Is there a blackguard-only weapon in IWD:EE, like an evil equivalent to Pale Justice? I've seen that question come up before, but I can't find or remember what the answer was.
@SharGuidesMyHand said: Is there a blackguard-only weapon in IWD:EE, like an evil equivalent to Pale Justice? I've seen that question come up before, but I can't find or remember what the answer was.
Yes. It's alternative version of Pale Justice, Not blackguard only, but make some damage against good. I'm talking about "Dead God's Dreaming".
Hey, questions are probably answered somewhere within last 13 pages of this topic, but I simply can't put myself to browse all of them. So I'll just shoot the questions.
1. About the length of the game. How many game hours do you need to put in? First play-trough of BG1 took me about 60 hours (with doing quite a few side quests, but far from all), learning the game, getting a feel for the story and mechanics. 2nd run took me around 40 hours, but then I knew already quite a few locations, items, tricks and cheezes. BG2 first run, on the other hand, took me around 150 hours - also doing quite a few side quests, but not nearly all of them. I was also learning new areas, monsters, spells, and discovering new mechanics that I missed in the first game. I haven't finished my 2nd run jet, but i'm in well over 50 hours and still in chapter 2 doing loads of sidequests.
How does IWD compare to the play time? Is the game generally long/short? I'm asking this cuz I know that it is more straight forward and you don't wander around the place searching for new caves, quests or anything alike.
2. The HoW (or is it Heart of Fury?) mode! As I understand it is meant for parties that have finished the game, but still want to level up and get some nice HLA's, fight stronger monsters and just see their characters develop. However, how does this affect the equipment? Do you start fresh, with no equipment? Or you rather start with the endgame equipment and just go on trough the game without ever changing it? Or is it the third option where you retain your endgame equipment, but also get to loot much better items?
1. According to GoG Galaxy, I've played the game for 211 hours. That includes playing about a third of the way through IWD. A full playthrough of IWD/HoW/ToL, and my current game, where I'm less than a quarter of the way through.
2. Heart of Fury mode is the hardest difficulty, plus extra monsters, plus those monsters have extra hit points and do more damage, and a couple other things. I think the original concept was for players to complete the game, then import their characters from their final save and play again. However, there are people who've beaten HoF mode starting with first level characters.* Whenever you export/import a character, they keep all the equipment they were wearing or carrying, EXCEPT containers and their contents. So if you put your second favorite sword in the bag of holding, it won't be there when you import.
*Edit: Actually, knowing this group, there's probably a few who've soloed it with a one-armed stuttering bard.
I would say IWD is generally shorter than BG. But that's not an absolute judgement. BG has so much optional material, if you chased it strait through you could probably do it faster than IWD. IWD is more linear. There is little optional. You might be faster or slower just based on your play style, party, tactics, etc. but the content is mostly the same however you do it.
extra monsters, plus those monsters have extra hit points and do more damage, and a couple other things. I think the original concept was for players to complete the game, then import their characters from their final save and play again.
Yeah, that much i understand but how does it reflect on new equpment? I would assume that end game monsters uave higher saving throws, lower Ac an larger health pool. Are there new items that might be useful for such ecounters or is it the case that you mainly run trough the game with the same equipment you finished the last one?
equipment is overkill. playing HoW after a normal full run after which you will be at 3mil experience and will have all the good stuff is something i strongly discourage. not challenging or interesting, just tedious.
also, unless you have triple-class characters they will hit the cap sooner (possibly very soon if you have a bard for example) or later which makes it even less engaging
I also am a newbie in IWD, and if someone could answer me a few questions I'd be thankful.
1) is it a big loss/disadvantage to play basic, single-classed characters? I really dislike all the tinkering involved on it, plus I feel it takes some of the characters "identity" away. But playing a weak character isnt fun as well.
2) i like the idea of a pickpocket in the group, but I assume you should focus on a single group of thief skills to be effective. Does investing in pickpocket (in lieu of the other skills) pays off at all?
3) is it me or druids and bards are relatively weak, and much more flavor over actual effectiveness?
4) does alignment and the choices you make through the story influence the big picture of the game at all? I know that playing a "party of villains" is possible, but is it at all relevant in terms of gameplay?
1) is it a big loss/disadvantage to play basic, single-classed characters? I really dislike all the tinkering involved on it, plus I feel it takes some of the characters "identity" away. But playing a weak character isnt fun as well.
Due to the high amount of xp available dualing and multiclasses is quite popular. You will not be disadvantaged or advantaged in any great way...
2) i like the idea of a pickpocket in the group, but I assume you should focus on a single group of thief skills to be effective. Does investing in pickpocket (in lieu of the other skills) pays off at all?
Use potions. I found simply killing the character far quicker... Unless you have a moral objection don't bother.
4) does alignment and the choices you make through the story influence the big picture of the game at all? I know that playing a "party of villains" is possible, but is it at all relevant in terms of gameplay?
I think its all for now. Thanks in advance!
No. Not really. You will miss out on a few dialogues I surmise, but overall the effects are minimal.
1) is it a big loss/disadvantage to play basic, single-classed characters? I really dislike all the tinkering involved on it, plus I feel it takes some of the characters "identity" away. But playing a weak character isnt fun as well.
Paladins, Fighters, Mages, Sorcerers, are all great as single-class characters.
Clerics and Druids are fine when single-cIassed too, though I tend to prefer to multiclass them as Fighter/Cleric and Fighter/Druid respectively, in order to get some more heavy-armor melee warriors. It really helps to have multiple sturdy warriors in the party, and using multi-classes allows you to do that and at the same time still cover all caster types (divine, druidic, arcane).
Thieves are the one class where single-classing actually results in a quite weak character. So if you're willing to multiclass just one character, make it the thief. I prefer the Figher/Thief multiclass (perfect backstabber), but Mage/Thief or Cleric/Thief work too.
3) is it me or druids and bards are relatively weak, and much more flavor over actual effectiveness?
No, they are not weak.
Druids have awesome area-of-effect spells that can really make a difference in battle. Their shapeshifting ability is just a bonus on top of that - even if you never intend to shapeshift, having a druid is still worth it just for the spells.
Bards can also make a big difference, provided that you have a full party of six characters (so that all of them will benefit from the bard's song).
4) does alignment and the choices you make through the story influence the big picture of the game at all? I know that playing a "party of villains" is possible, but is it at all relevant in terms of gameplay?
As far as roleplaying choices go, nope, not really.
Alignment can affect equipment choices though, because there are some alignment-restricted items. So if you want to be safe, make sure you have various different alignments represented among your party.
Hi, I got IWD:EE a few days ago. I've played Baldur's Gate 1 (TuTu) and 2 previously, so for IWD, I decided to set difficulty to Hard and create a semi-powergamey party. So far, the difficulty has varied from a breeze to mildly frustrating. Then again, I probably have neglected certain tactics, but I've made it to Chapter 3. The game is fun! Dungeons, monsters, loot, what else do you need?
I've some questions:
1. Do you ever need to rest after traveling on the big map for, say, 5 days? 2. Haste always seems to make party go sleepy immediately after it runs out. Is this by design? Can it be avoided? How big problem is it to fight when sleepy? 3. I have a party with different alignments. Some are good, some are neutral. Is a more "evil" party viable? 4. Are traps any good? Can they damage all enemies? Right now, I don't have a progressing thief, only a trap disarmer -> mage dual classer.
Hi, I got IWD:EE a few days ago. I've played Baldur's Gate 1 (TuTu) and 2 previously, so for IWD, I decided to set difficulty to Hard and create a semi-powergamey party. So far, the difficulty has varied from a breeze to mildly frustrating. Then again, I probably have neglected certain tactics, but I've made it to Chapter 3. The game is fun! Dungeons, monsters, loot, what else do you need?
Nice! I'm a core rules, no reload fan myself these days but hard challenges are fun!
1. Do you ever need to rest after traveling on the big map for, say, 5 days?
I only bother when I see the tired symbol on my characters. A few places it may be wise to rest before going to another area, so you are fully charged, so to speak.
2. Haste always seems to make party go sleepy immediately after it runs out. Is this by design? Can it be avoided? How big problem is it to fight when sleepy?
The Haste spell makes you go sleepy at the end by design. Use the spell Improved Haste. Some items and cleric spells cure tiredness but seem a waste of a slot.
4. Are traps any good? Can they damage all enemies? Right now, I don't have a progressing thief, only a trap disarmer -> mage dual classer.
Unlike BG2, I never seemed to get round to laying traps. Remember the HLA ability traps are not available to you in IWD. I would say they are not worth it in my opinion.
Hi, I got IWD:EE a few days ago. I've played Baldur's Gate 1 (TuTu) and 2 previously, so for IWD, I decided to set difficulty to Hard and create a semi-powergamey party. So far, the difficulty has varied from a breeze to mildly frustrating. Then again, I probably have neglected certain tactics, but I've made it to Chapter 3. The game is fun! Dungeons, monsters, loot, what else do you need?
I've some questions:
1. Do you ever need to rest after traveling on the big map for, say, 5 days? 2. Haste always seems to make party go sleepy immediately after it runs out. Is this by design? Can it be avoided? How big problem is it to fight when sleepy? 3. I have a party with different alignments. Some are good, some are neutral. Is a more "evil" party viable? 4. Are traps any good? Can they damage all enemies? Right now, I don't have a progressing thief, only a trap disarmer -> mage dual classer.
1. Always. It's one of my pet peeves that the game assumes my party traveled straight through without resting. I've always been able to rest safely right where the party appears in the new area, so it hasn't been a problem.
3. To add to what Anduin said, I think there's a couple of items that are evil only or good only, but nothing game changing. Another consideration is the spell Holy Smite. It's a great party friendly AOE spell for your cleric, but only if none of the frontliners are evil.
4. I've also never used traps.
One thing I've noticed about IWD, is it seems to me to emphasize melee more than the other games. BG1 is an archer's game, BG2 is a mage's game, but IWD is a tank's game. I'm running with an almost all fighters party on my Android run-through, and I'm ripping through the early enemies like a chainsaw.
One thing I've noticed about IWD, is it seems to me to emphasize melee more than the other games. BG1 is an archer's game, BG2 is a mage's game, but IWD is a tank's game. I'm running with an almost all fighters party on my Android run-through, and I'm ripping through the early enemies like chainsaw.
A summary to complete each game... I wonder what SoD will add to the mix...
To add to @BillyYank take a healer and a bard. The former you can multiclass.
SoD will be a bard's game - talk 'em or trick 'em! (Unless the stream's hack'n'slash formula turns out to be true )
And about fatigue sys., it always seemed somehow broken in IWD compared to BG series for me Traveling for 5-6 days and no sleepy icon for my 10 CON sick half-elf sorcerer? *whaaa?*
SoD will be a bard's game - talk 'em or trick 'em! (Unless the stream's hack'n'slash formula turns out to be true )
And about fatigue sys., it always seemed somehow broken in IWD compared to BG series for me Traveling for 5-6 days and no sleepy icon for my 10 CON sick half-elf sorcerer? *whaaa?*
I've never seen that, my average CON characters usually start whining within minutes of arrival.
Thanks for the replies! One more thing... I'm switching my mage and high charisma undead hunter for the party leader slot depending on whether I'm exploring/fighting or shopping, because the tight wedge formation puts leader in the back. A minor convenience, but a convenience anyway for me. Are there any pitfalls in doing this, such as missing a charisma related quest reward?
Paladins are perfect for the party leader slot. During exploration you can encounter some good Paladin-only dialog choices, at least one of which gives bonus XP.
For buying from stores, the Paladin's high charisma will help you too. Though if you manage to temporarily get your Mage's charisma even higher (using the "Friends" spell), go ahead and switch the mage into first slot temporarily, there should be no negative consequences.
(Note: I'm pretty sure that Charisma only affect the prices for buying from stores, not for selling off your loot.)
because the tight wedge formation puts leader in the back.
Oh, I missed that part when I answered you above.
So you're having the Mage in slot 1, but using a formation that will place the Paladin at the actual front line and the slot 1 Mage at the back?
That shouldn't be a problem at all, because all class/stat checks in dialogs affect the currently speaking character, not necessarily the slot 1 character. You can see which party member is speaking, by looking for the little mouth icon on their side-bar portrait during dialog.
NPCs who initiate dialog tend to do so with the nearest party member they see. And for NPCs who don't automatically initiate dialog, you can choose which party member to select before clicking to talk to the NPC.
The only thing in the unmodded game that cares about who is currently in slot 1, as far as I know, is stores.
For purposes of RP and personality, I am planning on an all Evil, all half-orc party.
(Yes, I do enjoy RPing and figured that "a band of evildoers involved with the storyline out of a promise to some killed honorable enemy who hinted at it" would make for great flavor, making the game overall more enjoyable)
I have some doubts regarding this, though:
1) how decent could be this following party setup: Fighter, Barbarian, Assassin, Fighter/Thief (archer/detrapper), Fighter/Cleric (buffs+melee), Talos Cleric (debuffs+dmg spells) I'd love some suggestions for party modifications and difficulty. I may or may not take it to HoW, but not replaying the game after it for sure.
2) how evil alignment may interfere with the gameplay at all?
3) how it is actually possible to PLAY evil (i.e.: pickpocketting, killing NPCs, etc)? I wonder if the game just pulls some "don't do it" unavoidable mechanic (unkillable guards for example) or if it simply deals with it within context (such as Fallout for example). Also wondering if your acts have some impact on the context at all (dialog changes, different quest outcomes, pros and cons).
@Lipe82 Well in my opinion that party set-up isn't bad at all, though I'd recommend some specialization for your fighter. Berserker would make for a stronger fighter, though it would overlap somewhat with your barbarian. Honestly multi-classing is so incredibly powerful in this game that you kind of don't want any single-classed characters unless they're kitted in some way. For example, your fighter cleric is going to be more powerful than your fighter by end-game. That said, though, an unkitted fighter will definitely suit your needs and could, depending on the situation, be more useful than a multi-classed character due to the faster level progression. Really up to you.
@Lipe82 I myself haven't played one in IWDEE yet, but you could, for flavor, use a blackguard instead of an unkitted fighter. You'd have to use EEKeeper or edit a game file to make a half-orc blackguard though, but since BGEE's Dorn is one too I don't really see it as cheating in any way.
Eg. In Divine Divinity the loot in a chest isn't decided until you click on the chest, so you can keep reloading until you get something you like.
I just did a cave at the start of the game, in a particular chest I got a magical belt, my next team got a pair of magical boots from that chest, even after numerous reloads.
Comments
Yes. It's alternative version of Pale Justice, Not blackguard only, but make some damage against good. I'm talking about "Dead God's Dreaming".
http://www.gamebanshee.com/showshot.php?/icewinddale/equipment/images/deadgodsdreaming.jpg
1. About the length of the game. How many game hours do you need to put in? First play-trough of BG1 took me about 60 hours (with doing quite a few side quests, but far from all), learning the game, getting a feel for the story and mechanics. 2nd run took me around 40 hours, but then I knew already quite a few locations, items, tricks and cheezes. BG2 first run, on the other hand, took me around 150 hours - also doing quite a few side quests, but not nearly all of them. I was also learning new areas, monsters, spells, and discovering new mechanics that I missed in the first game. I haven't finished my 2nd run jet, but i'm in well over 50 hours and still in chapter 2 doing loads of sidequests.
How does IWD compare to the play time? Is the game generally long/short? I'm asking this cuz I know that it is more straight forward and you don't wander around the place searching for new caves, quests or anything alike.
2. The HoW (or is it Heart of Fury?) mode! As I understand it is meant for parties that have finished the game, but still want to level up and get some nice HLA's, fight stronger monsters and just see their characters develop. However, how does this affect the equipment? Do you start fresh, with no equipment? Or you rather start with the endgame equipment and just go on trough the game without ever changing it? Or is it the third option where you retain your endgame equipment, but also get to loot much better items?
Thanks!
R.
2. Heart of Fury mode is the hardest difficulty, plus extra monsters, plus those monsters have extra hit points and do more damage, and a couple other things. I think the original concept was for players to complete the game, then import their characters from their final save and play again. However, there are people who've beaten HoF mode starting with first level characters.* Whenever you export/import a character, they keep all the equipment they were wearing or carrying, EXCEPT containers and their contents. So if you put your second favorite sword in the bag of holding, it won't be there when you import.
*Edit: Actually, knowing this group, there's probably a few who've soloed it with a one-armed stuttering bard.
IWD is more linear. There is little optional. You might be faster or slower just based on your play style, party, tactics, etc. but the content is mostly the same however you do it.
R.
also, unless you have triple-class characters they will hit the cap sooner (possibly very soon if you have a bard for example) or later which makes it even less engaging
I also am a newbie in IWD, and if someone could answer me a few questions I'd be thankful.
1) is it a big loss/disadvantage to play basic, single-classed characters? I really dislike all the tinkering involved on it, plus I feel it takes some of the characters "identity" away. But playing a weak character isnt fun as well.
2) i like the idea of a pickpocket in the group, but I assume you should focus on a single group of thief skills to be effective. Does investing in pickpocket (in lieu of the other skills) pays off at all?
3) is it me or druids and bards are relatively weak, and much more flavor over actual effectiveness?
4) does alignment and the choices you make through the story influence the big picture of the game at all? I know that playing a "party of villains" is possible, but is it at all relevant in terms of gameplay?
I think its all for now. Thanks in advance!
Clerics and Druids are fine when single-cIassed too, though I tend to prefer to multiclass them as Fighter/Cleric and Fighter/Druid respectively, in order to get some more heavy-armor melee warriors.
It really helps to have multiple sturdy warriors in the party, and using multi-classes allows you to do that and at the same time still cover all caster types (divine, druidic, arcane).
Thieves are the one class where single-classing actually results in a quite weak character. So if you're willing to multiclass just one character, make it the thief.
I prefer the Figher/Thief multiclass (perfect backstabber), but Mage/Thief or Cleric/Thief work too. No, they are not weak.
Druids have awesome area-of-effect spells that can really make a difference in battle. Their shapeshifting ability is just a bonus on top of that - even if you never intend to shapeshift, having a druid is still worth it just for the spells.
Bards can also make a big difference, provided that you have a full party of six characters (so that all of them will benefit from the bard's song). As far as roleplaying choices go, nope, not really.
Alignment can affect equipment choices though, because there are some alignment-restricted items. So if you want to be safe, make sure you have various different alignments represented among your party.
A kitted theif may be considered for single class. Assassin for instance x7 backstab! Again not essential.
I think a dual or multi theif is the way to go. (a fighter/their would be best in my opinion )
I've some questions:
1. Do you ever need to rest after traveling on the big map for, say, 5 days?
2. Haste always seems to make party go sleepy immediately after it runs out. Is this by design? Can it be avoided? How big problem is it to fight when sleepy?
3. I have a party with different alignments. Some are good, some are neutral. Is a more "evil" party viable?
4. Are traps any good? Can they damage all enemies? Right now, I don't have a progressing thief, only a trap disarmer -> mage dual classer.
Have fun! Let us know how you progress.
3. To add to what Anduin said, I think there's a couple of items that are evil only or good only, but nothing game changing. Another consideration is the spell Holy Smite. It's a great party friendly AOE spell for your cleric, but only if none of the frontliners are evil.
4. I've also never used traps.
One thing I've noticed about IWD, is it seems to me to emphasize melee more than the other games. BG1 is an archer's game, BG2 is a mage's game, but IWD is a tank's game. I'm running with an almost all fighters party on my Android run-through, and I'm ripping through the early enemies like a chainsaw.
To add to @BillyYank take a healer and a bard. The former you can multiclass.
(Unless the stream's hack'n'slash formula turns out to be true
And about fatigue sys., it always seemed somehow broken in IWD compared to BG series for me
Traveling for 5-6 days and no sleepy icon for my 10 CON sick half-elf sorcerer? *whaaa?*
[EDIT:] I wonder if "EE Keepering" saves or CHAR's stats/pips during game may make so.. I mean makes CHARs invulnerable..
During exploration you can encounter some good Paladin-only dialog choices, at least one of which gives bonus XP.
For buying from stores, the Paladin's high charisma will help you too. Though if you manage to temporarily get your Mage's charisma even higher (using the "Friends" spell), go ahead and switch the mage into first slot temporarily, there should be no negative consequences.
(Note: I'm pretty sure that Charisma only affect the prices for buying from stores, not for selling off your loot.)
So you're having the Mage in slot 1, but using a formation that will place the Paladin at the actual front line and the slot 1 Mage at the back?
That shouldn't be a problem at all, because all class/stat checks in dialogs affect the currently speaking character, not necessarily the slot 1 character. You can see which party member is speaking, by looking for the little mouth icon on their side-bar portrait during dialog.
NPCs who initiate dialog tend to do so with the nearest party member they see.
And for NPCs who don't automatically initiate dialog, you can choose which party member to select before clicking to talk to the NPC.
The only thing in the unmodded game that cares about who is currently in slot 1, as far as I know, is stores.
(Yes, I do enjoy RPing and figured that "a band of evildoers involved with the storyline out of a promise to some killed honorable enemy who hinted at it" would make for great flavor, making the game overall more enjoyable)
I have some doubts regarding this, though:
1) how decent could be this following party setup:
Fighter, Barbarian, Assassin, Fighter/Thief (archer/detrapper), Fighter/Cleric (buffs+melee), Talos Cleric (debuffs+dmg spells)
I'd love some suggestions for party modifications and difficulty. I may or may not take it to HoW, but not replaying the game after it for sure.
2) how evil alignment may interfere with the gameplay at all?
3) how it is actually possible to PLAY evil (i.e.: pickpocketting, killing NPCs, etc)?
I wonder if the game just pulls some "don't do it" unavoidable mechanic (unkillable guards for example) or if it simply deals with it within context (such as Fallout for example).
Also wondering if your acts have some impact on the context at all (dialog changes, different quest outcomes, pros and cons).
Thanks in advance.
Eg. In Divine Divinity the loot in a chest isn't decided until you click on the chest, so you can keep reloading until you get something you like.
I just did a cave at the start of the game, in a particular chest I got a magical belt, my next team got a pair of magical boots from that chest, even after numerous reloads.
Thanks for any insight