It's so weird though. I mean, in the BG series, the C/R having all divine spells has never been fixed because, well, "it just can't be fixed"
But it can for IWD? I just don't get it.
It hasn't been "it can't be fixed" for a long long time. It is now "we could fix it, but we are afraid of what the power gamers would do to us if we did".
I'm trying to decide my first party. I want: A bard A druid (because you need a druid in IWD) A cleric (for turning undead and melee) A thief A sorcerer Another arcane spell caster (i need to be able to cast every spell in the game, so I need a mage) A good fighter dual wielding something. A paladin is only optional. A barbarian.
So my idea is:
1) Barbarian (half orc for 19 in strenght or dwarf for shorties ST bonus) double wielding axes 2) half elf multiclass fighter/druid (the carismatic leader) scimitar and shield or quarterstaff. 3) human berserker 2 / dual cleric. Flail? War hammer? Mace? 4) half elf multi fighter/mage/thief. Long sword and longbow 5) bard (race suggestions?) short bow and dagger 6) elf sorcerer. Sling and quartestaff
I can't remember anything about IWD weapons, and, for now, I don't want to know. I know I'll miss a paladin and I'm not sure if I should pick a cleric of tempus instead of the dual berserker/cleric.
I want to play HOF mode too, so the triple class will be ready when I'll really need it. I want a druid and th barbarian because we are in IWD. I could single class the druid, but he won't be more offensive. I could pick a single class berserker or kensai, but I should sacrifice the sorcerer, and I will lack of arcane caster I can't find the solution.
make a kensage instead of the f/m/t and thief>mage instead of the sorcerer (bit weaker but not by much), that's the only solution i can think of without going too much into it
That's anything BUT a bad thing. If HLAs make a return, a Barbarian would be an amazing Front liner with hardiness and plenty of ways to raise physical resistances. A Dwarven Defender edges out defensively, but if you need speed/the immunities (which sadly are not as useful here) go for it.
Then again, if you like modding, there's a mod that lets you do dual class Barbarian/Druid... now THAT is how you thematically powergame Icewind Dale!
As far as the best party per my play style is concerned, I’m very fond of a resilient front line that’s heavy on immunities and saving throws - especially since IWD is so hack&slash combat heavy. My style tends to be much more power-gamer than role-playing oriented, so take this with a grain of salt if that’s not your way. I also preferred playing the original IWD with a 5-man party. You don’t have to spread your best items among as many characters, and your party levels a bit faster. Some people even swear by 4-character parties, but that’s too limiting in my experience. In light of this, my party of choice for IWD:EE would look something like:
*Pretty much any sane (wo)man would recommend an Undead Hunter or Blackguard over a Cavalier for a paladin since a solid chunk of enemies are undead. That being said, the Cavalier has so many negative status resistances that I’d take it anyway. **This one’s up for debate. A lot of people prefer to have a cleric in addition to a druid, or two clerics in some form. A pure-class druid suits me just fine.
All three of your front-line fighters have some form of saving throw bonus, and the usage of a gnome in lieu of a halfling for the Fighter/Thief allows you to get 18/xx in strength while still retaining the bonus resistance to spells/wands. The Fighter/Thief makes for a capable backstabber and brawler. The Cavalier can turn undead and shrugs off all forms of fear/charm/poison, and the Dwarven Defender gets beefy HP as well as resistance to physical damage. The Avenger gets some mage spells in addition to the druid roster, including the ability to fling around chromatic orb at level one. The mage can pick off enemies from the back with its augmented bow skill when it’s not casting.
Being pure-classed and each getting a boost in XP, your casters get their higher level abilities earlier as well. Many people on this forum swear by bards, but I’ve never really enjoyed using them in a party as much as others have. Just my 2 cents.
I don't think there are many good short swords in the game though. What's your choice of weapons for your gnome fighter/thief?
I'd probably be leaning toward the Short Sword of Shadows/Short Sword of Action combination. Short Sword: Hammer would be great, but I believe that was removed with HoW.
There's a Short Sword of Shadows +3 which adds 2 AC. Not only that, you can find 2 per run. You could effectively dual wield them and give lots of merit to a tanky Swashbuckler.
I have a soft spot for Divine Casters (Clerics) ... And must admit I didn't use my Druid much last playthrough, dunno...
So think I'll use
Fighter (X) / Cleric Fighter (X) / Cleric or Druid Fighter / Thief (Ranged) Mage (Not really a big fan per se, but found so many mage only items I couldn't use) Bard
6th I haven't decided ... Might take a Paladin or a 3rd Divine Caster ... I LOVE Fighter / Druids or Clerics :P
If you want a 3rd priest, try a Cleric/Mage. When sequencers come about, you'll be ridiculously powerful once you learn how to abuse the spells added by this game by linking them with the arcane. Then again, Druid/Mage would be stronger because of how web/thorns/Insect Plague is an I Win button.
You might want to make your Priest/Mage a gnome for the added specialist spells. Priests can pick up some slack for a number of the lost abjuration and necromancy spells.
I think I've finally narrowed down my introductory party to the following:
1. Human Undead Hunter (Or Cavalier, but I go with a Cavalier so often I might have to buckle down and try my second favorite. If they don't get priest spells though it'll be a no go) 2. Half-Elven Avenger 3. Human Skald for flavor (Spears, Bows, other more nomadic weapons) 4. Human Dragon Disciple (Interestingly I still plan on doing HoF, but I do prefer damage spells, so I think most CC is going to have to be done by the Bard and Doodad) 5. Half-Orc Cleric/Thief (Another never tried this before option. Going to be my paladins apprentice, even considering starting as a BH until like level 7 or 8 and then going cleric. Definitely view him as a Cleric of Helm)
6. Still torn between a Ranger (second favorite D&D class, likely archer in this game) or Barbarian
A fighter/mage/thief can cover "a good fighter dual wielding something", "a thief" and "another arcane spell caster". Taking into account the number of roles you want to have in your party, this triple class can be an option. He'll be a very tough character, even in a party, even with a slow level progression.
Then you take a bard, a barbarian and a sorcerer.
That's 4 of them. You can add a cleric and a druid.
I'm trying to decide my first party. I want: A bard A druid (because you need a druid in IWD) A cleric (for turning undead and melee) A thief A sorcerer Another arcane spell caster (i need to be able to cast every spell in the game, so I need a mage) A good fighter dual wielding something. A paladin is only optional. A barbarian.
I'm thinking that my first play through will have At least 4 dwarfs in the group Dwarf Defender Dwarf Cleric Dwarf Fighter / Cleric Dwarf Fighter / Thief The 5th spot will be a human with high charisma a paladin or bard or druid The last spot I have not decided yet. Looking forward to it Been watching some lets play icewind dale on YouTube. The music is amazing
I need some advice on extra party members Currently I have the following: Human Undead Hunter wielding long swords Human Sorcerer (decided against DD). He will be the party diplomat, with high int, wis and chr. Human Berserker 7 -> Cleric X
Which leaves me with 3 party slots to fill. I'm not concerned about roleplaying, more of a powergaming, but I'm also looking for characters which will be fun to play with, and not necessary those that will decimate the most. So, these are the options for the last 3 spots.
Dwarf Fighter/Thief. Leaning heavily towards taking this guy. I've never used shorties, and until recently, did not know about the shorty saving throw bonus. Halfling is also an option, but I'm leaning towards dwarf.
Elven or Half Elven Fighter/Druid. I didn't like Druids in BG2 because of their poor spell selection and very small selection of usable weapons. But perhaps dual wielding scimitars could be cool.
Shadow dancer 9/10 -> Fighter. Interesting class to play with the ability to HiPS. But, HiPS is made less useful by the fact his backstab multiplier suffers. Level 10 will allow him two uses of shadow step, although perhaps that is not worth it. This character would put all available points into stealth, thus requiring me to still bring along another thief.
Assassin 9/10 -> Fighter. As above, but without the ability to HiPS or shadow step, and with a higher backstab multiplier and the ability to poison his weapon. What makes me wonder if it is worth it, is that IWD1 is not mage heavy. But still, there will be some mages at least.
Fighter (specializing in bows or slings) 7 -> Mage. I do need an extra mage in this party, so this is an option.
Cleric 7 or 9 -> Mage. High wisdom and intelligence coupled with mage levels would make for a good identifier, plus it will give the mage better available weaponry and more hitpoints. Still, it is unusual to dual from a casting class.
Shadow dancer (5-9) -> Mage. A mage that can hide at will to drop agro would be nice, plus he could use shadow step to reposition himself anywhere on the battlefield. Like the cleric->mage, he would get better weapon proficiencies and hitpoints. He could theoretically backstab although not for very much.
My favourites of the above are probably: Dwarf Fighter/Thief Shadow Dancer 10 -> Fighter Cleric 7 -> Mage
Here's what I used for Fresh Start (Level 1 party) Heart of Fury Mode in the original
Doing this from memory so the races class combinations might be wrong. Can't remember races exactly, just basing this on what races I would pick given BG race class restrictions.
Dwarven Fighter/Cleric Half Elven Ranger/Cleric Gnome Fighter/Illusionist Elven Fighter/Mage Dwarven Fighter/Thief Half Elven Bard (I remember this character never having a Favourite Weapon because it never attacked, literally just stood there singing War Chant of the Sith in combat the entire game aside from a few spells)
If the broken Arcane spells from the BG series are crossing over to IWD then maybe I can replace the Fighter/Mage with a Sorc. But given the original spells in IWD, direct damage offensive spellcasting take a second seat to just killing debuffed stuff with buffed weapons in Heart of Fury.
Edit: And they're in
First Planned Party (HoF)
FMT Monk FMC RC Skald Bard
I figure the Skald and Bard just standing there singing, the FMT and FMC just to see how experience scales with regular playthrough (I'll fight and do everything but won't be resting in areas just to trigger random encounters to grind) RC to see if Druid Spells are still all that useful with all the new spells.
Monk given how it's an absolute beast in late game BGII
I've all the usual noob questions so rather than start a new thread I thought I'd just post my party here and if anyone wanted to answer any of my questions it'd be much appreciated.
Undead Hunter, dual long swords H.Orc, F/C, dual blunty things Druid, Scimitar/Shield, H.Elf or Dwarf? Gnome thief/ill, staff/short bows Elf, F/M, Bow/Two handed?
Probably a bit of powergamer and although I'm going to try and be more varied I've never been big on buffs and would rather fight it out and debuffing when I need to.
5 characters but 3 multiclasses. Will this group level ok or will it be a bit slow? The F/C is a late addition as I figure I needed another tank and only had one healer, would Dwarf be better, +1 str vs the bonuses? Druid, should I bother dual classing a few levels? I never liked thieves and was going to dual a thief into mage just to get some cover for traps but thought mc would work as well without needing to play too much without any thief skills The mage, will mc gimp him so that I'd be better off dual classing or going straight sorcerer?
Last one, I can't remember with weapons can you switch between two weapons and bows without unequiping? Not sure about a weapon for mage whatever way I play it, F/C bows and 2handed or dualing something like daggers, longsword + dagger.... shield?
Comments
It was fixed in the original IWD.
I want:
A bard
A druid (because you need a druid in IWD)
A cleric (for turning undead and melee)
A thief
A sorcerer
Another arcane spell caster (i need to be able to cast every spell in the game, so I need a mage)
A good fighter dual wielding something.
A paladin is only optional.
A barbarian.
So my idea is:
1) Barbarian (half orc for 19 in strenght or dwarf for shorties ST bonus) double wielding axes
2) half elf multiclass fighter/druid (the carismatic leader) scimitar and shield or quarterstaff.
3) human berserker 2 / dual cleric. Flail? War hammer? Mace?
4) half elf multi fighter/mage/thief. Long sword and longbow
5) bard (race suggestions?) short bow and dagger
6) elf sorcerer. Sling and quartestaff
I can't remember anything about IWD weapons, and, for now, I don't want to know.
I know I'll miss a paladin and I'm not sure if I should pick a cleric of tempus instead of the dual berserker/cleric.
Any suggestions?
f/m/t is not going to work in normal IWD
I want a druid and th barbarian because we are in IWD.
I could single class the druid, but he won't be more offensive.
I could pick a single class berserker or kensai, but I should sacrifice the sorcerer, and I will lack of arcane caster
I can't find the solution.
Then again, if you like modding, there's a mod that lets you do dual class Barbarian/Druid... now THAT is how you thematically powergame Icewind Dale!
1. Human Cavalier* (long sword; shield)
2. Dwarven Defender (axes + hammers; dual wield)
3. Gnome Fighter/Thief (short swords; dual wield)
4. Half-Elf Avenger** (sling; shield)
5. Human Fighter to 3—>Mage (bows)
*Pretty much any sane (wo)man would recommend an Undead Hunter or Blackguard over a Cavalier for a paladin since a solid chunk of enemies are undead. That being said, the Cavalier has so many negative status resistances that I’d take it anyway.
**This one’s up for debate. A lot of people prefer to have a cleric in addition to a druid, or two clerics in some form. A pure-class druid suits me just fine.
All three of your front-line fighters have some form of saving throw bonus, and the usage of a gnome in lieu of a halfling for the Fighter/Thief allows you to get 18/xx in strength while still retaining the bonus resistance to spells/wands. The Fighter/Thief makes for a capable backstabber and brawler. The Cavalier can turn undead and shrugs off all forms of fear/charm/poison, and the Dwarven Defender gets beefy HP as well as resistance to physical damage. The Avenger gets some mage spells in addition to the druid roster, including the ability to fling around chromatic orb at level one. The mage can pick off enemies from the back with its augmented bow skill when it’s not casting.
Being pure-classed and each getting a boost in XP, your casters get their higher level abilities earlier as well. Many people on this forum swear by bards, but I’ve never really enjoyed using them in a party as much as others have. Just my 2 cents.
So think I'll use
Fighter (X) / Cleric
Fighter (X) / Cleric or Druid
Fighter / Thief (Ranged)
Mage (Not really a big fan per se, but found so many mage only items I couldn't use)
Bard
6th I haven't decided ... Might take a Paladin or a 3rd Divine Caster ... I LOVE Fighter / Druids or Clerics :P
You might want to make your Priest/Mage a gnome for the added specialist spells. Priests can pick up some slack for a number of the lost abjuration and necromancy spells.
1. Human Undead Hunter (Or Cavalier, but I go with a Cavalier so often I might have to buckle down and try my second favorite. If they don't get priest spells though it'll be a no go)
2. Half-Elven Avenger
3. Human Skald for flavor (Spears, Bows, other more nomadic weapons)
4. Human Dragon Disciple (Interestingly I still plan on doing HoF, but I do prefer damage spells, so I think most CC is going to have to be done by the Bard and Doodad)
5. Half-Orc Cleric/Thief (Another never tried this before option. Going to be my paladins apprentice, even considering starting as a BH until like level 7 or 8 and then going cleric. Definitely view him as a Cleric of Helm)
6. Still torn between a Ranger (second favorite D&D class, likely archer in this game) or Barbarian
A fighter/mage/thief can cover "a good fighter dual wielding something", "a thief" and "another arcane spell caster". Taking into account the number of roles you want to have in your party, this triple class can be an option. He'll be a very tough character, even in a party, even with a slow level progression.
Then you take a bard, a barbarian and a sorcerer.
That's 4 of them. You can add a cleric and a druid.
Voila! Everything you want will be there:
(yes, I just saw your post).
Note to myself: never ever call IWDEE great
half-elven TN FMT, half-elven NG/CG ranger/cleric, gnome NG/LG cleric/illusionist
haste the hell up, blitzkrieg, get a bit fatigued, haste, blitzkrieg, remove penalties with unfailing endurance, repeat ad nauseam. fun stuff.
for IWDEE? damned if I know, probably something similar.
Dwarf Defender
Dwarf Cleric
Dwarf Fighter / Cleric
Dwarf Fighter / Thief
The 5th spot will be a human with high charisma a paladin or bard or druid
The last spot I have not decided yet.
Looking forward to it
Been watching some lets play icewind dale on YouTube. The music is amazing
Currently I have the following:
Human Undead Hunter wielding long swords
Human Sorcerer (decided against DD). He will be the party diplomat, with high int, wis and chr.
Human Berserker 7 -> Cleric X
Which leaves me with 3 party slots to fill. I'm not concerned about roleplaying, more of a powergaming, but I'm also looking for characters which will be fun to play with, and not necessary those that will decimate the most. So, these are the options for the last 3 spots.
Dwarf Fighter/Thief. Leaning heavily towards taking this guy. I've never used shorties, and until recently, did not know about the shorty saving throw bonus. Halfling is also an option, but I'm leaning towards dwarf.
Elven or Half Elven Fighter/Druid. I didn't like Druids in BG2 because of their poor spell selection and very small selection of usable weapons. But perhaps dual wielding scimitars could be cool.
Shadow dancer 9/10 -> Fighter. Interesting class to play with the ability to HiPS. But, HiPS is made less useful by the fact his backstab multiplier suffers. Level 10 will allow him two uses of shadow step, although perhaps that is not worth it. This character would put all available points into stealth, thus requiring me to still bring along another thief.
Assassin 9/10 -> Fighter. As above, but without the ability to HiPS or shadow step, and with a higher backstab multiplier and the ability to poison his weapon. What makes me wonder if it is worth it, is that IWD1 is not mage heavy. But still, there will be some mages at least.
Fighter (specializing in bows or slings) 7 -> Mage. I do need an extra mage in this party, so this is an option.
Cleric 7 or 9 -> Mage. High wisdom and intelligence coupled with mage levels would make for a good identifier, plus it will give the mage better available weaponry and more hitpoints. Still, it is unusual to dual from a casting class.
Shadow dancer (5-9) -> Mage. A mage that can hide at will to drop agro would be nice, plus he could use shadow step to reposition himself anywhere on the battlefield. Like the cleric->mage, he would get better weapon proficiencies and hitpoints. He could theoretically backstab although not for very much.
My favourites of the above are probably:
Dwarf Fighter/Thief
Shadow Dancer 10 -> Fighter
Cleric 7 -> Mage
Doing this from memory so the races class combinations might be wrong. Can't remember races exactly, just basing this on what races I would pick given BG race class restrictions.
Dwarven Fighter/Cleric
Half Elven Ranger/Cleric
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist
Elven Fighter/Mage
Dwarven Fighter/Thief
Half Elven Bard (I remember this character never having a Favourite Weapon because it never attacked, literally just stood there singing War Chant of the Sith in combat the entire game aside from a few spells)
If the broken Arcane spells from the BG series are crossing over to IWD then maybe I can replace the Fighter/Mage with a Sorc. But given the original spells in IWD, direct damage offensive spellcasting take a second seat to just killing debuffed stuff with buffed weapons in Heart of Fury.
Edit: And they're in
First Planned Party (HoF)
FMT
Monk
FMC
RC
Skald
Bard
I figure the Skald and Bard just standing there singing, the FMT and FMC just to see how experience scales with regular playthrough (I'll fight and do everything but won't be resting in areas just to trigger random encounters to grind) RC to see if Druid Spells are still all that useful with all the new spells.
Monk given how it's an absolute beast in late game BGII
Inquisitor Human
18/XX 18 18 8 13 18 Roll 93
**Bastard Sword
**Sword & Shield
Barbarian Half-Orc
19 18 19 8 8 8 Roll 80
**Long Sword
**2 Weapon
Berserker Half-Orc
19 18 19 8 8 8 Roll 80
**2H Sword
**2H Weapon
Ranger/Cleric Half-Elf
18/xx 18 18 8 18 8 Roll 88
**Sling
**Mace
**2 Weapon
Thief/Illusionist Gnome
10 18 16 19 17 8 Roll 88
*Short Bow
*Quarterstaff
Dragon Disciple Elf
12 19 16 8 18 8 Roll 81
*Sling
Undead Hunter, dual long swords
H.Orc, F/C, dual blunty things
Druid, Scimitar/Shield, H.Elf or Dwarf?
Gnome thief/ill, staff/short bows
Elf, F/M, Bow/Two handed?
Probably a bit of powergamer and although I'm going to try and be more varied I've never been big on buffs and would rather fight it out and debuffing when I need to.
5 characters but 3 multiclasses. Will this group level ok or will it be a bit slow?
The F/C is a late addition as I figure I needed another tank and only had one healer, would Dwarf be better, +1 str vs the bonuses?
Druid, should I bother dual classing a few levels?
I never liked thieves and was going to dual a thief into mage just to get some cover for traps but thought mc would work as well without needing to play too much without any thief skills
The mage, will mc gimp him so that I'd be better off dual classing or going straight sorcerer?
Last one, I can't remember with weapons can you switch between two weapons and bows without unequiping? Not sure about a weapon for mage whatever way I play it, F/C bows and 2handed or dualing something like daggers, longsword + dagger.... shield?