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Hi everyone

New player to IWD2 and 3e rules. Here are some comments and questions.

First glance after playing through the prologue and 3/4 of chapter 1:

- Getting skills and feats are annoying - a lot of micro-management of the character it seems rather than role playing. You wonder what to choose next rather than playing the character it seems - or it is for me at least. Some of the feats - although useful - you have to remember to use them - more micro-management of the characters - I find a bit annoying and takes from the role playing and the game play. I could say more - but I will move on.....


A few questions about skills - how useful are they? Does a high CHA - counterbalance a low diplomacy skill? And how much diplomacy skill is needed? or for that matter how much skill point is needed to achieve a higher save percentage? How long can I stay hidden with hide and move silently combined? what are the chances of being caught with 7 points in each?


Moving on - the game itself - wow are there a lot of monsters and they all have mages/shamans backing them up - its taking forever to clear some of the areas of chp 1 - with all these bloody monsters to hack through. I sort of like it that IWD2 has such a huge amount of monsters - they are after all an invading force and should have numerical advantage and magic use. I think the most useful item I found was a non-magical item - oil of fire/lamp of oil - all which explodes on single or area affects - a very good item to use in the early part of the game - especially with no fireball and yet and masses of monsters to get through - never leave without at least a few bottles of the exploding potions.

On that note lets talk about magic - my wizard (a fighter/wizard) has a tremendously slow spell progression - At 3rd level - my mage still only had first level spells - and while there are a lot of scrolls you can buy - this slow progression (much slower than 2e rules it seems ) makes having a mage a lot more difficult in the early game - lucky for the fighter level - to add some missile support. Now some of you might say bring a sorcerer - and so I did - I've never made a sorcerer before but everyone on the forum seems to rave about them so I wanted to try one out and see if I liked it. Its okay - amazing that you get a lot of first level spells and get to choose which ones you want - no need for scrolls. The bad - I noticed that if my sorcerer had 5 level 1 magicmissiles and 5 mage armor - if she casted one spell from first level both would go to 4 spells remaining - it was a surprise - since i thought that each spell would remain there until she used it - but it my sorcerer casted 5 mage armor (the max allowed spells for the day and for that level) then she would have no spells to cast eventhough my sorcerer did not cast a sinlge magic missile - quite a surprise - and reduces the effectiveness of the sorcerer class at least a little.

More surprises in regards to the spell itself - the spells have been changed to some degree - some more powerful some less so. One staple for my mage is summoning monster - I only summoned one - no matter what the level was - my mage only summoned 1 monster - this is a change from 2e. I wonder if it is worth it just for 1 monster (really de-powered this spell - considering the hordes of monsters you are facing in each battle - there seems to be no way to even it out at the beginning of battle with just one mage casting summon monster.) One question on the subject of spells - for mage armor (and other spells with durations) does the duration does stack with class level or character level -- my mage is a 1fighter/3mage = 4 levels for duration or 3 levels for duration to figure out length (as the fighter class is a non-casting class)?

Some questions - although most were answered in the forum. How useful is multiclassing? I have 2 pure fighters (one human one dwarf -in a party of 6) at the moment - but everyone seems to think multi-classing is the way to go for IWD 2 - now what would be useful for multi-classing? What I multi-class a tank class into another tank class or into another class altogether? I wanted a sword master character - but it seems I can't make one really - weapon specialization gives a +1/+2 only - with no extra attacks. And speaking of attacks - I still have only one attack - regardless of what weapon my characters is using - even a bow has 1 attack per round - talk about de-powering weapon specialization and multiple attack rounds for fighters. (yes I know it all has to do with BAB - but personally i think that is a crazy system for missile weapons at the very least). What do you suggests for a low level character build?

Is having a pure rogue useful? Some interesting skills like sneak attack and some interesting feats (hamstring) - but the rogue still has to hit in order to use these skills and what happens if you miss after activating it - it is used up. You can use feats once/a round??? Is it worth getting some fighter levels and would this make my rogue a better fighter - and how many is needed? In 3e is there a fighter table to see what is needed to hit a certain armor class - or did they throw that out in 3e? so how do different classes determine who hits what AC during a battle? Is it all BAB?

For example: 2 fighter levels + 4 rogue = 6 levels = 6 BAB therefore 2 attacks per round - does this give my rogue a better to hit ratio? and how does this compare with a 6th level fighter who also has 6 BABs?

[ two fighters (one human, dwarf), a rogue, a sorcerer, a cleric, and a fighter/mage - my party]

On the subject of magical items - wow again - it has all changed and not in a really good way at that although I could also argue that it has changed for a more balanced game at that (no cheese items - but no wonderful items to look forward to it seems). It took a while to figure out what armor class penalty actually does - as every single med-heavy armor has this stat - lucky it seems to apply only to skills - so if you don't use any the armor class penalty does not seem to apply or at least I don't think so. Another thing is the limited use of the items itself - most of the rings can only be used 1/day - when you are outnumbered - that really sucks - which is most of the time. No wonder the first chapter is so difficult with low level characters and no real magical items to boost you in any way. And speaking of magical items and armor - nothing stacks it seems in IWD2 - another hit to PC in a game that has monsters outnumbering and out magicking the PCs.

More comments after I complete chapter 1....

Sensei wrote: A few questions about skills - how useful are they? Does a high CHA - counterbalance a low diplomacy skill? And how much diplomacy skill is needed? or for that matter how much skill point is needed to achieve a higher save percentage? How long can I stay hidden with hide and move silently combined? what are the chances of being caught with 7 points in each?

For skills the total skill counts, that's stat modifier + skill points spent. For hide and move silently you have d20 rolls, a skill of 0 should yield about 50 percent success chance, each extra point should increase it by 5 percent.
For diplomatic encounters the game doesn't roll, it simply checks if your skill is high enough. If you reach 22 cha by casting eagle's splendor you have already +6 in all those skills without having to spend a single point. It's not worth spending too many points.

One question on the subject of spells - for mage armor (and other spells with durations) does the duration does stack with class level or character level -- my mage is a 1fighter/3mage = 4 levels for duration or 3 levels for duration to figure out length (as the fighter class is a non-casting class)?

Only the casting class levels count, so if you're level 9 character with 1 level in 9 classes you still cast spells only at level 1. Your level 3 mage should be able to cast level 2 spells, I'm surprised that you're disappointed that your level 1 sorc can "only" cast 5 spells per day, in 2e a level 1 mage can only cast one.

Some questions - although most were answered in the forum. How useful is multiclassing? I have 2 pure fighters (one human one dwarf -in a party of 6) at the moment - but everyone seems to think multi-classing is the way to go for IWD 2 - now what would be useful for multi-classing? What I multi-class a tank class into another tank class or into another class altogether? I wanted a sword master character - but it seems I can't make one really - weapon specialization gives a +1/+2 only - with no extra attacks. And speaking of attacks - I still have only one attack - regardless of what weapon my characters is using - even a bow has 1 attack per round - talk about de-powering weapon specialization and multiple attack rounds for fighters. (yes I know it all has to do with BAB - but personally i think that is a crazy system for missile weapons at the very least). What do you suggests for a low level character build?

Multiclassing casters is a sure way to cripple them. You already gave a fighter level to your mage, so you'll get all spells 1 level later, including the powerful fireball spell. Low level spells are quite useless when you're supposed to be able to cast high level spells. Summoning spells are still useful btw.
Multiclassing fighters isn't bad however, once you have 4 fighter levels which allow weapon specialisation you only get bonus feats, but there aren't many very useful feats. Take the rapid shot feat if you want an extra ranged attack per round. The damage output with a throwing axe is usually higher than with a longsword.

Is having a pure rogue useful? Some interesting skills like sneak attack and some interesting feats (hamstring) - but the rogue still has to hit in order to use these skills and what happens if you miss after activating it - it is used up. You can use feats once/a round??? Is it worth getting some fighter levels and would this make my rogue a better fighter - and how many is needed? In 3e is there a fighter table to see what is needed to hit a certain armor class - or did they throw that out in 3e? so how do different classes determine who hits what AC during a battle? Is it all BAB?

For example: 2 fighter levels + 4 rogue = 6 levels = 6 BAB therefore 2 attacks per round - does this give my rogue a better to hit ratio? and how does this compare with a 6th level fighter who also has 6 BABs?

Pure rogue isn't bad in IWD2. If you take other levels you get less sneak attack damage. You also get bonus feats every 3rd rogue level starting at 10. Most important for hitting and doing damage is strength. You could take a level in a warrior class like ranger for a broader weapon choice, but it's not necessary.
Hamstring is a bad feat, like all which reduce sneak attack damage.
I never bothered with feats which I had to activate each time I wanted to use them.
BAB from different class levels is added together, 2 fighter levels + 4 rogue levels = 2 BAB + 3 BAB = 5 BAB.
AB and a d20 roll are added together, if the sum is at least as high as the enemy AC you hit. If you have an AB of 5 you have to roll at least 5 to hit AC10 and at least 15 to hit 20 AC.

PS: Don't complain about hard battles, simply turn down difficulty.

Thanks for all the info it was rather helpful to know.

As for turning down the difficulty for gaming - I don't think I was complaining just making a general observation of the battles that have taken place in IWD2. There really are a lot of monsters with magic assistance to aid them but they are an invading force so you expect it. Yes, I could still turn down the difficulty - but my gaming style doesn't allow for a difficulty below normal level - anything else makes it less balance - the monsters have to a chance to defeat you after all. I play with no reloads - if someone dies - they die -- run away get resurrected/raise dead and come back again (if possible) - or if the party is overwhelmed and you lose utterly - well it looks like a new game starting from scratch. Of course IWD2 is very different from IWD and BG series where being trampled on/under by the sheer numbers of opponents was never the case as it is in IWD2. Yes a slight exaggeration - but there are a lot of them.

Completed chapter 1 and moving on to chapter 2 - my characters are excited at taking a flight on Oswald's air ship should be an amazing ride - hope he can get us where we want to go (I remember in IWD he crashed his ship hopefully it doesn't happen again).

Another general comment about playing so far - I haven't been able to find or pay for full plate armor as of yet - my two fighters are hoping to find some soon.

The best magical item/weapon found so far in the game (end of chp 1)- mage killer throwing axe that dispels magic when it hits 25% of the time - should be interesting to use on all those enemy mages wondering if it will disrupt their casting. The second would have to the bag of holding - great have to one (missed it in IWD1) but not a whole lot to put in - the monsters prefer to drop gold and semi-precious stones rather than usable items - of course this is good as well since I don't have to haul all the stuff I don't want and sell it.

Most useful spell by the end of chp 1 - would have to be fireball - really thins out the monsters - and firing two of them clears them right up. (my fighters are currently looking for more fire protection - too many first degree burns from friendly fire - opps)

One last criticism about the game has to do with the screen itself - I really hate the configuration of the screen - with the small horizontal character bar - it looked much better in IWD1/BG.

more comments of IWD2 and 3e

Hi all, just finished chapter 2 in IWD2 and here are some more comments and criticism and of course a few queries as well.

At the end of chapter 2 - the story line for all intent and purpose end. There is no real need for your team to continue in the game - this is of course the biggest weakness of IWD2 - total lack of motivation to continue after chp 2. If I am a mercenary - then no one is paying for doing whatever the hell I am doing in chapter 3 -- which is supposed to be warning people or that is what Nathanial wanted my team to do -- this has got to be with worse reason ever - since he could do it better and faster than me. So here we are in chp 3 of the game doing what feels like miscellaneous quests because the game designers did not have a creative idea in their heads. Enough complaining about the story line lets move on to other commentaries....

Some thing we noticed early in the game - especially in chapter 2 - is that armor makes no sense in IWD2. Leather armor gives as much protection as full plate armor (if you have Oswald make it - and we got him to make all 3 kinds of 1/4, field and full plate armor - and what a surprise my fighter puts on full plate armor and there is only a 1 pt difference in AC) - and that is really odd if not just crazy (armor hopefully is not like that in the pnp version of 3e). Full plate armor gives better protection than leather - so it should raise the AC significantly - but no it doesn't in the game.

So here is a question if full plate armor and leather makes no real difference in term of AC - then how do you raise your AC to above 22 (in 2e that would only be -2 AC - and that is rather weak).

A question about magical weapons and dual wielding - if I had a character that dual wields swords and found a sword of speed that gives 1 extra attack per round - how many attacks does she get? For instance - my fighter has with one sword 2 attacks -- when dual wielding - you add another attack from the off hand -- therefore 3 attacks - and if you add the magical speed from the sword that means 4 attacks/round -- is that correct? Of course this depends on whether or not dual wielding actually gives an extra off hand attack?

On a side note: very odd - my fighter had 3 attacks per round - when she leveled up - it dropped to 2 attacks per round but all the pluses to hit went up - talk about strange 3e rules.

Back to chapter 2 for a moment - battle squares - in normal mode is there a point in going for higher rank? Not that I would do it - as there is for me at least no point to it in the story -- but do you items after gaining each rank?

Another comment - we have a bag of holding - but nothing really to put in it - since all the monsters drop gp. So whats the point - and i do not know if it is a bug or what - but you cannot put quest items in the bag of holding (eg. Oswalds spell book, thyme extract, keys etc...).

Here is a question - what do you do with quest items after the chp is over? Oswald's spell book, various keys etc?

On to multi-classing questions:

Since IWD2 is about multiclassing your characters my characters decided to multi-class into various other classes.

1) Fighter x /rogue 2 - how many rogue class is best (like the 2nd level benefits of dodge)?

2) Fighter 4/ barbarian x - going with barbarian (I think it is rather cheesy to be able to multi-class a tank class with another tank class - but hey they give that option so why not try it out and to see how they have altered the barbarian class).

3) Cleric x / fighter 1 - is there really any point in this - as it actually slowed the clerics spell progression down - 5th level spells are quite powerful (iron skin -wow).

4) Rogue 4/ multi-classing into what? any suggestions maybe a monk maybe a bard ??? or should the rogue continue to 10th or another level or do I even multiclass it?

5) Fighter x/mage x - I always liked the fighter/mage dual - so I decided to try it here in 3e and see how it works - so far not so great - not enough spells and not enough power to fight.

6) Sorcerer - she is a pure sorcerer and will probably stay that way - although I always liked the cleric/mage combo (from BG2) - but this seems to be a waste in 3e.

Any comments for multi-classing would be great.

more comments on chp 2

More comments on chp 2 game playing.

My dwarf fighter - is rather disappointed in the mage killer throwing axe - the range sucks. This is a disappointment after she was hoping for an amazing throwing axe to take out enemy mages.

Best weapon so far - it has to be the moonblade (from chp 1) my fighter uses this as her melee weapon and it works the best. On that note not a whole lot of magical weapons so far in the game.

On a side note about magical items - the wand of missile sadly only shots 1 missile - but that was always the case my sorcerer and mage are not too disappointed. The wand of chromatic orb - is like the spell so it becomes more powerful depending on the mage that uses it - is that right - does anyone know?

Another note - Nym from IWD ( my previous team killed him in IWD) is once again selling his wares or it could just be another relative of the previous Nym from IWD1 how has the same name (talk about the lack of creativity on the part of the game designers - really sad) - he has tons of wands to buy (4 to be exact) - so you can get your mage to change their spell selection.

On a side note - my rogue (thief extraordinary and tomb raider of sorts) - has a complaint - "there is no one to pickpocket." A less than note worthy skill to have - so be warned don't waste too many skill point in it.

Fireball - is truly a monster thinner - don't leave home without it. On a side note - you can buy the necklace of missiles in chp 2 - and this is one powerful item - if you want very powerful fireballs - more powerful than what my 8th level sorcerer can cast at the moment (or if you want 2 characters to cast fireball to really thin out your opponents - give it to your mage)- or at least it seems that way from the area explosion when you use one of missiles from the necklace -- and on another positive note it comes fully charged and ready to use. Another spell that works well is lightning bolt (no reflection in IWD2) so it makes a good one monster spell or if you like to line the monsters up you can take a lot of them out.

On a side note - fire oil pots still the best non-magical item to collect and use for monsters and some explode like fireballs (for non-casting characters) - tactics from scout (rogue-thief extraordinary) - give your scout the oils of fire - and sneak up on the enemy - the throw it at them - she was able to remove a whole room of trolls by herself with oil of fire. Plus they weigh nothing - so you can carry as much as you want (unlike healing potions that have a weight). Another tactic courtesy of my team - give fire oils to all 6 members and throw them at coming monsters (if you have no fireballs or just want more explosions) - ends a battle really quickly.

As mentioned in a previous post - my fighters are really disappointed in the quality of armor and what it offers in terms of AC boost - full plate armor not much better than leather armor (magical) - so if you are wondering if it is worth spending money on full plate that Oswald builds for you - save your money it makes no difference. On that note, there are also no good shields to be had as well. I wonder if the game designers want all the fighters to multi-class into a mage or to use two-handed weapon or dual wielding weapons?

Most pointless part in chp 2 - has to be battle squares - it adds nothing to the story line what so ever -- but if you like to hack and slash monsters for fun then this is for you. Coming a close second has to be the prism room and the dial room - just for being annoying. Actually the whole ice temple quest was rather annoying - by the end my team was annoyed and wanted to just finish it.

Most fun in chp 2 - well fun is a relative term - would have to be the search for Oswald's spell components - my team had a purpose of sorts. On an interesting note - I really have no idea why my team entered the inner ice temple - we knew that the Neverwinter army had been stopped - Oswald had everything he needed to repair the air ship - and the druids (very sadly had chosen to side with evil and had to shown the error of their way - and hey they allied with those that almost killed us when our ship crashed) - so we could have just lounged around while Oswald fixed his ship and proceeded by air.... on that note Oswald leaves us and we have to walk through the Spine of the World ["Walk...WALK....?!" my sorceress screams -when she found out Oswald left - if I was Oswald I would keep on flying if my sorceress catches you - you might become dinner or a specimen for having her walk the Spine of the World] - talk about a long and cold walk - lucky for us its not winter (don't forget to pick up all your designer wolf pelt clothes before he leaves - Oswald is truly a fashion designer -- the wolf pelts - hat, cloak, boots, gloves and scarf - a full winter set - each gives a +1 to CHA and cold resistance - one for each character almost - or however many wolf pelts you find and is perfect for walking through the Spine of the World.

If I had to give a grade for story design for IWD 2 - they would get a C-. Lack of creativity, weak continuation and weak plot (if you thought IWD1 was a weak story line after the archdruid died than IWD2 after chp 2 is even worse than that - for story line they get a D) - they get a plus for making villains evil - but how evil are they - if they are an outcast people - feels like you are beating up on a minority group that has always been prosecuted. Now that they take things into their own hands to make a place for themselves in the world it turns out to be evil - will they did ally themselves with evil - but did they have a choice in the matter if the world in which they lived in already prosecuted them for being alive. I think the designers spent more time trying to figure out how to make 3e work properly rather than on the storyline.

More comments to come......

Sensei wrote:Hi all, just finished chapter 2 in IWD2 and here are some more comments and criticism and of course a few queries as well.

At the end of chapter 2 - the story line for all intent and purpose end. There is no real need for your team to continue in the game - this is of course the biggest weakness of IWD2 - total lack of motivation to continue after chp 2. If I am a mercenary - then no one is paying for doing whatever the hell I am doing in chapter 3 -- which is supposed to be warning people or that is what Nathanial wanted my team to do -- this has got to be with worse reason ever - since he could do it better and faster than me. So here we are in chp 3 of the game doing what feels like miscellaneous quests because the game designers did not have a creative idea in their heads. Enough complaining about the story line lets move on to other commentaries....

Some thing we noticed early in the game - especially in chapter 2 - is that armor makes no sense in IWD2. Leather armor gives as much protection as full plate armor (if you have Oswald make it - and we got him to make all 3 kinds of 1/4, field and full plate armor - and what a surprise my fighter puts on full plate armor and there is only a 1 pt difference in AC) - and that is really odd if not just crazy (armor hopefully is not like that in the pnp version of 3e). Full plate armor gives better protection than leather - so it should raise the AC significantly - but no it doesn't in the game.

So here is a question if full plate armor and leather makes no real difference in term of AC - then how do you raise your AC to above 22 (in 2e that would only be -2 AC - and that is rather weak).

A question about magical weapons and dual wielding - if I had a character that dual wields swords and found a sword of speed that gives 1 extra attack per round - how many attacks does she get? For instance - my fighter has with one sword 2 attacks -- when dual wielding - you add another attack from the off hand -- therefore 3 attacks - and if you add the magical speed from the sword that means 4 attacks/round -- is that correct? Of course this depends on whether or not dual wielding actually gives an extra off hand attack?

On a side note: very odd - my fighter had 3 attacks per round - when she leveled up - it dropped to 2 attacks per round but all the pluses to hit went up - talk about strange 3e rules.

Back to chapter 2 for a moment - battle squares - in normal mode is there a point in going for higher rank? Not that I would do it - as there is for me at least no point to it in the story -- but do you items after gaining each rank?

Another comment - we have a bag of holding - but nothing really to put in it - since all the monsters drop gp. So whats the point - and i do not know if it is a bug or what - but you cannot put quest items in the bag of holding (eg. Oswalds spell book, thyme extract, keys etc...).

Here is a question - what do you do with quest items after the chp is over? Oswald's spell book, various keys etc?

On to multi-classing questions:

Since IWD2 is about multiclassing your characters my characters decided to multi-class into various other classes.

1) Fighter x /rogue 2 - how many rogue class is best (like the 2nd level benefits of dodge)?

2) Fighter 4/ barbarian x - going with barbarian (I think it is rather cheesy to be able to multi-class a tank class with another tank class - but hey they give that option so why not try it out and to see how they have altered the barbarian class).

3) Cleric x / fighter 1 - is there really any point in this - as it actually slowed the clerics spell progression down - 5th level spells are quite powerful (iron skin -wow).

4) Rogue 4/ multi-classing into what? any suggestions maybe a monk maybe a bard ??? or should the rogue continue to 10th or another level or do I even multiclass it?

5) Fighter x/mage x - I always liked the fighter/mage dual - so I decided to try it here in 3e and see how it works - so far not so great - not enough spells and not enough power to fight.

6) Sorcerer - she is a pure sorcerer and will probably stay that way - although I always liked the cleric/mage combo (from BG2) - but this seems to be a waste in 3e.

Any comments for multi-classing would be great.

About your Fighter leveling up and losing an attack: that's not due to 3E rules, but probably a bug in IWD2.

How much DEX does your fighter have? That might explain the difference (or lack of) between the armours: you get to add more DEX to AC when wearing Leather Armour than Fullplate. (Only logical.)

Your question about dualwielding and a Sword of Speed: yes, dualwielding adds one attack, and a Weapon of Speed adds an extra attack, at your highest BAB.

Sensei wrote: So here is a question if full plate armor and leather makes no real difference in term of AC - then how do you raise your AC to above 22 (in 2e that would only be -2 AC - and that is rather weak).

12 dex in combination with non-magical full plate and the ghost armor spell already yield 10+1+8+5=24 AC and there are many more ways to raise AC with spells, equipment or feats.

A question about magical weapons and dual wielding - if I had a character that dual wields swords and found a sword of speed that gives 1 extra attack per round - how many attacks does she get? For instance - my fighter has with one sword 2 attacks -- when dual wielding - you add another attack from the off hand -- therefore 3 attacks - and if you add the magical speed from the sword that means 4 attacks/round -- is that correct? Of course this depends on whether or not dual wielding actually gives an extra off hand attack?

You should always get one single extra attack per round with your off hand weapon, no matter how many main hand attacks you get. Therefore dualwielding gets worse compared to using 2-handed weapons with every extra attack you get.

On a side note: very odd - my fighter had 3 attacks per round - when she leveled up - it dropped to 2 attacks per round but all the pluses to hit went up - talk about strange 3e rules.

I guess it's because you switched weapons, if you switch from melee to ranged the number of attacks changes because of rapid shot. An ended haste effect might also be the reason.

Back to chapter 2 for a moment - battle squares - in normal mode is there a point in going for higher rank? Not that I would do it - as there is for me at least no point to it in the story -- but do you items after gaining each rank?

You do. Quite powerful items.

Here is a question - what do you do with quest items after the chp is over? Oswald's spell book, various keys etc?

The same as in IWD. Keep on carrying them around or leave them in a container.

1) Fighter x /rogue 2 - how many rogue class is best (like the 2nd level benefits of dodge)?

Depends on what you want. You get 4 extra HP and half a feat for each fighter level while each odd rogue level adds 1-6 sneak attack damage. I wouldn't take more than 2-4 rogue levels since the 5th doesn't add BAB. Adding 3 Barbarian or 2 paladin levels might be a better choice.

3) Cleric x / fighter 1 - is there really any point in this - as it actually slowed the clerics spell progression down - 5th level spells are quite powerful (iron skin -wow).

You're right. The fighter level was a bad idea.

4) Rogue 4/ multi-classing into what? any suggestions maybe a monk maybe a bard ??? or should the rogue continue to 10th or another level or do I even multiclass it?

It depends on the stats and on what you want. Pure for maximum backstab damage, 1 ranger or barbarian level for broader weapon choice, 4 fighter levels for weapon specialisation, transmuter levels for arcane spellcasting, bard songs are most powerful for increasing the party's combat power ...

5) Fighter x/mage x - I always liked the fighter/mage dual - so I decided to try it here in 3e and see how it works - so far not so great - not enough spells and not enough power to fight.

The more mage levels you take, the more powerful the character will be. Even if you prefer physical combat don't take more than 4 fighter levels.

6) Sorcerer - she is a pure sorcerer and will probably stay that way - although I always liked the cleric/mage combo (from BG2) - but this seems to be a waste in 3e.

In 3e you don't get 9-11 levels for the price of 1 anymore like in 2e. So better keep her pure. Early availability of sorcerer and cleric spells is the key to an easy game.

GawainBS wrote:About your Fighter leveling up and losing an attack: that's not due to 3E rules, but probably a bug in IWD2.

How much DEX does your fighter have? That might explain the difference (or lack of) between the armours: you get to add more DEX to AC when wearing Leather Armour than Fullplate. (Only logical.)

Your question about dualwielding and a Sword of Speed: yes, dualwielding adds one attack, and a Weapon of Speed adds an extra attack, at your highest BAB.

Currently my fighters have 18 DEX natural and going up (+ the other items that boost DEX and its even higher) (I started with 18 Dex for the better AC bonus and because of 2e influence 18....). Leveling up on STR, CON and DEX and WIS (last) as the game proceeds.

Yes - I know DEX influences AC but if you think about the difference in armor, full plate armor is stronger and offers complete protection - if you had to fight someone one on one - then full plate armor is the way to go - and AC should reflect the strength of protection it offers. (Eg. in 2e full plate armor lowers your natural AC 2 before adding the magical bonuses because you are wearing clothes made out of steel plates) but sadly armor does not reflect that here. Oh well my mage will use the spell of mage-armor to give everyone a better AC.

Thanks for the replies to my questions.

As for increasing AC for my players - well it looks like they will have to suffer with what they have or can get on their own - my mage rarely if ever remembers to re-cast everyone's mage-armor every single bloody day. As for buffing character (ie protection from evil etc) well again my mage is a bit lazy and she if she remembers then you get the extra protection if not then you are on your own. And as for my cleric she has found some excellent elven healing wine - which she won't share and as such she can't be bothered to buff anyone unless it is really life or death (with a better than 70% chance of going to the afterlife) so again my non-casting characters are out of luck - who would of thought my mage and cleric would be such a pain.

Moving on to chp 3 - lots of random quests - if you have done this already or are about to you know that it is really rather random and does absolutely nothing for the story line - My team doesn't even know why they are doing them and not just walking through the eastern pass or whatever pass we are in at the moment.

Now chapter 3, we finally get to see some undead (if you thought IWD2 was like one - you already know that the undead have not shown up yet - well this is about to change). And if you did complete battle squares to some extent just for the XP and realized when you later looked in your inventory that you got some stuff - then you might have the mace of disruption (remember you got one in BG2 for facing undead creatures) which well really destroy the undead - and its a perfect time to use it - but also totally unnecessary as magical weapons (+1 or better) will also do the job.

We did encounter some barbarians at the start of chp 3 and later during the first quest - we lied to them and they left us alone - now who in their right mind would admit that (what they wanted to know) to a hostile group of barbarians that we killed whoever they were looking for in order to get revenge. A fight avoided is a good fight.

What chp 3 has to do with the horde invading Targos is unknown - and if we could skip it all we would. Talk about pointless - the only point is to fight the undead it seems and that in itself is pointless. A lot of mindless fights with the undead... what a waste of time..... (the game designers must have rocks in their heads for designing chp 3 this way - I give them an F or better yet a grade that is not a grade "INCOMPLETE" or better yet incompetent - totally random and pointless for this section of the story).

Besides B#$%^ about chp 3 there is not much else to do - hopefully chp 4 well prove to be better, of course I am having real doubts about it - since the end of chp 2.

On a more positive note we will get to go to the Underdark and see drows who are always a lot of fun. :mischief:

Sensei wrote:Currently my fighters have 18 DEX natural and going up (+ the other items that boost DEX and its even higher) (I started with 18 Dex for the better AC bonus and because of 2e influence 18....). Leveling up on STR, CON and DEX and WIS (last) as the game proceeds.

Yes - I know DEX influences AC but if you think about the difference in armor, full plate armor is stronger and offers complete protection - if you had to fight someone one on one - then full plate armor is the way to go - and AC should reflect the strength of protection it offers. (Eg. in 2e full plate armor lowers your natural AC 2 before adding the magical bonuses because you are wearing clothes made out of steel plates) but sadly armor does not reflect that here. Oh well my mage will use the spell of mage-armor to give everyone a better AC.

2E suggested that someone in Platemail could dodge as well as someone in Leather Armour, since you could add your full DEX bonus to your AC.
In 3E, lighter armour lets you add a certain amount of your DEX, based on the armour.
In this case: Full Plate = 8 AC, 1 max DEX (yours is 18, so +4 mod, but +1 is the max) = 9 AC.
Leather Armour = 2 AC, 6 max DEX (yours is 18, so +4 modifier) = 6 AC for you.
There's a more in-depth explanation in the link I posted in an earlier thread.

Ah - I see

Here is a question or more of a curiosity - if you have a monk and you give him gauntlets of weapon expertise that give +1 to attack - does the monk get this +1 and does it count as magical fists then since he is using the gauntlets as a striking weapon?

Its been a while since I've played a monk - and it probably has changed a lot since 2e - if you were playing a monk in IWD2 what happens if the creatures are immune to blunt damage? run for your life or pick up a sword? And if you had him pick up a weapon what kind of weapon would it be? Do monks get any martial weapon proficiencies or would he be have to choose (if possible) large sword skills? or would it be better to use small blades? or maybe a spear?

A question about spells - some area spells such as emotion:fear/hope/despair, confusion, chaos - are no longer allied friendly is that correct? When it says all creatures in the area - it means everyone monsters and teammates?

Ah well my mage can just go back to using her trusty fireball and hope everyone makes there saves - if the above seems to be true.

Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise give a +1 bonus to attack, which is something else than a "+1 weapon". With the monk with this glove you simply get a +1 higher attack bonus.
A monk his fists count as a magical weapon from lvl 4, IIRC.

comments chp 3-5

Hi all

My team has finally reached chp 5 and we are almost to the end of IWD2. Here are some comments and thoughts on what has been going on up to now.

Chp 3:

In a previous post we already commented on the story line and just how pointless is was so there is no need to repeat ourselves. The most interesting part of chp 3 had to the Fell Wood maze - while not difficult it required you to pay attention to instructions given by the dyrad and to map things out. It reminded me of Ultma/Bard's Tale where all the dungeons had to be mapped by hand using graph paper ...ah memories..... besides the forest maze - most of the chapter was random monster encounters - in other words really pointless.

Chp 4:

The Raven Monastery - not a whole lot to say about this chapter. More pointless battles through rooms -- the 8 chambers - was totally pointless and added nothing to the story - and you killed monks for no reason what so ever except to pass this challenge. Probably the most interesting thing about chp 4 was when the gnomes attacked and we had to defeat them. It was really quite sad to do but they gave us no choice - and the funny thing was I could not tell the head of the monastery after the battle what had happened to get more XP or even a thank you. Oh well...... ( on a sidenote don't bother looting the tomb - nothing worth getting.)

Chp 5 - Kuldahar:

After wandering all around the Spine of the World - here we are in Kuldahar again - it really has changed some since IWD1. If anything this chapter is even more pointless then the previous 2 - more quests more monsters to defeat and more random encounters. It's a bloody long chp 5 - that will take you a while to get through in order to get to the end -- the storyline by this time has become completely lost in all the random encounters ...

I can't honestly say anything good about chapter 5.

When we finally get done with all these stupid side quests and more random encounters - that add nothing to what ever is left of the story - we will get to chp 6 and hopefully put the game out of its misery. That is if I even have any motivation to play the game to the end.

Of course if you enjoy hack and slash game with some tactics at times - or you could just power your way through then you will enjoy these battles - as there will be a ton of monsters (you will always be outnumbered in terms of monster and mages) and some will require some tactical movements but if you are powerful enough these battles won't be extremely difficult - more annoying than anything for a player like me - who prefers to role play with a story then just hack and slash rpg.

As for 3e rules I still don't like them. All these bloody skills that don't add anything to the role play or to the game. And what do the numbers actually mean? 14 skills in hiding is it some kind of % that you get on a d20 or something what happens if your skill is 26 or higher? If anything skills proved pointless (for me at least when creating a character and enjoying the game.) As for feats - again anything pointless thing (it might make more sense on the pnp version but on here it was another almost pointless stat to be concerned with. For those that will say it adds to character creation - it might at that - but it really takes away from the role play feel of role playing. Who cares about feats and skills and multiclassing this to that - to get this class skill or that - you are no longer role playing that character (e.g a thief or mage or a paladin) anymore. I not sure how this all works on the PnP version - but a character sheet that is 2 pages long - is a page too long - with all these bloody feats to check and this check and that check - ah what a pain.

On a side note about 3e and IWD2 - wow these are small amount of xp to get to the next level - when I had a character of 10th level it required some 500,000 xp or so to get to the next level. I remember a character in 2e who was at 13th level and had 1.2 million xp compared to the 90,000 xp for 3e. Of course for 3e it makes more sense to have small xp level since you would multiclass - but for me it does not allow the full play of a character at that level.

I could go on with my criticism and dislike of 3e and how badly done IWD2 but I won't - and there will probably be some comments and anger over my comments about 3e (and how arbitrary 2e was etc...) but I really can't get into 3e rules.

Well, IWDII is not the best place to judge 3E.
About skills & feats: they're one of the best things that happened in D&D. 2E hasn't such a thing and is extremely poor in characterdepth because of it.
Skillchecks are rolled against a DC (Difficulty Class). You add your ranks and ability modifier to your d20 roll. If it's equal or higher than the DC, you succeed. Hide & Move Silently checks are made against your opponent's Spot & Listen check. Everybody rolls, adds his mods, and the highest wins. Big advantage of this: the "spotter" in this example has influence on his own chance to detect things (his Spot modifier and ranks) and isn't entirely dependant on the sneaker failing his rolls, as was the case in 2E.
Feats let you do things that were impossible in 2E, like Power Attack, Trip, etc. They give you more options.
Check out [url="http://www.d20srd.com"]this site[/url]again if you want the complete P&P rules. IWDII has warped them so they fit in with the Infinity Engine. Blame Black Isle, not 3E.
Don't you finish IWD at lvl 16 and IWDII at lvl 17 or so? So the length to which you get to play each level doesn't differ as much.