[hof] Need help with party creation in ee
Hi all. Just picked up iwdee, but I have played the vanilla iwd a long time ago, it is by far my favorite infinity engine game. I wanna run the game twice (second time on hof mode) and don't wanna restart half way trough, so would appreciate some input regarding party creation.
I dug up the character files I used in the original iwd, because I liked that setup a lot. The problem is, I played this game like 10 years ago, so I don't remember why I made some choices that I did. Especially choices like alignment and weapon specializations because I don't remember all the best items and their requirements. I read a lot of threads here and here's what I've come up so far:
Archer.
Lawful good.
Elf.
18/00 str, 19 dex, 17 con, dump mental stats. 2 points in longbows and crossbows each.
Nothing special, this class was broken in bg and it doesn't seem to have changed. I remember there being some amazing (cross)bows in iwd. Lawful to get the reputation bonus. Will that prevent me from using some important item? Is this an improvement over the Paladin I used to run? Also, people suggest cadaverous undead as the racial enemy, seems legit since mummies are a pain early on.
Skald.
Neutral evil.
Half elf.
16 con, 16 cha, dump wis, 18 in other stats. 1 point in axe and shortbow each.
I loved the bard in vanilla, but I read that the Skald song is really good in ee. The only char that needs scrolls, I remember the high level scrolls being really rare in iwd anyway. My old bard was NE, but I don't remember why, some mage dagger maybe?? Apparently female evil bards get a ton of special rewards in ee, is that a good argument? Should I switch to NG for the cleric buff?
Sorc.
Neutral evil.
Elf.
19 dex, 16 con, 18 wis, dump rest into str (14 atm). 1 point in sling.
This used to be a fighter(4)->necromancer iirc. Not needing scrolls is great, but this char won't be able to contribute at all in melee. I still think it's an improvement, I love sorc in bg. Again, I remember some caster stuff being evil only, but don't remember what. Should I change the alignment? Do i need int or cha on sorc in iwdee? What about the spell book? Are low level damage spells (skull trap) worth it or should I just stick to buffs/disables that I will be using on hof? What about mage duel spells like in bg? I don't remember mages being dangerous in iwd, is bard still enough to dispel them in ee?
Berserker (dual to cleric)
Neutral good.
Human.
18/00 str, 18 dex, con and wis, dump rest. 2 points in flails and maces.
What level do I dual at? I see people recommending lvl 9, but that leaves me a long time with no heals and restorations. Dual wield and grandmaster flails, right? I can pick up dw with cleric level-ups after I regain my fighter, right? Should I switch him (along with the rest of my front line) to true neutral ? That would let the +1 apr buff affect my druid, but not the archer. Also, it would let me use that amazing flail that casts heal, but I would lose heal. Help!
Berserker (dual to druid)
Neutral good.
Human.
18/87 str, 12 dex, 18 con, 18 wis, 17 cha dump int (I hate druid dual requirements). 2 points in spears and staves.
Same problem as with cleric, dualing at 9 gives the most endgame power, but gimps me early on. I used to dual at 4 in vanilla, but grandmastery wasn't as good then... Also, is spear still the weapon of choice? Are dual scimitars maybe better?
Finally, is just a straight-up totemic druid just better (maybe dual to fighter at a high level)? I tested, and the spirit animals don't have protection from normal weapons like they did in bg, which is a shame. A good design choice, obviously, but a shame. I'm guessing fire elementals are as good as spirit animals for takning anyway, no? Would a shapeshifter be a good choice? Nobody recommends it, so guess not?
Swashbuckler (dual to fighter at 6)
Neutral good
Human.
18 physical stats, dump mental stats. 1 point in long sword and dagger.
This used to be a gnome f/t multi that would stack enough armor to facetank mobs in how. With the new kits, a swashbuckler gets more armor then you lose by not being able to use the shorty helm, so I gues this is simply a superior choice now. However, I read that hof now improves monster attack, so how viable is stacking armor? Should I just dw?
The shadowdancer seems disgustingly strong from the description, but nobody seems to recommend it, why is that? I remember that invis was extremely abusable in vanilla iwd because monsters with true sight and mages were rare...
Finally, I see that the dwarwen defender is now a kit in iwd. It looks extremely strong on paper. Can you get 100% immunity to melee with him? What items would you need for that? Should I replace my archer with a dd?
Sorry for a wall of text, wanted to make sure I cover everything.
I dug up the character files I used in the original iwd, because I liked that setup a lot. The problem is, I played this game like 10 years ago, so I don't remember why I made some choices that I did. Especially choices like alignment and weapon specializations because I don't remember all the best items and their requirements. I read a lot of threads here and here's what I've come up so far:
Archer.
Lawful good.
Elf.
18/00 str, 19 dex, 17 con, dump mental stats. 2 points in longbows and crossbows each.
Nothing special, this class was broken in bg and it doesn't seem to have changed. I remember there being some amazing (cross)bows in iwd. Lawful to get the reputation bonus. Will that prevent me from using some important item? Is this an improvement over the Paladin I used to run? Also, people suggest cadaverous undead as the racial enemy, seems legit since mummies are a pain early on.
Skald.
Neutral evil.
Half elf.
16 con, 16 cha, dump wis, 18 in other stats. 1 point in axe and shortbow each.
I loved the bard in vanilla, but I read that the Skald song is really good in ee. The only char that needs scrolls, I remember the high level scrolls being really rare in iwd anyway. My old bard was NE, but I don't remember why, some mage dagger maybe?? Apparently female evil bards get a ton of special rewards in ee, is that a good argument? Should I switch to NG for the cleric buff?
Sorc.
Neutral evil.
Elf.
19 dex, 16 con, 18 wis, dump rest into str (14 atm). 1 point in sling.
This used to be a fighter(4)->necromancer iirc. Not needing scrolls is great, but this char won't be able to contribute at all in melee. I still think it's an improvement, I love sorc in bg. Again, I remember some caster stuff being evil only, but don't remember what. Should I change the alignment? Do i need int or cha on sorc in iwdee? What about the spell book? Are low level damage spells (skull trap) worth it or should I just stick to buffs/disables that I will be using on hof? What about mage duel spells like in bg? I don't remember mages being dangerous in iwd, is bard still enough to dispel them in ee?
Berserker (dual to cleric)
Neutral good.
Human.
18/00 str, 18 dex, con and wis, dump rest. 2 points in flails and maces.
What level do I dual at? I see people recommending lvl 9, but that leaves me a long time with no heals and restorations. Dual wield and grandmaster flails, right? I can pick up dw with cleric level-ups after I regain my fighter, right? Should I switch him (along with the rest of my front line) to true neutral ? That would let the +1 apr buff affect my druid, but not the archer. Also, it would let me use that amazing flail that casts heal, but I would lose heal. Help!
Berserker (dual to druid)
Neutral good.
Human.
18/87 str, 12 dex, 18 con, 18 wis, 17 cha dump int (I hate druid dual requirements). 2 points in spears and staves.
Same problem as with cleric, dualing at 9 gives the most endgame power, but gimps me early on. I used to dual at 4 in vanilla, but grandmastery wasn't as good then... Also, is spear still the weapon of choice? Are dual scimitars maybe better?
Finally, is just a straight-up totemic druid just better (maybe dual to fighter at a high level)? I tested, and the spirit animals don't have protection from normal weapons like they did in bg, which is a shame. A good design choice, obviously, but a shame. I'm guessing fire elementals are as good as spirit animals for takning anyway, no? Would a shapeshifter be a good choice? Nobody recommends it, so guess not?
Swashbuckler (dual to fighter at 6)
Neutral good
Human.
18 physical stats, dump mental stats. 1 point in long sword and dagger.
This used to be a gnome f/t multi that would stack enough armor to facetank mobs in how. With the new kits, a swashbuckler gets more armor then you lose by not being able to use the shorty helm, so I gues this is simply a superior choice now. However, I read that hof now improves monster attack, so how viable is stacking armor? Should I just dw?
The shadowdancer seems disgustingly strong from the description, but nobody seems to recommend it, why is that? I remember that invis was extremely abusable in vanilla iwd because monsters with true sight and mages were rare...
Finally, I see that the dwarwen defender is now a kit in iwd. It looks extremely strong on paper. Can you get 100% immunity to melee with him? What items would you need for that? Should I replace my archer with a dd?
Sorry for a wall of text, wanted to make sure I cover everything.
0
Comments
one thing to note, in my opinion true neutral is the best alignment to be since usually all those "alignment" items dont like either chaos or law or good or evil
except for 2 of the best wearable items in the game being the belt that gives you permenant blur ( +3 AC bonus and +1 to all saves ) and the armor of suffering ( which gives you the best AC/modifiers out of any armor in the game with 10% resistance to everything )
so perhaps have your main top guy a good alignment ( one that can wear full plate ) and have the rest if you can be neutral, so then you can wear all the cool i-tams
And yes, dwarven defenders are as good as they sound. They indeed have the potential to get 100% physical damage resistance. Druids can get 100% physical damage resistance even easier at level 20 simply by casting Armor of Faith and shapeshifting into a water elemental (which has 75% physical damage resistance).
By the way, if you're going to play HoF mode, why not try out my mod Improved Heart of Fury Mode? It makes the game way more fun than on the game's regular HoF mode, while being just as difficult and sometimes more so.
Not a fan of f/m/t. In combat he's a watered down bard for most of the game. The swashbuckler levels were mostly for traps, I wanted that char to be a fighter.
Also, I did already stumble upon the Improved HoF mode and it looked very interesting, I loved scs for BG and this seems similar. However, I wanna complete the game unmodded first. Seems to make sense about neutral, I remember most items being restricted FROM an alignment rather than TO an alignment like in BG.
I can't seem to find the armor of suffering, if you mean Glory of Suffering, I can't find it on gamebanshee and google indicates it's been cut from the game??
Guess the new setup would be something like
1. Paladin (LG, obviously, stacks armor and tanks???)
2. Sorc (still NE, guess that's fine)
3. Bard of some sort, Skald I guess (NE or TN?)
4. Ber(9)->Cleric (TN?)
5. Fighter/Druid (Dual scimitar maybe? Spear? Elf or human?)
6. Some sort of fighter+thief (TN)
Alternatively, make 4 a Thief(6)->Cleric utility char and use a Fighter->mage (or elf F/M) for 6, getting some pips in bows to make up for the lack of a dedicated archer.