GameBanshee Forums

Is it doable with only 3 characters?
How would you compose such a party?
Which proficiencies?

It's doable.

I'd take 3 multiclass characters:

fighter/thief (bow, longsword, ...)
ranger/cleric (sling and mace, then hammer and flail)
fighter/illusionist (axe, crossbow, ...)

Clubs, staves and halberds are not worth specializing in.

That sounds interesting!

But doesnt the Illusionist loose a lot of good spells?

And why is a ranger/cleric better than a fighter/cleric?

How can I get around the only 17 strength of a halfling fighter/thief?
(or would you give the helmet to the Fit/Illu instead and make this one an elf?)

Does any of the stats change saving throws?

Dwarves and halflings get +1 bonus to 3 of the 5 saves (the important ones) for every 3.5 con.
Gnomes get +1 bonus to 2 of 5 saves for every 3.5 con.
Other races or stats don't affect saves.

Illusionists only loose necromancy (and abjuration if you've HoW installed) spells but they can cast an extra spell per day and level. Being able to scribe more spells doesn't help if you don't have the spell slots to use them.
It depends on your playing style, if "skull trap" is your favorite spell you'll of course take a fighter/mage instead.
The party will be even more powerful if you make the first character a fighter/mage/thief for additonal spellcasting and access to the forbidden spells.

The helmet will go to the fighter/illusionist. The first and only item which sets strength high is in the last chapter and the strength spell works exactly as described in the manual. So a gnome or dwarf fighter/thief or a half-elf fighter/mage/thief will be superior for most of the game to a halfling, 18/00 strength does make a difference.

Okay,so no change on saves through wisdom.
But how do I get a good AC with 2 part Mages in the party?

And isnt a dwarven Fighter/cleric better than a R/C (looses on druid spells and pseudo dual wield,but would be the only high AC character in this party through a shield)?

Then what are the best alignments for those 3?

And what is the least acceptable exeptional strength for them?

Edit:How much fighting-power does a pure cleric loose to a multiclassed one?

Druid spells are powerful in IWD and a ranger/cleric can wear a shield too if desired. Rangers get better rolls at creation than fighters.

Ranger/cleric and fighter/cleric get 18/.. strength (more damage with all weapoons), about twice as much attacks per round and +2 specialization bonus to damage compared to pure class clerics.
In your small party pure class clerics will get cleric levels and spells earlier than they're supposed to.

When the fighter/illusionist finds a returning throwing axe (s)he can use it for ranged instead of the bow or crossbow and equip a shield.

Getting good AC for mages is no problem. The "shield" spell grants AC 4 and you can find robes with good AC or elven chain later in the game, spells like blur and mirror image can make mages even less vulnerable than fighters.
One Advice: Buy the "Robe of Enfusing" from Orrick before chapter 2 starts (when you leave for Dragon's Eye) and his inventory changes.

Mixing alignments can be beneficial but it's not too important.

Since every character can dump 2 stats (int or wis and cha) to the absolute minimum rolling 18/00 strength won't be too hard, but lower values work too, it might be worth giving 15+ cha to the FMT for a few diplomacy checks and the chance to get it to 20 for optimal shop prices with the "friends" spell instead, if you can get wisdom to 10 for the 19 int fighter/illusionist you'll have a character with high lore, but physical stats are more important, dex or con can't be set to a high value with equipment or spells.

Thank you,will try F/M/T,R/C and F/Illusionist.

I have aurils bane installed,are there any new good weapons in groups that are weak in vanilla?

How do saving throws work?
Is it the lower the better?

Lower saving throws are better.

I once played with Auril's Bane installed and didn't like it. It was totally unbalanced. It had cheesy additions which made the normal game too easy, even an armor which made you immune to almost all attacks, including those of the end boss.
Unfair but not challenging encounters with stupid AI monsters were added to make you use metagaming save/reload cheese and make the game even easier with the extra XP.

I recommend uninstalling it to get the true IWD feeling, but I haven't played the newest version of this mod.

Very good those 3 till now(I am at the end of dragons eye atm).

At what level is best to go to the expansion areas?

Best is finishing the game first and exporting the characters to HoW afterwards.

If you want to enter the expansion areas within the game I recommend entering HoW after finding and placing the 6 badges in chapter 6 and starting TotL just before leaving for the sea of moving ice.