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What about this group? (IWD ORIGINAL)

WisteriasWisterias Member Posts: 238
edited April 21 in Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
Hi. I'm gonna start a new game (Insane) soon and I want to know what you think about this... (It's the non-EE version so no kits etc)

1. Bard, half-elf, Neutral Evil (evil so he can use the Ring of Dwarven Bone; or maybe Chaotic Neutral... don't know); at least 17 constitution so he can drink the potion that transfers -1 con to +1 strenght. Wide variety of weapons but main will be bow, axe, great sword... Very fast leveling and extra exp for "bard quests".

2. Fighter/mage/thief, Elf; I know, he will take some time to level up... but I like my thieves to be useful xD So I add magic and good Thac0. If I feel the need, I will farm some exp (Ice Golems, etc.) Main weapons, bows, Axe, long sword...

3 and 4: cleric/rangers, my tanks. They get access to SOME druid spells but it takes time and they don't get all of them, I need to get some levels for that, but they are still good clerics from the start... Main weapons ofc slings/flails/morning stars/maces...

5 and 6: fighter/druids, again tanky chars; they will be having all the nice druid spells, and some spells that c/r can't cast like shambling mounds (Stalkers). Iron Skin does not exist in this version of the game... They can shapeshift too. Main weapons; slings/scimitars mostly (Frostbrand+3, Gloomfrost Talon, etc)

Some improvement/change?

Comments

  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 6,115
    just a heads up on the bard; the potion that transfer ability scores and the ring of dwarven bone are both random drops so there is a chance you might not even get one of them through the game

    for the cleric/ranger i would go with morningstar/warhammer, just because the morningstar +4 defender is an amazing melee weapon if you luck out to get it, and then the 2nd best crushing melee i would say is the star forged warhammer +4 that is also if you luck out to get it ( both weapons offer amazing resistances) plus morningstars and warhammers are more common than maces ( although the 3 white doves in HoW is absolutely insane )

    for the fighter/druid i would do daggers before scimitars, there are a lot of daggers in IWD especially ones that do lots of poison damage, and not too many enemies are immune to poison ( except for undead maybe ) but the thing about scimitars is, if you do not luck out and get the 1/4 chance scimitar from the reward in kresseleck's tomb, you will have to wait until chapter 5 before you get the option for another magical one

    other than that, solid
  • WisteriasWisterias Member Posts: 238
    edited April 24
    sarevok57 wrote: »
    just a heads up on the bard; the potion that transfer ability scores and the ring of dwarven bone are both random drops so there is a chance you might not even get one of them through the game

    for the cleric/ranger i would go with morningstar/warhammer, just because the morningstar +4 defender is an amazing melee weapon if you luck out to get it, and then the 2nd best crushing melee i would say is the star forged warhammer +4 that is also if you luck out to get it ( both weapons offer amazing resistances) plus morningstars and warhammers are more common than maces ( although the 3 white doves in HoW is absolutely insane )

    for the fighter/druid i would do daggers before scimitars, there are a lot of daggers in IWD especially ones that do lots of poison damage, and not too many enemies are immune to poison ( except for undead maybe ) but the thing about scimitars is, if you do not luck out and get the 1/4 chance scimitar from the reward in kresseleck's tomb, you will have to wait until chapter 5 before you get the option for another magical one

    other than that, solid

    Yes I know, those are random loot, but for that I do some search first, I enter the area and go to check the loot casting invisibility or sanctuary on me or using invisibility potions, if i'm not happy I reload and re-enter the area. In the case of the potion I save, kill Kerish and see if he's gonna drop it, if not I reload/re-enter. Same with the ring, I kill those enemies and of they don't have the ring, I reload/re-enter. Same with Kaylessa. It's tedious sometimes but nvm.

    I got a great roll for my bard, 18 18 18 18 10 18 😱. 100pts. If I do HOF with this group I can drink another potion of -1 con +1 strenght.

    In the end I have 1 bard, 1 f/m/t, 1 fighter/druid, 3 cleric/rangers. Yes, the weapons for the c/r are pretty clear. For the f/d mmm... The lucky scimitar is pretty decent from the start. Since it's not IWD-EE, can't dual-wield, so... Anyway I took scimitar (well, long swords) first, maybe I will take dagger at some point, it's true there are a lot of good ones in this game.

  • deadinsidedeadinside Member Posts: 105
    edited April 24
    You can just install the Friendly Random drops mod from Tweaks Anthology and be done with the random loot nonsense. The Choose your Drop option works for most unique random drops, even if it can be "immersion breaking". Random loot are replaced by tokens and when picked up a shade appears with a dialogue window that lets you chose your item. Still beats reloading cheese. Never tried it with original IWD, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

    REQUIRE_PREDICATE GAME_IS ~iwdee iwd how totlm iwd-in-bg2~

    Original IWD is included in the supported games it seems. I never play IWDEE without this mod now.
  • WisteriasWisterias Member Posts: 238
    edited April 24
    deadinside wrote: »
    You can just install the Friendly Random drops mod from Tweaks Anthology and be done with the random loot nonsense. The Choose your Drop option works for most unique random drops, even if it can be "immersion breaking". Random loot are replaced by tokens and when picked up a shade appears with a dialogue window that lets you chose your item. Still beats reloading cheese. Never tried it with original IWD, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

    REQUIRE_PREDICATE GAME_IS ~iwdee iwd how totlm iwd-in-bg2~

    Original IWD is included in the supported games it seems. I never play IWDEE without this mod now.

    I have some kind of... Allergy to mods in classic video games 😆, I mean, I even had trouble getting used to the EE versions of these classics.

    What I do is... I Accept the random loot 80/90% of the time but I do the reload thing for some items only.

  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 6,115
    Wisterias wrote: »
    sarevok57 wrote: »
    just a heads up on the bard; the potion that transfer ability scores and the ring of dwarven bone are both random drops so there is a chance you might not even get one of them through the game

    for the cleric/ranger i would go with morningstar/warhammer, just because the morningstar +4 defender is an amazing melee weapon if you luck out to get it, and then the 2nd best crushing melee i would say is the star forged warhammer +4 that is also if you luck out to get it ( both weapons offer amazing resistances) plus morningstars and warhammers are more common than maces ( although the 3 white doves in HoW is absolutely insane )

    for the fighter/druid i would do daggers before scimitars, there are a lot of daggers in IWD especially ones that do lots of poison damage, and not too many enemies are immune to poison ( except for undead maybe ) but the thing about scimitars is, if you do not luck out and get the 1/4 chance scimitar from the reward in kresseleck's tomb, you will have to wait until chapter 5 before you get the option for another magical one

    other than that, solid

    Yes I know, those are random loot, but for that I do some search first, I enter the area and go to check the loot casting invisibility or sanctuary on me or using invisibility potions, if i'm not happy I reload and re-enter the area. In the case of the potion I save, kill Kerish and see if he's gonna drop it, if not I reload/re-enter. Same with the ring, I kill those enemies and of they don't have the ring, I reload/re-enter. Same with Kaylessa. It's tedious sometimes but nvm.

    I got a great roll for my bard, 18 18 18 18 10 18 😱. 100pts. If I do HOF with this group I can drink another potion of -1 con +1 strenght.

    In the end I have 1 bard, 1 f/m/t, 1 fighter/druid, 3 cleric/rangers. Yes, the weapons for the c/r are pretty clear. For the f/d mmm... The lucky scimitar is pretty decent from the start. Since it's not IWD-EE, can't dual-wield, so... Anyway I took scimitar (well, long swords) first, maybe I will take dagger at some point, it's true there are a lot of good ones in this game.

    as yes, i completely forgot about conlans special weapons, its so rare for me to use that i usually just forget them haha, although i like using the giving star with cleric/class types, i find it heals quite often and that extra str boost is quite nice
  • StromaelStromael Member Posts: 198
    Should be pretty strong as far as teams go, though you might miss the lack of a high level mage. FMT can spam improved invisibility and backstabs, which is solid. 3 CRs seems a bit overkill, but maybe I just prefer more variety: still I'm sure the team will have no major issues throughout.

    For comparison here's my current run:
    Paladin (Long sword, Crossbow, Axe)
    Cleric/Ranger (Flail, Sling, Hammer, Mace)
    Fighter(7) - > Druid (Scimitar 5*, Dart)
    Fighter/Thief Halfling (Long sword, Long bow)
    Invoker (Autolearn/spam damage spells)
    Bard Half-Elf (Spam songs, spell buffs, utlitity)

    Maybe not optimal, but covers all bases and keeps me engaged!
  • UnsanityUnsanity Member Posts: 56
    I just finished a playthrough on EE version today after 7-month break.

    Human: Paladin (Cavalier) - Long Sword + Shield. Tho, I did use the Trollslayer sword. Flail vs. undead.
    Human: Paladin (Undead Hunter) Long Sword + Shield, Long Bow. Morning Star vs. undaed.
    Human: Paladin (no kit) Long Sword + Shield, Long Bow. Morning Star vs. undaed.
    Half Elf: Cleric/Mage (Summon/Heal Spells) Morning Star + shield, sling for range.
    Half Elf: Cleric/Mage (Party Buffs/Direct Damage Spells) Morning Star + shield, sling for range.
    Halfling: Fighter/Thief (Range/Trap Finding) Short Sword + Shield. Light Crossbow. Warhammer for Undead. DW Short Swords.

    Not the most imaginative group, but it worked very well and covered all the basis. Honestly, I could have dropped the un-kitted Paladin for a Cleric/Ranger or Fighter/Cleric and dropped a Cleric/Mage for a Bard. That might be my next group just for fun.
  • WisteriasWisterias Member Posts: 238
    Stromael wrote: »
    Should be pretty strong as far as teams go, though you might miss the lack of a high level mage. FMT can spam improved invisibility and backstabs, which is solid. 3 CRs seems a bit overkill, but maybe I just prefer more variety: still I'm sure the team will have no major issues throughout.

    For comparison here's my current run:
    Paladin (Long sword, Crossbow, Axe)
    Cleric/Ranger (Flail, Sling, Hammer, Mace)
    Fighter(7) - > Druid (Scimitar 5*, Dart)
    Fighter/Thief Halfling (Long sword, Long bow)
    Invoker (Autolearn/spam damage spells)
    Bard Half-Elf (Spam songs, spell buffs, utlitity)

    Maybe not optimal, but covers all bases and keeps me engaged!

    Hi, well you know? In the EE's I go 5 sorcerers (DD) 1 f/m/t lol, but in the originals mages are so limited (scrolls, few high level spells to use..) so I prefer to use the magic more like buffs and utility... So multis are fine. But at the same time I want all my chars to have arcane or divine magic.
  • WisteriasWisterias Member Posts: 238
    Unsanity wrote: »
    I just finished a playthrough on EE version today after 7-month break.

    Human: Paladin (Cavalier) - Long Sword + Shield. Tho, I did use the Trollslayer sword. Flail vs. undead.
    Human: Paladin (Undead Hunter) Long Sword + Shield, Long Bow. Morning Star vs. undaed.
    Human: Paladin (no kit) Long Sword + Shield, Long Bow. Morning Star vs. undaed.
    Half Elf: Cleric/Mage (Summon/Heal Spells) Morning Star + shield, sling for range.
    Half Elf: Cleric/Mage (Party Buffs/Direct Damage Spells) Morning Star + shield, sling for range.
    Halfling: Fighter/Thief (Range/Trap Finding) Short Sword + Shield. Light Crossbow. Warhammer for Undead. DW Short Swords.

    Not the most imaginative group, but it worked very well and covered all the basis. Honestly, I could have dropped the un-kitted Paladin for a Cleric/Ranger or Fighter/Cleric and dropped a Cleric/Mage for a Bard. That might be my next group just for fun.

    Nice, well I'm playing the non-EE version so paladins have no kits 🙃 but looks fine.
  • deadinsidedeadinside Member Posts: 105
    Paladin kits in IWDEE are mostly superfluous. A regular Paladin is enough of a powerhouse in the game (both EE and original). Still, in both game versions multis are king. There is no effective XP cap but a level cap, so all your multis have an opportunity to just blow past single classes in terms of power.
  • UnsanityUnsanity Member Posts: 56
    Wisterias wrote: »
    Nice, well I'm playing the non-EE version so paladins have no kits 🙃 but looks fine.

    When I played this game before the EE version was available, I had 3 regular paladins, 2 cleric/mages, 1 fighter/thief. It wasn't my original group, it was my second one. I noticed that my lone paladin in my original group was the #1 target and died before my other characters got a scratch. I tried playing more, but got frustrated and made my second group.

    I swapped my fighter and fighter/cleric for 2 additional paladins. I figured the attention would be split between three of them, I was right. I dropped my bard for a second cleric/mage. The rest is history.
    deadinside wrote: »
    Paladin kits in IWDEE are mostly superfluous. A regular Paladin is enough of a powerhouse in the game (both EE and original).

    So very true. Even with EE version, I really don't use kits unless I am messing around with an RP idea. So, I thought I would test out the cavelier and undead hunter. I didn't notice much of a different save for my cavelier couldn't use bows and my undead hunter couldn't use lay on hands.
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