Having fun with the game

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I'm currently playing with a party of four, on normal difficulty. They just arrived in Kuldahar on game day 22 and it's the farthest I've ever reached in the game.

Party consist of:
Harald Grim - Aasimar Palading of Helm (2) / Watcher of Helm (12)
M'yr Danar - Half-Orc Barbarian (10) / Fighter (4)
Fenmir Xavras - Elf Rogue (2) / Transmuter (13)
Permian Stillwater - Human Sorcerer (15)

I also try to play in no-reload style. No reload except on crashes or like once when I had to use DaleKeeper2 because I have picked by mistake a totally useless feat for my transmuter: spell focus necromancy.

My impression is that the peak of difficulty was at the Horde fortress, there I had to do most raise dead and resurrections, after that it became easier. I'm delighted to see how powerful is the sorcerer: with mirror image, shield and Mordekainen sword it's better in melee than my barbarian!

Now some questions:

In the mind flayer citadel in underdark, I have the fought the mind flayers without problems, but it appears that some of them cast something like dimension doors when they are almost dead and disappears, never to appear again. What's happening?

I have used disintegrate spell with maximum success, but mostly against targets that don't drop a loot, so the question is: does disintegrate destroys the loot like in BG2 or not?

 

Nope, it doesn't. You should still get the loot from whatever character you've disintergrated. Also, don't worry too much about the mindflayers, as long as you sort out the elder brain then it's ok.
Glad you're liking the game, it's one of favourites!

 

Icewind Dale 2 rocks.

 

You'll notice that your 4 man team is a little ahead of the opponents in power, but that willl catch up to you. Add another 2 team members now and they will level up quickly! It will make your team a lot more powerful by end game. I would try something your team doesn't already have. Possibly Bard, Monk or Druid. Bard's are awesome, though I wouldn't go past level 11 for them, just add whatever class to the character that you lack the most in.

 

Monks get some handy features as they level up and druids are fun to play with. I've never found bards useful after you get past the Fell Wood. Even then, they're only useful for one quest...I probably don't take advantage of mine much though

 

Bards are useful for singing. Even if they weren't allowed to do anything but singing it' would still be worth having one in a party of 6.

 

Many players find uses for them as Arcane Warrior type spellcasters, although I found another effective strategy: Singing and auxiliary casting only. I stepped outside the box for a moment, and realized that bards don't get enough feats to make both spellcasting AND combat effective. So I focused on spellcasting & singing. I wouldn't recommend such a bard for a party of less than 5 members, but in a large party, they are amazing. With careful planning, they can effectively fill any shortcoming in your arcane and divine spell selections. What's even more amazing, is that in my party of 2 clerics, a druid, a wizard, a sorcerer and a bard, the bard is the only one who doesn't engage in melee. Whilst it's the bard that is 'advertised' as being the most melee-capable of the lot.

 

Yeah, and to this day I'm still shocked you actually included me in your SP run.

 

Thanks for the interesting suggestions. The reason I use a party of four is I don't like large parties, but yes, one more member, like a bard, can't hurt. It will also lower the average party level for better XP.

 

There are some problems with the Guardian battle that can deter the no-reload playing style, you may be aware of.

I buffed my party of 5 and proceeded to summon the Guardian. I hacked it with melee and lower resistance + offensive spells and I eventually won at the price of two characters dead. As one of the surviving characters rushed to pick up the equipment, the screen faded out and in displaying the message about the Guardian, and the party was forced to rest for 29 days ! Obviously, all the equipment was gone and this was not acceptable. This must also an error in the plot as the portal was supposed to close as soon the Guardian was slain, not after my party rested for days.

I reloaded and in the second attempt, none of my characters was killed. I started casting healing spells in hope to minimize the length of the forced rest, which never occurred. Waiting for the message of Guardian defeated to appear, I received the one with the portal being closed, and the game ended.

It was getting frustrating, but fortunately I have discovered there is an autosave generated immediately after Guardian was killed, so I loaded and headed straight for the portal.

One thing I have noticed, the Paladin's aura of courage does not protect the nearby party members from getting the fear effect of the dragon.

 

I've never had that problem with the guardian. It's always been kill him, auto rest for 8 hours and go straight through the portal. Must be annoying though!

Mind you, now I've said that, the next time I play through I'll probably get stuck!

 

Aura of Courage only gives save bonuses vs. fear, IIRC. The level 1 cleric spell Remove Fear gives immunity for 10 minutes; much more effective.
Paladins kinda suck. Give me a cleric any day.

 

I always thought that but I decided to take one along for the ride this time round and get a certain sword later in the game. With the sword, she aint to bad. Pretty limited without it though...not sure I'd bother next time

 

I am about to reach Severed Hand, after dispatching Saablic Tan with ease (the hasted Paladin/Cleric rushed in the middle of the bad guys and cast Holy Word => Game Over).

The party became so powerful that I became negligent in buffing or choosing the right spells. The battle with the Lost Followers was somewhat out of ordinary in the fact that one of my characters was killed, yet it was a matter of time until the most resilient of the baddies (the dwarf) bit the dust.

Having Baldur's Gate 2 in mind, the wizards in IWD2 are a joke. Too bad some of the most powerful spells are missing: Time Stop, Protection from Magical Weapons, Improved Alacrity. Since most spell casters in IWD2 are brought down by melee characters, imagine what could do the following spells: mirror image, protection from magical weapons, stoneskin, improved invisibility, then offensive spells at will.