General questions. IWD for newbies and semiprofs

Anduin

I never got to play Icewind Dale on its original debut... My loss.

I am now making recompense!

This thread is for those who have experience with infinity engine games but not IWD. I have a thousand questions, and hopefully the excellent forum community can answer them. Please join in and ask your own questions if your new to IWD too!

So a question I would like to start off with is what is the xp cap for IWD?



EDIT (bengoshi, your friendly moderator here): Let's try to make one general thread where we can find answers on nearly all our questions regarding IWD, just as we did with the general questions about BG

Nimran

Is the leveling system different from IWD2? After looking at this forum, I'm thinking it is, but not sure.

JuliusBorisov

I hope you forgive my slight editing the OP. I hope the thread can be more popular with it:)

So, let's go!

Anduin said:

So a question I would like to start off with is what is the xp cap for IWD?

The level cap for the vanilla IWD with expansions installed was 30, it applied to single, dual and multiclass characters (so fighter 30/mage 30/ cleric 30 was possible).

If you played a normal difficulty game with 6 party members your party members used to have about 2,500,000 XP each when the game was over, so you didn't even get close to it.

Dazzu

The original IWD was an XP cap of 1.8million+1000... I have no idea why they added the extra 1k xp, which effects absolutely ZERO multi or dual class combos.

HoW does cap all classes at 30, but the true cap is 8 mil like in ToB.

Nimran said:

Is the leveling system different from IWD2? After looking at this forum, I'm thinking it is, but not sure.

It's 2E, it's the same as Baldur's Gate games.

kaguana

bengoshi said:

The level cap for the vanilla IWD with expansions installed was 30, it applied to single, dual and multiclass characters (so fighter 30/mage 30/ cleric 30 was possible).

If you played a normal difficulty game with 6 party members your party members used to have about 2,500,000 XP each when the game was over, so you didn't even get close to it.

First I think it a good idea @bengoshi‌ to make it a questioning thread like that.

Now a bit unrelated but I wonder why they aren't making it so in BG as well? so much logical then the cap we got on BG now.

Anduin

Thank you for the edit @bengoshi‌ ! Some great answers already!

My next set of questions. I see lots of talk about groups. Is there no CHARNAME? Can you import a CHARNAME from BG? Is this done regularly? Can you then import to BG2? Or would you import out of BG2 to IWD? Or is this just crazy talk?

kaguana

@Dee said something about that you won't be able to pass characters from one game to another well at last not now anyway.

As for CHARNAME there isn't one main character that the story focus on him / her it a story of the whole party, if I remember right.

JuliusBorisov

From the FAQ on the official site:
Q: Can I import a Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition or Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition character?
A: No, you'll need to create a new character for your game in Icewind Dale. We have provided a collection of six custom-built pre-generated characters for your party to start, which you can either use or replace with your own creations.

As it turns out, no export/import between IWD and BG.

So, there's no CHARNAME in IWD. You create a party of your own characters and travel with them from start to finish.

And that's the main thing about this game, to me. A different experience from BG. A change of scene.

Of course, you can make not only 6-member party, but 5, 4, 3, 2 and even 1-member party if you like. Some people like to solo this game.

Elrandir

I definitely will try soloing this game after my first play-through, but it seems like a more monumental task than BG. What classes work for that?

elminster

Elrandir said:

I definitely will try soloing this game after my first play-through, but it seems like a more monumental task than BG. What classes work for that?

Any though pure (non-kitted) thief would probably be the most difficult.

Fardragon

Will all the original portraits be back? Upgraded to higher resolution? Will there be any additional new portraits?

JuliusBorisov

Well, analysing the video and screenshots on the official site, I see that original portraits are there, they have a good resolution (as they're shown on my huge monitor). I also see a portrait from BG so I can guess there can be portraits from BG as well.

There's no mention of any additional new portraits on the site and in the past (BG:EE and BG2:EE) they have never forgotten to mention portraits even if there have been only few. So I can conclude that there will be no additional new portraits specifically for IWD:EE.

But maybe, of course, to the time of release, there will be new portraits, who know

JuliusBorisov

Elrandir said:

I definitely will try soloing this game after my first play-through, but it seems like a more monumental task than BG. What classes work for that?

F/M/C and F/M/T, also Sorcerer

Fardragon

bengoshi said:

Well, analysing the video and screenshots on the official site, I see that original portraits are there, they have a good resolution (as they're shown on my huge monitor). I also see a portrait from BG so I can guess there can be portraits from BG as well.

There's no mention of any additional new portraits on the site and in the past (BG:EE and BG2:EE) they have never forgotten to mention portraits even if there have been only few. So I can conclude that there will be no additional new portraits specifically for IWD:EE.

But maybe, of course, to the time of release, there will be new portraits, who know

The BG portraits where not in IWD originally, so that is a change, unless the demo screens are using custom portraits.

Fardragon

Bard song: How will that be implemented with bard kits? I seem to recall IWD bards had several songs to choose from, gained as they levelled up. BG2 kits replace the standard bard song.

The_New_Romance

Fardragon said:

Bard song: How will that be implemented with bard kits? I seem to recall IWD bards had several songs to choose from, gained as they levelled up. BG2 kits replace the standard bard song.

Beamdog says vanilla Bard will stay the same as in vanilla IWD (have several songs), all the kits will miss out on song progression.

Kerthal

I've a question regarding Weapons: As far as I remember (I only finished IWD once and that was many years ago), it was quite important to be able to use a crushing weapon due to some monsters (Tanished Sentries for example) being immune to slashing/piercing damage. So is it mandatory that all characters can use that kind of weapon or is there some other means to hurt those enemies? I'm asking this because I'll probably have a frontliner using 2-Handed Weapons but I don't recall if there was a staff worth using.

Thanks!

Poupipoupipou

Where icewind dale stand with both BG and BGII in term of replayability and hours needed to finish the game with all the side quests ?

The_New_Romance

Kerthal said:

I've a question regarding Weapons: As far as I remember (I only finished IWD once and that was many years ago), it was quite important to be able to use a crushing weapon due to some monsters (Tanished Sentries for example) being immune to slashing/piercing damage. So is it mandatory that all characters can use that kind of weapon or is there some other means to hurt those enemies? I'm asking this because I'll probably have a frontliner using 2-Handed Weapons but I don't recall if there was a staff worth using.

Thanks!

There are all sorts of immunities/resistances around. Skeletons, for example, are resistant to slashing/piercing, Salamanders are immune to fire or ice respectively, and the list goes on. It's best to have different characters be able to wield different sorts of damage. I'd recommend spreading the possibilites out over your whole party (i.e. one specialisation per character), not within the character (i.e. one fighter spreading himself thin on different weapons). I guess IWD:EE will use the BG2 weapon specialisation system, where you'll have to decide which particular 2-H weapon your fighter will be using. Staffs, 2H swords, 2H axes and whatever else are *not* the same category in that system.

Poupipoupipou said:

Where icewind dale stand with both BG and BGII in term of replayability and hours needed to finish the game with all the side quests ?

Replayability mainly comes from playing the game with different party setups. As you're able to fully customize all 6 members, there's a lot of possibilities there. The story and gameplay per se don't change much with playthroughs. Also, there aren't that many side quests, most everything is related to the main quest or gets done while you're at it anyway. I can't give you an hour figure because that heavily depends on how well you do in fights (more reloading = more time), but I'd say it's probably comparable to a BG1 run where you do some but not all of the sidequests.

Fardragon

Will IWDEE have BG2 HLAs? I assume it will, although a normal playthrough wouldn't net enough xp.

Will multiple familiars be possible? Will familiars get more powerful with level?

elminster

Kerthal said:

I've a question regarding Weapons: As far as I remember (I only finished IWD once and that was many years ago), it was quite important to be able to use a crushing weapon due to some monsters (Tanished Sentries for example) being immune to slashing/piercing damage. So is it mandatory that all characters can use that kind of weapon or is there some other means to hurt those enemies? I'm asking this because I'll probably have a frontliner using 2-Handed Weapons but I don't recall if there was a staff worth using.

Thanks!

You can use a slashing or piercing weapon against a Tanished Sentry, its just that its 50% resistant to the damage so it takes a lot more time to kill them with them (compared to a crushing weapon). That isn't to say there aren't enemies in the game that are totally immune to certain types of damage, but if you really want to use slashing/piercing weapons you definitely can.

Fardragon

I seem to recall IWD (HoW?) had some druid upgrades. Would someone care to remind me as to what they where? How will they interact with the druid kits? I suspect, as with bard, it makes vanilla more attractive.

FrozenCells

Fardragon said:

I seem to recall IWD (HoW?) had some druid upgrades. Would someone care to remind me as to what they where? How will they interact with the druid kits? I suspect, as with bard, it makes vanilla more attractive.

From IWD to HoW they added more shapeshifting, spells and access to higher levels. Compared to BG series, where Druids had some very good spells (mostly at higher level) and a slew of mediocre, semiuseless ones, IWD druids are more well-rounded with decent spell choices at most spells levels. Beast Claw is an awesome level 2 spell. Druids have different shapeshifting forms which are generally more powerful than the BG counterparts and also heal a good amount of life upon shifting back (so you can use the abilities solely for selfhealing outside of battle if you want). They get elemental transformations too without HLAs.

As for kits...Shapeshifter loses out more since they're restricted to one form. I don't know what they will do with the Avenger since IIRC IWD druids get Web as standard, whereas in BG only Avengers get it.

Fardragon

FrozenCells said:

Fardragon said:

I seem to recall IWD (HoW?) had some druid upgrades. Would someone care to remind me as to what they where? How will they interact with the druid kits? I suspect, as with bard, it makes vanilla more attractive.

From IWD to HoW they added more shapeshifting, spells and access to higher levels. Compared to BG series, where Druids had some very good spells (mostly at higher level) and a slew of mediocre, semiuseless ones, IWD druids are more well-rounded with decent spell choices at most spells levels. Beast Claw is an awesome level 2 spell. Druids have different shapeshifting forms which are generally more powerful than the BG counterparts and also heal a good amount of life upon shifting back (so you can use the abilities solely for selfhealing outside of battle if you want). They get elemental transformations too without HLAs.

As for kits...Shapeshifter loses out more since they're restricted to one form. I don't know what they will do with the Avenger since IIRC IWD druids get Web as standard, whereas in BG only Avengers get it.

Totemic Druid will also loose out significantly then, since they have no shapeshifting. Even without web-advantage Avenger does quite well, since they should still get the improved IWD forms as well as their regular bonus forms.

JuliusBorisov

It hasn't been even one month and we already have 3 pages in the IWD section of the forum. I see the same questions being asked here and there by different people, the number of threads with the same questions is increasing (for e.g., the questions about the Level Cap and HLA's).

In the same time, the general questions about BG thread has shown itself quite good, so I've thought maybe it's better to stick this thread here

Pibaro

I know this is a general "question" thread, and I know mine isn't a question, but I would like to point out one big feature IWD has and BG has not.
Heart of Fury mode.
When you play BG or BG2, you play it, you finish it and then, if you want, you can start a brand new game.
But in IWDEE you have the HoF mode, wich means you can start again IWD with the same party, and every monster you'll meet will be strongly enhanced (and you will gain more xp).
This is worth mentioning for a reason.
If you start IWDEE with the idea of playing HoF mode, you can think of a completely different party.
I.E. I know this wil sound weird, but thanks to HoF mode, you can even imagine to create a dual class kensai-mage dualling at level 29.
Or, to be more concrete, a single class non kitted thief maybe isn't the right choice if you plan a HoW game.

Ironhalo

Since IWD has quite a few changes to base class special ability progression (Smite Evil, Tracking, Sneak Attack, the IWD Druid shapeshift forms), how is Beamdog handling them? In the same vein, how does that affect kit abilities and HLAs?

Second question: While kits in general add some unique abilities, thieves in BG:EE and BGII:EE have the set trap skill, whereas IWD thieves did not. Is there a plan to add this specific ability to IWD and are there any concerns about how it will affect combat gameplay?

CTKnightOwl

I found a Halfling F/T to be supreme and overpowered. There is a helm which makes him (practically) a mini-demi-god. Otherwise I would say elf mage/thief for a supreme but satisfying challenge.

Ascerion

I have two three questions. I haven't played past the first town in IWD, and wanted to know if (since it's my first play-through) I should not choose certain overpowered kits? I want it to be as challenging as if I were to play it for the first time back in the day.

Also, in IWD, do bards (skalds specifically) have the ability to attack while they sing? It always bothered me that I couldn't shoot a bow or throw a dart while maintaining the combat bonuses song. Thanks in advance!

Edit: Sorry I forgot to ask a kind-of weird question. In BG1 and 2 there are certain enemies that are invulnerable to piercing and slashing weapons. Stone Golems, and maybe a few others I think. Will I have to pick only/mostly crushing weapons for my van?

Fardragon

Choose your classes, kits and number of party members to best suit the difficulty you want from the game.

Bards can't attack whilst singing, although I think they can briefly benefit from the buff when switching from singing to attacking.

There are some enemies resistant to certain types of weapons. It is a good idea to have a mix of crushing, slashing and piecing weapons, and switch weapons as needed.

Sereverus

I never got to play this games original release, but I hope to have a chance to play it now.

will it too be available on steam?
or only on beamdog.net? - strike the steam/beamdog thing, had a derp moment, I've been having a lot of those lately