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You don't need a thief in IWD. Locks can be bashed or opened with spells, and traps can be avoided or survived. It will require quite some reloads however.
For most players this is annoying as hell, but if you don't mind you can finish the game without. One disadvantage is that it can take a very long time to find secret doors since you don't have a thief who can actively search for them.

If you are worried about your mage's vulnerability give him a good shield and use self-protection spells. Using the spells shield, protection from evil, blur and mirror image should make him less vulnerable than the other party embers.

kmonster wrote:You don't need a thief in IWD. Locks can be bashed or opened with spells, and traps can be avoided or survived. It will require quite some reloads however.
For most players this is annoying as hell, but if you don't mind you can finish the game without. One disadvantage is that it can take a very long time to find secret doors since you don't have a thief who can actively search for them.

So what then is the point in not having a Thief?
A backstabbing Thief can do far more damage in one hit than any warrior type can do.
IMO a Thief is *the* most essensial class to have present in a party, since nothing can really sustitute their backstabbing, trap finding and trap disarming. They are also excellent for scouting ahead, an ability only the Ranger can duplicate.

octavius wrote:So what then is the point in not having a Thief?
A backstabbing Thief can do far more damage in one hit than any warrior type can do.
IMO a Thief is *the* most essensial class to have present in a party, since nothing can really sustitute their backstabbing, trap finding and trap disarming. They are also excellent for scouting ahead, an ability only the Ranger can duplicate.

I agree, but not with the backstabbing. I never can get it to work. But it gets a lot of positive comments, so it's probably me.

Well what do you need to have an efficient, to-the-end-game thief? if I make my thief a level 3 or 4 and then make him a fighter, don't I end with deficient lockpicking and trap skills? I don't really like this jack of all trades kind of character, tbh. I like dedicated killing machines

Maverique wrote:Well what do you need to have an efficient, to-the-end-game thief? if I make my thief a level 3 or 4 and then make him a fighter, don't I end with deficient lockpicking and trap skills? I don't really like this jack of all trades kind of character, tbh. I like dedicated killing machines

A Fighter/Thief *is* a killer machine, trust me.

GawainBS wrote:I agree, but not with the backstabbing. I never can get it to work. But it gets a lot of positive comments, so it's probably me.

You have to be hiding in shadows or be invisible and be standing *behind* the victim *and* be using a weapon a Thief can use, that is Daggers, Short Swords, Long Swords and Clubs.
Excellent way to eliminate enemy mages before they can even start a spell.

octavius wrote:You have to be hiding in shadows or be invisible and be standing *behind* the victim *and* be using a weapon a Thief can use, that is Daggers, Short Swords, Long Swords and Clubs.
Excellent way to eliminate enemy mages before they can even start a spell.

I know the theory, but given my luck in games, I fail my hide check JUST before stabbing, or the thief fails to hit the target. I've made some succelful backstabs, but I never rely on them.

A lvl 4 thief can be sufficient. Get 18 DEX, and be on a look out for some thief-only items. The mage in Kuldahar sells some of those. They enhance your skills. Keep all the thief potions you find. Only spend points on lockpicking and traps. A rough estimation: from levels and DEX you already get 70% in each of those skills, items add a further 10-15%, and a Master Thievery potion can boost it a further 15%? Give him a shield to make up for the lighter armour and a longsword/club/dagger and you're good to go.

Well now I can definitely agree this game is hard. I have problems with magic users, a lot of problems, like everytime I fight a team of magic users I lose , and my cleric is kinda inadequate for the WP I gave her, as she shouldn't be fighting up front. Clarify this for me, please. As a former WoW player (yeah I know lame blabla) would you say the thief is like a rogue? As in, melee damage dealer and utility user? I wanted that fighter character to simply be a damage dealer, but I don't think he's very good at it.

As for tanking, my paladin is at -5 AC, but he doesn't last long if all the monsters focus on him. Is that normal or not?

From what I've read, also, dualling a ranger at level 18 to a cleric is also mighty powerful, but I don't wanna be gimped until then, what do you think? is 2 tankers and a ranger enough?

You might want to try a full 6 member party. Four is certainly doable, but it takes some knowledge of the game.
Thief is not like a rogue. He can disable traps and open locks, and that's it, generally. If backstabbing doesn't go easy, try enabling "3E Sneak Attacks" in the config tool. It just requires your thief to be on the flank/back of an opponent.
A ranger can be great at dealing out damage. Just be sure he has 2 starts in the weapon he is using and not using a shield. Forget about leather armour, give him full plate. Make sure he has as high a STR as possible. 18/51 at the least, 18/80+ doesn't hurt. It takes some rolling and messing around points, but it's worth it. Increasing stats is very, very rare in this game.
For magic users: interrupt their spells. Either via archery, or via Magic Missile. Try to have take them out ASAP.
I suggest you read up on AD&D rules, so that you understand IWD better. It goes along a long way to beating this game. There's a good guide by Dan Simpson on Video Game Cheats, Reviews, FAQs, Message Boards, and More - GameFAQs .

A ranger18/cleric isn't a good idea since the game will be over long before dualclassing is complete.
And you already have a party cleric, there's no need for a second one. A human ranger7/cleric or even a ranger2/cleric is far superior to pure cleric, but it's a little late to replace him now.
Pure rangers are quite good, I recommend halberds or 2-handed swords for them, depending on which random weapons you found.


-5 AC isn't very good for a paladin with 18 dex, you can do much better. It's already reached by plate mail + protection from evil 10' cleric spell + paladin'S protection from evil.
When fighting mages it helps to improve saving throws for the party, there are a lot of spells which do this. You can also cast "animate dead" spell and have the mages waste their spells on highly resistent undead summons.
It also helps to buff your party with haste or other offensive spells, dead mages don't hurt anyone.

A very important thing about mage/cleric battles is that if you hit them with missile weapons you may trigger spell interruption. A mage that can't cast a spell is likely a quickly dead mage.

DaveO wrote:A very important thing about mage/cleric battles is that if you hit them with missile weapons you may trigger spell interruption. A mage that can't cast a spell is likely a quickly dead mage.

Not only missile weapons. Any hit that incurs before the casting is complete, can trigger this. That's why fast weapons are good. Missile weapons are good because bows get two attacks/round. I agree though that missile weapons seem to hit more frequently. Magic Missile also works wonders.