Which Kits are you excited to use in Icewind Dale?

booinyoureyes

Some of the kits can be complete game changers. Cavaliers and Undead Hunters will be really big against some of the bosses. Archery was always powerful in IWD, so I think the Archer might also make a big difference.

Lots of other interesting things too. Now STALKERS will be able to Sneak Attack instead of backstab. That opens up a lot of possibilities. Same with Assassins. Coincidentally, this makes the Shadowdancer a little less appealing mechanically.

Of course the druids are a big change too. I wonder how the unique forms of an Avenger or a Shapeshifter will be implemented in IWD, since they already had different shapeshifting abilities. Also, maybe a change will be made in Totemic Druids? Summoning Yetis would be hilarious. "Bigfoot attack!"

Those Ice Salamanders will really suffer from the breath weapon of a Dragon Disciple. The extra attacks of a Priest of Lathander might also change the game early on. Evil Celebrity Death Match: Priest of Talos vs Priestess of Auril

And all those bard songs... is the plain old bard now superior to the kits? I kinda wanna make a party with four bards now.


One thing is for certain: the Wizard Slayer is now even MORE useless in this game.




I haven't even gotten into the roleplaying doors that were opened yet. I can think of so many cool backstories for characters in this game now that we can be Barbarians, Swashbucklers, Assassins, etc.

What kits are you guys pumped for?

booinyoureyes

Wild Mage makes for an interesting backstory. I can just imagine them sending some crazy mage to a remote area to keep them away from all the normal people, lol.

rufus_hobart

Summon Yeti? Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease. My hippy druid's life would be complete!

Tolben

I think that a Dwarven Defender is perfect for the IWD setting, especially with the history behind Dorn's Deep. Someone can even role play a Dwarven Defender as coming from a surviving family of the Deep. I just wish that the game had an Arcane Archer class or a Spellsword class that was restricted to elves, either one would also be ideal for the IWD story/setting.

Schneidend

I think we all know where I'm headed. Blackguard, that's where.

What's that Yxunomei? You're a demon general? Well, that's very interesti- POISON!
Don't mind my halfling Assassin friend flanking you, he's jus- MORE POISON!

booinyoureyes

Tolben said:

I think that a Dwarven Defender is perfect for the IWD setting, especially with the history behind Dorn's Deep. Someone can even role play a Dwarven Defender as coming from a surviving family of the Deep.

That was my second choice, for the exact same reason. I never really played a dwarf in Baldur's Gate (I don't think I ever even rolled one) but I love them in IWD, and this is perfect for the Dorn's Deep part.

I was actually thinking that, if they were to implement NPCs, this would be an ideal location to have a Dwarven Defender join your party.

ThacoBell

I'm looking forward to running at least an undead hunter, swashbuckler and an archer.

CoM_Solaufein

Gnome monk/Kensai.

booinyoureyes

When it comes to rangers, I think this is a wonderful opportunity to add a new kit. They have made new kits for every other base class except Clerics, Druids, Ranger and Bards.

I'd really like to see a ranger kit that is unique to the region. Like the Night's Watch from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire.

Not something that would make it too powerful, but minor benefits like a growing resistance to cold or an ability to summon a wolf animal companion once or twice per day. Maybe a Yeti companion so @rufus_hobart‌ and I can have our fun. ROAR!


For Clerics I would love to see a new kit as well. Maybe a Priest of Auril?

My favorite option for cleric would be a shaman, like the ones you find in the barbarian tribes. They could have a special ability that buffs party members or summons the spirits of fallen berserkers. Something cool and barbarian-like.

That way I could make a party that includes a Barbarian, a Skald, a Ranger and a Shaman to real milk the flavor of the setting.



edit:

Tolben said:

Arcane Archer class would also be ideal for the IWD story/setting.

and now maybe we have our new bard kit as well!

CoM_Solaufein

A Priest of Auril is a must in Icewind Dale. Cold environment would certainly attract the followers of the goddess of the cold.

rufus_hobart

Failing a full grown yeti, I would be somewhat mollified with a miniature giant space yeti. And i will hug him and squeeze him and pat him and pet him and call him George.
"Go for the eyes, George!"

Quartz

Blackguard! I mean, one of the portraits is like a PERFECT Blackguard -- you know the one I'm talking about.

booinyoureyes

Quartz said:

Blackguard! I mean, one of the portraits is like a PERFECT Blackguard -- you know the one I'm talking about.

I know EXACTLY the one you are talking about. There is also one that is PERFECT for a skald and another that just screams Battleguard of Tempus or Shaman. Also a great shadowdancer portrait.

Mathsorcerer

CoM_Solaufein said:

A Priest of Auril is a must in Icewind Dale. Cold environment would certainly attract the followers of the goddess of the cold.

Servants of the Frostmaiden are going to *love* Lower Dorn's Deep.

No? Perhaps not...but they will probably appreciate the Museum.

JuliusBorisov

Where's the option: Each and every of them! I'm gonna test everything, from the Dark Moon monk with frozen fists to the Swashbuckler, a brave pirate of frosty mountains.

But taking into consideration I've had to choose only one answer, I've decided to vote for a Bard kit - and for 99% I mean a Scald. The most exciting feeling I get when I think I'll finally have an appropriate environment for a Scald. And with the magic of the EE-keeper, he'll be a dwarf. By Clangeddins Hammer!

Nimran

We think alike in this instance, @booinyoureyes‌. Great minds, and all that.

Quartz

Wild Mage is going to be the only mage worth playing. *Cough* Just saying. I was never a fan of the HoW school restrictions. I liked that they made specialists more limited as they should, I did not like that in the process of doing as such they did not add other details (saving throw modifiers, etc.) similar to PnP 2nd Edition.

I hated the HoW restrictions so much, I have actually done a playthrough where I had a bard and not mage and called it good.

booinyoureyes

My Wild Mage is going to be an old dude with Alzheimers. He was super powerful in his youth, but as he is getting older he forgets much of what he knew... but is still very powerful when he gets it right. He is gonna forget how to cast certain spells and therefore screw up here and there, but occasionally he gets one off that is a real cracker.

JuliusBorisov

Wild surge: Ice buckets are thrown on the entire party.

The_New_Romance

I'd say Bard kit, but all the kits will miss out on the songs and especially on War Chant of the Sith, so no way.

jackjack

Skald because duh.

Kamigoroshi

Barbarian, Berserker and Dwarven Defender. Skald and Totemic Druid. Beast Master and Cleric of Auril. Cleric of Auril, as well as Cleric of Auril. Maybe even a Cleric of Auril.


... have I already mentioned Cleric of Auril? No? Good, 'cause I want to see the Cleric of Auril in IWD:EE!

Quartz

bengoshi said:

Wild surge: Ice buckets are thrown on the entire party.

The Party Has Lost Gold: 60
The Party's Reputation Has Increased By: 1

Saint_Scylla

I'm in love with Dragon Disciples. Looking forward to build an evil party including a Disciple, a Blackguard, a Cleric, an Archer and some interesting Thieves kits.

meagloth

What's the difference between a sneak attack and a backstab?

Schneidend

meagloth said:

What's the difference between a sneak attack and a backstab?

Sneak Attack can be done outside of stealth/invisibility, as long as you're behind the enemy, but each given enemy can only be Sneak Attacked once. Sneak Attacks gives extra d6s on damage, based on Thief level (capping at 6d6 in the 20s), instead of a multiplier, but isn't multiplied on a critical hit.

meagloth

Schneidend said:

meagloth said:

What's the difference between a sneak attack and a backstab?

Sneak Attack can be done outside of stealth/invisibility, as long as you're behind the enemy, but each given enemy can only be Sneak Attacked once. Sneak Attacks gives extra d6s on damage, based on Thief level (capping at 6d6 in the 20s), instead of a multiplier, but isn't multiplied on a critical hit.

So there's just an auto-sneak attack whenever your behind an enemy?
I think i like backstab better.

Schneidend

meagloth said:

So there's just an auto-sneak attack whenever your behind an enemy?
I think i like backstab better.

Well, backstab does more damage, generally, so it's a perfectly viable choice.

Yes, because you're flanking, stealthed, or they're otherwise incapacitated. The enemy's distracted, so you can put a knife in their kidney. But, you can only use it once per enemy, so "whenever" isn't really the right word.

Personally, I like it because it allows Thieves to better contribute in the thick of combat.

Zeckul

I'm not too excited about bringing in any of the BG2 kits in IWD, as I'm not sure how they will work out in it. IWD had a high level of balance and all its classes were interesting and worked well together. The area and design encounter was obviously very well thought out to provide a fun experience with all the original classes. Very little will likely be done to balance the game for the new classes. They will also add much complexity to the system.

More options is good in itself of course, but I feel like the inclusion of the BG2 classes is more of an opportunistic move (it's trivial to do for Beamdog now and counts as "new features") than a careful design choice.

For one thing, the art style of BG2 spells and abilities will clash with those of IWD.

This is very different from the BGEE situation because BG2's combat system was just a massive improvement over the original; also it was almost purely a superset of it.

Schneidend

Zeckul said:

For one thing, the art style of BG2 spells and abilities will clash with those of IWD.

They're probably going to use IWD spell/ability graphics.

Pokota

Another thing to consider is that, in-universe, IWD takes place centuries (millenia?) before BG, so some of the kits that by flavor are more recent developments will make less sense to have, while the more primal kits will make more sense.

With that said, and after careful consideration I'd like my jester back please. It may not be the best class, but the chaos that can ensue from being able to drop confusion whenever I want is too good to pass up.