newbie questions on IWD2

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hello folks,

i'm new to iwd2 (but i've played iwd, bg 1+2 etc ...) and i have some simple questions that can hopefully easily be answered.

1.) which level are the characters going to achieve during a normal playthrough (since i'm not planning on hof) ? 16, 17 ??

2.) how important are charisma / intelligence / diplomatic skills for conversations ?? will i miss a lot if i let my half-orc do the talking ?

3.) is this party well enough designed for a normal playthrough (i'm new to 3rd edition rules)??
* human sorcerer
* shield dwarf battleguard of tempus
* half-orc fighter
* aasimar paladin
* drow rogue(1)/mage
* human ranger(1)/druid

4.) which skills and feats are extremely important but not so obvious (concentration is obvious) ??

5.) how many skill points in pick lock and disarm trap is my rogue going to need to get through the game ??


thanks a lot guys and any addtional comments are very welcome

[ November 03, 2004, 22:59: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

I can't answer the first question but on the second one about the charisma and diplomatic skills. This does have a good effect on some of the story. My wizard has the highest diplomatic points in my party and thanks to him people were able to reveal their leader's name or what will happen next. A good charismatic character is respectively a good leader for your party. Since most of the NPC's talk to your leader.

Your party config seems fine, but i would suggest to replace the human sorceror with a human wizard because sorceror's spells are not as powerful as wizard spells, also sorcerors don't have the ability to write magic scrolls into the spellbook like wizards do. Also, you might want to replace the rogue/mage with either a pure cleric. While rogues are essential for picking locks and such any character can be giving points in those areas too. The cleric would make the party balance, because clerics can have some useful spells like healings or resurrection spells and clerics are decent melee characters. Which will speed up your killing time.

Numerically, you have a balance party (3 fighters with three spellcasters) but if you put a cleric in there it balances it like this (in some situations the balance would be 4 fighters and 2 spellcasters which would be necessary for simple victory, but in other situations that arise in the later parts of the game the balance would then be 3 to 3) But it all depends on the way you like to play

 

My experience with wizards is that thier primary weakness is how rare spell scrolls tend to be. That said, making him a drow and delaying his wizard levels by one should balance it out nicely so he should be getting scrolls about when he needs them. I assume you're taking the level of Roge first for the skill points?

Of course, your sorc won't have these problems with scrolls. Definitely make him the talker with his cha. It's not game breaking, but it should be a little easier. That said, there are quite a few race/class specific responses, so don't be afraid to mix it up to see what happens.

I would certainly consider swapping the Ranger/Druid for a Cleric. They make good fighters if need be, have some of the better buffs, and of course ressurection is always your friend.

Still, your party seems perfectly capable, and half the fun of this game is trying out new and differant party combos. So have fun.

 

1) I think 17-18 levels in normal mode is expected. I managed to get up to level 21 for all my characters with a bit of level squatting in the underdark and the Hand.

2) If you don't have sufficient required ability points when engaging in conversation with certain NPCs, you will miss out on certain side quests. True, you don't have any fatal game blocking problems, as anyone can get through the main points of the game, but you will NOT get certain dialog choices, if you are...say, not intelligent enough, or not charismatic enough or not wise enough. This will mean that you WILL miss out on a fair bit of experience, due to lack of ability points OR skill points.

3) Technically, this game is very easy, and ANY character can solo the game, (relative experience doesn't make it a cakewalk, like BG2), which means ANY party can beat the game too. However, your particular party will pwn the game while doing it.

4) I very HIGHLY recommend boosting Concentration as high as you can for ALL spell casters, to the exclusion of other skills, if required. Rogues also would do well to take their special feats, if possible, because they are well worth it. Also, you better be taking all the Spell Focus feats you can, in the areas you can. Specialising your Druid in Evocation and Transmutation, your Mage in Enchantment and Evocation, etc...you know what I'm talking about.

5) I recommend your total score to be at 20 (including your dex modifier). People might find that excessive, but the bare minimum SHOULD be atleast 15.

 

thanks a lot guys, that was exactly that bit of information i was hoping to get.

@ kalakdan
excuse me, but what do you mean by 'sorcerer's spells are not as powerful as wizard spells' ?? but anyhow, this shan't turn into a sorcerer vs wizard debate.

and i think i've got a cleric with my neat lil' dwarf. plus i've got a druid. do you think i need a third divine spellcaster ??

@kam
i actually like to go with a druid because of my bg2 experience with jaheira. her 'insect swarm' disabled whole groups of mages and the like. and i don't think i'll need three divine spellcasters.

[ November 03, 2004, 16:59: Message edited by: nightwood ]

 

A full six member party should get to L16 by the end of the game. If you level squat you might even go higher.

You wont miss out on a lot. But there are a few situations where you might slightly benefit. Nothing game breaking.

*A level or 3 of paladin will allow you far better saves. In which case choose Aasimar.
*The battlegaurd really need not be more than a mixin. Morninglord, dreadmaster, stormlord and painbearer are better. Drow maybe.
*Fighter/Barbarian is better.
*Paladin/Fighter is better at melee while Paladin/Cleric is a better spellcaster. Pure paladin is a waste.
*Rouge[2] will get evasion. This is one of the better combo's around.
*Might as well leave this one behind. Will be useful but not really necessary.

Cleave, Improved Critical for melee fighters. Blindfight for high Dex charecters. Elemental feats for anyone.
Spellcraft for spellcasters. Intimidate for fighters. Wilderness Lore.

12 a piece should be enough for most traps and locks. There are a couple of locks which may still require potions of thievery.

 

so far everythin went pretty easy. my party is now around lvl 5/6 and we're heading off towards the goblin or ork-fortress.
the battles have all been mostly walks in the park.

but just how in the original icewind dale i feel that my mages are pretty useless and that i could do without them (unlike in bg2). and since in normal mode my party won't go beyond lvl 16/17 i guess my arcane spellcasters are not going to make much use of abi dalzim, time stop and the like.
so here's another question : does one actually 'need' mages/sorcerers , eg for reasons of breach ... or can one just go without them and add a little more tank power instead ?? or to put it in a different way : how nasty will adversary spellcasters become in later stages of the game (so far i've only encountered the usual ork-shamans and a xuki who seemed to be pretty keen on negotiating in hopeless situations) ??

as always, thanks in advance

 

I was gonna give you a long list of all the mage spells that can save your ass. But its way too long.
Suffice to say that there will be times when you will be glad you had a sorcerer in your ranks. Even if all you give him are defensive or buff spells. You will need at least one sorcerer in your party.

 

@shrik

ok, but what for ? will enemy mages be so tough and so buffed that i can't go without a sorcerer ? i mean, i don't need a mage for damage-spells, i don't need him for 'web' or 'chaos' , i only *need* him to break through spell protections.

p.s. i actually love sorcerers, i'd only like to know if i need them.

 

Enemy mages! Who the hell gives a damn about enemy mages!

Those pathetic freaks go down so fast it's not even funny. Unlike BGII this game does not have 'protection from magical weapons' or other spells which would give a mage a chance to survive.
Thorasskus and Sablic Tan are two mages who allegedly have the highest CR rating in the game. When I read that I couldn't believe it coz I'd run roughshod over them.

Fact is there are no mage battles for you to indulge in in the game. You dont really need to get through any mages spell protections. Dispel magic will more often than not be enough for you.
IIRC the last time mages were a problem was because there were about 7-8 of them, all conjuring up shades.

But there are a lot of places where the innate abilities of your opponents will make life hell for you. Once you get higher level spells you will find yourself thanking the sorcerer.
You will need 'Web' when there are simply a horde of creepy things swarming around you. Stoneskin, Imroved Invisibility are what finally got me thru the infamous squares. Wail of banshee and Executioner's eyes will make short work of long drawn out battles. Without these and offensive spells like fireball and sunfire, you will find that enemies drain away your HP so fast, you get tired of resting to get back to 100%.

You dont need the sorcerer but he sure makes life a hell of a lot easier. And faster.

 

Agreed - the enemy mages don't cheat as much as the BGII ones but they can still be tricky.

 

@shrik

that's basically what i feared - no interesting magical duels in the game.
i remember while playing iwd 1 for the first time the only spell i considered useful was 'haste' - but that was before i played bg2 and learned my magicks.

and i agree that sunfire or fireball are nice, but that's nothing a nice broad chested half-orc with a stenght of twenty-something can't do in a couple of rounds, too.

anyways, thanks folks.

 

Well it is necessary that sorcerors or wizards be in your party not to negate enemy mages but to fight off powerful monsters that are immune to almost every weapon you could possibly ever own. Just wait until about Chapter 3 and you will be sorry if you do not have a spellcaster in your party

 

Arcane casters are not there for the one on one battles. That was never their forte.
Notice that the spells I listed were either buffs or mass damage spells. You really dont know yet how annoying it gets being surrounded by large numbers of creeps.

I have an Aasimar Paladin of Ilmater [3]/Sorcer [x] with initial stats 16-12-16-6-10-20. This guy does melee and sorcery. Take someone similar and you wont regret it.

 

@dalakdan

aah, immunity tp physical attacks. that's finally a concrete piece of information.

 

It is best to keep your mages far away from the heat of battle as possible. I suggest equipping your spellcasters with missile weapons (preferably the ones that return back to you) so you can cast a spell at a safe distance and then add some damage from your missiles. Spells like web and entangle can contain your enemies to a certain place while your blast them with offensive spells like Magic Missile and Fireball.

I suggest offensive spells that hit individually because spells with area effects could damage your fighters also. Only use area effect spells when you are sure your fighters can handle it.

 

..or you have a decoy with high Reflex saving throws, Evasion ability and high Magic Resistance. Then you can pepper him (and the monsters around him) with spells for all eternity.

Careful with that Horrid Wilting, though.. it's neither Evadable nor Magic resistible. But Mirror Image will take care of protecting from that, too.

 

1.) I don't quite know. I would guess around 200,000 XP; probably just under level 20.

2.) I vaguely remember a walkthrough that gives you the necessary stats to get the dialogue choices. It varies, but most take 14's or under, with one or two options taking 18's.

3.) That's a great party.

4.) Alchemy comes into play twice; one of which really comes in handy. Don't concentrate on it at first, but put a point in it every level.

5.) Depends on dexterity, of course. Level 20.

---

On a side note, be sure to balance the spells your wizard has with the spells your sorcerer has. Try to diversify.

 

Alchemy comes into play twice; one of which really comes in handy. Don't concentrate on it at first, but put a point in it every level.

I thought alchemy was useless, but it really isn't. Alchemy helps identify unknown potions along with Arcana Knowledge. If your wizard has a high enough intelligence, He should get about six or seven skill points when he levels up. divide them evenly among the skills that only cost one point, and if there are any left put the remainder into some 2-point skills. or just save them for the next time.

 

Here's the deal, put sorcerers or wizards if you want to make the game and the lives of your characters easier, if you want a REAL challenge why not try a full melee party and with just divine spell casters? I've got a four man party now and 3 of them could cast divine and my rogue(1)monk(20)sorcerer(9) build can only cast mage armor and shield, I'm about to enter the second level of the horde fortress and I've got to say I miss having a full time bombadier.