New Party Questions (coming from BG2)

[Blackraven.]

I'm just finishing BG2 and now I'm thinking of playing IWD2 again. I don't remember much about it and I have some questions for creating my party:

-For weapon prof., which should I choose considering the number of powerful weapons of that type (not specific weapons please)
-For classes, how are they different from BG2? Which are more/less powerful. I remember there are a bunch of really cool spells that aren't in BG.
-Are there any other significant rule changes that affect choosing a party (dual weilding, backstab) that I should know?

Thanks in advance!

[anarchistica]

I'm thinking about starting a new IWD2 game as well, or changing my party a bit. I got to the second stage of the Underdark, the last levels of Chapter 4 (so i only got 1/2-1/3 of all weapons). Anyway, to answer your questions a bit:

Weapons

The best weapons i found:

Large Sword +2, Good only, good vs Undead
Small Blade, good vs armor, hits often
Spear +4
Mace +1, extra damage
Mace +1, extra damage
Mace +3, good vs Undead
Quarterstaff, lots of % effects
Small Blade, 50% chance extra damage
Great Sword, bonus vs Humans

Axe, throwing weapon, extra damage, hits often
Small Blade, throwing weapon, extra damage
Crossbow +2, extra attacks
Crossbow +3

I hope that is vague enough. Items seem to spawn randomly so you might get other stuff (though that sword at the top of the list is part of a quest, i guess you always get it).

Classes

IWD2 uses 3rd edition rules, so you get lots of extra races the classes are different and stats are more important. In 2nd edition only stats above 14 generally did something, in 3rd edition bonuses start from 12. The key to a succesful character is combining classes that complement/supplement each other or use the same main stat. Many classes are only useful for the first couple of levels, which will give them most/their best bonuses.

A very brief overview.

Barbarian

Good as a pure class (i.e. no other classes) or with 4 Fighter levels. You can also take 1-3 levels for Rage, Uncanny Dodge, Faster Movement.

Bard

Good as a pure class. If you mix it with another class, take 5 (Tymora's Melody) or 7 (Blink) levels of the Bard.

Cleric

Good as pure class. You can also combine it nicely with 4 Fighter levels or 1-3 Paladin levels. Also, both the Cleric and Monk like high Wisdom, so 1-3 Monk levels help too.

Druid

Good as a pure class. You can also combine it with the Barbarian for Rage (which works when you are shapeshifted).

Fighter

Weak as pure class. You get all benefits from this class (i.e. Weapon Specialization > +2 damage with a weapon class) with just 4 Levels. More levels give you bonus feats but you don't really need those.

Monk

Good as pure class. You can also take 1-3 levels for extra movement speed, evasion, deflect arrows, still mind and, most importantly, adding your Wisdom bonus to your AC.

Paladin

Weak as pure class. The first 3 levels give everything you want. Immunity to disease, Charisma bonus added to saving throws, Lay Hands, Smite Evil (lvl 2), cure disease (lvl 3), Immune to Fear (lvl 2, gives allies morale bonus within 3 metres). Combines well with Sorceror (has Charisma as main stat) and Cleric (Wisdom/Charisma).

Ranger

Weak, just weak. The Ranger gets a favoured enemy (+1 damage vs that race, +1 to damage & another race picked every 5 levels) and ambidexterity/two weapon fighting if wearing light armour. That's it. A miniscule damage bonus and the fun of wearing crappy armour to get 2 feats. If you get 4 Fighter levels, you get weapon specialization (+2 damage) and 2 bonus feats (that work regardless of the armour you are wearing). Don't bother.

Rogue

Weak as pure class. Has some very nice abilities. Three levels gives you Sneak Attack (2D6), Evasion, Uncanny Dodge and enough points in Disable Device to disable many traps. You can combine it well with a Barbarian (evasion/uncanny dodge stack, high dex is nice for medium armour), Monks (high dexterity, evasion/uncanny dodge), Wizards (Intelligence, low AC, stealth), etc.

Sorcerer

Good as pure class. Works with 1-3 Paladin levels, maybe some Bard levels or 1-3 Rogue levels.

Wizard

Good as pure class. Can be combined with the Rogue (stealth/evading) or Barbarian (creating a fighter/mage with Blur, Mirror Image, Blink, Stoneskin).

Spells/Rules

In 3rd edition, most spells from 2nd come back in some form, and there are some notable new ones like Bull's Strength (pumps Strength) and Blink (great defensive bonus).

The rules have stayed the same for most part, but you get Skill and Feats that add a lot of options, and your stats/abilities need to be more balanced. Every 2 points over 10 gives you a +1 bonus (12, 14, 16, 18, etc), every 2 points below 11 gives you a -1 penalty (9, 7, etc). Generally speaking, you want at least 10 in every stat aside from Charisma, which can be ignored for most classes.

Backstabbing is replaced with Sneak Attack, which always works if your target is fighting (attacking) someone else.

Finally, IWD2 has certain class-based reactions. If someone sings, you might wanna try talking to this person with your Bard. If someone is a Druid or needs healing, talk to this person with a Druid. If someone is a goody-two shoes, they will like your Paladin, etc. If i'm not mistaken, Paladins and Monks are prone to refuse rewards for quests, so you might want to have a high-Charisma Sorceror or Bard around for such talks.

[Blackraven.]

Thanks for the info!

Paladin/sorcerer sounds like a lot of fun , I don't think that was allowed in BG2. Maybe I'll make a super goody-two-shoes party with paladin, paladin/cleric, paladin/sorcerer.... and a fighter/rogue and mage or druid. I'm assuming paladin/rogue is not allowed, it would be kinda silly.

Shame there's no backstabbing, my fighter->thief in BG2 had >%50 of the kills in my party. He could clear out an entire area with his backstab. Oh well.

[jeremiah]

As alignment cannot be changed in this game without a character editor or hack, then paladins cannot multiclass with bards.

[anarchistica]

As alignment cannot be changed in this game without a character editor or hack, then paladins cannot multiclass with bards.

Ugh, i knew i forgot something. I blame it on blaming NWN, IWDII and BG at the same time.

[kmonster]

Multiclassing works differently in 3E, you don't get levels for nearly for free anymore. Multiclassing spellcasters is now the best way to cripple them, so be careful. One fighter level in IWD2 will slow down a mage's level progression more than 9 fighter levels in BG2 for example.

[Zaleukos]

I kind of like to combien rogue and ranger for a dual wielder/archer character, but it's probably not the most powerful build. I'd probably mainly take rogue levels since sneak attack damage goes up and you get some very nice feats (improved evasion etc) at higher levels. Excellent scout/decoy that wont be hurt by the odd fireball. I guess one level of ranger would do for the dual wielding feats.

A monk can of course fulfill the same task (he'll also get the evasion feats), but I found the monks attack bonus extremely underwhelming. The one time I had one in my party he had serious trouble hitting anything with his fists, making the extra attacks rather uninteresting. Giving him a +5 quarterstaff made him hit a bit more often though. A monk might have higher AC due to the wisdom bonus which is a plus.

[jeremiah]

Too bad sneak attack doesn't seem to function like NWN. There when an enemy is incapacitated, then all attacks done are sneak attacks.

I notice the sneak attack applies only to the first attack in IWD2 even when an opponent was held and couldn't fight back. Definitely take advantage of power attack during those times. I guess if you swing to another incapacitated opponent then back perhaps you can sneak attack again but that seems a waste of rounds.