IWD2 -- thinking of giving it a serious try

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What patches are needed and mods suggested? What order do they go in?

Also, what do you think of this party?:

CG Dwarf Cleric (Tempus) X (Tank/Healer)

LG Human Monk X (Scout, plus I heard they're really cool in this game)

LG Aasimar Paladin 2/Sorcerer X (I wouldn't take the Paladin levels until I had the spell Fireball. Also, am I better with 1 level since the "Resist Fear" might go to waste with a Sorcerer staying towards the back of the party?)

CN Drow Bard X (sounds like a weird combo, but they've got the perfect stat bonuses for it! Also, which class compliments the Bard better, Cleric or Wizard? I can't decide whether or not I want this character to be Male or Female, and I might consider dipping into one of these classes for a few spells and powers. If I go Male, and choose 1 level of Enchanter, do I get a bonus to Enchantment spells cast as a Bard?)

LN Human Monk 1/Druid X (I'm not positive I'll add that one Monk level, but if I like shapeshifting, the WIS bonus should appy to AC when shifted, which is a cool ability!)

CG Drow (Male) Fighter 4/Barbarian 3/Rogue 3/Wizard X (This is my second scout, along with the Monk. I'm not sure if I'll ever add those Wizard levels, or if I'll just improve the other levels a bit more)

 

dwarf: perfect go with him

human monk: will be weak at first, use missile weapons until mid levels

asimar: no need for the pally level until late, unless you want the weapon feats early. 1 level is fine, you will cast major buffs vs feat before they become a problem

drow bard: sounds good, you might want female cleric dip for extra buffs/'heals. Sorry, no bonuses to bard spells either way.

human m/d: this will be your 2nd tank, mid game kill leader

last drow: skip all those fighter/barb dips. Go Rogue2/wizX. Start rogue for skill points, then go wizard until you get some cool spells, later dip of rogue for evasion, more skill pts for disarm traps. More spell power is good!!!

I'd go with stardard patches first time through. Undead Targos, extra merchants, etc for later tries.

 

Patch to version 2.01 is essential, the rest optional. I only installed the official bonus merchants.

1) With the right stats he'll dominate your party.
2) has his advantadges, but don't exspect him to do as much damage as a warrior would.
3) I doubt that even the first paladin level is worth waiting longer for the powerful spells.
4) Since your drow will probably only be level 15 at the end, you have only 4 levels after the last bard song. High level bard spells are more useful than low level mage or cleric spells.
A powergaming build would have 3 or 4 wisdom.
5) If you really want the monk level then wait at least until you the get the dire bear form.
6) OK mix

The game shouldn't be too hard with this party if you don't mess up stats, skills and feats.

 

Different angle here:

I've decided I'm really only interested in a "normal mode" game. Here's my updated party. Again, any and all suggestions are welcome:

1) Aasimar Fighter 4/Paladin X. This is my main tank. He'll also be there to do some talking (just not where a reward is involved! [Wink] ) I took a peek at the "Ease of Use" mod, and there's an option to make the Holy Avenger sword a Greatsword. I'm going to take that route, I think, and specialize in it (that's what those 4 levels of Fighter are for).

2) Dwarf Cleric of Tempus X. Another great tank, she also is a great spellcaster. Axes all the way.

3) Human Monk X. This is my scout, and will serve as a flanking tank-type. I understand they get really powerful at higher levels.

4) Halfling Rogue 2/Bard X. This character will hand all the locks and traps, and will do a lot of talking, as well as identifying stuff. Since the Bard class is a support character anyway, I don't mind so much on missing out on some levels.

5) Elf Druid X. I chose Elf because they're natural tree-huggers, and the Bow proficiency will help out when not casting spells. Unless shapechanged, I think I'd like to keep a lightly armored Druid away from the front-line.

6) Human Sorcerer X. This is my firepower character.

 

I recommend using darts as a primary weapon for the Rogue/Bard; his halfling race will get a +1 bonus to attack while using them, on top of the +1 attack/AC bonus against a medium sized monster. Going against a large creature, your rogue has a +3 bonus to hit, and a +2 to AC right off the bat! Seeing as most of the enemies in IWD2 are fairly large, I think that you made a good choice there.

 

Diplomacy is usually used for bargaining for better rewards and sometimes used for lying. It's not really worth it to invest in it for a paladin, since he will neither take rewards nor lie.

 

1) I had the same mix in my game. It's playable, but I'd prefer either a pure paladin (for +4 holy smite damage and +4 damage from the "holy power" spell later) or taking only 3 paladin levels, dumping wisdom and enjoying additional bonus feats.

3) From the powergaming perspective dwarf or half-orc would be better since you need neither many skill points, charisma nor an extra feat. But human is also playable.


4)Someone who sacrifies himself for the party.
Since you'll want both 18 int and 18 cha the physical stats will be weak, even if you drop wisdom down to 3.
But even if the HP,dex, carrying capacity and kill statistics will be low he'll be a very valuable party member.

5)Bow feat is useful since druid is the only class unable to use crossbows. You'll need at least 10 int to raise both concentration and spellcraft.
The "wild boar" shape is more powerful than it might look at the beginning.

6) I had one too. She had 3 int, I spent skill points in concentration and 14 in spellcraft, so she could take "spirit of flame" at level 12. I recommend dumping wisdom.

 

Your party looks fine and is well balanced! It gives tou a good chance to really try out some classes.

@BlckDeth: They haven't implemented the sizes in this game so a halfling won't get an AC/attack bonus and will be able to use greatswords.

 

kmonster...

I've played both combos, pure pally and pal X/ftr 4 and both can be successful.

I never got all that excited about the holy smite special ability because it was once a day and for only one blow. With that much limitation, only adding your CHA bonus to damage seemed rather wimpy.

If you're looking for adding damage, I see nothing wrong with going the pal X/ftr 4 route because you'll be getting +2 to damage with every blow all the time after you've got your 3 points in your chosen weapon, not just when you're under the influence of a spell (which can be dispelled, BTW).

OTOH, you will give up 4 additional levels of pally and that will lower your spellcasting abilities and the power of your pally's Lay Hands healing.

Another point is that when you're trying to infiltrate a certain location (being obtuse so that I don't really spoil), a pure pally will not be willing to cloak himself, whereas a pal X/ftr 4 would be willing to do so. Twas quite a shock the first time it happened to me.

Agreed. And it doesn't hurt to take a point or 2 of Wilderness Lore early on, for a certain dark forest. Also, I'm going to be starting up a new party soon and am going to be playing a Wild Elf Druid for much the same reason.


BlckDeth:

I most certainly would not recommend using darts with this character. To heck with the +1 AB for halflings and throwing weapons. This interesting, but likely quite weak, character should probably stay as far from melee as possible. Give him a bow or crossbow. Leave the darts and throwing daggers to strong tanks who want to add their STR bonus to damage.


Good luck, Klorox. Looks like an interesting party.

 

@crucis: According to the manual you get the charisma modifier as to hit bonus and the paladin levels are added to damage. Is this just another manual error ?

If it is as you wrote a fighter 4/paladin x makes even less sense compared to a paladin3/fighter x in a normal game.
He won't gain more than 12 paladin levels. You have to waste points in wisdom for being able to cast level 1-3 spells the cleric can handle very easily.

 

Kmonster, my bad. I was reading your post without rereading the manual. Still, +1 hp/level of damage seems pretty wimpy until you reach the higher levels and/or HOF, and even then all those extra HP of damage seem minor compared to the number of HP in the monsters you'll be fighting at those levels, particularly for a special ability that you can only use in one attack, once a day.


Regarding WIS points and pally spellcasting, I've often started pallies with only a WIS of 8 cuz I was looking forward to the very useful Every (Any?) Gods Ring, and the WIS bonus pally reward after a certain battle.


Like I said, it's all a trade-off. If you want to maximize damage all the time, maybe 4 levels of fighter and a specialized weapon is the way to go. But if you want maximized pally special abilities and spellcasting, pure pally is the way to go.

 

kmonster said:

I'm used to BG2 mostly, so this may be a silly question, but... if a sorcerer has an INT of 3, can he use wands and scrolls?

I'm starting to get the idea that powergaming is a big part of this game, and I'd like to know these things before I start.

TIA

 

I never experienced such a restriction, it wouldn't make sense any anyway, especially if you look at the description of the "use magic device" feat.

IWD2 isn't really that much about powergaming, only if you want to get through the game without reloading and using scrolls,wands,potions or magical ammo it will help.

The game difficulty was designed for parties like the pregenarated ones which are far away from powergaming.

 

Klorox, I completely agree with kmonster that powergaming need not be a "big part" of IWD2. It's merely a big part of the game for some people who, for whatever reason, seem to get great enjoyment from creating parties of super-characters.

It is entirely possible to complete both normal mode and HOF with normally decent characters, as long as you use decent tactics, have good weapons, etc.

 

@Mudde and Crucis:

Oops, you're probably right. I forgot that IWD2 ignored sizes-- it seems as though halflings lose all their worth in CRPGs . Coming from a D&D standpoint though, daggers/darts wouldn't be a poor choice for a halfling, as there are feats that allow you to use your DEX bonus to hit with throwing and light weapons (no damage bonus, though).

@Klorox:
Feel free to pitch INT with your sorcerer. All you need is spellcraft anyway, which you need 10 of to unlock the Spirit of Flame feat and its ilk (+20% x spell-type damage).

 

BlckDeth, no worries. The thing is with thrown weapons that they get their best value with strong characters who have a big STR bonus to add to damage. This often doesn't exist with many rogues, particularly halfing rogues who will probably have very high DEX's. In spite of the nice little +1 AB bonus that halflings get with thrown weapons, a low STR, high DEX halfling will probably be better off with a longer range bow or Xbow, where STR bonus is not an issue than a much shorter range throwing dagger or dart.


But with regard to daggers and short swords in melee, weapon finesse is a wonderful feat for low STR, high DEX halflings, or any low STR, high DEX characters who might go into melee.