Kill everyone!

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I would hope so... that's why it's essential to take them out asap!

 

You can lower the difficulty setting if the game is too hard for you.

 

Don't expect too much of them; they require Protection from Evil to stay friendly, and you can't direct their attacks. They behave independently (although their kills go gain you XP), and you better be careful not to harm them or they'll go hostile.
A druid spell called Elemental Legion is supposed to be their ultimate summoning spell, but it's very disappointing: An Earth, Fire, Air and Water Elemental appear, and start out friendly when your party's protected from Evil. But what about eachother? They aren't protected from evil themselves! They start attacking eachother, so there are always a number of them that go hostile anyway. The bottom line is, that it's not feasible to have more than one gated demon, elemental, djinni or efreeti around at the same time.

 

nah, i'm doing fine

in fact i was so used to soloing BG2 with fighters and rogues that i had forgotten about team combat strategies

but now everything's going smoothly

 

Good to hear.

Summons is not the only way to beat that game (at least in normal mode). I'm not big on summons to be honest, I prefer crowd control and area of effect spells. Web, Entangle, Grease and Sleep can be useful at that point if you can't rain fiery death on your foes yet.

As far as Rogues are concerned the best build is a high STR Rogue with a two hander (any long ranged melee weapon will do but I like Nine Paces in that respect) so you can sneak attack and flank enemies who are already engaged with other party members. Backstab is out (unless you can turn invisible and then lure your foes into a choke point). Still in the middle of the fray if you switch between enemies with your Rogue you can get some good results because of sneak attacks (it's just a different tactic).

Using a fulltime Rogue as a sharpshooter is a waste (sneak attacks don't work outside melee).

 

yeah well i agree that relying on summons only isn't very satisfying, but i'm waiting to get access to higher level of offensive spells to start varying tactics

oh yeah before i forget: what's the difference between sneak attack and backstab ?

 

Backstab is the 2e term for sneak attack in 3e but in 3e it's much easier to achieve.

You can read up on the d20srd on what constitutes a sneak attack - it's essentially whenever your rogue can attack while your opponent is caught 'flat footed'

You no longer have to be right behind them, hidden, following an unusual dance in homage of the lord of sneaky-stabbins'

 

well you didn't need to actually get "behind" the opponent to backstab in 2e, being hidden was enough if i recall

it's too bad there aren't kits anymore in 3e, it would have been great to be able to turn your thief into an assassin and inflict a x7 sneak attack damage

 

Due to the large amount of HP that NPCs have, sneak attacks in IWD2 are not as effective as backstabs in BG but they are easier to use if you get them right.

Basically you have to flank your foe so you can land sneak attacks. In order to flank the enemy you have to position the Rogue so that he or she can attack without facing the opponent. A Rogue can't flank someone who is attacking him or her but if the Rogue attacks someone that is currently engaged in combat with someone else, that is flanking.

Having a long weapon (two hander and such) is great because of the longer range so that the Rogue can switch between targets swiftly in the middle of a fight. That requires a lot of micromanagement but that is the way to make a fulltime Rogue with high sneak attack bonus work.

 

alright i'll try that, thx for the tip

btw i'm fighting sherincal right now and it seems like a tough battle

 

Ah, Silvery's avatar, the blue half-dragon!
You need to give this battle all you have:
Buffed summons, Entangle, Web, Slow, Confusion, area damage spells, Insect Plague if you have it (makes spellcasting impossible - don't enter the area!). Make a tactical retreat so you can take on enemies (with arrows?) as they approach. Sherincal will probably be first out due to her high saves and immunities, try to take her down quickly. Beware the golems that sneak up behind you - it's best to take them and the 2 cultists out before you engage Sherincal. Faerie Fire (innate Drow spell) will make Sherincal and the golems easier to hit.

Interesting stuff about the Sneak Attack, I never knew the specifics until I googled it. According to the rules, ranged weapons can also Sneak Attack, provided they are within a certain range. Does that also go in IWD2?
I noticed that my rogue 2 / wizard X gets Sneak Attacks consistently when an opponent is stunned, held, or otherwise immobile. But one strange thing I noticed: She should only get 1d6 Sneak Attack damage, but sometimes I can see "Sneak Attacks for 10" in the game screen..? Is that 1d6 + 4STR-bonus?

 

haha well in fact i beat her quite quickly with a cheesy technique: i slayed her minions first, then head back in a safe place to heal, then i came back to confront her who was on the perch in front of the temple, so i summoned monsters all around her regularly, whilemy fighters were aiming bolts at her dirty face.... voilaaaaaaa

now i've been roaming around the ice temple which is quite huge, not really knowing what to do

 

You only need

Spoiler

a non human character with fire shield (red) and some good AC and defense (mirror image, barkskin, stoneskin and the like)

to take Sherincal out.

In NWN sneak attacks work with ranged attacks but they don't in IWD2.

Once a foe is held, asleep or stunned the Rogue's attacks become sneak attacks since the foe is considered to be flanked. This is automatic and it's the easiest way to land sneak attacks if you're not micromanaging your Rogue.

One of my favourite build is a low level Cleric combined with high level Rogue only in order to disable enemies and finish them off with one hit.

A Rogue 2/ Wizard X is not going to be any good with 1D6 sneak attack. I wonder if that character was scoring critical hits or if this was the total damage iirc the feedback options discriminate between regular damage and sneak attacks. Do you have a screenshot Coineineagh?

By the way using sneak attacks is certainly the best way for a low STR weapon finesse character to dish out enough damage in melee, but a character with a two hander is going to be much more efficient because of the increased range allowing to switch from one foe to another with ease.

 

my problem now is that i'm only resorting to summon for every situation just like in BG, my monsters are doing half the work, and i'm not learning about the usefulness of other spells, strategically speaking its not very satisfying

 

Just say no to summoning: try to combine your spells, use buffs, zone spells and the like. If you have a Wizard you can experiment with the spells in your spellbook, if you have a Sorcerer plan your next spell selection so you can get through fights without summons.

A great deal depends on your party and the levels and number of party members (I'd say they may be around 8 since you reached the Ice Temple). If you didn't multiclass your casters they must have a fairly good spell selection by now (at least compared to the beginning).

Did you pick Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus for your casters? That makes spells much more likely to succeed.

 

i'll try that in BG.... yeah i grew somehow tired and frustrated with the fair amount of puzzles present in IWD2 so i uninstalled it

and now i'll be soloing BG from 1 to TOB with a mage, this is gonna be fun

 

Do yourself a favour and take a break but don't give up on IWD2: it's certainly one of the best infinity engine games!

Next time you'll be able to use your experience and plan your party beforehand so it will be better suited to the challenges ahead.

Regarding playing BG from the start to TOB I strongly suggest using Easy Tutu and playing a Wild Mage (very challenging and fun at earlier levels).

 

well i didn't erase my saves nor my characters so maybe some day if the mood should strike me....

my party was quite well balanced and thought beforehand on my experience of BGs and IWD1, and they were doing pretty well, its just the storyline and the multiple puzzles that started to bore me

well i never install non official material, plus i tried tutu once with a monk, and i was attacked by packs of foes where in the original BG there would be only one ennemy standing....
nevertheless when i'll import my character into BG2 i will kit him to be an enthropist mage

 

I prefer the Baldur's Gate Trilogy and Big Picture; it allows you to play nearly every mod there is in existence. It's one weird wacky wild endless ride through the sense and nonsense of BG1 and 2 mods. Took me weeks to figure out the installation, but I definitely learned stuff in the process!