Playing IWD again after 3 years

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My first post here

I'm a huge fan of every IE game out there. Haven't played any of the IE games though for quite a while, been at least 2 years.

I bought IWD when it originally came out and played it through to the end. Then I pick up the Ultimate edition when it came out but never got around to playing it.

A few days ago I loaded up BG1 & BG2 and installed the BGTuTu mod and started playing BG1 again with the intention of playing through to the end of TOB with the same char. After getting to chapter 3 it dawned on me that I have never played through the HOW or the new Luremaster expansion on IWD so I stopped playing that and loaded up my IWD UE and installed the Luremaster module as well.

Now I have a few questions for you vets around here.

A few years back I did play through IWD and I remember that the further along I got the easier it seemed to get.

So to make the game hard here's my plan. Hopefully some of you vets can tell me if this will be a good idea or not.

I rolled up six characters and I only allowed myself 1 "reroll" of the stats. So basically I would hit store on the first roll then hit reroll and I had to use the stats of whatever was the better of the 2.

My party ended up something like this(may not be exact ability scores cause I'm going on memory):

Human Paladin LG
Long Sword **
Great Sword **
10 str, 18 dex, 16 con, 3 int, 14 wis, 17 cha

Human Fighter TN (will be dueled to Druid at level 2 or 3)
Club **
Longsword ** (I hope there are some decent scimitars in this game)
18/87 str, 10 dex, 16 con, 3 int, 18 wis, 17 cha

Elf Fighter/Theif CN
Bow **
Halberd **
18/95 str, 19 dex, 17 con, 8 int, 6 wis, 8 cha

Human Ranger CG (will be dueled to Cleric at level 2)
Mace **
Sling **
18/89 str, 18 dex, 16 con, 3 int, 18 wis, 3 cha
(Wow it's easy to get nice rolls for a ranger)

Half-Elf Bard CN
Crossbow **
Short Sword **
10 str, 18 dex, 12 con, 18 int, 10 wis, 18 cha

Human Fighter NE (will be dueled to Necro at level 2)
Sling **
Dagger **
10 str, 18 dex, 10 con, 18 int, 18 wis, 3 cha

(What was really annoying was I really lucked out on the str roles for my archer and cleric but got a really crappy role for my Paladin who is the only real tank, but I stuck to my rule of only 1 reroll)

I also set the difficulty to "Hard".

So my question is will this group be good enough to be able to get through on "Hard" and will it maintain a difficulty so that towards the end of the game I'm not on auto mode? If not then please make some suggestions as to how I can make the game difficult but not impossible so that I'm constantly having to reload battles.

I also hope that I can find some gloves of Orge Str or something for my Paladin.

Finally one last question - What level should I dual the Fighter to Druid. 2, 3, or 6? He has a nice str role but his Dex really stinks, which means his AC is gonna be 4 behind what it could be.

I'm glad I found this site because this place ROCKS for IE game info. I'll be around here for a long time. I can tell I'm on a newfound love of the IE games. When I get done IWD I'm moving on to IWD 2 then I'm going for a spin through BG1 to TOB.

 

Welcome to the board !

1)You won't find strength raising items before chapter6, the last chapter in the original game.
Use the strength spell on everyone.

2)Hard is easier than normal because you gain more XP and therefore more HP,thac0, saving throws, spells, ...

3)Dual to druid at level3 for mastery in scimitars or at level7 for the extra half attack.
I'd also wait at least until level 3 with the Necro or even longer. The bard can handle the spells very long and you won't find scrolls fast enough anyway.

4) You could beat the game with a far weaker party.

5) your fighter/thief should learn longswords so he can backstab.

6) Your bard should use bows instead of crossbows. There are no good ones she can use.
Bards can't have ** in a weapon.


Try to play a game without reloads for additional suspense or count your reloads and tell us the number afterwards.

 

I think your right about Hard being easier. I'm gaining levels like crazy.

That's a bummer there are no str items until that late in the game

I've made it to Kuldahar and so far it really hasn't been that hard. The extra xp is really nice I have to admit. The drawback seems to be that the really strong monsters like Yeti or Orges can really do some high number damage on you.

I thought my Paladin was going to be a total gimp with 10 str but turns out shes the only one that I never have to worry about. With no magic items her AC is -3 (do Paladins get a bonus to AC from cha???)

The gimp in my party turns out to be the Fighter/Druid. The low dex is just killing him. AC is 6 after the dual-class. Even the lowlyiest goblin is having no problems hitting him. I'll have to find some way to improve his AC soon or he'll end up having to use nothing but a sling. (Maybe have one of the mages cast cat's grace on him)

So it seems I now have to decide whether or not to restart again and maybe take a weaker party. I'm thinking maybe no dual-classes.

Problem is I'm really getting attached to the party I made. I might just keep going with them. I think I'll go into the vale of shadows and see how I do in there first. iirc there is a nasty fight on one of the lower levels.

 

There are some good fights there, and you should have found either some good armor or enough money to buy some by the time your'e done. You can change the level back to normal at any time from the game options menu if you wanted to.

 

With HoW the Vale of Shadows is the easiest part of the game since the monsters don't work in teams there.

 

I decided to turn the difficulty back to normal. I finished the vale of shadows.

Going into the forgotten temple now and it seems the game really starts to get interesting here. The fights aren't quite so easy anymore and for the first time in the game I'm having to pause and use tactics to win.

Things are getting interesting now.

What would be a good level to go back to Kuldahar and begin the HOW quest?

 

HoW is best started after finishing IwD with exported characters.

Once your characters have reached level9 you can start HoW anytime you like. After placing the 6 badges in chapter6 and before going up the stairs is the last chance to start HoW inside a normal game.

 

Frek, have you played the 2nd small IWD1 expansion Tales of The Luremaster? If not, you should do your darnedest to find it. First off all it has the latest patches to the game built into the install.

But best of all, it adds a great big new area that greatly enhances the enjoyment of IWD1/HOW.

If you don't have it, (TOTL does not come with the so-called Ultimate IWD edition) do yourself a great favor and look for it. It's probably still out there on the net somewhere for download.

 

If you start the expansions when your paladin has reached 300,000 XP, they will be more challenging, but the rest of IWD will be far easier.

 

Actually, there are a few str items available in ch 3. One item in particular is a certain elfbone ring that is found via a random drop (meaning its not always found).

Other than that, there isnt really anything else I can add. Yes HoW should be kept until the end, if not after the end, of IWD lest the original game become too easy.

Also, as for dual-classing, I found in my most recent game that, when your dif slider is maxed, your characters will level up at a rapid rate. I made the mistake of dualing my fighter to a mage at lv 4 in the Vale... with the xp influx i retook my levels within an hour or two and kicked myself for not waiting until i had reached a higher level...

 

The random items (if you find one of them) only give +1 str which won't really help your 10 str paladin. You won't find items which set strength high before chapter6 or HoW.