Help with Opening Doors to Next Dungeon

Also the wizards take some nasty penalties unless you take the "armored arcana" feat, along with proficiency feats for the weapons and armor you are wearing.
An alternate to taking those feats is to take a level of fighter, ranger, or paladin which will get you proficient in all weapons and armor except the bastard sword.
If you take a rogue level, you can get proficiencies in light armor and I think shields ( have to double-check on that). A barbarian level is like a warrior level except you don't get the heavy armor proficiency, which is fine because of the arcane spell failure.
Heck, a one level dip in any other class except sorcerer or monk will get you light armor proficiency, and any class that has the shield proficiency will give it to your wizard if he takes a level in that class.

It may not be worth it for a wizard, but some say a dip in paladin for a sorcerer is great because you not only get the armor and shield proficiencies, which can be used with armored arcana, but saving throw bonuses as well.
You sacrifice one level of spell advancement for a bunch of saving throw bonuses, a few extra HP, and weapon and armor proficiencies, including the ability to use bows instead of just crossbows and slings.

 

Well,, everyone of my characters have a shield. Weapons vary. I have a Sorcerer and a Mage and both can carry a sword plus my Cleric who has a Hammer. I'm going to have to stop playing this one and get back to my IWD I game and finish it.

BtW in the movie "The Hobbit" Gandolf uses a sword a lot and only uses the staff sparingly.

 

This isn't Middle Earth.
While Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson were inspired by LOTR and "borrowed" some material from it, there are differences. Although most of the "borrowed" material originally came from folk lore, especially European folklore, although they borrowed from many regions and traditions.
For one thing, it is the Paladin, not the Ranger that heals by laying on hands.

On the other hand, I see where you're coming from. I had that very same thought back when playing Curse of the Azure Bonds, my first experience with AD&D, as well as when my group formed and we were reading the PHB.

We did house rule that wizards could take swords so our players could build Gandalf-like characters.

It is also possible to mod the game if you really want your wizard to use a sword.
Just modify CLASWEAP.2DA using NearInfinity, or extract it using Infinity Explorer and either use one of the 2DA editors or even Notepad (Notepad++ is better).

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Sorry, I just realized you were still talking about IWD2 instead of IWD1. Sorry. No modding is needed for IWD2, you just need to give the character the appropriate feat, or take a level in a class that does have the shield proficiency feat.

 

Whoa Slick!!,, that is so beyond me. All I do is l play these games
But thank you for filling me in on that. I was just testing out the IWD II game
to see how different it was from the original. I do know that I like the Theme music
better in IWD then in IWD II. It's more dramatic and has a meaner feel to it.
IWD II music ( which I think is the same composition ) is more of a full symphony movement.

Anyway I'm back to my IWD first edition.
I keep running into these "Severed Souls" that can be nasty. The have wiped
out my party a few times. Just now starting to work on some strategy to kill them. Any suggestions ?

 

I don't recall which specific foe that was, but if it's undead, there is the same general advice.
Have your cleric buff the party, then turn undead to keep them away.
If they level drain you, cast negative plane protection as one of your buffs. The druid's entangle can also be useful even if it's a 1st level spell, as well as the wizard's grease, although web is better. Both web and grease can help.

Use ranged attacks on the fleeing undead, but concentrate on the ones that aren't running away first. Have your spell casters use missiles when not casting spells. Their THAC0 might be a bit high, but 1 in 20 shots is guaranteed to hit, and every little bit helps. Concentrate on taking down one at a time, don't spread out for individual engagements unless the enemies are pushovers (i.e. you're 5th level and attacking some 1st level orcs or goblins. Then you'd have everyone target a different baddie, though you might make the mage assist somebody else with poor attacking skills with his darts or sling)

 

Ahhh!, a man with good taste. The Byrds were one of my favorite bands.
Nice to share it with you Slick.

OK, I took out most of the Giant Skeletons and Severed Souls. Now up ( or down ) on another level and fighting some Ghost like Guards.
Fire ( like in Balls or Fire ) work good on most Monsters / Demons as long as your party members are not in the way also.

 

Goodness, Gracious! Great Balls of fire!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IjgZGhHrYY

 

Now I'm facing the Guards that one of the Elves trained and he wants us to kill them
so they can rest in peace and not suffer. The problem is they don't want to die.
There are a few of them and the last bunch had some Wizard with them. Now I'm up against a bunch
that have archers and they are Zeroing in on my Cleric ( because they are ghosts I guess )
and so keeping her alive is a challenge.

 

Turn the ghosts. They won't turn your Cleric into a pincushion if they are facing the wrong way.
Have the tank tie up the fighters and let your second-string charge the archers. The archers aren't that good in melee but it will keep them from firing. Again, turning undead makes them run away temporarily and takes them out of the fight so you can focus on the ones still attacking.
Many people hate chasing them down, but if you're having problems, making them run away reduces the number of baddies you have to face at one time. If they all flee, you can chase them and pelt them with ranged attacks with impunity. EVERYONE should have at least one pip in some kind of missile weapon, be it a longbow, shortbow, cross-bow, sling, or dart. Given that anyone can use a sling, you should try to have the people that can take longbow proficiencies, and make sure at least one person can use one of each weapon type except possibly darts since there aren't a lot of good ones.

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Oh, if archers are giving you trouble, try the 2nd level "protection from normal missiles" mage spell.
Also give the cleric boots of avoidance if you have them, or anything with a bonus to missiles weapons (some large shields or tower shields, plus a certain pair of bracers).

 

Thanks Slick. Well I tried the Tank fighting two swords men and rest ran to put down the Archers. Unfortunately getting there was like running a Gauntlet of others while the Archers are firing on us at the same time. My Tank died and so did two of the others in my party. So it was reload time.
This time I knew where they ( archers ) were and one of my Wizards has those lovely "Balls of Fire" that she let go ( twice ) right on top of them. Took them out with a flash. Next was their Wizard and the main Guy. The rest was easy.

 

Well, I see in the above post that I forgot to mention that if you encounter a tough fight, upon reload you should have your spellcasters buff the party before triggering it.
Cast bless, protection from normal missiles, haste, protection from evil 10' radius (or prot from evil on the tanks if you don't have that yet), strength spells on the melee fighters, defensive harmony, holy power, rightous wrath of the faithful, armor enhancing spells (armor, ghost armor, spirit armor, shield), etc.
Prayer and recitation should really wait until you are in range of the enemy since they not only buff the party, but debuff the enemy. The saving throw penalties can really come in handy, and if you cast recitation, prayer, then chant, they all stack, although chant may be more trouble than its worth, since it effectively slows and silences the cleric, but if you are facing undead, it might be feasible if after casting chant all he's going to do is turn them.
Heck, the cleric can be the one to tie up the enemy melee fighters after casting chant by acting as a decoy, getting in their face, and then just turning undead while letting them try to take him out while the warrior charges the enemy ranged attackers.

Oh, and you were right, using area of effect (AoE) damage spells can be quite effective, especially fireball. Normally I don't memorize enough of them to do more than soften them up, but that still can make a big difference, especially if you interrupt the mage's casting. One trick for mages that use mirror image or spell deflection/turning is to cast the AoE spell on the ground NEAR the mage, not on him.

If your mage level is 11 or less, which is most of the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the game, fireball is a better choice than skull trap. The reason is that it has a larger area of effect, and if the target saves they take half damage. Skull trap is slightly more powerful starting at level 11 and grows at the same rate that fireball did, but it has a smaller AoE and if the target saves they can escape damage.

 

OK,, thanks Slick. Very informative. Yea,, when I used the prayer and Recitation spells I thought it was buffing up the enemy also. I had no Idea it was de-Buffing them.

I still have to collect for one Quest i finished and then I'm off the the top of the tower.

Thanks again for sharing.

( 1 ) OK,, I have made it to the top of the Severed Hand tower. All that was there was some large spiders and no other continuing stairs or doors.

( 2 ) The old ELF in the Aboratorium wanted some seeds or very clean water, and something else. I have been lugging around that barrel of
Holy water. It doesn't seem like he wants that. ?. How much cleaner can it get then that.

 

Hello ????

 

Dan Simpson's guide covers the last two questions you asked in great detail. It is available here and on GameFAQs.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, I'm going to point you at the guide.
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/dl.php?s=IWD&f=IWD/icewind_dale.zip

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This site has a bunch of guides for the various games that can be worth investigating.
Here is the link to the Icewind Dale section. Check out the Games link on the main page at http://www.sorcerers.net.

 

Holy water is not fresh water. He needs to reseed and repopulate the arboretum -- not bless it. You will find clean water, seed and even cages of critters on your journeys, it is worth it to come back.

If you wish continual help with the game Simpson's guide is an excellent resource. For sporadic help, feel free to keep posting.

 

Thank you sir. That will help a lot.

 

I usually only post questions that aren't in the guides.
I'd recommend downloading them all from here and www.gamefaqs.com, consulting them first, then posting questions that aren't covered by the guides.
These days, on GameFAQs, you need to click the "view/download original file" link and then hit <CONTROL>-<S>.

 

I watched the "Super Dave" game and he takes a different approach to this game.
He throws a haste spell and runs through all the levels to get to the top or where ever he is going. Not really fighting anyone. He does fight some at some point.

Another thing I noticed ( as I'm sure some of you have ) he has different looking characters then the set I have. Are there different games out there or did he download some characters from some other site ?.

 

There are lots of portrait packs, some even available here. There are instructions in the readme files for the game on how to make your own custom portraits.

Actually, since the game is so old, finding some of the custom portrait packs not stored here might be harder than it was a decade ago.
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/IWD/index_mods.php

Upon checking, there are fewer here than I thought. I know there were some other sites with custom portraits and soundsets for IWD, but I'm unsure where to point you.

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Planet Baldur's Gate used to have some stuff, but it's gone.

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Ironworks gaming has some
http://www.tgeweb.com/ironworks/icewind/portraits.shtml

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I thought fileplanet's stuff was gone, but I found a working link:
http://www.fileplanet.com/42692/0/section/Customization

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Just search for one of the following.
"Icewind Dale" portraits
"icewind dale" portrait packs

The same goes for
"icewind dale" soundsets
"icewind dale" sound packs