This seems like a very strong combo...but how many mages are too many?

Stormvessel

The thing I love about Icewind Dale is being able to try out combinations of different parties and seeing just how easy I can make the game. I am thinking about trying something completely different. Of course it will require a lot of XP so playing with the difficulty cranked up is a must.

Dwarven Fighter/Cleric - Morning Stars and Warhammers
Orc Fighter/Thief - Dual Scimitars and crazy wicked backstabs
Elf Fighter/Mage - Dual longsword and Longbow
Bard
Sorcerer
Sorcerer

This has the potential to become make the game a cakewalk. But I'd rather use mages, as it seems Sorcerers are more gimped compared to Mages than in BG, so I would rather have two specialized mages...but the lack of scrolls kind of makes the sorcerer a must in arcane heavy parties. I don't guess there is anyway I can make it work with 3 mages and a bard...

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Fyl

Your F/T and F/C will be super-squishy in comparison once everyone else gets mirror images and stoneskins (how many stoneskin scrolls ARE there, btw? Don't recall seeing any on merchants, know there's one in Shattered Hand not sure about more)... also, you don't have nearly enough healers for a frontline that tanks with hitpoints

Consider FMT and FMC, maybe FD for non-scroll-dependent Iron Skins and another divine caster

With 2 sorcerers and more arcane casters, might as well sacrifice 1 cast per spell level and go with 2 Dragon Disciples... -5 AC, +20 hp, immunity to fire, CON 20 for regeneration --- it helps when your casters need less babysitting

Stormvessel

Thank you.

Fighter druids take forever to level at a certain point, so I will probably pass.

But if I go with DDs I may drop the bard cause they will get 20 con and the bad-ass bard song isn't really as good with only two melee characters.

A fighter/mage, a mage/cleric, and 4 DDs it shall be. Starting it now. I don't need a thief. I can buff up and trigger traps and use spells. It's a helluva lot slower but it's doable.

OlvynChuru

I've done a playthrough with six pure mages before. It's doable. Although you don't get a lot of scrolls, your mages can all start the game with Magic Missile, which is great for much of the game. I beat Yxunomei by having all six mages cast all their Magic Missiles on her.

Stormvessel

Actually I just looked and the leveling for Fighter/Druids doesn't get godawful until much, much later. Are ironskins really worth giving up being a cleric? I cannot combine druid with mage - but I can combine mage w/ cleric - that's the only problem I have w/ druid. I want as many arcane casters as possible because I'm gonna be playing with the difficulty cranked to the max.

jsaving

You can definitely play the game with six arcane casters, you just have to be very careful about who gets which scrolls so everyone can be a solid contributor. The leading guide recommends one FMT and five FMCs which is obviously an all-arcane-caster party. I'd keep the FMT and two FMCs with a fighter/druid and two sorcerers (or a sorcerer and a skald) filling the remaining slots in the party. Sorcerers are definitely not "gimped" compared to BG/BG2 but if you're cranking up the difficulty then you'll want to put less emphasis on damage-dealing spells and more on summoning spells (and spells like emotion hopelessness that take enemies out of commission on a failed save).

semiticgoddess

@jsaving: That guide was for HoF mode, and it was based on the recommendation that the player beat the game 6 times in normal mode just to collect duplicate copies of all the items, including scrolls. It's not really for most players.

A mage-heavy party is viable in the sense that any party is viable. But if you play with multiple mages in the party, you're probably going to find the lack of scrolls frustrating. Doable, yes, but probably not very fun.

Stormvessel

I went with...

Half Elf Cleric Mage
Gnome Illusionist-Thief
Half Elf Avenger (would've done FD but getting a good roll was insanely hard due to 15 cha)
Three Dragon Disciples w/ 18 con

Fyl

Stormvessel said:

Thank you.

Fighter druids take forever to level at a certain point, so I will probably pass.

But if I go with DDs I may drop the bard cause they will get 20 con and the bad-ass bard song isn't really as good with only two melee characters.

A fighter/mage, a mage/cleric, and 4 DDs it shall be. Starting it now. I don't need a thief. I can buff up and trigger traps and use spells. It's a helluva lot slower but it's doable.

FMT instead of FM and your problem disappears

Fyl

Stormvessel said:

Thank you.

Fighter druids take forever to level at a certain point, so I will probably pass.

But if I go with DDs I may drop the bard cause they will get 20 con and the bad-ass bard song isn't really as good with only two melee characters.

A fighter/mage, a mage/cleric, and 4 DDs it shall be. Starting it now. I don't need a thief. I can buff up and trigger traps and use spells. It's a helluva lot slower but it's doable.

FMT instead of FM and your problem disappears

And Halforc Shaman is better than single-class druid