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I'm a longtime BG player, about to finish ToB, and I was thinking about starting IWD next.

A few questions for IWD vets out there . . .

1. Is the first IWD comparable to the first BG in terms of experience, items, quests etc, or is it designed for more advanced play?

2. There are three games in the series, right?

3. Is the interface the same as BG series?

4. Anything different from BG series in terms of gameplay, character development, abilities, class sets, AD&D rules etc?

IceWind Dale

I thought I would give you my two cents worth and I am sure and do encourage others to reply.


IceWind Dale is comparable, (I guess it is the same game engion, {Infinity engion}). Basically same interface concept as BG.

Three games +, There is IceWind dale also Heart of Winter. The later is a expansion sequel to the first. Also there is an expansion you can download called Trials Of The LureMaster. It adds a few extra adventurous opportunities. Lastly there is IceWind Dale2 wich is played with a whole new party and can be replayed again at a higher difficulty with more treasure and exp. than the first time.

IceWind Dale 2 is using the 3rd Edtion D & D rules. Basically same as the rest in the series (Forgotten Relms and all), just updated rules. :NOTE** I think IceWind Dale 2 is the coolest of them personally.

Hope this helps a little*******

Originally posted by Flyboy
1. Is the first IWD comparable to the first BG in terms of experience, items, quests etc, or is it designed for more advanced play?

Are you talking about IWD or IWD2?
Both are a little different then BG, more linear story. And no NPC's, you create your entire party yourself.
Also IWD2 uses 3rd edition rules!

Originally posted by Flyboy
2. There are three games in the series, right?

2 Games, and the first game has 2 expensions

Originally posted by Flyboy
3. Is the interface the same as BG series?

A little different, but i like it better then the old BG interface.

Originally posted by Flyboy
4. Anything different from BG series in terms of gameplay, character development, abilities, class sets, AD&D rules etc?

Well IWD2 uses the 3rd edition rules (very nice ruleset, that let's you create more divers characters).
Also you must create your entire party yourself, so no NPC's that you can pick up along the way.

Any more questions?

Just don't expect the IWD games to be as engulfing as the BG series. There's not much roleplaying involved and there's much more hack'n slash... which gets old after a while. This is especially true in IWD2.
Although it's nice to be able to create your own party, you still need to cover your four basics: fighting, thieving, healing/buffing and wizarding.
Don't get me wrong, I liked IWD, especially IWD1, but there are better games out there. Like Planescape: Torment, also from Black Isle.

All of this are just my two cents, of course.

Thanks folks - I didn't realize that you created your own party in IWD.

I'm looking forward to that actually.

Also, is there anywhere online where I can find a "what's changed from 2nd Edition Rules" summary with respect to 3rd edition rules?

3rd Editon rules are somehwat different.
I recommand just reading the manual when you get the game.
You can now multi-class with any race you want, to any class you want. And characters now use skills and feats.

Skills are things like lockpick , spellcraft, hide in shadows etc.
EVERY class can use these skills, but someclasses are better with certain skills then others.

And there are feats, compare these with the HLA from bg2, a feat can give you a special attack, let's you wear heavy armor (so with the right feats you can make a mage in armor ) gives you better saving trows and some other things.

These are the major differences. Why not look at the
IWD2 section of this site at some of the feats and skills.
Or here at the D&D nline section for some more 3rd edition rules.

Flyboy,

Its been a few years since I played BG 1&2, but I've just been playing IWD 1 & 2.

I daresay that the first IWD is pretty much identical to the BG series in terms of interface, rules, etc. There are some minor differences, but by and large I could have been fooled into thinking I was playing another Baldur's Gate expansion.

I would concurr that there IS less roleplaying and a lot more hack n' slash, but I like that personally. I love to level up, find treasure, and dungeon crawl, and IWD made me pretty happy.

You'll find more powerful items IWD than in the Baldur's Gate series. Then again, you can get to level 30 quite easily, especially with the new Heart of Fire (HoF) mode, which lets you crank up the difficulty rating to insane levels but which also gives you mega xp.

Character development in IWD is basically the same as BG, abilities, etc...some new tweaks, but nothing major that I can recall.

The REAL change comes with IWD 2, in my opinion. The rules change. Goodbye THAC0, hello some new combat system that I don't understand. Now armor class starts at 10 for buck naked, and goes up for improved armor. So for instance, full plate gives you +8 AC, which would make your AC 18.

There are also tons of new character abilities. Your characters aquire skill points every level depending on their intelligence. They also acquire "feats" when levelling up, depending on their class/race, etc. These feat points can be used to improve reaction rolls, dodging, give you extra skills, weapon proficiencies, spell potency and damage bonuses, etc...I like the new system. It adds depth to characters and lets you customize them more. I say I don't understand the combat system, but that's because I grew up on classic D&D rules and I just wanted to play the game...I couldn't be bothered to study the combat system. "I just wanna kill something!"

My 2 cents...

If you like the BG series, you'll like both IWD 1&2

Vanilla IWD I is comparable to BG1 in terms of the interface, avatars, and available items. With the Heart of Fury and/or Trials of the Luremaster expansions, it becomes more like BGII, with drop-away interface panels, item-highlighting, containers like gem bags, and the avatars. IWD II is completely different game altogether, as it is the first game to implement 3rd edition rules and completely-configurable action-button interface. Both IWD & II are pretty linear.