@DJKajuru: In IWD2, clerics can actually deal more damage and take more damage than fighters, just because of their excellent buffing spells. Druids and sorcerers get lots of spellpower with several feats that make their spells work almost all of the time.
Fighters, meanwhile, only get a +2 to damage and some extra feats, and the best feats in IWD don't help fighters. Rangers and paladins have a similar problem.
Thieves, meanwhile, have much less to do, as traps in IWD2 are much less common and much weaker than in the other games. Also, disarming traps and opening locks gives no XP, and they cannot set their own traps or use Detect Illusions like in the EE games.
Mages are okay, but they get fewer spell slots. Even specialist mages get 1 less spell slot per spell level than sorcerers, and in IWD2, there aren't as many good spells to choose from compared to BG2, which means a mage's superior versatility has much less impact.
Long story short, in IWD2, the best damage dealers are clerics, the best tanks are clerics (with a single monk level for the AC bonus), the best healers are clerics, the best summoners are clerics, the best disablers are sorcerers, the best bombers are druids and sorcerers, and the best thieves aren't even necessary because IWD2 has so little stuff for them to do.
We NEED Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition just because the game was rushed as hell. It wasn't polished, slightly buggy and the engine was missing features found in IWD I.
The 3E implementation was half-assed as well and the journal IS atrocious. It's basically the old-school "every entry after another" instead of organizing it into quests (completed or not) and journal entries.
Also stuff missing are things like the Animal Companions of Druids and Rangers. That's a very basic part of their classes.
Either making it like Temple of Elemental Evil or making them improved summons like Animate Dead that give you better animals as you level up. Animals should also last until killed, without a time limit to simulate that they're not a summon. They're real animals like companions that you find and tame them.
Spontaneous summoning for Druids as well. Too many stuff that haven't been implemented right if at all.
I want this game to come out yesterday. Would prefer it to keep the ruleset it had originally though, I don't want none of that ad&d2 rules as I find them kinda bland and boring compared to 3:rd edition.
I don't want none of that ad&d2 rules as I find them kinda bland and boring compared to 3:rd edition.
What.
3rd edition is a lot more streamlined and homogenous, for better or worse.
2nd edition (or should I say 2.5nd edition as implemented in the EE games) might be quirky, unbalanced, and erratic in comparison - but "bland" it is not!
PS: That said, I would also prefer them to keep the original ruleset for IWD2, because changing it would be too invasive a change - it would basically require the whole game (encounters, loot, etc) to be rebalanced from the ground up, and I doubt they would do that.
Oh hell yes - just for the music alone! Limha's House, Targos' theme etc. were all awesome.
I loved the way spell icons looked like and the fact it had some flavourful cleric kits. I wish Paladin kits were more than just "You can dual into this class" thing there.
Also lots of sweet, sweet, beautiful items to use!
I can't remember if I mentioned this before but I do hope there's a proper 3.5 implementation. I want my bards to be able to cast in armor. Maybe just change it so bards start with three points in that arcane spell failure feat?
I would like an improved 3e implementation. By "improved" I mean closer to later 3e which worked to improve power balance between classes, especially the fighter vs. caster
What about IWD3 with new rules... That would solve the problems.
I've already said I would love to see an Icewind Dale III. I feel its less risky for beamdog to tackle and has less plot baggage. A perfect chance for an original game to try.
Hell make it plot heavy which was the original beamoning of the Icewind Dale games with recruitable NPCs and whatnot.
@DJKajuru: In IWD2, clerics can actually deal more damage and take more damage than fighters, just because of their excellent buffing spells.
Maybe if you employ min-max builds where you set the clerics INT and CHA(that severely cripples your Turn Undead, though) to 3. Otherwise, you'll need the caster-specific buffs of the cleric just to get up to the fighters level. The vast majority of buffs, Champions Strength and Stoneskin included, can be cast on Fighters anyway.
Fighters, meanwhile, only get a +2 to damage and some extra feats, and the best feats in IWD don't help fighters. Rangers and paladins have a similar problem.
They also get an attack more and the wicked maximum damage feat.
Thieves, meanwhile, have much less to do, as traps in IWD2 are much less common and much weaker than in the other games. Also, disarming traps and opening locks gives no XP, and they cannot set their own traps or use Detect Illusions like in the EE games.
Use the Lights of Selune mod, and you'll get nasty, nasty traps. Also, a Thief (best with 4 fighter levels) with Improved Evasion is awesome as Aggro Puller, as you can hurl damage spells at the crowd where he's standing in at leisure, because he won't get hit by them at all.
Mages are okay, but they get fewer spell slots. Even specialist mages get 1 less spell slot per spell level than sorcerers, and in IWD2, there aren't as many good spells to choose from compared to BG2, which means a mage's superior versatility has much less impact.
The problem is not so much less good spells or spell slots, but the availability of the corresponding scrolls. Often your Mage will run around one or two spell levels ahead of the spells that are available to him. Therefore, Sorceror is the way to go.
A good party, without the need to employ stupid dump-stat builds for me looks like
Fighter(Dwarf) Cleric Druid Fighter(4)/Thief(X) Sorceror Ranger(debatable for Vanilla, but Wilderness Lore is highly useful on the first run, if you play without a guide, and Lights of Selune introduces some pretty rad, ranger-specific items and weapons)
The reason I keep playing BG and IWD after all these years is because of it's AD&D ruleset.
IWDII broke my heart using 3E rules and I'll never expend one cent in any 3E material ever again.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
3E wasn't developed for RPG players but for videogame players who likes to be intouchable and the king of the hill. It's very unbalanced, favors powergaming and I'll stop talking before I go berserk in here.
The reason I keep playing BG and IWD after all these years is because of it's AD&D ruleset.
IWDII broke my heart using 3E rules and I'll never expend one cent in any 3E material ever again.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
3E wasn't developed for RPG players but for videogame players who likes to be intouchable and the king of the hill. It's very unbalanced, favors powergaming and I'll stop talking before I go berserk in here.
I think that can be applied to every edition. But heyyyyy let us not turn this into an edition wars thing. I'd like AD&D more if the stats made more sense and the class/race restrictions were gone. I'm fine with the overall class design.
I would love to see an EE version of IWD 2, currently I am without a PC and using android, so it is a game I would really appreciate having access to on android.
Just played the first hour or so of IWD II for the first time in years... and wow, it was a lot of fun and I was excited knowing I had the whole game ahead of me.
I'd kill for an EE version of the game right about now. I played straight from the GOG downloader, no mods, and yeah—it's an ugly affair at the moment, windowed at 1024x768.
Just played the first hour or so of IWD II for the first time in years... and wow, it was a lot of fun and I was excited knowing I had the whole game ahead of me.
I'd kill for an EE version of the game right about now. I played straight from the GOG downloader, no mods, and yeah—it's an ugly affair at the moment, windowed at 1024x768.
@grif - Word of warning - flip back to 800x600 for Fell Wood. IWD2 crashes in Fell Wood at any other resolution.
I don't know a single thing about the 3rd edition and I still find IWD2 very enjoyable as it is on such a familiar engine. I always somehow manage to point-and-click my way up to the twin cambions despite having no real idea what's going on with my characters. Great game.
Word of warning - flip back to 800x600 for Fell Wood. IWD2 crashes in Fell Wood at any other resolution.
I replayed the GOG.com version last year at 1280x720 resolution via widescreen mod, and it didn't crash.
Is that the maximum res the mod allows?
No, you enter your resolution when you install the mod. I'm playing it at 1600x900. The only problem I have is that the fog of war flickers when I pan around.
Word of warning - flip back to 800x600 for Fell Wood. IWD2 crashes in Fell Wood at any other resolution.
I replayed the GOG.com version last year at 1280x720 resolution via widescreen mod, and it didn't crash.
Is that the maximum res the mod allows?
No, you enter your resolution when you install the mod. I'm playing it at 1600x900. The only problem I have is that the fog of war flickers when I pan around.
Hi mate, I was wondering if this would be of any help, specifically about halfway down the page at
Step 6) Fix visual artifacts and lag issues, where it links to some MS compatibility tools
So finishing IWD yesterday (ding dong belhifet is gone – and icasaracht too) ...
What next? IWDII with widescreen ... installing, modding, fiddling, starting up, creating party, ... Meh, it's not enhanced. Meh, i'm missing this and that and everything from #:EE ...
Beamdog for the rescue please! I'd love to play this in all the EE glory (and PS:T too).
Comments
Fighters, meanwhile, only get a +2 to damage and some extra feats, and the best feats in IWD don't help fighters. Rangers and paladins have a similar problem.
Thieves, meanwhile, have much less to do, as traps in IWD2 are much less common and much weaker than in the other games. Also, disarming traps and opening locks gives no XP, and they cannot set their own traps or use Detect Illusions like in the EE games.
Mages are okay, but they get fewer spell slots. Even specialist mages get 1 less spell slot per spell level than sorcerers, and in IWD2, there aren't as many good spells to choose from compared to BG2, which means a mage's superior versatility has much less impact.
Long story short, in IWD2, the best damage dealers are clerics, the best tanks are clerics (with a single monk level for the AC bonus), the best healers are clerics, the best summoners are clerics, the best disablers are sorcerers, the best bombers are druids and sorcerers, and the best thieves aren't even necessary because IWD2 has so little stuff for them to do.
After almost 12 years, I finished IWD II this past summer, and what can I say, it was really a blast!
Would love to see Beamdog implement IWD II to their "Enhanced Edition" games.
It wasn't polished, slightly buggy and the engine was missing features found in IWD I.
The 3E implementation was half-assed as well and the journal IS atrocious.
It's basically the old-school "every entry after another" instead of organizing it into quests (completed or not) and journal entries.
Also stuff missing are things like the Animal Companions of Druids and Rangers.
That's a very basic part of their classes.
Either making it like Temple of Elemental Evil or making them improved summons like Animate Dead that give you better animals as you level up.
Animals should also last until killed, without a time limit to simulate that they're not a summon.
They're real animals like companions that you find and tame them.
Spontaneous summoning for Druids as well.
Too many stuff that haven't been implemented right if at all.
3rd edition is a lot more streamlined and homogenous, for better or worse.
2nd edition (or should I say 2.5nd edition as implemented in the EE games) might be quirky, unbalanced, and erratic in comparison - but "bland" it is not!
PS: That said, I would also prefer them to keep the original ruleset for IWD2, because changing it would be too invasive a change - it would basically require the whole game (encounters, loot, etc) to be rebalanced from the ground up, and I doubt they would do that.
I loved the way spell icons looked like and the fact it had some flavourful cleric kits. I wish Paladin kits were more than just "You can dual into this class" thing there.
Also lots of sweet, sweet, beautiful items to use!
And psionics. I want psionics
Hell make it plot heavy which was the original beamoning of the Icewind Dale games with recruitable NPCs and whatnot.
Otherwise, you'll need the caster-specific buffs of the cleric just to get up to the fighters level.
The vast majority of buffs, Champions Strength and Stoneskin included, can be cast on Fighters anyway. They also get an attack more and the wicked maximum damage feat. Use the Lights of Selune mod, and you'll get nasty, nasty traps. Also, a Thief (best with 4 fighter levels) with Improved Evasion is awesome as Aggro Puller, as you can hurl damage spells at the crowd where he's standing in at leisure, because he won't get hit by them at all. The problem is not so much less good spells or spell slots, but the availability of the corresponding scrolls. Often your Mage will run around one or two spell levels ahead of the spells that are available to him.
Therefore, Sorceror is the way to go.
A good party, without the need to employ stupid dump-stat builds for me looks like
Fighter(Dwarf)
Cleric
Druid
Fighter(4)/Thief(X)
Sorceror
Ranger(debatable for Vanilla, but Wilderness Lore is highly useful on the first run, if you play without a guide, and Lights of Selune introduces some pretty rad, ranger-specific items and weapons)
IWDII broke my heart using 3E rules and I'll never expend one cent in any 3E material ever again.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
3E wasn't developed for RPG players but for videogame players who likes to be intouchable and the king of the hill. It's very unbalanced, favors powergaming and I'll stop talking before I go berserk in here.
I'd kill for an EE version of the game right about now. I played straight from the GOG downloader, no mods, and yeah—it's an ugly affair at the moment, windowed at 1024x768.
http://www.sorcerers.net/community/index.php?threads/lame-crash-in-fell-wood-help.26067/
Step 6) Fix visual artifacts and lag issues, where it links to some MS compatibility tools
https://zeckul.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/icewind-dale-2-ultimate-installation-guide/
If you have seen/tried it, then I hope its of some help to anyone else with issues
What next? IWDII with widescreen ... installing, modding, fiddling, starting up, creating party, ...
Meh, it's not enhanced. Meh, i'm missing this and that and everything from #:EE ...
Beamdog for the rescue please! I'd love to play this in all the EE glory (and PS:T too).