game over yeah!

Twani

The best party is using Kuylok's Party Mod, dang it. Because they are adorable and fun and... okay, very good aligned, but fun!

Failing that, abrd. Baaaard.

AstroBryGuy

Twani said:

The best party is using Kuylok's Party Mod, dang it. Because they are adorable and fun and... okay, very good aligned, but fun!

Failing that, abrd. Baaaard.

I agree! I can't imagine IWD without Holvir, Korin, Nella, Severn, and Teri! I hope IWDEE will be compatible with @kulyok‌'s mod.

Belanos

Metalloman said:

IWD has tough battles, yo'll need at least 2 mages, one of them a multiclass,

A Bard and a Mage works as well. In addition it's good to have both a Cleric and a Druid, plus some sort of Fighter/Thief.

Dazzu

That party cannot use the Trusted Defender, it is therefore lacking. It is far too tall and lacks a saving throw abuser.

A Gnomish F/I souped on his buffs with the Trusted Defender is an absolute tank... nothing has True Sight anyway and single class mages with IWD spellbooks are extra lacking. A C/I can also work with added priest spells. Cleric spells are highly effective in the dales, though alignment matters more than ever. You'll want a buddy or two who can abuse Righteous Wrath of the Faithful by being your alignment.

CrevsDaak

OK thanks for the recommendations people
I'm going to solo IWD.
J/K :P

Edit: I'm going to use this party setup:
Dwarf Fighter/Cleric
Human Thief->Cleric
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist
Wood Elf Fighter/Druid (because editing why not thank you)
Half-Elf Bard
Halfling Fighter/Thief

elminster

I definitely would not have more than one thief. A fighter/thief should be sufficient. Especially since your cleric can use sanctuary for scouting, find traps with the spell, and since you've got a bard for pickpocketing.

CrevsDaak

@elminster‌ yeah, but I'll dual class the other one at level 2, just to be able to have two thieves at low levels, where they are actually needed (since they all have low thieving skills).

AstroBryGuy

CrevsDaak said:

@elminster‌ yeah, but I'll dual class the other one at level 2, just to be able to have two thieves at low levels, where they are actually needed (since they all have low thieving skills).

You don't even need that. I did IWD with a F/M/T (Teri) and a bard (Severn). IWD Is definitely a fighter-friendly game. I'd recommend a human paladin, ranger, or straight-up fighter in place of the thief->cleric.

Dazzu

Or just be a cleric/Thief multi, leaving your the rest of your team free to use good classes while the CT does all the utility. Remember a certain helmet.

meagloth

Sorcerer Solo!!!

CrevsDaak

meagloth said:

Sorcerer Solo!!!

There are no Sorcerers on the original IWD @meagloth‌.

meagloth

CrevsDaak said:

meagloth said:

Sorcerer Solo!!!

There are no Sorcerers on the original IWD @meagloth‌.

But there are in iwd:ee, right?

CrevsDaak

meagloth said:

CrevsDaak said:

meagloth said:

Sorcerer Solo!!!

There are no Sorcerers on the original IWD @meagloth‌.

But there are in iwd:ee, right?

yeah, but I don't have IWD:EE and I probably won't (parents won't buy it).

meagloth

CrevsDaak said:

meagloth said:

CrevsDaak said:

meagloth said:

Sorcerer Solo!!!

There are no Sorcerers on the original IWD @meagloth‌.

But there are in iwd:ee, right?

yeah, but I don't have IWD:EE and I probably won't (parents won't buy it).

Coo! I got preorder. I think my mom thinks its my birthday present though. Oh well, works for me:)

Elrandir

I always want a paladin. I'm not saying that one of the best weapons in the game is pally-only... But I'm totally saying that one of the best weapons in the game is pally-only. If I remember correctly, the way "I" would go is...

Paladin
Fighter/Thief
Gnome Cleric/Illusionist
Druid or Fighter/Druid
Someone else who can use swords and magic. Maybe a Fighter/Mage? This is my "IDK" slot.
Bard