In IWD, it's usually more important to be able to damage lots of targets, than to be able to do very high damage to just one (then die). Add to that, IWD is crawling with sneak attack immune undead.
And, again, with the sneak attack option, an Assassin can damage lots of targets. Every enemy can be Sneak Attacked once in a given fight, and it does not require stealth/invisibility to pull off, merely attacking from behind. Therefore, while my Blackguard and Fighter tank foes, the Assassin can maneuver behind the enemy and Sneak Attack each of them in turn, contributing to the party's damage-per-round significantly.
I thought she might've been a devil, which isn't a demon, since if I'm not mistaken, are the enemies of demons in a Law vs Chaos shtick since her ancient enemy is a demon and all.
Okay, so the Cavalier does indeed have 3 things in the entire game which they get bonuses against.
I thought she might've been a devil, which isn't a demon, since if I'm not mistaken, are the enemies of demons in a Law vs Chaos shtick since her ancient enemy is a demon and all.
Okay, so the Cavalier does indeed have 3 things in the entire game which they get bonuses against.
I see. I always thought he was a demon since that's what I remember him being referred to as in IWD2. In any case, this means that the Cav only has 2 enemies it does +3 dmg/to Hit against... what a shame.
Okay, so the Cavalier does indeed have 3 things in the entire game which they get bonuses against.
That's even less than in BG2, lol.
Let's count: Firkragg, the 3 demons in the Planar Sphere, the Shadow Dragon, Adalon (though you'll fall hard,) the demon summoned to eat the eggs, the dragon held in Watcher's Keep, Demogorgon, the slayer, one of your Abazigal... and his entire lair and maybe Amellisan's powered form (not sure.) There are also demons summoned by being gated in.... I'm missing a few I'm sure.
That's a fair number of dragons and demons so far compared to all of IWD.
A cortosis-recovered double-blade Vibroblade? totally my favorite weapon from the Star Wars universe, and the most evil and bloody one, too.
I'm much more partial to vibro-axes and mining power hammers. The latter is tough to find coated in cortosis or made of phrik, but that doesn't stop a Mandalorian antagonist in my Star Wars Saga Edition game from breaking my players' bones with it.
Very few wizards in the game and far more demons/dragon.
Really? I'm gonna try to count the number of casters: there's the orc shamans, the Bone Dancer you can chat with, those robed guys in the temple of the forgotten god, Lizard Shamans, Talonites, Yuan-Ti Priests AND mages, the fake Eldathans, Yuxonomei... we've reached our first demon by the by, and even I'm not sure if she's an actual demon, or just an evil unnatural extraplanar creature.
Personally, I'd stay unkitted in IWD, all things considered, or go UH.
@Dazzu you are listing a bunch of scrubs you can kill 10 at a time with a single fireball vs the four hardest battles in the entire game, including
BOTH the final bosses, one who has multiple demon henchmen almost as strong as he is
Mechanically speaking there aren't any devils in the BG series or IWD1 (I haven't checked IWD2 or planescape). For instance mechanically Bel was considered to be of the "tanari" race in the original game (and tanar'ri are demons).
Mechanically speaking there aren't any devils in the game. For instance mechanically Bel was considered to be of the "tanari" race in the original game (and tanar'ri are demons).
True, but back then, there was nothing tagged to do better specifically against anything race tagged TANARI... it's still a bit odd if it weren't fixed.
Cavaliers are good for the dragons and demons. If we exclude ToTL for the moment, there's 3 I can think of, though to be fair, they're all powerful bosses.
In addition their remove fear ability is useful if you don't have a vanilla bard in the party, and their other resistances are useful to. Throwing axes make their drawback meaningless.
If I did have a vanilla bard in the party, I would probably favour an Undead Slayer or Blackguard. Definitely not an Inquisitor though. They are rated highly because in BG2 nearly every tough fight is against some kind of high level spellcaster. That's not the case in IWD. There are some spellcasters, but they are pushovers.
Mechanically speaking there aren't any devils in the game. For instance mechanically Bel was considered to be of the "tanari" race in the original game (and tanar'ri are demons).
True, but back then, there was nothing tagged to do better specifically against anything race tagged TANARI... it's still a bit odd if it weren't fixed.
It's a matter of implementation. It might be easier to use the Tanari flag for Cavaliers than go through and change tags.
In IWD, it's usually more important to be able to damage lots of targets, than to be able to do very high damage to just one (then die). Add to that, IWD is crawling with sneak attack immune undead.
And, again, with the sneak attack option, an Assassin can damage lots of targets. Every enemy can be Sneak Attacked once in a given fight, and it does not require stealth/invisibility to pull off, merely attacking from behind. Therefore, while my Blackguard and Fighter tank foes, the Assassin can maneuver behind the enemy and Sneak Attack each of them in turn, contributing to the party's damage-per-round significantly.
This isn't a MMO, you can't really on a tank to hold aggro. And by the time you have stabbed everyone in the back a high APR fighter would have killed them anyway. It's not that assassins are completely useless, it's just that a multiclassed fighter/thief will easily outdamage them. And will still be useful against the undead hordes.
It's down to maths. An Assassin will kill a foe with a single attack, at 1 APR, but the Fighter/Thief will ALSO kill each foe with a single attack, and gets, say, 3 APR. A kill rate that is three times higher. The additional damage the Assassin does is wasted overkill.
Question: I've heard a lot about how hard iwd is, so can this party survive, do you think? Assuming I can even make stats this low. Sorcerer 9str 14con 12dex 17int 14wis 15cha
Well, reading this topic it seems Druids and Bards are a must in Icewind Dale. So I figure this party for my playthrough. What do you guys think of it?
Here's the party that I'm currently considering for the game.. Though with my chronic restart syndrome, I doubt its final. This party is starting to look interesting enough for me to bring through Baldur's Gate as well. :P
Human Paladin Longswords (Dual-wielding)
Dwarven Fighter/Cleric Warhammers (Dual-wielding)
Half-Elf Fighter/Druid Staves/Spears/Clubs(if any good ones are added with EE)
Elven Mage/Thief Short Bows
Gnome Illusionist Slings
Half-Elf Bard (Vanilla) Crossbows
edit: Made the generalist mage a Gnome Illusionist instead, and changed the Gnome Illusionist/Thief to an Elf Mage/Thief instead, so that my main spell caster (the single class mage) gets an extra spell slot per level.
Question: I've heard a lot about how hard iwd is, so can this party survive, do you think?
You need some thief mixed in there somewhere.
I'm not sure that going thiefless would do any worse than cause you to miss out on a few chests of loot.
Traps?
There is nothing as lethal as Durlag's Tower. Other classes can detect traps, and you can "remove" most of them with summons, or a stunty with good saves and lots of hp.
Well, reading this topic it seems Druids and Bards are a must in Icewind Dale. So I figure this party for my playthrough. What do you guys think of it?
Those are sweet portraits. Where did you find them?
Comments
Without going into spoilers, I think Waldo is a Fighter/Cleric now
Yxunomei's a marilith. She's definitely a demon. And, again, with the sneak attack option, an Assassin can damage lots of targets. Every enemy can be Sneak Attacked once in a given fight, and it does not require stealth/invisibility to pull off, merely attacking from behind. Therefore, while my Blackguard and Fighter tank foes, the Assassin can maneuver behind the enemy and Sneak Attack each of them in turn, contributing to the party's damage-per-round significantly.
Okay, so the Cavalier does indeed have 3 things in the entire game which they get bonuses against.
No spoilers for me, I read the latest book the weekend after it came out ;D
Can we get a skull familiar?
btw, I would have been certain that Butcher ripped off Morte from Planescape: Torment had Storm Front not come out only a few months later
That's a fair number of dragons and demons so far compared to all of IWD.
@Dragonspear @booinyoureyes
Waldo's a Paladin now, obviously.
Fair point, but as I said, neither kit really appeals to me at all.
If I did have a vanilla bard in the party, I would probably favour an Undead Slayer or Blackguard. Definitely not an Inquisitor though. They are rated highly because in BG2 nearly every tough fight is against some kind of high level spellcaster. That's not the case in IWD. There are some spellcasters, but they are pushovers.
It's down to maths. An Assassin will kill a foe with a single attack, at 1 APR, but the Fighter/Thief will ALSO kill each foe with a single attack, and gets, say, 3 APR. A kill rate that is three times higher. The additional damage the Assassin does is wasted overkill.
Can you play the whole thing without a thief at all, either pure or multiclass?
I finish both iwd and iwd2 but I don't remember if I can get away with it.
Thank you in advance.
I've heard a lot about how hard iwd is, so can this party survive, do you think?
Assuming I can even make stats this low.
Sorcerer
9str
14con
12dex
17int
14wis
15cha
Paladin
12str
15con
10dex
16int
13wis
12cha
Ranger
15str
15con
14dex
14int
10wis
14cha
Fighter/Mage
14str
13 dex
10con
12int
10wis
8cha
Cleric
10str
16dex
8con
14int
10wis
14cha
Bard
9str
12dex
10con
12int
8wis
12cha
Fafnir
Dwarf - Fighter/Cleric
Lawful Neutral
Brokk
Dwarf - Berserker
Chaotic Good
Velaska
Human - Druid
True Neutral
Euron
Human - Swashbuckler
Chaotic Neutral
Níniel
Half-Elf - Skald
Neutral Good
Ansgar
Human - Cleric/Wizard
Lawful Evil
Human Paladin
Longswords (Dual-wielding)
Dwarven Fighter/Cleric
Warhammers (Dual-wielding)
Half-Elf Fighter/Druid
Staves/Spears/Clubs(if any good ones are added with EE)
Elven Mage/Thief
Short Bows
Gnome Illusionist
Slings
Half-Elf Bard (Vanilla)
Crossbows
edit: Made the generalist mage a Gnome Illusionist instead, and changed the Gnome Illusionist/Thief to an Elf Mage/Thief instead, so that my main spell caster (the single class mage) gets an extra spell slot per level.
edit 2: Added weapon profs